Food et al

I really miss food in Malaysia!!!! And I also miss the convenience of just hopping into the car and driving over to Lucky Garden for hokkien mee just cos I don't feel like cooking... For sure there are no mamak stalls or tai chow stalls here and packed food means a sandwich, pizza, salad or McDonalds...
My rice cooker is not here yet but today out of sheer desperation I decided to try to make chicken rice (rice + chic rice mix) out of a pot and surprisingly its turned out really well (YAY!!!!!!)
In our next sojourn to LeClerc, I'm gonna go buy some sesame oil and soya sauce so I can make fried rice :-)

Yesterday was Fred's off day and again he had the need to get out of Tarbes, so off we went. This time to Lac d'Estaigne. A mere 45 mins drive from Tarbes, we arrive at this beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. In my FB (which I will be posting the photos) you can see that recently there was a small avalanche and the snow ( dirty) was still melting into the lake. So yesterday I finally managed to touch snow!!!!

It was sunny but it was really cold at the lake as the winds coming down from the snowy mountains were chilly. We found a nice sunny spot behind a big bush of holly and had our lunch. Lucas was soon bored with sitting down and started exploring and plucking dandelions instead.
Tomorrow, a crowd will be gathering at the lake for the annual sheep migration festival. Apparently there will be thousands of sheep in that area which will be sent up to the mountains for the next 5 months or so where the grass is greener. I saw tents being set up and quite a few english tourists have already arrived. Unfortunately Fred is working tomorrow so we will not be able to go but next week we will go back to the lake for the Kite festival.

We also stopped by the paragliding landing strip on our way home for Fred to say allo to his friends. He used to work there and I could see how much he's missing it. Lucas was fascinated by the paragliders. He loved watching them hovering right above him and then landing.

Fred also took Lucas cycling yesterday - so yesterday was a big adventure for Lucas. Right now, the days are long, so we only put Luc to sleep around 8 (the sun starts to set at 915pm). Most days he puts up a fuss as the sun is still shining brightly outside. Because the days are so long we get to cram more activities into one day.
Today for instance is a beautiful sunny day. Lucas is having his nap now but after lunch we will take the stroller and go for a walk. Although its sunny its not humid so its comfortable to go walk about - we still need to bundle up as its still 18 degrees outside.

I am craving for Bak Chang (Petaling St sells really yummy ones), Teluk Intan chee cheong fun, char koay teow (from Rocky), BKT (Klang of course!), penang rojak from Lucky Garden, hokkien mee from Lucky Garden and my faithful visits to City Book Rental at Lucky Garden!!!!!
Got no novels to read now so will need to go online and buy some. The best thing about City Book Rental is that they keep books they think I will like and they also recommend books for me. Now I have to search all on my own... I also miss my little Honda City...

Discipline and Lucas

I am truly at my wits' end with my darling little boy - he seems to test my limit and my patience again and again. He definitely understands the word "NO" but chooses not to obey. He uses the word No on me when I ask him if he's ready for his nap.
My little one has got itchy fingers. Fingers who can't help but touch the TV screen, TV on and off button, the DVD player (he keeps opening and closing it), the CD player and papa's laptop! No matter how many times I tell him no and I try to substitute with a toy he will still defy me and touch. Oh, but he is a sneaky one - he may take some "time off" to try to distract me and then go back to whatever it was that he was trying to touch. Once he even came to me grinning and then showering me with kisses just so he could then go back to touching the CD player!

Just a couple of days ago, Lucas was climbing up onto the dining table (another bad habit) to touch the laptop and I stopped him and was trying to reason with him as he'd fallen off the chair 3 times so far in his attempt to climb up the table. Instead of listening to me, he started to "answer me back" in baby talk. Every sentence I said had a comeback from Lucas. When I put on my angry face, he laughed.

Fred & I agreed earlier on that we will not resort to caning him and we still will not but Fred has to be the disciplinarian in the family as Lucas doesn't take me seriously...

That thing Lucas does...

Lucas does the most adorable things - I just wanted to share with you all. He likes to take my phone and have an imaginary conversation and walks all around the apartment while "talking" on the phone! The last time, he spoke on the phone for a good 15 minutes!!!!!

He also likes to talk to himself in front of the mirror and every now and then kisses his own reflection!

When I go "La la la la la.." (singing) he ends the phrase with the last "la"

The best quirky thing Lucas does these days - when I'm lying on the day bed, he climbs up on me literally (sometimes very painful when he climbs on my boobs) sits on my chest, takes my face in his 2 little hands and bends down to give me a big kiss on the lips!

Groceries & such

Living in France is really expensive. I miss all the cheap food & groceries in KL! No wonder you read about people starving and not having enough money to feed their families! It sucks that these people are working hard to put food on the table but the price of meat & fish is so ridiculous that many are becoming vegetarians!
Just last week, the milk producers were so angry that hypermarkets such as Carrefour were charging high prices for milk (they sell milk to Carrefour for 20 cents a litre, but Carrefour sells it to the public at 1.20 euro) they threw out the milk instead of selling it to the hypermarkets!
Due to the crisis, the hypermarkets are supposed to be lowering prices of food, but that is yet to be seen. Carrefour has recently started with a massive advertising campaign to let the public know that certain staple foods can be bought at lower prices, such as pasta & flour. But the "low" prices are nothing to shout about. Methinks its merely a gimmick to get in more customers.

We shop at LeClerc which is similar to Carrefour. The one near our home is much much bigger with more varieties, including an Asian section. I didn't realize how expensive our "outing" to LeClerc has been til Fred prompted me last Friday after another trip to LeClerc.
I call our trips to the grocery an outing as its the only place open when Fred comes home from work at 630pm and he takes us there just to get us out of the house, so we buy a few items every couple of days. Last Friday we didn't actually have anything to buy - I just wanted to walk around and look at the prices ( I noticed that even at different LeClercs, the pricing can differ!) and we ended up with a bunch of stuff costing us 64 euros. If that was our week's groceries, it would have been OK, but we were grocery shopping the Wed before and spent 50 euros and then the Monday before 42 euros. So that makes our grocery bill for 1 week 156 euros!!!!! And we don't buy a lot of food, most of it "instant" like risotto or ravioli, ham, minced beef. (that's as far as my cooking skills go since I am still waiting for my rice cooker to arrive with my little "helpers" - sachets of curry, chili, nasi goreng...).
I know if you take euro and RM 1 for 1 then its not so much but the value of money here is equivalent to converting the euro to RM (or in a lot of french people's minds, they convert from euros to francs).

Anyway, now I'm going to start a list for groceries and stick with it. We will also only go shopping once a week on late night shopping Fridays.

While we are on the subject of shopping - my shopping list for when i come back to KL will be bedsheets, pillow cases and Lucas' shoes! Bedsheets with pillow cases here cost 50 euros to 70 euros (fitted sheet, 1 color). Makes me regret not buying sheets from Jusco for RM50!!!!
We will go to Toulouse next month - hopefully the sheets at Ikea will be cheaper.

BooBoo got a new pair of shoes last Saturday. Oh, we went to town last Saturday for a bit of walking around and shopping. We saw a SALE sign on a baby shoe shop and went in - I actually chose a 19 euro pair of baby shoes BUT the 19 euro shoes are for much smaller size feet. Apparently the bigger the feet, the pricier the shoes!!!!! (And these are not even Clarks, ok...)
So Lucas ended up with a size 24 pair costing his papa 42 euros (after discount as before discount that friggin' pair of shoes which will only last him probably through Summer was 70 euros).

We had lunch at the park as it was a really nice day. The park has got a cafe that serves tarts, salads, paella and lasagne. I had a lasagne, Fred had chicken salad and we shared a salmon & vegetable tart. The food was really good, especially the tart. My lasagne would have been fantastic if they'd not skimped on the meat (re- meat is too expensive, so even cafes are skimping....)

Lucas had a nice time walking around the cafe while we had lunch, listening to the peacocks and ducks calling out to each other.

Fred had the whole weekend off so we went out of Tarbes for Sunday. First we went to the McDonalds drive thru for lunch, and drove to Lourdes and had lunch by the lake where Lucas fed the ducks.
Then we decided to go to the Animal Parc which has been renovated (actually its still undergoing reno). The entrace price is still the same but the parc has been extended to include a nice cafe and sitting area , a theatre and lots more animals. Going to this parc was a great idea - Lucas walked around and as this was an open parc, Lucas could touch the tamer animals. He loved spending time with the marmottes (pyrenees prairie dog) and kept putting his finger thru the cage for the hen to peck. He touched goats, birds and laughed out loud with the marmottes as they all surrounded him (very friendly marmottes) thinking he had carrots for them! Lucas saw the fox, deers, Izard(mountain goat), bears frolicking in the pool, otters (he thought the otters were funny), lynx, kingfisher, ducks, pigs, stork, goose, ducks and lots more.
The day was hot and sunny, Lucas was tired after we finished at the parc. He went to sleep without any fuss last night :D

baby food & yoghurt

Yesterday was another public holiday in France - unlike Malaysia, when it is a PH, everything is closed. Including the neighborhood TMC! That's one thing that I need to get used to - stocking up on groceries before PH and weekends. (Everything is closed on Sundays as well)

The weather was cloudy and cold so we had to cancel our picnic. Instead, Boo and I had a long afternoon nap whilst Fred worked on his computer. When Boo woke up, it was already 530 pm, so we brought him to the playground nearby. Lucas loves the slide! The higher the better, it seems. And he was happy to have lots of kids surrounding him.

Fred bought Lucas a baby high chair and its pretty convenient for me to leave him in the high chair whilst I potter around the house. This Chicco high chair has adjustable height and is sturdy enough that he can stnd in the chair without toppling over. Imagine my surprise 2 days ago when, after I put Lucas on his chair, he sauntered into the kitchen with that cheeky grin of his! He managed to climb down from his chair (lowest height is still 3 feet off the ground!) and looked proud as a peacock that he managed to do it all by himself!

Yesterday Fred & I had Cassoulet for lunch - my first time trying this dish from Toulouse. I have to say it was kinda bland. Looked like baked beans and sausages but not as tasty!!!!!
Lucas had cereal mixed with baby spaghetti bolognase. The baby food here are abundant in variety! There is even an artichoke dish for babies. Just like the yoghurt here - I think it will take me at least 6 months to get through all the flavors they offer here. So far, my favourite one has chunks (and I mean CHUNKS) of pineapples in it. That same brand also comes in plain vanilla, coconut, strawberries, peach, RHUBARB, mango and flavorless.

A couple of days ago, when Lucas was taking his bath, in that 1 split second I turned away to adjust my fake eyelash in the mirror, he slipped as he stood up to reach for the shampoo bottle and bit his inner lip! That was really scary for me as he started crying and I turned to see his mouth filled with blood! And he wouldn't open his mouth to show me where he'd hurt himself. But the crying stopped as soon as I dried him off and he was back to normal, eating and drinking as usual - thank God! That was a wake up call for me - now when he's in the tub, I will give him 100% focus.
Poor boy, had his lower lip swollen cos of that slip for the past 2 days. This morning it looks much much better.

Fred is off this weekend - yay! Finally I will get to go to the shops in town and do some shopping before we go away for the weekend...

I checked who won AI this morning. Kris Allen the dark horse, the underdog. That comes as no surprise for me cos I had a feeling that he'd win after watching the final performances online last night. His rendition of the winning song was better than Adam's. Anyway, Adam is a sure superstar on his own. He doesn't need this win. I'm sure he will be coming up with an album soon. If Kris had not won, he would have maybe faded off into obscurity.... kinda like Clay Aiken.....

18 days

Wow, where did all my days go? It feels like I've only been here a week. But actually its our 18th day here in France. Everything seems blurry to me. I guess its cos I'm no longer working, and my time is now my own. No rushing anywhere.
Yesterday my MIL asked me what I've been doing with my time - she was worried I'd be bored as Fred's been working all week. You know what - I don't have time to be bored! Being a full time mom is exactly that - especially if you have a boisterous and extremely curious 18 month old. Luckily for me, Lucas loves routine, so I have time for myself when he's sleeping or when he's eating his baguette watching Barney.
Oh, Lucas now refuses to eat unless Barney's on TV. Sigh... but at least he's eating well. A few days ago, he ate pasta - yay! He's also eating cornflakes, krispbread, cheese and brioche. I was really worried that he'd never start eating solids but looks like he's slowly eating and chewing his food.

Yesterday morning when Lucas woke up and I took him out of his cot, I went back to lie on the bed and Luc wanted to go out, so he took my cardigan from the edge of our bed and handed it to me! He then went to wait by the door.
Lucas likes being outside a lot - no matter how cold the weather is. Yesterday we went to Roger's for Sunday lunch and Lucas was outside all the time, chasing after a tennis ball and exploring Roger's garden! We found out that the big tree near his entrance is a cherry tree (yum!). And the cherries will be ripe next month!

My sister says that I should be blogging everyday - sigh... honestly where will I find the time? I am now a FT housewife with a baby to take care of, an apartment to clean, loads of laundry and dinner to cook... This "job" is harder than my job at the bank, really. So here's to all the FT mothers and housewives out there! Esp those without a maid!!!!
I'm still getting used to not having a maid - now that I am without one, my previous maid, no matter how bad she was, was still an extra pair of hands around the house. One thing that I really miss is sleeping in, as one of us has to wake up with my morning baby. Lucas is like an alarm clock. Always on time no matter how late he sleeps! At least since we arrived in France, he's waking up at 730 am instead of 6 am when he was in KL.
I let Fred sleep in on his off days - after all he's the one bringing home the bacon... but my sweetie pie brings Lucas out in the afternoons and lets me have time to nap :-)

Baby's calling, so more later!

food, park and poodle

Last Sunday was Fred's off day so we went out for a celebratory post birthday lunch (mine!) and mother's day. We started off at the Sunday markets - for once I didn't buy anything!!!! We strolled through the markets and ended up at the terrace of a bistro I've always wanted to try. Lucas was being such an angel and was taking his nap all through lunch!
We shared a nicoise salad, I had the beef and Fred ordered the duck. As we'd never eaten there before we didn't expect such HUGE portions! The salad alone is a main meal! I asked for my steak to be medium but had to send it back as medium here means medium rare. Next time I order a steak I will ask for well done as my "well done" steak came back medium well. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera :-( The food was delicious. We will definitely go back there again.

On our way to the park I counted 3 chinese/ oriental restaurants... we will try one next week though Fred thinks I will be disappointed with the food.

We went to the park so that Lucas can feed the ducks - instead he got too friendly with a goose who started chasing him and Fred (Fred swooped in to rescue Luc).
Lucas also spent some time at the playground playing on the slide and trying to make friends with the older kids who more or less ignored him. But Lucas was not deterred and seemed happy playing by himself on the base of the slide, smiling at the older kids when they ask him to move aside when they come sliding past.

There are kids here at the apartment block who play downstairs every evening, but they are also older kids. Fred took Lucas downstairs the other day and our neighbor's poodle fell in love with Lucas. Of course Lucas must have thought this poodle would let him chase her like how Goofy lets him chase, but this poodle jumped on Lucas instead and licked his face!

I am starting to get used to not working, and falling into a schedule with Lucas. He is such a stickler for routine, which is great for me. I have time to clean the apartment ( having a toddler means the place is always messy!) have my coffee, write my blog, read my Twilight series...

Fred comes home for lunch everyday - apparently this is the practice at his workplace. As they all live close by and Tarbes is such a small place, its more economical and convenient to eat at home. Those that do not go home for lunch bring lunch boxes or have set lunch at cafes for about 12 euros.

I still haven't ventured out on my own yet. For now I am happy to stay home, Lucas keeps me busy. But Fred wants me to start driving out to town soon... I am pretty scared at that thought - driving a manual car on the other side of the road. And such narrow roads! I guess I will try driving soon, with Fred beside me for the first couple of weeks at least.

Feel like having McDonalds' Royal Bacon Cheeseburger but Fred will not be happy with such "unhealthy" foods... BTW McD's is just behind our apartment.... should I have one for tea, maybe?

water

Sigh... the french water is wrecking havoc on my skin and Lucas' skin. We tropical people are not used to the hard water here. Result - really dry, icky skin. Lucas' cheeks are red and dry, and my fingers are cracked and for once, I've got really rough skin... AND its not cos I'm not used to doing dishes, cos Fred washes up after meals anyway...
So short of humidifying the whole apartment, what can I do??? Is this a temporary thing? Or am I doomed to have cracked dry skin forever?

happee birthday to ME!!!!

Today is my 39th birthday. This morning I woke up to a smiling albeit insistent Lucas, who gave me a cheeky smile and then threw out his lovey at me. Fred was still asleep as we went out to the kitchen for milk and biscuits (Lucas has refused his cereal, and now wants to have brioche and biscuits for his breaky instead). It was a nice surprise to find that Fred has been up all night assembling the furniture we bought the day before!!!!! Unlike Malaysia, everything here is DIY - including the 'delivery' where the shop leases you a lorry for 30 euros and you drive home your furniture yourself....

Oh, forgot to tell you all about my last 2 days - I was down with a bad cold, but as Fred had purposely taken 2 days off so we could get my visa done and try to get some furniture so that we no longer live off the suitcases, we went along with our plans. The first day was nice and sunny, we were able to go out with only sweaters and jeans. As we drove through town, I could see the mountains all covered in snow! What a beautiful sight!

I find that in order to buy anything here, one must NOT convert euros into RM!!!! Or else we would not end up with anything at all. A crap wooden shoe rack that sells for RM10 in KL is now 19.90 euros! Needless to say, after a lot of convertion and then cursing from moi, we decided to just bite the bullet and get on with it. This was after we'd spent 2 hours in Conforama (kinda like IKEA) and Lucas was getting irritated and we'd still haven't decided on anything!
Anyway, long story short, we went to another shop the next day (FLY - also kinda like IKEA) after I absolutely refused to pay 630 euros for a sofa bed no matter how friggin good the mattress is; and today, we have our beautiful day bed, shoe rack (49 euros!!!!), dining table with 2 chairs, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, closets, TV cabinet, a rug for the floor and a bibliotheque for my books. Along the way we got some hangers for clothes, a towel rack, dish drainer and blinds for the balcony. We still need to get a bed!!!!

We went to the markets yesterday (every Thurday there is a huge market selling produce, clothes, household stuff etc - like pasar malam but much much bigger) and as we were buying some fresh vegetables from a vendor I noticed she had green chillies and took a handful - she stopped me and said that the chillies were very hot... when we came home and made dinner later, I cut one of the chillies and sauteed it with mushroom and potato. It was a disappointment cos the chillies were not in the least hot... I should've challenged that woman and said that if I could eat 2 in front of her, she give me my chillies for free. Maybe next week!

My MIL invited us over for cake - must be my birthday cake... but as Lucas is still having his nap, maybe we will drop by later before we go out for dinner. Fred is taking me to the Buffalo Grill for a huge steak!!!

first days

Today is Lucas and my 4th day in Tarbes. We have spent the past couple of days getting over jetlag and Lucas has not been eating as silly mama forgot to pack his cereal. Thank God the 25 kg box from DHL arrived yesterday! So this morning Luc started eating again! He was surviving on cornflakes, cheese and bread and his milk for the past 2 days so it was a huge relief for me to see him eating full meals.
We took Lucas out to a nearby farm to see horses, and it was such a joy to see him running and smelling the flowers. Lucas was so fascinated with the dandelions and kept asking his papa to blow on the seeds. He was fearless when he approached the horses and one of the huge horses grazing nearby seemed to be taken by Lucas as she wandered as near to him as she could (they were separated by a fence). When I looked at Lucas laughing out loud and running everywhere, I felt peace at my decision to become a full time mom and bring Lucas here. No doubt the sacrifice is a huge one, but to see that smile on my little BooBoo makes it all worth it.

Yesterday Fred went back to work, so Lucas and I spent the whole day at home, watching Barney on TV, playing games, reading books... and because I know how much Lucas loves being outside, I bundled him up (it was freezing yesterday...) and brought him outside to play in the garden. Everything was great.... til we found out that we were locked out! In the cold! I had my apartment key but didn't have the key to the main building (the few times when we went out the main door was not locked...) OMG! Panic!!!! We had to wait by the door for someone to open and Lucas refused to be carried and wanted to run around, but we couldn't go anywhere in case we missed out on anyone opening the main door. It was the worst 15 mins ever, carrying a struggling Lucas who kept putting his grimy hands (hands which were playing with the earth and dead leaves by the road) on my face (well, better on my face than in his mouth I guess).

Today Lucas has finally gotten back into his routine, getting up at 730am, drinks his 8 oz milk, then breakfast (cereal - yay!) at 9am while watching Barney. Playtime til papa gets back for lunch. Helped mama to clean the floor. Naptime at 2pm. More playtime til papa finishes work, then we will bring Lucas to the park to feed the ducks.

Oh, I forgot - we went grocery shopping yesterday and I found a small bottle of sambal!!!! Can't wait for my rice cooker to arrive so I can make chicken rice :-)

KL to Paris and beyond

So, I've finally taken numerous advice and started a blog on my move to France. For those of you who haven't heard, our flight from KUL to Paris on MH was pretty comfortable; thanks to Lucas of course who protested LOUDLY at the single cramped window seat mama was going to have to endure for the whole 13 hour journey. Luc made such a big fuss that the nice stewardess moved us to an empty 3 row seat! After the move, Luc settled down for a long nap, leaving mama to snooze for 6 hours. I was glad to have encountered the crew who manned MH20 on 30th April 2009. Inspite of my misgivings due to bad experience with MH crew members in our previous trips abroad, this group turned out to be really, really nice with excellent service! So it was a rather nice surprise when they found out that my stroller was not at the exit at CDG airport (due to "security reasons", we can only get our strollers at the baggage claim) AND that snotty french woman who met the plane frostily told them (and poor me, standing there with Luc and 4 hand carry bags) that they will not help, that one of the crew staunchly said he will help me. However, someone else who was helping a wheelchair bound lady also came to my rescue and whisked Lucas and I through immigration (otherwise, with the long queue, it would have taken me an hour at least to clear immigration, with a squirming baby and 4 bags...). Not only did he help us clear immigration, he even helped me find the stroller AND helped with getting my 30 kg bag. Thank you KEVIN NOIR! You were truly godsent!

Fred met us at CDG and just in time too cos I couldn't possibly manouver the trolley full of luggage with Lucas sitting on top into the ladies toilet and my bladder was close to busting!
We all fell asleep in the bus to Orly. I admit I was selfish when I chose to sit by myself and left Lucas with Fred in the seats behind me :-) I woke up just when we arrived at Orly to find Lucas still sleeping on his dad. We disembarked and though it felt like I've been up all day (which I had, technically, not counting the 6 hours sleep and the nap in the bus) it was only 1130am. We had to wait for our next flight to Toulouse at 4pm. Good thing I insisted to check in the back carry for Lucas cos that was the only way he'd be quiet til we boarded our next flight.
The flight to Toulose was the longest 55 minutes for both Fred & I and without a doubt for Lucas as well. Our poor little boy got sick during that turbulent flight and threw up all over papa. It didn't help that it was a full flight and we were seated at the back. Anyway, we managed to clean Lucas up and change him into his nice clean clothes. But he threw up again once more and this time some splashed on me as well. We changed him again but there was no mistaking the rank odour of vomit eminating from Fred & I...
At Toulouse airport we collected our luggage and drove back to Tarbes. Lucas refused to eat anything and fell into a deep sleep.
Fred's mom invited us over for dinner but we couldn't even keep our eyes open...