Mother's Day

Lucas gave me a piece of artwork he made in creche :)
I got to sleep in, and had pancakes and coffee for breakfast. We then left for Val D'Azun again for the day after Lucas had his nap and I watched New Moon while Lucas was sleeping.

Yummy food & New Moon

Another care pack just arrived, a late birthday present from one of my best friends, Chet Leng. She sent me lots of foodstuff - rendang & curry, pork floss, Bee Cheng Hiang Bak Gua (my absolute favourite!!!!!) and even rojak sauce :)

Everything arrived intact even though she sent the box months ago by sea mail (too heavy to send by air cos the air mail charges would have been frightfully expensive)

I am truly blessed to have so many friends and family who think of me and send me yummy food (AND Mickey Mouse books - thanks again See Ming!!!!). Some even take the chance and send me movies (ahem!) from home, since the movies shown here are in French and DVDs are soooo expensive here compared to KL ;)

Anyway, I gave into the urge and watched New Moon on pay per view yesterday - a present for Mother's Day. I kept resisting paying for it since its 5,99 euro to rent ( that's like, RM30 and I can get 4 DVDs from Malaysia for that price....) and my sister already said she has the DVD for me already, but anyway Fred insisted so I watched it yesterday - TWICE!

Although Jacob's so sweet and truly adorable in his wolf form, Edward's tortured soul is hard to resist, so I am still on team Edward after watching New Moon. Can't wait for Eclipse; I am re-reading it for the 3rd time :)

Les Gerbes, Val D'Azun

We spent the Pentecote weekend at our friend's gite in Val D'Azun. A mere 40 minutes drive from Tarbes, Val D'Azun is next to Argeles-Gazost.

We absolutely love being at Didier's - not only is his guesthouse absolutely beautiful, its calm and comfortable and peaceful. Absolute paradise.

Lucas loved being there so much he didn't want to leave, kept pulling me to go upstairs to the room to "do-do" (sleep)

Pâtisserie Royalty, Tarbes

Yesterday the girls (Cathy, Liz, Sophie) & I went to Royalty salon de thé - glacier - traiteur- pâtisserie at 33 rue Marechal Foch.  I have been living in Tarbes for a year and have never ventured into Royalty. I always thought that Royalty was a  pâtisserie selling only macaroons. But to my surprise, Royalty is a tea room with a small cozy section where the girls and I had macaroons and juice and coffee. Royalty is also famed for its ice cream, tarts and cakes and chocolate which I have yet to try.

Liz & Cathy explained that Royalty is an award winning pâtisserie and no wonder! Their macaroons are to die for!!!!

I had the pistachio macaroons with creme and fresh raspberries. I could have had a dozen of those. Amazingly yummy!!!!!

Needless to say, Royalty is now one of my favourite places to go to for tea with the girls.
http://www.royalty-tarbes.com/

Smiley :)

Lucas was eating his PB sandwich yesterday and I noticed that he ate some of the crust and left some behind. He then "arranged" the crusts on the table, pointed to them and said "smiley"!!!!! He had 2 small pieces of crusts as the eyes and the angle of another crust forming a "v" as the mouth!!!!

Cry it out baby

I was looking at my blogger profile and saw my age number has automatically turned 40. I still flinch at that number. OMG!!!! I cannot believe I am 40. In case you are thinking - Oh no, this is another one of those psycho babbling blogs from a crazy hormonal 40 year old; don't worry la... I am totally zen today :)

I managed to slip in a 3 hour nap this arvo and missed out on a chatting session with my sister and my aunts who are visiting from Oz.

Lucas woke me up 4 times again last night. This has been going on for more than a week now and last night when Lucas called for me at 1.10 am (he went back to sleep after 10 minutes) I could not get back to sleep til past 3. Even then I had to move to the day bed as I was tossing and turning so much I was afraid I'd wake Fred. Anyway, Lucas' last call out session was at 5.45a.m and this time I was just way too tired and sleep deprived, I decided to let him cry it out. His cry out session lasted 20 minutes (that was the longest 20 minutes I've had to endure with Lucas screaming and me lying there thinking that the child psychologists who tell you to let the kids cry it out must not have heard screams like Lucas', and alternated between wondering if I could find a boarding school here which will accept 2.7 year olds and praying for mercy and deliverance...)

Anyway the cry out session, as I've mentioned lasted only 20 minutes (lemme tell you, he could have gone on for a whole hour...) because Lucas managed to climb out of his bed. I could hear him opening his room door, and calling out for me. He went to our bed but could not see me so he came looking for me at the day bed. He didn't approach me til I told him he could, tho' ( that was a sign that he understands that he cannot climb into bed with us to sleep); standing 10 feet away, calling me repeatedly.

Today after his 3 hour nap, Lucas is back to his happy self - especially when Fred told him to get ready for a bicycle ride. Lucas is on a PB diet - he doesn't want anything else but PB on bread and his Nesquik. I add fruit into his night bottle (that's the only time he takes his bottle now, preferring to drink from a cup)

Now that the weather's gorgeous again, its time to restart Lucas' potty training...

Le soleil revient!!!!

I woke up today happy knowing that this week, the sun is back and the weather is going to be warmer! Its amazing how one takes sunlight for granted when living in a tropical country. Even during the winter, the sun was still shining here in Tarbes. Last week, she disappeared :(
Just when we thought that Spring was truly here, the temperature suddenly took a dive last week. It was so cold we turned on the heating again because the insulation where we live is terribly poor (which explains our high gas bill). It didn't help that certain parts of France started snowing, including Tarbes and when it wasn't snowing, it was raining non stop...

Now that the sun is back, I hope she's going to stay... but just in case she doesn't, I won't put away our winter clothes just yet.

My English speaking French hairdresser

Finally. Fred has started his engine :)

His new website is up and running : http://www.coiffeurvolant.com/

Already he's booked 5 clients for this week, even though he finishes work at 6.30p.m. this week. Its actually a good thing he speaks English as there are many English speaking residents here who find it difficult to explain to a hairdresser what they want exactly.

And I've got new caramel highlights on my hair :)

Lucas' sleep issues

At 31 months, Lucas suddenly developed sleeping problems! He now must call out to me over and over again before he has a little cry and then falls asleep - for naps and nightime. Even though we have pushed his sleeping time to 9 p.m now, he is still reluctant.

Lucas usually wakes up at 7.30 a.m the past month since we changed the daylight saving timing; and his normal practise is to climb into our bed and watch Mickey on TV. But his 7.30 timing kept regressing earlier and earlier and last week, he kept waking up at 2.30 a.m asking to climb into our bed.

I have to admit I brought him into the bed a couple of times when he woke at 2.30 - which was a mistake because with Lucas, you give him an inch - he will take a hundred miles! But the neighbors upstairs were having some really loud arguments which woke Lucas as they were screaming at each other above Lucas' room (thin walls :P)

So after a few times he started automatically waking up at 2 am asking to come to bed. When I refuse, he starts crying and screaming - the crying could go on for 40 minutes... yes, I tried to ignore his crying hoping he will fall back asleep. (payback for my neighbours upstairs ;)  )

Last night was the first night he finally relents quietly and goes back to sleep after I talk to him and give him a hug. But he still woke me up at 2a.m, 4a.m and finally at 5 a.m.

Lucas is also extremely manja with me these past 2 weeks. He comes crying to me over any little boo-boo and doesn't want his papa. He won't leave me alone for even a toilet break. And when he climbs into our bed, he insists on being on my side of the bed and I have to sleep next to him or else he will not fall asleep. In our queen sized bed, its been difficult, both my boys take up space and I have been sleeping in the day bed - but I have to wait til Lucas is deeply asleep. A few times I even tried to put Lucas back into his own bed but he woke up. I tried giving Lucas my pillow in his bed - he throws it out.

So now I have to wake up everytime he calls and get him to sleep again - in his own bed. Waking up is not the problem, but it takes me ages to fall back asleep again. I have had to catch naps in the afternoon when Lucas is sleeping but today, he napped for less than an hour :P

Lucas @ 31 months

Yesterday as we were driving in the rain near Jardin Massey, Lucas suddenly exclaimed "there" and pointed to the direction of the parc. Lucas' sense of direction at this age is really good - he knows when we are driving to Mamy's house (he says "mamy"), he knows when we are going to see his friend Ixchel in Semeac (once, when I tried to turn my car around to park, Lucas started crying because he thought we were going to leave), he recognises his garderie and his playschool at Gepetto. When Fred & I take him for walks, he points to the direction of the stream where he plays with his papa, throwing pebbles; and he also knows where McDonalds is!
Lucas asks for ice cream and chocolate regularly, he also says "biscuit", "open", "down", "fall down", and "shower". I noticed that Lucas has started more words in French, and while I don't understand him much when he starts talking, his friends at the garderie and Ixchel seem to have no problems understanding him.

I am trying to encourage his imagination when he talks to his imaginary friend on the phone. A couple of times, Lucas even answers the phone when it rings and says "oui?" (he continues babbling after he says "oui, oui. cava?")  Once he said "attends" (wait in french)

We also noticed a growth sprout in Lucas - he seems like a little boy now, not so much a baby anymore. My little one is growing up so fast!

May 8

I have reached another milestone in my life. I am 40. In France, my birthday falls on a national holiday :) The 8th of May is also known as "Victoire", and is to commemorate the end of the 2nd world war in 1945 when the unconditional surrender of the Nazis were formally accepted by the Allies.

I have been literally bombarded with emails, smses and birthday wishes on my Facebook since the 7th (as Malaysia is 6 hours forward). Being away from my family and friends made me feel a little down and homesick, especially when  I got  smses and mails from  my PHP neighbours and good friends who used to celebrate my birthday for me every year. In fact, my upstairs neighbour Chrissy and I would celebrate it together as her birthday falls on the 6th.

As it was a special day for me, Fred took care of Lucas and I got to sleep in til almost 11 that morning :) 

My Mexican friend Liz decided to make me a mexican dinner for my birthday. Her sister in law who is also my french tutor, Cathy made picadillo; Liz made chicken fajitas complete with warm tortillas, shredded cheese, salsa, fresh cream AND jalepenos.

My birthday cake was a fresh strawberry cream cake made by Cathy. When the candles were lit, I was confused for a moment when I saw 4 candles... I found myself wondering why 4? why not 3? And then it hit me that I have turned 40!!!! :P

Liz & I

yums!!! picadillo

Snowing... in May

Its snowing again! Unbelievable!!!! In my favourite month of the year (mother's day, my birthday and Springtime), when its supposed to be warm sunny days, it started snowing in Tarbes today. Big, fat flakes have been raining down since noon. The heater is back on again. Its fricking 2 degrees outside and the meteo says it will continue to rain & snow til the weekend...

Well, I guess its going to be a white birthday for me :)

12 months and counting...

I was chatting with my sister on Skype and she mentioned that she thinks I seem to have found everything my heart desired since I moved to France because I sound so contented in my blog.

Have I found it then? Here in the South of France? A lot of my friends tell me the same - that I seem so much happier now. Well, I guess I am - even though I gripe about being "stuck" in Hicksville a.k.a Tarbes and I tell my friends back home that I live in a "kampung"  (malay for village) Tarbes is actually not a bad place to be as I've come to realize.

When Fred first told me that he would NEVER live in a city again after Kuala Lumpur, I was devastated. I was a through and through city girl, I even loved being stuck in traffic in KL, listening to music and taking a slow drive home after work.

Moving to "rural" France was a big change for me - I was never going to get stuck in massive traffic jams on a daily basis, there was no need to spend hours waiting for administrative work in goverment offices, I no longer need to allocate extra time to get from point A to point B, no need to rush anywhere or drive like a maniac (though I sometimes still do fall back into that nasty KL driving habit...). On top of that there is that pesky language barrier.

12 months on, I have to say that I love the fact that Tarbes is so close to the Pyrenees mountains and the pretty villages in between and Tarbes is also close to the sea which I love! There are so many places to explore, all within an hour's drive from here.

When we were exploring the idea of moving to Auch or Agen (Fred was going to go into partnership with a friend to open his own hairdressing salon in either of these 2 towns) I was happy at the thought of leaving Tarbes as both Auch & Agen are closer to Toulouse. But as the moving date came closer and we were told that Agen was likely going to be our new home, we began to look at Agen more closely and found that we didn't like Agen at all. Smaller than Tarbes and hours away from the sea and mountains - though it is only an hour from Toulouse; but how often would I be visiting Toulouse, unless I get a job there?

After much prayers it seems that we are destined to stay in Tarbes. Fred's project with Eric may take a longer time as they explore places nearby Tarbes. Furthermore, in and around Tarbes & Pau, Fred will be able to keep busy with his coifure domicile business as there are many people here looking for english speaking hairdressers.

So, come July, we will enrol Lucas into a maternelle here in Tarbes and we are currently searching for a new home. On my part I am checking the pole emploi website periodically, looking for a part time job ( I won't start working full time until Lucas goes to school full time; probably in a couple of years) to keep me in style and to get me out of the home without Lucas.

12 months on, I realize that I have truly given up my life and career back in Malaysia for a better life here in France. My son is going to grow up French, although he will not forget his chinese roots as we will be keeping with my chinese traditions. Lucas will be bi-lingual for now, and I will start him on the chinese language next year.

12 months on, I have built another life for myself in my newly adopted country, made new friends and have learnt how to get by watching American TV series dubbed in French (with french subtitles to boot!).

Foodwise the jury is still out on pate, haricot Tarbais, rillette and saucisson but I love ratatouille and the occassional magret de canard (funny how I hardly eat any duck except for peking duck in KL and I am eating duck here now...). I still miss a lot of Malaysian food but thank God for my parents and friends who send me Malaysian food!

12 months on, being in France in the midst of an economy crisis (Malaysia is too sheltered that its people are wearing blinders) I have learnt to be thankful and not take things like food, work, transportation and shelter for granted. Being exposed to refugees who have fled their countries and the others who have come to France to look for a better life made me realize how much we had when we were in Malaysia and how much I took for granted what we have here in France.

These 12 months I spent with Lucas as a SAHM is priceless. Sure there were some sacrifices to be made but I was here for every milestone, for every tear, for every new word, for every hug, for every new taste, for every tantrum and for every laugh.

Everyday spent with Lucas fills me with undescribable joy, even when he's being naughty. None of this would have been possible had we stayed back in Malaysia

May Day

The month of  May has more jours fériés (bank holidays) than any other month in France. There are two fêtes civiles - the Fête du Travail (Labour Day, 1st May) and Victoire des Alliés (VE Day, 8th May). Then come two fêtes religieuses, namely Ascension (13th May) and Lundi de Pentecote (24th May).

Le 1er Mai, also known as May Day or Fête du Muguet is a national holiday and celebrated every May 1st in France with the giving of Muguet (Lily of the Valley).

The tradition for May Day is to give friends and loved ones a little bouquet of Muguet, considered a porte-bonheur ( a bringer of happiness and luck), and to celebrate the arrival of spring. In and around France, you'll notice on every street corner, someone selling these little bouquets, nicely wrapped in paper and ribbon.   Although at all other times of the year, selling any kind of flowers or anything else on the street requires paying for a permit, May Day is exempted from tax, and anyone can sell the blossoms anywhere without being tithed by the city. Commuters are everywhere clutching their muguet. Yesterday, a man was standing outside our apartment complex, in the cold and rain, selling muguet.

Bonne Fête du 1er Mai! (though I reckon its normally accompanied by warmer & sunny days...)

Note to parents: These pretty flowers are poisonous, even the leaves and stem are toxic and the water which you put the sprigs in...

Le 1er Mai also marks Lucas & my 1st anniversary here in France. It's exactly 12 months ago that we boarded the MH plane and took that journey which brought us to our brand new life in Tarbes.