Generosity of friends and passers

I have been receiving new and hand-me-down baby clothes and stuff from my friends in Singapore. It is heart warming that people go all their way out to have these items passed to me. Each package I collected required some logistics and planning.

Helios’s M from Herbiesphere is actually a friend of Claire. I have been following this blog for a long time before we realised that we had met once when I was invited by Claire to an outing with her friends. Helio’s M passed some baby stuff to Claire and Claire split the stuff into two packages. One, she passed to my friend Angel who was in Paris for work. The other, she passed it to a work friend of hers who was in Paris for leisure. I met up with her work friend at Gare du Nord when he was arrived from London to Paris by train. Of course, he was someone I never met before. It was really kind of him to do us a favour.

Next up was a package from my dear friend Moo Han. She recommended me to read the book “Supernatural Childbirth” and kindly sent a copy to me. At the same time, she added some baby clothes. Seb went to the post office to collect the registered package for me. It was a sweet surprise.

And most recently, I went to collect a package from a work colleague of Shirley who was in Paris for a seminar. Shirley, who is at the moment in a baking craze, prepared some baby clothes for me. You can find her bakes in Jellio & Jubilee.

I find Singaporeans strangers extremely helpful being passers.

Well, my blessing does not just end here. Sharon from Sound Bites, whom I know thru’ our common friend Mike, has somethings for me too. I am not aware of the details but it seems that her dad who is visiting her in Beijing will help pass the stuff to Mike when he returns to Singapore. And just nice, Mike plans to come Europe for a tour.

My sister-in-law had given us lots of baby clothes and stuff too. It is really amazing how kind and generous humans are; especially mothers. Thank you kind hearts and I really appreciate these gifts.

Bao Bei and illegal cats in Singapore HDB flats

Last Thursday, when I was not working, I decided to organise some random photos we had. While I was hard at work pasting the photos into the various photo albums, Bao Bei just popped up onto the dinning table and basked in the sunlight.

Jeudi dernièr, comme je ne travaillais pas, j'ai décidé d'organiser les photos. Pendant que j'étais en train de coller des photos dans les albums, Bao Bei a sauté sur la table à manger et s'est prélassée au soleil.

She looked so happy and contented to find some warmth in this cold winter.

Elle avait l'air si heureuse et contente d’avoir trouvé de la chaleur cet hiver.

The next day, I read in the singapore news that cats are illegal in HDB flats. I do have friends who kept cats in their HDB homes. This law is rather relaxed. Still, I find the reason given to be irrelevant.

Le lendemain, j'ai lu dans le journal de Singapour que les chats sont interdits dans les appartements publique. J'ai des amis qui ont des chats chez eux. Cette loi est assez souple. Quand même, je trouve que la raison donné est faible.

Extract from the news:

While Singapore's cat lovers want the "cat ban" lifted, as it was for small dogs three decades ago, authorities say it is necessary to avoid cat-related spats between neighbours.

"Our principal consideration is to preserve a pleasant living environment and good neighbourly relations," Singapore's HDB told Reuters in an emailed statement.

"We need to strike a balance between pet lovers and those who are more sensitive to the disturbances caused by animals."

HDB's website says banning cats, not dogs, is justified, as "they are nomadic in nature and are difficult to be confined".

In Paris, I know of many people who have cats in their appartments and I never hear of neighbours having disputes with cats over here. Actually, I did hear of neighbours here and in Singapore complaining about their neighbours' noisy dogs. Some untrained dogs can bark all day when the owners are out at work. They have to be taken out for walks and peep and shit in the public areas. No offence to dog owners. I love dogs as well. But the reasons given by the authorities on the ban of cats are just too lame.

A Paris, je connais beaucoup de gens qui ont de chats dans leurs appartements et je n'ai jamais entendu de problème entre les voisins à cause des chats. En fait, j'ai entendu des voisins ici et à Singapour qui se plaignent de chiens. Il y a des chiens qui aboient quand les maitres ne sont pas là. Il faut sortir les chiens pour qu'ils fassent leurs besoins dans un lieu public. J'aime les chiens. Mais les raisons données par Singapour sur l'interdiction de chats ne me convainquent pas.

Massive strike

Today is France's black thursday. There are massive strikes in the public sectors. Public transports are greatly reduced. Air controllers are on strike leading to 30% of flights cancelled. Seb left yesterday evening for Italy as he had a meeting today. He was afraid that he could not leave for Italy this morning. I do hope that his return flight tonight takes off as scheduled.

As for me, I took a day off to avoid the traffic jam. My colleague had to take a day off to take care of her toddler as the child care center will be closed. The staff are not on strike but most of them come to work by public transport and would have difficulty getting to work in time and getting home after work.

Teachers are on strike too. Schools are closed and parents have to find alternative child care for the day. Judges are on strike too. I have a registered letter to collect from the post but I decided not to go anywhere today cos La Poste is on strike too!

I am not greatly affected by the strike except that I used up my last day off and had to wait until end of Feb to accumulate new ones. I felt that it is good that people can protest. Unlike in singapore where even two people who manifested were rounded up by the police. Maybe one day when I am greatly affected by the strikes would I change my mind.

Happy Chinese New Year

I wish all who celebrate this day a happy chinese new year. May the year of the ox brings you health and prosperity.
I brought some snacks to work today and everyone loves it. Yeah, I work on this really important day. This year, we did not celebrate chinese new year. It is due to the fact that I am having back ache and both of us are feeling tired. Seb is down with a cold. Over the weekend, we had a friend over for lunch and I cooked lor-bak (braised meat). She liked it. Cool. I put in mushrooms, pork belly, hard-boiled eggs and fried beancurd. I learnt this dish when I was in uni from a guy friend. I don't remember his name but I remember very well this cooking lesson he gave me.
On Sunday, Seb's father came and helped us paint the baby's room. Guess no one would do that on a chinese new year's eve. I fried noodles and made my favorite mustard veggie with roasted meat soup. And my father-in-law liked it. A few months ago, I made this soup and gave some to my neighbour. She loved it so much that she asked for the recipe. I gave her the ingredients recently and she made it for her mom. This morning, she told me that her mom loved the soup too. Maybe I should go start a chinese mustard soup shop.
After reading about friends and family having steamboat, I think I will do an impromptu steamboat tonight. This will be considered as my way of celebrating chinese new year!

PS: photo of steamboat.

Yammy rice

I asked mom to buy me a bottle of yam rice paste the last time she came. It has been so long since I last had yam rice. Mom used to cook yam rice but I prefer those selling at some braised duck rice stalls in Singapore.

Last sunday, Seb and I went to Chinatown to do grocery shopping. As chinese new year is around the corner, the 13th district was full of asians. The traffic was messy with cars and humans all congesting along one street. I tried my best to grab the essentials and for the first time, I took a yam. I always thought it was difficult to clean yam but I was wrong. It was pretty easy. Below are the ingredients for the yam rice. Of course the rice was missing in the picture. There were the yam, some chinese mushrooms, dried shrimps and the yam paste.

And this is the end product. Though it did not look yummy, Seb liked it. And so did I. This is one easy one-pot meal. I only used up half the bottle of paste. I wonder if I could easily find yam in the supermarket here. If not, what can I use to subsitute the yam?

Snow in Paris

Two tuesdays ago, it snowed almost the whole day in Paris. After that, the temperature stayed below zero degree for a week. As a result of this, Paris was covered in white except on the roads where car pollution quickly melted the snow.

The pavements were slippery and I was extra careful when walking around with Nicole. We walked a lot during the four days she was here and I was really tired out each night. Still, I had a good time with her. We went shopping as it was and stil is the winter sales and I bought some baby clothes.

We took a stroll in the Jardin de Luxembourg. It was the first time I saw the garden covered in snow. How lovely. At the fountain nearby the Eligse Saint Sulpice, some kids were having fun "skating" on the frozen water.

We stopped by Coolin's for hot chocolate instead of beer this time before heading to les Galeries nationales du Grand Palais for the exposition of "Picasso et les Maîtres". I liked it. Picasso was really talented though I did not like all his works. This temporary exposition ends soon and I highly recommend it even if you are not into Picasso. Buy the tickets in advance as the ticket queue for actual day visit is long.

Musical saw

I am in my Korean cuisine phase and Seb is in his Jazz music phase. What better way to spend a friday evening with our friends than having a Korean dinner at Bibimbap with a mini Jazz concert.

Nicole was visiting me from Munich and had never had Korean food. Her friend Liz came along and the last time I saw Liz was 2 years ago. We had a good dinner and each of us ordered a bibimbap set. The Jazz music was alright. Sometimes, it got a bit too loud for us to talk.

We all discovered a new musical instrument for the first time. It was the musical saw. It produced a surreal sound and the musician was able to play music on the saw using what looked like a violin bow. It was pretty amazing. I enjoyed the evening and I would say the same for the rest of my company. Food wise, Seb prefers L'Arbre de Sel. I shall continue my quest for good korean food.

Manual torture

Yesterday we brought our car for servicing. Actually, I made a dent on the car 2 months ago when I accidentally hit on the kerb. The damage done was minimal but Seb insisted that we had it repaired. So, while the car was being repaired, we got a replacement car from the garage for the moment.
Boy, the replacement car was a small manual gear car and I am really rusty in driving such a car. It was scary and funny at the same time when I tried to put on the first gear and get the car moving. Since Seb's office was along the way, I had to drive him to work and then parked the car in my office parking. That is always a breeze with our automatic gear car.
When I left work to fetch Seb in the evening, I was mostly on gear 1 and 2. Good thing our offices were nearby but by the time I reached his office and he took over the wheels, I was having tummy ache. I guess I freaked out our unborn baby. Seb was telling baby that this is typical of mom's driving and he would understand when he is born. The car jerked too much from my 7 mins of driving especially at each changing of gear. Also, I was laughing so hard to myself in the car cos I felt as though I was brought back to my teenage days driving a daytona arcade game. This morning when I took over the wheels from Seb to come to office, I felt that I drove better than yesterday.
Still, both of us are so used to automatic car that we hope to have our car back soon.

Goodbye 2008

Today is the last day of 2008 and the office is really calm. Just a quick note to wish everyone a good year 2009 ahead.

Year 2008 has been good to us. Despite all the uncertainity of the financial world, we are not yet affected. Indeed, business is slower in almost all sectors. But Seb and I are blessed with good health and a new family member is in the making. That's what counts most.

For year 2009, there are many talks in the media that it will be a tough year. A french investor in New York had committed sucide due to the Madoff affair. That is such a shame. Even if one is bankrupt, it is not the end of the world. There are many people who are living in real poverty. Even if year ahead is tough, I pray that everyone will be able to brave through it.

Boxing day

Seb and I spent a good Christmas with Seb's family in Chartres. This year, I had to abstain myself from eating smoked salmon, oysters and unpasterised cheese. Things which I always look forward to feasting during this year end festival. Seb did not even drink any wine as he had to drive us home after the Christmas lunch. That was difficult for him as he saw the good wine passing under his nose.

Today, both of us did not work. Seb's office is closed and his company imposed a day off for everyone. As for my office, today is considered a holiday for us. So though I did not work, I did not have to take a day off like Seb.

We went Paris for a walk. I had prawn dumplings noodle soup at Mirama in Saint Michel. Mirama serves the best dumplings and roasted duck in Paris. Even Angel's colleague who had been to Paris a few times for work agreed with me when we first met a few weeks ago.

After that, we went Carrefour for grocery shopping. At Carrefour, I took the queue reserved for pregnant ladies and handicaps. This was the second time I did that. Most of the time, I joined the normal queue as the priority queue was often just as long as the normal ones. And on both occasions, I heard remarks from people behind me commenting that I was abusing the queue. I had to justify myself by replying that I was more than 3 months pregnant. With my little bump hidden under my winter coat, no one could tell I am 5 months pregnant. At church, without my coat, I was talking to someone new and she thought I was a student in Paris. I guess I should take that as a compliment. Anyway, I just had my monthly check up and baby is doing fine, weighing 550g. That is the most important thing.

Black rice vinegar and confinement

Angel was here on work trip recently and upon my mom's request, he helped me brought two bottles of black rice vinegar. Seb and I met up with him and his colleagues and we had a good dinner togather.

What is so special about this particular black rice vinegar? Well, Mom insisted that this is the only brand that I must eat during my confinement period. No other brand in Paris Chinatown will do. During the confinement period, it is necessary to eat lots of pig's trotters cooked in vinegar. I am not sure of the taste of this dish but since mom is such a good cook, I am sure I will enjoy it.

So what is confinement? This is something I explained to Seb long ago and recently explained to my mom-in-law and friends. It was never easy explaining and each time, I got bewildered eyes looking at me. Basically, confinement is something Singaporean women practiced for a month right after giving birth. Common practices include: No touching of water, no contact with wind, no heavy works, rest, rest and more rest.

I found two links that explained confinement really well. Mom will be my confinement lady; taking care of me. Since this will be her first time, I will negotiate with her to have showers every day!
http://www.babycenter.com.sg/pregnancy/asian-postnatal-practices/confinement-practices/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Asian-Post-natal-Practice-of-the-Confinement-Month

Danger zone

Some explosives were found in Printemps shopping store this morning. The terroists group who planted these explosives in a few toilets sent out a warning note to the news agency AFP (Agence France-Presse). Apparently, these explosives did not have a timer. But the group warned that if their request for the withdrawal of French troops in Afghanistan was not met, there won't be a warning note the next time.

Seb sent me an email and pointed out the news to me. He told me not to visit big departmental shops from now on. I often shop in the Haussman area and would use the toilets at Printemps when nature calls. Small boutiques along the streets do not have toilet facilities. I was even thinking of going there this Sat to do our last minute Christmas shopping. I have yet to choose my present from Seb. These days, we can never be too sure of anything.

Good thing there is Vente Privée (a private sales website). It offers great bargains on well-known brands and I have been buying things from them. So far, I had bought books, cocottes from Staub, baby clothes from Absorba and Petit Bateau. For the moment, I will take my husband's advise and let my fingers do the shopping for me instead. Just hope that my wallet will not explode!

Christmas is coming again

I was not keen to get a Christmas tree this year. But when I saw a friend put up photos of her Christmas tree on her facebook, I was tempted to get one. So on sunday morning, we went to Truffaut and got a Christmas tree. It is about 1.1m. This is how it looks after being decorated. I am tired of the decoration and will definitely change them next year. The balls should retire as this would be their 4th annual appearance.

Je ne voulais pas un sapin de noël cette année. Mais quand j’ai vu sur Facebook les photos d’un sapin qu’une copine a acheté, j’ai craqué. Donc, dimanche matin, nous avons allés chez Truffaut afin de chercher un sapin. Il est environ 1.1m. J’ai décidé de changer la décoration l’année prochaine. Les balles sont utilisées depuis quatre ans et c’est l’heure de leur retraites.

On Sunday afternoon, we had Seb's family over for lunch to celebrate Seb's birthday. Our living room was really too small for 10 people after adding in the Christmas tree. But everyone managed to find their place. For entrée, I served vegetarian samosa and Wu-Xiang (bean curd skin pork rolls) that my mom made for me. I had already made a couple of my friends tried mom's wu-xiang and it was always well received. For main dish, it was baked stuffed female duck from Picard. Side dishes were potatoes wedges and buttered french beans. Cheese and cake followed. Everyone was satisfied with lunch and I had to give credit to Picard as it provides fresh, quality frozen food.

Dimanche après midi, nous avons invités la famille pour déjeuner afin de fêter l’anniversaire de Seb. Avec le sapin, notre salon est trop petit pour dix personnes. Heureusement, chacun a pu trouver sa place. Pour l’entrée, il y avait du samossas végétarien et wu-xiang (un sort de nem) fait par ma mère. Tout le monde aime ce que ma mère a fait. J’ai servi une canette farci de chez Picard comme plat principal. Il est accompagné avec des haricots verts et des potatoes. Ensuite, il y avait des fromages et le gâteau. On a bien mangé et je dois avouer que les produits chez Picard sont frais et bon.

As Christmas is round the corner, we have to move our butts this weekend to do Christmas shopping. As usual, it will be another stop at FNAC for books, CDs and games. December is always the month where I have to crack my head to get two gifts for Seb. For his birthday, it was an electrical Italian café maker from Bodum. For Christmas, I subscribed a year's supply of Hi-Fi magazines for him. I may just add in a CD too.

Bientôt, c’est noël. On doit bouger ce weekend et faire notre course de noël. Comme d’hab, on va aller chez FNAC pour les livres, CDs et jouets. Décembre est toujours le mois où je casse ma tête pour trouver les cadeaux de Seb. Pour son anniversaire, c’était un cafetière italienne électrique de chez Bodum. Pour noël, c’est un abonnement d’un magazine Hi-Fi. Peut-être, je vais ajouter un CD en plus.

My virgin vote

I voted for the first time in my life. As I am still a Singaporean, I do not have rights to vote in presidential or general elections. But since I am working in France, I do have the right to vote for the election of the council of Prud'Hommes. If I am not wrong, Prud'Hommes is sort of a tribunal court dealing with complains and conflicts between the employers and employees. The union party elected will represent the employees.

Since a month and a half ago, we received our electoral card and also pamplets of each participating union party.

In Singapore, I never got to vote since there was never opposition contesting for my estate. The last time I was able to vote, I was living in France and the nearest poll center was in London.

It felt good to cast my vote though I am not sure how it would affect my work life.

Time for shopping

I need new clothes. No, I am not being vain here. My tops no longer fit me. Suddenly, it seems that my tummy has swell up and most of my tops do not completely cover my tummy. I am now 4.5 months pregnant. Today, I have to constantly pull my blouse to make sure my tummy does not show.

Tomorrow, it will be shopping spree time. Yipee! I will be reasonable.

It's been 6 years

We were invited to spend the weekend with our friends in Jura, south-east of France. A couple is celebrating their 10 years wedding anniversary and Seb and I are celebrating our 6 years of marriage. However, I backed out at the last minute after visiting my gynaecologist on thursday. She felt that travelling 400 km on friday and another 400 km back on sunday by car is too much for a pregnant woman. Well, there will be another chance to visit the mountains of Jura.

Nous avons été inviter à passer le weekend avec des amis dans le Jura, est de la France. Un couple fête ses 10 ans d'anniversaire de mariage. Seb et moi, nous avons fêté nos 6 ans de mariage. Néanmoins, j'ai décliné l'invitation à la dernier minute après la visite chez mon gynécologue. Elle m'a déconseillé de faire un trajet de 800km aller-retour en trois jours. Bon, il y aura toujours une autre fois pour visiter les montagnes de Jura.

So yesterday marked the 6th anniversary of our "I do"s and "I will"s. Seb did the housework in the morning and even cleaned the fridge. After lunch, we went out for a walk in Paris. We walked around the Montparnasse area as I remembered that there was a street with a few baby shops near Le Bon Marché. It was a cold day but the sun was out. When we stopped for our Korean dinner, I was really tired out from the few hours of walking. We enjoyed our day and our simple and delicious dinner at Arbe de sel. Seb even bought 2 baby clothes for me. Looking at them just bring a smile to my face.

Donc, hier était notre 6ème année ensemble comme mari et femme. Seb a fait le ménage le matin et a même nettoyé le frigo. Après déjeuner, on s'est promené dans Paris. On a marché dans le quartier de Montparnasse car je me souvennais avoir vu quelque boutiques pour les bébés à coté du Bon Marché. Il faisait froid mais il y avait du soleil. Quand on s'est arrêté pour notre diner Coréen, j'étais vraiment fatigué à cause des heures de marche. On a beaucoup apprécié cette journée et le simple et délicieux diner chez l'Arbe de Sel. Seb m'a acheté deux bodies de bébé. Je souris chaque fois je les regarde.

Today, it was even colder in Paris. While we were at the St Denis market, it snowed lightly. I am glad that I did not go Jura this weekend. With the cold weather, I am sure I would be tired out and would not be able to enjoy the trip.

Aujourd'hui, il fait 6 dégrées à Paris. Il a neigé quand on a été au marché de Saint Denis. Je suis comme même contente de ne pas être aller dans le Jura. Avec ces temps, je suis sûre que j'aurais été fatigué et que je ne me serais pas amusé.

Petrol prices drop

Our car drinks petrol. Last year when we first got our car, the price of petrol was at 1.299€/L. Since then, the price continued to increase until it hit 1.5€/L in May. That was really expensive but we only used our car mainly over the weekend.
Recently, we are seeing a new phenomenal. The price of petrol starts to drop. The last time I fed our car, the price was 1.17€/L. I heard over the radio that the price would continue to drop.
Now that I am pregnant, I drive to work. Public transport in the morning is always jam packed. I prefer to travel in comfort and in a less stressful surrounding. The journey to work by car or public transport takes about the same time. I am glad that petrol is cheaper. However, the petroleum companies are deciding to decrease oil supply in order to increase the demand and thus increasing the price. These companies never make a loss. They just want to sustain their profits. For the moment, I will just benefit a little from the economy downturn.
Let's see if the price will drop below 1€/L as mentioned in the radio.

Singapore curry

Today is Armistice 1918 and it is a public holiday in France. It is celebrated at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month where World War I was concluded.

Aujourd'hui, on fête l'Armistice 1918 en France. Vers onze heures, le onzième jours du onzième mois, la première guerre mondiale s'est terminée.

Seb and I did not work yesterday as Seb's company was closed and imposed an off day on everyone. I took a day off as well and we went Chartres to visit my in-laws. Since we had been out the last three days, we decided to just stay at home and rest.

Seb et moi, nous n'avons pas travaillé hier car la société de Seb était fermé et elle a imposé une journée de RTT pour tout le monde. J'ai prise une journée de RTT également et nous sommes allés à Chartres pour rendre visite à ma belle famille. Comme nous sommes sorties tous le weekend et hier, nous avons decidé de rester chez nous aujourd'hui.

I decided to cook chicken curry. I had two packs of curry pre-mix and chose to use Prima's first as it only required chicken and potatoes. There was coconut milk powder in the package.

J'ai voulu faire un curry de poulet. J'ai deux types de pates de curry et j'ai decidé d'utiliser celui de Prima car il a juste besoin de poulet et de patates. Il y a de la poudre de lait du coco dans la boite.

The result was pretty good. It looked good. I like the color and it tasted good. As I still had a piece of frozen roti prata, I fried it to go with the curry chicken as lunch. Yummy! There is still plenty for dinner.
Je suis satisfaite du résultat. Le curry donne une jolie coleur et il est bon. Comme j'avais encore un roti prata, je l'ai mangé avec le curry pour déjeuner. C'était délicieux. Il en reste encore beaucoup pour diner.

Pays-Basque

When my family was here in late Sept, we spent four days in the Pays-Basque region. This area is in the south-west of France near the border of Spain. We stayed at a bed and breakfast nearby Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The place we stayed was lovely. It was a typical house of this area. However, I find the service mininal and the host was not as friendly as the ones in Dordogne.

We spent a day walking around Saint-Jean-de-Luz. In the picture below, the building on the right is the famous "Joanoenea" house. The future queen of Louis XIII, Anne d'Autriche stayed there before her wedding ceremony in 1660.

We also visited nearby cities like Biarritz and Bayonne.

On one of the mornings, everyone except me went up la Rhune by the little train. I was not feeling well that morning. Everyone loved the mountain top view. There were eagles soaring in the sky, sheeps gazing and the view of the sea and mountains surrounding was beautiful. That was the feedback I got. I do hope to have a chance to do it one day.

Since we were so near the border of Spain, we drove over to San Sebastian. There were many bars selling tapas. While waiting for lunch, we went into one of these bars. The waiter gave us a plate and we just filled it up with whatever we want. After that, we ordered our drinks and based on the contents in our plates, we paid before standing around and trying out what we picked. It was interesting and the atmosphere was relaxing.

We were blessed with good weather as it did not rain. We drove around the region and visited other villages and even a gorge. I tried to make my family try the local delights but on most evenings, we had chinese thanks to my GPS. It was able to suggest restuarants near where we were. Based on the name of the restaurant, we were able to second guess that it was an Asian restaurant. And it was always BINGO!

Craving for Yong Tou Foo

I dreamt of eating Yong Tou Foo two days ago. It made me really want to just make a trip to Singapore to satisfy my craving. However, we had no plan to go back Singapore for the moment.

When I told Seb about my dream, he said "Why go back Singapore just for that? Yong Tou Foo is just soup with veggies." Sigh. He just did not get it. This is my comfort food and the fish paste in the veggies makes this dish so unique.

When Seb was in Boston last week, he had a great dinner at an authentic Malaysia restaurant. And they serve Yong Tou Foo. Was that why I had my dream of Yong Tou Foo?

Next week I will be going Helsinki for three days. I will try to convince David to dine with me at the Panda Restaurant opposite our client's place. I had been to Helsinki so many times but never try this Chinese restaurant. I doubt they serve Yong Tou Foo but maybe there would be other comfort food.

Since Singapore is too far, Seb promised to go Chinatown with me this sat to get some Chinese vegetables. He is extra accommodating to me at this moment. He has not much of a choice. A pregnant woman's wish is the husband's command.

Il y a deux jours j'ai rêvé que j'étais en train de manger un Yong Tou Foo. Ensuite, j'ai vraiment eu envie de faire un aller-reour à Singapour afin de satisfaire cette envie. Néanmoins, on n'a pas prévu de visiter Singapour pour le moment.

Quand j'ai parlé à Seb de mon rêve, il a repondu "Pourquoi aller à Singapour juste pour ça? Yong Tou Foo est juste une bol de soupe avec des légumes." Zut. Il n'avait rien compris. C'est un aliment me réconfortant et la pâte de poisson dans les légumes fait toute la différence.

Seb était à Boston la semaine dernier et il a bien mangé chez un restaurant Malaisie. En plus, il y avait le Yong Tou Foo. Ce n'est pas par hasard que j'ai rêvé de ça.

La semaine prochaine, je vais aller à Helsinki pendant trois jours. Je vais convaincre David de diner avec moi chez Panda qui est en face de notre client. Je suis allée à Helsinki plusieurs fois mais je n'ai jamais essayé ce restaurant asiatique. Je ne crois pas qu'il serve du Yong Tou Foo mais peut-être y aura t-il autres aliments réconfortant.

Comme Singapour est trop loin, Seb a promis d'aller à Chinatown avec moi samedi pour acheter les légumes chinoise. Il est beaucoup plus accommodant envers moi. Il n'a pas de choix. Le souhaite d'une femme enceinte est un ordre pour son mari.