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You would think that with an international brand like IKEA, the beds would all have the same dimensions around the world, well you would be wrong!

I kept thinking we’ll get in a place and the beds will be the same than some of the 7 other places we lived…. nope.

The quest ends now. I’m giving up.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/39GsNmO

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Throw Back Thursday: Summer 2016

The summer of Wanderlust & Friendship.

Our usually summer spent in our summer house in France with a lot of trips, most of them unplanned.

First was daughter first trip all by herself all the way to St Barts, a longer trip to Paris with hubby and son, a very very last minute girl trip to Amsterdam with BFF (booked the night before!) followed by a solo weekend in the south of France, decided while I was driving home from the airport back from Amsterdam, another trip to Paris and finally a mother-daughter trip to Switzerland to visit what would become her school 2 years later and at the same time reconnecting with expat friends (long long time ago friend). All this while managing a move from Beijing to Singapore. More pictures from summer 2016 are: https://atotaltaitaitale.tumblr.com/tagged/c&jFrance2016/chrono

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Just an reminder: Since we cannot travel this summer I’ve decided to do a Throw Back Thursday of our summer in France for the past 6 years, Why 6 years because that’s only how far back this blog goes, so I can easily link to more pictures and it turns out it’s the number of weeks until school start again 😉

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from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2DhcMaI

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We are not traveling for a while…

We can either see it as being stuck here

Or

As an opportunity to (re)discover Singapore*

There’s always two ways of seeing things (the half full or half empty glass dilemma). You can either choose to always see the negative or you can (re)train your mind at seeing the positive, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

I’ve always been a half full kinda gal. That’s how you survive this life.

The Singapore coastline is not the most paradisiacal and the oil tankers on the horizon not the most dreamy sight, yet you can decide to plant your tent between 2 palm trees and enjoy what you’ve got, just like this guy.

* Th e new slogan by the tourism board is Singaporediscover

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/314FQdY

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We are not traveling for a while…

We can either see it as being stuck here

Or

As an opportunity to (re)discover Singapore*

There’s always two ways of seeing things (the half full or half empty glass dilemma). You can either choose to always see the negative or you can (re)train your mind at seeing the positive, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

I’ve always been a half full kinda gal. That’s how you survive this life.

The Singapore coastline is not the most paradisiacal and the oil tankers on the horizon not the most dreamy sight, yet you can decide to plant your tent between 2 palm trees and enjoy what you’ve got, just like this guy.

* Th e new slogan by the tourism board is Singaporediscover

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/314FQdY

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Exploring our little Red Dot since we cannot leave it and enjoying another Brunch, this time at The Coastal Settlement near the Old Changi Village (it was a Village before it became known as the world best international airport!)

Previously known as Block 20, Changi Camp, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a fault control and telephone exchange, operated by the 19 Signal Regimen. In fact, this general area was known as the Changi Military Base in the British times.

The interior is decorated with all things of the past – literally a museum filled with retro memorabilia, paintings, vintage vehicles, nostalgic gadgets and antique furniture. Take a moment here, relax, imagine, savour, enjoy, and reminisce the old days gone by.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/30UiO9h

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Monday “Murals”

After a mural on a foot path here’s one on a car.

I’m really stretching this Monday Murals Series 😉

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2CV1l8G

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I keep saying goodbye.

This is a 11-month minimum See You Later.

After 4 months with the parentals she decided it was time to go back to her student life.

NB: She left at 1:30am… she has landed, took the train and arrived home by the time this is posted 😉

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3jANhlv

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Going to Chinese HotPot seems to be our family “last dinner before we leave Asia” tradition.

This will most likely be daughter last dinner in Singapore (I would never ever say 100% sure because that’s what we thought in December 😉).

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2Bye2G0

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As of today I’m officially not dependent of my husband’s employment pass anymore… after 22 years on the road, it’s about time.

#WelcomeToThe21stCentury

However I’m only allowed to stay in Singapore beacuse of my son’s student pass and the willingness of my Singaporean sponsor (who I’m extremely grateful for)

#TheDarkSideOfTheExpatLifeForTheTraillingSpouse

NB: The French side of me (which is the whole me 😉) still has the hair on the back of her neck rises at the Race & Religion question. Still remember how godsmacked I was when I saw it for the first time in the USA. This is a big NO-NO in France and Europe in general

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2X8QAa3

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Throw Back Thursday: Summer 2017

This was the summer of Solo Road Trips Adventure.

Summer started as usual with a quick 2-day trip to Paris (we have to have an annual health check for the company) and then daughter went to St Bart with her cousin and son to his annual summer camp.

A post on Instagram about lavender fields prompt me to check how far it actually was from our house. Turns out it was pretty close (around 200kms/2+hours!) so I study a rough route and realized one of my Swiss friend (well actually American/Canadian) from Beijing had a place nearby. The little road trip ended up with a stop at her place for a couple of days as she was hosting a few others friends from Beijing then while driving around found out that the Avignon photography festival was going on, so of course I had to make a small detour on my way back home 😉

I wasn’t going to stop this driving adventure there so decided to finally make the 70 kms (less than an hour!) trip to visit Valrhona Cites du Chocolat (amazing chocolate usually used by cooks/bakers around the world), plus some vineyard were just around the corner 😉

The entire set of picture of the summer can be found: https://atotaltaitaitale.tumblr.com/tagged/c&jFrance2017/chrono

****

Just an reminder: Since we cannot travel this summer I’ve decided to do a Throw Back Thursday of our summer in France for the past 6 years, Why 6 years because that’s only how far back this blog goes, so I can easily link to more pictures and it turns out it’s the number of weeks until school start again 😉

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from Tumblr https://ift.tt/32MKG1N