new chapter of life – trippingdifferently

January 8, 2025

The Big Move Happened…

Radio silence on this blog for almost 6 weeks… We were very busy getting settled into this new chapter of our lives.

One last walk through our beloved Old Town Solothurn

We arrived in Singapore (SG) and had to squeeze 3 persons into one bedroom because our plan A for accommodation was not yet ready. It took more than 2 weeks of lots of packing things up and organising but we are in now and getting things together.

Lexi, our Schanuzer, is doing well. Actually, she was not doing well in her 2nd week here – diarrhoea and vomiting – it was a good thing we already had a general checkup lined up with the vet. Her pancreas was inflamed, not sure of the cause but it took almost a week on meds and low-fat diet (which she disliked greatly) to get her back to normal. She is still adjusting to the heat. We hope to install air-conditioning soon (for Lexi’s sake – hehehe 😉 )

We have been exploring the various dog-friendly options in SG. In Switzerland, Lexi could come with us almost everywhere but not here in SG. No dogs on public transport, only some eating places, not allowed in shopping centers and lots of other places. But we have found a few places we like and will be exploring more. Maybe I will write about these places in a separate blog post.

Now our daily living is divided between my mum’s where our son and Lexi lives and where we stay at my Godma’s (just a block away). We are still testing out routines and will see how things go before deciding if this living arrangement would work in the long term.

We are grateful to have family around again and are looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and building our lives here once more. We know that God has the best plan for us and this is it at this time.

We look forward to sharing more adventures with you – this time it will be our adventures getting re-acquinted with our home country after so many years away.

Wishing everyone a fulfilling 2025!

syc

May 31, 2024June 6, 2024

He’s an NSman…

My son’s enlistment day was 16 May 2024 so he’s now known as an NSman.

I witnessed his enlistment and it was great to have been there for the start of a new chapter of his life. 4 family members were allowed to witness his enlistment so it was my mum, brother, godma and I. The husband will come to witness the end of his basic military training (BMT).

We got bussed into the camp from the nearest MRT (subway) station, there was a mini tour of the bunks and then it was off to the multi-purpose hall to watch some videos while we wait for the rest of the people to arrive.

There was a brief introduction of the personnel responsible for the day-to-day running of the camp and all the officers as well as a care team. The care team is a recent addition to the life of a military camp which is reassuring for a mum to know that they are more aware of mental health needs these days.

Parents are also encouraged to join a specific Telegram channel to be updated on their daily activities in BMT and Slack channel for direct communications. So now I have 2 more apps on my phone.

We also got to try the canteen food they would be having during their time in camp.

Here are a few pictures from enlistment day and a couple of him in his uniform:

Besides being there for my boy’s enlistment, I was also able to be there for my elderly relatives, accompanying them to medical appointments and helping them with some tech stuff. I managed to find time to clear out my dad’s clothes and his chest of drawers. We found some “treasures” and remembered some lovely memories.

There was, of course, the usual yummy foods and time to meet other family and friends. One highlight was going to Sentosa with one of my cousins’ son and his girlfriend while they visited Singapore for a couple of days (they live in Japan).

Here are some photos:

Iconic Bear at Hamad International Airport

It was a busy trip but it was good to have been there. So proud that my boy decided to serve and seems to be adjusting well to the new routine.

Phew! I feel I need a holiday now… LOL…

syc

January 17, 2024

Big Trip to Singapore, Nov/Dec 2023

Yep, it’s 2024! Perfect time to look back on the last 2 months of 2023. LOL!

We did, what I consider, to be a BIG trip to Singapore.

Big in more ways than one; big in length of time (at least for me, it was 7 weeks). I think the last time we were there for that length of time was when my son was born. And what a lovely bookend this is because on this trip we usher my son into a rite of passage for any Singaporean male; into National Service (NS). Big also because I had so much I wanted to get done. I think I managed just enough for now. More to do next time… lol.

So what did I get done?

There was a wonderful primary school class reunion, lots of drawers and cupboards to clear out in the living room, loads of items to sort through, furniture to get rid of, new furniture to build and then fill with the items which we decided to keep. My brother also had emergency gall-bladder removal operation just before I arrived so there’s trying to make sure he recovered well.

Of course, there were visits to our family and friends, with lots of yummy meals to digest as well. It’s with a little bit of sadness that I realised lots of my relatives are really getting on in years. While many of them are still in fairly good health, the health issues that are there is affecting their daily lives slightly. Yet I have hope as I also see that they do have good family support and also the health care in Singapore is quite good.

Here are some pictures (quite a lot are of food, which tells you how much we ate… lol):

This new chapter of our lives has began and we are all adjusting; my husband and I to being empty nesters, my son to life in Singapore with his grandma and uncle and my family to having a young adult in the house again. I sincerely ask God to help us so that we might find this a fulfilling and blessed time for all of us.

syc