Round The World 2007 - Mega Post

I haven't posted since Singapore. Where to start?

We had a lovely 5 days in Geneva where the whole family got gastroenteritis (Sensational.) Marc got sick first on our way from Singapore, then I was really sad to see my little Philippe being sick and not eating. Thank goodness it only lasted 2 days. It was finally my turn. It started the day we were touring the Swiss Alps (even more sensational). Luckily, it was all over when we catched our flight for Montreal at 5 am on Saturday morning.

Apart from that, Switzerland was great. We spent a lot of time with our friends Les Dunand. They all seem very happy to meet our son Philippe. We went for walks in the vineyards with Raphael, the third son of the family, who is learning the arts of wine making. We drove to Evolene, a typical Swiss village of the Valais with Jean-Marie and Alexandre. We visited Carouge, an old suburb of Geneva where Jean-Marie now lives. We spent some time chatting with Martine and we ate WAY TOO MUCH raclette, cheese and chocolate!

We then flew to Montreal via Frankfurt. That sucked. If you can avoid the Frankfurt airport, do so!!! It's badly ventilated, people smoke everywhere, there is no decent food, you can't find water or the toilets as the information system consists of a bugged touch screen boot that returns the list of all the airport facilities regarless of your query. And of course, no one to talk to to give you some live information! Air Canada sucked as well but what can you do when you live in a shoe??? They're the only ones servicing the Canadian cities and we need more Aeroplan miles.

We finally landed in Montreal. Thanks to the baby in the stroller we got the bypass and got into the country quickly. I nearly took a photo of Philippe next to the Canadian flag but decided not to. Both my mom and dad were waiting for us. I was so happy to see them, I ran with the stroller to meet them. No one got injured but we all shed a tear anyway! We then drove 4 hours to Pembroke, Ontario where we stayed with my sister Andree for the weekend. When I finally went to bed that night, I had been up for 22 hours and had fed the baby 8 times. I was completed exhausted and could not even answer questions! Andree helped me to bed and I fell asleep with Philippe in the minute. We killed the jetlag in one day!

It was great to see Andree and Sebastien again. It had been over 3 years since the last time. They now have a beatiful daughter Laura, 7 months older than Philippe. As it rained for 3 days, we spent all our time there talking about the old days and admiring our babies. They live in a house of over 100 years old, fully refurbished of course, and very comfy. Andree and Sebastien being good Quebecers, it was freezing outside but very warm inside. We spent the weekend in shorts and t-shirts, just like a Tassie summer! So much for all the winter clothes I bought for Philippe before leaving home...

Then back to Montreal. But that will have to wait. It`s almost 11 pm, I'm figthing one of the worst cold ever, Philippe is wacking every hour of the night so I'm off to bed. I have so much more to say so stay tuned for the next episode! (Photo will be added tomorrow, promise!)

Love, Edith

Philippe's Singapore Fanclub

They all loved him (I can't find the exclamation mark on this Swiss keyboard...) Of course he was smiling at everyone from his stroller and making all sorts of cute little noises that would make everyone go "Ohhh".

Our 3 days in Saingapore were fantastic. We visited Chinatown where Chinese man and woman would smile at Philippe and touch his feet. We bought silk scarves, had tailored shirts made for us and I also found some pretty cool western pants. We visited an indian temple (yes, in Chinatown) and many Chinese temples too. Impressive and beautiful. We ate like it was our last meal, 4 times a day, in fact as often as we found something new. My favorite is Ice Katchang, a desert made from shaved ice topped with fruit and coconut syrups, green jelly, red beans and corn. Strange but yummy.

On the second day we visited Little India where we found a nice Punjabi suit for me. Apart for shopping, little india was quite exhausting: crowded, noisy, smelly at times, but still very interesting. I guess it gave me an idea of what India would be like. Again, we ate curries and all sorts of good stuff with he locals. The indian food turned out to be Marc's favorite in Singapore.

We went out to a Peranakan (mix of Chinese and Malay culture from the first migrants to Singapore) restaurant. Everything was delicious, a million flavour hit our taste buds: lemongrass, coconut, chili, lime, coriander, etc. The beef rendang was to die for and I couldn't get enough of the fish cakes. We didn't quite manage to enjoy the infamous local fruit "durion" tough. I cannot really describe it, all I can say is that it tastes like brown...

On our last day, we had lunch in Kampong Glam, the Arab district where we visited the Sultan Mosque. It was the first time I set foot into a mosque. That neibourghood is getting more and more hip, with local designers sharing the streets with the more traditional fabric shops. More cashemire scarves, and more food.

A quick dash to Orchard Road, one of the coolest shopping destination in the world. Name your brand, they've got it, except mine: the Benetton and Sisley stores in Paragon shopping mall apparently just closed down. And to say I came all the way from Australia. We ended up finding nice clothes at Calvin Klein Jeans. I forgot how i like the way CK jeans look like - always good (where-s the bloody exclamation mark???)

More news from Geneva after our day trip to the Valais today.

Depart - It's a Go!

It's 7:45 am. We're leaving home in 45 minutes with Stu who's driving us to the airport. We've had 3 hours of sleep but hey, we're ready!!! I wish I could have showed you the size of our suitcases (Philippe has the biggest!) but the camera is also packed and ready to go. In brief, the latest news:

• Philippe and I are now Australian permanent resident;
• The whole family is enrolled in the Australian bureaucracy: Medicare, Family Assistance and the lot;
• Philippe had a third cold in less than 2 months and he seems to be just over it... wish us luck for the plane trips ahead!
• He is almost crawling (rocking back and forth on all fours) and now eating three meals a day, mainly puree;
• I'm very excited to leave - I've been talking about this round the world trip for over 2 years now.

More news and photos from Singapore, our first stop!

Love, Edith