the last leg

And so after three months travelling we got in our car (stuffed to the roof with bags and bags of stuff) and drove the last five hours of our trip. The drive was pretty uneventful. We stopped at Mittagong for pies and Jack insisted on nursing his new tonka digger (thanks Uncle Craig) pretty much the whole way home.
Lucky (looking clean and fluffy) seemed pleased to see us which was a surprise. Knowing that he had been lavished with attention by Belinda while we were away, we thought he might tell us to bugger off. The house was lovely and clean and the fridge contained not only a veggie lasagna (thanks Diane) but also a yummy quiche (thanks Belinda).
After a chat with our excellent house lookerafterers and dogsitters, Alex and Belinda, and some dinner we went to bed and slept till 8.30 the next morning. There's just something about sleeping in your own bed.

The next day, Jack reacquainted himself with his room (and the fish), with his books,

the yard and of course Lucky dog.

It is cold here, but the days are mostly nice and probably about the same temp as London, Edinburgh or Dublin at the moment. And it means we get to us our gumboots.

giant giraffes in glebe

On the Monday after we arrived back in Australia we went to Glebe to
a) pick up our car
b) see the relos
c) so Jack could see his other grandparents (most importantly!).
After catching a number of buses and getting caught in the rain (just like English summertime) we made it to Boyce street. There was a reunion and the cat in residence, obviously experienced in the ways of children, beat a hasty retreat.
Above the door to the kitchen there is an enormous giraffe puppet that Jack was completely and blissfully unaware of. Once he'd spotted it though he gave it a wide berth. I mean look, it is very large. Even Noel looks disturbed by it.Luckily Auntie Ros distracted him with toys and S and his Dad put on a video of Shrek (though they seemed more into it than Jack).
After a lovely dinner we went back to Mosman to get plenty of sleep so we'd be ready for the long drive home.

duck aversion therapy

Lesley asked how the duck therapy was coming along and I told her it was going swimmingly. Jack had some intensive duck therapy during his stay at mosman. It seems to be working.

The aunties

On Sunday after a smashing breakfast at Gamin de Paris, we went to the park and Jack got to see the Aunties Lesley and Sandra. He had quite an entourage as he tested every piece of equipment in the park. It passed with flying colours (it's a very good playground) and a good time was had by all.

After the park we walked up the street stopping (every couple of steps to say hello to people my parents knew) at one of the amazing toy shops where Jack had a ride in one of those little cars for the first time. The verdict was positive. So much so that he took it for a spin on the way back and didn't even mind sharing. Luckily there were two steering wheels!

Scarlett and Jack

The day we arrived home was my sister in law Louise's birthday so we all had lunch on the Saturday. Apparently while Jack had been away his cousin Scarlett had mentioned his name a lot and whiled away many an hour watching him on Youtube. I was interested what she would do when confronted with the real thing.
And really she didn't seem too fussed. He tried to hug her and she said, "no..no..no" in a very determined manner. Later he tried to kiss her and she turned away so he pretended that he wasn't puckering up at all (be cool little Jack).
We had a nice lunch in the courtyard (though Jack and Scarlett both didn't seem keen on their sausages - must be lacking some Nelson genes there) and finished with a lovely chocolate tart from Gamin de Paris, which is a fantastic patisserie/cafe in Mosman. Jack and Scarlett had fun playing in the courtyard and I think Chelsea started writing her prize winning novel. The last time I saw her she mentioned she was going to be a writer but this time she said she might be a beautician, though she'd only do facials, no waxing. This sounds very wise to me.

And so to sydney....

The next morning, after not one but two wake up calls, we made our way to Changi airport (possibly the nicest airport in the world). Unfortunately we didn't have time to use the free cinema, massage service or many other things it has to offer. I did however have some rather yummy veggie dumplings for breakfast and I bought Jack a pain au chocolat though I could tell it wasn't going to be too authentic.
We were seated a bit further back on the plane this time but still got to sit at the front of the section so you don't have the problem of someone reclining their seat into your lap. We did have Jack though, but he was pretty good. He slept for four hours (meaning that I could watch Kung Fu Panda) and then I held him while S watched Kung Fu Panda. There was a couple next to us who were groovy in an understated way and I was thinking that they were maybe from Newtown, but it turned out that they were from Bondi and they had a little girl called Scarlett (Also the name of one of my nieces). She was pretty cute and well behaved and for awhile she and Jack shared the DVD player and we all got to watch the wiggles. She also shared some of her biscuits with Jack so it was a win win situation and Jack didn't flirt outrageously with Scarlett's mum, also a plus.
The flight from Singapore is 'only' seven hours and didn't seem too bad (but then I didn't have to hold Jack while he slept for four of those hours). Everything went pretty well except for some turbulence while Jack and I were in the loo. Actually I thought the plane was about to land at any moment judging by the tilt of the loo. I broke the record for fastest nappy change ever.
Relieved we landed and everyone immediately jumped to their feet and switched on their phones (even though they're not supposed to). Then we waited and waited and waited. There was an announcement about a sick passenger and how the crew were waiting for quarantine officials to arrive. You could hear the words 'bird' and 'flu' being whispered up and down the plane. Then we were allowed off with a very nice Singapore Airlines lady carrying one of our many bags, and down to immigration. By this stage Jack obviously knew the drill because he stood in his pram so the immigration lady could see him.
At the baggage carousels something strange was going on. Customs officials were talking to every person asking if they had anything to declare. Having been to a rural area and being honest folk we said yes. Unfortunately there was also a plane load of Czech tourist with suitcases full of cheese (I'm not making this up) also queueing with us. Finally, after flashing the soles of our one remaining pair of shoes at the customs man we wheeled our bags out into the hall and found a man with a sign saying KRISTY AND S.... and after a few last minute preparations (securing a baby seat) we were Mosman bound.

Singapore and Supermarkets

We got a taxi from the airport to our hotel. I know that Singapore has a lot of critics and I was certainly one the first time I went there. But really the odds were stacked against a good holiday when my bags were lost, my clothes (winter ones) were funky and not in a good way, and I got food poisoning (dodgy fish ball). This time I liked Singapore though. Most of the other cities that we visited have not bothered about the road from the airport to the city they're just ugly, but in singapore there's bouganvillea and trees and flowers and it's tropical and quite pretty. It certainly helps distract you from all those apartment buildings and there are a lot.
So we arrived at our hotel which was very nice and situated on the main shopping area. We 'freshened up' and were amused to find that our bathroom had a big window looking into our bedroom so Jack and I could sit in the bath and wave at S. There was also a marble seat in the shower which Jack and S thought was okay. I found them both sitting there with the water pouring over them, looking very happy.
We decided to check out the shops. We found a supermarket and I had fun poking around. Now we know that I love a market, but I also love looking at supermarkets in other countries. The supermarkets in England are very good. Such an amazing amount of produce from all over the world (guess air miles are not a priority) and the take home meals are astounding. Not the muck that you get here which is usually crappy lasagna or fried rice. At places like Waitrose or M& S food and even the cheaper supermarkets, you can get roasted duck salad with rice noodles, or a selection of curries with accompaniments or wild Scottish salmon with kipfler potatoes...you get the idea. And the desserts. Lemon tarts, chocolate fondant, panna cotta. Astounding. I can't see why people would need to cook (and this from me, someone who enjoys cooking). I know the chef at the manor has certainly given up!
The Supermarkets in Scotland were much the same and with no veal (though lots of expensive NZ lamb). What is the story? Is it because veal (oh so yummy) is murder?
The french supermarche, well we really only went to the one in Jouy, was great. Such good wine for so little money. Ahhh. And great puddings. In France it was so easy to buy things for a dinner with good bread, cheese, tomatoes, ham and wine. And the butter. I bought this breton-paysan butter which had salt crystals in it. So delicious. My tastebuds were happy but I'm sure my heart was saying, "eeeeek!"
And so to Singapore supermarkets. They are fun. They usually have heaps of Japanese groceries which are always worth a look and usually a big area of fresh sashimi and sushi, which looked delicious. Then there's usually a little barbecue or two cooking up squid balls or red bean pancakes (in the shape of a fish!) so it always smells yummy. There's lots of products from all over the world and I could've spent hours checking stuff out but I don't think Jack and S would've been happy.
And everywhere we went people talked to Jack, smiled at him, stroked his hair and asked a million questions about him (and how old S was though not sure how that was relevant).
After perusing in a Singaporean department store I was in the mood for some Char Kway Teow (a kind of malaysian wok fried rice noodles which are so good). Actually I'd been wanting some since we were in Singapore on the way over. I had been given some vague directions from a fellow guest at the hotel but they turned out to be too vague. We ended up in a food hall full of locals and no tourists but there was no Char Kway Teow on offer so we ended up having wonton noodle soup and some not so crispy duck with noodles and fresh watermelon and papaya juice. It was okay but not Char Kway Teow. Maybe next time when I have more energy I'll go in search of them or the next time I'm in Sydney. There's a noodle bar in Campsie that does them well.
We ate a cinnamon chocolate gelato on the way back to the hotel and went to bed as we were off early the next day on our last flight back to Sydney. Nearly home.