An empty haus at the bottom of the hill.

Doesn't it suck when you have to say goodbye to peeps you love? Living this international lifestyle, hellos and goodbyes are all part of the package I suppose. It just would have been easier if we were saying goodbye to the neighbours over the fence who start their fighting at 10.30pm every Wednesday night, rather than the neighbours on our side of the razor wire who cook dumplings for us every Friday, gave us a case of their own precious wine when we were looking desperately in need of a drink a few months ago, laugh at most of our jokes, and have lovely offspring that ours loves.

Well, shit. Obviously, as their departure date got closer I started mentally breaking up with them anyway, to soften the blow.

I would be sadder if I wasn't so completely overjoyed for them. They are headed for many new exciting adventures and will soon smell the air of freedom and awesomeness of the next few months. Farewell to the Netsters and the Redster ... thanks for doing the unthinkable and brightening up our compound days and nights for the last 18 months. Think of us as we continue to exercise in the oval in our orange overalls.

A care package every few months would be nice too.

WTF

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-27/worker-suing-after-sex-injury/2812704

The earth and me.

I took this quiz today ... it is a way to have a good hard look at one's ecological footprint (and you get to pick a cool avatar); http://files.earthday.net/footprint/. The test results came in and told me that if everyone lived like me, we would need 3 planet earths. Gee, and I thought I was kind of low key. But alas, I am not. I am middle class and white and have a lifestyle to match. The planes, the Mac products, our car, the occasional roast beef fillet with roast potatoes, using the fans more often than the A/C ... not quite as low key as living in a mud hut with no power, I suppose.

Living in PNG I must declare straight up that I will not be eating or buying much local, and have no choice but to rely on imported products. But I am thinking that forcing my family to change habits when we return to our very comfortable life at some stage, is on the menu. I think it's time. Our wealth and good fortune (collectively) makes us fortunate but also seems to be a source of potential havoc for the future. I am waiting and hoping that we will see some proper leadership from governments on climate change, carbon emissions and our total dependence on fossil fuels for everything (what do we do when they run out - Plan B, anyone?), but am starting to sense that change must come from all angles, all the time, from now until when it arrives.

What this means for me - I am probably going to have to learn how to garden (it does not come naturally and every basil plant in the family has lasted for exactly one garnish before death). Maybe we will even revive the plot of land we bought in a community garden before our first baby was born ... this is almost three years ago now, and the land remains unworked - to say the least. I had grand visions of ploughing away with my beautiful newborn baby strapped to my back, but this was before I came to understand the reality of getting anything done, such as the simple purchase of toilet paper (unbleached) was fraught with roadblocks when you have a kid on your back (literally and otherwise).

So yes, we shall grow our own food. And perhaps we shall milk a goat ... another learning curve but not insurmountable. And as for those plane trips - we will buy a caravan and paint daisies on it and holiday annually at Ulladulla. We will find a way of driving around in an electric, non-carbon emitting fashion. Perhaps we will get a horse instead of a Prius (and feed it only locally-grown organic products). Our family will wear only what we already have and recreate it in many new exciting ways ... oh how lucky our kids will be, especially when the school disco rolls around. We will not upgrade our technology, and I will proudly continue to use my old Nokia with the missing button (the one that does everything) and cannot even take photos. We will walk wherever we can (within reason) and do so with a smile on our face. I will give the bird to Woolworths, once and for all (for anyone who knows Dickson Woolworths in the ACT - this has been a long time coming anyway, whether or not underpinned by sound ethical framework).

What am I saying here? The whole process is quite strange because we actually have to undo the amazing progress of humans over the last few hundred years to attain a better, easier, more prosperous life. Now that we have it, we need to start living a little bit poor again, and saying no to some of the stuff we really don't need. It is definitely a strange reversal. And the other thing that is strange, is that while there is definitely a growing movement and noise in our communities to change our ways, massive chunks of humanity are still aspiring for the basic stuff - some clean water, a community powerpoint to plug them in to the grid. The imbalance is completely whack, but I think we need to live as though we are part of the whole story. For me, I am lucky enough to be on the side that needs to wind down my wealth, I wish this was a larger part of the current debate in Australia (which happens to be one of the highest consuming/emitting countries per capita, internationally).

We are so lucky - let's get active in this debate and act like the global citizens we pretend we are not.

The end of the affair.

Like a heartbroken human who is not ready to let go, I have spent the morning pouring over my remaining holiday snaps, smiling with tear stung-eyes as I am transported back to those rosy days. Whhhyyy did my holiday have to break up with me? We seemed so happy together, everything felt so .... right.

It really is like a break up. I can't focus on the now, everything reminds me of then (completely untrue as current situation bears not a scrap of resemblance to salad days in Asia - only written for dramatic effect).

Of course, what I should have been doing all morning is work. Uni is in full swing, from what I understand of my current suite of subjects, I really should have designed and built a dynamic new urban centre and solved the conflict between sustainable development and global investment in the developing world by now. It is, after all - Friday.

All I am capable of in reality, is superficially scanning documents ... and then returning to touch up my holiday snaps. A few of my current favourites are posted down below.

Highlights of my week: two, yes t-w-o midweek school night dinners with fellow inmates. Dinner #1 was to celebrate a birthday (I now know the real value of the pizza stone, why I thought we could create pizza goodness without it I do not know) and Dinner #2 was to mark the end of the compound sentence for some of our buddies. Curries, wine and a few tears. Friends and laughter are the bomb at all times, but in particular for a girl who is only in the first stage of a horrible break up (pure devastation).

Next stage: rebound.

But to where/what/who? (Hopefully my uni work).

Seeker Lover Keeper

This is a beautiful beautiful album. Three ladies, a piano and harmonies to boot. So perfect for gloomy cold days inside when being tucked up is the only option.

Go forth and listen.

Say it like it is, grandpa!

I love this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=baUh4pC-MUo

Do I love him because we share an opinion? Maybe. But I love him anyway I think.

Three cheers for his succinctness.

(I suppose I could pause to reflect on why many Australians seem to show no respect towards political leaders, but I will quite blatantly do that some other time when it bears down more closely with my own team).

She came down with a bump.

I think it is safe to say there is no comedown greater and more complete than marking the end of a wonderful holiday with a return to the compound.

Not that I mean to sound negative ....

The tick tock of compound life continues on its merry way, as it has always done: the leaf blower, the pool guy, the concrete walls, the razor wire, and the soapy delicious water pouring down from above right onto the chairs outside every time the people upstairs clean their balcony.

Yes, some things in life are certain.

Our little girl however, is thrilled. I suppose the pace of holiday life got weary for her, and now she is safely wrapped up in the predictability of her days and nights again. Having said that, we continue to work on a bedtime that is pre-9pm and are entirely to blame for this undesirable predicament.

Holidays always have a little bit of a sting I suppose, in that they end. And one must step back into reality, which usually is not aware of you ever leaving and forces you to pick up where you left off and continue on your way.

*cue tantrum* I DON'T WANT TO GO BAAACK * cue tantrum* I DON'T WANT TO GO BAAACK* cue tantrum* I DON'T WANT TO GO BAAACK * cue tantrum *

The eternal love.

The time has come to bid Asia farewell. Strangely, we've had two Italian meals in the last 24 hours ... we shall make up for it tonight.

Today we shopped, proper-like. I learned that I require the biggest size available of undies in a department store (I know this, because the nice lady measured my ass with a tape measure, just to make sure), and my guy learned that he simply cannot buy trousers or shoes in this country (no tape measure required - everyone just knew). Our child learned how to press buttons incessantly on all lifts, and the whole family learned what an awesome place Singapore is to have a kid and be pushing a pram around. The most unexpected people will apologise and step aside for a man and pram (drunk bankers, for example) ... and everyone loves our kid .... and everywhere has very cool baby chairs.

It's an oasis, I never knew such a place could exist.

And tonight, we will bunker down one last time in a 5 star king size bed, and return to the room to find our sheets pulled back and slippers laid out, before awaking to have a 2 hour buffet breakfast. Ahhh. This is life.

Next stop - Oz.

thai times

A shocking realisation.

So I have found myself walking around a number of markets in the last few days. Cash in hand, I have had a desperate desire to buy big, buy anything, and buy hard. Every time however, I have returned to base (where Daddy-O awaits with pram in one hand and cocktail in the other) empty-handed. Why? Because I don't feel like buying cheap crap. Why? Because I am in my mid 30s and I suddenly prefer small art galleries, designer one-offs and interesting local stuff that doesn't smell like plastic that will probably kill me in 10 or so days. I am shocked. Without markets, I have nothing. I have spent years trawling markets in Asia to shower myself and others in wares that I have spent hours bargaining for, and now? Now, I am headed straight to the food area to see if I recognise things I have tried to cook from David Thompson, or to simply buy and eat anything green and pandan flavoured.

Sigh. Perhaps I have just reached my natural limit for knock-offs and stuff that lasts one wash. What's the point, really?

A final postscript: My most recent attempt at overcoming the very real lack of interest I seem to now have in tourist markets was a quick bulk purchase of multiple table runners earlier this morning. If you have a birthday coming up soon .... you might get lucky.

A list

Some things that make me happy (and happen to be occurring at this moment):

1) Finishing a great book on the balcony

2) Watching a storm come over the ocean some minutes later

3) Awaking a little lady so she can run outside and splash in all the puddles

4) Eating at two restaurants per day

5) Having unbroken uninterrupted time with my peeps

6) The feel of my lady's little hand on 'the baby'

7) Finding her reading books to herself in her room

8) The sound of her singing

9) The sight of Daddy-o drinking long necks of Thai beer during business hours

10) Thai desserts

from the big smoke to the beach ....

First pair of cheap sunglasses: check.

Blogging from Thailand seems kinda fun. But what is not so fun, is blogging in Thai. So please bear with me as I navigate my new blogpage - in Thai. It's a bit like someone turning out all the lights and having to feel your way around by remembering where all the furniture is.

We are in Phuket. And as such - embracing all the beauty Thailand has to offer the average tourist. We are drinking fruit shakes, eating at as many restaurants as possible each day, perusing each new 20 page menu in plastic sleeves as though it was different from the last (it never really is - but who cares?), taking photos of our kid wearing our sunglasses, teaching her how to say thank you in Thai, and being mildly pushy parents when an appropriate time comes for her to use it (she can say it perfectly, but only ever out of earshot of the real audience). Lucky for us 'how embarassing' is not part of her conjecture - yet.

Our place is right on the beach, as in - I could throw my rambutan shell from the balcony into the sea ... if the mood took me. I must admit that one day it did, but a huge gust of wind blew it back onto the manicured lawn right in front of me. Feeling the burning of public shame rising up inside me, I scaled the mini wall and hauled myself and 5 month preggers belly down the steep hill to retrieve it. Fool. Now I just put them in the bin.

Being this close to the sea is wonderful, but being so close to this sea in particular has forced me to map out my family's escape route in the event of a tsunami. It's a bit hard to ignore, there are signs everywhere. I hope I am not being too much of a downer on the relaxed Thai island holiday scene when I ask my family to perform a drill every morning at 0700. Always best to be sure.

To get into the swing of things, we purchased a suitably over-the-top floatation device for our little monkey to use in the pool. Actually, we bought her an inflatable car, it has a steering wheel with a horn that really honks, and a numberplate; SEA 700. We couldn't wait to give her a spin in it. After palming off the inflating bit to Daddy-o, we popped her in it and let her set sail. Minutes later, it became apparent that the space between the leg holes was so narrow as to resemble a conventional g-string and was in fact, performing that exact role. Alarmed, but also in mild hysteria, we repositioned her so her legs went over the steering wheel instead. Some minutes later, she had pulled the horn to bits and started throwing it into the pool. In sum, it took approximately 7 minutes for the inflatable car to be reduced to simply an inflatable 'thing'. Overall, baht well spent. Well worth the early morning negotiation to get the price down by that last pesky 50 baht.

And now - well it is 5.30pm. I must admit that the disc of Play School has run its course, Daddy-O has come back inside and I must sign off. Time for a family talk on where to go for dinner.

We heart Singers

Well well.

What a difference an extended period away from the compound makes. Daddy-O has taken to daytime TV, we are eating out around 8 times per day, the kid is asking to go to cafes every hour, and we are enjoying walking around hand in hand in the free world.

Singapore is a wonderful bounty of public order, cleanliness, great food, diversity, green spaces, architecture and cheap taxis. We are basking in it. The order, efficiency and did I mention order - of this place is something I want to squeeze tightly and never let go of. Neat taxi queues, defined pedestrian spaces, no rubbish, the punctuality of the whole machine and the responsiveness of the people who answer our endless calls for room service is a true joy. Singapore is Asia without the chaos, yet with all the food and waving gold cats you could ever need.

It's our guy's 31st today and being on the go has somewhat hampered my ability to prepare birthday celebrations. While he took a moment's respite on the 2m high king size bed, I readied myself and the little person to go downstairs and organise a cake/candle combo to be delivered to our room later tonight. As I was about to step outside, the doorbell rang with 3 nice men bearing a birthday cake. They politely requested my permission to come inside and sing Happy Birthday. As they passed me I whispered to one of them how they knew ... it was 'on their records'. And so the cake was presented to the weary man on the bed with three strange men singing to him, we joined in for the harmony and then they were gone. It was difficult not to accept the credit for the gesture, but alas I was beaten.

That's the Singaporean way - efficient beyond belief.