Finally home

We've been away nearly a month and even after we've landed back in Singapore during the week, something was missing. Well, three things to be precise.

1. Firstly, we haven't had local food for awhile (despite the best efforts of chef Tanta in Lima)

2. M was away with the grandparents in Malaysia

3. J was leading his scouts in their annual camp

So, in a way, we're back but only a quarter of the way so. We started first with tucking into local fare... beginning with a hearty double breakfast (of chai tow kuay + roti prata) in Ang Mo Kio, followed by a coffee break with fantastic Kopi-O prepared by an executive who preferred to ply his trade in the hawker centre, then lunching at a famous Chicken Rice establishment in Balestier. Naturally, we also couldn't miss out on the kaya toast with soft boiled eggs! The mission continued with Laksa, Wan Tan Mee, Ngoh Hiang, cendol, rojak and durians (twice) in Malacca. All of that only got us to halfway home...

It got passed the half full mark only when we saw M, who had spent a couple of nights with her cousins and grandparents.

To complete the circle, we had to wait till Sunday morning, after we returned from Malacca, to see J. And we celebrated with an appropriate superheroes movie: the latest installment of the X-men franchise, Days of Future Past... Which is kind of appropriate as we met the start of the show in the flesh right about this time last year! The real star of this episode though is hugely talented Jennifer Lawrence, one of M's favourites, and the notion that one had to go back to the past to alter the future. It would indeed be decidedly better if one made the right decisions in the present so the past can remain the past. Another star of the show is the character Quicksilver (played so well in a devil-may-care way by Peter Evans) who could move faster than speeding bullets.

J must have wished he had this mutant's speed for he has been indeed trying to cram a lot into his teenage days. He lamented how busy he has been this June hols, and in fact how busy he has been the past few June hols. I hope he wouldn't have to wait 24 years to take his first sabbatical (unlike me). In fact, so driven was I that even when I switched jobs back in 1996 and then 1999, I didn't take any breaks in between. Now, as I look back now, the job changes preceded the births of both children. Looks like we were prepared to really make seminal (hmm, no pun intended!) changes then. I think it was Steve Jobs who famously said that you can only connect the dots in your life looking back. At the time it happened, it didn't feel like some grand masterplan. Yes, I did have a penchant of envisioning what lies ahead and then doing my best to alter my course towards it. Indeed, I am even prepared to take a step back to ultimately advance two forward and that was certainly the case when I switched jobs (both times). But to do so, while switching locales and having kids, now look really courageous and truly inspired. Talk about days of future past! All said, I know there is only one way all of this could be achieved. And it's because I have D. 

Now, we are home.