aurora raby

Miss Raby has no regrets... life, loves, people and places

from the east to the west

Monday 4th January 2010

The new year already four days in and today I made haste for my shipment of belongings to arrive. The container has been spending the festive holiday somewhere in Southampton docks and now it needs to come home!

I want to see my treasures and unpack from my travels. Peonies and mandarin ducks are auspicious in chinese culture so my cupboard will find a new home here along with the important rest of the items in the container- including my present of a pristine new Mahjong set -so that I can practice the art of 'dry swimming' then try to find a local group to hone my newly acquired skills with.

It is strange how easily you can move from one existence into another. I decamped to a brand new condo in Yio Chu Kang Road early in August in 2008 from deepest border country and the contrast between the locations could not have been more different in every way. Each morning I would be standing outside our condo at 6.30 am ready to catch the 265 bus - and go three stops! no more- but even in the morning darkness walking was not an option. Work for 7am and then MAKAN ...breakfast.

Casuarinas lined the route ... outside this our condo

... chosen as it was not high rise and had a great pool.

but the curtains...

I shall be happy to see this stuff again but where is it going to go in an old farmhouse?

Lets see... I was unable to sell anything second hand even though it was all very new in fact all less than a year old! Nobody was interested in buying any of it even at a very low give away price. I could not get the Salvation Army to come and pick up any items they wanted even as the last time they had come to the condo to do this they had got a parking ticket!

So here's the hearth at home-awaiting the 'new stuffs'arrival !

Where will it go?

Watch this space and I will post the fusion of east and west...

What do I miss seeing every day from my life out there?

dragons ... so many beautiful colourful carvings and intricate images of the dragon

I just love the way dragons decorate the temples

But the thing that you miss most is being on the doorstep of S.E.Asia.

Malaysia,Indonesia, Thailand,Vietnam, Cambodia so many places and so much to see