Departure...airports 'n' airplanes

I do remember the days I would find airports v.exciting places...all the comings and goings, looking forward to the flight and the holiday at the other end. Perhaps the feeling changed with my getting 'adult responsibilities' :-) Anyway, for the times I've been flying as a 'mum' I've found the whole airport thing the most stressful experience! It can be the queueing to check in, will we all be sat together, are the bags too heavy, have we got more carry on baggage than is allowed? 

After boarding passes are handed out, we head to departures and next up for the stress is the queueing for the scanner business....unloading the liquids, unloading the electrical items, do we need to take shoes off...and my belt? Have I got everything back in my bag, is that product really over 100ml ? A corkscrew, oh yes I suppose it is dangerous...out it goes!

If we're lucky we can get in the 'business' lounge...great a glass of bubbles to calm the nerves and fight off the stress, oh..wifi I can get Facebook in here ;-) calm and relax for an hour or so...

http://www.loungeguide.net/wiki/u/Singapore_(SIN)_Independent_The_Skyview_Lounge

Time to head to the departure gate...do the security really need me to unload the liquids, electrical items and take off my shoes again? Oh, please not big boy's shoes, they have laces and I'll hold 'everyone' up while I have to kneel down to re-tie them for him! Ok, now get everything back in the bags and re-thread my belt...

Now someone else wants to see my boarding card and passport? Oh, right just the passport. Walk a few steps and, yet another security person asks to see my passport...oh, not the passport, just my boarding card...come on boys have you got all of your bags and documents? What do you mean no? The red bag, the one with the booster seat for the car! Excuse me, I just have to grab a bag I left on the security check...you need my boarding pass..really?

Finally, time to board...now let's sort the baggage out again, will it all fit above us and near us? "oh, you have many baggages Madame!"...now he's made the mistake, I'm already stressed "you should see the amount of bags we just checked, now s'il vous plait Monsieur, vous pouvez aides moi avec 'these baggages'?"..."bien sûr" (mais NOT avec plaisir) :-)

Ah, now we have to sit here for how long? Are we nearly there yet? Can I have a drink? White wine please, water please, wine wine, white wine...I need to sleep! Mum, mum, I feel sick! Quick get to the toilet, occupied...wait, please hold it, don't throw up here...

Wake up with a jolt, my head slips off my hand where it had been resting for 5 hours! 7 hours to go...stretch legs, "boys i know your tired, we are all tired", a bit more sleep, only 3 hours now...we'll be there soon!

Steps...



Of course, there have been times I've been in airports 'n' on planes and the experience has been 'less' stressful and actually pretty great.... Flying to Paris on the same plane as 'Steps' (pic above for all who haven't a clue), flying to New York in first class with the pilot's wife, flying from shanghai with a rather good looking Taiwanese-Australian guy...turns out he's actually quite a famous Violinist...travels the world and makes CDs. (pic below...isn't he cute ;-))

the v.cute 'n' talented Ray Chen

Breakfast is served...'café, s'il vous plaît' I need that to wake me up and ready me for the whole 'arrival...airport' experience!....'merci'...'now don't knock my arm boys this is hot.....what did I just say!?'

The travel is stressful and often 'painful' but the knowing we'll be there soon with family and friends makes every bit of pain and stress sooooo worth it :-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx :-)

fairytales, bliss 'n' bintan...

I'm new to the blogging world and enjoying it so much.  Each day I'm smiling thinking of ideas for future posts and, of course, smiling along while reading other great blogs.  I decided though to do a search on google to find out "why we blog?"  Of course, Google came up with the perfect link for me to read and the simple answer to the question is WHY NOT ! yes, such a great answer made me smile ;-)

Also, as I am new here, I decided to get myself a book...

The cover alone made me smile ;-)  It really is full of excellent information 'n inspirational ideas.  I highly recommend to all arty and creative bloggers new in this world.

Thinking more about creative talents now...I had some news from a good friend regarding her wallpaper business, Châto & co. 

Their wallpaper collection had lots of positive feedback and was of an excellent quality (heck I would say that - it was made up in the North of England) but sadly their fairytale is no more :-(  I am positive that my friend and her partners will not give in and their next venture will be up and running very soon. I wish them lots of luck wherever their creative talents take them. 

From fairytales to dream destinations...

Singapore is placed extremely well for travelling around Asia.  When I lived here previously we couldn't take up too many opportunities because of me being either pregnant or with babies and everyone knows that travelling, even the shortest distance, with babies requires endless bags full of endless baby paraphanelia!  Now though, we are back and are going to take full advantage of our placement in Asia. 

Starting with Indonesia...  Bintan is our neighbour really, just 55 minutes by ferry, the resorts there are fab.  With white sandy beach, palm trees and fabulous hotels really makes a weekend there feel like you are in "le paradis de la relaxation" ;-)  Even my busy, busy husband got a chance to relax just long enough to put his Blackberry away before a swim in the surf.  I highly recommend a wk/d on Bintan to recharge batteries and switch off all electronic devices! ;-)

ok, so these aren't actual Bintan waves!
There are some pretty good waves there for beginners ;-)

To finish, we had such fun, lots of sun 'n' great surf we'll be going again very soon....so now I'm off to Marina Square, Rip Curl store in search of perfect surfer babe gear :-) hey, any excuse for a new outfit ;-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)