This is Ann

Thanks to Leo for this award. My first such thing!

I’m passing the same to Mimzzy, Vann, Sharon and Tonee. (I’m too lazy to link tho…. hihi). Buat ja lah ok.

Have car, will travel. For kaki jalan like us, at every opportunity we get.

Last Sunday, we made an impromptu visit to Vaduz in the Principality of Liechtenstein on the Swiss-Austrian border. Took us about an hour to get there by car. A train would have taken at least two hours since it involves changing trains in Zurich and Sargans or Buchs.

I’ve known from books that Liechtenstein is a tax-haven for the rich and the secretly rich.  If I’m correct, the basic personal tax rate here is only 1.2%. Retired F1 driver Schu*macher probably stashes his millions here.

Vaduz turns out to be a really small town. Nothing much to see here on a Sunday. Only the cafes and souvenir shops are open. Ironically, there are more selections of Swiss souvenirs here than souvenirs from Liechtenstein itself. I got myself a small Liechtenstein mug and a napkin holder for keepsake for 28 blahdy francs! The cheapest souvenirs I could find. Also paid CHF3 to get a novelty Liechtenstein stamp on my passport. Haha! This one you have to get it from the tourist centre—there’s no custom & immigration office here.

We probably spent no more than 45 minutes in Vaduz, spending more time in the souvenir shops than going around, because it is that small. Nonetheless the trip wasn’t a total waste because on the way back, we managed to get in touch with a fellow Malaysian living in Sevelen (just 10 mins from Vaduz) and paid him a visit. His house has a brilliant view of the mountains and Alesha had a good time playing with Kakak Zulaikha she nearly didn’t want to go back.

 
Vaduz, small town

Lepas ni we are going on our first multiple-countries road trip right after the hubby returns from his India trip this Friday. He is crazy for wanting to drive 3000km to and fro in under a week especially right after a long flight. And perhaps he’s just doing it to stop me nagging (I’ve been complaining about not going anywhere for the summer) but I love him to bits for it.

After doing all the calculations (fuel cost + channel crossing) we’ll probably end up paying more than if we just take a direct flight to London. We’re thrilled however and looking forward to an adventure.

The route we’re taking will probably be Baden-Strasbourg-Reims-Calais-London-Camberley-Manchester-Preston-Essex (Romford)-Folkstone-Brussels-Sittard-Karlsruhe-Freiburg-Basel-Baden.

Anyone living in those places want a visitor?

Wish us well on our journey, and to our friends in the UK, we’ll be seeing u soon!

Some people just rub you the wrong way. But in my case, I’ve gotten a little paranoid.

Of late I have been thinking about turning this blog private. It just crossed my mind that I don’t write for PPP anymore and to think that paidposts was (one of) the main reason I set up this blog.

With the impending arrival of a new family member, I have been contemplating whether to use disposable or cloth diapers. Living in Switzerland, the question of using either is not so much an environmental matter. I think it’s more of a trend thing.

The Swiss are practical people. They just use disposables. In this part of Europe, disposables are considered  “a source of energy” as the waste goes into the many incinerator plants around the country and generates enough electricity for 250,000 homes. That’s a lot of power coming from total rubbish! Whereas if you use cloth nappies, you’d be using more energy with the washing machine and the tumbler.

With Alesha, we used terry nappies on her for the first two months of her life because my mom said at that age, a baby’s skin is way too delicate for plastics or whatever. But we resorted to disposable once she entered a nursery as I had to go back to work after I used up all my maternity leave. My mother was around at the time to help out so although using cloth nappies required more effort (and washing up), we managed between the three of us.

My reason for using cloth nappies now will be mainly because I find them cute. Haha. But they’re not easy to come across in Switzerland and to buy them online, well, plus P&P they’re not really cheap! So I guess I will be sticking to disposables.

However, I couldn’t help drooling on some of the cloth nappies I’ve seen online and have invested in a few of them. Only the cheap ones though. They are so mahal, I wonder if they are really worth the investment in the long run. As I see it, we’ll probably use them for the new baby like we did for Alesha and just stick to disposables after that. We’d be travelling after my confinement anyway and doing laundry on the go is probably the last thing on my mind.

But just so you know, we do welcome donations

I went for my third prenatal appointment yesterday. Everything’s on track. The baby’s progress is good.

I’m well into my second trimester now but the headaches are still there and the doctor has kindly prescribed me some painkillers that he said won’t affect the pregnancy. (I’m desperate!)

I’d been planning for a short break since last week, my very own ME time before the storm arrives. Cannot balik kampung Malaysia, kampung UK pun cukup. But something else has come up. Not any less exciting but I’d been so looking forward to meeting up with a dear friend and going on a shopping spree in Mothercare. I guess that will have to wait for another day (possibly soon and not two or three years later, if I’m lucky).

According to the doctor, we could be having a boy. He’s not 100% sure but says it looks like a he (it’s still too small to tell but you can see what looks like a pair of balls on the screen, haha).

OK, suggest me a name! I’m pretty sure Anakin will not go down well with the hubby.

After sending Alesha to the krippe today, I went to get my hair cut. My first haircut here since we came two years ago. I’ve been avoiding the hairdressers because they’re just too expensive to the normal price I used to pay in Malaysia. I used to go then every other week to wash and blow or to trim and cut. The salon was just opposite my office, and sometimes I’d go just to get my scalp massaged and catch a few winks. Yes, such pampered life I had in Malaysia.

And the other reason I’ve been avoiding the salons here, besides the crazy prices, is of course the language barrier.

But last week I reached a point where I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. So I went to the nearest salon and made an appointment. Before my appointment today, I taught myself these simple German sentences, with the help of my online translation software obviously!

Machen Sie zurecht und kurz (Make it trim and short)
Nicht zu kurz (Not too short) 
Ich will noch meine Haar binden (I still want to tie my hair)

Well I needn’t worry cuz one of the staff understood some English (this is ok? this short?) … and when we couldn’t understand each other, there’s always sign language. Haha.

In the end, I got my hair cut just the way I wanted it. In fact it turned out better than I expected. Cost me CHF66.

OKlah tu. That’s about the same figure I’d be paying in Malaysia without conversion.

Now I feel so light and free. Should have done this earlier.

Next challenge - Get a massage (hmm, lagilah mahal!).