Rendez-vous des bébés

Il est 9h30, je profite de la "fraîcheur" (30 petits degrés) matinale pour faire une balade avec mon bébé. 

J'ai la chance de vivre dans un cadre idyllique et j'en profite. Je ne serais pas seule, je le sais. À Singapour, la natalité connaît un grand boom depuis plusieurs années et des bébés il y en a énormément, alors chaque parent, à sa façon, profite de la douce chaleur et du grand air pour faire une belle balade. 

On se reconnaît, on se sourit timidement. Presque tacitement, on se retrouve chaque matin, au départ de nos activités. 

C'est le rendez-vous des bébés! 

Que sorriso levas hoje?

Acho que não há nada mais deprimente que estar rodeado de pessoas trombudas !

A Felicidade é uma viagem e não um destino! Então escolhe o teu:

sorriso maroto.

sorriso tímido.

sorriso gargalhada.

sorriso enigmático.

sorriso escondido.

sorriso misterioso.

sorriso apaixonado.

sorriso brincalhão.

sorriso amoroso.

sorriso amistoso.

sorriso cúmplice.

Se olhares bem para a foto, até pode ser que lá encontres o teu! 

podcasting equals sharing

Being abroad can give us this odd feeling of getting more and more apart from our family and friends. Different surroundings, different feel, which is pretty normal I guess but nevertheless painful sometimes.

A few years ago we found out about podcasts and it has been a pleasant ride ever since. We started with some of our favorite radio shows and widen our spectrum of audio and video “magazines” sharing with one another our discoveries.

When we go back home(s), everyday jokes don’t just fly by us anymore and we actually can laugh and discuss with our loved ones, society, economic and political issues that are in the air. And this way, we no longer feel that much “away”.

Him in his commute, me in my shopping trips, both in our own time listen to the news from home and laugh and come home to discuss the interesting things we’ve learnt around our dinner.

We’re in the subway, our earplugs on and smiling and laughing; and the bonus is that people around us end up smiling too (even if it’s at us!).

It feels so good to share a laugh.

way neater in Singapore!

Miracle Garden, Dubai, UAE, April 2013

When people ask me why I left Paris, I tell them I couldn't stand the grey color of almost everything anymore, from the sky to the ground, everything is grey, even buildings and (sorry guys) the folks' pouts - By the way, I also think, Paris' crowd isn't a very smily one, but hey, it's only my opinion. - 

And the rain! Man, the rain! Worse than Paris, maybe only London... yuck!

And then I moved to Portugal. Weather wise way better for sure (not only weather wise actually ;) ), There, I finally realized blue skies weren't myths and they do exist from time to time. That felt nice. Or so I thought until life took me to Paradise, Dubai, the land where it never rains! ok, it rains like a four or five days a year, but when it rains, man, it's like the world's coming to an end, roads are floaded and life just stops. They really need to start thinking about sewers. For some reason, those, almost three years I enjoyed an amazing life there, didn't teach me how to love it though, not as people, there, love it when it rains. I don't know. Maybe I didn't stay there long enough to actually miss the rain and be glad to feel it when it comes, but this doesn't change my heart: rain sucks! Period!

But, this is different. This is Singapore. We are just between the tropics, around 120 Kms from the equator, so rain is very much in the picture here, at least that's what I am expecting. I've only been here for a month and a half, so my experience is not yet bullet proof, and I only speak of what I know. And what I know is: rain became a fantastic experience! Oh yeah! This is a whole different thing here: when it rains, it's warm, still a 25+ degrees temp' and you are in flip flops. From now on, when it starts raining in Singapore, I just feel like "singing in the rain" and I smile.

And I think: maybe, for us to like something we think is not likeable, we just need to see it from another angle (or another latitude)

PS... And, small note, that wasn't the only reason for my leaving ;)

Speak Up!

As a child, I was so shy, I could easily hear all the adults’ conversations around me without anyone even noticing me. Later, a teenager, I could hardly make friends so afraid that I was of even opening my mouth to say something silly and shame myself. As a young woman, I so awkwardly spoke; I wasn’t always with the right crowd.

But I always had to “speak” my mind, so I wrote, on a diary, at the beginning until my mom found it and (wait for it) judged me and punished me for my private thoughts. This was the end of it! Lucky for me, my father bought me a computer, I was barely 10, but it was what saved me: slowly but surely, I learned how to write my thoughts and save them on a disk protected with a password. Necessity is the mother of inventions right?!

A few months ago, I found my old “thoughts” and it was (sadly) weird to find out that, sometimes, there is still a little and scared girl in me.

Time passing by, I started to build some kind of personae and I started this blog but until a few days ago, I would never openly speak about it or even mention it. For a whole year, it was mine and mine only, and slowly I started to share a few of my things with a couple of friends of mine. But now, I think I am ready, today, I go “public”.

I understand all about the shyness and fright of speaking up, and appreciate your kind words which mean so much to me; which is why I adjusted my posts so anyone can just bullet rank them until you’re up to, publicly, speak up too! 

Thank you!Obrigada! Merci!

It seems I will have to learn how to say Thank you in many other languages.

It makes my day when I see how many of view read me, so really Thank you.

lazy sunday

Há dias em que precisamos que o tempo pare para simplesmente aproveitar o momento.

Hoje foi um desses dias, um dia lindo de agradável e irrepreensível perguiça, e soube tão bem. 

We are Happy from Leiria!

A minha Cidade é linda e a sua gente tambem.

Saudades da Alegria de Leiria! :)

Expectation is a b**** but!!!

It’s amazing the amount of materials we can find on the internet regarding expectations being a whole bunch of negative adjectives, and I just don’t agree with what I’ve been seeing lately.

This is not a new feeling for me, I already gave this its fair share of thought but yesterday again, a friend of mine was posting comments about him being disappointed at someone and about this being his fault as he shouldn’t expect anything from anyone in the first place, and this made me angry, and made me think more about it, hence… here I am.

Come on people! What’s all this negativity all about!?

Obviously, if you don’t expect anything, you won’t get hurt, but helloooo isn’t this the same old issue: if you don’t risk it, you won’t get it! That’s the safe option of living but is it really living if you think of safety before thinking of living the most out of something? If you don’t take a few risks, if you don’t face your fears and yourself, you will most definitely miss opportunities too!

I feel like I am Lapalissading here but isn’t it duh??

We play the lotto or poker and we most probably won’t be a millionaire any time soon, but we keep investing a couple of dollars a day. We date this new guy we’re not sure we’re going to like but we do it anyway because we want to fall in love and live the dream. We send our CV for this great position we would love to get hired for even if we are aware that there will be plenty of other candidates. We buy these new shoes we are not sure we’ll be capable to walk in, but buy them anyway because they are so cute. Isn’t it how life is lived?

Only thing is true in all these negative posts or quotes we can find wide spread in the web, disappointment may occur, that’s the way it is, we can’t have everything going our way, all the time, it would mean that someone is not getting his way all the time too.

What I think is that we shouldn’t – no – we mustn’t rely on others when our own happiness is at stake! We are sole responsible for our choices and what they lead to.

In the end, I think I believe in Karma, do good and good will come back at you, give happiness to someone and he’ll give happiness back at you.

I saw this video a few years ago and I just love it, I hope you will too.

a picture like scene

Add-on to my wish-list

I was just walking on the surroundings of my new home, in this beautiful park. It was so pleasant to pass by people on their bikes, others running and some, like me, just walking and enjoying the agreeable end of afternoon. I was walking and enjoying myself, thinking of my home town and how that park remembered me of it and how it was going to be wonderful to live just here when I just saw the most amazing picture like scene: a man in his thirties was running slowly, as much as needed for his young daughter, maybe 6 years old, to accompany him, while they were reciting the alphabet. This was such a nice image, father and daughter sharing what I call a very high quality time. I kept walking, smiling at them and them at me just thinking how dreamy their life was to me and then I realized that the picture wasn’t complete though as the little girl’s pregnant mommy was on their track, just a little behind them, gingerly walking.

I am now only thinking of it, but this scene keeps making me smile and feel the nicest warmth in me.

This is how life should be!

Praia de Pedrogao, Leiria. Portugal

Chuva. Vento. Escuridão. O inverno tem destas coisas. Só apetece ficar em casa, no quentinho, a lareira. 
Mas como nem tudo o que é "mau" o é inteira e somente, de vez em quando, aparece um arco-íris para alegrar as vistas e os corações. 
Hoje, estava assim. :) 

La pluie. Le vent. L’obscurité. C’est ça l’hiver. On a juste envie de rester bien au chaud à la maison, près d’un feu de cheminée.

Mas rien n’est complètement négatif. De temps en temps, un arc-en-ciel apparait pour égayer nos yeux et nos cœurs.

Aujourd’hui, c’était comme ça. :)

Rain. Wind. Darkness. This is winter. We just enjoy staying in at the warmth of a nice fireplace.

But nothing is completely bad. From time to time, a rainbow just pops up to enlighten our views and our hearts.

Today, we had such a day. :)

une belle visite

Hier, mon grand-père est passé me faire une petite visite. Ses visites me font super plaisir. Il est heureux. Il vient et il dit combien ça lui fait plaisir de nous voir et pourtant on n’est même pas sûrs qu’il sache vraiment qui nous sommes, mais c’est tellement bon.

Hier, il nous raconte comment il a profité du fait que sa femme (qui est en fait sa fille, ma tante) se soit endormie pour se sauver et venir nous voir. Il était en pantoufles, sans manteau, mais il était heureux. On a discuté pendant quelques minutes. Il cherche ses mots. Il ne comprend pas tout ce qu’on lui dit. Il nous raconte des histoires d’il y a vingt ans. Et puis il se souvient que Mamie n’est plus là, et il pleure. C’est triste de voir quelqu’un qu’on aime, son grand-père perdre la tête, mais en même temps, c’est tellement bon de le voir rire et heureux comme un enfant quand il nous fait le « papi la malice ». Il est génial ce grand-père. Et puis, hors de question de le prendre pour un vieux qui ne sait pas ce qu’il fait, pas la peine de l’aider à descendre les escaliers « alors, si j’ai réussi à monter, je saurai redescendre ».

                                                                             Ah Papi, merci de me faire chaud au cœur comme ça ; merci de me faire sourire. 

gay/lesbian/straight, a family concept

Every gay couple adopted child was
created and abandoned by a straight one.

In the past few weeks, Portugal’s been shaken by lots of chattering and all around co-adoption and I wonder why this matter is so controversial: why is adoption by two gay people or two lesbian women such a conflict in people’s minds, shouldn't we discuss the whole concept of family instead? In my opinion, we are mixing things up, what makes a family a family? I would dare think that a family grows around love, understanding and respect, and even the will to pass on one’s experience, knowledge, wisdom and traditions. I don’t understand where sex or genetics influence anything in these concepts. Can I ask someone smarter to explain to me why a mommy and a daddy raise a better child than two mommies or two daddies? Come on people! Focus on what matters! Open your minds!

I’d like to share a drawing from Bruno Gaspar (https://www.facebook.com/bruno.gaspar.731?fref=ts), author of Pela Estrada fora (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pela-estrada-fora/391738394258613). For me, we should be keeping an eye on him, he seems to share a pretty interesting spirit.

humm... Para reflectir.

hummm, dá que pensar?

Concordo com a primeira parte: "Sorrir, a segunda melhor coisa a fazer com a boca" mas discordo da segunda, embora saiba de pessoas que deveriam sorrir sem parar (hehehehe), quero acreditar que a boca pode comunicar coisas muito boas que merecem ser ditas.

Mas vamos lá pensar no que se pode fazer mais com a boca pr'além de sorrir e comunicar.... Sussurrar segredos! Reinvidicar liberdades!Cantar! Partilhar conhecimentos! Beijar! 

Vamos lá usar a nossa boca da Melhor maneira! :)

just how good does it feel...

How good does it feel when you enter a place full with lots of dear friends?

A few days ago, I went to a special event and I experienced this very special feeling of entering into a room filled with people I love. 

It was a very special event indeed, don't get me wrong, but what I will cherish is first and foremost the ambiance of gathering, friendship, love and purpose, all the things that make me be so grateful for having such dear dear friends. Of course, none of it was meant for me, but in the end, that didn't really matter; what matters is what each and everyone of us makes of the opportunities that are given to us, and that's just what I did: I did the most of an opportunity given to me and enjoyed as much the event as I enjoyed being with these special friends of mine, the kind of friends who welcome you with a true warm hug, the kind of friend and the kind of hug that makes us feel whole.

There are no words to really describe any of it, so it's just a matter of enjoying the ride.

It's amazing how it just feels nice. Just so very nice.

So, cheers to friendship! Old. New. Intense. Joyful. 

Loving to cook. Cooking with love.

                                                           Perfect for an evening light and healthy dinner!

In a pan, I fried a small onion finely sliced together with a julienne cut carrot, a small broccoli and a julienne of a tiny green capsicum. From time to time, I would give it a gentle swirl.

After a few minutes, I added a few frozen shrimps, just because it's so good ;)

Salt, black pepper and a bit of the famous Portuguese piri-piri powder just made everything smell like heaven.

In the meantime, I sliced two tomatoes, two big Portobello and six small regular mushrooms (Champignons de Paris) and I tossed them in the pan all together. It looked so beautiful with all the colors and smells; it looked perfect!

On a different small pan, I made a simple two-egg-omelet just with a pinch of salt. I diced it in small pieces as well as a mozzarella ball and added it to the veggie pan, just for a couple of minutes.

Before I served it, I added finely cut fresh parsley and that was it!                                          It was just fantastic!

Do you want to know about the special secret ingredient?

You, tell me! 

And I’m back

Back where? Well, I thought it would be back home but the feeling is different, kind of weird. After almost 3 years living abroad and missing home, its smell, the friends and family I left there, I am here, home and can’t really feel like it’s it.

The places first, and though they look the same, they seem to now have that yellowish color of oldies and I look at them sorry that they do indeed look the same, the sidewalk is still broken at the same place it was 10 years ago, the stinky city bus is the same exactly, or even more stinky; even the Castle was empty of life and I still wonder why the heck did they turn off the lights, it gave the Castle a so unique spirit.

And the people, they are still the same, doing the same jobs, complaining about the same problems, arguing about the same issues. One thing is different though, I now am bothered by the lack of smiles in their faces.

Coming back home didn’t bring me the joy I had hoped for and it makes me feel silly; wasn’t it what I wanted to be back in the past I so much missed? Why do I feel disappointed then?

I have no answers to all the questions I now ask myself but I do realize, more than ever, that 3 years in a lifetime are a long time, and that everything I lived in those 3 years changed who I am inside. Nothing bad with me changing or home not changing, I just need to accept that distance builds distance and live with it.

na hora exacta

Obrigada Ana.

I’d like to lodge a complaint… with a relevant authority

With each other’s where we ought to be, Cathy
I’m gonna right to the Times, sign it desperate at “Dolphin’s Barn”
Shouldn’t we be in each other’s arms, Cathy?
Cathy, it’s at times like these I wish I wrote like you,
You seem to bend your words to suit your needs,
You melt my heart with your imagery, but I don’t know
How to say it better, than darling since I met you
I haven’t been the same
And I don’t know, all the whys and wherefores
But you’re the one I care for and that will never change Cathy
Oh to be with you tonight, smoke a jay and drink a g and t,
Do whatever’s coming naturally, Cathy
Turn the sheets into sails
Turn the bed into a golden ship
Floating slowly down the Mississippi, Cathy.. Cathy
Cathy can you help me please, you put these things more poetically than me
I’ve sang of how love feels but it’s much harder when it’s all real
And I don’t know
How to make it clearer, than honey when I’m near you
It’s like I’m in a dream, and I don’t know…..in stormy weather
Just to be together is good enough for me.. Cathy… Cathy.. Cathy

question mark ???

Avec une pudeur à peine dissimulée, je regarde le destin de ces gens, de ces familles qui sont maintenant à jamais changées, bouleversées. Plus jamais elles ne seront ce qu’elles ont été et je pleure et je pense à ce que nous devrions valoriser alors que nous passons nos vies à nous chamailler comme si nous contrôlions tout et que nous ne risquions jamais de perdre notre bonheur que parfois nous ne voyons même plus.

C’est aujourd’hui le 1^er jour du reste de nos vies, comment allons-nous la laisser s’écouler ?

faith

and as I read the news today, between 'Vietnam war bomb kills 4 children' and '9 dead in Japan Tunnel collapse', and as I was already thinking how this week was already starting sadly, I see this...

NYPD officer's kindness sparks online sensation

it's like the sun splitting the dark clouds in the sky. it's how it made me feel anyway.

listening to my friends complaining about mortgages they can't pay, about the jobs they just lost, about people that just don't smile anymore, about families going apart because sadness is in everyone's hearts ; all this is just darkening my mind and my heart.

so seeing someone acknowledging someone's distress and opening his heart just because, this is just what I needed today.

Thank you stranger, today you have restored my faith in Humanity.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/usa/nypd-officer-s-kindness-sparks-online-sensation-1.1113689?utm_content=1.1113689&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=Feeds&utm_campaign=%3C%21%5BCDATA%5BNYPD_officer%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s_kindness_sparks_online_sensation%5D%5D%3E&localLinksEnabled=false&utm_term=%3C%21%5BCDATA%5BNews_RSS_feed%5D%5D%3E