For the last time, two days ago, Heidi and I went for our weekly German conversation ‘class’ at my neighbour cum Heidi’s nanny’s place. Unlike her other nanny who is also her breeder and looks after her during our long holidays, this nanny is her ’short holiday nanny’.

‘Short holiday nanny’ has always been concerned about whether we were going to sedate Heidi during her flight back. She’s an advocate, by the way. During the conversation, I told her we were still undecided. (At that point in time, I had consulted four vets, of which two were against and two were for.) She then offered to call her previous vet for advice. I say ‘previous’ cos’ her Sheltie has already passed away two years ago.

Her vet (Vet A), whose clinic is about 1 hour’s drive away, recommended a rather new drug, which supposedly is ’safer’ than the one that Heidi’s vet here would give. After taking down the name of the drug, ’short holiday nanny’ called another of her previous vets (Vet B) who works two bus stops away, to see if the drug was available there. It was, but for some reason or another, Vet B wanted ’short holiday nanny’ to call Vet A, asking her to to call Vet B to say that she was the one who recommended the use of the drug. Finally, after a few more calls, an appointment was made with Vet B the following morning.

‘Short holiday nanny’ then asked how I would be going. Since Mr. Tan was working, of course I had planned to take the bus. Immediately, she offered to send us there. At this point, I have to point out that ’short holiday nanny’, although in good health, isn’t very mobile. When sitting behind the driver’s seat, she can’t really turn her neck 90 degrees to look out for the blind spot, though she can turn her body, a little. But don’t worry, she’s required to go for a test every year to see if she can still hold on to her licence. And of course, she passed last year.

At the vet the following morning, Heidi got her tablet, on top of half the dosage that I had requested to give first as a trial. When the time came to make payment, I was taken aback when ’short holiday nanny’ asked the doctor to send the bill (of 54 francs) to her. As shocked as I was, I immediately declined her kind offer and took out the bills to pay on the spot. After a short argument, at her insistence and saying that that was the last thing she could do for Heidi, I gave in.

From now on, I shall call Short holiday nanny ‘Heidi’s angel’.

Since Heidi would be relocating to the concrete jungle of Singapore soon, we decided to let her enjoy her last hiking experience here in Switzerland.

We’ve always preferred hiking in the mountains, at a certain elevation. Since it’s still early in Spring and most of the snow has yet to melt, to hike on elevated grounds meant hiking on snow. You’ll be surprised, there’s an abundance of winter hiking trails here. Some require hikers to wear snowshoes but some don’t. The trail we chose was a super duper easy one, which claims to even accomodate prams.

We could have started at the base of the mountain, gaining elevation as we hit the gondola station of Rossweid. But the gondola ferrying skiers up the mountain was just too tempting for us to ignore. So, we cheated lah. Besides, I was a little disturbed by the increasing pain from my new toe nail that’s growing out to replace the one that I lost from our last hike. I think it’s not growing properly leh. Hopefully it’s not in-grown, and no surgical procedures would be needed to remedy it.

Beginning of hike - Rossweid Gondola station

“Hello pretty!”

At some parts, we had to cut across skiers on T-bars

She suddenly went into ‘Play’ mode

Thirsty after playing. Winter hiking is good. We don’t need to bring her water bag along.

Stopping for a pose

My work of art. As you can see, my heart contains more of Mr. Tan than myself.

Mr. Tan giving it a go too

He must have failed in Art

By the time we reached Rossweid, it was lunch time. The drive from zuzuland took about 2hrs, by the way. After forcing down the yuckiest gulash soup and sausages we’ve ever had, we were on our way. It was a short hike that would take 1.5hrs, cutting across flat, snow-covered terrains as well as ski trails. Destination was a mountain guesthouse and bus stop at Salwideli.

Although the view wasn’t as spectacular as some of the other hikes we’d been on, it was our first time hiking in winter, and the experience was a refreshing one. No doubt, I felt my legs itching and a surge in excitement whenever I saw snowboarders whizzing by. Well, one thing’s for sure - Heidi had a great time!

Enjoying it while it lasts

Watching skiers whizz by

Nice view

Nice pose

It was flat almost all the way. I like…

Some parts of the snow were covered with such unique, flaky snow crystals

Destination: Salwideli

Clouds coming in

“I will miss hiking “

“You’ve a snack for me? Here I come!”

Looking melancholic

I think I’ll be crushed to death if that pile of snow falls on me!

Harry Tan and his magic ice wand

Thirsty? Have an icicle!

On a side note, just before starting on the hike, I realized I’d lost my sunglasses, again! Or so I thought. The first time I lost it was also in the region. Senior Mr. and Mrs. Tan were visiting and we had brought them to the nearby summit of Rothorn. While waiting for the cog railway up the mountain, I was re-packing my backpack and absentmindedly left the sunglass on one of the wagons at the station. It was at the most public and obvious area, where everyone would be waiting to board the train. When I realized it, I had thought that was the last I would see of my dear Oakley. At the end of the day, after arriving back at the base station, I thought I would just try my luck with the station’s ticket office and see if any kind soul had sent it there. You should have seen my eyes light up when the staff flashed out a familiar-looking black Oakley case! Apparently, one of them had found it lying, alone and deserted, on the wagon and took it for safekeeping. I wonder how many people had actually laid eyes on it but restrained themselves from claiming it as their own. Anyway, it’s no surprise to see such things happening here in Switzerland lah.

This time, after recalling that I’d left it in the gondola while re-packing my backpack (yes, again!), I tried my luck with the station staff again. I was disappointed, but not for long. At the end of the day, I found myself plopping onto a bulky object on the car seat. I think I almost burst Mr. Tan’s ear drums with my scream of jubilee when I felt it and thought it to be what it was. Sometimes I wonder if dear Oakley is a living thing in disguise that is trying its darnest best to run away from its owner. Anyway, let’s see if there’ll be a third time, and if I’ll be third time lucky.

Have you ever met anyone so kind and so helpful that after your encounter with her, you just feel inspired to be a better person? Well, we met someone like this yesterday.

We were hiking in the mountains in Sörenberg, central Switzerland. It was quite a last-minute decision, so I didn’t do much research into the place. When we reached our start point, we just grabbed a booklet with some necessary info and started on the trail. 

The hike we chose to do was an easy 1.5hr one. Supposedly, we would end up at a mountain guesthouse cum restaurant, which is also the bus stop for one of the post buses that would bring us back to the village. Yes, supposedly.

When we reached the destination, we realized that the bus had stopped its service one week ago. While speaking to the owner of the restaurant and trying to get more information, a lady seated at a nearby table approached me. She must have had overheard our conversation and came to offer me a ride in her car down. Then, Mr. Tan was waiting outside with Heidi, and I must have really looked like a small damsel in distress in a foreign land. As much as I was grateful and more than willing to hitch a ride, I couldn’t, as I had a dog (and a husband) with me. When I told her that, she shrugged and looked apologetic. There simply wasn’t enough space to fit all of us.

After gathering information about the route back down, which would take another 1hr, I left the restaurant. But not before scanning through the restaurant for the kind lady and giving her a grateful smile.

After telling Mr. Tan the bad news and as we were getting ready to leave, all the guests in the restaurant came out and went to their cars, preparing to leave as well. I spotted Miss Kindess and we waved each other goodbye.

We took a while to figure out the beginning of the trail, and just as we were about to embark on part two of our hike, a voice behind called out to us. Running towards us from behind was Miss Kindness, saying that she had found someone with a van who could take all of us! Holy Cow. When I first heard that, I could hardly believe my ears. And of course, because she was speaking in German, I wasn’t 100% sure as well. She then half ushered, half pulled us back to the restaurant, while explaining the situation. I asked if it was someone she knew, she said no. I gathered she must have just picked out the driver of the biggest vehicle at the car park outside the restaurant and asked if he could take us. What happened after that was a blur.

Still reeling from the shock, we were introduced to two old men standing beside their van, who immediately extended their big warm hands to us and said ‘Welcome welcome!’ Before we could properly thank Miss Kindness, she had already disappeared into her own car. Bless her!

We then exchanged a few words with Mr. Kindness 1 & 2, who enthusiastically threw open the door of their van and invited us to hop on. They had asked where exactly we were going. Upon hearing ‘Sörenberg’, they simply replied ‘Ok. We’ll take you there!’

Although Sörenberg was only about 10 minutes down the winding mountain path by car, and they would have to drive down the mountain anyway, it was still an incredibly kind gesture for them to give us, two and a half strangers, a ride.

When we finally hopped off in the middle of Sörenberg village, we could only shake the hands of these two angels and thank them profusely. As we parted our ways, we were still in a state of shock and surprise. While gushing about the kindess that lived in the three total strangers who had just made our day, Mr. Tan asked, ‘ Doesn’t it make you feel like wanting to be a better person?’ I answered ‘Yes’, to his concurrence.

“Don’t even think of taking this away from me!”

“I can play the flute!”

We picked Heidi up from her nanny two days ago. It was the time for final goodbyes and I could see it was difficult for mother nanny. Father nanny was more calm, as most men are. Heidi obviously didn’t know what was going on, but I still felt sad for her. She loves them to the core, and I bet she enjoys her time spent in their huge house with a huge garden, and 15 other dogs. According to them, her favourite playmates are fellow shelties, Clooney and Betty. Betty is in fact, her half sister, whose prospective owner backed out after she broke her leg from a freak accident. Anyway, she’s all well now. Together with her and Clooney, Heidi plays catching all over the garden, barking their heads off whenever they spot something interesting. I wonder where she can play like that and with whom in in Singapore.

I’ve applied for her import licence online yesterday. Appointment’s also been made with the swiss official government vet for endorsement of the documents. If everything goes well, she should be released to me right after all the checks in the Changi quarantine centre. I’ve been reading the documents over and over again, just to make sure I haven’t left out anything. The last thing I want is for her to be quarantined. Especially not after the 13 hours traumatizing flight.

We have always thought that we’d give her the tranquilizer to make her drowsy on the plane, just like what we gave Maple on her flight from Vancouver. However, the vet whom we are going to bring her to for her final checks is not an advocate of such a method. We’ve always known that two different camps exist in regards to this issue, and we’ve kinda been on the fence.

Looking back now, we probably wouldn’t have given Maple the tranquilizer, since afterall she’s more ‘garang’, and wouldn’t have been as traumatized. Or so, I think. But with Heidi, it breaks my heart just to imagine her whining her heart out in the dark, lonely baggage hold… for 13 hours! The tranquilizer would been good, at least in making her less aware. But it’s not without its risks.

I don’t know. We haven’t really come to a decision. It’s a tough one, this time.

I touched down to -4 deg C zuzuland last night. Although it was colder than when I left more than 2 weeks ago, it was definitely a much-welcomed change.

At 6 am this morning, i.e. Singapore time 1 pm, I was wide awake. Yes, I am jet-lagged, but I doubt it’ll be catastrophic. During the few weeks in Singapore, I’d been keeping to zuzuland’s time. Well, almost. Except for a few days, I had never turned in earlier than 3 am, and never woken up earlier than 10 am. It wasn’t done on purpose. When you have a fellow night owl room-mate, i.e. Medium Chualie, the night is always still young.

It’s snowing again. We’ll be picking Heidi from her nanny later. I feel so sad for her whenever I think of the fact that she’d be going back to Singapore (for good) in two weeks time, and would never get to experience snow and go hiking in the mountains again. I hope she takes well to the weather as well.

Oh yes, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before. Heidi has to go home first, cos’ the ‘big bird’ which is going to be launched on 28th March can’t take live pets. Dumb, but beats the quarantine anytime.

Heeeelllp! I’m melting!

Most of you reading this should be able to empathize with me. But friends living overseas, let me tell you, the heat here is simply &)*%@(# crazy!

I woke up this morning, washed my face, felt it sticky and oily after a while, went to bathe, watched TV, had lunch, felt sticky again, forgot that I’d just bathed 2hrs ago, and jumped under the shower again.

Sometimes when I’m lazing around at home, I would feel so hot that I thought the best way to cool myself down would be to lie down and not move, i.e. take a nap. I usually wake up after a while soaked in perspiration.

I bet the electricity bill for all households will shoot up this month.

I’m going back to zuzuland tomorrow. I just heard from Mr. Tan that the temperature’s dropped to 0 deg C, and he woke up to almost a blizzard yesterday. Honestly, I’ve never looked so forward to going back as much as this time!

Get me out of here!!!!

I hate being alone at home. It’s rather late, I know, but it seems like I’ve only realized that recently. In zuzuland, I’d always looked forward to Mr. Tan coming home after work. Well, I guess that’s normal. In Singapore, before going home, I would usually call to see if there’s anyone at home. If there isn’t, I’d rather hang around outside till later. Beats going home to an empty house anytime. Ok, if it comes to that situation, Bam and her consistent welcoming antics is always the saving grace.

I love being at home. I can’t believe I used to find every opportunity to go out and pack my week full of activities when I was schooling. There would be stretches of time when I had dinner out every evening, and didn’t feel bad about it. Now, I cherish every dinner opportunity at home. Two theories: 1) The result of being away; 2) The result of ageing. I would prefer to think it’s the former.

It always feels great to be home. I attribute 90% to the people, and 10% the the place. Everytime after the 12-hr flight, it’s always a happy feeling to step into the house and await the home-coming of the other Chualies. Sometimes I don’t see all of them until it’s the end of the day. Sometimes I do, like last Friday.

I usually take the night flight out of zuzuland and land in the afternoon. The first person who greets me is usually Father Chualie, who picks me up at the airport. The next is Chua Bam Bam, whom I always have to spend the first 5 minutes of stepping into the house giving a tummy rub. Barely 1 hour after stepping into the house, Medium Chualie came home. 15 minutes later, it was Small Chualie. Then, it was followed by a 1 hour gossip cum showing off of new clothes/makeup/accessories etc. session, with all of us sprawled (in the most ‘tak-glam’ manner) all over the bedroom, and Bam always as the faithful listener. The party broke up when Mother Chualie came home and everyone started getting ready for dinner, though sometimes she would join in as well. Poor Father Chualie. Sometimes I wonder how it feels to be the only male in the family.

At the end of the day, to make me feel bad (but I think it made me feel good instead, wahahahaa!) the two Chualies said, “See, We 抛弃 our boyfriends today because of you, you know, you know!” Waah… thank you lah, my dears.

Hallo hallo and greetings from Singapore!

I’ve been back for almost two weeks now, although it feels much longer than than. Even Mr. Tan has come and gone. Renovation for our flat has started on Monday. I’d been busying around with that, catching up with friends and just enjoying my fishballs and the time at home. The crazy heat is dampening the spirits and making me stay home more than I’d like to. Sometimes it gets so hot and unbearable that I shelve whatever plans for the day and tell myself I’ll do it when the weather turns better. I guess I forgot I’m in Singapore.

The Finland post is up, finally finally. As usual, check them out under ‘Pages’ on the right. Enjoy…