Ups and Downs

So here we are, back in the Netherlands at last. My mother in law had turned up the central heating to a welcoming 20 C, bought a Xmas tree and made sure there was plenty of food in the cupboards. We stumbled off the plane at 5:30am to a night as dark as pitch which seemed to stretch on endlessly as we drove across the country towards Lochem. Would the sun ever rise again? Just as we were starting to despair of ever seeing light again the darkness lightened to a misty grey, and trees and large boerderij farm houses emerged from the still, clammy fog. Perfectly flat countryside stretched away on both sides of the highway, interrupted only by the straight silvery lines of drainage canals dug into the loamy soil. The highway, busy at any time of the day with streams of lights rushing upon us then receding into the distance, bypassed villages faintly visible in the dim light, each punctuated with a central church spire like a pastoral dart board. We were home.

Things that are great about being back in Holland:

• Good wine for 5 euros a bottle - or less! (eat your hearts our, Singaporeans!)
• REAL Dutch cheese which doesn't costs Sing$60/kilo (yes that's 30 euros!)
• Ollie bollen, apple bignets, real bread (swoon!)
• Forests - the kind you can run through with the kids without having to battle undergrowth or worry about standing on a snake
• Other people's kids being as noisy and active as mine

Things I already miss about Singapore

• The weather: it's -10 degrees C tonite!!!
• Rice: instead of a choice of over 40 varieties and packet sizes at the supermarket, here you can choose from 5 varieties which have all been processed to death and are guaranteed to be totally sterile and not stick together...how are you supposed to eat that with chopsticks???
• Seafood so fresh it's practically flopping on your plate
• The swimming pool - the kids are bouncing off the walls already
• Our apartment...when did our house shrink? When did my kitchen become so small????