Travelog: Me and our journey

Winter is over now... however, it refused to let go the baton to Spring before a final showdown.  So at last, on 4th April 2019, winter delivers its final snow here in Geneva.  We are lucky as this is the first snow fall at La Vigie, we though we have to wait until next winter to view the snowfall here in our new home. Words cannot deliver the beauty of fresh snowfall early in the morning.  By noon, all the beauty slowly fades away. Enjoy the view. A bientot... ~ yatiseman `

Looking for a house was a new experience for us.  During our previous posting here, we just took over the previous officer's home and we were lucky to have a duplex apartment with garden.  And now, we are going back to Geneve and there is no house yet as our predecessor has returned home for almost a year and the residence had to be released. Looking for new house means that we have to consider where do we want to stay; the right side or the left side of Lac Leman and this also determines where the kids will be going to school, the public transportation bla, bla... so many considerations. At last, received feedback from most of our colleagues that the traffic is horrendous crossing the bridge during peak hour times!! So off the checklists for beautiful places such as Cologny, Collonge Bellerive, Hermance etc. So far, we have visited 3 houses on the right side of the lake and all are marvelous (in fact one is a mansion to the boot). Map of Geneve, showing left and...

Spring now :: flowers blossom everywhere. But I want to recap our first winter experience here in Geneva. We arrived Geneva during the midst of winter around 6th January 2007. Most of the days were gloomy but there was no sign of snowing. Snow was not a new phenomenon for me.  In the States, the first year I've been there, I've experienced a major blizzard in Lehigh and Boston. As for the boys, this is quite a new experience for them. Ashraf used to experience winter in New Zealand and Istanbul but it did not snow there. Only deep coldness! Back at home in Malaysia, Ashraf always made imaginary snow with my talc powder, my facial tissue and even my flour! All because of Thomas the Tank Engine and its series. I remember one series in which Thomas entered into a tunnel and exited into huge snowbank... and Terence, the Caterpillar had to tow Thomas away... After that, tamat riwayat bedak.. I think the huge Anakku talc powder, 2 bottles... We had that bottles sin...

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Robert Frost quotes (American poet, 1874-1963) Geneva or Genève in French or Genf in German or Ginevra in Italian will be our home for the next three years. It’s winter here and the cold blast was quite a shock to the kids. The best part was that they hibernated and become less active. Alhamdulillah! For the first week, we stayed at Royal Manotel , Rue de Lausanne in the heart of Geneva. Food was difficult but then since the room was equipped with kitchenette facility, we managed to cook some basic dish which mainly involved sardine and eggs! Initially, I was quite paranoid with the new place and only spent our time i n t he room while hubby went to work. It seemed quite daunting to walk in the col d winter weather with two hyperactive kids! We only managed to go out sightseeing whenever he’s back but by 5 pm, it...