One of our earlier blog posts had this Instagram quote that went something like,
Don't be afraid to start over again. This time, you're not starting from scratch, you're starting from experience.
I think we're both a little surprised at how well we've settled in so far. Probably the reason we're able to do that is because we have experience in setting up and being with each other for long periods of time. Like during our quarantine, we both naturally took on the roles we had back in Singapore with Sarah doing the laundry and me doing the cooking and washing up.
So a lot of what we did last week were routines that we carried over from Singapore life. Same activities, different environment.
Like going for our first run together which did not end well for Sarah when she got a brain freeze from running (IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?). At least she got to see the running route which is similar to our running loop back home minus the inconsiderate people blocking the way and the humidity. We did a couple of kilometres but couldn't break a sweat because of the weather. Couldn't, not didn't.
Before brain freezing herself
Her yoga practice carried over from Singapore has been important. Thankfully the Covid situation introduced the world to Zoom yoga which has kept her connected to her studio and yogi buddies back home.
P.S. Sarah does such a great job keeping up with everyone. She has several recurring scheduled calls with friends every week. A-MA-ZING.
We also incorporated our hobbies into our lives here and even revived some throwback ones, like knitting, which Sarah has restarted.
Not my book but I'm up to 12 books this year. Short of the 71 I did last year though I'll admit that was excessive.
Sarah finally starting on a knitting project gift from DECEMBER 2020.
Not everything we did this week was brought over from home, we also went out to get Sarah some Australian identification so she can legit be a 'straylian. Before that, she was just a lian. That was a whole different story on it's own. You can check out her Instagram or ask her about the lovely Redfern neighbourhood.
Keeping close to home, we checked out this Malaysian eatery at Chinatown called Mamak. Pretty legit. Prices were legit expensive as well.
$15 Nasi Lemak, $15 Lamb Murtabak, $4 Milo Tarik
$14 Tisu Prata. With random ice cream
Crazy prices but I guess that was the price of home so it was well worth it. We did more Asian food at a Viet restaurant near us. That was also legit and the portions are massive Aussie sized though that didn't stop us at all.
We made a mental note that we're eating out way too often so this week will mostly be home cooked meals like this fish soup we made from scratch. Watch out Amoy Fish Soup! Like we made the ikan billis stock and all. We even made rice in a pot using the finger method because our rice cooker is still on some ship heading to Sydney.
A for Asian!
People usually ask us how we're doing here and we tend to default to we're doing fine but actually I think we're doing more than fine. Routines, habits, food, a solid relationship are taken for granted in Singapore but here, they play such an important role in keeping us grounded and connected.
So yes, next time we get asked how we're doing, I think we're doing great here.
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