Distance makes the heart grow fonder. (they forgot the stomach)

Ever since we moved to Tianjin, you can pretty much say that our social lives have been cut right down to zero.

Contrary to what many may believe, Vincent and I are sort of caught in an in-between place where we travel hours every day just to come home. And with winter just around the corner, going out or socializing becomes a distant priority. It doesn’t help that our cats are as slutty as dogs and always want company. So we willingly oblige. 🙂

When we left Singapore in June, we didn’t quite realise we’d be thrown right into another universe altogether. I may have lived in China before, but it certainly is markedly different this time. I’m just glad that at least it’s not Shanghainese they speak here, so I have the benefit of never having to be left out in conversations. (though Monday mornings are always most difficult. My tongue is always strapped up, along with my weekend hangover…)

Well, I’ve come to learn how to cope with being away from the people I miss, though there’s never enough time for friends.

Thanks to a proactive Mutu – the entire Tuckshopgang is perpetually on Whatsapp going full throttle on emoji-madness. My 10+strong high school galpals “whose combined decibel level can beat a jetplan any day” – Vincent and all our respective husbands would testify. They all had to humbly pass the approval test to date us anyhow.)  Now that we have baby-news, it’s become alot more engaging to see the lovelies.

I’ve got my mum and siblings too on whatsapp, though these days they care more about the cats (“my grandkids”, my mum admits), and of Vincent. Yes, apart from providing news-transmissions, i’m off their radar screen.

And then we received superb greetings from awesome friends everywhere.

Tanja and Martin whose address is their super campervan somewhere in Europe. There’s Kim, my darling superstar in Germany who’s due to give birth already next year! (to think we were still picking up malay boys back in 2004…). There’s our favourite ah-pek Gerber whose final mission at the embassy was to send me a parcel full of rubbish (typical-Gerber-fashion):

i think the face mask was because he thought we’d die of pollution. Thanks Gerber, love you too.

Anyway, loads of these mini little messages on email, facebook messaging and of course on Skype really makes you think you’re not too far away. And it really helps us to get through shitty, ugly days here.

Actually, we’ve come to realise this.

The only time when Vincent confessed to miss home the most is when when we stumbled upon these recently in an expat area in Beijing:

Yup – forget the love notes and phone calls.

The way to a man’s heart is only through his stomach. Tried and tested.