You may or may not have noticed the long hiatus on Purple Tern...

The weeks since the last post have been incredibly busy and stressful, and therefore totally unconducive to writing.

During that period, we:

1. Finalized our Malaysian visas for the next three years
2. Disposed, drip by drip, of the contents of the apartment that are not coming with us
3. Established that my eyes are no longer glaucoma suspects, and my cholesterol is OK
4. Had endless email exchanges about our house purchase (even now, nothing is set in stone, but we're putting our faith in the fact that the vendor still wants to sell, and we still want to buy)
5. Weathered rainstorms and a water outage (an interesting combination...)
6. Organized for the apartment windows to be cleaned, as per our contract
7. Cleaned the rest of the apartment, and handed back the keys
8. Weighed and packed, weighed and packed, weighed and packed (that bit is still not finished)

It's all so quickly said. But it has all been so very slow and effortful to execute.

Result: It's a long time since I've felt as tired as this. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.


Absolutely nothing about this process worked out exactly as we would have expected. No plan survived in its original shape. Everything had to be modified at least once.

And for a character like PT's, which likes to plan and organize and keep a grip on things, the constant changes of tack have been really wearing. It would be nice to be the kind of person who breezes through chaos with grace and patience and cheerfulness. But I'm not that person, and I do not thrive on this activity.

What I am, though, is grateful. Every time an obstacle has arisen, friends have stepped up to help find alternative solutions. Or they've swept us off for breakfast or lunch, to give us a change of scene. All up, they've been really, really fantastic.

Since Wednesday evening, we've been based at The Longhouse Hotel, our go-to place for transition periods. We're currently surrounded by stuff. But two cases will go to live round the corner with a friend. There's another bag of bits and pieces that will be disposed of in the next couple of days.

Which leaves us each -- we hope -- with our normal backpack and frontpack, plus an unwonted huge suitcase apiece.



***

Anyway, let's turn to lighter things:











My distracted state meant I didn't take photos of the really flavourful asam curry vegetables I had the other day at the SCR at Emart Tabuan Jaya. They also do fantastic chicken satay, and yummy mantou. Definitely one to return to.