Au Revoir Paris, Welkom Delft

We are back in Day-lefth! Turning the key and plonking straight onto the sisal carpet about 6:30pm.

Can you imagine that we started off our journey at 11:30am from the hotel?

It was tiring and tomorrow will be laundry and couch potato day!

To think of it, until the next session of classes in February, it will be couch potato days for the next two months!

Yippee!!!

Since hubby's classes ended early on the last day (Friday), we went out at night to relish Rueil-Malmaison's beautiful Christmas lightings and tree-decorations. The temperate weather also lent a pleasurable background to our plan of dining out.

It seems each store along the same row competes with one another in decking up their facades with hollies, wreaths and twinkling lights. The relaxing saunter along cobblestone pavements, watching children squealing while skating on the ice rink in front of the town square and savoring the French's sense of aesthetics for the very last time, we imagined how resplendent and enchanting the Champs-Elleyse avenue and the city of Paris as a whole must be at this time of the year.

We then made our way to the halal Pakistani restaurant called 'Bombay Dreams' (a contradiction in terms, I know).

We changed our minds about eating in since Sadia, who has been out of practice after leaving Malaysia, was disagreeable to the restaurant's interior and if I might add, slow service. A jugful of mango lassi that we imbibed as we waited for the 'emporter' (take-away) to be ready, was delicious to the last drop.

The beriyani 'poulet' (chicken) and naan 'fromage' (cheese) really hit the spot, redolent of those wonderful 'mamak' (albeit cheaper) joints in Kuala Lumpur.

In the end, a spread of fine food on the rectangular study table with the hotel tv suspended above it, was just what we needed to unwind before the long day of travelling home tomorrow.

Moreover, Star Academy's Demi-Finale was on! Frivolous and gimmicky, it made a whole lot of difference to pass the hours during packing time!

Come breakfast time this morning, it occured to me this would be my last time handfeeding Sadia the buttery, fluffy croissants and swigging down robust 'cafe' (coffee) with three tiny lumps of sugar, as I accustomed to doing for the last two weeks while hubby was in class.

How odd it feels that just when you're about to get used to a new set of schedules, your routines revert to the ones you familiar with.

Nevertheless, I'm so glad that we leave the crammed room at last and back to the spacious living area in Delft. Sadia's roaming around effortlessly, smiling contentedly and checking back her missed territories are testament to these domesticated thoughts.