your head for over an hour. You are wrong. It is still freezing. If you don’t want a pile of pity towels draped over you, bring a pashmina.
When they say: “Your hair is so curly,” it’s not in a good way.
Singaporeans are not too keen on curls… frizzy hair is a complete mystery. “How did this mishap of a hairstyle occur?” Your self-confidence may take a blow when they point to your hair and lift both shoulders at the same time. And Singaporean hairdressers are very candid. They do not mince words. Probably not going to win any diplomacy awards. If you gained weight or look tired, you are going to hear about it.
Describing your desired colour as “copper – you know, like the colour of the sun setting on kitchen pots in a Tuscan farmhouse” is not a foolproof plan.
In your mind, it’s all very clear. But when your mental image of copper morphs into a bright-red Japanese anime character, that’s where the phrase
lost in translation
becomes suddenly, alarmingly relevant. If only they had not nodded their heads in such total understanding when you mentioned the copper pots and the sunsets in Tuscany.
Those straightened locks smiling back at you from the mirror may stay behind at the hair salon.
I guess you forgot about the 100% humidity outside. For a Caucasian with very curly hair, there is nothing more demoralizing than walking out of a hair salon in Singapore. By the time she gets home (regardless of the weather), her hair will very likely be a hot mess. The thought of the time spent and the cash wasted will increase her resolve to never go back… at least for another week. Anything to get that fleeting glimpse of the girl with the straight hair reflected in the mirror.
Things I do instead of working on my book
Make coffee.
My first coffee of the day. Nothing like it. And both kids at school. Silence in the house. Heaven. I feel like skipping from room to room and playing Billie Holiday. Maybe not. I just brought one child downstairs to get the bus in a torrential downpour but by the time I had to bring my daughter it had stopped. Thank goodness for that, and for her no longer finding her pink flute, which the other day she insisted on playing the whole way to school. After all, she’s not the pied piper. And, more importantly, I’m not deaf.
Read book reviews online.
Not only a fun way to procrastinate, it is sometimes necessary to find out what’s appropriate reading material for one’s son with a voracious reading habit.
A few months ago, in fact, debating (briefly) whether ‘Hunger Games’ was a suitable book for my ten-year-old son, I remembered the fairy tales I had read him as a child. Even now I feel a little guilty. That’s some scary stuff. So, if you are just starting out as a parent, tread carefully.
First off, the Beatrix Potter series. Sure it’s a classic, the illustrations are gorgeous, and you fully intend to visit the Lake District at some point, but beware: this series is not for the faint-hearted. Examples:
a. ‘Jemima Puddle-Duck’: Innocent duck held prisoner by a crafty fox intent on cooking her… scary.
b. ‘The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies’: Farmer McGregor tying up the cute, adorable, sleeping flopsy bunnies in a sack so that the skins can line his wife’s cloak… even scarier.
c. ‘Tom Kitten’:Cute little kitty falls into the clutches of a greedy rat. The rat rolls him up in some dough with a rolling pin to enjoy some Kitten Dumpling… scariest of all.
Next, the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Take your pick. And, unlike Beatrix Potter, you know this is some seriously scary stuff. But you just can’t help yourself. You probably read this as a child. I know I did. Why deprive your child of all those witches, evil stepmothers, and catastrophic chains of events unleashed when an unsuspecting orphan child walks alone into the woods at night?
a. ‘Sleeping Beauty’: A witch called Maleficent who holds a grudge because she wasn’t invited to the party.Seriously
When they say: “Your hair is so curly,” it’s not in a good way.
Singaporeans are not too keen on curls… frizzy hair is a complete mystery. “How did this mishap of a hairstyle occur?” Your self-confidence may take a blow when they point to your hair and lift both shoulders at the same time. And Singaporean hairdressers are very candid. They do not mince words. Probably not going to win any diplomacy awards. If you gained weight or look tired, you are going to hear about it.
Describing your desired colour as “copper – you know, like the colour of the sun setting on kitchen pots in a Tuscan farmhouse” is not a foolproof plan.
In your mind, it’s all very clear. But when your mental image of copper morphs into a bright-red Japanese anime character, that’s where the phrase
lost in translation
becomes suddenly, alarmingly relevant. If only they had not nodded their heads in such total understanding when you mentioned the copper pots and the sunsets in Tuscany.
Those straightened locks smiling back at you from the mirror may stay behind at the hair salon.
I guess you forgot about the 100% humidity outside. For a Caucasian with very curly hair, there is nothing more demoralizing than walking out of a hair salon in Singapore. By the time she gets home (regardless of the weather), her hair will very likely be a hot mess. The thought of the time spent and the cash wasted will increase her resolve to never go back… at least for another week. Anything to get that fleeting glimpse of the girl with the straight hair reflected in the mirror.
Things I do instead of working on my book
Make coffee.
My first coffee of the day. Nothing like it. And both kids at school. Silence in the house. Heaven. I feel like skipping from room to room and playing Billie Holiday. Maybe not. I just brought one child downstairs to get the bus in a torrential downpour but by the time I had to bring my daughter it had stopped. Thank goodness for that, and for her no longer finding her pink flute, which the other day she insisted on playing the whole way to school. After all, she’s not the pied piper. And, more importantly, I’m not deaf.
Read book reviews online.
Not only a fun way to procrastinate, it is sometimes necessary to find out what’s appropriate reading material for one’s son with a voracious reading habit.
A few months ago, in fact, debating (briefly) whether ‘Hunger Games’ was a suitable book for my ten-year-old son, I remembered the fairy tales I had read him as a child. Even now I feel a little guilty. That’s some scary stuff. So, if you are just starting out as a parent, tread carefully.
First off, the Beatrix Potter series. Sure it’s a classic, the illustrations are gorgeous, and you fully intend to visit the Lake District at some point, but beware: this series is not for the faint-hearted. Examples:
a. ‘Jemima Puddle-Duck’: Innocent duck held prisoner by a crafty fox intent on cooking her… scary.
b. ‘The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies’: Farmer McGregor tying up the cute, adorable, sleeping flopsy bunnies in a sack so that the skins can line his wife’s cloak… even scarier.
c. ‘Tom Kitten’:Cute little kitty falls into the clutches of a greedy rat. The rat rolls him up in some dough with a rolling pin to enjoy some Kitten Dumpling… scariest of all.
Next, the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Take your pick. And, unlike Beatrix Potter, you know this is some seriously scary stuff. But you just can’t help yourself. You probably read this as a child. I know I did. Why deprive your child of all those witches, evil stepmothers, and catastrophic chains of events unleashed when an unsuspecting orphan child walks alone into the woods at night?
a. ‘Sleeping Beauty’: A witch called Maleficent who holds a grudge because she wasn’t invited to the party.Seriously
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