2022 finally winds up and down and all around

2022 started with an ouch and is ending with a hmmm things are getting interesting again.

Nothing is certain for anyone anywhere right now. But what I do know is, life has improved exponentially since we decided to make the difficult decision to leave Australia again. After the lockdowns, it took more than 6 months for us to make the final call to leave - even after the borders opened. Because this time it wasn't as easy or as carefree as the last. We had been back long enough to almost get used to some things and get attached to others. Things in life had changed. But that didn't mean it was right for us. Leaving behind family is also a lot harder as the years pass. No one tells you that some goodbyes change you. And just like all the other ex-pats that returned to Australia during the pandemic and left once more - we also knew that nothing out there would be perfect either. We were prepared for that. We still are. No matter where you land right now in the world everything is all still a bit unclear. You have to pick your hard.

So we just do us and roll with it. Since October we have been living low-key and low-profile just as we desired. Getting healthy again, exhaling, recalibrating and filling our cups. For those that don't know - we firstly came to Penang, Malaysia to rewrite the narrative and finish what we started. To have a soft landing and live in the same building together instead of oceans apart. To finally enjoy it. To plan. To regroup. And to return to the place that locked me in, locked Curly out, created uncomfortable memories and yet gave me shelter from a large storm. I wanted full circle. It's been startling to see it all come alive and open again - albeit very differently. But some things and places are simply not as they were before. We have all changed. The world has changed. And no doubt will change again.

I initially had a strange limbo period of readjustment to life in Asia - which was totally unexpected. I guess I almost got used to the creature comforts and conveniences of the West a little too much. I had stayed a year longer than I planned to and it showed. But that fish out of water feeling also passed with time.

And one day I just woke up and it all came back to me and it became my normal once again.

Is this wok going to be big enough? How good are limes? Where will I buy our food? How about the laundry? Check 4 - 6 times before crossing the road. Who has the best rice? Not those eggs…tho-o-ose eggs. Who makes the freshest coconut milk? Was the sanitation always this bad? Get the water delivered. Wear a sarong again. Seeing Curly relaxed and in a sarong again. Using the rice cooker. Buying the coconuts. Washing the rice. Remembering how to do the toilet hose bum-gun ballet. Where is the wet market man and his fresh chicken? Is this papaya ripe? Is that mango for salad or fruit? Is Air Asia ever going to give me a refund or arrive on time? How do we connect to reliable internet? No, please not another election. No, please not another stage in the pandemic. Is Lazada ever going to deliver my parcel? The hot water or lack thereof in the kitchen. Visas. Finding shoes in my size. The stupid postal system. Potholes. Tourists and not the good ones. Huge monsoonal rainstorms. Stuck in traffic. Open drains. Pollution. Big orange pink skies. The cheap flights to anywhere (yay). Grab food orders and grocery deliveries within the hour (another yay). More talk about visas. The rubbish piles and grubbiness. The new phone numbers. Cheap taxis. Even cheaper fresh food. The broken pavements. The smiles. The chaos. The friendliness. Truly undesirable and unidentifiable smells that come from nowhere. The death-defying drivers. Meeting interesting people from all over the world in the most random places. Scooters. Durian. The dreams of new places to see - all within easy reach and affordable. The call to prayer duelling it out with the temple gongs and a rare churchbell. Dengue fever - two types this year - awesome. Wearing masks everywhere again. Too many malls. Really masks - 3 years of this? The choice of red or white dragonfruit. Things opening up at 10 am. Terrible airports and glorious ones. Asking yourself “was the traffic always this bad?" every single day of your life. Finally being in the same time zone as your friends. Finally.

And just mastering the simple routines of our daily life. Add monsoon season, a few major bouts of gastro and a good ol' staph infection to acclimatise and it's hello Fotini, welcome back!

Our first mini adventure was a small one to test the waters. We had made a pact to use more public transport this time around. So we caught the air-conditioned, Wifi connected, spotless, modern, on-time train to Ipoh. ( Yes Sydney - on time is possible ). It was time to watch the palm plantations through the misty train window and walk through art-filled cave temples set in limestone cliffs again. To stroll past antique-hued shophouses and relish the elegantly decaying colonial buildings. To wander around the old quarter like a tourist (and get charged like one) was still a novelty.

I could only imagine what it was like before so many shops and bars shut down due to the pandemic. For me, I just had to get off at the Ipoh train station that I have seen on so many travel shows. Looking over at the gilded Hindu temple while hearing the call to prayer and just standing in front of its crumbling, pigeon-shit-covered facade - for some reason was just something I needed to do. I can’t explain these things. I wanted us to drink icy snow beers by the bucket and eat some fine curries. Devour proper local Chinese food under blinking street lights while sitting on a plastic chair by the side of the road surrounded by laughing local families. I wanted to start feeling like travel was a part of us again.

And we have. And it is. Just slowly slowly.

I then flew to Kuala Lumpur again to finally see long-lost Rosie and meet her little girls for the very first time. After being locked in WA and me in Sydney - we survived on a friendship diet of texts and weekly calls for over 2 years. Dreaming every day of our departure back to our old lives. Remembering who we used to be. Trying to make sense of Australia. Wondering what happened to the world and what it will all look like when we return. And return we did! To shower them with hugs and spend time together was a 2022 highlight for me. There were tears and toys.

I then spent a few days in a chic little hotel with Curly who caught the bus down to KL. I wandered around KL for days, like I had not seen it before. Even though I had - almost a dozen times. It still felt new. Yet it was the same gritty, big, sparkly, dilapidated, bling, broke, mall-filled city of contrasts that I once knew. We ate at a few of our favourite places then caught the first-class train back to Penang - and I highly recommend it. You get full service including food, snacks and beverages, single seating, and delicious air con. There is also first class leg room, WiFi, and your own personal tv screen. A private lounge to wait in prior to boarding helps to avoid the human crush below. And it all costs peanuts. If Malaysia does anything right - it's trains. The stations and airports not so much.

The ferry that then takes you from the mainland to Penang on the other hand, is another story. The run-down, bulky but breezy old-style ferries sadly are no longer and have been replaced by a faster and yet decidedly more enclosed (sinkable) version. The engineer of the house got that look that says 'this may not be seaworthy' as he promptly stowed the luggage and took a seat under the escape hatch. That never bodes well. I was grateful it was a short trip. It's free for locals until next June. Even for free, you won't catch me on it again.

In other news, we also visited Ho Chi Minh City. Glorious, dazzling, dizzying, balls to the wall Saigon, Vietnam. What a vibe! Thousands of crazy scooters on the footpaths, twenty ways to die on every street corner. Nothing made me feel more alive than crossing the road in 6 lanes of traffic with my hand in the air and surviving. This felt like I had somehow mastered the city. I live for those moments and they have been a long time coming. Of course, I also had secretly hired a private jeep for Curly as a surprise and two of the best guides Saigon has to offer showed us their city through food. This was not just any food and city tour - this was curated just for us and took weeks of meticulous planning. Totally unique and full of secret little foodie surprises and details. Amazing.

And that day was the day - surrounded by millions of motorbikes, honking horns, gorgeous buildings, smog, history, crowds, chaos, colors, and having eaten things I cannot remember the names of or pronounce, that I realised - I'm back in Asia. I feel alive again and I absolutely love it.

We spent most of our time in HCMC eating our heads off and drinking that nectar/ rocket fuel of theirs called Vietnamese coffee. We hugged our dear friends Joe and Ricky finally, we drank on rooftop bars and admired sparkling views of the city and ate incredibly good Japanese more than once. We had non-happy-ending massages and got our travel hair attended to in glitzy gold salons. We drank craft brews and normal brews and every brew in between. We scoured the best bánh mì and phở from street corners and beyond, we watched football matches in loud bars and walked a city that runs on coffee, adrenals, and fumes. We loved every second. Every bloody moment. We didn't want to leave.

But we had to and now it's on to planning the next year.

The new year will hopefully ( all things considered ) find us bouncing around in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand again. We will also finally be heading to Cambodia. And back to Vietnam for a much longer wander or two or three. After that who knows! I don’t think anyone really knows.

May the end of 2022 be kind to all. May this time of year be gentle to you and your loved ones. May 2023 be what you need it to be.

Peace.