In Praise of Slow

We are trying to hold onto all things holiday around here.  It's amazing how quickly the everyday creeps back in and you loose the spaciousness that surrounds a holiday.

I wrote a few notes last week, while still away, listing all the things I loved about our trip.  I wanted a reminder so when things crowd in on me I can find my way back to some sort of 'holiday' feeling. Part of my list revolved around not being so accessible..... I really loved my 3 months of few phone calls, text messages and emails. There's so much freedom in letting go of all the surplus communication in life.  Vast amounts of space open up and so many more possibilities are apparent. The automatic and compulsive comparisons just drop away too.  At Telunas we met a successful businessman man who goes there 3 times a year to work on new ideas.  He sits looking out at the ocean where there is no email, twitter or endless distraction from the online world and he works. It is where he comes up with his best plans and feels the most inspired.

The biggest test is maintaining that space in a world that is so instant, so on and so big on over-communication.

Like me, love me, link me, tweet me, text me, call me, IG me, Facebook me, Skype me, email me...... phwaaaa.....after stepping away for three and a half months it feels a little like..... bombard me, baby! It's no wonder I've been drawn to read this, In Praise of Slow, since returning.  It's a book about challenging the cult of speed. 'Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting.'  (It also feels fitting after Indonesia. They are true masters of savoring the minutes).


It really is something a holiday demands you do, slow down.  Now I just need to bring that to my everyday. xx


PS. Z is like a new kid.  Back to his energetic self and loving life back at kinder with his buddies....I really underestimated how much he would miss his little friends while away.

Telunas....heaven and ....dare I say.... hellish?

I just want to get one thing straight.  When I say 'hellish' I am not talking in any way about 'Telunas'.  Telunas is totally heavenly.  The staff are incredible, the food delicious, the white sandy beach is remote and the water so warm you can lie in the shallows for hours. It is a destination that seems to be one of those well kept secrets but if you find yourself in Singapore with a couple of days to spare do head to Telunas.  It's a 3 hour ferry trip from Singapore to the Riau Islands in Indonesia.  

We were virtually the only people at the resort for a couple of days and it was very relaxing.....the perfect wind down to our trip......until Z became sick.  It put a slight damper on things. The staff were wonderful making bowls of porridge to settle Z's tummy and delivering them to our room along with isotonic drinks, hugs and constant well wishes. I've written so much down about this place while lying alongside Z on the bed as he wrestled sleep and acute stomach pain. I'll write more about Telunus once the dust settles on this crazy illness that has found us in an Emergency room the last 3 out of 4 nights.  

On returning from Telunas we planned to spend our final two nights enjoying the decadence of a 5 star hotel in Singapore (half price on lastminute.com .....we thought we deserved the splurge). Mmmmm, well it was not quite as we imagined. When we pulled into the driveway the porter insisting on helping me with my bags, one a 'sick bag' full of Z's vomit....not quite the Versace the porter is used to handling! Instead of soundly sleeping on the soft king sized bed we 3 found ourselves sleeping on hospital beds under the brash lights of an active emergency ward. Our king size bed empty, our amazing breakfast was replaced by McDonalds at the hospital and instead of packing and last minute shopping we were waiting on ultrasounds, blood tests and urine samples while praying Z would be well enough to fly by 9pm the next night.

The doctors in Singapore were brilliant.  One delightful doctor even helped us out to hail a cab at 4am, in the rain, instructing the driver where to take us, he handed over a hand written letter of referral for the next hospital and called ahead to prep the emergency staff to ensure we were seen immediately. I can't speak highly enough of the treatment we received at both Raffles Hospital and KK Children's Hospital in Singapore. We were also ever so grateful to be there and not somewhere where we didn't speak the language.

Now we are home and how sweet it is to be here..... back in our own beds...... It has not quite been the homecoming we anticipated but hopefully tonight we manage to sleep through without Z writhing in pain and us making a late night mercy dash to Emergency.  We are all so crazily exhausted.... so apologies if I'm out of touch while we get ourselves together here.  

xx