Confessions of an Expat's Wife

from one country to another,thousands of miles earned, different languages to get by with, cultures and expectations to live with plus millons of photos taken to tell the adventures of my life

kakaiba!

When I was living in Hong Kong last year, the Civil Registry fof Marriage was a five minute walk from our flat.In fact, to avoid all the red tape in the Philippines, my husband and I decided to get married in HK and held a church wedding for our respective families in Manila after.Since it was a civil marriage, it only lasted for about ten minutes. We were quite impressed with how the HK Government organized their Civil Registry. They even have a website where you can register your desired date and venue(city) for your wedding.

The wedding couples in HK are in their gowns and suits even if it is a civil ceremony. They actually do the whole nine yards minus the entourage of course, only the witnesses.The most amazing and interesting part on weddings, for me, are the wedding car decor. Being Filipina, I grew up seeing church weddings with brides looking pristine and virginal while going down from the white wedding car with flowers on the bumper signifying that it is the car. In this City of Lights, the wedding cars are dolled up literally with a stufftoy! It was the first time I saw a wedding car with a Hello Kitty couple on the front bumpers. It also varies on the couple's favorite cartoon stuff toy. I saw a Zashikibuta,Doraemon, and a Kerokerokeroppi! Now isn't that cute and different?

That's not all, wait til reception time and you will have your chance to play mahjong with other guests of the couple. This is a Chinese tradition done during celebrations.If the French do aperitif before a meal, the Chinese play mahjong!And tradition also dictates that as a guest a red envelope with cash inside should be given to the newly weds as a sign of goodluck. Much like the Money Dance tradition in the Philippines but this one is a must when attending a wedding in HK! :)

to my summer classmate in Deutsche Class,Ilocos Photography Partner in Crime, and my hypertensive,ultra kikay friend..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My Mom just made the BEST Chicken Gravy today and I can’t help but rave about it!

This week I’ve been running errands and doing my last shopping before I finally go to Istanbul. I wanted to buy and bring so many things with me but I know this is not possible unless I want to risk being over baggage again and pay a hefty sum of dinero. I guess it is just so tempting for me to buy and bring stuff from here since it is relatively cheaper to buy items in Manila.

Yesterday I went to Greenhills Shopping Center with my good friend Tessa. It was a shopper’s paradise as usual! You can have your picks from assorted clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, mobile phones, household items and what have you. For some reason, we got fixated on all those funky shades that we saw and I ended up buying more than I should have! I just couldn’t help but be an impulsive buyer at that moment. Our next stop was to canvass for a mobile phone for Tessa since she wanted to change her “forever battery empty” mobile phone. Since both of us are not tech savvy we got so dazed and confused with all the available mobile phones and gadgets. She ended up not buying a phone. Instead, she settled for this gorgeous pair of red chokers she just couldn’t resist.

When shopping, I am just one of those girls who can’t resist good finds and great bargains. For some strange reason, men never have this inkling.I am just so glad I have girl friends who share my passion in shopping. Makes it more fun to do it!

My Favorite Summer Spot- THE BEACH!Taken in Puerto Galera, Philippines

My Favorite Summer Fruit!

My husband is scared of flying.This proved to be so ironic because his job entails him to fly over different continents most of the time. In spite of this, he still dreaded the thought of airlines and airplanes.When we flew to France from HongKong via Cathay Pacific he was such a wreak. During take off and landing, his hands were cold and sweating. He was continuously drinking alcohol to level his head the whole thirteen hour flight and to top it all ,he did not sleep the whole trip. You can imagine how he bugged me most of the time asking how I could sleep inside the plane without any problems.Each small turbulence would cause him panic and ask me if everything will be fine.

I asked X,my husband, what made him develop fear of flying and true enough he had a near death experience in Thailand with a small plane.From then on ,he was always unsure and scared to fly.

A couple of days ago,X had to fly from Istanbul to Nice, France.The shortest and fastest way was via Turkish Airlines since they have a direct flight. Unfortunately, Liverpool was playing AC Milan in Istanbul for the Champions League Finals.That means most of the flights were fully booked.X had no choice but to land in Zurich,Switzerland and then take a smaller plane to Nice via SwissAir. I knew that this was going to be a panic moment moment for him again and was I right!

When X was about to take the plane to Nice in Zurich, he had one of his panic attacks. Already inside the plane, he decides to NOT take the flight. His reason, the plane was too small. He gets off the plane before it took off for Nice and figured to take the train. So, instead of enduring a one hour flight to Nice he ended up taking the train from Zurich to Milan then Nice. That entailed almost 15 hours of journey!

My father in law sent me an email explaining my husband's complicated journey.I couldn't help but feel bad for my husband. I can only imagine how hard it is for him to be in that plane that he decided to take a 15 hour train ride instead of enduring a one hour flight. His parents were telling me he is such a clown for doing that and we now just laugh about it but I know deep inside his fear flying is really something not to be laughed at.

In my stay here in Manila, I was able to do quite a number of things. One is to gather up some of my long lost gradeschool classmates. Last month, my bestfriend,Elena and I decided to gather everyone and meet up for dinner.It was a small get together. The turn out was good. Fifteen classmates showed up and the event turned out to be a fun trip down memory lane. Who would have thought that after 14 years I will see these long lost friends of mine.It is always good to catch up with long lost friends and this was made possible with the connections we found in friendster.

I came across this prayer in a forum. This is quite an amusing read. I'm sure there are many wives who can relate to this wife's prayer.

Twelve more days to go and I will be flying to Istanbul, Turkey to join my husband. This will be my new home for the coming years or until my husband's work brings us somewhere else again. I am actually looking forward to see this interesting city. I have no idea how life will be for me over there but I welcome the opportunity to learn and discover what is in store for me and my husband in Istanbul.
My husband, X, went to Istanbul last February. That was a very interesting month for both of us. We were staying in Nice, France at that time and he was offered a job over in Turkey. Naturally, we had to apply for the respective Visas that we will be needing and that means I had to go back to my home country which is the Philippines. Since X is a Frenchman, he did not need a visa to go to Turkey so we decided that he go straight there and I go back to Manila. Since then, we haven't seen each other. It has been four L-O-N-G months for us and now I finally have my Visa to go to Istanbul.
X and I could not believe that we were able to endure those 4 months after all. Because of this, we promised each other that this will be our last separation. Bothof us know better now when it comes to dealing with( take note) MY visa. I guess we did not expect the paper trail to always be difficult but then again... we probably just need to get the hang of it...

About Me

Name: duke

Location: Istanbul, Türkiye

A first time mom to baby A living as an expat in Istanbul, Turkey.

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