Swiss Adventures

taken on my Kodak film camera

I know, I know, February was 3 months ago but I couldn't not record this down.

February is the month of love for me and my partner. Besides the 14th being Valentine's Day, we met one fine and humid December long long ago but that following February, he asked me if he could call me his girlfriend. Best decision of his life.

So we start off February with celebrating us.

We decided that it'd be perfect to celebrate at a Chinese restaurant, La Jonque, which refers to a traditional Chinese sailing ship. And because it's a Chinese restaurant, of course they had a fish tank, classic. Yes, we had Aperol Spritz with our dinner but it wasn't so weird.

I don't remember all the names of the dishes besides the best one which was 鱼香茄子, the claypot brinjal dish and goodness me, the way the eggplant just MELTS in your mouth!!! I still dream about it today.

"It was delicious, it was smeuig (goopy+creamy), it was fragrant, it was well spiced and I'm still dreaming about my gorgeous girlfriend making me this fabulous dish again", says the handsome mustache man.

After that we took a nice stroll around the neighbourhood which was still quite new to us.

For Valentine's Day, I suggested for us to do a paper portrait activity! It was a whole lot of fun but I didn't realise how long it took us to actually finish the whole thing. My partner also got me some lovely chocolates! And made me a very sweet card, I definitely wasn't expecting that because I forget he's got access to a printer.

I made a portrait of him and he made one of me. I see my mother a lot in the portrait he made of me. I love that the cheeks I gave him look like cherry tomatoes. I took my time a few days after to finish it, collaging the rest of the background and cutting up Migros magazines. It now lives on the wall in the little corridor leading to the bedroom and you see it too right as you enter the house.

We also did a scavenger hunt! We didn't exactly do the hunt, as in all the tasks and answer the questions because it was limited to an hour but we wanted to actually go into the locations listed in the hunt. It was fun! We ended up at the Cathedral and I went in for the first time, the stain glass does not disappoint. We also went into the museum next to the church, learn a little of how Lausanne became the city it is now.

To quote my partner this morning: "Time is moving fast."

We started off April with a visit to the Netherlands. I'd been wanting to see the Dutch tulips for a couple of years now and because my partner had some days off for Easter, it was the perfect time. The Keukenhof, displaying an array of not just tulips but so many other flowers as well. The first time I had my breath taken away by vibrant floras was when I visited Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and was completely speechless with the variety and colours and shapes that these plants came in. The Keukenhof was the same but with a x100 tulips, of course. The nation's pride and joy, rightly so.

Other than stunning blossoms, we also met friends & family. My partner's brother + partner bought a house and moved in together, that was exciting. We saw Project Hail Mary which was a fantastic movie and that's coming from someone who has a strong dislike to space movies. Ate Indonesian food at a Pasar Malam, I obviously had to buy some sambal home. At this Pasar Malam, we also signed up for a cheeky little batik workshop which we really enjoyed. It was an activity filled vacation and I think my partner was quite pooped at the end of everyday but I felt quite rested. Maybe it was because it's the opposite of my current daily routine of mostly staying home alone and doing chores and only occasionally going out. It was a fantastic start to April.

Practically immediately after, off I went to Germany! My thought process was, "I'm already in Europe, I should take this opportunity to see friends and pick up that Ninja Woodfire Grill!" So I did.

I felt completely overwhelmed by the trains and having to transit with only 7 minutes in between and panicking if my train got delayed and not understanding any German but in the end, it was all smooth. Arrived 1 hour late to Berlin (which I have been told is not bad at all) and after Berlin to Munich, on time! :)

Berlin - I stayed with Jane and Simon, of course. They fed me, housed me, let me pet their cat. Forced me to climb the Victory Column, brought me to bars that served delicious cocktails, yummy food places too! Besides seeing their faces, the next best thing I got from Berlin is my thifted JVC Everio camcorder. <3 I want to use it all the time now, with x40 zoom?????? I'll go mad with that power.

Munich - I feel like I learnt a lot this trip. Ben was in a very tour guide mode. We went to the BMW museum. He showed me around Olympiapark which I never knew existed. This might've been the first time since Spring has arrived that I actually enjoyed the sunshine. I regretfully wasn't prepared, no hat, no sunglasses, not much sunscreen. We also saw how crowded the English Garden can get, many college kids, not a fan.

Remember when I mentioned that Ninja Woodfire Grill? Well, mission accomplished. I got it home and the smokey flavour it gives off... OOF!

During the month, my partner also ran his first 10km which is so cool!! So proud of him! He made it faster than he expected too. His leg muscles ached a little the next day but nothing too extreme.

I went back to Asia for about a month, just in time for my mum's birthday and Chinese New Year. I flew Turkish Airlines - a decision I'd be thankful for a couple of weeks after landing in Asia - My visiting route was MY > SG > HK > SG before coming back to Switzerland.

First stop, Malaysia. My birth home.

The rest of the family was already there a few days before me and did the majority of CNY visitations, I couldn't come any earlier because I had bought a ticket to Laufey's concert at least 6 months in advance. (Amazing concert btw.) I was able to catch the last big family gathering dinner and it was delightful. "Shark's" fin soup? Absolutely. Sitting at the "kids" table. Time of my life. Getting an angbao from a same generation cousin. MADE MY NIGHT.

Always a festive time in Malaysia. It also means there's always a trip to a mall to spend all that angbao money, it's tradition at this point.

Next stop, Singapore. My cherished home.

It was a little weird to be staying and sleeping back at mother's. Filled with familiar but also unfamiliar feelings. Before the trip, I was very wary about the stereotypical "family, you know" - implying that visiting family always ends up with drama or stress or other negative emotions. After the first few days, I think I was able to learn how to navigate my way through my trip and would consider it quite successful.

Our first time at the newly opened Mandai Boardwalk, it was easier and underfoliaged than expected

Food is a very obvious point of my visit. I made sure to eat everything I was craving - KFC, Mcspicy, 菜贩, mother's home cooked meals and lots more. Which continued into the HK part of the trip.

Absolutely delicious. I'm dreaming about it all. We went hiking and Disneyland too (my favourite part of the trip). Not pictured - The Peak, Tsim Sha Tsui, Lan Kwai Fong, Sheung Wan and more.

After another week in Singapore, it was time to go back to Switzerland. My current home.

I was real thankful about booking with Turkish Airlines because the Middle East was at its peak danger with the war and many flights (Etihad, Emirates, Qatar etc.) cancelling.

Bless my sweetheart ❄️💕

We did it, we finally went skiing! I had my reservations about the sport, my sister and mum had some stories about their experience and in addition of not being a natural sportsman, I had expectations. Expectations that I might not enjoy it much. But - even after many painful, embarrassing falls - I really enjoyed it!

We went to Villars-sur-Ollon, roughly 1h30m (walk + train + bus + mini train) away from ours. All the credit goes to my partner for doing the research, booking the ski lesson, leading us there etc.

Before going up the mountain for our ski lesson, we first needed to rent our equipment - helmets, skis & ski boots. Benefitted from a 15% discount off with the school booking, always appreciated. The mistake we made was changing into our boots and leaving our shoes at the rental place. What we should've done - for next time - is bring the ski boots and wear our own shoes up the mountain. Ski boots are so incredibly hard to walk in, my goodness.

6 hour lesson. It was an incredibly intensive day, till now (3 days after) my calves are burning, my shins are bruised and I've some how gotten blisters - where the end of my thermal tights sit in between the ski boots and ankles.

It was both our first time, and as predicted, my partner made way more progress than me in a short amount of time. As you can see from the images, we did not learn with ski poles, just us and our skis. The movement, I discovered quickly into the lesson, is very similar to ice skating or inline skating. Lucky for me that it's a familiar movement so I could move/walk in the skis after a little practice but my biggest problem was slowing down and stopping. I got the most nervous when I saw other skiers/snowboarders slow down near me or stop close to me. Very anxious about slamming into someone, worse if it was a kid. And because we were beginners, we were surrounded by learner toddlers often.

In awe of the skill, absolutely amazing

Our instructor, Greg, was very attentive. He taught well with his limited knowledge of English. Really tried to explain with as mush detail as he could. It took awhile for my mind and body to connect with his instructions but by hour 4, I think I finally started to feel it in my body. Greg would make sure to stay close to me when I was going down the hill but not before he makes sure my partner had safely gone through/down a hill. Gave us both helpful tips and encouragement from time to time.

We got to ski down a blue hill towards the end of the 6 hours, quoting Greg: "It's easy" (I learn that Greg is a natural liar). The levels are as goes - bunny, green, blue, red & black. I struggled a lot on a green-blue hill and was scared out of my pants when Greg suggested to go down the big blue hill. I was only brave enough to go down it once, fell while trying to go back up via ski lift and that was my day done. It was in fact, GREG, not easy. But my partner was fantastic, going down 3 times.

Pictured on the left: the millionth time I was on this hill

Overall, 10/10 will recommend, will do again but maybe next trip we do 3 hours at a time, not 6. Okay, so we're no where near Olympic level skiers but I'm in pain like one (I like to think).

I have to add though, falling with skis on is quite the scary experience. One fall, while I attempt to catch myself, I end up in such a weird position and really stretched my left thigh before my ski detached from my boot. I sat in the snow thinking "did I tear something?" with fear in my eyes. And another fall, it happened so fast that I didn't recall right away how I ended with my face an inch from the snow until I tried to do the same turn, I basically tripped on my skis.

On the train back, someone had stored their snowboard above us and as the trip down the mountain went on, the snow melted right onto us... that wasn't fun.

When moving was still just a thought, the first thing that crossed my mind was "I'm going to have to hunt down a decent asian mart asap" and hunt we did. Well, hunt is a big word. It was a simple Google search away. 2 beautiful words: KIM HOA.

It's not so far down the road, 15 min walk from our apartment. There is a small issue though, some products are labelled with German or French stickers, and some times it over the English instructions. But thats what Google translate it for.

The dumpling freezers are what impressed me the most. Yes, plural. They must have at least 6 decent freezers filled with comfort and home. So many varieties of dumplings, A MA ZING.

A visual summary of my day out last Thursday:

If you don't like my photo editing, don't tell me. I'm still trying to find a style.

Last week, the feeling finally hit me. "I'm going to regret not making use of all this free time to explore, aren't I?" So I made a deal with myself - when the sun comes out, you get off your butt, get dressed and go explore! However, the sun never came out... At least not for the first half of the week. Every day was gloomy, drizzling and wet. I got some serious couch-rotting done.

Thursday, the sun finally came to play. Up and blinding. So I equipped myself with some essentials, including my beloved Sony ZV-1 digital camera, and went for a little adventure.

I said my partner and I hadn't done any touristing but that was a lie. One of the things we did on Day 1 here was check out the train station and the tourist info center. There, we picked up a few maps and brochures and that's where I got my inspiration to go to the Cathédrale de Lausanne. Nice big, gothic building. Can't miss it - it's huge and on a hill.

Not before I got lost, of course, because the route I was taking meant I had to start at Château St-Maire. Even though I'd consider myself quite savvy with maps and directions, I never considered hills and inclined roads etc. So I gave up on St-Maire Castle and went straight to the Cathedral. I didn't go in but the architecture is so beautiful. I bet the stained glass from the inside is amazing but that'll be for another time.

Then downhill I went, towards Place de la Palud which features the Fontaine de la Justice - this incredibly colourful statue. Only after walking through the Escaliers du Marché, an entirely wooden passage linking the upper and lower parts of the city.

Not pictured: I walked into Lush and got a couple of bath bombs and also headed to a thrift store but didn't find anything, unfortunately.

I finally headed down to a park for some lunch. I packed a couple of sandwiches but bread is just not my best friend, it gets old and dry so quickly and it hurts to eat.

This is a park we've walked past a couple of times before but never stopped. Its called Parc de la Légende, and to my surprise, they have these statues all around the park telling the story of Autumn. It's all in French or Braille so I couldn't read it but still very cute, detailed and impressive. Here is the story if you're interested: Légende d’Automne.

23 January was lesson #17 of French class and I’ve got to say, I like it more now than when we were still in Singapore. Maybe it’s because I’m currently unemployed and have little to look forward to but I come out of it having had more fun. I’ve also had more time to study and make notes so that probably helps with my confidence.

I haven’t been able to apply any French in my daily life yet which is embarrassing to admit but I’ve requested for some more conversational practice using what I’d already learnt - days of the week, time, greetings, asking and answering simple questions - in the next lesson.

I should start watching some French shows with French subtitles to help match pronunciations and the spelling of these foreign words. I find myself repeating after my tutor with ease but the moment I look at the text and try to read - WHOOSH ~ The sounds completely escape me and my brain. This language feels like it’s only made up of vowels and my tongue can’t keep up.

Last Monday my partner's school had a Partner/Family Welcome, a gathering for partners and family members of the MBA program. Letting us know what we have access to: gym, cafe, work/hangout spaces etc. They also gave us a brief run down of what their year will be like - when they'll be doing field trips, when intensive weeks of the program will be - so we have an outline of what our days might be like.

When deciding to move to Lausanne there were a few options - we move together at the same time, he moves first and I finish up my 2 year contract with work, we do long distance trying to go back and forth - the obvious (to me) possibilities.

Long distance was definitely a last resort and I didn't want to do option 2 of coming only after he had moved and started school. I felt it might disrupt a routine he had formed and he'll have to deal with more change. So we felt that the best option would be for us to move together and everyday we're glad we made this decision.

It's still very much an ongoing process. I’ve just announced our arrival and my residence permit application has been sent to the Service de la population (SPOP). This is when the waiting game starts, 6-8 weeks is the estimate.

The school has been very welcoming and helpful, even towards the partners. They know that when their students have the support system they need, the students do better with the transition of the move and with their studies - they said so themselves. And with the partners being so nice, all having a sense that we're looking for our own support network and community, I notice that I feel more reserved when it comes to socialising. That might just be my natural state pushing back against new people and new connections.

I have to say that it's amazing what your brain can come up with when you have less to work with. I left quite a bit of my hobbies back in Singapore but we did decide to bring a little sewing kit - just in case we needed to do some mending. With that, and some beautifully thrifted cloth from Salvation Army, I made a key cover which I'm really proud of. Being able to make something with my hands again without all the usual tools - a sewing machine or something as simple as a ruler - feels good. Feels creative.

The Pompompurin keychain is a gift I received from my sister and on the underside I had stuck a barcode for collecting Cumulus points. Funny enough, I'm realising the Manneken Pis keychain was also given to me by her, from Belgium. Together with the house key, they made too much noise, so this was the solution.

Today marks our 15th day since we've touched soil. I've been asked on a few occasions now, "how are you liking Lausanne?" and "how are you settling in?" you know, the usual questions. It's odd because sometimes when the question of "you've moved here?" in a tone of disbelief, I feel almost... offended for some reason. The answer to the questions: I'm settling fine. I'm liking the city fine. And it really is just fine. We haven't done any touristing, no museums, no local cuisines, no going to bars and nothing to immerse ourselves into the culture. And it's been fine.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't think that's bad at all. Do I want to be able to say "yes, it's been great", sure but I've thought about it and I'm satisfied by the fact that it isn't the other way around, it hasn't been bad. We will slowly do all the things listed above and I'll even try skiing but I think it was more important for us to settle into the routine of what every day was going to look like. What time to set the alarm, the flow of making coffee and getting breakfast ready, who showers and gets to use the toothpaste first etc. Even the most mundane of receiving mail with our names on it was the most exciting thing that happened last Monday and that was fine.

The last thing we want to do is rush into this new phase of life. My social anxiety has been forcing me to take a step back to observe the situation before acting. Usually a very helpful with regulating my responses in party/mingling events however I have definitely begun to experience the downside, it is an incredible gateway to overthinking.

My partner's first day of school, I wanted him to come home to some flowers, that was it. Go to the supermarket across the street, choose flowers, checkout, go home and put them in a vase. Briefly, my anxiety broke the task down into everything it could be, from "how many layers do I need to put on for such a short trip" to "if I ask for help at the supermarket, they're gonna hate me and scold me" and in that brief moment I noticed myself taking physical steps away from the door. A strange feeling of fear (?) filling my chest but before I let it consume me, I overrode it. Simplifying the goal to "he comes home to flowers" or "he doesn't get flowers" and I knew - without a doubt - he deserves flowers and the next thing I knew, I was home trimming the stems of the flower and putting them in the vase. This is just one example of my brain trying to “protect” me in a new environment by accounting for every possible maybe. That said I've made conscious choices to wipe it clean and just simply go for it. Or as Nike says, "just do it" and hey, it works. Slowly but surely we'll enjoy quiet wins.

A little transitional video on the journey from Singapore > Switzerland. We had 6 check-ins, 5 luggage & 1 box. My brother and SIL were so helpful and supportive with our move and sending us off. 2 flights, 8h + 7h. Yes, I was watching Megamind on the plane. Had a bit of a kerfuffle with the car rental but we managed to get the perfect car size for all our bags. And just like that, we made it! 🇨🇭

It has officially been a full week since we made it to Switzerland.

Since then we've gotten the keys to the apartment and settled down. Went on a short a holiday in Zurich & Lucerne with some of my family. Been constantly reminded by how expensive necessities can be. Overall, it's been a packed week with a lot of change.

I haven't continued with French classes for more than a month and I really need to. My partner starts his first day tomorrow which means I'll need to do my best to motivate myself to productively and, more importantly, intentionally do things to fill my time.

There were a bunch of my hobbies that I wanted to bring over such as scrapbooking, crocheting/knitting, sewing etc. but due to the weight limit, I could only bring a handful of things. So for the rest of the time before I fly back home for CNY, I'll hopefully be getting some video editing done, some colouring and a little stamp making (though I didn't bring a pencil with me :/)

I just had my 7th French lesson and I'm losing the motivation and purpose of my learning. My brain feels absolutely fried. I can't see the words in my head when she says them. I can't respond back even if the answer is staring at me because the connection is lost in my mind. ERROR!

The time has come, the countdown has begun. I submitted my resignation on Wednesday, 01 Oct 2025 and I just got a response from the company manager that it has been forwarded to HR.