THE WARMEST BLANKET I'LL EVER HAVE

Even though mom's should actually be swamped with medals every single day, they usually get their reward in form of flowers once a year, namely on Mother's Day. So to all of you enfants terrible who have forgotten about today: go and pretend that you knew about this being Mother's Day and organize a nice bouquet of flowers, or if you don't live at home anymore call them up or at least send an email. 

Today's blog entry is a big shout out to my mom, who managed to refuse the urge to stick me in a basket and send me down the river, even though I am sure I gave her enough reasons in the past 19 years. She sticked to my side whether I secretly cut my hair (and blamed it on her in the kindergarten), broke into my primary school's playroom at age six or hosted house parties for pretty much my entire grade. 

She was the one who would treat my wounds when I fell off the bike as thoroughly as the ones you could barely see, bring me a hot slice of toast with bananas and honey when I was sick or wordlessly make a cup of hot coffee when I got back from school with yet another messed up math exam. 

My mom always knows how to make my day with the little things in life- whether it is surprising me with bringing along a croissant from my favorite bakery in town when she went shopping or sending me little motivational cards before an important event. 

Of course there was plenty of door-slamming, I-will-never-talk-to-you-again-moments and other highly dramatic teenage discussions about shorts being too short or party nights too long. 

At the end of the day, however, I know that you will always be there for me and knowing that is probably the warmest blanket I could ever have, giving me a warm and protected feeling even when times get hard and grey and cold. 

Danke für alles Mama, auf viele weitere Mutter-Tocher Streits, gemütliche Nachmittage mit zu viel Kaffee und Adventssonntage im Plätzchenbackwahn. 

AND THE WINNER IS... BULGARIA

One of my favorite parts of the year has just began: the time where one actively starts to plan the summer holidays. Whereas some families love going to the same place at the beach every yea and a secret handshake with every liftboy, we usually go for a new country or region when we are on a vacation. Especially my dad is super passionate when it comes to planning crazy trips but ever since he made us travel through Uzbekistan, my mom is watching the planning process like a hawk. 

Finding a destination every family member is happy with is quite a challenge though, because my brother hates heat, sun and the beach but at the same time doesn't approve of snow or skiing, I am not a great fan of mountains and hiking and my mom turns into grumpy cat when the food is bad. Finding a destination therefore takes up at least 2 months, several glasses of wine (or whiskey in hardship cases) and plenty of creativity so everyone at least agrees on coming along. 

During our last skype session with my brother, my dad announced that this year's travel destination is going to be rather unusual and located in the southeast of Europe. My brother, who is always prepared for the worst, immediately turned a little pale, put on his worried face and declared that there was no way he was going on a vacation in Crimea. Before the situation could escalate any further, my dad tried to smooth ruffled feelings by announcing that he was in fact only referring to Bulgaria. Eerie silence. "Bulgaria?!" . Yep, family Pulch will indeed travel two weeks through the country of rakia and lukanka. I'm actually really excited for this trip because I have never been on the Balkan Peninsula before. In the following weeks I will do a very detailed research on the Bulgarian cuisine, must tries and the regional wine list. Let's goooo!

BEST OF STREET SIGNS

A little collection of my favorite signs and headlines I came across in Singapore.

NOSTALASIA

These past two weeks passed by so quickly and I just had the most amazing time. For me, there is no place like East and Southeast Asia. 

I love the heavy, extremely sweet smell which is lingering in the air. I would always recognize this very special Southeast Asia odor which is hard to describe but never to forget. It's the heavenly combination of exotic flowers, emission and rain with a slight touch of durian, sweat and street food. 

I love the friendliness, the random smiles you'd get for no reason by people you don't even know, making you realize that you don't need to have a particular reason to smile because there is so much to be happy about. 

I even love the heat and the humidity which sort of lets you melt in together with your environment. I love the damp and steamy air, which is so thick that it carries you throughout the day, giving you the same protected feeling you had as a child when being covered by your baby blanket. 

And I love the chaotic bustle in the big cities where everyone is constantly honking at each other even though it's absolutely useless to honk and where you'd see a whole family including a dog riding a single motorbike. 

I'm pretty sure that all this does not even sound delicious but oh, it is so very delicious and breathtakingly beautiful. Southeast Asia is not only a smell and a taste but a feeling and it's the same feeling whenever I'm back. For me, it's the comforting and lovely feeling of being home. 

24 HOURS LATER

Oh my days, what a journey! Traveling from Singapore back home to England took me 24 hours, two flights, two train rides, a bus ride and a taxi for the last bit. Even though I was completely exhausted when I got back, I actually enjoyed most of the journey. 

The flight from Kuala Lumpur to London was the best part because I got to sit right in between a Malaysian extended family of at least 15 members, who were all extremely excited for their first trip to Europe. I was sitting next to one of the daughters, who was probably around 20-ish and in charge of organizing everything- from filling out the arrival cards for the entire family to ordering orange juice for grandpa, who was sitting  across the entire cabin at the very back. Although the family was spread over the entire compartment, it didn't seem like a good enough reason for them not to communicate with each other. It was quite fun to find out who else was part of the family just by hearing more and more people join into the conversation from an entirely different row. When it was time for dinner, the daughter ordered the meals for the entire family, which caused quite a bit of confusion because as soon as one member discovered that the beef noodles looked slightly odd everyone suddenly claimed to have asked for the chicken rice. In the end they agreed on changing the meals after being halfway finished, where I was told to get involved and assigned to pass on the plates. Afterwards, everyone agreed on watching the movie "Rio" and tried to start the film synchronically. After several practice rounds (grandpa struggled with the menu) and a countdown from 10 every single time by the entire family they finally succeeded. From now on, half of the cabin laughed hysterically, cried or boiled with rage according to whatever happened to the birds in the movie. I just loved how everyone was so excited and whereas most people complain about flying being boring they seemed to have had a fun time (except for maybe grandpa who seemed a bit overwhelmed). 

My first day back at Uni was absolutely amazing even though I managed to make a fool out of myself right on the first day. Our apartment is being renovated at the moment and on my way out of the flat for my first lesson my hair got stuck on the wall which had just been painted. I was running late so I didn't even time to fix the mess on top of my head and got into my first lecture only to find out we were doing portrait shots of each other. Great. I bet that I'm the only person, who manages to get white paint all over her hair on the same day we are doing portrait shots in class. It was great fun though and I felt like everyone really enjoyed themselves being outside, posing for the camera or being in charge of capturing a beautiful smile or goofy grimace. Even though my holiday was amazing I'm really happy to be back and get back to the work I love doing. 

STROLLING THROUGH SINGAPORE

HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US

It has been 20 years since Kurt Cobain committed suicide in his garage in Seattle, Washington. Even though I wasn't even born when he died,  I still adore and admire him and Nirvana's music from the depth of my heart. One of my favorite songs is dumb and I think the live version is extremely touching.

Rest in peace. 

"My heart is broke
But I have some glue
Help me inhale
And mend it with you"