Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Why I Love Amazon

The other day I was on Amazon, about to order a DVD for the girls. When I pressed on the DVD, Amazon bots very helpfully informed me "You purchased this item on April 4, 2010".

What?

Thanks! I would have never remembered that on my own! (Now, where is that DVD?)

Another reason why Amazon is cool in my book:


I'm a valued customer! They will refund me without my having to actually return the item! What's not to love?

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

You Get What You Get

Having lived here for over two years now, I am getting wise to how to effectively grocery shop on the island. I arm myself with a list, but am fully aware that it serves only as a very loose guide, and tend to repeat a preschool mantra as I go through the aisles: "You get what you get, and you don't get upset".

Alas, living on an island where almost everything is imported, I've become accustomed to not finding something that I really really want, even if that same item was spotted just last week. When the stock runs out and there has not been a re-stock since (most often for weather reasons, but occasionally due to airline strikes too - thank you Air France), the place on the shelf just remains empty until the next shipment. In fact, I've ditched planning meals until I've done the shopping and seen what I've been able to buy.

The place where I am most disappointed the most often is the produce aisle. Fruits and vegetables often look ... less than edible, like they have been sitting there a long time, and often they have been. Vegetables that are most reliable here seems to be romaine lettuce and cauliflowers, but even with those I've been disappointed. Good looking fruits are hard to find and when you do, they are inevitably quite expensive. For Hana, this means little because she, as a matter of principle that only she understands, avoids all fruits like the plague. Manolee, however, is always eyeing blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and when I do find good looking fresh fruit, I do indulge her. 

The other thing I've had to do here is going to several supermarkets to find specific things. For example, the "US Market" carries 99% French products and I go there for certain cheeses, yogurt products and certain French snacks. The Grand Marche in Cole Bay carries the little yakult drinks that Manolee loves, but the other Grand Marches on the island do not. The one on Bush Road carries S&B curry packs and 2kg packages of sushi rice, while the other ones do not. Of course, none of this is consistent, so I find myself sometimes trekking out to Bush Road for something only to find the place on the shelf empty... well, you get what you get and you don't get... upset. Things could be a lot worse. In fact, I love being able to buy American, French and Dutch goods. I buy Kepcap Manis in the Dutch/Indonesian condiment section and Chiu Chow Chili Oil in the Asian condiment section and cornichons in the French condiment section.


I've been told that St Maarten/ St Martin is really modern and well-supplied, compared to other Caribbean destinations, and that is why a lot of the super yachts choose to stay on the island during the winter months. Indeed, in high season you see multiple yacht crews (they all wear white t-shirts emblazoned with the yacht names) clutching clipboards with their shopping lists, filling up multiple shopping carts way up high. Among the items I've spied on such carts more than once: tubs and tubs of mascarpone (tiramisu, anyone?), boxes and boxes of "Apericubes" cheeses, dozen bottles of champagnes, and an entire case of Febreze (!).

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Island Specialty - Continued

Some pictures of cars I've spotted recently. Today's theme would be: self-proclamation




Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Look-alikes

I've noticed that in many families with two children, one child often resembles the mother and the other often resembles the father. Rarely have I come across children who all look like only one parent.

'Tis the case with my two girls. Hana is definitely more PeeWee and Mano is definitely me. So it's always a pleasure when I catch them looking like one another, as in this picture below:


Both mine!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Island Politics

There was an election recently - to vote for the head of the collectivite. Although I am eligible to vote, I don't really understand the system nor the local politics, and made a somewhat unconscious decision to abstain. I was intrigued by certain things, like the electoral boards that went up around the neighborhoods with posters of various politicians representing different political parties. I believe there were like 5-6 parties running, and each of them had to present a "list" of their candidates - but you vote for the party, not the individual candidates. I guess it's like voting Republican in the US but not choosing the Vice President yourself - that choice is made for you.


Anyway, it was the RRR party that won the local election (see people celebrating above) - but what has really got my attention is the scandal that (already) rocked the new government merely 2-3 days after it took power. Apparently the new president gave a speech - it may have been the inauguration speech - and somehow someone got wind of the strange coincidence between that speech and another speech given by the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso back in 2011. The biggest laugh was on the speech writer, who claimed that it was actually written by a consultant, who had also written the original speech in Burkina Faso. This consultant however is nowhere to be found. He was found on Facebook, with an account that was created a week ago, and with only one friend - the President's speech writer.

Hmmmm? Isn't life interesting on SXM?

The other interesting factoid is that SXM registered the lowest turnout nationally for the first round of the French presidential election last Sunday. Less than 30% of registered voters turned up to vote. I venture to guess that lots of people on SXM do not really feel French - a large number do not even speak French - and they may feel that whatever happens on the mainland doesn't matter for the island. St Barths, however, had a 56% turnout and voted overwhelmingly for Sarkozy (62% vs 34% in SXM). I wonder if more people will turn up to vote the second round?

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Prohibited (Now?)

These signs started going up a couple of months ago:


Women go topless in all the beaches on the island, but naturists stick mostly to the south end of Orient Bay, Cupecoy or Happy Bay (or so I hear). Makes me wonder why the authorities felt these signs necessary now - I've seen them in Long Bay, Plum Bay, Friars Bay, Galisbay.

On a related note, last week a naked man was found loitering in the Nettle Bay Beach Club, was taken to the Police Station and then, God knows how, he promptly escaped. He remains at large.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Sunset Beach Bar

Planespotting at the Sunset Beach Bar is always on all the must-do lists for St Maarten. Truth be told, the food is mediocre and the live music is always too loud, but it remains one of my favorite things to do when people visit.

You can't help but get excited spotting a plane approaching - a tiny dot in the sky. As it gets closer everyone gets their cameras ready on the decks or run out to lie on the beach to get a shot of it from below. When it's a big jumbo, the thrill is palpable.

For departures, it's a bit less exciting than it used to be since they elongated the runway about two years ago. The planes no longer have to back up all the way to the fence. Still, when a jumbo takes off, the blast is still powerful enough to send caps, beach umbrellas, books, towels and some lightweight people out into the water. I never tried it myself, but a girl who braved it said that it feels like a sand blast - and proudly showed me scratches on her arms from the projectile sand.

We last went there last Wednesday with my dad and my niece. It was packed - I had forgotten that 7 cruise ships were in town - see below:

Lots of landings...


...including the majestic Air France:

Then the anticipation as a jumbo prepares for takeoff:


And the chaos that ensues along with the sand blasts:


Good times!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

To be 7 years old...


... where life is still full of possibilities but you are starting to learn where your limits are; where you ask tons of questions all the time but don't understand all the answers (and you don't really care); where you don't worry about much beyond the composition of the next snack. I feel like this is where my Mano is these days. Want to capture this moment forever.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Rainbows Galore

Rainbows were rare affairs back when we were living up north. Here it seems a dime a dozen. They really are magnificent and the other day we caught sight of double rainbows:

Beautiful!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

St Martin's Got Religion

Judging by the proliferation of cars with proclamations of God's Greatness, it's a pretty religious island. See below:







Countless other cars have more or less the same proclamations as above.

Every once in a while though, a car ahead of me leaves me scratching my head in great puzzlement. An example below:

Not sure if the Lord himself needs blessing, but if he does, he is covered.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Seborga in St Martin

In the Marina Royale in Marigot, I came across this sign:


Consulat de Seborga - Seborga Consulate

I am pretty good in geography, and yet I had never come across a place called Seborga before. Googling promptly ensued.

Little did I know that Seborga is steeped in somewhat comical history. It's a municipality in northwest Italy that has claimed a micro nation status, harking back to the Middle Ages and the sale of an independent principality that was never legally registered. According to Wiki:

"In the early 1960s, Giorgio Carbone, then head of the local flower-growers co-operative, began promoting the idea that Seborga retained its historic independence as a principality. By 1963 the people of Seborga were sufficiently convinced of these arguments to elect Carbone as their ostensible head of state. He then assumed the self-styled title Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga, which he claimed thereafter.

Carbone's status as prince (although without any legal power) was further supported by locals on 23 April 1995, when, in an informal referendum, Seborgans voted 304 in favour, 4 against, for the principality's constitution, and in favour of independence from Italy. Carbone reigned until his death on 25 November 2009. The prince was known locally as Sua Tremendità ('Your Tremendousness')."

I love the flamboyant title! Your Tremendousness! You go, Seborga!

As of 2009, around 20 states recognized Seborga as an independent entity - the first one was Burkina Faso. Consular representation is maintained in 10 countries. I guess St Martin, though not a country, is one of them. Or it could just be an overzealous Seborga native having vacationed in St Martin and planting the flag and the consular plaque smack in the middle of the capital? Who's to say no?

Monday, February 6, 2012

Off the island!


My dear friends up in the Northeast and I decided to treat ourselves to a girls-only weekend in Miami. All very last minute, as I only found out two weeks ago that my mother-in-law would be visiting us, thereby presenting herself both as a built-in babysitter and a husband-feeder.

I was excited to be off island for a few days, without having to brave the cold up further north. Miami was colder than I expected however, with gusty winds and occasional showers. It was great fun, still, to be able to just hang out with girlfriends, window shop without a kid hanging onto my leg or whining, linger over cafe con leche, and chat by the pool. And while my friends enjoyed spa treatments of deep tissue massages and pedicures, I opted for an hour long session at the CVS on Lincoln Road - it was no Target, but it was just the therapy that I needed.

Not sure what possessed me, but I also agreed to rent a bike on the last morning to ride along the beach. I hadn't been on a bike since 1997 during a backpacking trip through China. Miami Beach was slightly less intimidating and I did have fun moments on the bike, but I was glad to get them back to the rental place with all my bones still intact.

A friend of mine told me that when you live on an island, you need the means to get off the island once in a while. You are glad to leave, and then you are glad to come back. That's exactly how I felt this time around.


Good bye, Miami - till next time!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Another Beautiful Sunset

One thing we do not lack in St Maarten is a good sunset. Manolee and I often toast watching the sun go down. Here's to another day gone by...

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Island Specialty: Part IV

I took a hiatus taking pictures of car decals, but was prompted to go back to it after seeing some new ones on the road that made me laugh. There are all kinds of proclamations on various parts of the cars and here are a few of the latest that I got:


GHETTO STYLE - nice!


DA QUEEN - okay!


NOT NICE - if you say so!

Special Edition St Martin

Orangina toasts to St Martin!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Coquine

The word used the most to describe Manolee by our French friends is "Coquine".

I always thought that this word meant "cute" and not thought much about it. Then one day while I was describing one of her mischievous endeavors, my MIL says, "elle est tres coquine, eh, elle est malicieuse". I stopped short in my tracks and said "malicieuse????" MALICIOUS, my little girl?

Then I started doubting my understanding of the word "coquine". Maybe it doesn't mean cute after all, and all this time when I thought people were paying my little girl a compliment, they were actually saying not such nice things.

I consulted Google.

Coquine, adjectif
Feminin
1. Tres malicieux
2. Vif d'espirit
3. Bandit

Hmmmm. 1. Very malicious. 2. Lively spirit. 3. A bandit!??

My MIL was taken aback that I took affront to the word "malicieuse" and assured me that in French, malicious does not mean a bad thing. Huh? So I had to google that in turn, and it says, "Qui a de la malice" ("One that has malice" - not much better)..... and then it helpfully provides an English definition, which is: "mischievous".

OK I can live with mischievous. That surely describes Manolee to a tee. As for Coquine, I think I will choose to live with the definition #2, Vif d'esprit, because she is that too.

However mischievous and naughty she may be, I can never stay mad at her very long - especially when she provides such lovely notes, as below:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Beach days

Hana has been going to the beach with friends and she has become quite a wave expert! Look at the face of determination as she *tries to* take on the wave below:

Manolee, who is not yet a very strong swimmer, prefers staying on the sand when the waves are tough. The other Sunday she helped PeeWee build a huge sand pit - complete with stairs and built-in chairs:

It's funny when a sand pit or a castle is in progress - various kids and adults stop by and pitch in for various lengths of time. It's as though they are waiting for someone to start, and once it's started, they all want a part of it at least for a bit of time (till they get too tired or too sunburnt). Fun for all!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Take 2

It’s time to face it – I’m no good at this blog thing. In my book these days, putting up a blog posting ranks in priority somewhere between plucking my eyebrows and wiping up that annoying stain in the corner of the kids’ sink – in other words, very low. It’s true that I’m letting go of a lot of things that I used to find indispensable. I no longer wear any make-up except for eyeliner (I am rethinking this, by the way, ever since one of my best friends, M, exhorted me to go put on some make-up; however, this was three months ago and I have not changed my ways yet), and I no longer work out except for climbing up and down the step stool in the kitchen. Plus I’ve had a crazy busy end-of-year, what with moving house pretty much on my own that dragged on for like 13 days, and took about 6 weeks to recuperate from.

So that is why this blog has been left in a semi-abandoned state. I am in two minds about whether to continue or not. I know I am writing more for myself than for anything else, but it’s also taken the place of my handwritten journal (in which I was writing more and more seldom as well). So I think I will give it just one more try. If I find that I’m not posting at least once a week, I’ll just put a stop to the nonsense. So here we go again.