Dear readers, long time no speak. It’s been a long hiatus from the blog. A long, LONG break. The longest I’ve gone without updating, ever. Don’t worry, I am not dead.

But, I had good reason for not writing. At the end of 2017, all of a sudden a job opportunity in a new country came up, and we had to move fast. As in, pack up your stuff, sell everything within four weeks, right down to the very last day where we had no more furniture, where we were sitting on the floor and eating off of a cardboard box, and sleeping on a friend’s inflatable mattress. God, how many times have I done that?! Too many times to tell.

So, the day came when we actually said a proper goodbye to Hong Kong, and closed that chapter of our lives. We had tried leaving Hong Kong before, and had been pulled back twice. But this time, we weren’t moving somewhere close by, with Hong Kong as a backup plan or a base camp. This time we were moving really far, opposite time zone far, and I think this time, there really is no going back.

Now, where could this new adventure be happening? Somewhere exotic? Perhaps a coastal town in Greece, or a mountain village in Bulgaria? Maybe even in Kazakhstan, which was our last big trip? Riding camels in the heat of the desert in Oman? Some far off land where I don’t speak the language or can’t read the script? A place with interesting food and different cultures, bustling street markets, wild festivals?

Not this time!

It doesn’t get any more un-exotic than our new home….. drum roll please…. CANADA!

That’s right – we have finally moved back to the western hemisphere, in the ‘True North’ as the national anthem goes. We now live in a lovely little town north of Toronto, where everyone speaks English, where life is really, REALLY normal, where everything in the supermarket is recognizable, where I never have to use Google Translate to speak to a doctor or read instructions. Just nice, normal North America. Who would have thought?

By the way, it is bloody freezing! How unlucky that this winter was the WORST WINTER ON RECORD FOR 60 YEARS. The news said that on certain days, it was the same temperature as it is on MARS. Welcome to Canada, here’s a POLAR VORTEX in yuh MC!

Anyway, stay tuned for a new chapter… I am afraid it will not be as exotic or exciting as blogging from Thailand or Japan or some other far flung land. But, I will do my best to keep exploring, and keep writing.