Wandering

It started as a little idea kicked around by Hanwei when Marium Baji and Aunty Shazdeh came to visit us in Singapore at the start of 2009.

"We should go on a cousin trip in September," he had said, listing Europe and North America as places that he wanted to tour. We laughed and joked about it, but to be honest, the probability that it would happen seemed low in my mind. We were literally from opposite ends of the Earth with schedules to match. And Europe felt mythical and far away. I forgot about it quickly.

Marium didn't. When are we going on our trip, she asked us on Facebook. Hanwei, so much for his delusions of grandeur, quickly admitted that he had to forgo the holiday. He would busy poking at cells or something equally trival.

But my timetable was suddenly looking good - good enough to take a three week break in the months of dying summer. Hanshen, who realised he would be fresh out of army, found himself equally free.

And when Marium Baji (henceforth MB) said that she was bringing a fourth cousin along, we never dreamed that it would turn out to be the venerable Rooster Nugget, Sara Apa (henceforth known as Saa), whom we hadn't seen for years.

The trip was planned in bits and pieces, in Facebook and by email, during lulls in my time at work and in between MB's clients. And slowly, our itinerary took shape - eight days in Spain, five days in Paris and the remaining four and a half days or so in London - none of them places I'd ever been.

I didn't actually believe it was going to happen, not even when we bought the tickets. It only sank in when I saw MB and Saa laughing at me as we ran across the arrival hall in Barcelona and flew into each other's arms squealing: "We did it! We did it!"

This is my story of that trip, led by the immortal words of Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid:

I can still recall our last summer

I still see it all Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain

Our last summer

Memories that remain
________________________________________________________
But before we begin, a lesson in the necessary terminology:

Tight smack. n. A hard slap given to the face of an insubordinate younger counsin. Traditionally delievered with fingers rigidly locked to cause pain.

Loose smack. n. A light, playful slap given in jest. Dealt out with loose wrist and fingers so that recipient laughs gaily in response.

Slow blink. n. Sudderuddin family specialty. A blink held for longer than the usual time, finished off with barely perceivable eye-roll to create tension and fear in the blinkee.

And now, on to our trip. PA!