Tag

Home

Almost Diplomatic - Maisons du Monde - Berlin - Furniture - Decor - Germany - Schlosstraße - Shopping - Home - Diplomat's Wife - Diplowife
in Berlin, Berlin Home, Berlin Shopping, Expat Life

Maisons du Monde’s Berlin Store

The best thing about moving into a new apartment is always that fresh start. Along with it comes the chance to decorate your new space. We move every couple of years due to my husband’s job and while moving is always stressful, decorating our new home is always something I look forward to. There’s something so exciting about looking for new places to get your decor in your new city. Here in Berlin, there’s no shortage of such stores – both online and offline – but one of my favourites has got to be Maisons du Monde.

Continue reading

Almost Diplomatic - Balanced Life - Practical Tips - Minimalism - Tidy Living - Diplomat's Wife - Diplowife - Practical Living- 1
in Berlin, Berlin Home, Expat Life

Video: 11 Tips for Balance a.k.a. Minimalism & Tidy-Living without the Pressure

Hello, everyone and happy new year! I’m probably the last person to send that greeting out into the internet as it’s almost the end of January. And here I am, coming out with content only now. Alas, life got the best of me – from events, travelling, and down to projects. The usual shebang. I also got sick for a week! January 2019 seems like a bad time for health as so many people I know got sick as well. My husband even had to make a quick trip to Manila to tend to a family emergency (but all’s good now!). This year already feels longer than it actually is. However, despite the pretty challenging start, I think it is still a good time for a lifestyle check or shift. If you ever wondered what it’s like to live with a little less, go for tidy-living, or even give Minimalism a try, I have a video for you on how you can ease into such a new lifestyle.

My husband and I live quite a practical life without letting go of the things we love to do and enjoy having. And I think it’s something worth sharing after being asked about it so many times. If you have tips of your own, please leave them in the comments! I’d love to learn more about you guys and pick up new things.

See you guys again soon!

Budget Friendly: Furnishing & Decorating Your Home in Kuala Lumpur
in Expat Life, KL Home, KL Shopping, Kuala Lumpur

Budget Friendly: Furnishing & Decorating Your Home in Kuala Lumpur

Our previous posting in Kuala Lumpur meant that my husband and I would finally get to have our own home. A place where we could call the shots when it came to the furniture and the whole look and feel of the place.

Thankfully, we were on the same page when it came to what we wanted – something classic and cosy. It’s the same view I have with clothes: It should still look good years from now when I look at photos and I should love wearing them. In the case of our home, we must enjoy staying in it. After all, this is where we will be recharging after a long day.

It also must look presentable enough – fit to host my husband’s counterparts, diplomats from other countries. Spoiler alert: the pressure during the furniture and decor hunting paid off. In the span of our 2 years and 10 months stay in Kuala Lumpur, we’ve had over an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, an Ambassador, an Undersecretary, an Assistant Secretary, a couple of directors, and even members of the media. My hosting skills were really put through a major test. It was exhausting but made for really good memories.

Continue reading

in Diplomatic Incidents, Personal Musings

Adjustments

Now I don’t really remember anyone saying that moving to a different country and starting a new life (read: from scratch) was easy. That’s because though it’s fun and exciting, it’s no walk in the park.

It’s been 13 days since we arrived in KL. We have finally moved into our new apartment – a two bedroom, three bathroom unit with its own storage room. It’s huge for just Alvin and I and I feel like it’s empty most of the time. And that’s because it is still quite that – empty. We’re taking it slow when it comes to buying furniture as we want the condo to look exactly the way we’ve been planning without breaking the bank.

So far, we’ve purchased the essentials and we’re predicting my decorating plans will take about 3 months to fully materialise. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that I stick to my deadline and that I am able to have everything running by then as guests ranging from family and friends will be arriving in just a couple of months.

We were told by most of the people from the Embassy that KL is a post where you would definitely be getting lots of visitors due to its proximity to Manila. No complaints there, I say. As most of my friends and our family (even the ones in the Western part of the world) are already making plans to come over and it would be nice to show them around.

Speaking of visitors, the Ambassador recently hosted the son of one of the DFA Undersecretaries who was on a short trip to KL with his friend. We had dinner with them that night and shared lots of great stories over food. I had the pleasure of getting to know the Undersecretary back when I was part of the media, covering the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) back home. The Undersecretary’s son is fun and smart – just like his dad. My husband and I had fun pointing out their similarities as he seemed like the exact (only younger) replica of his father.

http://instagram.com/p/qAzYJ7iqXo/

Continue reading

Close