After a decade of humanitarian assignments, I gave my Badge a rest to eventually enjoy my sabbatical with the family in Cebu, Philippines. While Marcel is working, I am supposed to relax with the Attilas (aka Maëlle 5 and Léandre 4 y.o.).
I thought I had a very demanding job before I became a full time expat Mom and do the job of 10 for free ! My Attilas are the reason I Wake up each morning, the reason I breathe and why my hair is turning grey, my house is a mess and I am in dire need of yoga.
Welcome to our ride: reflections on motherhood (please tell me I am normal !), how to keep the kiddos busy and some snapshots of our expat life in South East Asia. The more the merrier, take a seat on our sleigh and share our exotic trip.
“Some men see things as they are and ask why I dream things that never were and ask why not” B. Shawn
PS: English is my second language, so please bear with me and excuse my French 😉
Estelea's Blog 
Coucou Steph,
Tombée par hasard sur ton blog (en recherchant une blogueuse stef bricole lol), j’ai beaucoup ri à ta lecture! Je te reconnais bien là, dans cette écriture au style enlevé 😉 Moi aussi, j’ai fait mes enfants sur le tard, après le journalisme, et moi aussi, je suis “jeune maman” à plein temps en ce moment (avant une future auto-entreprise, projet né de mon départ de Paris). Au grand plaisir (pardon: au grand fou-rire!) de te lire. Bisous. Anne-Laure S (d’Avon et de Beaubourg, enfin tu vois qui…)
ps: ta fille te ressemble, comme les miennes me ressemblent, c’est trop drôle de nous revoir “gamines” dans leurs expressions.
Hey, quelle bonne surprise!!!! 🙂 Merci pour tes encouragements, ça fait plaisir, surtout quand je vois l’avance que tu as sur moi en la matière. Ton blog est tres inspirant, on va s’y plonger avec attention… Reconnectons donc, et au grand plaisir de te revoir ici ou là (ps: la ressemblance est parfois telle que j’ai l’impression de me voir, c’est aussi marrant que flippant!) Plein de bises des Philippines
I just nominated you for a Liebster Award! You can check out the details here 🙂
http://meaningfulmommy.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/a-liebster-award/
Thanks a lot Megan! Already working on it 😛
Awesome!!
It is nice to find blogs about other parents out there. Good work. Will be back to read more!
Thanks for the kind words! Will follow yours too so we can exchange a few tips!:)
Sounds like you had and now have a very happy fulfilling life. My step son was born at Clark Air Base many years ago.
I have decided to focus only on the positive and sweet things of life, and make them my compass. Hard discipline, but worth it! Spent enough times in the field to appreciate all of them, just like you I guess! Did you leave in the Philippines?
Hi I nominated you for ‘One Lovely Blog Award’ you just have to click this link http://stepping2yourdreams.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/one-lovely-blog-award/ 🙂
I like that name! Are you still in Cebu?
Thanks :)Yes we are! for another good 2 years… Have you already been there ?
Ages ago and I will be visiting in 2016 for a pilgrimage.
Oh really? You’ll find it so very changed, the city is booming, it is so young and dynamic. Let me know when you are in town, would be great to meet up in the real life if you have the time 🙂
Thank you. I will keep that in mind.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, this evening, Estelea. It’s full of energy. It’s like a window into your life. I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Thanks a lot, so encouraging:) Really appreciate your kind words, will keep it up. THanks for stopping by and making me clicking on your blog: there is everything I like here, the tone, the books, the fresh breath of NZ and beautiful picts (among other things:).
Ah cool, en fait on peut parler en français, c’est quand même plus simple!
Bon en fait loupé, tu n’habites pas BKK, mais c’est pas grave, ça reste une jolie ville!
Merci pour être passée sur mon site, cela me permet de découvrir ton blog!
Beaucoup d’humour dans les billets, je vais suivre tes aventures attentivement 🙂
Guilhem
Merci 🙂 Bangkok reste surement une jolie ville, même sans moi, ce qui n’est pas évident à priori 😉 Je me demandais si tu avais fait le lien Bangkok/1984 intentionnellement ? … En tous cas c’est un bon clin d’oeil politique, exprès ou non 😉 Je suis aussi tes aventures et prend tous tes excellents conseils de photographes pro! A + 🙂
Le lien 1984 n’est pas spécifique à BKK pour moi. Il est bien plus général.
Honnêtement je ne me suis pas senti plus oppressé à BKK par la présence policière qu’à Paris où l’on croise des militaires un peu partout.
Pour moi, le rapprochement avec 1984 tient beaucoup plus au contrôle qu’exercent nos objets connectés sur nos vies et sur cette vie en ruche qui nous entraîne dans un schéma de pensée collectif plus que personnel.
Je suis quelqu’un de profondément libre et plus je voyage et plus j’ai l’impression que la France est le pays le moins libre de tous ceux que j’ai fait! Et pourtant j’ai fait l’Egypte pendant les attentats et BKK pendant le coup d’état.
Ben y’a qu’en France où chaque fois qu’on dit quelque chose qui va à l’encontre de la pensée “politiquement” correcte qu’on a l’impression d’être un OVNI.
Bizarre sensation 🙂
Je comprends… Le mieux, c’est d’être expat: on rentre en France comme un touriste, et on ne subit rien! Plus je vis en Asie, plus que je me rends compte de la jeunesse et du dynamisme de cette region en comparaison avec la France. J’adore la vie ici en fait! Mais bon, les pains au chocolat sont vraiment degueu, et le fantasme de la “soiree vins rouges/fromages de chez nous Mossieur” est recurrent 😉 Et surtout, ce qui manque, c’est tout de meme la faculté d’être direct, critique et spontané. On ne peut pas tout avoir, le top pad thai et la soirée à critiquer le gouvernement et la royauté 😉
(Mais tu sais que 1984 est interdit à BKK? pas conseillé de se promener avec le livre sous le bras à moins de vouloir se faire de nouvelles connaissances en uniforme)
Non sérieux??? Je savais pas du tout! Ah donc quand on y vit un certain temps, on perçoit une certaine pression?
Moi j’avais cru comprendre qu’en dehors des sujets liés au Roi et à sa famille, la liberté d’expression était libre justement.
D’un autre coté, 1984 n’est pas interdit à France mais bien peut de monde l’a lu malheureusement. J’aime beaucoup Aldous Hexley et son meilleur des mondes. Et il faudrait presque rendre ces 2 livres obligatoires à lire à tout le monde!
Peut être que la meilleure manière pour motiver les gens à les lire serait justement de les interdire 🙂
speciale dedicace : http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/0530/Orwell-s-1984-suddenly-fashionable-on-Bangkok-streets
Suis d’accord, la censure rend les esprits plus curieux. J’ai relu 1984 l’an dernier aussi 😉
Très intéressant! C’est une forme de protestation de ce que l’on connaît en France!
Dans notre pays, on préfère endormir les gens avec des émissions totalement débilisantes. Pour moi, c’est la pire des dictatures! La dictature de l’esprit, on endort les gens et on leur enlève toute volonté de comprendre au delà de ce qu’on leur donne à manger à travers la TV….
ah lala, ça fait pourtant presque 1 an que je n’ai pas mis le pied en France et je continue à raler comme un vrai français
lol
🙂
J’adore 🙂 On peut pas lutter contre ça, c’est culturel, Cocorico!
Exactement! On a beau être à l’autre bout du monde, PAF, ça revient au moment où tu t’y attends le moins 🙂
Hi there… glad to connect and interact with you.
Thanks for dropping by my blog… 🙂
Best wishes to you and yours.
Most welcome, really enjoyed it 🙂 all the very best to you & yours too!
I look forward to reading your fascinating blog!
Oh thank you so much! Looking forward to meeting up with you here or on yours 🙂 Have a great week!
It’s awards season, I guess! … In a recent post, I mentioned your blog as part of my own nomination for a Liebster Award. I noted that many of the blogs I love do not meet the Liebster requirement of having fewer than 200 readers, some are long-established and some are brand new, but if the question is who inspires me, amuses me, or makes me think, then your blog is on my short list at the moment! Consider yourself a Liebster nominee and feel free to write something about yourself and pass it on (the questions I was asked are in the link in my post), or just feel the love and ignore the assignment!
Thank you so much! what a lovely ego booster to start the year with 🙂 X
Estelea – The noun means Star. True to your name, your writing depicts that you are liberal and free, something which is core to humanity..and I feel that is the very reason of your qualities you had opted for humanitarian study.causes. Your blogs are not cliched, they are diverse, creative, unique and simple..that’s exactly what I like of you..
Keep Writing! 🙂
Thank you soo much !! Your nice words means so much to me, what a nice way to start 2015 😉
You have a lovely blog here and I would love to follow! Happy New year 🙂
thanks so much, welcome a board 🙂 A beautiful year to you too!
Hi! I hope you are getting your dose of Yoga & Yes you normal… Loved your intro here way too much.. Followed you & looking forward to seeing more post 🙂 Hope you are having a great week
x
Asha
Thanks so much Asha! I love to hear that I m eventually normal, sometimes I am doubting! especially when I realize that the kids have my sense of humor, I wonder if either they are exceptionaly mature or I am mentally 4 y.o 😛 thanks for following. Looking forward to discovering your blog X
lol.. I’m pretty sure your kids have your sense of humor. Being mentally 4 is awesome you know ( less stress in this world) It’s all about having a good fun time with the family. 😀
Let’s stay in touch 🙂
Asha
xx
😉 with pleasure! X
Dear Estelea,
My name is Joyce and I work for ExpatFinder.com.
ExpatFinder.com is a free one stop website for people preparing to move or working and living overseas. We provide a myriad of services for expatriates and we have over 2,000 articles to help and support the people moving around the world and we are now creating an interview section to help the expats with real life experiences!
We quite enjoy your blog about living in Philippines, it is very interesting and informative. Would it be possible to interview you to further share some of your tips and feature some of your first hand experience as an Expat and your interview will be published on our Expat Interview section as a guide for our expat readers. The questions are mainly about the day to day lifestyle of an expat. If it would be possible, could you also send some photographs that we can use?
Of course, if you accept, we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
The questions are enclosed, feel free to respond freely. You can return the doc with your answers if you accept this invitation.
Thanks in advance and do let me know if you prefer other means to conduct this interview and we would be happy to accommodate your terms.
Best regards,
Joyce
Sure 🙂 Let me have a look at it when we return in a couple of weeks; with pleasure!
Do you have a deadline or can I send it back in 10ish days?
Hey, thanks for checking out this blog. Happy to see you here and at Momma’s View.
Great to read about Cebu. I was born there and now live in California and will be there in July. Enjoy! hope… it’s not raining too much.
Thanks 🙂 I think we already got the worse of the rains, it is starting to feel very hot again. Not as much as in March and April, but getting there 😛 July should be a great time, a bit rainy maybe but definitely less hot! Will you be visiting fam or traveling only? so much to see in your island 🙂
visiting family and also traveling to Bohol, I can’t wait
I bet 🙂 we recently went to Bohol and I posted about the trip. My fav place so far, so much to do, so lay back and man, the food….
You should try El Nido in Palawan, my little slice of paradise, I wrote about it 🙂
Definitely on my list 🙂
Hello Estelea, thank you for visiting my little blog. I hope we can travel vicariously through each other’s blogs, as I will probably never get to go to the Philippines.
Deal 🙂 !
Came across your blog 🙂 and glad to be in touch !!
THanks a lot 🙂 Yours is great, had a nice time wandering through your posts ! See you here or there!
It’s my pleasure 🙂 and do be in touch !!
definitely 🙂
🙂
Sounds like you have your hands full, but you can do it! Those kiddos will be grown before you know it. ~ Elle
Oh yeah 🙂 total Carpe Diem mode!
How could I say no ? 😉 XXX!
Chouette blogue!Viventles expats alors!
Merci merci 🙂
Just discovered your blog today and have really enjoyed it so far. I’m glad to have found it. Looking forward to hearing more! 🙂
What are you talking about?? Your english is great!! Nice blog! I love the background, did you make it?
Thanks 🙂 WIshed I were so talented, so I could show off and tell you “of course I did” …
Hey there Estelea! I’m doing a project where I’m following ten exciting, fresh, and interesting bloggers each day for the month of March 2015, and you’re today’s #4! Feel free to come visit me when you can at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com, and follow if you like what you read. Have a good one!
Thanks a lot, will definitely look into it 🙂 have a lovely Sunday!
Thank you for the comment. Led me to your blog which I’m having fun exploring. Wish my French was 1/10 as good as your English so I could comment in your language directly. Tout le meilleur!
Merci beaucoup 🙂
Thank you for your message 🙂 I did take off the options to like and comment because I prefer a more personal exchange with fellow bloggers. I love what you’ve done with your blog too! I look forward to reading it more and seeing more of your pictures. Have a wonderful day!
Beautiful happy photo of you and your sweet Attilas. 🙂
Thank you 🙂 The backgrounds definitely help… Have a sweet day!
Pleased to meet you Estelea. 🙂
Likewise dear 🙂 How cold is it in Scandinavia now?
Let us just say that it is not sandal weather yet. How are you doing Estelea? 🙂
Hey there Estelea, I don’t know if you do tags on your blog but I nominated you for one. Absolutely no pressure to answer it. Although I would love to read your answers! https://anewfoodblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/lovehate-tag/
Hey, I was wondering if you would be interested in writing a guest post for me? Please email me on amommasview@gmail.com. I would love to have you write something for my blog. But only if you can find time.
Sure 🙂 as long as your deadlines are not too tight 😛 emailing you right now!
Nope, not at all 🙂
I’m curious about your “humanitarian” assignments, because seeing your posts, i think i want those kind of assignments… 🙂
Hehehehehe, those were the times before my new career as a Stay at Home Mum 🙂 I started with Bosnia, then Nigeria, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Liberia, India and eventually Thailand, where I was in charge of programs for Lao PD and Cambodia. I usually stayed between 1 and 2 1/2 years. I wrote a little post about my “career path” there: https://frenchtouchincebu.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/so-long-my-friend/
Oups, same here ! Hope they get well super soon !
j’aime beaucoup ton blog et ta vision de la vie… Tes photos sont très belles aussi…
je te souhaite plein de bonnes choses, quelle chance tu as de vivre aux philippines…
Des milliers de Mercis 🙂 ça c’est du message qui fait vraiment chaud au coeur! Y’a pire que Les Philippines c’est sûr 😉 mais le cafe est en poudre et sucré, et on est partis pour 6 mois de saison des typhoon et autres Cyclones sympatoches. On peut pas non plus tout avoir, ça frôlerait l’indécence 😉 faut venir nous voir en Janvier ! A bon entendeur … Tout de très bon pour toi aussi, au plaisir de papoter ici ou là 🙂
salut… content pour toi !
I have just nominated you for The Creative Blogger Award. Great blog!!!!!
These are the copy/pasted rules for the Creative Blogger Award- 1. Post a link to the person who nominated you and give thanks. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself. 3. Nominate 10 other blogs and give links. 4. Contact your nominees to inform them of their nomination. 5. Provide the rules to your nominees.
Thanks a lot 🙂 will definitely do ! Have a lovely day
Hey there Estelea! I do a blog following spree every once in a while, and this July I’m going 7 for 7: following 7 fun blogs a day, each day, for the seventh month. Yours is today’s #4. Feel free to come visit me at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com and if you like what you read, follow back! Thanks and have a great day!
Thanks so much 😀 Have a lovely day!
Dear Estelea,
What a beautiful family and what an amazing life! I’m Elena Tamarit, journalist of Bright Expats (http://www.brightexpats.com/). We are launching our new blog’s section about expat’s lifes around the world, and I would be delighted to interview you for an special post about your blog and globetrotter life.
If you agree, I would love to send you some questions about feelings and common issues that face expats while transitioning to a new life abroad. Of course, I would promote your blog and include your links!
Looking forward to your response I wish you all the best,
Elena
Elena Tamarit
Bright Expats Brussels
The Local Partner of Global People
Email: elena@brightexpats.com
Web: http://www.brightexpats.com and http://www.settleanconnect.com
Of course Elena, with great pleasure 🙂 Thanks for thinking of me, you can send the questions at stbouaziz@gmail.com Have a lovely day, warm greetings from super sunny Philippines!