I debated on whether i should consider the day i arrived as "Day 1" or not. It felt wrong, somewhat; i feel like 'Day 1' should be the day that i first wake up from my first night here. Hence, i'm calling it 'Arrival Day'.
My flight arrived slightly late, so i was expecting Shah to wait for me at the arrival gate. Alas, he was late as he took the wrong train (and afterwards admitted he woke up at the exact time my flight was due to arrive). I asked myself, hm, do i want to be upset or not? I answered to myself, nah. How much of a total drama queen would i be to get upset at my husband the first moment i lay my eyes on him after a month apart? So i took upon myself to get busy with other activities, namely listening to music on my handphone (no, i don't own an ipod. yes, i know it's sad) while people-watching.
It was SO GOOD seeing Shah again. You know, it's weird, everytime we stay apart for a long time - like the time when he came to visit me in NZ after a few months and that time we met at KLCC after he came back for good from NZ and spent two months or so in Kedah - and when i see him again, i would ask myself questions like, "Goodness, is this man my husband?" and "Has he always been this handsome??". Like i said, weird.
We lugged my small but very heavy luggage, my laptop bag (which is very heavy too since my laptop is the ancient kind) and my very heavy oversized leopard-print bag to take the train to the other terminal to take another train back to Shah's apartment. All the while he was talking exasperatedly on how confusing the train system here is. I don't blame him, because aside from the obvious language barrier, the signboards here aren't as clear as they should be. In MY opinion. I know i had only been here for like one hour, but Shah still hasn't fully figured out the train and bus routes after one month being here. Not as much as he would like to.
Thankfully we arrived safely to the right station. While walking to his apartment - well, OUR apartment, now - we passed his office and a small departmental store, named Monoprix. It's amazing how supremely close his office is to our apartment. Just amazing.
Shah had an appointment with a bank to open an account, so we had little time to dump my bags. I did get a quick tour of the apartment. It's like a studio apartment, with a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a toilet. So cute and almost cosy. I say "almost" cosy because my feet are freezing at this very moment. Central heating is only turned on after 15 October, apparently. Dang.
I insisted on following Shah to the bank. I simply wanted to feel the air of Paris. Very unfortunately, it started raining a little by then. And then it started to REALLY rain. Shah made a quick decision to pop into Monoprix to get an umbrella, saying frantically, "How come Paris never rained like this since i arrived???" and i proudly said, "Paris is welcoming me. Also, orang kata hujan tu macam rezeki!".
Now, Monoprix is kind of like Marks & Spencer. They have clothes and a small supermarket and THEY SELL MAKEUP. I squeaked "OMG, i carik ni online masa kat Malaysia!!!" when i saw Revlon Colorstay in Rich Tan. But i didn't have much time to peruse the makeup section, as we had to pick out an umbrella. My priority in choosing an umbrella: it has to be "cute". So we ended up with a small navy blue umbrella with purple polka dots all over it (not before Shah exclaimed, "It's so GIRLIE, Liyana.")
We then headed on to the bank, by foot. After about 5 minutes, the wind started to really, REALLY pick up and by then, we had to brave the rain without the umbrella. Have you ever been in a raging wind which threaten to fold your umbrella in half or take it away? I've experienced this in NZ, and to experience it again here, let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience. Nonetheless, my spirits were up. It was still fun to walk in the rain and wind with my Sheh.
And off to the bank we went. More on that soon! <3