It was Sunday 6th of April, 6.30pm, Manila time.
We were at the airport, and it was possible the worst time to fly with three
young children under 7. They were already sleepy but also utterly animated by the great adventure ahead
of them: holidays in Australia.
I don’t know who was more anxious, Nick, me or the children.
I think we all were, really, but for different reasons. We were saying “bye, bye, heat”– my son Gabriel says bye
to everything, even to his drinking water bottle- and welcome autumn. I am afraid
Nick and I were also thinking in our minds “bye,
bye yayas” and home help, and welcome reality. God help us, I thought.
A few days before our travel date, Nick became obsessed with
the idea that the trip was going to be a nightmare, a disaster; that the
children would be annoying, tired and grumpy; that we would spend the whole
flight struggling with them…etc.
And he was right, but prior the flight, I didn’t want to listen.
I was aware of the fact that travelling overseas with three small children it
couldn’t be fun. I just kept in the back of my mind ”this will pass too”. …but all the muscles of my face and the rest
of my body were quite tense before and during the trip.
I must confess, we are not good travellers.
We were in the new terminal of Aquino airport in front of
the counter of the Philippine Airlines. Nick was making sure that we had the
five passports, the plane tickets from Manila to Sydney, and the 3 big
suitcases (one for the children with winter and summer clothes, one for Nick
and I, and one for milestone “useful stuff” such as a hand blender, a plastic
bath and a feeding chair…), Aurelia’s suitcase with the cars, books, coloring
pens and soft toys, another suitcase for the plane with snacks, nappies and
change of warm clothes …and, we haven’t finished yet, the cot and the pusher.
Leaving the house on Sunday afternoon felt like moving
countries again- which will happen in the middle of June, by the way-. A lot of
stuff to take in, and I do not mean only the luggage. Emotionally speaking, the
preparation for the trip creates a tense
atmosphere in my family –although I am sure I am not alone in this-.
Once we
reach our destination, things go back to normal. I should be more explicit,
once the children are settled in the new place, our family catches up a routine
and we enjoy the holidays.
So they we were, waiting for the boarding call at the gate
19. Our departure was imminent but the tiredness of the children too, and our patience reaching its limit. Nick was
chasing them around so they could do some exercise before spending 8 hours on
the chair. In addition, I was in a nervous consuming state, meditating as it was
the last night of our lives. I was incapable to relax myself.
Finally, the plane took off. I tried not to think of the
Malaysia aircraft that crashed recently. I kept praying. Nick ignored me, as he
knows me well, and distracted the kids from looking at his crazy mum.
Our only hope to keep the children busy during the flight
was the TV , to be honest- we don’t have an ipad- but there was only one tv for
everybody in economy class and the movie that Philippine Airlines chose was 12 years of slave, totally unsuitable
for children. All sort of questions appeared in Aurelia’s head during the
entire flight.
I was feeding the baby at the same time I had my arm around
Gabriel’s to comfort him. It was midnight and he was still awake!. Aurelia was
in a bad mood. And the food was
terrible, so we didn’t eat anything, and the service, to my
surprise, unfriendly. Well, it is economy, what would I expect!.
Eight long hours passed and the plane landed in beautiful
Sydney. Nick and I looked like zombies. My eyes were so red that Gabriel said
“mum, aui”, which means that mum has hurt. And I was indeed by the painful
flight.
We waited in Sydney airport to catch another short flight to
Canberra. Just one hour flight but after a long night, it seemed an eternity.
When we were at the waiting area, I was desperate to have a cup of coffee – I
needed some caffeine intravenous, actually- and I had a brilliant idea to order
a warm chocolate for the kids, but it ended on the floor and on Gab’s jumper.
We arrived in Canberra feeling that we had been in the war. The
initial exhilaration about our holidays was evaporated. We were exhausted and
looking forward to getting into the rented apartment in Kingston, my favorite
suburb of Canberra. But it took another 2 hours to get the car we hired at the
aiport. In the meantime, I managed to spilt some of Nick’s coffee on the pusher
and almost burn tJuanan.
To end the drama of our travel, once we were inside of the
beautiful apartment , I broke a glass and had a deep cut in my finger. Blood
everywhere in the toilet.
When I popped out my face of the bathroom to tell Nick,
I saw this scenario: Nick was unpacking suitcases, Juanan fast asleep, and
Aurelia and Gabriel jumping on the beds, happy to be on holidays.
At last, we all were. I pretended my finger wasn’t bleeding.
I pretended the long, long trip didn’t happen. It was the start of our
holidays!
Happy Easter!
Every time we are flying I make sure our stomachs are full.
The food served on the plane isn’t usually good. I like to have some kind of
comfort with a home cooked meal, anyway. I made up this soup last year using
the leftovers I had in the fridge and since then, it is a traditional meal in
our family before we head off to the airport.
Aurelia called this soup “Cheesy- veggie flight soup”. It is
a quick and simple soup, and very nutritious, excellent to keep you going on a
long, long flight. I made it in a pressure cooker but you can equally make it
over a low heat for 45 minutes or until the veggies are soft (add the zucchini
in the last 20 minutes of cooking).
My trick is to use a good chicken stock, a piece of cheddar
cheese and a roasted tomato sauce - its sweetness helps to balance the sharpness
of the cheese.
You will forgive me I don’t post a photo. I was in a rush
and forgot to take a snap of it. Just imagine a minestrone soup but with tomato
sauce and some melted cheddar cheese all over it. And remember, you don’t want
to eat big chunks of vegetables, so it would be better to dice them in small
cubes.
- · 1 brown onion, chopped
- · 1 carrot, chopped
- · 1 celery stalk, chopped
- · 3 garlic cloves, grated
- · 2-3 slices of jamon Serrano, finely cut
- · 2 zucchinis, chopped
- · 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
- · 1 cup of homemade roasted tomato sauce
- · 3 cups of chicken stock
- · Fresh thyme
- · Salt and fresh pepper
- · 100g of cheddar cheese
- · 1 cup of basmati rice or dried pasta (I use animal shape pasta for the children)
- · Some pesto to garnish, if you wish
1.
Heat a lug of olive oil in a big pot over medium
heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery (mirepoix) and cook until
softened and a bit brown for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the
garlic and stir. Down the heat to low.
2.
Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the
zucchinis (do not add them yet if you don’t use the pressure cooker). Give al
lthe vegetables a good stir for 5 minutes to soak up the flavours.
3.
Pour the chicken stock and the tomato sauce. Add
the thyme, cheese and season with salt and pepper (careful with the salt if you
are using proscuito as the jamon Serrano is sweeter).
Cooked in a low heat for 45 minutes or in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes after the initial whiz.
Cooked in a low heat for 45 minutes or in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes after the initial whiz.
4.
Serve in warm bowls with some cooked rice, or
pasta and a dollop of pesto on top or spread over a toast.
5
a. My roasted tomato sauce:
i. Preheat
the oven to 150C.
ii. In
a deep oven tray, add a can of 1kg of whole tomato.
iii. Grate
6 garlic cloves over the tomatoes.
iv. Add /2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and some fresh black pepper.
v. Drizzle
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
vi. Cook
for about 90 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are more than welcome. Thank you!