A case of the woollies

Literally.

The number of packed suitcases parked in Marlon's and my already cluttered bedroom speaks volumes about how our lives are going to go for the next few months. The aforementioned case of the woollies was the first to come into existence: we quite literally filled a suitcase with woolly, warm winter wear the weekend Marlon decided that he would take the job in Amsterdam. 

Buying winter wear was one of the things we were both so excited to do; we unleashed our pent-up consumer lust upon Timberland for boots, Uniqlo for unbelievably cheap but otherwise excellent quality cashmere, angora and wool tops, plus down jackets and Heattech innerwear, Zara and Winter Time for a few sweaters and a long coat for Marlon, and Muji for a few basics for me. 

One suitcase multiplied into two as we started dredging up all our existing cold-weather wear, although I am still in need of good woolen trousers, maybe a new pair of jeans, at least one more pair of closed flats and a coat. I just have to be careful that in my excitement to be fashionable (as Jonathan puts it, the "pang-mayaman" look), I buy things that will actually keep me warm.

The other suitcase is packed with clothes for an emergency trip home to Manila, which we hastily booked when we found out from the relocation agency (very, very late in the game—obviously they don't know what it's like to relocate Filipinos) about the requirements for our Dutch work permits. 

That suitcase holds grotty clothes for the day when Marlon and I have to line up to get our NSO-certified birth and marriage certificates authenticated at the Department of Foreign Affairs (I fault Singapore for many things, but the fact na pwede kang umoutfit habang naglalakad ng papeles is not one of them) and a nice dress for the day when we have to take those NSO-certified then DFA-authenticated papers to the Dutch embassy for legalization. Don't you just love being a Philippine passport holder?

Thank goodness we booked a beach getaway to Bantayan, Cebu over a month ago. That trip gives us something to do to decompress from the stress of engaging with all that bureaucracy, and while waiting for all the papers to be stamped, legalized, processed and whatever else. And that's what suitcase number four is for.