berlin blues

almost a year ago, i went to berlin on my own. had the good fortune of staying at a friend's massive apartment in the heart of the city so i didn't have to rough it out for real. however, this apartment was also big enough to house an army, with over 5 bedroooms. problem: it was just me so i kinda boing-ed around all that space, not really knowing what to do with it. it was also semi-creepy at night because there i was all alone and any strange noises WERE NOT ME.

but to cut a long nostalgia trip short, i bumped into my very gracious hosts in town and they remembered that about a year ago i was in berlin in their apartment. and they asked if i missed berlin. at first i thought it'd be hard to miss a place i spent a short four days at. but they're right, i do miss it and the absolute freedom and independence i enjoyed. not like my rights are curtailed back home (haha). far from! yet the liberation of solo travel and being able to wake up, walk out into a brand new city, take in brand new sights, enjoy brand new experiences and create brand new memories, is one of my favourite things to do. new-ness is underrated. much as there is comfort in familiarity, there's something to be said for exploration.

plus i loved the christmas markets and spent hours wandering around every market i could locate in the greater berlin area. misanthropic and narcissistic as it may seem, i like my own company very much, thank you.

you can read more about berlin below, if you like :)

berlin calling

berlin laundry

happy birthday nick

nick by night! here we are at helvetica in perth, nick brandishing a jug of fishbowl punch in honour of our fredag punch tradition in stockholm.

and nick by day, arriving on his white steed to whisk us to the golden triangle

don't you think day/night nick look the same? ;)

our friendship was forged that last sunny summers day in the park as we fell into step en route back to jeanne's for the post-picnic. my first impression of him was that of the world's most devoted boyfriend. get him started on lauren and the man will not stop... in the best possible way, of course :) we swapped stories about our immortal nanas, his in lebanon and mine back in singers. we puzzled over how they'd managed to pickle themselves and not show the ravages of time or gravity then attributed it to a lost art. there was effortless friendship from the word go, and then nick did the sweetest thing, thus cementing his place in my list of favourite friends. (yes, i have a list. don't you?) he escorted me to london. he'd been planning to visit family for awhile and i was hell bent on being a solo backpacker so he gallantly booked the same flight, was delightful company for the 12h it took us to get door-to-door, such is the sorry state of budget travel... and then he took the tube out of his way and ever the gentlemen, saw me to safety in the big smoke. so much for my pseudo-independence! plus we share some quirks and nick would come up with the funniest nicknames for people who got our goats. thank goodness they were none the wiser. then lauren came to visit and i liked nick even more because i became a lauren fan too and off we went on little excursions to tidemann's and sofo and gamla stan.

and nick's graciousness didn't stop with the end of exchange. oh no! swung by down under over the hari raya long weekend and he was all warmth and hospitality. suddenly we were traveling by car and it was funny because in stockholm all we ever did was take the bus or tunnelbana. or ryanair -_- seeing perth through nick's eyes and enjoying his and lauren's excellent haute gastronomy recommendations made the short break all the more memorable. all too soon it was farewell round two but i'm pretty sure the wind will blow him north soon, or lauren at least.

it's been a year since we surprised him with an army of revelers in claudio's kitchen, and here we are again. so happy birthday nick and many happy returns. exciting times, he's in for a sea change come next year :)

here's one for the album, of us freezing our tushes off in sigtuna, reputed to be the oldest town in sweden but we're not so trusting of guidebooks...

(sigtuna photo credits to simon of http://simonsk.blogspot.com)

blog envy

(both photos by the massively talented philip jorgensen)

and a massive case of erasmus-envy, too. isn't he sheer genius with the light? :)

every time i pop by phil's blog, i feel like i'm a voyeur in his travels - and like i'm seeing everything for the first time through his eyes.

if you're feeling particularly masochistic, i highly recommend you too have a look at his work. amazing stuff. i wish i lived in his camera!

check it out, don't say i didn't warn you ;)

it's been awhile

since i went grocery shopping with a backpack

(and walked 15minutes to get home from the t-bana)

but it was de rigeur in stockholm where i'd make my weekly trek to lidl along radmansgatan in a valiant attempt to put the lidl children through college. or so went the joke A would crack. i'd load up for the week with many kilos of fruit and veg in a vain attempt to assuage my conscience about eating frozen chicken. i hate frozen chicken. but fresh chicken cost an arm and a leg and my prc flatmate taught me how to cook frozen chicken so it would taste like fresh chicken so i saved my kroner and went shopping instead. if you're curious, frozen chicken has its blood drained after electrocution (maybe he was making this up) so you're supposed to cook it differently to maintain the elasticity of meat. ok typing this out, i realise how silly it sounds and i was probably con-ed. oops. but the resident squatter from hyderabad taught me how to chop chicken and i soon got pretty darn handy with the chopper, minus the suggestive grunts they claimed i'd make. blush.

and when i got home, i'd gleefully unload my backpack, pleased that i was saving the earth one unnecessary plastic bag at time ;) although when the parentals visited i did request that they bring me 20 ntuc plastic bags for me to use as bin liners when it was my turn to be the kitchen slave.

the point to this is - i brought my backpack to the grocery store today and the mere action catapulted me back to the tunnelbana and stockholm. and exactly why i did groceries with a backpack will be revealed this weekend.

tuesday is the new friday

we interrupt the sydney series for some good ol' fashioned fun in the +65. after the deluge of deadlines, it's great to finally get some well-deserved downtime. and it felt like a friday but without the madding crowd that crawls outta the cracks in the sidewalks and into every conceivable space worth hanging out in. that said, the bar was packed to the rafters on a tuesday night and there was the occasional scurry to hustle an extra chair as our party grew and grew. thank goodness ee hui had the foresight to reserve a table in the adjacent room which we filled, and some, in no time!

loved the buzz and it's always self-satisfying to walk into a place and see familiar faces. familiar faces who are in-the-know, and you know that you, too, are onto a good thing! the chilled out atmosphere was just what the doctor ordered for a tuesday night (yeah, i can't get over it either. decadent!) out on the town. good mix of old friends and new, personalised cocktails (hell yeah! there was a pretty awesome raspberry sakae-tini...) and off we went on a cocktail adventure. have heard many good things about this new watering hole and was glad to finally get round to checking it out myself :) the company was awesome, as always, and after a few drinks we were racking our brains for long-forgotten cheng yu in an acsian vs rafflesian stand off. no prizes for guessing which camp reigned supreme, teehee. the cocktails, rather mysteriously, sent us on a trip down memory lane and before long we were reminiscing about paddle pop and the sharity elephant. there was a mini phone drama and a case of mistaken identity (long story), but needless to say it was very sweet of sam to come all the way down, thinking he was rescuing my lost mobile. the lengths he'd go to for a friend. awwww :) and this was right after we caught up over lunch today, so i guess lunch and then drinks with me isn't the overdose i'd thought it to be!

here are some photos - all the furniture is for sale btw! reminded me of cafe string in stockholm...

and now i'm off to bed! busy busy wednesday ahead.

T-12h

(as usual, photo credits to simon)

this awaits!

four glorious early spring days in perth with my favourite people. haven't seen the gents in nine months and jeanne i just saw in summer (in stockholm and then in aix) but i can't get enough of her so two months separation is already too long. but before i start sounding like a needy, desperate friend-less freak, let me just say that i've yet to meet a bunch of friends i got and who got me back as well as this crew :) and it's not just team australia but the +1s! so there's the lovely miss L (nick's better half) and my +1 is going with me so fun fun fun times ahead. can't wait for everyone to merge into this one happy mass :)

(ok. that sounds vaguely like an orgy. nononono. no orgies.)

(photo credits to lauren, taken at sneakers 'n stuff in sofo)

and if that wasn't reason enough to smile, check out what the weatherman has to say...

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!

travel update

no monday blues this week because there's a long weekend coming up! headed down under in 3 days to visit team australia. jeanne's already been there for a week (lucky girl!) and it's going to be like stockholm, only better.

can't believe it's already been a year since we first met that sunny summer's day at Rålambshovsparken

and if that's not exciting enough, it's down under round 2 at month's end to sydney! this special visit has been some time coming but having waited long long i've lucked out and there will be not one but two! definitely the cutest pair of cousins i know . also, because i was 10 the last time i went to sydney, i'm more than looking forward to re-exploring the city :)

although i have to admit that in addition to their sparkling personalities, the prospect of a rack of lamb done just right was a pretty enticing one too.

(sydney photo credits to noe)

it's been exactly a year

since i left for stockholm.

and it was the best 5 months ever.

not a day passes without some thought, i hate living in the past and i don't think i really am, but it gave me a lifetime of fantastic memories and for that i am grateful.

it's as if stockholm is this secret place in my mind that i retreat to whenever i need a happy thought, because all my exchange-related thoughts are happy.

and if i could relive any day over and over again, it'd be the sunday that we slept in.

mhmmm :) stockholm. i miss being there and being on exchange with a vengeance. it's been 8 months since i got home but the sense of loss and longing is keener than ever.

(almost) annual pilgrimage to HK

was in HK in the beginning of 2006 and because it was a social visit, we stayed in what was, to me, the fanciest hotel ever. met with friends, wine and dined and it was a very comfortable trip.

returned in the middle of 2007 with 15 college friends. this time, the planner sourced us an apartment in hai fong mansion, off nathan road and just opposite tsim sha tsui station. we squeezed into 4 rooms in this misnomer of a building that was anything but a mansion. we'd the dubious honour of sharing a floor with massage parlours, syed baba worship centre, kumon, a karaoke bar and music school. remember sleeping like sardines, sharing a single bed with a girlfriend for 5 nights. shudder. but this particular trip to HK was special to me for two reasons. on our last night, as we sat by victoria harbour looking across the bay, i saw the hotel i stayed at the previous year and i felt a sense of pride surge within me, because i was back in HK on my terms and at my own expense, having ceased to receive parental support soon after high school. i'd brought myself to HK on hard-earned tuition money and the satisfaction was priceless. also, while i'd just 'roughed out' 5 days in less than luxurious conditions, looking across the water, i knew that one day i'd be back at the first hotel, on my own. the second reason is a little more personal, because while i was in my tiny room at hai fong mansion, i sprung awake one night certain that something was amiss and 30 seconds later, my mobile rang. and all it took was one X life-altering phone call and we've not looked back since :)

in summer 2008, we went to HKwith our favourite couple to celebrate his birthday, approximately a year after that significant phone call. this trip was different again, although i did get to revisit some of the haunts i liked from the previous year. this was especially special because we'd just gotten home after 10weeks together in europe. we travelled highlands and iceland (from london to belgium to scotland, drove around the whole of iceland), back to leuven, the it was off on a sand and sea leg (nice, monte carlo, cannes, road trip around corsica, toulon, avignon, marseille, lyon before heading to morocco - casablanca and marrakech). after that we met up with my folks for a mediterranean cruise (athens, kusadasi, ephesus, santorini, sarande, split, venice). he went back to leuven for exams and i solo-tripped to dublin and then amsterdam. when he was done with exams, we flew to prague then his parents came over and we met them in athens (our second time in a month!) and sailed to mykonos, revisited santorini in a more leisurely fashion then explored crete. surprisingly, after 10 weeks of non-stop travel (which concluded his year away), we weren't vacationed out and still made it to HK! being the sentimental sap i am, HK a year on and with him was a poignant reminder of how good the year had been.

skip 2009 and i was back in HK mid-2010, back at the first (fancy) hotel. sadly, it wasn't as fancy this time as i remembered it. semi-concerned that i've grown increasingly discerning (he says spoilt) but it was good to be back in my old stomping ground yet at a different stage all together :)

saigon day 3

today was my lazybones day. the rest went on a day trip to the cu chi tunnels and i opted to remain in my air-conditioned, non-claustrophobic comfort. when they were historied out, we went in search of french food and found this little gem through the combined powers of too many guidebooks to name. after solo trippin for a good few weeks, finally being sheep-like and following the leader was a welcomed relief :) the guys were awesome. they read up, they planned, they hailed taxis, they navigated, they were on hand to be size models and provide style advice... it was like HK all over again  in summer 07 when i suddenly found myself with 20kg of shopping (no exaggeration) and it was Y to the rescue as he gallantly brought my big construction worker plastic bag (the type they use to carry bricks) all the way to the airport. and by brought, i mean CARRIED because the dratted bag had no wheels!

day 38

tuesday 15 june aix-en-provence to paris

took the afternoon flight to paris and ended where i began 38 days before. it was good to be back with the Bs. at this point, i was incredibly grateful to have had 38 delightful days in europe without any mishap that well-meaning friends had cautioned me. i'd travelled alone for the most part and made it through spain without being pickpocketed, just flashed. haha. i hadn't misplaced anything along the way, i hadn't missed any connections, i'd made friends, and i'd eaten way better than anticipated. did i tell you that i was defensive eating before my solo leg? just in case i wasted away. absolutely unnecessary in retrospect, seeing as to how well-fed i was, but a girl can't be too careful, can she?

a recurring theme this holiday was impeccable, european hospitality. from the Bs in paris, to my friends in stockholm who let me invade their space, to C, grandfatherly lawyer supreme who introduced me to too many contacts to list, to J in valencia - who'd have thought our chance meeting at the nam hai in hoi ann in april would amount to a wonderful visit, and of course, J and her family were top class hosts in aix. 

i was ready to come home, and just in time for my grandfather's 88th.

thanks for reading, and for reliving my graduation trip with me. it's been fun!

p/s stay tuned for the saigon series. while in aix, i'd already planned my next getaway. had gramp's birthday on the 17th of june, and my grandmother's on the 27th. which gave me a 10 day window to play with and i skipped to saigon for a week. 

day 28

saturday 5 june 2010 barcelona

i climbed a mountain!

Day 3
Montjuic (1 metro ticket gets you to the metro and the adjacent funicular to montjuic) not to be confused with the cable car up to the castle €9. if you save € and walk up instead, it's only 15min and gradual incline.

Nice views from castle. Worth a visit.

well, not quite. but you get the drift. and when i reached the top, this is what i saw! i couldn't believe my eyes. it's no secret that i'm a big crystal cruise fan, and have been blessed to have gone on a baltic cruise in summer '06 (just before starting freshman year) and a mediterranean cruise in summer '08 (half-way through college). so technically, the timing would've been perfect for a summer 2010 graduation cruise but noooo, the parentals chose to go on a riverboat up the seine instead :( ok, really shouldn't complain. the seine cruise was awesome in its own right. but being the big fat softie i am, i sat on my little perch and watched the ship the entire afternoon, thinking about happy memories spent on board her perfectly polished decks. have countless memories of time with my family, and subsequently time with my family and with him on the crystal serenity that it was nice walking down memory lane at this particular juncture of being done with school. plus my friends were on board (also most coincidentally) and i was waiting for them to wave at me. haha. the things we do!

after some much-needed decompressing and me-time down-time on montjuic, i met up with some high school friends who happened to be passing through barca. like i said, so much for solo trippin'. being the text fanatic that i am, i'd sent out a mass text updating my nearest and dearest of my whereabouts and little did i know that Y would overlap with me in barca! along with S and 2 of their friends. again, the big softie in me was mega nostalgic because the first ever trip i did without 'adults' was with Y, S and some of our high school friends when we were fresh out of high school and applying to college. we took the overnight train to KL and it was such an adventure. we later met up in bangkok the night of the new years eve bomb blasts (new year '07) and saw the new year in together, after making sure we'd all our limbs with us. 7 months later, we went to phuket with more high school friends. so to meet up with Y and S in barca on my grad trip, unplanned as it was, felt as if we'd gone full circle. from clueless 18year olds, to slightly savvier 23year olds. i'm done with college, they'll be doctors next year. gee :)

oh yes so we crossed the bridge for some tapas then had the best sangria back at their hostel bar :)

day 24

tuesday 1 june 2010 stockholm to skavsta

crazy mad rush of a day!

rolled outta bed at J's and straight to lunch with C (click for link to read more about C!) at gondolen. never been up the tourist trap and C was very kind to take me. had a great time catching up with C, one of the spriteliest seniors i know. he's in his 70s and a grandfather a few times over and he's got a wide array of interests, from picking up italian as a 5th language 8 years ago, followed by almost monthly trips to italy for language courses, to golf, and scuba diving (he learnt last year!) and he cooks haute gastronomy and i am so very inspired by him and am more convinced than ever that age is not a limit. so as you can imagine, C is fascinating company and excellent conversation. plus he was kind enough to introduce me to not one, but two sets of swedish partners for which i am immensely grateful. so after lunch, we strolled to his boho legal consultancy smack in the middle of gamla stan for tea. my mama taught me never to go anywhere empty handed, so we picked up some pastries first and spent the afternoon discussing one of their partners newly-formed private equity fund. they asked if i'd 5million euro to invest. HAHA. how i wish! hence i am constantly awed by their hospitality and warmth (so much for my anti-swedish people rant) because i am nothing, for now at least, and yet they are so very kind.

was offloading with A about the semi-guilt i felt taking up other people's time and not being able to contribute much (we met at the nobel square to sit and talk till i'd to go) and she shared an interesting perspective. she said that the golden oldies probably didn't need anything from anyone (except maybe that EUR5million) and could very likely have been just happy to have a young person to share their views with, to pass it on. felt a lot less obliged and liability-esque after our last face-to-face h2h and am more determined than ever to pay it forward. that's the beauty of hospitality, especially the warm european hospitality i've been so blessed to receive on my travels. it just inspires me to treat guests and travellers who come my way as well as i can within my means :)

said goodbye to A, and the rest of the gang who'd just caught the annie leibowitz exhibition by the water, and literally ran from J's (picked up my stuff) to central, where i caught the 2nd last bus to skavsta.

lovely airport hotel, btw, and i watched family guy from the restaurant and felt connected to my kungshamra corridormates, with whom i've established a tuesday night family guy watching ritual.

skavsta in the setting sun

clean lines of the airport hotel

day 22

sunday 30 may 2010 stockholm

i think today i just spazzed at J's :)

so to spare you the boring details, here are some photos of my regular route to uni from kungshamra.

i still have stockholm on the brain.