up up and awayyy

(except the ice cream man shot, photo credits to dr. koo chiehshen)

it's been awhile.

had a wonderful time with family and friends on sunday (thank you!!!)
and was finally ready to go. 

uneventful flight to london and currently in the country for a week of pre-uni vegging out. 

 thoroughly enjoying the pastoral surroundings, small towns and supreme hospitality. 

have a ton of books for company, the best of british tabloid trash
and family just a whatsapp message away.

plus there's wireless so i could be constantly plugged in.

but that would defeat the purpose of vegging out, wouldn't it.

either way, what more can a girl ask for? :)

catch you when i'm back in the city!

p/s because these meatballs are fast reaching their expiry date, it would be apt to direct you to the new blog.  

mysterymeatballs started out as an exchange blog while i was in stockholm in 2009, and then the second helping chronicled the second half of the bar exam course, starting work, and all the way till i decided to go back to school. so it looks like it's time to move! 

thanks for stopping by, and do visit at doctorlawyerindianchief if you'd like to check in.

last week in singers

the departure date's really crept up on me, and i can't help but sing along with mr. mayer as he tries to stop that train.

speaking of trains, i love 'em! can't wait to explore the uk by rail. hands down my favourite mode of transport and with the youth pass (because i'm not in my mid 20s yet!) i save 30% on tickets. the only thing better than the prospect of endless train rides is discounted endless train rides. my inner auntie is blissed out :)

unrelated to trains, but while we're on the transport point, here's a photo from the weekend. 

thrifty sydney

to risk sounding more maudlin than age-appropriate, the best things in life are free. like glorious sunsets and a rainbow or two. collected our wheels from the thrifty rental at darlinghurst and were quick to milk our newfound mobility with a drive right up to the coast where we were very lucky to catch the sunset, and rainbows on display.

then when it got dark, we looped back to bondi for some cool chasing at icebergs.

the latest addition to the zoo

we brought the newbie for her first outing today and she's by far the sweetest ball of fluff ever!

she's got beautiful lines!

but still a baby and scared of the water :(

so she has to make do with watching dad and presley (first swim since her confinement haha) from the shore.

awww :(

nature ramble and popiah

doesn't "nature ramble" conjure images of boarding school bliss in malory towers or st claire's? yvie and i grew up on a staple of enid blyton that fed our inner anglophile. incidentally, the lovely ladies are the clare medics class of 2011. and jenny loves nature and the rest are adventurous so how else to introduce them to singapore but a true blue tropical ramble at the tree top trail!

we set off but were waylaid by the siren calls of beef curry puff and fresh fruit juice at the poolside. oops :)

when we did finally get going, the weather was most threatening...

but we soldiered on through the secondary rainforest.

until we saw the exit point for the one way tree top trail, realising that in our excitement and distracted by the chatter, we MISSED THE ENTRY POINT COMPLETELY. oops again.

undaunted, we continued walking in search of the next big thing, not dissimilar to talent scouts, really. as luck would have it, there was a tower ahead just asking to be climbed.

climb we did, and were rewarded by this view at the top

satisfied that we at least did get to see the tree tops as yvie had promised, we headed back for popiah. but not before jenny got up close and personal with the flora and fauna (little boy not included) on the way.

after our outdoor adventure, it was time for some indoor excitement. all said "aye!" to a well earned popiah meal to compensate for the evening's exertion. we'd a hoot sitting in on yvie's popiah rolling tutorial and the girls really liked it :) yay! singapore cuisine boleh...

 

victorious with their well rolled popah!

the end.

breakfast in the east

what began at 530am only got better and better as the surprise escalated. in the span of four hours, i was the lucky beneficiary of weeks of meticulous plotting and planning, and by 930am, it felt like a whole new world.

and just because i <3 surprises, here's a list of happy things!

surprise #1: "breakfast in the east" was merely a ploy to lure me to the airport

surprise #2: all my bags had been packed and there was a surprise holiday in store

surprise #3: "dispensation" had been granted by the absolutely bestest boss on earth

surprise #4: ho chi minh was not the final destination

surprise #5: it involved a propeller plane...

surprise #6: the prospect of three days in a villa i'd been dreaming of for months but never thought i'd stay at

is it any wonder that by noon i was already delirious? :)

tropical storms

are my favourite kind of weather. there's nothing like a storm rolling in at lightning quick speed and the sudden gusts of wind to send us all running indoors for shelter. would've loved to have remained outside and exposed to the elements but didn't want to channel crazy woman and scare the lovely resort staff. but it was a majestic display of nature and her might and the pitter patter of raindrops sure beats the pitter patter of tiny feet.

 

i was so bummed to have to leave :( but appreciated the very thoughtful upgrade to a jet (look ma, no propellers!) for the flight back. 

helloooo malacca

after missing our exit on the north-south highway, driving 30km beyond malacca and getting fantastically lost, we finally picked out way back by the scenic route. constant traffic light interruptions and general frustration aside, by the time we rolled into our hotel we could've eaten a horse.

stepping into the lobby was like traveling back in time and the industrial strength a/c was a welcomed respite from the oppressive heat that is our equatorial burden to bear. was immediately distracted by the old photographs, paintings and maps on display and soon forgot my annoyance at being directionally challenged. 

and then there was the prospect of a massive lunch within walking distance from the hotel! and the view of the river and low rise houses more than made up for my being mad at the world that our two hour journey took us four hours instead.

have some photos to share from my brief 36h in malacca, will be posting a few a day for the rest of the week!

p/s yay to the 100th post on m0remysterymeatballs! hurrah :D

nostalgia max

exactly a year ago, on 9 may 2010, i began my six week graduation holiday. began with cruise up and then back down the seine on a barge, before switching mode of transportation and road trippin' tuscany for a fortnight, eating and drinking till i almost burst at the seams. back to paris for a glorious few days, then off to stockholm to revisit my second home and all the friends i'd made on exchange a mere six months before. from stockholm, things got exciting as i solo tripped across spain. well, tell a lie, it was just barca, valencia and madrid. and as luck would have it, i'd bump into friends who happened to be eurotrippin' at the same time that i never really felt like i was on my own. after the pseudo-solo adventure, i'd the privilege of being a houseguest with famille makinadjian in aix-en-provence. they were the most gracious hosts a girl could ask for! concluded the grad trip back in paris, in my home away from home with famille bartel.

can't believe how fast the year's past! and i'm getting all emo nemo thinking about last summer :( in fact, i'm ashamed to admit that i've trawled the june archive over at mysterymeatballs and maybe you'd like to revisit one of my happiest times ever with me :)

a race a week

in hindsight, this sort of looks like a makeshift memorial... but yay to surviving a race that neither of us trained for! and for completing it in 37minutes (brag brag) without stopping. in the grand scheme of things, we probably aren't very fast. and relative to vidz and her weekly 15km runs, we're certified unfit. however, surely there's something to be said for last minute stand ins...

quite unfortunately, cubby buddy's fit (doctor) friend had a nightmarish call and still had to vote post call. so cubby buddy called me, her unfit fellow pup and i thought, 'what the heyy...'. famous last words! the weather was ghastly! blistering hot heat and i'd a headache from the sun before we even left the figurative starting blocks. it was solely pupil solidarity that got me through. as i thought of all our late nights holed up in the office, i figured physical exertion is no sweat compared to the mental marathon that is work. 

so we huffed and we puffed and we made it to the finish line, and then proceeded to cam-ho in true pseudo-teenage fashion on the top of marina barrage. props to xj for doing so fantastically well despite being swamped with trial after trial, and having to be on standby for a superimportantabsolutelymustsucceed matter this weekend... respect!

 

plus, for the rest of the week, i get to brag that i've done 2 races in 2 weeks. teehee!

daring to begin

that big thing i was anticipating this year has finally come to pass!*

posted this on new year's 2011.

and truly, exactly 3 months since i posted and 8 since the gear** first cranked into action, things have indeed turned out just the way i'd dreamt. relieved that the gamble has paid off in spades and after collecting the final piece of the puzzle*** yesterday, it's all systems go :)

*found out in the middle of march that i'd been accepted into medsch

** deciding and getting down to applying proper in august 2010

*** collecting my certificate of no criminal conviction from the singapore police force (i kid you not)

fried mee sua kuala lumpur

reason enough to make the hike.

bestie an ocean away

so i'm going to KL to meet one of my favouritest people on earth.

we first met when we were fifteen, were inseparable until we were 18 and then she left for canada, never to be seen again. 

ok, so that sounds a wee bit more dramatic than it really was.

butbutbut for the first time in MANY MANY YEARS (you didn't think i was going to give a way my age, did you!) we're going to be at the same place at the same time.

she's going home (to petaling jaya) for a wedding and i'm free as a bird until my wings are clipped come 31 jan. what other way to celebrate freedom than to hop across the causeway for some quality time with someone i don't foresee myself meeting up with again until either of us gets married!

can't wait for stayovers and pig outs and plenty of heart-to-heart deep meaningful conversation.

whee :)

first glimpse of dubai

and it's off on a road trip to abu dhabi now! thank god i'm not driving.

one day in mumbai

before it was home free.

sunset over the sea from javier's apartment

 

thus concludes the yindian travelogue! 

thanks for reading :)