Travel Advice

“I’m thinking of going to *insert-country-here* in September/Winter/next year. Any good advice?”

Here are some I received from well-meaning friends as I packed my bags for the trip in May:

“London?! Why? It’s so… dull! Skip London, go Paris instead”

“I didn’t like Paris. Highly overrated! Rude people. Go to Prague, you’ll enjoy it better!”

“No! Don’t. go. anywhere. There this Swine Flu thing going around!”

(Well, okay, the last advice was from my Ma)

London for me was vibrant and full of life; I encountered many helpful and friendly French people (et non, in my eyes, Paris is not overrated at all!) and although I find Prague a beautiful city, I can’t say if I enjoyed it “better” than Paris.

Travel is such a personal thing. Whether or not your experience is a good or not-so-good one depends on so many factors — the weather, the people you happen to meet (or who you’re travelling with), your interests, age and expectations. If I were to take any of the advice seriously, I would end up avoiding most of places I had planned to visit. So my advice is this: if you are keen on a place, do your own research and just go. Don’t let others dictate what your personal experience will be for you.

There and Back Again

Hey everyone, I’m back from my month-long vacation. It’s been one hell of an interesting ride. Highlights of my journey include:

• Venice, ah beautiful Venice, I don’t have a bad word for you
• Amsterdam caught me by surprise! I love the this city
• The charming cottages complete with grazing cows in the very picturesque Swiss Alpine region
• The people! So many helpful, friendly people who’ve helped make this trip a memorable one!

My feet are covered with blisters and my body is aching. It’s been a great experience. But oh, does it feel good to be back home. :)

See You Later

Absent
Hey all. I’ve just crawled out of my week-long semi-comatose state. I was down with a particularly bad cold. Had fever 4 days straight. I was convinced I had the flu but no, just the common cold, insisted the doc. In my drug-induced stupor, I kept trying to console myself that some good will come out of this and whaddaya know! Having spent my days mostly in deep slumber and awake in the wee hours of the night, my body has somewhat adjusted to Central European time! Yup, I will be leaving for my European adventure in a few days’ time. I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging on the road so if there are no updates here next month, do pardon me!

Present
While lying sick in bed the other day, it dawned on me how we tend to really be in the present during extremes in our lives — in mirth or gloom, when we’re experience great pain or pleasure or during moments when we were this close to death. The other parts — those that make the bulk of our lives — we merely go through the motions, only to be referred to when current times are bad: “those were the days”, “I wish things were back to normal”, etc. Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to live my life positively in the present and I have to say that it has helped tremendously in the way I see and live my life. I genuinely believe that living with a positive mindset coupled with affirmative action has helped me achieved a lot of my goals — one of which is this very trip I’m taking. :)

Tomorrow is May Day for many of you folks, so enjoy the long weekend!

Fruity Smiles

1) I saw a woman and her grandson trying to pick mangoes off a tree near my flat using what looked like a telescopic pruning saw (there are quite a number of mango trees here). When I got closer, I realised she was just probing the mangoes with a stick. “Not ripe yet,” she told her grandson, “let’s pick some flowers instead.” :)

2) A lady, probably in her early 60s was calling out to another lady (a stranger), probably in her late 40s, “Auntie”*. The younger lady was suitably offended and decided to ignore her and walk the other way without finding out what the older one wanted!  The older lady then turned to me, shrugged her shoulders and laughed! Was she just teasing her? ;)

3) A bag of apple chips on offer at $1.90 (originally $3.95). Semi-guiltless snacking! :D

(*Here, it is common to address older folks, even those you aren’t related to as “Aunties” and “Uncles”. The tricky part is to determine when this could be used without offending the other party. However, a taxi driver is always an “uncle” regardless of his age! I have no idea why!)

Beautifully Imperfect

Speaking of letting the tears flow, I caught this ad (commissioned by the Ministry of Community Development Singapore and directed by Yasmin Ahmad) twice this week and I cried both times!

I will be enjoying the long weekend with my family and hope you’ll have a good one too. :)

No More Fear for Tears

My weekend was full of tears.

It’s not what you think. We had a DVD marathon on Saturday and somehow I ended up crying watching ALL the movies . There was Before Sunset  (I was sad throughout the movie actually but the tear pipes burst at the scene in the car) The Wrestler (kinda predictable but can I say perfect casting, Mickey Rourke!? I cried when he told his daughter he didn’t want her to hate him, and when he had to work at the deli counter) and… Wall-E! I can’t believe I cried so much watching an animated film! Ha ha!

You know how when you’re watching a movie with a couple of other people and you get a bit choked during a scene (especially one that didn’t seem all that sad)? You would glance over to check if the others watching are getting as emotional as you are, right? And then you note that everyone else seems unaffected (or pretend they are) so you decide to hold them tears? That’s really hard work! I’ve decided that if I’m gonna cry when I watch a movie – let the tears flow. :D