aoki dokie.

AOKI DOKIE. Tiny, tiny me somewhere in the back, impossible to locate, but HEY, I WAS THERE!!! :)

sling when you're winning

SLING WHEN YOU'RE WINNING. Finally, we made it to Raffles Hotel for authentic Singapore Slings! Hmm... Overrated much? But still good. :) if you're wondering why I am sporting such a pain-stricken faced, last picture, these shoes were most definitely not made for walking... Either way, after Raffles Hotel we headed to Helipad, a huge helipad in the middle of downtown Singapore (no pictures sadly). Overlooking the beautifully lit up city, Sabrina and I could not help but feel extremely sad that our time here is almost up, but also very, very thankful for the experience. Oh Singapura, you will be missed....

1, 2, whoop whoop.

1, 2, WHOOP WHOOP. Just got back from Steve Aoki, actually the only DJ I have ever really dreamed about seeing live some day, soooo mission complete. :) now off to get some well-deserved 4 hours of sleep (group meeting at 10am for university project on a Saturday, so cruel...).

botanic garden by night

BOTANIC GARDEN BY NIGHT. Pictures are piling in now that my laptop is working again (still feels surreal!!!). Here are the 6 pictures that didn't turned out completely blurry and horrible (out of a gazillion taken) when I went to the botanic gardens to practice shooting at night using manual mode (fail... :)). The pictures, especially the last few, are for some reason super hazy. I signed up for an Adobe Lightroom workshop in mid-November so maybe I'll learn to correct the haze there. Or I'll just have to learn to take not-hazy pictures. :)

moon cake testing

MOON CAKE TESTING. I just realized I never shared these pictures, probably because I was trying to forgot the queasy feeling that marked that day (I'm probably only sharing them right now, because I am jumping of joy that I have my laptop back and all my data safe and sound on an external harddisk now :)). Seriously, these pictures are soooo old... But anywho, moon cake testing... After trying moon cakes of all shapes and sizes (and they are generally not my thing to begin with), my insides were not feeling so well. It was amazing though to see the moon cake making process and it was nice to see Sabrina, moon cake and lotus/yam paste obsessed, in her own personal paradise. Like a child at Toys 'R' Us. :)

saigon sunday

SAIGON SUNDAY. 

cham charm

CHAM CHARM. Currently extremely sick in bed. Yesterday was really bad, so I couldn't post anything, but I'm feeling a bit more alive today. Spent the whole day sleeping, the 5 different pills I've been prescribed basically just knock me out within 5 minutes. Had an in credible raving for cookies around 10pm, so I went down to go get some, only to faint (managed to purchase the cookies before though, win) and have a gazillion very helpful people drag me back to bed (thank you to everyone who helped, do not recall any faces, but I am very thankful :)).

So anyways, back to posting. These pictures are from Saturday dinner at possibly the most beautiful restaurants I've ever dined it. The place was great, located in a very new area of Ho Chi Minh (had never been there before, all surrounding buildings seemed very modern and new)... And of course I was just overly ecstatic to be seeing aunt, uncle and the cousins again! They grow up so fast. :) after dinner (culinary highlight: lobster) we took a tour of the restaurant, which is huge. Multiple stories and so much attention to detail... Definitely worth a revisit.

pummeluff

PUMMELUFF. Quick shot of me before heading out to dinner last night, which was absolutely amazing (cam on Bac Khue va Co Nu rat nhieu :)). The awkward pose was brought about by a lack of brain space left to focus on looking normal, too busy sucking it all in for dear life haha oh goodness. Currently shaking off my sleepy face, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice (Ba Noi pampers and spoils me), getting ready to head out for pho24. More photos of my Saigon weekend coming soon. Vaio is more powerful than ever, yeeees! 

daddy daughter favorite past time

DADDY DAUGHTER FAVORITE PAST TIME. The apple definitely does not fall far from the tree. So yes, if by now you are getting the feeling that my days here are basically compose of eating, well observed. Off to the Sheraton in an hour for further stuffing of the face with uncle, auntie and little cousins. It's the cherry on top for a magnificent day: just got back from a 5 Euro mani+pedi (do I really need to further elaborate on why I love Saigon? Really?) to be welcomed by my happily running Vaio. 

Let me repeat: happily, perfectly running Vaio!!! Baby Vaio decided to begin breathing at ridiculous volume levels about 6 months after its purchase so the lack of brum brum bruuuum right now is surreal. The from now on forever cherished computer man built in a fan that runs 24/7, so baby Vaio is constantly blowing out nice, cool air (silently!) and will hopefully refrain from overheating for a while. And this all for 35 Euros. I am beyond ecstatic.

did you know...

DID YOU KNOW... Fun(ny) fact of the day! Oh yeeees, pun intended! Dinner with Daddy oi (currently kicking my heels up on a much craved for weekend getaway to Saigon) alias slinging back ridiculous amounts of sushi, tea and Japanese beer for less than 15 Euros. Saigon, I love you unconditionally.

happy thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Last Sunday, lovely Alex invited me to celebrate Canadian thanksgiving with some friends. Since we don't have our own kitchens (or any kitchen appliances, or plates, or sufficient cups, cutlery, or anything as a matter of fact), we really had to improvise (and steal a lot). We cooked a whole turkey with stuffing (turkey met the oven at 11am, after its butt met my hand and I pulled out all of its lovely insides, yum, and left the oven at 6pm) and roast potatoes, carrots, mashed potatoes (mashed with a fork :)) and peas and cranberry jelly and sinful apple crumble for dessert! Fattie feast!!!

story of my life

STORY OF MY LIFE. Quick post before wizzing out the door for Indian dinner downtown (samosas, gimme, gimme :)). Looking for a picture to grace this post, I found this and it just cracked me up haha, I love it. My data recovery was successful (and expensive if I may add). From now on, I will compulsively back up everything on my new (and expensive if I may add) external hard disk. Conclusion of the day is that buying an expensive Sony Vaio resulting in having to pay an expensive repair after only one year and then pay an expensive data recovery after a second break down was not a good idea. Lesson learnt. 

Off to Saigon this weekend. Intensive Vietnamese practicing (and hopefully a new laptop) await. 

Chuc tat ca moi nguoi doc blog em buoi chieu vui ve. :)

kuching: day 3, part II

KUCHING: DAY 3, PART II. After visiting my orang utan friends on our last day in Kuching, we headed to a crocodile farm to experience some fierce schni-schna-schnappi feeding. These are the last pictures from the Kuching trip... :(

I feel horrible about the lack of posts, but laptop remains unrepairable, and it's mid-term time, so not very many exciting things to take pictures of anyways.... But, heading to Saigon next weekend and will be coming back with a lot of pictures and my hopefully rejuvinated currently most-hated object in the world or a replacement.

kuching: day 3, part I

KUCHING: DAY 3. Orang utans!!! Woke up at the crack of dawn to head to the Semmengoh Rehabilitation Center. Upon arrival we were told that yesterday a feeder was attacked, great, best greeting ever, good morning to you too. After seeing orang utans, we headed to a crocodile farm. Photos will be posted in a separate post. This one is dedicated fully to my faaaaavorite monkey species! :)

kuching: day 2

KUCHING: DAY 2. Bako National Park. Picture the most unsporty person ever treking 6km through the jungle to the very tip top of the island Bako is located on. Already just getting onto the island was an adventure. Picture a little itty bitty boat, looks like it was glued together with UHU, and the lowest tide you can imagine, and the most dodgy looking water ever, and my freshly pedicured feet and then "I'm sorry, the tide is too low, I can't take you all the way to the shore, but why don't you just get out here in the middle of the sea and walk to the island through this wonderfully brown water? Is that something you'd be interested in?". Delish. I was not amused.... The view at the top was such a treat though, the trek was also super interesting, because one minute you were walking on white sand, the next on slimey leaves, then on the most interesting rock formations... And we saw endangered proboscis monkeys (ugliest creatures to walk the planet), so it was all definitely worth it in the end. The day was ended with a local food court across the river (this again involved a UHU-glued-together boat :)).

kuching: day 1

 

KUCHING: DAY 1. Finaaaally, I can post some new pictures, am currently working from a borrowed laptop (thank you Sabrina :)). The first day in Kuching was spent wandering around town. We arrived at our hostel, Lodge 121 (best hostel ever), at around 5pm, and since budget airline means no food, we were all pretty starving. This called for major seafood fattie-fest for super little cash, a dream come true. :)

I was travelling with buddy-buddy Sabrina and Maurice, a friend from Rotterdam, who I actually had never even talked to before coming to Singapore. :) as you can see, we had a really great time, the whole trip was like a constant laughing-streak. Next trio adventure: Kuala Lumpur in November. :)

dear vaio

DEAR VAIO. Vaio, we could have been so great together, but instead you go and disappoint me. Laptop is not fixable, limited posts until replacement can be purchased.

P.S. Kuching was amazing! Photos will be uploaded as soon as possible. Some can be found on Sabrina's blog.