Monday, August 5, 2013 | 10:17 PM



Just arrived home from Krabi yesterday. I haven't been to the airport since last Dec, and I realise now why people love the kinetic rain display at Changi - it's so soothing to watch them and a bit of a wondrous moment to see what form they'll take next.


This photo pretty much captures what Krabi was like. It rained from the time we reached, till around Saturday or Sunday when we were about to head back to Singapore. Still, it was a good trip overall because Krabi is lovely. We stayed at the Ritz (the exchange rate is 100 baht = S$4 if you were wondering). I was really impressed because this was seriously one of the best hotel experiences my family has had so far, even better than the ones here in Singapore because of the space and friendly staff. Some photos from around the resort:

Sights around our resort 






They even provided a beach basket, hat and towel. Along with crocs (funny thing, they're a huge fan of it because almost all the staff were wearing crocs. But good for the rainy weather) and a raincoat as we discovered as we were about to leave. 


I love the little nooks and crannies like this, they look very cosy and serene. 



Apparently they grow some of their own herbs. This was IN the resort - which is really a vast compound made up of multiple villas and such, and to get from one place to another you take a bugee. It was quite an experience to sit in a bugee the first night. The moment we reached they made sure we were sheltered under umbrellas then ushered to a bugee and before we knew it, we were being driven through the rain and darkness, thankfully by someone familiar with all the curves and turns of the place. I liked it.


Actually my family and I would have preferred not being driven around so much because there were so many sights we missed out on. Within the resort itself, there was lots to explore. This was just one of them. Everytime we set out to walk back (during the short periods without rain) after lunch or dinner, the efficient staff would meet us before we had walked very far from the restaurant.


Lovely ancient-looking door. It has a very nice colour of almost emerald-ish.


Took this on one of the days closer to our departure. We never got to visit the beach at our own resort because of the weather.


Put this together from different places. I think architecture is pretty interesting, and it's cool to see the detail put into creating the atmosphere of a place. The guy and the girl represent the toilet signs from our resort, and the elephant decorative piece was in the lobby of another resort we visited. I like the serenely happy expression on the faces of the wooden pieces.

Food!

The food was really good, another plus point for our resort and Krabi in general (though 3/4 of the time we ate at our own resort). They had unique flavours like satay that had been marinated with coconut milk. And sushi with mango in the rice rolls - which I prefer to the original since I'm not a big fan of sushi.



Plenty of fruits as expected. My mum commented on how some of the fruits we eat in Singapore were imported from Thailand, and here we were tasting it firsthand. Never really thought about how visiting a country can also mean visiting the origin of your food/fruit.



 The only thing was that the lighting in all the restaurants (even in the day) was quite dark, so I had to brighten these photos.


I know it's Thailand and it goes without saying that their Thai food is first-class, but I still have to say it: the pad thai was really really good! Along with pandan chicken. 


Tried a lot of new flavours. Usually I don't add sauce to my food, but with Thai food, the essence is the sauce. The above shows spring roles and avocado crabmeat salad (never tried avocado, haha and  can't say I'm a fan of it after trying). 


(tried rotating this photo but it ended up this way everytime I uploaded it) 

Sights around Krabi

When the rain finally cleared up for a short while, we went to explore the flea market, visited an elephant ride & show place, and a fishery. 



Interesting decor at the flea market. 


Didn't really get to take a photo of the elephants, but there was this adorable puppy running around the place. The moment he spotted us, he bounded over and kept running around our feet even while we made the slow descent down the hill towards the car again. This was a blur photo I took as we were leaving. 



My family isn't really the photo-taking kind, but this is us at the fishery! Brightened them a lot because of the grey skies. I went with my mum and brother since my sis just came back from a work/holiday trip to Europe, and my dad was house-sitting for us. 

The Most Friendly Staff

The staff definitely deserve a mention. My family and I took quite a liking to Tee, the guy who looked after us from the moment we reached (the adept one driving the bugee) to after we left (sending my mum's elephant souvenirs to the airport when we realised she had left it in the hotel room). He can speak English pretty okay and has bedhair haha he perpetually looks like he just got out of bed, but he really does his job well and he has this blur but friendly smile. We also met the manager, a guy named Carlos from Spain. He's been working there for about a year and he said it's very quiet compared to the cities he used to work in. Testament to the good service, when he heard that we were waiting for our bugee, he immediately offered us a ride on his own bugee sitting outside. Also I love the security guard - everytime we drove out of the resort, he was already up and on his feet, standing there to direct the driver with a smile on his face. Even though it was through the car window, his jovial air came across as a genuine good mood and not the usual 'service with a smile' (everytime we went in or out).

Activities 


Since it was raining so much, most of our time was spent indoors. It was great to pick up a book and read again though, I always forget how much I love and miss reading. And I re-watched movies. Krabi was a good break for me - haha have to admit I had mixed feelings about the complimentary wi-fi in the whole resort (though when I heard it it was a huge bonus considering that most hotels make you pay for a few hours of usage) since it meant I couldn't "cut off" as much as I wanted to. I'll miss diving under the white covers into the supersoft bed when I wanted to, it felt so good (especially with the weather the way it was), and I'll miss the pretty sight from the bed (picture right above).

Sunny Sights 

The good weather on the day we were leaving. Still, it means I had the chance to capture Krabi in its sunny beauty. I took these shots while we were driving to the airport.





This isn't the nicest photo, but I had to take one of the cute Taxi stops. Some of them had the "Taxi" sign painted in brown paint.


Haha I can't help but think this photo would aptly be titled "What it should have been" - blue skies and coconut trees. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable trip! :)

Crab from Krabi

Almost forgot this, but what's Krabi without a photo of a crab? Seen on the beach while we were resort-hopping. My brother and I saw at least 3 in one area, and they blended in well with the sand.


With love,


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Sunday, August 4, 2013 | 8:27 PM

1. I once read under the covers with a torchlight.

My brother ratted on me and I hated him for it.

2. I actually cried reading about a particularly sad scene.

Like, not shed-a-tear kind of cry, but I-can't-see-through-the-blur kind of cry. My overflowing emotions may have something to do with this, though. Thumbs up for Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series! (Doing a little bit of publicity here because the first book is slated to hit the big screens soon and I can't wait!!)

3. I don't mind carrying heavy hard-cover books around in my bag just so I can read them on the go.

In fact, sometimes I don't even get the chance to read them. I just bring them along in case I got to read them. My school bag was almost always carrying a story book, until things got busy. Even then, I liked to read on the bus...

4. .. And then miss my stop. 

Being too engrossed in a book is the second most common reason why I miss my stops (the first is sleeping).

5. Reading on the bus makes me nauseous sometimes but I do it anyway. 

Because I can't stand not knowing what's gonna happen! But nowadays I seldom do this, for consideration of my poor eyes. No such consideration when I'm reading on the train, though.

6. I get post-book withdrawal symptoms. 

Sometimes it gets so bad the story and characters are all I can think about for the next few days. I actually feel hollow inside, haha! I replay many scenes in my head and come up with new plots to play around with, until I feel ready to start a new book.

7. I 'forgot' to feel out of breath. 

I get out of breath quite easily if I'm standing for an extended period of time, or if I'm in a crowd, probably due to lack of oxygen. I was reading on the train one day, and when I got off at my station, I realised I was feeling uncomfortable. I hadn't even noticed.

8. I get a kick out of thick books. 

The thicker, the better. I hate it when a great book ends, and a thicker book corresponds to a longer story, so I love it. Nowadays, though, I'm a little picky (can take more than an hour to choose 4 books to borrow) and more discerning (can criticise the story). I used to love EVERYTHING I read. Of course, this only applies to stories. I really can't read non-fiction.

9. My mum regrets it when she accidentally reminds me to read. 

I hadn't been borrowing books for a while because I couldn't finish reading them on time, but then I got a little bit freer. One day I asked if my mum wanted anything because I was dropping by Northpoint, a shopping centre near my house. She replied asking if I was gonna be there because I was going to borrow books. I went "oh yeah!" and I could almost hear her regret through the phone. And why would she feel this way? Because I can read and read and read and not come out of my room for hours, and she hates it. Says it's as bad as my brother stuck in his room playing computer games.

When someone tells my mum it's good that I love to read so much, she retorts that I read all the rubbish stuff that doesn't even help with anything. Hahaha I maintain that my current level of English was achieved through all the reading I have done since young.

If I want to talk about my mum and my reading, there's probably a lot more to say. She once made me borrow Chinese books (2 for every 2 English ones, but we came to a 1-3 compromise) in an attempt to improve my Chinese. It didn't last long.

10. I miss reading.

I miss the times when I always had a book with me, when I was always reading whenever I had free time. Now free time comes by sparsely, especially during term time. Some would say there's always time to read, if only you make time for it. Well, with so many other things on my mind, sometimes reading takes a back seat. But that doesn't mean I don't miss it.

11. I've considered being a full-time editor.

Just so I can read stories all day. Of course this probably has got something to do with the perennial "what am I going to do with my life?" question.

12. The four library books on my table.

Seriously, what proves your love for reading better than the presence of books?



Nose-in-a-book,



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Thursday, August 1, 2013 | 12:30 AM



This is my first Winter break in Perth, and I was given the amazing opportunity to visit Geraldton to kickstart the inaugural Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Project. Not every day was super exciting, so I’ll just be going through some of the highlights from the trip!

Hello team! ♥

#sightseeing

It was a 5-hour drive up North, so we took some stops along the way. One of it was visiting the Yanchep National Park, where we were supposed to see some koalas. But nope. So we took photos instead.

This kickstarted guys-vs-girls pictures for the rest of the trip.

#interaction

We visited a school to have some interaction with the aboriginal students. I'm not posting up their pictures with their faces because... I don't think it's nice to? Aboriginal culture seems to embrace respect and reticence, so here's a photo of us playing basketball and volleyball with them.

Because sports is the same everywhere.

#volunteering

A few days were spent at Bundiyarra ("good place"), helping out with preparations for the big Naidoc day celebrations!

Stamping goodie bags to be given out.

Obviously on my way to becoming a domestic goddess.

We also did some tree-planting along the chapman river and Malawar. 

Little plants for the chapman river.
And much larger ones for Malawar.

 #fun

The first Saturday was spent waking up at 6a.m. and taking a 2-hour drive further North to Kalbarri.

Just one of those pseudo-emo looking-into-the-distance photos.

Canoeing at Kalbarri. I want to return to that place!

#work

Interview at Radio Mama! Introduced ourselves and what we were doing, as well as to promote activities for Naidoc week.

On radio, hey!

Entire day spent sizzling kangaroo sausages on Bundiyarra's big day.

#exploring

Sundays or free evenings were usually spent exploring. Which means plenty of camwhoring.

Whaddup. I'm up!

Act.

Original photo of the one on my profile.

We just really like taking photos wherever we go.

Yes, Geraldton does have Maccas!

#post-trip

I wish we had more opportunities to go out to the bushes and experience something a little more outback? Geraldton was great... too great actually, we still had plenty of fastfood and drinking and shopping to indulge ourselves.

Team still tight and hanging out for dinner and bubbletea back in Perth. 

I couldn't have asked for a better team to spend 2 weeks with in Geraldton. Thank you for the amazing memories! First week of school has already started for me, and is starting soon for Ji Inn and Stella, so perhaps anticipate some back-to-school entries?

Have fun,

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