primrose hill fete

i've a lovely friend who's leaving london soon and was so kind as to gift us with a set of photos before she moved on to greener pastures. having never gone down the pre-wedding shoot route (the mister thinks it's lame hurhur) we don't have many photos of just us. but i've been itching to have a set of photos to capture some semblance of our day-to-day life in london. as you might imagine, this is only marginally more exciting in the weekend. J was an absolute sweetie and despite the mister's initial misgivings (he thought it was a pre-wedding shoot disguised as a post-wedding shoot!) he was a good sport about the whole thing. happy wife, happy life! he's learnt fast... and to be fair, J was our little shadow for about two hours. we started off at home and she took some photos of me cooking lunch while the mister watched teevee (THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS!!!) and of us pulling stupid monkey faces over a bubbling cauldron of chicken soup. not quite three witches in macbeth, but you get the idea. and after a nice hot lunch, we ventured to primrose hill and were rewarded for our efforts by a fete! that's sort of the beauty of london - it's so buzzy and there's always something going on that you never really know what you're going to find. fortunately, or not, most of the photos are of us stuffing our faces (not glamorous, and i am secretly horrified that J saw us at our gluttonous worst!) and washing everything down with bin end wine surreptitiously consumed under the table at a family-friendly creperie. yeah, totally classy that way :/

industry

i learnt something important over summer - i cannot, and will not, be a full-time housewife. it's fun for the first month or so, and then slowly but surely i morph into a really horrible person. maybe i've my parents to thank for that. they've both been working since the day after graduating, and my mother is still in her first job while my father has changed jobs all of one time when my brother was born (22 years ago!) they've never taken "time out" and i don't think my mother even exhausted her maternity leave entitlement as she was itching to return to work soon after we were born. maybe it's all this middle-class guilt i've been saddled with but i feel like not working is pretty darn despicable. my paternal grandmother was a teacher her whole life and then retired to look after me and my maternal grandmother who wasn't educated got a m-r-s degree, popping out two kids and raising them, has always regretted not going beyond primary four. she would've loved to work if she could've and is reminding me how fortunate i am to be equipped to work. in fact, during our most recent conversation, she was tsk-tsking someone we know who's taking a year off her life to get married. (i tried not to snigger) and putting her life on hold to accompany her spouse. granted it's a personal choice but granny attributed it to lax parenting and a lack of "hunger". maybe fifty years ago it was acceptable to get an m-r-s degree then put your feet up but i find it very hard to understand the compulsion now. again, before you start thinking i'm some heartless autobot, stopping work to look after kids is a completely justifiable "stop". but to be a thumb-twiddling housewife? power to you if your conscience lets you. and maybe i'm just a little bit biased about chasing personal dreams and preserving independence. being a missus is something that i derive great satisfaction from, but surely there's more to life than waiting hand and foot on one lovely individual.

which brings me back to when i was a thumb-twiddling housewife briefly over summer, people actually recoiled. and rightfully so! then again i was too tired / disinterested to say, "i'm a qualified lawyer but in medical school now and on summer vacay." because then people run through the whole FAQ and i'm really not about to justify my life choices to a random. which's another reason i'm grateful we're based in london (haha, love-hate as it may be) and how there's always something to see, something to do, and there's minimal judgment like there might be in singers. not against sabbaticals, and truth be told i probably don't need one only because i've been enjoying a fair bit of university holidays. but hm i guess the point to this is about deriving satisfaction from good work, from pride in the fruit of your labour, and not sponging off your spouse. 

we're fortunate that the mister has a steady income but i'm very conscious of how we're not operating at full capacity and can't wait till i start earning again. frankly put, i miss my lawyer salary. and yes, it's crass to talk about money and that's as far as i'll go but argh, getting married means dropping off the parental gravy train. to be fair, one of the things i'm proudest of is working part-time as an undergrad and paying for my undergrad tuition fees in its entirety (yay!) but i did live at home, i didn't pay rent and i did eat at home most of the time. so my parents were still supporting me when i was in uni. but once we got married, i was unceremoniously bundled over to the mister and he's had to take me for richer for poorer, for better for worse. lucky him.

i spy

i've a bad habit of texting while walking, and often am too busy squinting into my screen to stop and smell the roses (or take in the sights and sounds as i pass them!) so this week, i've made a conscious effort not to fiddle with my phone while on the go. and sadly, it's not as easy as it sounds! i guess as i'm rushing from one place to another (note to self: stop rushing!) it's the only time i have to quickly check-in with my nearest and dearest. on the upside, i've absolutely no mobile signal in hospital - part lousy service provider, part indestructible griffin phone case. so that's nice that once i'm in the wards, i'm all switched off technology and all switched on patient-niceness. however, like an addict, the moment i'm out of the hospital, my fingers start twitching and i need my iphone fix. one'd have thought that vanity would be enough to make me curb the iphone addiction (frown lines and eye wrinkles, anyone?) but noooo...

so here's a photo of a front step i've passed almost weekly for the last two years but noticed for the first time last week.

 

and here's a pretty cathedral spotted through the train window when i wasn't looking at my phone either. 

while i'm trying to wrestle control away from them darn electronics, i've started this new thing of leaving my mobile in the hallway when i get home. the mister laughs at me for even trying, but i'm getting better at going cold turkey over the weekend. even went so far as to buy an alarm clock so 'my phone is my alarm' is no longer a valid excuse. years ago, when i was a guest with some dear family friends in paris, i noticed my host would leave his blackberry on the hall table every evening, and only pick it up in the morning. and that's when i realised that european companies respect office hours, and there was no need to have a crackberry extension like a fifth limb. some may argue that it's about seniority and while i was working, my heart would stop every time i saw an email from my boss. heyy, as no. 19 on a 19-man team, i'd to keep my wits about me haha. anyhoos that's all done and dusted with now, and i'm glad that even after starting doctoring, handover is handover and i'll rarely be so indispensable as to need to be contactable 24/7 :)

and over the weekend while we were in windsor, my rubbish service provider left me with zilch mobile reception so my phone was my camera, and nothing else. what bliss!

fat duck

when M first broached the idea of finally getting our bums to bray to try the fat duck, the mister and i were all aboard. never mind that one has to be incredibly organised to score said reso! so that's how one saturday morning i was awake at the unearthly hour of 10am with my finger poised on redial. finally got through at 1015 and oh boy, they were already fully booked for dinner (!!!) but in retrospect, looking at the huge hit our pockets took, just as well we did lunch instead :) 

it was a 14 course tasting menu and quite the experience. the service was superlative and each course was so original, i wish i had more insight into the thought process behind it (should've gone to the heston exhibition!) one reason why i was a little reluctant to venture to bray was because the fat duck struck me as fad-y, a foodie place to cross off the list then later name-drop and brag about. ironically, that's quite what i seem to be doing now. but having heard genuinely good things from friends whose palates i trust more than my own, it was a shame to be so near yet so far. not sure if i'd go back, but glad we went this one time. didn't take many photos but thought the desserts were pretty. if you're interested to see the current menu, check it out on instagram. there's this fascinating course where they dissolve a gold leaf covered boullion (?) in water to make mock-turtle soup. all very daintily presented in a glass teapot and mad hatter toast sandwich plate.

caldesi was really good italian and hit the spot after a marathon 4.5h lunch of modern british cuisine. the time flew by and before we knew it, it was practically evening! hind's head was good too and if you're in the area, would recommend visiting all three. recognise that the water*side*inn is another favourite in bray but they put me off with their snarkiness and in defiance i picked caldesi for dinner instead. glad i did! it was hearty, authentic and we miraculously found appetites to enjoy a massive dinner because it was just too darn good to decline.

weekending in windsor

we're fortunate to have made friends in london and even luckier that these new forged friendships are good ones. M is a ton of fun and we'd been looking forward to our double date. we're still not at a stage when all our friends are coupled up (and may well never be!) and can count on one hand the number of "couple friends" we have i.e. pairs we both get along with. now it's more my fault than the mister's, but it takes me about 20 years to trust anyone. little wonder my dearest girlfriends are lovely ladies i met in nursery school. so it's one of those situations where "it's (really!) me, not you.." but i've slowly gotten around that with much coaxing and encouragement from the mister (bless him!) and have grown to enjoy traveling with another couple. it's not as tricky as i fear when the chemistry's right, and the mister makes sure they get enough "time out" so the gremlims stay in. and, seriously, which loved up couple is going to want to hang out with us 24/7 anyway! we left saturday morning and returned sunday evening and it was a fantastic country break. we treated ourselves by getting really nice rooms and made the most of our thame-side real estate, with meal time forays into bray. 

we'd arrived in time for lunch at the fat duck on saturday, followed by a late dinner at caldesi. after a leisurely sunday morning, we stopped by the hind's head for lunch before returning to london. it was such indulgence to spend the night in the country a mere 40min from where we live (it's not even a staycation!) but i'm a firm believer in local travel, supporting local businesses, and being good to yourself :)

swedish spa

you're probably tired of me banging on and on about missing sweden, i know the mister probably is! but props to him for surprising me with a return before i could plan one myself. (aside: me, plan a holiday?! who am i trying to kid...) what was especially nice was how J, possibly the cutest law clerk down under, had just waxed lyrical about are over skype.  and in true "sleeping in strange places" form, the mister found us this amazing ski lodge. the best part? going to a ski lodge at the height of summer meant crazy reasonable off-peak prices. so what if the ski runs our corner room overlooked were grassy green? :) another perk was that the  award-winning hotel spa (the mister is discerning that way) was almost empty. i could get used to having these otherwise tourist-y places devoid of tourists... so after a week of driving, we unwound in the multiple pools, outdoor hot tub, steam room and sauna. 

i'll also let you in on a little secret. i've an embarrassing coin obsession and am constantly trying to use up loose change. so you can imagine my distress when i'd 6 shiney SEK (swedish kroner) left over from exchange in 2010. oh the horror...  but the mister, bless his sweet heart, brought the coins with us and set me loose in the hotel gift shop (hurhur, 6 SEK is really only S$1.20!) and i spent the lot on a solitary postcard. so happy, and so sad, at the same time.

and this concludes our short and snappy norway / sweden travelogue :) thanks for reading!

off to bray soon and hope to have some photos and stories when we return.

swedennn

a few weeks ago, i was hit with sweden nostalgia after a chat with my friend J. he was regaling me with tales of his visit to are over summer, and his escapades in the mountains. a friend's parents live there in their beautiful home and there was a hunting festival that draws crowds to the area in summer. while i'm anti-hunting, it was a place i wanted to visit. little did i know that the mister was planning to take us to the very town! one of the great things about summer is that beautiful ski lodges suddenly become affordable, and we got a free upgrade and a lovely stay at a very good price, which thrills my inner el cheapo so. i mean, the mister, bless him, refuses to tell me the price of anything because if i knew, i'd probably put my foot down and insist we stay at the nearest trailer park instead.

norwegian island living 2

there was a fascinating bar in the in-house restaurant (and isn't the restaurant gorgeous with the atlantic lapping on its shore) and the bar tender was kind to talk us through the drinks. most of which we were unfamiliar with! what i also liked was how they infused their own (60%) vodka with chilli, ginger, seabuckthorn and other local delicacies whose names escape me now.

we went walking by the beach and there were lots of washed up jellyfish, although i posed with the biggest hehe. and the view of the row of painted wooden houses was worth the stroll to while away some time before noon (said bartender wouldn't serve us drinks before haha).

norwegian island living

the mister never fails to surprise me with his resourcefulness and how he found our island stay was sheer serendipity. even though he very graciously plans our holidays and keeps most things a surprise (so i always have that 'first look' wow), it's nice to see how he reacts to 'new' places that he's already extensively researched. i suppose it's a sad thing if a website does a place justice, because they should really look better in real life. unless the photographer is amazing (which isn't always the case!). the beach house was built on a former concrete factory, and when we met the charming owner* the next morning i was fascinated by his vision and ethos. there was such amazing attention to detail, from the repurposed sail wrapped around the bar, to the different design elements of each room, to the gorgeous restaurant. what i particularly enjoyed was learning how there was a story behind every thing. like the wood was from the local ship junkyard where a russian ship had run aground while escaping the coastguard and later dismantled. and how the starck chairs were integrated into a composite whole where not everything was fancy, but everything came together harmoniously. what an eye!

*a very distinguished-looking norwegian gent who, get this, exports uni from the island to tsukij and knows his konbu, dashi, bonito and umami! 

cloister garden

the only problem with taking the great atlantic road so leisurely and enjoying every twist and turn was that the mister ended up driving in pitch darkness to the abbey we were spending the night at. it did not help that the area was so remote the GPS could only take us to the general vicinity (it was on a big island) but not the exact location. and a big, remote island is no fun to navigate in the darkness. but we found it eventually (phew!) and were given the entire house when the mister had just booked a double room. had a mini freak out when i learnt our bedroom door did not lock (the main door did) and again the mister rolled his eyes at my paranoia. guess i'm less trusting than the islanders and it was fine in the morning for no one had harvested our kidneys in the middle of the night.

the farmer / home brewer / coffee shop owner was a real sweetie. despite our unfriendly arrival time (11pm) he was up waiting, and made us a hearty supper. for breakfast, he comp-ed the aronia juice (his new product!) and was nothing but smiley and helpful. aw. and the perks of staying in an abbey garden that also makes its own beer is that we'd lots of it after breakfast, a safe time before setting off.

great atlantic road

what attracted the mister to norway, and inspired him to road trip was the great atlantic road. to be honest, it's a lot less impressive when you're actually on it (compared to the google image below) but the views were still breath-taking and we hopped out of the car ever so often to take silly photos or race around the little hills and islands. in fact, one of my favourite photos from the trip came out of leg-stretching stop. usually don't trust anyone to take photos for us (so we've plenty of selfies and poorly-taken timer-cam shots!) but this kindly german man toting a pro camera offered to take a photo on my iPhone. as a rule of thumb, i only pass my iPhone to strangers i think the mister can outrun. and this time, the german tourist looked like santa claus without the facial hair. took a calculated risk (the mister says i'm paranoid, he's probably right) and thanked him for his offer. and boy, was it a textbook shot in photo composition, complete with the right light. and you might know how hard it is to get the light right on the iPhone. all that fussy fiddly angling you've to do but somehow he managed it, and we've (what i think is) a great photo of us :)

 the only problem with taking the great atlantic road so leisurely and enjoying every twist and turn was that the mister ended up driving in pitch darkness to the abbey we were spending the night at. it did not help that the area was so remote the GPS could only take us to the general vicinity (it was on a big island) but not the exact location. and a big, remote island is no fun to navigate in the darkness. but we found it eventually (phew!) and were given the entire house when the mister had just booked a double room. had a mini freak out when i learnt our bedroom door did not lock (the main door did) and again the mister rolled his eyes at my paranoia. guess i'm less trusting than the islanders and it was fine in the morning for no one had harvested our kidneys in the middle of the night.

the farmer / home brewer / coffee shop owner was a real sweetie. despite our unfriendly arrival time (11pm) he was up waiting, and made us a hearty supper. for breakfast, he comp-ed the aronia juice (his new product!) and was nothing but smiley and helpful. aw. and the perks of staying in an abbey garden that also makes its own beer is that we'd lots of it after breakfast, a safe time before setting off.

juvet landscape hotel

knowing how hard it would be to tear ourselves away from the lighthouse, the mister had hidden his ace up his sleeve. it was only after much cajoling, and telling me "the next place will be even better" did i reluctantly follow him to the car. and boy am i glad i did. because my oh my, i do think he outdid himself with the next place. little did i know that he'd seen this hotel, booked it before even booking our flight tickets, and proceeded to plan the roadtrip around it. strangely, i'd just read about it on my fb newsfeed and even earlier, a friend had blogged about it. so there was this strange deja vu moment when i stepped into our room. but in a good way! and i couldn't believe i was actually staying where i'd only dreamt of before.

the photo above is of the steam room before the steamer came on. had to crank up our core body temperature before swimming in the glacial meltwater haha. 

we bumped into yet another gorgeous norwegian man who was filming on location and he told us about the troll's way just down the road. that's the thing about norway. every one we'd the privilege of meeting had been nothing but welcoming and eager to share their country's bounty with us. intrigued, we ventured to the troll's way before dinner and caught the trail and platform in the setting sun. again, tour bus and almost tourist-free ;) 

dinner back at the hotel was a communal affair, one i'm not entirely used to but do enjoy on the odd occasion. reminded me of dinner in goa and it was a fascinating, international bunch. mostly couples (german, israeli, mexican, us) and an indonesian family from jakarta. the israeli gent was a tribal art collector who'd been to more places in south east asia than i (and the indonesians!), the mexican couple were a barrel of laughs, and the indonesian family good conversation, laughing at how corrupt indonesia is and how you just need to know which palms to grease to make any thing possible. not too sure how i take to that, coming from straight-laced, un-corrupt singapore (something i love and am proud of!) but it was just dinner banter. and no one meant any harm. it did get quite political at one point, when the indonesian and israeli started talking palestine (dun dun dunnnnn...) but someone diffused the situation (probably the mexican) and it was smiles all round when dessert came.

edit: if you'd like to read more about india, here's a guest post i did yonks ago!

lighthouse

now the mister knows me better than i know myself. knowing that i like the idea of the sea, but would never survive the night on a boat, he booked us into a lighthouse ;) i mean, who'd have thought of that?! (not me) and he kept it a surprise so i thought we were randomly walking along the sea wall because the mister, bless him, is curious that way, when suddenly he stops in front of this little lighthouse. all along i'd been bracing myself to spend the night on a little fishing boat so to realise we were going to be on solid ground was such a comfort.

it was a tiny lighthouse, unmanned but functional. so if it's just one night, it was quite novel to have the green light flashing every now and again (we'd eye masks for sleeping time) and to hear the waves lap against the shore. thank goodness the ships had left by bed time. no creaky rocking and no fishing boats tooting their horn.

the supremely well-appointed bathroom even had a raintree shower. how awesome is that?! a raintree shower in a lighthouse. my mind is still reeling.

and breakfast the next morning was delivered in a hamper, which we promptly unpacked and ate in bed :)

car ferries north!

we left the little guesthouse on the fjords, passed the huge glacier, and stopped at cafe built into the fjord for a snack. little did we know that our car would start rolling downhill (and straight into a rock!) when we were out of it. i heard a shriek and turned around to see this incredible german guy jump between our car and the rock, and stop it with his two hands. i mean, talk about a hulk moment! and wow what public spirited-ness. i'd not have come between a metal behemoth and the edge of a fjord, if you get what i mean. much less successfully stop it in its tracks. naturally, we were immensely grateful and got talking to the lovely gent and his lady friend. turns out they were berliners (!!!) and what was meant to be a quick waffle stop became an hour-long friend-making session :) 

(yes, our car was fine. it was parked on a gravel slope and despite the handbrake being pulled up all the way, there was insufficient grip... so we re-parked on a flatter stretch of fjord and all was right with the world.)

after exchanging contacts, it was onwards to what turned out to be one of three (!!!) car ferries that day! there was a bit of a wait so we'd stop for kebabs, pizza and postcards just before boarding the ferry. this one even had free wifi haha so i think i uploaded a couple of photos to fb. i guess the thing about connectivity is that there's always the temptation to browse but this trip i tried to wean myself off social media (with limited success) and focus on being truly present. stuff like one instagram a day (usually at night when we got wifi) but no constantly checking email / whatsapp because, well, the only person i wanted to talk to was right next to me :)