under the sea

the beauty of being on holiday and on a tropical isle was we had absolutely no agenda. we'd sleep in, squeeze in a cheeky breakfast just before the buffet shut then go about the day. there was a water sports centre we could use kit from, and after signing a probably non-binding indemnity form (unfair contract terms act, anyone?) it was just us vs the indian ocean. the sea was calm (phew!) and we'd kayak out to the pontoon, scoot onto the deck and haul the kayak up. the mister would then snorkel around the reef (actually he's his dive licence so it seemed a bit silly to snorkel!) while i tried in vain to create some shade out at sea. we also kayaked to the dhoni, tied our kayak to it then promptly fell asleep on the soft mattresses.

villa

we were really fortunate to spend four glorious days in this villa. it's hands down one of the most beautiful places we've stayed in and i felt we had to tear ourselves away from it if we wanted to get any activities at all done. then, of course, there was FOMO to contend with and for the first half day i kind of went into a frenzy trying to make the most of the various sitting spots (i counted 8!!!) in the villa, and run outside to go kayaking / paddleboarding / snorkeling too. with 8 sitting spots, how do i ration where to place me bum and for how long in each seat??? the strange things we're compelled to do on holiday haha. the mister was laughing at me as i'd move from the settee by the door, to the table, to the hammock, to the other hammock, to the deck chairs on the deck, to the day bed upstairs, to the wooden chairs upstairs, to the window seat, to the bench in the huge bathroom, to the desk chair in the bedroom... it was literally musical chairs! lucky for him, i soon tired and the FOMO wore off and things slowed down to vacay pace. phew :)

getting around

now this is the sort of morning commute i'd relish! the villas were beautiful and when the tide was out, you could walk for miles in the shallows. it did get a little weird at parts when the sea grass made it look like we were in a field. or padi. loved how the villas were constructed from new zealand and thai (!!!) timber, and had that lovely rustic feel to it. sent photos to MIL and she joked that it looked like a kelong from days gone by. the first photo is of the spa complex, the second of the jetty our villa was off and the third of the next villa. 

one thing i particularly liked about the place is how well the staff are treated. embarrassing as it may sound, we had a butler (!!!) and he gave us a tour of the staff village. basically the island is tiny and there are some facilities on it (restaurant, fresh water pool, tennis court, gym, library, shop, dive centre etc) but all the villas are built off jetties and into the sea bed. the other half of the island is where the staff village is built. 

this may come across as hypocritical but i don't feel good enjoying myself when service staff aren't properly treated. which is why the mister is particular when we book holidays to only support places that take a generous stance on staff welfare. when we were in india, we were aware that most freelance guides are often not paid for their services till a year later. now we can't change the way things work, but we can choose to put our money where our mouths are and book with a agency that has a good track record of prompt payment to the local guides. 

same with the maldives. there are a few hotel groups with a low staff turnover, and we chose the group that most impressed us. and if our butler was to be believed, with an extensive professional development program in place for all staff (english lessons for everyone, regardless of whether they were in visible roles or not!) and good staff facilities (soccer pitch, air-conditioned recreational room, their own beach, their own NYE party etc) we knew the group we stayed with had a winning formula for staff and guest satisfaction. 

maldives

after an amazing time in the mountains, the mister shook things up by planning a maldivian getaway. oh the mister, so cheeky throw in a beach holiday after a fortnight of swiss cheeses and wines. the maldives is somewhere we've been wanting to go for a while, but just couldn't get the timing right. 

much as we try to keep our travels continental / west-ward, we made an exception this time. just like how we made an exception for india a few months back. the indian ocean is some thing else, and we're conscious of the rising sea levels. to put the maldives off any longer means risking the islands not being there when we finally got round to going. christmas in the alps followed in quick succession by new year's in the maldives. we were bracing ourselves for a busy year ahead (as if we needed to justify the holiday!) and figured we may as well bite the bullet and spend some time in the maldives while we could. 

will be posting on our short time there over the next few days, do check back if you'd like to see :)

apres ski

mid-piste bar aside, the outdoor hot tub was something we looked forward to every evening. didn't matter that it was sub-zero outside. the inviting waters were in the low forties/high thirties, depending on who else had been in before us. we'd some of the best conversations in the tub, and i was chuffed to practice my pidgin french with the other guests. what i liked was how considerate and unobtrusive the guests were, with a fair bit of give and take. with tub time a precious commodity, no one really stayed longer than polite, making sure others had a chance to soak in the restoring warmth.

siviez

when we first got to tracouet, i was admittedly a little miffed that the mister had bought us a ski pass for the four valleys. i mean, with a husband who couldn't ski and an as yet unconquered mountain on your doorstep, i'd my doubts that we'd ever make it beyond 'our' mountain. however, the mister never fails to astound me. and within two days he was parallel skiing like he'd been born on skis. to be fair, he probably knew that penny-pinching wife would grumble about being saddled with a ski pass we failed to maximise. having gone on all the home pistes in double time, and always up for a challenge, we ventured to the next valley for the day. the crazy bus was not for the faint-hearted, and i'd a good time practising the one french phrase i've managed to master i.e. je suis desolee, j'attend mon marie be it at the bar, or bus stop.

siviez was a nice change of scenery and we found a piste that i fell in love with and could ski over and over again. we made it back to tracouet in time to take the last telecabine up, and our time down to the lodge. and who says it's only the early bird who gets the worm? as we descended tracouet one last time, we chanced upon the hang glider gracefully floating down from the peak to the valley. how's that for a swan song?

tracouet

the mister picked us a sweet little ski in / ski out lodge about 4/5 down the mountain. every morning we would emerge from our cosy digs and make our way down this slope to ride the telecabine to the peak.

that's me working on my parallel skiing, and being a big baby by refusing to use poles the first couple of days. look ma, no hands?

and with all good things, they should come to an even better end. we chanced upon the cutest bar next to our 'exit' where we spent a good many hours for apres ski. there's something so calming about reclining in sub-zero weather on adironack chairs with hoegarden in hand, watching the world ski by.

bistro

initially wondered if we'd enjoy dinner for seven nights in a row at the same place, but were soon won over. in fact, we even opted to dine there the one night dinner wasn't included.

the very talented chef/owner created something new and exciting for dinner each night, and we did not have a single repeat. the quality of the food was amazing. simple ingredients but prepared in a way that really brought the best out of the local produce. the fusion of swedish/swiss food was melded culture at its best. we particularly enjoyed the steak tartare with smoked mayo, and F has a deft touch that ensured the perfect preparation of 'tricky' cuts. we'd turkey breast for christmas dinner that was deliciously moist (we don't usually like the breast meat but this was sublime!) and he cooked a pork collar 'just right' and it too maintained its moisture.

the largely swedish waitstaff are attentive yet unobtrusive, and A (owner) is sommelier supreme with extensive knowledge of local wines. it was such an education for us and we fell in love with the creamy, oaky swiss whites that grow within view of the bistro.

while only dinner was included in our room package, we had lunch at the bistro in between skiing on most days too. the CHF20 lunch menu is excellent value, seeing how it got us a big mix salad and meatloaf / pasta bolognaise. where a plate of substandard pasta at the tracouet cafe (on top of the piste) would set you back CHF18. even if the dinner hadn't been included, CHF60 for a delightful 3 course menu is excellent value given the standard and quality of the dishes.

to risk sounding like complete snobs, we enjoy the odd m*star. what the bistro served was comparable, and dare we say better, than some of the one-star places we've been to. it was hard leaving this treasure trove of culinary delight at the end of our week's stay, and i can only imagine the poor mister's disdain at having to regress to my cooking.

 

we were told that a 63deg egg is the perfect egg - slow cooked at said temperature for 3h.

it did not disappoint!

kjus

edit: just noticed the previous posts posted without text. whoopsy! 

have gone over them and added my thoughts :)

in true action man fashion, the mister wanted to go skiing over christmas. the only problem being the mister not knowing how to ski, yet. content to be the sleeping partner / free rider in this arrangement, i left all the arrangements to him. little did i know that he'd book us into a ski in / ski out resort. great for me, not so great for someone who was only just learning how to ski. little did i know that after a 3h lesson on day one, and a 1.5h lesson on day two, the mister would've surpassed me (who has been skiing for 20 years...) and successfully parallel ski down the hardest intermediate slopes the resort had to offer. ugh! it's kind of ego trampling hanging out with that boy some times. i mean, i know my sporting ability is lacking but do i really need my husband to rub it in my face? really?

husband humblebrag aside, one of the things we try to do when traveling is to stay local. sounds like a paradox but the mister tends to eschew overtly 'touristy' places. the lodge he found was no different. we were the only non-swiss guests, and as it was a tiny bit off the beaten track (30min walk from the village) we enjoyed the peace and quiet being nestled in the mountain afforded. we stayed at kjus, the loft room, and it was incredibly well-appointed. the space was well-utilised and it even had its own fireplace! the comfortable, luxurious furnishing and clean lines made for a very stylish mountain lodge with gorgeous views of the pistes / valley depending on which way your cabin faces. the nespresso coffee maker and sound system was a nice touch, and the underfloor heating a real treat! it was such a cosy room with the most comfortable bed and bedlinens that we had a hard time tearing ourselves away for a day's skiing.

luzern

chance meetings with kindred spirits is high up on my list of favourite things. over four years ago, i'd the opportunity to be part of an amazing party in hoi ann, vietnam. didn't matter that i'd a "take home" final due the same week. figured i'd "take it to vietnam" and have absolutely no regrets, though it took every ounce of discipline to wake a little early to hammer away at my 5000 word paper before breakfast, and the day's festivities. self-indulgent nostalgia trip aside, it was at this party that i met the effervescent S. i cannot think of a better word to describe her, as she is goodness and light personified. we happened to be seated together during one of the meals, and i like to think we got along like a house on fire. after hoi ann, we kept in sporadic contact over fb, as you do, and she was very kind of invite us to visit if we were ever in switzerland.

fast forward to winter 2013 and the mister and i were indeed switzerland-bound. i was a little sheepish about visiting, because honestly, people don't always mean it when they invite you to stay. but S was so warm we felt most welcome. long story short, our time with S and her lovely family was sheer inspiration. her two teenager  are superstars, and i'd give an arm and a leg to raise babies like that. it's not often that we meet teens from privilege who are as driven and self-motivated as hers. they're unassuming, unaffected, and work part-time jobs on top of their demanding high school curriculum. mature beyond their years, they more than hold their own during table talk and have an amazing relationship with their parents that money cannot buy. while we are still far from having little of our own, S was kind to indulge my deluge of parenting questions. it's scary and exciting at the same time - to see the direct effect of good parenting. ohmymama, the responsibility! 

S was a real sweetheart and showed us around luzern one day, and brought us all the way to engelberg to visit glass and cheese factories (two separate places!) the next. she spoilt us with al fresco fondue (!!!) and we'd the most authentic italian (go figure!) at their local. what meant most to me was how the family was so giving of their precious pre-christmas time, and i felt incredibly lucky to be on the receiving end of such gracious hospitality. 

mingle jingle

it's somewhat apt that i'm typing this just 15minutes before some friends come round for dinner. hermetic as i like to think i am, it's good to have company on occasion. hosting a christmas jumper party was such fun i think we've to make an annual affair of it. we also had, literally, an hour's sleep before leaving for the airport. guests left by 2, cleaned up and packed till 4, taxi at 5. didn't hurt that our wall clock has been out of commission for the longest time (we've yet to get the hang of this 'living without battery replacing parents' thing!) and every one lost track of the time. funnily enough, of our "top ten" friends who came by, only one had to work the next day so maybe that explains the disregard for time. isn't it nice when you don't eye the clock?

london isn't the friendliest of cities but we're so blessed to have good friends and family close by. the year has brought some new transplants to our neck of the woods, and we're looking forward to seeing more of them :)

logistics-wise, if you're interested, we assembled (popped pizza, quiche, canapes etc in the oven, laid out cheese platter), most things with the help of our earliest-arriving guests. singing for their supper, if you like! i'd laid out all the chairs and tried to coax guests to the living room but seemed like they were all content to cram in the kitchen to hang with the mister and his magic pot of mulled wine. we did eventually make it over for the cracker pull and some serious single malts older than me. and despite my whinging about our resident shutterbug going on strike, he was ever so kind as to oblige.  more photos over on fb!

  

2013: the year in review

the past few years have each brought a transition or two. 2009 had the mister graduating, us braving a mortgage and me going to stockholm on exchange, 2010 saw me graduate and the mister get called to the bar. in 2011, the mister popped the question, i got called to the bar then promptly uprooted to the UK, in that order! 2012 was the mister's turn to up sticks to london and we married over midsummer before moving into our first home together. so when i wrote the last update, i was feeling all grown up having recently acquired a spouse and a house! 

then last week, one of the doctors on the ward asked me what i'd like to be when i grow up. and while a BIG part of me was thrilled to have been mistaken for an undergrad (yay for azn genes!), another part was a little indignant. i wanted to flash my wedding band in his face and go "hey! i'm probably older than you!" and that's when i realised being married counts for nothing, and as a graduate medic, i'm right back to the bottom of that proverbial ladder. ouchie. it's also sobering that my fellow pupil has been a senior associate for a year. had i stayed on, i'd be about three years away from junior partnership. which really put things into perspective. 

2013 has been good to us, and it's great to be done with big life transitions. barring any accidents, there shouldn't be too many transitions for a while. this year, like those before, we've prioritised travel and adventure, with a focus on local travel.

we saw in the new year on primrose hill, sandwiched between rastafarians and schoolgirls past their curfew, i was back in singers for a couple of days before returning to sit exams while horribly jetlagged. never again! after my exams, the mister took me to the lakes for a mid-week break, and the following weekend we went to bergen. we were lucky to squeeze a couple of days out and spend chinese new year in singers with family, although giving hong bao for the first time stung :( 

in march, i went on a little cooking spree and we caught sigur ros in concert! we finally got round to going on our honeymoon, having not had time last year. to placate me, we did mini-moon in phuket after our singapore celebration, but i'd been insistent on a proper faraway holiday. almost as if to spite me (marriage off to a wonderful start!), the mister planned a trip to the galapagos. to which i whinged a little too publicly about being outwitted once again as it involved sleeping in tents, hiking and kayaking, neither of which i particularly enjoy. but the beauty of no expectations is that i ended up having a wonderful wonderful time in spite of myself, and we met a really lovely bunch of people. well done, mister. good effort encouraging my personal development! while we were in the galapagos, my darling rottie fathered the most adorable litter of eight and i was swooning over them from thousands of miles away. driven by abject fear and desperation, i hunkered down for exams in may before making the most of my last three month summer. having already enjoyed six such long breaks (four as an undergrad and two in medical school) it was high time i (wo)manned up. 

my darling sister visited us in london and we went to brighton then paris, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary early with dear friends (based down under and stateside) then met the mister's folks in barca to celebrate some more. they stayed on with us in london after, and the rest of summer passed in a blur of meeting up with the huge confluence of friends who were passing through the city. we'd endless picnics in the park, ate outdoors at every opportunity and our tiny flat turned into a revolving door b&b. but it wasn't all social, and there were some quiet stretches where i'd wander out with a book and the mister would meet me wherever i ended up when he was done with work. we drove to wales, and to dover, and made our way across the channel in the amazing channel tunnel to spend the mister's birthday in bruges. in august we had some bonus time in singers when the mister's work brought him home, and then roadtripped norway before i started clinicals in september.

clinicals have been a steep learning curve, but it was a huge relief to find out that i really enjoy dealing with patients and thankfully they seem not to mind me too much! phew :) when we'd some time, we continued exploring the UK, with a double date at the much-hyped fat duck with friends. we also thought to explore the north with visits on different weekends to northumberland and the scottish border. we finally got round to checking out bath, having only passed through during summer 2012 en route to the cotswolds. rounding up the year with more traveling, we had the good fortune to be hosted by the most gracious friends in lucerne before christmas, and spent christmas week in a ski lodge on a deal so irresistable i was certain it was an internet scam... that kind of brings us all the way to where we are now. 

looking forward to more of the same, in the best possible way, in 2014. we're relishing this time 'just us' because at the back of our minds, we hope it won't always be the case. slowly starting to warm to the idea of children, but the mister was one step ahead of me, as always. he splurged on a first anniversary present that has effectively rendered us unable to afford a child for a few years yet. why, thanks... ironically, he's the better of the two with children! we were walking to brunch on saturday when a horde of little girls dressed in red came up to him and trilled ever so sweetly (according to him), "we're the red team!". apparently i recoiled in horror and looked around frantically for their adult to get them away from us while the mister was cool / nurturing / encouraging. i look at the few people i know of who are young / accidental  parents and think their situation is unenviable. interrupted careers, no time to get used to enjoy just being a wife before being a mother, no uninterrupted sleep, can't travel anywhere without screaming spawn? aiyoh so poor thing. then again, when everyone else is 40 and undergoing IVF, said young parents will have the last laugh. 

i think so much of our life goals are shaped by what our parents had accomplished by the same age. mine married in their early twenties and only had me in their early thirties, which seems like a reasonable guideline :) by the time he'd reached the big 3-0, the mister's father was already a papa of two and had just been posted to new york where the mister spent his early childhood. so the life goal benchmark is slightly accelerated on that side of the family. yet i maintain that there's a season for everything, just like how 2013-2014 is the time to focus on growth and becoming better at the things we do. 

thank you very much for reading, and for stopping by now and again. it means a lot to me every time i see i've more than two readers (the mister and my grandmother) on blogger stats. wishing you and yours happy holidays, and even more love and light in your life come 2014.

so close

why thanks, icelandair.  thank you for flying us and wedding party to iceland :)

so it's that dreaded last push where my mind's gone on holiday while my body desperately tries to focus because i've still got exams tomorrow. 

but talking about exams is uncool, because, seriously, who wants to know if i'm meant to be revising right now. 

so on to happier things! or funnier things, really. like how for this morning's exam, the university hired a bus (bless them!) to take us to the far flung hospital for our clinical exams. while i thank God i'm based in the heart of town, to make things fair we get shuffled up for exams and i ended up at a base unit a fair distance away. so the bus was a good idea. until the bus driver got lost. and what should've taken 40min (ok it's not that far, i'm just being dramatic...) took a whopping two hours. granted, when the driver asked us when we first boarded if anyone knew where the hospital was, we thought he was joking. then he asked if anyone had a sat nav. and i thought he was still joking. until we hit the vicinity and he stops the bus in the middle of the road and runs out to ask random passers by for directions. hoo boy. so after a grand tour of the south, and the hospital, because when we finaly arrived, he dropped us at the wrong part and it was a real trek to the actual exam, we rock up about an hour late. the beauty of being on school arranged transport? the exam had to wait for us, whoop whoop!

thank goodness tomorrow's exam is within walking distance. and then it's hellooo christmas break! because we're a little cray, i'm home at six with a christmas jumper party at eight. the mister's been a star tidying up and doing the groceries but he's on alcohol duty and we've divvied up the kitchen kit. the oven's mine, the hob's his and we'll see whether it boils down to a battle of wits. he's also very kindly offered to take on my recipes and i'm holding my breath to see how it turns out. 

wish him (and us!) luck.

in other news i'm really bummed our resident shutterbug has refused to oblige! something about not wanting to abandon his +1. bah. here's hoping we've trigger-happy friends who aren't too tipsy and can take non-blur photos :( 

christmas tree 2013

we were incredibly excited to have our first tree last year, even though it was too small to fit my christmas present under. but after a year of impaling unsuspecting tootsies on pine needles, we decided to go green this christmas. well, that and sheer sloth. much as i'd like to make a tradition of putting up our christmas tree with carols playing and cookies baking every december 1st, this sentimentality gave way to pragmatism. maybe when we eventually have a family, and offspring who want to decorate a tree, i'll relent. but for now, this nifty arrangement works quite well. saw it online and realised it was easily replicated with string lights and some tape. oh no, i'm slowing morphing into a pinterest wife. ew.

sunday history lessons

sunday is synonymous with dimsum. gone are the days when people had a sunday roast. oh no, all the cool kids regardless of ethnicity do dimsum now. i feel vaguely violated, like half of london and its mother has taken my thing and called it theirs. maybe i'm just sore because it's next to impossible to get a good reso on sunday unless you're incredibly organised (i'm not). but never fear, our secret weapon is using someone who speaks cantonese to make the booking for us. it's a bit like how i learnt basic french and japanese to converse with waiters in hope of getting some extra carrot. doesn't always work but my inner el cheapo is easily pleased by free food :)

blue skies and golden leaves aside, it was a lovely autumn day and the mister wanted to kick leaves and play catch in the park. somebody get that man a dog already!

carols by candlelight

 

there's something about christmas and carols that lure even my most hardened, antichrist friends to church. many of them were brought up church-going but lapsed as time passed. i think it's sad when life turns people away from church because what i've been through myself, the good and the bad, has made me realise that God is the only hope and explanation. what i particularly enjoyed about this carols by candlelight service was how it was a good mix of choir, readings and carols. there was a short talk that (to me) drew some ridiculous contrasts between Christ's birth and prince george's. i mean, not to be hating the royal baby, but, seriously?!! but they redeemed themselves by serving mulled apple juice and roasted chestnuts in a big marquee at the end :) and the thousand candles that illuminated the old stone church was quite a sight to behold.

lumberjack life

my weakness for pop ups is no secret and the mister recently sniffed out one in hackney! the clever people behind it managed to transform the rooftop into a slice of the pacific north west (lumberjack clothing optional!) and we were greeted with roasted marshmellows and hot toddies at the door. it was one of those cheeky ticketed events so we paid in full before. i guess the thing about pop-ups with their makeshift kitchens is not to expect anything too fancy. nor too much choice! we had simple, hearty fare off paper plates (sigh) but done well. we'd chicken wings, ribs, sloppy joes and cheeseburgers, rounded up by pancakes or waffles for dessert. the massive meat servings added up and we so stuffed by the time dessert rolled round that i swapped mine for more hot cider :)

to give ourselves some digestion downtime, we cosied up under the thick blankets and hung around after for live campfire songs.

lazy saturdays

we're fast forming a little group of london transplants and there's no better way to catch up than over brunch. it's a group so academic (with phD candidates, university lecturer, masters student and continental lawyer) that the mister and i are put to shame. but the beauty of having friends way brainier than you is that i learn so much just being with them. from discussing the statutes that governs karang guni (rag and bone) men in singers, to contrasting it with the lucrative lifestyle of 'scrappers' in the UK. i mean the last time i delve into hansards and relevant parliamentary intentions was in freshman year of lawsch!

after a heavy brunch at the modern pantry, we somehow managed to transition straight to coffee and more food (???) at workshop coffee. clerkenwell is a neighbourhood i have sentimental attachment to and don't seem to tire of. long before we moved to london, i was in stockholm on exchange and visited london for the first time. my host brought me to clerkenwell but misread the modern pantry opening time and we ended up at workshop (formerly st. ali!) instead. over four years later, i'm the old-timer, taking friends who'd just relocated to clerkenwell. it was some time coming but i finally got a taste of MP, and still ended up at workshop. funny how things work out. 

we started at 11, had brunch till 1ish, coffee till 3ish then decided it was a respectable time to start drinking. so the mister and i made our way to a cute bar in the area (snooty service so they don't get a mention!) and had a few before going home to put up our christmas tree :)

bath

we meant to explore the christmas markets first thing in the morning, but only made it to the town centre in the afternoon. and got further distracted by the tasting room. i mean, good wines by the glass and hearty tapas? why not :) we washed it all down with a legit affogato before strolling by the avon river in a vain attempt to undo the cheese, alcohol and sugar coma. there was also a rugby game on and being too cheap to buy tickets, we caught what we can from across the bridge.

as the sun was setting, we made our way to the thermal bathes to catch the sunset from the rooftop pool. it was modern and reminiscent of the blue lagoon in iceland, sans silica pool bottoms to rub on our faces. we soaked to our hearts content in the indoor pool, outdoor pool and rotated around the four scented steam rooms. it was a two hour slot and in between we got hungry again (sigh) and stopped for drinks and nibbles in the restaurant. it was a novel feeling to be in our wet bathers and robe, casually sitting in the middle of what looked like a rather fancy restaurant.

and two hours later, we emerged refreshed and only a little like dried prunes, to see the market by night. oh, and eat some more.