TGIF

much as i try not to think about people based on gender (either they're interesting, or not) i can't help but get along better with girls. maybe it's a by product of having gone to a girls' school, or having only female cousins and a younger sister i adore. either way, i've been really blessed in that department with amazing girlfriends near and far. in whatsapp contact with a handful of lovely ladies i'd be quite sad without, and to have good girlfriends in the same city is a bonus. 

the mister's been in NYC for work and i've made an attempt to be selectively social in his absence. did friday drinks with L whose dating exploits i live vicariously through. L's another crazy grad medic, with an LLB, teaching and nursing degrees and qualifications. i love her gumption and amazing ability to carp that diem, and she went to singers on a whim over summer. we'd fun working out dates before she left (she was in dundee, i was in london at the time) and met in twice at sea in singers. the first time we took the sampan for a spin and the second she invited me to a boat and beer party her friend was spinning at. along the way, she also introduced me to the key member of the l*ana cake family and i had my fangirl moment, having grown up with and associated l*ana with all good things. so i live in sg for over 20 years and it takes a visitor to get cosy with my favourite bakery! but L's a star and we were swapping stories till G rocked up. G, too, happened to be in singers this summer on her great SEA escapade and there was much sg love going round ;)

waku ghin

on our most recent trip back to singers, there was reason to celebrate. being a not-so-closet hedonist, there's always reason to celebrate but this was an especially big one. hadn't been to waku ghin since it first opened, and then we were guests of a truly special couple celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. slight aside: there's a more conscientious review over there, when i was pseudo-eloquent and better able to articulate my thoughts before medsch dulled my wit and charm. anyhoos, the meal was the stuff of dreams and the memory of it still burns bright. before i lapse into even greater melodrama, let me first say i kept the menu but have seem to have left it in sg. oops. so i can't tell you in any greater detail what each of these courses are (sorry!) and the incredible uni with botan ebi and oscietra featured again but was demolished before i could take a photo. tell a lie. i did take a photo and sent it to a friend whose one word response was "blimey" so i suppose it must've looked exotic enough. the chefs worked their magic with the freshest of produce, and paired with tetsuya san's junmai daiginjo (spoilt now, can't have regular japan centre sake no more :( ) everything went down way too easily. relished each dish and was kept wanting more. even now, i would go back tomorrow if i could. 

on a semi-related note, was having a discussion with a dear friend who's based stateside but happened to be home the same time i was last summer. we were tucking into the aoki chirashi and decided that if our meagre means allow, it's best to eat <S$5 or >S$50 because every thing in between would be mediocre. huge fan of hawker food and defo got my fill but it's nice to punctuate the grease with something a little more glitzy at times.

double bill at somerset house

landed friday evening and hit the ground running. words cannot express how much i hate stansted, but that's another rant for another day. had been away for two solid weeks and felt like i needed a holiday from the holiday, much as i'd enjoyed the break. part of me thinks medsch awoke the sleeping workaholic within, and that addictive personality that makes me obsess with one thing (good if that's work, bad if that's work) because this six week break, ironically the shortest in medsch, has felt wayy too long. was talking to a friend about it and as grads, we're both keen to graduate and start work. but then i catch myself and make a conscious effort to enjoy the process for what it is. to suspend reality and postpone adulthood and its myriad of responsibilities for a couple of years more, not necessarily a bad thing, no? school's much easier than work, and it's such a protected, cosseted environment i've no reason to complain. 

but back to london! it's been a welcome change of pace to take things slow in the city, or pseudo-slow at least. started with a double bill (hairspray and springbreak) at somerset house. funnily enough, it's been over a year (maybe even two!) since R told me about somerset house and how much fun it was in the summer with open air screenings. can't believe it's taken us 2 years to get round to it, just like R's other recommendation of le garrick in convent garden. maybe next year! was too cool to arrive at 6pm when the doors open and paid the price by having to hustle the one last square foot of picnic mat real estate when we waltzed in at half 8 for a 9pm screening. oh summer nights, can't get the movie going any earlier for it was still too light out. 

hadn't watched the original (1988?) version of hairspray but preferred it to the camp john travolta recent release. hm then again i'm in love with michelle pfeiffer so tough call. was also too cool to bring food and drink (brought picnic mat, blankets and extra coats) but there was popcorn ice cream (free because the mister is charming like that) and poshdogs to be had. and beer.

tried not to think about how there was a hotel room in essex with my name on it that same night but that's a story for tomorrow.

farol

when i was last in lisbon, had an extra day. the wonders of fb, even back then in 2009, was that a uni mate had seen the photos and suggested we visit cascais. was backpacking on a budget and remember taking the train to the seaside town, then walking all along the coast to the devil's mouth (throat?). it was breezy, the weather was great and we passed this beautiful hotel en route. remember looking wistfully at it and while enjoying the rossio hostel very much (haha) i did entertain a pipe dream of abandoning ship and offering to wash dishes in exchange for staying a night. obviously that didn't happen, but five years on, it was kinda surreal to be on the other side :)

it was a lovely, albeit short, stay at farol and as a goodbye gift, the dolphins put on a show during breakfast.

palacio ramalhete, alcântara

after two nights in chiado, we moved on to alcantara to explore a new neighbourhood. stayed in a gorgeous, lovingly restored palacio which's basically what lots of buildings are called. what was interesting was the all-female team of sweet young things who ran the place. they were helpful to a fault and made us feel very welcome. i may or may not have developed a tiny girl crush on the manager-ess lady and was even about to suggest my brother extend his holiday to woo her, should she be available.

did have one tiny hiccup that i'm more than a little ashamed to admit. traveling as a fam, we'd a pull out bed in the living room area of the suite. but it was a sweltering summer night and the a/c was only in the bedroom, and the suite so big the gulfstream failed to reach the sofa bed. it was about midnight when i called the front desk to ask for a portable fan. the night lady said to sleep without the duvet (already doing that, duh) and open the window as they had no fans. but the window opened into the inner courtyard where all the a/c units were whirring away - adding insult to injury! someone else came up to see what the problem was and agreed that the window had to remain shut. but there was nothing they could do and the hotel was full. this frustrated me as if the room was going to be so uncomfortable, it should not have been sold as a family share. sent a couple of angry emails and um, it was a little awkward in the morning. constantly reminding myself to think before i act, to sleep on things that make me angry because, really, the manager lady was so nice about it the next day and comp-ed jugs of sangria. when we checked out, they didn't even charge for the extra bed. do think the same outcome (service recovery) could be achieved without as much undue nastiness on my part.

more photos of the pretty palacio ramalhete. playing with pano mode.

lisbon

everyone raves about portugese egg tarts so bright and early on our first morning we went in search of the holy grail in belem (pronounced belleh?) the insider tip was to go all the way as far into the cafe as you can, instead of of jostling for space with the tourists in the first couple of 'rooms'. because at the back, while there's often a short queue, the turnover is also higher. we'd a sweet waiter who spoke good english and i was just relieved we didn't have to order in sign language. that said, i couldn't understand the menu because i don't know what different pastries are called in portugese so i took a photo of the display case up front and pointed to the pastries i wanted. which wasn't hard, really, seeing how we ended up with one of everything.

gooey, hot and molten, flakiest filo pastry - thought these were good until we chanced upon a hole in the wall in alfama called pastelaria alfama doce at r. regueira 39 e 39A that was even better. so much for tourist traps in belem ;)

the next few photos were snapped over our couple of days in lisbon. the first thing i noticed was that i'm not a fan of portugese food. salty, oily and almost inedible. maybe we just had really bad luck but these were places the hotel / guidebooks / locals recommended and they were packed! maybe just didn't suit chinese palate so ended up eating hot dogs (cool place called hot dog lovers below) and japanese. not complaining, always up for japanese. the portugese restaurants we went to managed to destroy fresh fish so having sashimi to my heart's content was all the redemption lisbon needed.

good jap we enjoyed were sea me sushi in chiado and ozeki. wanted to try bonsai but it was closed for summer :(

beautes lisbon from porto do sol! whiled away an afternoon at a choice table in the shade drinking fizzy water and watching the world go by.

lisbon oceanarium

docked in lisbon bright and early and was sad to have to disembark after ten glorious days on board. did have a few days in lisbon to take the sting out of an otherwise abrupt end to the holiday. stayed in chiado in a sweet service apartment. actually, think it was a hotel but were upgraded to a suite that was like a serviced apartment with bedroom, living / dining, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. complete with massive walk-in wardrobes and bathed in sunlight.  found lisbon to be relatively affordable, having backpacked there in while on exchange in stockholm. in fact, the best hostel i've ever stayed in (and believe you me, i've been to many!) was rossio in lisbon. so there. winning accom seems to be a thing!

chanced the oceanarium in the afternoon and hm to risk sounding like the spoilt singaporean i am, it was o-k? having been to the one at RWS, this paled in comparison. it was such a let down and i felt super duper cheated by 'second in the world' or whatever it was. granted, it had more exhibits like penguins and puffins (yay i like puffins but not so much in captivity) and more space, in fact it was sprawling, but gimme singers any day with its piped classical musical and relatively more genteel clientele. singers boleh!

oh and this was the view from our room!

porto

wasn't planned or anything but this trip seemed like deja vu, with repeat visits to honfleur, porto and lisbon. was last in portugal while on exchange and when trawling through the archives, i was aghast by how badly i write now. oh medicine, what have you done to my pseudo-literary mind :( was a whistle stop tour of porto and flying visit to the port cellar before setting sail for lisbon. 

but in a strange twist of fate, turns out that i'll be in porto for a couple of days in october so hope to properly explore it then.

malpica

this was the one and only day of rubbish weather the whole holiday, which i suppose is in and of itself something to be thankful for. used to joke about the english being so obsessed with the weather but having lived here for three years now, it's something i've reluctantly caught on to. it really makes or breaks the day, despite my local italian deli man telling me not to worry about things i can't change. gotta love his mediterranean philosophy! rather fortuitously, planned to spend the morning on the boat with breakfast in bed and only head out in the pm, when the weather was marginally better.

ventured to the tiny fishing village of malpica and was greeted by, get this, mr. mayor himself! it was a sleep little town and very much involved in fishing. what was sad was how the lady with the mayor she ran the womens fishing net weaving association, but don't get me started on the sort of margins they were making on those hand-woven nets. actually, let's talk about that. from my pidgin spanish and poor memory for numbers, it was something like how the women earn EUR16/h, it takes 300 (wo)man hours to weave a net, and each net retails for EUR30k. something doesn't add up and i hope it's me! but back to the lady boss, she lost her father and brothers at sea, a common tragedy for old malpican families.

bilbao

docked in santander and took the bus to bilbao to visit the gugg. had heard the outside was more impressive than the inside and found this to be true. suppose exhibitions are always a little hit and miss, depends on what's coming through the rotation etc but was disinterested in yoko*ono's work. not something i can relate to nor find accessible, much of it i feel is pretty garbage and was annoyed that's mostly what the gugg had to offer at this point. did find it funny to see yet another bourgeois spider, having only just taken photos with one in aix at chateau la coste with J the previous week. i did like papi, the dog with flowers. if i could do bilbao all over again, i'd have admired the gugg from the outside then left to have coffee with C before linking up with the group to head back to santander.

bordeaux

i'm a big fan of supermarket wine but have never really been cultured enough to understand what all those labels mean!  so our visit to bordeaux (docked in le verdon sur mer) was quite the education. wine is something i wish i knew more about but there's only so much info i can pump from B. 

B's one of my oldest friends and we've swum together since we were four. he's a SEA games gold medalist, was in cornell doing pre-med on a swimming scholarship when fate intervened and he found himself eventually majoring in viticulture. he's since graduated and worked his way up the vines and is now a full winemaker on the east coast, having done his time in napa. when he heard i was going to be in NYC last month, he hopped over for the weekend, something i'm super grateful for. ever the gent (and because i'm a poor student) he bought lunch at fatty crab (good! go!) and better yet, came bearing wine that HE HAD MADE. it was as if christmas came early :) he's in the process of overhauling a family vineyard now and has made amazing progress. the rose was delicious (popped it with the grads after we learnt we'd passed hehe) and am saving the red for a special occasion with the mister. we then went to eataly where we'd crepes with, get this, wallace*shawn and B even got a photo with him (that i took). so all in all a winning saturday while the mister was wheeling and dealing in the city. 

oh, but back to bordeaux. vineyard tour, history etc. visited a vineyard bought over by a chinese company (yuck) and felt sad that it was so cheapened (double yuck). the end.

saint jean de luz

basque country amazes me, not least because some of my closest friends from exchange were a pair of lovely girls from the region. in fact, i last met C in NYC easter 2012, and S on my most recent trip. they've both really sold me on the area and i was excited to visit. bummed i was very briefly in bilbao (later in the trip) but didn't have time to catch up with C who's working there now. more about that in a couple of days. so we anchored in saint jean de luz and headed straight for st sebastian, which really needs no introduction, having the highest number of michelin stars second only to tokyo.

guernsey

visiting the channel islands was a first, after an abortive secretescape deal to jersey last year. i'm still sore that they overpromised, then called to cancel (claimed they were oversubscribed) after we'd paid in full. what nonsense. word on the ground is that there are two reasons to relocate to guernsey. either you're dodgy, or you're very dodgy. and a certain tax inspector had to be restrained from referring to the clients as 'the perpetrators'. but don't quote me on that! 

also have a classmate from jersey whose blood tests from the jersey ('local') labs went through but still pays international fees. what a cheap way of milking someone for money! and my mobile service provider did not cover me in guernsey, despite it being UK! what nerve. 

anyway, territorial and telco woes aside, guernsey was charming in its own way. all i wanted to do was to go on a cliff walk. but that fell through. chatted with the fitness instructor later and was even more FOMO that we didn't see the island from the sea, despite anchoring at st peter's port. because she's always had the 'in' from the other crew, she's always been short-cut-ed to the best way to see the port, which was by speedboat in this case.

honfleur

embarked in dover and set sail in the evening. started with brunch at our local then a semi-frantic drive to dover. but boarding the ship was a doozy. funny how quickly we adjusted back to shipboard life. and time seemed to slow down before speeding up. after all, ten days is very long to be at sea, even with a daily dock. not to sound like an ingrate, the cruise really got me thinking about ageing and redundancy. met too many retirees stuck in their glory days, humble and not-so-humblebragging about their former lives. an american passenger tried to impress with his law firm and how he's opened X branches all over the world, including one in singers. had to stifle a guffaw because, really, it's not exactly the best reputed but he was so proud of it. emperor's new clothes?

having first visited honfleur on my grad trip, home of my trusty straw hat, it was nice to be back. didn't go on an excursion because i swear it's all a scam to con passengers with limited mobility of their mirneyy. and being able-bodied i wasn't about to spend 3h of a 4h tour on the coach. but it was nice to take a leisurely mosey through honfleur, up and down the familiar alleyways and this time i had lunch at a little cafe i passed the last time but was too full to eat at. may or may not have gotten a tummy upset after, so not sure if that's entirely a good thing!

aix

so i was a little cheeky and started planning my getaway when i should've been revising for exams. one of the beautiful things about low maintenance friendships is picking up where you left off. J is my closest friend from exchange (gosh, how has that been 5 years ago?!) and we've kept in touch over whatsapp, primarily. have been fortunate to hang out in person when she relocated down under, first to perth then sydney. visited in perth, she came to sg for our sg wedding celebration (albeit from aix where she was back for summer!) and is now moving to KL. jetset, much. haven't seen her for two years but she randomly whatsapped and said she was in aix for summer before the move and if i'd happen to be in france. the funny thing was, yes, i was going to be in france but not the south. one thing led to another and while i'm not at liberty to disclose the exact reason for my haste, we picked some dates and family M was ever so kind as to host me for a couple of days.

for a sentimental sap like me, being back in aix was like a homecoming. i last visited while on my grad trip in 2010 and it's a cliche but so much has changed, yet stayed the same. as if casa M was frozen in time and mama and papa M too. they were the most amazing, inclusive hosts and i've always felt so welcome. wonderful ryanair (NOT) was delayed so i ended up arriving in the evening instead of early afternoon. but landed to the yummiest provencale soup, following champers and canapes in the salon. these Ms, really know how to make a girl feel special! lots to catch up with J about and i'm constantly amazed by what she's doing. hats off!

bright and early (7am!) start the next day as we climbed mt saint victoire with papa M. snapped some photos and it took us a good few hours to get up and down. funny story there - the last time i visited, papa M commented that asians always take photos and he was right! i think my camera was the sad extension of my right hand and i do remember snapping away like there was no tomorrow. this time, however, i like to think i've grown up! was more into enjoying the moment and being absorbed and present. didn't take many photos except a couple to send family over whatsapp. obviously they were incredibly envious and wanting desperately to swap places.

after our bracing morning walk, we had a light breakfast then proceeded to undo the good by going to the nearby vineyards. there's something so rustic and charming about aix that makes it very hard to leave, and despite having yet to start work, i'm already plotting to retire there.

   love how wine is cooled in aix! and something else i really enjoyed about my time with J was the downtime. sounds ironic, doesn't it . but she's a dear friend who knows me inside out, knows how much i like my space and we fell into a nice little routine. had the run of the guest room and plenty of alone time when we'd both be on the phone with our respective +1s (so needy, i know!) then we'd spend the day together, retreat to separate rooms for a nap then emerge for dinner. i liked the casual-ness to it, the absolute relaxation and the sheer joy of being known.