Spa Wellness Retreat @ Museflower Chiang Rai 4-9 Jun 2017

I'm back. Feels rejuvenated and that my body is lighter than before. I signed up for the spa wellness retreat and the daily itinerary is: morning wellness activity which can be yoga or stretching etc, breakfast, daily massage and steam session, lunch, afternoon wellness activity which can be yoga or cooking demo and followed by dinner. Museflower is a resort that is close to nature and you can hear the birds chirp or insects call at all times of the day. The weather was very hot when I was there. When I was there, it was non-peak period and there was only another Singaporean apart from me. As such, I felt that the services such as the meals and exercise sessions were very personalised. It was a good getaway. The 6 hour flight which I thought was long turned out to be quite ok. Flew by Airasia and the 2hr transit in Bangkok DMK airport was just nice, I didnt have to wait too long for the next flight. Airport was a bit chaotic though. The cooking session was very fun and the other interesting or intriquing activity was the energy healing session by Laeticia (from Switzerland). I was in the resort during my entire stay and did not venture out into the city. The swimming pool was also interesting in that it was himalayan salt pool (they use himalayan salt instead of chlorine). The meals served were vegetarian and they use himalayan salt and no MSG. The vegetables were self-grown in their organic farm.

3 Jun 2017 - In Need of a Break

It's been so long since I wrote. I didn't update my recent trip to Taiwan with my mum and sis in Apr. It was a very relaxing and fun trip. We booked a cab and travelled around Taichung, Tainan, Alishan and Cingjing. It was more expensive but worth it - comfortable and the driver Niao ge helped us to book the accomodation and settled the itinerary as well. We didnt have to do any planning or thinking. Will be going for a wellness retreat at Museflower Chiang Rai tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the break...

2 Nov, Wednesday, Singapore

I managed to catch my flight back to Singapore and touched down on 29 Oct. The past 2 months have been amazing and I wouldn't trade the experience with anything else. I'm really glad that I chose Dresden and spent the 2 months there learning the language. Perhaps the only regret that I had was that I spent the second month there mostly in the dorm or the Mediothek and I didn't have the time or chance to get to know the rest of my classmates better. It could have been better on the social front. That's a shame. I got a surprise on the last day of my class - I received the results of my exams and I have passed it with flying colours. I look forward to B2 maybe late next year. Work wise, I've not had the chance to sit down and think it through but my bosses are really happy that I'm back on team. We have new duties on top of our existing scope. I'm not sure if that's what I want to do for the rest of my life but at the moment, maybe.

21 Oct, Friday

Had my written exam yesterday and my oral exam will be on Monday. This is my last weekend in Dresden. I really enjoyed these past 2 months in Dresden and I hope I have the chance to come back again. The 2 months have been interesting, challenging and sometimes frustrating. It's interesting to be able to get to know people from so many different countries and to learn a foreign language together with them; it's extremely challenging to speak only German any time and anywhere and yes, I did it; and sometimes it's frustrating to try to accustom living with someone from a different culture, referring to my roommate from Uzbekistan. The experiences have been fantastic. If I have the chance to stay here for another 6 months, I believe I would be able to improve my German much much more. My classmates this term are from Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Netherland, Ukraine, Ecaduor, Slovakei and Czech Republic. Some of my classmates are still studying (in Uni, either finishing their Bachelor or doing their Masters/ PhD) and I find it awesome that they travel all the way to Germany to perfect the language. I wonder how things would turn out if I were to know/ be able to decide at their age what I wanted to do in life. They know what they want and are here to achieve their goal. I'm sure I will miss here. Very much.

It's now autumn and the leaves are changing colour. The weather has been poor the past few weeks, compared to the sunshine we have in September.

3 Oct 2016 Dresden

Hi, today is the German Reunification Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit). My first class term has been over last week and most of my classmates and roommate had left. I enjoyed being in my class a lot; the people were fun and we had a really good mix. There were people from US, Spain, France, Norway, Italy, Poland, Brazil and Thailand. I was also the only Singaporean in the institute. The institute had organised weekend excursion trips and I had joined in most of them except for the trip to Moritzburg. We went to Leipzig, Old Town tour, New Town tour, Radeberger Pilsner Brewery, Radebeul Schloss Wackerbarth (a wineyard), Bautzen (a small town where the Sorbish minority group lives) and Sächsische Schweiz Bastei (a national park). I also went to Berlin over the weekend with my cousin and it was great. The learning experience here so far has been great. Many of my classmates were very motivated to learn German and we spoke only German both in and out of class. We had a wide age range in our class but most of the people were very humourless including the French and I remember there was always something to laugh about. I like Dresden. It's a very liveable city and it's not too big or too small. There's a good balance between the Old Town and New Town. My first opera concert in the SemperOper was also amazing. There are also many interesting museums in Dresden, for example the Militär Historisches Museum, Deutche Hygienes Museum and Verkehrs Museum etc. I didn't visit all but it's worth taking a look. Döner here tastes fantastic and it costs only 4 Euro. Looking forward to the following class term and hope I really speak up more and practise, practise, practise.

3 Sep 2016, Sat at Sitges Beach Spain

On the beach now. Today's the last day of my holidays before my classes start next week. Am quite disappointed with this leg of the trip in Portugal and Spain. I felt very left out and I'm not sure if it's me or not. Because I'm stubborn? I have to learn community living and that other people have their own priorities. I'm thinking if it's best that I travel alone and do things alone. I don't know how to live and exist together with other people. I spend too much time in the bathroom, washing and dolling up. I have to seriously rethink my priorities in life because spending/ wasting time in the bathroom is not going to get me anywhere in life. Do I want to continue doing my current job? Am I ready to move to another country all by myself and work there and make new friends? Why do I want to always be different and question against by natural self? I'm quiet and an introvert and yet I hope to be more expressive and being understood by people? Why do I feel so unsatisfied when I tell people where I've previously travelled? In this trip I realised that perhaps it is not how many places or where you go; it's how these experiences impacted me and what value-add I've brought to people I came across. Perhaps instead of thinking/ lamenting my past/ future, I should cherish all the more the present. Make use of what I have instead of thinking about what I don't have. I'm not a likeable person but I hope not to be a tripping stone to others. I thought I know a lot about things yet in the end I know nothing. Have I grown stagnant? Then I really should move on. What's my direction and then focus on what's the most important in moving towards that.

The Best of Lisbon

FISH, FISH AND MORE.......FISH.

HILLS, HILLS AND MORE HILLS.

I guess Lisbon can be summed up into hills and fish (very fresh fish and usually grilled fish). You know I'm not a fish person but surprise surprise, I ate grilled fish every day when I was in Lisbon! It's fresh and only around Euro 9 to 11. Green wine is also a Portugal signature - which is not green at all, refers to wine that has not yet matured/ completed fermentation. If you have not heard Fado music or Portugese guitar (12-string), you cannot say you have been to Portugal. The streets are so narrow, a mixture of tiles and cobblestone, and so hilly. Of course, I musn't forget Portguese egg tarts and the best are at Belem (need to queue). There are also many scenic and historic sites that open my eyes to your country. Thank you! Obrigado.

Cabo da Roca (Europe's western-most point). It is the first time I was surrounded by so much clouds I couldn't see the sea.

Belem - Jeronimos Monastery. The architecture of that time is really impressive.

Cristo Reis monument - it overlooks Lisbon city. Go for lunch at Ponto Final; you will not regret the sea view.

Overview of Lisbon city

Sintra is also a must-go - Pena Palace is beautiful.