Friday

Friday afternoon is my favourite time of the week. I get a chance to make a cup of coffee, sit in our enclosed verandah and just be. I love that I usually have no where to go, nothing to tick off my list. Today the weather is not so great, as it's overcast and skies are threatening to open up and drench us. Thank you climate change. 

It's been a funny couple of weeks for me since coming back from Singapore. I came back to work feeling energised, but more than once this week I've literally and metaphorically looked around me and wondered if I was good at what I do. If I added value to the person I am supporting. I know that some people would say not to be too honest on such a public platform as a blog. But I guess I am voicing these insecurities because, while I do get worried, I know that I do add value. It's just that, when you're trying to be amazing at anything, realising you're only good throws you off course. I feel as though I've lost focus. 

The good news is that in about two weeks time I will be attending a conference that I know will blow my mind out of the water. I'm looking forward to being inspired, to absorbing information and then hopefully applying it over here. I am unbelievably excited at being in the same room as other PAs who have achievements rivaling those of people who have more spotlight on them. And you know what, this makes me so grateful that I am in a career that I am enthused by. If this were 5 years ago, I would have never been excited to be in a room full of lawyers. And that's the truth. 

Although it's been a funny two weeks, there have been some wonderful progress in a project that a close person to me is working on. There is a unique happiness and satisfaction in seeing someone you love and respect receive good news about something they've toiled over. I've also reached out to another close person and we're working together to make change in their future. 

When I was younger, I always thought that change had to be BIG, had to impact hundreds to be worthwhile. Until I truly realised that making a difference is equally as impacting if you can change the course of one person's hour / day / week / month / year. That's all it takes. It's quite a powerful realisation for me, as not only can I do this daily by supporting the person I support at work, it also means that I am finally putting the correct weight on the things I do closer to home. 

The weather outside it still gray, and I see misty rain is starting to fall. I hope you have a great day / weekend wherever you are in the world. 

Sx

Panic in Penang!

Three days of our two week trip to Singapore was spent in Penang, Malaysia. Keeping true to my "someone else will surely know what to do on this holiday" mentality, I did zero research on what to expect in Penang. Luckily, my husband is an expert researcher and came up with some of the top things to do in Penang. It was a perfect amount of sightseeing at a leisurly pace. And, if you get a chance to shop in Malaysia, then I strongly suggest you do, as the prices are so unbelievably cheap! 

By the waterfront.

The City Hall being renovated.

The Pinang Peranakan Mansion

This was a really unexpected surprise. The mansion belonged to a Peranakan family in Penang and it is now a museum that showcases what a wealthy family would have owned and the kind of life style they would have lived. It is full of interesting furniture, adorned with mother of pearl and stones and beautiful, beautiful designs. This intertwined with the colloquial English influences, such as the delicate tea sets made it a very interesting afternoon. There were vast displays of glassware, in every colour and translucency, shoes, clothes and artifacts.

Part of the mansion housed "some" of the jewellery that the women used to wear and o.m.g. the extent of the collection was breathtaking. We asked one of the tour guides there to give us a small tour around the jewellery section and I always find it interesting to hear about different cultures and lives gone by, so it was worth having him give us a tour (his name was "Happy" so if you're ever in Penang and happen to visit the Mansion, do ask him to give you a tour =]).

By the way, the term peranakan is used for the descendants of the Chinese immigrants to Malaysia and the surrounding areas, such as Singapore (15th - 17th century). They were normally wealthier than the locals but they did intermarry with them. 

Gorgeous glassware.

The outside temple.

A bridal suite.

The upstairs hall.

Gold anklets.

Intricate costumes.

Carrie Bradshaw would be jealous.

Kek Lok Se Temple

I am pretty lucky because the first Buddhist temple I ever visited just happened to be the largest Buddhist temple in all of South East Asia. The Kek Lok Se temple is spectacular, though somewhat tarnished by the number of commercial shops within the temple selling little nick-knacks and playing loud music. Having said that, it was still amazing visiting the many shrines within the temple and seeing the statue of Kuan Yin, which is absolutely gigantic (though you wouldn't tell from the photos I have below).

Bronze statue of Kuan Yin.

The Pagoda.

A laughing Buddha.

AAAHH!

Inside one of the many temples.

Penang Hill

This is really where the panic occurred. Don't let anyone fool you into underestimating the "tram" on Penang "hill". Before our trip to Penang, some of Louis' family were telling us that we really need to visit Penang Hill. So off we headed to the Hill after visiting the Kek Lok Se temple. We bought our tickets and queued up with what felt like hundreds of people, waiting for the tram to arrive. The tram itself can best be described as one of the cars of a modern day train. It had seats and hand rails. (I kid you not, I am having heart palpitations as I try to describe this ride) So in we all crammed, and I was thinking, can this take it? (I've done some reading since going on the fenuculiar, apparently it can ride up to 100 people. 100.)

So off we go. And I'm there calming myself saying, it's nice and slow. Soon enough, we sped up. And we continued gaining speed. And it was climbing this monster of a hill. And we kept climbing. And you look down and it's just steep... During our journey up this mountain, the tram decided to take a couple of breaks...which is fine if it wasn't rocking back and forth *blink*. And I wish I was exaggerating, I really wish I was, but the ascent took, like, forever. When we got off, I checked how high we'd climbed - 712 meters. That's pretty high basically.

It's a shame it was a misty day, as on a clear day you would be able to see the mainland and the bridge connecting Penang to it. But, it's beautiful being surrounded by the mysterious Malayan hills and realise how small you are compared to it all.

Here.

 

Looking down...

View from the top.

The Spice Garden

Although the Spice Garden is not that bad, I almost forgot all about it...I think because something disagreed with the others' stomachs and so we were just ticking boxes until we decided it was time to bus it back to Penang city.

So that's how we spent three days in Penang. There is just so much more of South East Asia to explore, it's almost like spending 2 weeks there makes no mark on the canvas of the region at all!

Pond in Spice Garden.

Yallah next holiday hurry up!

Sx

*Thank you to Ms E O'Dea for some of the wonderful photos :)

Sunny Singapore!

Unlike my preparation for the majority of my holidays, I did actually do some research (read:tripadvisor-ing) on things to do in Singapore before we left. Although we didn't end up having time to do some of the nature walks that were recommended, we did manage to visit the prominent sites in Singapore. Here's a recap of some of the activities we got up to :)

The Zoo

I got a few surprised looks when I said that I really wanted to go to the zoo. But oh am I glad we did! Singapore zoo is apparently one of the top 5 zoos in the world. My motive for going was pretty simple - they had a polar bear. And he did not disappoint. It was really amazing being that close to one of nature's most beautiful creatures. Inuka, that's his name, has a lovely large pool at the SIngapore zoo. Sadly, he didn't feel like swimming that day but we did catch him at his feeding time. I just can't explain how humbling it felt to be watching him. I know that I will probably never see another polar bear and just having the experience was worth the trip to the zoo. 

But even if you aren't going to the zoo for Inuka, you should still try to visit it, if for the setting alone. As you walk around, you really get the sense of wilderness due to all of the tropical trees and plants. Then every once in a while you come upon a gorgeous reservoir, so peaceful. Makes you forget that you're only 30 minutes away from a busy city. There's a wonderful orangutan section where you could see the little baby orangutans playing with their parents. The zoo also had a couple of white tigers, absolutely stunning animals. We saw impressive rhinos and even some komodo dragons. It was a really, really fun day out. Don't forget to wear loose clothing and carry water though, as it can get really hot! 

Inuka, so shy.

Remarkable.

Dragon!!

Night Safari

We also decided to go on the night safari. I'm afraid I have no photos of that, as they strongly advise not having a flashing camera while you're out in the dark with wild animals! I enjoyed the night safari, mainly because you get to see nocturnal animals, like hippos, walking around and just going about their business. The atmosphere is also completely different to the zoo, in that I felt that I was in their territory and expected a snake to jump out at any point! The highlights were seeing some wallabies, servals and seeing a regal Malayan tiger.  

Gardens by the Bay and the Cloud Dome

Gardens by the Bay is basically a massive park that houses the "Super Trees" and two, large domes - one being the Flower Dome and the other being the Cloud Forest. Although I do like seeing flowers, I was more interested in visiting the Cloud Forest. 

It was completely worth the visit. Basically, the dome recreated the environments of some of the cloud forests around the world, Costa Rica and the Cameroon Highlands being a couple. Inside the dome is a very large structure, a mountain, imbedded with thousands of flowers, plants and shrubs. A waterfall falls from high above. It's very cool inside the dome, and mist encompasses you and you are literally spellbound by its beauty. There's an elevator that takes you to the top of the mountain and then there is a nice walk down the mountain. It's a little disconcerting in some places, because you're standing about 40 or metres above ground, walking on a pretty hole-y metal bridge. 

As you walk down, you can read about different cloud forests and their unique traits. You also read about the water cycle in the cloud forest and how the plants absorb water from the rain and mist around them. At the end there is a video about the forests and the impact that global warming has on them. And then before you leave, there is scale model of the entire Gardens, and a little presentation on the Super Trees and how they power the Gardens through solar and water energy. 

Although I was present for the presentation, I can't really tell you much about the Super Trees (science goes in one ear and out the other unfortunately). They are, however, spectacular. They are illuminated in the evening and you can watch a Light and Sound show, when different coloured lights come on in time with the music. 

Gardens by the Bay

The Watefall.

Definitely feel like I'm in an exotic rainforest!

View of Singapore from inside the Cloud Forest Dome.

Look at that!

Illuminated Super Trees.

Sentosa - Universal Studios

Sentosa is a tiny resort island that you can reach on the monorail from Singapore. You can also take a cable car, but we successfully (I mean, "sadly") avoided that trauma. I'm not sure how this happened, but we only managed to go to Universal Studios in Sentosa island, and not see much else. Which is a shame since I heard there's a massive Merlion there. Will just have to go back ;) 

Universal Studios wasn't even on my list of things to do, but I'm so glad we did! I'm not a fan of theme parks or big evil rides, but the ones in Universal were scary but not terrifying and were short enough to be over in a few minutes. What was also really cool was the Water World show that we saw. We hadn't planned to watch it but, again, so glad we did! It was like watching a movie in real life, but not like theatre. If you ever get the chance to watch it, then don't miss it. There were explosions, fireworks, jet skis. And so much more but I don't want to ruin for you. Another really cool experience was the "Sound Studio". This is basically a small hangar where you get to see how directors create a movie scene. For example, we got to experience a hurricane in New York, created with rain, fire, wind, a ship crashing into a wall(!) and lightening. It's impressive how much thought and detail go into a movie scene. 

I think in the future if I am in a city that has a Universal Studios, I'll try to pay it a visit.   

Water World show.

Turning into a Transformer.

Duck Tour

There are many bus and boat tours that you can take in Singapore. We chose the Duck Tour because it's a car that then goes into the water. Pret-ty awesome. I didn't take a photo of our Duck, but here's what they look like:

Found here

It wasn't a particularly long or comprehensive tour, but it was nice to be able to see the infamous Merlion (the one spouting water from its mouth) and learn some interesting facts about Singapore from our tour lady.

Merlion!

Food

Louis had always told me that they like their food in Singapore. He was not wrong. You can find any cuisine at any price range. There are food courts in every mall, almost every MRT station and on the streets, where you can peruse different stalls, pick your food and then sit down to enjoy it. We had so many delicious dishes, including a lot of incredible duck, sushi, seafood (not for me though!) and, TOAST! I didn't realise before I got to Singapore, but they have a FANTASTIC coffee culture. There are coffee shops e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. serving delicious coffee (but ask for little or no sugar, as they like their coffee sweet) and toast packed with butter and kaya, a scrumptious coconut spread. And there are literally hundreds of bakeries dotted all around. So cheap, fresh and yummy!

Duck.

Unique avocado dessert and some Japanese food.

Interesting ice cream flavours!

Kaya toast.

I'm really thankful and happy that I had the chance to visit Singapore and see some of South East Asia. It's the furthest East I've ever been and I'm keen to see other countries in the area. Thanks to all of Louis' family who made our visit a lot smoother and for taking us out for many unbelievable meals. I found Singaporeans to be very friendly and honest people. Here are some more photos I took during the trip. Hope you too get a chance to see this green and beautiful country!

Sx

Old colonial houses.

A colourful temple.

So many ships!

Oops!...I did it again

I put myself through the anxiety of flying. Not once, not twice. Six times. In two weeks.

Every single one of those flights was stressful in its own way. The first couple were ok, except for taking off on the Airbus A380. I had gotten geekily excited when I found out that we could book our Dubai-Singapore leg of the journey on the A380 within our budget. Little did I know that these beasts take off at the speed of a snail. And when you have the sort of "I know better than the pilot" flight anxiety, you begin to convince yourself that the plane has neither gathered enough speed to lift off nor is the take off "normal". However, it was an experience.

The return journey of that same leg was, shall we say, more upbeat? As in, the plane was dancing for approximately 5 of the 7 hours of the flight? My nerves were definitely in a state. The silver lining however was that if you tense your muscles for 2 hours straight and have that much adrenaline pulsing through your body, you're eventually going to wear yourself out and fall asleep as a result. So I did manage to get a couple of hours of sleep. When I did groggily wake up, we had hit the sort of turbulence that compels the captain to turn on the fasten seat-belt sign. But, I was still luckily quite exhausted and managed to survive the whole ordeal without any tears! Saba 1 - Turbulence 0.

It was also the first time I was genuinely worried during landing. I'm normally the biggest fan of landing, since it means we are getting closer to the ground. On this particular flight, the captain just couldn't balance the plane, and he touched down so slightly, only to bounce and then touch down again...and to top it off, the plane leaned to the right a little too much...lovely! 

Despite all of these stressful hours spent 38,000 feet above ground, I did manage to get a bit more sleep while we were grounded in Dubai for over 4 hours due to heavy fog. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I ever did leave Europe.

Pics of the holiday and some sightseeing tips will follow once I'm over this jet lag!

Sx

Well done Coca-Cola

Guys. I have to hand it to Coca-Cola for designing a Saba-proof can. So the other day we were in the supermarket and I was craaaaving a coke like crazy. So I got one. After we got home and had unpacked the shopping, I thought to myself (oh so smartly)

"I'm gonna stick this can in the freezer so that by the time I'm done changing into my pjs it'll be nice and ice cold" (yes, I was gonna drink coke before bed. I'm an adult thankyouverymuch)

Aaanyway. 

Two days later, I open the freezer to fish out ice-cream or some other health damaging pre-bed snack when I noticed the can....

Louis, what I feel is correctly, commented that Coca-Cola must've paid someone to test this, figuring there would be some idiot in the world who would forget a coke can in the freezer.

We were too afraid to leave it anywhere where it could do more harm, ie anywhere I would have any say over where I could interact with it, so we wrapped it in a bag and stuck it in a bucket in the spare bathroom.

Lo and behold the next morning it was in tact and on it's way back to being a liquid. After I got home from work I decided, ooooo I'd really like that Coke now...but it was warm by that point. Sooooo, I put it back...

...in the fridge (have *some* faith in me people!) but then forgot about it for another two days.*

However, when I did eventually sit down to drink my coke, not only was it cold, it was surprisingly still fizzy.

Well done Coca-Cola. Well done.

Sx

*my memory is comparable to that of a gold fish, and the only way I manage to hold down an admin job is to carry around a notebook at work and write down every-single-thing-in-the-world.

Sometimes

Sometimes, when life has been giving you a lot of lemons, your wonderful husband comes home with a bunch of flowers.

And things are just instantly better.

Sx

New Glasses!!

I went for an eye test the other day. The results were shocking really. My eyesight had not changed since my last eye test in 2011. Not.a.single.bit.

In my 16+ years of wearing glasses, every single time I went for an eye test, the results showed my eyesight getting worse. Year. After year. After year. After year. It's a wonder I don't wear some form of binoculars really. You get the picture. Except for one year, when my eyesight actually got BETTER. Apparently that can happen. 

The thing is, every time I tell people that I've been wearing contacts for 15+ years (cuz I hate my glasses and avoid wearing them in public), they're always like "get LASIK!". And my reply is....uuuuuuhhh no. I'm terrified you see. I don't quite know why, but I know that I'm terrified. Also, I had heard that your eyesight needed to be stable for 2 years before going under the beam, and well, that had never happened until now.

And sometimes I wonder whether I've probably spent more money over 15 years on contacts then I would have doing corrective eye surgery. But the other night, I decided to calculate it. 

Thus. If I spend approximately £20 a month on contacts then:

£20x12 = £240x15 = £3600

And, frankly, £3600 is less than, say, two Chanel handbags. Which makes me feel a lot better that, no, I have not spent a small fortune on contact lenses. In fact, if you only count the two years that I have not had a change in eyesight (which is not accurate because you'd have to wait two years before surgery) then you'd get:

£20x24 months = £480.

No one's gonna fix my eyes for that little (and if they could, I'm not sure I'd want them to!). 

So Lasik, you'll have to wait. 

Sx

These are my new frames that I get to pick up from the opticians soon (selfies are not our friend).