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Pictures from Bali (2010)

 

 

 

I took these pictures in 1H10 (using my better camera) when I joined 4 others for a girlie holiday: LS was getting married and we took ourselves off to Bali. The bride to be and 2 gal-pals flew in from Malaysia, G came from Singapore while I made my way from HK, arriving a couple of days earlier due the flight schedule and costs.

At the airport in Bali, I was detained by immigration and brought to a room where I was searched t-h-o-r-o-u-g-l-y. My bags and passport were also confiscated; the former sharing my fate. I remember having to persuade the officers not to cut the lining of my then (Orla Kiely) carry on. The authorities were suspicious that I was travelling alone - funny as I'm sure this book had spurred a lot of solo female travellers in search of spiritual fulfilment (and love) to Bali.

Once convinced I was clean, I was given a seat in a the guest room and offered a can of coke and spiced cigarettes by the immigration officers while they completed some paperwork and chatted with me. I had declined both, but was cajoled into taking the drink (I caved in to appear friendly). Below is a picture taken of me, using my camera, by the person who first stopped me and my bag -before I was led into the other room for further questioning and strip searched. It was a strange and funny experience (funny only retrospectively; I was worried when it happened). Looking at this particular picture reminds me of the ridiculous situations I sometimes find myself in (and also the first hair extensions I had - they were not too good).

 

                     {I'm surprised that I don't look more grim}

So -why on earth did I choose to travel in the cold?

HM and I have been friends since 1999: HM is one of those old friends I can not only debrief various stuff with but also bare my soul to and expect to receive rationale, honest and non-judgemental feedback (and vice versa). We started off our angst-ridden PhD journey together (not realising that the other was equally angst) and have found out since then that nothing is too insignificant for us to dissect and discuss.

Finally catching up: I had chosen to make the long train journey involving 3 changes despite desperately wanting to stay and settle into everyday life here because HM and I hadn't seen each other since February 2010, mainly due to our conflicting schedules. And we had so much things to catch up on: our respective move to different continents, new additions to our family and changes we were experiencing in our professional lives. 

Of course, I didn't expect to spend long minutes waiting for delayed trains or have the journey time expanded. Still, I suspect this would not have swayed me from making the journey. It was an investment I could afford and wanted to make. Sometimes, one just has to bite the bullet and do tedious things like hopping on and off economy class coaches to maintain special friendships don't you fink? 

 

Train journeys take much longer than you and I think

 

Fact: German trains systems are also affected by delays.

Delayed on the way out: My supposed to be nearly six hours journey involving 3 seamless changes to Ingolstadt took an additional hour. The train which was to take me from Stuttgart to Nurnberg arrived c.25 minutes later than expected and caused me to miss my subsequent train from Nurnberg to Ingolstadt. 

The wait on the platform was p.a.i.n.f.u.l. It was bitterly cold with a temperature of -17c. My body was protected by my many layers of thermal but my poor booted feet froze. Yeyse, I am a wimp when it comes to the cold but there, on the platform at Stuttgart, I saw grown men in business suits and thick coats shivering.   

Epic journey back:  More than 8 hours, due to another delay. Like previously this caused me to miss my connecting train and I found myself having to travel up to Frankfurt from Nurnberg just to get the connecting train down to Basel (it reminded me somewhat of my zig-zagging backpacking days). 

This time I was more prepared having worn thicker woolen socks and inserted heating pads into my boots (given to me by the thoughtful HM; they are apparently indispensable in Canada). The delay also happened in Ingolstadt and came with a warning before hand. This meant I could spend some waiting time skulking around in the sheltered station and was only exposed to the harsh conditions that was the windy train platform for a further 10 minutes (when it was announced the train was again delayed). I used this time to take the pictures you see below. 

 

{my feet warmer, I could appreciate my surroundings better}

{late again}

{the wheels of my new carry-on probably in tears}

{what the city is good at producing}

Germany

Hello from Ingolstadt.

Herr Meyer (HM) has just left for the airport to go back to North America; I'm going to the train station shortly to head back home. HM's mum has gave me a lot of jam to bring back, knowing from past years how much I LOVE her home made jam. HM's dad who doesn't speak to me very much (not surprisingly as I don't speak any German...yet) might drive me to the station with his hunting car if HM's mum is not back from the airport in time. Yesterday, I saw a dead bird with nice feathers outside on the driveway.. HM's dad motioned to me to see what's inside the garage like store. I was expecting to see another dead bird - maybe a bigger or more beautiful one .. and screamed when I saw instead a wild boar hanging from the ceiling: a bounty from HM's hunting a few days ago. 

***

I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday - meeting up with old friends from Spain. I had written on fb that I was here and it was spotted by a couple of Spanish friends who had moved here. They had been living outside Barcelona in the same old farm house as F from a few years back and the last time I had seen them was probably over dinner in 2003 or 2004. They exclaimed themselves to be Spanish -ergo having no problems to spontaneously show up at HM's house at 930pm last night. We had a great time catching up. 

Acrylics and canvas in Singapore

G treated us to an art jamming session while I was in Singapore. I focused on animal cartoons. It was a learning experience. Lessons for next time include: (1) regardless, start by sponging the background; (2) use smaller brushes -they are much easier to control and; (3) bring along a black marker to make clear outlines.  

{Realising I'm may be better off with a sponge}

{Work in progress}

{The finished product with a message delivered to a delighted receiver}

 

Settling in

{view from iced window upstairs - old home)

Back home: An uneventful and smooth flight back to Basel but a wonderful welcome at the airport. I was greeted by E and LE - the latter rushing and jumping towards me. I had missed him so very much there was nothing to do but to drop my bag and catch him for a long, big hug. It's so nice to see him again - I really (100x) love him.   

It's snowing: E and I talked about taking LE out for a walk in the forest on Sunday - after I arrived but reconsidered when it started snowing. We subsequently kept warm, playing indoors and watching cartoons on television. It is still snowing but LE's teachers and school mates are made of sterner stuff: this morning LE joined them for his weekly activities in the forest.  

Where am I again? I'm jet lagged. This time I'm not only feeling disoriented but also achy, like I've caught a bug from my fellow passengers. Dangdamnit. I know I'm back in Basel now (and not Singapore or KL or Spain or HK or Copenhagen) but still I'm not feeling entirely settled: we are making trips to and fro our old house and new apartment as the latter is still missing many things including much needed wifi.    

Sniff sniff

I'm sitting at the airport lounge waiting to board the flight back home with a lump in my throat after waving goodbye to G&T. Dangdamit - How I wish G and I live closer to each other.

Sing-sing

It has been a while

It has been some time since I last wrote,  I know.

We had to leave the idyllic Langkawi Island after 2 nights to spend some time with the family in KL. It was a mostly rushed affair in KL, as we had to squeeze in a few things within a short space of time. I was also knackered, working late at night on my term paper which resulted in little-sleep-more-clumsy-and disoriented-me. And then we returned to Sing-Sing to do our respective things like work, meet friends, colleagues and most important of all, spend time with family members including adorable little boys.

Amid all the activities, E and I succeeded in carving out an evening of a 1-1 session to connect and debrief properly. E surprised me with dinner reservations at a restaurant near where we had our first date in 2010; I reciprocated by showing up with extended eyelashes and blow dried hair. The next day we escaped again, where we ended up watching a film (Sherlock Holmes) which we both enjoyed.

E has departed for a few more places around the world. I'm still in Sing-Sing where I've had the pleasure of celebrating the lunar new year with G and family and friends and ran in the morning these past few days with G&T at the nearby park. The next few days will see me flying to KL and back before hopping on the plane to CH.

Basel

Back in Basel but not for long. It's not sunny here, unlike in Zaragoza. The skies are grey and it's dark outside. Not too bad as at least, it's not windy and raining, which was the case everyday in the UK Midlands (yes, yes, I am a broken record). We spent most of yesterday unpacking and packing for our few nights in the new apartment and upcoming trip to Singers (G and I turn 40 this weekend!). I'm really looking forward to celebrating our birthday and being in the heat again.

I can be obsessive and annoying I know, repeating an incident over and over again. The last big episode was about losing a pair of spanking new wolfords tights which I just couldn't find in my bag as I was dressing to say I do. Poor E and G had to hear me go on about it for days afterwards while we were in Denmark and then Asia. We came back home and I still couldn't find it, despite turning our bedroom upside down - cue for E to hear me go on (and on) with greater force...until last night - when I found it while unravelling my wardrobe! Amazing grace. YaY! 

Next obsession nipped in the bud: E reckons that I will not stop going ack over the VAT incident as I do about my tights (and before that, the adapter I left behind on the train to Germany). He mentioned he would compensate me to minimise the obsession but I didn't take him so seriously. Until last night when he actually did it! Rright after I waved the tights to him. Haha. He's convinced that it's best to nip my VAT thing in the bud i.e. before I get worse seeing as I won't have much else to obsess about having found the tights. As if (yes!)