City of cat

Now lying in bed of hotel. Forgot to ask them to give me a room nearer to exit.
Hungry for food!

It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!

I grew up on the tropical island of Borneo.

Correction, 2 percent of the tropical island of Borneo–right next to Lok-Kawi Beach and where I can see the magnificent Mt Kinabalu even when it’s cloudy.

I guess that’s where my nonchalance for nature comes from. Too much of a good thing makes it boring. I’ve always thought of myself as a city girl. Someone who prefers concrete jungles to rainforests, night lights to the stars (actually stars are really nice).

Since moving to Singapore for my studies and work, I began missing all the nature stuff that I thought I didn’t like. Whenever I go home for vacation, I would stare at the blue South China Sea while my parents drive. Continue reading “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!” →

Day in Nantes, made out of little perfects

The perfect day started with the perfectly French breakfast. Baguette with salted butter…

Then a visit to the quaint Jules Vernes museum where I learned of Nellie Bly, the perfect inspiration for a round the world trip. She’s my travel idol. Continue reading “Day in Nantes, made out of little perfects” →

My song in Paris

I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance

Quiz says I’m a Classic Globetrotter

Your traveler type: CLASSIC GLOBETROTTER!

Who says you have to spend your trip unearthing hidden gems or exploring the obscure? You're the type who knows that the iconic sights of the world didn't come to the attention of travelers because they were, well, meh. They got there because they're truly amazing. You want to see what a place is famous for and see the jewel in its crown. You love the wonder of a big, historical showstopper, so here some of the big-ticket travel icons that never go out of fashion.

Take the What's your travel style quiz to find out your type.

How I learned to eat like a rabbit

I hate eating raw vegetables. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up in a Chinese household where salads are not common.

I dislike the taste of raw leafy greens, eating it makes me feel like a goat. (Others would inject here: At least say a rabbit, not goat!)

It wasn’t until I was in Vietnam where they consumed pails of vegetable that I learned how to eat raw greens (half raw, would be the better term).

At a pho restaurant, a metal pail of fresh greens await you. When you bowl of piping hot beef noodle soup comes, you pluck the leaves off and dunk it into your soup.

I gingerly sniffed the darker greens. It smelled alright. A bit of the unnamed vegetable and I was hooked. Their veg has a slightly herby taste that goes so well with beef soup.

The next time I ate another pho, I eagerly drowned my vegetable in the hot soup and slurped it along with my noodles. Yummy.

But the spell broke once I ended my trip. Back home, all greens uncooked taste yucks.

This post is part of BootssAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel project. Day 8: Love Learning.

The rest of my posts for the project can be found here.

Celebration by accident: Feast of Saint Eulalia, Barcelona

I was in Barcelona this February for a work trip. It was the very first time I was in Europe.

Before flying off, I read up on the festivals happening in the Spanish city. I was disappointed that the Feast of Saint Eulalia was on February 12 and that I would miss it by just one day.

I reached the city early in the morning. My hosts were still flying over so I had the chance to wander around the town.

Many shops were still closed and the weather was chilly. I walked to the tourist center and looked at the beautiful European buildings.

On my way back to the hotel, I heard lively music and wondered what street musician was making such a racket.

I ran down the empty alley toward the music. To my delight, the citizens were having a parade. I didn’t miss the celebration after all!

Lively trumpet and drums played throughout the parade. I stayed on, staring at the giant figures and the happy people.

Here’s a snap of some guy escaping his giant whateverthatis

I left the parade in the alley and wandered off again. I was also lucky enough to catch the human tower mentioned in the guidebook.

When my hosts finally arrived, the celebration had ended. *evil laugh*

This post is part of BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel Project: Day 7: Celebrate.

The rest of my posts for the project can be found here.

Kindness for the strangest thing, part 2

I was at the train station at Fontainebleau, taking pictures of the public toilet like the curious tourist I am.

A man used his pass to let me in for free.

It was awkward when I came out later and saw him in other parts of the station.

Haha

This post is part of BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel Project: Day 5: Kindness.

Gift of Fear, travel edition

Blog title taken from the title of a book that everyone should read: The Gift of Fear.

Travelling as a single woman takes guts.

Despite putting on a brave front telling people about my solo travels, I have to admit here that I feel panicky before every single trip.

“What if something bad happens??!” Worst case scenarios run through my head: my body floating in the Seine, found dead in my hostel room, etc–all sorts of scenarios from bad detective novels.

Despite all my paranoia, nothing really bad happened to me on my trips. *touch wood*

That said, there was a scary incident in Paris. It is scary on hindsight but (fortunately) I wasn’t that afraid then–more annoyed than scared.

Here’s a recount of the event (with edited paragraphing) from my Paris travel blogpost (a copy and paste of my e-mail to my friend):

No need to panic but some random guy threatened to kill me.

Was walking out of train station to where I live. Heard someone calling out from behind. Ignored (bcoz you never know who it is, and quite a few mad men around). Shout got louder as I walked away. I exited, thinking I was safe. At traffic lights, a China man (only reasonable term I can use now) said something loudly to me. I turned to him. He looked red in the face and smelled a bit drunk. He rambled on loudly in his dialect. I never opened my mouth but gave him a look that said: What the f do you want?

He ended his rambling, asking: You are China person (def not “overseas Chinese” in this case), aren’t you? I shook my head and looked away to behind him, holding on to my not-give-a-shit look.

Then he said: Next time you do this, I’LL KILL YOU.

He walked off.

While i feel frightened now, I’m glad I held on to my BITCH PLZ look.

This was where the scary thing happened, in the evening with the sky slightly gray.
Credit: Google Map

Additional information about the incident. It was late in the evening in summer but there was still some light. The tunnels in the Metro were winding. There was a cafe opposite the exit–but no one sitting outside to witness the incident.

As I said I was not afraid when it happened. It was in my instinct that the guy did not have a gun or a knife with him. It was also instinct that told me: Put up a brave front.

Moral of the story: Trust your instinct but bring pepper spray, just in case.

How would you have handled such a scenario?

This post is part of BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel Project: Day 6: Fear.