#I’ve been lucky that my blog is relatively chill-but I have friends on here and want to be clear that I agree with them

[hitwiththetmnt]

I'm growing more exhausted with this community's fucking behavior

Vent under cut

I've talked privately before about this but I'm so sick and tired of Rise Twitter behavior on this site. Legit that's why I LEFT.

Y'all are so ready to call people and things fucked up lables instead of leaving well enough alone. You're taking shit at fave value and refusing to budge on things.

I'm gonna rip the band-aid off:

THESE CHARACTERS ARE NOT REAL AND NOT EVERYTHING WILL BE CATERED TO YOU

They aren't gonna behave or act how you think they should and they're tools to tell a story. No matter the type of story no matter how dark and no matter how kid friendly it is.

Don't like April x Any of the turtles because you feel that's incest. Block tags and the artists and move on.

Don't like Tcest? Block the tags and artists and move on.

Don't like an artist/author because they create adult turtle nsfw, block the tags and creator and move on.

But no. Instead y'all rather labe people as things. And I seen this community label folks with shit with no context, no evidence or ignoring jokes.

And majority of you all are adults encouraging this behavior from minors and honestly that's predatory and sad. ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE ENCOURAGING HARASSMENT TOWARDS MINORS

No one is a "neutral", or a "proshipper" and evil because they don't care for something you deem problematic. No one is a "tcester " because they choose to ignore your weird witch hunt for an artist who "could be a tcester".

The amount of dms I have gotten claiming a few of my moots are tcesters, and when I ask for evidence y'all get allergic to evidence real fast regardless of the topic💅

If you read this far lemme make this clear:

I don't ship tcest, April x Any of the turtles, Casey Jr x Any of the turtles, or any other ship or content seen problematic for my personal reasons.

But I do not care if other people doing public or private. And have those tags blocked and it does the job for me and I leave those creators ALONE.

TLDR: STOP HARASSING AND BULLYING PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE TGEY MAKE SOMETHING THAT ISN'T CATTERED TO YOU.

[tysonrunningfox]

Ripped: Chapter 2

So this is a super weird AU and I love it a lot and it is expanding and whatever

AO3 | Part 1

The seven-thirty tour is always the hardest.  It’s a little better in winter, when it’s decisively past dusk and Hiccup isn’t stuck trying to frame a desolate Victorian slum while children eat ice cream and laugh in front of that stupid frozen yogurt shop they put up where the mouth of Breakneck Alley used to be, effectively making the walk to the third murder site twice as long.  But even in winter, even with the Ripped tavern playing saloon music that some idiot thinks is accurate to the period to set the mood, the seven-thirty tour is always a little slower to go along with the mystery.  By the nine-thirty tour, usually enough people are drunk to fall for a couple of cheap scares, and fewer wannabe academics like to be out that late past their bedtime.  

The eleven thirty-tour is always best, the few old stone walls that are left seem to breathe in the fog and moonlight, telling their sides of the story and drawing everyone too close.  The eleven thirty-tour is where people ask questions in a whisper before feeling silly and forcing themselves to speak louder, only to jump back at the echo.  It makes less money, but it’s when he does his best thinking, when he feels most surrounded by the mystery.  

The seven-thirty tour also sucks because the first Berserker tour moved from seven to seven-fifteen two weeks ago and now Hiccup has to hear his evidence crammed into crowd-pleasing theories that don’t make any sense, just because answers are worth more to some people than questions.  

‘The Real Viggo Grimborn Tour’ was petty. Hiccup knows that, and it probably wouldn’t work for legal reasons if he tried to officially register it with anyone, but as long as he’s running off of an unofficial blog and taking cash only, he’s sticking with it. Sure, it draws the stodgy, academic types, but if he deals with their questions for one tour, they actually buy his book and he’s not turning down that self-publishing check.  Especially since every store in a half mile radius of his apartment except the Whole Foods has finally been squeezed out.  

He buttons up his coat, checking the photo order in his file one more time and brushing at the toothpaste stain on the top of his hat.  Using a Tide pen on an antique hat felt dirty, so he’s going to have to figure out something else later.  Especially since the white smudge is probably making him a more obvious nighttime target to some pretty good aim.  

It’s not the first time he’s had something thrown at him since he started doing this, but it is the first time anything left a mark.  He hopes that the girl in that apartment hasn’t had any time to stock up on heavier projectiles.  Gobber said he’d talk to her, but it’s Gobber, that could be anything from ‘leave him alone’ to ‘do you want to borrow my paintball gun?’.  

There’s no time to worry about that though, because it’s seven-twenty-eight and the bar is starting to fill up, so he sets the hat on his head and clears his throat.  

“Anyone ready for The Real Viggo Grimborn Tour, think twice, because you might not be as ready as you think!”  He announces over the din and it quiets for a second as maybe ten people get to their feet and move towards his table.  It’s close to the secondary exit into the alley by the fourth site, which is a way better start to the tour than walking down a practically modern main street out front.  With the size of Berserker tour groups, it would never work, which is just another reason he’s glad to be on his own now.  

“Do we need a reservation or some shit?”  A blonde asks from two tables over, wide grin on an angular face as she links her arm through her friend’s and pulls.  Her friend is not smiling, glaring even, and Hiccup blinks at her for a second, forgetting the question.  

She’s not just pretty, that’s not the right word for it.  Pretty girls tend to make him louder, more animated, vying even harder for the scare or the laugh, but she’s way more than pretty.  She’s furious and familiar, like divine intervention dropped her here to intimidate him into awkward silence.  

“Huh?”  He shakes his head, shoving the hat on and idly taking a ten-dollar bill from a serious looking man with a tattered fictionalized Grimborn history that Hiccup hates for getting so damn popular, despite how wrong everything about it is.  

“Do we need a reservation for the tour?”  The happy blonde pulls her friend to her feet and fights stubbornly dragging heels to take a step towards him.  “It’s a tour about those old murders or whatever, right?”  

“Viggo Grimborn,” he nods, pointing at the sign, “most people who care about a tour at least know his name.”  

“Oh, we know hisname.”  The gorgeous, angry one is cryptic as she narrows her eyes and takes a reluctant step forward.  “You didn’t answer, do we need a reservation?”  

“Nope,” Hiccup takes another bill from a woman on behalf of her family, two older teenagers giggling at each other and looking around the bar, “no reservation, just meet at the bar like it says on my website.”  

“Your website. Right.”  Her teeth clip the words and she crosses her arms, glancing at her friend.  

“How much?”  Her friend laughs but it does nothing to dissolve the glare, “Astrid, this is hilarious, we have to.”  

“The sign says cash only, Ruff,” Astrid’s jaw twitches as she looks between his sign and his face again, still furious, still mysterious, still uninterested.  Stubborn enough to spark that urge to teach and show and explain that got Hiccup doing these tours in the first place. “I have no cash.”  

“That’s fine,” he blurts, face going hot when her glare turns fully to him, “how about this, pay me at the end if it’s worth it.”  

“Oh, it’ll be worth it,” Ruff laughs a little too hard for the exchange, keeping her arm firmly linked through Astrid’s like she expects her to run or lunge or something. Judging by Astrid’s expression, the second seems more likely, and Hiccup wonders what kind of bad idea this is, exactly.

Five minutes later, when the group is a little more than ten and people have stopped approaching him, he’s more than ready to figure out, leading the way out the side door and into the dark alleyway.  The teenagers cling giggling to their mother’s arms and the man tucks his stupid, inaccurate book into his coat pocket, at least temporarily.  It’ll come out again, they always do.  

“Starting in the winter of eighteen hundred and eighty-three and proceeding through the summer of eighteen eighty-four, the killer now known as Viggo Grimborn committed at least four, but possibly up to six of the most famous, grisly murders never solved.  Tonight, I’ll be your guide to not only the sites of these murders but also, the historical Downtown Berk in which they occurred.  I’m Hiccup Haddock, and if you’ll follow me, we’ll start right out with the site of murder number four.”  

“We aren’t starting with Elizabeth Smith?”  The genius with the shitty book in his pocket asks and Hiccup shakes his head.  

“Nope, even though the series of Grimborn murders happened in a relatively small area, to visit the sites in order would result in way more walking than I’m willing to do three times a night,” he gestures at the limp that no one would otherwise notice. “Plus, there another reason I like to start the tour with murder number four.”  He starts walking carefully backwards, checking over his shoulder both for obstacles and to time the next phase of his introduction, “back in eighteen eighty three, the Ripped Tavern where we met today was known as the Great Dragon pub.  And one night in April, eighteen eighty four, Mary Johnson was drinking at the Great Dragon pub when she approached a man sitting in the back and made an offer of her company for the night in exchange for a few pennies, just enough to afford one night’s rent of a bed at a local boarding house.”  

He pauses just out of the glow of the still old-fashioned street light barely washing a six-foot-wide half circle of the alley in sickly yellow light.  As uninterested as Astrid still appears to be, she’s at the front of the group, cocking her hip and crossing her arms when she stops in exactly the right spot, left foot planted three feet from the storm drain.  

A lot of people drag a friend or relative along on a tour and most of the time, Hiccup gets them at least interested by the end of it, but rarely does he get such an opportunity so early in the night to do so.  

“Twenty minutes after Mary Johnson led the man out of the Great Dragon pub through the side door we just left through and down the very alley that we’re standing in right now, her body was found under this street light,” he points up, “still warm to the touch, but mutilated almost beyond recognition.  Cut to the point that she was identified by another prostitute she’d just been with at the pub who recognized the green bonnet bloodstained in the gutter.”  

Hiccup pauses for dramatic effect, lowering his voice and looking back and forth across the small crowd. Most people are wide eyed and hanging on his every word, the armchair expert is nodding like he’s heard this all before, but luckily refraining from interrupting.  Ruffnut is grinning like she’s at a circus and the lion just got loose, but Astrid is seemingly unaffected, eyebrows raised, daring him to stop wasting her time.  Good thing he can definitely do that.  

“We just walked the only route that can be identified without a shred of reasonable doubt as a path Viggo Grimborn himself walked over a hundred years ago and one of you completed the journey by standing exactly where Mary Johnson was killed with a slash of a sharp knife across her throat.”  He points at Astrid’s feet, where her toe is impatiently tapping a quiet sneaker against the pavement.  “It’s your lucky day.”  

“Me?”  She points at her chest, wrinkling her nose and lifting some of the shadow obscuring her still unimpressed face.  The rest of the group snickers, the chill sinking in as the alley goes quiet.  “I guess I’ve been having a lot of lucklately,” she huffs after a second, taking a step back and out of the light.

“That usually umm…freaks people out.”  He laughs, suddenly hearing his own awkward voice, like he’s giving the tour by forcing everyone to listen to a voicemail he left.  “That’s fine.  You’re a brave crowd, that only means I can show you more.”  

Hiccup is a good tour guide, it’s one of the few things he’ll confidently claim.  He knows his route, he knows the stories, he has an anecdote about every other house, every alleyway, a picture for every façade hiding a century old grisly secret.  He’s funny and he’s not afraid to take it seriously.  He doesn’t minimize the cost of that year in death and human suffering, but none of that has affected how fun people rate him on Trip Advisor.  

But Astrid’s too fast walk between sites and cutting, unimpressed expression is throwing him off of his game.  

At the churchyard where he describes the abysmal living conditions of the average poor in Berk a hundred years ago, she’s almost bored, except for raising her eyebrow every time he mentions crime.  He gets a full eye roll when he laments lack of privacy in boarding houses, and treats it as a win, which is like claiming most unclear victories, a dangerous mistake.

“And before we move on to the first murder site, I need to clarify one more misconception.  One that I personally blame Johnny Depp himself for and I assure you, I’m doing my best to get in touch with him about it.”  Hiccup feels a little more in step when that joke hits everyone but Astrid, “for some reason, namely Hollywood, when people imagine the Grimborn victims as prostitutes, they think of beautiful blonde women in their twenties.  Maybe a bit unsatisfied with life, a bit hard around the edges—”

Astrid raises her eyebrow.

Oh God, Hiccup is describing her, and she hates him inexplicably and is on his tour and her judgement feels like Grimborn’s blade choking him out.  

He coughs, “they were all around forty.”  What if she’s older than she looks but not forty and that makes it worse?  “And like, hard life lived forty.  Because life was hard.  All the not eating and cheap gin and prostitution.  Not modern, ‘I can’t believe she’s forty’ forty, which coincidentally is also a Hollywood invention and I don’t think I can pin that one on Mr. Depp.”  

No one laughs, except Ruff, whose imaginary circus lion is apparently now eating the foot that he left in his mouth.  

“I’m talking so fast because we’re behind,” he points over his shoulder, “lets cross the street and pause outside that apartment courtyard for the first murder story, then I’ll try and get us close to the site but just a warning, last night there was a bit of a complication.”  He takes off across the street before anyone can say anything, jumping when someone taps on his shoulder.  

“I have a question about the investigation,” the armchair expert asks in a tone which indicates he already has an answer and wants to argue about it, “do you think that the police’s reluctance to work with the press stifled witnesses from coming forward with information about the attacks?”  

“I see you brought the Krogan book with you,” Hiccup gestures at the man’s pocket on the other side of the street and he nods.  “It’s a decent attempt to shoehorn most of the best known advice into a convincing narrative, but it puts too much stock into people reporting crime in one of the most crime riddled areas of the metropolis.  If the cops had started rewarding everyone who had information about a murder, they wouldn’t have had any time to investigate.”  The crowd is regathered, but the man persists anyway.  

“But if there’d been a system in place for receiving tips—”

“There was the Berk post, which people used and abused, as they do with all inadequately funded government services.  Have you heard of the Grimborn letter collection?”  

“Of course.”  He reaches for his book, but Hiccup holds out a hand.  

“I usually do this later in the tour, but it works here, it gives me more time to umm…think about presenting the first site.” Which is another way of saying ‘keep his ears alert to any angry women brushing their teeth’, “the name Viggo Grimborn comes from a letter, written in red ink that the author claimed was blood, received by the Berk Gazette in February, eighteen-eighty-four after the third definitive murder.  It was threatening, eloquent, and signed by a sadistic criminal mastermind branding himself Viggo Grimborn and asking the police to try harder.

“It marks an important point, not in the murder case, but in the history of forensic science because it was one of the first pieces of evidence to be tracked to its source and proven conclusively false, but by that point it had been printed in the Gazette and the name stuck.  Which is exactly what the young journalist who fabricated the letter wanted.”  He peeks through the apartment courtyard at the dark windows and fiddles with the laser pointer in his coat pocket. Another minute.  “Of the hundreds of letters that helpful citizens sent to the paper and the police, approximately three were useful in the case. The rest were filled with everything from suggestions that the murders were being perpetrated by mythical creatures to blatant fetishists asking for locks of the victims’ hair and other possessions.”  

Hiccup doesn’t mean to lock eyes with Astrid, so it must be her decision, because when he waits for the curiosity or the awkwardness or the laugh, he’s met with her even gaze, blue eyes unreadable and hostile and more uncomfortably familiar than they were at the bar.  

“But enough about fetishes, let’s talk about Elizabeth Smith.”  He talks faster than he has since he was twelve and trying to get out of kickball.  “She was thirty eight years old, a widow, a prostitute, and on a cold night in November, eighteen-eighty-three, she was out trying to make back the money that she had allegedly drank away that day in order to afford a bed.  That didn’t happen because someone killed her, and her body was found by a tenant in the apartment building behind us.”  He digs in his bag to avoid looking up and being scrutinized more, “and it’s another notable moment in forensic history because the chief of police at the time had the idea to take Berk’s first ever crime scene photo.  I have a copy of that photo, it’s extremely gruesome, so if you only like internal organs when they’re obeying their descriptor, just pass it along.”  

The teenagers giggle awkwardly, their mom turns a little green.  The man with the answers looks at it a little too long and Hiccup feels a pang of regret for judging him so harshly, he didn’t know what sources were shit once upon a time and he must have driven the local archivist crazy with questions.  Astrid doesn’t look at it at all, passing it along upside down, eyes flicking to the apartment building behind him with a worried expression he almost places.  

“It’s fine, a lot of people don’t like the gore,” he tries to joke or comfort, anything to take advantage of the momentary vulnerability in her face and wheedle his way in to her attention.  

“You have any of that hair you mentioned?”  She quips, her crossed arms more of a self-hug than they were, “that fetishists want?”  

He…probably deserves that. Maybe not for anything he did to her, in particular, but probably for something he did to someone at some point.

“While you finish with that, before we get a little closer to the murder site, I need to point out one more thing about this wall,” he runs his hand over the sandstone brick, “the morning after the murder, written in chalk at about waist height was the message ‘All Safe’.  It was thought to be written by a night watchman who had cleared the yard of homeless people taking shelter against the inside of the walls, as they didn’t have G-tech’s good old spiked benches back then,” he points at a nearby bus stop where after the buses stop running, spikes protrude from the surface to discourage the wrong kind of people sitting, “but in the morning, the block’s watchman denied it.  Not only that, but he said it wasn’t on his last lap, around four o’clock in the morning, so that means that if the murderer did write it, he had to have been leaving after that time.”  

When he has the picture back in his folder, he sweeps the street one last time for lurking cop lights and takes a step backwards into the courtyard.  

“Alright, I’m going to do my best here to find it, but right here, above this courtyard and approximately under the light fixture in this apartment,” he turns around and aims his laser pointer through the window, “is where Elizabeth Smith died.”  

No one throws open the window and yells at him and he breathes a sigh of relief, turning back to the group.  

“I know the landlord, and this building is mostly empty these days, but someone has moved in and last night she was not happy.”  He laughs, turning off the laser pointer and taking a step towards the gate.  

“She’s not happy tonight either,” Astrid announces, peeling away from the group and taking keys out of her pocket, “last night she got to learn that her apartment is a murder scene and tonight some moron shining laser pointers in her window tried to make her look at a disemboweled corpse.”  

“That’s how I know you,” he groans, “you…” he touches his hat and she shakes her head.  

“That was a new toothbrush, I wish I hadn’t wasted it on your dumb hat,” she waves for Ruff to follow her, even though it looked like she might have been planning to stay through the rest of the tour, “so Hiccup Haddock, is that your actual name?  That could be written on a police report for harassment, for example?”  

“Oh God, don’t—”

She doesn’t let him finish, instead slamming the front door of the apartment building behind her and stomping, audibly up the stairs.  

“So, about the Smith murder, the police didn’t definitively record the spelling of the chalk message on the wall—”  

“The Krogan book sucks, man,” Hiccup cuts his interruptor off, “it’s Berk, it rained before they interviewed the cop, Grimborn didn’t control the weather.  Onto site two, do you all know where you are if I get arrested along the way?”  

Everyone nods.  

“Great!  Let’s go.”  

The blinds on Astrid’s apartment are closed during the nine thirty and eleven thirty tours and there’s a piece of paper he can’t read taped to the window in front of them.  He should come back in the morning to get another look at it, but that’s arguably more masochistic than the fact that he’s intending to come back two to three times a night and shine a laser pointer at it. Maybe it’s best if he doesn’t know what it says.  The message on the wall sure didn’t help Elizabeth Smith.  

Neither tour goes well.

Hiccup (1:50am): when do you get off work

Snotlout (1:52am): 2 30 why

Hiccup (1:53am): why do only people who work during the day get to go to happy hour to forget how awful their job is?  

Snotlout (1:55am): ill meet u at gruffs

Entering a bar to start drinking past two in the morning is something Hiccup would have thought he was done with after college.  He’s the only sober person in the room, bartender included, until Snotlout shows up, still in uniform, and sits heavily on the stool beside him.  

“Do you want to know what I learned at work today?”  

“Gross, no.”  Snotlout scoffs, waving down the bartender and ordering a beer.  The bartender eyes his uniform, suspicious, and Snotlout rolls his eyes.  “I’m off duty, Gruff, is there a dress code now or something?”  

“You just used to be cool,” Gruffnut grumbles as he shuffles off.  

“As I was saying,” Hiccup sighs, kicking the wall under the bar, “do you want to know what I learned at work today?”  

“As I said, gross, no. I don’t want to hear what supposedly interesting thing some fellow weirdo told you about creepy old murders.”

“No, no, you’ll like this one.”  Hiccup clears his throat, “today at work, I learned that the only thing weirder than telling girls about mutilated corpses and having them be a little too into it, is having a girl not be into it, at all.”  

“A normal human went on your creepy tour, it’s amazing that hasn’t happened yet.”  Snotlout pays for his beer when the bartender sets it down, apparently not planning on staying long.  “Oh wait, no it’s not.”  

“I haven’t even gotten to the worst part,” he sighs, “remember how I told you last night that someone yelled at me and threw a toothbrush at the first Grimborn site?”  He doesn’t wait for an answer, yanking a fistful of his hair and resting his elbow on the bar, “it was her.  She somehow found me and came on my tour and I tried to show her a crime scene photo of the inside of her living room and told her about murder victim fetishists a hundred years ago.”  

“So, I bust my ass racing all over town to get to every ten-fifty, ten-fifty-one, ten-sixty-six—”

“I don’t know police codes, Snotlout.”  

“Person on drugs, drunk person, suspicious person—”

“Ok, I get it, people think I’m drunk and suspicious a lot, get to your point.”  

“I almost got gored at a petting zoo last week because I figured the drunk guy they saw bathing in the water trough was you, on the trail of some old picture or some shit.” He shakes his head, “so can you not double harass people?  I’m running out of ‘get Hiccup out of jail free’ cards.”  

“I’ve never technically been picked up for anything.”  Hiccup drums his fingers on the counter, “no one ever cared about Grimborn tours until that block of Condos went in by the old dock.  Ever since, you can’t step off of the sidewalk without someone blowing a gasket.”  

“I mean, I hate to say it but you’re right about that.”  Snotlout rolls his eyes, “it’s not just the creepy tours, someone’s dog barks now and suddenly it’s my problem.  But your creepy tour, in particular, doesn’t help anything.  No one cares about Heather’s tours.”  

“Right, she probably changed my script to say that Viggo Grimborn always observed volume restrictions at night and oh!  Also, we know exactly who he was, let’s just contact next of kin of the victims and—” He cuts himself off before Snotlout loses interest, spinning his beer between his hands, “so, you’ll let me know of any harassment claims, right?”  

“If I hear of them,” Snotlout shrugs.  “Oh, and just by the way, was the girl you creeped out with your weird pictures hot?”

“Why does that matter?”

Snotlout shrugs, “it’s funnier if she’s hot.”  

“Well, you better start laughing.”  

[majdalenaska]

Up in the air aka glorified waitress

Today it’s been exactly two years since I officially started my cabin crew journey and working for Norwegian Air, hence I‘ve decided to start a blog. Let’s see how it goes..

Below I describe my 6 days‘ trip down route. I hope you will enjoy it a bit and get a little glimpse into my flying world.

I’m talking to a young girl in the elevator; she looks at me in my uniform and says: „Wow, you are a cabin crew? Well, in fact she meant to say : „ Wow you are so lucky, you get to travel the whole world“!

That made me smile, but deep down I thought, hmm that’s a bit of  an overstatement.

No, really, many of my friends have a bit biased ideas about this world of flying and what it really feels like to work on a plane. Initially, I was very naive as well, not having a clue as to how I was going to feel on board, how I was going to interact with passengers from different countries and cultures who speak languages that I might not understand. What it is like  meeting a different crew every single flight - a bunch of folks who you have never met before, and  having to pretend you are proficient enough to provide excellent customer service.

No one can prepare you for the actual flight and being on board. The jetlagg, the anxiety, stress and fatique but with time it all goes away and you get used to it, somehow.

But, on the other hand, who can say they’ve had a steak for dinner in one of the most famous restaurant in Buenos Aires and danced Tango with one of the locals? Or who gets to experience flying in the skies at 39 000 ft every week using a Dreamliner 787 as their office? And  getting paid for all the traveling around the world? To sum it up all, I’d say my life is kinda up and down, literally.

This week I’ve had a 6 days‘ trip: London-New York-Madrid-New York-Madrid-London, sounds awful, doesn’t it? It is kind of an odd pattern but since we cover the workload of other bases, we have to be ready anytime for anything. This is aviation! Sometimes you never know where you could be flying next.

28.8./ 8:20 CET- London Gatwick            

         I meet my crew at Costa coffee at Gatwick and first introductions can begin. There are over 800 crews in Norwegian, so in most cases you will see everyone for the first time, and there is a little chance that you will be flying with someone you’ve already met before. I really appreciate when I see someone I’ve worked with on my previous flights, so there is a slight possibility. I’m feeling a bit awkward, I don’t seem to know anyone. I am not keen on small talk but there is no other choice. The flight crew aren‘t looking very happy today but maybe a smile from  cabin crew will cheer them up.

Together we are headed on board and in the forward cabin (PREMIUM) we have a quick briefing before the flight. Our senior assigns positions of the door which we are responsible for. Together we talk through all emergency questions and also discuss first aid topics. The Captain provides us with information regarding turbulences and the flight time, which is the only information everyone’s been waiting for. I’m feeling tired, didn’t have a good night’s sleep , but once the meal service starts, I am ready to go. The flight runs relatively smoothly, we do have an enormous bunch of orders though, which is not ideal, if there are only 8 cabin crew in total. Flights, especially to NYC, are ridicilously busy sometimes.

   We finish the service and half the crew can hit the crew rest, which is located at the rear of the cabin. It’s my turn so I can get myself into the little bunk, close my eyes trying to get some rest;this is so far the best part of the flight. If anyone of my readers has ever flown on a Boeing 787 before - please keep reading. You can find the lavatories on the other side of the crew rest and if you see the sign CABIN CREW ONLY , please stay away, this is definitely not a lavatory. You might wonder why I mention this, but 99% of our passengers do try to open our doors and fail miserably.

Anyway, we get to New York city around 1 PM local time (18.00 CET), and since this airport is one of the busiest airports out there we sometimes spend around 45 minutes taxing to the gate and waiting and waiting… (the worst part of a flight)

15:30 local time/ 20 : 30 CET – New York City

Two hours later, we finally reach our hotel in Manhattan; the whole journey from the airport can take up to 1 hour. But we stay in a hotel in Manhattan, so no one complains really. Everyone gets to their rooms and we talk about what to do later. We plan a rooftop bar in Brooklyn, but it starts raining, bummer. I take a shower and a short nap, since later I plan on going to Whole Foods with one of my colleagues. Shouldn’t have done that; after waking up I feel so drained that I am only capable of going downstairs for a pizza at the corner.

The pizza tastes delicious though and I put a Netflix on, unwind and relax. At 8 o´clock I can’t keep my eyes open anymore and I fall asleep. At 2 am I wake up and lie around in bed till 5 am. Thank you jet lag! Being an experienced flight attendant, however, I do have my morning routine. I do a bit of yoga, meditate and head for the coast to have a jog, which works perfect for jetlagg issues. You usually need a buddy who will drag you out of the bed, though. This time I pulled it off on my own!

It really feels amazing to be jogging along the Hudson river at 7 am, passing thrilled New Yorkers with their dogs and strollers, thinking about how awesome it might be to actually live here. After a while, I sit on a bench, listen to music and admire the views over Manhattan and get carried away. I come for a run here every single morning.

   Back at the hotel, I go downstairs to have breakfast and meet the rest of my crew. A big breakfast makes me  tired once again, so no big plans for today, I’m afraid. But maybe  I could manage some shopping in Century 21 and a lunch in Whole foods? ( BTW This place is awesome, just don’t get too carried away, otherwise you’ll be crying at the till.) Later we fly back to Madrid and I desperately long for a good night’s sleep. Tough luck, though.

I play a meditation video to calm me down but it’s pointless.

   29.8/21:15 local time( 02:15 CET)- New York City

It’s not ideal to start your flight at 3 am European time, as you can imagine. Anyway, in the world of flight attendants you get used to anything…anything at all. One hour on a bus to the airport, one hour taxing to the gate…man, I am drained. I am sitting on my jumpseat about 50 minutes and there are 3 passengers sitting opposite  me.( Cabin crew  must smile no matter what, so wakey wakey Magdalena!) Luckily all  the passengers are asleep so I can relax. The flight is stress and turbulence free and it only takes  6 hours and 30 minutes,yay. Well, sometimes it is rather enjoyable. Although every flight is utterly different, to be honest. Fatique, arguments with passengers, arguments with  crew, fainting passengers, drunk passengers…take your pick. But, hooray, today no one has vomitted on me and I haven‘t spilled any drinks on anyone. Not yet, at least.

30.8/14:35 local time - Madrid

We are thrilled arriving in Madrid. My idea of the upcoming days looks like this: The sun, the pool and chill. I leave my uniform in the hotel room and in the evening I meet my colleagues from Hungary and Poland. Together we set off towards the center of Madrid. The plan is to stroll around the city and get some Tapas and Sangria. We are lucky enough to be guided by one of our colleagues who is local in Madrid.

He shows us a few places of interests. I am mainly excited by the beautiful park called Cuarttel de la Montana, which gives you a stunning view over the city. We can‘t possibly finish our evening in Madrid without visiting the local Chocolateria San Gines, where the best Churros is made. The next day we explore the shopping mall next door, and spend a great time relaxing at the pool and regaining energy for the upcoming night flight.

31.8./18:25 local time

All bags packed and prepared, I am headed down to the lobby to meet my crew. We are flying back to New York City, which I am not really keen on, due to my poor sleep on the  East Coast. Interestingly, lately I‘ve preferred flying to the West coast of USA where I don’t have a major issue with jetlagg and sleep.( Though it only took  a year and half to get used to all those time differences, haha.)  We have a nice flight, the only trouble being  that almost 80% of all passengers are Spanish speaking, so we send our only Spanish speaking colleague L. everywhere we can. L. is not that excited about the situation. We have a small issue with a passenger who  refuses to give up on her own meal with nuts. Unfortunately for her, we have a passenger on board, who is allergic to nuts and hence it’s strictly forbidden to be eating anything containing nuts. But Mrs. B. is not happy about that and complains that she only eats foods that are vegan, gluten free an organic and we can’t really provide that from our snack bar, according to her. I try my best explaining and offering something else but in the end I have to call my senior. We bribe her with a freshly made coffee which is the only thing  she is willing to consume. Anyway, at the end of the flight. Mrs. B opens up her own meal box risking an anaphylactic shock for the poor passenger. Fortunately, nothing happens and her meal doesn‘t trigger an allergic reaction. It really feels  utterly frustrating that although we do our best to explain the seriousness of the situation, Mrs. B. ignores everything we say and put the life of a co - passenger at a risk. I think it is outrageous  how some people are so ignorant and arrogant. Yet, there‘s so much more a cabin crew can come up against  and have to deal with.( I just can‘t really stress enough the  importance of  working on yourself, your resiliance and patience, to be able to face all those kinds of challenges without ever losing your head and nerve.)

Another situation comes up with a lady  complaining about not getting a seat in exit row , where she can hang up a bassinet for her baby during the flight. Since she only speaks spanish, my colleague L.  apologizes to her saying that they must have made a mistake at the check in desk and she will have to take another seat unfortunately.

Service is taking ages and is not pleasant at all, no one can understand me, but eventually I am good to go with Vino Bianco and Vino Rosso. Spanish is not that difficult after all.

We get to the Manhattan hotel at  around 1 am in the morning, which is 6 am European time. Having an alcoholic beverage goes aside and I am only focused on my beautiful bed on 23rd floor. I am so tired  I would happily stay in that cosy warm bed until tomorrow’s pick up. But I forget I am at East coast so I am up at 6.30 heading for  breakfast. I don’t feel like running today, apologies Hudson river. After breakfast I feel drowsy again, I roll in the bed and put on some Netflix. I get my lunch in Preta Manger nearby and go back to my hotel room. You‘re thinking right, jetlagg is not an easy beast sometimes.

1.9 /21.15 local tme- 02.15 CET- New York

Here comes the very last working flight of this pattern and we are going back to Madrid, yay, feels like Dejavu. On the way to the JFK airport everyone falls asleep since it takes about an hour to get there and it is quite late in the evening. What is the best thing about night flights? Almost every passenger is fast asleep before the take off, awesome! We have a quiet time in both galleys and  the flight only takes 6,5 hours, which is a big plus of NYC flights. Compared it with Buenos Aires, which is about 13 hours from London Gatwick, a bit of a  difference, eh?

2.9. /12:59 CET – Madrid

We’ve arrived in Madrid but our flight back to London Gatwick is due in 5 hours. We are lucky enough to  have our hotel booked for us so we can refresh and relax for a bit. We don’t operate this flight- it is called DEADHEADING, which means, that we fly as passengers in our civil clothes. We get to Gatwick around 7.30 in the evening and everything seems great. There wasn’t any delay, no baggage was lost, everything is as should be.  Around 10 o’clock in the evening I get home and order a pizza and a beer from Deliveroo. Unpacking my suitcase can wait till tomorrow - I fall into my cosy bed and I am not getting out of it for the next 12 hours.

[fire-emblem-drabbles]

20 Questions,

Tagged by: @imaginesforfe , @rebeljustforkicks137

Nickname: Uhh?? Sydney is just my name... my friends call me Syd sometimes or queen

Zodiac: Aries!

Height: I’m like 5′9″!

Last Movie I Saw: Oh I don’t watch movies all that often... I want to say it was the original Spongebob movie

Last Thing I Googled: “How to take a screenshot on a samusung s9″ (new phone problems sdlkfjdlfj)

Favorite Musician: Ohh there’s quite a few, lately I’ve been big into Haley Kiyoko again!

Song Stuck In My Head: Uhh probably Jolene!

Other blogs: @watch-out-for-them (my main!), @kingdom-hearts-drabbles (KH blog!) @valentine-works (art blog), uhh @flowersinthelimelight (aesthetics), @rgb-otoge (dev blog for rgb otome) @monter-mayham-oh-my (n/s/f/w, monsters, guro) @prompt-horde  (where I keep prompts to reblog here in the future) @a-burning-question  (relatively new, but same as the prompt horde but with ask games!)

Followers: Uhh I think this particular blog is up to 781!

Following: Um. I have checked in a while but its gotta be at least 250+

Amount of sleep: too much. always too much (I think I got 10 hours last night)

Lucky numbers: 21 and 22!

Dream Job: It would be nice to be some sort of writer/author, or some kid of visual artist!

What am I wearing: I’m just chilling in a t shirt and leggings yall

Favorite Food: Hmm... bread? Its hard to choose just one, but its always changing too...

Language: English, but I know some basic french!

Can I play an instrument?: I can sorta play the Viola? It's been a long time.

Favorite Song: Recently it's been... Roaring 20′s from Panic and Curious from Haley Kiyoko

Random fact: Um... I was born in Flordia? But shortly after, my dad got orders to Japan, so my family moved there. 

Describe yourself in aesthetic things: Plush blankets and warm bodies; dried flowers, still in a vase, and art supplies scattered over a desk. Sweaters, flannels, and dresses; all of it is covered in cat fur.

[pisscff-archived-blog]

THEMES & PREFERENCES QUESTIONNAIRE !!

aka, things i’ve always wanted to ask people / have people ask me. please remember to repost rather than reblog!  happy munday ~ !!

what types of genres do you gravitate towards ?   I think I do a bit of everything - I like to have variety to always have something to turn to depending on my mood, so angst, action, comedy, slice of life, there’s always space for everything. My favourite though are any thread that brings in a lot of character exploration and relationship development, hence my losing interest quite quickly in ‘pure’ slice of life for instance, where sure, it’s nice to explore what a character is like when ‘nothing’ is happening, but... only once in a while, for me personally. I like to explore my characters changing or being shaken up in a dynamic environment and story, so I’ll always privilege consistent development between our characters to pure everyday moments. After all, I picked a muse from TF2 for a reason - there’s always something happening and tons of space for radical developments and evolutions in all directions. I just need something to be happening - either extrenally or internally. 

what types of genres do you gravitate away from ?   Like I mentioned, I find myself doing less slice of life recently, even though it can be nice from time to time and especially with the right characters - especially people I’ve plotted extensively with, and Mundy knows their characters enough to have more to write and reflect on. Then again, I didn’t pick a TF2 muse to have him chill at the base all the time. They’re mercenaries, there is a lot of fun to have with this job. I also stay away from writing AUs on my blogs, especially more domestic AUs like what most people call modern AU (which I’d refer to as domestic modern AU), or the one thing I’ll never really understand the appeal of: coffeeshop AU. I can indulge in imagining my characters having a relatively normal life in our modern days, but will more likely keep it strictly to plotting. Just a personal preference.

what types of characters do you most often play / enjoy ?   I definitely play older muses, my youngest at the moment being 36, and the oldest 74. I try to have some variety in my characters so they don’t really have much in common in terms of tropes or style - except maybe they’re all somewhat eccentric characters who generally end up being outcasts at some point in their lives, for one reason or another, by choice or by accident. I like characters who have both light and darker sides that I can explore, that I can seriously explore in depth but without having to take them too seriously. I hope my characters have enough redeeming qualities and deep flaws to make them balanced and not Good or Bad - just somewhere in the middle. They also tend to be Very Tired people for some reason. 

what types of characters do you seldom play ?   Characters who are either 100% pure goodness or 100% pure evil. I also avoid playing sociopaths and other so-labelled psychopaths (I just really can’t play them, other people do it much better), characters who supposedly have no emotion, or are the epitome of edgy tortured character (this last one I just really dislike). Characters I cannot play also include politicians or highly tactical people, like... take any character of House of Cards, and I would be completely unable to play them.

any pairing tropes you particularly enjoy ?   Since this is Sniper’s blog I’ll reply specifically for him: romantic ships don’t happen on this blog due to Sniper having no interest in them, but I do enjoy exploring one-sided stuff, or relationships verging on romantic but not quite there. Generally speaking I do enjoy exploring the concept of intimacy and its not-so-clear boundaries; especially with a muse like Sniper who is very selective with the people he decides to let into his life.

any platonic tropes you particularly enjoy ?   All of them Considering Sniper will never have a romantic pairing, I’m all for platonic pairings and tropes. The advantage of playing someone like him (or like I headcanon him anyway) who lets very few people approach is that once he decides he likes someone enough to give them the title of friend, it’s very easy to go on and dig into some deep and intricate development. I love the adopted family trope, I love friendly rivarly, enemies-turned-friends... I’m lucky enough to have some amazing rp partners with whom I’m able to explore all kinds of super strong platonic connections, so that makes me very happy. Always feel free to throw more my way though, I live for those. 

any antagonistic tropes you particularly enjoy ?  Rivalry is always a big yes for me, for Sniper I especially would love for Sniper vs Sniper action since, y’know, they’re professionals and what not - and I REALLY need more BLUs to interact with to have that cross-faction rivalry going on. I also love the friend-turned-enemy-after-betayal trope (HI LUDWIG thank goodnes you redeem yourself by resurrecting him you asshat), and betrayals in general I’m always down to explore. Having Mundy betray someone would be darn interesting too. 

what are your preferred thread types ?  Definitey novella/long threads, especially if they have been plotted beforehands and contain character and relationship development. Shorter threads are cool too, improvisation is cool too, but I will forever prefer in-depth writing, even though I take forever to reply to things and may want a more light-hearted, easy-to-reply-to thing every now and then.

what are your favorite types of interactions ?   See above and the question about genre, I guess?

what’s on your wishlist ?  what sorts of threads / plots / relationships are you craving right now ?   Hhh as of now I’m hitting a bit of a wall in terms of plots/relationship ideas but yeah definitely more antagonistic relationships, some good ol’ hatred and rivalry, I also love writing Sniper post-retirement so that’s also a thing, I would love to do anything post-comics involving him moving on from his parents’ deaths (or trying to, it’s long, difficult and painful process), him helping someone, him getting involved in super heavy emotional stuff in general and having to deal with FEELS is always a great idea and uh ANYTHING on this goshdarn whislist on my personal blog right here.

tagged by:  @zweiherzen​ (ty nerd) tagging: You.

[morgantakestinder]

A Tinder-ific Christmas Down Under

If someone told me they were planning to fly for 25 hours to spend Christmas in Australia with a guy they met on Tinder (two and a half months prior) and his family, I’d say they were totally mad. So I guess in this case I’m totally and utterly mad.

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must be,” said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”   - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

But yes, despite some minor reservations that I could in fact be meeting a group of charming and charismatic serial killers who harvest organs for the black market, I flew all the way to Melbourne to my Christmas and New Year with Prost. And there is simply no way that I can do my trip justice in a blog post because how do you squeeze 8 days into a few paragraphs, but I’ll do my best with the highlights.

Mumma Prost 

It’s funny to think that all of this started with a blog post where I commented that I’d be so keen to meet his mum since she seemed to have raised such a gentleman. This was of course 100% true and Mumma Prost, as I’ll call her, is the epitome of both hostess and mum. Whether it was filling the car with Keith Urban and Christmas CDs for my drive from the airport, making gorgeous meals day in and day out, snapping perfect photos at every opportunity, or giving me firm but caring medical advice, she doesn’t do things half-assed. Frankly, I was a little intimidated when I first arrived because everything was so impeccable but I felt very welcome very quickly as Mumma Prost (and the entire family really) were very down-to-earth, laid-back, true blue Aussies. Probably the most lovely thing I can think of is how before I left she brought me some travel gifts including a new travel journal. I’m sure to most people a journal is just a journal but when I eventually fill up my current one and switch to my lovely new blue one, I’ll think very fondly of my time in Melbourne and the lovely people I’ve been able to meet.  Also low-key brag, but at one point she told me I was very photogenic, and considering that their entire family is actually beautiful this was basically the best compliment I’ve ever received and I’m holding on to it forever.

Melbourne

So about four and a half years ago I spent 3 days in Melbourne before embarking on a trip along the Great Ocean Road and then up through to the Red Centre in Australia (slightly ironic but it was this trip where I met Not The One.) Of all the places I visited, I was the least impressed with Melbourne. Maybe it was that I didn’t meet anyone or it was winter and cold or that I was homesick for Sydney but either way, I did not like it and really had no intention of going back. Flash forward and I now have about a dozen friends living there and I had skipped visiting on my last trip still. So to find myself in Melbs again all because a boy from Tinder thought he could change my mind on the city, is a tad funny, no? 

But having returned, I can say with all honesty that Melbs is pretty fantastic and has its own unique charm. Prost showed me all that Melbs had to offer. We saw cricket at the world renowned MCG. We had brunch in Fitzroy and wandered laneways for street art. We went to lovely St Kilda beach. And we explored beyond the city as well enjoying summer sunshine on the Mornington Peninsula, on Phllip Island, and in the Yarra Valley. Unlike many cities that offer up their best front and center to visitors, Melbourne is more protective of their treasures and you need to dig a little deeper to see the real gems. Having said that though, it helped to have such fantastic weather and an even more fantastic tour guide to show me around. 

Christmas 

As you can imagine, the highlight of the trip was definitely Christmas. Coming into it I was definitely feeling a bit anxious about meeting an entire set of family members and friends of my perpetual Tinder date, I guess we’ll call it since there’s no real term for whatever this is. This was intensified by the fact that I arrived at nearly midnight on Christmas Eve and Prost and I walked into a silent house so my first actual meeting with anyone was on Christmas morning. To add to my awkwardness Prost joked with me about the fact that I’d had sex twice in his parents’ house before even meeting them, ever the gentleman right? 

Christmas though was absolutely stunning and I was fairly good with learning lots of names quickly (teacher skills!) Both Prost and Mumma Prost ensured that my plate was overly full and wouldn’t let me sit down until we couldn’t fit anything else on it. The weather was fairly cool for an Aussie summer day but was perfect for me and there was sun so I was beaming. Plus between lunch, lots of card games, and pressies, we didn’t really spend much time outside. There was a highly dramatic moment though where during a lull in the late afternoon, the Christmas tree came crashing down sending ornaments flying and splashing water from the bowl on tons of paper wrapped gifts. Some ornaments were lost and some parcels needed quick unwrapping but once the tree was carted away everything was relatively fine. (Lucky pictures of their gorgeous tree had already been taken!) 

We finally sat down to open gifts and everyone seemed at least politely pleased with what I had brought for them - shopping for people you’ve never met is the most difficult task. Prost seemed happy with my gift to him: a scratch-off travel map to help him document his adventures. It felt a bit underwhelming though in my mind once I started opening pressies from him and his family, including beautiful Aussie animal ornaments, heaps of chocolates and biscuits, and the most over the top of all: a sunrise hot air balloon ride and wine tour in the Yarra Valley. If I hadn’t been in such complete shock, I would have sobbed right on the spot. I’d say that was the best part but the real cake topper was a lovely hand-drawn, hand-written card that meant everything to me. I could have gotten nothing else but that card and I’d have felt very lucky to be there. It was truly a Merry Christmas.

In Sickness and in Health

Oh also, I got horribly ill. Probably should mention that at some point! I was all well and good until the penultimate date of the year when I got terribly sunburnt from a cloudy day at the beach. Having lived in Australia previously and being super fair skinned I should know better but I was lax about putting on sunscreen that day and paid the price. So the next day when I had serious chills while wandering St Kilda even though it was warm and sunny out, I chalked it up to a bit of sun poisoning. But once we got home and I could barely lay in bed without shaking, I caved and asked for a thermometer. Good thing too since I had a fever of 39 degrees (that’s 102 for you American folk.) Around this same time, I also started getting pain in my side, a worrying moment if you have kidneys as bad as mine. Luckily, Prost’s parents are a surgeon and nurse and despite the fact that it was NYE, they wrote me a script and picked it up so that I could get on antibiotics asap. They also told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to fly home. Now clearly, I’d have loved to spend more time in Australia but that would have caused all kinds of work headaches. Unfortunately, my ill health killed our NYE plans and Prost stayed home with me while I basically just slept on the couch, insisting that I had to be up at midnight. The next day was little better and we were basically house-bound except I managed to feel well enough to go for a swim. Through all of this though, Prost and Mumma Prost looked after me with tender loving care and despite it being a real bummer at least I got sick at the end and not the beginning!

Prost

I guess this is the most important part, the pièce de résistance: how did things go with Prost? Well, I’m oddly not sure how to answer that. If you had asked me while I was there, I would have told you about how effortless things seem to be when we’re together and how much I loved waking up next to him every morning. But I guess when you look back at it, you have a much more critical eye. We had great sex (multiple times a day), but was that the main reason for being there? I bloody hell hope not since I could have had sex without flying half way round the world! One day that really stood out to me was when we went to the cricket and I met a half dozen of his mates from high school. I was a bit nervous since I thought it would be really awkward but I felt like things were quite cheery and genial and not a hair out of place while there. I guess in my mind, if someone holds your hand the whole time while out with their friends, they’re clearly happy to have you there. On the opposite end of the spectrum though, was the day we went on the hot air balloon ride. The ride itself was phenomenal - one of the highlights of my year - but afterwards we went to brekkie and one of the gals from the ballooning company asked us if we were in a long distance relationship. I said we were “nothing right now” and Prost said we were “just friends.” And it cut me deep to the core. I adore my friends but I don’t spend two days travelling to meet their families and spend Christmas with them. Although, in retrospect, my answer was no better or nice sounding. And to his credit, Prost actually brought up the awkward encounter a few days later. But at that point I was sick and kind of brushed it off. 

It was the most incredible holiday. I was totally blessed to be able to visit Australia for a second time this year and to see Melbourne in a different light. Prost and his family were so lovely to me and I felt humbled by all their hospitality. I should be grateful for every moment of this experience. Yet, at the same time, that gratitude is clouded by the lack of closure best described by me when talking to Prost I called us “something else” because I don’t know what else we could be. I’m not good at saying goodbye and that departures area at the airport before security is never kind to me, especially when you get blown a kiss by someone who you’re not sure you’ll see again. 

I guess the practical thing to do now would be to get back on Tinder and start swiping anew. But it’s really hard to put your heart into something when you’re missing a piece, and my piece was left in Melbourne.

[mercedesbarnes]

tag game(s)

there’s a few tag games i’ve been meaning to do, so here we go! 

thanks for the tags @barnres , @retroasgardian, and @theassetseyeliner 💖

About Me  

1) Nicknames: chrissy, cass, c, my last name 2) Gender: female 3) Star Sign: libra 4) Height: 5’6” 5) Time: 12:45am 6) Birthday: oct 14 7) Favorite Band: hedley, bon jovi, the heavy 8) Favorite Solo Artist: rihanna, beyonce, khalid, niall horan, harry styles, p!nk 9) A song stuck in my head: no lie by sean paul and dua lipa 10) Last movie I watched: thor: ragnarok 11) Last show I watched: parks and recreation 12) When did I create this blog: january? didn’t use it much until may-ish 13) What do I post: marvel, marvel cast, stranger things, hp, photography, animals, a lot of random stuff  14) Last thing I googled: information for an assignment 15) Do I have any other blogs: yes 16) Do I get asks: sometimes 17) Why I chose my url: bucky went swimming to rescue steve from the river  18) Following: 220 19) Followers: nearly 700 what is y’all doin 20) Average hours of sleep: 5-6 21) Lucky number: 87 22) Instruments: recorder, saxophone 23) What am I wearing: hoodie and sweatpants, my room is chilly 24) Dream job: something that will let me travel and write about it  25) Dream trip: i wanna go everywhere but 1st to come to mind is machu picchu 26) Favorite food: hummus 27) Nationality: canadian 28) Favorite song:  too many, i’ll just name the one i’m listening to at the moment: fixed by new hope club

11 questions (x2)

post the rules

answer the questions given to you by the tagger

write 11 questions of your own

tag 11 people

Cel’s questions: 

1. are you a history or maths person? why do you prefer the one you chose?

i used to hate history, despise it even, because it was so dry in school. now i’ve found i love understanding about the motivations and choices that people make in certain situations, because history is always being written! my friends and i often have discussions about how the past is relating to the current political climate so i’m getting more invested. 

also i have to do math for my degree and i think doing hundreds of problems while simultaneously grumbling at the previous owner of the textbook for ripping out the answer page does chip away at the magic of it...

2. you’re lost at sea. what is your first reaction: do you panic or do you remain calm?

i’d like to say i’d be calm but to be honest i’d probably yell with my head underwater for a few minutes to get out the frustration (how did i get lost??) before calming down. i can swim and am relatively patient so i feel like i’d be okay in the end

3. are you a dog person or a cat person?

4. what is your favourite song?

SOS by Rihanna but ask me on another day and the answer will be different

5. what movie do you watch when it’s cold and cloudy outside?

harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban

6. your go-to breakfast food?

omelettes! 

7. on average, how many hours of sleep would you say you get every night?

*laughs tiredly* i’d say around 5-6 hours? 

8. you have the chance to eat dinner with an actor of your choice. who do you choose?

give me a dinner with Sebastian Stan or Gina Rodriguez. 

i want to hear Sebastian’s thoughts on the world, its future, every single detail he has on approaching his characters, what motivates him in a business designed to profit off of people’s failure. how to pick yourself up from rejection or hardship.  i’d thank him for speaking so openly about mental health and enjoy dinner with a grade A dude. 

with Gina, i’d want to know her thoughts about the political climate and the world as a whole, being a role model, about breaking glass ceilings left right and center, her skincare routine (she really did wake up like this! flawless!) maybe ask her to teach me a bit about rapping. mostly, i’d like the chance to thank her for her beautiful performances in jane the virgin and constant advocacy for the latinx culture and body positivity. 

both seem like great conversationalists.

9. where do you eat dinner with that actor?

i’d go somewhere not too upscale, with good food and a chill environment. somewhere we can relax and just talk openly.

10. stars or rainbows?

stars. 100%. there's something about looking up on a dark night sky knowing that you're small compared to the world and your decisions don't stop it from turning. also it’s a cool feeling to know that there's always something in the universe to explore.

11.you’re chosen for a superhero experiment.  do you let yourself be experimented on or do you reject the chance to change your life? keep in mind, you don’t know what the outcome could be.

nah...as much fun as being a superhero would be (that is if the experiment goes well), i’m okay where my life is right now. i’ll watch the superheroes on the screen!

April’s questions:

1. favorite snack?

a bougie snack i wish i could have at all times?? brookside chocolates

2. sour or sweet? honey or sugar on your tea? snickers or mars?

sweet (exception: sour skittles), honey, mars 

3. if you could have back one item that you no longer have, what would it be?

my dad’s old record player. he has the biggest collection of records i’ve ever seen, and i vividly remember hearing The Beatles playing on vinyl whenever i came home from school. we got another but it’s not quite the same, you know?

4. favorite perfume?

sweet fuchsia from La Senza 

5. what is your favorite patisserie?

chocolate eclairs

6. where would you go if you owned a plane but it can only make two trips?

I LOVE THIS QUESTION

okay, so first i’d fly to London and see the wizarding world of harry potter. after exploring the UK, i’d hop on trains to explore the entirety of Europe, these countries and all in between: Belgium, up to Sweden via the Netherlands, down to the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, then Italy to Portugal, Germany, Austria, through France (a quick pit stop to get eclairs) and back to my plane.  for the second trip i’d fly to Peru and climb Machu Picchu because that’s numero uno on my bucket list and i’m dying to go backpacking in South America

7. how many stuffed animals you currently own?

i think 6? they’re cool, one’s named bucky

8. do you have a favorite poem?

my favourite poem is one written by a friend, but another i love is Still I Rise by Maya Angelou.  anything by her, really.

9. what words would you teach a parrot to say, if you owned one?

“what would you do for a klondike bar” to every person who visits?? 

10. take my breath away or every breath you take?

take my breath away  

11. if you could rock any hairstyle, which one would you choose?

i tend to keep my hair past my shoulders...so i’d probably go short

my questions! 1) Which day of the year do you look forward to most? 2) Desert island snack: which would you pick out of chips, chocolate or candy? 3) If you could learn any language in the world, which language would it be? why? 4) Given the choice on a date, would you rather go see a movie, a play, or a musical? 5) If you had unlimited time and money, what would you do with it? 6) Aliens have invaded the earth. How would you react? For example, would you be afraid of them, want to learn from them, or be the first to declare war? 7) What's your favourite kind of weather? 8) Would you rather be able to control time or control the elements? 9) Which genre of film is your go-to?   10) What would you do for a klondike bar? 11) Singing or dancing? Gold or silver? Fairy lights or candles?

tagging: @modestlyconfused @buckys-fossil @jurassicbarnes @whyisbuckyso @tessiethompson @theassetseyeliner @buchonians @parkerstcr @buckyywiththegoodhair @sebashtiansatan @sanjariti 

feel free to do one, the other, or none at all!

[jchichibu]

Everything about my exchange in Europe/Sweden.

Hej!!! (is it too long never hej someone already)

It’s been almost 4 months since I have been back from my exchange at Umeå University in Sweden and everything has been moving so quickly ever since I was back. Firstly, I was back on 16 January 2016, which means school in NTU has actually already started. My last exam in Sweden was 15 Jan :( Secondly, transitioning back to $tre$$fuLyf3 Singapore education isn't the easiest thing to do right after a 7.5-month break from NTU. Thirdly, having cleared very little/very lame AUs during exchange, I wanted to focus a lil more this sem. Hence I had to chuck the idea of wanting to blog something about my exchange till when I've got more time.

And now that finals are ended, LAO NIANG CAN SIT DOWN AND SAY WHAT I WANT 'CUZ EXCHANGE WAS THE DAMN BIG THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!!!!!

Ok that being said, I'm not going to make this like a travelogue/tips on how to travel on a budget because I really am not the best person travelling (but i do have a friend, buttergoesbudget) because I have literally forgotten many places that I'd been to and eaten at, and I wasn't the biggest/best saver. 

However having made quite a lot of mistakes during exchange, what I've got here are my experiences from exchange and I hope to share to whoever who wants to read, and hopefully will be useful for those heading to Europe/Sweden for exchange :) Also pardon my limited vocab and simple compo writing, I shall just pen my thoughts as if I'm talking to someone irl ok LOL

Some background story...

current major | Mathematics and Economics (NTU SPMS) year of exchange | Year 3 Semester 1, Autumn semester place of exchange | Umeå, Sweden host university | Umeå University (I took economics mods there, they do not offer many math mods) duration of exchange | 3 Aug 2015 to 15 Jan 2016

I shall skip the preliminaries such as how to go on an exchange, course matching etc 'cuz I've forgotten LOL and jump into my 10 things I think will be useful for those going exchange! Ok here we go.

1) Air tickets (from and to Singapore)

Vanessa and I actually got our deal from STA Travel, which mainly includes:

Qatar Airlines 

Stopover at Dubai

Ticket from Singapore to Rome

Ticket from Stockholm to Singapore

1 change of date back to Singapore FREE

40KG baggage limit

Max stopover was maybe at most 2 hours, wasn't long at all

We also got our ISIC (International Student Identity Card) done for FREE as a complementary (usual cost about sgd 25 I think). I thought owning this card was definitely not an essential but it was nice to have it as I did receive some good deals via ISIC card (you can check their discounts at different countries in their website).

I got my 2-way tickets for SGD 1440. I am quite sure this isn't the cheapest. But the 1 change of date and 40kg baggage limit were useful because I did change my flight back once and my baggage was freakin' on-the-dot 40kg. So don't underestimate these benefits included!

2) Pre-trip planning

I'm typing more for pre-trip because the time period is kinda more predictable than the trips in between school. Maybe some ideas to help you kickstart planning for your pre-trip! After your pretrip, I'm pretty damn sure your other trips will be much easier to plan (or even last min!)

Travel mates:Initially the pre-trip only consisted of Van and I, but Hui Cheng and Yi Jin joined in :)

It was just 4 girls and I think it was a good number because too many people sibei mafan, but too little people quite dangerous. My parents had concerns about only 4 girls travelling but I guess they were ok after a while. But of course, always nice to have some guys around!

Choosing where to visit: We all did not have any preferences to places to go as everyone haven't been to Europe before. Hence we simply followed the common route most people do, we planned on: Rome → Venice → Florence → Pisa → Cinque Terre → Milan → Paris → Amsterdam So basically there was no particular reason how we chose our route, but for those who are as new to Europe as us, I must say it was a doable and fun route. And for suaku me, being able to witness The Colosseum, Vatican City, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, Green light district of Amsterdam and Anne Frank House within 2.5 weeks was definitely sth familiar yet Europey to me! And can haolian to people you've been there seen those *flips hair*

However, the only bad part was probably the weather. On our first few days, it was super hot like 37°C during the daytime (early Aug) when we arrived at Rome (Singapore felt incomparable) (or was it) and I legit had a heatstroke-feeling-moment when I was in the Colosseum. But the nights are pretty chilly which was good. And then, within like 2 weeks or so, it was starting to get really cold by the time we were in Amsterdam (mid August). Cinque Terre vs Amsterdam within 2 weeks: From wearing like this...

to wearing like this.

So the weather changes up pretty quickly due to the how the seasons change, something not every Singaporean will understand (ie, me before exchange) and it gets quite unpredictable. Which means, you need to pack your summer and slightly warming clothing. But I managed through lower temperatures in Paris and Amsterdam with my baseball jacket and beanie (which I bought there). One note is that perhaps starting from lower parts of Europe (Spain, Portugal etc) can be a good alternative pre-trip route too, so as to get used to the temperatures in Europe and also the temperatures do not flactuate too much.

Duration of trip: We travelled from 3 August 2015 to 21 August 2015 (about 18 days). It was a good duration for me, not too long, not too short. But can I say I got a little sick of moving from place to place every few days :( Remember you are new to travelling for a relatively long time and travelling is not always rainbows and unicorns, it really gets tiring. 

This was the days spent in each city and my comments wrt the duration:

Rome- 5D4N: Had to adjust body clock, set aside time to settle my luggage matters and a full day in Vatican city. There were many things to see in Rome so duration was ok

Venice- 3D2N: duration was sufficient

Florence- 4D3N: too long LOL for me. I thought Florence was pretty normal only haha

Pisa- 3+HRS: too short LOL could have spent a lil longer but definitely less than a day. Although we only wanted to see the Leaning Tower in Pisa, taking the perfect shot of it took a loOooooOoong time and the distance by foot from Tower to train station was about 20min

Cinque Terre- 3D2N: loooove this place, wouldn't mind an extra day or 2 to properly visit all the islands! And even chill in the beaches

Milan- 8HRS: was a stopover so we did not do much actually besides eating and shopping at train station haha

Paris- 4D3N: would have liked an extra day to visit Disneyland!!! :( (which is quite a distance from the central Paris)

Amsterdam- 4D3N: duration was ok

Modes of transportation: For the route we took specifically, we took trains all the way. We used Raileurope to find the cheapest timings for each city. It is like a skyscanner for trains. And the trains were really great tbh!!!

So definitely take trains, takes about 2 to 4 hours between cities and they were ok priced I guess.

One of the perks will definitely be that the trains bring you to the city centre, which is always useful. 

Also, trains have no limits on baggage weight!!!!

We also got adventurous and tried the overnight sleeper train (Thello) from Milan to Paris. Comfort-wise, I was sleeping at the bottom deck in a 6-couchette, closest to the tracks, slept the entire night lol. I think they had blankets too! Price-wise, it wasn't the cheapest but definitely an experience! Safety wise, we were 4 friends in a 6-people cabin, and the other 2 being a mother and a young daughter. So we were lucky as they looked pretty harmless. I just placed my luggage filled with clothes in the unlocked storage area in the cabin and kept my belongings close to me like near my boobs when I slept. Also, the cabin door could be locked from inside. I advise to always have more of your own people than strangers in the couchette if possible, always safer this way! Initially we were wondering to try the eurail pass but I think we did not as it was only more worth it if we were taking the 1 month pass. But do compare the prices!

Another useful website to find out where are the best routes to take from a city to another is rome2rio.

Accommodations: We booked through airbnb. We mostly got a whole apartment to ourselves as we had 4 people, which was easier to find airbnbs for. Sometimes the airbnbs were for 3 people but had extra charge for extra person and worked out fine for us. So do consider that. We were looking for somewhere convenient, affordable and had good reviews. Tbh we just tried our luck with the area of the airbnb and basically was ok as long as the airbnb is near a subway or near some place of interest. It helps that airbnb now has the feature where the airbnbs are geotagged on a map with their pricing. 

Some better airbnbs/hostel that we stayed and were pretty decent in terms of location and airbnb itself were: Venice: link Florence: link Paris: link Amsterdam: link

In all, we basically we booked our train tickets, flight tickets and accommodation prior to the trip a few months before! Train ticket prices shouldn't change too much so tbh no need book so fast, same for airbnbs. But book earlier if you already have plans, try not to do last minute bookings as good airbnbs/train timings may not be available.

Administration: As there are travel mates with u and everyone may be paying/booking different things, do set up Googledocs with your travel mates for all the important documents, like train tickets, airbnb receipts and itinerary. This keeps accounting easier and ensures no tickets/receipts are lost. To be honest, it gets quite messy trying to split costs etc so it's always nice to write down who paid for what for future references when everyone needs to start paying! Don't care if your friends think you damn lame, IT JUST MAKES EVERYTHING NEATER because there will be so many tickets and receipts to remember. They will thank you next time lol. Another advise is to divide the workload if possible, so everyone in charge of finding accommodation/transport for different cities respectively. Divide the workload, lessen the mistakes, eliminate the possibility that one person has to tank all the errors LOL.

One mistake I made was to book the wrong month for our Paris airbnb, and to only realise after that and the cancellation policy was strict :( SO PLEASE CHECK AND CHECK TO ENSURE EVERYTHING IS CORRECT FOR YOUR TICKET, ACCOMMODATION EVERYTHING! DON'T TAKE CHANCES.

3) Packing list for exchange

I waited till the super last minute to pack my luggage as I returned from Japan just less than a week before flying off for exchange. And I was lazy (so Claria had to help me overnight haha <3). But really hor, I think if can pack earlier. Just start throwing stuff you think you need during exchange into your luggage as and when. You don't want to be rushing and be anxious about forgetting something important. 

Something I forgotten to bring was, MY FREAKING GRAPHIC CALCULATOR. And I am a Math and Econs student. *come I clap for you* So yes, just please remember to bring, you don't want to buy one there.

I basically followed this checklist for advise on what to bring. I thought it was useful to help me get started.

And after experiencing exchange myself,

These are what I think you SHOULD NOT bring:

Maggie mee/ cup noodles: It is damn ding dey (occupy a lot of space, esp the bowl cup noodles) The asians shops have it. And bringing 5 packets over wouldn't last you entire exchange lolol. For Sweden, ICA sells them!!!! So don't worry if you really craving for it.

Too much milo packets: tbh I wasn't craving milo too much, mostly gave milo away for my international friends to try. I mean, milo is really yummy (milo fan 5eva) everyone should try it. However, that being said, one big packet will do for your friends to share. I brought 2 packets and it was SUPER HEAVY. I carried all my food around during pretrip it was extremely troublesome. Will explain why below.

Too many Singaporean-y food: I know you miss your food but just bring some to cook for your international friends! Go enjoy the food over there since you're in Europe! And also, if you really need some oyster sauce or whatever, just buy it from Asian supermarkets. You definitely have one nearby you. 

New winter wear just for exchange: I did not have any winter wear prior to exchange, and I bought myself some Uniqlo fleece hoodie and 2 turtlenecks. Think those were neccessary, sufficient and pretty affordable. But if you do not have winter jackets and will hardly experience winter anytime soon after exchange like me, just buy them from thrift stores when you reach your city! There are usually a large variety and muuuuuch cheaper for a substantial one. Scored myself a reasonably warm black jacket. But also, thrift shopping is possible only if you are ok with wearing used stuff! :)

Boots: If you do not have those Timberland boots or whatever, no need to buy just to walk on snow. Because when the snow comes and it gets all slippery and shit, these boots still make you fall. If you have them already, bring them as they definitely are better than normal sneakers. But if you do not own them already, don't bother buying them. Get the detachable spikes when you are at a snowy place!

These are what I think you SHOULD bring:

Running shoes: You need to exercise in exchange. Lol

Wifi router: I stayed in a school dormitory hence I was glad I brought my router so I had access to wifi the first day there. It is cheaper to bring it from Singapore!

Coffee packets from Singapore: I'm speaking for people going to Sweden for exchange. Swedish enjoy coffee, so bringing some good kopi packets for them to try may actually be very useful and nice.

Party wear: Not chao clubber but there are parties and parties to go when you are on exchange, so you may consider bringing some dresses/skirts that will keep you warm for the girls so you look presentable and ready to party!

Extra credit card: My parents got me another UOB Lady's Mastercard, on top of my existing POSB card which I usually draw my money with. I put my POSB card in my wallet and my UOB card somewhere else in my bag. The POSB card is for normal usage while the UOB serves as a backup in the case when I lose my wallet/card. This will kinda of save all the trouble of your parents having to send you money from Singapore and you will never be penniless/have insufficient money. This UOB Mastercard merely serves as a backup financially, it's always good to have extra "capabilities" to pay up. lol

Body pouch: Yes, those lao kok kok one that your parents may force you to use. Surprisingly 3 out of 4 of us actually wore it throughout our pretrip. I kept some extra cash and my passport in it and strap it close to my body.

Sling bag: I carried my crossbody bag throughout my trip and put it in front of me ALWAYS. I kept my wallet, handphone and iPad in this bag and constantly checked to ensure these 3 things are in it. Do not put too many junk in your bag, so you can just touch your bag to know that these 3 things are inside. I check my bag like 10 times or more a day not even kidding, better be safe than sorry because some European countries can be really unsafe! Even when we were travelling in trains, this crossbody is always with me. I do not put my valuables in my luggage. I mean if people want to steal my luggage they can la, they can have my clothes lo. Do remind each other about checking your belongings too, am thankful no one I travelled with lost anything.

Wide angle lens/fisheye lens: Good for taking photos with your friends and the whatever chio thing y'all trying to take with, that is if you do not own a DSLR like me!

Some nice things that represent Singapore that you want to share with your international pals: For example, chicken rice paste, chilli crab paste, NTU shirt, NTU file, etc

This list is definitely not exhaustive. Refer to the post above for a more detailed one (I used that checklist to prepare for my trip!).

4) Transporting your hugeass luggage from Singapore to host university

I'm talking about the luggage with 6 months worth of supplies. As my university was in the northern parts (read: ulu) of Sweden, it was quite expensive just to get a flight ticket, fly there, leave my luggage, then proceed for  my pre-trip. Furthermore, my room was not ready yet and I would not have a room to store my luggage. And I did not have a friend living in Sweden or whatsoever.  What Van and I did was, we brought our luggage (we had 40KG baggage limit for our flight from Singapore to Rome) to Rome and from Rome, we hired a door-to-door bagagge delivery service, sendmybag.com. It was definitely cheaper to send it from Rome to Umea, than from Singapore to Umea. We liased with our host uni prior to flying off and they agreed to collect our luggage for us and safekeep it for us in the general office. We had to print this tag and paste it in on our luggage, so do bring some tape! We also managed to find a printing shop nearby to print our tags. One bad thing is that they do not deliver food items, which explains why I had to carry all my cup noodles and milo packets around, throughout my entire pretrip TMD. Ended up eating all my Hello Panda even before I reached Sweden LOL. And also, gels, liquids etc are not allowed. You can read more on their website! Another bad part is that they did not tell us when they were coming to our Rome airbnb to collect our luggage, but instead gave us a time range, which was pretty much the whole day. That was why we actually allocated more time in Rome. So we have decided to wait in our airbnb for the delivery man to come collect our luggages. And thankfully (I still rmb we shrieked) the man came to collect at about 12pm so this means more time to explore Rome!!! Apparently, our luggage got delivered safely to our host uni and to Yi Jin's and Hui Cheng's apartment. Do remember to lias properly with the person in charge of collecting your luggage, don't cock up! But once our luggage was delivered and received, ALL WAS GOOD FROM THEN!!! I think I paid about 160SGD for the service.

Other alternatives is to place it in a friend's house first then fly for your trip, place it in your apartment if it's ready then fly for your trip or send it straight from Singapore a few days before you get your room. Please don't think of carrying your bigass luggage around please, IT'S REALLY DAMN TURN OFF TO CARRY SUCH HEAVY THINGS AROUND.

5) Packing list for pre-trip

For pretrip, just pack what is required because heavy luggages really makes travelling very sian. I expect a pretrip to be around July to end August, which is the season of transition from summer to autumn and sometimes the weather change is drastic. You don't need your winter coat yet, a hoodie and thermal should be enough. For a rough idea, what I suggest is: Thermals, 1 jeans, 1 shorts, 1 long pants, 2 cooling tops, a dress, 2 warm clothes, slipper, sneakers, socks, a good hoodie/jacket, beanie, AND SCARF if you want. I swear a scarf keeps u sooooo damnnnnnnn warm. This was about what I brought for my pretrip of 18 days. I kept my clothes highly matchable with one another. HAHA and I think I was pretty ok dressed for photos ;)

6) Phone services and banking services abroad

Different countries have different SIM cards, so if you were to travel so many places it would be expensive to get SIM cards for every country you visit. I mean you can also la. For me, I did not buy any SIM card for any country/city I visited. I just relied on wifi and I did not have any problem. Wifi are usually available in food places you visit, Macs and sometimes even the public transport. So this makes marking out on Googlemaps where you want to go before leaving your house very important. I kept my Singapore number and phone service so I am always contactable by my family. For my solo trip, I constantly kept in touch with my family via SMS. My dad decided to keep the line too, so that if I ever need to call them or anyone, I can do so. And I also did not get a Swedish number. LOL. But my city was really tiny without metro whatsoever so I wasn't actually very bored travelling from one place to another that I needed to use my phone. The prepaid card wasn't that expensive but it only limited me to call within Sweden, which apparently is quite useless for me because I don't have anyone to call to. The data plan was slightly pricier and not so worth it.

I relied solely on wifi throughout my entire exchange and travelling.

With regards to how I got cash, I did not open a Swedish bank account because it was just for 6 months. Instead, I withdrew money (5000SEK was maximum, about 840SGD) each time using my POSB bank account from their ATM. This can last me for quite long if I did not travel. Sweden is also a highly cashless country, so you can just use Mastercard for the cheapest thing in the supermarket. I understand that I lose out in the exchange rate and all, but ya, just sharing with you guys how I did banking while on exchange. Of course, I do have many friends who open bank accounts in other cities/countries.

7) While travelling

This is just some (read: MANY MANY) random tips I have for travelling in general, like anytime you travel!!! They may be very random/small/common-sensical as I'm just typing out whatever pops up from my head.

1. Always keep your train tickets/air tickets/airbnb itinerary/impt documents in your ipad or phone before leaving your house. You do not know if you have wifi outside so please save everything before leaving home. 2. Some airlines allow for digital tickets (ie, just show your airticket from phone can already) but some strictly only allows for hard copy air tickets. 3. Train tickets are basically ok if in soft copies. And you can buy your train tickets on the spot for city to city. So don't worry if last minute you missed your train etc! Still same price I think. But buy beforehand if possible. 4. RYANAIR requires Singaporeans to do a visa check before boarding. So you need to get a stamp at the ryanair booth before going to the boarding gate. Leave some time for that! They will state you need to check your visa in the ticket, read carefully! 5. Always keep your bags in front of you. Don't ever put it behind you. 6. Always put minimal valuables with you, and always check for them. Remind your friends too whenever leaving a place. It's the time to be naggy and paranoid. Chances are, if you lose sth you will never find it back. 7. Do not be too kind and help other people. I think everyone has heard enough pickpocketing stories. Don't go dark alleys in the night, be smart! 8. Try to collect all dem geotags on Snapchat. I mean, why not since you there already! 9. TAKE MANY PHOTOS AND VIDEOS!!!! The photos of my travelling still brings back fond memories and You Are A Tourist Just Do Your Thang!!! Chances are, you will not come back anymore so just take photos. But do be mindful of the time you take to get that perfect shot la ok, I mean those who I travelled with were really just looking to take nice touristy step shots with our samsung or iphone. But if you are those into professional photography and wouldn't mind spending half a day to take that one perfect shot, do see if your friends are on the same page with u! 10. Don't be specially on a hunt to buy soveniers for your family and friends. You can buy some along the way but don't be like on a full force hunt for them. To be honest I could not find many good soveniers that I feel were useful and worthy of the price. If something looks nice and affordable for a large bunch of people back home, just get them. So at least you solved your sovenier issue because trust me, there isn't many good soveniers la LOL. For me, I got 1 thing from some cities I went to, which were mostly small and not too pricey. Then I put them into goodiebags for my friends, so they get a range of soveniers from different places. Some ideas are, chocolates from Belgium, Eiffel Tower keychain from Paris, chio keychains from London, teabags from London and Ikea meatball sauce from Sweden. 11. Try sandermans free walking tours. Book in advance although you can just show up at their meeting point if you did not book (however at Prague they only allowed people who book to join because the crowd was overwhelming). The tours usually give me insights and interesting facts about the city and most of the time I'm not disappointed!! They are free tours and you pay how much the tour guide deserves after the tour has ended. We usually each give 5 euros or more each, don't be cheapskate and pay nothing la!!! 12. Googlemaps is da bombz. Prior to the trip I did not really use googlemaps. So for those who do not know what it is, lemme tell you the greatness of this feature. Save all your locations that you want to go before you start the day (you need wifi for this) and you get all the pins to plan your day. Most of the places of interests are really walkable, so once you get a rough gauge of what you are doing for the day, head out. To know how to walk from point A to B, switch on your gps (no wifi needed) and follow the route. TADA. Ok you may think this is stupid but I really did not know about it till I was there. I hardly got lost with googlemaps. 13. Be flexible with the itinerary. Don't tire everyone out with a full day pack plan. Enjoy the company and the places, that's more important. 14. If you need wifi, go to MacDonalds!!!! You may need to buy something to get the wifi password but ok, worth it. Saved my life many times. 15. Pay an entrance fee for something only if you want to. Some entrance fees may be pricey, so only go in if you want. Then again, don't sting on it if most of your friends want to visit. I mean, you are already there so just go in! Do take note if there are discounts using your ISIC card. I elaborate if you should or not visit some attractions below! 16. Try not to break the rules. I sound damn toot for saying this but sometimes, just pay for the bus or train if you need to. My friends and I paid for most of our trips ('cept in Prague, you really do not need to pay for the trains LOL nobody pays and nobody cares) like any good citizen would and I think it makes me less paranoid about train attendants coming to spot check on us and whatnot. In Cinque Terre, we did not pay for our bus and I swear the bus attendant came in one stop before we had to alight. I forgot what happened but I rather play on the safe side so I don't get hurt~~~ 17. Allocate more time to travel to the airport. DON'T DO LAST MINUTE BOARDING OF THE PLANES. You do not want to miss your flight because of security checks man. Don't try to think you have a lot of time, go about 1.5 hours before the flight. Some airports really do have extremely looOoooOong wait for security checks, like London. And rmb for Ryanair we need to get our visa checked. 18. Be a good travel buddy. It may feel like a fun getaway with your pals but sometimes when you are to spend 24/7 with them, their habits may not be in sync with what you like. This may be worst travelling with people you do not really know. Learn to be more accomodating, but voice out your opinions and preferences if needed. Know each other's spending habits, level of cleanliness, dietary preferences, whether they are on the more careless side or more laid back side, or even come to a consensus on what time you guys want to wake up... And try to work things out. It does help to have a bigger heart, yet rmb to be firm when it comes to serious matters like safety and train and flight timings. But then again, I had not much problem with those whom I travelled with HAHA. I think maybe I was the good travel buddy then *flips hair 19. Be adventurous and try new things, like new food, talk to new people, experience new activities but always be safe. I regretted not going skydiving before it colder, but I did not regret trying rabbit meat (sorry) in Prague, dressing up as Snow White in London, solo-trippin' in Helsinki and Tallin, cliff-jumping in Cinque Terre, random talking to some Korean and Chinese people under the Colosseum in Rome, 2eur cheap sexy thrill and smokin' in Amsterdam, iceskating in a Christmas market in Berlin and many more! 20. Be accountable to your parents because while you are having fun in Europe, trust me, your parents are worried sick back in Singapore. Even if you are a guy. Just ensure you always tell them which city you are at and let them know when you leave and return to your airbnb. Don't go mia because you are just making your parents more worried! This is the least you can do for them. 21. Try to be safe. I haven't couchsurfed or hitched a hike because mostly I travelled with girls and my parents are not that fond of the idea. I mean, I did not mind not having this experience too because my parents always tell me scary stories la. But if you ever do, I just want you to rmb to be safe and do these with caution. I mean if you alone one girl, try not to couchsurf or hitch a hike if got nothing la. Am I too naggy? 22. Be mindful of the luggage limits when you are taking a plane. It's damn expensive to pay extra baggage in the airport. Try not to bring too many unnecessary things, and wear your thickest clothings on your body to save space. I remember sweating like dog but had to wear my winter jacket on my body LOL. I did my travelling without any extra baggage, so everything handcarry (I didn't even own those bagpacking dk how many litres kind of bag). So really travel light, and try not to buy unneccesary things. I resisted myself so much at London :( 23. Get a good thick scarf!!! In extremely cold places I give credit to my scarf for protecting my coldass face. 24. Always bring a charged extra battery or portable charger to remain contactable by your parents, for directions purposes and to take photos. 25. Spend when you need, scrimp when you can. Don't go all budgety for every single thing you do there, spend on an entrance ticket for a place of interest you want to, splurge on a good meal if your friends want to. Rmb, since you are already in Europe, just enjoy yourself. Of course, don't spend money like it's free. Scrimp by going to the nearby grocery store to get breakfast and snacks for when you are hungry. Or take a walk instead of taking the metro or bus, anything within 5km of walking is definitely manageable. 26. Collect something from every city if you want! For me, I collected Snapchat geotags and postcards. 27. Be aware of the bus/flight/train timings! Just a personal experience. I was waiting for my overnight bus from Stockholm to Umea alone and was actually 1 hour early for my bus at 9pm. However, I was waiting and was so engrossed on my phone that I just missed the timing of my bus. Apparently the bus has left without me and I had to stayover at Macs, waited till 8am the next day for a 9-hr bus ride back. Waste money, wasted time and made my parents worry. Just be mindful that buses and trains are actually pretty damn accurate SO DON'T MAKE STUPID MISTAKES. 28. Singaporeans are really not that uncommon in Europe, you sorta can recognise that they are Singaporeans. Always nice to seek help from them if you need. I mean, always nice to talk to Singaporeans when you are so far away from home! 29. Document your exchange life on instagram, fb or even a blog. I'm glad I posted my feelings/things I did on exchange on Instagram because reading them now just gives me all the good vibes, and it reminds of things that I may have forgotten. 30. Check-in online beforehand. Different airlines have different days prior to flight to check in, some 3 days, some 24 hours.

8) Next trip after school started

When I first started school I did not travel much because I want to fully integrate myself into life in Umea. Our uni had a buddy programme and I kinda joined and attended most of the activities. I studied too HAHA. I think it's quite important to familiarise and enjoy yourself in your city since you are already there! Then when you see a break you can try to plan for your first adventure :) As my area predominantly required a plane to travel out, I used skyscanner to search for the cheapest places to fly to from Stockholm. Skyscanner has this feature that allows you to fly "Everywhere". Then you plan from there lol I also asked my Swedish friends what is the best ways to travel out and sometimes they do have good tips to share, like how SAS Airlines has a youth discount.

Then once you are ready just BOOK IT, don't think too much. I actually booked my Iceland trip assuming to go all myself because I really wanted to visit Iceland. Think I got cheaper tickets because I booked several months in advance.

As for itinerary, you can do it on the day itself when you start your day of travelling hahahaha. That's what I usually do, but it's normally not as detailed and well-planned as your pre-trip would have been.

One stupid mistake I made while booking my flights was to suaku-ly assume that every country has only one freaking airport. I had to take a flight from Umea to Stockholm, then Stockholm to London. However, there are 2 airports in Stockholm but I was so blur, so I booked one from Umea to Aranda Airport and the other from Skavsta Airport to London. And yes, Aranda to Skavsta airport is like super far. But I had to suck it up and buy an additional bus ticket to travel that distance, alone. And had some little adventure which made me take a taxi instead...... moral of the story, be alert!

Also, try not to think that you can skip all the lessons. I had trouble catching up and had to dabao one mod, not the best scenario. So do travel during school time mindfully! Exchange really need to study one!!!!!!

9) Being on exchange in campus

Umea uni is one of the best rated universities for exchange students and I do agree with it. We have a buddy programme whereby it's similar to a OG system in Singapore context, with group leaders and activities planned out. Always be active on Facebook because events are usually posted there. Parties invitations are also posted on Fb so really remember to check on Facebook to avoid missing out fun activities. It may be quite intimidating talking to a bunch of angmohs at first but don't worry because we are brought up with English as our first language, so communication is not a barrier. In fact, other Europeans don't even speak English as well as we do. Even if you speak some (for me, a lot) of Singlish in your conversations with them, just try to teach them some Singaporean culture! But of course, try to speak proper English and we all can if we want to really. I think it is also nice to talk to Asians first, if that is within your comfort zone. My first few friends and closest friends are actually Koreans! It's also always fun to speak Mandarin to Hongkongers and Taiwanese for a start :) Speaking of first day of class, I was petrified as hell because I really hate to go meet new people all by myself. I was srsly feeling left out when I entered the classs because I was late lol and most of them have already begun talking to each other. And worst still, I was the only Asian. I rmb going to the toilet to sit down during break because I was just so not used to being friendless LOL. But in the end I did try to introduce myself to my classmates and as days passed by, it got waaayyyyy better. Thankfully my class was small of about 7 people, we even had parties together and even go for gym classes tgt. Another thing is to always be willing to join activities. I was pretty enthu to join any activity and attended any party I was invited to, and it got me exposed to many fun and interesting things. Sometimes you may be so lazy to go out but trust me, it's going to be better than you think! I also try to be myself, and be as outspoken as I can be. You now have a buffet of international exchange students from all over the world in front of you, why not just take the time to know their culture better? And maybe teach some hokkien bad words to your international friends lol.

For my school, we have a ebay on Facebook so people can sell and buy things. Do check those places out if you are interested to buy something but do not want to spend a lot.

Living by yourself in exchange also means lots of cooking. In Sweden, food is so expensive outside so I cooked almost every meal. I do not cook much in Singapore so it was actually pretty damn exciting to start making my own meals. I was more on the lazy side but you can be a masterchef here in exchange!

I also think exchange is a good time to set some personal goals. You are finally left to live by yourself without your family or any Singaporean friends, so it's just you and your discipline. I am regretful that I did not achieve my goal of losing weight LOL, because I drifted off so badly after my gym membership ended with my terrible eating habits. But I did exercise at least 4 times a week which was applaudable I suppose. Take this golden time of your life to make some changes, whether is it to eat better, exercise more, get that 6packs, lose weight, learn how to bake, learn how to knit, learn a new language... whatever it is. Exchange is actually a good time.

Lastly, stay in touch with your friends and family in Singapore. I was homesick for the first week and then never ever again LOL. But it always feels damn nice to skype/call/text those back home so that you stay in touch with their lives. Like really, seeing their faces just WARMS MY HEARTTTTT they have no idea.

10) Places I have visited throughout my exchange

This is just a summary of the places I've visited and my thoughts about them! I try to be as consized as possible, highlighting mainly the places YOU NEED TO GO, places YOU CAN DON'T NEED GO, duration at the city, accomodations I recommend and food to eat. ALSO I WENT ON THE SANDERMANS FREE WALKING TOUR WHENEVER I HAD TIME TO ON THE FIRST DAY WHEN I REACHED A CITY. They usually bring you to the highlights of the city and introduce the best things to do there.

Rome, Italy

3 August 2015 - 6 August 2015 Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill were side by side and there's a ticket that covers all 3 entrances. PAY FOR TICKET! Vatican City visit is a must!!! I'm not the most historical person but this place blew me away. Go get cheaper tickets from the stand outside and go there earlier because we reached late and the tickets were sold out. Paid for those seemingly scamming tours but oh wells, pretty worth it. You can also choose to queue up (crazy queue) at the St. Peter's Square to enter for free, but I think just pay la, THE SUN AND QUEUE WAS CRAZY. St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, etc.... Beautiful. PAY FOR TICKET! Pantheon was not bad but pales in comparison imo after I saw the churches in Vatican city lol. Spanish Steps is just steps... lor Trevi Fountain was renovating when we were there :( One famous gelato to try is Giolitti Gerlateria. It is walkable distance from the Pantheon! Not bad, just don't try g.nutella. HC and I chose it and totally regret 'cuz it was too damn dui (g stands for GAO, GAO NUTELLA)

Venice, Italy

7 August 2015- 8 August 2015 The only mode of transport in Venice is WATER TAXIS, ie they don't have cars/metro/buses. When you first reach Venice, buy their water taxi card depending on the number of days you are there for. It's quite pricey but no choice. I did not sit on a Gondola and think it is ok la, because really damn ex! There are 2 major islands in Venice, Burano and Murano. Murano is famous for its glass craftwork while Burano is the one with the colorful buildings. If you are short of time, give Murano a skip and just go to Burano. Murano got nothing much really unless you are into glass craftmanship! But can get a nice glass jewellery as a gift for your friends back though. Burano, on the other hand is super photogenic, just snap all your want and allocate more time here for some awesome shots. We had some time on hand so we went to Lido Beach too, which is awesome to see sunset. However, slightly out of way as it is the last stop of the water taxis. Nice spot to visit and chill if you've got some time. Food-wise, I Tre Mercanti is the place for yummy tiramisu. PISTACHIO ONE OMG. It's near to St Mark's Square, so just drop by for a taste!

Florence, Italy

9 August 2015 - 11 August 2015 Climb up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the beautiful sunset. Many people will already be there so be sure to reach early to grab a good spot and CAMP THERE. We reached pretty early but sat down and nua, to find out when the sun was setting, everyone freaking chiong and needed to squeeze a lil to get a good spot. Visit The Mall for outlet shops such as Gucci, MK, Prada etc. I got myself a MK bag and watch for a pretty decent price so yay! But take note it's quite a bus ride away from the city centre, and the price of the shuttle bus xiao ex. But since you are already on your way to getting yourself some luxury brands, don't hiam on the bus ticket LoL. Pointe Vecchio was pretty normal (right outside the airbnb I lived in!). Florence Cathedral was pretty unique and pretty to me! Florentine steak place to go is La Fettunta. It was my first time eating steak (lol) and it was yummy!!! And affordable too. Gelato choice is the famous Carapina!

Pisa, Italy

12 August 2016 We dropped by Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa :) Think of cool creative poses because everyone is doing the same ones. Also, be patient to take a nice photo because everyone gna photobomb you like every other famous attraction.

Cinque Terre, Italy

12 August 2015 - 13 August 2015 Can I say I super love this place?! It can easily be one of my favourite places throughout my entire exchange. I think I really liked the clear blue waters and the seafood and the sun and the swimming. However, it's quite hard to find airbnb there that was near to the islands. So book very early!! Ours was pretty damn faraway from all the beaches :( Cinque Terre consisted of 5 lands/islands and each land has a different feel to it. Wished I had more time to visit all of them. Only visited 3 (Manarola, Riomaggiore and Monterosso al Mare) in the end, and decided to stay at Riomaggiore 'cuz lesser people. It can get really crowded!!! Siao right, so crowded. Swim if you can! And cliffdive! And wear chio swimsuit! I got many scratches though because the rocks are super sharp but YOLOOOOOO.

Milan, Italy

14 August 2015 Nothing much happened as it was a stopover :(

Paris, France

15 August 2015 - 17 August 2015 Besides the Eiffel Tower, visit the Palace of Versailles! You need to take a more ex train because it's further away. The Palace was sadly closed when we were there :( But I heard it's really beautiful, at least the Gardens of Versailles which was opened gave me a good impression! One of my fav Sandermans walking tour was in Paris too! So definitely go for it. We then got tickets to Montparnasse, which is the highest point in Paris to view the Eiffel Tower and the city landscape at night. This was what we saw, and the ticket from Sandermans. I think can don't go up if wanna save! Just view it from below under the Eiffel Tower for free :) Near Mountparnasse though, there is a street filled with yummy pancake cafes. We wanted to visit La Crêperie de Josselin but it was closed the two times we were there. So we randomly visited one and it was still good. Just google for Josselin and you will find that street filled with all the pancake shops. I visited The Louvre museum too and got the tickets at 18euro to skip the line. Sadly, I was bored as hell and it was stuffy inside. Really no need to go in unless you really sibei artsy fartsy. I guess at least I can haolian that I saw the real Mona Lisa painting. But really quite bohua if you dk how to appreciate. A regret is not visiting the Disneyland Paris. It's a bit far away and we did not have time for it. Would totally wna visit it if I had a chance!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

18 August 2015 - 20 August 2015 I went for the Red Light District free tour by Sandermans again and it was interesting! I mean, the whole rld is really eye-opening because you finally get to see the fishtanks people talk about. NO PHOTOGRAPHY THOUGH!!! Don't be a ccb and stick to the rules ok, 'cuz I really saw one lady scolding a tourist who took photos super fiercely. Not fun. There's also a 2euro cheap thrill shop, where you see people do stuff in a container for a few minutes for just 2 Euro. Ok la yolo And for weed... try but rmb weed stays in your system for 4 days la I heard. Don't kena caught in airport. Visited the Anne Frank museum too! Read it in school before and it's just really cool to visit it myself. The ticket is 9.50 euro and it is really quite small. But if you have cash to spare, go because it's like whatever you learnt in school come to life!!! It is about same as what you read from the book, just that you really see it real life I guess. Vondelpark was great to chill and watch how the Danish people cycle and enjoy life. I took a 2 hr nap on the grasspatch too, shiiiiiiiiiok Albert Cuyp Market is da bomb 'cuz food haven. It's not the cheapest but ok priced la if you share share. Please try this if you like fish!!! It's called Herring. I love the taste of it though my friends hate it :( Also, not sure it will still be there but there is a Birkenstock shop that sells reasonably cheap Birks!!! Some good beer place recommended by Van (who is beer expert) is Brouwerij 't IJ. I got damn tipsy I don't even know why, like I almost blacked out while I went to the toilet. LOL.

Helsinki, Finland

25 October 2015 - 28 October 2015 (duration was ok, since there was a day trip to Tallinn) This was my solo trip and I took a ferry to Helsinki. It's a pretty calm and safe place to visit. I visited Suomenlinna, which is a UNESCO heritage site. was ok LOL hahahaha I visited the Temppeliaukio Church, which is really cool church made from a rock! I do not know if the Market Square was just like that but there weren't many many stalls as I expected, so I was pretty sad. I walked everywhere and did not spend on transport. I suppose when you are alone you have more time to do what you want haha I stayed at Eurohostel and got a single room. The location is damn good, near the Market Square, Helsinki Cathedral and the ferry port. Helsinki in general is pretty boring (maybe I did not explore enough) but I did enjoy myself some alone time and did not feel lonely at all. Definitely do a solo trip if possible!

Tallinn, Estonia

27 October 2015 (1 day is sufficient) Took a 2-hr ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, which is an old town. I spent less than a day there and went back to Helsinki. Simply roamed around Tallinn, enjoyed the architecture and ate some Estonian food too! From Helsinki you can take a ferry to Russia too, wished I had time to visit a little of Russia too!

London, United Kingdom

30 October 2015 - 3 November 2015 (Could have added one more day to visit the Emirates Stadium (and get sth for YH), and for shopping if you want) Was pretty honored to be brought around by Yvette HAHA so Peizi and I basically followed her and did not do much thinking. We visited Borough Market and Camden Food Market for fooOooOooOood. Gosh there were so much variety and I WANTED TO EAT EVERYTHING. Just something to make you excited about food markets in general. Pz and I also queued up early (we reached about 9ish am) on the day of the musical, at the ticket office at Apollo Victoria Theatre to buy discounted tickets for Wicked. Surprisingly, we were the only ones there LOL so hennnng ah, got our front row tickets (I mean like right smack in centre, front row, so good u feel a bit paiseh) seats for only 29.50 pounds. It's a huge discount considering the seats we are getting. So definitely worth considering! And can I say I super loved it!??!?! If I were to start London again, I would definitely watch a musical a day. Watched Wicked on our last night, so no more musicals! 10/10 WORTH THE PRICE! Visited the Harry Potter Studios and had to chiong all my Harry Potter movies. I thought pounds as euros so I got the tickets wtffff end up it was 33 pounds. Oh wells, but definitely eye opening. We went on the 6pm tour and we did not really visit the entire thing fully (it closes at 10pm). So try to book the earlier tours to really see everything, it is a free and easy tour :) Lucky for me, I chionged my HP movies and was able to understand what was happening. Pz didn't HAHAHA. Only go if you are a Harry Potter fan!!! Because the ticket is really quite ex. You need to book the tickets in advance and the timeslots avail do run out fast. Also note that the HP studio is a lil out of London so we had to take a train which costs almost 20sgd to the studios. Other awesome things to do in London is go for the walking tour where they bring you to see the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben etc. And eat Lobster and Burgers!!!! GOSHHHH Just to pre-empt you, London Bridge is really underwhelming. Tower Bridge on the other hand, is pretty!! And go shopping if you can, OXFORD STREET. I had to restrict myself because London was my first stop and I had to watch my baggage restrictions. Maybe can make London your last stop so you can shop enough, buy additional baggage space and go back to your uni. Wanted to watch a soccer match but there weren't matches while we were there. Some London people can be quite racist, just saying.

Lisbon, Portugal

3 November 2015 - 5 November 2015 (duration is sufficient!) I loved Lisbon!! Look at all the beautiful tiles everywhereeee. Although the streets here are all pretty steep. On the places that I don't think you need to pay for, just visit can already: Belém Tower, Santa Justa lift and Jerónimos Monastery. I got the Lisboa card, hence these attractions were free. However, if you are not getting the Lisboa card then no need buy tickets for them. The famous Portugese egg tarts were heavenly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pasteis de Belem OMG. Haven't eaten dan tats like theirs. Also try the hot chocolate, yumzzzz. Another place I enjoyed was the Time Out Mercado da Ribeira. It is actually quite modern and slightly pricey, but serves awesome food. Like a higher end food court. Try the seafood risotto! Also, there is a Best Chocolate Cake ever from O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo. But it was realllllly normal lol. We had time and visited a town Cascais for its beaches but it was very underwhelming. Was quite sure we were at the right place, but we caught a very beautiful sunset :) I wanted to find the airbnb I stayed in but I can't. However, the address is: Rua da Esperança 8 Lisboa, Lisboa 1200 Portugal (nearest Metro station: Cais do Sodre) Anywhere around this area is good!

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

6 November 2015 - 7 November 2015 (sufficient duration to roam around and shop) Basically visited Rotterdam because pz stays there and I get free accomodation hehe. I did not do much there except shop at Primark. I visited the Blaak Markt too and there were many things sold there such as food, flowers, clothes etc. My kind of thing! I did visit the Kinderdijk, a windmill area in Rotterdam myself. It was quite out of the way but definitely pretty. Wished I had cycled there if I had more time!!

Brussels, Belgium

7 November 2015 - 8 November 2015 (sufficient for me) This was a solo trip again and I took a bus from Rotterdam to Belgium cheap. Was expecting the chocolates to be damn heavenly but sadly idk if it's just me, but the chocolates are pretty underwhelming. Was googling for the best chocolate around, went there but the chocos were meh and pricey. Visited a flea market, Jeu de Balle, and I really liked it. They sell everything and anything! My kind of shopping. I stayed at Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles which was walkable to all the normal touristy places. And the hotel was not bad too.

Stockholm, Sweden

13 November 2015 - 16 November 2015 (sufficient for me) Finally visited where I always stopover at. The best takeaway was prolly finally meeting Mandy and watching my first ice-hockey match! Although I did not understand a single thing about ice-hockey prior to the match, the atmosphere is just awesome! Visited the Vaasa museum which was pretty much an eyeopener. I really liked it, so go visit if you can! However, Skansen (a zoo and museum) and the museum I visited in Gamla Stan (I don't even rmb the name) was mehhhh. I followed the tour around Gamla Stan and it was interesting to know the history and background of Sweden.

Barcelona, Spain

15 December 2015 - 17 December 2015 (sufficient duration) Thank goodness the weather was so much more bearable than in Sweden. We did not pay for La Sagrada Familia but the exterior is so pretty, except for the ongoing construction LOL. However, we paid for entrance of Casa Batlló..... gosh not worth it. Visited Casa Milà (lame), Park Güell (think it have been beautiful if it was in the morning) and Magic Fountain of Montjuïc (however it was closed during winter T_T). Nonetheless the food made up for it. Churros, paella, tapas, llao llao (they taste the same as Singapore's). Food market: Mercado de La Boqueria Paella to try: As long as it is a paella. Ok where I went was La Tertulia but it was xiao ex Tapas: La Flauta We also visited Camp Nou but I did not enter due to time constraint. Not a soccer fan so not too much a loss for me! We walked everywhere without public transport. Also, from the airport to city centre you needed to take the shuttle bus, at 10.50eur if I did not remember wrongly. I reached at midnight alone at Barcelona but many mama shops were still open, and our airbnb was walkable from the city centre. Decent airbnb and the host was super friendly: link

Cologne, Germany

18 December 2015 - 19 December 2015 (sufficient for me) Welcomed Christmas season with all dem Germany's Christmas markets. Definitely up a notch for the xmas atmosphere this year. Very very crowded but 'tis a season to be jolly! I didn't do much in Cologne 'cept shopped at Primark HAHA. Just take note that during xmas times, it's very hard to find accomodations because hosts usually do not host you during xmas so book hostels earlier!

Hamburg, Germany

20 December 2015 - 21 December 2015 (sufficient for me) Another Xmas market by the Town hall! Took the time to go on the walking tour. Hostel we stayed was Generator Hostel Hamburg, super convenient and pretty.

Dresden, Germany

22 December 2015 - 23 December 2015 (sufficient for me) Bussed via Flixbus to Dresden and the buses were really comfy!! Xmas markets again and did some shopping since there was shopping streets near us. Tried Glühwein, a common xmas wine and I HATE IT. You can keep the cup or get a refund for the cups. But it's really heavy to collect mugs, so only collect if you rly like the design. The food in xmas markets are usually rather overpriced. And of course how can I not try some wurst (German hotdog)! Quite normal but just try la since already in Germany and they are everywhere!

Berlin, Germany

24 December 2015 - 25 December 2015 (could have one more day to visit more since there is soooo much history!) My favourite city out of the 4 I've visited in Germany, so much history and super interesting city. We visited Berlin on Christmas Day so basically everywhere was closed. And so I went on a concentration camp tour at Sachsenhausen Memorial for almost the entire day and it was mindblowing. This is a paid tour (14eur) by Sandermans and WORTH IT. Just remember to get your train tickets beforehand! Cheaper if you have 4 people to share with. Took quite a while to find out where the Berlin wall was LOL... it was pretty far from where we stayed gosh, but HAVE. TO. GO! Even if you live in West Germany (which I did). Do allocate more time if you want to take photos and walk through the entire wall... I didn't have sufficient time to walk everything. Food-wise, we wanted to try pork knuckles before we left Germany. Food-wise, we visited the famous Hofbrau Munchen Berlin for our xmas dinner. The food was yummy but the service SUXXXXXXXXX. Not sure if it's because it's xmas so everyone is damn angsty or what.

Prague, Czech Republic

26 December 2015 - 28 December 2015 (can shorten a bit!) This was the only city we took the transportation for free. The old town square has no fountain/wishing well LOL. Jolin was lying :( And the Charles Bridge is so crowded, walked it several times. But the Prague Astronomical Clock was just nearby so worthy to take photos there, though it is just a clock, but still a cool clock. I liked the Prague Castle too, really pretty. A place to oversee Prague's landscape is Petřín. A place for traditional Prague dishes at affordable price is U Parlamentu, it's nearby the Old Town Square. Dancing House was pretty underwhelming, no need go if no time. Our airbnb was great, shared with other strangers but we even made friends with the other Chinese girls pretty cool. Almost everywhere I wanted to go to in Prague was walkable from the Old Town Square, so it was quite convenient. Airbnb: link

Copenhagen, Denmark

29 December 2015 - 1 January 2016 (can shorten a bit, or probably just hated the weather LOL) Not sure if it's just me, but I really HATED the weather in CPH. The winds were so strong and the sky is constantly gloomy :( And it was very very cold, like it felt even colder than in Sweden. Little Mermaid statue was pretty out of the way and very underwhelming, as you can expect. The trip was pretty sian because I really hated the weather and we had to walk about 5km or so out to the city centre everyday. But my highlight gotta be visiting Freetown Christiania, which is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood. They call it the Green Light Zone because there are so much weed. But rmb no photography! So interesting though the smell of weed was literally everywhere. Definitely an interesting place to visit.

Malmo, Sweden

30 December 2015 (a day trip is sufficient) Took a day trip to Sweden on a bus from CPH, wasn't very expensive. Malmö didn't have many things to do but my main aim was to visit Ikea and try meatballs. So I did. Not sure if it's a psychological thing but Ikea meatballs just feel more legit when eaten in Sweden ;)

Reykjavik, Iceland

2 January 2016 - 6 January 2016 (can extend, there are still many amazing things I could have done/ places to visit in Iceland) Instead of driving around as I was the only driver, we booked everything under tour packages. I recce all the tour packages and found out these were the cheapest (although nothing is really cheap here LOL). Northern lights tour: We flew wowair so there were some promotions for the tours, which was organised by Reykjavik Excursions, and we paid SGD63.24/pax. Southern Iceland Tour: Consisted of to and fro from Blue Lagoon (entrance fee not included), Southern Iceland tour and Golden Circle tour. The company we hired was bustravel, and we paid SGD273.40/pax. For the Northern lights tour, you check the Reyjavik Excursions Facebook page to keep updated if the tour is on as it is subject to weather conditions. As the appearance of aurora is unpredictable, we went on the first night we reached to maximise our chances of seeing aurora. You can keep rebooking the tours, whether you see the aurora or not, and it's valid for 1 year. So no worries! For the Southern Iceland tour, I really enjoyed myself. Had a terribly hard time walking on slippery glaciers LOL bring better shoes if can because I literally felt I would slip and die anytime. But the view was worth it. Blue lagoon was pretty overpriced though it is definitely a must go. The tour only included the transportation so we had to book the entrance ticket ourselves. Book early because if you book when you are there, chances are you will not get it. We paid for the 55eur COMFORT package and it was certainly comfortable. You get a drink and some trial mud mask thing, beer by Blue Lagoon is quite shiok experience. To take photos, do bring along those transparent handphone holders from Singapore yourself! They sell it there but really expensive. This makes taking photos with your phone easier, you don't want to get your phone wet. Another favourite view of mine is the Gullfoss. We decided to do Icelandic horseriding at the last minute at Laxnes Horse Farm. It wasn't a bad experience, but I was feeling extremely cold and sorry for the horses lol. Got boring after a while as the horses weren't galloping all the time. Definitely can skip this if you are not into horseriding, wasn't cheap either! But at least, my first horseriding experience checked! Food-wise, we tried some Icelandic food and didn't like it, wasn't cheap too:( So maybe just buy one dish for everyone to try. We stayed at Baldursbra Guesthouse Reykjavik which is avail for pickup for the tours we did, and there is free breakfast! Everything was nice about the place :) Once you sign with the tour, the bus will state a time to pick you up so you just wait at your guesthouse for pickup and start your day! It's pretty convenient this way. Also, they send u back to your guesthouse at the end of the tour. *** This is all and hope it has helped a little! Enjoy yourself because exchange is really a privilege and stay safe! Signing off, Jasmine

[aliceellablog]

Quackers.

Ok, so I am sat on my bed, it’s a Sunday afternoon and a week has passed since my last blog post. Chinese takeaway has been ordered HELL YAAASSS and now I just need to decide what to actually write about this week! Also, can I just say.... I AM WRITING BLOG 2 A WEEK LATER... AS PLANNED!!! .... Sorry... just never seem to be able to stick to these things!!

So the reaction I’ve had to my last post has been pretty overwhelming. So many people have got in touch to say how they can relate to my story, or to wish me well - which is rather bladdy lovely! :) I just wanted to get it all out there and I think this blog is helping me with the thing I probably find the hardest (other than feeling like utter shite of course) and that’s ‘acceptance’, so thank you for the support guys - really :)

This week has been pretty up and down, as per, I started the week with a few days resting at home, with Catfish pon d tele and with food entering my mouth at an alarming rate... I think I may have stretched my stomach... please help me... I then managed to get down to Saaaf Landannn midweek for a writing / recording session with the wonderful Warren Meyers (Audio Freaks) 

I’ve been working with Wol (Warren) for a good few years now and he has become a close friend of mine...... scrap that......he’s family :) He was the first producer / writer I started working with again after the long (maybe a year and a half?) break I’d had to take and we’ve written some of my favourite ever songs together!

So after the 2 and a half hour trek (travelling is THE WORST) I chilled at his for a bit and then we wrote verse 2 of a song called ‘I Can’t Breathe’ which is one of those songs that I think lyrically, anyone can relate to, but for me it was written about my health struggle.

I don’t actually tend to write much about my health, when it comes to songwriting it’s usually focused on my disastrous love life! But this one felt right... 

After a relaxed evening I headed to bed to watch the new episode of Girls :D (yes, sat here I genuinely feel like I am Lena Dunham and I am going to now become a writer! HAHAHAHAAH... funny ‘cos it’s true....oh dear) and then the next day we recorded the vocals down at the studio.

Man I love being there, surrounded by creative people all buzzing around working on various projects. I met some cool new people and got the song finished, so am sending it off for now for the pitch...wish us luck!!! Then it was time for a nap. Wonderful.

That evening we went for Chinese (yes you may notice a theme occurring here) and I had the best food of my life!!! Wol knows the owner well, and so he created a gluten free feast for me! OH MA DAYYYYYZ... I know this is so not interesting enough to have made my blog, but it really was that damn good!!

The next day was spent travelling home and then resting...actually the next two days after that were resting days too. I managed to do my 20 min walk on one of those days but not both. Trying not to beat myself up about that. And managed my 30 minute singing practise on both days but I felt AWFUL afterwards. Meh.

The reason I particularly needed to manage my daily walk and singing practise each day was because Saturday was gig day! Ah! 

The wedding was so beautiful!!!! If I ever get married.... I know... I have to find someone who wants to marry me first!!! Then if mine is half as pretty as this one was I’ll be happy! They even had a ‘rose wall’! :-0

I love wedding gigs so much, and feel so lucky to be making a living doing the thing I love most... but sometimes I do wonder if I’ve not exactly picked the best profession considering....

I’m so lucky to work with a band who understand, or at least try to understand all the M.E. stuff... I usually sleep in the car on the way there and back (well... I try to.....I kinda have to stay awake and keep my eyes on the road cos otherwise I think we will crash and die...yep...) And obvs I can’t do much (ok, any) of the lifting of the gear in and out of the venue, but they seem not to mind too much. Oh and I now have a new best friend..... THE GIGGING STOOL OF DOOM!! (not of doom. doom was just for effect) - I was reluctant at first but having my little friend on stage with me makes all the difference. 

If things aren’t toooo bad then I usually can’t help but be up on my feet, ‘dancing’ (I use the term loosely) and performing, especially when we are playing the upbeat numbers. Then I tend to perch on the stool for the jazzier numbers and click my fingers like it’s all part of the act! WERK IT BABY!

Also the adrenaline helps - when you’re there, singing in front of an audience of people, you do kinda have to just do it! And you can’t help but give it your all at the time! But oh the repercussions! Hence me typing this from bed right now with Chinese on the way... ok... can’t stop thinking about the crispy duck that’s gonna be in my bed with me oh so soon... that sounded weirder than intended... ok where was I.. yes... the next few days after a gig are always difficult, but I think that it’s worth it - I’ve been out and about, met new people, sang some songs - which I don’t know if I’ve mentioned but I really do enjoy! And I’ve earned that little bit of money to keep me going.

It makes me feel like a human bean.

And that brings me to being here.... a week on... a week stronger I feel! 

Next week looks relatively doable, a good mix of work and rest, but I am really looking forward to tomorrow - I have an appointment with the inventor of ‘The Lightning Process’ Phil Parker.

This is something I did maybe 8 years ago?? (total guess) and I found it really helpful at the time and genuinely thought played a huge part of getting me from the wheelchair to being up and about. It’s a really hard thing to explain (it’s a three day course so it would take me a whiiiiile to explain it!) but basically it’s neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and all about changing the way you think, releasing different chemicals, all that kinda thang. 

As the years went by I was getting stronger and being able to do a lot more, very slowly but surely. I ended up then not really using the process that much, if at all but then had the relapse of all relapses and have found myself getting desperate for help again. 

I’m at a weird stage now where I’ve just lost confidence in the process and don’t ‘believe’ in it like I used to... and there’s no point in doing it if you don’t truly think that it’s going to help you... like ‘The Script’ once said, ‘it’s like praying to a god that you don’t believe in’, right?

So... I am hoping to have my ‘Lightning Process’ faith restored tomorrow and will let you know what happens! I am so intrigued!!! 

So I just had a little break and devoured half a duck....to myself... oooops... now time for pudding!! I have the most amazing dairy and gluten free cornettos waiting for me in the freezer! noms :)

I hope you have a wonderful week! Please do get in touch if you happen to have read all of that balls :) 

Peas out xxx Until next week xx 

[mikemortgage]

College kids living like kings in Vancouver’s empty mansions: Stories from a real estate market in upheaval

Isaiah Boodhoo, 22, thought it was a “complete hoax” when he saw a rental listing on Facebook for a bedroom in a Vancouver mansion for only $1,100 (US$825) a month.

It turned out the glass chandeliers, luxurious blue drapes, steam room and billiards table were for real. The nine-bedroom home, dubbed “The Castle” by the 14 students who share the property, is apparently owned by an Afghani pop artist, according to Boodhoo.

“Honestly, I would stay here for as long as I could,” he said, sitting on a white couch while sipping from a Slurpee cup. “$1,000 bucks for all this?”

Canadian home sales fall for sixth month in first March decline since the recession

There’s a full-fledged housing chill in Vancouver, but it hasn’t reached Toronto, data shows

Home sales drop by a third in Vancouver — where the average price is still over a million

Others may also soon find themselves as lucky as more mansion owners in the city turn to renting to avoid a new tax on empty homes. In the new world of Vancouver’s housing market, where Chinese investors are decamping and low-ball offers are the norm, students can find themselves living in the lap of luxury.

It’s a far cry from the frenzy of a few years ago when the city was at the centre of a global property boom. Prices more than doubled in the decade through 2016, outpacing gains in New York and London. But government policies to tame the market — from new taxes to stricter mortgage regulations — have fuelled a plunge in sales to the weakest since the global financial crisis. Prices are down 8.5 per cent from their peak in June, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The city boasts a thriving tech and tourism scene and sits in the province with the lowest unemployment rate in the country. But the sense of unease in the real estate market is palpable.

Here are some stories from a property market in upheaval:

The Lucky Renters

With taxes on an empty Vancouver home potentially adding up to 3 per cent in annual levies, homeowners are rushing to lease their homes, according to real estate agents. That’s leading to bargains in a city where the vacancy rate has been near zero per cent.

“You have houses that are worth $4 million renting for $4,500,” said Steve Saretsky, a Vancouver realtor whose popular real estate blog was pointing out cracks in the market even as benchmark prices peaked last year.

A nine-bedroom rental property shared by 14 students in Vancouver.

Prospective tenants are getting bold, said Kevin Wang, who runs a sales and rental real estate team with his twin brother Jerry. They’ve received calls from people offering to help with gardening or maintenance in exchange for free rent in a luxury home.

The owner of “The Castle” and the rental agency didn’t respond to requests for comment.

For his part, Boodhoo, not only has he scored luxury digs, he’s cut his commute time to his classes in music production to about 18 minutes from two hours.

“Everyday I come home from school and I see just the tips of the castle, and I’m just like, that’s my house,” said Boodhoo, who’s looking forward to the pool in the backyard. It should be filled by June.

The Chinese Seller

Lisa Sun paces around the Vancouver mansion she’s been hired to sell by its wealthy Chinese-Canadian owner. The family’s had it with the new taxes and what it sees as increasing hostility to Asian capital. Sun reckons that early last year the home would have easily sold for about $8.5 million — holes in the wall and all.

Today, the 28-year-old realtor isn’t sure she’ll get a credible offer for the 8,343 square-foot mansion. These days a pool, wine cellar, and home theatre on a prime lot aren’t enough to clinch a deal, even in West Vancouver, where opulent homes carved out of steep slopes overlook the ocean. Sun needs a “stager” to empty the house and brighten it up with new furniture, a modern chandelier, and lick of paint.

Realtor Lisa Sun, left, surveys the kitchen with an electrician inside a mansion for sale in West Vancouver.

“I’ve been through only the peak, never the low,” said Sun as she schedules a makeover of the property. Pink tags indicate to the four cleaners what needs to be dumped. The Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce in the garage, relatively unused for three years, also need to be dealt with.

The house is listed at $10.9 million, but after receiving mostly low-ball offers closer to its tax-assessed value of $6.2 million, she’s planning on dropping the asking price closer to $8.3 million.

That’s a hefty cut but holding on to the home would mean paying potentially more than $140,000 in extra taxes annually for the Canadian owner who splits her time between Vancouver and Beijing. Canadian taxes are not the only measures weighing on the market. China’s capital controls are also limiting spending on global real estate.

Realtor Lisa Sun stands in the entrance of a mansion for sale.

Sun doesn’t think Vancouver’s market is going to come back to its highs, especially at the top end. “Why would they come here and pay all that tax and feel like a criminal?”

The Bargain Hunters

Buying a house seemed an impossible dream for Brandon Chapman.

The 28-year-old financial planner first started looking at one-bedroom condos in 2016, around the peak of the market. “It was just bananas so I took a step back,” he said, in an interview at his Vancouver office.

He’s glad he waited. He now figures he might even be able to afford a detached home and is viewing properties at around the $1.1 million mark in East Vancouver. To make it affordable, he’s teaming up with his best friend to purchase the property — and offering way under asking. It hasn’t quite worked out yet. One offer for about $200,000 less than the listing price was rejected.

“We haven’t closed on anything but the market in my opinion is still trending down so why would I rush into buying something if I don’t need it this second?” he said.

Then there’s Robin Rickards, who happened to be looking for a temporary home at a serendipitous time. The 64-year-old orthopedic surgeon needed a place to stay while his current home was being rebuilt into an oceanside oasis. He ended up making an offer on three different homes and got one for almost $1 million less than the original asking price.

“It’s like a candy store for buyers right now,” Clara Hartree, the realtor working with Rickards, said by email.

Robin Rickards stands on his deck in Lion’s Bay, overlooking the Straight of Georgia.

The Frustrated Flippers

The twisty, cantilevered glass tower is one of Vancouver’s most hotly anticipated developments. It starts as a triangle at its base — wedged awkwardly between the on and off ramps of a downtown highway — before swivelling into a square at the top.

That iconic silhouette helped developer Westbank Corp. rapidly sell out some 400 ultra-luxe units when presales began in 2014, thanks in part to avid interest from Asian buyers. As it nears completion, investors are seeking to offload rights to more than two dozen units, according to listings cropping up on realtor websites.

The Vancouver House building stands under construction past cherry blossoms in Vancouver.

One flyer offers a 368-square-foot unit at $515,000. “Transfer at original price,” it reads in Chinese. Last year, it would’ve fetched as much as $800,000, says Jerry Huang, a realtor with Nu Stream Realty Inc., which specializes in presale developments.

“That’s an insane deal,” he said. Presales were once seen as a slam dunk — put down a 20 per cent deposit, flip the contract at a premium before completion, and pocket the gains.

Westbank said in an email that in the five years since some investors purchased, values have appreciated from 25 per cent to 100 per cent depending on the unit. The number of so-called assignment sales is less than 10 per cent of total units in the building and “in-line with expectation.”

But the broader downturn is beginning to catch some out across various developments.

Those who bought at the peak need to find a buyer fast or come up with the full amount to pay the developer. With banks in some cases assessing units lower than the contract price, buyers hoping for a loan may face a shortfall. “There are no assurances right now,” says Adil Dinani, a realtor with Royal LePage — some sellers may be lucky just to break even.

There have always been buyers who overextended and needed to sell quickly.

“But the difference is earlier, we were able to help them because the market was going up,” says Sonny Bhinder, a realtor who’s received calls from half a dozen clients seeking to sell assignments since the start of the year. “The job of the real estate agent has become much tougher now.”

–With assistance from Feifei Shen, Paul Panckhurst and Erik Hertzberg.

Bloomberg.com

from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2UirGQY via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

[jamjamwriting-blog]

Where has the month gone?

June has passed in such a blur I’ve lost track of what’s even happened. Seeing as how it’s been a relatively quiet month for me across the board, I’m going to use this recap to look back at the first half of the year as well.

Let’s break it down.

Out and About: Husband and I chilling at Vivid Sydney.

Life

June started in a decisively better tune, which wasn’t hard considering how May began. My husband and I travelled to Sydney, where I was bridesmaid to one of my closest friends in a beautifully understated ceremony. During out stay, we were lucky enough to be smack-bang in the middle of the Vivid Festival. It was my husband’s first trip to Sydney and my first time seeing the lauded light spectacle and we were not disappointed. As expected, the crowds were a nightmare but it was a lovely atmosphere and magical way for him to experience the city.

After our lovely break away, things got a little rocky as both my husband and I have been plagued by minor but numerous health issues. Mental illness woes and recent tummy upsets have derailed my reading and writing goals for the month, which has been a bummer to say the least. Nevertheless, I’ll be on the mend throughout July and that will mean more reviews and stories to share with you.

Books

I didn’t manage to finish as single book this month, much to my own disappointment. I spread myself pretty thin, dividing my time between three endeavours:

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Heart of Mist – Helen Scheuerer (ARC)

A Gathering of Shadows – V.E. Schwab

Heart of Mist and A Gathering of Shadows are going well, despite my progress moving slow in deference for Ready Player One, which was my book club read for the month. I haven’t managed to clear it yet, but I will because I like it just enough to see it through til the end. It’s by no means a rage-read (as the repellent Magonia was) but the characters are so terribly grating it’s detracting from the otherwise enjoyable story.  It’ll have to pull something pretty amazing out of its arse to raise this above a three-star rating.

June may have been a pretty slow month in the reading department, but the year so far has been successful by my slow-as-hell reader standards.

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Books have been kind to me in 2017, with only two of the above falling into the DNF–did not finish–category. Malice was infuriating in its bland, novice prose–something I could not bare to sit through for 700 pages while I waited for the purported amazing story to kick in. The Emperor of the Eight Islands also fell into the same category but was much harder to push aside due for the love I hold for Lian Hearn‘s first series, Tales of the Otori. There’s every chance I will pick this up again and have another crack when it’s not fighting against other books I’m reading with decisively more exciting storytelling. Neil Gaiman continues to slide further down my favourite author list, while Naomi Novik and V.E Schwab have been delightful new additions. The Captive Prince Triology, of which I am yet to read the conclusion is a beloved guilty pleasure, while Big Little Lies and Puppet Master were a  refreshing change of genre. Golem and the Djinni and Uprooted are still front-runners for my read of the year, both of which I plan to review on here in the coming weeks (months?).

Words

While I have been MIA on here, I’ve actually been making fantastic progress with my writing. My second draft of Garden of the Gods has broken 11 000 words and I’ve been tinkering away with two new teaser prequels to introduce my main cast to you all.  I’m also trying to get some more reviews and short stories in the works, as I will be quest writing for S.W. Wildwood‘s blog once a month.

Now that the second half of the year is officially underway, I’m determined to get to work on raising my author presence online. I plan on updating this thing with regular content, be it writerly advice, prose, or reviews. You can have your say right now over on Twitter by voting or commenting on my poll.

Really gotta get my blog some regular content. What would you like to see more of from me? #amwriting #indieauthor #fantasywriter

— Jessica A. McMinn (@jamjam_pie) June 29, 2017

Well, I think that pretty much covers it.

Until next time, lovelies.

    j.a.m

[blog post] june recap Where has the month gone? June has passed in such a blur I've lost track of what's even happened.

[wayneooverton]

Fast cars aren’t just for boys

I don’t know much about cars, but I sure know a sexy car when I see one. And it doesn’t get much sexier than an Aston Martin. You know, the sleek car from the James Bond movies. Yes, I did just write that.

When my friend came to visit me in New Zealand in the spring, I knew I wanted to surprise her with a fun road trip. And while my old 1995 Nissan Terrano gets the job done, no one has ever mistaken it for a fun sexy vehicle, and zoom it does not. Thank you Ignition Self Drive for offering something a bit more adventurous and memorable. An epic place like Fiordland deserves an epic whip.

And I knew I had to take her to Milford, and I knew her first time driving on the left side of the road should be memorable. There are quite a few locals around the South Island that are up for grabs with the “prettiest places” award, but come on, Milford is popular for a reason. It’s so epic. And we had a forecast for sunshine, and in an area that gets seven meters of rain annually, that means go right now.

Girls roadie to Milford Sound in an Aston Martin? Well, if that’s not one for the books, I don’t know what is.

It was hot sunny spring day as we peeled out of Queenstown on our way to Milford Sound after picking up our ride – a little old Vantage. And by “peeled out” I mean slowly edged our way out of town and braking too hard and almost hitting my face on the steering wheel. I mean, I’m not used to driving cars that actually accelerate normally, let alone fast. I basically have to put my foot to the floor to get my car to move.

I was surprised (and also not so surprised) to learn that it’s almost always men that rent these types of cars. Boys trips, or maybe wives surprising their partners with a trip and they share it, but it’s never just girls, let alone young girls renting sports cars. And here I am to say WHY NOT? Fast cars aren’t just for men! It’s 2017 for pity’s sake. Why is the stereotype just for guys? I mean, even I was susceptible to it. The first time I heard about it was from my friend Jane at Queenstown Life, and I actually thought, wow, I want to do that, I wonder what guy friend could come with me because I couldn’t drive it, you know, before I mentally slapped myself.

Now I’m not saying I drove 20 kilometers under the speed limit for the first hour of the trip, but I might have, and I’m not sure I’ll ever live down the shame of having people overtake me while behind the wheel of an Aston Martin but you live and learn. I hate making blanket statements, but I feel like women tend to err on the side of caution more than men do, and I wasn’t about to gun it in such a fast car, not until I got the hang of it at least.

The road to Milford Sound is probably the most scenic road-trip in New Zealand, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s incredible. And to experience it from a convertible and in a car that goes from zero to one hundred in a couple of seconds? Well, hot damn. Can’t beat that.

Are you allowed to drive an Aston Martin wearing socks and sandals? Asking for a friend…

Kea, the world’s only alpine parrot – it’s relatively easy to spot them in Fiordland

Now, I am not sure how to phrase this…I don’t really care that much about fancy cars. I can’t tell them apart and I definitely can’t tell you any tech specs on them. My knowledge is strictly limited to “ohhh that one looks prettier.”

But I know a classy car when I see one, and the Aston is nothing if not classy. For me, what matters is having memorable experiences on the road, and having fun while traveling, like I imagine most of you guys do to.

And let me tell you, I felt like a fucking queen when I pushed the ignition button on that baby. Honest to god, it makes the sexiest sound when you start it. Bow down before me.

And then sometimes when you’re driving it, it sort of purrs, like it’s telling you to step on it. Honestly, Officer, it wasn’t my fault I was going that fast, the car made me do it. It told me to, I had no choice, really. Have pity.

JK, there are never any cops in Fiordland. Wait, did I just write that publicly?

Alpacas spotted in Te Anau

By the time we rolled through Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland and Milford, I was definitely getting the hang of it. No brake-slamming on corners and slowly but surely inching getting closer to the speed limit. Not the problem the average renter of this car usually faces I reckon!

I was also quite enjoyed the looks of passerby as two blonde ladies would hop in and out of the car in their hiking clothes.

There are so many epic places to stop on the Milford Road, so make sure you build in plenty of time in on a trip there. I can think of nothing worse than having to be in a hurry in Fiordland. And like I said, the Milford Road is one of the most epic roads in New Zealand. The mountains literally tower over you and waterfalls tumble down from glacier and vertical peaks. I’ve driven there quite a few times, but to experience it from a convertible is INCREDIBLE.

And there are also some very lovely straight bits of road too that are just the place to see what the Aston is made of, within reason of course.

Zoom zoom!

And if thought we got funny looks in Te Anau, you should have seen the raised eyebrows as we rolled into the Cascade Creek DOC campsite and pulled a tent out of the back of the car.

What can I say? I love irony!

There really isn’t anywhere to stay in Fiordland once you go on the Milford Road past Te Anau. There is a lodge in Milford Sound, but it’s always booked out with bus tours months in advance (and it’s really pricey) and they don’t allow pitched tents there anymore. But there are plenty of great cheap DOC campsites on the Milford Road between Te Anau and the Homer Tunnel, and trust me, the wardens will get a kick out of it if you pitch a tent next to an Aston Martin there.

Why stay in a luxury lodge when you pitch your tent next to a James Bond car in the wilderness?

At the risk of sounding super cheesy, for me, there is no greater luxury in New Zealand than waking up in the wilds of Fiordland to the sound of rare birds calling, the damp scent of the earth in the early morning about you, and sandflies pinging on your tent fly. We are still so fucking lucky that places like this exist and that we can still experience them.

And yes yes, so sorry to all those I woke up when I started the Aston. I know how to be quiet in the mornings, but he doesn’t.

We spent the next couple of days exploring Fiordland and enjoying the mint weather, as they say in New Zealand. You know, after we had to drive back to Te Anau and rent me hiking boots because I left mine at home. Damnit! Oh, and trying to keep the naughty kea from eating bits off the Aston. Kea are the world’s only alpine parrot, and they are endangered. They are also very cheeky and smart and one of their favorite pastimes is eating windshield wiper rubber, throwing hiking boots off cliffs and causing general havoc and pandemonium. No car is safe.

We headed up to Lake Marian, one of my favorite day hikes in New Zealand, and one I shamelessly kept to myself all these years. I do that sometimes, forgive me. It used to be a great secret, and I never publicly shared where it was. Times have changed, and ain’t a secret no more.

A steady 1.5 hour slog straight uphill over the river and through the woods on a not-so-obviously-marked track will bring you the incredible alpine Lake Marian. Hanging glaciers and huge waterfalls tumble down into a beautiful blue lake. Your eyes will bulge and your mouth will drop open.

And if you’re lucky, you might run into a young guy carrying a wizard costume. Are you ready for the best story ever?

DON’T. EVEN. THINK. ABOUT. IT.

We were just starting out on the trail when a young guy named Akhil ran up to me, recognizing me from my blog (oh shucks, hair flick). Then he asked me something super weird that I had never been asked before in my entire life – would I dress up as Gandalf and pose for him?

Um, what? Blink blink SURE CAN DO!

You don’t have to ask me twice about to do anything Middle Earth related. I’m quite possibly the biggest Lord of the Rings nerd you’ve ever met. If only I was good enough to walk in Gandalf’s shoes one day. Sigh. In the meantime, I can pretend!

You shall not pass!

Akhil was a student in Auckland and then went on a six month trip around New Zealand. As a way of meeting people and showcasing New Zealand in a different way, he would ask them to dress up as Gandalf for photos. So clever. Since then he went viral, and his photos as Gandalf garnered international media hype! Yay! Be sure to give him a follow on Instagram in the meantime.

Me as Gandalf. Proud moment. 

And if getting to dress up as Gandalf is lucky, you might even get luckier (if possible) and spot a whio (Blue Duck) while in Fiordland. They are so special they even are on the $10 note in New Zealand.

Whio (pronounced fee-oh) are a very rare and endangered duck in New Zealand, and they live in swift moving rivers and rapids – there are only about 3000 of them left. I spotted one completely by accident through the bushes as we were making our way down past Marian Falls, and I about shit my pants. I totally lost my cool and fumbled around looking for my camera and telephoto lens babbling incoherently as people stared. It’s a whio people, pay attention! They are really rare!

I had been here for years and never seen a whio before, let alone in the wild. I was so excited!

Also, perfect timing, as March is Whio Awareness Month in New Zealand which I’m helping to promote. More on that soon, but in the meantime be sure to check it out because if you’re in NZ, you could win the chance to be a whio ranger for a day!

Whio (Blue Duck) just chilling at Marian Falls

We finished up our trip kayaking Milford Sound in the pouring rain with Rosco’s, and then trying not to put our wet bums on the nice leather seats or get mud all over the car. And if you were curious, the socks and sandals shot was because of sandflies – I got my boots super muddy hiking, and sandlfies, which are pretty much the worst biting little insects of all time, love bare feet. Never give it to them. Cover the skin.

Anywho, I was so stoked to be able to share this trip with a friend. I almost always travel alone and it makes the experience so much more special if you have someone to share it with. Fiordland is a magical place. The Milford Road (on a sunny day haha) was MADE for convertibles. If you want to treat yourself, do it in an Aston Martin.

I can’t believe I’m saying this in this day an age, but sports cars and luxury hires should be for girls too. It’s so much fun! I never thought as a woman I would enjoy driving fast cars as much as I did or that I even could for that matter. But once I gave it a try, I was hooked. And nothing beats taking a special car to a special place, right? Where to next?

Have you ever driven a sports car? Would you drive an Aston Martin around New Zealand given half the chance? 

Many thanks to Ignition Self Drive for trusting me with their Aston Martin. Like always I’m keeping it real – all opinions are my own – like you could expect less from me!

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[mcdoodlesoup]

ISLAS DE GIGANTES

January 2017 -  23rd Birthday Vacation

2016 has been a great year for me. Sometimes, I ask myself if I truly deserved all the things that I had. But when I look back, I think I’ve been a very good and responsible daughter and employee so it’s okay to give myself a vacation. And it’s my birthday anyway.

I never thought that my first travel for this year will be so memorable. It was a funny experience too! Have you ever tried departing and arriving on the same destination? That’s what happened on my first plane ride for 2017. We departed from MANILA and expecting to arrive in ROXAS CITY, but when our aircraft is about to land, pilot said that we are diverted back to MANILA because of the bad weather in ROXAS CITY. It’s very frustrating but we can’t blame anyone. What we did is we just requested to fly again the next day. For someone like me who is always excited to ride a plane, it’s not really a big inconvenience for me. I’m just lucky because I have a week paid leave.

So the next day, I’m happy because the weather in Roxas City is so much better than the previous day. Our main destination? ISLAS DE GIGANTES.

DAY 1

It’s not very hard to go to ISLAS de GIGANTES. You will never get lost as long as you know where you are going.  But to give you an idea, here’s how to get there from ROXAS AIRPORT:

1.      Ride a tricycle from the airport to Roxas City Transport Terminal located at Pueblo de Panay. 

2.      From the terminal, ride a bus/van bound for Estancia. 

3.      From Estancia terminal, ride a tricycle to the port. 

4.      From Estancia Port, ride a public boat to Gigantes Norte, Islas De Gigantes. Take note that there’s only one trip per day to Gigantes Norte so be early. The boat departs ESTANCIA before 2pm daily. 2 hours boat ride.

Gigantes Norte Island

Before that, we already have a contact in GIGANTES. There’s a lot of resorts in GIGANTES NORTE but we decided to stay at JESA BEACH RESORT. The most famous resort is the HIDEAWAY INN RESORT but I made my research and I found out that the beach in front of this resort is not feasible for swimming because of mangroves. We will be staying for 3 nights and 4 days so I want a beach near our resort and I’m so lucky to stumble upon a blog that features JESA BEACH RESORT. Price is just the same with HIDEAWAY INN.

We arrived at the resort at around 4PM. I’m not really expecting to have activities on the first day. And we’re going to stay for 3 nights so we actually have a lot of time to chill and do all the activities included in the package. We visited Pasil Beach on our first day. :)

Beach in front of our resort.

DAY 2 – ISLAND HOPPING (MY BIRTHDAY)

Thank God because it’s a sunny day! For our first destination…

TANKE SALTWATER LAGOON

I’d never been to Palawan (it’s on my list) so I can’t really do much comparison. But Tanke lagoon looks really the same with CORON and EL NIDO based on the pictures I’ve seen on web. It’s a hidden lagoon surrounded by giant Limestones.

We are very lucky because we were able to enjoy the lagoon with just me and my boyfriend (and our guides). 

The rock formation looks very beautiful and I can’t imagine what more Palawan can offer if this one satisfies me already.

CABUGAO GAMAY ISLAND

Scenic View of the whole island.

Twin beach! 

This is my favorite part of the tour and probably the most photographed location in Islas de Gigantes. I can’t imagine I was here exactly on the day of my birthday. The view can really take your breath away.

BANTIGUE SANDBAR

Bantigue Island is famous for its long stretch of white sand in the middle of the ocean. One amazing fact is the sand bar’s shape depends on the Monsoon winds. It can be an S-shape or C-shape depending on the season.

This is also the island wherein we had our lunch. We really enjoyed the seafood served – overflowing scallops and wasay-wasay as expected.

Last destination of our Island hopping tour….

ANTONIA BEACH

This is the best island for snorkeling! I can’t imagine that the snorkeling spot is just at the seashore. You don’t even need snorkeling gears to see the fishes because you can see them through its clear water while feeding them. We stayed here till 5pm and this is also the last part of the island hopping tour.

Day 3

BAKWITAN CAVE

This is my first time to enter a giant cave. Bakwitan Cave was the local’s evacuation site during the old times from the Japanese Soldier. Originally, “Evacuate-an”. It was not really easy to climb because of the mud since it’s very rainy for the past few days. We didn’t do the “spelunking” activity since it’s dangerous that time and I don’t think I’m ready for that. LOL. That’s the activity wherein you have to crawl and hike through the small cave openings. Based on blogs I read, it was really a “buwis-buhay” activity.

I did enjoy this part of the tour even though my feet were filled with mud. It was my first time to see a “Buhay na Bato” which really amazed me. “Buhay na Bato” is sparkling like a diamond because of its minerals. We were advised not to touch them so they won’t die.

GIGANTES NORTE LIGHT HOUSE

The original Spanish-colonial parola was replaced with a modern day solar-powered lighthouse donated by Japan, but the old quarters ruins was preserved. 

The view from the lighthouse is really relaxing. Needless to say, it’s also a perfect spot for taking pictures.

Inside the Lighthouse ruins.

PASIL BEACH

We still have so much time in the afternoon to chill and relax so we decided to visit again Pasil Beach which is just 5- 10 minutes away from our resort.

Photo above is actually from our first day on the island.

Pasil beach is just beside the port of Gigantes Norte. The white sand beach is flattered by the huge rock formation behind it which will give you an amazing view and a good impression on the island. The corals are scattered along the shore. Scallops on this island is abundant so you can find shells everywhere.

DAY 4

Back to Manila. By the way, the closest airport to ISLAS DE GIGANTES is ROXAS AIRPORT. We actually have some time to explore Capiz/Roxas City because our flight is scheduled in the afternoon. But since the weather is not really that good, we decided to just stay and wait at the airport. There are also a lot of places to visit in Roxas City, so if you are a traveler who wants to make the most out of your time, you have the option to roam around the city as well.

Since I also promised myself to blog my travels in detail and a lot of my friends and relatives are asking me, I also created an ITINERARY that I hope can help.:)

ITINERARY - 4 days and 3 Nights

I had so much fun on this vacation and I can say that this is one of the best birthday I ever had. I can’t thank God enough for a wonderful birthday celebration. :) Happy travels everyone!