Winding down

Hi everyone.. how was your weekend?  Mine was a really lovely combination of tons of random stuff, but unfortunately, I did a terrible job of photographing any of it!!

Most of you probably already know that my two-year assignment here in Singapore is coming to an end.  My last day of work here is 31st July, and I'm planning to fly back to the US on 2nd August.  So soon!!  Although this experience has had it's share of highs and lows, overall, it has been absolutely amazing, and now that it is winding down, I am getting so very sad!!!  It is definitely a bittersweet time - I'm very excited about the next steps on my path, but at the same time, my time in Singapore has been incredible.

Since I don't have many weekends (or weeks) left here on this island, I've started trying to get around to many of my old favorites while also getting to all the places that I've been wanting to try!  Friday night, we spent the early part of the evening hanging out on a rooftop at Boat Quay before visiting the "kebab window" that I love.  Afterwards, we headed over to Parkview Square to see the Wine Fairy in action!

Lobby bar

Apparently, Parkview Square was originally meant to be a hotel, but I think something happened with the financing, and the new buyer just turned it into office buildings.  So it has a really lovely and grand lobby area that includes a vertical wine room.  A girl (dressed in silver and sequins) attaches herself to some cables and goes up and grabs your wine order from the column.  Sounds pretty cool, right?

Can you see her?

In actuality, this place was a bit of a bust.  The was service extremely slow (even by Singapore standards!), and the overall atmosphere was just a bit blah.  I wouldn't return again, but I guess it was something to experience!

Saturday was a pretty lazy day for me, but the exciting thing of the evening was a (completely unpictured) dinner with friends at the new Outback!  Another mall has just opened up on Orchard, and along with it, a new Outback Steakhouse!  My friend Kim works in their corporate offices back in Tampa, so she was able to get me onto the guest list for the friends & family opening event.  In the spirit of cultural sharing, I invited some of my English friends to come enjoy a (gratis) taste of how America interprets Australian cuisine.  It definitely brought back some memories!!!

On Sunday, I celebrated my friend Sarah's MBA graduation with a super fancy champagne brunch at the Ritz Carlton!!  To me, this brunch is the ultimate event - it just seeps luxury.  We feasted on all sorts of delicious treats and had our fair share of Moet while sitting in the lovely setting.  It was so great :)

Ritz Carlton lobby

Cheese tray

Tonight, I had planned to go running with a friend after work, but when she had to bail, I took advantage of an empty calendar and went to go check out the newly re-opened La Pau Sat!  (hey - I can run anytime, but I can only go to hawker centers for just another month!)  This hawker center is right next to my office, and I used to go there quite frequently, but it closed down for renovations more than nine months ago.  I think the entire CBD is very happy to have them open again!!

I had a delicious bowl of bun bo hue for S$6.  Later on this week, I have some fun plans to get around to some other delicious places that I've been meaning to try, and then on Thursday night, I'm heading to Bali to ring in the 4th!!

Hope everyone at home has a great Monday!!

USA! USA!

So the other night, I went to watch some World Cup action. The USA v Germany game kicked off at midnight here in Singapore, and I decided that it was worth it to have a sleepy morning in order to cheer on the team!  I just went to watch the game in Robertson Walk, which is right next to my apartment. There are several bars and a huge courtyard that made for a great place to watch! There was actually a huge turnout, so it made for a really fun night. Although it sucked to lose, we were all happy to advance to the next round. Happy people all around!!

I realized that I have absolutely zero USA gear of any sort. Lots of people were dressed up in their red, white, and blue and carrying big flags and stuff, but I was only wearing a blue and white striped dress! So now I am on the hunt for some USA apparel!!  I never really wore any sort of America gear back home, but I feel like when you live outside the US, it's important to be able to represent!  I had planned to just order a bunch of stuff from Old Navy, but their online shop is all sold out of my size!!  Tragedy!!

So readers- can anyone please do me a favor and look for some cheap but cute America gear? If you buy it for me, I promise to pay you back!! I feel like there should be some cute stuff in the stores in preparation for 4th of July, so can you please keep your eyes peeled???

Thank you!! 

Old lady

A lot of times in Singapore, people just say things that would never be said in America.  I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before on the blog, but it's totally a cultural observation.  Nothing is ever said maliciously or anything like that.. it's more like, people are just unafraid to say exactly what they think without any sort of sugar-coating.  (My hair dresser once told me that I don't need to worry about the lack of volume in my hair.. "because your forehead is so big.")

I went to the dermatologist earlier today.  I suppose that one of the benefits of moving to a new location is that it encourages me to make sure I get to all my doctors for (less than) annual check ups!  Towards the end of our session, I asked her about my general skin-care routine and if there were any tweaks that I needed to make.  "Well you should definitely be using an anti-aging treatment around your eyes."

Well then.

So I'd like to ask you guys for any recommendations for any anti-aging eye treatments, creams, and/or serums that you love?  And while we're at it, I'm looking to re-examine my whole routine, so please fire away with any recommendations for cleaners, toners, moisturizers, etc!

Summer solstice

Hi all!  Sorry to disappear last week, but I was taking some time to just enjoy life during the extra long days!  Anyway - how is everyone?  First let's talk about this morning's USA v Portugal game... I got up early to walk over to a Korean restaurant near my house that was showing the game.  (Random, I know.)  I was really glad I got up for the game, and I'm very happy with the draw, but man!  Those last 30 seconds were tough to watch.

Backing up a bit - I just have to tell you guys that I had such a great week last week.  Nothing super special happened, but it was just a happy week.  Things have just seemed good lately.  Lots to be thankful for!

Highlights of the past few days include a really delicious five-course Italian wine paring dinner at a new (to me) restaurant called Wolf with some friends, Saturday brunch at The St. Regis, and attending my first rugby tournament!!

Sunrise in Singapore during a morning jog

Berries, yogurt, and granola!  Strawberries were on sale for 2 for S$10.  This is the first time I've bought strawberries in nearly two years living here!

The new Chinatown Food Street

Fun times catching up over burritos and quesadillas!

Pre-dinner cocktail at Club Street Social

Italian wine dinner!!

Saturday brunch is so much better than Sunday brunch!

Sideline dance

Action!

What's left

Hello all!  I don't have a ton to share with you today.  This weekend was really low-key, which I absolutely loved.  Sometimes you just need a weekend where you have no plans, right?  Anyway, I've got some things penned in my calendar for most of my remaining weekends in Asia, so it was really nice to spend a weekend just doing whatever came along!

Friday night wine flight

Super delicious sabbich lunch on Saturday.. I can't remember everything here.. roasted eggplant and cauliflower, pita, hummus, veggies, smoked egg.. it was amazing!

Followed by an impromptu (and expensive!) rickshaw ride!  Check one off the list!

Sunday morning after my run, I came back to my neighborhood to find loads of people out to watch Cote d'Ivoire and Japan

I stayed at watched with the Japanese fans for a bit.. long enough to watch them score a goal!

Other (unpictured) happenings this weekend included a wellness expo where I picked up some new granola, a hawker center day drinking turned to dinner session, a sushi dinner with a friend, and a marathon of Game of Thrones!  (I haven't seen the finale, since it only aired on Monday morning in Singapore.)

One of the things that I was talking about with Caroline (pictured above on the rickshaw ride) over lunch was what things I still haven't gotten to do in Singapore yet!  I've been thinking about this, of course, for a while now, but I haven't actually written it down, so I figure that I need to do that, or else I will never get around to any of it!  So here it is.. the list of what's left to do in Singapore...

- Go to Mustafa
- Ride the cable car to Sentosa
- Ride in a rickshaw (check!)
- Go to the Art Science Museum
- Rent bikes at Pulau Ubin
- Go get BBQ at Smokey's
- Do the tree top walk at MacRitchie Reservoir

I guess that's it for now.. it's a fairly short list when I look at this way, so hopefully I am successful in knocking it all out!  Of course, this doesn't include all the things in Singapore that I've already done that I want to do again... so we'll see.

Alright.. have a good week everyone.  Team USA kicks off in less than 12 hours!!

Lately

Hello everyone!  I'm excited for the World Cup to start, but I'm still trying to sort out whether or not I'll be able to watch the USA game (it's at 6am on Monday morning).  Either way, go Team USA!

This little list has been going around the blogosphere (the corner I read, anyway), so I thought I'd share with you guys.  It's meant to be a collection of things you're looking forward to, but it semi-stresses me out to think about the future right now, so I'll just tell you what I'm doing now!

Eating - today is Thursday, so I'm just having my weekly dose of Rejuicenate.
Drinking - see above.
Practicing - patience!!  And yoga.  Always yoga.
Mastering - a daily flossing habit.
Learning - international economics.  I've been listening to a lot of NPR's Planet Money during my workouts and commutes!
Trying - to eat my stash of frozen vegetables that I've been hoarding away.
Playing - nothing?  We forgot to bring Uno when we went to Hong Kong this past weekend.
Finishing - some things at work.. I hope!
Reading - Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir.  Eddie Huang is a Taiwanese-American who grew up in Orlando, so I thought that I would really identify with this one.  Not so much though.  An interesting book, but it definitely doesn't resonate with me the way I thought it would.
Remembering - to floss.
Wearing - Singapore clothes, aka summer clothes.
Cooking - things in the microwave.  Mostly frozen veggies and frozen dumplings.  I miss the days of real cooking.
Working - still.  Finished with my work travel for now, but still have work to do!
Travelling - less.  One trip to Bali during 4th of July weekend, and that's it.
Wanting - ice cream.

Feeling better

Hello all!  I am very happy to report that I am feeling so much better this week!  Even though I was away this weekend, I still was able to get in a fair amount of rest.  Plus, Katie gave me some Mucinex and super Advil, so that has helped put me back on the mend!  Hooray for modern medicine!

So this past weekend, we went to Hong Kong to celebrate Brian's birthday.  You may recall that Hong Kong was the first trip I took after I moved to Singapore.  I was really excited to be able to go back!

I started out my weekend with another restless night.  I woke up on Friday morning around 2:30am and never went back to bed.  After a full day of work, I met up with some friends for happy hour and dinner since the flight to Hong Kong didn't leave until 2 am!!

We went to the Clifford Pier, which is a newly renovated space inside the Fullerton Bay hotel.  The restaurant serves upscale hawker food, and we had a really fun time at dinner!!  Dinner took quite a while, so I only had time for a 30 minute nap at home before it was time to head to the airport.

Our flight landed in Hong Kong at 6am, and after dropping our bags off at the hotel, we went to the only thing that was open - the Victoria Peak!!

The good thing about going so early is that you avoid the crowds.  When we rode the tram back down, there was a HUGE mass of people waiting to go up.  I'm glad we didn't have to deal with that!

Then we went to meet Katie and Sara (visiting from the US!) and then head over to Disneyland!  When Brian suggested going to Disneyland, I wasn't too crazy about the idea but went along with it because it was his birthday, but we actually had a really great time!!

By the time we left Disneyland, I was completely exhausted.  The sleep deficit really caught up with me by that point.  I totally passed out that night.

After (finally!) a good night's sleep, we went to the 102nd floor of the Ritz Carlton hotel for high tea!

Afterwards, we went up one floor to the cocktail lounge.  The decor inside this hotel is really stunning.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in it.  I mean, it was a cloudy day, so we had zero views, but I thought the service was actually pretty dreadful.  And the food was just okay.  But it was still a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Happy birthday!

And now, I'm back in Singapore.  I've got one last trip left before I leave this island on a one-way ticket.  Very bittersweet!!

Awake

It's 3:30 in the morning here. I'm awake and can't seem to sleep. As I've mentioned, I've been feeling under the weather since I got back from my travels. One of the worst parts has been my inability to sleep at night.  I've never been one to love medication, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to battle insomnia, please help!!

Tomorrow I'm off to Hong Kong for the weekend. Talk to you guys later!

Ya habibi!

Hi friends!  I'm disappointed to report that even after a weekend full of rest, I still do not feel 100%.  I haven't been sleeping well at all, and my sinuses are still totally jacked up.  Maybe I am just being impatient, but I sure would like to feel normal again.

Moving on to happier things... this is the last part of my May travel round-up!  (This is a LONG and photo-heavy post!)  After a glorious day in Paris, I still had two more flights to go!  Paris to Casablanca and then Casablanca to Marrakesh.  Whew!  By the time I arrived around 11:30pm, I had been in four airports and three continents in just one day!

The original purpose of the trip to Morocco was to see my friends Charlie and Rumana get married.  Their wedding was a four day destination extravaganza, so I figured that I would tack a few extra days on to do a little extra exploring!

The first day in Marrakesh was pretty relaxed - just what I needed after so much travel!  We spent the day hanging out at the riad, which was so lovely.  I found the service in the riads to be so thoughtful and easy.  A very laid back approach, which I really enjoyed.  We had a delicious breakfast on the rooftop, enjoyed the sunshine, wandered some of the market stalls in the alleyways, and drank lots of mint tea.

Riad Lyla

Pancakes, orange juice, fruit, delicious yogurt, honey, and the best apricot preserves!

I bought a pair of slippers!  The cream colored ones on the right :)

Sort of like Asia.. with less Asians

That evening, a few other wedding guests who had arrived early gathered to have dinner in the main square of the medina.  I've been to tons of markets in Asia, and I found the square to be a bit like those, just not nearly as hot!  And it was really lively and beautiful at night.  We had some Moroccan treats for dinner and had an easy night wandering around and taking it all in.

We ate a billion things.. I don't even know.

All these people were playing some sort of game where you try to get the ring around the bottle?  But I wasn't sure what the prize was...

So crowded for a Sunday night!

On Monday, we headed out to the Atlas Mountains!!  The Atlas Mountains actually runs through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.  Pretty freaking long!  We drove about 90 minutes outside of Marrakesh to the village of Imlil, which is where we stayed the night.  We were planning to do a two day hike to summit Mount Toubkal, which is the highest peak in North Africa (4,167 m).  I was also happy to use this trek as a practice run for Peru later this year!

Lots of goats on the ride over

The Imlil Lodge!

So peaceful and beautiful

It was so crazy how different Imlil was from Marrakesh.  The medina is a frenzy of colors, people, cats, alleyways, and fruit.  Imlil was just wide open mountain air.  So calm and quiet.  We spent a little bit of time just hanging out on the rooftop terrace (everywhere in Morocco seems to have a rooftop terrace!) before getting hungry for lunch.

This was one of the best meals that I had in Morocco.  A total surprise, since it was just cooked up by the kitchen in the lodge!  We had some olives and bread, (unpictured) Moroccan salad, and chicken tagine.  I started the meal not feeling incredibly hungry (due to the number of pancakes I had at breakfast), but everything was so delicious that I finished every single bite!

The scenery isn't too shabby either

Sunset over the mountains

Imlil is located at about 1,800 m, so I wanted to get there a day early just to give myself a chance to get used to the altitude.  I've never really been in altitude before, much less hiked, so I figured it was the prudent thing to do.  We just hung out at the lodge and took it easy, since the next morning, we were up early to start our trek!

Me and our guide Hassan

You guys - this was no cake walk.  It was awesome that everything was so natural and unspoiled, but it sure did make for a more challenging trek.  The weather was absolutely fantastic, and the views were totally breathtaking.  I kept just saying "this is so awesome" over and over.  You don't realize how rare it is to see such natural beauty until you are surrounded by it I guess.

Orange juice is everywhere in Morocco - and it is really delicious.  The perfect quick stop along the mountain!

For Stephanie :)

Waterfall!

And then, it was time for lunch!  I really enjoyed the Moroccan style of eating - lots of fresh veggies, olives, and fruits.  Very simple, but very delicious.

After about six hours of walking (and about 1400 m in elevation), we made it to the refuge!  All hikers going to Toubkal stay at the refuge, as it is the only accommodation available between Imlil and the summit.  We elected to camp outside the refuge for the night, but it was nice to have access to a bathroom in the refuge!

Looking back, we could see the clouds setting in over the path we had just climbed.

Home for the night!

The next morning was an early start.  Breakfast was at 4:30 am, and we started walking at 5.  It was still pitch black for the first hour or so of the morning.  And it was COLD!  Once we really started climbing (it was SO steep), the wind was so brutal, and I was freezing.  A combination of the incline, the altitude, and the weather was really getting to me, and I was really struggling for a while.  At one point, very close to the summit, I actually just sat down in the middle of the mountain and said "I need a cookie!"  We had brought some Girl Scout cookies with us for snacks, and I was so glad that we did.  That quick shot of sugar boosted me just enough to make it to the top!!!

It was SO beautiful, but it was SO cold.  Actually, it was so cold, that my iPhone shut off!!  So we snapped just a few quick photos and then headed back down the mountain.

Summit!!!

Anyone who has ever been hiking with me before probably knows that I tend to struggle going downhill.  I just can't manage to find traction (even with hiking shoes) when there are lots of loose rocks, and Toubkal had TONS of loose rocks.  I think our guide was holding my hand for like, literally three hours on the way down.

But after about 9 hours of walking, we finally made it to the bottom of the mountain... and then we walked about another hour through the villages to get back to the Imlil Lodge!  Talk about mentally discouraging!  But we made it, and I was so happy to take a hot shower and put on my new slippers.  We had originally been scheduled to go back to Marrakesh straight after the hike, but at the last minute, we decided to just stay an extra night in the lodge, and I am SO glad we did that.  I can't imagine what it would've been like to sit in a car all the way back after such a long day.

Thursday morning, we did finally head back to Marrakesh, and then it was time to start the wedding celebrations!!  Charlie and Rumana, who are both from the UK, have been in Singapore for a few years now, so quite a few ex-Singapore residents were also present at the wedding, so it was really nice to catch up with friends both old and new!

The wedding celebration stretched over four days, and it was all really lovely.  We had a beautiful dinner in the desert, some more Marrakesh exploration, and a lovely spa day at the Beldi Country Club.  (Turns out Poppy Delevingne, sister of Cara, actually got married at the Beldi Country Club the very same weekend!)

Beldi Country Club - Beautiful doors, beautiful flowers

Inside the spa - I could stay here all day

 
And then it was time for the main event!!

Pre-ceremony

Bride and groom

They are married!!

Tables were themed based on their adventures

Somehow, this Asian American got seated at the North Korea table haha.

Me and the bride!

Me and the groom.. with an epic photo bomber :)

Sunset from the rooftop

After a really fun night and not a lot of sleep.. it was finally time to head back to Asia.  All in all, an absolutely wonderful holiday in Morocco - I would definitely return!

Oh also!  Two points if you can guess what the title of this post refers to!