Home sweet home in Singapore

  Singapore, Singapore
Tuesday, March 6, 2007

~ home sweet home ~
well, this is my first solo trip and my longest travels (thou 5 weeks of traveling can't really be considered long). it has been a really great experience! and in a way, i'm glad that i did it on my own (as a couple of frens who were keen to join me could not make it after all). i'm really pleasantly surprised that its so easy to meet and hang out with fellow solo travelers. and i guess when you're traveling, you're more open-minded. others are more open-minded twds u as well. i wldn't say that i've learnt much more about myself as i think i'm old enough to have already done q abit of self-discovery. but i'm happy that i'm really as independent as i tot i am. similar to my previous trips, i've also returned with various inspirations. this time, my inspirations include ideas & plans for future trips (with william), setting up a shelf in my living rm to store and display my outdoor and travel gear which will serve to remind me to look fwd to future trips and adventure. am pretty happy to be home to enjoy all the material comforts - hot showers, ready access to internet & tv, lounging in my comfy sofa. in a way, i'm also glad that my solo travels are over (for now), as it means that its time for me to head to australia to join william.

~ 1.5 wks in Sg ~
didn't manage to do all the things that i planned to do, as usual, since i always have too many plans up my sleeves, but too little time. 
during these 11 days at home, i managed to try out various recipes, including tiramisu, rice paper rolls, lemon grass chicken, sweet & sour pork, sardine sambal and marble cake. only the first 3 dishes were delicious. the rest tasted so-so only.

lemon grass chicken

rice paper rolls

constance & me

rice paper rolls 2

sardine sambal

also managed to read neil humphrey's bk 'final notes from a great island - farewell tour of singapore', which is q interesting. learnt about some aspects of sg that i never knew (history and places). also browsed thru some mag-books 'queer eye for the straight guy' and '1000 places to see before you die'. as well as went thru the notes for the basic exercise course (BEC) that i attended in Jan 07. to me, its really great to read as i always get lots of ideas and inspirations from reading (much more as compared to watching tv and surfing the web). maybe thats bcos u r less distracted when u read, and books tend to be more comprehensive and u can take your time to digest (and re-read) the portions that touches u. 
also visited my 2 families and met up with some frens - steph, constance, melissa, nick.
din do as much running as i'd like to. maybe i'm really getting lazy... went for the safra group runs and it was really nice to have people asking me about my trip and my knee injuries. i guess friendships do take time to develop. even thou the safra runners come fm all walks of lives and even thou some of us may only be able to converse on a more superficial level due to v different backgrounds, i have a sense of camaraderie and affection twds the group as we see one another so often during the thrice-wkly runs. it has been 2 mths since i did a long run of at least 21km, i certainly hope i can start running that distance when i go to australia. apart from some running, i did my own 30-min weight training sessions at the gym and attended a really 'siong' spinning class.