Being Crazy – SMALLCRAZY

Two Green Spaces I Love in Porto

Yishyene — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 18:32:31 +0000

Today I want to share with you my two favourite green spaces in Porto, Portugal.. and a nifty little app I’ve used to add some extra colour and life to the photos in this post.

The app I talk about is the new Ribena Doodle Your World app – it lets you add still or animated doodles (made out of fruits and other Ribena characters) to your photos or videos.

Did you grow up with Ribena? Because I did. Ribena was a big part of my childhood. I loved seeing those cartoon blackcurrants (happy purple round things) talking on TV. Our kitchen always had a big glass bottle of Ribena syrup. Mixed with water and ice, it was the best thing to have on a hot day. Since it is hot every day in Malaysia (where I grew up), it was the best drink to have every day.

I haven’t actually had any Ribena for a while and I’m so happy to see it reappear in my world again, this time in digital form/as an app. It brings back so many memories and I’ve had such a fun time creating these Ribenary photos.. which were, of course, taken in my two preferred green havens in Porto (on hot days, no less):

JARDIM BOTÂNICO / BOTANICAL GARDEN

The Botanical Garden is located just slightly out of the city centre and it is a little bit of paradise. It’s not huge. In fact it’s probably one of the smallest botanical gardens I’ve ever been to. But that’s great because I can see every part of it in a short time.

The way it’s laid out is on par with many other things in Portugal that don’t make sense. There are some random wild and unmanicured areas. Suddenly there is a big red house. Then a mini bamboo forest. Near some fallen tree trunks. Next to a beautiful row of hydrangeas. Somewhere there is what looks like a cactus farm. A giant hedge.

Like my Ribenary creations? Don’t worry – there’s more!

Here are some photos of the Botanical Garden taken last year:

Some of my friends were impressed that I dyed my hair to match the hydrangeas, but the truth is that I did not even know that those flowers were called hydrangeas before the photo was taken and I couldn’t care less about them.

I did, however, care to take advantage of the happy coincidence (by making Ricardo snap multiple of me and the hydrangeas in the same position).

I added the little Ribena rabbit there because its nose matches my hair.

Since Ricardo always looks so boring and me already fruity (inside and out), I decided to award him three Doodles and me none.

“What’s the time?”

RIBENA O’Clock

But alas! For Ribena O’Clock to occur in Portugal two conditions must be met:
– Availability of Ribena in stores
– A good understanding of the concept of time & timekeeping

Only one of these has any probability of happening.

^Top left: Tiles! / Top right: Flowers! / Bottom: Me with eyes closed, probably walking into banister.

There were a lot of bees around the yellow flowers. Ricardo hates bees. He either screams like a girl or shouts profanities at the poor bees. Therefore I really enjoyed us being around those yellow flowers.

Porto isn’t as green as London. You won’t be spoilt for choice when looking for a large grassy area to play or picnic in, that’s for sure. But it does have a few little gems, especially if you venture out a little. Which brings me to my next favourite:

PARQUE DE SÃO ROQUE

This park ROCKS.

There is an abandoned old yellow house decorated with peeling paint and faded tiles, to greet you when you first enter.

Do you like my exploding pineapple, funky pigeon, and grumpy fox (the one playing golf)?

As health & safety is less of an issue here, there are bit of building debris and shards of glass you can step on (and enjoy their crunchy sounds) if you go to the right spots around the house. Tip: one such spot is on the balcony by the stairs.

THIS PARK HAS A HEDGE MAZE.

This park has a hedge maze. That’s awesome!

It’s slightly short but still fun. I’m not so tall anyway. And if I wear my fox mask I’m as blind as not-a-bat-but-almost. That’s fun too!

The other parts of the park include some fairytale-like features and also open spaces for families or groups to have picnics etc.

Another bonus is the existence of stray cats on the grounds. Since I don’t have a cat of my own to touch, I resort to touching whatever cats I can find in the public domain.

PS I really like that I’m pointing at a GIANT FLAMINGO!

^My pink boat shoes are by Quvel

We were taking a series of ten photos of us. Ricardo got bored halfway and decided to pick up a loose tile to show me. I’m rolling my eyes under my sunglasses.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did creating it!

PARK INFO:

Jardim Botânico do Porto
Rua do Campo Alegre 1191
4150-173 Porto
Portugal
>> Map

Parque de São Roque
R. São Roque da Lameira 2040
4350-307 Porto
Portugal
>> Map

RIBENA APP:

Add colourful, animated characters and objects to your photos and videos using augmented reality!
Click here to download 🙂

This post has been supported by Ribena® but all thoughts and doodles are my own.
Images used in this post are not actual app production.

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Bringing Colour to Antelope Canyon

Yishyene — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:27:44 +0000

Joyce and I had the opportunity to do a road trip through Utah and Arizona in June after attending Electric Daisy Carnival in Vegas – and all we had to pay for was car hire (a convertible of course). We do lead such charmed lives; it all still seems surreal!

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Antelope Canyon during our stay in Page (I LOVED Page by the way), which I’d never really even heard about until I did some research on what to see in Arizona (although I knew I had seen pictures of it before). So of course I wasn’t aware that you had to choose between UPPER Antelope Canyon and LOWER Antelope Canyon, and argh it was so hard to decide..

I learnt that Upper was where the most dramatic photos are captured – these were the ones you would’ve seen on the web when searching for ‘Antelope Canyon’.. or in National Geographic magazines. But the downside was that because it’s so popular it’s always full of people. It’s also rather more expensive. Lower Antelope Canyon was less popular and slightly less accessible than Upper (only because you’d have to climb down some steep ladders to get down into the canyon at the beginning).

After some careful consideration, we decided on Lower because we had some grand plans for what kind of photos we wanted to take down there (you’ll see..) and we much preferred to have a bit more space instead of get stuck in a crowd. Plus the money we’ll save could go to more food 🙂

As of June 2015, when we visited, there seemed to be only two obviously visible operators running tours to Lower Antelope Canyon. We chose Ken’s Tours. There was no need to book even though it was peak season (another reason we preferred Lower to Upper).

It cost $28 per person including the mandatory Navajo Park Permit of $8. By the way, you’re not allowed to enter on your own, so you’d have to sign up for one of these guided tours.

We went for a 10.50am tour. If you’ve looked online, you’ll know that there’s a huge discussion/debate about what is the best time to go for the ‘best light’. We weren’t super fussed but I learnt that between 10am and 2pm is meant to be ‘ideal’, although the tour guides will tell you that it’s beautiful no matter what time of day it is (not untrue!).

We had about 20 or so people in our group, which to me was not small, so imagine what being at Upper Antelope Canyon would’ve been like! Anyway, once we descended into the ground, our eyes enjoyed a big feast. It was stunning..

Top: Mileti Swimwear | Sandals: Saltwater

Our guide, Buddy, explained how the canyons were formed and pointed out some interesting angles and perspectives for photography.

We tried to wear our animal masks (courtesy of Joyce) as often as we could.. possibly annoying some of the group but I’m pretty sure amusing most of them! We even flapped around and made chicken sounds. We thought.. everyone’s gonna have the SAME PICTURE, so why not make ours a bit different?

I love our photos and I love the idea of us prancing around in rubber animal masks and floral headbands in a beautiful, well-known tourist attraction (not a novel situation though – examples here and here).

The tour lasted less than 1.5 hours from start to finish, which means we were in the canyon for about 45 minutes, I think. I do wish we could’ve stayed longer for more pictures, but there were always other tour groups coming up behind us and so our stops were time-limited. I did always feel hurried despite Buddy being super accommodating and patient with us (he really was great).

Overall, I LOVED Antelope Canyon and if you’re ever driving through Arizona and stopping by Page, definitely spare a couple of hours to visit.

More info about the tour here.

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Fun at Mama Shelter Paris

Yishyene — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 01:21:39 +0000

I want to tell you about what a fun time I had in Paris, staying at the super-cool, Philippe Starck-designed Mama Shelter Hotel. This was in January, when I’d just come from Christmas celebrations in Porto and ushering in the New Year in Granada (with a mouthful of grapes..).

Arriving late at night and looking dishevelled, I stepped out of my taxi feeling extremely out of place. It was a Thursday night and there were all these chic and trendy looking people on the steps outside; girls in fur coats and high heels. I could hear music coming from inside the building. Then there was ME. In jeans and flat hair and no makeup.. accompanied by my unglamorous red suitcase.

Reminding myself that “no, I don’t look like this NORMALLY”, I proceeded to check in and resigned myself to a night in to rest up before meeting with friends the next day.

But hey at least I had pretty alright shoes (they’re Topshop, if you’re wondering).

Funny masks are provided in every room. So is an iMac that has all the info you need, including maps and a list of recommended bars/restaurant/shops in the neighbourhood (Charonne) and Paris in general. Plus a whole load of TV channels.

And.. there’s also free porn! LOTS of it, at no extra charge. I had a good browse and noticed they included gay porn too. All bases covered huh!

There wasn’t much of a view, but it was so good to have that whole big comfy bed to myself after having had to share, before coming to Paris.

I spent the first morning indulging myself in a super-long shower followed by lots of lounging around naked and I took my time moisturising every inch of my body. It’s important!

Left: Reception area // Right: The bar

The shelves on the left contain a whole assortment of fun things you can buy to make your stay a little more vibrant. They include party packs, toys, novelty items, more masks, and some arty things that you’ll want to have despite them being of no real use. I’m certain there was a section with some actually useful stuff as well..

The pizzeria’s meant to be really good. I didn’t manage to eat there though – I was too eager to go out and stuff my face with all the French food I could find.

I did however spend one night at the restaurant/bar. The music was excellent and the vibe upbeat! It seemed to be frequented by a lot of the local residents/Parisians, which I really enjoyed.

WHAT’S YOUR ROOM NUMBER?

We bumped (literally) into a loud, over-confident French chick who looked somewhat like Alex Vause from Orange is the New Black. She was SO BOLD. She ‘introduced’ herself to me by grabbing my arm, with a too-enthusiastic HEYYYYYYY. No holds barred, she proceeded to ask my friend (female) and I if we were sleeping with each other – but in a much, much more direct manner than how I’m describing it here (use our imagination).

Then she invited us to Mexico.
Why? Because she and her friends were going in two weeks.
Why? Because, she’s getting married to a man, who knows she is gay, but doesn’t seem to mind, although he’s not aware that she’s still sleeping with girls. That’s what I got from it anyway!

“So why are you getting married???”

“Why not?? It’s fun!!”

That was it. I liked her.

We hung out with her and her friends, who all worked in TV (although at that point I didn’t know what to believe anymore). She couldn’t stop trying to find out our room number. She would slyly insert, mid-conversation, totally irrelevantly – so what’s your room number?

I found it soooooo hilarious. SHE was freaking hilarious. Made my night!

PLAYTIME IN BED

They had these lights.. probably some kind of utility lights with long cords, but they provided lots of entertainment, especially with the mirrors on opposing walls. Simple pleasures!

We must’ve spent two hours just fooling around on the bed with these props. Such kids!
AH! That’s just it – the hotel’s tagline is ‘Mama Loves You’!

Here are a couple of videos we recorded (very silly):

Four nights in that room went by in no time! Melissa left day earlier, so I got another night on my own to bring out my inner teenager and giggle at some super-cheesy porn movies. And enjoy some nude sleeping.

Oh! You can also take pictures and videos of yourself using the iMac camera and send it to Mama.. or yourself via email.

Everything was fab – location, service, ambience, food, entertainment – save for a weird technical glitch that interfered with ~~my porn watching~~ the iMac screen sometimes which was never fixed (probably a good thing).

I stayed in a Mama Luxe room. Prices from €109.

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Three Things I FREAKIN’ LOVE about London

Yishyene — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 10:44:18 +0000

When I first moved to London, the intention was to stay only for one year.. maybe two, max. I arrived on a working holiday visa (it has a two-year limit), after just having been granted permanent residence in Australia. SO THE PLAN WAS: have some fun, travel, blah blah, then settle back in Melbourne.

Yeah right! London is so fantastically awesome that almost eight years later, here I still am. It didn’t happen overnight, but after all this time I’ve come to realise that ‘damn, I love this place!’

It seems not everyone is a fan of London.. and yeahhhhh I admit, there was a period when I wasn’t too fond of it either. From the stories I’ve heard from my many fellow immigrants (haha), most start out hating it!

BUT. Here are the three big things I LOVE about the city I now call home. This is the stuff I blab on about – very animatedly and very loudly – whenever I get asked why I live here

London has no nearby sandy beaches, but we have some of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL parks and green spaces! A multitude of them too, despite the city being so dense with concrete.

In the summer, I pretty much live on the grass. Some of my friends in Europe think it’s silly to wear a bikini at the park. But do Londoners care? Nope! We need all the sunshine that we can get and if the sun’s blasting then.. all plans cancelled; we’re having a picnic. And when you find long grass to lay on, your bed (and life) is made.

^I like my picnics colourful. Photo taken in leafy Richmond, where there are plenty of picnic spots by the river.

Being ever-so-fortunately born in the summertime, my birthdays in London are also celebrated with a big picnic at the park.
Photos above taken at Hyde Park in 2013 😉

Speaking of Hyde Park, there is this AMAZING UMBRELLA/WATERFALL TREE that you can climb all the way to the top. I love it and always make a stop whenever I’m there skateboarding as it’s near the Serpentine lake, where a lot of people skate ‘cos it’s flat and wide.

Anyway, the tree. Enter the curtain of leaves and it’s like a maze of old twisted, warty branches going upwards.. like something out of The Enchanted Wood! It’s magic. The view from the top of course is delicious. You can see my friend Luis poking out in this pic:

^And this is what the tree’s like during the cold season.. just.. bare branches. Haha! And squirrels! I LOVE the squirrels of London.. some of them are so bold and have no qualms about walking all over you like a mat and trying to steal your food. I really enjoy that.

Of course, I enjoy other things outdoors as well..

..Like playing with my ukulele on a tree. This was at Regents Park.

Sometimes I sing, too. Or fly a giant kite with friends. Or.. swim in the Thames and get sick subsequently. Do not go swimming in the Thames.

^Playtime with the lovely Emma. Last winter we spent an afternoon at Hampstead Heath. It’s my favourite natural space, after Regents Park/Primrose Hill as they’re my local ones (local bias, right?).

When the leaves fall, the Heath is a feast for all your senses. The ground is thick and the air rich with the smell of fallen leaves. Crispy leaves! Ohhh how I would love to be rolled around on that crunchy bed of autumnness.. like a sausage being tossed around in a pan of sizzling chopped garlic. But without the heat. Or the oil. Sorry I’m so weird.. let me get back on topic..

No doubt maximum park enjoyment is during the summer.. when there are loads of festivals, and other events/pop-ups going on.
For example, Rekorderlig built a Swedish summer house in Victoria Park once, and it was superb:

You could get food and cider served by cute boys dressed in shorts and suspenders 😀

Other than these huge parks, there are also smaller, more intimate places to enjoy some greenery. E.g. the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, nestled between the two Dalston overground stations. In their garden they have soil beds for local residents to plant food! There is a kind of hippie, chilled-out vibe to it. And if I remember correctly there was a quirky old rocking horse at the back, too.

^The wooden pavilion is sometimes used for creative workshops, food markets, or kids’ programmes. I’ve created some rad crayon art there myself..

There’s always stuff to do in London’s bazillion open areas, even during the freezing winter. There are the obvious Christmas markets and fairs. Then there are the less touristy activities too, like climbing up to Parliament Hill (at Hampstead Heath) to set off fireworks on Guy Fawkes’ Night (SO MUCH FUN), or trekking south-west to Syon Park to see the Enchanted Woodland (SO MANY LIGHTS). The low temperatures don’t stop people from swimming in the icy park lakes, either!

As for the summer.. hmm, this could take ages. Let’s skip to Thing #2.

This is the beauty of London. There is SO MUCH COLOUR in its inhabitants. You’re free to express yourself creatively no matter how ridiculous it may look or sound and I LOVE THAT. The variety of characters you can find here is immense.. The whole world is here! Whatever language you speak, you’re quite sure to find someone else who speaks it. Whatever weird, obscure activity it is that you enjoy doing, you’ll find a club for it. YOU CAN BE WHOEVER YOU WANT.

Most importantly, freedom of expression yields… crazy people. My favourite kind of people. Why do I love being in a city full of crazy people?
Because..

I can walk into a theatre and meet a bunch of smurfs:

^And get photobombed by a ‘normal‘.

I can wear this hideous, freaky, big-nosed mask that I got from Venice (it’s actually part of a plague doctor’s costume worn in centuries’ past), and prance around Piccadilly Circus at night like a mad tourist:

I even managed to get my caricature drawn!

We also went into a busy McDonald’s to see if we could successfully feed each other fries through the gaps in our beaks. It was not a success.

^The real tourists loved us 🙂

I can get on the tube wearing my fox onesie:

^No one gives a shit!

I can have a picnic with a bag over my head (and walk around the park chasing strangers with it on – I have a video somewhere) and have fruits as my guests, but hey it was my birthday:

I did have human guests too but they weren’t quite as exciting as the fruits.

And then there’s this scary clown putting down his newspaper to have a conversation with a cyclist passing by:

^Oh and me traipsing around Oxford Street with a guitar and balloons tied to my bag.

You can find restaurant menus like this:

^And end up in places where they teach you how to crochet… a sperm.

Now THIS is how you ‘Boris Bike’:

Oh I love that mask. It still sits in my desk drawer now. I do like Boris (for those unaware, he’s our Mayor) – he seems to enjoy getting involved with the community and isn’t afraid of looking silly. I don’t have enough knowledge about politics so I can’t say much more than that..

But YES, being surrounded by so much creative energy, openness, an eccentricity in London has helped shape who I am today. I can be ME! I can be as silly as I like. Strangeness is mostly embraced here. I could start a one-person dance party on my street with no music wearing only my underwear and it’s fine. I could pull out a potato from my handbag and have a dance with it next to a street jazz performer – I have, in fact, done this (video is also somewhere..).

This freedom of expression was particularly instrumental in my personal development. I grew up in Malaysia, where society was a lot less accepting and less.. exposed. I felt rather limited there. Being in London OPENED UP THE WORLD TO ME.. It was like.. the drug of life (does that even make sense?).

Onto Thing #3!

When there are so many wild/crazy/creative people.. there will be special occasions for us all to be crazy together, OBVIOUSLY.

My favourite? LONDON SANTACON!
When else can you have a Christmas dance party on the streets, dressed as Santa, with thousands of other people also dressed as Santa?

Just look at these weirdos! I love them:

You can read about my first Santacon experience here.

My second favourite? WORLD ZOMBIE DAY!
It’s pretty much the same as Santacon, except you dress up as zombies instead, and the music is less cheerful..

Some of the costumes you see on the day are freakin’ AMAZING. I really need to up my game next year, man..

^What a beautiful bunch of dead mimes!

The kind of things you can see at an East London club on Halloween weekend:

^A super cool bloodied fox. And then there’s me, with two My Little Ponies and.. a box of Pocky. Haha!

There are SO. MANY. EVENTS. There’s a day for you to ride the tube with no pants. Race people while flipping pancakes (next month!). Run 5k in an inflatable sumo suit. Get your dance on at a silent disco festival. Cycle naked. Go to the Science Museum to be a cockroach. You can even smash stuff up for fun.

And here, play with a insane amount of coloured powder at one of London’s Holi Festivals (there seem to be a few now – Google will disclose details):

^THAT was so much fun..

In Sweden and other Nordic countries, they celebrate the crayfish harvest season by throwing a Crayfish Party. So why not have one in London too, right? I went to a Swedish Crayfish Party last year organised by Ocado and it was hilarious!

Basically, everyone gathers to eat mountains of crayfish together. Along with other stuff, like a delicious selection of herring, salmon, cinnamon buns, and Swedish candy. Washed down with cider. And schnapps. You also have to wear crayfish hats and bibs, and sing some funny Swedish songs!

Life in London to me has been extremely enriching. There is an endless amount of learning and experiences available. So many different cultures and people to EMBRACE! Oh and the diversity of food that that comes with.. we really are spoilt for choice. If I had to narrow down London’s best quality to one word, it would be OPTIONS.

THANK YOU LONDON for being such a fantastic playground and classroom. I have grown so much while living a such a vibrant, full life. So obviously, you’re my favourite city 🙂

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An Afternoon in Bordeaux.. With a Tree Branch

Yishyene — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 08:28:00 +0000

*I wrote this last week but forgot to publish..

Sitting in a beautifully sunny garden in Milan right now.. and about to tell you a story about an afternoon spent in Bordeaux during one of the last days of 2013, in the winter!

My best friend from home, Joyce, had come to France spend the Christmas period with her partner Clem, whose family lives in Bordeaux. I joined in for one week.

^This is my favourite photo of the city that I’d taken during the trip.

Bright circle lights hanging over the streets illuminate the city at night.. it felt magical!

^The fleuve

Coat – Isabel Marant x H&M

Jumper – Vintage

Skirt & Bag – Topshop

Boots – Urban Outfitters

And I’m wearing a pink Buff on my head.. :p

I just liked the look of these naked, leafless trees. And then ME! In hindsight I should’ve worn something more along the lines of.. neon yellow.

^Me, Joyce, Clem.

It was SO GOOD to see these two again! It’s always a funny/fun/crazy time think it’s cos we’re all so mad..

We took one day out of the week that we spent together to go out and have a wander around Bordeaux. Started with lunch at some brasserie which name I sadly don’t remember – but it was nothing super special so I thought it unnecessary.. haha

^Joyce’s steak tartare

^Stuffed eggs and oysters

THE TREE BRANCH

So, after lunch, when we went out to where all the naked trees were…. I found this tree branch with bright orange leaves still attached, lying lonely on the ground. Naturally, I befriended it and invited it to join us on our city stroll.

I introduced it to Joyce. She was receptive.

Unfortunately, Clem refused to be friends with an inanimate object. I had to chase him down so many streets with the branch, pestering him.

“SAY HELLO to the branch!!!”

Clem said he was embarrassed to be seen with us.

Eventually, with a LOT of annoying behaviour by Joyce and I, Clem relented and ACTUALLY SAID HELLO TO MY TREE BRANCH!!! HA ha hahahha

I pushed it by trying to make him say more, but I think that was his limit.. but it’s ok, we got the whole thing on video.. 🙂

*******

It was a rather grey gloomy day that afternoon. But the sunshine was in US!

We went to a couple of beautiful toy stores and I bought myself a plush.. banana. What else, right?

Saw this cool art installation near the church:

At first I thought WOW what a cool tunnel thingy.. that’s somewhat like a ball..

We went inside and took some photos

BUT THEN AT NIGHT!

Isn’t it so cool! I hope to have something similar in my own garden. Umm someday.

^Joyce brought her Carebear out.

And here’s a little behind-the-scenes shot:

HAHA!

^I thought there was a certain beauty in the monotonous colour palette that was seen in Bordeaux that day. Quiet, peaceful, and a little bit mysterious! A perfect setting for someone like me to come prancing about with a brightly dressed tree branch..

And oh yeah, I also learnt that you can buy a model of Picasso’s nose. My favourite is the watermelon one – seen on the bottom row, far right.

I like the idea of having a colourful Picasso’s nose in my handbag or pocket. That way I can pull it out at random times.

“Hey, look what I have here, a NOSE”

It’s a good way to meet people, I think.

While I can’t say that I ‘fell in love’ with Bordeaux – like I do with many places I go to – I did have a lot more fun than I anticipated! The people were fairly friendly.. there was even a night when we ended up at some random dude’s flat to share a few drinks.. but that’s a story for another day.

The city itself was also more vibrant than I imagined. Admittedly I didn’t spend too much time exploring it since most of the week was spent with Clem in the suburbs with his family and friends.

Wanna go to Bordeaux? Check Monarch for cheap flights from London! They’ve got a concise little guide to the city too.. !

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My First Wilderness Festival!

Yishyene — Fri, 09 May 2014 22:17:00 +0000

AKA

How to Have Too Much Fun / Embarrass Yourself / Go Crazy at a Festival

This is way overdue, but BANG here’s my post about my time at Wilderness Festival 2013, held last August in beautiful Charlbury near the Cotswolds. It was a rather last-moment decision to attend (like many of my big life decisions..) and omg it was THE best decision ever! SO here are about 50 photos and some accompanying text in an attempt to best share with you my experience at what I frequently describe to my friends as ‘The Best Festival Ever’ 🙂

The THING about Wilderness is that.. it’s not just a music festival. I like to say that it’s a festival that celebrates LIFE! Because there’s so much to see and to. It’s full of stimulating activities and experiences which enrich your life.

There’s fantastic FOOD, art, beautiful people, poetry readings, dance classes, cricket, circus shows, fire twirlers, wild swimming, archery, crafts, hula hooping, a BUBBLE STAND, night-time raves in the forest, lanterns, fancy dress, face painting, books hanging from trees which you can take and read, a SPA, science lessons, horse-riding, cooking classes, speed dating… there’s just SO MUCH that I get overwhelmed and excited just trying to recollect it all! Just imagine ALL THIS set upon rolling green hills and big beautiful trees..

I borrowed a Cath Kidston tent from my dear friend Hannah – and set it up ALL TO MYSELF. If there’s one festival camping tip I can divulge it’s HAVE YOUR OWN TENT. Having the space and privacy is amazing! Also I get to lay around naked without a care then the sun gets in and tries to burn me alive during the late mornings.

There were three of us in the group who were originally from Malaysia one of the girls actually brought a Malaysian flag to the festival! We were wondering if there were any other people there who were from Malaysia as well.. we concluded: probably not. They set up the flag at our campsite. How cute!

FOOD

2013 headlined by Polpo, Hix, and Ottolenghi – i.e. they catered the nightly banquets.

There was also food by Moro, St John, and J. Sheekey.

I had most fun eating throughout the day from the many stalls that served the festival all day! I have to say, it was rather refreshing not to see the usual crappy kebabs and other junk food that you’d usually find at other music festivals :p

^pulled pork meal

^freakin’ awesome cheeseburger.. drooling right now. RIGHT NOW.

^salt beef on fries topped with cheese

^edible flowers

Yeah, EDIBLE FLOWERS. From one of those health food thingies. Of course I had to at least try it, so up to the counter I went and collected my free cup of.. flowers and other plants. There was some kind of dressing drizzled on top but you know what? IT SUCKS. That’s the truth. So dry and.. tasteless..hmm.

Eating that enriched my life in terms of introducing to me what it’s like to be a wild grazing herbivore (one tick off the life-experience list!), but nothing more..

^a little teatime section complete with big red London bus!

^Having breakfast at the Moro tent

There were lots of haystacks to lounge on.. isn’t that so hipster cool? Hahaha

SUNSHINE / PLAYTIME

We were SO lucky. The sun LOVED us and showed itself all through the festival! Needless to say everyone was in a great mood. It was truly a festival full of love (fuelled and encouraged by sunshine).

During the day, people would just laze around on the grass. You’d never get bored because there’d be so many quirky people to watch. Art to see. Books to read. Music to listen to. Games to play. You just can’t be bored.

We were happy just to BE on the grass!

^Linda, Me, Aishah

We’d spend ages on this particular hill near the lake, soaking it up. Every day.

It was one of the quieter areas. I thought of rolling down the hill, but fortunately I had enough brains to restrain myself for fear of rolling all the way into the cold water.

SO, I went to a water-free zone to do my rolling and land-hugging instead:

^dry swimming here.

My friends were so embarrassed that they stayed away and used the camera to document my actions instead.

I did all sorts of rolls – forwards, backwards, sideways.
I was SO HIGH ON SUNSHINE. HIGH ON LIFE. I couldn’t stop!

I started talking to random people passing by, trying to persuade them to join me on the ground.
I crawled around like an animal. I felt like an animal. I slithered around like a worm.

It was one of the funniest/happies afternoons I’d ever had. You know when you can just LET GO and not CARE what anyone in the world thinks (they think I’m crazy).

But hey, look at these cool chicks:

Aishah later indulged in my madness (how could you resist really) and then got bitten by me.

^I also met a bee! And look how our colours match.

I’m wearing: Top from Malaysia // F21 shorts // Saltwater sandals

I thought it was a good idea to collect pieces of confetti from the ground in an attempt to recycle/re-throw them.

I thought wrong. Don’t try this. It’s not worth the effort.

^Yeah I know you can see a little something orange but it’s just a spot of my bikini, ok?

My dress was designed/made by Joyce. Shoes are Converse. Headband from Topshop.

FESTIVAL STUFF

We would pass this little breakfast section every morning when walking to the main festival grounds from our campsite (there are more unpictured).

Lots of great food to choose from AND free Innocent smoothies on your way out.

The camping facilities were all great – clean and sufficient to meet demand.

A hula hooping area! Too bad it seemed to be only for kids.
I for one happen to be pretty good at the hoop. Haha!

^Group/cooperative art to get your creative brain working!

You can also make your own festival headpiece using REAL LEAVES AND VINES AND FLOWERS! Nature! YES! No plasticky, gimmicky stuff! Hehe

Write your deepest wishes on a paper leaf and pin it unto The Wishing Tree! Or be really nosey and read what other people wrote (I chose this option).

^One of the random books you can find around the festival. Free for you to read! And full of love <3

^Happy swings for the kids!

Oh and then there was this weirdo playing guitar with a beatbox and singing weird stuff. And mad girls dancing. I loved it:

SUNSET / NIGHTTIME

A magnificent sunset presented above us every evening. Wait maybe I missed one evening. Not too sure there.

The headliners in terms of music included Empire of the Sun, Noah and the Whale, Rodriguez, and Tom Odell. I loved the first two most!

We decided it was most comfortable and warm to roam around after dark wearing our animal onesies from Kigu.co.uk.

^The Bubbles Inc Stand

OMG this was one of my favourites ever! It just blows bubbles ALLL DAY AND ALL NIGHT LONG. Small ones, big ones, smoke filled ones, etc.

Here’s a clip of the quirky umbrella dude spinning bubbles:

There was a nightly flying trapeze theatre/dance thingy going on.. it was amazing!! I forget the name of the company which runs it.

Oh and here’s a clip of Empire of the Sun performing one of their biggest hits, Walking on a Dream:

Making our way into the valley in the forest every night was an adventure in itself. You’d see scores of people in their crazy impressive fancy dress/costumes.. some draped in LED lights or smothered in paint and glitter. Lanterns and flags and other lights adorned the trees. A whole variety of music coming from different sources. People dancing. People rolling around on the ground (see? i totally belong).

You could feel a definite ENERGY. PARTY ENERGY! Haha.

Then you’d past certain areas, like the green one above, where people would be chilling out or milling about as others weaved between them, heading towards the parties. Somewhat like a pre-party drinking area.. I suppose.

^There are two pics of the same scene cos I couldn’t decide which coloured light was better? Haha

Who knew that partying at in the forest could be SO FREAKIN’ AWESOME? Well the festival organisers knew but anyway.

I was outta control! The music was so good! I ran up and down the hills. I jumped around till my knees hurt. We brought a shitload of glow sticks with us and shared them with strangers – who then became our dancing friends of course. I smiled till my face hurt.

And.. No festival is complete without a pair of Prizmeyez diffraction glasses! I take mine with me everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

On the last night, I decided I wanted to party the entire night until I was absolutely pooped. I ended up at some after-party somewhere. I shared a bonfire with some randoms. I made some new friends. We laid on the ground together atop a hill and watched the stars glow in the night sky above. We hugged. We rolled on the ground. We talked about serious things. Ridiculous things. About food.

Soon, I felt the sun starting to rise and I thought, ‘ok, time to locate my tent’.

It was a long walk across the festival grounds. BUT SO BEAUTIFUL! Everything was shut and empty; void of people.

I realised I had my camera with me. Why not use it, right?

I took some pictures of the festival emptiness. It was rather surreal.

Then I took a picture of my face.

I came across some haystacks under one of my favourite trees that I’d lay on to watch the fairy lights above the previous nights.

‘I’m coming!’, I said to the haystack, as I set the camera on self-timer.

^Result!

I also took this..

And then I made this video..

HOW did I think that it was a good idea to roll UP a hill???

All I know is.. if I was happy enough to have done that AND recorded it, it must’ve been a damn good night.

THANK YOU WILDERNESS FESTIVAL FOR A MOST SPECTACULAR WEEKEND!

See you again this summer. And you guys, get your tickets HERE.

Oh yeah, thought I’d share this little comparison chart I saw in the papers following the festival, hehe:

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Zakynthos – Our Dune Buggy Adventure!

Yishyene — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 02:45:00 +0000

Tonight, I would like to go back to Greece.In October 2010, I went to Zakynthos/Zante (one of the Greek islands) for a week with some of my fab Australian friends.. sadly I had only written one post about it. You can read about our first day, complete with colourful beach pics here – what’s my blog if it isn’t full of happy pics, right?!

One rainy afternoon, Aysha and I rented a dune buggy to drive around the island. It must’ve cost something like €40 for the day, I can’t be too sure, but it wasn’t very pricey. I have to say we did well in terms of exploring the small island – we rented a jeep and circled pretty much the whole island one day, and cycled over 30km on another! Oh and also did a boat tour.

Do you think I passed as ‘looking cool’? I tried!

It was grey that day but still warm enough. Pretty good for the end of October, really.

We had so many funny mishaps with the buggy!

First of all.. we tried to ascent a too-steep bend and the engine died multiple times. Seeing no other way, we took turns going behind the buggy to push it, whilst the other stayed behind the wheel to navigate.

It was just so stupid, because there I’d be, huffing and puffing and pushing with all my might, but the buggy would move NOT ONE INCH. We laughed so much and nearly had a stomach ache.. and actually, I can’t remember how we got it up in the end..

Anyway. Along the way we spotted this sign.. so we followed it and found a really scenic place for a snack/drink.

With a menu like this, who could resist??

But really, I love rabbit and I LOVE octopus.
Please, meat is meat.. rabbit is no different from chicken.

I apologise for the terrible quality of pics.. (compact cam)

Although it was – as you can see – rather a grey day.. it was in fact super lovely. The island was quiet as it was off-peak in in regards to the tourist calendar.. and we had a relaxing drink overlooking the sea. The blue, blue sea!

I remember for some reason I was really craving chips that day. Well, I crave chips pretty much every day…

We drove town into the little town square, which was quite empty on a weekday afternoon.

I thought my parking was pretty good. Under the tree, because it was starting to rain. See, I can be sensible too!

There was a small market nearby and we went to see what sorts of things they sold in Greek markets.

The answer is: GIANT ONIONS. (or possibly garlic..?)

And just so you can get an idea of their size..

Isn’t it fascinating?? (by that I mean ‘what the f’)

I had never seen white pea pods before!

Oh one of my favourite vegetables ever – okra! Or ‘ladies fingers’, as we call them back home (Malaysia). Though the ones I’m used to are a darker green, slimmer and longer.

I liked the pink tips on these ones..

Aysha is absolutely in love with baclava, so we stopped by a corner-store bakery so we could pick her up some.

The rest of our journey continued to be hilarious…

It started to rain. And we got stuck in peak-hour traffic – when everyone had finished work. Our little buggy went so slowly relative to all those REAL cars. So on an uphill stretch, we went along like a tortoise with only three legs, and held up all the traffic.

At times like this, what can you do really, other than.. snap a picture of your own face??!

All in all, I had a fantastic day. Everything was spontaneous (as it mostly is in my life) and it didn’t even matter that we were under the rain half the time. Time with Aysha is always super funny and we end up in so many ridiculous situations together.

Like the time we almost missed our cruise ship back from Spain, having to use the disabled persons’ ramp to get in since the normal-people-ramps had closed. With everyone watching from the deck, knowing that we had caused the delay. This was after hitching a ride from strangers (forcing ourselves into their car) and her having peed herself a little from the excitement/anxiety. Haha!

🙂

We ended the night with wine and some kinda of UNO game.. don’t ask me.. I’m not very well versed with card games. I just bring the masks.

Boo!

I haven’t been back to Greece since and that was my first and only time in the country. I think I’ve been missing out, haven’t I?

Perhaps it could be my next obsession (my current one is Portugal – duh – and previously it was Italy).

You can book holidays to Greece via Thomas Cook (don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it, right? Haha).

They’ve got pretty good deals for lots of resorts on all the different islands. Perhaps something to consider for the next year.. Greece 2014 here I come!

*This post was brought to you in collaboration with Thomas Cook! 🙂

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Toronto – The ‘RWTBEX’ House!

Yishyene — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:37:00 +0000

Apologies for the loooong interval between writing about what happened in Rotterdam and my getting to Canada to attend my first ever TBEX Conference. And actually I’m now not even writing about the manic, stressful way in which I got there, but rather.. about this lovely house I got to stay in and the fab new friends I made as a result!

It was my first time visiting Canada. Took this pic as the the plane was getting ready for landing. How GREEN, right? It’s like.. a garden of little broccoli tops.
^This was taken a bit earlier. I love it because it captures pretty much the full gradient of the sky from top to bottom.

I was so excited to be crossing the Atlantic again. I’d only been once before – in 2007 when I spent three weeks in wonderful San Francisco. Really I was just so RELIEVED that I was actually ON that flight at all, having received my visa only 12 hours prior… so much drama.

A big THANK YOU to WeHostels again for the opportunity. And also thank you my lucky stars that this all ended up happening..

You see, the reason I even knew about the comp was because of a bouncy, happy, pink-loving, jetsetting girl called LOLA. We’d been internet-friends (is that a term) since earlier in the year – drawn together by our similar personalities: positive, optimistic, and FUN-LOVING. She encouraged me to enter the comp so we might have a chance to meet in Toronto.

“I’m gonna enter it, win it, and see you there!”

And I did! I couldn’t wait to meet her!

One of the first things I did upon arriving in Toronto was get a cheap eat from a hot dog stand.. I love that shit. ‘Street meat’, they call it.. hmm. Totally unglam. But for $1.50, fine. Haha! (Thank you Karla)

As soon as Lola heard I was coming, she arranged a place for me to stay: a room in an awesome four-storey townhouse on Bleecker Street (somewhere north-east of downtown Toronto). With a bunch of other travel bloggers. We nicknamed it the ‘Real World TBEX’ house, complete with our own hashtag (#RWTBEX). Social media geeks….. …

^Left: Outside of the house / Right: Bleecker Street

^Bay window in the top floor room, where I slept. It was a massive room that took up the whole floor. It had two queen beds and its own toilet.

The house was organised and provided by Flipkey, a holiday rental service not unlike Airbnb (the one I use most). I’ve been discovering more and more of such websites lately.. I should make a list soon as it’s such a fantastic alternative to hotels! And then there are higher-end options as well, such as renting luxury villas, amongst others.. these I’ll save for when I make more money 🙂

^Crossroads and tram tracks at the south end of Bleecker Street.

I sent Lola a link to the Build A Dream ‘Snack Shack’ a couple of weeks before the trip. Of course, that crazy mofo (I mean that in the most lovable, endearing sense) only went and BOUGHT IT. I think it was the knowledge of this fact that fuelled my determination in getting that visa and making sure I got my ass over there..

I mean.. A CARDBOARD PLAYHOUSE WHAT MORE COULD I WANT REALLY??
This woman KNEW ME before she even MET ME!

It wasn’t long before it was set up.. do you see all the bottles on the countertop? That’s how sturdy that thing was. Build A Dream Playhouses – not just for kids for sure! We turned ours into a bar, pretty much. And named it The Confessional (it wasn’t me – I just provided the toys and props, obviously).

Above pic is of Chris of Captain and Clark, and me in clearly the best hat ever.

The following pics are an accumulation of about three occasions of mucking around the house/’snack shack’:

^Left: Chris and Gerard / Right: Craig, Tawny, & Erin

^Sharpies! Needless to say, I did the majority of the doodling..

^Love my little drawing of Chris? Hahaha

^Right: Ted on the guitar. I decided to give him a kind of mohawk..

Ted was so drunk when he brought his guitar out and attempted to serenade us. I don’t even know WHAT he played.. or if it was even anything that was really music at all. Poor him, he kept saying that he didn’t normally sound like that. The next morning when he was sober, he sported the guitar again to show us that he REALLY COULD play and sing. Awh, it’s not like we didn’t believe you the first time! Haha 😉

^With Lola! She came bursting through the front door fashionably late. As you can see, I’d already changed into my sleeping t-shirt..

^I brought face paint, too!

^Lola of course brought moustaches.. or should I say ‘mustaches’.. / Erin appreciating the floor.

^Lola, Erin, & Ted. Ted can play guitar, don’t forget!

Now THAT is a moustache.. I have a particular friend in London *ahem* who keeps pointing out the tiny little baby hairs on my upper lip and making me conscious about it. So conscious that I actually looked up and considered laser hair removal (see, I even found a clinic near me!) for a while.

These stick-on moustaches were rather reassuring.

^Craig.. (whose hat was that?!), and Erin pouting probably cos she was craving poutine. Pouting for Poutine!

^Moustaches are not limited to silly humans!

Lola brought a bunch of merit badges for us to assign to each other. We had a ballot box and everything! I can’t remember which one I got.. but I know I swapped it for one that depicted a shoe with a piece of gum stuck to it. It just looked funny and I felt it represented me rather well.. haha.

As you can see, The Confessional never stopped evolving! More and more dumb doodles started to adorn its exterior… (by yours truly..), and it even boasted a bed sheet roof. It was a bar. It was a glowstick-shop. It also smelt of Chris after a while cos he just WOULD NOT GET OUT OF IT.

^Tawny, Me, & Kieu

^With the most beautiful (not just on the outside!) Alex, who bunked with me on the top floor.

^Left: CALAN and one of my new toys! / Ted: Supposedly, he’s playing guitar.. you just can’t see it, ok?

Here’s a video I put together – it’s basically just all the Vines I took at the house..

From the video, you’ll notice a couple of things:

1. Flat Deej
I was confused about what ‘Flat Deej’ was at first. Let me explain to you my non-American readers.. First of all, Deej is actually a blogger. He was meant to come to TBEX but for some reason couldn’t, and was really bummed about it. So Lola created Flat Deej to make him feel like he was there. It’s based on the award-winning Flat Stanley Project, in which school children are encouraged to write letters to their friends documenting the whereabouts/activities of a cut-out paper character called Stanley (from a storybook called Flat Stanley).

2. Banana
Actually I just wanted to explain Flat Deej and nothing else.

^Our one group photo! Thanks Alex for this 🙂

I admit I hardly attended any sessions at the conference due to late nights etc – because this bunch were so much FUN to hang out with. It was the first time meeting each other for most of us. In fact I hadn’t even heard of half these people before I got there. But it was the best thing ever..

There’s something so amazing about meeting people who also LOVE to travel! I’d never met so many people who were entirely immersed and so passionate about exploring the world before. It was like MAGIC! Kinda like a special, natural connection. Everyone was so POSITIVE, receptive, EXPRESSIVE, encouraging, and socially adventurous. It was super awesome that I didn’t need to explain (unlike when I meet erm, ‘normal’ people.. for lack of a better word, please, it’s 2am..) my desire to travel and and make it my life’s priority – cos everyone shared that same desire. AUTOMATIC FRIENDS.

SO, at the house, there was:

Craig of StayAdventurous
Craig loves being on the road and his favourite country appears to be Mexico! He’s full of shit and will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. See the world! STAY ADVENTUROUS! And maybe you’ll end up in his imaginary (but one day hopefully real) Hall of Fame..

Erin of The World Wanderer
Erin is a sweetie who has an immense love for the Vine app, and poutine. She’s a teacher and travels as much as she can during the school holidays. Really she’s just so lovely that I can’t even call her a ***** for having so many days off in a year.

Chris & Tawny of Captain and Clark
Erm, only the most awesome couple ever! ‘Met on Kilimanjaro; Engaged at the Taj Mahal’. They’re both hilarious and witty and make fab videos. Why can’t I speak as naturally and smoothly as them on camera? Ugh anyway. Adventurous, energetic, and fun.. if we lived in the same country they’d be my best friends for sure!

Alex of CrazySexyFunTraveler
I truly admire Alex for her dedication and commitment to her cause. She’s been travelling full time for a few years now and she looks like she should be on a magazine cover! She’s so down-to-earth, helpful, and I love her honesty. She’s outgoing and adventurous.. and of course, a little crazy. My kinda friend!

Gerard & Kieu of GQTrippin
Why are some couples just so cute? WHY? Recently (or not so recently) back from a year-long round-the-world trip, G & Q are now settling back to life in California.. or trying to I suppose. Haha. They are both SO NICE I wish I could shrink and squash them into a little ball, which I then toss to the ground, releasing them into full-sized human existence….. yes like Pokemon..

Ted of Traveling Ted
Ted’s passion is everything outdoors and adventure travel. He’s a camping expert (who packed some sort of miniature/foldable SHOVEL in his backpack.. haha) and of course, he plays the guitar. I would LOVE to go on a trip with him and do some crazy stuff! TED let’s go sea kayaking! Caving! Skiing! Snowboarding! Canyoning! Everything!

Carolyn of The Lazy Travelers
There’s only ONE pic of this girl in this post.. and it’s of the back of her head. Other times she was probably passed out somewhere whilst the rest of us smiled for the camera! She’s one-half of The Lazy Travelers.. ‘The Wino’
Then of course there’s Lola.. I love her. That is all.

THANKS FLIPKEY for housing us!

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Snowboxx Festival – Arinsal Resort / Retro Ski Day / Panoramix Party

Yishyene — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:12:00 +0000

*For more info, check out my first post on Snowboxx Festival

On the Saturday morning (the morning of our first full day), we loaded up on the hotel breakfast and hurried to the resort. We were overwhelmingly excited and couldn’t wait to get on the snow.As it was my first time snowboarding (I am a skier) and Reena hadn’t been in years, we booked daily lessons for five days. They were three hours per session and had a VERY KIND starting time of 12pm.

Arinsal Ski Resort, Andorra

The town of Arinsal is connected to Arinsal Ski Resort via two services – a gondola and a chairlift that connects to one of the hotels (I think it’s Hotel Crest).

The easiest one for us was the gondola, which was a mere 3-5 minute walk from our hotel – although the return trip isn’t that easy since it’s uphill and we’re either tired from snowboarding or drunk from partying..

^View from the bridge to the gondola

^View from our hotel

Our Snowboxx ticket included a 5-day lift pass., so we didn’t have to bother purchasing one separately.

^Gondola scenery

We had to collect our hire equipment first (one day I will have MY OWN) and because eeeeeveryone else from the festival had the same idea, we were stuck in a massive queue. We were late by about half an hour for our first lesson – like bad students.

Yep, the queue was so long that Reena planted herself on the tiles..

I compare the waiting experience to receiving a Christmas present early, but then having to WAIT till actual Christmas day to open it. However when the day finally comes, it’s freaking awesome!

^Our classmates and instructor on the baby/learning slope.

Our instructor was an Argentinian guy called Augusto. He was cool! He snowboards, skis, surfs, dives, and.. who knows what else. He alternates between being in Europe and South America / snowsports and beach sports. What a life!

He was really patient, and funny too.

On the first day we had to use this totally beginnerish ‘lift’ called the Magic Carpet. It’s like a walkalator with a very slight incline. It goes very slowly and gently, and takes you to the top of the learning slope, haha.

After a couple of rounds on the Magic Carpet, Augusto let us go up our first chairlift – a 4-person one.

One of the things I really love about skiing/snowboarding is the attire. Everything’s so bright and colourful. And for once, I don’t stand out like some crazy neon person. In fact, I felt rather.. DULL on the slopes during the days when I wore my boring ol’ white/pink ski jacket and GREY pants. How odd, as usually I’m one of the most colourful people in a crowd 🙂

^Reena, wearing my Billabong Boys’ size 12 jacket.. 🙂

Speaking of kids, we were rather impressed by all the tiny tots zipping around on their skis (snowboarding is not recommended for very young children).. they looked so cute and cool at the same time.

^OK This girl isn’t that young.. but I just didn’t manage to get a picture of the really SMALL ones.

There was even a girl of about five or six who was teaching her mom to ski. I overheard her giving her mom tips while helping lead her to the charlift queue 🙂

^View from one of the larger chairlifts, which we took on the second day.

Surf Restaurant/Bar/Club

I had to insert a section about Surf Restaurant because it was where I consumed the largest burger I’ve ever had in my life.

A 300g patty. IT WAS SO GOOD! Look, it’s nearly the size of Reena’s head.

My friends and I are obsessed with these ‘paradise’ glasses at the moment..

^Goliath, my pet mouse, joined in the fun too.

Surf is reputed for its steaks and apparently has the ‘best steak in Arinsal’, although some beg to differ. I didn’t try it in the end, so I can’t really say, but looking at the grill on the way out made me wish I DID try it.

Retro Ski Day

Sunday was Retro Ski Day (in association with DOS Clothing)!

As you can imagine, I was really excited. I could finally wear that 80s ski jacket that I found at Brick Lane a couple of months prior.

^Zorro in a matching bright pink North Face jacket.

Despite my very AWESOME jacket, I wasn’t nearly as retro as many of the other festival-goers on the slope. There were groups of people in matching retro-gear, animal costumes, cowboys,.. in fact all sorts of random crazy costumes. It was so much fun just to watch!

^These penguins were in Zorro’s skiing class. We bumped into each other at a cafe somewhere up on the mountain.

^With Joe, a classmate.
Joe’s wearing an amazing women’s yellow zebra-print ski onesie. Haha 🙂

^With my beloved Reena.

After a productive day of learning to turn/connect turns, everyone headed back to Arinsal town for nighttime festivities, i.e. food, music, drinks.

^We kept our jackets and switched to leggings.

Aren’t these hotel lobby pics simply glam?

^Fancy dress peeps.. and a suspicious-looking blow-up doll..

When I saw this lot pass by I couldn’t help myself from stopping them in the middle of the street for a photo.

This was unfortunately one of the LAST pics on my phone for the night.. which ended up being kind of a blur..

Monday – Main Event at Panoramix

So Reena and I missed our snowboarding lesson the next day…

I’d never felt so DEAD when waking up before. I’m lucky enough not to experience any headaches or hangovers (ever) but boy did I feel like I was dying that morning.

We did surprise ourselves by dragging our sorry bodies down to breakfast, but once we ate what little food we could manage, it was back to bed where we stayed for HOURS. Anyone who saw us would’ve thought we were a couple of corpses.

Nevertheless, we still got up eventually and managed a couple of hours practising on the slopes by ourselves (sans our instructor, Augusto).

Reena’s wearing my blue Billabong jacket (as in pic earlier) because she LOST hers the night before. But to her credit, she did find it in the end.

Monday was special because the gondola was going to be running special services through the evening and night to take people to/from the Snowboxx main event, which was being held at the outdoor Bar Panoramix stage at Arinsal Ski Resort. There was going to be a party on the slopes!

We stayed in our ski attire because we didn’t have enough time between dinner to get changed. This turned out to be good because it snowed non-stop that night.

The lineup from the night included Roses Gabor, Pedestrian, and The Other Tribe. The music was a mix of dubstep, electronic, garage, maybe some dance. Admittedly, I really am not a fan of dubstep.. but the combination of an amazing party location and a young, fun crowd made the night AWESOME.

^Zorro, me, Reena

It was pretty much blizzard-ing all through the night.

Imagine – dancing on a mountain with lights and music plus fast, angry snowflakes rushing at your face. It was crazy fun!

The finale had the team of snowboard/ski instructors coming down the slope with torches of fire. Our instructor, Augusto, was somewhere in there!

^Here is a compilation of some rubbish clips I managed to get that night.. You can spot me dancing like a moron at the start.

^This poor guy lost a bet with his friends and his punishment was to wear a PLASTIC BAG over his head during the whole party.

^Another poor dude who probably lost another bet and is paying the price by having to do push-ups on the snow. LOL!

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Returning to Porto – Ribeira, Food, & Partytime

Yishyene — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:18:00 +0000

This is the second instalment of my second trip to Porto (March 2013), and a continuation to this post, which told the story of the Saturday morning after an all-nighter on Friday.The Ribeira district/riverfront (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is one of my favourite parts of Porto, not only because it’s simply picturesque but because I have such fond memories of goofing about with my friends by the Douro River on our first trip, during which we also stayed at an apartment in Ribeira itself.In this area you can see ancient houses, cafes, restaurants, shops, and some cool (or perhaps dodgy-looking) laneways.. and on the river you’ll find colourful traditional boats and cruise boats floating around, as if placed there just to be in your photographs.

^Ponte Dom Luís I (Dom Luís I Bridge) – my favourite of the six main bridges in Porto.

On the left side is Porto and on the right is Vila Nova De Gaia (or just Gaia), where you’ll find the ever-so-popular port wine houses.

Combined with those that I took last October, I must have a bazillion of photos of the SAME PLACE stored on my laptop..

^It’s not a great pic (out of focus/awkward pose), but I’m wearing:

Jumper & Dress – Topshop

Boots – Urban Outfitters

My spiky bangle, which my fashion friend Kristabel loves, is in fact from Primark!

More Goofing Around

^ Me with Flo, who’s from Valencia. I call her my little Spanish uva (grape).

The temperature that day was about 12-14 but with the sunshine, it was warm enough for us to lay down on the concrete and stare into the sky for a while.

^Izan & Flo

Reena was missing because she was too hungover/dead and so she stayed in the apartment.

^My ring is by H&M. The hand on the right is Flo’s.

^I love this group photo of us!

I used the timer on my camera and this was the first shot. Naturally, we tried to do a second take, but this is what happened..

^AN OLD DUDE taking a picture of our bums?? Hahaha!

Adega São Nicolau

If you’ve been to Portugal, you’ll identify that one of their staple dishes is salt cod – known locally as ‘bacalhau’.

Adega São Nicolau is a family run restaurant set up in one of the lanes of the Ribeira that serves traditional Portuguese food.. we went there in October and decided we would go again this time!

Izan is absolutely in love with the Bacalhau à Lagareiro, which is salt cod with onions, potatoes, peppers, and lots of olive oil. Understandably, because it’s freaking delicious.

^My mama says I should smile with my teeth more.. I think I’ve done her proud 😀

^Credit to Izan for the above two food pics (edited by me) – see, she’s so in love with it that she made sure to photograph it well!

Adega São Nicolau
Rua de São Nicolau 1
4050 Oporto, Portugal
+351 222 008 232

Dinner & Saturday Night

^This was us for a good few hours after returning from Ribeira.

We were so knackered from lack of sleep the night before (up till 6am). We just laid around the apartment surrounded by food and music. Kind of like pigs, really.

We had a late dinner at Adega do Carregal, which was a recommendation by our awesome Airbnb host, Tomás. It was literally around the corner from our apartment, in the downtown/historic centre of Porto.

This must be a place frequented by locals as I could barely find any info on it on Google and we were probably the only non-Portuguese people in the restaurant. The prices were low and the food was really good!

^The girls with sweet Paulo, a new friend we made on this trip.

He had hung out with us at our apartment as we lazed around and caught up on some rest before dinner.

^My little uva and I

^Upon Paulo’s suggestion, Flo and I ordered Frango de Cabidela / Arroz the Cabidela (frango = chicken / arroz = rice).

Arroz de Cabidela is a Portuguese dish made with poultry or rabbit, along with its blood. This is what gives the sauce a greyish/brown hue. It had a bit of a sour taste to it but I LOVED IT.

It was EVEN BETTER after I ordered a side of fried egg (with runny yellow) to have with it – to Paulo’s disgust and disapproval.. 😉

Adega do Carregal
Travessa do Carregal 102
Oporto 4050
Portugal

After filling our tummies, it was time to PARTY! We love partying at the Baixa (downtown), which was a mere five-minute walk from the restaurant.

I don’t have many pics from the night.. but here’s what I could find:

^Reena in our overused ‘paradise glasses’. I don’t remember what this bar was called.. there are too many in the area!

^This I do know was from Plano B, one of the bigger and better known bars/clubs.

It has an art-gallery feel and really high ceilings. I was mesmerised by the colourful lights and giant mirrorball in the upstairs area. There’s also a downstairs where they have DJs and live bands.

^Reena, Me, & Luis

Luis is a friend we made on our first trip in October, as a result of wandering around aimlessly on a Monday night. We had gone to ask for recommendations from the nearest bar, where he happened to be working. He gave us some really good ideas and we ended up partying with him and his friends.

So of course.. we did it again! This time he took us (Reena & I) away from the Baixa to a club called Pitch.

I don’t remember how it began, but my nickname for him is Frog. Or Sapo (frog in Portuguese).

It was a large part thanks to him that our trip was so awesome (heaps of fun) even though we missed The Color Run. So THANKS LUIS!

Here is a video – the start is us being idiots at our apartment, and then standing outside Pitch.. also being idiots.

Reena came up with ‘O fuckin’ Lá’ – her version of ‘Olá (‘hello’ in Portuguese) and we were TOO AMUSED by it. Luckily, most people who heard it from us felt the same 😉

The post Returning to Porto – Ribeira, Food, & Partytime appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.