When I was 12, my parents told my brother and I that the four of us were going on a holiday in
New Zealand.

Growing up, we had taken numerous road trips and short trips all around the country.. camping, fruit-picking, waterfall-hunting, fishing, chasing fireflies, climbing trees, hours at the beach, flying kites, Club Med, etc..  we were very lucky. BUT, my brother and I had never gone ‘overseas’. It was like a magic word then. Singapore and Thailand didn’t count since they were ‘connected’. So naturally, we were very  overly excited at the prospect of going on our first ‘overseas’ trip.

Unfortunately, as air travel was such a luxury/too expensive back then, my parents broke it to us later on that they had decided NOT to take us and go by themselves instead!!

We were MAD.
We whinged and sulked for days.

Finally, we were promised a certain sum of money as an ‘exchange’ to stop moaning about it. Kids are so silly huh!

Eventually my first ‘overseas’ venture was to Egypt when I was 14. At 17, I spent five weeks in Japan on a ‘cultural exchange’. Both were amazing and eye-opening.

To this day, I still enjoy sharing my stories from these experiences.

I knew early on that I had to have MORE. I had to go places.. there was so much to see and do!! I made a big fat scrapbook titled ‘Travel Destinations’ and filled it with pictures from magazines and newspapers.. (mostly of beaches around the world, haha) and daydreamed at school about going to all of them someday.

Now, it’s 2011 and I’ve been more places than I ever would’ve imagined was possible when I was growing up. Did I EVER THINK that I’d be skiing in the Swiss Alps or scuba-diving/water-skiing in the French Riviera? NO FREAKING WAY.

But guess what?
I’ve still never set foot in New Zealand, despite having lived in Australia for over four years.

Anyway, I’ve spent most of my money on travelling and I don’t regret it one bit. Material things, be it a pair of shoes or a new laptop, can only last so long. But the experiences you get from exploring the world and its people are truly priceless (and timeless). They’ll be the things that stick when you grow old – stories that you keep forever! I wouldn’t trade these experiences for the all the things I could’ve bought with my money instead.

What would you trade if it meant you could be one of the first in the world to watch the sun rise on 1 January, 2012 as you recover from a music festival set in a vineyard? What would you trade to spend two weeks swimming with dolphins, island-hopping, and sliding down giant sand dunes?

Think hard! Because Tourism New Zealand are offering you the chance to do just that with their new campaign which will run over the next 12 months, ‘Stories Beat Stuff’.

Tell them what you’d trade for a once-in-a-lifetime, money-can’t-buy experience and you’ll be in with a chance to WIN IT!

For starters, there are two prize trips to choose from:

(Just watching this video has made me wide-eyed and alive with wanderlust.. at 1am)

• Take a photo or record a video of what you’d trade – and think carefully, because if you win, the things you offer up for trade will be given to a charity of your choice – and submit your entry to the Stories Beat Stuff website.  
  
• Then, share your video or photo with everyone you know! Post it on Facebook, on Twitter, on your face, whatever. Because the more votes you get, the higher your chances are of getting into the Final 20. The ultimate decision, however, will be made by Tourism New Zealand judges!

These are just the first of a number of amazing New Zealand experiences on offer.
To find out more, join the New Zealand Facebook Fan Page.
You can also learn more about the country at their award-winning website.

I’m totally bummed because, by some crazy coincidence, I already have a two-week holiday booked for New Zealand this December! I’ll be celebrating Christmas and welcoming the New Year with my family. I’m FINALLY going to New Zealand!!!!

BUT nevertheless, I still made a video entry of my own to encourage you… prepare to cringe.
It’s the first time I’ve ever recorded myself talking.. –_-

I’m wearing decorative glasses and a beanie as it was 11pm and I’d been watching TV in my PJs!

I’ve submitted my entry and I’ve picked the ‘Beaches and Boats’ experience to win – and I’ve also just realised now that this trip takes place at the end of January so MAYBE I can still go. If no one else enters, that is. Ha ha.

If you do want to vote for me, then here’s the link!

Anyway

I’m still really looking forward to my own New Zealand trip.. my whole family are planning to go skydiving! 🙂

This is a sponsored post

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Me and some randoms we drank with!

     

Yes, we wore our outfits two days in a row.. ha!

  

I LOVE Oktoberfest!!

And I’m not even a beer person!

I had so much fun
The atmosphere was incredible and nothing like I ever imagined

For some reason, I imagined it to be something similar to a music festival – muddy and kind of rowdy – but it was nothing like it. 

It’s hard to describe

If you haven’t been, GO! 

Special thanks to the German dude, Bene, for putting us up for a couple of nights at his apartment 🙂
German people are awesome!

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This is the first follow-up to my last post

On 1 August 2011, I boarded my crappy Ryanair flight – it was the only airline that carried people from London to Carcassonne, unfortunately.

Carcassonne Airport was small. One of those where you had to step out onto the tarmac and trail your way into a tiny building to join a half-in-half-out queue to go through the ONE passport control booth.

Got a bus to the city which stopped right outside Gare de Carcassonne (SNCF train station) for about €5, where I wandered around for an hour and had my first meal of the trip: croque monsieur and a big glass of ice-cold Coke. It was BLAZING HOT. The best!

  

That top window there was my room! It overlooks the terrace.

Le petit chat – her name is Louisette – next to some freshly harvested rhubarb from the garden.

Ok – these were THE reddest, sweetest, ripest tomatoes I have EVER tasted in my LIFE.
Drizzled with olive oil and chopped herbs (basil and.. some other stuff) and garlic.
What’s left in the photo was finished by me..

This is ‘Friga’ (not sure about the spelling, but it’s supposed to mean ‘princess’ or something similar in another language, which I forgot -_-) the resident horse.

She has been blind for several years, but is extremely intelligent.
I was taught how to approach her using my hands and voice, and how she was fed. She has no teeth left so she has a special diet of.. mushy stuff.

I couldnt help but feel sorry for her though.. imagine being a horse but not be able to run about freely or chew on grass anymore!

One of the strange flowers I encountered at the farm.

  

One evening, Bernard took me to the nearby village so we could have some wine at the pub. It’s the only one pub in the village. By pub, I mean it’s also a cafe, a sundry shop, and a restaurant. Imagine that! Everyone knows each other and there are no schools or cinemas or libraries or.. any other shops.

That’s the pub owner balancing an apple on his head!

My jacket is by H&M

This is Axel. He’s from Germany and lives in a caravan next door to the farm with his donkey. They’ve travelled 10,000km together! Crazy.

On my first day, Axel and I took his donkey for his daily walk. We took a short hike and arrived at a lake where we went for a swim as a respite from the heat. The water was really cold though!

This is Bernard! Always with a smile on his face, he was a real character.

He’s holding Goliath the mouse and Dino, my most loyal travel companions.

The rhubarb that was harvested was made into a delicious pie by Blanche on my last night there, where I showed off my changing-colors-heart-light and got a special present from Axel 😉

It was a wonderful night – the air was cool and there was a funny light/thunder phenomenon going on in the skies.

No one could explain it, but you’d hear sounds like thunder repetitively and see certain dim flashing in the sky simultaneously.. but no sign of any lightning after. Apparently it happens all the time there.

Everyone was smiling and talking.. and me I was extra happy from the delish dinner of wild boar (freshly killed by a neighbour!) steak..

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If you’re one of the (very few) people who follow my blog, you’ll remember that a while back I had mentioned that I was going to spend over two weeks helping out at a farm in Castelnaudary, France.

I was going to have a relaxing time in the countryside – learning new things, meeting new people, catching up on music and reading, and just enjoying the sun and all things natural – and travel out farther during the weekends.

WELL.

I got kicked out of the farm on Day 3. With two hours’ notice to leave.

I might just add that this was through no fault of mine.. but anyway, I was upset and in shock at first. I started frantically looking for alternatives since I was determined not to return to London immediately. I explored all sorts of options with a big map in front of me and a German traveller/nomad friend kindly providing assistance.

In the end, I spent the first night in a pricey hotel in Carcassonne.

The following afternoon, on a whim, I boarded a train to Nice.
Thanks to work, I got hooked up with an amazing hostel where I was fortunate enough to have my own room and bathroom. I remained there for one week and had an amazing time.

Leaving Nice was difficult (what a beautiful place), but I then headed for Pisa, and then Florence as my last stop for three nights before my inevitable return to London.

Travelling alone was challenging at first (I hadn’t done it in a long long time), but it was enriching to say the least and I learned the art of enjoying my own company.

I met interesting people from all over the world, and also got used to asking, “where are you going next?”/”where were you last?”, as nearly everyone I encountered were on 2 – 6 month long holidays. I took in all their stories about their travels; about places I had never even heard of, about strange foods, hotel/hostel tips, and things I had missed out on in my previous visits to certain cities – such as the fact that you could go caving in Budapest (Damn, I’m so bummed I didn’t know about this earlier).

I also learnt a few other things:

1. Hostels really are okay if you choose carefully, and they provide the perfect setting for you to meet new people (I had never been to one before this trip, erm although in Nice I was cheating since I had a special room).

2. Never leave your toiletries unattended.

3. Australians are the friendliest travellers around.

4. A trolley bag definitely beats a huge backpack.

5. I prefer French trains to Italian trains.

6. The Statue of David really draws your attention to his penis.

Hope to share some photos of my little adventure on the blog which will include my brief but very interesting stay at the farm, 12-hour tour of Carcassonne, day trips to Eze Village and Monaco, scuba diving and canyoning in Nice, seeing the leaning tower of Pisa for the first time, watching the sunset in Florence, and visiting the little towns of Siena and San Gimignano!

Oh but don’t expect to see me wearing anything remotely fashionable.. re-wearing so many items of clothing was a pain since most of my bag was packed with ‘farm-wear’!!!

[Have updated my travel log]

xx

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The flight from KL to Bali took about 3 hours (feels like 10)
We arrived sometime in the late afternoon and took a cab to Kuta city – cabs are freaking cheap there, our 20-25 min ride cost umm £10? – where we had a room booked at a small hotel. Joyce said since it was my first time we should try staying in the main area even though it was very touristy, and hire a driver to take us around the island to see other things..

Got dropped off at the wrong street.
The streets, or rather LANES, are really narrow and bendy and messy in Kuta. They’re lined with heaps of little shops and restaurants and people.. it’s an amazing feat for a car to even squeeze in there. We found our way to the hotel thanks to two local boys who zipped us and our luggage there on motorcycles!

I sweat like a pig.. I bet I was really slippery to touch that day. If anyone had touched me.

After having a meal of nasi padang (yum), we attempted to catch the sunset at the SOS Rooftop Bar in Seminyak (another town in Bali that’s got a loooong road with lots of shopping outlets).

The post Bali – Catching the Sunset.. Nearly appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

There was a little garden off the side of the hotel that we stayed at.
On the first evening, we walked the local food market, bought lots of street food and ate in the rustic little hut that was built next to the garden.

I brought two (truly magical) wands that I purchased in Bali – you’ll see them a lot more – and a whimsical looking crown to play with. My sister and I did a few silly things in the garden.

I loved that day.

I love her.

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The strange part being seeing different people at family reunion lunches/dinners each time
Depending on who’s just come home from/gone away, to some foreign country
There are new babies – cousins, nephews, nieces
And kids who keep looking different as they continue growing up

The tradition in my family is that on the night before the First Day of the Chinese New Year, everyone goes to my paternal grandfather’s house, which is in a village area where my father grew up, and where my grandfather has lived all his life.

It’s all I ever remember doing on the Eve.
When I and all my cousins were still so little (I have a lot of them as my father has six siblings), it would be a like a huge party filled with food, noise, and hundreds of fireworks being played with on the streets with the neighbourhood children, all the way till something like 4am.

But as we all grew past our teenage years, there were less and less fireworks
It just wasn’t that exciting anymore
The magic was sadly gone

This year, the mood was very quiet
My grandfather is in remission from throat cancer
I’ve grown apart from my closest cousins
And.. we just weren’t kids anymore
Well *I* wanted to play with fireworks and run around the streets but I don’t think anyone else felt the same :p

But nevertheless I was really happy to be there
Especially with both my brother and sister together this time

Here are some photos:

The candy platter used for the praying table

Paper pineapples made by my aunt

My mom lights the joss sticks

Umm.. Something
I don’t know what these are!! *disgrace*

Candles? Some prayer thing?

The road on one side of my grandfather’s house

When I was little it was much more quaint
And when I visited I would play here and chase chickens, shoot toy guns, and play with cheap plastic toys

The neighbours’ house
It’s been like this as far as I can remember
The only thing that ever changes is the colour of the paint, once every few years
And the make of cars parked outside of it
The floors are still wooden and supported on stilts
Chickens used to hide/be kept under there (and I used to chase them)

I don’t know what these papers are called
But they get burnt in a pile… for.. something
(I fail at being chinese!!)

Perhaps I should go read up some more or speak to my mom before attempting to write about Chinese New Year..

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Our first stop after being picked up from the hotel was for lunch
One of the traditional Indonesian foods there is called ‘Soto Ayam’ with rice (other places may have it with noodles) which is basically a really tasty chicken broth with shredded fried/grilled chicken and other toppings including shredded cabbage, coriander, and meatballs.

We had a local tour guide with us – found via TripAdvisor – and he brought us to a small restaurant which only sold the dish.. well I would call it more of a food shop as the atmosphere was really laid-back and seemed to be frequented by the local people.

Fizzy drinks
In bottles! With bottle-caps!
These were a part of my childhood.. I missed them
’Garam’ on the right means salt.

Prambanan is a 9th century Hindu temple – currently the largest in Indonesia – and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was a mighty hot and sunny day
Here are some photos!

  

Little Market by the Temple

Some photos from the colourful market nearby

  

A strange three-stringed ukulele?

My beautiful mother looking at ducks – she ended up buying two for her collection
We have an army of ducks from all over the world lurking around the house :p

The post Yogyakarta – Soto Ayam and Prambanan Temple & Market appeared first on SMALLCRAZY.

In an absolute sense I wouldn’t call it ‘large’, but it’s a really charming little town that was quite deserted (in fact the whole island felt really deserted..) since it was reaching the end of the holiday season. The temperature around that time (October) was between 22 – 26 degrees.

Here are pics from the first full day we spent there : :

Had brekkie here by the pool

Went to Greece and had a ‘French Breakfast’.. great..

But to be fair we had Greek food almost every other meal

Wanted to have brekkie at this place cos it looked pretty!

After eating we had a wander around town
And found many shops selling colourful beach/pool floaties and toys
Was so tempted!

Went to check out the quad bikes and mopeds for hire
(more on that in a later post)
The people there seemed to be really easy-going and everything can be bargained or.. discussed
Love it!

Also found out about cruising around the island on a boat through some local tour operators
And got ourselves booked into one for the Sunday

Then.. it was time to walk down to the nearest beach!

Emma skipping along

Olive trees are an abundant resource on the island
Emma had a taste of a raw one, fresh off the tree, (the biggest one she could find) and her verdict was: THEY TASTE DISGUSTING!!

The road leading down to the coastline

Tsilivi Beach

Bracelets by Dannijo

There always, ALWAYS has to be at least one feet photo whenever I’m at the beach!

  

Emma, Aysh, Rose

You’ll see lots of pics of us three jumping throughout this trip
Had so much fun taking these!

One of the good things about it being low-season is.. you get all the sunbeds to yourselves

No huge noisy crowds of annoying british tourists (haha sorry.. but you know what I mean.. ;p)

Aysha’s hand deco

One more thing: Found THIS in the middle of a toy/souvenir shop

The Greeks appear to be very.. hmm.. open minded?!?

In other gift shops we also found a variety of very.. actually I should say EXTREMELY explicit sexual items.

Ok we found a pack of playing cards – each one had an ‘erotic photo’ printed on both sides. And there was one involving three men and a goat. Think I’ve made my point there!

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And not os much now either.. so here’s just two of my favourite pics from the trip (which was AMAAAAZING)
It’s movie night at mine tonight
And we just had the best homemade dinner
I’m sitting in my tee and shorts cos this flat is just so unbelievably warm aaaah

Cruising round the island in our 4wd

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