Sunflowers, lavender and more!

Japan, 3-11 Aug 2009



This trip marked the end of my yearly pilgrimage to Japan since 2005. Unless you count our flights to and from Singapore last year - we transited at Narita :p

And coincidentally, flowers featured a great deal in both my first and last (to date) trip to Japan...

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We started and ended our holiday at McD in T2 :p

In fact, the running theme for our trip was food :)

4 Aug 2009 - oh, crab!

We arrived at Hokkaido on the night of 3 Aug 2009, so the fun started only the next day..
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吃喝 > 玩乐

Hong Kong, 20-23 Dec 2008



Um, please ignore the last part about my NY resolutions :p And, for more on Hong Kong, check out my trip years back in 2000!

Click here for my itinerary.

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Sito and I went to Hong Kong 20-23 Dec 2008. We ate and shopped a lot!!!!

This was supper #3 or #4..
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紅葉の旅

Japan, 24-29 Oct 2008



Visited Na in Gifu and roamed the nearby area, just a little.. This has to be my shortest and most uneventful trip to Japan so far, unless you count the naked men by the river....! (There's a picture of said naked men but it was taken really faaaar away..)

Click here for my itinerary.

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Well, not really, late October was still too early for 紅葉.. But I did see a few red leaves! :p
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English breakfast, anyone?

UK, 21 May-1 Jun 2008



Sito and I visited each other's university :) This trip was planned according to the ballroom dancing competition at Blackpool.

Click here for my itinerary.

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It was a really, really good holiday. Our journey began in Oxford and then Nottingham. We went to practically every place that we used to go to last time, including mundane places like supermarkets!

After that, we became tourists as we negotiated places less familiar to us - Edinburgh, the Scottish highlands, Blackpool - before going back to London..
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For a dance and a meal

KL, 8-11 Mar 2008



Went for a ballroom dancing competition and roamed the city a little..

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Two Saturdays ago, we took off to KL on Aeroline - quite a comfortable ride. They had movies - watched Transformers and a bit of Tokyo Drift - and served food and hot drinks. Took us just under five hours to get to KL via Tuas. But we almost lost our bags cos we didn't realise we were supposed to take them with us at the customs!!
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(Almost) Christmas at the beach

Batam, 21-24 Dec 2007



Sito decided to take a trip to Egypt. On his own. But he came back in time for our beach holiday in Batam, wearing a tunic he bought in Egypt!

It was a relaxing beach holiday so there wasn't more than what I said before, here. Oh, but I need to repeat one point - for once, a massage at a beach resort was really good!

Whirlwind Europe

Europe 4-13 Nov 2007



This was a working trip across four countries in 10 days. I worked damn hard to get this going! And when we were there, I was too tired with tying up loose ends, organising people and writing filenotes to go out much. Not that it was very possible given that I had ambitiously arranged back-to-back meetings every day, including lunch and dinner meetings!

Well, it could be worse. Like 10 countries in 10 days! And anyway, we did have some fun along the way..

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Dublin

We arrived on a Sunday so some of my colleagues went to the Dublin Castle. I must have slept for a while cos it was dark when I headed out for dinner *.*

London

We were late for the first meeting due to the traffic and a driver losing his way! It was dark by the end of the meeting so I went to Harrods :p

At one point, a group of us split from the team to meet some chaps outside London. Anu and I smiled for the camera on the way to Fareham :)


And while waiting for the train back, I bought a packet of Walkers! Used to have it so often back in Oxford :)


We were supposed to meet up with the rest at this other meeting place but we had time so we walked a little and took some pictures along the Thames..


We even walked to Downing St but of course we couldn't go into the street. Well, still fun!

Paris

We spent the most time in Paris because of the weekend. On Saturday morning, a number of us went to a flea market where a man selling lingerie took a look at me - with my coat on - and told me my size! *.* I bought a pair of faux leather boots, which fell apart from disuse in Sg...

I didn't want to shop the usual so while the rest headed for the shopping belts, I hung out with my two bosses *.* But it turned out quite fun! LH studied in Paris so she brought us to this very good Vietnamese eatery. The queues were long but we got seats pretty soon, just that they were outdoors in November.. But the soup soon warmed us up :) Then we went look-see at some interesting shops, somewhat like Barang Barang.

We walked quite a bit, and along the way, I suddenly realised the charm of Paris. I mean, I liked it when I was first there back in 1999 because, you know, it was Paris! The second time in 2001 was a different experience but perhaps I was too young to fully appreciate my good fortune. This Saturday really opened my eyes to Paris.

When evening came by, we gathered for a dinner meeting that was pretty informal. So I took a picture of my dinner - beef tartar!


NEVER going to have it again. Not that it was bad - I finished everything - but because it was a bit scary hoho!

Berlin

I was very happy here. Because the end of the (hard)working trip was near!

And Rubber Duckie in the hotel bathroom cheered me up :)

Pretty in yukata

Japan, 8-17 Sep 2007


Dressing up was really fun! :)

Click here for my itinerary.

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Prologue

Kel: Have a safe trip. Don't do a porn movie, it won't sell.
D: If you act porn, it'll sell. It'll be on at Yang Tze where the uncles don't bring their spectacles.
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Pearl of the Orient

Shanghai, 7-11 Jul 2007



First trip with just Sito :)

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To maximise the 4-day trip, we took overnight flights both ways. But we were so tired on arrival despite sleeping on the flight that we slept until noon - glad that we could check in at 8am..

Woke hungry and headed for Macs (!) before walking down 南京路 (Nanjing Road) for 人民公园 (People’s Park)..
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Roarrrr!

Singapore, 16 Mar 2007



Just the zoo! :)

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Honestly, I can't remember the last time I went to the zoo; it must have been secondary school, or even primary school!

Last day of term break, there were countless screaming children, but I only remember one who pronounced scary as scaaaly..
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きもちいい！

Japan, 13-19 Dec 2006



I went to hotspring area with three boys. But that was the only shot of us in a hotspring together! Hoho!

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Logging my Kyushu trip - second time in Japan! :) It was really 游山 cos Kyushu is less for city stuff and 玩水 cos of the hot springs!

13 Dec - 福岡

It was such an early flight on 13 Dec.. Was out the previous night at the premier of The Curse of the Golden Flower - missed seeing Chow Yun Fatt himself but caught the opulent imperial settings with blossomy women whose boobs could pop out of their corsets at the next deep breath; another imperial tragedy - and slept rather late. But I chose to take the train to Changi, thrifty all of a sudden..

Some facts before check-in: 23 in tour group; all families except the four of us; no cute guys and all the boys are too young - oh well!
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Showing off Singapore!

Singapore 1-3 Oct 2006



I used to show friends around Oxford when they came visiting but this was the first time I showed my friends around Singapore!

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Took two days of leave to play host to Jens and Eric. Woke up early on Children's Day to fetch Jens from the airport. We met Eric at the hotel; he arrived a short while ago by train. It had been three years since we met!
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Beach holiday with the boys!

Bali, 14-17 Jun 2006



I went to a beach resort with three boys.

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Prologue
A few days before..

Sito: Who is going to bunk with you?
mf: Well, I'm closer to you and Hup. So two of you pls fight to bunk with LY!! :p
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