the past.

I accidentally found this old blog again and decided to publish all the events I had written over the years that was saved in draft.

the following entries dated back from 2009-2012 and I randomly edited in their dates to sort of reflect the year they were written.

memories can be both alarming and satisfying at the same time.

I want to say I've evolved and changed but re-reading younger me write, honestly... nothing much really changed. i'm still me, just older with a little more insight to life and with experiences that most people go through gradually (and eventually) I suppose.

*shrugs*

I just like the idea of posting this old school (blogger style) collection of memories to revisit whenever instead of tiktok (what's trending at this time and age.) videos where visual memories of my stupidity might not be as charming as my lame childish words.

cheers.

Sipadan - diving trip

The wooden planks were cold beneath my butt but i really needed to pee. while my friends sat facing the opposite direction, i let go and a slow but steady long stream of water flowed out down into the sea water with a horridly loud splash. The nearest toilet was a good 10mins walk away and to any lazy person out there in the world that was an entire eternity and hence the sea would have to do.

It was quite a last minute decision but we got a ticket via Air Asia to Tawau and found ourselves in a little town area. stay a night or go directly to the islands it's really up to you but we chose to spend a night and had luxuriously spent on a nice air conditioned room.

I had always hated sleeping with the AC but it's a hot little island and the cold room was welcoming after walking around in the heat all day.

We got tickets for a boat ride and a dive pass to Mabul island with a dive company called Uncle Chang. You have to register for a dive pass into Sipadan waters because they limit the number of divers there to preserve the corals and wild life and such.

i was terrified at first that i'd be swimming next to a reef shark but swimming next to almost 10 of them was quite the rush. The water was calm and everything for a moment under the water is so peaceful you forget all your worries.

if you're considering diving there, i'd say don't take so long to decide. go like how the nike commercials scream out at you.

Just. do. it.

wo ist das bier

We arrived by train and drove just a little away from Muchein. After that, it was pretty much, swimming in the lakes and late night drinking after the sun goes down. BBQ and a whole lot of meat.

I tried the famous german sausages.

They didn't disappoint but they tasted just like sausages should i suppose. I'm not quite sure what the fuss is all about.

German beer on the other hand, opened a whole new world for me.
It was yummy.
Definitely yummy.

Between the French and the Germans...

Marillions mum drove us all the way to Strasbourg. 

It was about an hour drive from where they stayed; from where we stayed the night before.

The night before, we had a great home cooked meal and were put to bed in Marillions childhood bedroom. We swam in her little pool overlooking the beautiful mountains. I can't imagine growing up in a house like that. It had to be amazing.

Her mom painted these awesome art pieces that you see hanging around the house. She turned one of the rooms into her own little studio and i wished i had the space and time to do something like that.

We approached Strasbourg after a few sight seeing stops and once we got there we had the famous Alsace wine. I'm not a big fan of wine so i can't be the best person to describe it. 

The Strasbourg Cathedral was yet another church we visited. I'm told that the building was suppose to have two towers. One on each side of the front building (picture on the right) however, due to the strains it had on the architecture, they left it with just one tower on it's right side.

The Alsace buildings have a great influence of olden german architecture. (top left photo).The bold lines across their houses shows a history mark of how this town was once belonging to the Germans and then later the French, to the Germans again and back to the French and has been under France since 1945. I think there was some Roman influences as well. 

ne me tuez pas

We arrived promptly at Nancy via Mamado. He carpooled us from Paris to Nancy and we were grateful.

Nancy is a little town just 4 hours away from Paris. It was like travelling between Singapore and Melaka. The view along the car ride was of nothing but green stretches of land and i fell asleep almost all the way there. I was tired but excitement of finally meeting Marillion, my second french host for this trip, after what feels like forever, was overpowering and when we arrived at Nancy, I was as hyper as a child loose on a bottle of cola.

It was the first official day of Summer and the light show was the first thing we went to watch. It was amazing. I can't imagine how much planning was put into it. I hear it's different every year and every year, 1000s of people from Nancy show up at the square in the middle of town to watch it.

The city of loooove?

Paris.

I didn't really enjoy Paris much.

Love? I did not small any of that bullshit in the air. I did smell an overwhelming smell of piss almost everywhere I went. There was also a horrible sense of being lonely and lost in a huge city was more like it.

Perhaps because I didn't speak the language?

I did fall in love with the Amarino ice cream. They beautifully carve the ice cream into a flower and you can choose as many flavours as you want! I usually love my ice cream fruity but i also fell in love with the hazelnut one.

The Notre Dame was beautiful and we got matching bracelets from the church. We visited the Eiffel tower just so we could say we were there but that was about all the touristy things we did.

What i did enjoy most about Paris was the company. We had dinner with friends one night and drinks till late into the wee mornings. We cooked crab and prawns for them and drank wine. ah, the wine. If France was good for one thing it would be their wine. Sweet and absolutely delicious. 

the country where the happiness is in the air.

We arrived on a boat. They chopped our passports and we entered the country where all things beautiful laid in front of us.

I swear you smell the happiness the moment the boat docks.

The buildings lay in a neat arty structure and it seems that everyone would rather cycle then drive. 

The museums, the history lessons.. i wished i had more time to visit them all but we only had 2 days to spare and most of it was spent soaking up some happiness from this little town to brighten our depressing city lives enforced upon us from back home.

At 13, little Anne Frank wrote a diary. A diary that would teach us so much about life.It was absolutely wonderful to visit the little space she once called home. The tiny bedroom she spent days in and out hiding from the outside world. 

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.

Anne Frank