Discovering my roots: Sri Lanka

The sun has hit London, Summer has arrived! I hope this isn’t it but a sneak peak to what is waiting for us in the next few months… 

Despite the beautiful weather, I am still in complete holiday blues mode after one of my best trips yet…. Sri Lanka – The mother land, or father land shall I say. I did a speech about my trip in my toastmaster’s meeting last week which summarised our holiday quite nicely, with a top level 10 day itinerary, in case you are currently planning a perfect getaway. I will of course be following this up with more detailed posts of our adventures in separate posts, but here’s to the first of the series. 

80 years, It was 80 years ago that a young man moved from the country side of Sri Lanka with nothing but hope to build a life in a growing city, now known as Singapore.

That man was my grandfather.
Continue reading “Discovering my roots: Sri Lanka”

Being A Feminist in the 21st Century

I was going to start this post wishing everyone happy international Women’s day, but it really isn’t a happy affair. Even though we have had strong movements in Hollywood with Times Up, and company’s in England have announced the gender pay gaps within many companies, the reality is, we are still no where near to achieving equality.

There are still girls in other countries that aren’t allowed to study because they are being married off at 16 or earlier to a man almost twice their age.

There are still women who are told that they there place is at home, in the kitchen and looking after the children.  Continue reading “Being A Feminist in the 21st Century”

Lust or Love: How Do You Tell The Difference

This is the age old question, or maybe a more recent question with the likes of social media, online dating apps and catfish realities. How can you tell the difference between lust and love? Now I am no love doctor but I have experienced being in love and being in lust and there are some key differentiators to look out for, to determine (in my bee-gees voice) how deep is your love. Continue reading “Lust or Love: How Do You Tell The Difference”

The Iconic Angkor Wat & Cambodian Adventures

I ended the year 2017 finally getting to tick off a massive bucket list, visiting the Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This is the majestic and more touristic version of the temples in Bagan, Myanmar but still a must see especially since the ancient building walls are slowly deteriorating and it is such a shame!

Angkor Wat means temple city and when you step foot on it’s ground you understand why this is one of the world’s largest religious artefact. What I hadn’t known was that the Angkor Wat complex was originally a worship house for Hindus and later converted by into a buddhist temple in the late 14th centuries

Another thing I had not known was that Angkor is the name of the city where the temple lies (no, it isn’t in Siem Reap), and prior to the industrial revolution, this was the biggest city in the world. It was also the capital of the Khmer empire in Cambodia. How does a country with such power and wealth succumb to being another poor, third world country visited by many well off tourists? A government that does nothing for it’s people comes to power…

But let me avoid the political rant.

When you walk into the large temple city, it is easy to understand why many are left in awe. To think of the extent of work that went into this architecture thousands of years ago with none of the machinery we have today, leave you speechless. As if the size wasn’t enough to impress, the walls are carved with religious stories of battle, heaven and earth and so much more.

angkor wat Continue reading “The Iconic Angkor Wat & Cambodian Adventures”

Self-Love On Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s!

The ones reading this probably aren’t going on a date tonight with that special someone or do not have a special someone. But guess what, grab a glass of wine and watch some shit tv (after you read this) and before you know it Valentine’s will be over ;p

The truth is, I use to get really excited for Valentine’s day. Continue reading “Self-Love On Valentine’s Day”

7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Visit Slovenia This Year

Slovenia, Slovenia… this country has become a more mentioned place amongst travellers then ever before. So with all the hype, I had to go see for myself why everyone loved this place. What is so great? I just don’t get it…..

slovenia alcohol

  1. The alcohol is too cheap

There’s always that snobbish though telling you that cheap alcohol taste shit. So you should really avoid going to Slovenia to be tempted by great tasting prosecco for only £3.

2.Slovenians don’t actually like Melaina Trump

How dare they not have any love or respect towards the first lady…..

  1. The unspoilt landscapes are so hard to get too

Continue reading “7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Visit Slovenia This Year”

A day with the rescued Elephants of Mondulkiri

So it is 2018 already huh? I have started the year off being ill and I mean ILL – flu, tonsillitis, fever the whole package. So I am sorry about the radio silence here and I hope anyone reading this is having better luck.

Spending 3 weeks in Southeast Asia in December and spending Christmas and New Year in my birth country was lovely and I cherished all the family time. I also experienced by far the best day of my life  when we travelled to Cambodia. I have a few posts coming up on my trip but I thought my first post of the year should be about the best experience – the elephant sanctuary. Most people know that I love these majestic creatures and in reality my dream job would be to work on elephant conservation, who knows maybe it will still happen one day. But for now, I have to make do with visiting the conservations and donating. In Cambodia, many elephant sanctuaries are found in the less touristy province of Mondulkiri.

How to get there? Take a bus from Phnom Penh (roughly 4.5hours & 10USD)  or Siem Reap (roughly 8 hours & 17 USD). We used Rithya Mondulkiri Express, it was really easy to message them on Facebook and make a reservation and the vans were comfortable.

Please pre-warn anyone you are travelling with of the journey. I failed to mention it to my family because they left me in charge of planing our trip agenda. Listen, if you are not going to get involved in the planning, do not complain during the execution. It was a long drive, but every moment of it was worth it because I got to meet the most beautiful elephants: Princess, Sophia, Lucky, Happy and Comvine with their beloved Mr.Tree, the founder of the Mondulkiri project.

IMG_4126 Continue reading “A day with the rescued Elephants of Mondulkiri”

The Reality Of Your First Love

I am writing this post while I sit on my 13 hour flight back home to Singapore to see the family for Christmas. Did you know that people are more emotional on flights? Either because you know your not going to see someone special for a few weeks or that you are about to see people you grew up with after nearly two years and finally go on that adventure you have been dreaming of. That is also one of the reasons there is a higher chance of crying while watching a film on board your flight… I personally love a good sad film on planes as I feel the tears hydrate my tired eyes 😉

But this post isn’t about long haul flights. Today I am simply writing about that spectacular “first love”. You know the one we always see on movies and read in romance novels? That love that every girl dreams of when she is little, that Prince Charming? Unfortunately what a lot of us weren’t told is that first love doesn’t always last forever.  Continue reading “The Reality Of Your First Love”

11 Lies My Parent’s Told Me As A Kid

Let’s get straight to the point – we all lie. But the lie’s or stories we are told as kids really stick with you and mould you into the person you are today. Luckily for us, we have google and all other sources so our parent’s can’t make something up for their own benefit. But here are some of the lies my parent told me as a kid that I havn’t really gotten over

  1. Wear these clothes I use to wear, their trendy                                                                  The sad truth is as a kid you are stuck with your mother’s fashion sense, and sometimes it ain’t cute.                                                                                                                         IMG_2630
  2. If you swallow the seed of a fruit, a tree will begin to grow in your tummy             While this was just mean and I even remember crying after I swallowed an orange seed, I am totally using this on my kids when I have some 🙂
  3. When you die, your soul returns to the sky as a star                                                  Now while scientifically this isn’t true, I have always been mesmerized by a night sky filled with stars. This was probably why it was so easy to believe my dad when he use to tell me this. Even now, I still look up at the skies and know I have people up there looking after me ❤
  4. ” I was talking to my guardian angel”                                                                                   This was my father’s favourite line when we use to ask him why he always talked to himself. He was just disguising that he’s a little crazy and thinks out load – either way, I love the cover up!
  5. “I didn’t forget to pick you up from school – I was just running late”                        Yeah right – you totally forgot until you saw your child’s name appear on your phone!
  6.  Your Cat COCO ran away                                                                                                          So far I have made it seem like my father was the only one chatting doodoo, but mom I remember that time you said our first pet cat COCO had run away and we were all heartbroken. But the truth was she was killed by the neighbour’s dog, all that time I thought she didn’t like us anymore.                                                                                
  7.  If you keep making that stupid face, your face will look like that forever              But guess what – I’m still pulling that silly face and I’m just fine 🙂 I also still roll my eyes at every other sentence and they roll back to their usual position with ease                             
  8.  It was the tooth fairy                                                                                                                   This is something else I’ll carry one with my kids, my mom blew the cover one night I remember being half asleep and seeing her sneak a 50 cent coin under my pillow and take my tooth! CAUGHT RED HANDED!
  9.  Zwarte Pieten will take you away if you’ve been naughty                                            In Germany and other countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, St.Nicholas day is a big day for kids where he comes to visit with chocolates and gifts. Whenever we were in Germany over Christmas we would have “st. Nicholas” come visit with his helper – Zwarte Pieten. In all honesty this whole tradition is pretty racist in my opinion as Zwarte Pieten comes with a black face and we were told that if we hadn’t behaved that year he would take us away. I actually remember being scared – truth is it was just one of our distant relatives dressed up, who was probably more scared of kids.
  10.   If you keep cracking your knuckles they will grow bigger and you will have fat fingers                                                                                                                                            It is such an annoying habit and my sister does it so often so I don’t blame them for trying to stop it but my sister still has lovely slim fingers so hey – go figure.
  11. I wasn’t snoring                                                                                                                          They say after you wake them up from accidentally falling asleep by the TV…. and “not snoring”

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What are some of the lies they told you?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Boozy Brunchin – Igloo’s in London

Happy Hump Day!

Winter is here, and so is the cold crip air and annoying silky rain. My friends know that I am largely affected by the weather, like my hair, the rain makes my mood go frizzy and dull and I begin to trade in my long summer nights out and about with movie nights in with a meal and glass of wine. However, with Christmas nearby my social calendar has started to fill up again.

I do not have a single evening free from Wednesday to Sundays for the rest of the year – this is giving me somewhat anxiety especially since I also only have three weeks left until I travel back home to Singapore and have my lovely (also very judgemental) father greet me with the usual “have you put on weight mel” phrase. I swear he does this even when I’ve lost weight (parents hey).

Anyway, over the weekend the girls and I went for a bottomless brunch at the sipping room. It was our little treat to IJ who hosted us in New York City  and is now living back in London and what better way to have a post New York celebration than to booze away with some fried chicken and waffle?

brunch london Continue reading “Boozy Brunchin – Igloo’s in London”