happy christmas!

i discovered this old gem in the "storage room". apparently, it's a christmas plate thing i made when i was seven! i know, it looks like a preschooler did this ( probably insulting to preschoolers).

merry christmas and seasons greetings! hope you're all with your loved ones.

what i'm bringing onboard

• 'when you are engulfed in flames' by david sedaris (something light and allegedly "funny" to read) 
• makeup/ other things bag ( thanks to claudine for the bag)
• sketchbook/ journal with pen and pencil
• sunglasses
• neck pillow
• earphones
• camera
• ipad
• vapodrops (in case of sore throat)
• small handbag
• daggy backpack to carry everything!

leaving tomorrow!

singapore airlines first class ( i wish)

finally! the day has finally arrived! i leave tomorrow at 7pm!

the weeks have gone by extremely slowly. sydney is extremely boring. i've basically been staying up at unnatural times and sleeping in through the morning. i've sort of avoided packing, but i've finally motivated myself to organise my stuff for carry on luggage . all my clothes are shoved in my family's suitcase and there's hardly any room left! how are we going to pack all the stuff we're going to buy overseas? 2 and a half weeks doesn't seem that long so i'll hope it'll be a good 2 and a half weeks full of unique cultural goodness.

i probably won't be able to update this little bloggie cos i won't have access to a computer and i don't want to waste my relatives' bandwidth on photos but i'll post some stuff on the trip when i get back!

amazing mouthfeel!

my grandma just got back from china and she gave us this "teacake."

brilliant chinese translation

gotta love false advertising. it looks more like the train on the box.

south east asia trip

making this map was a pain in the butt

finally something about my south east asia trip! i think we're all pretty excited because we get to meet up with family on christmas and we'll be visiting new places. it's still up in the air but here's the 'ideal'  plan:

• leave on christmas eve for Singapore. (i hate the 8 hour flight)
• stay for 5 days in singapore then leave for Melaka (city in Malaysia)
• celebrate new year's eve in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia's capital city). hopefully we'll be staying in a hotel that has a good view of the fireworks. 
• spend 2 days in Penang (another city in Malaysia). 
• and finally, Bangkok! we initially planned to go to Bangkok but the flood situation scared us off. apparently the government has given the clearance and advises tourists to "exercise a high degree of caution." still not quite as reassuring...

i have to admit, it sounds exhausting but i guess it will toughen me up! in the meantime i will post about what i'm packing and some information about the places we're visiting.