Wheeee!!!! Yes i know i have been that late in updating my paris visit this weekend. It was simply awesome!
I took the TGV down south from the Belgium border to Gare du Nord in Paris. And i just saw and experienced this beautiful city just by walking… walked along the Seine River, attended a rally at Bastille Place, ate my sandwich inside the Palais Louvre, attended the Sunday church service at Notre Dame, walked along the long Champs-Elysees and to the Arc de Triomphe, bunked in a youth hostel with 2 other European gals, saw the gorgeous lighted up Eiffel Tower from Challiot Palace at night… it was simply breath-taking.
Here’s a little video on the sights and seens i saw in Paris… i think i walked around 20km in 2 days! Walking is of course not a problem for me. And walking is Paris is never boring…. every corner holds a story and a gorgeous monument with a little history attached to it. And Parisians are always in smiles…. you’ll never get lost in Paris. There’s always a metro or a bus nearby. And if you are tired… just rest in one of the benches… there are always things to see. I love Paris!!!!!
It’s been barely a week in France for me and I have already visited Paris and discovering the north of France. I have always wanted to travel alone at least once in my life… it’s this thing about quietly watching people go by, the little culture associated with everything I see… i loved my travelling in solitude. And guess what’s the best part? I’m just getting started! Not at all bad for a first timer backpacking in Europe!
I am alone…. but never lonely. Where will this weekend’s journey bring me to?
something dropped out of the drawer while i was clearing it… tada!! my first competitive 10km run and i survived it well in a slightly above average timing I dunno what made me run all the way to the finishing line even though i have never done it, even while ‘training’ for it. Maybe the fact that 4000 other gals were running with me made me reach for the finish as well…
I admit, i’m loving it running and sweating. So am i up for a full half marathon next year??? oooppzzz what did i just say!!!!
I have just learnt tatting… the art of making laces. This is gonna be a bookmark! I can’t believe that suddenly i’m unleashing all these craving for needle and string crafts… ohh la la I can’t simply wait to go on into creating more patterns and designs, but first back to the basics!
I’m spending the lazy afternoon away knitting. How’s it?? nice?? It’ll be a winter wear cap. I’m finally into the 20+ lines after making disastrous start on the first row. I think i re-knitted about 10 times before i finally got it – the tension, the counts and no more dropping holes… yeah! Mom has certainly been patient with me.
And now the pattern is coming is to be pretty… guess i just gotta wait a while more before i can finally see the whole picture. Hold on… and mess will clear up soon
Went for my first trek during the weekend to Gunung Datuk, Tampin, Malaysia. It’s been a fantastic experience and more importantly a memorable one because it’s technically the first time i ventured out to an overseas country… don’t count India and Singapore!! How country bumpkin And yes, it’s my official grad trip!
It all started after we reached the Tampin town at 1230pm and we started trek up the hill at 3pm. Like a very cuckoo first time trekker i carried a super heavy backpack all the way up up through the rugged terrain. But we all made it after 3 hours of climbing up huffing and puffing.
My trekking mates were an awesome bunch… upon reaching the summit, we set up 2 tents to sleep on the summit overnight. It was sort of a base near the top of the Gunung Datuk hill. Toilet was in the heavenly bushes and we had a fun time staying overnight with grasshopers and ants. Burning leaches was one of our fav activites :shocked:
Engaged in mid night cooking during a night drizzle. Menu included pasta, chai po with carrot cake, campbell soup, satay chicken + eggs. And it was more delicious with occasional crunchy rocks and dirty finger licking… yummm
Woke up late the next day and we caught the morning sky in the summit. The summit is about 5 minutes from the base and we had to climb through ladders and really huge rocks. I was scared, but finally i made it to the top with the camera of course and it was all worth it!!
And finally we made our climb down through the slippery terrain and like a super extra i fell and sprained and twisted my ankle…. uuuuuh! Don’t worry… this just means i’ll go for trekking again and next time i’ll descend without twisting/spraining my ankle.
Yeah!!! Can’t wait to reach one more summit top… and look down from the top and see yet another beautiful world…
After incessant tantrum throwing yesterday, dad couldn’t take it anymore and we went out immediately and look what we got…
It’s a Canon Digital IXUS65!!! OOooohhh i hope it’s a much better point and shoot with 6 mega pixel and 3X zoom. I was going through other technical specifications, but well other than zoom and resolution, i don’t understand the rest
So in all i bought a sleek sexy case that fits in my palm, a mini tripod, 1GB storage and most importantly i emptied my bank account. Talk about impulse buying! Well, with 53 bucks left Sweska is really poor now. But i am immensely happy Yyyiiiiiipppeeeeee!!!!!
I had a really good rest doing something old and something new right in the comfort of my roomie.
Something Old: Stitching Let me see..when was the last time i did this?? Sec 2?? Yeah and that was like 9 years back!! Uh well…i guess i liked home econs too. So today after making some initial disasters with the pillow cover flower design, guess i did pretty well. Mom wasn’t that critical for once ahah!!
Something New: Scraping Now i finally understand why huiling likes scarpbooking. Well, i discovered something different though… it is digital scrapbooking. It doesn’t involve ribbons, scissors or buttons… but more of photoshop, *.png files and layers… love it!! And with the internet there are loads of freebies for digital scrapbooking. I’m being on an experimental mood now…
SO all these while I thought I knew how to cook until one day jazz, deeps and shab cornered me and asked, “How do you cook?” I answered, “Simple! Mom says put this and that…shake this and that…done!”. “Ok you dunno how to cook then” was the straight reply. WHAM!!!!….ok so following instructions and cooking is not cooking… GREAT!!!
But today my mom went out and asked me to cook soya chicken… ON MY OWN!!!!!!!!!!! Oh no my parents are not at home now… did I do everything correctly?
The chicken…
The extra ingredients… I cut them. The onions made me tear a lot, but nobody came to my rescue.
Put oil + onions + garlic and stir…hmmm nice smell..hehe!!
Then put chicken + soya sauce + vinegar + capsicum + green chilli…
Cooking cooking…stirring stirring…
Ok done… I made sure that I squeezed the chicken to see if it’s cooked and I tasted a bit. I think it’s quite nice. Now waiting for the final verdict from dad and mom… did I forget anything?!??! No right?? Oh no should I have put salt or more soya or less green chilli??? And so this was Sweska’s very truly first cooking – Soya Sauce Chicken
I went to gym 11 out of 12 days to try out EVERY SINGLE different type of 30+ classes. Almost done but I still have a few dance and cycling classes left. I’m not crazy…hehe! Just making full use of it while the hols last! And the best part?!?!…I still got to eat tako pachi and choc brownies with fitness partners…yum yum! And here are the random workout awards from Sweska’s perspectives!
Most Challenging: Yoga
Yes…it’s good old yoga but try doing 20 Sun salutations continuously…i bet you’ll be sweating and wobbling man! And after that do all the series of warrior and triangle poses…huff and puff…
Most Pro-feeling: Body Pump
Felt like a pro carrying long rods, weight plates and steps to work out!! Never knew weight lifting could be this fun! Lifting barbells and doing bench press, shoulder press…blah blah. Guess how much i was carrying?!?!??!….2 KG and i was dieing 1/2 an hour into the class, while this guy beside me carried 20 kg….10 times more @(*#&^#&*^#* !!!!!
Most Crazy: Latino Jam
And I LOVED latino jam… coz I like the funky and groovy instructor… he was the same one as Amore and I THINK he recognised me and went…ooooohhhh traitor traitor…hehe! Anyway I could not obviously catch up with all the groovy shakes, so the last 1/2 an hour I was just shaking and turning and trying to act like shakira hopelessly… ledole lele!
Most sweat-out: Body Combat
This is very similar to Kick boxing or cardo kick… you really sparkle with sweat at the end of it… just love it!!
Most soul-to-divine connection: Body Balance
A combination of pilates, yoga and tai chi… om namaste! Tried Tai Chi for the first time and I can only marvel at the similarities and the reasons of yoga and tai chi – a remarkable reminder how the world essentially thinks the same way! And I just loved the music – energising and relaxing!
So that was my basic first 2 weeks…love it!! Today i went in the evening and it was crowded… I still prefer the mornings!! Saw some machines that i have never seen before and saw some really HUGE big weight plates… reminded me of the times when fen and me were first trying out the machines and we clanged and banged a few weights in Amore – it’s good to have paiseh partners with you!
Sigh…2 more weeks to school opening…
Current Goal: Must TRY to go for those morning classes even during term time!! Current Mood: Excited about the up-coming all girls outings!!!!
I dunno what made me run all the way to the finishing line even though i have never done it, even while ‘training’ for it. Maybe the fact that 4000 other gals were running with me made me reach for the finish as well…
It all started after we reached the Tampin town at 1230pm and we started trek up the hill at 3pm. Like a very cuckoo first time trekker i carried a super heavy backpack all the way up up through the rugged terrain. But we all made it after 3 hours of climbing up huffing and puffing.
Yyyiiiiiipppeeeeee!!!!!
