Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

island in the sun.



Believe it or not, there is actually a functional purpose to hats. After burning the top of my head with a day of snorkelling and kayaking, my obsession with hats is no longer stylistically driven. On a 15 day cruise, I armed myself with a Kate Sylvester baseball cap, panama hat and this ridiculously wide brimmed suitcase unfriendly/ inevitable carry-on hat. I was a little taken aback by the brim size, but let's be honest - bigger is better, especially when sun safety related. And if ever there was a time to wear an over the top hat, it's definitely when you're cruising around the South Pacific. 

Unfortunately when you're carting around headwear that enters triple digit territory, it's not all that practical when you refuse to take it ashore in the fear it gets damaged/ misplaced/ stolen. That's the problem when I pack for holidays. I'm always afraid of taking my nicer things in case anything happens to them but at the same time I yearn to be the 'glamourous' traveller and take fab tourist snaps that make your friends and followers on social media jealous. You dig? 

These pictures were taken on the beautiful Lifou, part of the Loyalty Islands (neighbouring New Caledonia). Known as a snorkelling destination, it did not disappoint. We snorkelled around Jinek Bay - which dare I say was actually better than the Great Barrier Reef. We pretty much played spot the characters from Finding Nemo while we were snorkelling and surprisingly found most of the species including clownfish and moorish idol (Gill) in Lifou. I realise that Finding Nemo is not an entirely accurate representation of marine life. 
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cruising together.


Rhapsody of the Seas, our home away from home | Island life on Daydream Island | On the lookout, Lifou Island
Under the Sea, Isle of Pines | GoPro taking the best selfies at Cascade Waterfalls, Noumea | Finding Crush at the Great Barrier Reef 
Loving the floral arrangements and garlands from the locals, Isle of Pines | Having a Breakfast Club moment stand up paddle boarding, Noumea

So I've been off the grid for a little over two weeks and I have to say it's been extremely refreshing and reinvigorating. For someone who is glued to their phone every waking moment, the idea of being stuck on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean without internet access was a little daunting but in the end I didn't miss it one bit. 

I disappeared on a cruise with Jack and his family with ports in Queensland, Vanuatu and New Caledonia with plenty of sun, sea, snorkelling and sweltering heat. Let me just dispel the myth that cruises are for old people. Yes a majority of the activities on board are geared towards that demographic (though I did give bingo a serious go) but I would highly recommend it for anyone who needs to be forced to relax ie. me. You're literally floating in the middle of no where with absolutely no ties to the 'real world' with nothing to do but eat, swim, watch movies and sleep. Let's just say I had my fair share of morning and afternoon naps and multiple servings of desserts. The great thing about cruising is that that the journey itself is part of the holiday not a means of getting from one destination to another. 

Sailing back to reality, I'm desperate to be surrounded by the big blue again and get back into my water sports (snorkelling, stand up paddle boarding, sea kayaking, white water rafting - you name it I've done it) which I've come to realise I absolutely love about island getaways. Anyway I hope you all had an amazing break over Christmas and New Year. Determined to make the most out of 2014. 
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beijing photo diary. part 3.

 The Circular Mound Altar at the Temple of Heaven | Uncharacteristically Beijing on the walk from Tiananmen Square to Wangfujing | Like something out of a movie at the Summer Palace | Not fitting the mould of the ideal girl at 798 Art District | It's no beach, but at least Peking University has a lake | The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests | Blue skies at Tiananmen Square | Made a beary good friend at the Beijing Zoo | Mulan successfully saving China. Mission accomplished. 

It's been two weeks since I've returned from the land of cheap oily street food, hot sticky days, a functioning public transport system, dumplings, bikes, squat toilets and the like, and I'm still yearning for the exchange student life which now seems like a distant memory. I didn't think I'd like Beijing as much as I did and I could definitely have stayed there for a month or two more (the lower cost of living is a huge bonus) if I didn't miss my family, friends, healthy clean food and a stable income. It's a little disappointing how quickly you can lose your language groove when you're back in an English speaking country without that constant contact to the language and the culture. I actually miss speaking in Mandarin and I've almost slipped up a few times when ordering food or speaking to sales assistants. 

It's been a real eye-opening experience, helping me reconnect with my roots/ the true motherland and sparked my interest in continuing to learn the language. I have plans to go back next year for a more intensive Summer program (ours was a little cushy - we didn't even get marks for our final exams). I found a side of myself that would never have come out in Sydney, I realised how fulfilling travelling solo can be, although not completely safe, and that I can look after myself just fine. It's all I had hoped for in this trip and so much more. I'll be back for you China. Hopefully next year with a slightly less Australian accent and a larger word bank.  
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shanghai weekend.

Obligatory tourist photo along The Bund with the Oriental Pearl Tower and Pudong skyscrapers | New York looking streets along the French Concession | Some of the finest Xiao long bao in Shanghai at Nanxiang restaurant | Shanghai's take on Central Park | Elevator up to the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre observatory | Traditional Yu Gardens tucked away in the heart of the city | Cooling off at People's Square | East meets west at the Old French Concession | Birdseye view of Shanghai at the top of SWFC.

My last weekend in China, I decided to take a spontaneous last-minute trip to visit Shanghai. I was initially uninterested, not because I feel like Shanghai wouldn't be my kind of city (because it sure as hell was) but more so because I was worried the short amount of time we were there (less than 48 hours) wouldn't do it justice. One of the things I admire most about my mother was that she travelled a lot on her own after she graduated around Europe, the US and Canada so she's a firm believer of seeing the world while you're still young. And while she disagrees with me on many things, she was quick to encourage me to go and see Shanghai, or as she refers to it, the New York of the East, as there would be no better time to go. 

So I took the five hour bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai with a group of friends and ventured into unknown territory. Of course I loved Shanghai. Unlike Beijing, Shanghai has that true city vibe, with the planned feel of Melbourne, French influence, New York looking streets and the underlying oriental foundations, it's cosmopolitan, modern and very cool. Although a weekend seems like I'm pressed for time, I managed to cram in as much sight seeing as I could and ticked all the boxes of the 'must do's in Shanghai'. #successismine
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beijing bound. part 2.



Sitting in KLIA at Dome Cafe (and wondering why there isn't one in Sydney) catching up on my blogging, photo uploading and video editing. It always feels like you never have enough time to properly sort through these post-holiday formalities once you're back to reality. Because the unfortunate reality is, holidays don't last forever. As soon as you hit home soil, it's straight back into daily routine. After a month of no work, interning, stress-free class, minimal homework and all the free time in the world, going back to my jam packed schedule seems very unappealing. 

Home movies were pretty big in my family growing up. Sadly I think most of our holiday tapes are either damaged or I eagerly taped The Simpsons episodes over them during pre-Internet streaming times. After the rise of the digital camera, people stopped taking their video footage seriously. It's all good to whip out your camera phone in those spontaneous moments but what exactly do you do with that 10 seconds of a street performer or panorama view? They just end up being stored on your phone, never touched and eventually deleted. That's where I believe the video diary comes in - the home movie of the 21st century. Part 2 of my Beijing Bound video series backed by the chilled sounds of New Navy x Flume and includes incredible views of unrestored sections of the Great Wall at Huang Hua (definitely the highlight of the trip), the tourist heavy hutongs at Wangfujing and Nanluoguxiang and more scenes from my favourite spot in Beijing, Qianhai. 
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beijing photo diary. part 2.

Street view from Gulou/ Drum Tower | Soft serve at 798 Art District, my latest obsession and cool off snack of choice | Summer Palace | Hiked up to the highest point of the Great Wall at Mutianyu | Grand designs at the National Museum of China | CCTV Building | The best Peking Duck I have ever had (you'd hope so being in Beijing and all) at Da Dong. 

I have less than one week left in Beijing and I can't believe how quickly the time has just flown by. I feel like I've been in this city for three months and barely scratched the surface, but after going through my photos, I've actually accomplished quite a fair amount of exploring. I only have a handful of tourist attractions left to visit and I've already finished all my souvenir shopping. I'm starting to get a little sentimental about leaving my the life I have just gotten used to behind - four hours of class in the mornings, time to actually go to the gym, late nights spent at cafes studying (but really just chatting), convenient public transport, weekends, cheap cafeteria food. This is the life. But I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet. Last weekend in China and I'll be spending it in Shanghai. Ready to conquer another foreign city. 
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beijing photo diary. part 1.

Ornaments at Behai Park | Inside the Forbidden City | Qianhai Lake | Details at the Summer Palace | Lakeside at Behai Park | The closest thing Beijing will ever get to New York | Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace.

There are some things that are better said captured in photo rather than film. The same can be said vice versa. These are snippets of my life in Beijing thus far, taken on my trusty Olympus Pen who has held up surprisingly well, making this city seem more exotic and alluring than it really is. I wanted to snap simple details in these scenes like the lake in Behai lined with willows, the decoration on old style buildings and temples and the Russian street somewhat reminiscent of New York (or so I like to think). I know what you're thinking. It's missing two of the most important aspects of a trip away (for a blogger anyway): food and fashion.

In terms of food, trust me I'm eating a lot and it's ridiculously cheap but for the most part, pretty poorly laid out. I eat out of tiny plastic bags or on sticks (hello street vendors) while the cafeteria serves up large portions of food that are just piled on a plate. The most attractive things I've eaten thus far have been salad and pasta, neither of which are of Chinese origins.  So no points for presentation but an 8 for taste, 10 for price and 11 for oiliness. You probably won't recognise me when I'm back.

And as for fashion, living out of a suitcase for a month warrants a heavy rotation of nothing but plain tee shirts and shorts. I have no iron and everything has to be hand washed and hung on a chair by my window. It averages around 30 degrees daily (except the past few days it has been raining) and I'd much prefer to sweat it out in a grey muscle singlet rather than a silk shirt that crinkles once washed, am I right? Let's just say I'm starting to understand why college kids wear thongs, shorts and a hoodie regardless of the weather. Guilty as charged. 
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beijing bound. part 1.



As promised, here's what I've been up to over the last week presented to you via video (and featuring one of my current on repeat artists: Lorde). It's crazy to think how short of a time I've spent in Beijing but judging by the above, I've covered a lot of ground.  I've visited three gardens, three lakes, six shopping complexes, two Apple Stores, purchased from Nike, Theory, COS and Uniqlo while  attending classes in the morning and squeezing in a gym session every second day. I've made a list of all the major sights and attractions in this city and making sure I don't miss a thing. There's nothing worse than coming home and realising you had all this time to visit somewhere but never did. And a sidenote: Any suggestions of secret hotspots in Beijing are more than welcome. I have to honestly say, Beijing isn't a city I've fallen in love with unlike Tokyo or Paris, it seems to be missing that something special (wait are we still talking about cities?) but I think I'm more in love with the idea of living in a different world, living a different life and I'm enjoying every moment. And trust me, there is plenty more to come - part 2 is already in the works. And now I'm off to do more sight seeing. Adventure time!

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on campus.

你好 all the way from Beijing. It's been exactly a week since I touched down in the land of thick smog/ fog skies, burning heat, cheap street food and a perfectly functioning public transport system despite the ridiculous amount of people living in this city (up your game Sydney). Last week I was dying to go home after suffering from the culture shock, language barrier and everyone mistaking me as a native Chinese speaker. The number of times I was asked for directions (or perhaps they were trying to sell me something, who knows? I couldn't understand anyone of them) and I would just stand their lost for words and walk in the other direction. I had them baffled. I could barely check into my accommodation, let alone ask why my electricity wasn't working. The first few days were a struggle on my own. I thought I was a lost cause. 

We started class on Tuesday and I have to say my attitude has changed significantly. I'm piping up in class, asking questions and speaking aloud (though my stutter/ broken Chinglish is rather unimpressive). I've finally made a breakthrough. Willing to make a fool of myself in the hope of improving. And I'm relieved to say it's slowly working. 

It's still so surreal waking up in a completely different country without the comfort of my friends and family and my usual surroundings. I love the exchange student life. Class in the morning, gym after class, sight seeing (subtext: shopping mall tour of Beijing) in the afternoon and eating out with friends for dinner. The thrill of exploring the unknown and the freedom to do whatever I want and an actual weekend to relax. This is the experience I have hoped for and more. 

I'm off to Sanlitun this evening for yet another trip to the Nike Store (I can't escape it) and a celebratory TGIF dinner. Conveniently my dorm has provided us with white sheets (did they know I was desperate to crank out some flat lays?) so expect some snippets of my purchases, photo diary and a little video of the week that was. 再见！

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adventure is out there.

Photos by Christine Ai. See the full set here.

In what I dubbed to be my #YOLO year, 2013 was set to be a year of firsts, impulse decision making, not overthinking things, independence and hard work. So when I heard my uni was offering an in-country study at Peking University in July, I had made my decision to go and within a day had already started organising applications and paperwork. I’m just about ready to jet-off tomorrow morning and I’m starting to get cold feet. While I’ve been dying to have a little exchange experience of my own (seriously half my news feed is full of pictures of friends overseas), I’m already starting to miss the idea of not having my family, friends and Jack around, of not being able to fall into my usual routine of work, gym, sleep and missing all the healthy, clean food I have come to love from my little fitness stint. This was probably the reason I decided not to apply for a six month exchange last year.

A month isn’t very long when you put it into perspective, but long enough to be able to experience the culture and lifestyle and of course my number one priority: get better at the language. I’ve been studying Mandarin since I started uni (and even before that when I was little) but I’ve never really been confident at speaking, writing or reading. I’ve never been a ‘language’ person, nor have I ever had enough time in the last three years to dedicate towards mastering it. I’m hoping that studying in country for a month solid and being able to put it into practice in the real world will stop me from just ‘getting by’ during my last semester of uni come August.

Unfortunately with all this worldly experience and development happening, I’ll be putting the blog on the backburner for the next month. I’ve decided not to take a fancy camera (and I’m packing a touristy variation of tee+shorts+sneakers) and have no idea whether my roomies are avid photo takers so expect less style posts and more travel related content. Thre will be plenty of scenery, food and hopefully shopping guides with my usual personal reflections and maybe some editorial inspo and collages for my fashion fix. So stayed tuned for my Beijing Adventure. It’s going to be life-changing…

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