Singapore
China Town
The Lion City has not once in all my endeavors failed to astonish me with its unparalleled beauty and the absolute marvel it is. Although this wasn’t my first visit to Singapore, the city has changed so much in such a short time that often it felt like I’ve never even been to this place before, Jamais vu much??
This trip held a unique place of its own in all of my adventures as it was my first “all girls” trip I was allowed to take abroad, where I didn’t necessarily ‘have to go with my future husband’- first step onto breaking free from the brown concepts of travel!
Our Journey began with a five hours long bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. This was clearly not enough to break my resolve as much to the disappointment of my friends, I was clearly not even a little bit tired. As a matter of fact I was super energetic for someone who fails to sleep on road trips, (too afraid to miss out the window seat views!!). Although It was certainly worth staying up and catching the first sight of the Singapore Flyer (Ferris wheel) at Downtown Core, as you enter the city.
I was also happy that yet again we proved most popular critics wrong, by closely planning a 3 days long trip full of adventures and food hunting in the world’s most expensive city, on budget!! I believe key to the best experience here was to go old school and to take out those route maps of the city’s famous tourist spots and travel via its vast MRT lines. And here are my suggestions of places that are to be ticked on your list of the gorgeous Garden City of Singapore-
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Gardens by the Bay and its Light show
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Marina Bay Sands
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Universal Studios
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Sentosa Island
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Street arts on Haji Lane
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Clarke Quay
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Merlion park
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China town
Street Art
Haji Lane
China Town
More from Haji Lane
India
I thought the traditions of taking family trips on summer vacation became almost extinct as we grew up to live away from home, until a lesser expected India tour happened. 7 cities and 13 days later, I was still short of words when it came to describe such a culturally rich country.
We flew from Chittagong to Kolkata and then continued our journey to Delhi, Agra, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaipur and finally Chennai. There’s not a single thing about the trip that I would have changed except staying a little longer to indulge in the uniqueness of each place and dig more into the history behind the preserved relics.
My favourite experiences go all the way from that crazy backseat rickshaw ride facing random groups of bike riders that smile and wave back on their way from Ana sagar Lake in Ajmer, the camel ride on a small dessert in Pushkar, to the climb up an intricately designed Amber Fort in Jaipur. However, I wouldn’t do justice to the entire trip if stories about rest of the places were left untold, so here are some spots that I ticked off my list in India-
Fatehpur Sikri, Agra
Ajmer
Hawa Mahal, Jaipur
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India Gate, Delhi
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Humayun's Tomb, Delhi
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Qutub Minar, Delhi
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Taj Mahal, Agra
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Fatehpur Sikri, Agra
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Akbar's Tomb, Agra
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Ana sagar lake, Ajmer
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Elephant ride up the Amber Fort, Jaipur
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Hawa Mahal, Jaipur
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Jal Mahal, Jaipur
Redang
‘Too foreign for home, too foreign for here’, they said.
It took me a little while arguing myself about my favourite escapes in Malaysia, because how do you choose one place out of the 3 years’ experience in a foreign land that felt safer and more comfortable than home at times?
Redang Island was rather a unique experience I’d say, since 3 of my friends and I spent most of our after-work hours, voting on a summer getaway to finally concluding on this destination which was surprisingly the best that Malaysia had in store for me. At the end of those 6 hours on road from KL to the state of Terranganu, we hopped on with our over clogged luggage, for another 1.5 hrs ferry ride through South China sea. To my excitement, we were getting closer to the island and I could see the water underneath unveiling all the colourful marine life that it’s been sheltering, as it slowly faded onto a lighter crystal blue. Now as dramatic as this may sound, so did our Monday blues!! Just the thought of living in such a beautiful place for the next 2 nights, gave me butterflies in the stomach.
Unlike others, the best part about this destination was probably not having to make a list of do’s and don’ts in the first place (so I’ll spare you from that). We spent almost an entire day just soaking in the blue waters that crash by the white sands of Pasir Panjang beach and witnessing a spectacular sunset which held us back until almost the end of the day. I guess I just loved being by a beach way too much for someone who doesn’t even know how to swim!
On the following morning, I woke up energized and all geared up for our snorkeling trip around the islands, until it was time to actually get off the boat. I could feel my excitement slowly turn into panic and numbness gushing over my cold feet . A panic attack, lots of encouragement and millions of trials later I managed to peek through my goggles with a blurry eyesight, still struggling to breathe, to witness what happens to be my best experience so far. Redang ensured to greet us well with its finest vibrant fishes and turtles swirling around us. And just when you thought that was the best part? Wait till you find out that after hours and hours of searching, we actually found Nemo!!
This time, I could proudly say that I took home real memories, along with tiny sand jars and some painful insect bites- all of which were worth the hustle!
Island Hopping
Private beach by Hotel Taras, Redang
Taking back white sand jars from the closest souvenir shops
Keeping up with the turtles
Lockdown Diaries
In this chaotic mess that the pandemic is, I've managed to balance time between research and work but forgot to keep some aside for things that were closest to my heart!
So now when I think of the lockdown, I see it as a break reminding me to slower down the pace of life, a quick reconnect with my past few years of uni and some time to get back to sketching! In this 4 months short lockdown, I managed to pen a few visuals that speak so much about those days. Hence, I will leave these here to remind future me of what I've thrived through, to remind me of what calmed my storm in hopeless days!
Enjoy :)
Borneo
Pekan Nabalu, Kundasang
North Borneo Cruise, KK
Pulau Manukan
Being a full-time research student with part-time anxiety, it’s been difficult for me to find time beyond the lab and my laptop screen! Burnout felt normal at this point. And in case my schedule allowed me some free time, my brain made sure I felt guilty about indulging in some Netflix with a good meal. Hence, while slowly losing the concept of weekends and ‘working hours’, I managed to only keep up with reel FRIENDS instead of the real ones!
However, I decided to test the little luck I may have and to an absolute surprise, got accepted for presenting at a research conference in Sabah, Borneo. I told myself that I finally got some time for a vacation, but only to get away to do more work! But this girl decided to rather take whatever opportunities life was throwing at her instead of complaining. And that’s how I hopped on a flight, travelled solo for the second time that year, for my first ‘big girl’ journey!
Being an ‘inexperienced’ researcher in a room full of intellects felt nerve-wracking, something an anxious person like me would only dread experiencing. But being able to show up in formals and talk about the past two years of my work in twenty minutes, made the little scientist in me quite happy that day. And not to forget, the conference venue being a beachside resort was an absolute cherry on top! It was not a surprise how clear the skies were at Kota Kinabalu compared to that in KL. It was an open canvas for colorful sunsets, which I made sure I caught a glimpse of, for each of the seven days that I stayed there. And if you know me, you'd know about my detailed itinerary too. I made sure to tick most places off my list in any little breaks that I got. As hectic as that may sound, it was worth signing up for the cruise ride, to feel like a main character of a rom-com movie for two long hours, catching the most gorgeous sunset of one’s lifetime. It was also worth waking up at 6 am to take the bus to a chilly Kundasang and getting a close glance of Mount Kinabalu. And it was definitely worth the fanciest full-course dinner that I feasted on for free!
Thanks to unhelpful immigration, I may not be traveling there soon, but I was definitely content to bring back all the ‘reference photos’ to paint and souvenirs to add to my collection!
