Posts Tagged ‘holiday’
Paris Man! Freakin’ Paris!
Okay so I booked the tickets to Paris three days ago now but I still don’t think it has sunk in. I mean…Paris! I am so excited. I have been wanting to go back to Paris since the first time I visited there which was back in 2002. I honestly never thought I would be able to afford it. You know how we have these little ideas about things we would like to see and do, but deep down inside we know that it is only an idea and probably will never come to fruition? That was how I felt about Paris and going to Europe in general, hence why it has taken me a couple of days for it to sink it.
It is amazing also how one trip is inspiring me to do so much. The last few days it has been easier for me to get out of bed. Every day I ride my bike to school and catch the train instead of driving is another five dollars saved for the trip. Every time I cook dinner instead of having take away food is another ten dollars saved for the trip. I have even started learning French again. I have to learn French as part of me getting into WAAPA next year but I was having trouble getting the motivation to start, now I am finding that I am enjoying it immensely. Ben is right, whenever I find myself cracking the shits all I need to do is think about the trip and I am smiling again.
WOW! I just realised I never posted about getting into WAAPA next year. I got into Classical Voice studies for singing. I can’t wait to start and am really looking forward to finally giving my voice some time to develop.
Next year is looking amazing! New school, travel plans, singing, working…I can’t wait!
Image by trixnbooze (Flickr)
This one is quite funny to write; I remember having a similar issue when this happened to me and so it echoes quite nicely.
For a while now I have been encouraging Emma to keep an eye out for cheap flights to places we might like to go. For holidays, as opposed to places we might like to go to get away from the in-laws, which would be a completely horrible suggestion and totally unwarranted. “Hello to Emma’s family”, I know many of you read this :-)
So, over time, we have had the occasional conversation about dream holiday locations, logistics and timing. Largely these took the form of a tentative suggestion that could be construed as something completely different (have you ever wanted to go to Disneyland) which, upon further investigation, rapidly descended into either hurt silence or stomping footsteps towards a door. Oh, it wasn’t just her. We swapped roles at regular intervals.
So it was quite a surprise to get a jittery phone call from Emma that started out with, “Honey, I’ve found some flights to Paris next year that look really good, can we go?” i would like to say that i answered suavely, “Sure, Baby, what ever you want”, but that would be a misrepresentation of the facts. There was some confusion as we tried to fall back into the old pattern, but after realising what was happening, I tried a different tact and, within 24 hours, Things Were Different!
Emma had figured out the connecting flights, arranged a stop over and paid (with my plastic to get the travel insurance) for the entire escapade.
I’m pretty sure she is still not quite sure when the piano will fall on her, but it’s very amusing to watch her try to get grumpy now. All I have to do to dislodge any cranky is start humming the French National Anthem.
And now she is starting to think that maybe, just maybe, things will turn out alright for her after all.
Highly, HIGHLY amusing.
So the honeymoon is over and Ben and I are on the plane on our way home. It has been quite a trip and we have both had a lot of time to unwind, relax and ask the question “Well, what next?”
We have both been looking to the future in one way or another, I don’t think it is any secret that we are both pretty restless in our lives at the moment occupation wise, but we can’t seem to figure out the next step.
I thought coming to Singapore would help me to put that part of my life behind me (I used to study performing arts in Singapore but dropped out rather unceremoniously after a month and a terrible bout of homesickness) but instead I am just as confused as ever. I have too many options and no direction.
So the honeymoon is over, now for the rest of my life to happen, if only I knew where to begin!
This honeymoon of ours has been quite an adventure. For Emma, returning to Singapore was more than a little emotionally loaded and for me, well I tend to get caught up in the “is this really worth that?” comparisons.
On the last night of our holiday, we found something so dreadful, so over priced and that it’s turned full circle into hilarity. Hotel 81 Rochor in Singapore is, without a doubt, the worst place we have stayed ever. Why, you ask?
The tiny room contains:
- a leather bound matress with latex sheets that don’t actually cover the matress if you tuck them in (we had to make the bed ourselves)
- The toilet has a shower over it – so to have a shower, you actually have to dodge the toilet bowl.
- The (two) windows are cut in half by the walls of the room and have been filled in with green glass, we can’t figure out how to open them – the view is probably spectacular.
- The pillows are covered with transparent disposable pillow covers – like interfacing fabric.
- And the entire floor seems to be washable tiles with a grip pattern.
It’s so bad it’s good; you know? We have survived the night in a hostile environment and it’s brought us closer together. Our desire to have a good time has won the day.
I think this is a really good result for our relationship!
Okay, maybe I have been a little annoyed with how some (unplanned) things have turned out.
But at least we know for sure that we are never doing the resort thing again for as long as possible. Blurk! to your canned music and over-priced “activites” designed to give us the minimum level of excitement for which we have to pay extra for!
I want my beach shack!
Oh how I thought this was going to be a good idea only to self-sabotage it into some silly mid-adventure.
Time to snap out of it!
