Persil is the scent of nostalgia.

so here are some pictures from my last trip to madrid, toledo, granada, seville, fes, marrakech, casablanca, tangier and lisbon.

and this marks the end of a truly amazing year away from singapore. i don’t know when is the next time i’ll be able to pull off an epic travel mania like this, but i’m already looking forward to it.

for now, it’s hasta la vista, baby.

it’s strange being back. suddenly i have to live with people again, after one year of having my own place. the heat + humidity is not as unbearable as i thought it would be though. i think it’s cuz i’ve been introduced to insane temperatures in spain and morocco in the for 15 days. think 37-42 degrees, with no air conditioning readily available! speaking of which, photos will have to wait a little. it’s gonna be hell sorting them out, given how we must have taken about a thousand, not counting the ones in my cousin’s camera.

so exchange is well and truly over. it’s been a really good year. i think i did a good mix of living in england and seeing europe. while i’ve spent a fair part of my time travelling–dublin, switzerland, tiny bit of germany, amsterdam, france, italy, greece, morocco, lisbon, spain…i think i will miss london most. not as a tourist in london, but actually living like a londoner.

cihua said she’s gonna be so homesick for london when she goes back to mexico in september. i think i already know what she means.

Salam from africa! the past week was a whirlwind trip: madrid, toledo, granada, costa de sol, fes, marrakech, rabat and finally tangieh today. tomorrow we will sail back to southern france and continue to travel through spain and portugal.

while italy remains on the top of my favorites list, africa is giving it a run for its money. it is not as comfortable, not anywhere near comfortable to be honest. but something about this continent fascinates me terribly.

and it is also like reaching couscous and tajine mecca.

i subconsciously placed my glass of water on the higher kitchen counter like i’ve always tried to do when diana was pattering around. then i realised she’s not here! and i won’t have to protect my water for another 3 weeks =(

mel and i are strange people. we miss our four legged pals more than our boyfriends. boys, you both have been upstaged!

just bundled these two into the cab. under strict orders by jamin not to be emo. he actually sent me tons of movies and armed me with loads of tabloids to help me survive the empty house until i jetset off to madrid!

but ya me no like big empty house. and mel!!!!! why you not online! plus you passed your flu bug to me leh. quick come online and “company” me =)

reminds me of our post chinatown jamming session. now mel, leon and matthan are gone, tomorrow jamin and diana will fly home too. a little melancholic, but i think a little me time is going to be good. especially with the baby sister and cousin coming over soon for spain/portugal and morocco! so yeah for the meantime i shall curl up with sex and the city the movie (!!) and my ever trusty tabloid magazines.

backtracking a little…i had my last paper on 29 may and i also left nottingham for good on the night of the 29th. it was kinda crazy cuz we were caught up in a whirlwind of springcleaning (i hope they don’t anyhow deduct my security deposit)! so there wasn’t much time for reminiscing and last thoughts about the little room i called home for the past 9 months. there was time for a last bite at sukho thai though hehe.

as usual, arriving in london felt homey. diana reclaimed her territory ie. the whole living room. the next morning mel flew in from heidelberg, so our prata and milo dinosaur club is complete. primark, selfridges, starbucks, chinatown. i still cannot believe the monstrous bill we chalked up at the chinese restaurant! after one whole duck and lots of dimsum, we still managed to command our bulging tummies to make space for bubble tea.

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then 1 june was paris! we took an overnight bus/ferry that took us from london-dover-calais-paris. it’s the same 9hr route jamin and i took last december.

first stop in paris was the sacre coeur, something we didnt manage to see the last time we were in paris. pictures of the cathedral are with leon.

group shot take 1.

then we went to champs elysees! most unfortunately (and to my utmost grumpiness), chanel refused to be found.

the arc de triompe, my favorite landmark in paris.

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paris day 2–disneyland!

i just realised we were colour coordinated! anyway, we tried to take a picture with the genie to no avail..because we felt bad fighting with the crowd of little kids. i also tried to accost the beast, but he bumped me aside with his big furry flank =(

this is where i took my virgin loop rollercoaster ride. was being a chicken at first, but chey. not scary at all. subsequently took another 2 loops!

leon and minnie mel.

us in front of sleeping beauty’s castle. i stole mel’s ears.

p/s: i think i look better with just one pair of ears.

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caught a train to lyon the next morning. the trains in france are jolly expensive!

we only had a day in lyon, so we just strolled along river saone and took the funicular up to the basilica. actually, we rather liked lyon, although we only had a short glimpse of it. jamin thinks it has central london vibes.

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and finally, the french riviera. we chose nice as our base and took day trips to monaco and cannes. i was hoping to avoid bad puns, but really, nice was very nice!

when we arrived in the evening, it was pretty wet. so i thought i could skip the sun block the next day. bad idea.

the russian cathedral.

gorgeous pebble beach of the bay des anglais. i still have scorched shoulders.

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monaco. i’d like to announce that we won tons of moolah at monte carlo, but alas, it was not meant to be. had an eye feast on lots of hot wheels though! never seen so many flashy shiny cars in a day before.

grand prix!

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cannes. more glitzy boutiques, yachts, and of course, the red carpet.

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and of course, worthy of special mention are the crepes! we have about 2 each per day. and the mussels! loves the mussels.

jamin is going to nag again when he finds out i’ve been online shopping instead of studying. butbutBUT anywayyy! this is my current obsession! does anyone know where i can get it? because asos is out of sizes (as usual) and frankly, i’ve somehow been really unlucky with asos…the things i receive never look half as good as they do online. dont even get me started on the quality of their dresses…