CONGRATULATIONS Kyle and Gigi, on the arrival of your baby girl Naomi!!I’m so happy for you guys and decided to make you a present, albeit not very useful for parenthood, but a nice walk down memory lane, nevertheless. Hope you like it and I miss you both loads!

Clockwise from left: At the fourth of July fireworks in Evanston with EBF (way back in 2005!); When we happened to be in New York at the same time (2008); Chinese New Year Steamboat with the DC gang (2008); Visiting your new home before I left the States for good (2010)

Clockwise from left: Brunch with Lesley in New York (2008); Camping with Mei, Lisa and Tim (2007); Skipping stones in...West Virginia? (2008); Camping again (2008)

P.S. Hope I get to meet Naomi before she’s a teenager!

Spider web trees in Pakistan. Credit: nationalgeographic.com

But hey, I’m back and will catch you up in bite size entries. Here goes…

So, I’ve been in Ireland since last August doing my second Masters degree. This time in Multimedia. We’ll get to that soon enough, but backing up a little bit, I was home for a while, working hard and saving up for this new adventure. It was really good being back in the warm sunshine with easy access to the beach and luxurious outdoor pools, and most of all, being able to spend time with my good old friends. Here’s a highlight of memorable moments…

Clockwise from left: Riding top down with Karen to one of our beach sessions; Out to party with my best friends--don't actually remember the occasion; Off to Wavehouse for my birthday celebrations; Sunday soccer with the girls.

Clockwise from left: Lychee Martinis with Steph, Jo and the gang -- always starts off tame enough; After riding fake waves at Sentosa, with Waimz and Jann at my birthday drinks; My farewell dinner with the Sunday soccer ladies; Pale from hiding in an office for months, I go for a swim and catch-up with Jann.

And that’s the story for today.

The brief: Create a small website (from scratch with html and css) for a fictional character but make it seem real (i.e. no references to the movie or book etc where it comes from) and put your own little twist on it. So I created…

Poolside at Puri Mas Boutique Resort and Spa

…which looks out onto scenes of traditional fishermen at work or more likely, at play.

Beachfront on Gili Air, one of the Gili Islands nearby

The outdoor rain shower–the best feature of the room

Cute toiletries, the eco-friendly way

Right, instead of continuing to wait on images, I’ll get on with the story. This was my first time to Lombok and I’d heard great things about it from a good friend. She said it was a largely undeveloped island (read: mostly tourist-free) with lots of new accommodations being built so you could stay at a pretty luxurious place for quite little. I was sold.

I went with Puri Mas Boutique Resort, number 3 on tripadvisor’s list of top accommodations in Lombok. The pictures weren’t great but the reviews were, and for SGD$67 a night, I hoped for the best. It was a Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel after all.

Our 45-minute ride from the airport to the hotel was introduction enough to what to expect with regards to urban life there. Rural countryside scenes were mixed with half-constructed buildings and next to monsoon-season lakes where a lot of fishing was going on, there would be a giant heap of junk. Brian and I got a little bit nervous.

When we arrived at the hotel though, the staff was absolutely lovely. Our standard room was better than I expected from the pictures that I’d seen online but our outdoor bathroom with rain shower was a sweet deal. There was only one restaurant in the resort but the menu was wide-ranging in cuisine. We stuck to the local food though, which was cheaper than the rest of the stuff and tasted pretty good. Brian really liked their beef satay.

Over the course of 4 days, we enjoyed having the infinity pool almost all to ourselves (it being low season). Walks on the incredibly soft black sand beach right in front of the hotel were pretty amazing. By day, we watched fishermen and surfers share their watery playground and by night we saw tiny crab come out of hiding, dodging our feet as they searched for food. The only annoying thing about walking along the beach was when the locals came at you to tout their handmade products, but then you felt bad for them cos’ they have to make a living too. Brian bought a wrist band from one of them who insisted he was the first customer all week. We were skeptical.

Taxi rides into town were extremely cheap, about SGD$2 per trip but there wasn’t much to do in town except eat and drink. Food there was half the price of the food in the hotel though and just as good if not better so we had a few meals there.

In general, Lombok is a place where you’ll want to do outdoor activities. There are several companies that will take you to the nearby Gili islands to scuba dive or snorkel. Although, I’ve heard it really isn’t the best place in Indonesia to dive. And from my own snorkeling experience, the beautifully blue-green waters above lie about what’s below. I saw a diaper float by me as I was watched the pretty fish. So litter is a bit of a problem. There’s also surfing and hiking in Lombok. If you want to make the climb up to the island’s live volcano called Mount Rinjani, allow more than 4 days for your entire trip.

So, I’m really not sure what to conclude about Lombok. The service at the hotel we stayed at was awesome and the locals seem very happy with the simple life. I’d love to walk on that black sand beach again just because of how good it felt under my feet (possibly better than any white sand beach I’ve walked on). I think that the island could be lovelier if they cleaned it up a little and stopped throwing trash everywhere.

The host of the 2011 Golden Globes bruised the delicate egos of celebrities who were the butt of the host’s sharp jokes. They thought he was being mean-spirited and even called him out on it during the show. But he was so spot on, it’s hard not to think he’s absolutely brilliant. See for yourself…

Inside the gates at Changi Airport

Since it’s still Sunday in America I thought I’d sneak a filler post in just so I don’t miss a week. Will tell you all about my trip to Lombok, Indonesia next week. Akan datang (stay tuned…)

It’s been five years since I was home for Chinese New Year and I was super excited to relive all the feasting and family reunions and receiving of red packets (containing auspicious amounts of mulah). But it’s day 3 of the 15 day celebrations and I’m feeling a little disappointed. It’s just not as fun as I remember it.

I was talking to Brian about it and he remarked that it’s the same with Christmas. It used to be so fun when we were little. Maybe it’s because us grown-ups get to have fun whenever we like and we don’t have to wait for special occasions either.

Have a great Rabbit Year everybody!

Back to what I wanted to say last week. Brian and I were looking for something to do in Singapore other than eating and shopping (local pastimes) so we headed to the Southern Ridges (well, one of them anyway). We parked at Mount Faber and armed with mosquito repellent, hydrating fluid and a towel, we set off for the Henderson Waves.

It was a pretty cool bridge.

That is, until I started walking over it.

As some of you know, I’m ridiculously terrified of heights and I could see through the tiny gaps in the wood paneling down to the ground below. It didn’t help that some of the floor boards creaked when we stepped over them either. I’m sure the bridge was perfectly sturdy but that’s the thing about phobias isn’t it? They aren’t rational. Anyway, a little more than five minutes later and we were on the other side.

We had a good walkabout the forest, marveling at the crazy trees that grow in this part of the world and birds we’d never seen before.

There were some weird moments, like when we came across a guy who was sitting in a corner, shaking his head about left and right, and eyes closed in a trance. We were also rather disappointed that a sign that promised a lovely stream at the bottom of the hill actually led us to a terribly man-made pond with a dead baby terrapin in it. Boo. And then there were the mosquitoes. We foolishly thought the mozzies might be sleeping in the afternoon and decided against spraying ourselves with repellent. Some of my bites still itch a week later.

All in all though, I would definitely recommend going up there at least once, especially if you aren’t a scardy cat like I am.