Our pal Andy stopped over Singapore last week and we had a good time catching up. He moaned that he dreaded going back to the frigging cold in Switzerland and wished he could bring the weather here over.

Be careful what you wish for Andy, for the Ms Sunshine here has a BFF, Ms 100% Humidity, whom she brings along wherever she goes. Everything here rots and gets mouldy almost instantly. And I mean Everything! Just the other day I found a grey belt (which I thought was the strangest thing) during spring cleaning, only to find out on closer inspection it was actually a black belt covered in colonies of furry little mould monsters.

Anyway he sent some pictures soon after he went back, of the house which we stayed in for about a month during our visit 2 years ago. His place is in a nostalgic hillbilly town in Chur, parked on the eastern side of beautiful Switzerland. Almost immediately I missed that place terribly, and the super duper nice Swiss folks.

I took this photo from his window when I was there during our winter visit. It was snowing and so cold.

Andy’s recent pic of  the same window before the snow. Or was it after? Or maybe in between.

Then we decided to go up the mountains. It was so cold I forgot my name.

We took an old school locomotive rail up the mountains. Andy said there is now an express train. It shortens the 1 hour journey to 58 minutes.

Swiss technology, isn’t it amazing?

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We went back to the old hometown last weekend. Every trip back has always been an exhilarating one and this one is no different. Catching up with my folks over overflowing tables of food, I noticed that while some things are not the same anymore, there are others that have thankfully remained the same.

My favourite aunty for instance, has despite her age continued to deliver her mind blowing array of gastronomic delights. Every dish is painstakingly handmade herself, with every gram of food passing the most stringent of inspections. If there is a Malaccan version of Nigella, it has got to be her. Only better.

My run down kampong is still as run down. We ate half of our dinner in the dark and without ventilation, because the electricity had tripped. The staff in the restaurant were totally deadpan about it as well. I can only guess that we were considered lucky because at least we had lights and fans during the first half of dinner. Things like that would have put me off before but as I look back, it’s all but part of the charm of village life. It’s these uncertainties that made us thankful for the times when we had running water and food on the table.

As I watched my cousins’ kids playing with their own cousins, it dawned upon me that not so long ago (or at least it seems), that was me and my cousins. Every chance to get together was one precious opportunity for frolicking in the outdoors, with no recollection of responsibilities nor restrictions. I remember that holiday when we “harvested” vegetables, “cooked” them in a makeshift hawker cart, and forcing the rest to “buy” our culinary breakthrough. Good thing I was not evil enough then to force them to eat it as well.

I might now. :)

Thankfully I did not poison them then. How else could I witness such cute things that they fathered.

My brother loves to hold kids hostage.

Speaking of kids, they love us.

See, what did I tell you about kids loving us…

Aunty’s organic garden. Yum!

Bad Pitt and his retro but trusty C70.

Badgelina spotted in the kampong.

Am at the airport sending A-gal off to Rio, Brazil.

Yeah what’s up with that ugly carryall A?

For those of us mere mortals who possess the insufferable fate of not being able to go overseas for a proper Christmas break, here’s a few tips to keep you from sinking way deep into the hellholes of misery:

1. Start hating all your friends whom are going/have gone for their holidays. Go on, don’t hold it inside. It’s gratifying.

2. Forget point 1.

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How many dogs you know have their own air mattress for the pool. He climbs onto the mattress himself. Seriously. Even I am jealous.

I know mine don’t. Not that it matters. Doesn’t stop them from being couch potatoes.

It’s hard to believe that you can still find the simple island life in a crazy, bustling city like Singapore.  Definitely a good “island getaway” if you can’t travel far. Mountain bikers will appreciate the mud tracks and nature trails, and the fresh air plus green setting doesn’t hurt at all.

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Yesterday we went on another hike (the pro’s call it a stroll).  It’s something we do often  (ok we try to) on weekends morning because we are suppose to be a disciplined and dedicated group of highly motivated individuals. We just love to torture and probe each other, and see how long we can remain colleagues after waking each other up at 7.30am on weekend mornings.  Isn’t it lovely? Don’t you wish you work with us? *grin*

The Y-ster and her millionaire husband came at 9.30 (meeting time was 9.00am but that only applied to peasants) professionally equipped with:

1) big golf umbrella

2) 2 handphones

3) 2 wallets

Tommy and I walked as quick and as far away as possible with our heads down when the millionaire husband opened his golf umbrella in the rainforest trail.  Seriously.

Tommy’s famous last words halfway through the walk: “I must have burnt at least 1,00 calories by now, but unfortunately for you, because you are so lean, you will probably only earned half of that, and hence not very efficient.” and then he smirks and looks into his heart rate monitor, only to realize he forgot to switch it on. No more conspiracy theories nor showing off for while after that.

ps: They went for Roti Prata right after the walk. That’s after all the whole motive of working out.

And since we’re at the subject of vacations, I thought I might wanna share some of the photos we took whilst hiking/camping in Hong Kong. Yap, you heard me right, the pearl of the orient, the bustling, metropolitan, tightly-packed, Hong Kong.

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So the D-man & I decided to take on Thailand, the origins of our all-time favourite sports, Muay Thai.  We chose Rawai Muay Thai in Phuket because of their reputation & because there were lots to do in Phuket (shooting, ATV rides, kite-surfing, bungy jumping, and almost everything else you can think of).

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