Before leaving for Uni

1. Met up with Farhan at Haakon and had a really good catch up :)

2. Beautiful Mummy's surprise 50th Birthday party!! Invited 30 of her closest friends to a dinner at Portico and it was sooo successful :')  

3. Had one of the most lovely evenings just talking endlessly and seamlessly about things that matter with Nicole, Luk Ching, Miriam and Natascha! We also chatted over amazing food that everyone had contributed to such as sweet potato, bliss balls, sushi, cake and ice cream!!

4. Had lunch at Barrio in 313 with my companion for life aka my lovely jie :) 

5. Crystal jade at HV with the cutie roomies!! And spent too much time trying on make-up in Guardian and also had an intense discussion in the train on making their money's worth on an uber ride back to NTU

6. Vegan lunch of 'pulled pork' (made of jackfruit) and salad with Kim - and she said it tasted legit which made me so happy!! We then painted and went to the LKC History Museum in NUS with Natalie :) 

7. Another trip to Haakon to try their acai bowls this time! Honestly sooooo creammy :)

8. Spent the day with Bincs watching Zootopia, cooking (made baked potatoes for lunch which tasted amazing, as well as corn which made us too full) and taking pictures in Bishan park! Wore matchy chokers which Bincs very kindly gave me :')

9. Marutama for dinner with Kim and ZW!! As usual spent too much time trying to get a decent photo right before we split off to get home

10. Super chill afternoon with Claire!! We baked granola and 1/4 of them got burnt :'( But the remaining 3/4 still tasted amazing I promise! It's been a while since we spent quality time with each other and it made me realized how much I missed hanging out with her ! 

The Happiest Place on Earth - No, not Disneyland (4)

Day 6 

The day started with a 30 minute morning run with Justina just along a road leading up to the hotel - it was only on this run where I could actually feel the effects of high altitude (unless I was just really unfit, that could be it as well). Any who, after the run we met the family for breakfast again and then headed to visit a Montessori school as Mum is really interested in opening a Montessori in Bhutan which is super exciting!! I was the appointed photographer and spent a good hour just taking pictures of the school and the lovely children who were all so eager to learn :) 

After that we visited the highest point in Bhutan on Dantak road which was 3988m in altitude! The drive up here was simply magnificent :') 

We then changed into the local Bhutanese dressing and took pictures! It was also National Day in Singapore that day! 

We then headed back to town to have lunch and explored the town for a bit before heading back to pack our bags and just chill :) So day 6 was a pretty uneventful day but it was still enjoyable nonetheless because we could just relax 

Day 7 

Departure day :'( We headed to the local supermarket before heading to the airport and across the street from the supermarket, Justina and I saw the Bhutanese equivalent to 'Pizza hut' and decided we had to try Bhutanese pizza! So we got 2 small personal pan sized ones and kept them for before the flight. 

After bidding goodbye to our amazing guide and driver, Kuenzang and Tandi, we checked in our bags and got through customs only to find out that our flight was delyed for an hour and a half - annoying!! We then chatted to the other Singaporean guest who were staying with us in the same hotel and also leaving on the same flight, at the departure hall and also tried the pizza! It wasn't anything special and tasted like average pizza but I'm still glad we tried it hehe 

I've finally come to the end of my Bhutan travel posts!! I'm so glad I did this so that I can always look back and reminisce this wonderful holiday :) It is truly one of the most memorable trips I've had! I think the fact that I had zero expectations of what Bhutan would be like made me fall even greater in love with this beautiful place :'))))) 

Ugh

Roomspiration

There's so much on my mind right now !!

Things I need to get for my flat ASAP: 

1) A rug 

2) I need to hoover the carpet 

3) A swivel desk chair (DESPERATELY) 

4) A blender  

5) Tupperwares to store food 

6) Baking ingredients (maybe not asap but I really wanna make pancakes and cake) 

7) A candle/diffuser 

8) A good winter coat 

9) Do my laundry

Things I just need to do URGENTLY:

My field ecology project!!! The more I think about it the more stressed out I get (obvi) because its due in 14 days and I haven't started at all. It's taking me so long to think of a hypothesis :( and also thinking about it just keeps reinforcing the fact that I hate being out in the field and conducting experiments and it's definitely not what I want to do in life. But this is an issue that does not need to be dealt with now and though I feel that way, I still have no choice but to do my project and I can't be lazy about it anymore! UGHHH I really really hate it and I also hate myself for being so last minute about it. I may just go ahead and do a herbarium collection and to do that I need to go to the library and collect a flower guide. SIGGGGHHGHGHHH

I've also went back to my old ways of being so slow at replying people's texts. I have no idea what is wrong with me!! I just feel so unmotivated at the moment even though I have so much time?? I literally have nothing on today besides the activities fair yet I'm just sitting in my room and being so meh about everything 

The only thing that I am excited about now is making lunch which is Rice paper rolls!! Gonna put avo, cucumber, carrots, mango and then have like a maple soy sauce kind of thing. Also going to the activities fair with Juliette later so YAY and then maybe on the way back I'll go to Arthur's seat to collect flowers for my herbarium collection. We'll see how it goes. 

I'm gonna paint my nails now and think about my project BYE :'( 

The Happiest Place on Earth - No, not Disneyland (3)

Day 5

Today was the day we hiked up the Taktsang Monastery aka the Tiger's Nest! This majestic monastery hugs the side of a rocky cliff 2950m above sea level and is said to be the holiest site in Bhutan. Climbing the Tiger's Nest is one of the must-dos in Bhutan despite how challenging it is. We started off at the base at around 8:30am and we could see the Tiger's Nest miles away, perched on the cliff. Looking at how high it was and thinking of how many hours and steps it'll take to reach this monastery made me go ' Well, here goes nothing!', before we embarked on our steep hike. (There is also an option to sit on a horse, but it would only bring you up to the halfway point, and at the base there were about 50 horses with their necks tied to a tree and they were the most depressed looking horses I've ever seen :( It was heartbreaking!!) 

View of the Tiger's Nest from the base

I underestimated how steep the climb was and just 20 minutes into the hike and I could feel the back of my legs working and I was panting!  Justina, Mum, Kuenzang and I ended up walking ahead of Dad and Ahma, so Tandi, the driver, decided to slow down and walk alongside them while the 4 of us continued at our pace to the midpoint. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the midpoint and I was sooooo happy to have finally reached the teahouse restaurant because my legs were so tired and I was wet - with sweat! 

It really did feel like a mini victory reaching the teahouse and we had a little tea break with biscuits to refuel for the next half of the hike which was even more challenging. We sat there for about half an hour before Dad and Ahma joined us and then we set off again! Unfortunately it was just the 4 of us because the steepness got to Dad and Ahma and they both decided that continuing the hike would be too difficult for them. 

The next half of the hike gave us plenty of opportunities to admire the view and take amazing photos! That also meant giving us the opportunities to take a break and catch our breath hehe. Halfway through, 2 adorable dogs joined us on our hike and Kuenzang told us that these dogs live on the cliff and could climb up alongside tourist about 2-3 times a day - how fit!!

Love this photo of our driver, Tandi

Kuenzang feeding the dogs biscuits :) 

After pushing through the lactic acid building up in our legs and passing a gorgeous and massive waterfall, we finally reached the Tiger's Nest! It was such a fulfilling achievement :') We then had to leave our bags, cameras, hats and phones at the security area before entering the monastery. Kuenzang shared the history of the Tiger's Nest and we learned that Guru Rinpoche, an 8th century Indian Bhutanese master, travelled here on the back of a flying tigress and meditated in the caves here for about 3 years before deciding to convert Bhutanese to Buddhism. The monastery was then built in memory of this auspicious beginning. 

Saw the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen in my life!

Coming down the Tiger's Nest was so much easier than going up - as expected, though at some bits it was still scary as it was really steep so we had to be careful with our footing so as not to slip and fall! We then joined Dad and Ahma back at the teahouse, where they rested while waiting for us, and had lunch together. I was soooo hungry by then and had 2 huge plates of rice piled on with vegetables! I ate a little too quickly but man was it delicious, even more delicious just cos I was so hungry hahaha

Horses outside the teahouse as we headed down

The whole family then descended together, but again, the group split and Mum, Justina, Kuenzang and I reached the base first! Whilst waiting, I decided to stroke the only horse that was left at the base. Guessing by the color of its eyes, it was probably albino and it's mane was really rough. I tried to loosen the rope that was tied around its neck but to no avail :( So I then continued stroking its neck and even tried feeding it some grass. However, it had zero interest in eating the grass that I offered it and I then had a genius idea (if I say so myself) to feed it the banana that I had in my bag :) The horse sniffed at it in my palm and grabbed the entire banana and I promise almost swallowed it whole! I felt so happy for the horse and really wished that I had more bananas so that I could keep it happy and also energized because I'm sure it had been standing there for hours with that heavy saddle on it :'( 

Anyway, after the family had been reunited, we then got in the car and headed to a farmer's house! This was planned in the itinerary just so we could see how the local Bhutanese farmers live. Their homes were really simple with wooden flooring and pictures of the King and his family hung across the walls - fun fact: The locals do not hang family photos in their homes, only photos of the King of Bhutan and his family. We tried their local rice wine and also an apple that was plucked from their tree! After the visit, we then went for a hot stone bath. It was such a unique experience! The bath tubs were all lined up in a little hut and 1/4 of the bath was exposed on the outside of the hut where the hot stones were put to heat up the water, which were of course separated with a partition so as to not burn our feet. The baths were labelled with numbers and if you wanted your water to be hotter, you'd just shout " More stones in bath number 6!" and the man on the outside of the hut will then plonk more hot stones into the bath! These stones were not regular stones, rather they were river stones that release key minerals when cracked under the heat so as to relieve body aches (from hiking!) and improve ones skin :) After that relaxing in the bath for about 45 minutes, we rinsed and got changed and headed back to the hotel to call it a day! 

I'd definitely go back to Bhutan and climb the Tiger's Nest again and also do so many other hikes like this in the other cities in Bhutan! Another fun fact: The hotel manager of the Meta Spa and Resort where we were staying at, has a record of climbing up the Tiger's Nest in just 45 mins?!?!?