Day 208 - Holiday, here we come!

My Mom likes to say that only people who work truly appreciate the notion of weekends, public holidays, and to some extent, holidays.

For me, I believe there's nothing quite as exhilarating than turning on your Out of Office right before you go on holiday. That's when it really hits you - this shit is about to get real, you're really going on holiday, the holiday you've planned for for so long is really happening fo' shizzle, you're going to get on a plane in a few hours' time and you won't be around for a little while!!

We've been planning this holiday for the past few months, and for the past few weeks I've been obsessively poring over TripAdvisor every night, rereading hotel reviews and trawling through forums (mainly to read up on do's and don'ts in Vietnam and to weather watch as it's monsoon season and there have been a couple of typhoons.. gulp). We'll be spending the next 2 weeks in Penang, Vietnam and Singapore - for the first few days we'll be attending Tiam's wedding in Penang and eating our way through the island, followed by a hectic week in Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, and finishing off the last few days of our holiday relaxing in Singapore. Can't wait!!

Oh and as part of the Les Essentials de Chanel Fall 2012 makeup collection preview, thank you Chanel for prettying me up for my flight back home!

Day 29 - Being back in Melbourne

I'm smiling as I'm typing up today's post from my room in Melbourne.

Wait, let me clarify - I'm smiling because I actually managed to get back to Melbourne as planned, despite all the hoo-haa this morning. 

In super-short summary:

• I hadn't realised that my Resident Return Visa had expired while I was in Penang - eeps!
• The airline wouldn't allow me to board without a valid visa.
• With 10 minutes to go before take off from Penang -> KL, Canberra provided clearance and granted my entry. They provided an authorisation code to overwrite the system, allowing me to enter without a valid visa.
• I rushed to board my flight.
• Upon reaching KL, while trying to check in for my KL -> Melbourne flight, the system refused to accept the authorisation code Canberra provided.
• Apparently the code was only valid to be used within 5 minutes. OMG. You cannot be serious.
• The airlines had to seek for a new authorisation code from Canberra.
• We waited, and waited, and waited.
• 1 hour and 10 minutes later, still not a peep from Canberra. OMG. 
• Then finally, after the airlines called Canberra directly, a new code was issued. Yippee! 
• With 15 minutes to go before take off, I rushed again to board my flight. The gate was a fair distance away, in a different terminal.
• I heard an airline officer chanting "run faster run faster" as I sprinted towards the gate.
• And when I finally boarded (I wasn't the last passenger though....) the plane, sank in my seat huffing and puffing as I tried to catch my breath, I realised I had a smile on my face.

What a morning!

Day 19 - Going home

Today, I'm smiling as in a few hours' time I'll be heading home to Penang to spend Chinese New Year with my family.

I'm looking forward to seeing my family (hello brother!), catching up with old friends, gorging on amazing Malaysian food, and of course enjoying the Chinese New Year festivities. It's been a few years since I spent Chinese New Year in Penang... from memory it's stiflingly hot, hectic, chaotic and exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bye bye Snowflake, you better be good!

Day 9 - The big smiles in the year that was 2011

Psst - this post is rather long and image heavy.  

Now that we're 9 days into the new year and the confetti has settled, I found myself spending a good half an hour today reminiscing about the magical moments that took place in 2011.

2011 turned out to be a great year for me, actually! It was a transformative year, during which I learned to do more of what makes me happy. Looking back, I also managed to squeeze a fair bit of travelling in, which was something I had set out to do at the start of January 2011.