Returning home has been tough, sad but pleasant at the same time (if that makes any sense). Apparently, if you keep doing something for 21 days in a row, it becomes a habit. For me, living in Singapore with the people I care about had become a custom I didn’t really want to let go that soon. One month was not enough.

I spent my last day in Singapore visiting the National Orchids and Botanic Gardens, stolling through the Orchard Road and visiting Budhist temples.

Since my flight was late at night I had the whole day to reflect on my stay and the glorious fun I had.

The return was via Istanbul, where I waited for 5 hours to get my connecting flight to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a place I have called home for the last 7 years.

As I entered the plane I couldn’t think any longer, I was too tired and couldn’t feel my legs from all the time spent in the air.

I dozed off to be woken up by the voice from the cockpit:\

“Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. My name is…..” It was my father!!!

He was supposed to be on holidays in Croatia but instead he came early to catch this flight and fly me back home and surprise me.

And what a surprise it was!!!

I hadn’t flown with my dad for the last 6 years and this was the perfect way to be coming back home.

Waking up at home was strange, getting used to the cold (since it is 15 degrees and raining here) is tough…

I will be used to the daily routines again very quickly though, I have no doubt.
But I will go back… to the land which brought me so much happiness….

Things you always have to have in Singapore if you want to melt in:

1. An umbrella, whether it is raining or not, you can always use it as a protection from the sun (1 bad thing if you look out from the window to see if it is raining and see people with their umbrellas you might get confused, since here the sun and the rain go together – crazy weather)

2. A mobile phone, everyone has one

3. A blue tooth device for your mobile, you are not IN if you have to hold your phone while walking and don’t seem like you are speaking to yourself (this is a bit irritating coz I kept looking around to see who the people were talking to when there are only 2 people in a lift, finally figured people like talking to themselves, then I discovered they had something in their ears… hmmm)

4. An IPOD – everyone seems to have some form of music playing machine and a voice to go with it (not necessarily a very good one), since a lot of people sing out a loud in trains, on the streets…(don’t know if it is on purpose or not)

5.A lot of dangling accessories from your mobile, the more of those you have, the more ‘in fashion’ you are (warning: those things scratch the mobile monitors and can me irritating making sounds and disturbing you while you are trying to have a conversation via phone)

6. A fat wallet – since there is ‘a special offer’ wherever you go (oh yes, the land of shopping, shopping and what was is again? Shopping!)

7. A good appetite – restaurants wherever you go (oops: shopping and food, zillions of different cuisines)

8. Lots of patience – specially when trying to get off the MRT (their tube)

9. Bags the size of TVs (all girls seem to think it suits them – but they are in luck - it is IN this season)

10. Just the right English pronunciation, otherwise they will not understand what you are saying

11. A good ear (and no hearing disorder) in order to distinguish different languages from English and you require some understanding of Singlish (Singaporean English).

12. Some vague knowledge of Chinese (at least) since the 70% of the population is Chinese it will be highly appreciated. Ni hao ma?:)

13. Ability to eat with chopsticks (folks: practice at home before coming here, since you might be eating lots of tasty Chinese food at one of the zillion restaurants they have – yummy!).

14. Flip flops and boots (it amazes me how people even at +35 degrees still prefer to wear boots and jeans – the wild wild East)

15. If you are a girl you have to have whitening cream – white skin seems to be the definition of beauty amongst Asian women whereas in the country I come from we use tanning lotions, fake tan creams and other means of making our skin darker – very interesting indeed.

Do you think I am happy?

After an entire weekend of fun (or should I say a month of it) I am slowly coming to terms with the fact I have to leave Singapore soon.
In less than a week I will be on a plane to Istanbul and then Sarajevo leaving everything I love here behind and working on my plan to get back here as soon as possible.

We decided not to go to Malaysia, figured out we will do it the next time I come, which will hopefully be soon.

We cancelled the trip because of a party that was organized, a welcome party for the new DHL coordinator here in Singapore, Anne. It was lots of fun.

The day started with us going present shopping in Chinatown. I could have stayed there all day long. It was fantastic. We say the biggest Hindu temple in Singapore (which is believe it or not in Chinatown) and went bargaining wherever we could. I was happy coz I got all the presents I wanted and threw in a few things for myself (even though I promised not to buy myself any more things).

The day finished in MOS (Ministry of Sound Club) in Singapore after the welcome party and us dancing to various beats until the wee hours of the morning and then eating at the only thing that was opened at that time: McDonalds.

Waking up late and missing breakfast with friends was the next thing that happened on Sunday (hmmm) noon and then we took a cab to Sentosa – the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia; it is an island located at the very South of Singapore and facing Indonesia. You can actually see the country only a few meters away.

Playing like kids in the sea (which, by the way is nothing compared to the beaches in Thailand and the sea is highly polluted because of all the ships passing by), taking train rides around the island, visiting the Underwater World Center and visiting the night fountain show.
We took a ride to Mt Faber (the highest point in Singapore) via cable car, which goes all the way above the city and into this fancy restaurant we had drinks in overlooking the city. Veeeery romantic.



Ever since I came here, every single day has been different and amazing.

Snorkeling in Thailand, watching French movies in a Singaporean cinema, seeing controversial plays mocking the government policies, eating in Chinese and Indian restaurants, bargaining at stalls in Little India and China Town, keeping myself from buying anymore shoes, getting lost in a Pioneer Center at the end of the city, meeting strange, friendly people helping me get around (even though it is very easy it is still nice to meet people and ask for help when in doubt), drinking tequilas in a Mexican bar, meeting people I only know through their blogs, taking a zillion pictures of every single wonderful moment, cherishing every second of pure happiness.

Life is indeed beautiful.

Chilling in Thailand

Phuket Thailand
Originally uploaded by *Merili*.

And so the traveling begins…
It wasn’t just enough, coming to Singapore and finding what I was looking for but getting a b-day present trip to Thailand for 10 days traveling through various islands of the South as well. Absolutely amazing, I was left speechless.

After getting a visa for the Kingdom of Thailand, we set off on a 10-day journey through this amazing country.
Started off in Phuket where we landed, slept in some low-cost hotel in Phuket town and headed off for the adventure the following day.

Our trip took us to Koh Phi Phi Don, the island the movie “The Beach” (with Leonardo DiCaprio) was filmed in 1999. and one of the islands which was totally devastated during the 2004 tsunami (but totally repaired now). Koh Phi Phi is a complex of 4 islands and the Don island is the biggest one and the only one which is inhabited, the others are nothing but beautiful beaches, jungles and rocks.

We stayed at a closed resort, which was under construction and totally isolated from the rest of the island on a Long Beach, which is the most beautiful beach of the island and the only way to get there was by a traditional long tail boat.

4 wonderful days were crowned by a day trip to Koh Phi Phi Ley, the isolated island across from the one we stayed at and the one with the famous Maya Beach (The Beach movie was shot on). We snorkeled all day, swam with tiger fish and saw green and gray corals, went to the monkey beach, played with monkeys and eat rice and pineapple all day long. Mmmmm…

After Koh Phi Phi, our journey took us to our next destination, traveling by a boat to Krabi and taking a minibus for 4hours across the country to the Northern part of the province, Surit Thani where we took another ferry and went for 3h to an island called Koh Phangan. To those who don’t know what this island is popular for, I will briefly explain.
It is right across from Koh Samui, an island invaded by the British and the Dutch (which I don’t think is anything bad, just a bit too touristy for my taste) and popular for it’s Full Moon Party.
Ever since the year 1989, this island set the tradition of organizing the Full Moon Parties on a beach called Haad Rin and this month the party was on the 9th of August and we wanted to be there.
10.000 tourists from all over the land come to party for that night and enjoy the various types of music played from the 20 bars on the beach with entertainers dancing and juggling fire all night and people drinking alcohol our of buckets (as is tradition there).
At the end of the party which lasts even after the sun comes up, there are 5.000 people going back to their islands and the rest sleeping on the beach and chilling out by swimming in the sandy beaches with palm trees overlooking the entire beach.
An absolutely glorious experience.

After 4 days in Koh Phangan staying at the Leela Bungalows (which are very hippy and cool, in a reggae mood, full of young tourists all over the world who were there just for the party) we decided to head off to another place.

Our route went back to Krabi (the same way we came) and then taking a long tail boat to another wonderful beach: Rai Ley Beach and it’s famous sunset on the Rai Ley West Beach.
With nothing planned ahead we took this challenge on and went to find a hotel, which we found very cheap and decided to stay there for 2 nights.
The place looked very small and since it was unreachable by car, there were not many tourists.
This is a rock climbers paradise due to its complex rock formations. The caves under these rocks are a real attraction for the tourists and I just had to see it.

But there was another thing that made this place special and that is its jungle and its mysterious paths from one secret, hidden beach to another (Rai Ley West Beach to Ton Sai Beach all the way on the other side).
Attempting to hang by trees trunks, in ankle high mud, rain pouring down through the palm trees, red mud all over our hands and knees, steep slides and many attempts at climbing the hills by holding onto roots of trees and improvising with branches. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of the trip.
I have never been on such a wonderful tracking tour which lasted for almost 1 hour after which we awarded ourselves by leaving all the muddy clothes behind and running under high waves which were splashing on the dark sand beach…

It was a perfect end to an amazing holiday. The next day we headed back to Krabi where our plane was leaving from, meeting smiling, helpful strangers and putting together all the wonderful experiences from our journey.

I am back in Singapore now. Off to Malaysia for the weekend. As you may notice, I am happy!

I am in Singapore - finally

Merlion & Merima
Originally uploaded by *Merili*.

Dear all…

After 38 hours of traveling (my flight was delayed from Istanbul for 11 hours and before that I waited for 14 hours – ouch!) I am finally on the tropical land of Singapore in South East Asia having an absolutely magnificent time.
Except for a great number of Chinese people wearing flip flops living together in union with the Indians, Tai, Malay people as well as other foreigners all over the world this country has not shocked me at all.

Two words I would use to describe Singapore are: food and shopping. I have never been to a country which has more restaurants (Japanese, Chinese, Western, India, Arab, Tai .. you name they have it… but I haven’t found the Bosnian famous ‘chevapi’ yet.. there is still time) and wherever you go shopping malls, extremes between LV, Gucci and Chinese production handcrafts.
The selection of shoes is what personally shocked me and I am abstaining for buying any until the last week of my stay here.

The plan is to see as more of this part of Asia as possible and compare it to the westernized Singapore where everything is perfectly organized, clean, sucked out of the real world.

I actually saw a notice in a shop today saying: “Please watch your bag from pickpockets”. Wow! I was amazed, does that happen in Singapore? :)

This was a ZARA shop, by the way, which is much more expensive than it is n Europe. As are most of the branded stores and the franchises here. Accessorize, Topshop, Zara, Mango… just some of my favorite shops which are (indeed) more expensive than they are in most countries in Europe.

As for shopping, my mum said, before I went: “You are so lucky, you are tiny and all the Asian sizes will fit you perfectly!”
Mum, just for your information: all the small sizes (when they are on sale like now) are sold and now all the shops (like the ones stated above) only have L size. :P heheheh…. I am sure I will manager though.

Anyways, cheers from Singapore, more stories to come and watch this space for more pictures on my flickr site.