The year Santa wore speedos..

Another beautiful sunset

I sit sniffling, with my cold at a climax and my chest loosening slightly after my first asthma attack in a long time, the local doc (that resembles a 15 year old) has prescribed me various pills for the next 4 days that I hope will soon heal me – do you find that when you stop moving so fast, or settle into holiday mode, everything seems to catch up with you and your body begins the much needed healing process you haven’t allowed it to have… but to be honest there’s more in the world to complain about, especially given the breath-taking view from above my laptop screen, it’s almost enough to make one forget what illness means.

Famalam :) (Excuse J's finger..)

I’m sitting in a beach cabana at our sweet guesthouse 'Sunset Gecko', surrounded by ‘The Ring of Fire’ – a surreal geological formation containing most of the worlds volcano's that arise as dark shadowy mountains at certain times of the day – easily mistaken for distant thunderclouds.
Today, the sky is slightly paler than the sea and a few white blobs are scattered around in random patches. The sharp, streamline clouds are a dark aqua and clumsily cut across the big fluffy giants that humour the afternoon. The sea is perfectly calm with a million visible ripples, as though someone from distant lands had thrown a rock into the water and the Gilli seas received the subtle aftershocks, that dissipate in soothing sounds as the waves lap the coral smothered sands. 

A moment of presence in Langkawi

You’d never believe that beneath the surface lies an underwater garden alive with the most tropical beauties – on my first venture into the deep, I spotted a huge turtle and spent the next hour and a half following it along, sneaking the odd stroke as excited tingles moved in waves through my body. I felt its slimy algae shell and caressed the large dent in its side, probably a result of a boat accident or shark at some point in its long life. My desire to be a mermaid felt real for a little while as we glided along together and I just admired its beauty, joined by J, mum or dad in sporadic intervals. 

Our xmas decorations on our balcony

Assuming we were on the same wavelength I held my breath and gently clutched on to the top of it’s shell, anticipating the ride of my life, when it spun around and proceeded to snap at me – my illusion was shattered and the wildness of the sea and its animals jolted me back to the surface of my reality. I floated away and allowed it to continue on with its peaceful existence of munching coral and floating with the current. As I returned to shore, wary of the surrounding boats, the sounds of their engines pulsing in my ears, I saw the odd floating plastic bag suspended in the ocean that had such jellyfish-like qualities… it made me empathise with the unknowing animals, almost experiencing a sense of suffocation as I became aware of my breath becoming more rapid and my body feeling panicked as I imagined the turtle obliviously chomping into one. On my way back to shore I tried to collect as many as possible but it just didn’t feel like enough… 

On a more positive note, It’s Christmas day of 2014 and I am surrounded by my gorgeous family in the Gilli Islands (translated from Bahasa into ‘small islands’) located just off of Lombok, Indonesia.

My brother and I :)

Pretty jewels for Christmas :)

I’m basking in familiarity, it’s easy to forget where your behavioural patterns stem from until you’re surrounded by your roots again – when opening Christmas presents after breakfast and a Lombok Coffee, my grin began to widen; not just because of the material aspect of Christmas, (while beautiful presents are always enjoyed) but because no one knows you like your family. Presents at Christmas, whether small or big, expensive or cheap, are a reflection of the level of thought someone’s put into you and vice versa. Simple things like knowing what colours you love or what your favourite chocolate is are what tick the boxes.

Christmas day presents :)

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad’s always said to me ‘I’d be happy with just a hand made card’ and while I’ve never given him just that, the message of authenticity and sentimentality still rings strong.

I can’t tell you how grateful I feel to be in the warmth again; my last blog post was written during the last wisps of summer as I left Australia in Spring and entered Pre-Autumn England. As friends have commented, these blogs tend to correlate with exotic adventures and holidays, leaving the mundane daily life out of the readers mind though it does still exist, it’s just not so fun to write about. I’ll give the mentionable stuff a chance…

The first frosty
leaves!

A yummy breakfast:
Fresh fig porridge with
raisins, pomegranate, honey
and cinnamon

I moved into a new house in Bristol with lovely new flatmates T, A and D, with whom I’ve bonded over movie nights and red wine, grime and Ben Pearce, fairy lights and spliffs, arguments about the heating or the kitchen and just general student tings…

The Second year of uni began with a roaring start, feeling more comfortable in our shoes and on the grounds of UWE, having graduated from fresher-dome, the content of Psychology kicking up a notch as I received my first ‘first’ in an essay about the dorsal streams in the brain relating to object recognition – la la la, don’t ask… It’s funny reading it now and having only a slight idea what I was talking about… I think that’s one of the highlights of uni though right, discovering your inner intellectual. My Sociology module in Transgression, taught by a stand up comedian whose lectures feature controversial topics such as SnM, Serial Killers, Cults and Satanism – each one being like watching a really good VICE documentary narrated by Russell Peters.

My cycle route :)

I’ve ticked off another box on the hippy trail and have joined the carbon-emission free cyclists – getting to grips with how to work out which gears work best on the hilly terrain of the city (primarily the sweaty uphill route to Uni), developing my incredibly poor road sense, buying all the essential accessories for rainy days and freezing winters (cold, stiff fingers were the most painful lesson) and also appreciating the picturesque country cycle routes. I can’t help but stop and take photo’s occasionally of the colliding clouds at sunset or the first frosty leaves on a 0°morning.

Feeling the love at Future Boogie

Cycling’s definitely been useful for travelling to my clients with the social caring agency I work for. The most difficult of clients who drained a lot of my energy last year is no longer with our agency, after burning down her hostel and having to be relocated somewhere a little further away… :s I now work with other, more manageable clients, customizing our days together depending on their disability and disposition … some days I race down Gloucester road, pushing a hysterically happy H. (who has cerebral palsy) in her wheelchair as we run to catch the bus to browse the German Christmas markets in town. Other days involve supporting C. (who suffers partial paralysis after multiple strokes and various other mental illnesses) for her weekly swim in a luxuriously heated pool at the Marriott. There’s also lovely J, a transgender with a neurological disease who lives in a ridiculously lovely Christian Commune and the list goes on… I can’t say there are many dull moments, or clients for that matter.

One of my clients, A <3

After a days work the last burst of energy gets thrown into Hot Yoga – the name says it all. You arrive and place your special towel on your mat that ends drenched in sweat as you proceed to follow the instructor through a Vinyassa Flow series, in a Sauna. Similar to Bikram Yoga but less monotonous – it’s a very intense, masculine and energetic practise as you indulge in your cyclic breath and wind down from all the stressors of western living. Stepping outside into a cold winters eve and cycling down the backstreets on the ride home is always invigorating.

Fat Freddyyy

So the highlights of the last few months were having my best friend M. move to town, cooking delicious meals, slowing down on the wide eyed clubbing front and spending money on amazing gigs like Fat Freddy’s drop in London with J, Gramatik in Bristol with D, Mr. Scruff, Shak-out, Future Boogie and a few others. Breaks from Bristol to my hippie home in Devon with C and J, lunches with Rastas in Portobello market and attending my cousins launch party for his pizza business in a trendy warehouse in North London (http://www.madeofdough.co.uk/)

But while I tie the knot for now on that spiel (I apologise for the length), I can feel lightness in my heart. The darkness of winter began to dawn on me and SAD definitely played its role. Growing up in Asia where summer’s the only season besides the few months of tropical downpour, lack of sun feels so abnormal – sunbeds have become an occasional guilty pleasure…

Alex Gray

J and I riding Segways
in Langkawi haha

So now, the sun has returned, as have the loves of my life – family have already been mentioned (my 15 year old brother whom I still imagine having to bend over to hug is now almost 6ft tall and growing!) And I have also been reunited with my boyfriend J after months of sustaining a tedious long distance relationship of daily 10 minute Skype calls as I’m falling asleep with red eyes and he’s fresh faced and hopping out of bed at 8am ready to start the day. I can’t explain how connecting on a physical level, just holding hands or really feeling their presence allows for that cold winter barrier to melt again and emotions to pour into one another. Alex Grays painting (Right) describes it perfectly…

Reunion :)

After a lovely but hectic evening in mums boho-chic apartment (as we helped her shut down all her accounts that were being hacked one by one), with her new best friends and comical neighbours, J and I jetted off to Langkawi; the closest Malaysian beach getaway from Kuala Lumpur, where we became travellers again. Bartering with sarong sellers, riding motorbikes up windy hills and eating £1 meals on plastic chairs with fellow sweaty backpackers.

It shames me to admit, despite my efforts, I have lost a few things on this trip… a wad of money, various Christmas presents ladidadida but I’m not going to spend my time dwelling on the negative. One of my new years resolutions is to be more aware of everything – hopefully the necklace that dad got me for Christmas (that contains all of the spiritual and religious protection amulets) will help ward off some of the negative as I work towards developing this goal…

So now, J. is with his family in KL and I am with mine in Indo, In January 2015 we will journey to Bristol together when my exams kick off (meh) but for now, an attitude of gratitude and presence will help evoke the true essence in all of us. Lots of love to all, Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015.

Recipe of the day: Roti Cannai! (Photo's of a pro making it below)

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/28702/roti+canai