Top Tens – Summer List 2012

Ten Things I Love

1. Barely moving (recuperating, home safe home)

2. Not feeling tensed or on edge, not needing to mentally prepare myself to deal with men/’beach boys”

3. Seeing my family soon, I hope

4. Not dealing with mosquitoes at night, ack

5. The night skyline and star-effects on the ceiling of the last plane I flew home in, to put the passengers to sleep, ingenious!

6. My sister stocking up 6-12 months’ worth of (junk)food and supplies in my apartment(!), which will take me longer to finish up. I don’t know what to do with them!! I’ll have to take some to work.

7. Coming home to find gifts waiting for me to open up – for my birthday and the holidays. Love receiving and opening gifts!! :-)

8. Getting sick after my tour, instead of while on holiday.

9. Little luxuries such as new old clothes to wear (variety); better shampoo/conditioner/body wash; or thick, soft, absorbent and gigantic cotton towels after showering.

10. Almost forgot! Saw the lunar eclipse in Goa while walking along the beach of Benaulim. I couldn't work out what was going on but I thought it was soooh interesting! The group I was walking with did not want to stop so I stumbled along and could not concentrate on staring at the moon, but I was glad I saw it! :-)

Ten Things I Don’t/Didn’t Like

1. I’m sick!! Coughing, woozy and run down – I was falling asleep anywhere… anywhere!! I felt it the morning I woke up to travel home. Made me count the 18 hours it took to get from one bed (overseas) to another (home). I must have had too much excitement on the last day/night :-).

2. Not being next to water/nature

3. Not feeling the sand on my feet

4. No more surprising sunrises and sunsets to watch while on holiday mode. Sri Lanka had some really awesome ones!!!

5. No one to take care of me while I’m sick… :-(… I have the female version of “manflu”…. *sook* 

Given lemons, garlic & mangoes the next day!

6. Not having any lemon in the house, ugh. It took me 7 hours after arriving home before I managed to boil some water in the electric kettle, to brew myself my remedy for cold and cough – tea with lemon and honey (sometimes with garlic/ginger). But this time only honey and tea. Better than nothing lol.

7. Unpacking and doing laundry :-/… my sooky mood ain’t helping, will have to do them another day, lol ugh.

8. Too lazy to cook, too sick to eat out, too primadonna to order delivery (don’t fancy eating food from a box/container). I’m gonna starve tonight, lol ugh.

9. Too many emails to go through.... Ugh! Can't avoid them forever....

10. Sensitive, easily marked skin - Ugh! I've learned to accept and lived with my skin from childhood, really. But in the comfort of home and a good mirror, I saw the extent of my "travel shrapnels" or cuts/bruises/bites/scrapes/markings/stings.... aaacckk :-( .... So, I wondered, how many months would these batch take to disappear (my worst ones to date...)? How many would leave permanent marks to add to my "collections"? Ughh!... I reminded myself I have accepted/expected these consequences, so I should/could not complain. Those skin issues are just external factors, exposed to wear and tear, hahahah. I'm thankful for my healthy body, spirit and mind that allowed me to complete these journeys. Plus, what's important is the heart, and its application to daily life.

Ten Things I Missed (or Will Miss)

1. Seafood – I had lots of it, yum yum!

2. My eau de parfum – I don’t carry them when I travel coz I don’t think they’re important and I try to minimise the weight. But with the change of diet eating local cuisine, and the general smell of the places I visited, I really wondered how (badly) I naturally smelt(!!??), sorry, lol ugh. Currently enjoying the smell of ♥ Idole d'Armani ♥, hhhhmmmmm....

3. Hot milk with a lil honey - to have tonight before sleep, yum :-)

4. Lazing next to the beach until after sunset – I haven’t tire of it yet ;-)

5. Hearing the waves crash next to my bedroom - priceless

6. Hot breakfast always prepared and served to me, with fresh fruits and ceylon tea

7. Feeling the heat from the sand after the waves went over it

8. Chicken soup – my manflu makes me wish I’m being spoonfed, eheheh

9. Cuddling up in bed watching a movie (after being spoonfed, hahahah) until I fall asleep

10. My kitty cat, she was the best cuddler and nuzzler

Ten Things Worth Mentioning

1. See you when you smell me! – was my parting goodbye to colleagues and friends. It related to jokes and concerns I had about having to deal with some… aromatherapy. Happy to say I smelt hints of body odour only a couple of times. But none were strong enough to make me gag. No one’s complained yet, but I have no way of finding out (until I go to work or meet up) if I have gained a certain scent, lol ugh. I did not shy away from all the condiments, onions and spices used…! So maybe you will smell me first, before you see me, hahahah!!??!

2. Sri Lankans have beautiful eyes – pay attention to the colours.

3. I ♥ Maldives, the way I experienced it, away from the five star resorts. Try to stay in locally inhabited islands when you visit Maldives. Then you can really say you’ve been and got to know the Maldivians. The people are relaxed and lovely. And, if you are lucky you could even end up with your own “private” beach.

4. The tsunami really affected the coastline and the reefs of Sri Lanka. But I still saw more marine life there compared to Maldives. I swam with a school of fishes that had bodies bigger than my torso on my last day in Sri Lanka. I was quite scared when while snorkelling I ended up floating along in strong current in the middle of all of them!! I was sure there were more than a hundred of fishes surrounding me then!!  :-)))

5. In Sri Lanka most of the men I dealt with (shop sellers, tuktuk driver, hotel staff, etc) were very polite and friendly. The only type of men that were annoying, fresh or ill-mannered was the loitering “beach boys”. Because of this when alone (especially at night) I walked more along the main road parallel to the beach. I received the best greetings and conversations from all locals while there. Of course at the start they will try to sell you something (a lot of times not even, they left it up to me to ask first), but I was never pushed. As soon as business was out of the way, when the greetings started, wow, what lovely smiles and radiating charms!

6. I'm back home tired. But my tiredness came from (being sick of course, but mainly from) dealing with the inappropriateness of men. All the moving and buzz of activities I could still keep doing. I was still physical strong (my manflu aside, but if I was still touring I would have been recovering at the beach, n♥ice!). But this trip really took a lot out of me mentally. There were so many ups and downs, and I was sapped of energy trying to maintain positive or open to better experiences. I really only relaxed when in good/safe company, times used to recharge and refill my love tank. The rollercoaster ride of emotions though was too/so much.

7. I realised I was giving the impression the men in all 3 countries were bad. I apologise. Not true. The worse was India definitely. But there were still a few good men and the South Indian men were definitely better than the Northern men.... Maldives I had no bad experiences.... Uncomfortable/Bad experiences in Sri Lanka was only about 10% of what I had to deal with in India, and limited to "beach boys", plus one.

8. I flashpacked in Sri Lanka. Wary of my experiences in India, and all my bookings cancelled by my ex-travel partner, I accepted/decided that it was best for me to spend more money and keep myself safe. It was the worse time to "wing it" being fully booked for Christmas and New Year. Money I could always earn back. Safety and peace of mind I could not lose. I trusted God and He's provided each time I fretted in my prayers, really :-).... I had a wonderful time, a great driver who really acted as my personal bodyguard, pristine car to travel in, great meals, and fantastic rooms! Sri Lanka is a country that could be toured cheaply but slowly (USD$2-20 public transport fares and USD$10-15 rooms daily). Or spend more to do it in style (with a personal driver and car hire costing USD$40-72 daily and USD$30-50 rooms per night, breakfast included), where one could tour around faster and easily in their own time. I did the higher/est-end budget range. It was not what I planned to spend and had cost more because it was emergency (all my accommodation bookings cancelled) or not negotiated earlier so they charged me expensive rates. If shared by 2 people, worth doing. I'd go back and travel the same way again. :-)

9. A fellow traveller gave me an awesome insight in how I can know if I am making the right decision. I believe it is true.... If after I made a decision, my breathing is still open, it means I made the right decision. If my breathing becomes restricted or blocked, it means I made the wrong decision.

10. Two people (an Indian local and a tourist, different times and location) similarly discussed with me the fact that I am constantly moving. They basically asked why am I running? Why do I feel I have to "do"? Again, some great insights for me to reflect on. I also realised when I had "too much energy" I always made a point of doing something because I got too uncomfortable or fidgety. I couldn't handle the fact that my senses were highly buzzed. They gave me an idea to try to just experience the moment, without reacting to "do" something about it. To see how I will be during and at the end of it. Interesting. I'm still waiting for that time to come. I am not drinking coffee to induce it, hahahah!

Ten Goals for 2012 (I’m sure more will be added/edited later)

1. Learn to ride a scooter. Get my licence.

2. Get qualification to teach English as a Second Language.

3. Be more comfortable praying out loud, or in a group.

4. See the solar eclipse, 13-14 November 2012, around Port Douglas.

5. Improve financially. Time to "nest egg", maybe? ;-)....

6. Really work on learning the 3 languages I said I will be fluent in after 5 years.

7. Have even lesser material things.

8. Be healthier.

9. Find product/s to prevent bites and cuts from getting worse and lingering on my skin, that I won’ be sensitive to, ugh.

10. Relearn to drive, or actually, to park.