Author: missruslee

Geylang, and its hidden charms.

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It is now officially 97 days (ninety seven!) since I last travelled. I did not know how I have survived without travelling for this long, but that is not to say that I have been sitting idly doing nothing. A lot has happened in the past three months, and in fact, as I have said many times previously, I have been very busy. I was leaving my previous job, and now have somewhat settled into my new one after a period of steep learning curve. Just last week, I said bye to the only steadfast in my Singapore life for the past eight years: the flat I have been staying since I first came to Singapore. It was part emotional, part stressful trying to move and throw away some eight years’ worth of junk. I can’t believe how much of a hoarder I am, but I really am one.

ANYWAY, I’m not here to discuss my habit of keeping-things-just-in-case-I-have-a-use-for-them-in-the-future. Rather, it just feels a little weird that it is December and this time last year I was getting ready to go for an epic trip to Myanmar. But here I am, in my new flat, wifi-less (I’m attempting to publish this post using Wifi hotspot from my phone plan) and travel-plan-less, and I have to say I did feel a little miserable earlier today.

Which is a bit unfair of me to say that I feel miserable to be stuck here in Singapore. It is after all a very cool place to live, and my friend just told me of a Christmas market at Gardens By the Bay which I’m going to check out next week. And to remind myself that it is not such a bad thing to be stuck here and to appreciate things around me more, I decided to write a post about one of my favourite places in this island: Geylang.

I know that Geylang isn’t a place where most people would consider their favourite. It is after all labelled the red-light district of Singapore, and it definitely does not look glamorous nor does it sparkle with the city lights that this country is so proud of. However, it is at the same time the least pretentious part of Singapore where things happen when they happen, and clearly no one seems to think there is anything wrong with a brothel and a Buddhist temple to be situated side by side.

To be honest, the street full of brothels does not seem that interesting.
Let’s be honest here, the street of brothels doesn’t seem all that interesting.

Continue reading “Geylang, and its hidden charms.” →

Copenhagen architecture.

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I’m going to cheat a little again and distract you from the lack of actual posts on the blog.

Just watched this video of Copenhagen, and makes me want to visit again! One of the main reasons is because I am dying to get the chance to stay in this dorm called Tietgenkollegiet, which was designed by award winning architect Lundgaard & Tranberg. You can see the student college shot for a second or so in the video.

Time for a sixth visit?

Thinking out loud.

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I know, I know, it’s been two weeks. I know that being busy is not an excuse for not writing, but I really was very busy for the past two weeks. I was trying to finish some writing assignment for work, and by the time I finished writing pages on geeky financial topics, I sort of ran out of words. Oh, and I also had a week’s worth of badminton writing, so the word factory in my head has understandably been sufficiently exploited.

And after two weeks of absence, you would think that I would have the decency to give a proper update or some travel post of some kind, right?

Well, no. I love you, but no.

Unfortunately you will have to wait for the next post for that. All I can say is, another big change is coming to my life in the next couple of days, and with the year end, there will be lots to write about, some thoughts and a post to celebrate the one-year anniversary of this blog which less than a month from now (yay!).

Continue reading “Thinking out loud.” →

Tanjong Pagar, day and night.

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Before I go to sleep to start my weekend, I thought I would share with you my two favourite photos from this week taken by yours truly (ahem).

Since I’m spending a lot of (read: too much) time in the office, I figured I might as well take advantage of the fact that I work in a penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows surrounded by an amazing view.

I mean, I’m practically living in a penthouse, how cool is that?

Oh and the view.

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Working late does have its perks sometimes, really.

Have a great weekend ahead everyone!

Header of the Month: Autumn in Oslo.

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Even though I live in a single-season country, I have always closely identified November with autumn ever since I visited Oslo in 2009.

It was my first time coming head on with how autumn looks like and feels, walking on leaves-strewn paths in the park, admiring colourful trees that are in the process of shedding their leaves, and of course going around in a trench coat to keep warm from the chilly weather.

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I fell in love with autumn then and there.

I visited Oslo very briefly on a cruise trip from Copenhagen. It was something organised by our university, where they would put all of the exchange students on one cruise and shipped us to Oslo for a day trip. Our cruise departed from Copenhagen harbour on a beautiful afternoon.

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Continue reading “Header of the Month: Autumn in Oslo.” →

Halloween at Tivoli.

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One of my favourite 8-acre areas in the world, Tivoli Gardens, get even better as they light up in orange-and-black lights over the Halloween.

I was there only once, five years ago now, and looking at the pictures posted by a friend of mine on Facebook of the Halloween decoration this year, things don’t seem to have changed much over the years. So I feel less guilty showing you pictures from five years ago and claiming as if I know what is going on in the Garden.

The thing that I like the most about Tivoli is that it is not pretentious. Halloween, for example, is a classic carved pumpkin affair with witches walking around the Garden and smoky giant cauldron that visitors can play with a giant ladle.

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Typical scene of Tivoli main entrance during Halloweens.
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I have never seen Halloween so pretty.

Continue reading “Halloween at Tivoli.” →

Why Bath is beautiful.

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Up until two months ago, the city of Bath was a huge mystery to me. Every time I mentioned I was visiting London, everyone would throw in a casual question on whether I would be visiting Bath. And whenever I said I was not going to, they would say that I should since Bath is very beautiful. Now, even though I do agree we live in a beautiful world, ‘beautiful’ to me is the most non descriptive word to describe a place. It tells nothing about how a place looks like. To me, this is what a beautiful place is like.

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Denali National Park, Alaska.

And so is this.

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Myanmar

So I decided I just had to visit the place myself to see what all the ‘beautiful’ fuss is all about. It was a day when I needed a little break from London, and Bath could not have been more of a perfect place to go and clear my mind. I took the train from London Paddington and arrived slightly less than two hours later. (I missed the original train that I intended to take because I stayed on my bed a little too long). bath1 A beautiful sight greeted me. bath2 Continue reading “Why Bath is beautiful.” →

Header of the Month: You Are My Free Spirit.

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It is funny that the moment I published a post about me not travelling for a while, the universe seems to be stopping me from not travelling through clear and literally very beautiful signs.

First came face to face with me when I was tidying up the stuff from my last day madness.

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This travel diary was designed and personalised for me by a really talented friend of mine as my farewell gift. She took materials from different things that she had and put together something so meaningful and creative. Everything on the cover reminds me not to lose my sense of wonder, no matter what. Isn’t this amazing?

Continue reading “Header of the Month: You Are My Free Spirit.” →

Grounded.

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I will let you in on a (public) secret: I got myself a new job.

As of yesterday, I have started working as a business development analyst in a finance-tech startup company. Which means I have LOTS of things to learn, having done nothing in the business development/sales before and being very technologically challenged in some ways. Which means I will have 12 days fewer paid holidays than my previous job. Which means I have to plan more strategically the use of these. Which means that I probably will not travel as much (for leisure, at least) in the foreseeable future.

Yes, you read that right. TWELVE fewer days of travelling at my own will. That’s like five whole countries gone in an instant, if I follow my latest Europe travel pattern.

Continue reading “Grounded.” →

Singapore Formula 1 weekend.

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Once a year Singapore gets a major influx of tourists. There is no prize for guessing why.

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While half of me is really glad that I do not have to shove through with the crowd and spend the whole night in an unbearable humid and warm weather, as I’m looking at the eager-eyed tourists wearing the passes, the other half of me does miss the fantastic weekend I had almost exactly a year ago, being pushed around, getting all sweaty and sticky but at the same time be part of the heart-racing and deafening night race excitement.

So here is me joining the hype by reminiscing my favourite moments at Formula 1 weekend exactly one year ago. And hopefully you will see why you should go to the Formula 1 at least once, especially if you live in Singapore.

Continue reading “Singapore Formula 1 weekend.” →