TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I am sure that if my mother was with me, she would have bought gold. Helaas, I am not much of a precious metal and stone person. I appreciate them but I do not have the real craving to possess them (I do not mind to receive them as gifts though, haha). I guess for most of the material things in this world I do not see much of their importance, although lately, maybe because I am in the maturing age phase (40’s), I have been haunted to part away from my antique (as what my mother calls them) fashion accessories, and invest (I mean really, is jewellery worth investing?) in real jewels and gold. Well, I do have some genuine jewels which I mostly wear for work but for the daily life and when I am travelling, I prefer to wear my antique fashion accessories and sometimes my silver ones because they are not too glaring for a bling-bling. I feel safer with them. I am not a mugging statistic waiting to happen out there, nor a Christmas tree out of season. My chauffeur dropped me at the m...

For a quick guide about Dubai, I have here the districts of the city. Because I only had a day to experience Dubai (there will be another time I am sure, when it is not summer and Ramadan!) I settled to explore where my heart’s desires were leaning towards to, and that is the old part of Dubai. What can I say, I am a full-pledged culture freak and it is important for me to see the remnants of the real Dubai before all these modern-day Disneyland infrastructure was put in place. I however managed to venture out to Jumeirah area and Dubai’s Downtown Centre, so that’s a plus. Dubai in a nutshell is evolving. The city is a neverending contruction site, a constant work in progress, although it is currently going through a tough time with the financial crisis since the credit crunch (staging a comeback somehow?) and the current political instability in the Gulf Region. So it is just a matter of project, an economic boost, some militant investor willing to throw money in, and time obviously...

Sauna is probably the best fitting word to describe Dubai during the summer months. My skin felt lovely actually; you know, when you get out of the sauna, you are not only sweating buckets but you reap this pampered effect of having soft fresh skin and rosy cheeks. That’s Dubai for you in the summer. And that’s probably the only positive thing out of this oppressive heat in the city. The fog is not a camera issue or a trick, this is Dubai during the summer months. Misty, er I mean, steamy. Free sauna in Dubai My first experience of the sweltering heat was when I stepped out of the rooftop of my hotel early in the morning. The temperature was a soaring 40-something degree celsius. I was caught off guard when I opened the metal door to the rooftop pool area. The heavy hot air instantly confronted my very startled I-did-not-expect-it-to-be-this-hot face. Humidity was skyrocket-high and I was sweating in seconds. My hairs started to annoyingly curl under my neck and ears as well a...

I have been back in the Netherlands and currently suffering a light jet lag. I slept straight for 14 hours but was awakened when the Dutchman joined me in bed. I was startled at first. I did not know where I was? And I did not know who this man is beside me in bed! Oh dear me, lol. Then I remembered I am home. I am with the Dutchman. This is what happens when you travel to different countries and staying in hotel rooms and other people's houses. My last leg of my South East Asian trip was Singapore, and since this city was the most fresh in my mind, I have decided to post an entry about our shopping afternoon there, just the day before I left. Bugis Street or Bugis Village Website: Bugis Street Singapore is a multi-cultural city and country. Everywhere you go they have signs in 4 languages like this at a construction site in front of Bugis: English (so everyone can understand each other, glad its not written in Singlish though!), Mandarin Chinese (74% of Singaporeans ...