Man, I've missed home. Home with its wireless network EVERYWHERE, home with its palatable food, and home with its clean, familiar environment.
Taiwan wasn't too bad, but I remember enjoying South Korea more. I guess the Taiwan experience varies with different people, but for me the hotels were the best part of the trip, with their hot springs and breakfast buffets.
Hot spring in our bathroom at Fleur de Chine, which overlooks the Sun Moon Lake
Mmm, sashimi
I know a lot of people loooove the street food in Taiwan, but I found it pretty hard to get used to it. My dad and I aren't really into street snacks from night markets, so we spent most of our time taking photos and chilling in cafes while the rest were going crazy with oyster vermicelli, bubble tea, fried chicken schnitzel and Taiwan sausages.
We survived on Starbucks and 7 Eleven, the latter for snacks like yoghurt and apples and nuts. The only unhealthy street food I tried was the barbequed corn on the cob, which turned out to be drenched in oil and barbeque sauce.
Shopping was okay - I got a pair of shoes, a Kindle sleeve and a trenchcoat (whee!) - but anything from international brands are crazy expensive since Taiwan imposes a 120% import tax, so a pair of Converses costs upwards of S$100. Anything locally made, though, was a steal.
The people were nice - the service they provide is definitely better than that in Singapore, so that's a plus. I got to practice my rusty Mandarin, chatting with the service staff.
Environment wise, Taipei was the place that came closer to what I was expecting. Halfway through the trip, my dad and I got pretty nostalgic for Jeju Island and Seoul, and started making plans to go back. (YAY!)
I'll see you again, lovely
That's all for now! I know I promised lots of photos, but I've been swamped with emails since this morning. One week away from work, and it's a mad rush to catch up on everything. So photos will come in a bit, pinky swear!
In the meantime, it's Monday! I'm still in a holiday mood, so here are some happy things.
Ugh, packing. Travelling would be a lot more fun if we didn't have to care about the nitty-gritty details like how many pairs of socks to bring or whether we've bought travel-sized cleansers or how much money to exchange blabbity blah blah blah.
Anyway, I'll be gone until 29 March, so be prepared for photo-dumping when I get around to blogging on the 31st!
And so I shall leave you with these happy things:
Plus, you get to swim ALL DAY. Heaven.
Speaking of whom,
Now you know what I do when I'm trying to put off writing the novel.
It is that easy.
And in celebration of finally finishing the final final FINAL (no, really - FINAL) draft of Until Morning, here's something that my characters kept going on about:
The soft colours at the corners of the world
The exact words were:
"There are times when all magic in the
world seems possible: in dreams, in a story, a painting, in the hour between
night and day when the light at the corners of the world appears the softest. I
call them the soft hours. They are ones that you cling on to long after you
wake up, long after you grow up."
~ Lexi, Until Morning
In related news, I'm starting to query agents again so FINGERS CROSSED!!!
I
really wish for Until Morning to reach you guys. I loved writing it,
and it would be the - sorry for the cliche - biggest dream come true if
it got published on an international platform.
Pink makes everything look better
And finally, but most importantly,
Have a great weekend guys! I'll be back when I get back :0)
It's Monday again and we're halfway through March!
That's the spirit.
I'll admit my mood flagged a little over the weekend, partly because of my back injury*, partly because of the rain that has returned after two months of dry spell**, and partly because of this remark that I could care less about - "You should work on something more meaningful than your novels. Don't waste your time on something that yields nothing."***
* Just heal completely already!
** Yes, goodbye haze, and good riddance - but hello, dark clouds and
slippery floors. I think I've developed a phobia after this recent fall.
*** First off, meaningful for whom? And how do you define meaningful - by its monetary returns? Does that mean I should only devote all my time to things that I get paid for? Why should writing a story be considered a waste of time if it makes me happy and no one is hurting from it (unless, of course, my stories suck and they hated it)?
Ugh. Writing a novel is an endeavour that's trying and lonely enough without the naysayers and their two cents' worth on something they don't quite understand.
So yes, mood-lifters are very much needed.
Some inordinate amount of cuteness from this little munchkin. Look at those cheeks!
I must have watched this at least twenty times since I first came across it last Saturday. I love her unabashed smile - so much innocence in a world where we need to educate children to say no to strangers.
Speaking of cute,
What? He's a guilty pleasure, okay?
The Snow Queen, illustrated by Natalia Salienco
Just finished reading Cold Spell over the weekend, and it's good enough for me to want to own it. It's plot heavy, but the prose has improved a lot since Jackson Pearce's first book.
Plus, more than anything, I'm taken by the idea of childhood best friends turned lovers (as in the illustration above). The romance between Ginny and Kai is so sweet and pure in the story, and the love they have for each other is believable and something you want to root for all the way till the end - which is particularly important since that's an integral part of The Snow Queen.
Also, there's a good buildup towards the climax, where every secondary character and villain came into play so there wasn't any plot device or purple prose or extraneous anything. No flab at all! Although that could be the work of the editor.
But still, a vast improvement from the first book, Sisters Red, which was kinda forgettable, to be honest (sorry!).
Yes, take me to Neverland where the words will flow.
I'm going through a Gilmore phase right now. Again. Yes, I'm rewatching it. You can never watch Gilmore Girls too much.
See, things don't look so bad already. I mean, on the bright side:
1. The injury is healing. Slowly, but at least it's healing.
2. No more baking in the insane heat. And no more haze. Always a good thing.
3.
Because good books are the best defence against folks who don't like reading and think that fiction is a waste of time.
So it's been more than a week since my splat moment by the pool. Apparently, I landed right on my coccyx (that's tailbone in layman terms), and a little to the right, so I'm working from home for the entire month. On the plus side, I get to belt out songs like this -
And this -
while I work.
Downside: the lack of company. Skype and Whatsapp and Facebook messaging are just not the same as talking to your colleagues face-to-face or watching the bustle of activity in the office.
And of course, the pain.
The healing is slow going, but stretching and swimming help loads. Thank
goodness for swimming. I don't know what I'd do if I weren't able to
swim. I can't fold over the way I used to be able to, but, you know, baby steps.
This is probably the reason for the strange bout of wanderlust I'm experiencing right now. I mean, look!
Bagan, Myanmar
Broome, Australia
Santorini, Greece
Oh, Jeju! How I miss you.
Reason to ogle atswoon over appreciate pretty things? I think so. Hence:
by Bae Ha Jin
by Chantel Young
Reason for some happy things? Yes to that, too.
Thank goodness for mood-lifters like these! Happy mid-week, everyone! :0)
Okay, I'm waaaaay behind on this, I know. But I finally caught up with the recent episodes of Vampire Diaries season 5 and
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
OMG.
OMGOMGOMG.
O.M.G.
(OMG.)
That is all.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, of course that's not all. Have I ever left you hanging on a blog post like that? No, this is just the beginning of a rave. Because damn, that was one good episode!
I'm talking about episode 11. (Hey, I said recent episodes, not the latest - so NO SPOILERS!)
KATHERINE PIERCE. Katherine "oh no she didn't" Pierce.
Yes, her.
She's one of those annoying villains you just love to hate. That sneaky little bitch is awesome! I LOOOOOVE what the writers did with her character, made us empathise with her (yes, I cried over her murderous, vindictive, manipulative, selfish lying ass) before having her pull a HUGE SHOCKING TWIST that is totally - TOTALLY - characteristic of her.
Indeed.
She's a survivor, and she has always been a teensy bit jealous of Elena (despite how annoyed she is by her - and I do agree because Elena can be incredibly self-righteous and whiny) because of Stefan's love for Elena - OF COURSE SHE WOULD DO WHAT SHE DID!!!
And SURVIVORS DO WHAT THEY HAVE TO IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. There, no spoilers! (Although I'm quite possibly the only person who has only just caught that episode.)
5 seasons on and it still has that power over me. Powerful storyline, powerful characters, powerful emotions! The writers never seem to run out of ideas, and each story thread is woven masterfully into the main narrative arc. HOW DO THEY DO IT?!? I've been studying it for years, and I still can't generate ideas like theirs to develop a story as compelling as that.
I know what the naysayers think about TVD. They think it's another Twilight, with a whiny protagonist and hot vampires.
Yes, TVD might involve vampires and a love triangle - which, frankly, is starting to wear on me (still, STELENA IS END-GAME) - but it is NOTHING like Twilight.
TVD has a fantastic plot that keeps you on (sorry for the cliche) the edge of your seat; moments that take you by the shoulders and plant you in the characters' shoes so that their pain is your pain, their joy, their love, their anguish and hate are all yours too; moments that rock you in those very shoes and make you go OMG (as demonstrated amply above).
Plus, the writers go deep with each character, fleshing out each of their personalities, making you love them and love to hate them, even the seemingly irredeemable ones like Klaus (KLAUS! I'll get to him in a bit). In fact, so fully developed every character is that there's even a spinoff, (although I'm still crazier about TVD than The Originals).
Okay. Klaus. KLAUS! HE'S BACK! THE ORIGINALS ARE BACK! Finally! (And no, I don't care if I'm using too many exclamation marks!)
((Or parentheses, for that matter.))
Tyler WHO?! Oh, you mean the jerk who chose revenge over Caroline, the one who broke her heart?
I get where Tyler's coming from, but his relationship with Caroline never felt balanced, like Caroline was the one always giving her all and he's just there for the sex.
Klaus, though.
Klaus curbs his darker intentions for Caroline. I mean, yes he's not the healthiest person to be with, but his love for Caroline is purer than anything he's ever done.
I ship Klaroline as much as I ship Stelena. Although Elena has been deluded for so many seasons, being with Damon, I kind of just want Stefan to be happy without her already. I'm willing to root for Stefarine (that's Stefan and Katherine) if that's what it takes.
Stefan has been my favourite male character since the beginning. If you recall, I was hooked onto the show since episode 1 of season 1, mostly because of Stefan. His humanity, his gentleness with Elena, who was still grieving over the premature death of her parents, his comforting presence - everything about him spelled solace.
Stelena in 1x01:
It was the final scene in the episode. See why I was hooked?
And here's Stelena in 5x04:
Sigh. Stelena scenes are always so perfect. So pure and sweet.
Damon, on the other hand, is volatile and psychopathic and self-loathing. I'd absolutely hate him if he weren't so funny and hot.
And Delena scenes are just (I run the risk of getting severely flamed here) MEH. They're cute in real life (Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder used to date), but not so much in the show.
Still love Damon's character, though.
Funny how what started out as an excuse to ogle at Ian Somerhalder became a full-blown obsession with a TV show. At least I can justify that with the things about writing I've learned from it!
Any TVD fans out there? Or any TV shows to recommend that's as brilliant as TVD? :0)
