One last trip before returning to Singapore for a while, my little heart is filled with great joy, kindness and gratefulness. I am way too blessed to be this loved.
July changed from 17°C to 41°C with a flight from Brussels, Belgium to Ibiza, Spain. From shopping and lazy days in Germany to one last trip back to my home in Netherlands for my herring and Kibbeling, I definitely left a huge part of my heart there.
The goal of summer 2016 is to be tanner than 2015, which is tanner than 2014. That, obviously, was achieved. Being in Spain taught me the art of siestas. Sunsets at 10pm with dinners at 11pm became my lifestyle. Spain also showed me the beauty of nude beaches. No doubt, Greece has the clearest beaches and Philippines has the best underwater beauty, but Spain has the hottest beaches (and I’m not talking about the heat). The cities are basically open-air museums, where I fell in love. Leaving Barcelona was tough, and I wished i had stayed longer. Gaudi taught me that everything is art, and to let creativity and imagination run free. The drive to Valencia was amazing, and Valencia was even more fun. Life is good.
I had one of the best nights of this year in Portugal. Making music as the sun paints the skies with an array of colours. We made #traditions with “hot” wine and warm beers. The Portuguese completely replaced water with alcohol; I love you liver. Drinking, partying, pool time and making music, thank you for letting me into your weird little #tradition world! Here’s to nights which don’t remember, with people I’ll never forget. (thanks for taking care of me, and thanks for bagaco)
The best thing was bumping into my best friends in the city centre of Lisbon! I was just thinking to myself, “damn this is the only city where I don’t know anyone” and I bumped into my best friends from Singapore. The universe works in the most amazing way, doesn’t it?
Being in Portugal reminded me of someone I used to know, and sometimes I wonder how different this summer would have been, should I have done some things differently. But it is what it is. Nonetheless, I had such an amazing time in Portugal.
“After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it’s comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you’re very lucky, a plane ride away”
I was extremely lucky with my favourite human flying over to Milan to meet me. It felt like we were living the dream; little apartment in the middle of Milan, seeing art and having meals in bed.
Although I was extremely sick before we met, with a thunderstorm and blackout that delayed his flight, I was fully recovered when we were reunited. It was a pity that I had to leave for Venice, otherwise I would be spending more of my summer times in the legendary summer house in Italy.
Bridging my cultural adapting back to Asia, I found myself in Istanbul with people from everywhere – Spain, France, Vietnam, Morocco, India and me, Singapore. We met in the airport and explored Istanbul together. It ended with a huge turkish meal that had us way too full to function!
One last trip before returning to Singapore for a while, my little heart is filled with great joy, kindness and gratefulness. I am way too blessed to be this loved.
Love,
L