High point

Ayubowan, bewdas!

In case you're wondering, no, I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth. Interestingly though, yesterday I did do a 9-km hike to a place called World's End. As some of you may have also guessed from my greeting, I'm in Sri Lanka! It's the last big road trip of the year for us and this time we have brought the whole clan along -- Viv's parents and sister, and my parents. Of course this spells total and absolute chaos, but somehow it's also a lot of fun.

It is absolutely gorgeous out here and we are doing lots of hiking and a bit of rock-climbing too.

Xena and me atop Pidurangala Rock

Details of the trip will be up on my travel blog as soon as I get back to Singapore. Meanwhile, I wish all of you a happy new year with lots of good health, good health and good health!

See you in the new year!
Sayesha

Ice, ice, baby

Okay, so I have a cool (quite literally so) photo to share today. We braved the cold, the wind and the rain, but we were determined to get as close to the Myrdalsjökull glacier as we possibly could. Fortunately, Xena hiked along with us without any complaints! 

Viv and Xena admiring the grand glacier (photo not edited in any way)

We have seen the light(s)!

It's 2.30 am and I'm posting this with the biggest grin on my face!

Okay, so we are on a road trip in Iceland right now. Knowing how elusive the Northern Lights can be in non-winter months, we decided not to plan our trip around aurora-chasing, but fill it with other things instead. But, it was SO HEARTENING to finally capture the Lights tonight, after many nights of closely watching the forecast and two nights of setting an alarm to wake us up every 2 hours.

I'd read that 2016 might be the last year to see the Lights in all their glory as they are expected to dim for a decade. I'm so glad we got to witness this stunning phenomenon. Even Xena woke up (Viv and I made quite a commotion I think) to witness them!

First things first

"When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

Every now and then, I ask myself this question. I can't remember where I first read it, but it serves as a good reminder for me to live life to the fullest.

So last week, I found myself answering this question multiple times.

We had gone to Telunas island in Indonesia for our 9th wedding anniversary, and it was a trip of many firsts. First time travelling by boat for two and a half hours to get anywhere, first time staying in a villa built over the sea, first time kayaking on a black river lined by mangrove forests, first time chasing squirmy mudskippers and crabs along the beach, first time toasting marshmallows on a bonfire, and thanks to Viv, first time having a surprise candle-light dinner on a jetty!

No wonder I have been raving about Telunas to anyone and everyone who cares to listen (or doesn't!).

Hop on to my travel blog Hopscotch for more details and pictures about this piece of paradise.