The Tiny Wanderer

31/03/2020

When we were back in Kuala Lumpur for Chinese New Year, little did we know that, that would be the last time we would be flying anywhere for a while. We are very grateful to have shown lil C her Malaysian side of the family and to introduce her to her other heritage. She isn't going to remember anything but I think she did have fun!

We are grateful to have had our first few nights in KL spent at the ANSA Suite at ANSA Hotel. Find out more about our stay in my latest blog post!

http://www.tinywanderer.com/where-to-stay-in-kuala-lumpur-ansa-hotel-review/

04/02/2020

3 years has passed. Same same but different.

It's been close to 3 weeks now that we've been around Asia. In two days, we'll be flying out of Singapore to Hamburg. This trip has been very special to us. We not only reconnected with old and familiar friends and places but also made new acquaintances and discovered our strengths as first time parents traveling with a baby. Home has been nice to us. Can't wait to come back again next year or the year after next!

27/01/2020

Coming back for Chinese New Year with Big C and lil C in tow has evoked lots of memories and big feelings. This is the first time for the both of them to experience an authentic celebration. The festive spirit around Malaysia is palpable. My larger than life extended family, the crazy chaos of round-the-clock eating, gossiping and drinking, the changing hands of adoring relatives who all wants to hold lil C, dropping by familiar places of my childhood and gaping at how much things have changed…

I've missed this chaos. I've missed the loudness and the no frills hospitality and friendliness of my crazy fabulous family. I'm exhausted yet I've never felt so alive in a while.

In the same vein, we wish you all a very Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of the Rat bring you blessings, good health and prosperity. Take this year to save money, visit far flung places and do things that you've never done before.

Gong xi Gong xi!

11/01/2020

We made it! From Hamburg to Singapore, we've survived our first long haul flight travel with a baby! I don't know how families with many children do it! Hats off to those who could travel the world with kids in tow.

Being a first time parent means learning that the comfort of your baby comes first and everything else after. Thankfully our little one was born a traveller. She charmed the socks off other passengers, hardly fussed for the first leg of the trip and was still in good spirits when landing and overall just made us as parents feel better about ourselves for dragging her along on our adventure.

If you ask me, she's the real tiny wanderer. 😂😂😂

31/12/2019

By the end of today, the old will give way to the new. 2019 was about transitions for me: from freelancing to a full time job, from a village resident to a city dweller, from a wife to a mother.

And I can’t wait to see what 2020 holds for our little family.

Onwards to a new decade and keep on adventuring folks.

Happy new year y'all!

And as Law of Attraction would have it, I not only got the job whose product I am most passionate about (one of the most legendary windjammers afloat), I also managed to move to my favourite city in Germany.

01/09/2019

Often Merdeka day (Malaysian Independence Day) comes and go without much aplomb. I was after all mostly living abroad or out of a suitcase. I was surrounded by people who were ignorant of the significance of the date. Our Independence Day wasn't Christmas or Mother's Day. It was just another day when you no longer live in Malaysia anymore.

This year was different. Living in Hamburg (yes, I switched cities within Germany) has made it easy to meet our ever growing community of Malaysians here. Interestingly, meeting other Malaysians have never really appealed to me till I settled down in Germany. The more I spend time with them, the prouder I am of my own country.

They're a reminder of how generous and friendly people can be, how awesome our food is, how race and religion didn't matter and how well we can communicate through not just One language but a few.

And so, let's just say, it was a day well spent with lots of home cooked delights, in good company and with lots of joy and laughter. Thank goodness, the beautiful weather and our lovely host made it all possible.

Happy (belated) Merdeka Day from Hamburg, Germany!

18/06/2019

Hi friends, I'm back! I haven't forgotten you all. I've just been away a little while because there was just so many things happening in my life that I needed time to deal with it.

But alas, now that I've a little more time to reflect and write, I'm going to tell you all about what's new in my life in my next blogpost.

Not revealing anything for now so sit tight and watch this space.

Until then, hang in there and have a lovely week ahead!

18/10/2018

What's the first thing you do when you arrive at a new place (apart from checking-in to your accommodation)? Eat and drink? Walk around? Hit the touristic spots? Wander around the supermarket aisles? Take a deep breath in your new surroundings?

One of my favourite things to do is to hop on a local transport (could be a tuk-tuk, a songthaw, a train or in Budapest's case, a tram) and just see how far it takes you. Usually by the end of my travels, I'd have taken all the modes of public transportation available-bus, train, trams, and so on.

And your favourite thing to do?

08/10/2018

in Budapest: We arrived in Budapest, groggy and desperately in dire need of sleep. It was 9.30 am when we checked into our Airbnb (depicted in pics) but we'd been on the road far longer than that. On that day, we had to wake up at 1.45am to catch our early morning flight from Berlin. Anyway, we were given elaborate instructions by our host on the app on what to do when we get there. When we find the entrance to the building, we had to enter the given code at the electronic device. Error, the screen said. Hang on. Did it one more time, same thing.

After spending some time mulling around, a resident buzzed himself in and out of consideration, held the gates opened for us.

We yelled out thanks and stepped into the courtyard warily. Then we realised that, to get to the units itself, there was another gate which we needed to unlock with the same code. The guy was long gone. We were in the inner courtyard, entering the code a few more times but it didn't work at all. We started to get anxious. Exhaustion made our patience wear thin. In the end, Chris decided to call the host. There was nothing else we could do. Thankfully the host answered. She then gave us another code which we could enter but it also didn't work. In the end she asked, "Are you at Number 10, ### street?" We were like, "Err....no, we're at Number 8."

Argggghhhhh.......moral of the story? Don't check-in when you're sleep deprived. But apart from the initial hiccup, Budapest turned out to be fabulous!

03/10/2018

It took me a while to write up this post. It wasn't usual for me to give advice about the German language. After all, I still struggle with it daily. Who am I to talk about what works and what doesn't? However, this was the journey that I embarked on and perhaps some of you out there could relate. Learning a new language from scratch, especially when one's already in their 30's can be a real challenge. But it was my key to survival and I didn't have a choice. So if you know what I'm talking about, I want to hear about YOUR story!

I started learning German from scratch. My idea was initially to do it for a year so that I could reach C1 within that year itself.

01/10/2018

If you get hungry in Bangkok and don't know where to start, watch this.

26/08/2018

To be honest, I was a little worried before going to Mumbai. Sensory assault, the heat, the stench, the grime, the chaos–they all don’t belong to weeklong vacations that I normally take. After all, I was no longer the grubby backpacker I once was. Sorta mellowed down after all these years.

But after spending a few days in Mumbai, I realised my worries were for naught. Instead, we had an unexpectedly good time there. Mumbai was full of surprises (good and bad ones. Read the blog post on Tiny Wanderer to find out more!

http://www.tinywanderer.com/madness-in-mumbai-first-impressions

But if you can see past all that–all that chaos, you’ll find beauty in Mumbai’s colourful buildings and colonial architecture, in its vivid prayer marigold garlands and the women’s rustling saris,