I am returning with some crazy new content from my summer! Its been one hectic adventure with nonstop travels and I am excited to share it with you all!
I will be dividing my summer into two parts; my adventure in Asia, and lastly my trip in Europe. I will try to provide a timeline that is as accurate as possible. Enjoy!
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| Bye Canada! April 14, 2016 |
Singapore:
My summer spontaneously began with Singapore, also referred to as the "Lion City". It is a beautiful country known for their gardens and modern architecture. The people in Singapore are super competitive and hardworking which makes getting a job there so difficult. Their English was really good making it easy to travel around on the public transportation which is really advanced compared to the TTC of Toronto. There were a lot of people from other countries in Europe and North America that have moved there.
Within four days of moving back home after my exams, I was catching a plane to Singapore. When I was home I heard terrifying news that one of my closest relatives took a bad fall while walking outside her home and was now in the ICU at one of the biggest hospitals in Singapore. She broke her neck and was lucky that she did not become paralysed. It was crazy to think that my invincible aunt had a near death experience! She would need to take the whole summer to recover which is why my aunt requested that I flew over to keep her company and to help her out with daily tasks at work.
While in Singapore, I learned a lot about responsibility and taking care of others while being by her side. I saw that life can surprise us, but through suffering comes light. I noticed a change in my aunt. She used to live her life by the clock and was always running around to get things done, even if it meant staying up till dawn. She always took care of others instead of making sure that she had herself in check. But after her accident, she didn't take life lightly. She started to eat healthier, saw who her real friends were, and had people help her get things done instead of taking it all on her own. Her life inspired me and made me rethink my life's choices; who do I want to be remembered as?
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| Natasha, Me, and Cassandra |
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| Me and my cousin in Clarke Quay |
FCLUB
A place we visited frequently was Marina Bay, which was the home to luxury goods, beautiful gardens, and five star cuisines. It was where three girls dreamt big. We convinced each other to work really hard, fall in love, and accomplish all of our dreams, together.
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| Marina Bay |
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| Gardens by the Bay |
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| Marina Bay Sands (infinity pool at the top) |
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| Marina Bay |
After spending a few months in Singapore, the second destination of my summer was Japan. I spent a couple of days there by myself. Japanese people did not speak English fluently and signs were mostly in Japanese, so travelling around involved a lot of sign language and jibberish. Japan is known for their technology innovations and creativity. They are the home of Panasonic tech, Toyota automobiles, and many more influential companies.
It was a cool experience for me since I got to use the public transport where I met a really hard-working woman, who added me on Facebook after helping me with directions to the best of her abilities.
I went shopping on a famous street for the locals and shopaholics (me) which was called Harajuku Takeshita Street. I had to put myself on a strict budget to make sure that I don't overspend on unnecessary items.
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| Harajuku Shopping District |
Malaysia:
The last destination of my adventure in Asia was in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, tropical country. This was the country that I was born in and moved away from when I was four years old. I spent a week here and spent time with my relatives that still lived there. It was absolutely stunning, which made me realize how much I've missed it. I would start my day off by dipping into the pool and then going to local restaurant with my family.
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| Bikini: Triangl |
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| This was where I went swimming regularly in the mornings before my day began. |
After a long day with family and doing activities, we would end the day off by visiting a fruit market filled with tropical fruits like mangoes and jackfruit. After buying fruits, my family would go to one of my relatives' place and just sit around and catch up. It was one of my favourite moments from my trip.
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| Fruit market that opens till 3am |
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| This is the view from the place I stayed in Malaysia |
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| Where from I lay... |
Part 2 of my summer will be put up shortly, so stay tuned!
Thank you for reading our blog! Stay tuned for the next post from Elaine and her trip.
If you have any questions or would like to input anything, email us @bow.n.arrowduo@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @elaineyongg and @mirandatrann or our joined account @bow.n.arroww
