Canon Pandacat
@Luxor, Egypt - Liam and I exploring the temples.
Getting into the next year of my course - Thank god all the blood, sweat and tears. Can’t wait to get out of uni.
SLR Canon 1100D - Liam got it for me as a birthday gift for my 23rd. It was the best present I’ve ever received.
BIGBANG - They finally get to come to London!
Christmas Grand Ball - Last ball for the 3rd Year.
Egypt - A late summer vacation on December. Got to explore both Sharm and Luxor.
Figuring out for 2013 - Pass my degree, get a decent job, start saving BIG.
Oh gosh, I don’t remember some. I’ve realised I’ve done one for 2011, so I thought I do one now for 2012. Better late then never!
1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.
Gorillaz - Demon Days | Lana Del Rey - This Is What Makes Us Girls | Slow Moving Millie - Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want | Lana Del Rey - Put Me In A Movie | Florence and The Machine - Shake It Out | Cee Lo Green - Wildflower | Lana Del Rey - National Anthem.
2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
Liam Neeson.
3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.
“Of course you did love, why else would you come?” - PS, I Love You by Ceclia Ahern.
4) What do you think about most?
The future after I graduate.
5) What does your latest text message from someone else say?
“Yes please sounds awesome! Btw Iam going to sleep! Good night!” - Naima.
@Chinatown
So my last freedom and money spend before I get really ‘serious’ on my final exams. Procrastinating all the way.
Afternoon Liam and I went to our usual routine in going to central London and fill our food bellies. Our first stop was at Starbucks with the usual caramel macchiato, while also searching for some city breaks on his iPad. We stopped at Chinatown to order some delicious pork buns from the food stand.
@Notes - Red Velvet Cake & Latte
It didn’t take too long when we stop at Notes for another coffee break. We ordered some red velvet cake, bread & olive oil and 2 lattes. We also noticed some peeps carrying pillows, which was apparently on the daily mail called World Pillow Fight Day, which am not sure was the point, but if you live in London it wouldn’t be a surprise haha.
We took our time to explore some shops in Oxford Circus after feeling hungry again from all the walking.. dear god we got to stop this.
@ Assa - Dukboki, Seafood Kimchi Pancake and Bibimba
Evening I felt something like a hotpot or Korean so we decided to go to our favourite Korean restaurant at around 8pm. We ordered the same thing we usually do, but less; Dukboki, Seafood Kimchi Pancake and Bibimba. We didn’t feel like bubble tea (surprisingly) so we stopped at the anime store and buy some Japanese sweets after calling it a day! *sigh* it was all great till’ I realise I needed to get my gear on track on these finals. Fighting! Fighting! Fighting!
A: is for Apple, what is your favorite variety?
Pink Lady and Red Apples.
B: is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories or whole grains what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?
French Baguette, Ciabatta and Danish Bread.
C: is for Cereal what is your favorite kind currently (just one pick)
Krave.
D: is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?
Custard.
E: is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?
Sunnyside.
F: is for Fat free, what is your favorite fat free product?
Green Tea and Blueberries.
(c) Google Images
My small list on the next destination Liam and I will go to in 2013. If I could afford both holidays, I would really love to go Thailand or Italy in the summer and Iceland in the winter.
*Thailand
Vietnam
Singapore
Korea
*Greece
Malta
*Italy
*Iceland
Day 1 | 16/12
It came so quick, after all the grand balls, hobbit seeing, bigbanging the best day of the week was finally going on a vacation to Egypt, which Liam and I missed during the summer, but it was the perfect season of the year.
I barely packed the night before, but I had no time to look like I was going on holiday either. We arrived at Gatwick Airport at 9am with big thanks to Liam’s brother for dropping us off. We spend some time chilling and indulging some big bowl of ramen for brunch at Yo! Sushi. Our flight left at 12:30pm and arrived at 6:30pm at Sharm El-Sheikh, where our coach was waiting for us, before dropping our things in the hotel and getting a nice dinner buffet.
Day 2 | 17/12
Today wasn’t the start of our adventure yet, but we decided to book some excursions on the website, go to the shopping centre, chill by the pool, have some cocktails and take advantage of the buffet.
Morning started off by arriving at a meeting centre at 10am so that the Thompson rep can give us insight around Egypt and where to go. She was a joy to hear.
Afternoon we stopped at papyrus shop to purchase some lovely paintings then we set off to the shopping centre stopping over at Starbucks (of course) and McDonalds (which I personally enjoyed then the crappy ones back in London) then went back to the hotel to cool ourselves with cocktails. Before sunset we decided to head over to the Red Sea beach, some reviews said it’s not really the best place to swim, but the view of the volcanos and lights were still amazing.
Evening we headed over to a Lebanese restaurant located in the hotel. We got an a la carte menu voucher for free (if you stayed over 7 nights), which concluded all the appetizers, starters, hot/cold main, main course and dessert. I ordered lentil soup, seafood salad, falafel, veal kebab and a variety of asian sweets. Afterwards we decided to stay at the night late bar where various singers and DJ’s perform with a few cocktails on the side.
Day 3 | 18/12
Our first excursion will happen in the evening, which includes our first camel ride to the desert to meet the traditional bedouins and after stargazing.
Morning Liam went to book some excusions to our rep and later decided to sunbathe near the pool as the sun was already blazing.
Afternoon we packed for our first trip down to the Sinai Desert to meet the bedouins. It took roughly 30mins to get there with the herd of camels waiting for our arrival. I actually was quite nervous at first, but it got there at the end. Sorry to the poor camel I accidentally kicked cos’ he was so tall to get onto! Afterwards we met up with the bedouins who gave us a nice area to sit and relax, providing some shisha and traditional herbal tea, which was sweet almost like maple syrup, but warm.
Evening the tour guide told us to go up the hill to look upon the sunset then one of the bedouin’s gathered us around the fire pit to show us how to cook flat bread by scratch. The technique was to shape it like how you throw pizza in the air without any holes, some toursits failed at this, but it was a laugh. While the bedouins cooked for us, we were shown some nice accessories and souvenirs that were made by the wives or daughters. I bought a bastet cat statue and Liam took some natural fruit oil for sore joints. We gathered around and ate some beautiful tenderised meat with fresh raw vegetables. Then they performed for us with a traditional (in they’re sense) follow the leader dance, haha. To finish of we were took by another tour guide who educated us with stargazing, we were able to see Earth’s Moon and Jupiter through a telescope almost clear as day.
Day 4 | 19/12
One of the most precious things to do in Egypt is quad biking for sure! This was my first driving lesson so I didn’t know what to expect *sigh*
Morning we arrived at the pool once again, but this time with our bikinis or for Liam shorts :D though we never actually swam in the pool, we preferred to tan all day.
Afternoon we were picked up by another company we booked for (it was cheaper) and it didn’t take too long to get there only 20mins. We were instructed to use the scarfs around our face, I looked like a total troll to be honest, but what was nerve recking they never showed us how to instruct the quads when we went on them. I understand why now since it was so easy to use, I was told to go right in the front of the que (out of like 50 of them behind me, I guaranteed I probably cause a car crash!). It was only 30mins and I was absolutely having the time of my life! We stopped by to rest at a hut where we had a chance to have a drink and go for a camel ride for those who wanted to.
Evening the sunset was setting and I was so glad to experience biking one last time before the sky turned dimmer at 5pm. The night wasn’t over we had another excursion booked at 9pm.
Day 4-5 | 19-20/12
Evening we had a 2 hour journey to Mount Moses, where Mosesreceived the 10 commandments. At around 12-1am, soon as we arrived were given dimmed torches (i used my iPhone torch, didn’t last very long) to help cross up the mountains, which I can say.. very frightening! Most of them came prepared, but I don’t think Liam and I were, I’ll always recommend preparing a blanket, goodies and sleeping bag if your going to hike!
It was a 3 hour if not more with over 3,000 stairs to climb at the top, but the beauty of it were the swarm of stars and we couldn’t believe we were almost at cloud level. Once we got to the top we praised ourselves so we could rest.
Morning we had our option to sleep in a hut, hiked another flight of stairs to see the chapel on the very top of the mountain or watch the sunrise. It was too freaking cold to do any of that, we tried so desperately to wrap ourselves with the camel blanket, but we couldn’t sleep as the wind was too strong it felt like the whole roof was going to be blown off. So I went outside to take photos of the sunrise instead.
We were dreading to go back downstairs, now that we had to climb another 3 hours back down. It wasn’t as cold as it was and I never felt so happy to see the sun. We saw a dot of the Monastery of St. Catherine and at this rate it felt like we would never touch the ground. We went to visit the monastery and paid a visit of the Burning Bush, which was originally suppose to be at the top of the mountain before they moved it. Then we finally had some breakfast at a local hotel and dozed in the van until we (finallyyy) came back!
Day 5 | 20/12
This day was nothing but a lazy day!
Afternoon I woke up just around noon to get some lunch. Liam dozed off pretty much all day, so I just relaxed in the balcony (hopefully get some sun) reading some Hobbit, while munching on some M&M’s.
Evening I have no idea what happened, probably watched some late night movies on TV, while snacking on some Lays and peanuts, haha.
Day 6 | 21/12
Our next adventure was a lovely light hike in the canyons after some relaxation on top of the beach balcony.
Morning we set off just before 11am and it took around two hours to Nuweiba. First things first, buckle up because there were HUGE bumps on the desert roads.. oh wait I forgot there wasn’t any seat belts :/
Afternoon when we got there we travelled at-least an hour into the deep sandy canyons. The colours were beautiful and it was like someone had altered the area yet that’s where nature’s earthquakes takes it’s course. We finally set off to the beach to Duhab where it’s famous for their scuba diving and snorkeling, Liam and I skipped it as we prefer to unwind a little on the balcony while playing Rayman on my iPhone. We ate a buffet with a little bit of everything on the plate before we could take our full bellies onto a short camel ride across the ocean’s floor.
Evening we arrived back around 6pm to catch our dinner then we went back to our rooms for some TV and early sleep as we are expecting to wake up at 4am for our final extrusion.
Day 7 | 22/12
Our final and longest adventure in Egypt, but this time on a plane to Luxor with much history and picture taking with a tour guide to accompany us throughout the journey.
Morning we only having 10mins to get ready as we overslept, but managed to get there on time thank god. Our flight to Luxor was at 6am, we had an early breakfast of latte and croissant. The flight looked like one of those jungle planes you would take to a safari trip, then we toured around on the coach, while the guide gave us a lecture on the history.
Afternoon our first stop was to the Valley of the Kings (where pictures were strictly forbidden otherwise a £1000 fine :( what a shame the paintings on the walls were almost crystal clear) although Liam and some others took some sneaky shots as well of course seeing my very first mummy, Tutankhamun. Valley of the Queens was our next stop (finally pictures!) where we could take more observation with the hieroglyphics and paintings. Then we took a boat through the River Nile to eat lunch. Our last tour was the Luxor Temple then back to Sharm around 6pm.
Day 8 | 23/12
Morning we had to check out at 11am, so we spend our last day just relaxing near the pool with a few cocktails.
Afternoon we waited in the lounge of the hotel where we had a few tea breaks and did a little shopping with some snacks and souvenirs.
Evening our flight was at 9.45pm, so we set as a last farewell and arrived to rainy London at around 1:00am.
