Last of the birthday celebrations!

Tim and Michele were in town, so I had my whole family for my birthday, for the first time since I was a kid.

We went to lunch at one of my favourite places, Chinta Ria, for some delicious noodles and (for me!) vege dishes.

With my mum and the giant Buddha.

( Read more... )

Alec sweetly organised a small gathering of friends at my favourite cafe, the Adriano Zumbo Chocolat Cafe in Balmain, to celebrate my 30th in Sydney.

The cafe closed early to accommodate us, and we had the entire (tiny!) place to ourselves for the early evening.

A selection of Zumbo's cakes and macaroons. Soon to be demolished.

( Read more... )

Turning 30 - the moment I had been dreading! It was actually lucky it occurred as it did, in Singapore and following one of my best friend's weddings, as it put the day in perspective, as something to be enjoyed, but something small in the larger scheme of things ( Read more... )

The final destination - Singapore, for our dear friends Beverly and Chris' wedding ( Read more... )

After an amazing week in Paris, we flew south to Montpellier, picked up another hire car, and drove to Arles for a two-day stay.

Arles is famous for two things - most recently, Van Gogh lived and painted here, but a long time before that, Arles was conquered by the Romans. The remains of the Roman civilisation are still visible in Arles, including ( Read more... )

The absolute highlight of both Paris and the trip was getting engaged.

Alec went to a lot of effort to create the perfect day for me, and it truly was!

First, Alec booked an amazing hotel for us to stay in for two nights, called Jays Paris. They also upgraded our room for free, which was unexpected! The hotel was made up of only six suites, all ( Read more... )

An amazing week in Paris. Too much to go into detail about, so here is a touch of my favourite city.

Saint Chapelle is my favourite church, possibly of any I've ever seen. It's just so beautiful with all of the stained glass.

( Read more... )

We arrived in France after a terrible flight, exhausted, picked up our hire car and drove to Giverny. I picked up some kind of bug and was unfortunately too sick to leave the hotel, so we missed out on seeing Monet's gardens.

Sick, but still smiling in Giverny.

( Read more... )

Next stop was a whirlwind tour of NYC.

Alec was keen to see the American Museum of Natural History and all of the dinosaur bones.

( Read more... )

First stop on our round-the-world, month-long adventure, was the big island of Hawaii.

I wasn't sure what to expect, and was surprised at how much I loved it. It was ultra American, but has retained lots of islandy-feel to it.

Some highlights from the four-and-a-half days we spent there ...

The best pizza I've ever tasted. Made with spelt grain ( Read more... )