EMIGRATION...

A very good friend of my Dad's Vince writes poetry and I've taken this one from his new collection "A Medley of Rhyme" :

Some folk leave home for far away,

They're youngsters living for today.

And thinking of their future time,

Decisions made while in their prime.

The world outside's a great big place,

The other side of the earth's face.

Is where our youngsters want to go,

They've never been, and do not know.

Their eagerness is evident,

The sun and sea is heaven sent.

If they can work and earn their keep,

A nurse, a doctor, herding sheep,

And many other jobs as well,

Their 'Shangri La', or living hell.

But, time will tell how they get on,

Some will return, some are 'long gone'.

The grass seems greener far away,

And some will go, and some will stay.

Very apt for me Vince! Look forward to reading more of your work in the future. You are now world wide published. 

IT'S CHRISTMAS...

Scenario A recently bought Christmas to Singapore with a fantastic gig at the Prince of Wales on Boat Quay. A great gig complete with snow machine that got everyone in the mood and kick started the festive season perfectly. 

CONGRATULATIONS JENNIE AND STUART...

ELEPHANT PARADE SINGAPORE...

Craig recently invited along to join him at the launch of Elephant Parade Singapore on the 11th November. TANGS on Orchard Road launched its highly-anticipated yearly Christmas campaign with a spectacular light up of the building’s façade and decorations, while at the same time unveiling the most precious elephant of Elephant Parade Singapore 2011, “Pretty & Pink” by jewellery designer Sabine Roemer (below centre). I missed the Elephant Parade London so I'm really excited to be able to see it here in Singapore.

Image courtesy of http://elephantparade.com

The evening began outside the main entrance of TANGS Orchard, where 10 life-sized painted baby elephants were installed the night before as part of the launch of the Elephant Parade Singapore 2011. In amongst these elephants are two designed by Cat Deeley and Leona Lewis. To officiate light up the guests-of-honour each placed a crystal vase of tulips, symbolic of TANGS’ enchanted forest Christmas theme, on individual light boxes to initiate the store’s Christmas light up sequence to Johnny Mathis’ “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” The 300-strong crowd of invited guests from TANGS and Elephant Parade, including business partners, artists and media, were then ushered up to The Christmas Shoppe at TANGS Orchard Level 4 for the next part of the evening – the unveiling of the most precious elephant of Elephant Parade Singapore 2011, “Pretty & Pink” by Ms Sabine Roemer, featuring a 3.3 carat diamond in a one-of-a-kind brooch worn by the elephant. I'll write more about the elephants early on next year as I have made it my mission to photograph all 162. So, I'm sure there will be rather large blog entry coming for that! Watch this space!

JILL'S 30TH BIRTHDAY PUB GOLF...

On 19th November Jill turned 30 and we celebrated her birthday by starting off the day with a Champagne Breakfast at the apartment followed by a round of Pub Golf along Boat Quay. Typically, we had been planning this for a few months time and the week leading up to it I fell ill. So, despite having my outfit ready to rock, I didn't feel up to drinking and didn't actually technically play "pub golf". It was a great night nonetheless watching 23 very very drunk people move from bar to bar and try to out do each other by scoring the lowest "par". 

The rules ...

The drinks...We had set a round of 9 holes, starting at The Penny Black and then finishing off at Bungy Bar (The Clubhouse) with a par of 26. On reflection I think I made the best choice deciding not to drink. Not sure how well this lot would have gone down on top of a heavy cold! 

I still can't quite believe that the winner of the game was Bel (dressed as a human scorecard), who completed the round in 10, taking each hole bar the first as a hole in one! What a legend! I wouldn't want to take her on in a drinking game! 

I hope Jill had a fantastic birthday and enjoyed all her celebrations. Jill was also at Elton John the following day - nursing a hangover of course! As part of her gift I put together a special edition RPG card...

ELTON JOHN CROCODILE ROCK-ED MY WORLD...

I know I've been a bit slack in keeping my blog up to date recently so I'm going to spend some time over the next few entries. Heading back to the end of November when Rachel, Tom and I went to watch Elton John at the Indoor Stadium. Wow! What a show! Despite the weather being absolutely awful, the stadium was packed and I knew as soon as Elton came on stage we were in for a good show. I think his words were "Singapore - we're gonna rock tonight!" and ironically opening the show on a Sunday with "Saturday Night's Alright". The last time Elton John was here in Singapore was in 2008. He seemed pleased to back stating "it's good to be back" shortly after belting out "I'm Still Standing". 

Elton's band was incredible! A prior to the three hour long concert kicking off he warmed the show up by introducing 2Cellos, a duo who made many people see the humble cello in a brand new light. No one really knew who they were, but they appeared on stage and blasted their way through a version of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal followed by U2's "With or Without You" (a massive favourite of mine) "Welcome to the Jungle" Guns N' Roses, and "Smells like Teen Spirit", the Nirvana number. Originally from Croatia and according to press, a YouTube discovery, these boys were so impressive. Very talented boys. Check out some of their videos on YouTube. Here's Smooth Criminal:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOQac1vOEc 


They stayed on stage for the duration of the show playing with Elton John and his band, who included drummer Nigel Olsson, the very first member of the band. The jam packed concert saw delivery of hit after hit:
Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
I'm Still Standing
Levon
Madman Across The Water
Holiday Inn
Tiny Dancer
Philadelphia Freedom
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Candle In The Wind
Rocket Man
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
Hey Ahab
Gone To Shiloh
Monkey Suit
Sacrifice
Honky Cat
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Daniel
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Are You Ready For Love
Bennie And The Jets
The Bitch Is Back
Crocodile Rock
Your Song
Can You Feel The Love Tonight
Circle Of Life

Elton John is a true performer and didn't just sit still at the piano and play. After every song he was up and acknowledging his fans, thanking them and showing off to the who crowd, including those sat behind the stage with minimal view. He even called out to his dear friend Kevin Spacey, who was in the audience (he's recently been in town touring with a theatre group performing Richard III) At one point he clambered up on to the top of the piano and kicked his feet into the air! 

Spending the day and evening with Rachel and Tom to celebrate Rachel's 30th birthday was perfect and  the encore of "Your Song" and Lion King hits "Can You Feel The Love Tonight / Circle Of Life" nearly had me in tears. Another musical legend ticked off my list of acts to see! 

SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE AND ME...

The world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do I fit into this story of human life? From the BBC website it was calculated that when I was born I was the 4,685,375,517th person alive on Earth and the 79,412,631,235th person to live since history began. Pretty incredible stats. You can find out your place in human history too. Just follow this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515

SYDNEY 2011...

Joe and I have just spent a lovely week in Sydney relaxing in the sunshine. It was really nice catching up and finally getting to spend time together. Arriving on the Saturday and spending a few hours out and about, we met up with Mikey and his new girlfriend, Caroline and Chris and Steve for a few drinks. Well, maybe a more than a few. Oops! I fell in love with Sydney back in 2008 and it was such a great feeling to be back. Lots of walking, wandering around the zoo and strolling along Bondi, where "Sculpture by the Sea" was on and thankfully lots of sunshine! A fab week! 

CONGRATULATIONS MIKEY...

I've just heard great news from Australia. Mikey has been named NME photographer of the year in the "Reportage" category! Excellent news Mikey, I'm very proud!

Last month Mikey was nominated in both ‘The Festival’ category for a crowd shot he took atFuture Music Festival and in the ‘Reportage’ category for his winning image (above) taken of Washington backstage at The Enmore Theatre in Sydney. To read the full article on the Faster Louder website follow this link http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/local/30831/FL-shooter-wins-NME-photography-award

And here he is...

LUCKY GIRL....

I had a lovely surprise last Friday after having a hard week and feeling under the weather with a cold. Joe sent me a gorgeous bouquet of 12 red roses. Absolutely beautiful and they made my week! Thank you!

ABBAMANIA...

Abbamania has been delighting audiences of all ages since it's formation in 1999, selling out UK theatres nationally. In 2002 it played 18 weeks in the Strand Theatre London re-creating the Abba phenomenon for fans from all over the world. This weekend it was in Singapore, for four shows only! Saturday we went along to watch, sing and dance away to all my favourites including, Mamma Mia, Voulez Vous, Dancing Queen, Winner Takes It All, Super Trooper, and many more! It was fab! A great way to spend the afternoon seen as the weather this weekend has been pretty grim. Rain and storms. At least I'm getting myself prepared for what the weather will be like in the UK at Christmas time!

R.I.P BILLY

This morning I received the terrible news that Jen's step-dad Billy had lost his two and a half year battle with cancer. This is the first time in the whole time that I have been away from the UK that I truly wish I was back in the UK to support Jen. Billy put up an amazing fight and was an absolute legend. My thoughts are with not only Jen, but her mum and younger sister Kate. Massive hugs across the miles. R.I.P Billy. Your girls will miss you immensely.

William Patrick Maher 03.06.60-10.11.11

KAREN'S BACK...

Lovely welcome from the Holmes & Marchant team today when I got back to the office after my trip to Sydney...

HOLMES & MARCHANT NEWS...

I was pleased to hear recently that not only has Simon Gore joined the Holmes & Marchant UK office, but now Greg Vallance too! Both ex-colleagues from 1HQ (or Vibrandt as it was when I first joined) it feels great to be back on the same team as two of the most inspirational characters I could have started my career off working alongside. Welcome to the team Greg! For the full article visit: http://www.designweek.co.uk

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY ION ORCHARD...

One of my favourite shopping malls here in Singapore is Ion Orchid. Recently celebrating it's two year birthday I was so excited to hear that Blue...yes, Blue, the boyband, would be there performing! I know at 28 I should maybe have grown out of this, but I'm not afraid to admit that I still love all the same "boybands" I did whilst I was in college and university!

It was great to see them perform, at such an intimate gig, all my best loved hits like "All Rise", "One Love", "Best in Me", "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" and "Guilty". Massive thanks to Victoria for standing for a while keeping us an awesome space really close to the stage so I was able to take some great shots of the boys. Looking forward to the next gig at the end of November - Elton John! 

MAKE A DIFFERENCE...

Inspired by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (saws), "Even a smile is an act of charity we call upon everyone regardless of where you are to make a difference in any way you possibly can." Make A Difference Day is an international day of volunteerism coordinated by volunteers across the world. Victoria and I recently "made a difference" by volunteering on behalf of Barclays Capital to help teach under privileged children (from low-income and dysfunctional families) how to take photos at the Botanic Gardens here in Singapore. It was fab to be able to spend some time with great children who won't have as many opportunities as I would have had growing up and give something back to the amazing community here.

PENANG...

Apologies for not posting much over the last few weeks. No excuse really! So, what news have I got this week. Two weekends ago Victoria and I completed a Malaysian hat-trick (following on from Kuala Lumpar and Malacca) with a weekend break to Penang. An island located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Quite simply a relaxing weekend wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere. I managed to catch the Welsh game whilst sat having lunch at the Traders Hotel, and the New Zealand game over a glass of wine at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel. We even had time to fit in a trip to the (not so) Botanic Gardens and an amazing Thai massage before we left on Sunday. 

STEVE JOBS 1955-2011

Image designed by Jonathan Mak (Hong Kong)

So the sad news came yesterday that Steve Jobs had passed away. A small tribute to a massive influence on the design industry. Steve’s famous commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”  A true inspiration to myself and I'm sure many more in the industry. His passion has helped me as a creative genuinely love what I do!

Watch Steve's full speech here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY...

Last night Paul, myself, Vic and Jill witnessed what I can only describe as the most outlandish show I've seen in a long time (Lady Gaga comes in at a very close second!) Alice Cooper...with his "No More Mr. Nice Guy" concert at The Colosium, Hard Rock Hotel on Sentosa.


He has shaped the culture of heavy metal and made the name Alice anything but sweet and last night he wowed me completely. 63 years of age as well! Performing in Singapore for the first time we certainly got the full Alice treatment.

As if making a promise, Cooper has said: "I do know that fans usually remember it as of the best shows that they have ever seen." I certainly won't forget this one in a hurry! Very different to show Westlife put on on Monday evening that's for sure. Dodging knives. Large balloons. Frankenstein. Pythons. Electric chairs. And a guillotine! Incredible. A massive thank you to Paul for the ticket.

WESTLIFE GRAVITY TOUR...

Last night Victoria, Cara and I went to watch Westlife at the Indoor Stadium. For all of those who know me well, you will know that I am a massive fan and have been right from the start, back when I was in school studying for my "A" Levels. Nearly 13 years ago. The guys, and their four piece band put on a fantastic show. I sang my heart out from start to finish, to new songs as well as some of the oldies which I love:

Intro

When You're Looking Like That

World Of Our Own

What Makes A Man

Safe

Home

My Love

Beautiful Tonight

Viva La Vida

Only Girl (In The World)

Time Of My Life/Dirty Bit

Bad Romance

Seasons In The Sun

You Raise Me Up

I'm Already There

I Will Reach You

Flying Without Wings

What About Now

Uptown Girl

I'm also really pleased that they aren't particularly strict about cameras here, so I was able to take my SLR along as well as my long distance lens and get some great shots of the boys!

WATSONS PINK RIBBON WALK...

More than 5,000 people took to the streets on Saturday evening for the Watsons Pink Ribbon Walk, kick-starting the Breast Cancer Awareness Month here in Singapore. And we were part of it!

It was a sea of pink at this year's annual event, the largest to date with a record number of participants. They included breast cancer survivors, family and friends. The 3.8km walk started and ended at the Waterfront Promenade at downtown Marina Bay, where participants got to soak up the sights at key attractions like the Art Science Museum and Floating Platform.

The highlight of the carnival was the Pink Glove Dance. The participants set a record for the most number of people wearing pink gloves while dancing. Victoria and I got involved! Held every October, the Pink Ribbon Walk seeks to drive home the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. I look forward to taking part again next year!

MESSY PACKAGE...

Stumbled across an article that referenced my Ugly Pizza packaging today...

OWN A COLOUR AND HELP SAVE A CHILDS LIFE...

What colour are you? Dulux is selling each one of the 16.7 million colours found on a regular computer/tablet/smartphone display for a pound each to aid UINCEF. When you go online you can either type in a hex code or an RGB value, or you can simply click on a colour. Then you can name it, say why you picked it and then own it! Whilst I write this, so far, £60,159 has been raised!

I bought and named "GWRDDLAS" : I am originally Welsh and a massive turquoise fan. Gwrddlas is the welsh translation of turquoise or blue-green. Lush.

I've spread the word and a few others have bought colours too... Caroline Bland now owns Cotton Candy Fluff and Victoria bought "Rosemary Red" for her mum! If you want to join in the fun you can...follow this link http://www.ownacolour.com/

FORMULA ONE 2011...

Last weekend was Formula One weekend. How quickly did that come around? My highlight this year was certainly Shakira on the Saturday night. One and a half hour of non-stop performing with a fantastic live band! She is one incredible dancer! Friday nights performer was Charice, a Filipino artist who rose to fame on YouTube and has appeared in Glee recently. Again, an incredible performer at the age of 19. 

Another exhausting weekend with lots happening. Jill and I made our way to Orchard Road on Saturday to pay a visit to the new H&M store that has recently opened! We even had to queue to get in! But it was worth the (very short) wait as H&M is definitely the shop I miss most from the UK! Amongst everything else we even managed to fit in Brunch at The Four Seasons on Sunday with Lee and his friends who were visiting from home. 

A quieter weekend ahead...I hope!

SCENARIO A...

Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a British court for crimes against music they didn't commit. These men and women promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Singapore underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as musicians of fortune. If you have a gig, if no one else can sing, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire ... The Scenario A Team. Tom and Rachel's next gig is on October 9th at The Prince of Wales, Boat Quay from 5pm! 

BEAUTIFUL BALI...

I have had the most relaxing weekend in Bali with Mikey. Landing late on Thursday night Mikey was there waiting to greet me at our resort. The Breezes Resort and Spa, Seminyak. After a few hours catching up (I can't believe it's been 7 months already since the last time we saw each other!) and a great nights sleep I woke up Friday morning and was blown away. Our room opens out onto a private deck which ends where the pool starts! Bliss!

Since the last time we saw each other in Singapore it seems Mikey and I have so much to chat about. We spend the morning chilling by the pool, sat in the pool at the bar and lounging by the pool in the sun. Just what I needed after a busy (shortish) week in work. As the day gets on we decide to go for a stroll to have a few drinks and dinner. Seminyak beach isn't the most amazing beach in terms of sand that I've ever seen but it is so vibrant and colourful! A perfect opportunity to take some nice shots! There are loads of children playing football and plenty of local women selling their handmade bracelets and jewellery. As I wander along the beach I find it hard to get my head around the fact that I am on a long weekend break...in Bali! Literally 2 hours 20 mins from Singapore. The same time it used to take me to drive from Windsor to Wales. Mad! 

We perch outside a bar that has a stage set up ready for what we hope is going to be some great live music. And that is exactly what we got. We literally spend the next 4 hours slumped on bean bags on the sand, watching the sunset and listening to live music. The sunset is beautiful. It's something I certainly don't see everyday in Singapore which makes it extra special. To eat, we decide to wander back towards the hotel where we stumble across a restaurant called Lucky Day. It was extremely busy but the host was happy to seat us, and we discovered later that actually we were sat amongst a wedding party. The food, a selection of both Western and Indonesian, is delicious. Local seasoned snapper wrapped in a banana leaf and served with rice and vegetables. Yummy. My highlight - the toilets.  This might sound like a bizarre thing to say, but they were incredible. Adorned with hundreds of frangipanis, the natural smell of flowers filled the room instead of normal toilet fresheners. A lovely touch! An earlyish night ready for our adventure to see the monkeys the following day!

Saturday we hired a driver to take us South of Seminyak to Uluwatu Temple. One of Bali's nine key temples. The entrance fee is Rp. 6,000 (approx. 50p) and you need to be dressed properly to enter, so Mikey and I are given purple sarongs to cover our legs. The temple is inhabited by a huge amount of monkeys. Very cheeky monkeys! You have to keep all your belongings very close to you as they will snatch anything off you including flip flops which you then have to exchange back for fruit. The monkeys certainly give the temple a lot of character and provide a lot of entertainment. I'm so glad that I invested in a long distance lens for my camera. I managed to get some great shots of the monkeys without having to get too close. I was ever so slightly scared to be honest! 

We ask the driver to recommend somewhere nice for us to have seafood for lunch and we head to Jimbaran, a fishing village with a white sand beach and seafood restaurants on the beach. We choose "Blue Marlin" and sit on the beach eating king prawns and red snapper. Bliss!

Back to the resort and another evening perched on bean bags on the beach listening to live music. A lie in on Sunday morning and a few hours in the sun by the pool before my flight home to Singapore at 5pm. Sad to say goodbye to Mikey but I am totally relaxed, and whilst I write this five days after coming back I still feel totally relaxed! Bali is a great place and I am already thinking about my next trip back there, possibly with Amanda when she visits in January. It was amazing to catch up with Mikey and create even more great memories. Am really looking forward to hearing about how the rest of his trip has been.

And for me...a quiet weekend this weekend. Afternoon tea with the girls tomorrow and a day of rugby on Sunday. The Welsh match is on at 11.30am on Sunday followed by the England game. Next weekend is Formula 1 weekend! So there is a lot of hype surrounding that at the moment. Last year was a fab weekend so hopefully this year will be equally as great. My next trip away will be to Penang in October followed by a trip to Sydney in November and then my trip home in December! My passport is certainly filling up fast!

IT'S HOLIDAY TIME AGAIN...

So tomorrow I am heading to Bali (which I have been desperate to explore since I came to Asia) to spend some time with Mikey! Watch this space for plenty of pictures. 

SAFRA SINGAPORE BAY RUN & ARMY HALF MARATHON

Congratulations to Victoria for completing the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon this weekend! I know you have not been feeling 100% recently so it certainly was a great effort. Running 21km in this heat is not easy. I'm very proud of you! Well done! 

SWAN LAKE ON ICE...

This weekend has been rather busy celebrating three birthdays and welcoming Chris and Caroline to Singapore but yesterday Vic and I managed to fit in a visit to Marina Bay Sands theatre to see Swan Lake on Ice. Absolutely magical. The skating and dancing was beautifully choreographed and all performed on a small 15x15m rink. The show is visually stunning and the cast are incredible athletes and dancers. We saw some incredible feats -  with the dancers getting up to speeds of 20 miles an hour at some points. 

Paul Mansfield, the Production Manager of "Swan Lake on Ice", said: "We brought everything with us here from the UK, and we installed a full ice rink...We start by putting down five tonnes of crushed ice, which has been supplied locally. Then we have a person stay here overnight, all night, and every 15 minutes, they’ll spray the ice rink again so that each time, it slowly builds up a layer of ice, getting thicker and thicker, until it’s about 20cm thick. And then after that, it just needs to be maintained. Normally it takes three days to build a rink but here, the crew only has about 14 hours to do so in the lead up to the show. And when that is done, the 26 skaters are ready to wow the audience."

A YEAR AGO TODAY...

...I left the UK with no idea of what the year ahead had in store for me. It took me a lot of courage to make the move to Singapore and I never dreamt that I would be where I am today. One year later with absolutely no regrets I can honestly say that I have had an incredible time so far in Asia. Over the past year I have not only met an immense amount of people who have been so welcoming, but I have made some incredible friends. Jill and Victoria ... after living on my own for six years I never thought that flat-sharing was going to be such a great experience. Now known collectively as the RPG (River Palace Girls) the three of us have a great deal of fun! Many more memories to be made over the next year I'm sure of it! My work colleagues make every day such an enjoyable one and I thank Richard, Steve and Addison (and the rest of the team) for making me feel so welcome at Holmes and Marchant. They have made the last year of my career such a fantastic one! I look forward to what the year ahead has in store! I knew working in Asia was going to be a challenge, and every day is a learning curve, but I am loving every minute of it!

SEPTEMBER - ARRIVING IN SINGAPORE / FORMULA 1 / A VISIT FROM TOM AND PHIL

OCTOBER - MOVING INTO "THE PALACE" / THE BEDOK BALL

NOVEMBER - RUGBY 7'S WEEKEND / HOUSE WARMING

DECEMBER - A PRE-CHRISTMAS RPG CELEBRATION / CHRISTMAS IN THAILAND WITH TOM AND RACHEL

JANUARY - NEW YEAR WITH MIKEY / VISITING INDIA / ANZ BALL

FEBRUARY - CHINESE NEW YEAR / VISITING HOME AND CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS AGAIN / AN RPG ADVENTURE TO KUALA LUMPUR

MARCH - NICKS "IRONMAN" VISIT / PANCAKE PARTY AT THE PALACE / PINK CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH

APRIL - MUM AND DAD'S VISIT

MAY - SPENDING MY BIRTHDAY IN NEPAL AND FLYING OVER THE HIMILAYAYAS / MY BEACH RETREAT TO TIOMAN / DIM SUM BIRTHDAY BRUNCH / THRILLER LIVE / UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

JUNE - BEERFEST ASIA / KYLIE MINOGUE / BARE YOUR SOLE WALK / THE BOTANIC GARDENS

JULY - LITTLE INDIA'S LONGEST TABLE / VISITING MALACCA / VISITING HOME / LOUISE AND ANDREW'S WEDDING

AUGUST - WHITE COLLAR BOXING / ZOE'S BIRTHDAY BOAT / SINGAPORE NATIONAL DAY

SEPTEMBER - ROUNDING OFF THE YEAR IN BALI / CHRIS AND CAROLINE VISITING / SWAN LAKE ON ICE

So, a year over, just like that! I honestly can't quite get my head around how fast the last 12 months have gone. A massive thank you to everyone who has supported me through the highs and the (very few) lows I have had since I have been here, especially my fantastic parents for their non-stop encouragement...I really hope that I am making you proud! I'll never stop missing you! 

And as I go into my second year of my Asia adventure, I already have so many things to look forward to! Jennie's baby arrival, Christmas in Wales, another visit from mum and dad at Easter next year, Jo's baby arrival, Amanda visiting in January, a trip to Penang in October, Nicks next visit, Lauren and Ken's wedding, going to see Westlife, Formula 1, a Pink Ribbon Charity Walk, Carley and Regan stopping off, going to see Elton John, another Bedok Ball, Rugby 7's again...and many more adventures to new places...