November 2019 - Hua Hin (Thailand)

For my final holiday destination of the year, I chose Hua Hin, a 3-4h drive south of Bangkok. Decided on it as I needed it to be a short trip doable in 4 days, and wanted a quieter place. It is a stretch of resorts and hotels along the beach, and a really quiet and peaceful beachside town compared to more popular places like Phuket and Krabi.
We booked tickets for Sg-BKK on Jetstar for about $300. There are a couple of ways to get to Hua Hin from BKK, but the most convenient and comfortable would be a private hire car. I got mine for 3600 THB return via one of the recommendations online.
For the hotel, I went the luxury and extravagant route and decided on Centara Grand, a 5 star colonial hotel that is also the oldest hotel in Hua Hin. It is situated directly in the city center, where the railway station, the hotel and the Hua Hin beach form a straight line.

Drama Reviews: Be Melodramatic (2019)

 

Be Melodramatic is about 3 female friends who have turned 30 and are dealing with their various life struggles - the main female lead an aspiring writer, another dealing with the loss of a loved one, and the last dealing with being a single mother. It's slice of life but so unique and creative.

July 2019 - French Riviera

My very first holiday upon starting work in May! Doctoring is busy and exhausting so I was really looking forward to my leave, which I scheduled to be bookended by my graduation dinner and convocation, which means I only had a week to go overseas, but I still decided to go somewhere far. Decided on Nice because I really wanted a nice beach holiday and the small little towns all looked so pretty and it didn't disappoint. We flew on Lufthansa, stopping over at Frankfurt for a total travelling time of about 17-18h. Tickets cost about 1.4k per person.

Drama Review - Search: WWW (2019)

Search: WWW is about 3 successful ladies in 2 rival portal engines who are trying their best to beat their respective rival companies while protecting what values are important to them. Throw in some wonderful friendships (new and old) and romance, and it's a complete k-drama.

Drama Reviews - Kill It (2019)

Kill It is about detective Do Hyun Jin (Nana) going after the killer in a string of high profile murders, who is a hitman for hire, Kim Soo Hyun (Jang Ki Yong) who also happens to be her childhood best friend. The two share a tragic past, and being on opposite sides of the law as adults, were likely to end up with a tragic ending.

April 2019 - Finland

This is the final break I have, as I have finished 5 years of med school and am slated to start work officially in May. Not looking forward to my hospital nor posting, but what's decided is decided and I just have to work through it. I decided on Finland because I happened to come across a tweet from Finnish women's hockey national team goalie Noora Raty to USA goalie about seeing her in Finland. And then I realised that the semi finals and finals of the IIHF women's hockey world championships would be on 13th and 14th April, literally the weekend after my last day of school (aka the day I signed my contract T_T). And it could be one of my only chances to see these women's hockey heroes play live, and for a chance to watch a USA-Canada game live (which didn't happen, but more on this later). So I convinced my friend to go with me to Finland, and with just 3 weeks left, we booked the flight tickets on Finnair, costing us about $1.4k+ per person (youths get a discount!) from Sg to Helsinki, and another $400+ from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. We also booked an airbnb for a 5 night stay in Helsinki, and the beautiful Arctic Light Hotel for a 2 night stay in Rovaniemi.

Drama Reviews - Sky Castle (2018)

Sky Castle was a phenomenon in Korea while airing, breaking all records for cable dramas, which is incredible because it didn't star the typical leads, though the veterans in the cast were all well regarded. The meteoric ascent of its ratings was largely due to its relevant premise in today's social climate, about what the rich in society would do to ensure their children go to the most prestigious courses and universities, as well as the extremely strategically used cliffhangers that effectively enticed viewers to come back for more.

Drama Reviews - My Ahjussi (2018)

My Ahjussi is about JiAn (IU), a temp worker at DongHoon's (Lee Sun Kyun) company. She has a questionable past and a lot of baggage, while he has a seemingly decent life with a comfortable position at work and a successful lawyer wife, but feels hollow inside. As she somehow finds herself listening in on every part of DongHoon's life, initially to ruin his life, but then realising the kind of person is, she slowly finds her way to comfort and healing, while she herself helps him overcome the stagnation in his life.

Drama Reviews - Mr Sunshine (2018)

 

Mr Sunshine is about Aeshin, a noblewoman who lost both parents in a resistance effort, then learns to wield a gun to join the Righteous Army and fight for her country's sovereignty, with some help from Eugene Choi, an American-Joseon soldier, Dongmae, a Japanese-Joseon swordsman and her fiancee, Heesung, a 'handsome Joseon man', as well as owner of Glory Hotel, Kudo Hina.

January 2019 - Okinawa

This was my trip after I completed the MBBS exams in January. I was a little tired of long haul travels and Europe after that mega 1 month "holiday" to UK so I decided on a tiny island I've always dreamed of visiting - Okinawa! I had planned to go there 3 years ago, but at that time there weren't direct flights yet so we put it off. Jetstar now has direct flights from Sg to Okinawa, making the journey much shorter (around 4h) AND cheaper. I think our tickets were only about $300+ each.
It was not quite the beach holiday I was expecting, but it was an amazing break and escape from everything.