Tintin and the City

I've been loving myself far too much lately (I think) because I have been spending hours reading previous entries on my own blog and looking at my posts on instagram. It's a good thing that I did this though, because one of my blog posts inspired me to reflect on the important lessons that I've learned in the last year or so. In fact, some of the things that I will be writing here are extracted from my previous entries.  A lot of things have happened between 40 and 41. It's amazing how things can change so swiftly in a short span of time. As they say, change is always good as it allows us to be the person we are meant to be. And for that, here is my list of the important lessons that life taught me before I turned a year older: 1. Don't be afraid to take the leap of faith no matter where you are in your life right now. Forget about the uncertainties and look forward to the many possibilities. 2. In connection to that, always follow your heart because even t

Whenever I felt like the whole world was against me, one of my dearest friends would tell me to learn how to be my own best  friend. She made it sound like so easy but for a while, I wondered what it really meant to be your own best friend- until I went to New Zealand and suddenly enjoyed being in my own company. Then I met a beautiful friend who inspired me to find happiness in doing things alone. Since then, I learned how to rely more on myself emotionally and then I started to develop a more positive relationship with my self .  This is the reason why this year,  I started a new tradition that is to celebrate my birthday quietly and decided to date myself instead, with the special participation of J (because he is quite competitive that way). He also wanted to do something special for me and who am I to refuse, right? So, what did I do exactly that made my anticipated 41st birthday a beautiful experience? Well.... 1. I took a few days off - Since I came to the UK, I made

I don't think I've done anything adventurous in England before, so I was really looking forward to J's annual family holiday in the Lake District. And when I say holiday, I mean the most relaxing holiday I've had for as long as I can remember( but  New Zealand doesn't count). No pressures. No dramas. Simply stress-free.  J and I drove from Newcastle to Langdale where we stayed for five days. The drive was easy and picturesque - kind of like New Zealand really, only on a smaller scale.  On our first day, we went on a hike to Helm Crag. We ascended from Grasmere and although the mountain didn't look that high, it was very prominent that you could see it from the village. The majority of the climb was easy to moderate in my opinion. It only got challenging towards the summit. The views from start to finish were astonishing. So much greenery. I honestly didn't expect this. After confidently climbing up three quarters of the mountain,