Why you should travel

I beg young people to travel. If you don't have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you're going to see your country differently, you're going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You're going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It's not what Tom Friedman writes about; I'm sorry. You're going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can't get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people-Americans and Europeans-come back and go, Ohhhhh. And the light bulb goes on.
-Henry Rollins

It is true that when you actually get out of your country frequently you do begin to question things like: why is there a huge segregation between the richer and the poor in Bangkok but not back at home? Why is the wifi connection better in Laos when it's ranked 2nd lowest for HDI in ASEAN? If Brunei is richer than Thailand then why don't we have Sephora? An average income of a cashier in Switzerland is B$5000 a month.. reallyyyy???!!

The many questions an 18 year old would ponder when travelling.
But really though. Just get out there.
Love,
A.

The 2 pictures above were taken during my last summer in Laos. I miss Vientiane dearly & the "baw penyang (no problem)" vibe!

M I L A N O 

My sister took this shot from our hotel room in Dubai that we spent for a night early this week. A beautiful city indeed but I wouldn't want to go back there. I can't stand being in a complete concrete jungle and I actually had to dress for the weather.

And a little more detour of Geneva:

ps: If you ever get the chance to go to Thailand don't just stay in one city. Bangkok is a good start then the perfect next stop would be Phuket for the gorgeous beaches!

pps: put down "travel to Europe" in your bucketlist!  I just crossed mine off my list and I kid you not it will be amazing!

ppps: we almost got ourselves stranded in Geneva's airport so that was kind of an adventure.

Milan wishes you were here

Milan certainly has it's charm which is evident even at first sight and the very first place that I've found myself in was the indoor shopping mall, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele ||. This place is what would have been Milan's ideal shopping mall in the 19th century and within a ceiling of steel and glass you can still spot the heavens.

And clearly I didn't dress up for the indian summery weather. Hashtag: wishful thinking!

Love,
A.

Raspberry Sorbet

Babah took us all out for lunch by the pool last week at the President Wilson Hotel. I never thought that such oasis with a very intimate environment existed in Geneva! The dessert courses are a perfect treat for those with a sweet tooth and the portion is just right. I managed to finish 3 courses of dessert straight after the main entree. Not really something to be proud of...


Love,
A.

From Swiss with love

It has been 8 months since I last saw my family all in one piece. So it's good to see them and summer again.

Even until now travel had always been a fraught affair especially when I'm flying off alone. When I knew it was almost a 16 hour journey from Brunei to Geneva I just had to pack 2 different outfits in my hand luggage. So here I am in my own room in Geneva seeing longer evenings than I'm used to. Sigh. I need to sleep soon.

 Just this afternoon I was in France... By that I mean grocery shopping in Carrefour (which is only 5 minutes away from our home). I did go to Lyon the other day by car. My dad took all of us for a mini roadtrip and the scenery of Northern France's countryside is just surreal. It's like being in an actual National Geographic wallpaper.. in 3D!

Definitely going back here again.

love,
Amal.

Bohemian Brighties in Switzerland

Apologies for the lack of updates, though that wouldn't be necessary as no one actually stops by on our blog anyway (and it has been more than a year). Capital El-Oh-El. Time flies so quickly. BUT if anyone was wondering where we were, continue reading my first quick rant.

Bonjour tout le monde, oui, the title says it all! My family recently moved to Geneva, Switzerland not more than six months ago (except for Kaka Amal). I didn't have the slightest clue that we were going to move a bit too soon. Not alone living in Europe! Nevertheless, it was a big change; from a less developed to a more developed country. It was also a hectic move, packing everything until we were left with 400ish boxes to unload afterwards and especially leaving all the people behind... again. Thank god for Facebook and Skype! Geneva is wonderful and beautiful (not to mention expensive). We also rented a cheesecake-like-house near the French border, Carrefour is just five minutes away! :D

First snow ❄

Here's to a fresh new (overdue) beginning!

xoxo,
F