29

For the last few years on my old little blog I have made lists of the things I’ve achieved during the year. This is mainly because my birthday hasn’t always been my favourite holiday so I’ve tried to look at the day differently. Instead of putting a lot of expectation into one day, I’ve tried to use it as an excuse to reflect on the year just passed. It’s been a very busy year indeed. I’ve done this for the last two years which you can see here: All the things I did as a sprightly 26 year old, and my achievements as a full blown Korean Alien at 27. So what have I been lucky enough to experience in my 28^th year?
.Won a charity scavenger hunt by being as embarrassing as possible on the Korean Streets (Go team ‘gin on my face’)
.Danced the night away in Busan on an epic girl’s night with about 25 ladies. The hen do to end all hen dos, but without a hen.
.Met three of the best girls around.
.Walked the Great Wall of China.
.Listened to the world’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai.
.Played the same piano as Cole Porter and Charlie Chaplin.
.Fell in love with Taiwan.
.Saw Taroka Gorge (Hualien, Taiwan) in all its splendour.
.Learned to like gin.
.Rode a bike for the first time…on Vietnamese roads no less.
.Went swimming in the sea (deeper that my knees terrifies me)
.Taught an art class to cute kiddies
.Ate Peking duck in the old capital of Peking/Beijing
.Noreabanged with Lee’s family.
.Became debt free (kind of..well close enough)
.Was interviewed for a Korean newspaper
.Travelled to Namhae Island in a 9 hour car ride and still loved every person in the car at the end of it.
.Learnt to Kayak
.Beat Lee at pool
.Left our jobs and house …and Korea.
.Lee and I had our first Christmas together
.Learnt to pole dance and danced in a show (I front of people, no less)
.Planned and started traveling on the trip we had always talked about around Asia.
. Got an Australian working Visa
. Met snow monkey’s in Japan
.Saw a geisha
.Ate Okonomyaki
.Went to a Japanese Photobooth with Lee
.Went to a wedding dress café (?)
. Started this blog
. Made a new animation Showreel
. Got offered a job in a large animation company (couldn’t take it but it’s still an honour to have been offered)
. Sold my first photo and article to a professional newspaper
.Visited the Philippines
.Met a Tarsier
.Went to the mountains of Guilin.
.Fell in love with Hong Kong
.Learnt the importance of Skype
. Learnt the importance of cheese.
.Spent three weeks exploring Vietnam
. Saw Lee turn 30
. Discovered Cambodia
. Went to my first Opera
.Celebrated 10 years with the tall one.
Watched my fantastic friend run a marathon.
Got a new tattoo
.Heard my sister’s first piece of music played live that she had composed…See’s now a mini musical genius.
.Became addicted to Instagram
. Ate far too many noodles
. Read 10 books
.Filled 3 sketch books.
.Bought our first laptop together
.Got a lot of wrinkles/laughter lines

Favorite film this year: Guardians of the Galaxy or Big Hero 6
Favorite song: Uptown Funk
Favorite drink: Gin and Tonic or Red Wine
Favorite food: Lee’s Pad Thai Curry and Bahn Mi
Saddest moment: Saying goodbye to our home and friend in Korea and not seeing my family while i was 28 🙁
Happiest moment: too many to count but sitting in our own private paradise in Cambodia was one and singing at the top of  our lungs while dancing to Michael Jackson at a friends house in Korea also is a winner.
Main thing I’ve learnt: Hard times make the good times better, hard work pays in the end and food poisoning is the devil
All in all it’s been a fantastic year and I can’t wait to see what my 29^th has in store. I know it will have lots more travel . I have now currently seen 24 countries and I’m hoping by the time I turn 30 it will be 30 (quite a tall order but I think we can just about do it). I also hope it includes a lot of catch ups with all my favourite people, especially my family and friends back home. Thank you again to everyone that helped me achieve this crazy list. 29 and feeling fine (I’m old enough to understand how lame that sentence was and still say it proudly without irony).

29th birthday dinner

When the beach is so deserted you set a self timer , but accidentally leave the camera in manual

My family sending my pics to feel close to home

A night at the Opera

Turning 29

not looking like I enjoy travelling much in this picture (that’s also Rugby the tiger)

I can’t believe that it’s already my birthday. When we planned this trip my birthday was a far distant dot among the hotels and flights we had booked. Now it’s here and it’s so strange to be entering the last year of my twenties.
I realise that everyone must feel exactly the same way but how the hell can I be 29! I’m not too scared of turning 30 since they look like the ‘together years’. Still young enough to wear cartoon character t-shirts but responsible enough to be able to travel the world and people assume you know what you’re doing (we don’t by the way) there is also the added benefit of wine being appropriate at any occasion in your 30’s.
Obviously I still have one year left in my twenties and I’m quite excited about that. I’ve been lucky enough to meet so many ‘blow my socks off’ great people in my time on this little globe. All the things I’ve had the good fortune to experience in my 28 years have left me very touched. I think I’ve made the most of my years so far and it’s exciting to have one last year in my twenties to pack in as much as I can. How many bottles of champagne can I squeeze into a year?
This year’s birthday is being spent on the beautiful island of Kohn Rong Samloem in the stunning resort of Saracen bay. We have completed two months of our trip and it was the best decision we have ever made. Retiring at 28 is quite fun… Even if I have to jump out of retirement in a few months.

‘Selfie’ wasn’t even a word when I was born

This year will be spent in sunny Australia and I can’t wait. I’m hoping to learn to drive and meet a Quokka, if you don’t know what that is then you must immediately rectify this by looking at this picture…
I want to say a huge thank you to all my friends and family for making this last year so special. My old friends back home have really made an effort to keep me in the loop even if I’m gallivanting around the place. I miss them all every day. I also had the chance to make three of the best friends a girl could ask for in Korea this year. I’ve had to say ‘see you soon’ to them for a while but I’m lucky to have found them as well as all the people I was already lucky enough to call ‘my people’ in Korea.

My family have put up with my wanderlusting ways fantastically and there’s not a week that goes by that I’m not chatting to them about some such nonsense or making puns.

An amazing collage made by my sister for my birthday

Then of course there is Lee. My partner in crime who made all this traveling possible…mainly by sneaking into travel agents when we were teenagers , taking piles of leaflets home and sitting for hours leafing through them. Now we are doing it and it’s all a bit of a shock to the system. My arms bruised from pinching myself so much. This is a soppy post but I’m old now so it’s allowed, surely?

When the beach is so deserted you set a self timer , but accidentally leave the camera in manual

I not a big fan of my birthday… I LOVE birthdays for other people but hate the pressure of the day for myself but I’m a fan of aging, in as much that I love living and experiencing things but mainly I love the chance to eat and dance as much as possible.
Life is full of moments. Beautiful, lovely and delicious moments and I hope to have a ton more this year.
So thank you for your birthday wishes. Now let’s party like its 1986.