Even though I’m the first person to scoff at Apple’s “revolutionary” ideas (like putting a flash on a camera — great idea Steve, too bad it took you FIVE YEARS to implement something that should be standard) I have to admit that I love my iphone. It’s an average phone, but the apps make it perfect for me. And strangely enough, one of the things I love most about it is the shoddy little 2-megapixel camera! It’s so imperfect that somehow, it’s perfect. Normally I’m a little picky about my photos. OK, maybe a LOT picky. But with my phone I can ignore all that stuff and somehow I find it really liberating.

Little snapshots of my life. Going to a gig; enjoying the sunlight at lunch; our engagement party! Taking trips, friends and family, everything from the little things I do every day like walking to the bus, to things that are new and exciting like travelling.

These little everyday things are suddenly a bit more significant, because I won’t be doing them much for a while..why? Because in two weeks from now I’ll be on a plane headed to Japan!! Mark and I are going to live there for a year while I teach English. It’s been a dream of mine to live in Japan for years, and even though I’m also nervous as all hell, I’m SO EXCITED!! And even more excited that I get to have this adventure with my amazing fiancee by my side.

And even though I’ll have all new everyday things to snapshot (and yes, I’ll be getting an iphone while I’m over there because I’m pathetic and can’t survive without it for a year) I like to look back on this sort of thing. It’s good to appreciate the little things in life, don’t you think?

My poor old Nokia 6500 has been dying lately. It had a pretty good innings, but you know how phones mysteriously start going downhill about six months before the end of your contract? (I swear it’s built into their design.) Well, I figured since I needed a new phone anyway and I’m always lugging my ipod touch around, I’d just get an iphone. Makes sense, right?

I already had a bunch of apps from my old ipod, but I bought a few new ones to celebrate and my favourite so far is the lomo emulator Hipstamatic. In the past two weeks I think I have enthused to anyone who will listen, just how much I LOVE THIS APP!

Lately I’ve found myself only using my camera for big stuff (clients, special occasions) but this little thing has really inspired me to go out and shoot little details from my daily life. The app even has a little ’shake to randomise’ feature and because it takes a few seconds to ‘develop’ each shot, there is a little element of surprise and thrill every time I wait to see how the picture turned out. It’s kind of like the surprise of film…but more instantaneous, which for people like me (not known for patience) is perfect.

It even inspired me to take another crack at the 365 Project – taking a photo each day. Since I always have my phone with me, it seems a lot more achievable than my past efforts. If I manage to make it through a whole year, I’m planning on printing a huge canvas with 365 little shots on there — I love the idea of having a bunch of tiny little photos each with their own story to tell. Whenever I see that sort of collection in other people’s houses I can never resist stopping to study each little picture.

(I just feel like it.)

I am slowly recovering from either the worst gastro I have ever had, or the worst food poisoning. Either way it was seriously awful, although I’d be hard pressed to say which was more traumatic: 7 hours of throwing up, or the Vietnamese Greens with XO Sauce returning via my nose.

If my brain ever recovers from the overload of sleep and daytime TV, I promise I will catch up on emails and such shortly. In the meantime please let this little sweetie take your mind off any unpleasant mental images you may be struggling with (sorry if I have turned you off greens with XO sauce for life).

We arrived in Singapore last night. I’ve been a few years ago and my first thought was the same as it was then: everything is so LUSH. Australia, especially Adelaide, just seems more grey than green…here, everything is so rich and green and tropical.

The city seems really liveable, it’s small enough to get around easily but big enough to have things to do. Public transport is efficient and I’m still surprised at how cheap it is!

Our hotel is a bit average. Last night our smoke alarm went off randomly at midnight (2:30am Australian time, our tired bodies reminded us) then an hour later our neighbours came home. Apparently they are deaf because they had a shouted conversation for a few minutes then turned the TV up so loud it would’ve drowned out a 747 taking off. Why yes, our walls are quite thin.

Today we picked up a new toy for me, then went to check out Little India. It was just like I imagine the real India would be…colourful and exciting but also quite dirty and a bit gross. We actually saw a bird fly in and start nibbling meat scraps on a butcher’s block in the market! On the bright side, everything was so pretty and exciting and I had the most delicious mango lassi ever.

Yeah, a whole coconut to drink. That’s how I roll!

Tonight we’re going to a Night Safari at the zoo, then hopefully coming home to a nice quiet snooze…no smoke alarm, no neighbours, just peaceful silent bliss. Well, a girl can dream.

Our internet is a bit limited (and INSANELY expensive in our hotel) but I’ll try and upload some pics soon Pics now!

It’s that time of year again. Time to pack away the big heavy quilt, the blankets, yank down the blinds to keep the sun out and crank the fans and AC. Time to start thinking about BBQs, cold cider, citronella candles, Aeroguard and tea tree oil for the inevitable mosquito bites. (For the record – 18 in one night last week!! I think one hungry little mossie must’ve gotten under the blankets while I was sleeping and enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet.)

But on the bright side, it’s sunny! I’m more of an Autumn kind of girl, so the novelty of summer and sunshine wears off pretty quickly for me, but today it’s still exciting. I’m breaking out my favourite bright “summer top” for a wedding today! The colours always make me feel happy. Ready for a great day!