As we are quickly approaching the last couple weeks of (official) summer, I just wanted to put together a quick little blog post of my highlights from the summer. I’ve been back at school for a week and a half now an reminiscing about all the fun times and wishing I was still sitting by the beach and soaking in the sun. I hope you all enjoy this post and please comment some of your favorite summer moments down below!
1. Internship in Singapore- I was extremely lucky to be able to go back to my high school in Singapore for the last 5 weeks of their school year and intern with one of the programs I fell in love with. I was able to work directly with teachers and was even given the ability to run a few of my own classes and activities. Being a teacher is something that means a lot to me and this opportunity only made me realize my dream even more. It was amazing to be able to work directly with students and to learn so much from the teachers who were gracious enough to mentor me. I started my internship the day after school ended, and although it was difficult at times it was also an incredible experience.
I don’t have a real photo so please enjoy this mirror selfie from my first day at work.
2. Food adventures back home- While I was working, I also had so much time to relax in Singapore and spend time with my family. And of course, a lot of our time was spent eating at our favorite places (and some new places) around the island. I only put 5 photos in this post because if I put all the photos in you would be here forever. As you can see (here and on my Instagram: @swimeatlove) I had a lot of Asian food simply because I was craving it SO MUCH after being back in LA for a semester. I honestly can’t pick a favorite or highlight meal because everything I had was so good. But I loved that I was able to enjoy a fine dining meal (at Level 33) as well as a simple food court meal of chicken rice.
3. Beach getaway in Phuket- I wrote a whole big post on my trip to Phuket, so I’m going to keep this one short and sweet (but go check out the other post if you want to see more!). Most people already know this about me, but I’m obsessed with the beach, so getting to spend a few days in one of my favorite places with my family was definitely a highlight for this summer. We were all able to just chill and lounge around by the beach or pool sipping on mojitos and pina coladas- it was perfect! We stayed at our favorite resort (Le Meridien, Phuket) and loved the food, the spa and of course the private beach and sprawling pool. We got to go out to the town each evening and explored the area and ate at some of our favorite places around Phuket. It was the perfect summer getaway.
4. Lake days- After all of the fun times in Singapore, and a chaotic international move, we finally got back to some stability by spending over a month at our family lake house, which we do every summer. Nestled in between the mountains, the serene lake is by far one of my favorite places to be. There are so little distractions (we just got a flushing toilet last year and wifi this year!) and it’s just so peaceful. I spend the days lifeguarding and hanging by the lake, and then we spend the afternoons looking for the best and freshest summer produce which we then use to make fun, summery meals. We have game nights, do BBQs and have fun with fireworks and sparklers and it’s seriously the best thing ever. I look forward to being back at the lake the day after I leave. It’s the absolute epitome of summer.
5. Adventuring Tokyo- After leaving the lake for the summer, I was able to spend a full week back in Tokyo (which also happens to be our new home). While we spend time in Tokyo every summer, this year it was all about finding the comfort and familiarities of the city that would help to make it feel like home. We did some of the things we love to do (shopping in Shibuya, eating at our favorite restaurants), but we also did some things we’d never done before. Of course we discovered some new restaurants that will definitely be added to our go-to list, but we also did some fun new things like going to the summer festival (matsuri) in Azabu Juuban and exploring the neighborhood around our new house. I loved being able to spend my last week of summer with the people I love doing what I love (basically eating and traveling, haha!).
I hope you all had as good a summer as I had. It was by far the best one yet. Enjoy the last little bit of the warm weather and I hope ya’ll are getting excited for fall!
swimeatlove 