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Anita Bye

    Gaining and giving health

    21/01/2016
    by

    Hello Thursday!

    I’ve been getting a bit sick during the past few days, in the beginning I thought it was just the usual allergy coming back but I think I can confirm it’s some kinda cold now. Darn you aircon, why you have to feel so good! It’s no better that half the office is sick and I witnessed them coughing day in and out beforehand… Typical that it happens right before my exams but at least it’s not too bad. I’m still working and studying so everything is good. The only downside was when I was trying to do legday yesterday. I was already having a headache while arriving the gym but I still thought it was a good idea to go all out. It resulted with only having done squats, straight-legged deadlifts, leg press and when I was starting my Bulgarian splits I couldn’t get my pulse down and breathe properly. I couldn’t even do body weight. Note to my self. No more hard training until I’m feeling better.

    At my favourite place on this earth, the beach <3

    I’ve also gotten into coffee now… after 23 years on this planet I’ve found myself in the need of coffee. Luckily I don’t need so much to spike my energy so an iced mocha or a latte keeps me going through the day. Unfortunately Thai people love to sugar it up, but, it does make it taste so damn good though. I always ask for a no sweet milk or syrup option, but there’s still no such thing as a unsweetened coffee here, haha.

    It’s crazy, before I would just have a sip to then  get a headache and almost puke when consuming coffee, but now I actually need it to survive some days. I do want to add I NEVER drink it unless I don’t feel like I can function without it. Maybe 2-3 times a week. My work performance goes from 7-10 on it, haha. It might be better if I get myself a green tea-pot for future energy, for my health’s sake. Talking about health I’m obsessed with coconut oil now, I make sure to get at least one table-spoon a day, and if I cook I just switch the oil to coconut oil. Sometimes that doesn’t work as you don’t want it to taste like coconut, but if you can, do it!

    I think Thai food must be my fave

    I think Thai food must be my fave

    We also buy coconuts in bulks so we have a fresh coconut for breakfast everyday. I swear it makes me feel like a superhuman.Though I am a bit confused why I’m sick now, haha.

    Today we are heading to The Red Cross for hospital for Tom to get some vaccines and also to see if we can be of any help to Lara. I’m sure you guys have been reading about the case online. Lara is a 24-year-old Chinese-Thai-Italian student diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in December 2015 and needs a stem cell donor to save her life. Since her mixed heritage makes it hard to find a matching stem cell donor, we as half European Asian are going to see if we are a match. I encourage you all to do the same. She needs to find someone before April so it’s pretty urgent!

    Have you checked if you can be a potential donor?

     

    xxx

    -A

     

    Welcome 2016

    16/01/2016
    by
    girl stretching in te sunset

    All pictues from Jomtien beach in Pattaya <3 it’s a lot cleaner and a lot less touristy these days!

    I think 2015 was the most stressful year of my life, first of all have never worked that much in my life EVER. I had a whole year where I chose to try financing myself. More work = less travelling. Full time studies. I worked my ass off to pay for school and a living. I lost someone near my to my heart. TWICE. I missed out on my annual summer with my friends back home, I missed out on Christmas with my family. For anyone that knows me this is so important to me. I’ve never missed out on Christmas and summer with my family. This was the first time in my 23 years of living so it did feel tough. Sickness. At some points I didn’t do so well… This also resulted in me having less time blogging, less time at the gym. It all felt hard at the time, but looking back at it, I learned so much. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have the worst year ever. Just the toughest so far. It kinda made me realize how good of a life I’ve had. And have. And just makes me grateful for everything that I’ve been given and have gotten to experience throughout my life. And specially all the people around me. Especially Tom, I know he must have had enough at some point, hehe.

    girl taking selfie beach pattaya

    Looking back at it, there are so many amazing things that happened too. We had our Lofoten and Norway trip in January, my mom came to visit in Thailand several time during the year. We went to Chiang Rai for Tom’s birthday. We went to Phuket and visited the most beautiful island we have ever been on Koh Tachai. Tom won a stay at the Anantara in Trang, so we got to go back to watch our favourite sunset location. And even though I didn’t get a day off for my birthday, I had the best day EVER all thanks to Tom. I love this guy so much!And the craziest thing ever, I won a fully sponsored trip by Sony to New York for two during the autumn. We made the most of it visiting Norway for a week, then a couple of nights in Amsterdam followed london and visiting my family in Spain. And in December, we had an amazing trip to Singapore and chilled at the Valley Wing at the Shangri-la and got to play at the Christmas Wonderland during the evenings. We also got the most incredible gift for Christmas. We adopted a frenchie named Diego. You will see lots of him here on my blog or on instagram.

    half thai couple kissing

    So… for this year I’ve made some new years resolutions. I always think this is such a lame thing to do, as so many set goals that aren’t realisitc or just don’t bother following them. But sometimes people need a list or goals to follow.  Otherwise it just falls through the cracks and is forgotten. I’ve made mine simple, but it will take some work to push myself to keep doing it. And so far…for 15 days hehe, it’s been going well… 

    Train more. I need to get back into shape again. Not sure if I’m going for skinny fit or muscular yet, but I’m just going to push myself at being consistent with my training.

    Eat healthy. This doesn’t mean I’m only eating chicken and broccoli and cutting sugars completely. it just means I’m staying more aware about what I put in my mouth. No more pizza almost every day and candies before bed. I know, it’s crazy I have to put this as a goal but I LOVE to pig out.  Stress less.

    Work on starting something on my own.

    Read more. Study harder.

    Travel more. Even if it means weekend trips to close by beaches or cities. I’m gonna make it work.

    Explore more. All from new dining places, museums, parts of the city I haven’t visited. 

    Blog more. Take more photos! 

    Make more time for my closest ones.

    Coconut everything. Meaning I’m going to slowly change main source of oil to coconut oils. Also try to drink a coconut a day. It gives you so much more energy. Makes you feel good and is amazing for you. We have been reading up on the benefits of coconut oil lately and the results of studies is just insane. I’ll share some with you later.

    What are your new years resolutions?

    XX

    -A

     

     

    Happy days in Pranburi

    10/01/2016
    by

    Chillin’ at the beach in Pranburi this weekend. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to finally travel somewhere where it’s not for work, school or other things that doesn’t have anything to do with disconnecting from the real world and just being by ourselves.


    I’m always super excited going here, not only because of the beach and getting out of town. But it’s one of the few places I manage to calm down; also I can’t mention this enough times; they have the best som tam and grilled chicken in this world! I also love how even if it’s a weekend and high season, it’s still nice and quiet.    

    This must be one of my fave dining spots…

     

    Som Tam (papaya salad) without dried shrimp haha, Gai Yang (grilled chicken) and Nam Tok Moo (grilled Isaan pork?) and Kao Niew (sticky rice). Make sure they give you all the sauces!!! Omg I drool…

     

    This is Diego’s first time here in Pranburi and he’s LOVING it so far. Yay to playing in the garden, lying in the sun and running at the beach ❤️


    What have you been doing this weekend?

    -A

    New years in Bangkok

    05/01/2016
    by

    It’s hard to find something to do for New Years in Bangkok if you’re not into a big crowd, but want good food and drinks while still getting to witness the fireworks. You could always go to one of the fancy rooftops like Sirocco at the Lebua state tower, but 50.000 baht is a bit too much considering it’s just been Christmas.

    Our New years crew

    Our New years crew

    This was actually the first New Years I’ve spent in Bangkok, actually even in Thailand, and I was dreading having to celebrate in a crowded area having to push my way through the crowd and thousands of tourists trying to watch the fireworks at the same time. After going through our options we decided we wanted to watch the fireworks at the Chao Phraya river leaving us two options that seemed like fun; also, it was two options that wasn’t fully booked yet. Make sure you make a booking at least a month in advance to get good seating or even seating at all.

    New years kiss 2016 <3

    New years kiss 2016 <3

    We were left with either drinks and dinner at The Deck or a river cruise along the river. Our first option was already fully booked so we ended up going on The Chao Phraya Princess. The cruise lasted from 11pm to 1 am and had an open bar and a better than expected international and Thai buffet.

    Fireworks at the river is super pretty!

    Fireworks at the river is super pretty!

    When our Uber arrived River City we were met by hundreds of tourists singing and wearing yellow matching beanies, none were dressed up and we were already starting to regret our decision. After a while we agreed on brushing away the negativity as that would not make it any better for anyone of us. It didn’t help when the lady at the check-in counter told us she had given away our seats and now we would have to sit inside the boat.

    Open bar rules!

    Open bar rules!

    Fast forward, our boat arrived and it was amazing. The boat was beautifully decorated for New years with lots of fun props. We got a seat in semi-open air on the second floor, and it couldn’t have been much better. The boat was fully booked but it was still enough staff and area meaning we didn’t have to spend much time queueing up. We all know how depressing it is when we have to queue up for the open bar…

    Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

    I would not mind doing this all over again next year. If you’re having troubles deciding what to do for next New years eve, going on a river cruise is highly recommended!

     

    Until next time xoxo

    -A

    A stay like no other

    02/01/2016
    by

    While staying in Singapore we found our new favourite place to stay, and I’m definitely not staying anywhere else if we are heading back. Shangri-la Singapore is amazing. I’ve stayed at Shangri-la Bangkok beforehand but it’s not quite the same. It might be because we stayed at the Valley Wing and that the service there is exceptional, and has all goods included. The price isn’t bad for what you get, and I can promise you won’t be disappointed for putting in the little extra. I love how there’s not too many young people staying at the Valley Wing, meaning there’s less noise and a classy vibe. Though I want to add It’s perfect for young people to stay as well.

    valley wing reception

    The Valley Wing.

    girl standing at food buffet

    We started of our visit with food at The Line, and had their lunch buffet. I must say it’s one of the best one I’ve visited so far. Normally when visiting buffets the food is bland, and there’s never any focus on any of the dishes. Here, it’s like they have one chef for every section, and the food is just as delicious and fresh as if you would order it À la carte. Even the desserts are amazing. All types of cakes, ice creams and even fro yo!

    Rooms are spacious and the view is nice overlooking the pool area.

    Rooms are spacious and the view is nice overlooking the pool area.

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    I need lighting like this at home...

    I need lighting like this at home…

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    Valley Wing perks


    Some of the selling points are the fully equipped gym, fresh protein shakes made for you at a private dining area for breakfast, and might I add the breakfast buffet is one of the best I’ve dined at. The food is fresh, tastes amazing and the people that works there can make ANYONE feel at home.. There’s also an open bar in the Valley Wing, meaning free flow of champagne, wines and beer from 11 to 10.30 pm. There’s also a complimentary mini bar in your room: excluding the alcoholic beverages. 

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    Their Christmas decorations are on point!

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    My handsome photographer <3

    Photo by: Tom Barrett Photography (www.everythingtom.com)

    The location is quite good. I’ve read some reviews of people complaining it’s far out of the city, but it’s only 10 minutes from Orchard road, and to be honest I like how it’s not connected with the city, making it your own private place to go relax after a day out. The hotel is very helpful when it comes to booking you a normal taxi to go pretty much anywhere, and the cost is nothing to complain about either.

    Top 5 things to do while visiting Singapore

    1. Gardens by The Bay, especially during winter when you can experience the Christmas vibes at Christmas Wonderland.
    2. Hawkers Market to try out new food. It’s the perfect way to try out all that Singaporean food you’ve wanted; all in one place. There’s also going to be many surprises and things to try that you never knew existed.
    3. Orchard Road Shopping. They pretty much have everything so not being able to decide because the selection is too wide is going to be a bigger problem than not finding what you’re looking for. I find the shopping there better than here in Bangkok, mostly because my size is always sold out here. 🙁
    4. Charles & Keith. I love love love bags and shoes from Charles & Keith. It’s so simple and classy and holds high quality. The price in Thailand is pretty low already concidering what you get for the money, but,  as brand is from Singapore, you can expect insane low prices there, so you better grab a couple of items while visiting.
    5. Universal studios. There’s no secret that I have an obsession with having fun, cotton candies, food, slides. mascots and balloons and Universal studios pretty much have all of that in one place. I love theme parks, and universal is definitely on my list of the best parks. Lovers and families alike, you’re going to love it.

    Will you be staying here next time you visit Singapore?

     

     

    XXX

    -A

     

    Amazing Wonderfruit

    23/12/2015
    by

    We didn’t make it to Wonderfruit last year due to the regular visit back home to Norway for Christmas. Seeing we had time and was in Thailand this weekend there was no way we were gonna miss out on the festival. Also Tom’s restaurat Casa Azul had a booth at the event, and might I add they served the best quesadillas, tacos, burritos and ribs there, I would even go as far as saying best in Thailand!

    I came down to Pattaya on Saturday and stayed out Sunday meaning I only got a weekend pass. This was more than enough for me but there are different options and you can stay the full four days. You can even stay in a tent at the festival. We stayed at a hotel, and I’m so glad we did as it gets super dusty there, and if you’re gonna have energy for the rest of the days you might need a proper shower and a bed. It might just be me getting old though…


      
      I can’t find any negative things about the festival itself, but I’d love it if there would be even more food vendors next year. We went from booth to booth constantly eating desserts, steaks, hamburgers, MAC AND CHEESE sandwiches, smoothies and juices and maybe gained like 2 kgs, but still, I would love even more selections. So please, sign up already, hehe… No point in me telling you guys about the festival, I think the pictures posted all over the internet says enough. But I do want to add that we had the best time and that this is by far the best festival in Thailand and that I hope they do well so they can continue every year. ❤️

    -A