So, as I was saying the other day, on our way to Sydney we stopped over to a little island in the Malacca Strait, off the east coast of Malaysia. We spent 5 blissful days lazing about on lounge chairs pool & ocean side, reading our books and sipping fresh watermelon juice… what a way to end one era and begin another, right? That’s what we figured. And as it turned out, it was very necessary to have the time together to just be – not doing, just being.

The island is called Langkawi, and it’s one of those best-kept secrets – a place that’s not fancy, not well known in trend circles which means it manages to retain its authenticity while being a place to relax and rejuvenate. And Malaysians are lovely people, so to be surrounded by their culture on this little island in the sun is pretty special.  Langkawi is now our regular stop over while traveling between Europe and Australia – it’s the perfect in-between continents getaway.

One of the places we always visit is Bon Ton resort. The first time I visited Bon Ton a few years ago (now spoken between French Boy & I as “our island retreat”), it looked like a mirage – one of those places that ticked all my island-fantasy boxes: individually designed wooden antique Malay huts surrounded by coconut palms…

nestled around a lap pool…

and sitting on the edge of an old lotus lagoon…

There is so much I love about this place, and I won’t deny that the architecture and interior design of each hut is one of the major attractions for me…

Plus I have to admit, I’m slightly obsessed with the bathrooms of each hut. This time we stayed in the Black Coral villa because I’ve been eager  to try the outdoor bath…

And yes, it was fabulous – I whiled away an afternoon in there, reading a book and looking up at the tropical trees above. I did panic for a moment thinking that maybe there was a coconut tree among them that would drop a coconut on my head while bathing. But, I was reminded at that time by my man that I have an extra-specially active imagination. And, I’m happy to report that no such event took place.

Seriously gorgeous, right? There is now a new addition on the same property as Bon Ton and it’s called the Temple Tree – it’s a glorious assortment of  antique buildings with a mix of cultures, including ‘the chinese house’, the ‘colonial’, and ‘black and white house’ which we also stayed in during this last visit…

I’ve decided these are the perfect writers retreats. I’ve been dreaming of being able to spend a few months here, writing – & photographing – to my heart’s content…

So that’s a little about the villas and houses, but then there are the restaurants –  Bon Ton and Temple Tree are home to 2 of the best restaurants on the island – the Nam restaurant (at Bon Ton) and the Straits Club (at Temple Tree). Everything is delicious – at the Straits Club we had one of the most superb versions of nasi goreng I’ve ever eaten, and an incredible condensed milk ice cream for dessert. Not to mention the breakfast plate. And the crunchy pistachio haloumi won me over at the Nam, as well as the nyonya platter (check out the full menu here)… I could go on and on about the food.

I think though, the reason I love this place so much is because it’s a resort with heart. Bon Ton owner and fellow Aussie Narelle created these special places as a way to raise money for her Langkawi animal shelter and sanctuary called LASSie. It’s a wonderful cause, and if you’re an animal lover like me, it makes it all the more reason to stay. The shelter is situated on the same property, so you can visit the animals, take the dogs for walks, or even adopt one…

“..one of the main objectives of LASSie is to educate people to ensure their peaceful co-existence with both their wild neighbours as well as domestic animals.”

While enjoying an evening drink with Narelle one night, she told us about a new creative retail project her and her team have just launched for LASSie. The whole idea of it made me giddy with excitement, and I’m even more excited to be able to share the details about it here in the (blog)house. So, that post will be up next.

xx

PS also best kept secrets/not to be missed tips of things to see & do while staying on the island, if you get the urge to explore this beautiful place one day… go on a jungle tour with dev’s adventure tours – loved this, and can’t wait to go again. I also want to do the mangrove kayaking tour next time; dine at the pahn-thai restaurant at berjaya resort – it’s built out over the ocean and on the night we went, there was a full moon and not a breath of wind – pure magic. The food was fabulous.

PPS and I wrote all that without one exclamation mark.

feathers.

bush walk between newport beach and bilgola beach.

Since arriving in Sydney, with a to-do list longer than the sea is deep, I’m making sure to have fun in between commitments. The days are hot (36C!)(no idea what that is in Fahrenheit), so dips in the pool throughout the day have become my ‘tea break’.  As often as I have experienced it, it’s still pretty strange to have gone from living in minus degree weather to lots of degrees weather in a space of days.  And boy, does the sun down here shine! It’s just crazy beautiful. When Amsterdammers used to say to me in Amsterdam “oh wow, it’s such a sunny day today” and I’d look up at the sky and see a pale white ball of light desperately trying to break through the grey sky, I’d smile and secretly think “I’m sorry, but no, this is not what a sunny day really looks like”.  Australia is definitely where the sun lives…

the sun shining through the gum trees this morning.

In other fun news,  I decided to get an iphone as I needed a mobile phone here in Sydney. My ipod has been on the fritz for the last 2 years, and my G10 ‘everyday’ camera has been weighing heavy in my bag so I figure here is a 3 in 1. While I’m not quite into apps just yet, over the last few months I have been inspired by Susannah Conway’s instagr.am images so decided to download this free app to try it out. It’s pretty fun, I must say – every so often I take an image of something in my near vicinity that I find inspiring et voilà, it appears on my twitter account for all to see.  It’s a new way of enhancing the everyday…

heavily inspired by a floral design on a card I bought for my Mum while in Malaysia.

finds in my old wardrobe… left: a stack of books I can’t wait to read again, right: a rack of favourite vintage clothes that have stayed in Sydney all these years.

Above are some examples of what I have been posting on my instagr.am account. If you’d like to see more, you can sign up to follow me. But don’t ask me how you do that – I’m still new to this iphone and chances are, if you have one yourself then you know much more about it than me.

In more fun news, I’m in the midst of writing a post here in the (blog)house about my recent ‘island retreat’ experience – just looking at the photos sends me into a state of bliss, I hope it will do the same for you. It will be up next.

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PS. oh yeah, and I’m on a mission to curb my use of exclamation marks. Perhaps you already noticed in this post? But it makes me feel like I’m writing monotonously. So then I’m on a mission to find another way to add expression in my words without the use of the overused exclamation mark. Hmmm…all this in the name of fun…

Well! Where to start. First of all, happy 2011 to all! I hope you’ve had a relaxing start to the year – what have you been up to?  I know in some parts of the world it’s been a rather devastating beginning to the year with floods a plenty. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find many spirits of those who have suffered filled with a sense of renewal and community.

For me, it’s been a time of significant change.

Mes amis, I have moved to Sydney, Australia. This past month, that’s what I’ve been doing –  moving my life from one part of the world to the other. And now, after a 5 day ‘time out’ holiday on my favourite island in the Malacca Strait (photos and stories to come!), we’ve just landed in Sydney – ready to embark on this next part of our life journey together in this sunny part of the world.

How did it all happen? Rather quickly. How do I feel about this big move? Perhaps ask me in a month or two once we’ve found a home and settled into Sydney life.  As much as I’m happy to be in the sunshine and be in closer proximity to family and friends here, it means I have left dear friends over there, and that makes my heart ache. If only it was possible to be in two places at the same time…

It helped a lot to have some time away from the (blog)house to focus on all the physical tasks at hand, to spend quality time with my friends in Amsterdam, and to pack up our belongings which are now on a boat (not the boat), due to arrive in Sydney in a couple of months time.  After only finishing the book a day before Christmas, I had little energy left for the events that transpired over the last 30 days. I know I’ll be looking back on these last months and wonder, how on earth did I get all that done in such a short space of time? It’s amazing what the mind and body can do when they work in harmony…

I’ll tell you more of the whys and hows as my mind and heart settle into these new surroundings but in this moment, I am very excited about the year ahead. I’m not one for making resolutions, but come new year’s eve, I found myself resolving that this year I want to focus on having fun. I am so incredibly excited about the launch this coming april/may of My Heart Wanders. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and sent me sweet messages about the cover! There are some great ideas being discussed about book events for the launch here in Sydney, I can’t wait to reveal them to you.

Pour l’instant, I feel ready to blog again. I hope you’re ready to have me back…

xx

Being able to share this with you today is a very special moment for me. For those who have been part of this journey from the beginning, perhaps you feel it too. I wanted you guys to be the very first to see it.

Joyeuses fêtes mes chers amis, see you in the new year! xo

Amsterdam is so breathtaking these days, I find myself lost in its beauty. Icicles have formed on all the eaves of all the homes and all the boats. Our little boat looks like a floating gingerbread house, with layers and layers of thick icicles dangling down in front of the windows. Come dusk, the street lamps, canal lights and festive garlands twinkle against the deep blue sky and reflect in the dark, smooth water. Magic seems ever-present, and it makes me wonder if it’s not this very city that inspired favourite fairy tales from bygone eras.

On Sunday we took ourselves off across to the north of the city, to immerse ourselves in a different kind of snowy wonderland. Taking the little ferry across to buiksloterweg, we then walked along the edge of the florapark and on toward D’Admiraal windmill. The houses along the canals are ridiculously charming…

It was a dark and icy cold day – reminiscent of my winters in Montreal, when the freezing air was unrelenting, being sure to bite through to my bones. Before heading back on the ferry, we decided to stop in to this lovely place for a warming drink. We sipped and read our books as the dark day turned to night, and the menu looked so good we decided to stay for dinner…

The food was fabulous, as was the service and the setting.

Dear friends, I’ve decided this will be my last post for the year. It’s been such an intense yet exhilarating last few months while finishing My Heart Wanders – I’ve been running on adrenalin with very little sleep, working by day and having meetings at night (australian time). I’m delighted to finally let you know it’s all finished and is now in the hands of the printers. Celebration time! In the next few days, champagne will be poured and glasses will be raised to toast the end of all the hard work – my only regret is that I cannot share the champagne toasting with the team at Murdoch in Sydney who have been working so hard with me – it’s not easy working on such a book from opposite ends of the globe, but it is kinda exciting to know that with all the technology at our finger tips these days, it can be done. Cheers to that!

With the book launch in April and various other events already being scheduled throughout the year, 2011 is going to be busy but I’ve decided already, it’s going to be a whole lot of fun. Before that though, there are going to be some big changes in the coming month and as much as I want to share it all with you now, like a sensible girl I’ve realised I need to conserve the little energy I have left and focus on getting through it.  So I will be signing off from the (blog)house for the coming month or so, but when I come back, there will be lots of fabulous news to share with you and many wonderful posts. Even though I won’t be in the (blog)house for the next month, you are still very welcome to wander through at your leisure – I built this house for you guys to enjoy as much as for me, so please do enjoy. There are recipes in the kitchen that perhaps you haven’t tried, and books in the library you might like to peruse; you can take a stroll through the neighbourhood and see what everyone is up to; or listen to some music; or take a virtual tour through one of my 3 favourite cities – amsterdam, paris, and sydney.

Next year I’ll be adding more features to the (blog)house – perhaps even do some renovating, or maybe add a room or two? It’s an ever-growing house, one that I feel very lucky to be sharing with all of you.

Thanks again for another year of fun. I wish you a wonderful, wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year. 2011, here we come!!

xx

PS. I have one last thing to share with you, something that I am beyond thrilled to be able to post before the year is out. coming up next…