Morning Observations In The Jungle

6:45 am. I feel like Janet found the site of 'The Jungle Book' and landed a lodge it in. Here I am on my little balcony with my feet up, coffee beside me and miles of jungle ahead of me. Oh and my laptop's in my lap, wifi plugged in - "these are the bare necessities...."

The lush, dark green hills in the distance are topped with a layer of grey mist, hurriedly making its way upwards. Between myself and those hills are bright, green bamboo branches and palms, all quivering under the rain that falls steadily. This rain looks like it is here for the day.

Far away, Khmer music can be heard - a woman's voice warbling away faintly. "The village has woken up" says Anna.

The singing lady, the gentle rain on a million leaves, the insects chirping away and Anna's legs shifting in the hammock beside me all accompany my tapping the keyboard... but it feels very quiet.

It would be so peaceful, were not for the overwhelming, burning sensation in my right ankle courtesy of no less than a thousand famished mosquitos that made their way under my mosquito net last night... damn.

Shihanoukville

Tea at Yumchaa

Another Saturday spent caressing many a cup of coffee - and also this time, tea. This weekend we dropped into Yumchaa teahouse on Parkway Street in Camden where they sell a wide variety of loose-leaf teas as well as cakes and sandwiches. We had the Raspberry Vanilla flavour - a rooibos tea combined with vanilla bods, dried raspberries and rose petals. It was gently sweet and aromatic, with a wonderfully flowery scent that lifted with the steam from our cups and swirled with our delight as we dug into a very good, and very moist slice of banana and nutella bread - one unexpectedly perfect combination.

Apparently, this was the blend of tea that got Yumchaa started.. You can buy it online on the Yumchaa website, where they've described it as tasting like "the finishing touch", recommending it for drinking when "your world feels near perfect".

Teaspoons & Petals

Sanzari

Friends, Life, Unexpected.

I have made a new little group of friends on my CELTA teacher training course at International House, London. To name a few; Maria, Silvia, Ilaria, Diego, Antonio, Nuria. They are from Spain and Italy and are relatively new to London.

Last weekend I met up with them all in Notting Hill - they had never been to Portobello Road market before and were eager to see what all the fuss was about! Camera slung around my neck like a true London 'newbie' myself and ready to share the sites, I met them all in a cafe near the station.

An hour later, we were still at that cafe, swilling the remains of the cappuccinos we intended to finish, the conversation flowing like we had no plans in the first place. The rest of the day was spent cafe-hopping, with a break in between to stop at a mexican restaurant for a proper lunch - with wine instead of espresso. Ten hours went by - chatting, laughing, as if we'd all known each other for years.

The other night Maria and I went to dinner where, due to a miscommunication during conversation and some photographic evidence, I concluded that she owned a life-sized poster of the Jonas Brothers (I did my very best to swallow my shock and horror).

When the truth came out that in fact the Jonas poster was not hers - and when she realised what my secret internal reaction had been - we laughed so hard no sound came out, our stomachs cramped and our mascara ran for a good five minutes straight.

In the midst of this delirious moment, it hit me - I never thought I would be doing a teaching course, and I never dreamed I'd be moving to Cambodia! So unexpected has my life been recently... I could not have foreseen meeting these new-found friends along the way. But am I grateful.

To whomever else I am destined to befriend on life's journeys-unplanned, I do look forward to meeting you, our endless cups of coffee and our own fits of silent laughter.

One of our pit stops was the Kitchen and Pantry - VERY busy on a Saturday but if you're lucky enough to get a table as we were, great food and coffee. Kitchen and Pantry, 14 Elgin Crescent, London, W11 2HX, Tel: 0207 727 8888.

Blowing in the wind...

I found these when visiting an island on our Greek sailing trip... I have no idea what they were for but I presume some kind of decoration for an event, as they were hung just in front of a party venue. I took photos because I thought they looked beautiful, billowing in the wind.

Streets, Greece

Venice greens & reds

The big view, NY

The biggest view of New York I got to photograph while visiting.

New York, New York