i recently spent 10 days in the capital of Portugal, mainly to attend a wedding. but i actually ended up being sick about half the time, so i contributed to the portuguese pharmaceutical industry cos i required 3 visits. the good news was, i eventually felt better so we could look around a bit more.

i can confidently tell you that i have the streets in downtown Lisbon etched into my brain because we were there so often that i did not need to meticulously follow the navigation app in the end to reach our destinations. some parts of the city reminded me of Malaysia, LIKE THE GODDAMN TILES (who took what from whom hmm). we spent a lot of time in our airbnb doing office and because this guy just loves to make pancakes. i was a bit disappointed in some of the seafood stuff though i spent way too much money on canned seafood. on my last day, i did a pastel de nata game where i had to eat an egg custard every time i see one in a “seemingly reputable” place. i had five. (also can’t wait to compare it with the ones in Malaysia) (pastel de natas might be the only thing we “stole” from them)

the wedding was magical, the theme was “into the woods/fairy tale/ fantasy.” guests were not allowed to wear green — that’s why i was in the bridal party. i helped to plan a pre-wedding games with the maid of honour and now have some editing work to do. (unfortunately, team groom won). at the church, everything was in portuguese so i was looking up the verses in english to follow. i was also excited to recognise the worship songs they sung: one was Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), the other one i forgot the title. they were also in portuguese but i knew the tunes hehe. the international table was called Rivendell. temporary frog tattoos were available in the bathrooms. i was wearing a strapless dress and even i was terrified looking at the picture after i had some drinks… everywhere above my neck was tomato-red; everywhere underneath was skin.

this was also the first wedding i attended in years and ngl, i do feel some regret missing all the weddings in the past years in Malaysia :’)

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currently i’m home in Malaysia nursing my sleep deprivation. at the airport, because i didn’t download this new app, even foreigners could use the automatic gates whereas i had to queue at a counter. ridiculous, there is no need for an app for everything. i nearly drove on the wrong side.