merry christmas!

the great escape

it's been an incredibly surreal 10 days that i spent in tignes, france. it was my first time to france, first time skiing, and first time seeing and touching (and tasting) snow. out of these 10 days, 2 days were spent travelling to and from france. skiing aside, i think it is quite a feat on its own that we managed to survive the 18hour long coach rides, which were even longer than my flight from home to london! that's 3/4 of a day spent sleeping, waking up with sore necks and backs, talking rubbish, eating junk, getting down the bus from time to time for toilet breaks, then sleeping again and repeating the whole cycle. now as i recall everything, from the frantic panic attacks yahting and i had while rushing our last-minute packing right before the trip, to arriving at tignes and having an absolute time of my life there, i can only say that it was such a phenomenal trip. it was so fun and carefree that i really didn't want to get back to london and end this great escapade.

yahting and i on our long, seemingly never-ending journey to the land of snow

crossing the eurotunnel, which ferries us under the sea to get from uk to france

view of the snowcaps from the coach

after all that anticipation, excitement and maybe even a little bit of fear amidst all that dozing off on the coach, we finally reached our destination! this is us clad in our ski jackets. the temperature was a whopping -15 degrees! brrrrr.

we arrived at tignes on saturday evening, so we only officially started our skiing lessons on sunday. the first day of skiing was not really exhausting, maybe because i was still fascinated by the novelty of it all. we had to scale horizontally up this gentle slope, then practise going down the slope in a straight line, braking, and making turns during our descent. on monday we were split into different groups with instructors to guide us along. i guess we were all pretty slow at progressing, since my group was stuck at the gentle slopes for quite a few days while other groups were already trying out the green and blue beginner slopes. tuesday morning was quite traumatizing because all of us crashed when our instructor brought us to try out the green slope, which was the easiest beginner slope around. i couldn't make any turns at all because the slope was so insanely steep; i lost control and just accelerated straight down before tumbling! with the added injuries and mental trauma on top of our burning thighs and calves, we had to continue practising our turns at the usual place since we were apparently not good enough to take on the proper slopes. but practice makes perfect, and by thursday morning we were sufficiently skilled to conquer the green and blue (which is harder) slopes!

this was taken while i was on one of these chair-lifts that brings us to the starting point of some slope. i love taking the chair-lift because it literally sweeps me off my feet (or rather, my skis) the moment it takes off! previously when we were stuck on the gentle slopes, we had to move up the slopes on our own and the act of going against gravity seriously places alot of strain on our leg muscles, so imagine the happiness we felt when we could finally take this mode of transport all the way up without torturing our legs anymore!

embracing the beauty of this paradise

on friday morning we took the cable car up to Toviere! 2695m!

what a long way we took to get down..

all smiles

with our instructors charles and maurice!

friday afternoon was the last time i skiied. it was such a long arduous journey down, but i felt so accomplished and proud of myself at the end of it! it was really a crazy adventure :D

first we had to take this train-like transportation known as a funicular. it brought us underground and all the way up to..

3032m above sea level!

it was so windy at the top of the mountain. the winds were slapping icy cold snow all over our faces. i couldn't move against the wind at all, and i felt like i would be blown away any moment. strangely though, somehow the chillingly harsh conditions didn't manage to defeat us. i think obstacles really make one tougher. what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!

we took so long we skiied till the sun set

there were a few points where i fell and earned myself more bruises, but as the saying goes.. no pain, no gain! im so happy i can exclaim "YATTA!" (which means "i did it!" in japanese) at the end of it all!

celebration! with charles, our cool instructor who brings a dictionary around so he can explain himself in english better

maurice who is very humourous and always reminds us to keep smiling

everyday we wake up, eat breakfast, ski, go back to the resort for lunch, ski again, enjoy tea time, shower, eat dinner, then play cards till it's late before we sleep. the routine simply repeats for the entire week. i've grown so used to this lifestyle that the dark and foggy london skies do impose a tinge of gloominess and sense of emptiness upon me now. i miss the pure white snow, the exuberance of skiing down the slopes, the freedom of playing every single day without worrying about anything at all. now that it's back to reality, i'm reminded of the work that i have to complete, the stuff i have to study, and the great distance i am away from home.

ho ho ho! but tis the season to be jolly! i just realized it's christmas eve today. have a merry christmas everyone! i hope it snows in london soon!