You are going to get fat ‘I was so thin but I thought I was so fat’ is a common statement among women looking at old photos of themselves.  At every stage of my life I have routinely thought ‘I am so fat’ and taken various measures to address this supposed problem. That is, until now. […]

How well do you think you know Indonesia? For starters, how many islands are there? Answer: 18,306 (!). Did you know that Indonesia has the most active volcanoes of any nation in the world? And what about geography? Can you point out Jakarta on a map? Most Australians have heard of Bali and some will have even […]

You’re still growing. Your ETA in this world is still months away. Until then, I just want to share a story about what kind of guy your Dad is. He got side-swiped in traffic this morning. The other driver was a P-plater and she pulled out without properly looking. To give you some background, he’s […]

Ridding yourself of the need – or desire – for perfection is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself because it’s a package deal. When you say ‘see ya later’ to perfection, expectation and disappointment get walked off the gangplank too. I’ve been painting a bit recently. The hidden bonus, beyond the calm […]

Previously when I thought about Beijing, what I imagined was a dystopian mega-opolis, heaving with dust mask-wearing cyclists. Proletariats laboured their way to factory jobs, breathing in smog and surviving on minimum wage What I discovered upon arrival was quite different. I saw landscaping. Miles and miles of manicured gardens, trellised roses separating busy lanes of traffic, and […]

I recently caught up with a friend whose partner left her after she had a late-term miscarriage. We were talking about being single when you’re in your mid-30s and basically how much it sucks. The thing is: she didn’t choose her situation, not for a second. I know plenty of people who are dealing with situations […]

When I was weaning off Pristiq, I Googled the side effects with desperate zeal. I wanted to know what had happened to other people, how they dealt with it and, most importantly, how long it would take to start feeling better. There’s a lot of scary sh*t out there so I am writing this for anyone […]

There was a time when I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t tell people about the embarrassing, sad and stressful things in my life because privacy, right? I used to be horrified at the prospect of having to take anti-depressants, and even more alarmed at people knowing about it. I tried everything under the sun […]

One of the best days of my life was spent in Koyasan, a mountain town in Japan. I was travelling by myself, staying in a traditional ryokan and had a spare day to wander around. Koyasan is the birthplace of Shinto Buddhism so there are plenty of temples and shrines to explore, and because of its […]

I have been to two high school reunions – 10 years and 20 years. The first one: I showed up overdressed, half drunk and with a chip on my shoulder. I drank too much, fell down a flight of stairs and almost certainly offended some people. The second one: I showed up as me. The difference? […]