The Bahamas Ends my Perfect 2019
We probably all agree that 2020 has been a tough year so far. It’s definitely gotten me looking back at both of my happy and sad memories. Lockdowns certainly gave me a lot more time to finish editing old photos from my previous trips and shoots.
Here are the photos of my Bahamian trip that I’d like to share :) Not gonna lie, I’m really really glad that I celebrated Christmas and ended 2019 in the Bahamas, it was also my first Caribbean trip ever, another baby step to “travel the world” :P
First of all, special thanks to my girl, Tenaj for being an amazing tour guide, giving me an authentic Bahamian experience, making this trip so memorable, fun, and unique!
First day arriving in Nassau - Christmas Day
I luckily landed in the land of celebration on the most festive day! As soon as Tenaj picked me up from the airport, she said “You better be hungry! WE GON’ EAT!” I was absolutely amazed by the sun and heat, I instantly switched my beachy-day vacation mode on.
We drove to Tenaj’s grandma’s house where the Christmas party was at. The delicious food and drinks sucked me right in, I felt like I was in paradise. Everyone at the party was incredibly nice and welcoming. There was lots of dancing and singing, I absolutely loved every second of it.
Meet Tyler in the photos, he does a “peace” gesture with his ring and pinky fingers :) he also wanted “vanilla chocolate” at the party >< Who’s the hottie in the photos? That’s my girl, Tenaj.
the Night of Christmas/the Morning of Boxing Day - Junkanoo
Junkanoo was the most cultural event I experienced in this trip, even though I was very jet lagged, I still had a ton of fun! I tried Kalik beer for the first time of my life that night, I have to say, I fell in love with it instantly, then Kalik bacme my one and only go-to beer in this entire trip. If I ever see Kalik again elsewhere, I will for sure get a six pack.
Everyone at the Junkanoo seemed so happy, the “lion” in the photo was in fact a drunk lion, he stumbled his entire way through the parade with his heavy outfit, which was very impressive to me. Although a lot of people thought his drunken clumsiness was really funny.
I didn’t realise Tenaj’s house is actually very close to the airport until the morning after Junkanoo, we were both very tired from a night out at the junkanoo, we passed out as soon as we came back. I kept on having these weird dreams where giant truck-like robots were attacking the island, shortly after my adventurous dreams, I was constantly woken by a very loud sound of some kind of machinery, in the back of my head, I thought the house I was sleeping in was on the highway, and the sound was from heavy trucks driving by. But turned out, it was from the airplanes :D
Bandos
One the of coolest things about Nassau was the bandos, especially around Tenaj’s neighborhood, there’s plenty of undeveloped houses that are just abandoned with their basic frames and structures. Those Bandos are such unique places to shoot at, certainly gave me lots of conceptual ideas. I wanted to dedicate one day of the trip to explore all of the bandos in the neighborhood, but the sexy ocean waved really hard at me, it was impossible for me not to go to the beach everyday and say hi.
Beach Days
Caribbean ocean is probably the clearest and the most beautiful ocean I’ve ever experienced. I could not resist diving into it as soon as I reached to the beach for the first time. The water was so blue, the sand was so soft, I could even see my toes in the water!! It instantly distressed me, I would literally live on the beach forever if I could.
The Contrast
One thing that amazed me about the Bahamas was the contrast of the social classes in the country. I was very lucky that I got to experience the “ghetto” side of the country, because I think normally, when people plan a trip to the Bahamas, they would probably stay on a beach resort or a hotel with casinos to “enjoy” their vacation, they’d probably miss out on going around the neighborhoods and vibing with the locals or even buying cheap booze and snacks.
Tenaj took me to the “ghetto” to buy booze on a same day after we visited the Baha Mar Hotel, the contrast was from a fancy casino beach hotel to a ghetto hood. Although my adrenaline rush was skyrocketing when I stepped my foot in the hood, especially being stared at by everyone because of my “foreign” face, people probably thought, who’s this Asian chick in my hood? I wasn’t scared, I was intrigued by the adrenalin rush I felt. I smiled at everyone that stared at me, unfortunately, they did not smile back at me. Later I asked Tenaj why they didn’t smile back at me, Tenaj thought I was crazy to smile at them from the first place. Anyways, I’m still very glad I had the opportunity to experience the Bahamian ghetto!
Underneath the Ocean - Atlantis Aquarium
We spent a day at The Atlantis hotel on the Paradise Island, I think most of my favorite photos of this trip was from its underwater aquarium. The aquarium was very dark, it had a very “mysterious” moody vibe, feels like as if it teleported you to a completely different world or the ancient Atlantis myths perhaps. It was probably the first time I’ve ever seen eels in my life, I thought they looked absolutely malicious and scary, as if they were the devil from hell.
Cruising Nassau with Tenaj was my favourite part of this trip, I got to see the neighborhoods, the ocean, the beach and the blue sky. One interesting thing about the Bahamian traffic is that, they drive on the left side like the British, but their cars are somehow mixed with the steering wheels on the left side and on the right side. I noticed that most Japanese cars had right-side steering wheels where as American cars had left-side steering wheels.
I wanted to drive, but I was quite unconfident about the traffic. Although I did successfully parallel park an SUV on a night out in downtown Nassau. I think I impressed everyone that night with my secret parallel parking skills ><
More Bandos
Towards the end of this trip, Tenaj and I decided to go and explore a random bando in the hood during a beautiful sunset. ( Bahamian sunsets are incredibly romantic)
This house is super cool, I had many conceptual ideas for photoshoots again. Maybe one day, I shall return to this island and create something interesting :)
I feel absolutely lucky to end such a perfect year - 2019 in a beautiful island with amazing people.
Big thanks to Tenaj’s entire family and friends for making me feel like home when I was there, and special thanks to Tenaj’s mama, for the amazing food she made for us and throwing such a fun party!
Thank you for reading all the way through the end, hope you enjoyed my first travel blog post, I sincerely hope everyone is staying safe and healthy till the end of this crisis! lot’s of <3
Ok, Let’s end this with something cute - here’s a picture of Tenaj’s cutie doggo - Mochi :) The End.