My Perfect Weekend with actress Ya Hui
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Singaporean actress Ya Hui visited Iceland, and managed to witness the northern lights three times in April 2024.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF YA HUI
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Who: Singaporean freelance actress Ya Hui, who won the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes prize seven times in a row at the Star Awards from 2017 to 2024.
The 37-year-old, who left broadcaster Mediacorp in 2023
Ya Hui plays Meng Meng, a Singaporean tourist holidaying in a small Thai village. Some chaos ensues and the tourists unite with local folks to save the village. A Thailand-Singapore production, the Chinese-language film also stars Long Lee, Hayley Woo and Wang Weiliang.
“One memorable weekend was when I was in Iceland with two friends in April 2024. I’d always wanted to witness the Northern Lights, so to be able to see the aurora three times during my 12 days there was such an amazing, magnificent experience.
The nights were freezing, about minus 11 to minus 14 deg C. Our fingers were frozen as we could not wear our gloves when we took photos. Heat packs did not help either.
When we were waiting for the lights, we kept getting in and out of the car to keep warm. But when the sky was lit up in those amazing colours, the cold did not stop me from lying on the snow just to take the sights in.
We caught the aurora again in the middle of our holiday, and when we were about to leave Iceland.
Travelling around Iceland was such a luxury. Most of the time, I was just chilling and taking in the scenery. My friends planned a relaxing, flexible itinerary. I just followed them.
We visited waterfalls, went hiking and drove to various locations to take photographs.
Being city people, it was great to be surrounded by so much nature, and the Icelanders were so friendly. The whole vibe was very chill, very Zen.
I would have loved to stay in Iceland longer, but I had to come back to reality – to work.
I’m now a partner of a production house called Pointlineplane. I’m also learning to direct and be behind the camera, so I’m really busy. I don’t have much time to sleep, let alone have downtime on weekends.
I dream of retiring somewhere in the mountains, having my own farm and just having a quiet life.
I’m still missing Iceland and often look at the photographs of the trip. I’m not sure when my next holiday will be.
When you are on holiday, every day is a perfect weekend.”
