Friday, September 17, 2010
24 hours in Singapore 
The last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of frantic packing and teary farewells, of last-minute shopping (I went to as many op shops as I could to procure myself some "one-off" Melbournian clothes) and ethnic cuisines (Ethiopian twice a week, Carribean, Szechuan... Singapore cannot eat one!), of hitting the road and being shutter-happy.
The day before I was flying home, my laptop died on me. It just fizzled and sizzled and all the magic spells in the world couldn't bring it back to life. After a bit of a drama, I had E drive me to the nearest computer shop and bought myself a new Lenovo laptop for under $500. I felt like my entire life was in that laptop, and I swear I would have a complete breakdown if I didn't get a new one immediately. And we managed to buy a portable hard disk case, pry open the old laptop and transfer the data onto the new one, 2 hours before I was to get on my plane, thank God!
It's been over 24 hours since I've landed home, and everything smells like it does in the tropics. It's the awkward familiar humidity which I promised myself not to complain about. All over town malls are exploding and I am completely disoriented and have had to depend on Mellie (who has only moved here for 3 months) to tell me where's where. I looked so lost at the train station that the uncle gave me an MRT map of the new system. A stranger in my native land, making a quiet re-entry into my hometown.
Everything in my life, inside and outside has changed and I am fighting every bone in my body not to be emotional about it. I miss you more than words can say, but I have to learn to live in the now, be grateful for what I have, appreciate the people around.
Labels: confession, culture, friendship, home, life, love, travel
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Alchemist
“This is why alchemy exists,” the boy said. “So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself to gold. “That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Labels: australia, farewell, food, friendship, photo
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The longest river in the world
"No, I won't go away. I won't leave you in this state."
"What state, this isn't a state, this is how I am, I want to be alone, don't you understand? Alone, alone, alone, alone, alone!"
"To do what, then?"
"Nothing! To do nothing, nothing at all!"
"Then write! Or make a collage, a movie, a song, do something with all that, at least it'll have been some use."
"You're driving me crazy with your enthusiasm, you always see the good side of things, I don't have a good side, that's what you can't seem to grasp. I want to be alone, to wait for nothing, hope for nothing, sleep eat hibernate, not to think, not to reflect, play Super Mario world on my computer, read old Elle magazines, novels I know by heart, keep underlining the same sentences, watch tv, drink milk, eat bread dipped in tea, and dance, dance by myself because I can't in front of others, not to cry, not to laugh, to get massaged, to be carressed, without reciprocating, inert, as inert as possible under the fngers of the masseuse who I pay for the luxury, snore, fall asleep!"
- An excerpt from "Nothing Serious" by Justine Levy
But even when the sky is falling and you're not here to hold it up anymore, that's what friends are for- a shoulder to cry on, a place of refuge and a voice of reason.
Labels: books, confession, friendship, life, love
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Cold turn our breath into clouds
Labels: apartment, australia, cu, fashion, friendship, life, love, photo
Link to this entry | 2 commented.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Lifelines
Labels: confession, friendship
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Dear uncertainty
With faith and courage, life will iron itself out.
Labels: confession, friendship, life
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
I'll be my own best friend
It's funny how I am so used to blogging that when I'm not updating my blog, I sometimes replay my day as how I would have written it out when I'm in bed or having some quiet time. (Nerd alert!)
I wish my thoughts could magically transpose themselves onto the web with moving images and sounds so that you can all know what I'm up to, but technology has not caught up with me yet!
So I managed to run full steam for about 2 weeks before my body succumbed, partly from stress and overwork and partly from the sudden dip in temperature. I came down with a coughing fit (although not as bad as the time in Tokyo I was sick for 2 entire weeks) and a terrible sore throat and had to call in sick to my practicum school 2 days in a row. All my body needed was complete bed rest and I am feeling much better now!
Apart from that, I've been doing some serious soul searching about what to do after I graduate but I think I'll be able to make a much better decision once my current state of busy-ness dies down. I reckon a pro-con list a la Rory from Gilmore Girls is in order.
In the meantime, Mellie is relocating to Singapore with Mamo and Jo is heading home as well, which makes for a very strong case to me being back, but there are so many variables at play. Life is a lot less complicated in the absence of choice.
I promise my life will be a lot more exciting in 2-3 weeks time!
In the meantime, Mellie is relocating to Singapore with Mamo and Jo is heading home as well, which makes for a very strong case to me being back, but there are so many variables at play. Life is a lot less complicated in the absence of choice.
I promise my life will be a lot more exciting in 2-3 weeks time!
Labels: australia, confession, friendship, health, life, photo
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Oh sunny sunny day
The perk of being back in uni is having a 3-week break mid-semester to catch up on my readings and work on my assignments.
And because I've been dying to visit the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Bulleen (which is only a 15-minute drive away), I got Locky and Megs to come along with me and checked out the Cubism exhibition and the Sculpture Park.
When we had seen everything that was to be seen, we headed down to Abbotsford Convent for lunch and had the most delicious Japanese lunch bento at one of the eateries there. It reminded me of my cafe-hopping days with Mellie in Tokyo!
We whiled the afternoon away talking about school and our teaching experiences (can't help it when you have three student teachers hanging out together), and it was definitely a great way to spend a beautiful Friday afternoon.
Labels: art, australia, culture, friendship, memories, uni
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Ron Mueck
Taken from the NGV website-
"Mueck’s sculptures are some of the most widely acclaimed, prominent and identifiable works in the international contemporary art arena.
Often naked and suspended in states of self-consciousness, introspection or deep contemplation, his figures present both emotional and physical states of exposure. As viewers we experience a level of unease that is borne of a voyeuristic awkwardness, as though we have invaded some kind of personal space. However, we also identify with the human condition these poignant moments express.
Astounding in their apparent realism and compelling in their ability to invite interaction Ron Mueck’s works have earned him a singular place as the creator of some of the most evocative sculptures of our time. This is the most comprehensive exhibition of work by the Australian-born, London-based artist to have been presented in the southern hemisphere. It includes four new works by Mueck in addition to some of his major, recognised works including the iconic Dead Dad 1996/97."
The show is until 18 April, so do check it out if you are in Melbourne! :)
Labels: art, australia, friendship, museum
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Apartment envy
On two separate occasions last week I had the chance to visit my friends who recently moved to the Docklands.
They were both very new, very modern, and very fancy! I'm trying not to have apartment envy, but the view they get of the city is really quite amazing! I have to remind myself that I chose to give up my yuppie lifestyle three years ago... Did I mention that they both have heated swimming pools and saunas and gyms within their buildings?
E and I were musing about how it would be nice to live it up in the city for a year or two and all the house parties we would throw when we both graduate this June, but we talk only lah... We're both too practical and thrifty!
Here are some photos taken from Maddy's camera-
Labels: apartment, australia, confession, friendship
Link to this entry | 0 commented.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Why can't I turn off the radio?
Once upon a time, I used to like karaoke.
But I no longer listen to the radio and have no idea who the latest stars or hits are, except when friends recommend them to me or I stumble upon them on YouTube or someone else's blog, and my musical tastes are probably stuck in the nineties and noughties.
This means I only ever sing the same few songs over and over again, which makes it a bit of a bore. Plus there's so much else I'd rather be doing then stuck in a poorly-ventilated room having overpriced diluted drinks and hearing other people warble and wail!
This means I only ever sing the same few songs over and over again, which makes it a bit of a bore. Plus there's so much else I'd rather be doing then stuck in a poorly-ventilated room having overpriced diluted drinks and hearing other people warble and wail!
The other day, E and I turned up for a karaoke event organized by our friend J. Now he LOVES karaoke, in a I-take-singing-classes-and-almost-went-for-an-Australian-Idol-audition and I-know-the-words-and-the-titles-of-all-the-latest-hits way. This guy could probably operate the touchscreen menu with his eyes closed!
As much as we love J, we didn't enjoy his song choices. With most of the songs, the lyrics were cheesy and meaningless, the melodies unimaginative and repetitive. We heard Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" butchered THREE times, each version worse than the last. After a painful 4 hours, we left early. I heard the others continued on until 4 in the morning...
I don't think I'll be singing karaoke for a very, very, very long time.
Unless, of course, someone sings me this-
Labels: confession, culture, friendship, life, song, video
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Up the Kokoda memorial trail walk
Zhiying and I go a long way back. We were best friends in our first year of high school.
She often invited me to her place after school to hang out, and I loved going over even though she lived on the other side of Singapore. I remember the time I stayed at a chalet with her family and we spent a lot of time at the beach, looking out for little holes in the sand to catch baby crabs. We also went on a Geography trip together to Hawaii- it was my first time on an airplane and I got sick and spewed all over myself.
But my favourite story is how her family was one of the first in Singapore to have internet access, and she came into class one day and told me excitedly that I could actually go on the computer and get information about the Backstreet Boys. Being a 12 year-old teenybopper, I was amazed and got very excited. Now this was the era of the 28.8k dial-up modem, and I just had to go to hers the very afternoon to log onto the website. I was disappointed because I didn't have enough time to finish viewing the whole website, but imagine my delight when Z came into school the next day and handed me a thick wad of printed paper. She had printed out the ENTIRE website for me so that I could read through it! Hehehe... Thank God for the advent of technology. ;)
We lost touch for more than 10 years in between, but were reconnected via Facebook. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was coming to Melbourne for a visit, so we decided to meet up for dinner, which led to a later day trip to Mount Dandy and a hike up the Kokoda memorial trail walk. The four of us got on like a house on fire, and we found out all these crazy coincidences between E and her fiance D- they both grew up and studied in the same neighbourhood (D's mum literally lives down the road from where E lives now!), played the violin, studied and became fluent in Japanese, worked in Japan for a period of time and have fathers who are retired scientists!
I can't wait for their wedding here in August! :)
Labels: australia, friendship, love, memories, mountain, photo
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Happy birthday or whatever
"I was going to have the best birthday ever. It would start with a parade- a dizzying spectacle of floats, prancing palominos, and the country's loudest marching band."
- An excerpt from "Happy Birthday or whatever" by Annie Choi
Some photos from my last-minute birthday dinner-bowling-drinks night-
My beautiful Zara silk dress was a birthday present shipped all the way from Tokyo from Mellie. Much love!
Labels: australia, birthday, friendship, love, memories, photo
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
Friday, January 1, 2010
From Jo, with love :)
It certainly brings back a flood of memories!
Labels: birthday, friendship, japan, memories, photo
Link to this entry | 1 commented.
