a girl who travels.
16 May 2012 Leave a Comment
I read this blog post from solitarywanderer and it just brings smiles to my face. It helps to remind me of why I am here and what I’m doing, amidst all the challenges and intensities faced here. The environment can be unkind and the streets can be polluted and dirty, and the food can be unhygenic. It seems like we’re fighting a mini war everyday with things in life we can’t control, but I’m thankful for the opportunities here and the support I have (:
There are cultural practices and ideas that people are entrenched, and hold so strongly to. It may even sound bizzare and even illogical to us who have been exposed to tenets of scientific, rational knowledge, but there is another form of knowledge ( or I should say knowledges that exist) and which people hold very closely to their hearts. We visited the slums in Yommarat Bangkok to try to uncover the socio-cultural practices + historical critique of their migratory patterns from Isaan. More awaits!
girl talk.
08 May 2012 Leave a Comment
I realised that there are many things that I am fearing in life. Fearing of the uncertainties in life, fearing about the differences I have with people, and fearing of not being able to do hurting things to others. I realise that sometimes we have to hurt others and sometimes we have to be the evil one. I am wondering still, where God is leading me to. The three of us met up today and there’s always so much to share. So much laughter and so much fear, so much craziness and so much gratefulness that we have each other. It’s been a really long time but it just seemed like yesterday when we were clueless little kids laughing inside geog class and laughing DAMN loudly as usual, or just chionging maths questions, copying Jaime’s math stuff or talking about Shey’s constipation problems things in class. Those days seemed a bit far away..but they always understand me and are there to support me. So thanks alot, girls. For sharing your fears in life and for listening to mine to…
Where is life leading us to?
God if it is your will then let it be your way..
everyday = the twelve days of christmas
05 May 2012 Leave a Comment
AFTER EXAMS…. My candle for Holy Hour (: Thank you Jesus for everything. I really felt like crying after the Entrance Hymn already! It was the first catholic hymn I learnt. Thank you being the light of the world and for teaching us to be the light for the world in Your Name. Help me to not remain in darkness under the tub but in triumphant love and never hesitating to do good works.
Claud, Aloy and I went to ‘get lost’ at Tiong Bahru after our last paper. Dripz is really an awesome place to hang out. I still love the pillows. Totally miss those days of ‘getting lost’ myself and taking photos of simple mundane aspects of daily life.Shall resume when i’m back, maybe this time with bobo if he’s keen on following me around and ‘getting lost’.. Haha.
Field studies is starting soon and I really can’t bear to leave Singapore this time. 6 weeks seems like a painfully long wait especially when there are so many things I hold dearly to my heart..
I saw this and I thought it is really beautiful 
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
A Partridge in a Pear Tree.
“My true love” refers to God, “me” is the individual Catholic.
The “partridge” is the piece de resistance, Jesus himself, and the “pear tree” is the Cross.
The “two turtle doves” represent the two natures in Jesus: human and divine or the two Testaments, Old and New.
The “three French hens” are the Three Persons in God or the three gifts of the Wise Men.
The “four calling birds” are the Four Gospels.
The “five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah which are generally considered the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament.
The “six geese a laying” are the Six Commandments of the Church or the six days of creation.
The “seven swans a swimming” are the Seven Sacraments.
The “eight maids a milking” are the Eight Beatitudes.
The “nine drummers drumming” are the nine choirs of angels which in those days of class distinction were thought important.
The “ten ladies dancing” are the Ten Commandments.
The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the treachery of Judas.
The “twelve lords a leaping” are the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church as outlined in the Apostles Creed.
Vocation Sunday (:
29 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
“I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father” ( John 10:14-15)
Mass always makes a tiring and challenging week so much better. There is really no greater joy than celebrating in the goodness of the Lord (: Today’s Vocation Sunday had Fr. Ambrose Vas and his ‘guest appearance’. Haha. his homily was a bit long but still charged with so much detail on reflection. I still wonder to myself sometimes whether I am called to do something more than what I am now. Sometimes i feel like i’m hiding and sleeping in my faith and being spiritually lazy especially when I know I can enroll into catechism class again, but that will surely marshal some vociferous reactions at home ( again). Oh well. Lord, if it is your will, let it be (:
mashup (:
22 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
These ladies have a tendency to go flat, not pitch perfect, kinda throaty but there is something about them there is magical and i really really like!
“谢谢你喜欢我” (:
O England, How i miss thee
22 Apr 2012 3 Comments
Days without facebook for the time being are constraining yet liberating at the same time. On one hand, I’m free from the chains of this unrational obsession with scrolling down what happens on the News Feed, about what people do and what people say..sometimes it gets irritating and banal. It also removes me from this somehow narcissistic mode of going to MY own facebook page, or talking to myself or getting some spuriously constructed reaffirmation with people liking my status or commenting on my posts. I’m starting to think how powerful that is, but at the same time, what does it really mean.. On the other hand, i feel slightly disconnected that I can’t keep up with what my friends are up to. And then again it goes back to how all these banal stuff shouldn’t really bother me because there are better and more effective ways to contact me. If you would like.
I just adore all the freshly pressed posts on wordpress! Fashion, food, photography..haha! Revistied this blog about amsterdam – it’s so elegantly nice to see beautiful women cycling along the canal rings, but they are still so poised and well-dressed. Time to reinvent my wardrobe when i’m back from Thailand. It’s really getting too safe, too boring and too unexciting. Maybe it is also time to invest in some camera skills, or to take up a swimming class or yoga class.
Or take a trip somewhere myself.
Guide me!
17 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Guide my mind Lord, let it learn from Thee.
Guide my heart Lord, that it might love like Thee.
Guide my tongue Lord, let it be ever mindful of Thee.
Guide my hands Lord, that they might work for Thee.
Guide my footsteps Lord, that they might follow Thee.
Guide my life Lord, that it might please Thee.
And please dear Lord, guide my spirit,
that it might one day dwell with Thee
when we were young
13 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
We were talking ( yes again) about when one is having fun, time seems to pass so quickly. It doesn’t even feel like the last day of the academic calender at all. met Jo this afternoon and she said to take a photo with us – then it really struck me how much I’ve grown together with the gang. Alot of things have happened, and alot of things have changed, but in between, yet I know there is something which we all have in our hearts that will bind us together. I’ve come to realise how transient our being is, and how things can work in multifarious and complex ways that while it is nice to have good friendships built, to have affirmation and conviction from those around you, I’ve learnt, not sadistically, that things can change. We will all move on with our lives, and we will become differently moulded by the people around us and the things that we learn. Change is difficult, but change is here to stay.
I’m afraid to think about my graduation actually. I think these years have been so immensely formative that I really discovered myself, but not so much about myself as a singular being, but the “I” in me that consists of everything that I’ve learnt from the very, very brilliant people around me.
Thank you for building me to what I am today – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually… The I wouldnt be what the I is without you all (:
perfectionist fallacy.
12 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Many times I lament to myself ( especially in the course of my study as a social sciences student) that i feel so powerless because i cannot effect any big change on the world, despite all the contradictions, inequalities and injustices that I learn about. The world is not a very nice place, we sadly feel sometimes, because people are “brutish” ( favourite word these days), self-centered and mercenary creatures who care for their own selfish needs more than others. Then again it starts to cross my mind, that if i cannot do anything, or effect any change, and therefore NOT do anything about it, I would have committed something some sort like a perfectionist fallacy. Just because some things cannot be ideally materialised, or that some changes cannot be made to effect a tangible, most effective change, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it.
I’ve learnt alot in these few days. One, that we really all make mistakes. I think we are all guilty of this very contradictory issue – on one hand, we yearn for understanding from others in times of need and in times of our own incapacities and inadequacies, but many a time we are quick to judge when some people do things wrongly. The basis is that because we are really only human, we are really so small and incorrect sometimes, and that we don’t possess the omnipotence of God ( this really doesn’t even have to be religious at all), we are all prone to mistakes and errors. Be it careless or not. It really leads me into understanding the brokenness of humankind and why I am powerless in some situations, and why I really cannot be in control all the time, as much as it provides us with security and conviction when we are in “power”. I’m starting to use these experiences to draw closer to things I couldn’t fathom last time – like what does it mean to be joyful in surrendering, what does it mean that the meek will inherit the earth, and that blessed are the poor in spirit? It doesn’t mean that I don’t care, but that i really cannot care outside my limits to please every single person.
And seriously, come on, what’s the worst consequence that can come out from it? At most I have one or two people hating me, talking bad about me, I realise, hey that’s really okay and if God is for me, why should I really be so obsessed and fixated at pleasing the multiple, contradictory and complex desires of those around me? It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that there is a joy in knowing one’s limits. Mother Theresa has said that I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others, and it requires that i give until it hurts. I really try to strive for this, but I guess we are only human and we should let ‘Jesus take the wheel’ (: I’m so imperfect and broken, and mistake-prone and sin-laden that I really need God so much in my life. I really cannot do it all on my own.
The courage to make mistakes, and the beauty of seeing that there is joy in making mistakes, even when the world may not accept you for who you are – that you are really only human.
lonelytraveller
07 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Was reading about Oktober Fest and Germany last night. Damn, I really want to go to Germany so much, especially Berlin. Learning about its history makes me appreciate this country even more.It’s just sheer amazement. I was thinking about grad trip again yesterday, and about spending money on things one deem worth it to spend on. I think we all expend our money in exchange ( sounds transactional, no? ) for things that we like. So for me, it’s traveling that takes up a large part of my expenses but something I deem it well-spent because of the immensity of experience. Just that this hobby of collecting stamps on my passport is quite an expensive one… >:
Damn! NATAS airfare on sale now. A flight to Berlin for only under 1.2 K…!
| Routing | SIN-DOH-TXL-DOH-SIN(view details) |
| Booking Period | 23 Feb 2012 – 10 Apr 2012 |
| Travel Period | 23 Feb 2012 – 30 Sep 2012 |
| Min / Max Stay | 0 night(s) / 4 months |
| Schedule | View flight timings |
| Condition | View booking conditions |
| Adult Fare & Fee | S$676.00 |
| Est Tax | S$488.40 |
| Total Amount | S$1,164.40 |
