Excitement

Right, this post may tell you the "quirky" side of me. But well, I just feel like writing this out. You know, for no reason, I would just get soooo excited about my Mongolian OCIP trip. And the best part is, I haven't even go for the interview yet! Which I really really really wish I can get through it. And oh, yes I wish my friends can get through it as well, cause CIP with friends = great, awesome, unforgettable memories and moment!

Same goes for HfH 2011, which is still in like 2 months time plus. Well alright, I have registered for it, so that sort of gives me some "relief" over my excitement, but I still, at times, feel so excited about it too! Goes the same for last year's HfH as well.

You might find me "weird" in a sense that I am someone who can get so excited about things so easily. I guess I'm just someone who can't contain excitement well. But come to think of it, is just just pure excitement? Like pure joy? Or is there something behind it?

Let me tell you why I feel so excited.

To me, nothing beats the joy of doing something good. To a friend, to a family member, to a stranger, basically to anyone. I guess that's the reason why I feel so excited about HfH. I'm participating in a charity event. I'm fulfilling my wish. That's what's most important and why I am excited about HfH. Cause I promise myself to shave for the rest of my education here in Singapore.

Next, to make a dream come true. I've always dreamt of visiting Mongolia. And to go for this OCIP trip, it's like killing two birds with one stone. Not only I'm doing something good for the environment, I'm also fulfilling my dream of going to Mongolia. Of travelling there. And also to have fun with my friends of course.

I guess this feeling of happiness is what I mean by genuine happiness. The feeling of knowing that your dreams will come true. Your wish is going to be fulfilled. Something you love is going to happen. These events, are the cause of the excitement. And this joy you're feeling is genuine joy. Just like my HfH last year, I felt so excited about the event.

While queueing, I was still excited. While being shaved, I was more excited. When I touch my hair, I feel really happy and excited. And a few hours after the event, the feeling lingers. And a few hours more, the feeling is gone. That's what I mean by genuine joy. The feeling of happiness lingers for a longer period after the event, then it's gone. But a part of your heart feels accomplished. Feels happy and rejoiced.

That's genuine happiness :)

And gosh I can't wait for those two events to happen seriously! :D

My Little Escape - Episode 5

I'm inspired to write this as I'm going for an interview to go for a OCIP (overseas community involvement programme) trip to Mongolia. After seeing some pictures of Mongolia, I just, really really, want this trip really really much! :)

The wind was blowing softly into my ears, as if telling me a story. The smell of the grasses wafted through the air. It's an indescribable feeling and aroma. It's something pleasant, yet something wild and sweet. The temperature of the surrounding was nice and cooling. Even though it was a cold 10 degree celsius, the black jacket of mine was keeping me warm, in this vast landscape.

The grasses danced in the wind. Moving according to the rhythm of the wind as they sway towards the east. The sound of camels can be heard. Some, were chewing some grasses while the others, just making noises, perhaps bored, as they had been standing still for the past 20 minutes. My guide was beside the camels, starring into the emptiness.

I was on a camel-trekking trip for the past 30 minutes, when I asked my guide to stop. As we stopped, I took out my camera and started snapping pictures. The reason why I wasn't snapping pictures on the ride was because, I just simply want to enjoy the camel-back ride. It was my first time doing that as well. That's why I want to absorb all the experience in.

After feeling satisfied with the pictures, we continued our trip. And after about another 30 minutes of trekking, we came into a ger. It's like a hut, that when you step inside, you'll feel so warm and cosy as compared to the outside. As we arrived at the ger, an old woman stepped outside and gave me a cup of warm tea. It was really soothing, both for my body and my soul.

Two other men came out of the ger, along with a small boy about 7 years of age. They shook my hand, and my guide's hand, as they welcomed me into the ger. As I stepped inside the ger, I was shocked and how much warmer it was inside. And the small-looking ger is actually cosy, comfortable and nice to be in. Some foods were served afterwards for us, and of course, a non-stop flow of tea.

I was astonished in a sense how my guide seemed "foreign" into this family. For I was having the thought that the ger was a "set-up" for me, or other tourists, that my guide has planned for. When I asked my guide, he told me that he had never met this family before. This was his first time meeting them.

And in my heart, I was just feeling so happy, and touched by the family's kindness.

One of the men stepped outside of the ger and shouted "oooh!" as if he had discovered something. He quickly went in again, walked towards me and grabbed my hand. He pointed at my camera and pointed outside. Shortly, he started pulling me towards the entrance, and the rest of the people inside the ger followed.

As I stepped outside, my jaw dropped after seeing the scenery in front of me. It was a sunset. The sky was painted with streaks of purple clouds, and some orange clouds. The sky was blue with a golden hue, and some birds were flying by. Without hesitant, I quickly snapped this scene. So euphoric, that I snapped more than 10 of them.

Then I asked my guide to ask the family to have a photo of them taken. And we took turns taking photos of each other. I was feeling really joyful, for all of them seemed very happy to have their photos taken. And at the same time, feeling amazed by my digital SLR. After the laughter, the woman came with more cups of tea as we all sat on the grass, enjoying the view.

The family started singing some Mongolian song, which I tried my best to sing along with them. Apparently the father of the family was a real good throat-voice singer. It was one of the most beautiful dusk I've ever experienced in my life.

Before we left the ger, I was asking my guide if I were able to get their address so that I can send them their photos once I developed them. But looking around, there was no road signs. It's just a free land. Thankfully, they'll be going to the capital city in a month's time, and live in a relative's house for almost a year.

As I rode my camel again, the old woman asked me to reach out my hand as she gave me a small note. She also gave me a seemigly old post-card with Mongolian words on it.

And on the way back to the camel-farm, our original point, my guide told me what the small note and the post card say.

You're always welcomed here, like in your own home. And,

Welcome to beautiful Mongolia

NOTE:

This story is fictional and nothing in this story is real. The names, the places, the objects, the characters in this story are not real and made up by me. But once again, I hope to make this a reality! Who knows eh

Pictures

I just gave my table a "make over"! Well not a -make over- like those in TV shows, but I just put some pictures on top of my desk. So it's more "lively" and colourful in a sense. Let me show you a picture. And hey, guess what, it's my first time putting a picture here! :D

PS: Pictures are taken by me :)

Here it is! It's a photo frame which holds 9 small pictures. Ugh I printed the photos in wallet sizes. But apparently the photo frame holds photos that are smaller in size! So I have to cut them again. Thankfully they are not majorly-altered. So they still look good in the frames :D

But each picture, actually tells me something. It's sort of a reminder for me.

The 2nd picture on the top, the piano.

This photo reminds me of my passion, my love, and my dream for music. The photo was taken in black and white. But the piano is a black and white instrument, which produces colourful music, that only the ear could see.

The 1st picture on the 2nd row, some feathery plant.

This plant sways gently in the wind. It moves softly, just like as soft as its feather-like feature, in to the rhythm of the wind. If I am having a bad day, I'll just tell myself to let the wind carry the troubles of yesterday. Get on with it, and live positively, as always! :)

The 2nd picture on the 2nd row, my dog.

This photo serves a reminder for me, to smile always. Live everyday to the fullest, and always think positively. This dog of mine is the biggest dog. And he's actually not scary at all. He looks really innocent and cute in this photo. Shows how much an innocent mind can bring such joy to life, like a newborn baby. But ultimately, smile always :)

The 3rd picture on the 2nd row, my other dog facing a green field.

This photo reminds me to always live curiously. To never stop wandering the beauty of life, and never give up to find that answer to the question of life. And with the fact that I'm a research student, being curious is sort of a must thing to do :)

The 2nd picture on the bottom row, reflection of a puddle of water.

Reflection. Just like a mirror, it's a reminder for me to always look at the man in the mirror (aka me). To not criticise others, before you look at yourself into the mirror. And as the Michael Jackson's song says: "I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself to make that change" :D

The 3rd picture on top row, 1st and 3rd picture of 3rd row, sunsets.

These pictures tell me two things. One, how beautiful life can be. Life is so beautiful, it's such a waste if we don't spend our lifetime discovering these beauties. Secondly, these pictures tell how much I love sunsets. I love sunsets, for it's a beautiful scene that ends the day, and tells me another one is starting. It's a reminder for me, to keep smiling for tomorrow :)

The first picture on the first row is just something random heh :P

Amazing how these 9 pictures can tell me so many things. How they remind me of so many things either. This is why I love photography. It's an act where one freezes time, a moment. And to this moment, it can relate to so many things. From memories, to favourite things. From happiness, to sadness. And of course, from reminders of life, to lessons.

:)

Short

Love the new blog picture above? :D Well I love it. It was taken in my hometown, a place called Selabintana. It was sunset, and actually the picture is like.... Imagine a photo. Divide it into three horizontal parts. The middle is filled with a golden line, while the 1st and 3rd section is black. Well somehow... The horizon was unique in a sense it's yeah. "In the middle" of a frame thing.

So I cropped it, but it's awesome isn't it :)

As for the title. Life. Life is too short to have so many you-wanna-do-things undone. I've just received an email about Hair For Hope 2011! Hair For Hope (HfH) is basically a charity even to support children with cancer. So basically we shave our hair, to show children with cancer that it's okay to be bald, that they are not alone!

I signed up for this last year. Honestly speaking, it was sort of a "last-minute" thing. I received an email as well, but it's from the organiser of HfH satellite event in my school. So I decided to give it a go, but I went to the real event instead. And well... I think it's an awesome event. I've lost a few people due to cancer. So I want to dedicate that shave (and the upcoming ones) to these people :)

And after last year's event, I realised... Well yeah, life is too short to not-go for these events. Actually I've been wanting to go for HfH last few years, but I didn't know what it really was and the fact that I was still a secondary school boy made me still feel "unsure" about going for it. In fact I was telling myself "who would do that seriously".

Well hey, one more year later, I did that :)

And so yeah I've decided to go for HfH for the remaining years I have in Singapore. And if possible, I want to come back when I grow up to do more shaves. It's a promise I made to myself, and a promise I want to hold on to :)

So I'm so freaking excited for HfH 2011~ :D

And talking about another thing - music. Many people said that I move a lot when I'm in band. Be it in poly, in secondary school or anywhere else. Many may find me weird, like who the hell moves a lot while performing. Honestly saying, I didn't purposely move myself. I move according to emotions, and according to my feeling and the music.

So again relating to how short life is, when else, can you enjoy performing in such concerts? Might as well just give everything, surrender to the music, and you'll see the difference :) That's why I move a lot, I'm being pretty emotional and I'm expressing as much as I can. Cause seriously, that's the ONLY concert you will perform at. You can't relive the concert anymore.

So people, next time you are doing something you love, or you're in a dilemma of doing something that you love. Just go for it. Cause you only live once. You only, live, once :D

Chapter 2

So the chapter 2, of a major story of my life is starting. Wait, has started. Well it's the first page of chapter 2 now. I mean, the end of the first page. Okay I think I pretty much tired. So sorry for the pretty much "weird" things I'm writing now. I'm pretty tired I suppose, it's the first day of my year 2 life and I'm pretty much shagged. But nope, won't let that pull me down :)

I guess life isn't much of a story. Life is like a story book with different stories. The stories may not have link at all, with each other but in one way or another, every story will link up with each other, to form something amazing and wonderful. Like a beautiful story, formed by stories. Amazing isn't it? So well I'm in the chapter 2 of my polytechnic story, or so you can say.

It's pretty amazing, to realise that 48 hours ago I'm still in my hometown. In fact in my room, lazing around, playing with my laptop. And now, I'm back in Singapore, blogging. On the way home just now I was thinking. That's fast. 48 hours gone, poof. I wonder how fast my remaining 2 years will go by.

But then again, I believe that time flows in a constant manner. We humans can't change how fast time can fly, how fast it can flow. We can only make ourselves to feel that time has flown faster, or whether it flies slower. We're not Gods. But sometimes it's funny how we want time to flow, knowing that we can't do that uh.

Be it faster or slower, I'm not going to complain, or to dread this remaining two years. Well, lets just enjoy these remaining two years shall we?

Blumenthal

Mind the title, it's a title of the song Blumenthal by Ulrich Schnauss which I'm listening to now! I'm falling in love with his songs, they are... Just wonderfully "peaceful" and pleasant to the ears. It's like transporting you somewhere out there, a place where you've never been before hehe. Try listening to his songs! I love "As if you've never been away" and "Look at the sky".

The reason why I'm writing this now is that I feel... Bored. One of the reasons. Next I feel.. Empty. And I feel like writing! The sky, while I was beginning to write this, was really beautiful. I feel sort of inspired to write, and thus I write!

Okay now that the sky has turned black, I have lost my inspiration to write :/

I'll be writing here soon.

Emptiness

I just got back from my Hong Kong Trip on Tuesday. And now I'm suffering from this post-holiday trip syndrome. What's that? It's like this empty feeling you have, you're moodless to do anything, thoughtless, and just... I don't know. Feels like empty, that's the best way to describe it. I guess it's sort of a sign that I've had 4 days of fun, now... Back to reality I guess, so you feel rather "unhappy" about things, about going back to reality etc. Well well.

But Hong Kong was awesome, I've finally got out of Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia for a holiday (minus my Sweden trip on 2009). It feels great to go to a foreign country which I've never visited before. And I promised myself that I'll return to Hong Kong once more for another holiday trip, but minus the tour. I'll just go there on my own.

Travelling, I have to say, is my favourite hobby. I wouldn't call it a hobby, for I don't travel somewher EVERY year. Well I do, like going back to my hometown, but I doubt that doesn't consider as travelling. More like a trip back home. But ultimately I LOVE travelling. And now that I have my DSLR, it makes travelling more fun. It's like combining two things at once - photography and travelling. So yep.

I guess one of the best parts of my travel to Hong Kong is to speak with the locals. I was speaking with two taxi drivers, they are really friendly and nice. And what I'm most proud of is to actually speak with them in Chinese! Yay haha. I think speaking with locals are not only a good way to learn more about the country, or more about the perspective of a country in the eyes of the locals.

That's why I told myself, when I travel, I want to do what the locals do, eat what the locals eat, and have fun. I think most tourist places have lost their original value both in tradition and value wise. Like how some restaurants would suit their flavour according to the tourist flavour, rather than local flavour. I ate in this HK cafe on my trip, and the soup tasted rather bland. Being located in a tourist district, I sort of suspect that the restaurant have decided to suit the flavour of the tourists, cause I know they may not be able to withstand the saltiness or the strong flavour of the food.

I think life's just too short to be kept within your comfort zone. Within your home, your country, your own place. Get out of the shell, go and explore this world and savour the freedom you have. Explore this world, and you'll find how much more beautiful life can be. That's why one of my to-do list before I die is to explore the world. I want to travel to as many places as I can before I die. I think it's just dull and empty to live a very monotonous life in your own home or country.

Oh well, freedom comes with a price I guess. But no matter what, I'll cling to this belief of mine, that one have to travel a lot. It's quite pricey, I know, but yeah I'll try my best. I will and I want to travel around the world one day.

One destination scratched from my list. Hundreds more to go.