hiddeninplains1ght.wordpress.com

hasta proto!

“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.“

~ Kahlil Gibran

Not quite back yet. Am considering a completely different blogging style

Since my first entry in early July 2004, blogging has been a big part of my life, through the good and bad and contemplative and angry. I tried to be careful about the identities of the people I wrote about and it generated mixed reviews. I tried to be civil but still ended up being vulgar for quite a few bits.

To be honest, blogging can be rather narcissistic for there would be a sense of pride when the stats counter jumped. And despite the once in a blue moon misunderstandings, I did enjoy writing for myself, friends and family in the past 4.5 years.

However, I’m at a different place now – spiritually (not in the religious sense), mentally and emotionally. And blogging cease to exist there. I’m a little tired of the self-censorships on the entries. I’m also fail to see the need of trying to stake a claim in the world by throwing my thoughts into cyberspace. Most importantly, I’ve learnt the merits of introspectiveness and the power of undisclosed information.

I’ll continue to write about things that happen to me, my thoughts and feelings. In fact, I have always written and accumulated diaries since I was 7. And I’ll continue to write to/for those I love.

Maybe I’d blog again, someday. But it wont be here, nor anytime soon.

Esto es adiós – farewell.

The funTies started with zhichar at Chinatown, walked to Macs at Liang Court, settled at Brewerkz for the good part of the evening, and ended with Bak Kut Teh near UE.

Ushering the new year with the people who you grew up with is the best way to do it. Plus one unexpected phone call and a couple of messages from those you thought forgot. Comfort, bonds and testimony to friendships enduring the tides of time.

And since the NRs were packed and I refused to call for cabs which were happily exploiting the situation, I made a 5.2km trek home in 2.5in heels at 3am in the morning.

The journey gave me time to reflect on 2008. And made me remember the qualities I strive towards; and that we can do anything we set our hearts to.

New year celebrations continue today till the weekends!

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” ~ Neil Gaiman

I’d very much like to rave about internships but I’m often not sufficiently blessed. HOWEVER, I’m not quite going to complain.

For one, income is required after the ostentatious december. Plus I may one day need to recite the different cities in UK to save my life. Being part of a big organization is eye-opening. Being part of the Shenton Way crowd is a push in the direction of unhealthy weight loss. Being an intern means I can escape grown-up responsibilities for at least one more month.

Nevertheless, my work email is available to those who want to entertain me once in a while. (For those unaware, banks block half of the world wide web.)

On a separate note, old friends are the best people to remind you what’s really important

It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.

— Anne Frank

2008 seemed very long at certain junctures. As always, the happy moments were ever so fleeting. I suppose the end of the year is a good time to take stock of the blessings and lament (just a little) over the opportunities missed or mistakes made. Still isn’t it funny that we do this once a year and be clumsy about life for most of the time?

Maybe I grew a little better, maybe I didn’t. Whatever it is, I hope I’m humble enough to always look into the mirror closely at what/who I’ve become.

There’s a little truth behind every just kidding, a little curiosity behind every just wondering, a little knowledge behind every I don’t know, and a little emotion behind every I don’t care.

Stop being nice.
As being bitchy gives you what you deserve; being nice don’t.

Stop allowing people to affect me.
No one has the right to screw with my life other than me.