Through my lens » All things me

2011 Recap

Yen — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:06:03 +0000

Spring
It was definitely one of the most memorable season for me to date. My first trip to the States! And if I recalled the nightmare that I had at the airport, it definitely made it to my top ten list of worst travel experience. Lessons learned and forever etched in my heart. I had a rather lively discussion with a friend the other day about whether it’s better to plan your holiday all on yourself or you’d rather book a holiday through a travel agency. I won’t deny that it’s convenient to get my plane tickets and hotels all booked and organised without worrying about the all those tiny details but I still prefer to go through the painstaking ordeal of planning, researching and learning everything about the place that I want to go before embarking on the trip. The whole process somehow builds up the anticipation, the excitement of actually going on a holiday. So if you ask me whether I’d do it all over again, of course I would. I’m definitely wiser now .And I’m already planning for my next adventure for the coming spring!

Summer
There were lovely days which rendered us the opportunities to be out and about, visiting towns where vines climbed along walls, hung across balconies, crawled along lamp posts or hung crisscrossed across streets. I can still recall how the air was so thick and heavy with the heady aroma of ripened, luscious grapes, hanging enticingly just slightly out of my reach. Summer was a busy period. I was glad I could steal a prolonged weekend for some rest and sightseeing. It was a year of rekindling fond memories. Revisiting places that I have been to, almost too long ago. But seeing these places again, with a new mind and the company of a fine young man somehow put things in a different perspective. It was inviting and utterly refreshing.Hiking and wandering about the reserved forest of Rhineland Palatinate was wonderful. There were times when we found ourselves in the middle of the forest with only trees about us and the beaten path ahead of us. The whispering of trees, the rustling of leaves, the soft caress of summer breeze cleared the cobwebs in my all-too-jammed mind. Wish I could do this more often.Summer was also a time for some music at the lawn. Cocktails and fireworks late into the night. I had fun, grooving to the music of the 80′s. Ah, it was definitely my highlight of summer 2011.

Autumn
Somehow I didn’t realise that autumn has arrived. Autumn was however full of surprises. Warm and sunny until the end of October. I guess my parents got lucky. We went city hopping. From Berlin to Dresden. From Prague back to the West of Germany. A record for us, it was over 1000km by train!Berlin was still as hip as ever. Many years ago, I made a promise to myself that I’d one day definitely revisit Berlin. Revisit I did and with a proper camera to boot. It was spring back then and I forgot to bring my camera. To me, no other cities in Germany is more poignantly drenched in history than Berlin.Traces of history can be found all over the city to remind us of the sad reality that has plagued the city not too long ago. Writings of the Soviet soldiers that occupied Berlin could still be seen inside the house of parliament. Eating out was still considered cheap in Berlin for a metropolis. For less than 10Euros you can get an authentic yummy Japanese meal! However I couldn’t find that small Vietnamese restaurant which I thought was squeezed at corner of a row of nondescript shop houses which sells the best bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup anymore. Dresden was new to me. It was a city quite hyped about recently in Germany. Neat. Huge. Historic. Culturally rich. And overrated. We had a fine time exploring the city but I think Dresden was still somehow overshadowed by its other Eastern Europe counterparts. Prague for one. Prague’s unique image never fails to impress me. It was late autumn and the weather was already getting cold and rainy. But Prague was still very much alive with throngs of excited tourists and herds of teenagers on school excursions. But be careful though when roaming the streets of Prague. Its cleanliness almost parallels that of Paris’s! If you’ve heard of merde, then you’ll know what I mean. Try walking the streets of Prague in the rain and also avoid stepping on poo at the same time.Autumn is also a season for weddings. It was less than 5°C and I was still shivering inside my winter jacket, I saw this couple (with the bride wearing a bare back wedding gown) posing for a photograph in front of the cathedral at the Prague’s Castle, despite the cold. You can imagine the excitement of curious onlookers, including me!We’ve passed by at least three couples doing their wedding photo shooting around the old town of Prague. I’d say bravo to those couples, braving the sea of tourists, walking about with their wedding entourage with the brides all looking beautiful in their scanty wedding gowns, trying to look natural for the camera, despite the amused looks of bystanders.

Winter
I should be thankful for not ending up norther in Europe. There were places in Norway where the people never see sunlight throughout the whole of winter and here I am, all whiny and down with the blues.But December isn’t all that bad. With Christmas and the excitement of gift hunting for loved ones, it was really fun (ahem, I’m trying to sound convincing here). As the year is nearing its end, is it too cliche to be retrospective? I think it’s good to ask myself whether I’ve lived everyday of my 2011 like it’s the greatest day of my life? Well, life is not always like a walk in the park on a fine day. I’ve read somewhere that we should live every season as it passes, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign ourselves to the influences of each. I’m gonna remember this .

I’m all too ready for 2012 and wonder what the coming year has in store for me. Happy new year!

Awesome April

Yen — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:29:36 +0000

After hibernating and functioning on autopilot mode for some time, my senses are finally awaken by the canorous chirping of the birds that cheerfully greeted me every morning. I’m always amazed by the transformation that takes place from winter to spring. It was like watching a black and white film, in which the objects are slowly being painted with colours and gradually coming into life. How can you not love spring when the reds of tulips are like sparks of fire that warm the bones after the cold of winter? How can you resist the charm of spring when the yellow coloured tulips and vibrant daffodils are screaming for attention under the generous, sunny sky? Nor can I resist walking barefoot on the greens with floor adorned with wild flowers. Waking up to a sky so blue that it almost feels like mother nature is trying to reward everyone after braving through another winter. There are music in my heart, drumming to the melody of the birds outside my window.
How I’ve missed you, spring.

A moment like this

Yen — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:52:57 +0000

There are times when life grants you little moments of satisfaction. Knowing that you get all the more wiser after trudging through a series of setbacks or taking some wrong turns. However fleeting these moments are, sometimes they are a little too fragile to hold on to and always too easy to be overlooked. Taken for granted. Someone once told me that I should list down at least one thing in life I should be thankful for whenever I’m at my happiest. Perhaps, until another wave of obstacles comes rolling, there’s at least this list to remind me, to carry me through harder days to come.

Let Sunday be Sunday

Yen — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:52:34 +0000

The sky was perpetually painted in a coat of light grey and it was one of those days when the sun is too shy to show itself. I took comfort in the fact that the morning would be at least rainless. Claustrophobic antsy-ness drove me into the garage and I took out my bike. Without a further glance at the sky, I cycled away. Cool, morning air, stroke my face. It felt almost like a caress. Who said weather forecasts can be trusted?

Back to reality

Yen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:13:10 +0000

Spring hasn’t really arrived yet. The much yearned for blue sky and sunshine in spring are more often than not obliterated by heaps of dark clouds rolling past the skies of Germany coupled by some unusually low temperatures at this time of the year. Being back after my three ‘short’ weeks at home, I’m missing the warmth of tropical sun. I was hoping rather fervently, as my car arrived at the front porch, to be greeted by blooms of tulips and by the sways of narcissus. The sight was rather disappointing. I guess spring is once again waylaid by the post-winter weather.

My time at home was well-spent and was much too short. Reminiscing my holidays at home and sorting my pictures always bring around bout of homesickness that is not easy to quench (sigh). It was extremely nice meeting up with my crazy bunch of girl friends again (I really miss them a lot), catching up on news and stale gossips like we used to. Impending marriages, careers and babies dominated our conversations. Man, I can’t help thinking that we aren’t getting any younger. Despite not being able to catch up with each and everyone of them due to time constraints, I am glad knowing that everyone is looking and doing great! But the most memorable moments were spent holidaying with my parents in Taiwan, my first time actually! When I first mentioned to my German friends that I’ll be holidaying with my parents, most of them had this “you’re-kidding-me-right?”-look on their face. I think it is rather unheard of going on a holiday with the parents in this part of the world but to me, I was really happy to spend as much time with them as possible (although it can be quite stressful at times ) .

Wonderfully penned

Yen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:38:47 +0000

Looking at these elegantly penned Chinese calligraphy always made me wish that I could be a wee bit more proficient in the Chinese language. I was explaining to bf a couple of days ago that each of these characters is sort of a rough visual description of the word it represents. Like the word 门 (door) looks sort of like a sketch of a door, no? It’s a pity that I didn’t have the chance to obtain a full Chinese education during my school years, hence I’m sort of like a Chinese-illiterate. Sometimes I do wonder where will I be now, if my application to the Chinese school wasn’t rejected in the first place?

As I grew

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:18:04 +0000

Coming back home always invoke some sort of mix feelings in me. Familiar faces greeted me in tight embraces and loving kisses. I couldn’t help but noticed that despite those smiles, a few lines of wisdom are starting to make their presence known. A subtle reminder for me that growing is part of life and I’m missing out on those moments.

March update

Yen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:37:21 +0000

Some people start the new year with a bang while some prefer to take it slow whereas some like me, begin the new year with an ever increasing pile of workload and I have a feeling that I’ve never worked so hard before. They say females are wonderful in multitasking. I begin to doubt that because I can only concentrate on one thing at a time or is it concentrated-multitasking? The human brain is an amazing work of nature. But sometimes it can only suck in that much before turning into a pulp at the end of the day. And still it continues to brood over those pile of unsolved puzzles. Waiting. Lurking.

Recalling 2009

Yen — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:28:43 +0000

2009 has passed by in a wink. Someone once told me that the older you get, the more you felt that time speeds you by. I couldn’t agree more. 2009 was overall a pretty smooth year for me, except for a few insignificant little bumps. I was able to take extra leaves from work throughout the year. With so much time on my hand, it didn’t take me long to figure out what to do with my time. Satisfying my inner wanderlust was and still is, amongst others, on top of my to-do list. My utmost gratifying escapade was to that not-so-little rock of Preikestolen above the magnificent Lysefjord in Forsand. Trekking, hiking, wandering, and being close to mother nature did me good, physically, mentally and emotionally. I was longing for some fleeting moments less ordinary. As I sat there by the cliff, humbled by the the awe-inspiring beauty of mother nature around me, I realised that I should do this more often! Lazing around by the beach no longer appeals to me while holidaying in the city was starting to feel suffocating. Autumn saw me wandering off alone to the most wonderful place in Italy. Again, I had a rendezvous with nature. I was plagued with apprehension for traveling alone prior to the trip. In hindsight, I was really glad that I went on with my plan. The trip not only opened my eyes but made me a good companion of myself. Before the year comes to an end, I decided to treat myself to a pre-Christmas splurge in London. Going on a long-overdue shopping spree has never felt so good. I felt sorta wicked, indulging myself with that pair of heels or in that little black dress, y’know, things that you know you don’t really need but somehow they look nice in the wardrobe. Another (in)significant event in 2009? I cut my hair short! That was me attending one of those frivolous masquerade party. All in all I had a good 2009. So, here’s to another new year, another new beginning! Cheers!

Reliving childhood

Yen — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:25:21 +0000

I used to collect stamps back when I was in primary school. Collecting stamps was something like a default hobby for us back then because video or computer games were still sort of unheard off. It was also quite en vogue to join the school’s philately club. I had a few ‘stamps-swapping-buddies’. We used to schlepp our precious stamp albums to school for our stamps-swapping-sessions in between lunch-break. I’d squeal with delight when I managed to swap stamps from faraway countries like from New Zealand or Russia. However as time passes by, our stamps-swapping-sessions became less and less frequent until we’ve completely outgrown our hobby. My stamp albums since then, were neatly tucked away in a cabinet, collecting dust. Nowadays, I don’t really threat this as a hobby anymore but old habits die hard. I’d still automatically cut out the stamps from envelopes whenever I chanced upon any or I’d politely ask the owner whether I can have the stamps on their envelopes. Who knows, maybe someday, I can show them to my children and they can pick up from where I left…. someday.