reflections
The best thing about recording your experiences, be it blogging, through video diaries or journaling, is the ability to look back on them, and relive your thoughts of that time (reason why I read my old diaries again and again).
So, a year ago, I wrote a blog post titled Best of 2014 where I did my annual reflections for the year. I'm always one to think back on my year, and think about the highlights and important lessons, have been and probably always will be.
Even though events of 2015 seem to be eluding me quite a fair bit, I am here doing my annual reflections once again (it's become quite the ritual I can't shake).
So, in last year's post, I wrote:
Question 49: How do you want to remember the year 2015 when you look back on it 10/20/50 years from now?Answer: The year I stopped worrying about what should be, and started doing what made me happy :)Things Done Right
Extra Traveling
After my year abroad ended, instead of going home early, I went to Greece, Croatia, and Slovenia, and then to Hanoi before the next semester of school officially began. Even though it seems a little crazy, and I was so (happy) tired from traveling, these memories from the trips are ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. I can't adequately convey my love for traveling, but for real, traveling gives me SO SO SO MUCH joy & appreciation in life.
New Projects
I must say, I kind of did succeed in this. Sort of. I did do things that make me happy. I started making YouTube videos, and that has been really exciting, even though I don't talk much about it (for many reasons). It was suppose to be a channel with my sister, but she bailed because of school commitments, still, I'm so glad I continued with the channel!
Blogging
2015 was when I really got into blogging, and met so many others in the community. Not a lot of people get the blogging community, especially from where I live, and also because I got introduced to the community in UK which is vastly different from the way it is in Singapore (some one please let me live in London again!)
Starting a blog, and talking to international bloggers online, reading blogs, basically just being a tiny speck in the community is probably one of the best things that has happened in 2015. Also, it means I get to write and express myself which I don't get much of a chance in school - ugh, engineering.
A Proper Goodbye
I said goodbye to something I really loved. That is dancing with a team that means so much to me. Doing one final performance (pushing myself through that 2 rather stressful months) and having met wonderful juniors through it, is the perfect goodbye to something I love, and letting go of it is hard. It's a tough decision but at least I did it right.
Things Not So Right
Singing Up For A Role Even Though I Did Not Want To
Unfortunately, in the middle of 2015, I signed up for something because I thought "It was the expected thing to do" and that "I had to", deep down I knew I didn't want it, but was afraid of what "Judgements" or "What my friends/people might think if I didn't do it" and now I'm stuck with responsibilities and tasks/work that I don't enjoy. Which is one of the reasons why I had to say goodbye to dancing. I guess old habits die hard.
On the brighter side, at least its just ONE of such decisions I made. And what's a year without mistakes right? Sadly this mistake snowballs into 2016, but here's hoping it's a blessing in disguise. After all, mistakes could be more opportunities for more things to be done right!
So...Here's to a more fruitful year in 2016 and hopefully I continue to do things that make me happy, learn to find joy in mistakes and circumstances that are challenging, and just live life to the fullest. Perhaps even inspire a couple of people along the way to choose life, and to choose joy.
What are you grateful for in 2015?
The Right & Not So Right of 2015 | Behind the Scenes
31 December 2015
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. In my previous post, I mentioned about going on a walking tour in Berlin, and passing the holocaust memorial to the murdered jews. This memorial is located in within the central of city, a stone's throw away from the Brandenburg Gate, and unlike many memorials, it has no explanation, no names, nothing. Just rows of grey slabs.Many people have criticised the design of this memorial, and the designer himself never revealed the thought process or the reasons behind his design. Guess this is a way of making people think, and interpret it on their own.
I've seen pictures of it from an aerial view, and from high up above, the slabs look even. Somewhat like a grid. However from the ground, you would know that they aren't the same height.
As you walk through the memorial, the floor undulates and the pillars get taller. Less light gets in, and it just gives you the feeling of being trapped.
I thought it felt a lot like being in a concentration camp. There is no way out, and everywhere you turn looks the same. Your days unending, going on the same ritual, not knowing when you'll be released or when you'd be out.
A memorial like this, its hard to judge base on its design.
Somehow walking through it weighs your heart down. I don't know what it is, and its pretty hard to pinpoint exactly, but you feel a sense of lost and heaviness.
Initially, I thought it looked a lot like a graveyard. I thought it was rude of the people who climbed on top of the slabs moving from one to another trying to take photographs, or kids playing hide and seek around the pillars.
Maybe thats just me. But it felt like stones, grave stones with no names. Because people out there, in the world, nobody knew what happened to you. Once you're in a concentration camp, nobody knew if you were alive or dead. The bodies don't make it out, and you don't have a home, a burial, a resting place. Your grave would be something like an empty stone. If you would even have one.
Like I said before, I don't know much about the history of the world war 2, not an expert on architecture and memorials either, but well, I just felt like sharing some of my thoughts on this in a separate post. This memorial, doesn't appear striking, or beautiful, its so easy to overlook it, but yet holds such deep meaning. Depending on how you interpret it. It really makes you think.
What do you think of a memorial like this? Do you think it served it's purpose as a memorial? Comment below!
The Memorial with No Explaination - Berlin, Germany
22 January 2015 Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Cora-Berliner-Straße 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
I'm more of a small goals + many goals kind of girl, so you probably can see why.
After entering university, it seemed a lot harder to keep track of my year because everything happens so quickly and each semester seemed like a whole new year itself.
As I was reading blogs on Bloglovin' I stumbled upon a blog post on Into-Mind, "your year in review: 50 questions to help you reflect, appreciate and get excited for 2015" and decided to see if I could answer those 50 questions. Turns out, they were so much harder than expected, and I still don't have answers for a few of them:
Number 32, 43 and 48 (Especially 48) still stump me. I've been thinking about them for a while.
So after spending about 40minutes thinking reflecting on my year, I decided to share my answers to a few questions that encompass my favourite moments, proudest achievements, and lessons learned (with the help of some of my favourite photos).
Do give look through these 50 questions, and I think you'll (hopefully) have a better idea of what you would like to accomplish in 2015! :)
Best of 2014 - Reflecting with 50 questions
31 December 2014
Autumn is starting to creep its way in; the weather is getting colder, the leaves are changing, the number of daylight hours are decreasing day by day. The arrival of autumn means my summer internship here in Paris has come to an end.
After living here for 3 months, its once again time to pack my bags and head off for the 2nd part of my Europe Adventure (otherwise known as #asiancarinaineurope on instagram haha!) - one year of exchange in London! Well, of course I get to spend 2 weeks in Singapore in between to administrative stuff. I REALLY miss the food in Singapore, and homecooked meals by my grandparents/father/other family members so i'm not complaining.
I would say living in Paris was a great experience. Would I live in Paris again in the future? Maybe not (IF I speak fluent french one day, i might consider). But given the same opportunity would I have agreed to come to Paris, DEFINITELY.
This summer internship in Paris has given me a fair share of discrimination experiences, banking issues, inefficient and incompetent delivery services, and transport issues - random breaking down of the metro during peak hours.
Nevertheless, i'm going to miss this place quite a fair bit, my lifestyle here (not going to miss work though! Working really does get quite boring. But the people in the office are quite fun, so that makes up), the food, the weather etc.
So here are the top 5 things i'll miss about my summer internship in Paris.
CROISSANTS
Being able to buy 1 Euro croissants from the bakery beside my apartment building, Le Grenier a Pain, has brought me so much comfort. Stressed from work? Get a croissant. Not sure what to eat? Get a croissant. Want a snack? Croissants. Even for no particular reason? Just get a croissant!
Biting into a yummy buttery flaky on the outside and soft on the inside piece of croissant for only 1 euros instantly brightens my day.
Generally you're able to get good croissants anywhere (Morning around 9 or 10am is the best time) as long as they are golden brown, warm and just out of the oven. If you're ever in Paris, get a croissant and remember to request for one just fresh out of the oven (normally they do give you the fresher ones - at least at the bakery near where i lived they did!)
P.S. They also do really good Chouquettes (my 2nd fav.)
P.S. And since we are on the topic of food, DUCK LEG CONFIT in Paris is always a good idea.
P.S. And since we are on the topic of food, DUCK LEG CONFIT in Paris is always a good idea.
FRENCH CLASSES
There is something special about taking french classes in France. Understanding the language really helps one connect with the country and the culture so much more. Plus, the french are nicer when they see you trying to fit in! I took french evening lessons at Accord, after reading a recommendation from Paris in four months. It was probably the only school that offered french evening courses in the summer! Lessons were 2x a week 1.5 hrs each, 40euros a week (cheaper than tuition in singapore!!) And I was there for 13 weeks (sans a few classes due to weekend trips).
I've taken french classes in NTU, but nothing quite compares to french lessons here in Paris. I feel like I learn so much more. It could be because
1) The whole lesson is COMPLETELY in french, definitely a culture shock.
2) You have to ask questions in French, sometimes the teacher will make you repeat the question until you get it with the perfect sentence structure before you get an answer.
3) You go at a pace suitable for you. One level is too easy? Just move right on to the next. Very much self-monitored learning. Coming from the Singaporean education system, this is so refreshing! I found myself actually putting in much more time googling phrases, finding translations, and I had a GENUINE interest in doing homework (comparing this to my willingness to do my tutorials in university)
4) Its super interactive. We play taboo in class, we act out skits with conversations, we talk about our day etc.
I really from the bottom of my heart look forward to EVERY french lesson after work! I am most definitely not fluent in french, but I give myself a pat on the back everytime I understand a word, phrase or sentence that is being said in french. I find so much joy in getting conjugations right, I enjoy testing myself when my colleagues speak in french to see how much I understand. So much joy in self-motivated learning!
I already miss my french teachers!
ANONYMITY
For 2 months (before Jerald came) I was alone, I knew nobody, nobody knew me. Living alone means not having to account to ANYBODY, You can go wherever you want, whenever you want. And thats exactly what I did.
Self prepared meals, waking up at whatever time during the weekends (usually pretty early) not having to justify how you spent your day, not having to share the toilet with anybody else, dressing as you please, eat whatever you want (30 euro meal? Who cares, just eat lesser the next day!) sharing as little or as much information as you want about yourself, amazing new found freedom.
That being said, I don't go out partying and staying out, I pretty much just enjoy being let off the hook as generally, parisians/french don't expect me to conform to societal norms (since i'm CLEARLY a foreigner), and I don't get judged! I can behave like a tourist, or like an inhabitant, which ever is more useful to whatever situation, and people buy it! See, no need for accountability, no need to think 'what will people think of me'.
THE WEATHER
Yes. The cold schizophrenic weather in Paris! That is the thing I will be dreading when I get off the A380 at Changi Airport. The weather in Paris was such a wonderful change from the hot and humid one in Singapore. In Paris, it never got hotter than 30 degrees, temperatures could be 20°C one day and 30° the next, choosing what to wear form the limited (and uncoordinated) selection of clothes I brought with me was honestly pretty fun! Plus, the office did not have a very strict dress code for the ladies. Jeans, dresses, leggings, skirts, sweaters, coats, bomber jackets, blazers etc. it was like playing dress up every morning!
The weather also made it REALLY enjoyable to walk from one place to another. You could walk for hours and not feel sweaty and uncomfortable!
I doubt i'd be able to experience another summer in a temperate climate for a while, and that is something i'll DEFINITELY miss! Not looking forward to the cold winter months. Then again, I've never experienced anything below 10°C in my life, so that's going to be an interesting experience.
THE CULTURE & MONUMENTS
Oh Paris. The Cathedrals, the Buildings, its Architecture, the Musuems (I'm more of a fan of the exterior of the musuems than the painting inside because honestly, i'm not that well versed in fine arts, oops). From the Palaces, to the Gardens, to individual squares, this is something i'm pretty sure I wouldn't find anywhere else. Paris is INDEED gorgeous. Even the architecture of apartment buildings and boutiques are wonderful! Just google BNP Paribas or Abercrombie and Fitch building in Paris. Like I said before, I don't think Paris is romantic, but it is most DEFINITELY beautiful. Its beauty extends far beyond the Eiffel Tower. FAR FAR FAR BEYOND.
Definitely going to miss roaming around aimlessly while admiring the architecture of buildings, flowers in the gardens, children playing, street musicians, horses riding by, the whole experience.
Paris is NEVER boring. There's so much to see, so many different arrondissements each with something unique to offer, I had so many places I wished I could visit but didn't have the chance to. Another reason to be back!
P.S. Even the interior deco of cafés and boutiques are fantastic. A little off point, but yes! I'll miss the beauty of this City.
I encourage everyone to visit Paris once in their lifetime. Sure the dirty streets and smelly metro stations do sometimes make it a little less charming (especially for someone coming from a place like singapore - maybe even Japan, Korea or anywhere where we are pretty used to the cleanliness of things and politeness of people), but you'll definitely fall in love with the city. Thank you Paris for being beautiful, thank you for the whole experience, thank you for the good and bad ;)
'Till we meet again,
Au Revoir.
The weather also made it REALLY enjoyable to walk from one place to another. You could walk for hours and not feel sweaty and uncomfortable!
I doubt i'd be able to experience another summer in a temperate climate for a while, and that is something i'll DEFINITELY miss! Not looking forward to the cold winter months. Then again, I've never experienced anything below 10°C in my life, so that's going to be an interesting experience.
THE CULTURE & MONUMENTS
Oh Paris. The Cathedrals, the Buildings, its Architecture, the Musuems (I'm more of a fan of the exterior of the musuems than the painting inside because honestly, i'm not that well versed in fine arts, oops). From the Palaces, to the Gardens, to individual squares, this is something i'm pretty sure I wouldn't find anywhere else. Paris is INDEED gorgeous. Even the architecture of apartment buildings and boutiques are wonderful! Just google BNP Paribas or Abercrombie and Fitch building in Paris. Like I said before, I don't think Paris is romantic, but it is most DEFINITELY beautiful. Its beauty extends far beyond the Eiffel Tower. FAR FAR FAR BEYOND.
Definitely going to miss roaming around aimlessly while admiring the architecture of buildings, flowers in the gardens, children playing, street musicians, horses riding by, the whole experience.
Paris is NEVER boring. There's so much to see, so many different arrondissements each with something unique to offer, I had so many places I wished I could visit but didn't have the chance to. Another reason to be back!
P.S. Even the interior deco of cafés and boutiques are fantastic. A little off point, but yes! I'll miss the beauty of this City.
I encourage everyone to visit Paris once in their lifetime. Sure the dirty streets and smelly metro stations do sometimes make it a little less charming (especially for someone coming from a place like singapore - maybe even Japan, Korea or anywhere where we are pretty used to the cleanliness of things and politeness of people), but you'll definitely fall in love with the city. Thank you Paris for being beautiful, thank you for the whole experience, thank you for the good and bad ;)
'Till we meet again,
Au Revoir.
5 Things I Will Miss About Paris
18 September 2014 Paris, France
I absolutely LOVE gardens, flowers, fountains, ponds... (proceeds to list everything you can find in a garden, sans pigeons and crows) I made a promise to myself to visit the Giverny Gardens during my stay in Paris, and I am so glad I did.
The Giverny Garden is also called Claude Monet's Garden, as it was the inspiration behind some of his impressonistic paintings and more importantly, he lived there. His house was IN the garden!
Before heading to the garden, we made a pitstop to pick up some Pierre Hermé macarons! They were definitely different from anything I've had in Singapore.
Picture of Jerald and I after I picked him up from the airport :)
Jerald and I went on the Viator Tour, just because we thought it'd be the most convenient way to get there without a car (and partly because he thought the price was in Euros when it was actually in POUNDS!)
Nevertheless, it we had a nice time there. It would have been better if we got to spend like a half an hour longer in the garden, but still, i liked it that it was a free and easy tour. = After you're dropped off at the garden, you're handed a map and you could roam around freely as long as you reach the pick up point by a specific time.
The bamboo trees were beautiful!
Gorgeous water lily pond.
I love how the water has the ability to reflect the sky above it. The whole place felt so serene an ethereal it felt as though we were transported to a different era. Felt a little Alice in the Wonderland-ish at times!
Flowers were lined up in rows just like this. It was really hard to get a picture of an empty land (apart from those that were cordoned off) as the pathway was so small! Thankfully there weren't many visitors on a hot saturday afternoon, and we didn't have to squeeze our way through too many people.
Random chickens minding their own business in a corner
These two old men were just sitting there enjoying their saturday afternoon talking about life while tourist whiz in and out of Claude Monet's house just behind them.
Europeans are really different from Asians. I feel the elderly here have a lot more independence, and even though some of them have problems walking (they bring around & or sometimes 2 walking sticks with them) they do not hesitate to leave their house and roam the streets.
I hope in the future i'll have the luxury of aging gracefully like them, spending my days talking about life while chilling in a garden and admiring the flowers. I wouldn't be disheartened by my inabilities, neither would I be jaded or lose hope in life.
My mum once told me, the older people are, the more baggage they have. A reply to my question of why older people I've seen (not all but some/most) seem to be really unhappy.
Weather they have regrets in their life, or terrible memories, its nice to see old europeans out and about, hanging out with ther siblings or friends, and conquering each new day!
(Sorry for going off on a whole different tangent right there!)
Back to the gardens. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in Claude Monet's House. Still, the decoration of the house was really interesting with a different colour theme for each room, one should definitely pop in when they're visiting the gardens!
Before heading back to Paris, Jerald and I got an icecream each from a truck. Homemade and really delicious. Fruit flavoured sorbets in france have yet to fail me.
Jerald insisted that I should upload the last photo, because it shows my true colours and how i'm like in real life - whatever that means...
Hope you liked the pictures from Giverny. If anyone should visit Paris, please please do yourself a favour and extend your stay to include sometime for a day trip out of the city (if you can maybe 2!). Take the opportunity to visit Giverny and also Versailles, and even Loire Valley (which I hope i can squeeze in the time to go to between my internship, and weekend trips!)
Heading off to Brussels and Bruges for this weekend, more photos of that and my prev. weekend trip to amsterdam soon!
Thank you for bothering to read my blog! Btw, if you happen to be one of my classmates in Berkeley, I hope you're enjoying the great San Francisco weather. All the best to your coming year in USA, make lots of new friends, go out of your comfort zone, travel around alone, please pretty please do NOT be so caught up with your grades, and see you in school next year!
Day Tripping to Giverny Garden
22 August 2014 Le Jardin d'Eau, Chemin du Roy, 27620 Giverny, France
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
