Boxing day (Tsunami 2004)

5 years ago, on this very day, the 26th of December, the tsunami in Indonesia broke out. It left it’s trail in another 13 plus countries and killed at least 100 000 people. As we all sit in the comfort of our homes watching tv or shop away in the busiest streets or have a little nap, family members of these victims are most probably mourning and remembering this tragedy that took away their very own loved ones. There was this documentary on history channel which just ended. It was talking about the 2004 Tsunami and what happened. 5 years, 5 years has just passed in a blink of an eye. A day after Christmas, a day when we can all admire the lovely Christmas presents that we got from our relatives and friends but to think that, others out there are still struggling over the huge lost of their sister, daughter, mum, dad and many more. This just shows how fragile life is. In just minutes, people were washed away in those powerful waves and that was probably the last time anyone is ever going to see them again. The feeling of losing a loved one, someone so close, so dear to you is terrible. Even the most cold hearted man on Earth would start to feel and tear over the loss. I’m not typing this to bring back any unhappy memories of these horrid disaster but just to pray for the survivals that they’ve regained hope and faith to continue to live on. Well, Boxing Day is really a day for us to give back to the community and to contribute to the needy and those who aren’t as fortunate as us to be able to celebrate Christmas and get presents. So why not do a little something more, reach out a little more(:

Grown-Up Christmas List(:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

That was the song title of the most touching Christmas song/carol that I’ve heard(: Hope everyone’s having a great deal of fun with their family and their friends! Like every year, on Christmas, my family would go to my aunt’s house, have Christmas dinner under the stars, play games, have catch-ups, give presents and of course, get into the festive spirit. But this year’s slightly different, we just had Christmas dinner with ah ma and dua yi. That was equally nice too, small, cozy, family-ish kind of small-scale gathering(: ‘Cause da gu and xiao gu’s family are still overseas so we’ll be merging 2010’s countdown and Christmas together! So that’s like double the fun:D I’m really looking forward to that day!

Italy was really great and now I’m missing it, quite badly.
Horses, bicycles/bicyclists, green activism, roundabouts, pasta, very small and narrow and winding roads, snow, skiing, BIG dogs, fat pigeons, cosy family restaurants, Clementine oranges, colourful houses stacked neatly but somehow crookedly on the banks, piggybacks, 3 Sing dollars toilets, farms, tractors, washing dishes, crazy cold weather and a lot more which I won’t list. It’s just crazily awesome, fantastic and magnificent over there.

Roundabouts are probably one of the most inventive things that Italian people could come up with! In one roundabout, I thought the most, there would only be 3 exits, but we actually went into one that has 6 exits! That’s really mad. My brother and I love it when the GPS says “Enter roundabout and take 3rd exit” but we love saying it more. The voice ends the sentence in this funny accent that Xuan and I will always imitate then laugh over it. Stupid but we got loads of laughs out from it.

Clementine oranges are pure sweet. It’s a type of mandarin oranges that you can get anywhere and at anytime. It’s a healthy snack that my whole family have learnt to be so dependent on it that we have to have at least one each day. We easily bought more than 5 bags of that orange.

Bicycles were so fun to ride in Italy. The second place that we stayed at was so modern, almost all their furniture were from Ikea and the rent was rather cheap. Neway, they had a garage and one sunny afternoon, my dad found bicycles in the garage!:D Xuan and I were so excited to get our butts on that bicycle seat! So, Mum stayed at home reading her book while the trio of us rode off in our bicycles! We cycled from one town to the other and in fact, it was the first time that Xuan and I got to ride on a main road, with many many cars and also on a highway! WHOOO, THAT WAS DEADLY COOL. & I tell you Italy’s really bicycle friendly. On the road where cars drive, they have this area at the side of it that is rather wide just solely for bicycles. Isn’t that so thoughtful! On our way to the next town, Treviso, we came across a…ROUNDABOUT! Can you believe it?! & then Xuan and I immediately looked at each other, wide-eyed, and did that “Banana in Pyjamas ” thing, “B1, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”. It was a roundabout that was linked to a big patch of grass so the human and traffic flow was clearly of no issue. We rode round it so many times, cycling out of every exit and shouting at the top of our lungs “Enter roundabout at take 1st/2nd/3rd exit” Gosh, that was really really satisfying! I knew Xuan and I were waiting for such an opportunity to come by. My dad just waited for us patiently at the side. I think he got enough of roundabouts on the roads when he’s driving ‘cause the GPS always confuses him with roundabouts. Hahaha!

On our way to treviso and roundabouts!

Piggybacks started on the very first day. When we got tired of walking and when there’s not a lot of people around us, we would take turns to piggyback each other, scream at each other about how heavy we are then almost toppling down. That was really cute and ‘cause when we piggyback each other, we’ll start laughing uncontrollably and again, we had stomach discomfort from those peals of laughter.

Horses were just sweet. I see horses almost everyday and I took photos with almost everyone of them and that made me really happy. But some of them were chained up ‘cause they are suppose to give rides to people who are willing to pay the exorbitant price, and that was really sad, it feels cruel. In the mountains, we were exploring the towns and my dad drove up to this place and guess what we found! We found this horse on a blanket of snow with 2 other donkeys but of course, there were fences around them. The donkeys didn’t really seem very interested in us but the horse was! When we stroked it, it just stood there silently and stilly to let it pet it. The donkeys were getting a little jealous ‘cause when I stroked the horse affectionately, they kept staring. Hahaha, too bad for them! I think the horse was so lonely that when my dad was slowly driving away, it actually galloped after us and his eyes were pitiful. That was sad, if only I could stay with it. That motivated me more to have my own farm and farm animals(:

ONE OF MY FAVOURITES!

It's like we're fated to meet(:

I realised I explained so much about the little things about the trip and not really the main, big things like the places that we went to but you know, I think this little things really made a great impact of me. Of course, the places that we visited had an impact but they were all captured as photos, whereas these little things that usually goes unnoticed, no matter how many pictures I take of them, the real, emotional memory would be in my mind and not in those photographs(:

Leaning tower of Pisa!

In Florence with the brother:D

You walk through streets after streets and this is the pretty sight you get(:

(That would be the last picture! I think WordPress’s taking a break too since it’s Christmas, ’cause the photos are taking decades to load)

Really, I’m a lucky girl with great parents to bring me to such great and far places and a great brother who shares with me my joy! Also, I read the papers today and there was this article about snow storms, icy roads all over Europe and there were many plane delays at the Milan Malpensa Airport. We were there probably a week ago, taking the plane back to Singapore and thank goodness we weren’t caught up in any delay. It really feels good to feel blessed on a day like Christmas(: Hope that on this Christmas that everyone, whether poor or rich, homeless or family, naughty or nice, they’ll all be able to experience the Christmas spirit and have their very own Christmas celebration. Well, I’m not a Christian, but May God bless all(:

It’s the brotherrrrrrr’s birthday this Sunday, so mum and I will be baking a cake for him! Tan Xuan, get ready for a surprise!:D

Shape of my heart

by Back Street Boys. Their songs never ever fail to make me impress. Listening to their songs make me feel warm. Isn’t that feeling nice?(:

Since a long time ago, I’ve self-created this sleeping process. We all have one set of eyelids and when we sleep, and close our eyes, it means that the eyelids cover our eyes. And for me, I’ve imagined myself to have 3 eyelids, 1 real one and 2 imaginary one. The first eyelid that covers the eyes, like all humans have the eyelids function in this manner, tells my brain that I’m going to sleep, so probably the brain prepares itself to be less active. When the second eyelid comes along, my brain has completely shut down and all activity ceases except breathing and other necessary activity. When the third eyelid comes along, I’m in deep slumber and I hear nothing from my surroundings. This is my own assessment of how I sleep and the terms use aren’t those formal terminologies that doctors use, but who cares, it’s my assessment. Yeah, neway the main point is, when it’s all school and exams and tests, each time when my head hits the pillow, my third eyelid is already on, like I’ve reached the final stage of sleeping. But now, during the holidays, I find myself having difficulty reaching the second stage. It’s not that I’ve nothing to do, I’ve loads of revision to do, but I’m to lazy and not motivated at all to start on them, so I guess I just let time pass by me uselessly. That’s how I end up not feeling worn out after a day of holidays. This assessment of sleep may sound dumb and useless, but in fact, I think it’s pretty useful. I feel good when I’ve reached the third stage. HAHAHA.

Yesterday, was just like any other holiday night, but what was more of keeping me awake was ’cause I’ll be flying off to Italy today till the 19th, and this year, I feel excited for this trip. I feel like I need a getaway from Singapore. Not that Singapore isn’t good or anything, but I just want to be far away from school&stressful stuff. I mean, who doesn’t? This year, was something big, something unexpected, something different from what I’ve experienced last year and when I’m looking back now, I actually do wonder how I’ve got past this year. Of course, there were good things and bad things, but whatever it is, I’m glad how things turn out to be now. For now, I just need to breakaway from “this year”&let loose. No matter what rubbish things happened this year, it was a great one. I discovered much more things of myself that I would have never, if I took a different path. So, face it, accept it and I’m happy!:D I’m gonna spend good time with my family during this trip, since all year round we are all so busy with our own stuff and it’s already a blessing that my parents are able to bring my brother and I to such a faraway place. I’m very fortunate, and I’ve my parents to thank(:

No matter what kind of nasty things happened between us, after hearing that piece of news, I guess I should do a little something. It’s going to be a rough lane down the road, but get hold of yourself and don’t self abandon yourself. Losing someone so special to you, isn’t going to be easy but life still goes on yeah. There are many friends out here that is willing to give you all support, care and concern that you need. It’s alright to ask for help, don’t feel bad about doing it ‘cause we’re all here to help. I’m sorry for what have happened and I do hope you’re coping well.

Take care, my friend(: