Thanks to a frustration missed call at midnight and another frustration chat, I'm so awake at 4am now :( Nothing much to reflect on.. Except that innovations in the U.S. have been about technology that satisfies instant gratification (Facebook, Twitter and the like), whereas *new * innovative services from China/ India, except those who imitate the Western models, also consisted of those * gurus * industries, things that help one * feel * happier and less stressed.
When I applied, I knew I would be extremely happy and would make the most out of it even if I had to study in Singapore. It's not about being competitive and getting so fixated on a certain goal; but being open-minded to what life brings to us when we have tried our best. There's no best cards out there; just how we play the cards :D (copied from somewhere...)
I don't really get what happened with the Water Festival in Cambodia :(
11.23.2010
11.21.2010
A pocket full of sunshine :)
Thanks to a friend who reminded me of how happiness stays with being true to oneself. I thought volunteering in a new land with my crush would make me really happy. Now when I look back, it was more the process and the people I met there that made the experience worthwhile and made it "me"; in other words, I was happy and am now happy of that experience for the very act of volunteering and venturing. I thought exploring the world with someone special would bring me happiness. The company matters, but it's the very fact of being able to explore and live the wonderful cities that is now kept in pieces of my heart.
~~ till that day when someone can really get my quirks and my love for ideas, people, and story-making-and-telling :)
~~ till that day when someone can really get my quirks and my love for ideas, people, and story-making-and-telling :)
11.17.2010
Cities
Today, I put myself into pages of Paris pictures from the guidebook passed to me on the very first day I was there. I never read it when in Paris. Now while I was looking at all the beautiful pictures of the city's architecture, its famous cafes, its chateaux (hotels), its gardens and flashback on the time I was at the banlieue (suburban) hotzone of Paris, it just dawns on me that the beauty of cities is cruelly similar.
IN PARIS There, at the banlieue, low-income immigrants live. There, people asked me to be careful of gunpoints. There, I found not crepe, nor madeleine, nor cheese, but Turkish kebab and Chinese rice. There, children need tutoring to be able to read. I regret coming there only once, too busy with my life to ever come back to tutor, too busy with my life to ever think tutoring worths my time.
IN SINGAPORE There, lychee martini and rooftop indoors golf are weekend popular hangout spots. There, beautiful Christmas trees with zillions of flashing lights, gleaming its beauty on Orchard. But there, hawker centers, chinatown stalls. And there, poor elderly are abandoned; teenagers not giving a second chance to try harder, better.
IN PALO ALTO There, wine tasting rooms are packed. Cool cafes and frozen yogurt and tea are for local entrepreneurs. Food of the world is just by doorsteps. But there, homeless people, East Palo Alto where children don't speak English. But there, late nights back on the train left one with a sense of insecurity and of an isolated land.
In high school, we were taught that there would be some ways to create a better world - going to college will help us answer that question. In college, we were taught that we could create a better world - having a passion and pursuing it after college will do. After college, when there's no teachers around to instill hope and idealism, we taught ourselves that our world can't be much better, at least in the short term. Is it true? Or are we still shaping the future?
IN PARIS There, at the banlieue, low-income immigrants live. There, people asked me to be careful of gunpoints. There, I found not crepe, nor madeleine, nor cheese, but Turkish kebab and Chinese rice. There, children need tutoring to be able to read. I regret coming there only once, too busy with my life to ever come back to tutor, too busy with my life to ever think tutoring worths my time.
IN SINGAPORE There, lychee martini and rooftop indoors golf are weekend popular hangout spots. There, beautiful Christmas trees with zillions of flashing lights, gleaming its beauty on Orchard. But there, hawker centers, chinatown stalls. And there, poor elderly are abandoned; teenagers not giving a second chance to try harder, better.
IN PALO ALTO There, wine tasting rooms are packed. Cool cafes and frozen yogurt and tea are for local entrepreneurs. Food of the world is just by doorsteps. But there, homeless people, East Palo Alto where children don't speak English. But there, late nights back on the train left one with a sense of insecurity and of an isolated land.
In high school, we were taught that there would be some ways to create a better world - going to college will help us answer that question. In college, we were taught that we could create a better world - having a passion and pursuing it after college will do. After college, when there's no teachers around to instill hope and idealism, we taught ourselves that our world can't be much better, at least in the short term. Is it true? Or are we still shaping the future?
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