Wednesday, January 27, 2016


There is a particular kind of suffering to be experience when you love something greater than yourself.  A tender sacrifice.

Like the pained silence felt in the lost song of a mermaid; or the bent and broken feet of a ballerina. It is in every considered step I am taking in the opposite direction of you. 

- page 69

Perhaps that is how every mother feels when her child grows up - when it is time to let go...  





Tuesday, January 26, 2016


Wallflower


Shrinking in a corner
            pressed into a wall;
            do they know I’m present ,
            am I here at all?

Is there a written rule book,
            that tells you how to be –
            all the right things to talk about –
            that everyone has but me?

Slowly I am withering –
            a flower deprived of sun;
            longing to belong to –
            somewhere or someone.


                                                               -  page 31

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

2016, am I ready for you?


Every day, every hour, ever minute, ever second, I am constantly wishing for something. Little things that do not seem significant. Then again, it is the little things in life that matter most, is it not? It is the little things that, when accumulated over time, have strength in numbers, thus are significant. There are many things that I wish would happen, but I know would never happen, and because of this exact reason, I just keep on wishing. A girl can always dream, right? Hence, I would like to share with you the little things I wish for unconsciously every day. And now that I am conscious about my wishes, I do not know how to make of myself anymore. Anyhow,  

I wish...

I wish that I was smarter 
I wish that I could wake up to mommy 
I wish that I could go home
I wish that I had done better in my exams
I wish that I had raised my hand in class
I wish that I could wake up with amnesia
I wish that I was less shy 
I wish that I would open myself up more 
I wish that I was less afraid of things 
I wish that I would stop those thoughts
I wish that I was happier
I wish to not see tomorrow anymore... 

2016... You start me off with so many wonders, so many thoughts.

I have a good feeling about this year ahead; I have a bad feeling about this year ahead. 

I do not feel eighteen, yet I must act eighteen. 
I don't know anymore. 

It is my last night in California. I love Los Angeles. I have fallen in love with the family whose home I have stayed in for the past eighteen days. I have fallen in love with Disneyland - so magical, left me feeling ten years younger. I have fallen in love with the city lights and skyscrapers and steep roads and residential houses and passers-by in San Francisco. 

These eighteen days have been one of the best eighteen days in eighteen years of my life - the highlight of my life thus far. I feel like I have grown up, that I have found a purpose to live. But how long this positivity would last I have no idea. At least for now, these are my thoughts...
As much as I miss home, as much as I long to see their faces, I am glad that they could not afford to pay for the plane tickets, and I had not given in to the homesickness. Perhaps it has all been part of the Lord's plan. I hope He has planned for a beautiful year ahead of me... A year of joy and hope. A year of constant happiness. 

Los Angeles, I miss you already. You have made me not want to go back to school. I wish I could stay.
I hope the Trinh family will have me back sometime soon. Thank you for everything...


           Here's to a "happy new year"
             Here's to 2016
            For all of us... 

                        Until then 


Friday, December 25, 2015

I wish for happiness...for everybody. I wish to be happy. 

Merry Christmas. I miss home... 


Saturday, November 21, 2015


It is ridiculous to think just how long it has been since the last time I checked in here...but this does not mean that I had not thought about doing so, and also, I had definitely not forgotten about you, Blogger! It's just... I was at a loss for words. So many things have happened - I went to Grand Canyon and it simply took my breath away, I recently had a trip to Santa Fe and it was like nothing that I have ever seen before, fall was long since gone and winter has arrived... And I am really just scratching the surface of things! Everyday, I learn something new, and it is through all the knowledges that I accumulate, I find myself mentally piecing these puzzles together, and I realize that everyday, I also learn more about myself - and at the end of my two years here, I might actually get a complete jigsaw puzzle, in which lies all the moments that I have lived, all the people whom I have met, and all the stories that I have heard...about the world, about life. I am unable to pinpoint my exact emotion now, but if gratitude is something that can be felt by the heart, that would be it. 

Have courage and be kind
Have courage and be kind
Have courage and be kind... 

...what I tell myself every day, every night



Life is worth living again
Another day
Life is worth living again
//
And you've given me the best gift
That I've ever known
You give me purpose everyday 
You give me purpose in every way

I love it here, I really do

Thursday, October 1, 2015

that sunday night


Sunday night was the night of the full moon; it was the night of the "Howling", the only tradition that UWC-USA has retained since its establishment in 1982, until today. We, the first-years were told nothing more than to dress in black from head to toe, and to stay in the day room in complete silence until further instructions. The suspense was killing everyone, I could tell. After fifteen minutes or thereabouts, we were led the way by two of our second-years. As we exited the castle, standing on the handles of each step were our second-years, dressed in black (some even with sunglasses, others with masks). As we passed by the lower campus, there were second-years everywhere, some sitting, some standing, some in squatting positions. Nobody was talking. The second-years...they simply looked through us, with no single trace of an expression on their faces - I was the last one in line, and as I passed them by, they started following behind me too, one by one they followed. Nothing but the shuffling of footsteps could be heard. Given that the castle was the farthest dorm from the field, we were the last ones to reach, during which all the first-years were huddled up at the centre of the field, as the second-years formed a circle around us. It was ten at night. The full moon was our only source of light; It really was the only source that we needed, given how bright it was. 

Suddenly, the silence was broken, as a second-year spoke. I could not remember everything that was recited that night under the full moon, but I did remember the last few words that were said before...before hell broke loose, and it went something like this:

We are all wolves, you and I. And you were chosen to come here to join our pack. Together we stand tonight under the full moon, as a pack. And together we will run to the garden of Mukul's house and we will howl at the moon and the stars and the night sky, as a pack... Let's go!

Before I knew it, everyone was running. I found my legs running. In the dark. In the cold. I could not make out who was who, but together we all ran towards the same direction, cutting past bushes and weeds, together we ran. And together, we stopped. Everyone started howling. As a pack, a pack of wolves. 

It was a combination of Twilight and The Hunger Games and Divergent... We were infinite. 
And it was that same night that I realized... I had never loved this school even more. 
I actually felt infinite then. 

On that same night was also the mid-autumn festival, the "mooncake festival", so to speak. Being the only Malaysian Chinese, I really didn't think I would have anybody close to home to celebrate this festival with... Little did I know that that exact same night I would be spending it with firstly people from China, then I would go moon-gazing with people from Hong Kong. But those were what I did exactly, because they said to me, "Of course you can join us, we're family!". 

Sitting at the tennis court, with a gigantic blanket wrapped around me, we ate mooncakes and drank hot tea and listened to Cantonese songs, simply talking about anything and everything. Until it was way past midnight and we were starting to freeze. That night, it then dawned on me, they are the closest ones to home than I could possibly have.





See...? Don't you see...?
New Mexico, ¡eres hermosa!

Until then, 
xx

Monday, September 28, 2015

anybody...?

[A conversation between Hong Kong and Nepal]

"Why do you put your own photo as the background picture of your phone? Who does that...?!"

"Because I love myself! If you don't love yourself, who else will?" 

Hearing this just makes me wonder...that there is just so much to wonder about life... Because really, loving yourself...? What is there to love? How do you love? Why do you love? 

How will I ever know these answers...?
Is there somebody, anybody? 

Saturday, September 26, 2015

twenty things


Time flies here, it seemed to me that the week just started and it is now the weekend already. I've already been here for over a month and the beauty here never ceases to amaze me each day. 

I never imagined myself being ever able:

1. to see a sky full of stars
2. to see the milky way 
3. to witness five shooting stars in one night
4. to lie down on top of a water reservoir to do 1 and 2
5. to live in the wilderness 
6. to do 5 with people from Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Egypt, England, Russia and the Bahamas
7. to reach the peak of a mountain
8. to sit on the roof of a bus with twenty other people
9. to wash buses and fix bicycles and change car tyres every Wednesday
10. to make lunch and wash dishes in the cafeteria kitchen
11. to enter a tattoo parlour and watch the entire process of tattoo-making
12. to befriend people from seventy-five and more countries
13. to live in a castle
14. to be able to communicate (almost fluently) in Cantonese!
15. to do online shopping for the very first time (bought a pair of boots online, myself just now!!)
16. to buy plane tickets online for the very first time (bought plane tickets onlinemyself just now!!!)
17. to be oh so happy that I am a Malaysian
18. to miss family, to miss friends - to miss home
19. to feel so blessed with my life right now...

20. ...but to feel so empty and painful on the inside as well

I never thought, in just a little bit over a month, I was able to do and feel so much. Now I guess it is possible. "Your life really has just begun" - You cannot be more right, mommy. 


just what more can you ask for upon witnessing such beauty...?


answer is, nothing

I have just taken a huge step in my life. And I guess, I guess I am finally growing up now.

But it isn't easy.

Monday, September 14, 2015

"Las Vegas"


'Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder', true, but such beauty I believe is genuinely beautiful, and I was lucky enough to witness it yesterday. This place does not cease to amaze me bit by bit each day.  

Once again, I wish they were here to see all of these too.







very often, the beauty of black and white is neglected; 
very often, they are the ones that contain the utmost beauty





Until then, xx

Saturday, September 12, 2015


this is all getting out of hand, but there is no one to tell...all there is left to do is to slowly die inside, unless this monster decides to take all of me and swallow me whole, I can only stay silent. 

Friday, September 4, 2015


A lesson finds the common denominator and links us all together, like a chain. At the end of the chain dangles a clock, and on the face of the clock the passing of time is registered. We hear it, the hushed tick-rock sound that breaks any silence, and we see it, but often we don't feel it. Each second makes its mark on every single person's life; comes and then goes, quietly disappearing without fanfare, evaporating into air like steam from a piping hot Christmas pudding. 

Time is more precious than gold, more precious than diamonds, we do not have enough of it; it is time that causes the war within our hearts, and so we must spend it wisely. Time cannot be packaged and ribboned and left under trees for Christmas morning. Time can't be given. But it can be shared. 



Monday, August 24, 2015


As I look up at a sky full of stars tonight, I actually feel very lucky to be where I am today... 
Perhaps they are right - magic does happen in this castle. 
And I hope I am lucky enough to witness a miracle in my next two years here. 

I would have snapped a few worthy shots, but with a broken phone, it was to no avail. 
I promise to let you look through my eyes next time, Blogger. 
Here's hoping for more happy moments as such. 

After spending a week here, tonight might just mark the start of something new...in a good way.
*smiles*

Until then, 
sweet dreams
xx


Because you're a sky, you're a sky full of stars
Such a heavenly view
You're such a heavenly view

Coldplay

(the song that popped into my head at that moment)

Sunday, August 23, 2015

start of something new


Dear Blogger,

I think it is about time that I filled you in about a huge part of my life... At the end of last year, I decided to give the college that everyone claimed to be really hard to get in a shot - just so it would give me a taste on how it was to apply to university in the future. And out of sheer luck, I got accepted... A fact that up until today, even as I am typing away furiously on my laptop within the precincts of the castle building, is still as surreal to me as the night I received the phone call. Everything is so unrealistic, and I still pinch myself every now and then, wondering just when I would be pulled back to reality - it never happened.

Out of the 7 (or it might have been 9) candidates who were chosen, why was it that the national committee assigned me to the campus in the States is beyond me, for as of this moment, it still remains a question that I long the answer for. America... Blogger, do you know how much America means to me? Ever since I was a little girl, back to the Disney Channel and High School Musical days, I have been fantasising to live in this beautiful country, to be part of it. *smiles* I still remember lying against my bedroom wall, crying in my knees everyday when I was 13, praying that daddy would just send me there immediately - no such luck.

Here I am... At seventeen, all alone in this beautiful country of my dreams, of which I would be spending the next two years, and hopefully more, here. But I miss home immensely, Blogger... But really I just miss mommy the most. I miss her so, so much it hurts. I like it here, but it is all so overwhelming, though that feeling is subsiding ever so slowly. I miss walking down to her room to see her still in bed, feeling a sense of pride given that this never happens very often; I miss how she would very quickly brush her teeth, wash her face and bring along her facial products to the dining room just because she knows that I am hungry every breakfast; I miss how she would squeeze next to me in my bed and just spend the night there; I miss how much effort she puts in her cooking to make sure that she satisfies my appetite, despite the fact that time after time again I would push away her act of kindness... I miss everything about her, and to think that I can only see her in a year's time hurts me so much, Blogger... My tears cannot help themselves but pour down my cheeks every time I think of her. I've never missed home more; I've never loved mommy more than I do now. I miss her so, so much.

Everyone here is so nice and I have made a few good friends, but the loneliness in my chest is unavoidable. My appetite has shrunk so much, it is as though my taste buds are failing me. I am happy to be in my dream country, and very often I try to think of just how lucky I am to be living my dreams as according to mommy, my life has really only just begun. But it is also hard to put on that smile for too long, you know? I may seem strong, but I am not. I never was, and I never will be...

You never really know just how much someone means to you until they are no longer by your side. And when that happens, it hurts so much... Have courage and be kind. Have courage and be kind. Have courage and be kind. Have cou-

Courage...the one thing that I do not have right now.


it is at times like this that I feel lucky...
if only you were here to see magic happen in this castle with me, 
mommy and daddy

I love you... 

I should stop here before these tears flow any longer. There you go, Blogger - here's a big part of my life that I am entrusting you with. 

Until then,
xx

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

constant as the stars above

Hey there...

Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are lovedAnd my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true

I guess I still am, and always will be, a Barbie girl at heart - for even after seventeen years, Barbie movies never fail to leave a smile on my face in the end. 
It's been so long since I checked in here, Blogger. It's been a very busy summer for me, with everyday being very productive in and out of home. With only nine days left, my time here is numbered. I wish to say more, but I am at a loss of words... I promise to write more when I am more ready to share my inner thoughts with you. 

Until then, it is good night for me now. Sweet dreams, you, whoever you may be till today

Barbie as Rapunzel
"Love and imagination can change the world" 

Actually, it can change your world.
Till then.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

most productive yet

Today marks the most productive day of the summer (yet)! Going to the bank, washing all three toilets, ironing all the clothes, cooking dinner, doing the dishes... Having single-handedly done all these jobs made me realize one thing: Being a mother, being mommy is no easy job. For that, she's simply amazing...

Every moment spent with her makes saying goodbye more difficult each day

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

July 15th

So many times I felt just like a burden; that maybe without my presence in this world, life would have been much easier for them; for him, that by now, he would have been resting...enjoying life. So many times I felt apologetic; I simply felt utterly useless...given that he's invested so much in me, only to amount to so little. 

The past tense used above still remains in the present, because really, I still feel the same about myself.

However, a part of me will always hope that during these sixteen years, I have done him proud. Somehow. 
If not, I hope I will. Someday. 

Here's to 72 years, daddy.
And I'm sorry...for anything at all. 

Happy birthday.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Until now, I still do not know just how it feels like to embrace yourself; to accept yourself and everything about you...to love yourself. 

It's just so hard to... I know it is very contradictory for me to say this, given the advices I have given out to people to do just the same, hence I know how you feel. It's hard, it really is.

As I look into the mirror, I see a reflection of insecurities and flaws; I see clouds and shadows. This is the thing about staying home: I am given too much time alone; too much alone time to wander in my pool of thoughts. Conversely, in school, I am never alone, and these same, old, crazy thoughts would never haunt me.

I miss my friends.
I miss school...

It's been so long since I wrote anything here. But that doesn't mean you've been forgotten, blogger. I'll never forget you...you're my platform for the little voices in my head - Thank you. 


Friday, July 3, 2015

The Longest Ride


"Love requires sacrifice, always" - The Longest Ride


A movie that has really made me cry... And then comes the questions in my head: 

But just how can one love so deeply?

...what is love; how does it feel like?

Because I don't quite know anymore. 

Sweet dreams, x

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

last four days


I really don't wanna leave just yet... I actually really, really love this place. It's home now... It all feels... I feel - so sad...


The 6am view from up high;
The beautiful city lights

For a moment there, just standing on top of the hill, I felt that anything could happen. 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

high school ∞


"It's been a long day, without you my friend...


Last I checked, it was the third to last day of my IGCSEs that I wrote here and eleven days later - I'm back! 

The past month was exhausting, simply mentally draining - waking up early every morning to yet another day of revision, up to the point where the line between what you did not know and what you already knew was blurred, thus the only option available was to simply drill everything into your head and pray. Having dropped a subject already, I saw myself as incapable and an easy victim to difficulties, hence I later knew better than to complain, at least not aloud, regardless of being told otherwise - that Physics was just not my cup of tea or It really is okay to drop a subject. I wish that they're right. Anyhow, it's all over and I can actually heave a sigh of relief and tell you this: I am, kind of, officially done with high school! I've given my all, and I hope my hard work would pay off... Guess I'll have to find out on the 11th of August myself. With that, 

IGCSEs

Have you ever had a conversation with your friends that you find yourselves repeating time after time again and it still doesn't get old? Well, I do. And after four years, four years of talking in as much excitement as a 13-year-old could possibly have in her, the day finally knocked upon her door...and vanished before she could register its presence. To me, it was always imperative that I had a date for such occasions, but if that special someone doesn't make his grand entrĂ©e into your life, it wouldn't be special anymore - simply meaningless. I thought wrong. Because the night turned out to be a memorable one for me after all, having my best friend as my "date", as we are all very lonely people.  *hand-covering-face monkey emoji* 

Three hours went pass in a twinkle, but I savored every moment of it, at least I thought I did, in every way possible.

Prom

(4 years later, this day has finally come and gone, it's a sad truth, but it's true: It's over; Prom's over)

It's been two days since I got back from my three-day, ten-person trip to Pahang. I had great fun there. What made me happier was the fact that I found a friend in many people over those short days. People with whom I used to only exchange short glances or nothing at all are now my friends. And for that I'm so happy. Strangers are friends just waiting to happen - a quote that I deeply believe in. Though after this we may never see each other anymore, at least looking back at all these ten years from now, I would know that I once found a friend in you, hence I thank you, for giving me just so much to remember, and just so much to say goodbye to... It hurts, but then again, it's the sad truth. Oui?

Pahang Trip

Almost two weeks ago, Irinah was still filled with our laughter. But day by day, we started leaving. And day by day, the number of us sending them off is getting smaller. And what was once a united force of 15 dwindled to 3 now... I can no longer open my door, look down at a room with countless numbers of slippers outside and go in, knowing that I would be greeted with infinite laughter and happiness. I never knew how big a part they all played in my heart until the time came to part. Was it wrong of me to have taken everything for granted; everyone for granted, and to then have reality hit me hard on my face as I realized that it was my time to let go too, just like everyone else? I thought I had all the time in my hands, but it has dawned on me that I may not see a lot of them again. But... But I'm not ready. 

I'll miss this beautiful school too: the G16 singing-before-add-math-class days, the G18 selfie-in-local-history-class days, the 'redundant'-U13-days-with-Disney, the playing-netball-with-boys-days for PE, the G4-sitting-by-the-window days... The mandatory Wednesday-breakfast-outside days, the after-school-at-tuckshop days, the after-prep-in-the-pantry nights, rock climbing every-Tuesdays-and Thursdays, badminton-on-Sunday-mornings, L11-dinner-plus-walking around the school-feat-Moon Moon/Carol days, basketball-with-the-Imran-boys days, MMM days... Can't you see? All the memories that I've unknowingly created in this school? Have you ever had anything at all that makes saying goodbye so hard? If you do, how did you deal with it? How do you say goodbye...to all these memories? I know life goes on, I know people eventually will leave and forget, I know...and I'm tired of hearing all these because if all these have ever meant something to you, even if they only meant a little - hold on to them. Because...I will. Cherish.

High School

may our paths cross and our stars align someday

till then, it's goodbye




...and I'll tell you all about it till I see you again"