On Cherry Blossoms and Transitions

It's the Cherry Blossoms Season once again. And this season once again brings a lot of mixed feelings and emotions. I clearly remember my blog on cherry blossoms entitled "Mono No Aware", the awareness of the transience of things. I was still dreaming of seeing real blossoms back then, and now, finally, I was able to not only see, but touch real cherry blossoms. It was not a season of Cherry Blossoms when I went to Japan in September last year, but who would have thought that I could see real cherry blossoms in a city of tropical climate such as this? It was truly even more breathtaking and whimsical seeing them live.

It's lovely to see these blossoms, but like all things, everything is transitory and in transition. It actually got me into thinking, with all the hello's and goodbye's that I've had in my life, I have yet to get accustomed to how fleeting circumstances, situations, people, and things are.

Taken at Prince's Landscape and Construction Pte Ltd Retail Centre, at Lorong Ah Thia, during a photo shoot yesterday.

Rekindling Friendships

A very close friend way back in my university days, who happens to be a housemate a few months before graduation has visited Singapore for 2 nights just to watch a concert of someone whom she only knows. I just love how our conversations have matured over time. This is Carms, taking a look on an artwork in Dhoby Ghaut Station MRT.

Barrio Fiesta in Singapore

It feels a bit weird that in a city as busy as this, Filipinos have tried to blend in and adapt, bringing in the happy-go-lucky attitude and the boisterous laughters that are all unique in us. The Singapore Art Museum held a two-day festivity commemorating the Filipino culture and tradition. Santa Cruzan and Ati-Atihan are the crowd's favorites. I also love how the "banderitas" are hung all over the Singapore Art Museum.

Imported from the Philippines

While doing some grocery shopping at Cold Storage here in Singapore, it makes me proud that these bananas come from my native land. No wonder why bananas sold in the Philippines have black spots on their peelings, all the beautiful ones are exported to other countries.

the birth of one blissful nomad

Having been deprived of buying from the nearest convenience store when I was young is maybe one major reason why I have become the nomad I am now. My sister and I never had the simple joy of buying candies and lollies by ourselves. It has always been with an older companion.

Some might say it was a curse, but for me, it was a blessing in disguise. Since the time I had the opportunity and the go-signal from my family, I have started wandering.

I have travelled most of the beautiful places in the Philippines such as La Union, Baguio, Vigan, Davao, Bohol, Cebu, and Palawan among others. I swam in most of the pristine beaches in the country. I have started travelling around Asia at an early age. I have conquered Hongkong, China, Singapore, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Langkawi), Japan (Nagoya, Kyoto, Toba, Ise), and Indonesia. Two of these countries, I have worked and lived in.

This virtual space will somehow be the journal of a blissful nomad who never tires herself of travelling, and truly believes that the destination is not the happiest part, but the journey itself.

Here, you can find the most amusing, amazing, stunning, and even the most bizzare things I see during my travel on every part of the world.

Enjoy the journey!

Solar Eclipse in Indonesia

The solar eclipse last 26 January 2009 was very vivid across the whole Indonesia as I have searched in google and was also informed by my sister. I should know, I spent the Chinese New Year holiday in Batam, Indonesia. I gazed at the gloomy skies that time, since I haven't done that for quite a long time, I have not witnessed the rare event that occurs only 66 times in a century. Albeit, I have witnessed and encountered something more than a solar eclipse. And though I am accompanied by a very close friend at that time, I felt a closer interaction with myself. I am gaining myself back.

It has been four long months since I last swam, dipped myself into the salty waters, and get sunkissed. I patiently waited for this time to come. And I have loved every moment of it.

The traveller in me got awakened. Mixed emotions of awe, excitement and joy among others overwhelmed me.

I met new people.
I was presented with a new and diverse culture.
I was able to appreciate things I don't seem to notice in the past few months.
I conquered a new place.
I had a clearer and better perspective of how my life should be. Now, I am loving myself more than ever.

Sometimes, it takes a lot of courage to get away with the routine and daily grinds of life, and go to some place else--where no one knows you (where no one would ever curse or judge), where you could stare at the beautiful sunset longer than usual, where time is not of great importance, where nobody owns your soul except the world and the Man Above.

Just Blabbing.

I want to blab about things. Things that bother me. Things I don't seem to understand for now. Things that happen that are out of my grasp.

How does a person accept things or people that come and just go, or most of the times, we just choose to move on?

People we meet.
People we make friends with.
People we choose to love.
People we unintentionally fall in love with.
Things we choose to love.
Things we want to grow in.
Things that are unknowingly we have loved.
Circumstances we wouldn't want to last.
Special moments we only want to linger.

I know. I know. No matter how we love these, everything is transitory. Whether we have invested so much love in it, whether we have put so much effort to nurture it, time is not on our side. They take it away from us. There will always be an end to every story. And it feels bad. It creates a wound too deep that only time can heal. It leaves a scar.

I always want to remind myself that I am a warrior. And for whatever reason it is, these scars make me stronger than any other person in this world. The battle is not yet over. I have a strong shield that no one can ever take away from me.