Saturday, 2 December 2017

"I died inside"

It was during a warm and cozy lunch with my colleagues one day that this phrase came up and for some reasons it has stuck with me ever since.

Because I can relate to the context of how it was used so very well.
Because it was the most accurate phrase to describe my state of thoughts and mood for the past couple of months or so.

But because seeing how feeling this way and still choosing to be strong and not give in to weakness works for someone... this originally negative phrase strangely became a huge source of strength for me.

It was a timely reminder for me to keep going.
That for all the times I wasn't strong enough and gave in to weakness in the past, this is the time to be strong now.

"I died inside, I really am still dying inside."
"But this time I will stand strong."


Saturday, 25 November 2017

wow. haven't checked back here since my previous post.

*

today, i finally see the full circle:
why some relationships (in general) when we were younger end prematurely. because both parties were not mature enough at the same level.

so there are good things in growing up :')
you learn to get better at saving great relationships instead of having to lose it unnecessarily.

Saturday, 4 November 2017

and we're wrapped in light, in life, in love

Missed out this important one from Into The Wild in my previous post.




*

I miss you.
Lately, it felt like you've disappeared from the face of this earth.

Monday, 30 October 2017

sometimes you will really feel so alone in all these.
you will feel really sad that you're feeling the things you wish you didn't have to feel.
but that's okay.
being able to feel something at least, is a good thing i guess.

that i'm still alive and kicking.

i feel like kicking my legs defiantly against life the way a little kid throws a tantrum.
maybe i should sign up for muay thai classes.

into the wild // my friday movie night









"And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.



The scene when McCandless read out a passage from Tolstoy's "Family Happiness":

"I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books , music, love for one's neighbor - such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?" ...


Some of my personal favourites:


Ron Franz: I'm going to miss you when you go. 
Christopher McCandless: I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.

*

"Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness, give me truth.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

"you don't know exactly when they are going to come... but you just know that there is going to be moments when something means something to you and it connects with you."

Sunday, 15 October 2017

unworldly

I've never felt so much watching singing competitions over the screen rather than live. 
But the standards that SingChina brought was just top notch, and the contestants all so masterful.

When I thought it can't get any better, this battle between these two young girls just blew me away. 
It's so unworldly beautiful.
 I love chinese music even more than I already do. 
I'm thankful for this show because I really think Chinese music deserves more attention and respect.
(I think the competition has already ended by now but i'm still slow and didn't wanna know who won so i shall see in due time!)

And thank you 周深 and 郭沁.  Thank you for finding this unique gift that you have within yourselves and sharing it with the world. You suddenly made it clear for me that when you have a rare gift, not only will you be unstoppable by others. You will also embrace and indulge yourself in that magical moment in a way that made everything else not matter.
Forget about competitions (because your performance is beyond this competition already), forget about comparisons, forget about techniques and battleplans.
You can be victorious just by being yourself, truly, purely, innocently and simply.

When you share this gift with the world, you liberate others and inspire them too.
And i think that's one of the greatest things in life.

*

And this made me wonder, what is my gift in this world?
I believe that everyone has, but not everyone finds it in their lifetime.
All the time spent working in a field that does not harness and fine tune your gift seems to be time wasted.
Imagine a world when everyone can find and harness their gift, and share it with the world.
I think it would be a beautiful world.
Being alive to enjoy all these would make life all the more worth living.






“郭沁这首歌忽然走到心里去了。我真的觉得很难再有比她好的这种情歌的表现。“ - 刘欢 

“郭沁就像一个很平静的湖面,看似没有任何杀伤力,但是每一次你遇到很强的对手的时候,你都会兵来将挡,水来土掩。每一次你的声音都是会真的打动到我灵魂的最深处。” - 金大洲 

“我从她的音乐里她的声音里,能听到她热爱音乐的这个初心。就是始终是这样子。” -戴辰纯子

Saturday, 14 October 2017

懂得永恆 得要我們
進化成更好的人

Saturday, 30 September 2017

"And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness?"

"My wish for you is that you continue, continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart." - Maya Angelou

"The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Through the exhaustion
we can always find a way
to find the laughter."
- Tyler Knott Gregson

It’s the nature of all things to end eventually. I see that now. For as long as there’s a universe the tide will roll in and out, cities will rise and fall and stars will burn and fade away. All things have their time and we spent ours spectacularly. That’s what matters to me.
- Beau Taplin, The Nature of All Things




Thursday, 28 September 2017

leave people better than you found them

there are many flawed, biased and overly emotional statements in my previous post, but i shall leave it as it is for memories' sake.

what's more important is letting go of all these thoughts and to be more realistic.
instead of letting them restrict me, let them open me up to life.

i am really thankful for a friend who's brave enough to tell me what i need to hear and snap me out of my unrealistic train of thoughts. thank you for caring, for having seen me in not the best states, and still accept and love me anyway.

*


Wednesday, 27 September 2017

heart strings

It is breaking my heart a little...

But I really think that... if i'm born just a few years earlier, I would have been lucky enough to avoid being caught in this in-between generation, to be able to avoid the generations that came swiftly after. The generations that grew up so westernised, that bring along with it the complications and dilution of what's truly pure and honest and simple. That destroyed .....

Not to say in the present everything is not pure/honest/simple/true etc. I believe and know it's out there, somewhere.

But honestly, I feel like I'm not meant for this generation, and I am stuck as a result.
I'm too late to be part of the older generations. Even though their examples embodied all that I now want, they showed me what truly matter. And what truly matter need not be complicated, need not require a lot of effort.
I'm also too early to fully embrace the younger generations, especially when we grew up having a taste of the older generations' way of life.

It is breaking my heart a lot actually...

Because that could have been my life.
But the time for it has passed and I can never have it ever again.
Not in this life.

*

And that, is really something that I will hold on to and I know it will be my strongest motivation and greatest gift in life. With that alone, I know I'd have led a good life. No matter what shit life brings me.

That would have changed my life so much for the better. I know I'd be a much happier, much more driven, much more courageous, much more fun-loving, much more loving person.

Now, I feel like I stopped living since I was 17.

Sunday, 24 September 2017

"We are the generation of nostalgia. We grew up in the age of transition. From hand-written letters to electronic mails. From film to digital. We were fascinated by new things, neglecting the way we spend our afternoons. Cupcakes and tea. Play-Doh and Polly Pockets. Young and naive. Technology completely changed the way we waited and we grew up too fast. The simple things in life seems more meaningful now. We grew up in the age of transition and have become the generation of nostalgia."




Tuesday, 19 September 2017

la vita e bella

because i feel like i've been given a great gift and that is why i am so thankful.

*

only so few moments in a life time can you feel this way.
it makes every time it arrives such a life-changing special feeling.
you become extremely present in every single moment.
you find the corners of your mouth turning into smiles unknowingly.
you laugh at yourself, for thinking this would never happen but it did drop down quietly in your hands.

maybe this could just be a season.
maybe this could be here to stay.
but one thing i know for sure is it is another pivotal point in my life.
i'll grow even more from this.

<3 life.

Sunday, 10 September 2017

5 - 9 May 2016 // memories are golden

Taking a moment to cherish memories, to cherish youth.




 
  







  










 
 


   

  

I hope y'all know I love y'all.

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

lately, for the past month or so till to date...
i've been the most present in my life, it feels humbling.
very few things happened, but each of them so significant and they changed my life literally.
i am thankful for these experiences. can't describe even how the things that happened, happened?
i am grateful and blessed, to be able to feel that "this life is so damn worth living".

even the tears dropped are so worth it.

Sunday, 30 July 2017


*

Haven't had such quality breaks in a very long while. I'm still surprised at how at peace I am right now this weekend. So so thankful... so grateful this break gave me the space and time to think a little clearer, breathe a little longer, step away a little further... so that I can find back who I really am, who I really want to be, what I really want. 

I even had some time to go for a swim today. I had the pool all to myself and it was pure bliss. Usually I swim my usual laps with breaks in between. But today I swam all the way without stopping, except for the 5 seconds to defog (?) my goggles after every two laps lol. Swimming used to be my go-to activity whenever I feel like life is so heavy and saturated in my mind, and when I feel depressed and rejected. Ever since I got better, I swam less because I kinda didn't want to be reminded that hey I used to use that time under waters to convince myself that things will be okay... that I am good enough. I didn't want to be reminded of that tough cloudy period of my life.

But today's the official start of replacing this activity with better memories and attitudes! Through my strokes, I just let my thoughts flow through me again and again. It was like a well-oiled train that keeps going and going and going. It's one of the reasons why I felt my usual laps felt so short. 

Felt really good to get my breathing steady and normal again. I spent some mindful time in the jacuzzi area and honestly, I felt like I was in nirvana.

*

Saturday was just a really grateful day and at the end of the night, I just have a really thankful heart. For all the people I'm blessed with. For all the people who taught me lessons. For my heart and soul who stayed strong and pulled through everything so far. I hope we will continue to get stronger and better. Sincerely happy for the good things that happened to friends who deserved them. Sincerely hoping that we will all grow up well together and be happy and contented. Sincerely hope that I will not lose sight of the bigger picture, to always remember that I need to work hard, that I need to put in more effort to cherish and make time for who and what matters most. 
Hmm and I sincerely hope that one day I can feel my heart flutter with no holding back. Too many times, I let go and let my heart feel what it wants... only to have to fight within myself to restrain it and limit its high hopes and glorified optimism.

It is a part of moving on that I think I keep getting better at ...

I don't need to be the luckiest. But I hope I can be lucky enough. 

*
"God wants a child’s heart, but a grownup’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim."
- C.S. Lewis

Friday, 28 July 2017

when we were young


Fell in love with this song the first time I heard it.
Such bittersweetness...

Everybody loves the things you do
From the way you talk
To the way you move...
Everybody here is watching you
'Cause you feel like home
You're like a dream come true

But if by chance you're here alone
Can I have a moment?
Before I go?
'Cause I've been by myself all night long
Hoping you're someone I used to know

You look like a movie
You sound like a song
My God
This reminds me, Of when we were young

Let me photograph you in this light
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song

I was so scared to face my fears
Cause nobody told me that you'd be here
And I swore you moved overseas
That's what you said, when you left me

You still look like a movie
You still sound like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young

*
It's hard to win me back 
Everything just takes me back 
To when you were there 
To when you were there 

And a part of me keeps holding on 
Just in case it hasn't gone 
I guess I still care 
Do you still care?

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

Hello again.

I survived!!!! not.

I'm so proud of myself for getting to work earlier than my usual times today. I do get that productivity and efficient boost from starting my day right and it lasted all the way till.... Lunch. (Note: no caffeine till this point in time.)

Everything was downhill after lunch omg. I don't believe it's food coma but the inertia to nap was SO strong. And because I started the day right, I wanted to start some good habits right. So I gave myself a challenge to reduce my reliance on caffeine (coffee/tea) during work days. (The 2 weeks break was enough to break my heavy reliance on coffee that few weeks before the holidays.) So i refused to get my usual drink after lunch... but oh man I should have. It was so unbearable hahahaha. So I completed my no-caffeine challenge but failed to stay awake till night.

I came back home and napped till 930pm, woken up by my dad who came back with our delayed luggages!!! yay! and then everything's a blur with dinner supper and airbnbing and i'm here.

Good night, i'll be back with updates about my UK experiences.

Monday, 3 July 2017

Dear diary,

Dear diary,

I am back!

I've never really returned from a holiday feeling this depressed. And wow why am I bombarded with bad news and more bad news within the first few hours since I touched down? (Mentally FML-ed to myself so many times but oh wells STAPH)

Hmmmmm, this wasn't what I pictured for myself and I'm not going to let it affect my original goals.

I just want to note down these words spoken to me (and for anyone who could use a timely reminder) through these 2 precious weeks: that I need to remember that I am beautiful and good, and that I must never allow anyone to make me think otherwise. If anyone does tell me otherwise, they are bad people, as simple as that. These 2 weeks I learnt that there are actually many more jerks out in the society than I thought there was. Though sad, but true.

Couldn't be more thankful for these words that gave me a timely reminder about where I should be in my life right now. Couldn't be more thankful for my uncle for all these bits and pieces of golden tips in life. They came at a much-needed time.

It really has been a great 2 weeks and I'm so glad and thankful for it, and that I spent it with my dearest family.

Wanted to summarise a few things I've learnt but a little tired to be typing so many words at once. It's been a while. Hopefully in the next few days!

Feel so proud of myself that I'm heading off to work in a few more hours' time when I just touched down not long ago...

But you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm an adult now.

BE POSITIVE AND TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE PAIGE.

Lots of love,
PPJ xx

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

aye

Situation: Rainy tuesday in London (now this is the time i hate rain)
Feeling at the moment: life is tough.

Life is tough because I've been seeing what I didn't have more than what I do have; seeing more of the bad rather than the good; unable to turn things around
Life is tough because the newfound "freedom" of graduation and entering my first career pulled me in different directions that is already upsetting some. I'm pulled between diving into what I know I want versus what I know some would not like me to want.
Life is tough because I honestly think I've aged prematurely due to my work (lol) and it's taking its toll on me and my complexion (it sucks and is so unmanageable lately i feel like i'm experiencing severe delay teenage skin problems which I never really have...

Honestly I've been wanting to say this since my first day in London. It's my second time here but I'm sorry London, I have no idea why I don't love you. I love many countries, I still love you but I just don't like you as much... Maybe third time's a charm? Maybe I'm attracted to a country if it is able to refresh me in an unexpected way, and you're kinda familiar because I am reminded of SG pretty often.

Anyways

I. need. to. do. a. lot. more. self-reflection.
I haven't been the best person this week. I've been really angsty and impatient and I couldn't control my thoughts and my mind and my words. It sucks.

But I just wanna come here and do a reminder to self that as much as my good intentions are really good, I shouldn't try to change somebody's life even if it is for the better. (Sigh how ironic it is) I should let them be happy (but I don't believe they truly are? I don't want you to pretend to be happy, I want you to be truly happy) I feel sad because I really hope that they can live a happier and lighter life because that will feel so much better and they can really enjoy the true essence of life. I am trying to give back the precious things I've gained from the opportunities you worked so hard to provide me with in the first place. But I'm always shot down and misunderstood. I just didn't want them to regret you know. I hoped I could help, to still make it in time, to still be able to enlighten before it's all too late. Because I really hate regrets.

When you try so hard but you not only not succeed, you also failed terribly and shot yourself in your foot.

Sometimes I just keep smiling. I keep smiling and hope that by doing so all my problems will all go away.

P.S I seriously think I will have major jetlags when I get home. Age is catching up already sigh. During my exchange I barely remember any hint of jetlag. I was still seriously wondering why people get jetlags then?

Sunday, 4 June 2017

Progress is getting up faster each time you meet with a new setback.

*

There is no meaningful need to blame yourself for somebody else's immaturity.

*

If you fear failure, you'll never succeed.

Sunday, 14 May 2017


Vibes <3

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

on this Vesak Day


I had the best nap ever in a long long while!
Good sleep is when you wake up feeling well-rested, hopeful for the remaining hours of the day, and feeling like you can achieve anything you want.