I Turned Twenty!

Yesterday, I turned 20. The big TWO-OH! I made it to 2 decades! Only the day before that I was in college. I was in high school the day before that. And I was in diapers hanging out with my parents the day before that.

Time seriously flies and there was a time in my life when I could not even imagine being in my twenty…pretty much until I was 19. When I turned 19, it was like a countdown timer started. Tick-tock…you are that much closer to 20 and there is nothing you can do about it. When I turned 20 yesterday, a wondrous thing happened, I felt great! I felt all grown up. That’s a strange sensation.

I realized that I'm fortunate to live in age where young people have the tools to be instigators of change. And I'm beyond grateful to have people in my life who share this vision too.

When I think about my wonderful and supportive family and friends, I feel overwhelmed by my luck. I start to see that happy, supportive and loving families aren't as common as I thought. In fact, they are pretty abnormal. Thank you to my beautiful family for being the best parents and the little brother I could ask for. No matter how far I go, I’ll always come home.

And to my friends, no matter how long it’s been since we last talked or wherever we are in the world, thanks for letting me be a part of your lives. I love you all lots!

I think this was the best birthdays I've had so far. Although there's no grand birthday party, no grand gifts, I mean my birthday is even on a Wednesday. But I appreciated the quality time that I got to spend with my favourite people. The texts, voicemails, memes, little gifts just meant so much. And not to forget, the secret plan that you girls made, I felt really touched!

Puisan entered and gave me surprise! 

With Puisan 

With Jzlyne

With Siewhui

With Steph

Another part of my life 

Thank you for the gifts! 

My 20th birthday was a day filled with gratitude, and that’s all I could ask for. It’s funny how old I feel, yet I know my education is only just beginning. I've decided that the current state of my life – a state of constant, unexpected change, is just how things are going to be from now on. There will never be a time when I'm not in flux. There will never be a time when I'm not readjusting my sails to deal with new experiences, people, or interests. I think the more I learn about the world, the more the world reaffirms my own ignorance. But, I'm starting to accept that I know nothing, I will forever be a student of life.

I know that I will live a passionate and disruptive life. I want to make, do and create things that matter, and I want my family and friends along with me for the whole ride. Stepping into my defining decade, I promise to trust in my future. Everything will work itself out. The only thing I need to do is breathe and search for the happiness in today.

Thoughts #4

"Death doesn't take someone else, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed."
- Mitch Albom

A friend of mine passed away recently and I've never ready when it hit me. Even if I saw her struggling and fading away, I've never ready for the moment that the colour fades and the lips soften and the last breath is taken. I've never ready to hear the condolences or listen to cherished memories or see the newly posted pictures. I've never ready to hear the final goodbye or the final hug.

There’s a silver lining.

The darkness and the sadness of death hide it. It’s hard to see through tears and grief. But, the good is there. In between the D and the E is perspective, hiding under the A is love, crouching between the T and the H is companionship. The finest facets of life, all found in death.

I've been always reminded of humanity’s vulnerability. All of us live life like it’s the song that never ends. When the song suddenly stops, we are standing awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor, not sure what to do next. When we are waiting for the song to start again, we then realize how important it is to remember every melody and enjoy the lyrics, cherish the ones that have been swaying along with us. We fall in love with dancing all over again. I remember to appreciate the people that I share the dance floor with.

Death shouldn't be needed to experience the silver lining. Life should be lived as if someone we love could die at any time, but in reality, they can. We grow complacent every day and we tend to forget a person’s impact and being to reserve our kindness for a few. However, the truth is, we are privileged to forget how precious our life is. We worry about the inconsequential and the unnecessary because our lives are so unpredictable. Our existence is filled with so many amazing people and experiences that, sometimes, it takes a loss to truly appreciate it all.

I always remind myself that people around me are like a spellbinding book that wraps its story around me, makes me fall in love with its characters and invest in its outcome, and when the story comes to a close, it’s sad at first. But when time passes, I'm left with a story – a meaningful yet wonderful story. The story maybe inspirational or uplifting, changed me or helped myself to grow, made me laugh or cry or even taught me a lesson, and all of that is of tremendous value.

The same goes for chapters with people that close. The end of a story doesn't devalue its meaning; things can be immensely important without being for forever. When a chapter with someone closes, let that story add a layer to who you are, and realize that is not so much an end as it’s a gift.

As unexpected death is, we are all expected to die one day. But it’s the manner and the time in which we die that we think of most. Will we die of old age? Will a botched surgery destroy us? Will our bodies shut themselves down on us? But one thing is certain, if you are alive, you can’t wait to see the next morning, you can't wait to see what is going to happen next. But it’s when you start thinking of how everything started. You won’t realize until it’s too late, but that’s the beginning of the end.

[WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2014] - Meet The Kangaroos! (Part 2)

Reached Caversham Wildlife Park after the three-hour journey. Caversham Wildlife Park is a family-owned business, with more than 200 species and 2000 heads of animals. Bought our ticket at AUD25 per person and sadly they don't accept International Students ID Card.

Entrance

Made our way to meet the kangaroos first as we were late for the farm show. And like finally, I had the chance to get close with the kangaroos. 

Quokka

Black Swans

Wombat

Emu

After we visited the kangaroos, went to see the koala bears. The wildlife professionals instructed us to only touch the back of the koala bear with the back of our hand.

Lazy furry friend

Rushed for the farm show after visited the koala bears. Watched the sheep dog mustering the sheep, sheep shearing, cracked a stock whip and etc. 

After the farm show, we made a beeline for the "Meet the Wombat and Friends". They instructed us to only pet and stroke animals in particular way on particular part of the animals' bodies. 

With wombat

###TO BE CONTINUED ###

[WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2014] - Meet The Kangaroos! (Part 1)

Day 4 (30/07/2014)

Woke up bright and early and got ready for our journey to Caversham Wildlife Park. Cervantes is definitely a good place to relax and having an enjoyable moment with the family.

Early morning dawn in Cervantes

Dropped by at the Lake Thetis before continue our journey to Caversham Wildlife Park. Lake Thetis is a saline lake which is 1.5 times saltier than the sea water. The thrombolite-building micro-organisms of the Lake Thetis is the earliest forms of life on Earth.

The stromatolites are easily accessible during the drier months. I guess winter isn't a drier month. 

Stromatolities

View of sand dunes along Indian Ocean Drive

### TO BE CONTINUED ###

Thoughts #3

"You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful."
- Amy Bloom

Perfection is everyone’s goal, but I believe that everyone is having a ridiculously hard time to achieve that goal, including me. Whether it to be our careers, looks, education or talents, so it’s no wonder so many people feel like failures when they face the inescapable truth which is perfection is illusory at best. I believe that many fail to see is the beauty in imperfections, the opportunity for growth that comes after falling down and the strength that thrives after pain.

Sometimes we get so set on this distorted expectation of how life should be that we lose sight of all that is already is. We set standards for ourselves so high that when we inevitably fail to reach them, our whole world comes crashing down around us. We spend too much time reaching, having faith that things will hold up our sense of purpose. We spend countless days chastising our every downfall and wrong decisions that we become blind to what power and magnificence lies within our beings. We forget to stop reaching and to start being. I actually wish that we would focus on our present state of being, who we currently are, and all. 

And I've also realized that the more time I spend milling over my past, the more time I lose creating and revealing in my present. Life doesn't come with an eraser, but nothing lacks hope unless you give up. Each piece of my past has somehow been puzzled together and that create my present life. Some of those pieces may have been flawed, yet they have somehow formed into a beautiful whole. We seem to always look at the missteps, the things we never planned on and the paths we didn't want to take. We also tend to overlook the imperfections that entered our life that were so beautiful. It's life that is full of imperfections, the imperfections that you are never told when you are a child. I've learned that every mistake has reminded me of my imperfect ways and brought to the forefront areas I need to pay more attention to.

I've now learned to never take for granted my darkest times because the cracks let the light through and lit up my darkest times. We aren't here to be perfect, but we're here to puzzle all our cracks and scars into the most beautiful, imperfect humans we can be. Because I believe that an easy and beautiful life doesn't always make an easy beautiful person. And I also believe that imperfections shouldn't give negative feelings, imperfections can be freeing and they can provide the uniqueness which our lives need.

I no longer wish to be perfect or to lead a life that is free from trials and mistakes, but I'll lead my life with a heart over-flowing with love, humility and compassion, a tongue that knows when to speak and when to be silent and a mind of forgiving others as well as myself. I'm still learning to appreciate all that I'm and recognize my shortcomings without allowing them to possess my every thought, to face conflicts with an open mind and also willingness to grow and gain courage from them.

We can't keep waiting for perfect. We have to settle into what's beautiful and what's waiting to be recognized. It’s the only way we’ll be able to move forward and the only way we won’t always feel like we need to.

[WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2014] - Up North to Cervantes (Part 2)

Headed to Pinnacles after we visited the Lancelin Sand Dunes. Pinnacles is located in the Nambung National Park, which is around 1 hour drive from Lancelin. The Pinnacles is definitely one of the most popular attractions in WA.

The scenery along Indian Ocean Drive

With thousands of limestone pillars that formed over thousands of years, rising up out of the bright yellow sand, standing high and still remained strong. The power of nature! This area exceeds the expectations of the first time visitors, including me.

The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were then broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes.

Continue our journey to Cervantes after that. The journey to Cervantes from the Pinnacles is about 15 minutes drive. Checked in to Cervantes Holidays Homes when we reached the town. We were unexpected that the house was really big with 3 bedrooms which can accommodate up to 6 people. 

Brick built and self catering homes

Cervantes with a population of 500, named after an American Whaling Ship which went down in 1844. Cervantes is a small town, a couple of shops, a golf course, a football club and beaches. 

Headed to the jetty for sunset.