Inferno

Dan Brown's Inferno has a way of capturing your attention and never letting it go.

Not only does he capture it with the history and the art that he writes about, but also by addressing overpopulation.

I am not a person who is very interested in history, I think it mainly has to do with the way that they are told. When I read his books however, I always want to look into the story behind what he has written. I think while reading Inferno, I looked up Dante's texts and the painting by Botticelli numerous times because the description of the paintings and Dante's The Divine Comedy made me more curious. The same thing happened while reading his previous book, The Da Vinci Code.

I think Inferno is a book that is very much required in our times. It makes you think about humanity and how we can live sustainably. There are many times that you ask yourself whether you would take the same stand as "the villain" did in this book and there are many times where I agreed with him.

Dan Brown's books intrigue me and have made me appreciate the art and history that surrounds us. This time, it has also made me question humanity and the world that we live in. It really is an excellent book that makes you think and challenges you.

S

Two peas in a pod

There are some people that you connect with in an instant and you feel like you're two peas in a pod.

When I came back to Hong Kong for good, I didn't know if I would find that because I had started fresh at university and my closest friends were now all over the world, but I found a couple of friends, who if they weren't there for me, I wouldn't be who I am.

These people laugh at the same things I laugh and share the same sorrows I do. They understand my predicament and help me through everything with a smile on their faces.

If I didn't have these people, then I wouldn't be as spontaneous as I am today and I wouldn't be half as happy. We live life without planning, and it works for us that way.

You know who you are, so thank you. I love you more than words.

S

Dreams are a wish the heart makes...

I just came back from watching The Great Gatsby and the main thing I loved about the movie is how Gatsby dreamed.

People dream, and when they dream, they dream big.

Every single thing we do is to achieve some sort of hope and dream that we have in our minds and I think that is our strongest motivator. Whatever you have accomplished today is because you have dreamed it or it is a step towards your dream.

Whether it is money, love, or even health, you will do everything to achieve it.

No matter where you start off, you can reach the stars and beyond, let nobody tell you otherwise.

So dream. Dream big. Let nothing hold you back.

S

Dear weather gods...

There are so many things I love about Hong Kong. You can shop just about everything, the landscape, the food. But when it comes to the weather, it gets a minus from me.

More than having bipolar weather, Hong Kong's humidity has you looking like the lion king when you step out of the house and your make up looking like a clown.

It's 3pm here and I already feel like I need a shower. So please weather gods, just one day of hot and dry instead of hot and humid!

S

Oh no! It's 2nd gear

That there ladies and gentlemen happens to be my drivers licence. Today was my first day and I have never been so scared in my life. In my defence, I was learning how to drive a manual, but I shall just say that 2nd gear scares me and my car stalled multiple times. 

However, hopefully in the next couple of months, I shall no longer be scared of 2nd gear and I shall be driving around like a normal person. Otherwise, I can just use public transport and my mom. :)

S

NYTimes: My Medical Choice

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?_r=0

Yesterday, Angelina Jolie's article was published in the NYTimes about her decision to go for a preventive double mastectomy.

You can see with the way she writes about her decision that it was so that she could spend more time with her family and not have to worry about suffering the way her mother did.

I think that we should take this decision into consideration and think about it the next time we do something. Some people may think that she took such a drastic move and that she should've just dealt with it when the time comes because she may not even have cancer. In her eyes however, I think it is more along the lines as to "if I can take any steps to prevent it in the first place, I should do that and not have to worry about it at all."

I think this is a view that many of us have to take.

I support her in her decision and I hope she knows how brave she is to take such a drastic step in her life.

S

Share My Dabba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZC1czZofyY

A couple of days ago, this video caught the attention of many people, mine included. It took a very important issue (hunger) and made the solution to it so simple, that I wondered why it took us so long to come up with something like that. 

It may not give the hungry all the nutrition that they need daily, but this a step in the right direction. Even if they get a fraction of what they need, it is a fraction more than they used to get. The hungry have nothing else, but to rely on these tiffins as well as food that is thrown away to stay alive. 

If the dabbawallas are so kind to do something like this, to help their city and the hungry, then can we incorporate this into restaurants and hotels? If it is so simple to give leftover food from your lunch, then can't we do that with leftovers from large events in hotels or meals from restaurants? Even if the hungry get one meal a day, you can tell from the smiles on their faces, that it is all worth it in the end.

Sometimes when you think that humanity will not get better, a group of people do this and prove you otherwise.

S

Follow me

Hey guys,

So a kind reader very dearly pointed out that my subscribe link wasn't working. Since I couldn't get it to work (I swear technology hates me), I have added a "Follow by e-mail" box where you can get notifications every time a new post goes up :) It's below the "About me" section ----->

S

Old Post 5: Sorry the BFF is home!

Hello lovebugs!

I’m so sorry I missed yesterday’s posting. I promise to be better about that but yesterday was such a busy day!

I always want to write during the afternoon or at the end of the day since that’s when creativity hits me the most. Unfortunately, I was out helping mummy’s friend with planning out an event and then had dinner at home and left again to see my friend who has come home from uni. So apologies!

Yesterday was a good day though, we were able to figure out what theme the event should be (Bollywood/Hollywood), and how the decor was going to be. We have to see another planner too so that we can pick the one that we are most comfortable with. After that, we sat for some coffee and headed to Central for some window shopping and I fell in love with an amazing dress at Sparkle. I don’t have the photo on my laptop, so when I transfer it, I will post it. It made me feel like I was in the 70′s. After which, we headed to Follie Follie, and mummy’s friend (who by the way is like a second mother to me) tried to secretly buy me a watch. I caught on, and refused but she bought one anyways and said it was for my graduation. I don’t know if you’re reading this Aunty, but thank you sooooooo much! I absolutely love it! :* I will post a pic of the watch soon too.

After coming home and having dinner with mummy, I went to my friend’s place to stay the night. I haven’t seen her since January and I almost jumped on her!

And now here I am, saturday morning, sitting on my bed and having some nice green tea with lemon.

S

Old Post 4: Live it, Don't plan it

Hi guys!

I’m back from Malaysia and can I say what a bipolar place it is? It’s sunny and scorching hot during the day and in between you will have a downpour for about an hour and then it’s sunny again.

Anyways, this was my first time to Malaysia and I enjoyed it a lot! Even though my main purpose was to see my brother play the ACC U-19 Elite Cup, I still enjoyed the street food and walking around as well as getting a t-shirt tan by sitting in the sun watching cricket.

One thought however that kept on coming to my mind during this trip was that nothing can be planned. Not only in Malaysia where when I planned to see the Petronas Towers, it was raining cats and dogs, but in life too.

It first started when I picked up a book in the Airport called Legacy by Danielle Steel. And then, once reaching Malaysia, I asked my mum the same thing over a cup of coffee; whether she ever thought life would turn out like this for her. She said that she never thought life would be like this. She never thought that she would visit so many places and be in the relationships that she is in now. Even something like a cricket match can you realise that even though you plan to score a century, sometimes the ball is amazing and you get bowled.

I know I may be going on and on about this, but all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t plan out life, it never turns out the way it is supposed to be and then you end up being disappointed.

So don't plan out life. Live it.

S

Old Post 3: It's a small world after all

As I sit in bed writing this, I am texting/whatsapp-ing friends all over the globe and it hit me how fortunate I am to have access to the technology that allows me to do that. Imagine a couple of years back where our phones could only text and call and that was expensive to do. Now, we have Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, FaceTime, etc., to keep in touch and all of this is free.

Never did I think that I would be able to talk/text my friends from Switzerland, USA, India, New Zealand, etc., all at once and at no cost.

Since technology has developed, we take it for granted, never once thinking that “what if” we didn’t have all this. I wouldn’t know if my friends were drunk at 3am, or that they were thinking of purchasing a dress, or what they were having for dinner at that exact moment.

So think, and appreciate all the people that have put in the hard work so that we are able to make the world a smaller place.

S

P.S. To the one person that is probably reading this. Or not. I will be in Malaysia for the next couple of days, so I shall update when I am back :)

Old Post 2: Bang bang

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/kentucky-accidential-shooting/index.html

I was reading the above article today and I was so shocked. Already in a world where people are outraged by shootings that go on, we have children holding their first rifles at the mere age of 5? Are people crazy?

What ever happened to playing with dolls and play-doh at that age?

According to the State Police trooper, it’s “a quick thing that happens when you turn your back.” Um…excuse me? This is NOT a quick thing that happens when you turn your back. Children should not have access to guns at all.

A quick thing that happens when you turn your back happens to be a child falling down and hurting themselves, or that the dog peed in the bushes, or that your child is now covered in mud; not that he shot his little sister.

In this day and age, if we have not yet learnt from previous incidents that gun control is essential, then I don't know if humanity has any hope.

S

Old Post 1: Hello, from the tiny dot in the world that is me

So I’ve tried doing this many times, and I think I just set myself a really bad target. I think I should stick to one post a day, and if I can’t think of anything to write about, I shall post about what I was thankful for that day.

This is not going to a blog detailing my life. This is not going to be a blog about the meaning of life. This is going to be a blog on my thoughts. If my thoughts are about my day, then so be it. If it is about about something bigger, like the meaning of life, then so be it.

I don't want people expecting amazing posts. Some days I will have good posts, and some days I won't. That's how life is. I don't judge you, so you shouldn't judge me.

S

Technical Difficulties

Hey guys,

Due to technical difficulties, I'm moving my entire blog here. The old posts should be up soon when www.blog.com starts working. 

S