Let me demonstrate the fun you can have with doors!! Witness the transformation of my travel buddies into gorgeous models thanks to my expert photography!! (ahem, *cough cough*)
The morning I woke from a Vietnamese homestay in Sapa Village, I discovered this door...
Hey! Stand there! yeah! wait wait, tilt your head to the left, ahHA! looking good, don't move....
...and last but not least! My favorite shot...^_^
xiao ying @ 10:40 PM.
3 CommentsThis must be it
The sky burning with amber, magenta, yellow and orange
The most spectacular sunset ever
Soon the lights would slowly fade
And the Bay of decended dragons would turn into a mysterious world
dotted by starlights from distant ships
We would all lay side by side under the canopy
Sing, chat, laugh
and play hunter games deep into the night
By morning I would wake,
to find the world transformed again under the dawning sun...
Insects sing with fading light,
Stars spill over like diamonds,
millions of them
Look!
Over there,
why is that star dancing in the night?
Fireflies!!
Haven't seen that since I was a little girl
Among my grandma's rice fields
Look! What's that light rising from behind the mountain top?
Oh it's a moonrise,
Slowly it peers out like a shy girl revealing its pretty face
Rising higher and higher
Our awe inspired faces bathed in gentle silver moonlight
I will never forget that afternoon we did singing marathons from across our boats,
the water reflecting mountains and pagodas like a perfect mirror
Ahhh, the taste of sweet victory!!
I've conquered the highest point in Vietnam at last!!
Sure it's cold and the view obscured by a sea of white
But after hours of blowing my nose,
Huffing and puffing up the mountain,
Complaining that I couldn't make it
With 4 hours of sleep and 2 minute noodles for energy,
Moments of near death experience scaling vertical slopes,
4 longest hours of my life later,
I’ve finally made the summit!
Thank you guys, for believing in me and supporting me all the way through!
Taking a moment to reflect,
We all sat by the edge, side by side
Such a serene place, where everything stops
One cannot help but draw inspiration from the movie,
You know that one with the four guys pointing at the shooting star? (F4)
Yeah, we imitated them too =P
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone: Chloe, Ling, Grace, Jia Wei, Nick, Jun Jie, Jacobe, Steven for making my Vietnam trip such a WONDERFUL and MEMORABLE one!!
xiao ying @ 9:57 PM.
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Can you still feel the cool crispy mountain breeze?
Remember that urge to let loose and run wild?
Across that vast meadow dotted with yellow wild flowers
and the snow capped mountains in the background
With no one else but you
Oh the sky so blue!
Stretching my arms I run across the field,
can't you see I'm flying?
Once upon a time,It began a fairytale
Whatever happened to happily ever after?
xiao ying @ 8:54 PM.
1 Comments
I sat on the bus today and saw my reflection in the misty glass window that filled with raindrops and the occasional ones that fell slanted in a zig-zaggy pattern.
Just cried for about 2 hours chatting on the telephone. Feeling absolutely crap, my emotions bouncing off the walls, going to extremes, from bleak to sarcastic to affectionate, and without fully wanting it, was an absolute pain to the person on the other line. Z to be exact. Gosh felt so helpless, felt so empty and sad, wanted to hug him, wanted to be with him. Yet the uncertainty and the physical distance drove me apart from him, drove us away. At times I know I was being delirious, unreasonable, exaggerated, I know I was very draining to him, I was feeling extremely drained and weary myself.
My intention had been to end this whole thing, and walk away, but once again I found myself wanting to give this another go, I didn't want to let go just yet. Even though the hope is very slim. Very very slim. I actually laughed when he said, it's going to take 2 to 5 years time when he 'might' come over and join me. I didn't know how else to react. 6 months, granted, but 2-5 years and it's a 'maybe'??? What to do? Let go? Shall I let go? Part of me is desperately clinging on, clinging to a blade of grass at the cliff's edge feeling the inevitable disappointment and eventual pull of gravity, till I slide and hit hard onto the face of reality. Does LDR really suck dry the soul of its victim? That's a casual observational comment some of my close Melbourne friends made. I wonder how much truth there is in that.
xiao ying @ 12:30 AM.
4 CommentsA friend once told me how he loved that dizzy sensation when the plane takes off, that sense of freedom and exciting adventure that awaited him on the other side. To me airplanes have always been a gateway to another life. This time the sensation was different, the tears of farewell no longer well up in my eyes as if I'm numb to changes. I stared down at the tiny dotted landscape of my old life beneath the clouds with my future as blank as the blue sky above. I waited for anxiety or melancholy to wash over me.
This time around, packing my life away in 2 large suitcases and moving on to a new destination was as easy as taking the bus to the city. 2 months of nomadic life as a traveler and 6 plane trips later, I'm no longer fazed by goodbyes. The reassuring words of a close friend still ring in my ears when it comes to the topic of goodbyes. I don't believe in goodbyes, I believe in see you later. Because once you forge an everlasting friendship, it stays with you inside. Without a doubt, I know we will meet again someplace somehow, and I know we will most certainly pick up the way we left off.
The past week whirled by with such velocity that I was out of breath trying to catch up with as many people as I could. I notice when you're away for a period of time and you meet up with those who matter, the meetings are enhanced and more precious. It's refreshing to feel the welcoming easy going nature of Australians again, and to see my home and those around me unchanged, it's as if I've never left Melbourne at all.
See you later Melbourne.
xiao ying @ 1:29 AM.
0 CommentsIf there is heaven on earth,
This must be it
Lone pagoda, Harlom Bay
The sky burned with amber, magenta, yellow and orange. The most spectacular sunset I've ever seen.
Moonrise, Sapa
View of sapa town from our hotel room
Reflections, Sapa town Northern Vietnam
View from the trek down: clouds shifting across mountain ranges, Mt Fansipan
Hoan Kiem lake, Hanoi
Taking a moment to reflect,
7 of us sat by the edge of rice fields, side by side
Heavenly and peaceful, like a mirror the calm seawater reflects cruise ships and limestone formations under the morning sun, Harlom Bay
xiao ying @ 11:46 PM.
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Perfect day for horseriding: mountains, lakes and meadows, Lijiang
Tiger leaping gorge
Candles of hope, to be gently placed on the river and floated away into the night, Lijiang
Naxi tribes people dancing around the fire
Rainy day, Dali old town
Lugu lake in the morning mist, 4000m above sea level
red laterns and their reflections in the river, Lijiang
3 towers, daliThey say pictures speak a thousand words. I'm abit lazy to describe tonight, so here are some snapshots we took in Yunnang.
xiao ying @ 12:12 AM.
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