Neutrals. Lights. Space.

What I'm craving right now - more light, more space to breathe, more time.

Just came across the latest blog post of Alice, the young talented lifestyle photographer from NYC. She said while she very much welcomes the idea of living abroad for few years, she knows that NYC is the place where she wants to end up. And she ended the post with "Are you currently living in the city/town where you want to end up?" It makes me think. Sadly this is not where I want to end up. While I am actually a girl who gets home-sick pretty easily (especially when I'm stressed) and that my family is an extremely huge part of my life, I can't wait to travel and stay in different countries for a few years, and find out where I want to end up.

You? Are you already living in the country/city where you want to end up?

Dream House

This morning I woke up with these beautiful images, I can't help but to share them here. After attending an art school, I'm a lot more conscious with my liking, I always try to pay attention to what attracts and appeals to me, I want to know exactly what I like. Pinterest is an excellent tool for me to do so, I viewed all the photos I pinned and realised how much I like natural lighting. Born in a digital era, as a digital photographer, my favourite wedding photography is, in the contrary, a film and natural light shooter - Jose Villa (just google his images, you'll love them.)

During the first fashion drawing class 2 weeks ago, the lecturer asked us to draw our dream houses. Many want a house with big pools, jacuzzi, gigantic televisions, luxurious items, etc, I took a while to figure out the first thing I want in my dream house - a glass window wall, with mother nature surrounding the house, just like the last image. I'd have ample amount of natural light showering me everyday. When people ask if I will be staying in Singapore for a long term to work, I really hope not, there are too many buildings, people, cars, rules, technology, but too little space, too little nature, too little time.

How would your dream house look like?

On a side note, this is the 100th post of my blog! :)

{image one, two, three, four}

Fall in love

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It's far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. 

Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work - the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.


- Adrian Tan, 2008 (via shannon)

* * * * *

I stumbled upon this entry posted by Shannon a few months ago, I remember I read it once and loved it, I showed it to my friends, hoping it will inspire and move them like how it did to me. Today, I clicked into it and read again, very very glad that I did, I didn't quite remember the content anymore, human brain just couldn't remember so many things unless you remind the brain frequently enough. I want to keep this article with me somewhere, that I can always read to remind myself, so it comes to my blog. 


Above is only a tiny part of the entire speech, it's very true that it's far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Also, I find the idea of loving people without expecting to be loved back rather.. liberating, if you really do it. "Its value is to inspire you."

Flintstones-Style House

This house is so gorgeous that I just need to share them on my blog! This Flinstones inspired house belonged to the American producer/actor Dick Clark. This house is currently up for sale at $3.5 million dollars. It's located at Malibu, California. Why am I not rich :( haha.

A completely functioning cavemen kitchen.

They even have jacuzzi!

via honestlywtf 

Oh now my blog starts to be a little impersonal cuz this has nothing to do with me or my life, obviously, haha. but...things like this excite me! jaw dropping. Bow to the architect and interior designer of the home :)

Embracing Solitude

Is it weird that I embrace solitude? Or even enjoy being alone?

Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. but lonely is a freedom that breaths easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.

Perhaps in the interest of loving oneself, perhaps all those sappy slogans from preschool over to high school's groaning were tokens for holding the lonely at bay. Cuz if you're happy in your head than solitude is blessed and alone is okay.

It's okay if no one believes like you. All experience is unique, no one has the same synapses, can't think like you, for this be releived, keeps things interesting lifes magic things in reach.

- Tanya Davis

I want to go to a comfortable cafe to have a nice and quiet meal and stay there to read, draw and paint alone. I even want to try watching movie in the spacious cinema alone. I want to travel to an island and walk, eat, read, bike, take photographs, enjoy the beautiful views, alone. Or maybe it's just that I haven't found a partner whom I'd be feeling alright doing these with, besides my sister and some childhood friends. Oh man I'm such a boring person.

But it doesn't mean that I don't like being with people. Sometimes being alone for too long makes me blue, like most of the people, too. Then I'd crave to talk to someone. Oh so contradicting. I think I'm weird, really.

Open you eyes. Open your heart.

You think this is just another day in your life, it's not just another day, it's the one day that is given to you - today, it's given to you, it's a gift, it's the only gift you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.


Begin by opening your eyes and be surprised that you have eyes you can open, that incredible alive colors that is constantly offered to us, for pure enjoyment. Look at the sky, we so rarely look at the sky, and so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment basically how it's coming and going. We just think of the weather, and even if weather we never think the many monsoons of weather, we just think of good weather and bad weather. This day, right now, has unique weather, maybe a kind that will never exactly in that form come again, the formation of  clouds and the sky will never be the same as it is right now. Open your eyes, look at that.


Look at the faces of people whom you meet, each one has an incredible story behind their face, a story that you could never fully fathom, not only their own story but the story of their ancestors. And then this place and this moment, on this day, all the people you meet, all the life from generations and from so many places all over the world, flows together and meets you, like a life giving water if you only open your heart and drink.


Open your heart to that incredibly gift that civilization gives to us, you flip a switch and there's electric, light, you turn on forces and there's warm water and cold water, and drinkable water, it's a gift that millions and millions in the world will never experience.


These are just a few of the enormous number of gifts to which we can open your heart, and so I wish you that you will open your heart to all these blessings, and let them flow through you, that everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you, just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you.


And then it will really be a good day.

Beautiful.
I was thinking to only type a few sentences of what he said initially but when I really started typing it all I wanted is to continue typing each word he said although I'm not even sure if I type it correctly or not, because they're so very beautiful. Do watch the video because it will give you a magical feeling that words I type could never do.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a 80-year-old grandpa, wanting a slow life, a really really slow one, where I can walk so slowly, observe everything so carefully, listen to old and beautiful songs all the time, no jobs, nothing to worry about, do not have to think and catch up with the latest fashion and technology, stay at different places peacefully, wouldn't have people keep asking me "when are you gonna do this? when do you want to finish this? Why are you keep procrastinating? You don't have so much time left." when all I want is to laze around and read something inspiring.

Some mornings when I pass by the streets with people playing guitars or performing I really really want to stop by, watch and show some appreciation to them for bringing some life and joy to the boring streets, but most of the time my mind says "you have no time darling, you're gonna be late to school!" and so I have to join the crowd who walks past these performers as if they are transparent, continue walking and feeling sorry to the performers for not showing any appreciation to their effort and passion. I hope they understand.

For the first time I wonder if I was born in the wrong era, haha, it's really contradicting, sometimes I'd want myself to be really confident and fashionable and crazy and wild and adventurous all at the same time, and lead a hectic lifestyle, at least it makes me feel like someone is really living their life and doing something in their life by trying all the things people are afraid to do, because life's only once. While sometimes I want something completely opposite. But I guess I could do both, or I should, like a mixture and balance of both of them.

After all, I'm only young once.

If I Die Young

a penny for my thoughts, oh no I'll sell 'em for a dollar 
they're worth so much more after I'm a goner 
and maybe then you'll hear the words that I've been singin' 
its funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

Sometimes I wonder how many people would regret for not saying what they wanted to say, not doing what they think they should have done, if I were dead. If you're going to die tomorrow and everyone knows it, there'd be an immense difference. But why wait? people always wait until it's too late.
Funny when you're dead how people would start appreciating your presence.
But it doesn't matter anymore, cuz you're gone.
Come to think of it, maybe I'm one of them too. Human.