Away from Home
Listening to: the peace and quiet of the morning
once again, let me say thanks to all those who still come by here to find signs of life. sometimes it might seem easier to find life on other planets than this one right? :P
i'm most sorry (so many reasons and excuses that are not worth mentioning) but shout-outs to the guys who've already started NS :)
anyway, i finally took a five day break - away from the hustle and bustle, the madness of Singapore. Part of me really wanted to stay away until xmas was over but family and work commitments didn't allow me. hopefully, next year i get to celebrate xmas overseas :)
but this trip has once again placed me in a pensive mood and i thought i'll share. I was away at krabi, thailand (yes, one of the places that was hit by the tsunami last year). before disaster struck this province last year, i'd heard loads abt it. About how its beauty is relatively untouched, compared to other popular beach resorts like phuket and bali)..about how quiet and slow and relaxed the pace is of life there. perfect for a beach lover and a stressed out person.
so when the opportunity came round for me to visit krabi, i jumped at it.
but in hindsight about how i felt during the trip, i realise i was never truly feeling joy during the trip.
no offence to my travel companions as the company they gave was really enjoyable but i'm referring to the atmosphere and the sense that krabi gave me. no matter how bright the smiles were given to us by the locals, i don't why but i thought i detected a slight sense of sadness.
when some of them mentioned the word "tsunami", there seemed to be a glimpse of a distant look in their eyes. Then i start to wonder: "who might they have lost during the tragedy?" i wanted to know but was too afraid to ask.
life at krabi has apparently changed: certain shopping centres have closed down because of the lack of tourists.. phi phi island, which i'd visited one day (you'd read about it in today's ST's special on the tsunami) is as what is described in the papers: i can't believe that it's the same island my other friends had raved about earlier. As i sat in the boat, nearing phi phi island, i thought it looked like an abandoned island, not a popular beachfront.
but as the trip went on, one of my travel friends remarked: "I can't believe how the water could have come in when this place is so well protected and covered by the neighbouring landscape." i wanted to reply: "I don't know how it must have felt". But minutes on, we think we kinda knew. the weather turned back and we were on rocky speedboats and finally, spent one-and-a-half hours in a boat on choppy waters. i tried to sleep as much as possible, but the friends who were awake told me that they had feared for our lives...
yet, i don't regret this trip as i think thinking on this trip and experiencing the experiences have given me yet another perspective in life. my mum said to me today: "actually, when you guys chose to go to krabi, weren't you afraid?" i told her i wasn't afraid and was glad i went in the end. reading from the papers and seeing and feeling and breathing the air there itself is different.
it's christmas time and while i'm not a christian/catholic, i see xmas as another time for counting my blessings. our life isn't really that difficult. there are so many other basic challenges others have to face, like rebuilding their homes and lives. hopefully, this trip has taught me to not complain abt my life so much. i just hope the singapore lifestyle doesn't snatch this pondering side of me anytime soon....
merry xmas guys :) give thanks for one thing today.
posted by amy @ 8:12 AM
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