This year, I’m going to have to worry about aging. I’m going to glare at young teenagers. I’m going to remove my birth year from Facebook. I’m going to feel too embarrassed to jump in the air. I’m going to gasp when I remember how long I have known some friends. I’m going to (painfully) part with backpacks so that I look my age. Or not.

All worries aside, I am grateful. There are still a lot of things I am not content with, but such is life. Life is exciting when you have places you desire to go. Nobody knows what the future will bring, but right now I have my hopes.

Happy birthday to me.

Last weekend, I went “camping”¹ with a group of friends from university. We had such a blast hanging out near the beach, walking around in the countryside (sort of), having a barbecue and staying up for Pictionary. There are more pictures, of course. I will post a couple as “Through the Lens” entries. There will be… bulls.

Mid-summer is meant to be the hottest, but I feel like it is also the brightest and liveliest.

1. In Hong Kong, campnig doesn’t necessarily means living in a tent. It can also mean just going somewhere remote and stay in simple apartments which we have rented for the day.

My excuses:
a. Frustration at work
b. Letting (a) be my sole focus
c. Problems in the family
d. The World Cup (a happy distraction)

There were times I was simply too depressed for words. At this point, there is yet to be a perfect solution to everything. However, I have finally caught a break, and gather the motivation to go on and be myself again. I define myself by writing, and that’s what I am going to do.

In short, I am back and will be posting frequently again. And I don’t promise myself lightly.

We’re now on the first day of the second half of the year. To quote a dear friend, second half has just kicked off. Will I finally score a precious goal? I hope so. I’m not giving up yet.

Long story short, I believe I have reached a level of stress that even the Bunnies cannot fix. I work for ten hours every day, I get stuck in traffic for three hours . I receive little recognition for my hard work and I don’t get to spend any free time hanging out with my boyfriend – all of those leave me quite dejected. The enormous stress, with the occasional whiff of depression, has driven me up the wall and has even given me physical health problems to deal with. It terrifies me a lot.

Apart from (obviously) seeking to improve circumstances, I’d like to better handle such negative emotions. This is my extremely generic but tricky million dollar question: How can one handle stress? How do you do it?

Michael and I visited Pui O¹ in late March. The sight of a lovely family filled the deserted beach with warmth.

I wasn’t sure how to present both photos as they are sort of in sequence. This is, of course, put together with enhanced contrast on Photoshop. Comments are welcomed as usual.

1. A quiet little area on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. I spent a considerable amount of time there as a preteen.

Do you know what is the act of kindness which carries the amazing contagious power to brighten up one’s day a little? Smiling – which, admittedly, is something I rarely do. Possibly due to shyness, I’m not used to smiling at people, especially not strangers. It just doesn’t usually come naturally. If I try? I usually look like a Sheldon:

That is actually hilarious on me. But I digress.

I have come to realize one thing, though: Being polite and appreciative to strangers can have a similar effect. For introverts like me, it is so much easier, and it works out so much better. I’m often surprised by the positive responses I get!

For some inexplicable reasons, these days people seem to feel the need to be mean to others, most of whom don’t deserve such treatment. Most people don’t understand how such behaviours can affect others’ moods.

If possible, I’d rather improve someone’s day than make it awful. Since smiling proves a little bit too hard for me, I’m going to be the polite person. That might not help making someone’s day, it sure makes it easier.

To help myself, I’ve decided to start a personal project called Project Positive, which basically involves doing things to remind myself to maintain a more positive outlook. My only idea so far is a daily practice: when a day ends, I think of one reason to be cheerful and note it down somewhere.

It’s not as “big” as the name suggests, and knowing myself, it might not be easy. However, taking the initiative to change is what really makes it happen, even in tiny steps. And I am writing about it on here so that I will have no excuse to take it back! I am having my fingers crossed.

It’s the year of the Tiger, so of course we have tiger decorations!

1. Kung Hei Fat Choy: It is the most commonly used blessing for the CNY. It means “wishing you a good fortune” essentially. I never get why fortune comes before everything else, but hey.
2. It means “wishing you good health”.

You will notice that most of the photos are of places in Hong Kong or animals. It’s probably true (to some degree) that your photos tell a lot about you.

To my absolute horror, an apartment building in Hong Kong collapsed yesterday afternoon. Four people were killed and two were injured. Several eye witnesses were evidently still shocked, and they told the news that it all happened within 10 seconds. It’s saddening to think that people were killed at home, which is supposed to be the safest place of all.

This kind of thing is extremely rare and Hong Kong is generally a very safe city. However, on a more personal level, it adds on to the randomness of everything. The building is in a town I visit almost every Sunday for private tuition. I dread to think what it will be like when my bus goes past there next time.