.::. Birthday .::.

I reckon this is the first time I spent my birthday away from all my loved ones. It isn't a big deal, it's just another day which makes me older by a day. They say age is a number. Indeed. I always say I feel old, but most people don't really get what I mean. When I say I feel old, I mostly mean that I'm aware that time passes by so quickly and I still feel like I'm 18 yet reality stares into my face and tell me I'm way past 18. When I say I feel old, it's also a way of telling myself that time is passing by every minute and I should really make full use of it and do things which I really would like to - like being happy.



I celebrated my birthday here with the closer friends and quite a few people whom I met the first time. It's really not my thing, but I reckon that I am blessed to have people celebrating it for you when you're this far away from home. Emma made me my favourite cheesecake and it was soOoOoOo good! It was a cold day yesterday, and I think my roommate felt a need to ask me out (and not hide at home watching drama) since it's my birthday. We went out 'shopping', exploring that little shopping area which we have never visited despite staying here for the past 6 months. We wanted to have coffee, but it was so cold and you just felt like you wanted to go back to your warm home.

The sister shares the same birthday as me. I celebrated my birthday with her every single year since she was borned. They celebrated without me this year, but it was as if I was there. I know they must be thinking of me, and that is enough for me. My little sis's photoshop skills are getting better, and I'm going to beg her to teach me some of it!

I'm thankful for those who remembered me on my special day. =)

I feel like I'm at the most important period of my life. Coming here has made me sit back and look at my own life, questioning many things which I've been told or brought up to believe in. It has been a period of self-reflection, self-realization.

This year has made me reflect on many things. It has restored a sense of calmness within me. I hope it stays with me even when I go back to hectic Singapore, joining the rat race yet again.

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it." — Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia)