My first day in Singapore after leaving Munich on November 22. As it is raining - the second thunderstorm today - I decided to get online. To not become unnecessarily wet and have a bit of a rest after a 2 hour walk in Little India (which actually is fairly big!). I survived the 12 hour flight pretty well, I had a good companion: an Irish gentleman, grandfather of 16 (!) on his way to Australia to spend Christmas with his three daughters. And he told me everything...! I felt very comfortable, also within the longest turbulence that I ever witnessed on a plane. Besides the fact that we were served by a funny steward that made me smile quite a lot (for sure gay, although he was wearing a ring which tells me that there must be thousands of married gay men out there...!).
My first impression of Singapore was: haze! We saw not the smallest piece of the sky when landing....an experience which fortunately didn't continue today. Singapore to me is humid, hot, quite calm, very tidy and the real face I hope still to discover. I heard unknown birds today, actually waking me up. The tropical heat is doing its good, I feel to eat less and to drink more. I could already enjoy my first fruit salad: fresh ananas, melon, apple and some unknown fruit! It was fantastically refreshing, and some butterflies were sharing my joy, as big as a child's hand.
The city seems to have been constructed on a chessboard, traffic is calm, busses are brand new, and everything seems to work very efficiently. I got to understand a bit more about this town during dinner with Alex yesterday evening. She is living here since more than 4 years and is hosting me for this week. I don't even know to distinguish the difference Asian populations, so need to learn a lot! Apparently there are Chinese, Malay, Malaysian and Indian people, and the rule is: the darker your skin color, the lower your position and respect in society. I am trying to understand this better by what I see in the shops and restaurants. It seems that racism has a different dimension here, and I realize that Asia is a world by its own with its own rules. It makes me think of Tiziano Terziano who spent half of his life in Asia which is probably the time you need to understand life here better.
My friends, I leave you here, rain has stopped and I hope to continue my walk!
11/24/2010
11/21/2010
Pursuit of Happiness (Nov 20, 2010)
Erding
Tomorrow is departure time and my energy is back to start this trip. I am smelling the take-off and this is a good feeling. I feel my senses waking up again. There are lots of thoughts in my mind, one comes back again and again. The mother of a friend of mine has greeted me wishing that I shall find what I am searching for. This wish is following me since, and I am asking myself again and again: "Am I searching for something? Is this why I am going away?" I am getting back a clear No, there seems nothing specific that I am looking for. The true only motivation is my need of time, time to find back myself and time to rediscover what I have inside myself.
The month I have spent on Elba has shown me undoubtedly that this is the right way and that this way of moving forward is full of enriching discoveries. Someone might not understand why so much time, and I admit that this is probably hard to understand. Probably only people who have experienced the same can understand. It´s healing time, and noone except yourself can tell how much is needed. I remember a conversation with someone that had the same experience as me that told me: "Only you can tell how much time you need and only you know how you feel inside." My time is much slower now, it simply needs to be in order to be healing. For too long I have spent my days running around like crazy with millions things to do that never ended.
When I was thinking about why I go on this trip, an expression flew to my mind: Pursuit of Happiness. I was asking myself where I know this expression from and that I remember it to be very fundamental and famous. Great education, my dear, to forget one of the foundations of American culture on which you were spending many years of university studies! Now I googled it and Wikipedia explains it all: "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language. These three aspects are listed among the "unalienable rights" or sovereign rights of man.(...)".
In these days I realize how fortunate I am to have the liberty and freedom to pursue my happiness. Not everyone has for political or religious or other reasons. I simply have forgotten it for too long! And now I am so curious to discover all the other things that truly make me happy. Because this is about true happiness, nothing else. Whatever this means, I hope to be able to tell you upon my return next year. Sweet dreams, my friends.
Tomorrow is departure time and my energy is back to start this trip. I am smelling the take-off and this is a good feeling. I feel my senses waking up again. There are lots of thoughts in my mind, one comes back again and again. The mother of a friend of mine has greeted me wishing that I shall find what I am searching for. This wish is following me since, and I am asking myself again and again: "Am I searching for something? Is this why I am going away?" I am getting back a clear No, there seems nothing specific that I am looking for. The true only motivation is my need of time, time to find back myself and time to rediscover what I have inside myself.
The month I have spent on Elba has shown me undoubtedly that this is the right way and that this way of moving forward is full of enriching discoveries. Someone might not understand why so much time, and I admit that this is probably hard to understand. Probably only people who have experienced the same can understand. It´s healing time, and noone except yourself can tell how much is needed. I remember a conversation with someone that had the same experience as me that told me: "Only you can tell how much time you need and only you know how you feel inside." My time is much slower now, it simply needs to be in order to be healing. For too long I have spent my days running around like crazy with millions things to do that never ended.
When I was thinking about why I go on this trip, an expression flew to my mind: Pursuit of Happiness. I was asking myself where I know this expression from and that I remember it to be very fundamental and famous. Great education, my dear, to forget one of the foundations of American culture on which you were spending many years of university studies! Now I googled it and Wikipedia explains it all: "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language. These three aspects are listed among the "unalienable rights" or sovereign rights of man.(...)".
In these days I realize how fortunate I am to have the liberty and freedom to pursue my happiness. Not everyone has for political or religious or other reasons. I simply have forgotten it for too long! And now I am so curious to discover all the other things that truly make me happy. Because this is about true happiness, nothing else. Whatever this means, I hope to be able to tell you upon my return next year. Sweet dreams, my friends.
11/18/2010
Trust (Nov 18, 2010)
Erding
Still around here, after having worked on this layout for hours (or to be honest on the photos to post here) I wanted to drop a few lines. My head is full of what I heard today about the security in this country. In the end I turned off the radio. It seems that there are people out there that are so eager to get on TV or radio. However I am not sure what to think or what to believe about what they say. In the end I suppose it doesn´t matter if someone trusts. Trust in whatever will happen in one´s life. I need to write it down to recall it myself. If not, my fear becomes too big and it makes harder the air that I breath. Hope you like the photos!
11/17/2010
Preparation (Nov 16, 2010)
Erding
I am getting prepared, working down my To-Do-List. Today I was able to take off some points, still adding on a daily basis new ones, as I continue to search for more information on the best ways to travel.
It´s all by coincidence, which I still experience to be the best way of living in this very moment. It´s harder to practise while I am in the city, and easier while I am "in the wild". What happened today and why this, my friends? I am in my second life, which means new beginnings and lots of change. This blog is part of it, me lying on my bed in my childhood room, typing on my Apple notebook (one of the greatest investments in my first life). So, this is me entering the New World of Social Networking that others have been using since many years. The world seems to get closer, everyone reachable from the farest place on earth. I am anxious of the length of time that I will stay away from my family, friends and home. My true hope is to shorten the distance between those that are close to my heart by writing here. About what I will see, feel and carry with me from the places that I will visit. So first step completed: the new World of Social Networking has been entered!
I am getting prepared, working down my To-Do-List. Today I was able to take off some points, still adding on a daily basis new ones, as I continue to search for more information on the best ways to travel.
It´s all by coincidence, which I still experience to be the best way of living in this very moment. It´s harder to practise while I am in the city, and easier while I am "in the wild". What happened today and why this, my friends? I am in my second life, which means new beginnings and lots of change. This blog is part of it, me lying on my bed in my childhood room, typing on my Apple notebook (one of the greatest investments in my first life). So, this is me entering the New World of Social Networking that others have been using since many years. The world seems to get closer, everyone reachable from the farest place on earth. I am anxious of the length of time that I will stay away from my family, friends and home. My true hope is to shorten the distance between those that are close to my heart by writing here. About what I will see, feel and carry with me from the places that I will visit. So first step completed: the new World of Social Networking has been entered!
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