July

July was a bit of an odd month, busy with short travels but also quite alone since the Boy was seconded to Bangkok for a few weeks.

I spent the first week in Bangkok shopping, eating and working together with the Boy. There were two highlights during the trip. One was spent watching Just Go With It in bed and chomping on potato chips, only for the Boy to splay tea all over during a particularly funny scene. I have not laughed so hard for a long long time. Another was when I was heading back to Singapore, and the Boy accompanied me all the way on the airport on the train. It isn't a big gesture, but it meant a lot to me.

Funny how things have changed. A couple of years back, shopping would have been the highlight of my Bangkok trip. But this trip is remembered for the time with him and other Bangkok friends.

The following weekend was spent in Langkawi. Another great holiday filled with nice memories of the private Datai Bay, the Andaman resort screening movies by the beach, watching the sunset on the peaks of Mt Mat Cincang and Gunung Raya, etc. I would love to go back again.

In between, I also managed to catch a few reads:

Nobody Said It Would Be Easy by Marilyn Halvorson
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Songs Of The Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

Nobody is an old well-loved book I managed to source from Amazon. Room and Henrietta Lacks are recent and also particularly impressive to me. Go read both if you can.

Devouring Books

I've been immersing myself in a variety of books recently. Others watch telly as a form of escapism; books are like that for me.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

All three left deep impressions on me, partly because of the highly unusual settings of each narrative. More importantly, the stories weren't about self-pity despite the challenging circumstances. The authors spoke of the same fierce fighting spirit, perseverance and courage to be true to oneself.

I picked up a couple of quotes from Delivering Happiness, which I hope will serve as daily reminders whenever things don't go my way. 

When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny. - Bertice Berry

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. - H.S. Truman

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. - George Bernard Shaw