Alphenhof Pension Gasthof

Alphenhof Pension Gasthof is a pretty place. I slept in the room for mountain bikers and trekkers. It was nice, but i woke up at 5am! Couldnt sleep.

Anyways got ready at 730 am, took a walk around the lake. Then met Chef (German for supervisor or person in charge), who had a young son. I had chatted wif him the night before, and learnt that he had stopped over Singapore enroute to New Zealand (for mountaineering and trekking).

That day after breakfast, I walked about the whole of Hintersee, into Zauberwelt, Wisthaus, up to the Ramsau area - where there were tons of Ferien Wohnung (Holiday homes), met a rich fella energetically hiking his way up. Actaully there are tons of energetic and not so energetic people here at Saalach Valley. And here at Lahngut (the cowshit storeroom in Weissback where I put up), there is a Czech family living here.

After the walk, i took Wanderbus down to Weissback, then a Bus 260 down to to Saalfelden Postamt. I rented a bike - then went from there to Maria Alm and back - beautiful meadows that would make me sob, horses, cows grazing the fields. There was also a golf course. On my way back, I did quite a plenty shopping - my Freesoul jacket, Sisley pants and pink doggie top. Am still thinkin whether to get the St Oliver's bag and the bikini for mama or sister.

Weissbach bei Lofer

4 39 am - 5 July 2005 - Montag

Zeit trickles slowly.
The patterns of the raindrops
Outside the storeroom.
For 8euros a night mit Frustuck,
The Haitzmann had very
Hospitably taken me guest.
My sole companion is a housefly,
it had been buzzing around
since 8pm gestern.
Munching on my Easter eggs from Poland,
I find such moments rare.

Had this been the refuge I
was searching for?
In the spirit of wandern,
Had i discovered the wonders
of her people.
Stranded one afternoon
on the 4th of July,
It soon hit me that
No room were frei.
Elizabeth who was so generous
also watered the seed of
Hitchhiking me me.
So lay i now scribbling away
in the warm room she offered.

Trudging my way through Sisenbergklamm
I soon arrived at Hintertal!
Paradise of meadows and rolling mountains,
some snow-capped,
i stood at an elevation of 800m at least.
Pampering myself to a feast of
fried pork and paprika sauce
mit Holonderblume drink,
I was in bliss.

It was 4km back to weissback
and a storm was approaching.
the bosses of gasthof pension lohfeyer were
too kind.
Lent me der farrah for frei and
gave me life home.
I am astounded speechless.
I have now renewed faith in the
milk of human kindness.

the neighouring chuch chimes in dawn,
as birds start to chirp and
the 400-inhabitant town starts to awaken.
I put my 3-in-1 Milo away
trudging to bed as an
untrodden day unfolds.

Saying Goodbye

30 June 2005

Saying goodbye is one of the hardest things to do. Hard when you never know when u r gona see the person again. I ve been constantly reflecting the past month. But i ve never yearned to go home. I ve grown to love Graz for the place it is, and the Global Business Program people who made me feel like we are part of one big family.

And now it is nearly time to go our separate ways, and yeah, sometimes it is near tear-jerking, but like Memo said, ''Live for the moment enjoy moment'.

As usual, I am still pretty much in crontrol, but of course insude i feel sad because all this while, i have been hanging out with these guyz at parties nearly every freaking weekend! They picked me up when I was down - and whipped me into shape. I remember there was a time when every one was down, and also another when all was dead drunk. Those crazy times we shared.

It is the memories that last. Goodbye. For now.

Life

DESREE

Ooh, Yeah
Oh yeah
Oh Life
Oh Life
I'm afraid of the dark
Especially when I'm in the park
When there's no one else around
Oh I get the shivers
I don't wanna see a ghost
It's the sight that I fear most
I'd rather have a piece of toast
Watch the evening news
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
I'm a superstitious girl
I'm the worst in the world
Never walk under ladders
I keep a rabbits' tail
I'll take you up on a dare
Anytime, anywhere
Name the place, I'll be there
Bungee jumping, I don't care
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life
So after all's said and done
I know I'm not the only one
Life indeed can be fun
If you really want to
Sometimes living out your dreams
Ain't as easy as it seems
You wanna fly around the world
In a beautiful balloon
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Life, oh life
Oh life, oh life
Oh life, oh life..

Be Yourself

Audioslave

Someone falls to pieces
Sleepin all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
To finally drift away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
Catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
And another only fame
Someone tries to hide themself
Down inside their selfish brain
Someone swears his true love
Untill the end of time
Another runs away
Divided or united?
Or is everyone insane?

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

You can be fading up
And pulled apart
Or been in love
Every single memory of
Could have been faces of love
Dont lose any asleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright
You may win love

But to be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Well well so now what?

thanks sammie dear so much for the encouragement! somehow, u seem to know wat i am thinking although number one, we havent seen each other for so long (from ur trip here till now), and also the past three and a half months before u came down! ur message really made me so happy - that u too understand the way i feel!

and im sure i can live life differently - i want to! I really hope that i dont get sucked up in the pace of life back home - i noe how hard it is keep my dreams alive - but i´ve been talking about this wif angeline - and we figured that even if we follow the pace of life in singapore - it doesnt mean that we conform to the visions and norms of the society in which we r brought up in. wat matters is that we haf a wider perspective of things, and we are working towards a goal that we want so badly for ourselves, and not to satisfy wat society wants from us.

i haf a set of goals to fulfill - although i will probably not do all - but im sure and i hope i can realize at least two! Here goes (in no order of priority):
- study german (weekday nights)
- learn horse-riding with papa in malaysia (sundays)
- graphic design @ Lasalle or NAFA (Sammie i need ur advice on this)
- work towards tibet trip in dec 05 and SEA trip in june 06
- get my driving license
- learn stage lighting from SUVEN
- overseas comm service opportunites in India, Nepal, Africa

budgeting for these is actually the hard part. i need to pay off my bills such as my exchange loan, tuition fee loan, phone bill, give mama some money, and of course misc! and i think this will amount to about 500 - 600 a month. gosh and i still need to survive! but im sure i can manage. its my life. and im doing this for me. not for mom, not for pop, not for anyone else. i will find the strength i hope.

for the past 22 yrs i have been doing things not entirely for myself. this trip away from home gave me the opportunity to see possibilities and keep my head in the clouds, but also the perspective to have my feet on the ground. the harsh reality is gona be hard, but i hope my friends will keep me sane and my visions alive. ash told me that taking a year off takes real guts as not everyone will do it. but i dream. and i hope that i will be able to carry on dreaming.

Friends I Have Made

11th June 2005

I lie in bed. My body aching from the crazy concert I had. I am dirty – haven’t washed my hair for 2 weeks, and haven’t bathed for 1 and ½ days now. After the mud and sweat, I am now a Audioslave believer! =)

Looking back at the times I had, I have made friends from all over.

For Austrians, I was closer to Rene, Flo, Christoph and maybe Daniela. And of course, Renate, my landlady. I definitely have met more Austrians, but I don’t think I was ever got to know them better than mere acquaintances.

As for the exchange students, I have formed bonds with Maya (Bulgarian). Anja (Slovenian), Helga (Hungarian), the Chinese people (Shanghainese & studying in the Netherlands), Angeline (Singaporean) and maybe Matthias! (Germany).

I also made friends with some people from the Jazz Academy, Gregor (Slovenian), Phillip (Slovenian) and Peter (Croatian)!

And also Martha – architecture student (Slovenian), Martha – musicology student (Croatian), my magnetic dread maker – Groch in Warsaw, Mark (Polish teacher cum hostel rentalist) and Adam – the cool media academician cum industry consultant! Who can forget the crazy bunch of Hungarians – who are also friends of Helga! Dominique is one crazy Punzi I will remember, Petar is Helga’s boyfriend and Steve is Petar´s brother.

I will keep in my memory the intense violinist at the cozy home-run jazz bar at Barbertengasse, where the owner closed shop and invited me and my friends to join them for home-made wine, food, music and Austrian company! There was an accomplished tenor (Florian), accordion player, pianist (France) and of course The Violinist (Elma). They did a live version of yodeling, piano recital, violin piece and played the accordion. It was a magical night. Simply beautiful.

Of course there were many others, such as Mika (Christoph´s friend at Nova Rock concert), Christoph (Renate’s son), Farie (Helga’s friend from Hungary), the lady from Sydney with a partner in Maribor, Richard McAndrew (Professor from Hawaii), the UK lady at DIG, and many many more. I mean, there are also the rest of the GBP people.

Indeed, it is a bagful of memories that I will carry with me for a long time to come.