Happy New Year! I trust everyone had a good time. (oh my god. I am my FATHER right there!)
The beach party was fun, a bit of a lame Top 40 stint up until New Years, but interesting nonetheless. The winner of Singapore Idol performed, it was quite hilarious! Afterwards we had a bit of a disco to some trance and tribal DJs, before yours truly started to fade at 3am. Gone are the days of the all night parties for me. my body is just like Naught! Not doing it! and then I need to lie down. did i exhaust my reserve of partying in university and last year in Iwaki? oh gad, maybe i'm just getting old. I'd rather just sit around and chat with people than have a big piss up somewhere... but i guess it just depends who you're with too... i think i must have had too many bad hangovers that have put me off drinking for a while... anyways, the REd Bull and vodka i consumed definitely kicked in when we got home and we ended up chatting away till 6am anyway. sometimes i just need down time. that sometimes seems to be more and more lately.
do you ever feel like you're changing so fast you don't really understand your motives but just do things you normally don't really do but are content and happy doing them? does that make any sense? i'm not trying to be obscure. i'm just searching for the reason i may possibly be becoming a homebody. such a shift!! but then again, we can't stay 18 forever.
today it's positively pissing down with rain. but really, i don't mind. again, i'm content with just relaxing indoors with some fellow travellers. Taka is leaving tonite for Jarpan, but a fellow teacher is popping over here so hopefully we can hook up. Tomorrow i want to check out an Asian Civilization's Art Museum. Today, i see that Mommsy Nature has crushed our hopes for a beach retreat so we are going to check out the national university here in Singapore. Taka likes talking to university students "because they have so many bright ideas." I must agree. I feel jaded and mush-brained not studying!
So did anyone make any resolutions? A feeble attempt to start behaving right when the clock turns to 12? Although I believe resolutions should be made any time of the year, and that we shouldn't just wait until one set day to start improving ourselves, of course I buy into the whole resolution for the NY hype. Looking back, i've made some great resolutions that i've managed to keep... I will not make the same resolution twice, i mean, doesn't that just mean you've slacked off at some point during the year? Past resolutions on my part have been eating more produce (fruits and vegables), drinking more water, practicing moderation, equality, and equity in all aspects of my life.. i can't remember if i made any last year. it was probably the token resolution that all gaijin make- learn more Japanese! THis year, I've decided to go for three broad goals which encompass heaps of lil things i want to change.
1. vigilance.
in avoiding wheat and dairy, in my efforts to learn Japanese, in my efforts to complete my nutritional counselling diploma, in my effort to stay relatively stress-free, in my morals, in my views that are different from the status quo, in my efforts to become more compassionate and spiritual. I'm talking about drive here, people!
2. patience.
Let's face it. I have no patience in Japan. I'm frustrated by how long shit takes to get done, i'm frustrated by the population density, i'm frustrated by how smoking it smells, i'm frustrated that I can't eat a lot of my favourite foods. wow. how come i can't admit all that to anyone, so i admit it to everyone? the wonders of a faceless interface. So, i endeavour to have more patience in my life, to take time to appreciate the small things, and to make an effort, as i've started to recently, to meditate.
3. grasping to nothing.
Do you really think material success matters? Do you think that you're defined by the clothes you wear, the job you have, the possessions that own you (be honest), your wants, your needs, your aspirations, your friends, your family? One of the most important Buddhist principles is to grasp on to nothing. And I really hope to embody that principle. I grasp. We all do. I have rediculous material wants, fully knowing i'm no more of a more enlightened, spiritual being, with those nice new runners, but i still want them. I must learn to be content with what i want. and learn to be of this world, but not totally in it. I want to rise above all this nonsense and just be. just be a compassionate, giving, caring, selfless person. I just want to see the world through new eyes, as I feel mine have been scabbed over by mass consumerism, the need for comfort in a different environment, and this abhorrent selfishness i've contracted lately.
so there you have it. I can feel this year already being one filled of rapid growth and some kinda of transformation is on the horizon. I'm not sure i'm wholly prepared for it, but i know it's something i need at this point of spiritual crisis in my life.
in other news, i've been working a wee bit on my website here, and i'm hoping to get some new city links up soon to give you more of a visual glimspe into my lfie right now. i've been finding some great zen meditation and yoga resources for Tokyo on the internet, i'm looking forward to the move... ok my stomach is eating itself, i'm going to round up postcard-writing Taka and go out. LOVE!
The beach party was fun, a bit of a lame Top 40 stint up until New Years, but interesting nonetheless. The winner of Singapore Idol performed, it was quite hilarious! Afterwards we had a bit of a disco to some trance and tribal DJs, before yours truly started to fade at 3am. Gone are the days of the all night parties for me. my body is just like Naught! Not doing it! and then I need to lie down. did i exhaust my reserve of partying in university and last year in Iwaki? oh gad, maybe i'm just getting old. I'd rather just sit around and chat with people than have a big piss up somewhere... but i guess it just depends who you're with too... i think i must have had too many bad hangovers that have put me off drinking for a while... anyways, the REd Bull and vodka i consumed definitely kicked in when we got home and we ended up chatting away till 6am anyway. sometimes i just need down time. that sometimes seems to be more and more lately.
do you ever feel like you're changing so fast you don't really understand your motives but just do things you normally don't really do but are content and happy doing them? does that make any sense? i'm not trying to be obscure. i'm just searching for the reason i may possibly be becoming a homebody. such a shift!! but then again, we can't stay 18 forever.
today it's positively pissing down with rain. but really, i don't mind. again, i'm content with just relaxing indoors with some fellow travellers. Taka is leaving tonite for Jarpan, but a fellow teacher is popping over here so hopefully we can hook up. Tomorrow i want to check out an Asian Civilization's Art Museum. Today, i see that Mommsy Nature has crushed our hopes for a beach retreat so we are going to check out the national university here in Singapore. Taka likes talking to university students "because they have so many bright ideas." I must agree. I feel jaded and mush-brained not studying!
So did anyone make any resolutions? A feeble attempt to start behaving right when the clock turns to 12? Although I believe resolutions should be made any time of the year, and that we shouldn't just wait until one set day to start improving ourselves, of course I buy into the whole resolution for the NY hype. Looking back, i've made some great resolutions that i've managed to keep... I will not make the same resolution twice, i mean, doesn't that just mean you've slacked off at some point during the year? Past resolutions on my part have been eating more produce (fruits and vegables), drinking more water, practicing moderation, equality, and equity in all aspects of my life.. i can't remember if i made any last year. it was probably the token resolution that all gaijin make- learn more Japanese! THis year, I've decided to go for three broad goals which encompass heaps of lil things i want to change.
1. vigilance.
in avoiding wheat and dairy, in my efforts to learn Japanese, in my efforts to complete my nutritional counselling diploma, in my effort to stay relatively stress-free, in my morals, in my views that are different from the status quo, in my efforts to become more compassionate and spiritual. I'm talking about drive here, people!
2. patience.
Let's face it. I have no patience in Japan. I'm frustrated by how long shit takes to get done, i'm frustrated by the population density, i'm frustrated by how smoking it smells, i'm frustrated that I can't eat a lot of my favourite foods. wow. how come i can't admit all that to anyone, so i admit it to everyone? the wonders of a faceless interface. So, i endeavour to have more patience in my life, to take time to appreciate the small things, and to make an effort, as i've started to recently, to meditate.
3. grasping to nothing.
Do you really think material success matters? Do you think that you're defined by the clothes you wear, the job you have, the possessions that own you (be honest), your wants, your needs, your aspirations, your friends, your family? One of the most important Buddhist principles is to grasp on to nothing. And I really hope to embody that principle. I grasp. We all do. I have rediculous material wants, fully knowing i'm no more of a more enlightened, spiritual being, with those nice new runners, but i still want them. I must learn to be content with what i want. and learn to be of this world, but not totally in it. I want to rise above all this nonsense and just be. just be a compassionate, giving, caring, selfless person. I just want to see the world through new eyes, as I feel mine have been scabbed over by mass consumerism, the need for comfort in a different environment, and this abhorrent selfishness i've contracted lately.
so there you have it. I can feel this year already being one filled of rapid growth and some kinda of transformation is on the horizon. I'm not sure i'm wholly prepared for it, but i know it's something i need at this point of spiritual crisis in my life.
in other news, i've been working a wee bit on my website here, and i'm hoping to get some new city links up soon to give you more of a visual glimspe into my lfie right now. i've been finding some great zen meditation and yoga resources for Tokyo on the internet, i'm looking forward to the move... ok my stomach is eating itself, i'm going to round up postcard-writing Taka and go out. LOVE!
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