collecting memories

(http://www.saic.edu/~tkhor/Places/Places.html)

it's the last few minutes of class for this semester, wow. 

moments. i think those are important. there are just these peaks in life that i will remember. and it doesn't even need to be huge life changing moments. just little periods of time, that everything feels okay. 

with chummy. and the awkward fan.

with rachel. under the stars, stopping on a random road near home.

with the sister. at a waterfall somewhere in australia.

with clare. waiting for the train at armitage and being really cold (clare says hi. she's weird, she says"i think ting is bootiful. as in b-o-o-t-i-f-u-l") she's actually walking out of class now and i'm not going to see her for a month which makes me sad

with liv, on a park bench, with peet's in hand. and having a conversation about movies. and about how i shouldnt be pouring milk in tea because it's like pouring milk into water.

with liv, giving me a hug when we parted for winter break.

with ryan, listening to music.

with gracia. facetiming, while i was in the lounge.

with mum. and dad. parting at the lobby of 162. mum was crying. dad shoved me through the doors.

with joanie. conversations by the kitchen stove.

watching joseph run through a bunch of trees that formed a sort of runway.

with tricia. sitting on top of one of the buildings at navy pier, freezing our butts off after a run in the cold.

with jon. sitting at the steps of starvista after service.

with drew. by a fountain in orchard road. i was eating mash potatoes from kfc. he talked about some environmentally friendly farm.

with claire. on the ugly purple couches at sharp talking about things that mattered to us.

the lake.

a hug from courtney on sunday, "merry christmas," she said as i made my way out. i turned and smiled.

watching the dimsum being served to our table yesterday. we ordered so so much. we ate it all though.

dance party with hope, sonia and joseph in my room, with mattresses pulled onto the floor, and ice-cream as fuel.

falling asleep to bon iver, and good conversation over a huge meal at wildberry.

i predict that pho tonight will be another of those moments.

it's been a good semester, a good year. i'm thankful.

rhythm

life has its ups and its downs. the ups are easy, everyone likes the ups. the downtimes however, it just seems as though nothing is going to work out. though your mind constantly reminds you everything's going to be okay in the end, your heart experiences an ache, a sinking, a wrenching that convinces the rest of you otherwise. you wait it out though, cos i mean, there's nothing more to do than to just hang in there. it passes. eventually. and it hits a phase of numbness, where you just get things done. you fill your day with activity after activity, where the only time you need to worry about is the time in between activities. but those are okay, they are only a few hours at max. you work mindlessly day after day... until, one day, you recognise a tinge of joy again. it's a warmth of the heart, the tilting of the corners of your mouth. laughter isn't just a sound you make to shun the "how are you"s from those that care, but it is something that results from that warmth within. it's just a little grin, a little laughter, but it's still something. you start to enjoy the times in between activities -jamming to music, not just music you like, but weird new music as well, that you try to jam too but sometimes laugh at and realise that nope that's not you at all; cooking up meals, throwing in sauces of different kinds, oregano and soy sauce? that'll work, actually doing the dishes afterwards cos you know it's better than leaving it for later; sketching things that you're not going to be proud of in a year to come, forget a year, perhaps even the next day, but it doesn't matter, you're sketching for yourself. you realise things are okay again - at least until the next downtime hits, or on the positive side, the next up comes along - but okay is good enough for now.

this, i suppose, is what they call the rhythm of life - it's like the rhythm of waves, or the way the wind blows - somewhat predictable, expected, but not really.

It hit me today - perhaps, awkwardness is what makes real life, well, real life afterall. Those missed high fives, awkward hugs, silences that are broken by weather talk while both parties wreck their brains thinking of another topic to talk about, the brushing of hands, oops sorry I didn't mean to - no you're fine, attempting to press the lift button together (i insist on calling it a lift and not an elevator sorry new friends)... i've come to realise that these are what make us human - that nothing goes perfectly well or go as we expect them to. 

and maybe that's okay. maybe that's good.

i'm really glad i went to family group today. immensely thankful for kristina, claire and rachel. and all the other iv people too.

wow we're more than halfway through november

there are days, that everything just feels okay. and everything that's not okay, there's some knowledge that it'll all work out. i'm thankful, so immensely thankful for days like these. today and yesterday were two of these. :)

someone asked me on askfm (tingyannn) about how i've been, i'll just throw that answer in here i think i was more coherent then than i am now: i've been okay! chicago's having a crazy cold week, kindof just trying to stay warm. just got myself out of something i felt had started to become obligatory, which has been liberating. and treasuring time with my roommate who's transferring out, having good conversations, and hot chocolate and homecooked food has been good too. there are bad days, and good days. wait it out on the bad, and enjoy every bit of it on the good :)

it's been a rough two weeks, i think just adjusting to the weather change, and the shorter days too. was in a huge funk trying to figure out what i was doing with my life, figuring out what matters to me, what doesnt, and just fumbling around, getting through the weeks day by day. i got to hang out with some really awesome people though, who made things a lot easier.

people are so so important to me. i like the idea of being independent and not having to depend on anyone, and feeling as though i could live on an island alone, and live off plants and be friends with all the animals - the fishes and orang utans and tigers do tigers live on islands i dont know. but no man is an island and i've felt that so acutely. been really thankful for friends here - checking out the nutella bar at eataly with jordyn, shopping with liv getting $3 shirts from h&m and coffee at peets and sitting at millennium park hanging out in the cold, talking about crickets and pets and figuring classes out with courtney and kristina, conversations with joanie while doing the dishes, exchanging ideas for projects with tricia, studying and urban shopping and homecooked dinner with sabrina, family dinners with tricia and joanie and laughing and hanging out in the room, talking about anything, from tricia's burps to personal stuff about family and friends and things that are close to our hearts, for morning prayers at sharp, family group at kristina's, church, friendly people and cute babies at church, any time with clare is always amazing.

thankful for people at home too - gracia has been just the most supportive friend and i appreciate how we are able to be so genuine with each other, alex, sam, darren, sis esther, sis kassey too. and definitely family. en has been sending me weekly emails, with songs and wow getting them just turns my whole day around. facetiming mum and dad has been lovely too. there are times when im not up to it and am not very communicative, but it's still always nice to see them and talk to them regardless.

i'm really enjoying the cold surprisingly, but am looking forward to going home to the heat as well :) 

--

went to the woodshop today to work on my sculpture. i did all the calculations really precisely this morning, and was all prepared to get like half of my stuff done. when i got there tho, i realised the machines couldn't do what i had planned on doing. and all the calculations had to be done all over again. was in there for three hours, and only did a really little bit :/ at the end of the day, liv said "i feel like a dry piece of wood," which totally encompassed what i felt. i don't really like working in the woodshop, cos i feel like i always need to ask for help, like to change the blades and bevels of the saws, and all these terminology and stuff i'm unfamiliar with. unfamiliarity always gets me really nervous and anxious. not only in the woodshop, but everything i guess. like it's always so much easier to stick with the familiar, and know a routine, and be so sure that everything is going to go according to what you have planned.

but there's also a certain liberation and accomplishment, in going and doing the thing you're most afraid of and overcoming it. a lot of the times its a lot easier than we think it is, but it takes a lot of motivation and effort to actually get to doing it. i think it's important to give yourself time and be patient with yourself in taking that step forward too. i like to break it down into steps and take each step one at a time, and not to beat yourself up about not doing well. and to also know that its okay to let yourself feel proud of yourself for accomplishing something - even if it may be small, if it's something that took you courage, strength, resilience, it's something :)

i'll leave you with some photos that kinda sum up the month (but not really) haha.

 was really nice to see winnie!!! :)

 lincoln park area

 chicago is gorgeous

botak trees :x 

 iv people :)

 liv

painting in progress

 croissant and miso soup with clare 

armitage brown line

i hope you are having a good week so far! have a good weekend too!:)

She reaches out her arms
Cinnamon
Cocoa
Spice
Warmth
Pull me in

"Hang in there."

 I wish hugs could fix people.

He never lets go of me

why are bagels not a thing in sg?

writing blogposts helps me to keep my weeks in check. it feels like everything is passing by in a whirl, just cos school is so busy and i just focus on getting through the day, that the weeks and months pass by without me knowing it. it hit november a couple days back. and i just sat on my bed repeating "it's november". this year has been the most unconventional just because it wasnt a full year of school, but a couple of things all thrown together. jan to may was internship with aeb, travelling in june, church camp, driving from june till august and meeting up with people, oh and of course moe interviews and stuff, then rehearsals, then i flew here - getting into school, moving into dorms, parents leaving, starting school, getting used to the routine of everything, finding a church, going for intervarsity stuff, meeting up with santi, helping out for citc pulse, boston, winnie coming, fallconf, two huge crits, a couple of times of attempting to explore the city in between and here i am now. listing everything out seems to be a huge huge sigh of relief, and takes the weight off how madly insane the past 10.5 months have been. and by now, i mean sitting on the ugly purple couches at sharp eating a bagel.

i've been here for 12 weeks and there are 6 weeks left before home. just spoke to en for 2 hours and it's so nice to hear "home" and "acceptance" and "it's okay" and "love" again. if i were to be deserted on an island i'd choose her to come with me. we'd live on laughter, and joy, and tears and it'd be a blast.

i don't really feel like writing anymore so i'm going to stop here. also, here's a song for you. i was playing songs on my phone because there's no data in the trains and i have been intending to get spotify premium but have not done it. and chanced upon this corrinne may song, that tugged at my heart strings. also, reactivated my askfm, you can find me at http://ask.fm/tingyannn :) have a good rest of the week everyone!

october updates

i'm in painting class now. but i completely do not feel like painting at the moment. it's been a while since i've written anything. it's been a crazy time here honestly. work is insane, and everything else as well. not everything is good but more things are good than are not. which is great and amazing. and i'm really thankful. i've enjoyed being immensely busy though. being busy and having to plan and stick to my plan. and when i actually do stick to it it feels really good. but if i don't i try not to stress about it too and like find ways to fix it. things kinda work out in the end. or if not, you just learn to deal with it i guess. and it's all good :)

seeing and catching up with santi was so so nice (':

 sunday jap lunches after church

tricia 

roommates are family

experienced a lot of new things this month would be an understatement. learning a lot of things about myself, the people around me, my environment, and the world in general i feel. i'm sorry im being so general and vague about this but my mind is kinda being a potato and being slumped in a corner of my skull but that's kinda it in a sum-up.

the weekend found me in boston for singsem, but i got time to walk around and explore the place on my own. and i realised the difference between being lonely and alone. there are times that there was a sense of acute loneliness and wishing that family or friends were with me. but other times, i just truly enjoyed being alone. and did not even realise that i was alone. walking through the north end, quincy market, the public garden.. was amazing. truly amazing. i realised how much i enjoy nature, though it's still in the city, the greens and the blues of the public gardens just brought me great peace. being around singaporeans was really nice too. it was funny, when i walked out of the hotel, i was like "oh right im in america" haha. it was a pretty good weekend. if you're ever in boston, go check out james hook and co. lobster rolls. and boston clam chowder at quincy market i really enjoyed. the public garden too. i think that was one of my favourite places.

rainy night in boston

 rainy night in boston

 rainy night in boston

flour bakery

boston public garden 

boston public garden

streets of boston 

quincy market

boston harbour

james hook and co. lobster roll, bisque, fresh raw osyters

so nice of the committee to bring these over (':

and to see singaporeans was great :) johann enjoyed himself more than his face shows it

the neighbourhood i stayed in

till next time (':

been really enjoying working, i feel like i'm putting in a lot of effort into my stuff, i feel good about them. not technically, but conceptually i feel like i'm being inspired and have enough to draw from.

collage prep work for painting

it's the next day now. i couldn't finish writing in class haha. i'm having the spaghetti i set up for a still life for breakfast, and two ramen eggs that turned out pretty good hehe tricia are you proud of me, and drinking earl grey milk tea which is awesome except i think i put too much sugar. i've been consuming too much sugar and salt. i'm going to return in december in a ball, preparin' to get the ball rollin' for food hunts in sg. :p

i was thinking of imagination as i was getting ready my breakfast just now. just how incredibly wonderful it is to be able to imagine. for sure, it's not as good as actually doing whatever you want to do, but the ability to imagine possibilities and feel as though you are living out those possibilities is something amazing. like some things you just may not get to do in your lifetime, but you're still able to imagine it happening. i don't really know how to put into words, but ("geronimo" just played on my spotify ads and i'm missing en right now hehe hi en if you're reading) yeah. my spiel.

drew from 11pm-3am last night and 11am-3pm today too. adding to the two hours in class, total of 10 hours now. i think i've got another couple of hours before this piece is done. drawing has been nice. it's what i feel most comfortable doing still i think (and i can watch movies while i do it hehehe. watched begin again today i love it and keira knightley is wow).

this post was kinda all over the place, but i'm kinda all over the place now, catching up on work and preparing work before next weekend, but i hope you enjoyed reading it anyway :) have a good sunday and a good week ahead everyone!

i'm starting to enjoy painting again

coffee's keeping me awake. i shouldn't be drinking so much coffee. i'm not drinking that much. but more than i do at home. i have a lot of thoughts lately, and i think it's good to write it down. i used to write (by write, i actually mean type cos my handwriting is horrible and i don't think i'll be able to read it in a couple of years. but yeah i should write too cos writing is authentic and it's nice to read handwritten things. but most of the time i type) a lot more than i do now. i used to pen down my thoughts more. putting thoughts into coherent sentences is really therapeutic somehow. 

i was talking to tricia today about there being some people you just feel comforted to see. i'm not talking about friends or family, cos that is like taken for granted i suppose that if you're close to someone it's always nice to see them. but i'm talking about strangers, or acquaintances that bring some sort of warmth to your heart, and a comfort that is unexplainable. somehow seeing them makes the unfamiliarity around me less daunting, a bit more manageable. there are two people here that are just that for me - courtney and sam. courtney runs intervarsity at saic (with a couple of others) and sam's my painting teacher. they both exude this warmth for people and passion for what they do/what they believe in. 

it's 3am here and i've been painting for 6 hours i think. i really enjoy making art. and i'm really thankful to be here. there are few things that take precedence over sleep.

also, i cut bangs on impulse two days ago. and for once i don't regret it. i quite like it/them (is bangs singular or plural i dont even know) actually. :)

Our God is Greater.

this week, though it passed really quickly, was really really difficult. definitely the hardest week in chicago so far. monday found me late for class. i had art history that started at 9. when i got up, it was 9.10am. my prof is pretty strict about lateness, absenteeism and sleeping in class. he mentioned that if you were to arrive 5 minutes late, you would be marked as late. if you hit the 30 minute mark, you'd be marked absent and be asked to leave. i started panicking and took a couple of minutes to decide whether even to turn up, whether it'd be worth it to risk being publicly asked to leave. a huge part of me didnt wanna miss class, just cos it was a good class, and the discussions are really intense and i know i'd miss out. i threw on a hoodie and jeans and rushed out. thank God the train arrived immediately as i reached the platform. once it hit the stop, i was up and running to my classroom to meet the 9.30am mark. i remember being in the lift going up and looking at the time, 9.28am. i made it right on the dot. i opened the door and the prof just stared at me. i said "sir, sorry do you want me to leave?" he just motioned me to come in quickly. it was a mad rush, and the rest of the day passed by really slowly, and really relaxed... throughout the rush though, i wasn't like particularly anxious or anything, part of me knew that it would all work out. i think i've learnt to depend on God a little more, not even in a supernatural sense, but just knowing that He is there, and with Him there is peace. 

the rest of the week passed by in a flu-rry (hurhur), really had to drag myself to classes on wednesday and friday and was in bed the whole of thursday. it was the first time since i got here that i truly truly felt homesick, missing the familiarity of home, the people, the places, mum and dad and the sister. when people say "i have food at home" or "i wanna go home", referring to the dorms, a part of me screams "that is not home". at first, i thought it's weakness, and that i really shouldn't feel this way, and that i should just suck it up and be okay. but i realised it's okay to let myself feel, to cry when i need to cry, to ask for help when i need it. and when i've done all that i have needed to do to get all these feelings out of my system, to smile and be strong and know that things are going to be okay. 

there's a lot of looking beyond myself as well, i think when i realise that i am small in relation to the city around me and the country, and the universe (that escalated quickly), that i realise that the things that i struggle with aren't that big afterall, and that my God is greater. on thursday night, after sleeping the whole day away, and eyes puffy from crying, i pulled myself out of bed and decided to take a walk to buckingham fountain. the city usually looks amazing to me, like i am constantly in awe of how pretty the city is. but that night, i couldn't bring myself to think that anything looked pretty. i just walked for the sake of walking - to enjoy the cold a bit and just to get out of the house and out of my thoughts. i met 3 people along the way and i'm going to tell you about them and what they meant to me. 

1. near the museum, hidden in a corner, i saw a girl sobbing. she was really just sobbing and crying her eyes out (what i was doing probably two hours back). i sat next to her and asked her if she's okay (dumb question, obviously not but it was the easiest way to start a conversation haha), and i put my arm around her. she just continued crying for a bit. she said it was depression. i just sat with her for a bit until she was ready to leave. she asked me where i was going. i said i didn't really know, i was just taking a walk and asked if she wanted to walk with me. she didn't take up my offer but she thanked me anyways and left. 

2. i was rounding columbus, when a chinese lady came up to me to ask for directions to the museum entrance with the lions. on finding out i could speak chinese, the conversation became a lot easier. she asked where i was studying. i said art. she said that's good art is good. i asked her what brings her to chicago. she said she's touring with her friend and they were supposed to meet at the entrance with the lions. i asked if she needed me to walk her over, she said it's fine and clarified the directions again. we parted at the intersection. 

3. after walking down to buckingham fountain - sidenote, it wasn't probably even to see the fountain, i realised upon getting there that i knew how it would look like and i could picture the walk there, but it was more just of a destination to reach and something to mark off what i intended to do when i set off for the walk - i was headed back to the dorms when i decided i should probably stop putting off getting my baking stuff and go and actually get them. i needed trays and butter and baking-related items, the dorms don't provide any not that i expected them to. i headed into target and picked up everything i needed and queued to pay. the cashier was a girl a couple of years older than me. baking? she asked. yup i said. chocolate chip muffins? yup! she said chocolate chip muffins sound good right now. i asked if she had a long day and she said yeah. and proceeded to tell me about her schedule and how thursday was her longest day, cos she does boxing from 6 ish to 7 ish, school from 9ish to 3 ish and she works 4-10pm and she has to commute home after. she said she just started school two weeks ago and is doing her masters and that it is hard to get back into the routine of school after a couple of years and though it is only till the summer of 2015, it is still a challenge. i told her it's going to be friday soon and to hang in there! the customers behind me gave her smiles of encouragements as well. i thanked her and she told me to have a good night. i did have a good night afterall. 

1, to me, showed me that everyone is facing their own battles, their own challenges. 2, we are all directionless at some point, and lost and confused, and that's okay. 3, we'll figure things out along the way - and know what we want to do, for the next season, for her it was her masters, for others it could be other things, but we eventually figure things out step by step. and though there are struggles along the way, to truly just hang in there and make the best out of whatever you're in. 

all in all, that people need people. and the little interaction i had with each one of these three people just spoke to be so greatly about that. there is some sort of alone-ness - that we each have our own battles, and even in this season i feel like i'm being taught how to truly be independent of people, and dependent on God alone - but also in everything, that truly people are important. and relationships are important and worth investing in. 

that concludes my very long string of thoughts that sums up this week. :) i'm going to leave you with some pretty pictures of chicago. 

have a good week y'all. thanks for stopping by. :)