Tonight, we are young.

May 12-13, 2012. Fantastic weekend when friends came to visit. :) Really thank God for these new friends here. Jeannifer, i barely knew her in NTU, and here we can talk like old friends, sharing secrets and letting off frustrations. :) William and Margaret, just met over a few weeks ago, and lovely travel buddies. Cant wait for them to come back!

It was a greatttt weekend with awesome weather. It was hottt and sunnnyyyy just like SINGAPOREE. no more cold and gloomy boston. LIKE.  though i have to admit having some cool breeze will make me even happier! but nonetheless, thank God for the great weather. 

Finally tried a lobster roll at James Hook. it was good and fresh, though i didnt think it was thattttttttttttt tasty. then did the Freedom Trail with Jenn. again, finally! touristy things were cleverly left to be done with the real tourists so that we wont bore them or be bored when doing them tgt. :D it was rather tiring, all the walking in the hot weather, but we ended it well at Mr Bartley’s Burgers. IT WAS AWESOMEEEEE. They had funky names for their Burgers- lady Gaga, linsanity, Barack and Michelle Obama, Viagra, Oprah etc. :) 

They were as good as they sounded. Tried a Joes Biden because i wanted the guacamole in it. Added sweet potato fries. :D. Enough said! Walked back home stuffed, but continued snacking on tortillas while catching He’s just not that into you and One day. Loved the night :)

On Sunday, Willy and Marg came in the weee hours and we headed out for breakfast at a nearby cafe, which turned out pretty yummy! again, nice food makes a good start for the day. so happy girl donned her happy flowery dress with NO JEANS NO STOCKINGS AND BARE LEGS finally. We toured MIT, Harvard and then headed to Quincy Market for lunch. unfortunately, i still haven been blown away by anything at the market. :( 

Walked down Newbury Street, chilled in front of the prettiest church at Copley Square and headed back to home for dinner. bought some drinks after much difficulty with IDs and passports. nonetheless, twas a good dinner with good talk and good people. 

Thank you for a lovely weekend.

Wk 5 was the Avengers wk, where we caught the movie on the day of release, 4 May. Was abit sceptical about it initially, but thank God for the good movie in the end. Though i cant help but think what on earth differentiates the power rangers from these superheroes. One is deemed childish, the other highly exalted and followed worldwide. The power of marketing, and the mystery of the human perception.

Saturday was supposed to be May Fair at Harvard Square, a festival that marks the official start of spring. YIPPEE! BUt blur me mistook the dates. It was supposed to be on Sunday, May 6. 

So the initial plan was for me to hawk my ware to raise funds for the Greater Boston Food Bank at the fair. It was supposedly ‘illegal’ since by time i knew about the fair, registration for booths was long over. Nevertheless, i decided to just be adventurous and bold and headed down with my 2 huge bags to try. What i sold were basically my small love cards that i brought from Singapore, frames that i designed over the week and the t-shirts that i just printed over the week too! Really thank God for how everything turned out on time :) Drawing for the frames took quite some time, the t-shirts were printed and delivered just the day before on Friday and there were free chairs for me to lay out my booth at Harvard.

Almost wanted to head home after buying another tub of ice cream (3rd one alr!), but decided to be brave and just try my luck since i have lugged everything out. Really so thankful to God for giving me that push! A very fruitful session it was, not in terms of sales, but getting to meet people, hear feedback about my work, having customers wanting to meet me the next day to buy it. :)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

So, i met

2 Chinese here for 1 month on MBA exchange at MIT

1 Singaporean studying MBA at MIT

2 Mexicans who bought my t-shirts

1 girl who asked to meet me the next day to buy it from me since she was only carrying a small clutch out

1 couple who said that the ‘I will stare until you say yes’ really applies to them. They wanted me to draw another piece to be framed up, hence i passed it to them the next day.

1 indian family who wanted to buy my frame but I HAD NO CHANGE. :(

1 Harvard student who came back just to buy a frame after going back to take his wallet. He ended up not having enough cash to buy a frame and insisted on just getting the cards even though i offered him the frame for whatever he had.

Many passer-bys who gave me loads of encouragement :)

Sunday was another fruitful day. Headed to Yak and Yeti for Indian/Nepalese lunch with Jeff, Elaine and Ollie as they were leaving for Singapore that evening. Food was awesome. After that, we walked back to Harvard Square for the May Fair. IT WAS BIGGG. many performances, many shops, alot of food, very fun. :) Walked around and passed the frames to Reina and Alex, procrastinating setting up shop as i was tired and lazy to ‘do business’. haha

THank GOd he pushed me again! Set up shop for half an hour at a little corner and sales was brisk. People were really very encouraging and there was these 2 customers who were really cute and generous with their compliments. Seeing all the smiles on their faces just made my day. :)

Doing this little thing, and reading about successful people, I always have to remind myself of what am i really doing this for. People always say do what your heart is calling you to do. Is this what my heart really desire? Is making a difference in people’s lives really what make my heart sing? Or instead, is it for the money (though its pathetic now), fame or pride? Why do i want to make this big? I struggle with my motivations many times, but I trust that whatever plans i make, God’s plans prevail. I only can pray that I will walk close to him, hear his heartbeat, and allow him to align mine to his.

Boy was week 4 cool. :) 

Hopped down to the Museum of Fine Arts on Wed and spent 2 hours wondering around, trying to appreciate the art. Noticed that American artists had prettier art ie. more easily appreciated by the mass, as compared to the rest. especially loved the contempt art section with splashes of colour everywhere. My thing! :) 

On Thursday, managed to get Rush (read:cheap) tickets to watch the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sanders Theatre (Memorial Building of Harvard) and it was awesomeeeee. It was part of a Learning Series, so the conductor, world renowned Benjamin Zander, spent 50 minutes explaining the piece by Mahler- Symphony No. 7. It was apparently the most complicated and least played piece by Gustav Mahler. I was really really enthralled by the explanation Mr Zander gave. The passion he exudes, humming the music parts he excitedly want us to hear and understand, tapping and swaying along to the sounds of the tenor horn just made my night. I was so so happy i went, despite initial thoughts of being bored by the long speech. 

The playing was cool as well. it was a smallish cosy old school theatre, and that meant that the sound was loud and good. I really wished i understood the various parts they were playing more, but nonetheless, it was a great experience. managed to doodle a little version of the orchestra too. :) simple drawing but rather happy with it! :)

Friday! Kina Grannis Concert at Paradise Rock Lounge. Queued for 1.5 hours before standing for another 2ish hours for the concert. Definitely back-breaking (old me), but it was all worth it. Her opening act- Imaginary Friend, was alluring and his good crisp voice took all the pain of standing away. :) Kina Grannis, together with her celloist, was too good too. Her voice sounds lovely lovely and i wished *you* were there. Smiling to myself and swaying to the music, I am so so blessed. Thank you God for the gift of music. 

Something that touched me was how lovely the audience was. Even though Kina was the main act, they were as generous with the applause and wolf whistles for Jessie (Imaginary Friend) and Keith (the celloist). Also, the orchestra we went for, we stood there for a whole 5-10 minute just applauding all the different segments of the orchestra. Now, thats definitely something Singaporeans can learn! We always tend to be very selective in showing our appreciation, just caring bout the main act and dissing the rest. THATS NOT NICE! let’s be nicer. :)

NOW FINALLY TO THE WEEKENDS!

Spent Saturday in Harvard Square, taking part in the opening ceremony of the only Curious George shop in the world. haha. its amusing how big a fuse they made out of it. in a cute family, small town way. with free ice cream and curious george cake for everybody! :) It was also William Shakespeare’s 448th birthday and there was street performance and reenactments of Twelve Knight which was pretty entertaining. Again, was so happy that i could be there, experiencing something that a tourist may not have the chance to. these small events that may seem lame, but just makes my day :) 

Went goodwill shopping after that and bought 5 dresses! WHEE. cheap thrill. ok, on to more interesting things. Adnan and i attended a intro tango lesson taught by a world famous Tango instructor! didn’t know he was so well acclaimed because he was just so humble and cute with his dimples :) but once again, thankful to Him, who let us chance upon this opportunity to test out this dance before committing anything! It was an interesting experience, definitely. Quite different from salsa which i learnt a little, but a little too close for comfort now. ;) would definitely learn it if SOMEBODY asked me to, though. 

Moving on to Sunday, hopped down to Concord after church. Took a short half hr train ride and we landed in peaceful lovely small town, where there is few people and fewer shops. I think there was only one cafe open when we were there. :O but thank God for the lovely weather! It was a great day for walking and we walked around, taking many beautiful pictures. Beautiful because of the lovely scenery of course! A small dampening where i lost my scarf (AGAIN!). No idea where it flew to again, but hope the other person is happy with it! Frustrating, but sigh, another chance to learn how to get over it. 

So another weekend that I thoroughly enjoyed. Another weekend of God’s grace and love to me. 

Typed a whole post and it was gone. :( Shall attempt to relive the happy spirit once again.

Its the middle of the fifth week now and Monday was my Öne-month work anniversary :D its been pretty awesome so far, i never stop saying Thank you God. Daily i cross the B.U bridge to get to work, daily i pray and thank God for this wonderful opportunity. :) Of course, there are moments when i feel down, missing thoes at home, but i thank God that he reminds me of how fortunate that i am where he placed me. and a reminder that he placed me here for a reason. 

Even though im getting lazy to update here (as usual), i’m adamnant about keeping this up because i realise how important it will be in helping to reck up great memories that i have of this place. My memory is horrible and the lovely times i had in Italy is fading away. Thankfully, i have my poorly-updated blog http://thankgodforthis.tumblr.com/ to revive the long lost memories of my adventure in Milan. So yap, here goes the recount of the 3rd weekend in US, and the 1st wkend in Boston!

yes, the first 2 was spent away from home and finally its back to home ground :) Happy! Went to check out some garage sales in the morning but was pretty fruitless. Rather disappointed but its ok! its only the first try! many more to go. :)

In the afternoon, thanks to my awesome host/friends Elaine Jeff and Ollie, we managed to check out Wrentham Premium Outlets. :D Tried 10 pieces in 8 min and swopped 6 in the end i think. Esther was a happy girl. :D

Sunday April 22 was EARTH DAY! Chanced upon this Nature’s Conservatory attempt to break the Guiness World Record by holding the largest picnic ever! I LOVE PICNICS!! Bought alot of food, brought along the handy Singapore Day mat, we headed down excitedly. The rain didn’t understand the altruistic attempt to save the earth though. :( It ended up being a sad rainy coldddd day. Nevertheless, the dampening didnt stop us from parking at a picnic table, laying out our food and eating under our umbrellas while enjoying the live music. :) and there was free CHOWDER! and we got to make our own SHAKERS! Esther was a frozen but happy girl. :)

The weather was too much for me to bear, we ended up chilling in Macs for 2 hours, doodling and staying warm while waiting for church. Attended service at Park Street Church and was very thankful for the singing and sermon. A reminder of how Jesus broke down every type of boundary and customs to reach out to the ones he loved. I myself experience the difficulty of doing so, but i trust that God knows our heart when we are trying.

Thank you God for a wonderful weekend in Boston. :)

Its my 3rd week here and its been amazing. I’m thankful that i’ve not taken things for granted. I thank God everyday for this time here. whether to find future job opportunities, make new friends or hopefully improve my confidence, its been a great start thus far. 

This weekend was once again spent in NYC, where Singapore Day 2012 was held. 

IT WAS AMAZING. and thats not to say enough. IT WAS JUST FANTASTIC words cant even describe it. honestly, i was so physched about it one week back i couldnt sleep (yes, crazy i know). I was just imagining the hordes of Singaporeans being so happy to finally meet each other and get together. Had to admit that i was quite disappointed that that scene didnt quite play out in reality. Many of the Singaporeans were already in their cliques from the various universities and not belonging anywhere felt abit sad.

BUT BUT BUT the night (bused to NYC on Friday night) was saved by Jeannifer, my lovely host in NYC. :) Thank God for making the day right again :)

Singapore Day was just madly well done. God was good and he even gave us Singapore weather! It was really warm, Singapore style ;) The MRT gantry entrance was a smart touch. the security guards and staff from Singapore added to the Singaporean flavour. Hossan Leong, Michelle Chong, Chua En Lai and their Singlish made us feel like we were in Singapore. 

It was just too cool. seeing the celebrities that you dont even see at home, overseas! Not forgetting a cool photo with Mr Teo Chee Hean. and a interview with Alaric and Vernetta Lopez.

AND MY FACE WOULD BE RECORDED IN THE SG DAY VIDEO FOREVERRR. :O Its only a blink-and-pass moment. BUT STILLLLL. :P

Cheap thrills make you happy and give you just so many more reasons to be thankful for. :)

The next part of the trip was spent travelling to Philly to meet new found friend Margaret. and met another bunch of Singaporeans there. They are cool, on a year-long entrepreneurial program from NUS. Really wished i had such opportunities. but i shall not complain. :) God has his way of doing things and i shall look forward to the different opportunities i have. Made another cool friend William and went to Church before touring UPenn. 

God is indeed loving and compassionate. Despite my absence in our relationship, he has still continually kept me in his fold, giving me little things to make me happy, showing me things that remind me of him. and church sermon was no different. He touched me and reminded me that my life here is just a preparation for better things to come. 

May FOREVER change my perspective. may FOREVER change my pursuits. may FOREVER change my priorities .

T’was a great weekend! Met new friends, did cool things. So Thankful to Him who made it all possible. He knew how sad i must be over the loss of Charlie and he gave me NYC. He knew i would be cold without my scarf, he kept the wind still when i walked back home last night. He knew i would feel cold, he gave me the loveliest weather in NYC. He knew i needed friends, he gave me the chance to meet new cool friends, from Singapore too! 

AMAZING. Thank you Lord.