Sunday, July 14, 2013

#30daychallenge Day 7

HELLO EVERYBODY!
I am finally back from a week's summer break in Taiwan, and I am thinking of doing a sole post on my experience. Still need to gather and categorize all the thoughts that are swimming around in my mind right now, but to put it in the most simplest of terms, Taiwan has been amazing, even with a daily dose of unhappiness along the way. I wouldn't trade that one week for anything else in the world, really.

Anyway! I did promise a post when I got back, and here it is! I don't really know whether anyone reads my blog, but I choose to believe in the positive, so a big hello to all of you that bother to click onto this space once in a while! I know that I have been really behind in writing, and I apologize for that. Will try to fit in more posts here alright?

I brought along a journal on my trip, in case my fingers started itching, and right when I boarded the plane, I started scribbling in my horrible handwriting already. I couldn't sleep because the plane's machinery was too noisy, and the seat space was too cramped, so I spent that few hours in the dim lights with my pen and paper. I'm just gonna transfer whatever I have written onto here, so here goes!

Day 7's topic for my #30daychallenge was to describe a feeling that never goes old a.k.a a feeling which you wouldn't mind experiencing over and over again. I really thought long and hard about this, because on a daily basis, we already feel a myriad of feelings right? This one struck me the most in a special way. Enjoy!

2nd July, 2013. 
1.31am

I once wrote somewhere that there were 2 feelings I loved to experience, yet I don't get to do that on a regular basis. They are the feelings that come when a plane takes off and when a plane lands. It is currently 1.30am, and I am currently on an aircraft bound for Taipei, Taiwan. I'm actually having mixed feelings about this trip somehow.. but for now, anticipation is at an all-time high. I miss everyone back home already, but that's another story for another time. 

Let's come back to my main point, shall we? Barely 25 minutes ago, the plane I'm on took off from Singapore's renowned Changi Airport. When I was a kid, I used to be really scared of planes, so the minute the plane I was on started taking off, I would squeeze my eyes shut, pop some sweets into my mouth, imagine I was somewhere else and willed the time to go faster for the plane to stabilize itself in the air. This time though, I kept my eyes open. I could see everything around me. 

I saw the plane rumble onto the runway. 
I saw the people around me doing what I did when I was a small child, all of them had their eyes closed and most of them had even fallen fast asleep. 

I felt the plane pick up speed as the wheels dragged along the tar road. And the moment when the plane's wheels left the ground, I tried to suppress my fears, and I peeped out the window. 

What greeted me was beautiful. We were flying above the sea, and there were countless ships and boats, strewn like litter across a wide expanse of water. Their lights were on, and they looked like toy lanterns scattered on the floor. Like the ones I saw in Phuket, Thailand, when it was the Loy Krathong festival and hundreds of lanterns were let go into the dark sea. I looked behind me, and the sunny island, which was engulfed in a blanket of night darkness, was lit up by a million tiny lights. I could make out buildings, roads and even tiny vehicles that were driving on the streets. Where were they headed to? 

5 minutes passed, and I could see the lights no more. Even now, as I look beneath me, all I see is darkness. Lights, to me, are a compass, guiding people to their destinations. But at least for this moment, I can't pinpoint my bearings at all. Yet, I feel surprisingly calm and peaceful. I love being in the air. 

See you in 3 and a half hours, Taipei. 

Thank you for reading, all of you. It's really much appreciated. (:

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