Candidature offer for M.Sc. (by research)

I've got it! :)

No tsunami

Today I woke up to find that the island is still where it's supposed to be and everyone is alright and well. So much for the drama and over-reaction from the guests last night. Everyone was jittery (including yours truly) but by 10PM, most of us were bushed and ready to snooze.

Well, I'm really thanking God that nothing major happened in our area. Yes, there were big waves and all and the sea still looks one-sided to me, but other than that, all is well. Everyone is safe. The transport boat could go out this morning and life goes on. Prayers and concern go out to the Japanese people especially IYC pals and host families that took us in. I'm glad that the Aichi prefecture isn't affected asides from quake tremors. I sure hope that the death toll won't be as high as the event in Aceh a few years back.

p/s: Just got news that the transport boat was unable to come back in today due to the rough sea condition. :(

Six degrees of separation

"I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The President of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the names. I find it extremely comforting that we're so close. I also find it like Chinese water torture, that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound, you are bound, to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people."

- Ouisa Kitteridge, Six Degrees of Separation

Hey me

This morning Benjamin came on Facebook chat and showed me this picture:

I've been pretty upset over a series of events since two weeks ago, and I think I finally realized yesterday that I was being utterly stupid. Why am I giving someone who obviously doesn't care about me enough, the power to affect how I feel each day? It's utter rubbish and I'm glad that I've woken up to that fact. 

Enough of being silly, enough of being upset, enough of crying. I will be happy! And I will make the most of the time I have left. Oh whale sharks and manta rays (and maybe you, mola mola?), please let me see you before I pack up my dive gear!

I've grown to love this island and its people, but I think this is God's way of telling me that my time is up and I've to move on. Part of me still hurt because I really want to go in good terms, knowing that I'm leaving the place with friends being made. And I still hope so! But now, I hope that I'll have the strength to endure should the circumstance fail to be what I wish it would be. And to just be happy. :)

Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off

After all these years, this song can still make me grin the moment it's sung. Never mind the long title (which I love as well). Heh. :D

Aaand...no. I don't understand the music video.

Prayer for a friend

There's someone whom I treasure, and I think of her as a friend, but I'm not sure if it's reciprocated. :( Some of her actions had hurt me, and are still hurting me, but I think my "tahap kesayangan" towards her is quite high, so I keep trying to make nice even when I know that I'll most probably get hurt by the rejection.

A few days ago, I went up to her and told her that I wasn't happy with a few things, and her unexpected reaction took me aback. I knew that a few things were hurting her, but I didn't know that the effect was so bad. The situation between us got slightly better after the talk, but I felt pushed away again today. Yes, I hurt, and I know that I shouldn't expect people to act like how I expect them to...still, I love her as a friend and I would very much like for things to get better.

Release

Hawksbill hatchlings from the final nest of 2010. May you all survive to adulthood. :)

How "civil disobedience" can be inspiring

"Every wave on the ocean that has ever risen up and refused to lay back down has been dashed on the shore, but it is the very purpose of a wave to rise up, because once it rises up above the horizon it finally has the perspective to see that it's not just a wave, that it's a part of a mighty ocean. And the sharpest rock on the wildest shore can never break that ocean apart, they can never wear that ocean down, because it's the ocean that shapes the shore."

- Tim DeChristopher, climate activist