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Being 22 in 2012

Zaki — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:50:17 +0000

And so i celebrated my 22nd birthday last Saturday at gardens with the usual bunch. Good company over a good dinner. End off the night with poptart at zouk. All is good. Enough for the birthday boy lol. To think about it, i have been celebrating my birthday with the gang since i was 18. 5 years. Something worth taking note. I still think birthday should be celebrated regardless of how old one is. It is enough of a reason for everyone to get together and just be merry.

I wish that i would be happy for the entire 2012. too much to wish for?

just baguette and cheese!

Zaki — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:19:44 +0000

Some pictures from the laos trip. January is gonna be one helluva busy month. With so many birthdays around the corner(me too lol), hall games and kl wedding trip at the end of the month, i need to remind myself not to neglect on school stuff! In other news, i need to get more money to survive january. Later!

happy pizza

Zaki — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:24:22 +0000

My first time tripping. It must be the pizza dance! You gotta bring the pizza dance back to Singapore with you.

twenty twelve

Zaki — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:44:23 +0000

new year. new resolutions. new travel quest. i am currently looking at ulaanbantar and moscow and beijing! Anyone interested?

the game changer

Zaki — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:07:04 +0000

khop chai la lai

Zaki — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:27:05 +0000

Rent a bicycle. Get out of town. Came across a monk village. Cycle 7km. Found the Blue Lagoon. Climbed up the cave. Jump in the lagoon. Dry ourselves. Grab our bikes. Sun setting. Total darkness. 6km ahead. Out of town. Sound of cows and black bulls.

Buy a cute Lao Beer T-shirt

Zaki — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:49:01 +0000

Moments like these, nights like these, are little snapshots of just how happy it’s possible to be.

I am off to Bangkok tmwr evening and then train ride to Laos. Yes, we are going tubing! (Hedonistic, touristic… but way better than zoukout lol)

train rides around south east asia

Zaki — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:07:41 +0000

to go or not to go? expect the the unexpected

Choice of Course

Zaki — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:38:04 +0000

Simple yet just awesome

Hello. Yesterday i receive some good news and i was very excited about it. Just thinking about it make me very excited lol. After half a semester of doing foundation, i am accepted to do animation for the next 3 1/2 years. Haha! This is amazing stuff, really. When i first choose to study art and design ahead of engineering, it never occur to me that i would want to do animation as my choice of major. I thought i am probably heading to the visual comm. direction. I even wrote that on my essay when i applied for art & design.

It feels so surreal. I guess this is the beauty when you free your mind and open yourself to all the possibility. To study something for 4 straight years, you beter be passionate about it. You want your fire to be burning through out. I was telling my sister that this is cool, i am actually studying animation in the university lol.

Influence: Art Babbit, Miyazaki, Richard William

Wall of Love

Zaki — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:30:39 +0000

Boundaries don’t keep other people out. They fence you in

The Oriental Express

Zaki — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:52:19 +0000

I am done with my very first semester in ntu! Well, it is not as smooth sailing as i expect it to be but i am pretty glad its over… I need to get ready for the next semester because this semester showed how unprepared i was for almost everything… I am tired of being lost and i think it is about time i start getting everything sort out.

I need to take a lil break from singapore and travel. I was thinking of doing a train trip to Loas but i need some serious cash badly. Yeah, we’ll see. Till then. Ciao

the ladies of Avignon

Zaki — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:55:49 +0000

too many things to say and too little time.

For emma…

Zaki — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:17:47 +0000

We convinced ourselves everyday that this is going to be worthwhile.

design and media

Zaki — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:37:24 +0000

And here i am doing my sketches at 2am in the morning. I have to be somewhere at 10 later and I’m not sleeping yet. Anyway, while my hand is at sketching, my mind was somewhere in rome. It never occur to me that i have yet to tell anyone specific about all the mishaps and stories of rome. Strange. Those crazy night spent in the streets because i want to save some cash. Being chased by the homeless guy, approached by the prostitute in the car, the encounter with the drunk guys, getting chased away by the Mac Donald staff, finding a spot to sleep for the night… ahhhh i can’t believe that i went through it. While vagabonding in the streets of rome may be unsafe and uncomfortable, in retrospect, its all good! I made it home in one piece.

I want to travel alone again…

i love vienna

Zaki — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:31:19 +0000

Its been ages since i was here. I really think i should fill this space more regularly now. The last time i updated, i just back from my europe trip. 2 months have passed. How fast time flies. I am in university now and still finding my footing. I guess i have more or less settle down but i am still adapting to hostel life, getting myself familiar with the directions around school(haha), grading system and all that jazz. I am definitely better off now compared to a month ago- totally lost. Assignments are keeping me very busy and it never seems to stop. It just keep piling higher every week.

Good thing i no longer give tuition (dropped all my 13 students before i left for europe) but sometimes i really wonder what happened to all of them. I do hope they are doing well though and eventually acing their big As. I really do miss them despite them being annoying at times. No tuitions means no money. And for a very long time, i am no longer ‘financially independent’ and i swear it sucks big time. It just take away all my freedom. No longer able to travel randomly, cab every time i am late, eat extensively and the list goes on and on… All my tuition savings have funded my europe trip and i am officially broke.

I have to save up! Egypt is waiting!

Later.

wanderlust

Zaki — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:03:58 +0000

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”

hammocks and sheesha

Zaki — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:44:35 +0000

At 21, we get very excited over the cambodian hammocks we received. Reluctant to get home, we camp at our beloved playground for the entire night.

2 months ago…

where the hungry comes to feed

Zaki — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:11:09 +0000

Truth to be told.. this is not what i expected. The plan was: ending my 53 days trip in europe with a week spent in Bangkok. However, here i am in the most remote part of thailand… sitting in an internet cafe that charges me 10 baht/hour waitting anxiously for my flight home. Dont get me wrong, i enjoyed my trip to samui tremendously and learnt many things than i had imagine but after going around in these unknown places for 61 days, i kinda miss home. i miss my mom.. i miss my dad.. and damn, i even miss my sisters! i am missing my gang! I really enjoy travelling alone but sometimes.. a part of me wish so bad that all my friends are with me to see the things i have seen… to meet the people i met…

i have so many things to say but i guess, i will wait till i touch down in singapore… check into my very own bed… surf the net with the familiarity of my own computer( i am always figuring out the ‘@’ in all the computer i’ve used) and hopefully pen my experience down… the good and bad.. till then! 20 hr to home! god, i cannot wait to see my family and friends!

meanwhile, off for a 3 course thai meal that will cost me only $2.50! Only in thailand… only in thailand… good time city

ps: for the past 7 days, i dont even know where i am in the map of thailand! seriously!

jangfrou jangfrou… one day, maybe

Zaki — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:40:16 +0000

Here I am, where I’ve been
I’ve walked a hundred miles in tobacco skin,
And my clothes are worn & gritty.
And I know ugliness,
Now show me something pretty.

ps: The last time i updated this page, i was in budapest. An update: BUD>PRAGUE>WARSAW>BERLIN>PARIS>INTERLAKEN>PARIS>LONDON. This is my final leg of the European tour. I just met fifa in london and i will be staying with her till 13th July. This is pretty much surreal…

i am halfway there….and i am breathing lol

Zaki — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:58:40 +0000

Hello all.. It feels really good to have some internet time because most days can be so jammed pack that i only have time to check facebook and couchsurfing. sigh but i am not complaining Its been a while since i post something here. Currently, i am almost at the half way mark of my europe trip and it have been a blast so far. When asked by Marione father yesterday over dinner about my thoughts about europe, i can only reply him with : crazy! Yeah, i really enjoy europe … Oh, just an update.. i had travelled to these places thus far… SIN-KL-PARIS-NICE-FLORENCE-CINQUE TERRAE-PISA-ROME-VIENNA-BUDAPEST..

Just yesterday, i participated in the rainbow parade(lol) and took part in a Critical Mass(Cycling demonstration). Travelling alone is funny. Most of the time, i encounter people who are just so excited to talk to me(maybe cos i am asian… haha and they think i drink tea everyday!) and so many people that have help me in many ways. And i am thankful for that! Couchsurfing through europe is really awesome. I am lucky to meet people that dont know anything about me before and yet willingly offer their couch/bed to me during my stay in europe. I have a whole list of people that i wanna thank but i shall do it when i am back in Singapore. I think i will be back on the 20th july tentatively…

Yes, sometimes i feel lonely but once i climatize(is there such a thing?) it is not so bad at all. I mean in the 24 days so far, i learnt that there is no such thing as chance. It does not present itself to you just like that. You gotta go out there and search for it. You enter a train carriage.. You gotta look out for people whom you think you can talk to. Once you choose your seat, you gotta start offering your candies.. and then start a conversation maybe. You will leave the train station with a new found facebook friend! haha it is better than nothing…

Sometimes i am afraid cause i am alone. Sleeping in the train station/streets/Macs till 3am when i have no couch. Homelessness is a big issue in European cities and life after the dark aint the same. Sleeping on the streets really boraden your perspective. It is only when you are out of Singapore that you realize how safe you were. Oh well… I will write more when i have the time!

Ciao, gotta call home! Its my sister birthday!!

happy birthday ilahh!