“It’s hard to feel comfortable around you, or, you know, the same, knowing that you’ve studied in not just one, but two of the world’s most elite universities,” a friend of mine divulged during our annual catch-up, an occurrence limited by the once-yearly frequency of our returns to our hometown of Singapore. “Stanford and Oxford. Wow. Just wow.”Continue reading “The Best of Both Worlds: Living Alternate Lives in Stanford and Oxford”
Category Archives: Self-introspection.
Truth, freedom, and identity: scattered travel thoughts
The contemporary struggle for truth and freedom isn’t quite contemporary; it’s a debate that existed long before the horrors of 2016 (I apologise for referencing Buzzfeed), Conway’s #alternativefacts, or the purported end-of-American-democracy-as-we-know it. We often hear that we are at crucial crossroads, teetering on a precipice of intolerance and deceit never before encountered — but the conflationContinue reading “Truth, freedom, and identity: scattered travel thoughts”
Oxford Shenanigans
“Oh, so you blog?” “Yeah, I do! Well, kind of.” That murky wave of guilt laps at my conscience and I remember that it’s literally been months since I last posted. Sitting across a new friend at a beautiful coffee shop in Oxford, I begin to recall why I started blogging in the first place.Continue reading “Oxford Shenanigans”
New Year, Old Concept, Same Life
At the debut of every new year, the vast majority of the 7 billion (and steadily increasing) human inhabitants of this earth sit down at their desks (or stand in their showers, take a run in their parks, do handstands in their rooms for all I know) and mull over the past 365 days withContinue reading “New Year, Old Concept, Same Life”
Household Gods, by Philip Hobsbaum
Household Gods “I mirrored their breaking lives,I saw their pale Distraught coming and going, lined despair, His shaken bulk, her calm pose in the doorway— I saw them. I was there.” “I have so long been silent, even now Hardly at all remember how her slim Long fingers once caressed me—was that how At oneContinue reading “Household Gods, by Philip Hobsbaum”
It’s All in the Mind.
It’s that time of the year when work starts piling up- multiple IAs and assignments lie in a stack of unkempt, disheveled papers at the corner of your desk- constantly reminding you, beseeching you to pay some thought to your neglected duties. But all you can think about is how to avoid studying for yourContinue reading “It’s All in the Mind.”
Taking a Nap: A Break from the World
I never really believed in the power of naps – quite frankly, I considered them a waste of precious time that could be put to use productively. It pained me to think of wasting thirty minutes on pure lazing around: there was simply too much to do to take a break just for the sakeContinue reading “Taking a Nap: A Break from the World”
Busy.
I like the pace of my world. It’s busy, but for me, the less I do the lazier I get. Another incredibly hectic week. After a frenzied week of missing school intermittently for Tobacco Summits, Director General of Education visits, etc.- I was greeted by a week of tests (that abashedly I only studied for the dayContinue reading “Busy.”
Piffling Postages
Things have been a bit of a convoluted Christmas-light-esque jumble of tangled wires lately, but suffice to say these few days have been incredibly eventful ones. The past week has been frenetic- from helping out at Open House 2013 (a chaotic jumble of 400 people!) to watching The Importance of Being Earnest, to multiple IAsContinue reading “Piffling Postages”
Perplexingly Puzzling Paradoxes: The Tortoise
I have an riveting problem for you to scratch your head over today, but I have no doubt many of you have come across it before: Achilles and a tortoise were about to race over 100 meters. Achilles was ten times faster than the tortoise, but the tortoise requested only a 10 meter head startContinue reading “Perplexingly Puzzling Paradoxes: The Tortoise”
Time Must Have a Stop, by Aldous Huxley
I picked up this beautifully laminated paperback at Citylights in San Francisco- a rustic and sublimely homely book shop that contains shelves upon shelves of books. If I had the choice I would’ve willingly remained there for the rest of eternity. The comfortingly earthy smell of heavenly tomes blended right in with the roughly cutContinue reading “Time Must Have a Stop, by Aldous Huxley”
Ruru 