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Archive for the ‘boston’ Category

The T

31 Jul

While I was living in Boston, I took the T a lot. The T is what people in Boston affectionately call the subway/metro/tube system. “I’ll meet you at the T stop” is a common line to say. Or, “I’m on the T now!” if you have reception on the train. I loved taking the T because it was a place where I could think for as long as my train ride would last. I spent time listening to my iPod, reading my notes for class, thinking about what to eat for my next meal, or just, like most of us do, think of nothing.

However, I’m talking about the T because of something else right now.

Very often, when we see something in a foreign country, we always wish we could have the same back in our own hometowns. We get envious of the things we do not have in our own countries. Often times in Boston, I would look at something and ask, “why can’t we have this in Malaysia too?”

But to be honest, that was only my initial mentality. After living in Boston for a while, I began to realize just how much living abroad made me appreciate the things I have (or don’t have) back home. Yes, I was envious of many things. But I learned to take that envy and make it teach me a lesson or two about how beautiful my own hometown can really be.

This is what I mean…

When my train passes the Charles River (the most beautiful part of Boston, my favorite spot, with lovely scenery – refer to my post on the Charles), I look at the people running across the bridge to exercise. I see people walking their dogs. But what I really love to see is the water: How calm it is and how in the winter, it is completely frozen. Yet, it makes me think of how lucky I was to grow up by the coast; I grew up in a city that was just along the coast. With that, I am reminded of how fortunate I am that across the city I grew up in, there are beautiful islands just a speedboat ride away. The Charles, though fills me with envy, makes me understand that I am lucky to have the sea breeze as I walk along the coast in Kota Kinabalu.

On the T, I also see people go off to work in their fancy office wear: branded clothes, expensive shoes, matching colors and all sorts of sophisticated electronic gadgets attached to them. I wonder why Malaysia can’t be a modern country like the US. Why can’t we  stop being a developing country and just be developed already. I look at the working class people on the T, they all seem happy because they are earning good money and probably working in a great company. I grow envy because they are earning US dollars, while back home our cost of living is higher and we don’t earn that much to begin with. Yet, underneath all that, I learn to appreciate how my country is slowly but steadily progressing, and while we may not be fully developed, we are working towards it and not getting lazy about it. I slowly begin to think about how 10 years ago, our country was almost nothing like what it is today. And so, I learn to be patient and understand that one day, I’ll be living in one of the world’s newest fully developed nations, and I’ll be proud of it.

Also on the T, I look at the many different kinds of people that hop on and off -
..the cross-dresser who is always waiting for the train at the same time every day, with his pink boots and pink hat, pink skirt and pink vest
..the MIT students who can’t stop talking about how the world could possibly have started with just a single blueberry (ok, not really, but they probably would have a chat along those lines on the T!)
..the black father and his white wife and their two brown children
..the blind man and his guide dog
..the woman who always appears at the same time every day yelling in the train to everyone about how her husband left her with her 3 children and how she has nothing but the clothes on her back and how her children are also out looking for money because today (everyday, actually, because she always has the same story whenever I see her) she walked into the store and couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread for her children.
I see all these people and think to myself, how diverse and how spectacular this city is to have so many interesting people. Yet, as I swallow my envy and reflect on it, I realize that diversity is actually something we truly own in Malaysia. How much more diverse can our people be? I begin to understand that my country is just as interesting, and although I have gotten used to its diversity, I should rekindle that spark and enjoy how colorful the society I grew up in actually is.

Taking the train in Boston for the whole time I was there really did help me see how much more I should appreciate where I come from.

Maybe I should start taking the LRT?

The only good picture I have of myself on the T was taken on Halloween.
Thanks Su Ann for taking this picture.

 
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Posted in Life, boston, growing up

 

Singing with Harvard

27 Apr

And thus, my journey with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus ends with a Requiem, literally. Faure’s Requiem, to be precise. And if you don’t get it, a Requiem is the music set for a funeral. How interesting.

At the rehearsal just an hour before the concert at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater

We also sang Psalm 42 by Mendelssohn, a piece that I think has some of the best choral melodic lines ever… at least in my opinion. Mendelssohn always has lovely melodic lines anyway.

It was a pleasure, too, singing under the baton of Dr. Dr. Leong. (Dr. Dr. – because he has two doctorate degrees… one in neuroscience, and one in choral conducting!). And just in case you don’t get the joke, Dr. Dr. is just a funny nickname given to him because of his two phds!

This reminds me of something random… For my funeral, I’d like the choir – whoever is in it – to sing “It Is Well With My Soul” :)

 
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Posted in boston, music

 

Packing Up Life

25 Apr

I see my clock ticking, reminding me how fast time will fly. Before I know it, it’ll be time for me to fly back to Malaysia with another academic degree to my name and a whole bunch of junk in my luggage.

I was cleaning up my room a few days ago, doing my “pre-packing” just to make sure I know what I need to pack and what should be thrown away.

The throw-away pile was, well, just a small pile. My things-to-keep-and-bring-back pile, was, well, a MOUNTAIN! Immediately I panicked! How am I going to bring EVERYTHING back? Yes, I could throw away more stuff, but I don’t want to get rid of program booklets and brochures of places I’ve visited and old train maps and the books I used here for my studies and the papers I wrote and re-wrote with angst at the last minute for my classes and the winter clothing I bought here and…. So Much To Pack! So Much!

So I am going to have to strategize my homeward bound journey. Sacrifices must be made. Small ones, but hopefully they will lighten my burden, and my luggage. I must probably sell some stuff like my winter boots and some books that I know I’ll be able to buy again if I ever need them again.

Packing life into a few bags isn’t easy. It’s a heavy burden, so to speak.

Maybe I should just pack light?

 
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Posted in Life, boston

 

Reflections – Charles

23 Apr

The Charles River is where I feel most at peace here in Boston.

The ducks swim so joyfully when spring approaches, and the leaves start blooming and falling all at the same time. It’s just like heaven.

Joggers come here to stay healthy; people walk and run with their dogs, and you see everyone smiling.

It’s just gorgeous, that feeling you get knowing you are in a city with the sounds of sirens every few minutes blasting in the background… yet knowing you are still close to nature and that everything around you is serene.

I go here to study. I lie down on the deck, with the sun setting in front of me, and I take out my book and read. I hear the ducks swim and fly, hear the dogs chasing the ducks, hear the cars driving past just across the riverside, and then I sometimes fall asleep and let the wind, actual real balmy wind, blow in my face. The feeling is truly sensational and I wish everyone who comes to Boston experiences Charles.

It’s one of those places where you don’t feel like leaving even when the sun has set and the temperature has dropped drastically. You feel like just letting the wind catch you and send you somewhere else. Not exaggerating here! :)

And the sail boats are quite a sight to see against the backdrop of the big blue Charles.

Reflections of all sorts happen here at the Charles.

 
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Posted in Life, boston, pictures