Lesson #4: The difference faith makes.

To some it may be complacence, to some it may be delusion or perhaps even apathy, but faith in God helped me approach many situations rather calmly. I never panicked, regardless how ‘risky’ the situation looked, because I knew with conviction that God was with us, and that things will just work out. This conviction came not from blind faith but from personal experiences in which God always made things work out. Always. Not just in big things like exams, universities, healing from hurts, safety, family but even in the simpler things like catching my bus on time, finding parking, finding good food, recovering faster from sickness just in time for an exam or something I wanted to attend, finding the perfect shoe, singing in a talent show. To me, for as long as I have done whatever that is within my strength and given my best, God will always bless and take care of the rest, even if circumstances look bleak and unpromising. Rohene very often looked stressed when we were manoeuvring to a place. I never quite felt stressed for these because I have had enough experiences (=data) to know that these things will fall into place. Rohene was worried that we might miss the flight back to KL and was only able to relax when we’ve entered and sat in the plane. Never did that thought come into my mind. Missing the flight. Not when we’ve checked-in on time. The departure gates opened at 8.30pm. We were running towards it at 8.35pm. Rational told me that the rest of the passengers can take up to 5 mins or more to pass through. Regardless of everything, God blesses and we would still catch that flight. I was convinced of that. And if by some really odd chance, we miss it, then there must be something really important that God wants to tell me through that incidence. So I never quite worried.

I only came to see the difference faith has made in my life, when I looked at Rohene’s stressed out face when we finally sat in the plane, and I realised that I didn’t share her panic. It fascinated me initially and I wondered whether it was just me not understanding the seriousness of the situation or if it was just apathy. When I realised it was actually faith built over years of experience and observation, I felt grateful for the gift of faith. Travelling becomes that much less stressful when we have faith, when we include God to be a part of the experience. I guess that applies to every other aspect in life too.

I also came to realise that circumstances do not stress me, people do. That is something I definitely need to work on. If I can trust God with circumstances, why can’t I do the same with people.

Now, it’s time to have some faith on the people responsible for the Obedient Wives’ Club, that they will one day grow wise and use the gift of intellect and rational that God has given them. I refrain from writing about this issue because we all know what we think about it, most of us atleast. We have been blessed with a certain level of awareness to know that what a ‘brilliant’ idea it is, an idea that demeans the value of a human person, both man and woman. Other (selfish) reason to not write about it is that it would only leave me frustrated and agitated. So, why bother.

Lessons from HK travel.

Lesson #1: Always travel with persons you’ve known for similar length/for substantial number of years, especially if they are boys :P. I have come to conclude that it may not be the wisest of decisions to travel with 2 friends you’ve known for 12 years, whereas the other two, you’ve barely known for a 6 months. The great disparity between the level of comfort and knowledge of the two different group of friends can really strain the travelling experience. As newly-made acquaintances, both parties have yet to know and truly understand the characters of each other. Therefore, the possibility of misunderstandings are great. Especially since self-planned travels (i.e not following a tour) can be quite challenging and stressful. I wish I could say that I am open to travelling with anyone but I am not up for that kind of challenge, atleast not right now.

Lesson #2: Enough rest and sleep are CRUCIAL for an enjoyable travel. Although one would love to see as many things as possible during one’s stay at the destination, the lack of rest and especially sleep leads to a decrease in the capacity to enjoy one’s trip. Furthermore, it also leads to increased irritability among co-travellers. This irritability may or may not cause a long-term strain on the friendship between travellers, depending on the stability or strength of the friendship. Fortunately, Rohene, Agkillah and I were able to come out of this laughing at the misunderstandings we had. Perhaps that's really a testament to the strength of our 12-year friendship.

Lesson #3: Don’t hold back on spending. Sounds like a bad advice? Think again. Once we’ve set a budget for the travelling, spend generously to maximise enjoyment as long the expenditure remains within the set budget. It is good to set a lower and upper quartile for the spending limit, so as to be able to gage the maximum limit for expenditure as well as the minimum. Trying to save money while you’re travelling (although you’re already within budget) may lead to regrets which you’d have to wait for years before they can be undone. I was trying to be so ‘SAFE’ with my expenditures that I ended up saving 400 HKD unnecessarily. I was still within my allotted budget, was nowhere near hitting my upper quartile (which was 5000HKD) and yet I still tried to save money. Not setting my lower quartile may have been the problem. My median was 3700HKD, and I saved 400 HKD out of that. At the end of the day, I came back with lesser souvenirs than I wanted to and now I am dying to just go back and buy more stuff. Don’t try to safe money, unless you’re approaching your upper quartile. That’s my advice, to myself atleast.

Think that’s enough for today. Shall share more sometime soon.

Allow me to share a picture from our travel.