August Break, Day 31

Today is the last day of the August Break. While I did miss one week in between, I am proud that I accepted my lapse and moved on from it. It's very like life, isn't it. The August Break as a microcosm of life, an interesting thought. I am glad to leave August behind, it was one of the most hectic months I ever had in my work. I don't consider myself an "emotional" type of person but this month I found myself thinking many depressed-type thoughts. I don't like this aspect of myself and I am trying hard to rein it in. For September, I am looking to balance myself again, and to get back on a healthy path of regular eating and exercise.

I am going to continue posting my photographs of Taipei. And while I do that, I am going to embark on a new project, It's A PhotoSwap organised by my friend Rhianne. And I am really excited that a friend of mine, D, who takes gorgeous black & white photographs with a Leica is joining this year! Whoever gets paired up with him is very very lucky!

August Break, Day 30

Taipei 101

// I had a really good sleep last night, the best I can remember in the last few weeks. That is good news for my general well-being.

August Break, Day 29

Raohe Night Market
 饒河夜市

August Break, Day 28

Prepping for our trip to Taipei. June 2012.

For the rest of the August Break, I am going to be posting photographs that I took with my LC-A+ in Taipei. Consider this a little sneak peek into my vacation. I can't wait to share the rest of the my photographs!

August Break, Day 27

An electoral victory. May 2012.

August Break, Day 26

A political rally. May 2012.

Not surprisingly, I missed almost a week of the August Break. It was a pretty hectic week for me and  I should have prepared accordingly for it. We are moving into the last week of the August Break and I am hoping that I will be able see this through to the finish.

August Break, Day 21

Flower. Girl. Magazines.

August Break, Day 20 (Belated)

The Orange Thimble Cafe.
I am late for this post but at least I am keeping up. For that, I am rather proud at myself.

August Break, Day 19

August Break, Day 18

Chairs in the Orange Thimble Cafe

August Break, Day 17

Looking up: a residential apartment and a church. One in the suburbs, the other in the city. All in the same day.

August Break, Day 16

My bathroom.

August Break, Day 15

A little green to soothe the eyes.

August Break, Day 14

A carrot cake type of afternoon.

All Good Things
Robertson Quay

August Break, Day 13

Ootoya, Orchard Central.

The August Break 2012

I have been thinking for the past week about joining the August Break. I balked at it because I wondered if I could commit to posting everyday, I wondered if I would have the energy to do so after a long day of work. Then I realised all this were excuses that I have been using to not blog more regularly. I was letting myself be consumed by my day job to the point that it was taking over the time that I spent out of the office. Besides blogging, it also affected my relationships. Whenever a friend asked me out in the past couple of weeks, my answers were invariably a "no" because I wanted to stay home to rest. I missed out on quite a few things before I came to my senses yesterday.

When I said "no" and stayed at home, I was resting but not really resting. My brain was constantly running through my to-do list, worrying about each item. I wasn't recharging, I was just draining my batteries more and blocking myself from being in tip-top conditions when at work. I need to learn to compartmentalise, to allow myself the mental space to do other things, to give myself the mental freedom to recharge.

This brings me back to the August Break. To me, this represents an opportunity to train my brain to mentally compartmentalise. I couldn't hide behind excuses to not blog anymore because I had no time. I had the time but I wasn't using it well. I have to learn to lock my worrying away and not allow it to consume me.

And yes, I have begun going out again. I had a wonderful day today with my friends, Lots of laughter and lots of coffee. I can't wait to do it again next week!

I am also looking forward to uploading photographs from my laptop files that I have yet to put up and digging into my Flickr archives to find the photos that I have yet to share on the blog for the rest of the month. So August Break, here I come!

It's A Photoswap 2012

It's time once again for IT'S A PHOTOSWAP! Organised by the lovely Rhianne, I joined for the first time last year. It's really easy, all you have to do is, shoot a roll of film and send it across the land and the oceans to your photoswap partner to be developed. And then you wait for another little roll to arrive in your mailbox and you develop that! Such a simple concept but so much returns from it.

Last year, I was paired with Bianca from Tasmania. In the process, I made a new friend and had my first glimpse of a country I have never been. If you want to see the photos that I took on Bianca's blog, go here! I was so pleased at how they turned out! Here are some of the pictures from the roll of Diana Mini photographs that Bianca sent me, I couldn't remember if I have ever posted it so here they are!

Looking back at this photographs from Tasmania, I am really excited for this upcoming edition and to find out who I will be paired with! I signed up for the international swap so I am looking forward to photographs of an unfamiliar land and to introduce a new friend to my country.