Food Spree

After 11 days of scrimping on food

Today I'm going wild.

Maybe just a little.

Started the day with daily mass.

Then subconsciously walked to English market.

A superb bowl of mushroom soup.

And savoury salami sandwich.

End the meal with a cuppa latte.

Perfect life.

Going slow today in Cork.

Just chilling out here and there.

After 11 days of gungho-ness,

I'm slowing down for reflection.

Ahh...

When life gives me lemon,

I'm chilling with a lemon cheesecake,

And a cuppa.

Walking

I'm not a cyclist for sure

Nor am I a big time walker.

Yet today,

I covered 15 km.

On FOOT.

The last 5 km was a mental battle.

From the typical "I should......"

To temptation of hitchhiking.

I tried to focus on how Jesus survived back then.

Walking from one city to the next.

And He didn't complain that it was too far.

Then why should I?

It was a great 15 km walking experience.

Amazing landscapes almost everywhere.

Drinking Wasp

While having lunch at Torc Waterfall,

I almost drank a wasp.

Yes,

The 6-legged creature with a needle at its butt.

It was at the mouth of my drink,

Right at the moment I wanted a sip.

I could feel the hair rubbing my inner lips.

What a great relief I wasn't stung!

I could have died.

Yeah.

My new Dutch friend would definitely remember me!

Misunderstood

Being a solo Asian traveller myself,

With a rather tight budget,

I often am being misunderstood.

Fellow travellers seem to be awkward,

As though Asians should travel in taxi,

Staying in posh hotels.

Aside from Dublin,

I haven't seen any Asian travellers

Staying in hostels in west of Ireland.

A culture shock for me indeed.

I was asked few times if I speak English.

If not English,

What do I speak really?

Funnily annoying actually.

*Gasps of horror*

"Stop being so narrow-minded!"

That was often at the tip of my tongue.

I just gotta be patient and ignore them.

I'm not a posh Asian.

Just a world traveller with limited monies.

Hostels

Many travellers are familiar with this term

Some negative circumstances might include:

Rowdy drunks.

Noisy sleepers.

Hectic traffics.

Dirty linens.

Unhygienic toilets.

Uncomfortable beds.

These are the most frequently occurred conditions.

Yet,

Here in Ireland,

Out of the four locations I've stayed,

Only once I encountered drunks.

Tonight,

I'm hiding under the duvet,

Just to type this chronicle.

Everyone was fast asleep,

When I got to the room.

Concerned that I'd disturb them.

I probably did.

Total silence.

Total darkness.

Comfy bed.

Warm duvet.

Plus having a friary next door.

The smell was not awesome.

Can't do much about it.

At least it's a roof over my head.

The Way to Love

I'm bidding goodbye to Galway

With hopes one day I'll return

Only a short day here

Yet

I've come to love this city

A city of God and His people.

This bleeding heart of mine

In need of God's healing love

With St. Therese of Lisieux

My dear patron saint

Whose name I adopted at baptism

I pray in this journey of love

God's healing hands will bring me to health

Once again

Right from ground zero.

Delusion

Ask 10 individuals,

Would you rather know the truth, 

Or be in an delusion?

Maybe 9 out of 10 would choose the latter.

The odd one out might eventually chooses too.

The truth hurts.

But truth will bring healing too.

During the process,

We tend to wonder if it'd ever come.

This "so-called" healing.

It will.

At least this is what I believe in.

The road in front of me is difficult.

I can only trust through hurts,

I will be healed.

I might have been hurt,

But I'm not broken.

This odd me doesn't want to live in delusion.