A thousand steps to clarity

Yes, everyone. It was Hong Kong. The last photo was a dead giveaway. Who wouldn't have guess it was Hong Kong with the guardian fu dog and the famous Bank of China in the background?

I went to Hong Kong at the invitation of my good friend Laine. We've been friends for years and ever since she relocated to Hong Kong in 2002, she has repeatedly invited me over. Initially I was reluctant as I was never comfortable around her boyfriend who is one intensely private and quiet person. However, last month I sensed Laine had some serious issue she'd wanted to get off her chest during our online midnight chats. Out of the blue, she invited me and automatically, I said, "Yes, I'll come over."

In Hong Kong, I've walked thousands of steps, judging from the number of hours I walked (9am-8pm). Walking has always been my favourite thing to do, especially when traveling solo. For years, I've followed a book on creativity - The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, in which she recommends a 20 minute daily walk to refill and refresh the creative self.

I do the daily walks whenever I can. It has helped me gotten unstuck from work and life daily problems. Last week in Hong Kong, I walked into a different realm. I came back, feeling as if I've shedded my pre-Hong Kong self completely. Now, I feel shiny, new, lighter and freer.

Also, my daily life has taken a new routine. Since the trip, I've taken a strange liking to drinking coffee in the morning and being concentratedly focus at work in the morning and late at night.

A solo trip is a life-changing experience. Just getting away from your current situation allows you to take a step back and see what's going on in life. Slowly, you'll let go of a life you've been hanging on stubbornly, even though it hasn't been doing you any good.

So, there're some life-turning changes in my life since I came back.

I've ended things with Mr. J as I realised I couldn't be possibly happy with a boyfriend who hates traveling and discovering life apart from partying, drinking and clubbing every weekend. Subconsciously, I resented his apathetic self which has absolutely no interest in life beside clubbing and partying every weekend. We lead completely different lifestyles. Our lives don't complement each other. In the end, I got increasingly irritated and weary at trying to fit my life into his noisy and crowded life.

Though he is compatible with me in every way- emotionally, physically and intellectually, I could never be happy with a man who just want to have fun all the time. We never did anything together. The only thing we did was clubbing, where I had reluctantly dragged my feet there. Just so I could be with him. Though he has told me repeatedly that he saw his future with me. I know better than to hang around and wait for things to change. It was glaringly obvious that he hasn't shown me my place in his future.

Hong Kong was my turning point. It wa's either I stay with him or I move on to my larger-than-life goals. The long, labourous, solitary walks taught me in order to keep momentum in my life, I've got to move.

And move, I did.