i have been feeling extremely stressed out in the past week. i guess i dont really want to say why because it’s going to sound like i’m making excuses, but sometimes i wish the people who loved me would be a little bit more understanding. or maybe that is an unfair request. but why am i constantly made to feel like i am not good enough? or like i’m not putting in enough effort into this or that, that i am doing things wrongly, that my priorities are muddled. the past week has been full of such claims, and it’s so draining and discouraging. it’s a small thing to get worked up over, i know, but right now my nerves are so fried that i’m hyper-sensitive to just about anything.

but something happened a couple of days ago that made me smile :) i finally remembered to check my mailbox to see if i had any letters, and amidst some boring letters from the bank, i found that i had two cards sent to me! those cards totally made my day. then the day after, i got a package in the mail. and today i got another!!! :D

so! i’ve decided to start a new blog category titled ‘What I Got In The Mail’ to document the cool things people send me in the mail for as long as i’m here, whether they are postcards, photos, letters, packages or a quick note scribbled on a napkin, haha. it’s going to be my little way of saying an extra thank you to the people who so kindly took the time and effort to send me stuff :)) mail makes me so happy!

the first ever package i got ever since i arrived was the one from Chew Fui, which i blogged about here. and since it’s the first package i got, clearly it must precede all else in my brand new category! so this is Envelope 1. Chew Fui sent me:

1 packet of Keebler’s animal crackers (very good!!) 1 packet of Quaker’s granola bites (which Martian finished off while he was still in NY) 2 Rice Krispies treats 1 pack of Pringles pizza stix 1 pack of Kellogg’s Yogos Bits 2 pads of Post-Its

and also a card + a lovely photo of her family, with a pack of Pop Rocks taped to it. when i peeled off the Pop Rocks, there was a big smiley face there with ‘it’s kiddo, i know’ written on the card. haha! kiddo indeed!!! i havent had pop rocks in ages. nostalgia nostalgia. back in the day (wtf), each pack used to have these yellow lollipops shaped like feet that we could dip into the pop rocks. best!

i met Chew Fui late 2002 when i first started going to church at TMLC. i only went to TMLC for about a year, but made some very good friends there :) we drifted apart after a while though, because i stopped going to TMLC and being the lousy person that i am, didnt keep in touch with most of them except for a few. a few years down the road, one of the TMLC guys, Michael, told me that he shot Chew Fui’s wedding, and he showed me some photos from his camera. i was so surprised to learn that Chew Fui had gotten married!!! and then Michael tells me that she’s moving to America!! this was at a time when i hadn’t even considered going to study in the US.

fast forward some more years later, just a couple of days before i was due to fly off to New York, i get an email from Chew Fui saying hi and that i could come visit her when i arrive at the States. it was such a shock to me because i never knew she knew my blog existed, much less be reading it! super cool. i started jumping up and down excitedly when i saw the email, the kind of jumping up and down one does when meeting an old friend again, or when predicting the victory at a writing competition (Andrew :P).

Chew Fui, i already said this before, but i’m so glad we found each other again. hahaha. during one of my breaks, imma go visit and take lots of pictures with her baby daughter!!! very cute; in the photo CF sent me, her daughter was half-frowning and half-pouting :D it’s all in the pout, i always say.

Envelope 2 didnt really come in an envelope, because it’s a postcard! GUESS WHAT KIND OF POSTCARD!

it’s a postcard of Hong Kong!! with a beautiful sunset picture of the harbour. sigh. there are some days when i miss HK loads and wish that i had made more use of the time i had there. the person who sent me the postcard is Mandy, a Malaysian working in HK. we’ve never met, and i dont think she’s ever left a comment or contacted me in any way, which makes the postcard all the more cooler. she says (in very nice penmanship) that she hopes a postcard of one of my favorite places will make me smile. and it definitely did :) it also made me beg Martian to go back with me to HK some time next year *prays

mandy, if you are reading this, thank you so much. if you dont mind, i’d like to send you a postcard too, so pls pls do email me your mailing addy.

okay that concludes the first ever chapter of What I Got In The Mail :) more soon.