Tokyo Files: Lost in Pursuit

I spent close to two years living and teaching in Tokyo, and one of the best things that happened to me there was Melissa . 

We were teaching at different branches of the same company and met at a training workshop. Since she was the only other Asian girl in the group, I naturally gravitated towards her. We ended up grabbing lunch together at the konbini on the first day and hit it off immediately. I thought she was Japanese, but she turned out to be Canadian Chinese. 

We found out we didn't have many friends there or speak the language, and we became inseparable. 

We would spend our common day off exploring different neighbourhoods in Tokyo, but our favourite was Shimokitazawa. We studied Japanese together in a run-down center ran by old ladies in Azabu-Juban, giggling every time the sensei wanted us to practise a dialogue because she had to manually rewind the cassette tape and it usually took a few tries to get it right. We started a short-lived cafe journal and tried to visit as many different ones as we could. She forced me to drink my coffee black and taught me how to make drip and french-press coffee. We both love museums and saw every single exhibition at Mori Art museum in Roppongi Hills. We spent an inordinate amount of time in Zara. We haunted the English-language bookstore in Takadanobaba where I lived. We were 24 going on 14, exchanging a dozen or more e-mails every day filled with textspeak and emoticons. 

When I eventually left Japan, she presented me with a scrapbook filled with illustrations and writings about our time together. "This isn't goodbye..." she prefaced, and even left the last few pages blank for "future" use. I read the book on the plane and bawled my eyes out.

Click for bigger photos

As fate would have it, I ended up moving again to Melbourne to pursue my postgraduate studies and she married her Japanese boyfriend and move to Singapore with him. When we were eventually reunited in Singapore some 15 months later, it was like no time has passed and we simply picked up where we had left off. Until she decided it was her time to return to Montreal to take up a second degree in design.

I have been fantasizing about her husband and her relocating to New York in a few years' time and it'd be me and her taking over the streets of Manhattan again... We still have some pages left to fill!

Love,
Tricia

The best decision ever

Our engagement photoshoot in Paris by French Grey photography
Before Andrew, I dated an atheist for almost three years. 

He was very much a self-made man and took a lot of pride in his talents and achievements. Christianity, he would say over and over again, was a crutch for the helpless and weak-willed. He would tell me how proud he was of me leaving church and how I absolutely made the right decision. So I shut down the part of me that believed in God and shut up about my faith altogether.

When we broke up, he told me very matter-of-factly that I should go back to church. Knowing how he felt about Christians, his words cut me deeply. So even when I felt God's call again, I resisted Him for as long as I could. I wanted to be strong on my own, and I didn't want to prove my ex right.

And then I met Andrew. On our second date, we sat across each other in a very trendy bar on Club Street and he asked me what I believed in. I was hesistant to bring up my Christian past, but I saw no reason to lie and decided to give him the whole nine yards. I figured I had nothing to lose since I thought I would never see him again.

I told him that I had converted to Christianity in high school, and how in university I had been convinced that my calling in life was to be a missionary in Thailand. I told him that my life used to revolve around church and that I used to run small groups and lead Bible Study, but eventually I was burnt out and decided to leave church altogether. I was expecting him to write me off as a religious fanatic, but instead his eyes lit up and he said it was "very cool".

"Are you being serious, or are you being sarcastic?" I asked (in those exact words!), unsure of what to make of his response. And that's when he told me his story of being raised in a Christian household and going to youth group every week, but how college and life got in the way and he was now in a very similar situation to mine.

It felt like a huge weight lifted off my chest, because for once I didn't have to pretend about anything. My faith was no longer a "shameful secret" I carried around with me. And that's just one of the many things I love about Andrew- I can be open about my innermost thoughts and know that he would never judge me, because he's just not that kind of person.

Many weeks and countless hours of conversations later, Andrew and I realized that we had been walking on the same path, and that God had brought us together to grow in faith. It still amazes me that out of more than 7 billion people on earth, God led us to each other. But what is even more amazing is how He continues to bless us in ways we never could have imagined because we both made a commitment to walk with Him. Best decision ever.


Love,
Trish

Lost and found

Today I stumbled upon National Geographic's Tumblr account of unpublished photos dating back to a hundred years ago.

Rollover for caption

Last year I read veteran National Geographic photographer Sam Abell's The Photographic Life and it was a most extrarordinary book. If you have 43 minutes to spare, you should watch his presentation video The Life of a Photograph- I promise you will enjoy every minute of it!

Love,
Trish

This is home, truly

See the entire photo series on Singapore by Nguan here

Struck by the simplicity of the composition and ordinariness of the subjects, these photos perfectly portray the Singapore I know and love so well.

One day, I hope to elevate the everyday and mundane into an art form like he did. 

I will miss you, sunny island.

P/S: You should also have a look at Rinko Kawauchi's sublime photography about life, memory and family.

Love,
Tricia

Hello, goodbye

Photo taken at Cheezz Studio
I met Christine at Bible Study Fellowship over a year ago. 
I was new to the group and didn't know anyone, and part of me felt like a fraud for even being there. I had left church several years ago and dated a string of non-Christians, and quite frankly, wasn't sure if I believed in God anymore. I wasn't ready for a church commitment but wanted to dip my toes in the faith again, and this is how I ended up in a room with a group of Christian women studying the Bible.
I know how to play good Christian. I even used to teach Bible Study myself. But I hadn't touched the Bible in years and wanted to remain low-key, for fear of being found out. Most of the women in the group were surprisingly shy, except for this one girl who was very vocal. I couldn't help staring at her. Whatever it was that she had, I used to have... and I wanted it again. 
It took a few weeks before I had the courage to talk to her. We ended up taking the train home together, and I found it so easy to open up to her. I spoke to her about my time teaching in Japan, doing my postgraduate studies in Australia, breaking up with the ex and meeting Andrew. 
To my surprise, she confessed to me that she had been crying at work that very morning, wondering where her life was headed. What I had shared about my life encouraged her greatly, and she knew that God was calling her to pursue her dreams like I did. 
I was floored. Here I was hoping for her to share some wisdom with me, and yet God had used me, imperfect as I was, to encourage her! That moment marked a new beginning for me, and it gave me the courage I needed to get back on track with my faith.
Our friendship grew quickly over the next few months.
I remember talking to her about my long-distance relationship with Andrew and how I wasn't sure about our future. "Trish, you know, I have a feeling he is going to propose very soon," she said, despite never having met him. And Andrew did get down on one knee and asked me to marry him not long after we had that conversation. 
In the meantime, she was applying to schools in the UK to do her masters. She spoke of her dreams of starting a fashion company in her hometown and giving back to the community. She worked hard on her portfolio and studied for the entrance exams. I couldn't be more proud when she told me she had been accepted into London College of Fashion.
We didn't know that we were both at the crossroads of our lives when we first met, and that God had plans for us that we would never imagine for ourselves. She is leaving for London in less than 2 weeks, and I for New York in a month's time. I'm so thankful that God has brought our paths together, and a new adventure awaits the both of us!
Love, Tricia