Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton

Found this on wechat moments a few days ago, and I'm intrigued. It is a facebook account of the name "Humans of New York". The photographer, Brandon Stanton has started this really creative and moving project, where he approaches random people in New York and took their pictures. What's really special about it is, he interviews them afterwards and putting it into the photo caption.

"The people and their unique stories make the pictures interesting. On their own, they wouldn't have the same impact," Stanton, 29, said in a phone interview this week from his home and studio in Brooklyn. 

I found some that I really like and share it here with you guys. :) Enjoy!

"Well there's this girl that I'm friends with, and you know, I like her, but I don't know if she likes me..."
"Do you mind if I share that?"
"I don't know, if you share it, she might figure it out."
"She'll definitely figure it out."
"... do it."

"My dad was just a working class Irish dude. He drank himself to death when I was fifteen, but he was a good dad when he was sober. I remember him taking me to a gay wedding on Christopher Street to teach me tolerance. And that was back in 1971."

"When I was young, I thought I'd be in a rocking chair by now. But it's not nearly as bad as I feared. My bones kind of ache on rainy days, but other than that, I like being 82."

"My wife is in the hospital right now with double pneumonia. Her kidneys failed on Wednesday, and she can't talk anymore. But I know she can hear me. I go in every day and talk into her ear."
"How did you meet her?"
"I was sitting on the stoop just like this. It was 1960. I was fourteen and just sitting on the stoop of my house, and this bodacious girl came up. Big legs, big thighs, and jeans so tight that I didn't know how she was walking down the road. She came right up and sat on my lap and didn't leave until the sun went down. A few years later we had a kid. And I stayed with her. It wasn't always great but I stayed with her."

"If you could change one thing about adults, what would it be?"
"A lot of them are grumpy."

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"
"I'd tell them the same thing I'd tell one person. That if you understand failure, you won't be afraid of it anymore. Failure isn't diving on your face, or hitting rock bottom. That's just being human. You only fail when you decide to not try again. So it's entirely in your control. Once you understand failure, it's impossible to fail."

"A coworker asked for my number the other day. My friends overheard and said: 'He must have a thing for Indians.' I was like, 'Or maybe I'm just really fucking cool.'"

"My happiest moments probably involve anything that invokes childhood." 
"Can you give me an example?"
"My cab driver and I missed a turn yesterday because we were swapping pictures of our cats."

I asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. 
He screamed: "A benny!" 
"What's a benny?" I asked.

"That's his name," said his mom.

"When he was dying, I said: 'Moe, how am I going to live without you?' He answered: 'Take the love you have for me, and spread it around."

"I can't stand moral absolutism. You know, there's always that guy who wants to point out that Martin Luther King cheated on his wife-- as if he obviously couldn't have been a great person if he did something like that. Or someone will bring out an inspirational quote, and get you to agree, and then inform you that Hitler said it. As if a good thought couldn't come from Hitler. Moral absolutism keeps us from learning from the past. It's easy to say: 'Hitler was a demon. Nazis were all bad seeds.' That's simple. It's much harder to say: 'Is that humanity? Is that me?'"

"When I was 20, I made a plan to get a good job and be secure. Now I'm 35, and I need a plan to be happy."

"What's the nicest thing your brother has ever done for you?"
"One time he made me a card. It said: 'Dear Steve, thanks for giving me a new toy.'"

Collaboration Post: Q&A Vlog with My Babes! :D

Hey babes & dudes! I've got back to Shanghai for a week now! And it has been a really hectic one. A huge contrast to my super relaxing days in Malaysia. *missing Malaysia already!*

Just one week back here and it is so god damn happening I already have dark circles and pimples popping out on my face. For 2 consecutive days I have 4 gigs lining up and school was fun too! Though I'm craving for more napping time. 

It's really funny because I've been talking to Fion almost everyday, and there're a lot of time when I was napping and at the same time I'm talking to her too. She was like, "Are you sure you're taking a nap now? Why are you still talking to me?" Hahahahaa! Well, I really am trying to have a little rest, but my Wechat just keep getting messages, people asking me to do stuff, or going to gigs, or even asking me to help to find people for some part-time jobs blablabla. You name it. LOL.

I don't know, sometimes I just feel really tired. *maybe I just need to learn to say no,I'm still working on that. It's some personality problem. No good.*

What I feel sometimes:

LOL. Okay forget it. Back to this Q&A vlog!

Actually it is Fion's idea, since we didn't do any collaboration for a long time, and she thinks it will be really fun to do vlog again! :) I was like YES I'M ON! Totally spices up my blogger spirit hahahahaa! There're 4 of us joining this collaboration: Fion, Maple, Ivy and me!

We decided to do a Q&A Vlog. So where do we get the questions? To make it more fun, each of us will provide 5 questions, so everyone will answer the other 3 ppl's questions, adding up to 15 questions altogether! :) It's a good way so every video consists of 5 different questions! Hah! :)

I only took like 1 hour totally to take the video. I didn't think about the answers much, just spontaneously answer them in the video, so I'm sorry for a lot of "uhm..." and "ahh..." LOL! I was like omg it is 11 minutes in total, why I so long-winded?! Hahahaa!

So just watch it if you guys want to know me better, or if you don't mind to waste 11 minutes of your life. Hahahahaa! :)

To watch my babes' vlogs do go to their blogs!

1) My Fion babe!!! (a.k.a #bassclef)

Have to put 2 pictures coz I can't decide which one I like better! :) So pretty omg!!! :) 天生丽质太上镜 lol lol! 

Besides my bassclef babe is super natural in her vlogs too!! You guys can go check out her other vlogs in her Youtube as well. :))) I always pester her to update her blog coz I love to read what she writes. Especially those long-ass posts. :) Coz her personality shines through the words and it is fun reading it! :)

2) Maple babe!! :))))

I am very curious about Maple's vlog because she uses up to 5 days to do it! Hahahahaa! I was like, wow that's so long! I only use 1 hour! Hahahaa!

She's my childhood friend since forever and her jolly personality never stop to brighten up my day! :) If you know her you'll definitely be attracted too hahaa! :D A very very happy-go-lucky person. :)))

3) Ivy babe!!! ^0^

This sweetie pie has the sweetest voice ever! :) Every time hear her voice I feel like melting hahaha! And she's also a very very very 细心 kinda person. T____T Say until here, I feel very very gan dong. She DIY a tissue cover for us last time, 太有心思了!!!!! You guys can check out her DIY tissue cover HERE, super duper pretty one ok?!

Hope you guys enjoy watching! And I'll update about my life soon! :))) Stay tuned!

See You Again.

Going to leave Malaysia tomorrow and to be honest, I'm not ready yet. 

I know I'm so going to miss this place. The slow pace of it, the food, the people, everything.

I've developed this really bad habit of rushing down my food since last year. When the school gets too crazy, and I need to juggle between the school's crazy schedule and going to gigs to cover my monthly expenses, I am always rushing. Every minute counts. 

When I wake up in the morning, I'll always have to rearrange the schedule for the day. Making mental notes how many minutes I can have for lunch, and what activities I have after that. Especially the days when I have gigs. I'll have to search for the gig place in advance, plan the whole journey, like I have to go out 1 hour early, which bus to take, or maybe subway is safer.... etc.

With so many things on my mind, especially the school stuff (what to practise, when I'll see my violin teacher again, oh and have to prepare for chamber and orchestra etc.) I subconsciously started this really awful habit of eating my meals really fast, and at the same time checking my phone while eating just in case I miss any messages regarding that day's activities. 

Sometimes, I don't even know what I'm eating, I just know there are so many things on my mind, and I'm always in a frustrated mood. I experienced stomach cramps afterwards, or the feeling of wanting to throw up. Probably from indigestion or something I don't know. It had carried on for such a long period I didn't even notice this bad habit. 

When I got back to Malaysia, my friends and my parents started to notice my weird behaviour. Like how I tend to walk faster, or how fast I gobble down my food. And when I realise that, I am really shocked, that how I subconsciously kill my health with these hazardous habits. :( 

What I can say is my stomach and digestive system definitely not at the tip-top shape anymore. I ruin them without even knowing it. So after recognising this huge mistake, I decided to slowly change my habits. I always make mental notes to slow down when I eat. It was hard to control at first. I chew the food and swallow them so fast, I scare myself. But after a week of reminding myself, now I manage to slow down, and enjoy the whole food-eating process.

What I need to do now is continue doing this when I get back to Shanghai. Just. Chew. Slowly. 

Another thing that I've come to realise is how "spending-mommy-&-daddy's-money" is our privilege. A privilege that I enjoyed, but now no longer wish to.

I remember last year when I got back, I didn't ask my mom to buy any clothes for me (I used to be pretty spoiled especially when it comes to shopping lol). And my mom was like, "Are you sure you don't want anything?" I said, "Yeah, I'm fine, I don't need anything." My mom actually felt sad about it. She wanted to buy things for me like what she always did when I was still young. 

I guess, for parents, it's always nice to get treats or nice things for their children. And when one day, their kids grown up and stop asking them to buy things for them, they somehow feel melancholy about it.

Well mommy and daddy, I hope you'll spend those money for yourselves. You've been spending too much on me since young, and I'll try my best to stop taking from you guys and soon when I graduate I'll be the one to give you both money and bring you guys to travel. :) Meanwhile, just spend those money for yourselves, buy nice food or even go to nice places. Do that for me, ok? :)

I'm sorry that I still don't have the ability to earn so much to cover my study fee, but I'll do my best to cover my monthly expenses over there. :) I'll go to more gigs. :))

It's almost 12am now, and I have to wake up like 7am tomorrow. I guess I'll stop here. :) My luggage is almost exceeding the luggage limit again, I'll have to figure out what not-to-bring and what to keep. Till then, see you guys! :) 

ps: It feels nice to write this late night post before I fly tomorrow. :) Late night is the time when I have the most blogging spirit lol.

Btw I want to thank Fion for sending me these lovely presents!!!! The 2 pretty rings and the doughnut lip balm! The lip balm is green colour and luckily my lip didn't go green after I apply it! hahahaa!

And this Penang Heritage tee!!! So in love! Is there really a road named "Step by Step Lane" in Penang?? :DDD So cute!

I'll probably update my blog lesser in Shanghai. :) But I'll keep on updating! :) Till then! XOXO!