Thursday, May 21, 2009

People in Glass Houses

There is a proverb that goes "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
The proverb has been traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' (1385).

It implies that you shouldn't be over critical of someone since you, yourself, could be open to the same sort of criticism.Those who are vulnerable should not attack others. And I, am definately vulnerable when it comes to criticism. I don't like throwing stones anyway. Bad memory involving stones when I was a kid. Kena piat dengan dengan my mom with I threw a stone at my kid sister just because I felt like throwing a stone at her. But I do like the idea of a glass house. Kinky thoughts are crossing my mind right now.

But I'm not gonna write on criticism and vulnerability today. I'm going to save that for another day.
Instead, I want to share this tranquil place where I escaped to one weekend late in January.

I went away on a weekend retreat to a secluded place nestled and tucked secretly away about 30 Km from the hustle and bustle of the city that I heart so much.

I found this sanctuary while browsing online. Purely by accident about a few years back. Plan finally became an action somewhere in late January. I rounded up my sisters and friends and a photographer for the 2 days 1 night stay.


Trust me when I say, never ever attempt to reach this place without a proper map from someone who has actually been there. From the mainroad, don't count on seeing any signboards leading you in. Don't bother with GPS as it's not located on it.
Don't bother turning your cellphones on, there isn't reception or network coverage to begin with. It's just me and my friends acquainting ourselves with the sounds of nature.

So there we were, after several wrong turns, and a few "wei, masuk sini la" we finally made it to a place with a very unique name, Sekeping Serendah which in English would literally translate into 'a piece of Serendah'. Beautiful isn't it. It's a piece of heaven which can only be found to those who want it bad enough and look for it hard enough.

While my sisters and friends were happily jumping and diving into the pool, I chose a quiet corner in the house where the sunlight streamed through the glass wall, switched my Ipod on and read a book. It was bliss. everywhere I looked throughout the house, all I saw were the leaves and the trees. All I heard was the sound of the stream somewhere near the glass house and the birds chirping.


I took walks alone along the path, stopped at the stream, dipped my feet in and just stood around looking in wonder and awe at god's creation. It was a significant moment for me personally. I took the quiet time alone to just be with me. A moment of reflection. I made a few decisions and hoped that I won't regret them...and I haven't.


So there we were, 3 sisters and friends, no tv, no cell coverage, no radio...the only thing to do was to spend time with each other.

It was a weekend worth spent away from the city that I heart so much, late in January. I will come back. To pause and reflect once again.

2 comments:

Sir Pök Déng said...

Seems like a good place for me to get solitary for a moment. Oh I can't live without the internet. Trip cancelled.

Cinta said...

Sir Pok Deng,
Awwww come on sir, where the adventure side of u? :) it's time to get primitive again. btw, tried to leave a comment on your blog, but to no avail. it was 'aborted' a few times ;)