all good things...

This time next week, I will be back in London and on Sunday morning, I will be flying back to London.

I'm happy to say that I had a thoroughly good time during my summer holidays; apart from slipping effortlesly back into my role as 'housekeeper' around the house, I managed to re-discover and catch up with old friends and teachers, try out and hone in my skills on new endavours and forge better and meaningful relationships.

It has been one hell of an emotional ride, filled with joy, pride, anger, resentment, despair, angst, humor and satisfaction; it certainly wasn't an uneventful holiday.

It is a little sad that I have to leave just as I am about to be comfortable with my daily routine here for there are several things I am definitely going to miss.

I will miss having breakfast at those small Malay stalls - enjoying a plate of nasi lemak with a glass of teh tarik and occasionally having those lightly toasted and fluffy kaya breads with half-boiled eggs - all for only RM2.50.

I will miss visiting the riotous pasar malams - a venerable Malaysian institution - and being able to tempt your palate with the sheer variety of Malaysian cuisine or just watching Malaysians from all walks of life minggling and exchanging stories and gossips.

I will miss the soft soothing sounds of the real Malaysian rain outside my window and feeling the cool breeze on your face after a heavy downpour. I will miss being able to switch on the fan or air conditioner whenever the heat is too much to bear.

I will miss scanning the Malaysian newspapers and musing over the quirky, paradoxical and perplexing nature of the Malaysian public and leaders and imagining how things could be a whole lot better if someone truly capable were at the helm.

I will miss the comforting thought of knowing that most of my friends and teachers are only a driving distance away and ever ready to listen, talk or debate whenever I feel like I need to.

I will miss being able to fetch my brother and sister from their respective schools, taking them for lunch or snacks along the way.

I will miss the security, warmth and complacency of being surrounded by my family besides being able to help them get through their lives in return.

I realized that there are plenty of things I should be grateful for and I am glad that I have been given the opportunity to be part of those things. I hope that my presence have left some imprint - no matter how miniscule - on their daily lives and manage to induce some form of change in the long term.

I believe that the only thing that will stand up to the savage and continual onslaughts of time are the deeds and impacts you have made on someone else's lives which are safely locked away in their minds and hearts.

When you put it that way, the fact that you will be travelling nearly 12 000 km across the seas and will be physically separated for the next 9 months or so are rather immaterial.

Indeed, you will continue to hear the distant calls of memories and see familiar grounds, both of which transcend all spatial and temporal boundaries.

And as you reflect on that, you will eventually come to realize that you never actually left here.