Grand Australia – Chapter 7: The club street

This video shows the events I’ve came across in the past ten months.

The new insight and free heart that I had with me when I returned back to Singapore from the Philippines dawned a new chapter in this journey.

It enabled me to establish new friendships and to meet exciting people from different places in the world.

At the heart of all this is Club Street. Club Street is a street with a string of European pubs and restaurants. Not very far from where I stayed, it emerged as one of my favourite places to hang out in Singapore. It is in this place where I met my first friends in Singapore from Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom, from other countries and also, a lot of locals.

I made friends with a lot of Spanish people who taught me how to celebrate life by going out and by partying. In fact, I even worked with them in a restaurant. I made friends with French people who showed me the meaning of elegance. They made me sing a few popular French songs. These people made my life so colourful in a great level that I never really anticipated.

Over the months, I experienced a lot of things that I have never tried before. I went out a lot, I partied a lot, and I socialised a lot. I have seen so many beautiful faces and beautiful people and I discovered a lot of nice places of this country. That made me extremely happy. My new lifestyle became a stark contrast of what it was when I first came into this country. I am no longer alone and lonely.

I also had the most memorable birthday in my life ever. I met one of my favourite international singers and I was surrounded with a lot of great friends who celebrated my existence in their lives. On that day I felt like the most fortunate man on earth.

In the backdrop of all this bliss, I also met someone who felt like a mirror to myself by accident. Someone who made me shine and at times, glow even beyond my own expectations.

I was dated and we got to know each other, hung out together, and had really good times over the months. I had the happiest days in my living memory by far. I discovered a lot of new things that I like. I felt closer to complete and my life was sailing towards the sun. It was full of sunshine.

But maybe things went too fast, too much and too soon. Plagued with communication problems, unfavourable forces and complex circumstances, the relationship quickly headed to its doom. I started to feel small. I realised too late that the feeling is stronger on my side than the other but I swear… it mutually existed.

Then suddenly I found my life reeling in chaos. I felt like living only half a life each day, wandering in places where I could pick and weave memories that my heart has treasured. I was transformed.

People started talking about me. When they started to accuse me with harsh words contrary to the reality, I snapped. You know, I may have not come from a well to do background, but I’m proud of my cultivated values and how I was brought up. The attack on my character became unacceptable and I forced myself to recover my own boat and to tack to a different direction.

The feeling that I had deep inside drove my life to a different terrain. I met some new friends who are very strong-willed people. While I don’t know its exact implications yet, I am very certain that this experience will transform me yet again into a significantly greater person and will permanently change the direction of this journey.

It seemed to me that history is repeating itself too fast as it was not too long ago when my life was driven by the exact the same force and intensity of passion – only this time I had it and lost it.

I am very certain as well that that someone of whom I saw a reflection of myself will indefinitely remain special to me… but I already have long conceded to leave my future to the fates in whatever way it will unfold. I believe that one day things will go in my favour like it once did and I will eventually have the extent of happiness that I think I deserve.

As I walked yet again in Club Street, I was reminded that there are many great things that I can look forward to in the future. I was reminded with the fact that I came to Singapore not just on my own will. I was pretty much driven by my own pursuit of happiness. That’s why now moving forward I feel very excited and sometimes I don’t exactly know why.

But I like the possibilities of meeting a whole lot of new and great people and beautiful faces from this country and beyond. I like the idea of a perfect union of old and new fellowships that can lead to more eventful and meaningful journey.

I’m John Raul from the Philippines, living the full extent of life in Singapore, and bound to visit to the Grand Australia one day.

I know I’ve gone astray with the journey like what my Australian mentor said but in this chapter I lived many great moments of my life.

The journey is now reinstated.

Related Content

• My first new year in Singapore
• Grand Australia – Vlog #7 – Bras Basah, Singapore
• Cost of living in Singapore
• Grand Australia – From the village to the Lion City (recap trailer)
• Grand Australia – Chapter 6: Point of origin

1. 20 January, 2013
   Into the South: 45 Days to Bali, Indonesia | Grand Australia Says:
   

   [...] new people. It’s something I don’t regret though. If you have already watched my Grand Australia Chapter 7 video, you would know. If not, I urge you to watch it to understand what I’m writing here better. [...]