When I was living in Malaysia I was in a highly competitive school and pretty much my daily routine involved studying. So, even extra curricular stuff felt routine and enforced. I was thirteen when my family migrated to Australia. We lived in Dulwich Hill. For the first time in my life I was unsupervised and my parents allowed me to explore Cook’s River on my own. It was where I learnt how to ride and discovered the joy of jogging because of the rush of endorphins and new emotions that came from that new found freedom. Falling down, bleeding, standing up and trying again and finally getting it ‘right’.

Sydney has been fundamental to my discovery of independence and I have found the courage to explore new unchartered territories and know that there is always a fall back and a safe place.

SCENT

Top note: mulch, murky garbagy smells,
Heart note: cut grass but not floral
The one that lingers: maybe sweaty freedom
Blood is the scent you notice sometimes, but it is not always there.

Cooks river, surrounded by trees, blood, familiar, release of endorphins, stress release, freedom.

By

Jessica Ng