Trivia

Today is a really slack day for me despite a Monday. LOLX. Cos I am on leave.

For once in a very long time, I was left alone ("ditched" by my gf and parents and aunt) to fend for my own dinner. No idea why, wanted something fried. So well, decided to try KFC, which although I know at the back of mind, it's pathetically non-value-for-money. Shrugs. Sometimes, people just do irrational things.

Finished everything in 15 minutes. *burp*

after the run

we're at ion noch ein mal. Jams cafe in prologue was not bad. the chocolate banana meringue was good :)

Singapore Superlatives

Ok I am back again....

This time I googled something I read in the newspaper a while back: the rankings of the countries and cities offering broadband services...

Singapore's ranked 7th in the world and 4th in Asia. It's really not surprising to find SOuth Korea and Japan at the top and Japan's 3 cities nabbed the top 3 for city placing - Yokohama, Sapporo, Nagoya. Considering first-hand experience of SingNet's capabilities, the arguably largest provider in Singapore, I think Singapore has MUCH to improve.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/broadband_internet_connection/index.htm
Well, since I am on this might as well, see some of Singapore's other rankings....

Most liveable City (Monocle): 18th in the world, 4th in Asia!
http://www.monocle.com/sections/edits/Web-Articles/Top-25-Cities/
1. Zurich
2. Copenhagen
3. Tokyo --> My brother's dream city...
4. Munich --> Ach, hab' ich bei hier gewohnt. Muenchen ist schoen aber ein bisschen teuer....
5. Helsinki
6. Stockholm
7. Vienna
8. Paris --> For my dear =)
9. Melbourne
10. Berlin --> Ganz geil!
11. Honolulu
12. Madrid
13. Sydney
14. Vancouver
15. Barcelona
16. Fukuoka --> Maybe my bro likes this.
17. Oslo
18. Singapore --> Singapore's strengths lie in her security and stability, parallelled by few.
19. Montreal
20. Auckland
21. Amsterdam --> Very relaxing, and picturesque...
22. Kyoto --> Or maybe this is my bro's dream city?
23. Hamburg --> Eine schoene Stadt, aber es regnet zu oft....
24. Geneva
25. Lisbon

See any more familiar cities?

Quality of Living
http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving
Singapore's best in infrastructure. I think Singaporeans should really be proud of so many things in Singapore - security, stability, infrastructure, organisation, efficiency, wiredness etc etc... YEs, there are areas of improvement definitely, but which country doesn't?

MioTV

As always the story starts with a "WOW" factor. Like "Wow! There's a Taiwanese Channel!" My mum was so enthralled by that fact, "Maybe Meow is not so bad after all..."

"OH! We have 东风!" My dad's equally amazed by that.

And me, just realised a few days ago, there's the old XMEN. I was just surprised. Pleasantly. At that time, that is.

But these don't really last long. Being new to TV-on-demand entertainment, it turns out, all the programmes got shut down today. Apparently, we have reached the one-month FOC threshold. Oh well, my dad thought it was spoilt and actually called down the SingNet engineer LOLX... Ok nvm, embarrassing things aside.... The mioHome was initially subscribed because it bundled up all my mioTV and Broadband under an account, and upgraded my Broadband (3Mbps to 6Mbps) at a reduced price. Probably because my original Broadband subscription is becoming obsolete anyway. I guess we can live without mioTV programmes.

I actually sat down and watched the only free things now - the 'Exclusive' 15 blockbuster movies per month thingy. YA, "blockbuster". Was scrolling through, ya ok looking, since only 15 titles, then picked 十二莲花to watch. Never watched before, and since my parents too, it's free, might as well. Turned out it's a hybrid of a musical and drama. Somehow I didn't exceptionally like it. Neither did my parents. Singing's good but think some are dubbed over. But the protagonist is really 悲剧人物. Why do Singaporean films always try to make such films?

So while waiting for my dearest, I kind of surfed the mioTV website and found the pricing list.... zzzz....
http://mio.singtel.com/miotv/channels-on-demand_channels.asp

Ok la, not that ex, if I just go by certain channels... Can consider signing up for my parents. But well, we will see.

Oh there's Jennifer Aniston's old show "Picture Perfect". Wanna watch dear?

Little Part 1

Mag es einfach..

如果我還是以前。。。

土土的我...





















圓圓的我...























黑黑的我...


















還是圓到不行的我...


















你還會愛我嗎？

Catch my dearie at the Great Singapore Sale!!

Guess who's been creating waves at the various SMRT Exchanges?!?!!?

The 4 beautiful people above... And spot my absolutely photogenic dearie =p HAHA!

Isn't she a dear? And oh my she can really pose!

Now, I will get to see her everywhere. Not that I am complaining =)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And I particularly like this photo taken at Illuma@bugis. Not that that's ANYBODY's blonde (but mine), but cos I just feel she looks exceptionally amazing in that photo: laid back but with style.

mum and dad

I am thankful for my mum's genes... LOLX

I had always an unwavering impression of my parents. My dad, the father that I could never get close enough to, the kind you respect but kept a distance and my mum, the most lovable mother I have ever known, the kind you feel the heavens have sent to love you and care for you wholly and willingly dedicate herself to your whole life right from the very start, and then u grow up and love and care in return.

As you can see, I am close to my mum. I once asked my mum if love still exists between my dad and her, after all these years of ups and downs. And she said, it does but it evolved into a different sort of love. Then, I thought, if a love changed, then what actually is it? I couldn't get past my narrow image of an 'altered' form of love. Then that day, while I held XL's hand and walked behind my parents, I looked and it started to dawn upon me a little. Not much, but minutely.

That, the relationship between my parents, does not fall into the category of old couples "still madly in love" with each other, the kind where two white-haired individuals hand in hand strolled in parks. No, not that. More, it is the cherishing of a decades-old relationship, a form of familiarity forged between each other, that staying together now, is more perceivable than staying apart. That, you have learnt, experienced, endured, held on together for so many years, that it becomes only natural to be together than otherwise.

Do not think, though, I have captured that uncanny fleeting image that I had at that moment appropriately, because I do not think I had truly understood that either.

Frankly, I had once upon a time thought it was a sad thing. That my dad wasn't good enough to keep loving such an angel of a lady as my mum like she deserved; I had thought that my dad was so lucky to have my mum at his side, all this time. But there and then, I saw my parents walking and talking and laughing and relaxing, just the two of them, side by side, like there was nothing else in this world worth to talk about except the things they were talking about, to each other. The way I saw my dad bought my favourite tu-tu kuehs and my mum's favourite mua-chee, the way he walked purposefully to the desired stalls, out of the myriad of stalls that stood there. The way my mum discusses like it's the most natural thing to do in front of the TV with my dad, about any shows. The way they are at ease at each other's presence. At peace...

Courtesy of my dearie's superb idea that got the both of them so mirthful @TungLeSignatures,Vivocity

Then perhaps, there was nothing really to be sad about anything. Perhaps the most important thing is the companionship that they had found in each other in the first place. That the familiarity that had bred over the eons. That, perhaps then, is another kind of love. It may not be the conventional kind that a lot of people will be envious of, but one that would last till the end of days. It is bliss all the same.

On this Mother's Day, I would wish my beloved mum and my equally beloved aunt, my second-mum-equivalent, a very happy Mother's Day, and may health and happiness always be with both of you. Love u both =P And to my dearie's mum as well, of whom I have enormous respect for, 永远笑口常开.

And to all the mums in the world, a great salute from me, for all the love that you have, that could never ever be supplanted. A very happy Mother's Day indeed. I believe it might not be a celebration to many mothers around globe, but it's definitely a day dedicated to mothers, where the world remembers you and your love for your children.

Courtesy of my brother's professional photography @MarinaBarrage

Wake

Just came back from a wake. LF's dad passed away. Though I am not at all close to him, I still hope he would get by this period well. My condolences. I heard it was pretty abrupt.

Anyway the main issue in this entry is the fact that I can't help but noticed how wakes are being conducted. I think for the past year, I have been to more wakes than I have for the past 10 years add together. And except for CS's more Christian wake, the rest of the more traditional wakes seemed a bit odd for me.

The conventional wake to me is for mourning. To that, I had always pictured a more melancholic atmosphere, where the loved ones, relatives and friends and/or family members' friends convene at the deathbed, hoping to see for the last time the deceased, before he/she passed on forever into intangible memories. And there is this pall of sadness and seriousness looming over the whole ceremony, tinged maybe with a little regret, hanging in the air; I had imaged that at least.

However, in reality, things are more different...

Today, as an example, it felt a lot like a social gathering. People were playing mahjong, laughing to the tiles. There were many chatting at tables, grinning to inside jokes and greeting 'long-time-no-sees' to the company at the table that they perhaps haven't met for years but just happened to have an occasion for a meet-up. A glaring contrast to the quiescent photo and the coffin that stood behind them.

Perhaps that sounds a little too harsh.

Ok, there are many people with neutral faces as well. Maybe I am just expecting some more extreme kind of melodrama. The wife weeping, kids crying. The others all sad and forlorn... Many of the were in their fifties, men and women. It made me wonder if they were belying their own fears of the inevitable, as they touched ground in the era of the half-centenarians. Somehow they seemed to have that etched on their faces. Not grim-faced grim, but the kind of resignation that can only exist when you have walked the earth for more than half a century. It seems kind of morbid to think this way: the living empathising with the dead, but not with the living.

The stark discrepancy between the stereotypical gloom and the actual neutrality of the whole scenario kind of obfuscates me somehow I guess.

Probably it reminds me of my mum's mentality and got me pondering. Already understanding, only now more... Probably it isn't resignation, more of acceptance. And that I feel, this could be more important than anything else. To her, and to the people she love. But still, the very thought of it wrenches the heart...

Birthday surprise!

Ok it's that time of the year again, where you officially get one year older and people starts calling you the "late-twenties club member". But more importantly for me, for the first time, I am really starting to feel the weight of growing up - responsibilities.

I think stepping into the working world has that effect on people. Especially when you are the sole breadwinner of the family now. Some people realised this slower than others - the late bloomers, there are some others who have always known - the mature ones - and there are some who chose not to know - the oblivious. Whatever the case (I think I belong to the slower cohort LOLX), time just dons responsibilities on you. Like clothes. You either try to fit into it, or you burst it and then u realise u r barenaked. And then u either go on to try something new or u cower in embarrassment.

Other than responsibilities, I think there is something call prioritization. And it means when u have an astronomically long list of responsibilities, you start by sorting which one is more important, sometimes not in the practical sense. And to me, that is not something innate. But sometimes, the order can change according to the scenarios and acclimatization then sets in to work. So then you have to do change accommodation.

Big words? Well, I guess that's part of growing up too, you start learning huge jargons..

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SO, 26 years later, on this day that I was born, I had chosen to go to the office, instead of taking leave (prioritization at work), and nobody else at work seems to realise this is my birthday (except for a few), so I kept mum (acclimatization).

Anyway, trivialities aside, this year's birthday is exceptionally special cos I am spending it with my dearie for the first time. She really did pounce multiple surprises on me, like swept me off the ground kind, on a number of occasions: from the flowers at work, to the surprise dinner (absolutelyhaven@prinsep), to the surprise cake, to the card and she drove me home. All done despite the fact that she was feeling unwell.

To my sweet dearie, I am beyond words. I can only say, I totally appreciate it more than anything, and the anticipation and happiness of the day itself (it started right from morning) would have to be the best present that I ever received. Thank you, sweetie. =P

And please, do get well soon.



And to all good friends out there, thank you as well.

=)

Gambate für deinen GRE!

Soft spot

Skies of Chingjing (Taiwan) from the farmstead

Another news came of my friend's friend from NUS, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

The blog is http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5f0941430100cgoj.html

I would like to take this opportunity to ask anybody out there to lend a hand. Even if not financially, but perhaps spread the word around...

JIAYOU my friend's friend!

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Wonder if it's age that's catching up. Not that I am extremely old or anything, but people around me start to really pass on. Despite all bright and sunny about what the future holds for young minds like us, people around me are actually really passing away at the prime of their lives.

Used to occur to me that things were hitting a bit further from the heart, Gott sei Dank, that things did not hit near enough. And I would be secretly hoping that people around me remain as safe as possible.

Used to tear when people die in drama series and still do. Secretly thinking that they are just being melodramatic, to wrench those humane hearts, touching us with love and emotions. However, spate of events in the recent years have (finally) supplanted those naiveties, that things are very real, happening to anybody. Exactly because they are real, they are able to touch our hearts...

I am definitely not being fatalistic or morbid in any way here, on the contrary, I am simply feeling more blessed than I usually am; I have always told people about how blessed I am. For one, I have lived for twenty odd years before facing blatantly only the tip of such harshness. I believe more is to come.... Both good and bad, of course.

~~~In the face of death, earthly gains seemed to pale~~~

I was touched by this Japanese movie, 在世界中心呼唤爱. Especially something the female lead said, akin to: "Life is fair. I believe that things cancel off each other when you die. The good, the bad, everything returns to zilch. So when something bad happens, something good of equal magnitude will occur to you as well. Life does not owe."

No matter how tough the road is, I believe things always take a better turn somehow when it's done in a positive light.

For all the inevitability of life: deaths, wars, depressions, illnesses, grief, destruction....

为世界而打气。。否极必会泰来。。

For the beauty of the world still awaits...

Rainbow across Paris from the Eiffel

Credit Crunch

With all the hype about the economic recession and depression revolving around the credit crunch, I think at the micro-level, that moniker takes up a slightly different meaning - I am stunned at my credit card bills LOLX...

That's definitely an "over"...

OMG! I think it's really time to start conforming to the world and begin tightening that wallet...

Personally I think one of the problems of using credit card is not only the invisibility of the cash you use, such that you tend to overspend unconsciously, it's also the feel-good feeling when u hand that waiter your card cavalierly, and without the unglam hassle of digging out notes and coins... Ok, that sounds a bit wrong HAHA...

Anyway, in a nutshell, I shall oversee my finances more closely from now on. At least until I get a payrise, which is not anywhere near, considering all current circumstances LOLX.

I think...

... I wanna go home early today ...

Revelations

This week has been truly a week of revelations, especially today. I have met people who gave me their insights into my career, myself, my future etc etc...

Well, not like revolutionary ideas supplanting my original thinking. At least it introduced new elements to my trains of thought. Perhaps major shifts in perspectives, on how I look at my own things introspectively.

However, the funny thing is, rather the sad thing perhaps, the actual translational process of transmuting these intangibles into something more tangible and/or purposeful seems more of an uphill task than expected.

Hmmm.... I need time to think them through.

Taipei Part II

Yes, we spent some 3 days in Taipei before we fly back to Singapore.

Taipei really has quite some places to visit! Plus, the food's really good... Thankfully, we missed the 寒流! That very day we left, it came... It was so cold!! And guess what, I actually saw E with her bf and friends with luggage, while we came back from Ximending. My dear was incidentally telling about hostels in Ximending.

And we think, we saw G's ex-bf, isn't it dear?

Anyway... here's some pics I left out on Taipei part I...

北投露天温泉！After showers...
this is a famous place in 九份... 找你找得好辛苦!
九份，滂沱大雨之后的潇潇细雨
难忘的九份之旅...

Ok here's the real Taipei Part II!!

小美，XL阿姨最小的狗狗。。太冷了它一直在发抖。。 LOLX
她的新发型！！Kawaii ne!
小米也！（2 out of 5 dogs)
XL 最疼的。。。狗狗-宝宝！
西门町戒烟行动！！OMG！！
中正纪念堂, 自由广场
ＨＥＬＬＯ　KITTY RESTAURANT！！
Princess XL。。。 in her royal toilet LOLX... Yes, this is INSIDE the girls' toilet but only the girls' toilet... The guys' pathetic HA...
WHo's this?!?!
I like Taiwan! LOLX

Taiwan Trip - 清境农场

I think this place is worth an entire entry of it... My dear and I loved it very much, cos it additionally reminds her of Europe, but to me, it's simply because it's just having both of us alone. This is, imo, the real getaway.

But it really is. High up in the mountains of Taiwan, you can easily imagine the breathtaking scenaries and romantic settings and since it's 农场, you wouldn't miss the sheep and cows and lambs and sheepdogs...

But since it's high up in the mountains, took us 4 hours to go from Kao Hsiung there: took a 客运 (long-dist bus) to 浦里, where we change bus up.

Pictures speak a thousand words:
Scenary when we were travelling up on the bus. Check out the hues of the skies, she loves that color.
Another one when we were travelling up at twilight. Has the feeling you are looking at a 山水画 (other than the fact that it's a tad blur), especially with the houses at the side, like villages.
Shopping mall in the clouds!
Now this is the real farmstead..
A lovely sight...

赶羊秀

Guess who's that being whipped?!
Cute lambs, oooooo...
Benediction from the skies above...
Check out the sheep!
It wouldn't be XL without jumping poses LOLX!
This part of the trip holds dear to the heart because it is more than just beautiful scenaries and interesting stories. More importantly, it's a journey both of us took together. Feels like a huge step forward.

I think my dear would agree with me on that.

Taiwan trip Part I and II

Because my dear has chided me for neglecting my blog and that she wants to read some blogs, I decided to add this photo-filled entry, with my enjoyable Taiwan trip. 'Enjoyable' is simply an understatement...

Love the feeling of travelling, cos there is no pressure. Just 2 persons, holding hands and going on adventure =P LOLX.

Anyway, presenting to you my Taiwan trip; the photos are tip of the iceberg:

Taipei 1
-- We spent the first 4 days in Taipei for the fireworks at 101!


Taipei 101 during New Year's eve; with her bro and bro's gf
Call me a glutton, but Taiwanese food is what I love =P
Check out the new costume LOLX

风大雨大的渔人码头

3 days in warm KAoHsiung:
My maiden 高铁 trip is to 高雄!
This is winter wear in balmy 高雄. Suck that!
in front of Confucious Temple; I just love taking photos of her =P
Our 护身mascot 小敦也！
西子湾
Caught eating again! The 夜市in Taiwan are superb! This is the infamous 高雄六合夜市!
OMG!! We caught that!!

...TO BE CONTINUED...