Life......

can be depressing and tiring.

世纪之失

吴宗宪推出演艺圈，不仅是台湾综艺界的一大损失，更是整个华人世界乃至全球本世纪最大的损失。宪哥所发掘的艺人不胜枚举，如周杰伦、方文山、温岚、康康、NONO、小钟、小马、刘畊宏、蔡旻佑等十几二十位当红艺人，是娱乐圈当之无愧的伯乐。自己则既获金曲奖、也喜获金钟奖，只缺金马奖，无疑是个小小的缺憾。其机智灵活的主持方式，至今仍无人能及。哀哉！

Thanks！

I was supposed to draft a script for one of my Japanese classes when my group-mate selflessly took on the task herself after she had failed to contact me for the past few days. I really appreciate it and don't know how I can repay her. I don't mean to be irresponsible but my time management sucks. Thanks anyway yeah!

I hope that in the near future, our planes can operate like buses and trains. Nice and polite pilots will be saying:

各位尊敬的乘客，欢迎您乘搭本航空公司的班机！

我们即将抵达目的地，谢谢您的惠顾，我们希望能在不久的将来再次为您服务。

若您要中途下机，请您按铃。

若您想前往其他目的地，请您携带餐备的刀叉到机舱来，谢谢！

Which version is better?

Please judge objectively:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoFunq7EFGc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErbgUkNStqM&feature=related

Appeal!

To my YEP friends (and Jiayi): Please keep yourselves free sometime this week (or the next). We will have our annual CNY dinner gathering other than the one that USP had for us sometime back. Please revert when asked to. Thanks!

Hauser: When will you be free? My mouth and hands are itching.

Where is 天外天？I heard it is as nice as 霹雳MIT.

Entertainment with Sincerity

This is a good MV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEkXMTKkWw

Happy Lunar New Year!

霹靂MIT is surprisingly good. Watch it if you have the time.

Here's wishing everyone health and wealth in 2009!

My Marist Friends

Just met up with Bing Ying, Marc, and Tipin at Tipin's place in the evening. It has been a long while since I last saw them at Anchorpoint late last year. Bing Ying is getting married. Marc and Tipin are happy in their "high-flying" jobs. I am contended. Marc and Tipin treated me to roti prata at Upper Thomson Road.

Speaking of which, where is Jiahao??

Strange......

I was completely ignorant of the fact that I had been nominated for this (and who were the three who had voted for me?!):

各位同学: 研究生会选举结果投票统计如下：邓橙子5票；李叔飞1票；王丹5票；邹婧6票；陈英杰3票 ；马鸣1票；王跃龙1票。祝贺邹婧同学当选，也请邹婧同学尽快组织自己的团队开展工作!

This is even freakier:

陈英杰你好~我是邹婧，马鸣有没有给你讲过邀请你加入研究生会的事情？很希望你能加入我们！不知道你明天早上10点有没有空？彭睿老师想找我们几个成员去他办公室商量一下新年团拜会的事情，如果你看到请尽快联系我!

Those who know me well enough would know that I am not really into such "worldly" pursuits. Coupled with the fact that I don't really mingle with my fellow graduate mates (I mix around more with my UCV and Japanese classmates), it really leaves me to wonder who had nominated me and why. But no. Whatever the case may be, I am not joining any such committee.

Mahjong: A Crash Course

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH97bOg1fpM&feature=related

Very impressive

Like a tribute to Local King:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESsjfBNQKr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLVP17mpWM&feature=related

A Subculture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RIL6tbp1EE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c6LKuD9hIA&feature=related

So infuriating!

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=eYuIg7Tnc7g

Attend if you are free to, thanks!

http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/religion/newsevents/e_graduate_the_city_god_belief

Take care, Eunice!

友情满满，情义浓浓。

Sigh

How can Jacky Wu quit showbiz? So depressing.

My favourite Hong Kong songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo9LQzR1Lds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkNZSOIdP5A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7QXRTngums&feature=related

Jacky Wu cannot be replaced though. Sigh.

National Taiwan University

Paul just sent me a link.

I wanna go back there again:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=7PF7U_WIlTo

OK set

I have decided. I shall fly over to Taiwan at whatever cost it takes me to watch Jacky Wu's last live recording of the "Guess" show. My first resolution for the year.

Everything went blank before my eyes

I just heard this from my Hong Kong friend BenBen:

Jacky Wu will be retiring in June this year. Hearing this news is a bad start for me. Very soon I will no longer be entertained by his variety shows and songs.

http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/15/1/1/995217/1.html

http://cn.ibtimes.com/articles/20090106/wuzongxian5.htm

I really feel sad. There goes a talent from the Taiwanese entertainment scene. How many Jacky Wus can we see in our lifetime? Who can make me laugh as much as he does?

Thanks for all the fun and joy that you have brought me, Local King. We had met, shaken hands and taken a photo together, even though you may have forgotten who I am. You will forever be my Local King and idol. I am truly blessed to have enjoyed your entertainment.

Long Live the King.

Hong Kong

I simply have to blog about this.

I will be in Hong Kong for the next 2 weeks. I am not sure what exactly I will do there, but this is most certainly a good time for me to relax and let loose. I just wanna get out of the island and take a breather elsewhere. The recent SMRT ad (or contest?) says "Escape to Egypt", and I resonate with my own version. It seems that even the people up there know that we heartlanders want to escape.

When I first conceived the idea of visiting Hong Kong again I didn't know that there would be so many people who will be heading to the place for Christmas as well. They are Bernard and Gabriel (my Marist friends), Prof. Teo, Teng Hui and his girlfriend Jane, Pei Wen (a classmate), and an aunt of mine. Seven in all! I think it would be next to impossible for me to be alone in Hong Kong, given this huge company there. Plus Debby, Paul and gang who are a nice lot and would not want to see me wander around aimlessly alone. Wow! I never knew that Hong Kong is such a popular destination. I had already made plans to meet up with Prof. Teo and Teng Hui there. I hope to meet up with the rest too, if our schedules permit.

Since I had planned this trip to be a free-and-easy one for myself, I am just gonna wake up late every morning and eat brunch at 茶餐厅 or gorge myself silly with dim sum. And visit Shenzhen or Macau? In any case, my primary motives are to visit friends and buy academic books. Not much of a field research to work on.

See everyone next year! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Destined to be alone and stay alone

I think enough has been said of my life and aspirations.

I want to lead an unsocial, reclusive life in Taiwan. I want to retire to Taiwan. Or Hong Kong.

I am an aspiring academic, as well as an aspiring ascetic.

Hauser just called me, telling me that Bings would be getting married soon. Bings did not call me, and I was thinking it's ok if I am left uninvited. I would, however, feel sad if friends like Hauser, Tips and Raymond fail to inform me of their weddings. I have very few close friends, and even in them I seldom confide.

Great Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5ktA_vonCg

家好月圆

家好月圆庆中秋！

原本没心害你。

Haha!

This dormant blog always cracks me up:

http://rockson.blogspot.com/

Cheap Labour

According to this (sent by Marc):

http://sgjobs.blogspot.com/2008/10/singapore-salary-handbook-20082009.html

I am (and will be) grossly underpaid.

I am a pauper of a friend.

I will never strike it rich.

Please bear with this person of me.

I am a heartlander, at heart.

When people study in good schools, I study in lup sup schools.

When people drink coffee at cafes, I lim teh at kopitiam.

When people eat oysters at restaurants, I eat hum at hawker centre.

When people eat Kobe beef and steak, I eat beef noodles.

When people eat caviar, I eat quail eggs.

When people talk about renovating their bugalows, I talk about the upgrading works of my flat.

This will be me. For a long time to come.

Sigh. The melancholy of life.

Why am I judging myself by capitalist standards?

Have I grown too pragmatic for my own good?

Is my discipline a prescription for poverty?

Can my interest be sustained?

Can rhetoric reconcile with practice?

Only time will tell.

Hope I have made it right.

I am such an imbecile

I am so gonna fail my Japanese. I had already declared S/U for the module, but should I fail, my credibility as a scholar of Sino-Japanese relations will be in question. I wouldn't want to fail, but such an outcome seems so glaringly unavoidable. There is now melancholy in the air I breathe and sorrow in the air I exhale.

Myopic Simpletons

People tell me that Arts modules are easy to score in. They can write a paper the night before and receive a decent grade for it. Unlike engineering and the sciences. Conduct experiments. Compile lab reports. Tabulate findings and results. Amongst others.

If you are one of these people, good for you. More specifically, however, if you are and yet regard Arts as a redundant and wasteful enterprise, then rice balls to you. Professors and tutors who had awarded you the grade were just being nice. I used to write crap and receive A's for it. Yet professors expect much more from graduate students and I need to adjust to this. This simply means that to undergraduates from both the Arts and other faculties, the professors are lenient and would reward accordingly if only the slightest effort is seen. Guess what: I had read some essays written by students from other faculties and they suck big time. These students thought otherwise, and received B's for what would seem C's back at their home faculties. Taking things for granted eh?

It is a gross misconception to believe that in Arts disciplines, students only need to talk cock and crap their way through in their papers and exams. Even if this is true, talking cock and crapping require a degree of academic skill. What's more, this can only be a statement made by myopic simpletons who fail to see the virtue of disciplines being different and diverse, and who aspire to engage and join in the so-called sunrise industries of disciplines. This would be an insult to the spirit of the academia. Such simpletons should not be regarded as undergraduates: crawl back to your caves or feudalistic camps. You have not completed your course of evolution. You are not getting intellectual at all. Moulds and nuts.

It would be sadder if you are studying a discipline simply because it promises better career prospects and not because you are truly interested in it. A sell-out that is. Selling your soul to capitalist ideals. Gotcha. The invisible hand has gotten you. Help!

There were never distinctions between disciplines and existed no hierarchy of knowledge. These are modern inventions. A real prodigy knows all. PhD: Doctor of Philosophy. Mind that before making sweeping comments. You are being taught by its recipients.

Here's the challenge: take as many Arts modules as you can to clear your UE requirements. Get at least B+s for them all, since you say they can be so easy. Prove your worth and not whine.

Kang Kang rocks too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fEAx8kvXHo

I Love Taiwan

I feel so glad to have this blog. As and when I am free, I would read the entries written in Taiwan and reminisce. I think it has to be fate that I am bound so affectionately to Taiwan. I am interested in anything Taiwanese. I love Taiwan.

USP Introductory Presentation

Spoke to Dunman High students a few weeks ago. Gave them a prep talk on what USP is about and my experiences in the Programme.

Gone are the Days......

My last class for the semester. Sigh. The transience of time.

This sucks

http://blog.omy.sg/alvinology/2008/11/13/acjc-girl-gets-tied-up-and-tortured-by-friends-celebrating-her-birthday/

The Fast Passage of Time

Time really flies. It is always time for us to say goodbye. Age is catching up on me. Before I know it, many things had happened and were over by the time I became conscious of them. My only adversary now is time. I hope I can stand the test of time.

Oh Gosh.

See this if you have never seen this before. I feel so smart man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg

And this is a stand-up but a funny one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfBmNlVc9qM

Happy Birthday, Jacky!

Last Entry...

Of the semester. And so I hope. I had decided to attend more conferences, talks and seminars in the weeks ahead. The progress of my ISM report has reached a standstill. This spells trouble. I hereby declare a self-imposed isolation for the next 2 months, with effect from now. I hope I can keep to it and keep my itchy fingers from typing on the keyboard in this duration. My ISM report will bear the same length as my Honours thesis, and yes, I attained an A grade for the latter. Thanks to a similar state of emergency declared then. I am praying for another miracle to happen. I am emotionally drained. I am born in the wrong place. And so I feel sometimes. "Beautiful Island" is a place where I long to be in. Meanwhile, to prevent my mind from drifting too far out on negative grounds, I shall keep myself really really occupied for this whole semester. Lest others think I have been too slack and free. Period.

Feelings

My feelings now? Disappointed. Tired. For harbouring unrealistic expectations which I thought were easy to meet. I thought. Feelings are a bane and liability. I wish I don't feel at all.

欠你的温柔

如果我不能让你跟朋友比
我抱歉
如果我让你有一些不如意
我抱歉
你越说爱我不觉得吃力
我越担心有天你会离去
一字一句
吞了下去
表情和心情
总是背道而行
欠你的温柔
是心中最大的石头
我不能够给的足够
男人在爱里该谦卑
还是该骄纵
欠你的温柔
是手里最慌的承诺
该怎么做才配的上
你善良的笑容
我要你告诉我

Human Nature

Sometimes I get disillusioned by how human nature has become, or has been, just that I have failed to notice it in a distant past. I hate to believe that man is inherently selfish, but nowadays I tend to think so. There was once upon a time when I chose to disregard this and try as i might, become the perfect human that I have always imagined myself to be. How naive. It had been nothing but an imagined construct doomed to fail. I should live out of such fantasies, snap myself out of them and get a grasp of reality. What lies ahead is either a myth or illusion that will never materialize. Period.

Missing Taiwan again

「婚姻，是愛情的墳墓。結了婚以後，什麼都很難。」
「你是不是家裡婚姻不幸福，怎麼會對婚姻那麼悲觀？」
「不是，我從小在幸福的家庭長大。只是我看很多。女人很麻煩的，千錯萬錯都是男人的錯，這樣也不行，那樣也不行，到底要我怎麼樣？」
「呵呵，也有不難搞的女人啊？」
「唉唷，一個人多好，要去哪就去哪，沒有什麼束縛，也不用去照顧別人的感受。女人喔，一定會問她男友說：『你愛不愛我？』男朋友會說：『愛~』，她又再問一次『你愛不愛我？』男友又說『愛~』，她又再問一次『你愛不愛我？』男朋友又說『愛~』，她又再問一次『你愛不愛我？』男友覺得很煩就說『不愛~~』，這時候女生一定會說『你看男人就是這樣騙人，我就知道你不愛我。』女生不是都這樣嗎？」
「呵呵，感覺你經驗豐富。」
「我真的沒有，妳經驗比我豐富。我只是看了我朋友，要應付女朋友，好累喔。單身真的比較好，無牽無掛，很自由。」

走進書店，剛好有本講baby的書…

「這小baby很可愛…」
「唉唷，妳沒看到他哭的時候，妳會被吵死，小時候你要把屎把尿；長大以後，又擔心他不讀書，叛逆期又跟你頂嘴，整天要錢花。以前人說什麼養兒防老啦，靠自己比較實際，小孩不跟你要錢就不錯了。」
「可是小baby也有可愛的時候…」
「那都不實際啦！還是單身最好。」
「我很喜歡去旅行」
「那我們以後去旅行」
「這要我沒結婚才行啊！」
「那不然，三十歲以後，如果我們都沒結婚，我們每年選個國家去旅行，大概一兩個禮拜…」
「好哇，那我三十歲沒結婚，就準備不結婚啦，女生也嫁不出去了。那以後老了怎麼辦啊？」
「我養一隻貓。」
「那你生病呢？」
「貓給別人養」
「你很喜歡台灣，搬來台灣住我旁邊好了，然後要照顧我喔！」
「好哇！」
「那你會不會騙我？」
「你看你們女生就是這樣，整天想著人要騙妳，我哪有那個閒情逸致？」
「好，那我們打勾勾」
「都二十五歲了，還玩小學生的遊戲…」
「那就是你騙人啦！」嘴巴翹的半天高說道。
「好啦，我沒有騙妳。」

Only time will tell. :-)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

家好月圆！

Elephants

The elephant has always been an integral part of the circus. It is smart, obeys commands and executes acts with adequate accuracy. The children love the elephant, and in turn the elephant appears to love being stroked and teased by the children. We applaud the elephant's performance in the circus, and in turn the elephant returns the gesture by raising its trunk high up in the sky in triumph and tribute. What more can we ask of it?

This explains why it so shocks us whenever we hear news of usually docile elephants trampling on their trainers and audiences with merciless ferocity, resulting in instant death of the unaware victims.

To understand such peculiar elephant behaviour, a group of animal psychologists, neuroscientists and biologists embarked on a trip to the habitat of one of these "problematic" elephants, in a bid to analyze its breeding environment and investigate how it might lead to this behaviour. Additional notes that seem irrelevant were nevertheless made lest they became useful in some analyses.

The team of scientists found out that the elephant is an exceedingly intelligent species, displaying higher intellect than many of us would care to imagine. Elephants possess a wide variety of behaviours, including those associated with grief, making music, art, altruism, allomothering, play, use of tools, compassion and self-awareness. Herds of elephants bond together in a tribal system, and they possess "institutions" that can be understood by observing some of the rituals that they perform amongst themselves.

For instance, when an elephant dies, the other elephants in the herd, led by a dominant female, would drag the dead elephant to an open ground, encircle it, and move gently around it. Such a ritual is seldom caught on film, because the elephants are also smart enough not to allow it to be seen so easily.

When the scientists reached the actual site of capture of the killer elephant, they discovered a disturbing truth:

A ringmaster once ventured deep into the Indian forests, in search of nothing but a group of hunters and poachers whose acts must not be seen in the open. Upon his arrival at the poachers' campsite, he saw infant elephants being chained side by side with nails that pierced through the hide of their ankles. At a hefty fee in the eyes of the poachers, the ringmaster bought one of the elephants and trafficked it back to his circus troupe.

The infant elephant had trained well under the guidance of its human mentors, and had performed well for its audiences when it finally came of age. All along it had been a cute, obedient animal, or at least it knew how to conceal its feelings well. When the now-adult elephant went berserk in burning rage and fury, everyone was baffled and appalled. Why?

The infant elephant was captured when its protectors and real guardians, its mother and aunts, were killed by poachers for ivory. The helpless calf was then brought to the campsite of its captors and sold to the ringmaster who had "unfortunately" bought it.

Is revenge always sweet, especially when vengeance kills both its holder and its victim?

How can we measure the psychological pain inflicted upon animals?

As well as that on one another?

Hyperinflation

On 19 July 2008, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced plans to introduce a Z$100 billion bank note.

On July 30, 2008, the Governor of the RBZ, Gideon Gono announced that the Zimbabwe dollar would be redenominated by removing 10 zeroes, with effect from August 1, 2008. ZWD10billion will become 1 dollar after the redenomination.

菲尔普斯夺得8金以后

各国对游泳比赛蛙泳、仰泳、蝶泳、自由泳×100、200、400、1500导致金牌过多感到非常不满，纷纷要求增加自己优势项目的金牌数目。 　　　　　　 　　　　　

巴西提出: 足球应该分为3人、5人、7人、11人×沙滩、室内、草地。 　　　　　　 　　　　　

中国提出: 乒乓球应该分为直板、横板、直板双打、直板单打、直板横板混双。跳水应该分为1m 2m 3m 4m 5m 6m 7m 8m 9m 10m 　　　　　　 　　　　　

英国提出: 马术应该分成黑马马术、白马马术、红马马术、褐马马术、皇马马术、斑马马术。 　　　　　　 　　　　　

肯尼亚提出: 长跑应该分为10000米、11000米、12000米、13000米　　　　 　　　　　

日本提出: 所有男女混合项目应该增加3p、4p、5p、6p、7p　　　 　　　　　

泰国提出: 除了男子和女子项目外，所有应该加上人妖组。 　　　　　　 　　　　　

唯独韩国在这方面没有要求，他们大声喊到: 菲尔普斯是韩国人!

Beijing 2008: One World One Dream (2)

Oh no. I have been a procrastinator. The Olympics are over. 2008 is drawing to an end. I have not finished documenting my Beijing trip!

A few of my best "students"...

with me "teaching" them.

Beijing is a city of temples. We went to a Confucian shrine, a Taoist temple and a mosque on one particular day.

Dong Hao is also my good buddy, and he is seen together with me, Boon Boon and Denise. Denise had to wear a "sarong" for having failed to meet the mosque's requirements for decent attire.

No Copyrights Reserved

I have taken the liberty to reproduce this without the permission of my friend, whose identity I shall protect:

my temp 4yr stay of ippt/rt/reservist is over/almost over.and the feeling of dejavu, of being a 2nd class shitizen in my own country, having wasted 2.5yrs (supposedly) for the sake of protecting 4m people (but 1/4 foreigners, many freeloaders, many who take SG as a stepping stone, some who take the easy PR status to obtain a quick buck, 2yrs of wasted income is a lot of money (a few hundred thousand dollars), etc etc), is back again!so high time for me to choose one of the only 2 options available to me.1) escape from paradise2) get myself medically certifiedsince i cant escape for now, i have only option 2).ok. take action

Lacking money. Need to work with him for Bing's contributions.

Very stressed

But no one will know it. To many, arts or Chinese Studies per se is an easy discipline to score in and achieve an A grade. Not much work involved eh? Plus one of my best buddies getting married. Must do my best to draft my best script ever and not screw up any aspect of his wedding (I'm the emcee). Papers and more papers. Requiring endless research. I, however, have no regrets. It is this path that I had chosen to undertake, and I should finish it.

Weird

Some singers are really good, but their English names sound really weird. Given their gifted voices and talent, why the names? These names include Aska (where's Chage?), Jam (what?!) and Yoga (haha!). Please, record companies, get your singers better-sounding names, even if it means naming them Tom, Dick or Harry.

Orientation Camps

I have never participated in any orientation camp. And having heard enough horror stories about them, I am glad to have done so.

Passing food from mouth to mouth. Pole dance. Whipped cream forfeit. And the stupidest and lamest of all, push-ups over gals. Plain lewd, to quote the Forum. How can such games be fun, especially for the most conservative students.

I read that in the past, freshies were subject to humiliating treatment by their seniors such as "having their heads dunked in a toilet bowl" (?!). The trend has since shifted to a more sexual one. Why the humiliation? Why the intimate physical contact? Aren't orientation camps supposed to welcome freshmen into their school community?

I am like half a Taiwanese, so I can safely attest to the fact that even in liberal Taiwan, I seldom see such activities or events being organized in the universities. Exchange students are invited to tour different parts of Taiwan, eat and drink with their volunteer helpers, and attend bashes and parties at lounge bars and pubs. Little, if any, sexual implication in such a context. And yes, I have nothing against holding bashes and D&Ds, even though I don't go for them as well. Prom nights and social dinners would be nice too.

Final verdict: Orientation camps are childish and tasteless. Ragging ought to go to the rags.

Afterthought

Why were we so excited over the Olympic Games? I think one possible explanation is that we like to see how records can be broken by "supernatural beings" who can swim and run as if they are flying, as well as jump and swing as if they are pugilists of the past. They have achieved feats that most of us would fail to perform, and done so in an elegant style that deserves our applause.

Break the matrix in us, and we can achieve. How true. Let us strive.

The Worst of Times

If only I was born in ancient China. Having studied the classics and erudites, I could have taken the civil examinations and become at least a lowly-ranked official at the county level. Professions of medicine, engineering, and the sciences enjoyed a low social status and value. Business was deemed mercenary and too pragmatic for its own good, with merchants being condemned as corrupt and unscrupulous. My discipline could have rendered myself useful in the eyes of the state and scholarly elite. Now? Times have changed. In my disfavour. The sun has set below the horizon.

My Happiest Day (s)

27 August: It was on this day two years ago that I began to love Taiwan so much. I had been to Taiwan on many occasions before then, but it was the SEP experience that had brought me closer to beautiful Formosa. Hope to visit Asia's oldest republic soon.

29 August: Happy for some reason! :-)

Boon Boon was the top scholar in Johore. Hurray!

Sigh

I feel useless. I fail to help the people around me.

Jacky Wu's Songs

Jacky Wu may be cutting an album soon. If so, the album should be out by December. It will sell like hotcakes and top the charts in both sales and popularity. Absolutely delightful.

To recap, here are some recommended songs by Jacky Wu:

屋顶
窗外
幸运的人
欠你的温柔
永保安康
是不是这样的夜晚你才会这样地想起我
三暝三日
真心换绝情
你比从前快乐
世界末日
患得患失

Listen to one every night and you will grow to love him as much as I do. Don't let this entry go to waste. Your time will not be wasted.

Notes Read, Done!

Ok. Off to sleep now. Cough syrup to put me to it. :-)

Stressed

I had searched my shelves and drawers for tangibles of past fame and glory, but I could find few. I read my blog for answers, and little was seen. Had my youth been wasted?

Inferiority complex: You are in danger of worsening. Snap out of it.

The Passage of Time

I must be getting old. Coughs and colds have become my best friends. I don't feel as energetic and healthy as before. Age must have caught up with me. I can clearly see the passage of time. I mean, it is all within obvious sight.

I have turned naggy. I forget what Jiayi and Yuting had told me many times before. I did pay attention but I just cannot recall. Haiz. Sigh. Hmmm. Where was I...?

Oh yes, the passage of time. How fast. How slow. How funny.

Hee hee!

Check this out if you want; hope it still works:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/2006-11-25-/3452073438

My Struggle

Everything went blank before my eyes. I groped my way back to my room, threw myself onto my bed, and dug my burning head into my blanket and pillow. So everything has been in vain. In vain all the sacrifices. Blah blah blah.

Animal Farm

In my Beijing trips, I was the shepherd dog. The student participants were the sheep. The professor was the shepherd. There were bones in Istanbul and the Himalayas. I chose to forgo them. But I was the dog who had made many "zhu peng gou you" friends during the trips, especially the recent one in June. That had been a gratifying experience. I wish for a "Taiwanese Thought and Culture". If it ever materializes, I don't mind turning into a pig.

Sakae Sushi: A Matchmaking Place for all

Jiayi had worked part-time for Sakae Sushi before. She still maintained contact with many of her ex-colleagues. She told me that as high as 40% of her branch co-workers got attached to one another. Wow. What a high figure. And these individuals had never met before. We talked about her stint in Sakae and the friends whom she had made there. Seems like they are quite an interesting and fun-loving bunch to be with.

We have been talking about raising the birth/fertility rate in Singapore these recent days. Sakae Sushi is an living example of how to make such things work. I don't know how it works there, but apparently it works. Sociologists, here's your task!

Beijing 2008: One World One Dream (2)

Not bad. It's all coming back to me now. Here is the Beijing National Stadium, or simply the "Bird's Nest". It was this place where I saw the most spectacular Opening Ceremony ever in the history of the Olympic Games on TV. I almost cried as a surge of pride overwhelmed me. I felt so proud to be an ethnic Chinese. We have succeeded! We have shown the world what China can be!

The Stadium remained a fenced-off area in June, so we departed for the 798 Art Zone. For some reason, we became crazy nuts there:

So cute right:

I think this is the Supreme Court of Beijing. Just a guess:

Here is the Grand National Theater of Beijing, where Boon Boon and some others caught an expensive ballet performance a few weeks after. Oh yeah, Boon Boon failed to watch it. Late and lost on his way there. So sad right. :-( :

The professor and I decided to return to the hotel before nightfall with some of the students. The lake at Yiheyuan is very beautiful.

Happy Birthday!

To my friend Tips! Whom I have known since my Marist days. Too bad there isn't any celebration going on amongst us. At least I am not in the know. And Hauser is too busy a lawyer-to-be. No time for the TVB mooncake drama. Everyone around me is busy. I seem to be the odd one out. But I am old. I can feel it. I ought to take the easy way out of life. Tips has gone older too! All the best to his stint in TH. We will pay and pay, not to him though. Haha!

Slogging Hard

An MSN conversation:

D: I'm a pathetic piece of shit.
WJ: If you are, I must be a bigger piece. I belong to a sunset industry. If yours is a sunset industry, mine has to be a nightfall one.
D: China is booming.
WJ: I am not a bicultural talent. A bicultural talent is one who is bilingual and studies "useful" disciplines such as the sciences, engineering and business. I am not needed.

I was on the train in the evening, during which most commuters knocked off from work and were heading home. I heard things like:

"You know ah, that colleague of mine never does anything. So I do everything and people know it. But she is still like this. Never change. Damn pissed off leh."

"He was wrong lah. But he kept arguing with us. I think he didn't know what was going on, or he simply wanted his way lah."

Working life must be tough. Countless adults grumbling and complaining about their colleagues and bosses after work.

If I am a useful piece of poop, I can at least help expel some toxic waste out of the body.

Since I am not, why not I stay on in the rectum, and remain silent without causing harm to the body in which I inhabit?

Learning a Language

I am not qualified to talk much about this. My Chinese standard is not even superb to begin with. The Taiwanese possess a much higher level of proficiency in Mandarin than I do. This I am confident of saying. Absolutely. Without a doubt. What else can I say?

But I agree with this axiom: don't be shy, just try. To learn or master a language, you must have the courage to lose face and speak it, even if your audience is a native speaker. I don't understand why saving face has become such a great private enterprise these days. True to what some of my friends had suggested of me, I can be the sort who would jump into a pool with a suit on. Erm... I mean I may do it if I need to reinforce a point or something. I am not nuts.

If you don't get what I mean, please watch Mad About English. The Chinese really derserve their Olympics and I wish them all the best. Here's signing off as a Taiwan fanatic. It is China that I am talking about. With no political implications.

Beijing 2008: One World One Dream (1)

I keep telling myself that I should update on my Beijing trip soon. Here it comes, with 2 months already past. It is never too late to start I guess. And yes, it will be a real test on my memory. I will try though. Here is one photo taken at the new Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport. It was clean and spacious and looked set to usher in the Olympic Games. Go China!

Speaking of lateness, our class was late for our welcome dinner hosted by the Peking University. So sad right. Wait bad impression then we can kiss future trips bye bye. I trust that the Chinese are magnanimous, but noble hearts and minds should not be taken for granted. We were late because our bus stalled on the expressway. And the air-con malfunctioned. What we could do was to alight and take a breather by the road shoulder. And this lasted for an hour before the bus was repaired and took off to the restaurant.

I lost count of the number of times I had seen this signboard:

This is the Peking University central library where I had spent many afternoons when the class was having its lessons:

Not to forget the beautiful Weiming (?) Lake within the campus:

I will update on the trip further, having covered only 2 days here.

Uncle Jacky says again:

Always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Never wait for the sake of waiting, even if you have waited long enough. If nothing is gonna be, it never will. Move on. Says who that your waiting time has been wasted? You have rested well. Alternatives await. The ball is in your court. Toss it to the pasture that lies ahead. You will be happier. :-)

All Rights Reserved: Nostalgia

For 43 years this sacred dust,
Has used its future to frame its past.
Will all that is never come to last,
Today, here, then gone, how fast?

Uncle Jacky says

靠自己，
最实际。

Short clips of my recent trips

I like to take photos, but I don't like seeing myself in them. It took me quite a while before I could find those with me in them. Here I will share 2 photos that my friends had taken in Beijing.

I choose this first one because it features the greatest number of people among the photos that I have. Sad to say (but expectedly), I don't have any class photo with me.

I like this second one because it was taken outside the Beijing Zoo and we were on our way to see the super-duper cute pandas.

As for the photos for Taiwan, I upload this because it captures an unforgettable gathering that my Taiwanese friends and I had in Taipei. Hope to see them again soon:

I decide on this photo because it was taken at the very place where I had the best smelly beancurd in the world:

I will update more on these trips as and when I feel like it. Stay tuned if you're interested!

寻找

对青春茫然
才会借由旅行
来寻找自我
赫然发现
原来我研究历史
是因为对未来
已了无期盼
平凡无奇的人生
还会快乐吗

会的
一定会快乐的
简单就是美
这句被人讲了无数次的话
却没多少人能去履行
我正努力
摒除世俗观点
活出自己

豁出去吧
青春就是本钱
真的
不是盖的

Puzzling Paradox

Recently, I have been asked these questions over and over again:

"Why did you choose to do your Masters instead of work?"

"Don't you have dreams and goals in your life?"

I am not in the least offended. I simply feel tired answering them again and again. These questions, nonetheless, reflect fundamental differences in life philosophy.

To the peeps out there, studying was merely an avenue for them to get their degrees, find good jobs and achieve career advancements. I don't derive my perks from these "material" and "worldly" pursuits. While I agree that having a purpose in life serves to make life a meaningful one, I can assure you that such a purpose will always be an ongoing process and not an end state.

I don't do things for a purpose. Neither do I do things on impulse. I simply follow my heart. This is all that matters. My only interest is travelling. I will make it a point to travel as and when I can. It would be on the premise that I don't starve to death before then.

What a dilemma. Life is a journey of paradoxes.

My Take on Money

Money stinks. Call me an idealist or a pretender, but I am not a commodity. I don't need money to prove my worth and existence in the world. I hope my deeds can match my words in due course.

I certainly don't fit the bill for a capitalist. Perhaps this is why I chose to stay put in my comfy zone of the academia and avoid the stench of cash loading in my face.

Arrogance not desired

An overdose of confidence is arrogance. Take heed.

My Jovial Self in Taiwan

Taiwan always brings a smile on my face.

Boon Boon has been asking me to update my blog on my recent China trip. I need to document my Taiwan exploits too. Looks like I will have pretty much to write about in my next entries.

Purpose

I see one purpose in life now: earn enough money so that I can visit Taiwan every now and then.

Back from Taiwan

I'm back reluctantly, having spent every cent in my pockets. Taiwan had been my home for almost the entire month of July, but to me this was not enough. I wish to visit it again soon.

Here's a glimpse of my itinerary in Taiwan:

3-6 July: Taipei
7-11 July: Kaohsiung (my southern base; 10 July: Tainan, 11 July: Kending)
12 July: Taichung
13 July: Lugang
14 and 16-17 July: Taipei (my main base)
18 July: Keelung
19-20 July: Taitung
21 July: Hualian
22-25 July: Penghu
26 July: Taoyuan International Airport (sob...)

I need to thank Peggy and her friends and relatives for their warm welcome and hospitality, as well as my other Taiwanese friends who had forked out time to meet up with vagrant me. I seem to be the only free soul around these days, so it was only right that I embarked on this trip to visit them. To all my friends out there (especially Peggy!), sorry for all the inconvenience that I might have caused you during my trip!

I am glad to have left my footprints on much of Taiwan. If I am to include the places that I had covered in my SEP duration, I have been to about 80-90% of Taiwan. An overstatement? I need to undertake more trips to verify this.

Will my quest ever be completed?

回去宝岛

一趟知性之旅，即将启航。
引颈期盼的一刻，终于到来。
尽情期待，相逢聚首的时刻。

Jacky to Medan

Time really flies. Jacky will be leaving for Medan this coming Sunday. He will stay there for the next 2 years, teaching English to the rich and affluent. He will also bag an income that an average Singaporean would covet. He is the man in black:

It has been 4 years since I know Jacky and my other USP friends. For Jacky, I knew him from my YEP experience in Thailand. A group of us went to a rural village in northern Thailand to promote AIDS awareness via forum theatre. We were trained to act and stage our performances to a village audience. Little did I know at that time that a juicy gossip awaits us. Jacky and his love-distance friendship. It came to nought. Personally, I had a great time there conversing with the locals in simple Thai and enjoying authentic Thai cuisine. I could understand what the cabby was saying to Boredin, and had built up my endurance for spicy food. Which reminds me: Yuting was a native of Chongqing. She had soup noodles and deemed them too tasteless. Right before us she threw in a potful of chilli sauce and the broth became a red, thick gravy. I applaud her powerful taste buds. That was my most memorable bowl of pork noodles.

Our USP clique with Jiayi and Jane met up last evening to gather with Jacky before he goes to Medan. He owes Boredin and Jiayi a treat for having been too smart a year ago. The gathering had been fun. We had dim sum and porridge. Jacky recently had his wisdom tooth extracted and bearing with excuriating pain, joined us nevertheless. We admire his tolerance and friendship. Jiayi and I had some drinks with Jacky at TCC before we could bear to part. Parting is hard, but our friendship will be "harder", more "solid"! As I swallow my last bit of tears, allow me to wish Jacky Bon Voyage and all the best to his teaching stint in a foreign land. We shall meet again. :-)

Response to comment

My dear friend Jacky lives in a world of self-delusion. He must engage the real world and confront the fact that Jacky Wu is indeed famous and popular. The truth is Singapore's retail outlets had imported his CDs and the CDs were all sold out. I was merely too slow to act. Nonetheless, I will be meeting Jacky soon to convince him out of his fantasies. :-)

Some thanks...

First and foremost, I must thank Derrick for getting my Jacky Wu CDs autographed in Taiwan! 8 in total! Very happy. I could not sleep on Monday! Jacky Wu leh! No small fry lor. I had tried to buy some of his CDs here in Singapore but failed, because they were sold out at all retail outlets. Haiz. 本土天王，人红可不是盖的！

Next, I must thank my Beijing clique for helping me out and allowing me to enjoy my TA stint. But Boon Boon will be leaving for Malaysia soon. 人生之无奈何其多啊！

And my dear friend Jacky will be heading to Medan soon. I must meet up with him, Boredin, Jiayi and Yuting soon before my Taiwan trip materializes. I have yet to book my air ticket, so my timetable for the time being remains flexible. Sad yet happy. How ironic.

Pessimism?

The Massachusetts Constitution states that all men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness. Are men all born free and equal? Obviously the answer is negative, with the axiom as old as the hills that all people are equal but some are more equal than others. How true, and you realize it only when you come of age. Indeed, as Jean-Jacques Rousseau puts it, men are born free but everywhere he is in chains. There are rules and regulations to be conformed to, as well as duties and responibilities shouldered upon right from the minute when you were born. All in the mind? Then, may I ask, when will I ever break free of the shackles from both within and without? A social contract binds us together as communities, and powerful forces of inertia are supplements that foster the Prisoner's Dilemma between us. Selfishness eliminates all possible means of cooperation and hence change. A vicious cycle rolls and before anyone knows it, we are now lost in the abysses of space and time.

I can't go to Taiwan yet, for reasons too complicated to be explained here. I shall update on my recent China trip soon.

随心所欲

跟了北京这团，身体是累的、透支的，真的老了。

我还真不适合团体旅行。每天都有固定的行程要遵循。我又不是个"morning person"，却要每天早起，早餐都不吃呢。

对我而言，人生就和旅行一样，随心所欲才好。今天的心未必代表明天的心，也不一定是我终究所要的。做出太多的安排，不仅累了自己，也累了明天。

胸无大志，过一天、算一天。

Back!

I'm back from Beijing. Met new friends such as Charis, Davin, Eunice, Pooi Yean, Tian Boon, Wan Jun, and Yuan Ting. Seen old ones such as Jie Chun and Pei Fun. Very happy!

I feel old though. Overcome by fatigue as I struggled to type these words. I shall talk more about the trip in the days to come. Now that I'm back, away I hope to be! Taiwan awaits me.

Dislike

I hate people hitting my head, for any reason, period.

出口

此刻我只想找一个出口

哪里才会有离开的出口

但就算真的找到了出口

能往哪里走？

嫉世愤俗

真想出走

Be Positve and Happy!!

Look forward to life!
Look forward to family!
Look forward to friends!
Look forward to tours!
Look forward to ... career!
Look forward to ... money!
Look forward to everything!

Never look back. Nothing should hold me back.

Regretful but happy

If not for my itchy fingers, I would have enjoyed a complete score of five. My past decision had ramified into an irrevocable mistake. I am, nonetheless, happy. Contentment fills the air that I inhale. What more can I ask for? Happiness lies in the heart of the beholder.

Some things never change

We are now living in the twenty-first century. Yet parents have been telling their children that if they don't study hard, they will have to dump rubbish for others. I wonder if some teachers entertain the thought too. Anyway, with such remarks, these parents have contributed to the very rubbish that they are talking about. Good grades equal good jobs? Education should never be commodified! In my capacity as a prospective graduate, I shall defy conventional wisdom and social norms. I will be receiving less than 2000 bucks per month for the next few years. And hence open to scorn and criticism. About me being a vermin of society who leeches onto the riches of others. Fine. If this is what it takes individually to dispel the dumb discrimination against the lowly-educated.

Cute Pandas to Taiwan

Cute eh? They are named "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan".

Interesting?

It should remain the moral imperative of the civil society to denounce any form of unjust propaganda by either words of speech or acts of deeds. Even if they are committed by a single individual. Mixing personal issues with general affairs is irrational, irresponsible and stupid. Overwhelmed with emotions, someone with stones for brains had sprouted some amoral nonsense in some part of the world. This very someone obviously has some distorted code of morals in her. Indeed, not very Buddhist of her. Oops.

Redundant

Zong Hao and his newfound accomplice Alex had just crushed me at the table. Losses were not recouped, and a new tragedy unveiled. Derrick, however, treated me to a Thai dinner and promised to have my Jacky Wu CDs autographed during his Taiwan trip. A tasty and satisfying consolation, I guess!

Sometimes I would wonder if it is necessary for me to stare at the mirror every morning to groom myself in preparation for the day. Looking into the mirror is akin to seeing a portrait. I am trying to present myself in a way deemed acceptable by other people. In a way that I can identify myself with as well. On a personal note, what's the point for me? Most of the people whom I meet are either my friends or mere strangers. If my friends dislike me because my hair is not in place or I have forgotten to shave, then they are the superfluous ones whom I can forgo. I love my single but unavailable life, and there is no incentive for me to impress gals and attract unnecessary attention. My verdict of the day, therefore, is that I should spend less time at the basin and wash up just enough to face the world. Just for courtesy, not vanity.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/2006-11-25-/3452073438

What is Life?

Kenny just asked if I am feeling depressed. I had long passed that phase. My youth is past. I have reached an impasse. In life. Most, if not all, things are now transient to me. No more press interviews. No more contests or competitions. No more awards. No more grades. No more conferences, seminars or talks. No more glory and fame. No more ceremonies and dinners. No more functions and parties. I hanker after these no more. I used to. But absolutely no more. I shall not update my profile for greater prominence and more opportunities. Neither will I seek to improve myself for the sake of improvement. Progress (Power) corrupts. I must be in tune with the Flintstones. No need for 933 and 98.7.

Bored, and hence thinking too much? Not exactly, with my research in a stalemate. Lack of a "special someone"? I think I will be more troubled if I have one. Jacky said that with such a mentality one cannot hope to excel in this country. In total agreement with this view, I had never and will not hope to achieve. I had long come to terms with how I feel. I am actually a happy-go-lucky person now. I just don't understand why people around me are so bothered by the present and the future. Am I sane? I think I am. Still. At least for now. I feel more Buddhist than ever. But not reclusive. Please don't distort my meaning here. :-)

Taureans are never suicidal. This entry may sound sad but I am actually happy. I look forward to more gatherings and overseas trips in the near future. As for events that may spread my name far and wide, I will give them all a miss. Even if they are held in America.

MSN Chats

I had just chatted with Debby, Gail, Jacky and Peggy online. A pesky mosquito kept disturbing me. My killer instinct was aroused for the first time in several months.

A brief summary of what we had talked about is as follows:
Debby questioned me on my sexuality.
Gail asked me some questions pertaining to Chinese history.
Jacky argued with me over some issues and plans.
Peggy provided me with details of what I can expect from my upcoming Taiwan trip.

Nice chats on the whole! I must remain optimistic about the future. Life is not about maximum payout, but optimal play.

To Derrick: Your proposed plan is feasible but troublesome. There will be too many transfers involved. Please seek transport to Taipei and work your way from there. It will be much easier.

Recent Updates

Met up with loads of people in the past 2 weeks. Jiahao, Tipin, Andrew, Nick, Raymond, Jiayi, Yong Chang, Crystal, Melvin, Boredin, Sam, Soon Kit, Joseph, Teng Hui, Jane, Jacky, Jianhao, Daniel Lee, Sor Hui, Cheryl, Daniel Chua, Derrick, Zong Hao, Seng Hwa, Chee Ming, Kenny, Si-Rong, Siyu, Daniel Lim, Dingguo, Bryan, Nian Long, Rachel, Shaun etc. Hope I have not left anyone out. Will be meeting Gail and gang next week. Happy that Debby and Vivian read my blog from Hong Kong. My professor must not know of all these. I have not completed my data compilation and field research yet. Here's my recent photo with Dingguo and Bryan.

Wacky Jacky's Favourites

Author: Jared Diamond
Chinese drama serial: Towards the Republic
Film of all time: Battlefield Earth
Japanese drama serial: Furuhata Ninzaburo
Pastime: High tea
Sport: Cycling
Taiwanese actor, compere, singer: Jacky Wu
Taiwanese variety show: Guess x 3
Topic of Interest: History, Political Science

Embattled

The Battle of the Wall had ended. To my dismay, I was mortally crushed by a series of flying colours and changing sequences from three sides of the Wall. They were so dazzling that I began to see stars. Derrick, occupied at one side, seemed like an innocent "pig" when I first saw him. At the battle's end, however, I was devoured by the "tiger" of him. Now hopelessly hurt, I can only hope that he would read the very first entries of my blog, which I regard to be the very best that I had offered, if I can ever write at all.