江南行 - Last Day

Day 8 (01 Jul) - Shanghai

 

Woke up at 8 in the morning. Today is our last day in Shanghai, so time passed by especially fast for us, as it always happens when we want time to go slower. Anwz today's itinerary is about the same as yesterday for the 1st half of the day.

 

新天地 - Third time we came here, and again in a hot day, argh! The temperature I guessed is more than 38 degree. This time we siamed into Coffee Bean with Xiaofeng. And in less than 30 minutes, the aunties and uncles also siamed into Coffee Bean to join us. 

 

襄阳市场 - Shopped together with Xiaofeng. Seems that her bargaining skill is not as good as ours, majiam like she pleading the shopkeeper to lower the price, the shopkeeper pleading with her to raise the price. Anwz she helped me shopped for my mum's clothes (My mum asked me to buy clothes of all things! Mission Impossible!), but we can't find one that fits my mum's stringent criterion. In the end, just bought one which I thought look nice. (Alas it turns out to be unsuitable.)

 

After 'completed' my mission, again we siamed into first air-conditioned eating place we could find. Ate some local dishes. And again, Xiaofeng insisted that she's treating. I've a feeling that in Shanghai, we can never go hungry. I'm wondering why nowadays nobody go dutch anymore. Maybe we are entering the world of adults.

 

宋庆龄故居 - There we gained some insight into the life of the woman behind Sun Yat-Sen. Nothing much otherwise.

 

城隍庙 / 豫园 - Didn't even bother to shop. Straight away we siamed into some foodcourt. Xiaofeng bought some BBQ sticks and a big bowl of spicy noodles for us to share. My sis Shuhui came to meet us for one last time before we leave. I'm very touched. At least, she's got much more 义气 than some people, who don't even bother. Haha kidding lah Peijin! 

 

The four of us went MacDonald to have a drink. It was a bit awkward at first since Shuhui, Youjie and me were talking about the good old days. Only later when we introduced some Singaporean games like Black Magic and What Time Is It that Xiaofeng can join in our conversation. Had a good time together.

 

At 7pm, Shuhui and us parted after taking some photos. It was a bit 'saddening' since we'll only be able to see each other half a year later. But well, 6 months will pass quickly when we are working / studying.

 

Went airport after that. On the way, Xiaofeng routinely asked us for tips. We were surprised when the aunties told us that the tips is S$40 per person (I was thinking of giving $20). But since Xiaofeng has been taking so good care of us in the past few days we paid up w/o question. Only when I was looking at the itinerary (that I got from the travel agency) when I was writing this travelog that I noticed the small words: Tipping for local guide & driver total is SGD$40. PF, if you're reading this blog, maybe your tourguide didn't cheat you afterall.

 

At the airport gate, we took pictures, exchanged contacts, shaked hands and said goodbye to Xiaofeng. A bit 依依不舍, but life goes on. And there we left the tour guide that has been with us for 8 days, thinking if we'll be able to see each other again in the future. 看缘分吧.

 

 

Day 9 (02 Jul) - Singapore

 

We reached Changi Airport at 5 am. This time the flight is air-conditioned, at least. We didn't managed see the family of 6 before we leave, but we did managed to say goodbye to Uncle Chen and Uncle Lee (aka James!), who also had been taking good care of us and bringing us lots of laughter.   

 

There, all of us went our separate ways, carrying with us wonderful memories of the trip for the rest of our lifes.

 

 

Veridian Room

Just completed Veridian Room (http://www.fasco-csc.com/works/viridian/index_e.php). Nothing to be proud of, since I complete using walkthrough. But I would like to say that the meaning of this room really strike a chord to my inner psyche. 

 

"A person cannot escape from oneself. Haven't you desire... 'I want to face more hardship' or. 'I want to escape again.'"

 

Doesn't everyone wants to break out of one's limitations? Limitations from society, from family, even from oneself. Everyone desires to be free. Everyone desires to... escape. Me too.

 

Even if you can escape, but what does it mean to be free? Is it to be locked inside another room again?

 

Nevertheless, people will keep trying.

 

 

PS. Takagism is a very very creative programmer.

 

 

江南行 - Night 7

Night 7 (30 Jun) - Shanghai

 

At 7pm, my cousin came. Introduction: "Hi, I’m Youjie." – "Hi, I’m BingLiang." Nothing remarkable. At 7.15pm, Larissa came. Introduction: "Hi, I’m Larissa." – "Hi …I’m Ivan." Mine and Youjie’s eyes opened wide. In fact, it was at that moment then I knew my cousin’s English name is Ivan. Anwz we learnt an important lesson that day: Names must match in an introduction.

 

My cousin brought us to a restaurant in 新天地. Despite our large age difference, there’s no awkwardness between us. Maybe that is because he don’t look that old (Larissa guessed he’s from ’77, made my cousin so happy =). Or maybe it’s because we were all from the HC. Come to think of it, I’m walking exactly the same path my cousin had walked: TCHS, HCJC, NTU EEE. He’s a senior engineer working in Shanghai now. What’ll I be 9 years down the road?

 

After dinner (Cousin, thanks!), we went for a walk around 新天地. Met Larissa’s friend along the way. It turns out that my cousin has some connections with the place where Larissa’s friend is working. Straight away they exchanged phone numbers. And it also turns out that the Larissa’s friend is the one Larissa mentioned to us yesterday! 美美! Haha! The world is small.

 

And it was then that I realised the full power of networking. So what if you get all As and Bs in your exams? What truely determines whether you succeed or not depends on whether you've friends to help you in your work. After this incident, I'm sure it'll be easier for my cousin and 美美 to work together. The power of networking. Take note, Jiefeng, you introvert!

 

Later my cousin brought us to a nearby 许留山 for dessert while waiting for Shuhui to come. Seems like the dessert shop with same surname as me is doing quite well, all Singaporeans know abt it. Hope that next time 许杰峰 will do just as well. =)

  

At 10 pm my cousin had to go, since he needs to catch the company bus back home. Alas can't intro Shuhui to him. Anwz, Shuhui came shortly after and brought us to a bar called Shintori, 人间. Nice place with nice atmosphere, with highly interesting toilets and entrance. I shan't tell the secrets to opening them, but my future house's toilets will be similar. =P We shared the test tubes of vodka and took lots of pictures inside.

 

At 12 we sent the 2 gals home plus paid a visit to their house. It's very messy but it's homely. Said hi to their housemates. Log into MSN and my blog for the first time in 7 days, surprised to see Xiaonan's comment that she's in Shanghai now. But very dui that I've no way of contacting her. Haiz... Could have met one more 60ian.

 

Sat for a while, then Larissa and Shuhui sent us downstairs to 打车 back to hotel. What a looong, tiring but interesting day!

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 7 (Part 2)

Day 7 (30 Jun) - Shanghai

 

Finally she came and we were intro to each other. Her name is Joanne. Quite a nice girl. Though she speaks mainly english but her recently learnt chinese sounds not bad too. From there she brought us to a 川菜 resturant in the middle of no where (I know), where we had spicy food. For some unknown reasons, many of our hosts love to eat spicy food in a hot day (another is Xiaofeng, as seen tmr), but I must admit the food was really quite nice. 

 

During lunch, Joanne insisted that she will treat us. I just smiled and kept quiet. When we finished our food, before Joanne went toilet, she emphasized strongly again that we mustn't foot the bill first. I also smiled and kept quiet.

 

I was thinking, how the heck am I going to foot the bill with my pathetic 50 rmb, even if I wanted to??

 

Actually it was really paiseh to let a girl I just know treat me to such a good meal. But anyway it shows that she's an ultra nice person. Take this opportunity to thank her also. Thanks Joanne!

 

Later we took MRT to 人民广场 (i think). We were planning to go museum. However, we saw the Urban Planning Center on the way. Being future architects, Youjie and Joanne were naturally drawn towards that place. Being a person dying of heat soon, I was also naturally drawn towards that place (since it got 空调). So together, we went inside to see Shanghai's urban plan. 

 

What an interesting place...

 

We stayed there until 5pm, then we went 南京路 walk walk. Halfway along the road, we decide to make a U-turn and walked to 黄陂南路. There we walked passed Joanne’s house (near 黄陂南路) to a supermarket a few blocks away, say goodbye to Joanne, then walked back to 黄陂南路 MRT station. The whole journey took us about 1hr. Almost died.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 7 (Part 1)

Day 7 (30 Jun) - Shanghai

 

Today is our free and easy day, and it's the best day of the trip! We slept until 8+am, despite being energetic Singapore youths. Past few days of waking up at 6.30am and back to hotel at 11+pm was taking a toll on us. Surprisingly, all the aunties and uncles woke up earlier than us!

 

At 10 am after breakfast, the family of 6 jio us to go 襄阳市场 with them. We tried to jio Xiaofeng also, but no matter how we knocked her door or called her on the phone, she didn't answer. We thought she went shopping with Uncle Lee and Uncle Chen. Only the next day then we know that she slept until 11am, and continued sleeping after she had her lunch until evening. Frankly speaking, there's only one in the animal kingdom that can describe her most aptly.

 

Anwz 襄阳市场 is like our pasar malam, famous for selling 'branded' goods. Ironically, there is a '打击盗版, 支持正版' banner right at the entrance. It's a good example of a perfect competition market. The vendors are price takers, you know how to bargain, since if they refuse to sell, a few stalls down the road there will be another who sell exactly the same things. Tip: Just quote 20-30% of the vendor's initial offered price. If they bargain with you, STAY FIRM. If they tell you to f*ck off, raise the quote by 5 rmb at the next stall. Simple.

 

One interesting thing about 襄阳市场 is that they have LOTS of people trying to pull you off to see their hidden goods, sometimes hidden really far away. After I expressed my interest to buy wallet, a vendor brought us out of the market (!), across a street, into a shophouse, up several flights of stairs, into his secret warehouse. Finally I found a wallet I like and ask the guy how much is it. He said,"500 rmb." I reluctantly but truthfully told him, "Sorry, I've only 50 rmb." He was speechless.

 

We f*cked off ourselves.

 

After we came out of the shophouse, we 打车 to 新天地 to meet Youjie's NUS classmate, who lived nearby. 新天地 is a nice place with lots of cafes and bars. But its street has no shade and it was HOT! Despite that it was 梅雨季节 at that time of the year, but on that day or the next day, Shanghai 没雨 . And the temperature at that time may be as high as 40 degree celsius. We quickly hid inside Starbucks and drink ice kopi while waiting for Youjie's friend.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Night 6

Night 6 (29 Jun) - Shanghai

 

Haha, actually that was an overstatement. Larissa was merely a little wet, but she made us think otherwise with her complaints and mumblings. Anwz  we were very happy to see her, even after more than a year where we never meet each other (for me). And she looked very happy to see us too! This reminds me of something that Xiaofeng had said. The strongest friendship is forged with people who did these 3 types of activities together with you: 同过窗的, 扛过抢的, 坐过牢的. And the joy of 3 old classmates meeting together after all these months/years of separation in a foreign country was not dampen by the drizzle, or Larissa's tiredness after work, or even Larissa's umbrella incident (cannot say, if not she'll kill me =)!  

 

From 书城 we walked our way to Raffles City through the rain using Larissa's 'hard-earned' umbrella (Haha!). Something interesting aboout Raffles City is that its chinese name is 莱福士城 instead of 莱佛士城.

 

Anwz, there we met another of our JC classmates, my 'sis' Shuhui, the one who forced us to come Shanghai! It really feels very very heartwarming to have not 1 not 2 but 3 good old friends together with me in a strange city. (Actually there should be 4, but alas, she went Tibet.) And together, we went Hao Niu Shi (a restaurant) to have our dinner.

 

During dinner we talked about many things. Since we haven't seen each other for so long, naturally one of the things we talked about is how much we've changed. And we reached the conclusion that only 2 of us has changed. Youjie has grown fatter (disclaimer: this does not represent the view of the writer, since he sits on the fence at all times), and Larissa has became shrewder (as seen in the umbrella incident).

 

There's one incident that most pleased the writer during the dinner. It's the 'wahhh' I got from the 2 gals when they saw the 天禄 I bought. It's a big contrast compared to the reaction from them when they saw Youjie's 天禄 (my 天禄's little brother =P), which is no reaction at all! I know I'm being a little too egotistic here, but surely I've the right to be egotistic in my own blog, correct?

 

Anwz, my 天禄 has been bringing me good luck (I guess). Actually I've left only 50 rmb in my wallet that night. But since I got my 天禄, I don't have to pay for any meals for the rest of the trip! I got treats from all sorts of people: my classmates, my cousin, Youjie's friend, and Xiaofeng! Wow! Haha! I love my 天禄. But still, I would like to take this opportunity here to thank Larissa and my sis for all the meals. Owe you all one!

 

Lets continue. Later we went Bin Jiang Da Dao's 许留山 for dessert. Nice 芒果神冰! Took a lot of photos along the way. But many are underexposed. Still, I saved quite a few from the recycle bin by making them brighter using Photoshop, though the results may not be very good. Anyone who wants the original and/or higher resolution version can get it from me.

 

After that, we parted and went back to our respective hotel/flat. Written a lot since it was such a happy occasion. A S60 outing with 'many' people in Shanghai leh! Want to etch it firmly into my memory. Hope no one will mind. (Who cares if you mind anyway.)

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 6

Had my first run this evening since I ORD (!). Distance not very long, about 2k I guess, or slightly less, but not bad for a start. If not for IPPT, I'll rather exercise by swimming for the rest of my life, like the past 2 days. Just read a friend's friend's blog (dunno who is she) while surfing the net. She ran 10k around her Yishun neighbourhood! Zai! I can never do that now. But at least I can say I've ran a half marathon (21K) before. =) But I think that and the 24K road march are the culprits that collapse the arches of my feet. Can't blame me for having no great love for running or walking.

Enough ramblings. On with the trip!

 

Day 6 (29 Jun) - Shanghai

 

We went to visit the museum exterior early in the morning. On the way there, Xiaofeng told us more about Shanghai. One very interesting fact about Shanghai is that when you look down from the sky, Huang Pu Jiang form a S-shape across the city. There is this Westin Building (If I didn't remember wrongly) forming a dot in Pu Xi (west of river) and 东方明珠塔 forming another dot in Pu Dong (east of river). So what does this give you? 太极阴阳图! This ensure the good feng shui of Shanghai which results in it becoming the most prosperous city in China, despite that it was only a fishing village 150 years ago (just like Singapore). Amazing!

 

Later we visited 天禄城. 天禄 is a very interesting mythical creature, also named 貔貅, more commonly known as 四不像 ( 姜子牙's 坐骑 in 封神演义). It has dragon's head, horse's body, lion's craws and phoenix's wings, the 9th son of the dragon, males supposedly bring good luck. There's a pair at Genting casino entrance, our UOB building, Shanghai museum, and countless other places. According to 天禄城's guide, if you want to win some money at Genting casino, bring your own small 天禄 to say hi to the 2 big 天禄s over there. Big brothers see small brother coming will give some face one. =P I bought 1 small one for later use. 200 rmb gone.

 

Endured a 2 hr journey to Shanghai F1 Grand Prix after lunch. Nothing remarkable. Just that the canopies of the seating area is designed after lotus leaves. Creative. There is a test ride in a sport car round the entire circuit. It cost 100 rmb, so I didn't try. But the feedback given by the 2 uncles who tried is quite good.

 

Went 人民广场 - 上海书城 in the evening. In China, there's 3 things that's dirt cheap compared to Singapore: Clothes, CDs and books. Spent 2 hrs at the book shop. Bought a lot of books. And waited until 7pm. That was when one of the primary objectives (there are 2) of us coming to Shanghai came.

 

She was drenched.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 5

Day 5 (28 Jun) - Nanjing, Shanghai

 

In Nanjing, our local guide 小王 first bring us to 南京长江大桥. Before I talk about the bridge, I'll talk about the guide first. She's another middle aged lady, very elegant. She is the decendent of 王羲之, who wrote the 天下第一行书: 兰亭序 (the same calligraphy piece that's on my fan).  From the way she talked and carried herself, we can see that she's very cultured and learnt. However one of the aunties disliked her, saying that she's very proud of herself. I don't see what's wrong with being proud of yourself if you are truely capable. I thought she's quite a nice person.

 

Back to the bridge. According to the guide, the bridge is the pride of chinese all over the world. It was built in times of great difficulties, using chinese engineers and china's own resources, without any help from foreign countries. It was after this bridge was built that foreign countries stop looking down on the chineses. The technical difficulties were immense. The riverbed consists of shifting sands, not solid ground. Thousands of chinese volunteer divers lined up along the riverside going down one after another into the fast moving river to lay the foundation. Many lifes were lost in the construction of the bridge. Really admire the chinese for their determination.

 

Because the bridge is toll free, many trucks and heavy vehicles detoured through here, causing damage to the bridge. Yet because of the same reason, they don't have money to maintain the bridge. A very famous 内画大师 (forgot his name) seeing this, volunteered to work at the bridge and sell his works to raise money for the maintanence of the bridge. Admiring his spirit, I bought a very beautiful orb for 200+ rmb as a form of support (see photo). 

 

After that we went 明孝陵 (tomb of 明太祖朱元璋). Nothing much, coz since chinese government don't have the technology to protect the artifacts in the tomb, they can't open the tomb. Should have gone 中山陵 instead. 

 

Anwz, then we went Nanjing museum, where they showed us ancient jades. Then we went to a jade shop. How to determine real jade from fake jade: 1. When you hit it, you hear a very high, crisp and clear 'ding1' sound. 2. When you use it scratch glass, the glass is scratched while nothing happen to the jade. This is due to the fact that jade is harder than glass.

 

Actually there's a reason why old people wear jade bracelet. 小王 said it serves protection purpose. It helps to dissipate the force when you fall down, since jade is a very hard material. '玉碎人平安', as the saying goes. Don't really know how it works, but I believe there's some truth in it.

 

After lunch we said goodbye to our local guide and took a 5 hour journey to Shanghai, our first and final stop.

 

Once we reach our destination, the first thing we did is to rush to the toilet. After dinner, we took a cruise to tour 黄浦江外滩. The view is spectacular. Facing us were tall buildings after tall buildings, a sharp contrast with cities like Hang Zhou and Su Zhou. There are bright lights along the entire length of the great river. It's grandeur supercede even Singapore itself. This is the most economically advanced city, the CBD of the entire China: Shanghai.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 4

Very happy that comments are coming in! Chioboo! Find one day we meet up and share our experiences in China k? Sis! Haha we'll never know if the cars give way to zebras! Do zebras even exist in China?? Btw finally find the time to shrink the photos and upload them into my blog! Yours and Larissa's photos will come out soon! And also must go and see Youjie's 艳遇 leh!

 

The news just came out, London wil be hosting the 2012 Olympic Games!

 

Anwz, lets continue with the tour!

 

Day 4 (27 Jun) - Wu Xi, Nanjing

 

The stupid hotel in Wu Xi that we lived in is as aircon-less as the stupid plane. Didn't even know where I kicked the blanket to when I woke up. However I accomplished more things in this hotel than in the one in Hang Zhou.

 

First, I scribbled down what happened in the first 3 days of the trip, that's why the records in this blog are so clear, so far.

 

Second, I learnt how to open the chinese fan with one hand, just like those 风流才子 =P Yesterday at 寒山寺, I heard Xiaofeng kept complaining "So 热 , so 热" (I think she interacts with Singaporeans for too long already), so I lent her my fan. But I never expect she'll purposely and suavely open the fan with one hand right in front of us! I really hate people who like to hao lian, so I sweared to myself that I'll master the trick that night. Thus after some experimentation, I finally got the idea. Too bad Youjie couldn't get it.

 

From then on, I open the fan with one hand in front of Youjie constantly throughout the trip. =P

 

Ok, enough crap. After breakfast, we went 锡惠公园 (which has 天下第二泉), and 寄畅园. Actually I don't have much impression of this 2 places. Saw too many 园林 already. In fact I don't even remember the name and the face of the local guide, except that she also a nice middle aged lady. Regret that we didn't take a photo of her.

 

Later we went 紫砂茶具博物馆. How do you determine whether a teapot is of good quality and value? 1. When you cover the air hole, no water should come out of the mouth. 2. When you hold the teapot vertically, the cover shouldn't drop out. 3. It will be good if the teapot can float perfectly horizontally on water - 水上漂 property. 4. The most valuable teapot is made of green sand, ie. green in colour. 5. It's made by a master. 

 

I really loved the teapots there.

 

Then we went 太湖风景区 to take some pictures and 太湖珍珠 factory for a visit. There we see how the guide take out the pearls from a shell, and how to differentiate real peals from plastic pearl. Real pearls produce powders and retain its shine when rubbed against hard objects while plasic pearls are scratched. After the visit, we said goodbye to our Wu Xi local guide.

 

灵山大佛 was our last stop in Wu Xi afterwhich we proceed to Nanjing for dinner. At night, our new Nanjing local guide brought us to 秦淮河 area to shop. Xiaofeng led us to a cd/vcd shop, where one original music cd cost only S$3+. We grabbed them straight away!

 

Then we went to a place where there's lots of big big shopping centres. Not interested in shopping at such places, Xiaofeng, Youjie and me went to a KFC, where she treated us to Sundaes and BBQ sticks. Had a nice chat.

 

It turns out that bargain-hunting aunties and uncles were not interested in shopping at such places either. Grumbling, we proceed to check-in to our hotel. At least tonight's hotel is 5 stars. Hopefully it's better than the stupid hotel last night.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

PS. A challenge: Who can guess what is it in that abstract photo (the darkest one)?  

 

PPS. Youjie and I keep complaining about the poor photographic skill of our tour guide after she took the picture of our entire tour group, supposedly in front of 灵山大佛, (which is to the left of the building. Sigh...)

 

 

江南行 - Interlude

Interlude - In minibus on the way to Wu Xi

 

Our tour guide Xiaofeng started to ask 欠扁题. If we can't answer we are supposed to sing a song. If we can answer, she sings.

 

Qn. A bird wearing a bullet proof vest was dancing. Why it died when a hunter shoot it with a bullet?

 

Uncle Lee said that the bird ganna head shot, but the answer is wrong.

 

Ans. 因为它在跳脱衣舞。

 

As expected, no one can answer such a moronic question. So the whole bus agreed unanimously (me included =P) that Youjie should sing. However Youjie kept refusing. In the end Xiaofeng gave him another chance.

 

Qn. 南京路一向很热闹，为什么有一天下午南京路上半个人也没有？

 

Youjie got it this time round. You know the answer? Think hard. If Youjie could get it, so can you! Anwz this time the bus agreed unanimously that Xiaofeng should sing, despite that the question is Youjie's 2nd chance. However Xiaofeng after protesting for a while, still sportingly sing the all time favourite, 周华建's 朋友 to entertain us.

 

Then she said something that really sets us thinking. She said that it's 缘分 that brought us together for this trip. Throughout the 8 days of the trip, we'll be bonded to each other. And on the last day of the trip, when we're about to leave for Singapore, is when our friendship is the strongest. However, after that we'll go our separate ways and forget about each other, which is very sad. 

 

She said she can't be like those old tour guides, who can feel nothing about parting. Thus for every tour group she brings, she'll write down the description of each and every one of us in her diary. So that one day, if we walked pass each other in Singapore, even though we've already forgotten her, she can still stop us and tell us that on what year what month, she had brought us around China...  

 

After listening to what she said, I can't help but think of how many friends I've let slip, especially those juniors in the group I've led during my J2 CIP. We were so closely bonded in the 3 days when we cleaned Toa Payoh old folk's home, yet now I've kept contact with none of them. And my Xuan Chuan juniors also... Guilty.

 

Therefore I promised myself that I'll never forget anything that happened on this tour, or anybody from this tour, especially the tour guide, who sets me thinking. Thus this travelog.

 

You'll be surprised when I tell you the age of the tour guide who said such wise things. Xiaofeng is only 23, one year older than me! To be exact, she's only 9 months older, since her birthday is 10 Apr 82. During the trip, she told us that she has been taking on tour after tour for a few months without break. Traveling the same route, eating the same food, living in the same hotel, saying the same thing. It was hardwork and she's tired. Completely understandable since even we ourselves were very tired, though we were only travelling this route for the 1st time. When we asked her personally why don't she quit, this is what she told us:

 

"What's the secret of success? When others are kneeling down, and you are standing up, you succeed. When others are lying down, and you are kneeling, you succeed."

 

Really admire her for her determination.

 

On the bus, she also told us a lot about herself. Her hometown is Hu Zhou. She almost died from some illness when she was 16. Her father carried her all the way up a hill to a famous retired doctor to begged for help. The doctor told her father that if he was late by one week, she would have died. And because she almost died before, she's very afraid of death, and falling into water, since she can't swim.

 

She graduated from some tour guide university about a year ago. She was class rep and she was very proud of the fact that she earned her school fees herself by tutoring english. She boosted that her english was quite good last time (but somehow she can't understand Singaporean's english =P). She has been choosen as the role model for her high school and is supposed to write a 自传. Now she rents an apartment in HangZhou and lives by herself, and her landlord is quite 色 (this she told us personally). It has been a long time since she went home.

 

She's such an independent, determined, matured, remarkable girl. In my opinion, not only Xiaofeng, many Singaporean girls are also very matured and independent. For example, many of my female classmates are already overseas doing their interns and/or working to earn their own school fees or even their living, while I'm still here in Singapore fooling around doing nothing. Really proud of them, yet feeling very 惭愧 at the same time. But then again, it's only 3 years before I step out into the society and earning a living for myself and my parents. Life is short, isn't better to fool around and enjoy while I still can? =P 

 

  

江南行 - Day 3

Memories are getting hazy, too many places, too much time have passed. Looking at the inaccurate itinerary and the incomplete photos, trying to recap...

 

 

Day 3 (26 Jun) - Hang Zhou, Su Zhou, Wu Xi

 

After checking out of 中州酒店 in the early morning, we proceed on to Su Zhou in our minibus. Halfway, we went some place where they sell 杭白菊, a kind of chrysanthemum. Despite its name, 杭白菊 is not produced in Hang Zhou. According to the guide, chrysanthemum has 清热解毒 properties, and it's divided into different grades also, depending on how wide opened the flower bud is. The more wide opened the flower, the lower the grade.

 

In Su Zhou, our first stop is part of the optional tour: Su Zhou Singapore Industrial Park, the pride of Singapore. However, it's another place that fits the saying perfectly: 不看可惜, 看了遗憾. Don't see don't know what is it, see already waste time and regret. Anyway, there won't be a next time.

 

After lunch, we went 藕园, the living place of a rich family. Hang Zhou is famous for its 真山真水, whereas Su Zhou is famous for its 假山假水. This is demostrated here, where there's full of artificial mountains and rivers.

 

Then we went to the famous 寒山寺 and 丝绸厂. There was where my financial status took a serious downward dive, again. The first time is when I paid 400 rmb for the optional tour. This time, I paid for 350+ rmb for the 蝉丝被 for my dad. I brought 1500 rmb, now left only 600+ rmb. Haven't buy anything much for myself and mum. Very sad. Word of advice: 1. Bring more money. 2. Use S'pore dollar whenever possble. 

 

At 观前街购物天地 after dinner, we said goodbye to our local guide 小马. She's 40, a very nice & demure lady, as expected of all girls in Su Zhou (Larissa take note! =P), and her son is one year younger than us. Like her quite a lot. We took a photo together with her as memoir.

 

观前街购物天地 marks the last stop of our Su Zhou trip. Afterwhich we proceed on to the next city, 无锡. Little do we know the hotel we are checking into...

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

江南行 - Day 2

Day 2 (25 Jun) - HangZhou

 

Had a good sleep in the hotel, recharged and energised. Toured 西湖 on a cruise. Scenery quite nice, but that's about all. Afterwhich we went 花港观鱼, which is a park, greenery and water again. One interesting thing about 花港观鱼 is that the 鱼 is written wrongly (by QianLong Emperor), have 3 dots at the bottom instead of 4. People tried to explain it by saying that in such a nice place, Qian Long don't want to see the fish burning on fire. Orrr... Wah kao, write wrong say write wrong lah.

 

龙井茶村 is our next stop. According to the guide, 龙井 is a kind of green tea, and it's highly nutritious, full of vitamins and antioxidants. It's divided into different grades: B, A and AA, with more A meaning more nutritious. After the introduction, you starts to see Singaporeans in action. Because the guide pack the tea leaves into the container on the spot, it's natural for some containers to have slightly more tea leaves than others. Uncle Lee (one of our tourmates) got the container with less tea leaves and started complaining. In the end, XiaoFeng picked up some AAA (!) grade tea leaves and put them into his water bottle in order to pacify him.

 

Uncle Lee reused the bottle and tea leaves again and again for 3 days.  

 

During lunch at a Thai resturant, Youjie was haressed by a effeminate man. However Youjie still look quite happy in the photo. Maybe Youjie also... =P

 

After lunch we went another park called  柳浪闻莺 (nice name!) and 雷峰塔, aka 皇妃塔. 雷峰塔 collapsed in early 1990s, and was only rebuilt a few years ago. It's the only pagoda I saw that was equipped with air-conditioning, lifts and even escalator! Anwz, West Lake from the top of the tower is a beautiful sight.

 

Watched a performance at 西湖新天地 and do some shopping at 清河坊步行街 after dinner before going back hotel. Demostrate the tremendous amount of energy present in S'pore youths again by going to 南山路, where all the bars and tea houses are. Later we found out that it's just beside 延安路. Not wanting to shop or drink, we just walked along the West Lake for a while before going back hotel.

 

They say West Lake is completely different when viewed in the day, in the rain, in the night, and in the snow. At least we now saw 2 different variations of West Lake.

 

 

Write so much still only day 2, jiak lat lah.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

  

江南行 - Day 1

Day 0 (23 Jun) - Changi Airport

 

Frankly speaking, I was a bit disappointed when I saw the other members of our tour group - all uncles aunties. Then I was a bit more disappointed when I learnt that our tour guide is a guy named 杨晓峰. But on the positive side, at least the group is small, only 10 including me and Youjie, so still not so bad lah.

 

Day 1 (24 Jun) - Shanghai/HangZhou

 

MU544 is f*ck up! As Youjie has said, the plane's cabin's temperature followed the room temperature of Shanghai, which is about 30++ degree celsius. Almost suffocate to death.

 

As we came out of Pudong Airport, we saw a quite chio-looking girl waving the Kang Tai tour agency flag and hailing us over. Later we learnt that she IS the tour guide XiaoFeng. Things are looking up. =P More on her later.

 

After breakfast, we tried the Maglev Train 磁浮列车, which is absolutely unremarkable. Afterwhich we travelled by a minibus to HangZhou. There, the tour started.

 

First stop, 水乡乌镇 . It's quite a nice place actually, one of the four 水乡 in China, and the only with real villagers living in it. 古色古香, with a river through the town. Very peaceful, if the thousands of tourists in it suddenly disappear.

 

Later nothing much, just went 岳王庙 before an early dinner and checking in hotel. In hotel, all the aunties and uncles collapsed, understandable after 5 hrs of suffering in the plane. However, in an effort to demostrate the tremendous amount of energy present in S'pore youths, we asked for directions from XiaoFeng and took a cab by ourselves to HangZhou's equivilant of Orchard Road, 延安路.

 

There we quickly learnt that there is one thing good and one thing bad about China's traffic. The good thing is that zebra crossings are everywhere. The bad thing is that China cars only stop for zebras at zebra crossings, not pedestrians. And while in the taxi (da3 di1 or 出租车 in China) we also learnt that China drivers are extremely friendly. No matter whether the car they are driving is behind, beside or in front of another car, they won't fail to press their horns as a way to say hi. Imagine how heartwarming we felt when we can't stop hearing car horns as we walked along 延安路.

 

Bought 5 shirts from various boutiques for around 100 rmb (S$20)! Then we went some place (forget the name already) to da bao some dumplings for supper. Got a culture shock when guy pour the soup and dumplings into a plastic bag and hand the plastic bag to us. As soon as we were out of the shop, Youjie and I engaged in a friendly discussion on whose smart idea it was to take away instead of eating in the house.

 

 

That's about all for day 1. Gonna fast forward a bit from now on.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

前言。后记。

Today is the second day I'm back from China, finally have time to transfer my experiences to a more permanant form. Memories are such strange things, just like images on water, shimmering, distorting, fading. Illusions. Better put them into words. Fast.

 

But before that, let me jolt down my thoughts after I reach Singapore. Despite all the failings of Singapore, despite how nice people say other places are, nothing can be compared to the place we call home. Singapore is still the best city I ever seen. Bias, or truth? Comments?

 

This trip to China really broaden my horizon. Seeing different cultures and cities. Can't help but wonder how HUGE the world really is, especially when you look down at the cities from a plane. The products of hundreds or even thousands of years of civilisation. It's amazing what the puny mini Homo Sapians can achieve. Really sets you thinking isn't it? 

 

In this big big world that we live in, it really warms one's heart that there are friends and relatives all over. The happiest days in this trip is not when we saw some nice temples, bridges or lakes, but the days when we meet our classmates and my cousin. The world isn't that big afterall.

 

Written so much crap, still haven't talk about what happened during those eight days. Have been in a state of chronic tiredness since I came back to Singapore. Maybe I still haven't really adjust to my life here. Hopefully tomorrow will feel better. Meanwhile I'll be satisfied with just the prologue/epilogue to my travelog, which is this entry.

 

Btw I just watched two films. Andrew Lau's Initial D in theatre and Steven Spielberg's A.I. on TV. What a big contrast, at least 2 stars difference in rating. I guess I like Jay Chow's singing much much much more than his acting. 

 

Last thing before I stop writing, I've changed the background of my space. I personally think it looks quite good, especially in these burning days. Makes you feel cooler. Really proud of my taste. =)

 

  

Day of departure

I changed the background of this page. Looks brighter isn't it? I guess you all can't see the background, but it's a picture of bamboos. Bamboos make me think of pandas, and pandas make me think of China, the place I'm going to! But that's not the reason I change the background. I change it simply because I think it's too dark, and MSN spaces make it easy for me to change it! Most probably I'll change the background every now and then. =) Added a few more sections to my blogsite. Looks more sophisticated now. I'm pleased. 

My flight is MU544 at 0055 tonight, so the title of this entry is not very accurate. But well, who cares? Anwz I'm all set and ready to go! ... Is it me or this background?? Somehow I don't feel excited at all. Maybe green makes people feel more calm. Going to change the background when I come back.  

Btw, I've been thinking of my story no. 2 le. Haha... Suddenly I find myself love to write things, even though there's no audience. I haven't think of the plot yet, but it's going to consist of things I most interested in. The keywords are magician, drugs, poker cards, universe, psychology, illusions, thief, coins, tarot, ghost, sleights of hand, subconcious, black, envelope, spy, guild, physics. How will you link these words together to form a story?

I will try to think of a story on my trip, hopefully there will be something interesting created. Now I'm feeling more excited! Wow! Going to Shanghai! Sure to take lots of beautiful pictures with my new eh siu camera! Finally a chance to test out my photography skills. Going to do lots of shopping also!

Cya in 8 days time!

 

 

Afterword

Okie, back to the real world. Finally step out my first step to be come a writer (坐家), most probably my last step though. =P For me I'll give my story a 2 to 5/2 stars. Not a very great mark, but the result is not important, what matters is the process. I had great fun brainstorming for ideas to add into my story and fooling around with Lan Yu (and 'myself').

A little background on the story. Goh Lan Yu  is inspired by Ubik. However, if you all realise, I've gotten most of my ideas from Sophie's World , only the ending is a tiny bit similar to Ubik. Therefore this story is not quite original. But, well, I admit I'm not a original or creative person. I'm a just a postmodern person.

Another thing, if you read the story closely enough (which I doubt anyone will, coz even I don't), you will realise there are quite a few indiscrepencies throughout the story. Not that I purposely make it that way, just that the 'future' I choose for Lan Yu sometimes rendered the 'past' invalid. For example, Lan Yu's dreams of 'me' supposedly serve a purpose. I was thinking of incorporating Lao Zi's "When I dreamt of a butterfly, is it I who dreamt of the butterfly, or is it the butterfly who dreamt of me" philosophy in the story. However in the end, the idea is not used, but I was too lazy to edit the 'past' already. Maybe it'll demostrate the fact better that, in the world I created, anything can happened. =P

(Ok ok, I'm just lazy.)

Anwz, I was thinking, if I want to get rich by writing, writing novels requires too much brain power le. If I'm going to write, maybe I'll write self-help books. =)

 

 

Goh Lan Yu (Part 3)

Lan Yu quickly copy and paste the address into her Internet Explorer and wait for the page to load, hands trembling. After a few seconds, the page finally finished loading and facing her is the most recent blog entry, titled:

 

Goh Lan Yu

 

She feels a jolt to her head, but she struggles to read on.

 

'The setting of the story is present day, 2005 as I write this, or whatever era is it when you read this, Singapore...'

 

As she continues, Lan Yu feels that she's looking at someone's discontinued life from JC to this present moment. This person and this life seems familiar. This person is her, this life is her life!

 

Head starting to ache...

 

Suddenly, she has a feeling that someone else is looking at her and her life. Then she realises that someone is also her.

 

Dizzy...

 

As Lan Yu looks into her screen, she can feel an infinite number of hers looking at herselves, and the world begin to spins.

 

Darkness.

 

********

 

At this point of time, this joker, Jiefeng, also know as Intercept Wind, was at his Woodlands HDB in his room listening to 933 and writing his blog/short story. This point of time: 20 Jun 2005, 10.17pm. He is laughing and feeling quite please with himself. Laughing because he thinks the story he writes is damn cock. Feeling quite please because he is finally almost finish with the story.

 

Actually, he has thought of lots of small and interesting scenes to be put into his story. One of the scenarios is that he wants to tell Lan Yu through MSN that though he's 'God', creator, writer or whatever, he's a slacker. In fact, he's so slack that Lan Yu's world only consists of Lan Yu, the things in her room, and lastly, her room. Lan Yu walks to the door and hesitates. Eventually she summons enough courage and opens the door. Emptiness, darkness, nothing. The living room she was familiar with isn't there...

 

Aaaaahhhhhh!

 

Jiefeng thinks that this scene would describe his personality pretty well. However he can't think of how to continue from there, so in the end he has no choice but to use the current 'see his blog' ending. Still, he thinks that the scene is quite good, if only he can include it in the story somehow. Add some 'parallel universes' element, perhaps?

 

Anyway, he's still laughing at his own cock story, though he feels a bit guilty also. Maybe he's a bit too mean to put Lan Yu through so much torment, since she's his HC 'junior' after all. Well, too bad he can't think of a happier ending.

 

Finally, he's going to end the story here, so as not to bore his reader to death, if they were not bore to death already. After he clicks the 'Publish Entry' button, he decides to go kitchen to get a drink. However, when he opens the door of his air-conditioned room, he can't believe his eyes. Outside his room, where the living room supposed to be, there is...

 

Emptiness, darkness, nothing.

 

 

Goh Lan Yu (Part 2)

Block Rain?? Lan yu was surprised. This is not the nickname she used normally. Normally she use Blue Feather. Block Rain. A nickname given to her by her JC GP teacher. She can still remember the day, when she introduced herself as Lan Yu on the very first GP lesson. The teacher suddenly smiled and replied, "Block Rain ah?" Lan Yu was stunned and puzzled for a few seconds before she realised that it's her name's direct translation. An innovative nickname, but it sucks.

 

"Who are you? How do you know my nick? This nick."

 

"Who I am is not important. Let me ask you a question. Do you find something strange in your world? Like... me appearing in your dreams, you don't remember your life, or sometimes, time seems to stop?"

 

"What the heck are you talking about??" Lan Yu is getting more and more uneasy about this funny guy, this guy who comes out of nowhere.

 

"Can you guess why?" The boy smiles. Even though Lan Yu can't see him, somehow she knows he's smiling. "You are nothing but my figment of my imagination. You, and the world around you."

 

"Who do you think you're? God? I don't believe you."

 

"You've read Sophie's World  before, don't you? You should know George Berkeley."

 

Of course Lan Yu has read Sophie's World  before. She loves to read novels, and Sophie's World  is one of the more well-known novels presently. However, some may argue that it's actually a philosophy textbook in disguise, hence the name Sophie's World. Anyway, having the exceptional ability of photographic memory, Lan Yu had the whole 'textbook' memorised. As a result, George Berkeley is no stranger to her. He was an Irish philosopher who lived from 1685 to 1753. He was the first who questioned the reality of the material world. He argued that even though you can see the table, feel the table, it doesn't mean that the table exist. The image and the feeling of the table you saw and felt may be nothing more than a thought, a mental illusion. In short, he denied that existence of the material world beyond the human mind. It's the central idea of stories like Matrix and Sophie's World.

 

Actually in Lan Yu's opinion, Sophie's World  is more than a philosophy textbook, it's a work of a creative genius! The story is about a girl named Sophie, who is actually a fictional character in a book written by Hilde's father in the real world. When Sophie learnt from Alberto that their world is simply created by Hilde's father, they tried to escape into the real world. They almost succeed in the end. After Lan Yu finished the book, she thought it's quite ironical for Sophie to escape into the real world, since both her world and Hilde (and her father's)'s world are both created by Jostein Gaader. At that time, she was also wondering maybe the world as she knows it may be created by someone else.

 

Then it strikes a chord. What if...

 

"How do I know you are not a figment of my imagination instead? Or some joker from the net?" Lan Yu cannot believe, refused to believe.

 

"Will you take the Red pill or the Blue pill?"

 

Lan Yu senses that at another part of the world, or another world, this joker is laughing at her. He knew what her answer will be long before she answers. "Red."

 

"Red, the truth. Haha, as expected, or should I say, as I've written?" Lan Yu is very miserable now. This guy is having fun, at her expense.

 

"Go to this website, and you'll know the truth.
http://spaces.msn.com/members/fengyanfengyu/

It's my blog =)"

 

(To be continued...)

 

 

 

Goh Lan Yu (Part 1)

The setting of the story is present day, 2005 as I write this, or whatever era is it when you read this, Singapore. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The main character of this story is a girl, 165cm, shoulder length hair, looks a bit bookish with her specs but otherwise not bad looking. An ordinary girl in all aspects.

 

Her name is Goh Lan Yu, 吴蓝羽.

 

Currently her 'occupation' is student. NTU business year 1 student to be exact. She graduated from HwaChong and St Nicolas Secondary. Being the last batch of students to graduate from HwaChong Junior College, she was both glad and sad. Glad because she graduated just in time to be considered a 高中生. Sad because her beloved school has changed its name to something unbelievably stupid - 华侨中学. But no matter what, she is still extremely proud of her school. Anyway, it has been more than a year, she has long since put this issue out of her mind. She has more important things to worry about than this.

 

(Did I say the setting of this story is whatever time you read this? You must be wondering that if you read this in 2006, or 2007, or 2008 etc, how can there be anyone who graduated from HC just before it change name in 2004 and still be in year 1 in, say, 2008?? Did she da bao? The answer is no. Her IQ is 149, and that means she's extrordinarily smart. Why then? Well as I said, it doesn't matter. There's no answer to every questions in the universe. Please read on.)

 

Lan Yu has just finished her special sem exam on HP101: An Introduction to Psychology. By right she should be going out with friends and enjoying herself. Yet recently she feels that there's something wrong with her brain. Sometimes she feels that time has suddenly fast forward a great deal or just paused suddenly.

 

Take for example, just a minute ago, while she was typing her blog, she felt that world has paused for about 3 seconds. She messages her friends on msn (some in China), but none of them say they feel anything different.

 

Then it seems to her that she's suffering from dissociative amnesia. A term she learnt from her psychology lessons, meaning memory loss caused be extensive psychological stress. She doesn't remember anything from her St Nicks or Hwa Chong days other than the fact that she graduated from there. In fact, she can't really remember anything before yesterday. She just knows that she had taken a psychology exam a few days ago and she felt strange. It is as if she is jus... there, recently. But then she doesn't really care about it. Maybe her illness is better termed as dissociative fugue.

 

However, what worries her most is that, for most of the nights these days, she keep dreaming of a boy, about the same age as her, maybe slightly older, trying desparately to tell her something. Although in her dreams she tried very hard to understand what he's saying, she just can't. What he says is all rubbish.

 

And wierdest thing is, sometimes, when she's chatting on msn, she receives messages from the boy. The boy whose msn is not in her address book. The boy in her dreams!

 

(How did she know the msg is from the boy in her dreams? I've no idea, although the boy only put the picture of Kakashi as his display picture, she just knows.)

 

And in this very moment, just a few minutes after she finished asking her friends about the world stopping phenomenon, she hears the familiar tone of a new incoming message:

 

"Hello Block Rain!"

 

(To be continued...)

 

Ramblings...

Ramblings... I found that there's a certain seduction in writing one's day to day activities (which no one is interested)... seduction of the dark side. Thoughts are generated everyday every minute every second. And a blogger'll want to pen those thoughts down. I was thinking if it is possible that one day, every single topic in the universe has been written such that there there isn't anything else to write anymore. Then I think the answer is no. When this happen, people will write about the fact that every single topic in the universe has been written. And this will go on and on...

Ramblings... Yesterday is the last day of ACCA invilgilation. Another temp job ended. More 过客s flashed pass...

Ramblings... Finally found the way to enlarge the font of this stupid blog space. 1st, you must copy your entry to the Wordpad. Then you change the size of the font. Then you copy and paste back to the writing area of the blog space. Stupid MSN spaces. Can't be bothered for this entry.

Ramblings... There are quite a few posts you can do in the ACCA invilgilation. Classroom IC - very busy for the 1st hour, taking attendence, checking their id etc etc. Then looking at the same class of pple for 2 more hours. You suffered for 2 hrs. Corridor IC - supposedly the best job. Do nothing for the 1st hour, and the subsequent hours also. You suffered for 3 hrs, unless you have other corridor ics to chat with. Classroom relief - 1st hour break. Substitude classroom ics at 30 mins interval after the 1st hour. Different people to look at. More chances of finding a chio candidate in the class. Best job, I think.

Ramblings... Thought about the various ways to get rich when I was doing classroom relief. Business. Stock/futures. Real estate. Network marketing. Write books. One fine day I'll be as famous as J K Rowling... Dreaming...

Ramblings... How would you feel when you know that your OC in camp is your uni friend's girl friend? 

Ramblings... KTV. Had a fun time yesterday! Actually I like to sing. Too bad my voice not good. Dunno many songs also. However, I find that people in ktv is unusually tolerant of bad singing. So I can sing as bad as I can.

Ramblings... Yeah! Finally finalise the final plan to go Shanghai le!

Ramblings... Timetable planning is a chore. However just found out that going into some stupid programme can make your life easier in uni.  At least you don't have to fight with others during subject registration. Wow!

Ramblings... Like real! A friend in this stupid programme can't even get a single core subject.

Ramblings... Things to do in the hols:

• Finish my Goh Lan Yu story today
• Go Shanghai on Thurs
• Swim or run everyday, after I come back from Shanghai
• Study my prescribe elective in advance
• Piece a 1000/500 pieces jigsaw
• Find and read Frank Herbert's Dune
• Work, perhap?
• Learn programming, perhaps?

 

 

Follow the movement of ants

Duration: about 30 minutes

Props: an anthill

Effect: reflective  

 

We've all done it, but it still works. To spend a bit of time observing a column of ants is thought-provoking. Attend to their dogged regularity. And note, even if you've done so a hundred times before, how they follow each other, pass each other, construct the regularly moving tread of their passage. Grasp the general design of their journeys, with their tiny individual variations and momentary turning back. Spot the weary heroisms and the implausible ferryings.

And then take up those banal reflections everyone has already made. Ask yourself how such a life is to be conceived. Ponder the idea of a biological community, of a society without language. Perplex yourself with imagining an unhuman city. Gulp in front of the depiction of an organism made up of a multiplicity of individuals.

Finally, try and imagine yourself as an ant. Pushing a breadcrumb, crossing a pebble, moving around a piece of broken glass. How do you know where you are going? What task you're meant to be accomplishing? Are you hungry? What does that mean? What are you thinking about? And what does that mean? What's it like - being an ant?

You know these questions have no answers. There do exist parallel worlds, opaque to each other, non-communicating, and we are really in error when we speak of a single universe. Planet Ant is not Human Earth. It's not included within it, hardly situated within it. You will conclude that the plurality of worlds exists under our nose, is always there, and we still don't really understand the first thing about it, the why and wherefore.

In short you will find that the ants provoke in us no new ideas, and certainly no interesting ones.

 

********   

 

This blog page finally got its 1st comment!! It's by .(fullstop) and it says 'You sucks', directed to my last entry.

Sometime I'm really amazed by the plurality of worlds that exist, even among us humans.

I've no need of comments by a punctuation mark, so I've deleted the comment. But I'm happy that at least something is reading my blog. Keep it up!

 

 

13rd of June 2005

What am I doing recently?? With so many 'date entries', am I starting to write a diary? I don't want to turn my blog into a diary! But maybe there's something worth noting down in 13rd of June.

I looove making new friends, despite being an introvert (according to Carl Jung's personality test). And I made quite a few yesterday during the Adventure Trail Challenge, working as a helper. The most notable one is Xin Yi (Sim Yee). She was publicity in-charge in ODAC (publicity, what a familiar name), and also the driver in charge of ferrying us around. What's extrordinary not that she's a female driver, though it's quite rare. What's even rarer is that she's one year younger than me and she's driving a lorry! And she's as confident with the lorry as I'm confident with a sedan, which is quite confident. Girls nowadays are as good as boys in many areas that boys are traditionally known to be better at.

Later then I learnt that she's from HC, a pleasant surprise! I'm always doubly happy when I meet someone from HC, since I'm in a HC-deprived environment. She's from 01S79. Anyone I know from 79?

Anwz, one day has passed, ATC is over. Though she's one girl I 欣赏 quite a lot, I'm starting to forget her name. I guess within a year, if I meet her somewhere again, I think she will be nothing more than a familiar face, but a stranger nonetheless. I realised long ago that friendships have half-lifes. Maintaining friendship is very important. However there is another element that's very important, that is 'common ground'. If you've no common ground, it's hard maintain friendship even if you want to. Then it all goes down to 缘分. If there is, you'll become friends again sometime in future. If not...

过客 n. 1. someone notable who was once in your life, but not anymore. (The person must be notable, if not he/she will not even be considered as 过客 )

I wish there ain't so 过客 many in my life. Some of them were once very good friends.

Ramble again, just like an old man. Anwz yesterday was quite enjoyable, working with friends, old and new, go MacRitchie Resevoir 'hiking' for 2 hrs, 'holland' (n. 1. a country in Europe adj. 2. lost one's way 3. did not reach one's intended destination) on a straight track, drive a lorry for 10mins, sitting behind the lorry feeling the wind, go east coast walk walk, ride bike, trying to pick lock etc etc. Tired but happy, to use a primary school student phrase. =)

PS. A space of 3 days, 2 HC juniors, 1 very old friend, the other very new, different thoughts on friendship.

 

 

10th of June 2005

Yesterday was a truely enjoyable day. Watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with 2 old friends Youjie and Chioboo. Hitchhiker is a very interesting show, quite 另类 , also quite 无厘头, basically I enjoyed watching it. Strongly recommended. 15/4 stars.

'Chatted through the night' after the movie at Starbucks until 11 pm, also very enjoyable. (Pardon me for my limited vocab =) However, I felt very strongly that deciding to chat at Starbucks until 11pm was a very wrong move... 1 hr after I tried to sleep at 1230.

According to my psychology textbook, caffaine is a stimulant which present in coffee and chocolate, both of which happen to present in my ice blended mocha. Anwz, knowing that I was suffering from insomnia, I woke up and finished reading my novel: Ubik by Philips. K. Dick. This book is terribly exciting and mind provoking. The author is a genius! The story is as mind provoking as the Matrix and Sophie's World. And just as exciting (as the Matrix I mean)! And it's written in 1969, way before Sophie's World and the Matrix.

Recently read another book by Dan Brown (author of Da Vinci's Code) called Angels and Demons. Also very exciting, a very good book to read, but compared to Ubik, it pales. Coz Dan Brown's books are just typical detective stories with lots of arts and symbols inside. I quite like Dan Brown though, because his books are easy to read and you get into story fast, unlike books by Philips K Dick. Reading his books is like looking at 3D drawings. You have to stare very hard at the drawing for quite sometime before you get the picture. The picture is usually mavellous, but it can be quite fustrating at times.

Btw if you don't known who's Philips K Dick, he's famous for his Minority Report and Blade Runner.

Ok, where was I? Yup, exciting and thought provoking. Since the novel is so damn exciting and thought provoking, naturally I still couldn't sleep after I finished the book. Damned. As I was lying on the bed I was thinking, since Philips K Dick, the Wachowski brothers and Jostein Gaader can come out with such interesting stories, why can't I?? Hence Goh Lan Yu was borned while I was half asleep and half awake...

Haha I've finished the 1st part of the short story, so full of shit... although I think that the story is so rubbish that no one will read it, but I've my fun doing something creative. Indulge me if you're feeling very bored and full of free time by reading my story and give comments. It's free of charge anwz. =P

 

 

Meet up with an old friend

Duration: 2 to 3 hours

Props: a friend from the past

Effect: chronological

 

This is an experiment which can be carried out at different ages, and it takes on a different colouring depending on where one is in life. Children who haven't seen each other for 2 or 3 years scarcely recognize each other, even if they are old enough to remember and have played a lot together. 'It's Anthony, isn't it? Do you remember him? Yes you do... It's Marion, look, she's got the same eyes!' Embarrassed smiles, avoidance of eye contact. They'll get to know each other, but remember nothing, or almost nothing, and the little they do remember is a blur.

In adolescence, when one hasn't seen a friend for a long while, the experience is both amusing and disturbing. The mixture of amusement and uneasiness comes from the fact that features remembered clearly are now accompanied by breasts, and hair, and everything else that is growing in those years. You see you smaller selves in grown-up bodies. And that's bizarre.

Adults can go for longer. Ten, tewnty, thirty years without seeing one another. The anticipation in the restaurant or the cafe, wondering if you'll recognize each other and in what guise, with what wrinkles, all the wear of time. It's a rare mixture of apprehension and tenderness, and you scarcely know whether the apprehension is for yourself or for the other. The tendency is likewise.

And the strange incredulity with which - having recognized the other instantly (how? the eyes? the smile?) - you scrutinize those ravages of time. The other person has aged, clearly. You too, as you're aware, though you can't see it. And then, in a strangely moving way, time's terrible passage hits you with a sudden dread, obliquely, as you suspect that you, also...

 

********

I've wanted to do the above philosopical experiment when I met an old friend yesterday whom I never see for a year. But surprisingly the experiment didn't work leh. She still as 蹦蹦跳跳 as before =P Maybe we won't change that much in one year. Or maybe we're more at ease when we're together with old friends. Maybe it just shows that we're still young! Something we need to treasure, a lot a lot.

 

 

Consider humanity to be an error

Duration: about one hour

Props: none

Effect: bracing

 

How often have we been told that we are exceptional! Centre of the world, children of God, universal conciousness, intelligence, language beings, spirit of science, vector of progress. Our existence has been so celebrated by myths, religions, philisophies, that it's hard to comprehend our failures, our vileness, our interminable wars and our endless filth. Naturally, there has beenany amount of special pleading, to explain our fall, our malediction, outwo-facedness.

There's a way of experimenting with a more radical form of disillusionment, which is doubtless more beneficial. Rid yourself of anything that resembles a meaning to our exixtence. Consider humnaity as a result of pure chance, a mistake, a biological accident. It developed without order, on some lost pebble in some small benighted corner. One day it will disappear for ever, unremembered and unmourned. For the tens of thousands of years of its survival, our species stagnated.Then it multiplied unreasonably, and plundered its own habitat. And before disappearing, it will have charged to its account a weight of suffering both unimaginable and futile, massacres and famines, enslavements and tyrennies.

Take a clear-eyed look at this absurb and violent species. Confront its lack of justification and ephemeral, irrational existence. Train yourself to endure this vision of humanity as fundamentally meaningless and futureless. For against this background of unmeaning and horror, every sublime thing shines out the more as a matchless gift. Perfect music, unforgettable paintings, the glory of cathedrals, grief-stricken poems, lovers' laughter... Such are the endless surprising fruits of this aberration that is to us.

 

From 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life by Roger-Pol Droit