Grateful on 31st July

Source:
Slice of Life

I was thinking I haven't been saying my thanks for quite some time when I saw the article in Slice of Life. Spurred me to say thanks to:

First and foremost my family. Even though they felt I was nuts to go on a camping trip, they still helped out. My brother loaned me his bag and mesh tin (well I must open mouth to ask first la) and my mum and dad actually went shopping for sleeping bag (and a pair of slippers) for me.

Secondly, my colleagues. Today while telling them about my camping trip during lunch, two of them actually asked if I need sleeping bag. So touched. Like I said, when these colleagues really retire, then I will really be lonely.

Thirdly, my friends. I had casually mentioned that the day I left is the first day of seventh month. And one of them asked me why do I still go (which lead me to ask if she has any last words for me... just in case mah). The other asked me for my friend's number (even before my mum asked for it...) and said in case Sunday comes and go and I'm still uncontactable, he knows who to find haha. Of course I did not give him the number as I believed he just wanted another pretty gal's number.. kidding kk. I gave my mum the number though.

Fourthly and lastly, my GA for the fate. It is a trip my friend wanted to embarked to cheer herself up. And coincidentally I happen to keep myself free the weekend so I feel is fated bah. Though now I'm sad that I can't follow my FF group to Hort's Park on 10th Aug as I will be accompanying Inuka and Sheba haha..

Oei QR, after Prive, next stop Hort's Park???? Oh and I thought of another name for the new blog.. tell you another time when I remember... And to the readers, yeah I might start a new blog soon.. a collaboration with my friend if he is interested lah... But before that I better start my Tundra project with my groupmates.. hmm will update both links here when the time comes.

Listen to a Pure heart…

I finally finished Pure Heart 19 on Saturday. And I’m not sure if the show affected me greatly or the premonition that something happened or it is just my thoughts running amok as usual but I was totally depressed on Saturday. I postponed my gym (since Thursday) again, unable to get myself out of the house at all. The only constructive thing I tried to do is to study for my test the next day.

It was only on Sunday morning that I learnt of the demise of Professor Randy. I’m unsure if I’m affected in a sense I’m not close to this person. The first time I blog about him is in March this year on his last lecture. I thought long and hard before I finally decided to buy his book as a gift. And I know I told QR that his book, compared to Tuesdays with Morrie, did not impact me that much. But I’m not sure if I told him it is because his lecture had already left a deep impression on me. His last lecture, his speech to the graduates, somehow his speech mannerism affects me more than his written work. My friend told me he already achieved what he wanted so at least he could with lesser regrets, and that the world claims that he will be missed and that he had a great life, but a childish part of me still want to question why must he be taken so early? Why a good father must be taken? Do good guys have shorter lives comparatively?

Anyway I suppressed all thoughts to cram any last minute studying for the test later in the noon. Thankfully I managed to scrape through as I did not expect the Short Questions sections to weigh equally with the MCQs. Had planned to go gym after that but a change of plan brought me home instead. And I decided to go jogging, something I haven’t done for a long time. I ran to the beach as usual and stayed at a spot, squatting besides a little plant with a grasshopper on it, staring at it while the radio was playing Roxette’s Listen to your heart. That’s when the thinking process got fired.

Feedback is good because the day someone doesn’t give you feedback, it means he/she has given up on you.

Professor Randy said something of that matter before. And I asked myself if I have given up since I procrastinated on the reply. And somehow the radio was saying “Listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye.” But was there ever a need to say goodbye? Does he ever care? Or will he even realised is goodbye. Maybe he had already said his own goodbye.

I questioned on what good it is to be understanding. In Pure 19, Cheng Xin Jie constantly tried to be understanding and considerate towards the rich man son. To the extent, it makes one wonder the fine line between love and stubborn (执著). 公主病 lady also made me wonder if less thinking is more beneficial for health. Her 单白胡 behaviour which stands for (单纯,白痴,胡闹) may seems irritating and childish at times, but because she does not think much, she tends to be more true to her own character and feelings. The way she chased the big brother initially can be quite scary though. But when she finally gave up, and tried to numb her feelings, one can’t help feeling sad with her.

Before the sun set, I decided to head home. As usual I was quite unfit so my legs got tired by the next day. And I had to drag myself to the gym to try to train a bit more before I head for my trekking trip with my friend. Frankly speaking, I’m quite excited about this trip because I never been to Malaysia (discounting the Penang trip when I was six) and I never went trekking/camping before. However mum was quite unhappy because the day I set off was the first day of seventh month. Although I kidded with my friends that should anything happen to me, it is just fated and asked whether they have any last words for me, but I really did wonder if through death, would he at least care a teeny bit. Childish thoughts! Anyway my main concern is still on stressor, and I really hope stressor will not get offended or think I’m kidding. Because even though I’m sure I could live till age 50, but sometimes, just sometimes, one can never be too sure.

Time to sleep... with the song...

Lyrics of Roxette’s Listen to your heart

I know there's something in the wake of your smile.
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yeah.
You've built a love but that love falls apart.
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark.

Listen to your heart when he's calling for you.
Listen to your heart there's nothing else you can do.
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why,
Listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye.

Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah.
They're swept away and nothing is what is seems,
the feeling of belonging to your dreams.

Listen to your heart when he's calling for you.
Listen to your heart there's nothing else you can do.
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why,
Listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye.

And there are voices that want to be heard. So much to mention but you can't find the words.
The scent of magic, the beauty that's been when love was wilder than the wind.

Listen to your heart when he's calling for you.
Listen to your heart there's nothing else you can do.
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why, but listen to your heart before... you tell him goodbye.

Listen to your heart, hm hm hm hm...
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why, but listen to your heart before... you tell him goodbye.



Source: Youtube

The golf balls, the pebbles and the sand…

My friend recently sent me the mayonnaise jar story. The miracle of emails is that I can read certain stories again and again and never get tired… Anyway as reminded…

The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favourite passions -- Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life (the jar) would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.'

And no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.'

Since I came back from tw, I've been busy with my lasik and its reviews (the nurse says everything is fine, and that those glares are common side effects… and to reduce the glare of my monitor if I really have problem focusing… which I already did before that), with docent training, with work. And when I'm in front of my home pc, I am just so glued to pure 19...

So things I have not done include... writing the postcard to Doc. When you do get it, you will understand why I asked you remember that photo. And btw, I only know smelly tofu is 臭豆腐. Is there other name? Hmm today is Thursday already, hope my friend had a safe trip back in London... And also wish another friend enjoy the last 2 weeks in SG... miss them both... Coincidentally, knew them since my secondary school days...

Anyway watched Over the Hedge as part of the movie screening event in zoo (other than Transformer.. which reminded me of my blog song) and I remembered the scheming raccoon introducing to the rest of the animals the types of food found in the human world. To the animals, they eat to live, but humans, they live to eat. And when he asked them, do you think the food is enough. These animals nodded their head, but he replied,

"To humans, enough is never enough
And what they don’t want, they put it in gleaming silver can."

The amount of trash we generate is appalling... even when we promote the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle). And it is a slow and painful process to revamp your lifestyle I guess.. Telling myself to try to catch the movie Wall-E.. is about a forsaken Earth polluted by the thrash human generated.

Anyway the quote 'enough is never enough' could refer to any aspects too. Because humans are not easily pleased. Like there are so many things I wish to blog. Like my thoughts just keep running amok. And that I wish to be like that squirrel who drank the caffeine and ended up accomplishing a lot of things faster than time travel.

Internal Tourist - Club

When a tourist asked me where the National Museum is last Saturday, I suddenly felt that I really should do a proper touring around my own hometown. Hmm considering that I should be in SG for a year plus due to my commitment with the zoo (and the fact that I might try Nparks after my commitments are stabilized), it should be sufficient for me to tour around my hometown slowly haha.

Travel Details:
Nearest MRT: In between Raffles Place MRT Station and Chinatown MRT Station

Anyway 2 Fridays ago, I decided to try to find Windows Café (trying to cheer myself up that time). It was supposedly on No. 3 Club Street. Thus my friend and I alighted at Raffles Place MRT Station to walk down. On the way, the sun was setting down very nicely. The sky was bluish with pinkish and purplish clouds. At that time, I wished I had a proper camera, and yet I wondered if even with it, can I capture such beautiful sight. My friend said that nothing could replace the eye in seeing and capturing certain scenes. And I pondered about the gift of sight that was given to me. Maybe it was because I was troubled about my vision that period that I treasured it more. And I thought more about blindness, in a sense it might sounds weird but I did thought if I ever got blind, I must not be too upset because once upon a time, I had been introduced to the many beautiful sights before.



On the way, passed by a night market (reminded me of the night markets in Taiwan, except this is really mini in nature) and the food street. Was telling my friend there should be a food street nearby when it suddenly appeared haha... The last time I visited this place was during my uni days...



Anyway it took a long time before we finally found club street. However we walk in and out of Club Street 3 times without even seeing Windows Café. After awhile, we realized that Windows Café had actually closed down and replaced with Seven on Club (quite sometime as I went home to check Seven on Club). The sidewalk tables still seems familiar, and I saw those old buildings with spiral stairs, and roam the streets where they roamed. But did not find the building where they could see the high rise buildings. Anyway I ended up refusing to eat there because it seems quite high end and I did not want to splurge. Thought of going back food street but I was lazy so ended up eating in some vegetarian restaurant along the way back, which I highly doubt I will ever go back there again.

Thus end the search of my Windows Café, which supposedly should be upset that I did not get a chance to eat there but somehow to find it, I’m happy already. Besides I feel everything is fated, like the events that happened in the next few days…

I had a French test the next day where we took a photo for memento sake (and for publication), thankfully I did not really fail. Then I finally went to the gym, the first time since I did Lasik. Sunday came and I had my amazing race in the zoo (Oh and do visit grasstales.blogspot.com for updates on my zoo training). And I had my commencement on Monday. Sounds like I should be drained out by then thus I guess that’s why the initial plan was to have my medical review on Tuesday (where I can get MC too). But I postponed it (before I realized I had side effects) because I needed to help my DM run some reports while he was away on that day.

Somehow it seems right that I should postpone it to Friday though. Because I happen to end up in a wine session on a Thursday evening. Haha, tested 2 white wine and 6 red wine although I still don’t know how to differentiate them. But at least I learnt some terms e.g. vintage actually refer to the year the wine is made. I didn’t really finish any wine but when the event ended, I kinda got light-headed. Hmm it has been a long time since I last got light-headed. Still remember the advice my friend gave me that time was to go to the ladies to get rid of the alcohol. Now that I’m blogging about it, I’m tempted to try to get drunk.. maybe at home’s comfort.



I did manage to make my way home and I did not get any hangover the next day so it can be considered that I’m not drunk yet haha. Before my medical review, I made a trip to my secondary school with a friend and realized my school changed a lot. There was a new building replacing the old school block. For a moment I thought they tore down the tower too but at least they did retain it albeit some repaint work. The stadium was exactly the same though.. gosh it bring back memories ...





Anyway my friend and I had a good time seeing our teachers again. However I had the 岁月不饶人 feeling.. and that the only constant is change... but it should be change for the better since the facilities got better.

Then on Saturday, it was the 24 hours coding contest which I had joined last year too. Unfortunately this year, somehow GA only wanted me to stay over once that I had to choose between zoo and coding.. and I ended up choosing the zoo's event (yeah visit grasstales.blogspot.com for more details again heehee). Which seems fated as my other 2 friends were busy too.

Ok I should conclude this post. Hmm as mentioned earlier, I think I must find time to visit the National Museum now that I know where it is. And I still have not tried the hot air balloon (ever since I know it got another extension, I procrastinated haha). Had wanted to watch Ballet under the Stars but I still haven't study for my test this Sunday so I guess I have to strike that out already. Sigh I have been delaying to study because I told myself to reply a particular email only after I study.. tsk tsk.. I can be so incorrigible. Just as I think I might decide to go Pahang - Berkelah waterfall with my friend next weekend to refrain myself from wondering about SingFest... Afterall it so happen my keeper attachment is on the following week and I did not sign up for a second attachment (wanted to initially but decided to keep it free.. guess it's another 人算不如天算).. Yeah I will discuss with my parents tomorrow...

Related Posts:

Internal Tourist - Wheelies and the rest
Internal Tourist - Club
Internal Tourist - Temples
Internal Tourist - Palau Ubin and Changi
Internal Tourist - Southern Ridge
Internal Tourist - Museums
Internal Tourist - Arts
Internal Tourist - Arts Part 2
Internal Tourist - Asian Civilisation Museum

Taiwan (23rd June 2008 to 29th June 2008)

Finally decided to write this post after procrastinating for so long...

On the 23rd June 2008, Monday morning, my family and I woke up early to catch the flight to Taoyuan Airport. The flight was quite uneventful though because of the weather. We reached there by noon, arranged transport etc and finally reached the hotel (Royal Castle Hotel in Ximending) in the evening. Leaving our bags in the hotel, we immediately headed to the MRT station and bought the EasyCard 悠游卡 to start our tour around Taipei.

First stop, Longshan temple and Taipei Hwahsi Tourist Night Market. That’s the waterfall in Longshan temple.

We had our dinner in the night market. Oh by the way, there were quite a few snake restaurants, though I don't fancy any.

The next day, we woke up early to reach Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (renamed National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall due to political reasons. Something I find "ridiculous" because the souvenirs and MRT station still retained the old name. Just as I find renaming the airport to TY airport wasting taxpayers' money for nothing because all the road signs etc had to be amended just for that reason. But then, it is not for me to comment also.). Anyway I thought there is a change of guard hourly procession in C.K.S Memorial Hall but it seems that I have been mistaken because the guard says there isn't any here and we ended up waking up early for no reason... hmm...



This is a model reference. Doc, take note...



The national museum was somewhere around the vicinity. Unfortunately, it was too crowded that day (think there was some event) and we did not visit it. (Sad, but my family would most probably be happy to be spared of the ordeal haha). Instead we headed to Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越) in Zhongshan and Taipei City Mall (an underground mall) for some shopping. Bear bear from Shin Kong Mitsukoshi says hi to shoppers hee hee...



After having a fruitful shopping trip, we then headed to National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. By some miracle, we actually were in time to catch the change of guard here instead. Like what my mum commented, we chased to watch the procession since morning till now haha.



Then to the Taipei 101. Kung fu panda on display haha...



Some landscape scenes I caught from Taipei 101 building.


Taipei's cabs are all in yellow colour regardless which company they belong to. It rained though so it got a bit misty .. and I thought I might not be able to catch sight of the sunset. Thus am very grateful...



The steel pendulum suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor acts as a tuned mass damper to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. You can read up more about the construction here.

Original plan after this is to go Wu Fen Pu but decided to change plans and shop more in Xi Men Ding. Thus we ended up eating the Ah Zong Mian Xian in XMD. Hmm is just mian xian to me, but there’s a long queue .. and everybody is willing to stand and eat. Quite an interesting sight.

The next day we went to Yang Ming Shan (陽明山國家公園). Gosh the bus journey was long... And the place is so big, we ended up only going one or two stops before heading to International Hotel for hot spring...



Then we headed to Danshui to take a ferry to Fisherman’s Wharf. While in Danshui, caught sight of Dunkin’ Donuts, something my brother fab about so decided to try. Anyway the weather, like yesterday, wasn’t good… Come to think of it I might have complained that it was too hot (the type that makes you sticky and irritated), but there were few occasions where it rained too and kind of affected the photos (and the trip). So in Danshui, it actually started raining heavily that I lost hope in catching sight of sunset in Fisherman’s Wharf.



Decided to take the ferry back and while in the ferry, the sun happened to be setting down too. It was an amazing sight which I was unable to capture though. Sighz, sometimes I really feel the most beautiful sight can only be seen through your eyes. Then we shopped awhile in Danshui night market before heading to Shilin night market. Saw a stall selling worms... hmm not my cup of tea though. Oh but my dad did try the smelly tofu in XMD last night, and he did have a hard time trying to stomach it. End up putting lots of chili to mask the sauce.. As for me, I will not try it a second time. It's an acquired taste.



On the fourth day, had another long bus journey to Yehliu.

Travel Details:
Bus Journey: Taipei Bus Intercity (台北北站） to Yehliu (野柳）
Bus Trip Cost: NT102
Entrance Ticket: NT50

Lots of mushroom heads...


I cannot remember the 3 animals that I overheard the tour guide describing.. was it cow?? elephant??


Quite like the "beancurd" stones haha...


Most famous icon - The Queen (女王頭) which is said to resemble the head of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt. And my only thought is, how much has eroded since my dad last came here. Is the neck getting thinner and thinner..


Because of the sea, I ended up with a sun tan. Oh and Yehliu had a "market" outside the exit that sell a lot of interesting souvenirs. I caught sight of the dolphin necklace I lost 8 years ago and on the spur of moment, bought it. (Somehow at that point of time, I wanted to regain back the innocence I once had.. Think I watch too much Pure 19.. became too wistful to go back to that age.)

Later on, we headed to Keelung.

My friend had called it the Hollywood sign... I totally agreed with her!

From there, one could head to Jinguang shi and Jiufen which are two quite "old" towns. But I changed plan and headed back to Wu Fen Pu & Raohe Night market instead because my parents seemed worn out from the long bus journeys. Thus decided to shelve these for future. By the way, we did try the pepper bun, famous in Raohe.. but my brother and I both felt there is nothing special. One thing for sure, there was indeed a queue to purchase the buns though. After which, we headed back to XMD.

Here's the lady making the buns... and the icon of Raohe night market... and the Red Cliff (赤壁) promotion in XMD...



On the fifth day, we went for an internal tour in the Presidential building. No belongings were allowed though, which also means photography was disallowed too. Hmm I do wonder how does our Istana looks like. After that we went to the Martyr’s Shrine to catch the change of guard procession, which is supposedly more majestic that the one we caught previously. While watching, I do feel guilty that I never once caught the change of guard in SG… humans are such ironical creature. (Decided to check when it’s held. This ceremony is conducted every first Sunday of each month, at 6pm. It usually lasts about half an hour. Source: Here).



After that, we headed to Jiantan again. I had thought of trying to shop in Shilin Night market again in the day to see if the shops are open, but it started to rain. In the end, decided to head to Miramar earlier than usual because I thought it is easier to shop indoor due to the rain. Caught sight of Carrefour, which is much more pleasant to shop than those high class boutiques haha. Saw an interesting collection of book in Carrefour too.



The next day, did not plan to do anything except visit Window on China. Saw a lot of buildings. I zoomed into the presidential building to check if they updated the president to reflect the reality haha.



Through a forum, found out that there is a Toilet themed restaurant in XMD and decided to have dinner there on the last day. Had a hard time finding it though especially when it kept raining. But my family did find it funny, so guessed it was a good dinner.

Travel details:
Modern Toilet
分店 : 台北西門町店 (Xi Men Ding Branch)
電話 : 02-2311-8822
店址 : 台北市萬華區西寧南路50巷7號2樓
座位數 : 80名
營業時間 : (平日餐點僅提供至PM 9：00、假日餐點提供至PM10:00)
平常日 AM11：30 ~ PM10：00
假日　 AM11：00 ~ PM10：00
備註 : 本店因來客數過多，如需訂位請在用餐前一天來電查詢有無空位再予以提供訂位服務，謝謝！




After a fulfilling dinner, we finished our packing and booked a cab for tomorrow’s morning because there was no available shuttle to airport in the morning. Reached home the next day evening. Overall am glad that the trip had been pretty smooth. Thank you.