New SAMSUNG F480!

My first touchscreen phone ... is so pretty ... hehe!

I observe ...

"She's a researcher ... she knows everything!" I started to argue that I didn't know everything. "Well, ok, but you observe everything right?"

Well, yeah ... I can't really say no to that. Sometimes, I observe a little too much for my own good. I see details that people do not. The details irk me sometimes, and people find it hard to understand why things are wrong when the details are not in sync while I find it difficult to explain what people cannot see. When seeing is believing, what comes after observing?

Therefore, I choose to feel. I believe wholeheartedly that love is when two people are inexplicably attracted to each other, when the invisible bond cannot be rationalised, much less observed. By that, of course I don't mean love at first sight all the time, for only time can tell if the feeling grows or wanes, and yet still is impossible to rationalise. I believe in placing faith in the "feeling", but for most, when seeing is believing, where does feeling take us?

Hope for Ponyo on Blu-ray!

Well, I'm not sure if Japan has released the movie on Blu-ray, or if it has, it has any English subtitles on it. But Disney will be releasing Ponyo ... still way ahead on 14 Aug 09 :( ... but hah, yah! More Ponyo this year and the Blu-ray disc with English subtitles and original Japanese audio tracks, I hope, which is likely the case like what they did with Spirited Away, etc.

Hope the USA will enjoy Ponyo as much as I do (^___^*)

Hermit for too long

I went to the Malaysian High Commission to renew my passport this morning. "Knowing" from memory that there was a OCBC outlet at the Orchard MRT, I didn't bother to withdraw the money for the payment last night. But alas, upon arrival at the station, I found that the space where OCBC used to be was under renovation. So I walked all the way the next known ATM in Wisma Atria. I still haven't gotten over my immense dislike of the new Orchard MRT exit location - super far from Wisma. And just when do they plan to re-open the connecting tunnel to Wisma?

At the High Comm, things were pretty breezy albeit busy. There were many people but the entire process was not unbearable. Not to say that the service's any better than back home, except for the friendly uncle who's helping out at the photo booth, who kindly answered my questions and who exchanged money with me when the cashier declared she had no change. How to be a cashier when you're not stocked with small change? Imagine Carrefour telling its long queue of customers it's run out of change.

So anyway, after about 1.5 hours at the High Comm, I was out and headed for the Central Library at Bras Basah, only to find it closed for a staff event until 2 pm this afternoon. Gee ... and I'd thought I could kill time comfortably while waiting to collect my new passport after 2.30 pm. I might as well just go hang out at Borders. But I've made an appointment and since I'm already here ... I'll just make do with the cold stone floor at the "stage area" outside the library.

In just a bit, I'll be meeting an insurance agent ... just to find out how I could perhaps manage my finances more efficiently. And especially in this increasingly uncertain world, I don't wanna take chances. I've also realised that compared to many to many friends my age, Ive had a solid long-term financial plan, at least in my opinion, so it's probably time to learn more.

Hope my battery can last till then!

I blog ...

... because I have nothing to do. Hahahahaaaaa ... I'm making me sound like a sad case ... which I probably am. Which is why I'm talking gibberish now ... but hell, no ... I'm digital ethnographying ok ... (^___^*)

Now ...

... if you head over here, you might find some "sanity" in the revelation of which bloggingtypes of friends you have (sane or not, crazy or "sot" ... hehe) Not a 100% accurate but it's quite descriptive of my blogging style ...

... until I find out that at least 5 of my female friends are "The Performers" while my guy friends are a good variety of blogging personas, from "The Idealists" to "The Performers" to "The Mechanics".

Interesting.

等待着一个不会实现的梦

Bus ride in the rain

The lens of rain casts an interesting view on the world, making me unusually pensive and reflective.

My first comic strip :)

Death

A post by Elvin brought up personal deathly memories I'd rather keep buried (no pun intended!) but instead, I poured them all out in the comments section. The text, I share here, for I truly do think that things, good and bad, happen for a reason. And that is to make us a stronger person.

huishi, on March 17th, 2009 at 11:24 pm said:

I’m very sad to read all the unpleasant encounters that everyone who’s posted here have had. But remember, bad things happen, and even if they leave a long, deep scar on us for the rest of our lives, it is but a reminder for us to be stronger, to love and cherish this life - ours and everyone else’s - to never give up on it, no matter how hard it may sometimes get.

I never really thought about death, it just seemed like a distant, dreamy concept “it’ll never happen to me” until I was 19. It was a beautiful afternoon too, a weekend, maybe very much like the one the Bangladeshi worker had died on. My aunt arrived at our gate and told us my uncle had just passed away in the hospital after a heart attack. My very old grandmother completely broke down, and I was at a loss. It was too unreal.

Sep 11, 2001, I woke up early in the morning to enjoy my last day in New York before flying home the next day. I stopped by a cart for a coffee and croissant, ears plugged in to the radio. “A jetliner had crashed into the World Trade Center just minutes ago”. I was maybe 20 blocks away, near Union Square. I remember sniggering at how stupid can the pilot be, completely refusing the thought that hey, there could be people in the building killed, not to mention the pilot and passengers. Death was still an unreal concept. But then, by the time the second plane went in, I was brought back to reality. I hurried down to a clearing near the Square to find a horrifying image of 2 burning towers. Moments later, a more horrifying one of the massive structures tumbling down. In downtown New York City. Sirens wailing, people screaming, choppers flying everywhere. The Big Apple was at its most peaceful over the next few days.

The next story is my own brush with death. Like always, death is something that happens to others, definitely not me. I’m quite a reckless road crosser. One Sat, I attempted to navigate the slow traffic leading to the Novena Church. Out of nowhere, a car came charging and knocked me down, tossing me several feet away. I was in a daze. In fact, I think the driver was more in shock than I was. I had scratches. The driver wanted to send me to the hospital. Other drivers advised me to have my injuries checked. They were just light bruises, which i eventually self-medicated. I thanked the drivers and moved on. Only on hindsight, I realised how bad it could have been, how fast I could have had my life snuffed out. I’ve been a more careful road user ever since, for my own good and others as well.

Another incident that gutted me was one perhaps 2 years ago. My sis wasn’t feeling very well but we still went out for breakfast together. After that, on our way home, as we were walking, she simply just collapsed without warning. We were flabbergasted. Not knowing what to do, we just had to get her to regain her consciousness quickly. It’s probably just minutes before she woke, but that felt like an eternity, and quite honestly, I never felt so scared before, not even during my own brush with death.

To this day, I’ve not quite overcome the sadness of my grandma’s passing 6 years ago. She’s been there ever since I was born, always caring and loving me more than anyone else. When she was gravely ill after a fall, I couldn’t visit her often (she’s in Malaysia). The long National Day weekend that year, I decided to pass on going back because of the horrendous crowd and queue at the customs. We thought we could visit her the following week. See, death still is sort of elusive. We just assumed that she’d still be there. The Tue following National Day, my grandma passed away and that remains my greatest regret in life.

海轮和大狼的爱情故事

刚刚看了《向世界出发2: 云南·女儿国恋爱崇拜》。被感动到了，也思考了蛮多的。

今天这一集说到了一对好难得才可以千里来结合的夫妻 - 来自广州的海轮和摩梭男子大狼。对啊 ... 男的放下了千年以来摩梭民族的走婚风俗，女的放下了广州的繁荣城市生活，一起称泸沽湖为新家，结婚生子。听起来很浪漫，很感人，很幸福吧？

如果「走婚」令女儿国成为恋爱天堂，那麼「结婚」会否真的是恋爱坟墓呢？

以下是一个来自城市的女人，爱上一个摩梭船夫的一段浪漫爱情故事。 八年前，一个来自广州的女仔—海伦，来到泸沽湖旅行，邂逅土生土长的摩梭船夫—大狼。大狼对海伦一见锺情，海伦亦对大狼有一种强烈的感觉，所以在离开了一个星期之後，海伦又再次回到泸沽湖找大狼。为了大狼，海伦结束所有在广州的事业、离开家人朋友，移居泸沽湖与大狼一同生活。大狼亦甘愿放弃摩梭人的走婚风俗，正式与海伦结婚 …

Gigi：「这真的是爱情的魔力，你喜欢一个人，可以什麼都不顾，跳崖就一同跳下去。当你喜欢一个人的时候，不会有太理性的分析在里面…」

可是，现实归现实，并不是每个美丽的爱情故事，都会有一个美丽的结局。从自由自在的走婚变成一夫一妻的结婚，结局会是怎样？

两人依然克服不了传统的障碍，根本无法享受一个平凡幸福的婚姻。大狼的家人不愿意接受海轮这位媳妇因为摩梭人根本没有结婚的礼俗。摩梭男子也从来不必对女人负起什么责任， 更不了解做丈夫的责任是什么。他们其实还比摩梭女子来得弱，因为在一个摩梭家族里，只有女人当家，男人只需吃喝玩乐。海轮也觉得自己付出的必大狼多却没有得到理想的回报，觉得自己很委屈，对这段姻缘有所失望。

最令我心寒的是，为什么爱情的魔力可以使这对情侣不顾一切来结合，但不能够让他们幸幸福福的相处，互相学习，白头到老？来自不同民族，不同文化和背景的人始终是不一样，不适合在一起的吗？

33.3.9.9 鱼尾诗诞生了!

I was doodling Sunday morning, trying to draw a new pix to go with my new Plurk nick - 鱼尾诗 (meaning Fish-tail-Tse *my name*), a pun on 鱼尾狮 (Fish-tail-lion *the Merlion*) because they are homophones (sound the same in pronunciation) - and it turned out quite well.

So I spared a few more hours doing it up in Photoshop - though I still think the sketch looks better (^___^*) - and here's the result. Pretty satisfied with this pre-birthday inspiration (also inspired by the poor lightning-struck riverfront Merlion and the fact that I've never taken a pix with the Merlion before).

And phew, I have an idea for my overdue Postcrossing postcard - finally!

Bonne Anniversaire a moi :)
Happy Birthday to me :)
祝我生日快乐 :)
Selamat Hari Jadi kepada saya :)

特别平凡

We were tossing up keywords during our brainstorm when XN said "unique" and "outstanding" were the same. CD said, "a little boy who's unique may not be outstanding." I thought that was the truest thing I've heard today.

Indeed, a "unique" someone may just be truly special in his own little ways that appeal only to very specific person/s, and bland to others who cannot see through the special film that reveals the true self to only those who care to look long and deep. 这可能就是我所为的<特别平凡>吧.

特别平凡的事或人可以带给我无限的快乐. 呵呵 ... 我这个人还是蛮知足常乐的. Like the plane which landed on the runway just directly above our heads as we drove by on the way back from lunch at T3, just one of hundreds of planes that land at Changi International Airport everyday. The plane's HUGE, and that's quite an understatement! This is the first time I've seen a flying plane so upclose.

Hehe ... quite a pleasure, especially after lunch with some good friends on my lunar birthday (^___^*)

What makes me happy

Pink dolphin at Lake Calcasieu, Louisiana, USA

Sad stories

I love them and I hate them more. Heard 2 such stories today and I have a gloomy heart.

The first story happened many years ago. My colleague from Taiwan had a friend who held a torch for a really pretty classmate. He never officially professed but never failed to call her every week, just to ask if she was well. Years later, they graduated and he left Taiwan to work overseas. The phone calls became less but he still called. Until one day, they completely stopped.

She thought it was strange and certainly uncharacteristic of him. She would contact him but his number was no longer valid. When she could stand it no more, she called his mother instead. His mother told her that her son had perished when the jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center where the office of the NY branch of the Taiwanese bank, where he had worked, was.

He never got the chance to tell her he loved her.

The second story came in the news. A 4th-year NTU undergraduate (I later found out that he's a scholarship holder who had his scholarship terminated last month) killed himself after stabbing a professor. What tremendous stress was he under that pushed him to take his own life? He must have been very, very miserable ... and it saddens me even more that somewhere on this tiny island, another human being had been planning his own demise even as I was making merry at my friend's joyous wedding..