Hi H2-07

I went to get something from the supermarket near my place tonight and the cashier asked why I had not been there for so long. I would usually go there several times a week, for anything from soup ingredients to biscuits or some late night snacks like peanuts or "Roller Coaster" since the store opens till midnight.

I pondered over her comment for a while and realised how right she had been. I had not stepped foot in there in May and June - TWO full months and I didn't even realise that. It's like the past two months just quietly zipped past, and now we are at the very tail-end - the very last day - of the first-half of 2007.

Tomorrow, the new 7% GST kicks into effect. There's midnight sale going on everywhere and I'm at home. For the past hour, I've been trying unsuccessfully to book tickets for Transformers. "The system is experiencing an unusually high traffic." What's everyone doing at home booking tickets for Transformers? There's a sale going right now, helloooooooo ...

... oh, I'm finally getting through -- I got my tickets v(~.~)v

Hello H2-07

Oh well ... hope the second-half of the year is as smooth-sailing, peaceful and rewarding as the first. I'm still looking for new career opportunities, of course ... hope I hear some good news from my favourite broadcasters.

Sigh ... some key people in the company have resigned. Why is it that everytime I'm beginning to feel comfortable in my job, something happens that signals I could be on a sinking ship and I had better have the shore in sight?

Bored: Writing Presentation Transcript

Whoever heard of writing a presentation transcript? A post-presentation transcript, at that.

One of the many crappy necessities that come with the perks of the job. I asked why it was needed, if it was simply a waste of time. The argument was that if a third person were to present, he'll know what to say.

Yeah right. Like that's gonna happen. But ok, I'll accept that in goodwill, since there's not very much I'm doing right now at work. Still in sort of a honeymoon period.

Oh, aside from revising the additional hours request forms umpteen times since Monday! Can you believe that? Something is really very wrong in the admin system here ...

Otherwise, I'm really looking forward to the next leg of my project.

Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam, China, Thailand ...

Captivity of Freedom or Liberty of Limitations?

I guess this is one of those nights when the mind goes philandering, digging up dirt from the deepest corners of the head.

I suddenly think of one of my recent favourites, The Famished Road.

An excerpt:
"I was a spirit-child rebelling against the spirits, wanting to live the earth’s life and contradictions. Ade wanted to leave, to become a spirit again, free in the captivity of freedom. I wanted the liberty of limitations, to have to find or create new roads from this one which is so hungry, this road of our refusal to be."

Do you see

captivity in freedom

or

liberty in limitations

?

爱: SNAP!

Remember the playing cards Snap? We requested a pack of those and a pack of Donkey when we were on Silkair. Feels great to be reliving our childhood! If only they also had Old Maid ...

Hmm ... a little strange to be reading between lines in comics, but this strip seems to have a deeper meaning. When the person and the timing are right, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP! Don't think thrice about snapping up love when you come face-to-face with it.

True?

Or an overactive imagination at work on a solitary Wednesday night.

A Day at the Pyramids

It's Chalcography ...

... NOT charcoalgraphy, the receptionists were quick to tell us as we got the tickets. We spent the next 2 hours at "Engraving the World", an exhibition featuring a selection of the chalcography collection from Le Louvre Museum, completely mesmerized by the technique, prints and more than anything, the details in the pictures, most of which depict remarkable events in French history. It's like you don't just see a cacophonous crowd, you can almost hear what each person is saying; details on the armour worn by the soldiers transfixed our eyeballs in curious amazement. All these details were hand-carved onto bronze plates by 15th to 16th century French artists. The exhibition left us gaping in wonder.

I woke up this morning feeling wonderful. It was a beautiful day - blue sky, brilliant sunshine. Thankfully, the day continues to be so.

I felt like a "head therapy" so I went to Chapter 2 and got a "bob" do. Rodolphe had recommended the salon so I thought I'd give it a go. Alas, my hair length was a little too short for the young stylist, he was worried I might scream at him for cutting my hair too short because it required a certain difference in length between the hair at the back of the head and that which frames the face, for the bob to be 'obvious'. I had to reassure him umpteen times that I've had hair as short as crew cut so there's no need to worry.

To go with the new do, I decided to also put some colour in it. This time,I chose a "mahogany dark blond" dye. Think it's slightly lighter than what I had last time, but given my unusually dark original hair colour, I'm not confident the colour will appear the way it should. I'll see tomorrow. Gee ... I hate hair dye ... it friggin' smelly! (I DIY-ed, bien sur)

It was always fun catching up with Pauline and Fauzie. Fauzie's story of her colleague with Bono hairdo was hilarious while empathy was all around when Pauline said she finally broke the news to the big boss - she's calling it quits after 7 years of editing corporate videos. Pauline's way more creative than that! She definitely deserves better opportunities elsewhere in the industry, doing something she enjoys.

Watching "Le Divorce" on tv now. Sigh ... French is truly music to my ears.

P.S. Have posted my 成都-九寨沟 pictures on Imagestation. All are welcome to browse d(~.~)b

爱: We Are The World ...

Kyoto, Japan 5-8 June 2007

成都-九寨沟 八日游 9-16 June 2007

爱: The most precious thing ...

... you can find to give. In the case of 手足, it's family love. That is so very precious. To us all.

Counting Down to 手足

Tomorrow's the big day! Actually it's later today - the premiere of Channel 8's drama of the year - 手足 / Kinship. The show has 80 episodes altogether, shown in two parts of 40 episodes respectively.

So must make sure I book the prime position in front of the TV for the next 2 months starting tomorrow at 7 pm sharp (tall order but I'll try!) for my Elvin feast. Haha ... of course, popcorn and drinks are also welcome.

In the meantime, hear out the cast's ghostly encounters. I wonder why they have chosen this topic when the show's about the trials and tribulations of two families ... is there a spirit at work?

Anyway, must check out Chen Tianwen's story. It's my favourite. Elvin's story ... hmm ... the way he tells it in such great detail, it's so disgustingly hilarious it's hardly Singapore ghost story ...

On a separate note, I'm uploading my travel photos on Imagestation but the site seems to be acting up. My photos don't show and it tells me to check back later so I'm putting that exercise on hold. Hope to complete it before I get back to work on Wed. Damn, I'm down with a slight flu now. Hope it explodes ... haha ... then can get MC but pai seh because I've been away from the office since 5 June!

Oh well, let's wait and see but definitely must see 手足 everyone!

See you soon!

Delayed

Should have been on the plane now to Jiuzhaigou. But flight has been delayed to 3 pm. So I have some time at hand to blog just a little.

Came back yesterday from Kyoto after attending (and presenting at) Sony Ericsson Creative Design Centre's Summer Conference. What an eye-opening opportunity! Sure there were butterflies in the tummy leading up to the presentation but well, actually it ain't too bad. The best part is, a bunch of Sony guys came to us after the presentation and said they were impressed and very interested in the presentation - that was dope :)))

Being amongst a bunch very creative (and some very cute) designers indeed was awe-inspiring. Attending one of the workshops, witnessing the sparks of ideas permeating the highly charged atmosphere - priceless.

Great too was the free day on the first day where my colleagues and I roamed the streets if Kyoto city, ending the night with a sumptuous meal of sukiyaki and shabu-shabu. The following, we jumped on the tour organised by SE. There were 3 that we could choose from - the first two would bring us to places that normal tour itineraries would to so we chose the third which included a Japanese tea ceremony ritual which we were highly interested in. But alas, time ran out and we missed the ceremony which was held at a temple that closed at 4.30 pm.

Nevertheless, we managed to visit 3 other temples - 1) the 1000-year-old Byodoin temple, 2) a temple which was dedicated to the fox deity, and 3) the 600-year-old Taizo-in temple at which we had dinner accompanied by live traditional Japanese music. The highlight of the meal was the Mustard Tofu - an unassuming ball of beancurd which stings the unaware with its wasabi core. Haha ... many fell into that pit! Not me though, cuz I took small small bites and saw the green core before it had the chance to do any damage.

The awesome dinner was followed by a short and simple green tea appreciation. Have a piece of sweet cake to kick-start, rotate the bowl of green tea in your hands two rounds clockwise, drink it in 3 and half gulps, rotate the bowl two rounds anti-clockwise.

After that, we pitted our skills at calligraphy. It was great fun seeing the Swedes have a hand at writing Chinese (or Japanese) and honestly, some of them weren't too bad! Almost as good as mine ... haha ... of course, I sucked at it. I wrote "LOVE".

The grand finale to this trip was a lavish dinner complete with geisha entertainment on our last day in Kyoto. What an art, being a geisha! A great trip through and through - shopping was amazing too ... love the tender, loving, care the Japanese put into presenting their goods so beautifully! And the handicrafts are just so irresistible. No doubt, I'll be back for more.

But now, I'm here ... waiting to jump on the delayed flight to Chengdu.

Pictures later - combo of Cairo, Kyoto and Chengdu/Jiuzhaigou.

What Lights My Way?

Pleased Pt. 2

Didn't hit my quota of 10 posts per month! Argh!

Oh well, it's been a crazy month - May. But it's turning out to be well worth all the hardwork (and late, sleepless nights). Had a checkpoint with big boss today and he's really, really pleased with the findings. Absolutely one of the best meetings (if not the best) I've had with him since joining the company. Gee, the final hurdle - Kyoto presentation. Hopefully, all goes well there too and then I'll be off to a week or so in paradise.

Jiuzhaigou awaits.

{ And remembering Elvin's words ... "Our mental strength can help us accomplish many things and overcome many difficult situations." }

Answers ...

Ho ho ... my question's answered! Very pleased v(^.^)v

Hey Elvin, 2 thumbs up on your achievements so far! No easy feat :) People say the entertainment circle depletes one`s innocence. I know you`ll remain the same Elvin that chased chickens in the kampung or the lil imp that terrorised those Jurong shophouses :) So, what is your fondest childhood memory? What were your dreams and aspirations? Who are the people who inspire u?
- posted by huishi on 3/1/2007 11:38:58 PM

Elvin: Can't speak of achievements but doing my best, so thank you for the encouragement! Well, people also say growing up depletes one's innocence… and then the entertainment circle escalates it further right? Essentially, I think it depends on the individual to maintain a core of innocence and be as unaffected by the external world as possible. Yes, I would like to "stay the same" too, the "kampung kid", the "lil imp". My fondest childhood memory has to be terrorising those Jurong shophouses with my little sister and brother in our little BMX bicycles. I had different dreams and aspirations at different stages of my life; some of them were to become a lawyer, pilot, sailor, lecturer, to build a hotel, own a small island… My mother inspires me to be a man with strong values, a very dedicated primary school teacher inspired me to be determined to study hard, characters in and writers of my Literature books and texts inspire me to fight in the face of adversity ( the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frida Kahlo, some Asian and African writers etc.)…

The complete list of answers ...
[He's a dotty guy too! Ha ha. Hmm ... I can imagine how frustrated the person who edited his responses must be, changing all the 'u' to 'you', 'n' to 'and', '1' to 'want' ... heavily abbreviated text that is characteristic of Elvin's ... er ... writing style.]

Next Weekend In The Cards ...

(I'm a dork ... but this cute shot of Jesseca and Elvin is irresistible!}

Meet the cast of Kinship【手足】@ 惊喜500i Party!

Kinship【手足】, MediaCorp's 80-episode drama on the lies and discontent seething slowly beneath a family's apparent unity, begins telecast on June 19 at 7 pm. Now here's the chance to meet the main cast of the drama in person next Sunday at Bugis!

Date: Sunday, June 3
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Bugis Junction

Cast: Elvin Ng, Jesseca Liu, Eelyn Kok, Yao Wen Long, Xiang Yun, Cynthia Koh, Ann Kok, Chen Tian Wen, Lin Mei Jiao, Darren Lim, Alan Tern

惊喜500i Party ：与【手足】同乐

新剧【手足】的主要演员 : 黄俊雄、刘芷绚、郭蕙雯、姚玟隆、向云、许美珍、郭淑娴、陈天文、林梅娇、林明伦、唐育书 : 将在惊喜500i PARTY! 与影友同乐！【手足】是新传媒2007年8频道的年度大戏，全长80集，即将在6月19日隆重登场，敬请期待！

日期：6月3日, 星期日
时间：下午3时
地点：白沙浮广场 Bugis Junction

xin.sg feature : 寻找 黄俊雄

Happy Birthday Fauzie!

How apt of today's strip. Hope you got my SMS this morning ... enjoy Thailand! See you back home soon :)

Cairo Quikpost

Good morning! Haha ... I would probably have woken up at around this time if I were in Singapore, but now that I'm in Cairo, I've not gone to bed yet, thanks to this 1-hour wireless Internet card that I bought so that I can send some document back to office. But weirdly, this is one of those rare moments when I think my job isn't so bad actually (despite 12-hour fieldwork days here in Cairo!). I'll tell you why.

1) The city is beautiful. Even the hotel we are staying in is very nice. It is by no means the best in the city, but it's got a gorgeous compound.

2) The people are beautiful. They really are very charming! The women are pretty and many of the guys are very good-looking. Even our hotel waiters are cute (though they could be from elsewhere in the region).

3) We have a maniac driver taking us to our second fieldwork everyday (we do two a day). It's scary but exhilarating at the same time. I sort of relish it, especially with the window open and my face gets a good beating from the sandy wind.

4) People have breakfast at 1 pm, lunch at 5 pm and dinner at 10 pm. Imagine the horror on our local contact's face when we wanted to go for lunch at 12 noon. Haha. So today, we had lunch at 4 pm, to live like the Cairenes do. We had this popular east-west fusion of Egyptian fare called the koshary.

5) Government workers go to the office at 10 am, have breakfast, chit chat, type some documents and go home at 2.30 pm. Imagine the swell of envy in us when we heard that!

6) Everyone we meet seems so happy; laughter is quick. But our local contact says, that's laughing in the face of adversity. Everyone has their own problems that they keep inside while they put on a brave front with smile and laughter as shields. We should all take a leaf out of their book. The day will be better if we keep an optimistic outlook, like having sheesha in an open-air cafe nestled in the sprawling low-cost housing area for Cairo's poor. I'm quite affected by this respondent from the lower class that we had today. A bright kid, just poor. I hope his plight will not be like that of those charming kids in Karachi who get stuck in the rut they've been born into for life.

Will post pictures another day.

Karachi Doors

Karachi is a city of doors. Having been here only a mere 5 days, I have experienced tremendous amount of generosity from the people of Karachi. From the very rich to the very poor, doors are always open to us. People welcome us with the most sincere albeit shy smiles. Drinks and food were always served, as though by magic because some of our appointments were very last minute. Yet, doors of opportunities seem to be closed to the poor. The different classes don't mix, so the rich keep opening the right doors of fortune, while the poor get stuck in the rut forever. A sad fact of life that is also true for many other developing nations.

Two instances brought me close to tears. Both are of the so-called C or D class of Karachi. This means very poor folks. Yet when we visited, they were generous in their limited means to make us feel welcome and well taken care of. The man in this picture (top left) served us some local snacks and tea from this tiny teashop (which is funnily called a hotel here), at which our local guide panicked and told us to NEVER accept food from anyone from that area. Even Karachiites will not eat there. She must mean Karachiites like her who hail from good families that live in spacious double-storey bungalows.

All the time we were there in the C-class area, we were constantly chided for venturing two houses too far because our safety became of paramount concern. We felt perfectly at home! Sure, there were curious stares, some kids wanted to have their photos taken, there were friendly greetings which we couldn't, of course, understand. I observed that it was really our guide who was uncomfortable with all that attention, which I cannot blame her for, for many of the Pakistani women we've encountered are careful about being looked at or photographed.

The other impressionable instance was this family that lived in a small house, all 7 of them. This is a family of daughters (4 or 5) and only one son. This is consistent with Pakistan's population census - there are more women here than men, although we only see men on the streets, seriously! This was a last minute appointment. When we arrived, I was impressed at how neat the place was in spite of its lack of space. I was deeply touched when their little boy turned up with bottles of chilled Pepsi, which his mom promptly served us. This poor family got us Pepsi, cold ones, which must be such a luxury in this hot climate!

Today, there's a strike going on in conjunction with the arrival of the Chief Justice in Karachi. They are protesting power troubles. Damn right, that's a problem that really needs fixed. Everyday we're here, there are blackouts. According to the locals, power outtages in the city area can last up to hours, but it takes days before the elecricity comes back on in the rural areas. In this 38-degree hot weather, that must be seriously frustrating. Coming from a childhood where power outtages were quite common (though definitely not as frequent as here in Karachi), I can really appreciate the inconvenience.

Well, so thanks to the strike, I am holed in this hotel room, trying to get some work done but I thought I'd do an update first. We move on to Cairo tomorrow. Sigh, what a pity we see a day less of Karachi, and alas, no opportunity for shopping. Maybe I'll return someday, Isya'Allah (a Muslim expression meaning by God's grace)