thE gEOgrAphicAlly blind

Depression, Suicides and Schizophrenics

2011-12-29T21:22:00.000+08:00

I attended a health talk this afternoon about why people commit suicide or have suicidal thoughts. The speaker was the HSE (health, safety and environment) manager from the company I'm working with.

He said that the top reason that people commit suicide is because of depression. And that in terms of religion, the Muslims have the lowest suicide rate as oppose to Buddhists, being at the top of the chart.

People who actually have the courage to commit suicide must have somehow (either consciously or unconsciously) believed in God, and therefore the afterlife. I don't think anyone would (or could) kill themselves knowing there will be nothingness after death.

I couldn't help noticing that the Buddhists believe in karma - the relationship between cause and effect - and reincarnation. Whereas from Christianity and Islamic point of view, suicide is considered one of the greatest or serious sin.

I believe everyone is depressed (or mentally-ill) in their own way. But to gather enough courage to take your own life, that would take more than that. This somehow reminded me of a book I once read quite some time ago. (I was very young then and couldn't quite grasp the essence of it. I always think re-reading old books would give an entirely new experience.) There was an excerpt from the book that I really liked, extracted as below:

A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad. The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, and which the magician had not managed to poison. The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health. The policemen and the inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water and they thought the king's decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them. When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. They marched on the castle and called for his abdication. In despair, the king prepared to step down from the throne but the queen stopped him, saying: "Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then, we will be the same as them." And that was what they did: the king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense. Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country? The country continued to live in peace, although its inhabitants behaved very differently from those of its neighbors. And the king was able to govern until the end of his days.

P.S. There was free lunch after the talk. I wonder how many people attended for the lunch and how many for the understanding on suicidal thoughts.

那些年，我们一起追的女孩。You Are The Apple of My Eye

2011-12-25T16:16:00.003+08:00

“成長，最残酷的部分就是，女孩子永遠比同年齡的男孩子成熟。“
(The most cruel thing about growing up, is that the girls usually mature earlier than the boys.)

It was not the type of movie that melt your heart, nor the type that feed on your tears. But it somehow managed to leave a profound impression to the audience. After the movie ended and the credits rolled, you remained at your seat, reminiscing about your first love, your young stupidity, your cowardice, things you should've done that just might change something.

My male friends told me they can very much relate themselves to the movie - the love that slipped (那些年错过的爱情).

Ke Jing-Teng (柯景騰) was a prankster and a mischievous student. He was caught masturbating during class and therefore was punished to be seated in front of Shen Jia-Yi (沈佳宜), a pretty girl famous of her outstanding academic achievement. They despise each other at the beginning but eventually developed mutual feelings for each other.

My First Pair of Contact Lens

2011-11-21T20:17:00.001+08:00

It felt like it was only yesterday when ShinTien persuaded me to try on contact lens.

It's the greatest invention ever, she used to tell me. But the mere thought of touching my eye balls totally freaked me out. Until one day I was unable to resist the temptation any longer, I bought my first pair of contact lense.

The shop assistant could immediately tell I was new to this - a pair of spectacles and the hesitation must had given me away. He offered to help me put them on. I tried for less than 5 minutes then I gave up, couldn't bring my fingers anywhere near my eyes.

That time I was studying in UPM and Tien and I were housemates. I brought my first pair of contact lens home and told her I couldn't do it. I could never do it.

It was easy and all I need was a little getting used to, she said.

After spending more than 1 hour standing beside the sink, parting my eye lids with my fingertips, trying hard not to blink, forcing myself to put the contact in, hypnotizing myself that there was nothing to be afraid of - I finally did it.

It was the strangest feeling. When you're short-sighted and wearing glasses, you can only see clearly through the glasses. If you look up or down or sideways outside the frame, you feel as if you're looking at a smeared painting. But in contacts, you see everything clearly even through the corner of your eyes. And most importantly, I touched my nose and there was nothing on it. You see, I started wearing glasses since I was 10 and I had already forgotten what it was like to have perfect eye-sight.

Now I take less than 5 minutes to clean and put on my contacts every morning. In fact, I couldn't live without them.

Once I had to travel as early as 4 in the morning to Kelantan. Mr. Chin said that I should just wear glasses. I told him walking on the streets without my contacts was like going shopping without panties - it was more comfortable but it just felt wrong.

My Best Friend's Wedding

2011-10-23T22:24:00.001+08:00

Not the movie by Julia Roberts. Indeed, my best friend (whom I know for 13 years) just got married last week.

Audrey and Teck Guan on the lunch reception.

When Audrey made the announcement the first thing that crossed my mind was, so Audrey's the first one among us. It didn't occurred to me as a surprise or anything shocking. That was when I realized how grown up we are.

This was not the first time I attended a wedding of someone my age or younger. But attending as the bridesmaid and her best friend was totally a different feeling. Driving down the roads in Seremban was another nostalgic experience. And meeting Mr. Foo, our Form 6 class teacher was another bonus.

If growing up means not having the rights to do anything childish, we did it anyway.

At the lunch reception.

From left: ShinYin, Xiang, ST, me, Boonlee, Ze, Snowfly.

I wondered who would be the next among us. And how old will we be by then. I don't know about the others but the very thought of getting married (and having kids) seem like a strange idea to me.

Most of us brought boyfriends.

The Georgians in the everlasting Murali pose.

Mr. Foo and the Georgians.

The bridesmaid at the church wedding.

MUAKSSSSS!

Walking down the aisle in a church was my idea of a romantic wedding which I had always dreamed of. But when I did attended one, I thought it was more spiritual than romantic. I'm not a christian so I will never have a chance of having a church wedding of my own. I guess walking the aisle as a bridesmaid, in a way, fulfilled my childhood dream. Well, another strike-through on my list of things-to-do-before-I-die. ;)

No, I wasn't sad.

The bride and us.

We spent a night at ShinYin's after the church wedding ceremony on Saturday (the lunch reception was on Sunday). There were 4 of us staying over - Wee Tze Yee and Kin Chew (her boyfriend), SukTeng and me. During our stay, ShinYin's mom apologized that she didn't have time to take us out to lunch and all. I told her, it's alright, we'll make ourselves at home. And I realized that I meant it. It didn't feel like I was staying at a friend's house - it felt like I was staying at home. We felt comfortable even when ShinYin's brother came to our room to take his stuff when we were lazing in bed. That is how close ShinYin and I are. :)

Preparing the door gifts for lunch reception on the next day.

The door gifts, ready and packed in boxes.

I must admit the door gifts were really creative. And oh, I tied the ribbons on all the wedding dresses.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

2011-06-11T18:29:00.000+08:00

"The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor- they never overlap, do they? See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of? Losing weight and looking like the poor." ~From Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger~

I had been procrastinating about reading this book for a very long time. It was actually an easy book to finish, considering the time I took while having a nine-to-five-job.

The story revealed the "darkness" of India, told from a first person's point of view. Balram Halwai, who was born in the "darkness", told his success story as an entrepreneur in the form of letters to Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China. Adiga was sarcastic, funny and dark at the same time. He addressed some issues (political, corruption, caste system etc) in an exaggerated (or maybe not) manner, which made me wonder if these are still happening at this moment (at some part I simply gasped in disbelief).

I've always enjoyed books about other nation's culture like Amy Tan's where she tells stories of American born Chinese, Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves: Return to their Roots. The White Tiger was not an exception - it was definitely an enjoyable read.

Affair

2011-06-04T20:32:00.000+08:00

We walked side by side, his hand around my waist. I couldn't stop thinking about the other important man in my life - my boyfriend.

We walked into a building and stopped by the elevator. His hand still around my waist. The elevator arrived and we walked in.

For some reason - I didn't know why - I stood on tiptoe and gave him a light kiss on his lips. He quickly held me refusing to let me go. I looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. I couldn't, I thought, I simply couldn't. I could feel his gaze burning on me, as if wanting to see right through me. I knew he wanted to kiss me, not a peck like just now but a real kiss - a long, tender kiss. I wouldn't allow him. I couldn't. I had only one thought in my mind, I won't betray my boyfriend.

And that was when I woke up.

A dream of an affair. I wonder why. Is that because I long for it? Some kind of secret fantasy of mine?

Team Building - The Aftermath

2011-06-04T18:29:00.000+08:00

When I was a high school kid I used to join these school camping trips. When separating us in groups, they usually put students of the same class in different groups so as to encourage us to mix around. I didn't like it at all. I was quite anti-social (still am) and I wasn't good at talking to strangers (still am not).

I recently joined a graduate team building organized by the company that I'm working with. No matter how I detested the idea of re-living my high school life in this form in particular - I felt that I was too old for it - it was compulsory to join.

I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it at all - in fact, at some time in some way, I actually did. Though I was often mocked of my childish behavior by my colleagues throughout the whole journey. I admit that I may have gotten a little excited sometimes but I'm actually a very matured being especially when it comes to work.

From previous experiences, I knew that my colleagues (of the same department) and I would most probably be in different groups when playing games or other team building activities. But I didn't mind it - I've grown out of it of course. I mean, I have to say that it was a good opportunity to be able to get to know my colleagues from other departments. I know that I'm the reserved type and it'd definitely take some time for me to open up to the others; and others to me. What I didn't expect was that there were still some people with the "high-school-behavior". The team builders would randomize us by asking us to form a circle and call out numbers (for example from 1 to 5) thus all the ones are in a group; twos in a group; threes in a group and so on and so forth. Two girls, I observed, they purposely stand in the positions so that there would be 4 persons in between them, thus they would be in the same group. I was amazed.

I think that since that you're already there, whether you like it or not, you should just play by the rules. Otherwise, what is the point of being there? I'm not saying that I'm doing the socializing thing really well, but at least I'm trying. I don't think that I've bonded with my colleagues and immediately become close friends with them. But at least I know their faces, I've talked to them before, I've did something with them before and hopefully I remember their names.

Krabi Trip Part III - Accommodation

2011-05-30T20:43:00.002+08:00

We stayed in J Hotel in Ao Nang beach for a good deal - 900 baht per night. We booked online via Booking.com. Due to our budget, it was the cheapest decent accommodation that we could find. It had both good and bad reviews but I decided to give it a try.

My first impression was that the actual room conditions show exactly as its website promised - clean, neat and the furniture looked new too.

Spacious.

Lying on the bed.

We discovered a LOT of mosquitoes hiding in the closet on the day before we leave. It was lucky they didn't come out to hunt.

I was extremely satisfied with the bathroom - really clean and well-maintained.

Not much of a view from the balcony but it was okay.

After settling down, time to plan for the activities. :D

The Dandelion

2011-05-25T21:06:00.000+08:00

This is a story that I've wrote a while back. I entered a contest and submitted it and didn't keep a copy for myself.. So I figured I'd just post it here to keep it as a remembrance.

Once upon a time, there was a dandelion. She was the happiest dandelion of all because she was very contented with what she had. She lived in the middle of a meadow which extended as far as the horizon went. That was her whole world. She had never been out of the meadow thus she had no idea what was out there. But it didn't matter. She didn't have the slight bit of interest to know anyway.

Every morning she woke up refreshed by the morning dew hanging on her florets. By day she watched the clouds passing by and observed how they transformed into all kinds of shapes. She counted the sheep that came feasting on the grass and be amused as the Australian Shepherd rushed the sheep to go home. By night she gazed at the stars and wondered if the stars were gazing at her as well. And before she went to sleep she smiled to herself and said, "This is how life should be."

One day, there came a little boy. The moment the dandelion set her eyes upon him, she knew immediately she had fallen in love. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. When he laughed she felt that she could listen to this sweet sound for the rest of her life. When he smiled she wished that the time would freeze and she could look at this face forever. The little boy came to the meadow every day. And every day, the dandelion hoped to catch his attention. But there was no way that little boy could notice a four-inch high dandelion. She watched him teased one of the sheep and played with the Australian Shepherd. She watched him ran around the meadow all day without any particular purpose then laughed as he gasped for breath. When night fell, she looked forward to seeing him the next day. And she thought, "This is how life should be."

Then one day, the little boy finally saw the dandelion. He bent over and examined her curiously. The dandelion thought her dream was, after all, becoming true. She felt a sharp pain and before she knew it, she was very far from the ground, held gently in the boy's hands. Her realization crept in - he plucked her from her stem! The little boy was smiling at her. A gush of wind brushed past her and suddenly, her seed parachutes went flying away. The little boy threw what was left of her on the ground and ran excitedly around the seed parachutes. The dandelion landed with a soft thud inaudible to the little boy's ears. She watched helplessly as he ran further and further away. She knew her life was coming to an end. She said to herself, "This is how life should be." She never regret loving that boy. That moment, that brief moment when he held her in his hands - that was the moment she would always remember.

The Chinese-Educated Me

2011-05-14T23:26:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: This post is entirely Tien-inspired, thus all credit (if any) shall go to her and her amazing blog.

If I were to have kids (not that I'm expecting any I assure you, neither am I getting married), I wouldn't know which type of school to send them to - national school (sekolah kebangsaan) or Chinese type national school (sekolah jenis kebangsaan). Mr. Chin said he would like his kids to learn to read and write Chinese. I'd think otherwise - Chinese is not an important language, English is. I told him that those who go to Chinese school like us struggle to learn to speak English fluently. He didn't agree, with an argument that he turned out fine, and that he managed to learn along the way.

But I remember how difficult it was for me to adapt when I moved to an English-speaking medium in secondary school. My big sister was concern about my English speaking ability thus insisted that I go to King George V Secondary School. She went through a lot to get me in, as it was considered as a good school which only the best students deserved. Lacking one A in my UPSR examination, I wasn't one of the best.

I finally got in though, after a few trips to the Education Ministry and getting a recommendation letter from the Minister of Education (my sister somehow knew him briefly). All of my classmates either speak Malay or English, both languages I was uncomfortable of. I was often mocked for my in-proficiency in English. There were a few incidents that I remember vividly - annoyingly vividly.

There was a conversation when my friend had asked me to tell her something (which I forgot), but I must had refused because I said "I don't tell you". She corrected me by saying it should be "I won't tell you". I didn't know that time that "won't" is a contraction of "will not".

There was another conversation when my friend had asked me how did I know of something (which I forgot), I said, "the teacher talked to us" but I actually meant "the teach told us". I forgot to use the word "told". These were only a few of many other embarrassing moments.

You'd probably think at the rate that I was going it could take a miracle for me to have a blog of my own with over 140 posts, in English. I would say three things helped me the most - movies, books and music. And of course a lot of practice with my friends.

I'm not saying that I never benefit from learning Chinese - there are certainly its advantages. I don't regret learning it. I appreciate the Chinese literature and some novels and Japanese manga translated in Chinese. But English is after all, an international language, which I use everyday especially in my job.

I suppose that language is easier to learn at younger age. It's ashamed that we Malaysians are exposed to multiple languages but we can never truly master any one of them.

Krabi Trip Part II - The Food

2011-05-14T19:53:00.005+08:00

Pancake

Yes this is the infamous pancake in Krabi town. It tasted somewhat like Malaysia's roti canai, only sweeter (with the condensed milk) and more crispy.

Yummy! Wished I had more.

We only ordered one pancake, but they provided us free tea some more. :)

The shop was located near the caveman traffic light.

It was a regret that we ordered only one piece. So we had another one the next morning near the place we stayed in Ao Nang Beach. But it wasn't the same.

It looked less mouth-watering than the one in Krabi town - it tasted exactly as it looked.

This one was with sardine.

Krabi Town Night Market

The night market that we went to was a smaller one. Seemed that there was a bigger one during weekends. But this one, was sufficient for our hunt for food.

The night market, very much similar to the pasar malam in Malaysia.

Corn - Mr. Chin's favourite.

Mango with glutinous rice - the infamous Thai food.

Our dinner from the night market - pork knuckle, curry chicken with rice.

Aree Ba Ba Thai Restaurant

I read a review on this restaurant from a blog so we decided to try it out. Nothing to shout about really - just a place to eat when you have no better choices.

The menu.

A bamboo environment - very tourist.

How is a Thai meal complete without the coconut? Not my favourite though.

How is a Thai meal complete without the tomyam? Beef tomyam, in this case.

My favourite egg, with chicken - my choice of course. Weird combination I know, and this was not related to Thai food in any way.

All kinds of mushrooms.

Our dinner.

McDonald's in Ao Nang

A meal in McD was necessary, to fulfill my ambition of trying out all McDs all over the world. The McD in Ao Nang was like a landmark for the tourists because it was easily-spotted and well-known.

Fries with cheese - something we don't have here. Reminded me of fries with chili flakes we once had, and which I prefer.

The Samurai Pork burger - how rare for us Malaysians.

Fish fillet burger - it was our intention to order those that we couldn't find in Malaysia McD. And that was all.

The breakfast sets were exactly the same.

A picture with Ronald in "sawatika" was definitely a must.

The Last Breakfast

We stayed in J Hotel in Ao Nang which was more like a guest house actually. We had our breakfast in the hotel on our last day as it was raining and we couldn't really get out.

Breakfasts came with fruits.

Mr. Chin's croissant was hot and yummy.

This was mine. My first bacon in my life, believe it or not.

Drinks

I didn't know what was the normal price for Heineken in Malaysia but I supposed in Thailand it should be cheaper. Thus Mr. Chin bought this.

The mineral water bottle that my hotel provided looked like those of car battery water. Really, at first we didn't dare drink it, but we didn't want to buy new ones either, so in the end we did. Well, we survived.

Krabi Trip Part I - Chicks at the Beach

2011-04-02T22:30:00.000+08:00

This post shall be solely pictures with little descriptions, as pictures can tell a thousand words. ;)

First of all, of course it has to be me!

On Bamboo Island - first stop of our island hopping trip - love her yellow bikini.

There was really nothing much to do on Bamboo Island beside looking at the hot chicks. Check out the white guy beside her, doing the same thing.

Saw the same yellow bikini girl on Maya Beach (that's the place the filmed Leonardo Dicaprio's "The Beach").

Still on Maya Bay.

Yup there was basically nothing much to do on Maya Bay.

Maya Bay.

Still Maya Bay.

Asian in white bikini.

Topless chick on Maya Bay!

This one was on the same trip with us.

Spotted another white bikini while having lunch on Phi Phi Don Island.

And last but not least, the ultimate.

The Versatile Blogger Award

2011-03-29T21:09:00.002+08:00

I am entrusted by one of my best-est friends, ShinTien to write this particular post. She has a blog that is awesome and inspiring which I follow closely without fail. She had passed on this Versatile Blogger Award to me and of course I accept this award! I hereby proclaim that I am, a versatile blogger (no matter how many of you disagree with that).

And I shall follow the rules of this award which are to:

Thank the person who awarded you and link to his/her blog.
Tell 7 random facts about yourself.
Pass the award to 15 new found bloggers.
Contact each blogger you want to pass the award on to, and let them know you’ve done so, and let the giver of your award know you accept it.

So, here goes. Seven random facts about myself:

Coal Ball (top) and Miao Miao (bottom). They're good friends.

I am addicted to this soft toy of mine, whom I call "Coal Ball". I love him to bits. I can't sleep well without him at night. There was one night I made a last minute decision to sleep over at a friend's house, and I couldn't sleep well at all! I kept having this sense of insecurity about the room, the bed, the blanket etc. It was also partly due to the fact that I didn't get to wear comfortable pajamas, but yeah.
Sometimes I can't stand slowpokes. I simply can't.
I am wearing a green colour pajamas that my mom tailored for me. And both my nephews have the exact same piece, just different size.
I am the most emotional creature I've ever met. I can get excited this minute, depressed the next. And I am easily provoked, especially when it comes to driving on the road.
I am able to withstand hot weather more than cold weather. I would rather sleep without fan or air-conditioning the whole night, than to have a temperature of one degree lower than I am used to.
I love blogging, like a lot. But my blog is not exactly frequently-maintained, I would say. The most significant reason is I tend to run out of ideas on what to write. (Refer to Tien's post on how to cope with that here.) And when that happens, I just let it be. I didn't want to force something out of me because when I do, the posts usually seem rough. My blog is suppose to be my journal, somewhere I turn to in the virtual world when I have something to say (regardless of how many people will be reading them). And when I look back, I will be reminded of some feelings that I once had, some things that I did, some people that I knew (I am a very forgetful person).
I just came back from a vacation in Krabi, Thailand and I think Malaysia has better beaches than that.

There, I've stated seven random facts about myself at last. It's certainly more difficult than I thought. Now I'm going to pass this award to my fellow blogger friends:

Right, I can only come up with 5 blogger friends. But who cares! Congratulations ya'll for winning! :D

Day 9: Hangzhou - Malaysia

2011-03-19T23:28:00.001+08:00

Having to leave Hangzhou, China was a depressing thing - that meant back to reality and a nine-to-five life. We left the youth hostel in the morning to catch our afternoon flight back to Malaysia. We called a cab through the youth hostel, charging us RMB120 flat rate. It was RMB20 more than the metered cab that we took the night we reached Hangzhou. We figured it was worth it to pay up to avoid the risk of not being able to catch a cab by ourselves.

A few pictures while waiting for the cab...

The entrance of the hostel.

Me all packed up, refusing to face the camera because of my panda eyes.

Reaching the airport on time, we couldn't decide whether to have KFC or McD. So we had both. :P

Tomato ketchup in Chinese, how cute.

And they didn't have chili sauce in the fast food restaurants in China - can you believe it? When I asked for chili sauce they gave me those Chinese style spicy sauce with garlic. How can one have their fries dipped into those?

Very much enjoying his meal.

KFC chicken burger.

Fast food in China, is a luxurious thing.

Chicken burger in McD.

The reason I didn't order any pork burger - I couldn't even if I want to. There were no pork burgers available for lunch, and we missed the breakfast time. :(

Check out the number of pandas in the waiting area.

Didn't buy one because it was expensive, and my bed is already full.

Label Me

2011-03-01T21:09:00.000+08:00

Life is always full of choices. But at times your choices are limited. I'm sure you often come across a situation where you are forced to take on a task which you don't feel like it at all. At this point it all comes down to choices.

One, you reject the responsibility and push it to somebody else with the most relevant excuse you can think of (which is always the lamest excuse one can possibly find). The consequences, you will be labeled as "lazy", "anti-social", "arrogant" etc.

Two, you take on the task anyway and decide to make it as simple as possible to minimize your work so that you can concentrate on more important things.

If you don't mess it up, all will be fine. People whom you service get what they want and if some things are not good enough or they're not satisfied with it, they give you "advices" and "suggestions" (read, complaints) to make it better next time. Some (a very small percentage) who appreciate your effort send you a thank you email.

If you somehow mess it up, hell you will be blamed like never before - it will be your whole damn fault. Even a mere two hours delay - because you need to settle some more important things first - will get you labeled as "irresponsible" and "not doing her job". Even if you say OK you're going to do this right now and you just need say, 5 minutes to prepare whatever you need and you're going to start right after 5 minutes. NO! The damage is done, what's labeled is labeled. It's like virginity - once you lose it, it's gone forever.

Whatever you do or don't do, when your name appears in the candidate list for this meaningful, important task, it's going to be a very eventful time of your life. Like I said it all comes down to choices. Do you choose "lazy", "anti-social" and "arrogant" or do you prefer receiving "advices" and "suggestions"? If these two are still not good enough, you still have "irresponsible" and "not doing her job". It's your call ;)

Day 8: Hangzhou (Part II)

2011-02-28T22:40:00.000+08:00

Getting Around in Town

It's very easy and straight forward when traveling around in Hangzhou (when you can speak and read Chinese) - you just have to follow the instructions. We traveled by bus all the time because it was so convenient. At every bus stand there would be signboards telling you the buses that stop there and where they go to. We took pictures of the bus schedule to plan our journey. And of course, having a map to be used as reference would help too.

The buses with codes starting with "Y" which means 游 (you) would take you to all the tourist spots.

In some bus stops near town area it indicated the distance of each bus from that particular stop. We were very impressed by this and wondered when will Malaysia be able to catch up.

Bus numbered 25 is just 500 meters away from this stop.

Three Pools Mirroring The Moon 三潭印月

Also known as Lesser Yingzhou Isle, it is a famous spot to go to during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when it is a full moon. The three stone miniature pagodas standing in the lake off the isle are presumably the best place for moon viewing. These pagodas produce many magic views of the moon in the water, making people nostalgic and reminiscent of the past.

Its inside lake - which is said to be the lake within a lake (湖中有岛，岛中有湖) - is crisscrossed with many zigzagging bridges, a causeway that expands from west to east, the lights and clouds reflection in the water can be seen with flowers in blossom. (Reference site: Tours in Hangzhou)

Boat transfer to Three Pools Mirroring The Moon RMB45.

One step at a time.

It said that Mao Zedong came to the isle and left this inscription.

Scenery on the isle.

Su Xiaoxiao's tomb, located on the corner of Xiling Bridge and Bai Causeway.

Looks like a painting.

The Impression of West Lake 印象西湖

The famous stage play produced and directed by Zhang YiMou, original score by musician Kitaro, and theme song sang by famous Chinese singer Zhang Liangyin. The set was near YueFei Temple, on West Lake. The play was staged entirely upon the lake itself. A stage had been built 3 cm under the water surface and it looked as if the actors were walking on water as they moved. The backdrop, it was the surrounding of the West Lake itself. And using lighting creatively, the most beautiful and breathtaking scenes were being presented. (Reference site: crienglish)

The play was based on a legendary love story "The Legend of The White Snake" (read about the story here). It was a sad ending and it brought tears to my eyes. This is certainly a performance that I feel should never be missed if you're visiting Hangzhou. Even if we had a tough and unpleasant experience getting the expensive tickets, I felt it was all worth it.

The crowd.

The two birds symbolized the lovers who was separated by destiny.

The bridge rised where the lovers would be reunited.

Check out the beautiful lighting.

The main actor.

This scene really touched me. It was all pitch black and the only thing we saw was the actor. He was separated with his love. It was sad and lonely.

The birds.

The backdrop.

Did I fail to mention how cold it was? The play was in the open, for God's sake! There were people who didn't wear enough clothes renting for winter jacket at the entrance of the play - can you imagine? Before the play began I couldn't stand the cold so I went into KFC and bought a cup of hot Milo which cost me RMB6. I was like, whatever - was totally willing to pay a fortune for something that could warm me up. Thank goodness during the play I didn't remember feeling anything as I was too mesmerized. After the play, I bought another two cups of hot Milo and insisted that we take a cab back to the hostel (instead of walking back as the original plan).

Park Chul Hair Dresser

2011-02-20T20:59:00.000+08:00

I used to go to Oh Jun Hair Salon - before they moved to the new place, before I feel the hair stylist cum owner, Oh Jun cuts and perms my hair in a rush because of the long queue, before he charges me a fortune.

I've discovered a new salon now - Park Chul Hair Dresser. It's in the old place that Oh Jun rented. It's run by a Korean lady who speak English that I can't quite catch. But thank goodness there is an Indonesian lady whom I speak Malay to, and she would translate to the Korean lady - yup, she can speak Korean. She told me she has already been in Malaysia working for almost 10 years, so are the other Korean ladies there.

It was the same experience I had during my first visit to Oh Jun's - friendly owner and employees, good and thoughtful services. I think all the Koreans like to have curly hair. Like the first time I went to Oh Jun, she also suggested that I do rebonding at the roots and curl at the bottom. I refused and told her I already tried that.

You know when you do rebonding you have to warm a pair of steel plates (to about 180 degree Celcius) and use it to clip and pull small parts of your hair repetitively, so as to make them straight and shiny. This is normally done after you've washed off the straightening chemicals and you will have to blow dry your hair before this procedure. If this procedure is performed when your hair is still moist, it might damage your hair. And when the water evaporate to form steam - especially at the area close to your scalp - at 180 degree C it could burn your scalp slightly and you will feel stinging pain for days after the perm, which is why I never want to step foot in the salon until I really have to.

In Park Chul Hair Dresser, they know better than that. When they use the hot clip on my hair the Indonesian lady would blow away the steam formed so it wouldn't hurt my scalp. For the first time having a perm, I didn't feel a thing at all. How relieved I was!

This is how I look after the cut and rebonding.

I thought she cut my fringe too short. But I changed my mind after a few days. :)

The price, was not much different from Oh Jun's - equally expensive!!! I was charged RM200. Well I guess one have to pay for the service. And I was given a card which I can claim for a hair manicure treatment after 5 times of perm or colour services, and a hair skin scaling and face massage after 7 times of cut hair services. Better than nothing.

Park Chul Hair Dresser
H/P: 016-9197249
Lot B13-2 Jalan Ampang Utama
2/2 One Ampang Avenue
Jalan Ampang
68000 Ampang
(near to Ampang Point)

I want to be in love =)

2011-02-16T21:04:00.001+08:00

我们都是单翅膀的天使，只有拥抱才能飞翔
(We are all angels with a single wing, the only way we can fly is to hold on to each other)
~ Quoted from a song by Gary Chaw ~

I always feel incredibly bad - or rather, guilty - when single people tell me about how they long to be in a relationship, how they long to find the one. And they'd ask me how I met Mr. Chin, how did it started, what romantic things he did to me etc. I'd feel so reluctant to tell them and I'd try so hard to camouflage my happiness. I feel as if I don't deserve him.

They end by saying, "Oh how nice to have a boyfriend/girlfriend. You must be so happy." or "If I have a boyfriend/girlfriend now I wouldn't stay at home chatting on MSN." or "I wonder when will I find mine." I will then tell them to leave it to fate and love will eventually find them, while hoping what I said is true. And I feel more and more guilty simply for being in a relationship.

Some would ask me for tips to get a girl. I always help as far as I could - providing advices, introducing girls to them. Some broke my heart by being hopelessly conservative i.e. desperately wanting to get married for the sake of having children. Some disappointed me by changing their mind every 5 minutes. To date I have not successfully match make any couples.

Sometimes I have to tell them the painful truth - you don't have a sense of humour, you should lose some weight, you are not sensitive enough. Much that I hate to admit, the world is a cruel place. The first impression i.e. the look, is one major thing when it comes to opposite sex attraction.

Being 27 years old this year, the pressure is starting to build up. However desperate we are, it can't really be helped. The one who want me isn't the one I want, the one whom I want doesn't want me. Love is as complicated as it can be. It hurts me when listening to stories like this. I laugh and scold with my girlfriends when they tell me about jerks they met, those who broke their heart, those assholes and losers.

My mom always say you will never know who is your till-death-do-us-part until you're dying on your deathbed. I think it's very true. I sincerely hope all my friends will find their very own happily ever after.

P.S. Recently a friend was happily attached. Congratulations to him and his sweet girlfriend. :)

Day 8: Hangzhou (Part I)

2011-02-15T16:32:00.000+08:00

We woke up early in the morning to claim our free breakfasts and refund from the tourist information centre (refer to my previous post to find out why). It was our second last day in Hangzhou already and we couldn't afford to have anymore delays. We were determined to cover as many places as possible. Crossing the Bai Causeway 白堤, we came upon Gu Mountains 孤山.

Hangzhou History Museum 杭州历史博物馆

The best thing about this place, is that the admission was free. Other than that, I really couldn't appreciate the artifacts that were being displayed. I mean, they all looked the same to me. I couldn't differentiate those from the china I have at home.

Blue Porcelain Vase 青瓷瓶.

The bowl I used at home wouldn't look less valuable than this - my opinion.

Mr. Chin looking bored.

World view of West Lake 西湖天下景

Xiling Seal Engravers' Society 西冷印社

Xiling Seal Engravers' Society 西冷印社 is a well-known academic society majors in studying inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets. Currently, there are plenty of valuable inscriptions and stone carvings in the society dating back 1940 years to the Eastern Han Dynasty. The society is also a beautiful traditional garden that creates a serene, agreeable atmosphere mingling scenery with art. (Reference site: China Connection Tours.) Admission was also free.

With a smile, hundreds of worries shall be forgotten 一笑百虑忘.

A beautiful garden indeed.

YueFei Temple 岳王庙

YueFei was a famous Chinese patriot and a military general in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the country was under attack by the Jurchen. The capital city, Kaifeng had been taken over and Emperor Qinzong had been captured. YueFei fought a long campaign against the invading army in an effort to retake the north of the country. Just when he was threatening to attack and retake Kaifeng, corrupted officials advised Emperor Gaozong to recall YueFei to the capital and sue for peace with the Jurchen. Fearing that a defeat at Kaifeng might cause the Jurchen to release Qinzong, threatening his claim to the throne, the emperor followed their advice. Yue Fei was ordered to return twelve times in the form of twelve gold plaques. He was finally killed in the prison. (Reference from Wikipedia.)

Two pillars at the entrance of the temple with engraves of lines from a poem that YueFei wrote:

八千里路云和月

五十功名尘与土

壮怀激烈

I used to read this poem in school when I was young.

National hero 民族英雄.

满江红 was the poem YueFei wrote expressing his emotions when he was forced to give up defeating the Jurchen. He knew he had to die being framed with crimes he didn't commit.

The statues of the corrupted government officials who framed YueFei were made to kneel before his tomb. There was a signboard saying "do not spit".

Killed by YueFei.

Mr. Chin saying hi to YueFei.

Asian Horror Movies

2011-02-08T15:43:00.002+08:00

Being a fan of horror movies - especially those of Japanese, Korean and Thai - discovering this website was the best thing that ever happened. Asian Horror Movies is a website with thousands of Japanese, Korean, Thai, Hongkie and Indonesian horror movies to choose from. And it allows you to watch it online without needing to download anything. Though you need to wait for it to buffer but it's pretty fast if you have a good internet connection.

For some of the movies, the player sucks. The others, the player is good enough. All depends on your luck. Currently watching Phobia (2008) and the player is a good one. :)

My Purpose In Life

2011-02-07T00:15:00.006+08:00

I've recently read ShinTien's blog post about one's purpose in life. I've cut and paste the article here:

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a wise friend which revolved around the big question: “What is your purpose in life?”

If asked this question a few years ago, I would have quickly related the answer to be somewhat religious. And being a non-religious person, I was under the impression that I could never be able to give a satisfactory answer. True enough, I did not know the answer. I was so eager to give the right answer that my mind went blank thinking of one. I was intimidated by the question.

When faced with the same question once again a few days ago, I gave it a little thought and suddenly had a eureka moment. Right then and there. I came to the realisation that this question has no right answer, it’s really a question of opinion. I said smiling, “I know it’s a little vague, but my purpose in life is to be happy.”

My friend assured me that my answer was not vague at all. In fact she thought it was very specific. We discussed further and I arrived at some interesting conclusions about myself. Now that I know what my purpose in life is, I started to think about ways in which I could live my life, driven by that specific purpose.

We both acknowledged that the state of being happy is highly subjective to every individual, life situation and most importantly – timing. In my opinion, I will truly be happy when I have contentment in life. In order to be contented, I need to pursue all my “wants” to come to the stage where I could finally say “I am happy now.” Of course I cannot deny the complication of not knowing what I want. I might think I want something, but I wouldn’t really know until I got it. Agree?

Instead of pondering on my doubts, I decided to put things in action now. Well because life is short and I am not there yet! At the present moment, I think I will be happy if I can graduate by year 2012 and start living a life that I enjoy. Well, what kind of life would I enjoy? That’s another story for another post

For now, I should focus to make this work. When come 2012, I will decide again if I am truly happy or….plan something else. I shall keep doing this until I find contentment in life. This may take me a few years or a lifetime (let’s hope it’s not the latter…). Then, I can be happy.

So tell me, what is your purpose in life…?

I used to asked myself the same question over and over again, in my high school years. There was once I felt really melancholic (I blame myself for being a typical piscean) that I started doubting the existence of the whole universe. I thought that it was pointless that the world existed - the whole damn world. I questioned the existence of God (if there ever was one) and his intentions. I believed that he created the world to watch the sufferings of mankind.

I was about 17 and at that age, thoughts come and go. Backstreet Boys, Jay Chou and Japanese drama series soon occupied my mind. And as I grew older, I realized that the purpose in life can't be given to you by others - you have to define it yourself. I have found mine - to enjoy life.

The last thing I want, is to be tied up to my career. My career, is merely a stepping stone to earn me an ability to enjoy life. I want to be able to buy the things I like, to go to places I like, to do the things I like (blogging being one of them). And when the time comes, maybe I'll have a family. Why not?

And that, is my purpose in life. ;)

Day 7: Hangzhou

2011-02-06T00:15:00.001+08:00

LingYin Temple 灵隐寺

First day in Hangzhou must of course visit the infamous LingYin Temple.

LingYin Temple

The entrance ticket (RMB45) to LingYin Temple didn't include admission to the temple itself. But it was okay because we weren't very interested in the temple anyway. We paid to visit Chenghuang Temple 城隍庙 in Shanghai and we wouldn't repeat the same mistake. FeiLai Feng 飞来峰 (literally translated as "Flying Peak") was more worthy to visit.

Entrance ticket to LingYin Temple. We didn't notice there was a barely visible line saying "excluding admission to LingYin Temple". What a joke.

Near the entrance of LingYin Temple there was a tourist information centre which provided ticket-booking service for the Impression of West Lake 印象西湖 stage play, which I'll blog about later. We decided that it was more reliable to book our tickets here than through the hostel. So we did. The sales personnel helped us call to confirm the availability and we purchased two tickets for the night's show. We were given a receipt which we would use to claim two tickets at the ticket booth near West Lake. Satisfied with our decision, we proceeded with our sight-seeing.

FeiLai Feng 飞来峰

FeiLai Feng was made of limestone and was famous of its religious stone carvings. Legend has it that the peak was originally from India, but flew to Hangzhou overnight as a demonstration of the omnipotence of Buddhist law, thus the name "Flying Peak" (reference site: Wikipedia).

Stone carvings in FeiLai Feng.

The amount of details was amazing.

All the carvings looked ancient.

There were barriers of about 1 metre from the carvings to prevent tourists from touching them for better preservation. But still it was obvious some of the carvings had been destroyed.

Some wordings on the walls which I didn't understand.

Elder Li's Pagoda 理公塔

Elder Li's Pagoda 理公塔 was the largest stone pagoda which housed the ashes of HuiLi 慧理, the Indian monk who founded Lingyin. There were inscriptions of the Diamond Sutra and carvings of Buddha on the surface.

Endless numbers of stone carvings.

On the left showing the pilgrims of the Journey to the West.

YongFu Temple 永福寺.

The Chinese always like to have something on their roofs.

Some guy's tomb.

Somewhere deep in the clouds 云深处.

The Stones of Three Lifetimes 三生石

A Small Obstacle

In the evening we left LingYin Temple and headed to the West Lake for the Impression of West Lake stage play, only to find that we couldn't claim our tickets because there wasn't a show that night. You couldn't imagine how disappointed and pissed off and worried we were. We walked in silence across the Su Di Causeway 苏堤 back to our hostel. Upon reaching we were told that a guy tried to call us several times today. We expected it was from the personnel in the tourist information centre. We called him back and he informed us that there were no show that night (which we already knew), and that we had to bring back the receipt and exchange for another one to claim tickets for the show on the next day. We asked for a refund instead, as the receptionist at the hostel lobby had earlier persuaded us that it was safer and wiser to purchase the tickets from him directly. So yeah, we had to wake up early in the morning and take the trouble to travel back to LingYin Temple for our refund.

Lesson 6: For pre-book tickets, it's more convenient to buy from the hotel. Whatever happens, you still have someone to hold responsible to.

Accommodation

Back at the hostel, unpleasant things continued to happen. As promised, we were given a double bed room, which I hoped had better water heater facility. It had indeed worked fine. After our shower and meal I was knocked out, while Mr. Chin stayed awake reading a novel he borrowed from the bookshelf at the lobby.

That was our dinner - cheap and yummy. I liked it. Oh, and that was the book over there Mr. Chin was reading.

That was the bed. I should had taken the picture before messing up the bed.

Not too bad, eh?

My ultraman towel hanging there.

I woke from feeling Mr. Chin moving beside me. I watched in horror as he caught tiny, black bugs from underneath the pillow and put them into an empty container that we used to keep the sour plum.

"I'm going to complain," he said, still with a calm and steady voice. But from his face I could tell he was quite pissed off. I decided to leave this to him. He came back telling me to pack our stuff because we were moving back to the room we stayed on the previous night - the one with the malfunction heater.

Great, I thought, at least I had already taken my shower. I shouldn't need to worry about that until tomorrow night.

After settling in, the hostel personnel came knocking at our door to apologized and offered us free breakfasts the next morning. Well that was the least they could do, no?

The NeverEnding Story

2011-02-04T13:24:00.000+08:00

Watching The NeverEnding Story certainly brings back my childhood memories. The film was released in 1984, the year which I was born.

I remember I couldn't understand a word they said, not having English as a mother tongue. However I was deeply fascinated. I had watched it dozens of times as a kid. And today, I decided to relive this experience. This time, with a better understanding of the whole story.

The story was about this boy Bastian who decided he should listen to his dad and stop his imagination and daydreaming, before he got hold of a mysterious book which was "not safe" for him to read. Curious, he ventured into the world of Fantasia, which was a world of human fantasy. Fantasia was being consumed by the "nothingness" because human was losing hope. A child warrior, Atreyu was chosen to begin a quest to save Fantasia. Bastian soon realized that while he was following Atreyu's adventure, Atreyu was following his as well.

Day 6: Shanghai - Hangzhou

2011-01-29T21:00:00.004+08:00

Bye-bye Shanghai =(

On the 6th day we were to bid Shanghai farewell and board the 10:00 a.m. Gaotie "高铁" (bullet train) back to Hangzhou. The Gaotie ticket was much more expensive than Dongche "动车" - RMB82 per head (refer to my previous post for more information).

Waiting to board the train in 上海虹桥火车站 Shanghai Hongqiao train station.

Reached Hangzhou in 45 minutes.

Hello again, Hanghzou =)

Of course we can't miss dining in the infamous 外婆家 The Grandma's in Hangzhou. There was one branch near the Hangzhou train station. We decided to give it a try before taking the bus back to our hostel.

It was located on the 15th floor of a hotel building next to the train station. We didn't expect to walk into a high-standard-looking-restaurant and the waitresses were greeting us at the entrance saying "欢迎光临!" ("Welcome!"). By that time we had limited budget and I asked for the menu before making a mistake beyond repair.

As if reading my mind, she said with a smile, "菜单在里面可以看，我们的价钱很公道的。" ("You can view the menu inside, we give reasonable prices.") Feeling slightly embarrassed, we walked in, only to find......

... that the Chinese tea was free-flow, and FREE...

(I could tell that the tea leaves they used weren't those good ones. But yeah, it was manageable.)

... that the Dongpo pork 东坡肉 was reasonably-priced...

... that this 麻辣豆腐 spicy tofu cost RMB3...

... and the fish...

... and the fried don't-know-what...

... and the 葱油拌面 noodles with onion oil... all incredibly, reasonably priced!

We tour around West Lake after checking in the Hangzhou West Lake Youth Hostel 杭州过客青年旅社. I chose this hostel due to the good feedback and reviews from some websites that I browsed.

断桥 The broken bridge.

This was where Bai Suzhen and Xuxian met when they were reunited (refer to my previous post for the love story between Bai Suzhen and Xuxian).

Could see Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰塔 from there.

And the Chenghuang Temple 城隍庙.

Mr. Chin saying bye-bye.

Musical fountain 音乐喷泉. It was nothing to shout about.

Accommodation

So we called it a day and went back to the hostel room. Like I said, I had read so many positive reviews of this hostel before I came. And I didn't know we would be so unlucky.

First the hostel staff told us we couldn't have the double bed room that we wanted because they had to do some pest control for the only double bed room available, which was fine and we could understand as we made the booking quite last minute. However, he was being really helpful and said that we could stay in the twin bed room for the night and shift to the double bed room the next day. We agreed.

So we went back to the room and when we wanted to shower, there was no hot water. I couldn't imagine myself showering with the room temperature water when I was freezing my ass off. So we went to complain and the staff checked and reverted to us that the hot water was available in all the other rooms. The "water heater technician" came and said he couldn't find anything wrong with the water heater. The solution they gave us, was to use the bathroom in the double bed room which was undergoing pest control. We didn't like the idea very much as we didn't feel comfortable about it. We decided to wait for a while and see if the water heater would have mercy on us.

In the end the water heater did came to his senses. But the temperature fluctuated like hell! The whole showering process was like a roller coaster ride. Suddenly I was missing the warm bathroom in my brother's condo.

I literally jumped into the blanket after shower. I thought it'd be all over once we moved to the double bed room the next day. I was wrong.

And I'll love you, always.

2011-01-23T22:18:00.000+08:00

Distinctly remember during my childhood, my brother who is 10 years older, would ~~sing~~ shout this song to me all the time and forced me to listen. He was seriously obsessed with Bon Jovi. I hated this song then. But as I grew older I began to be able to appreciate this song - its powerful vocal, its meaningful lyrics. My favourite would be,

when he holds you close
when he pulls you near
when he says the words
you've been needing to hear
I wish I was him and those words were mine
to say to you till the end of time