So after many calls, hand wringing and head banging, I have finally booked flight tickets to Morocco from the 29th Dec to 8th Jan. My ass is sore from leaning back in my chair too much, my throat dry from shouting so much (sorry Cheam) and my head spinning from receiving too many heat-radiation-waves from my handphone after talking so much. But, it is done, and woo hoo Jia, Yihang, Paur, Cheam and I are off to Morocco - for better on worse since it is a rather motley sort of crew (I almost spelt it as 'crue', Kurt Cobain would be so proud of me).
First world problems for the win.
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21 degrees centigrade is the average daytime temperature in Morocco for Dec to Jan.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
SEA + China Part 1
Oh gosh I forgot that I had this lying about, was writing as I was actually travelling, just forgot to post it up.
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26th August - Singapore - Macau
Arrived in Macau near the evening, to realise how smoggy everything looked. The taxi driver brought us past the new Cotai Strip, and we saw the Venetian from the outside. After checking into the hotel, we took the hotel's shuttle into town and walked about a bit before having dinner. I did not like dinner. Throughout, I felt a bit nauseous as I smelt the water of the nearby fish tanks, splashing their dirty water everywhere. My appetite was not helped by the fact that I kept seeing a promfet fish swimming upside down, righted only when it drifted into the air pump - shooting it across the fish tank - and then flopping upside down only moment later.
After dinner we walked around Macao, looking for the ruins of St. Pauls. When we went there, we were disappointed to find it in darkness, usually it's lit up at night. However it turned out we had arrived on the first day of a special annual light show. After waiting around for about 20 minutes, the crowds came en masse, and the light show began. It was a trippy light show. Quite cool, but trippy, and not very useful at all. Then we had a meal of dandan/shuang pei lai.
The highlight of the night however was wandering into the various casinos. The first casino was the original one, by Stanley Lai, the . Then we went to . Finally we went to two random small crappy casinos, all because I was looking for those old school slots machines where you pull the lever. There were none. Instead everyone was playing baccarat, to my disappointment. No recognisable poker or blackjack. It was also smoky like hell. Then, we went back to the hotel for the night.
27th August - Macau - Zhuhai - Kaiping
Kaiping is home of the Diaolous, a UNESCO world heritage site. Diaolous are essentially houses-cum-fortresses built in Southern villages around the early 1900s, when the Qing Dynasty fell apart/the Warlord era began and there was no law and order and banditry was rife. It was funded by money sent from overseas relatives who had dispersed all over the world. This made for some really strange buildings, who had semi-Western features, in addition to being towering blocks amongst the other small village buildings. I'd first known about them when I watched Let the Bullets Fly earlier in the year.
We first had breakfast on the Macao side, and then crossed the border into China. Looking at the hordes of Chinese trying to cross the border into Macao, we thanked our stars that it wasn't us. The queue had at least over a thousand people squeezed in under the hot sun. Sometimes it's easy to forget that China just has so many damn people. Opportunists sold their places in the queue for sums of money.
We took the coach from Zhuhai to Kaiping and arrived there at about 1pm. At the coach station, we were met by a singular tout, and we ended up hiring him. He drove us to the incongruously named Milan Hotel, which was a nice place and waited for us as we checked in. Then he brought us to eat claypot rice, a speciality of the area, in a small local store. The first sight we visited, an entire diaolou village, was closed as they were apparently filming a new movie there. Still, we walked about and saw a small museum of the area.
The next sight we went to was another small cluster of diaolous in Zili Village. Amongst the diaolous there was the one they used as a facade for the movie, Let the Bullets Fly. My parents and I poked around, but after a while the heat started to get to us, plus the interiors of the diaolous were the same after a while. The next stop was the Li Garden, yet another cluster of diaolous by one extremely rich family. These diaolous had marble staircases and special tiles. Finally we went to a diaolou that was more like a fortress than a house. It was also the location of the last stand by 7 brothers/relatives during the Sino-Japanese War. Shell and bullet holes lined the exterior of the tower.
The driver the dropped us in the middle of town, to walk around a bit before we took a taxi nearby our hotel for dinner. Dinner again wasn't very good, and I remember not being particularly happy about it. Went to a supermarket on the way back to buy some bread and drinks for the next day.
28th August - Kaiping - Wuzhou - Guilin
Spent a total of 8 hours on board the bus(es), most of it sleeping. The first bus was a local bus. Felt frustrated when the driver, who smoked while driving, kept blasting his music while the guy behind me blasted his own music. It eventually turned out as expected: a volume war, with me caught between. Somehow I managed to sleep and woke up to find the driver had (naturally) won the battle. The bus kept making random stops to pick up villagers along the way who had flagged down the bus, charging arbitrary prices. The sole bathroom stop the bus made revealed old skool toilets with no doors. After 5 hours, we ended up in Wuzhou only to find that there was no bus to Yangshuo as planned. Instead we booked tickets for Guilin and then had lunch, where we ate a really tasty chicken soup.
Then we took the bus to Guilin, where I fell asleep again. Driving into Guilin, I was reminded of Hangzhou. For dinner none of us were really hungry, but due to sheer greed I ordered a ton of meat for the hotpot, partly due to the fact that I was thrilled that I could read the menu properly. As I ate, watching how annoyed my father looked, I kept thinking about the tumblr blog "this is why you're fat".
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26th August - Singapore - Macau
Arrived in Macau near the evening, to realise how smoggy everything looked. The taxi driver brought us past the new Cotai Strip, and we saw the Venetian from the outside. After checking into the hotel, we took the hotel's shuttle into town and walked about a bit before having dinner. I did not like dinner. Throughout, I felt a bit nauseous as I smelt the water of the nearby fish tanks, splashing their dirty water everywhere. My appetite was not helped by the fact that I kept seeing a promfet fish swimming upside down, righted only when it drifted into the air pump - shooting it across the fish tank - and then flopping upside down only moment later.
After dinner we walked around Macao, looking for the ruins of St. Pauls. When we went there, we were disappointed to find it in darkness, usually it's lit up at night. However it turned out we had arrived on the first day of a special annual light show. After waiting around for about 20 minutes, the crowds came en masse, and the light show began. It was a trippy light show. Quite cool, but trippy, and not very useful at all. Then we had a meal of dandan/shuang pei lai.
The highlight of the night however was wandering into the various casinos. The first casino was the original one, by Stanley Lai, the . Then we went to . Finally we went to two random small crappy casinos, all because I was looking for those old school slots machines where you pull the lever. There were none. Instead everyone was playing baccarat, to my disappointment. No recognisable poker or blackjack. It was also smoky like hell. Then, we went back to the hotel for the night.
27th August - Macau - Zhuhai - Kaiping
Kaiping is home of the Diaolous, a UNESCO world heritage site. Diaolous are essentially houses-cum-fortresses built in Southern villages around the early 1900s, when the Qing Dynasty fell apart/the Warlord era began and there was no law and order and banditry was rife. It was funded by money sent from overseas relatives who had dispersed all over the world. This made for some really strange buildings, who had semi-Western features, in addition to being towering blocks amongst the other small village buildings. I'd first known about them when I watched Let the Bullets Fly earlier in the year.
We first had breakfast on the Macao side, and then crossed the border into China. Looking at the hordes of Chinese trying to cross the border into Macao, we thanked our stars that it wasn't us. The queue had at least over a thousand people squeezed in under the hot sun. Sometimes it's easy to forget that China just has so many damn people. Opportunists sold their places in the queue for sums of money.
We took the coach from Zhuhai to Kaiping and arrived there at about 1pm. At the coach station, we were met by a singular tout, and we ended up hiring him. He drove us to the incongruously named Milan Hotel, which was a nice place and waited for us as we checked in. Then he brought us to eat claypot rice, a speciality of the area, in a small local store. The first sight we visited, an entire diaolou village, was closed as they were apparently filming a new movie there. Still, we walked about and saw a small museum of the area.
The next sight we went to was another small cluster of diaolous in Zili Village. Amongst the diaolous there was the one they used as a facade for the movie, Let the Bullets Fly. My parents and I poked around, but after a while the heat started to get to us, plus the interiors of the diaolous were the same after a while. The next stop was the Li Garden, yet another cluster of diaolous by one extremely rich family. These diaolous had marble staircases and special tiles. Finally we went to a diaolou that was more like a fortress than a house. It was also the location of the last stand by 7 brothers/relatives during the Sino-Japanese War. Shell and bullet holes lined the exterior of the tower.
The driver the dropped us in the middle of town, to walk around a bit before we took a taxi nearby our hotel for dinner. Dinner again wasn't very good, and I remember not being particularly happy about it. Went to a supermarket on the way back to buy some bread and drinks for the next day.
28th August - Kaiping - Wuzhou - Guilin
Spent a total of 8 hours on board the bus(es), most of it sleeping. The first bus was a local bus. Felt frustrated when the driver, who smoked while driving, kept blasting his music while the guy behind me blasted his own music. It eventually turned out as expected: a volume war, with me caught between. Somehow I managed to sleep and woke up to find the driver had (naturally) won the battle. The bus kept making random stops to pick up villagers along the way who had flagged down the bus, charging arbitrary prices. The sole bathroom stop the bus made revealed old skool toilets with no doors. After 5 hours, we ended up in Wuzhou only to find that there was no bus to Yangshuo as planned. Instead we booked tickets for Guilin and then had lunch, where we ate a really tasty chicken soup.
Then we took the bus to Guilin, where I fell asleep again. Driving into Guilin, I was reminded of Hangzhou. For dinner none of us were really hungry, but due to sheer greed I ordered a ton of meat for the hotpot, partly due to the fact that I was thrilled that I could read the menu properly. As I ate, watching how annoyed my father looked, I kept thinking about the tumblr blog "this is why you're fat".
The Chill
Sitting on the floor in Dex's posh flat, I originally thought the underfloor heating was kicking in as I felt warmer and warmer. However a short while later I realised this was deceptive: it wasn't that the floor was getting warmer, it was that my leg was getting number and number, and for some reason that made it feel warmer. Oho winter 2012, here we come.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
White Cabbage
I don't know why but everytime I'm in the shower I get an urge to blog. But when I'm actually at my computer, I lose the urge. But then I really ought to force myself to, because I need to inculcate some sort of follow-through habit.
On Sunday I got it into my mind that I wanted to make my usual vegetable soup that I drink back home, the inclusion of soy sauce being only thing strangely really making it Chinese. I bought all the ingredients, but as usual forgot to buy the critical and main one: white cabbage. So off I went to Waitrose on a Sunday evening, 1 hour before it was set to close. As usual it was packed to the brims with people doing last minute Sunday dinner shopping (used to do that last year all the time, and spend an agonising 15 minutes hobbling home while overladen with groceries). Then I walked to the vegetable aisle and to my horror I saw that there were no more white cabbages left, only the weird green and leafy sort. I grudgingly picked up a random ass cabbage for the lowest amount.
As I was about to walk off disappointed, I suddenly remembered that Waitrose, being the middle-class sort of establishment it is always has an organic veg section. True enough, there were white cabbages there at twice the original price. Just as I was about to suck it up and pay 2x the amount for a bloody cabbage, I spotted a discarded Waitrose Basics white cabbage hidden among the organic ones. Some middle class sucker decided to pay 2x the price for an organic white cabbage. Hurrah! I had my cheap 68p white cabbage. As I walked back to the general cabbage section, I had a massive and silly grin on my face. I felt very very accomplished.
Then on my way back to the flat, I peeked at the veg seller's stand and noticed he had bowls and bowls of white cabbage sitting out -______- 2 white cabbages for £1. Well admittedly I wouldn't know what to do with so much cabbage (soup needs only half a head at one time), but somehow it detracted from my joy anyway.
At least the soup was tasty.
On Sunday I got it into my mind that I wanted to make my usual vegetable soup that I drink back home, the inclusion of soy sauce being only thing strangely really making it Chinese. I bought all the ingredients, but as usual forgot to buy the critical and main one: white cabbage. So off I went to Waitrose on a Sunday evening, 1 hour before it was set to close. As usual it was packed to the brims with people doing last minute Sunday dinner shopping (used to do that last year all the time, and spend an agonising 15 minutes hobbling home while overladen with groceries). Then I walked to the vegetable aisle and to my horror I saw that there were no more white cabbages left, only the weird green and leafy sort. I grudgingly picked up a random ass cabbage for the lowest amount.
As I was about to walk off disappointed, I suddenly remembered that Waitrose, being the middle-class sort of establishment it is always has an organic veg section. True enough, there were white cabbages there at twice the original price. Just as I was about to suck it up and pay 2x the amount for a bloody cabbage, I spotted a discarded Waitrose Basics white cabbage hidden among the organic ones. Some middle class sucker decided to pay 2x the price for an organic white cabbage. Hurrah! I had my cheap 68p white cabbage. As I walked back to the general cabbage section, I had a massive and silly grin on my face. I felt very very accomplished.
Then on my way back to the flat, I peeked at the veg seller's stand and noticed he had bowls and bowls of white cabbage sitting out -______- 2 white cabbages for £1. Well admittedly I wouldn't know what to do with so much cabbage (soup needs only half a head at one time), but somehow it detracted from my joy anyway.
At least the soup was tasty.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
un homme et une femme
I watched un homme et une femme last night, after spending ages before rolling about aimlessly on Tiffany's (my flatmate) bed while she watched the Law and Order episodes I passed to her. One 10am and two 9am starts every week never fail to make me feel like I am a million years old, although objectively there's just 6 real hours of academic time during those 3 days. So I just lay on her bed and sort of died, without actually sleeping, while Tiffany sort of laughed at me. My friday nights are happening, yo.
Anyway Un Homme is simply lovely. It is very very French, and very very charming. I don't know what else to say beyond that. Sadly it's proven to be one of the better movies I've seen lately. It's the London Film Fest and I'm being a film whore as usual. I've seen 3 films so far, one the pretty well known 50/50 and two more obscure ones, Mourning and There Was Never a Better Brother. 50/50 delivered the goods, but both Mourning and There Was Never a Better Brother failed to fully realise their potential. So I suppose, Un Homme was the movie (rather than Better Brother) that made my day yesterday.
Though of course I was attracted to Better Brother because I wanted to SEE what Baku, Azerbaijan was like, since I am focusing my History dissertation on it. It reminds me a bit of what I imagine Cuba/Iran to look like.
And on Monday, I watched Driving Miss Daisy with Dexter. Got to watch Darth Vader voice man in action. Cool.
Anyway Un Homme is simply lovely. It is very very French, and very very charming. I don't know what else to say beyond that. Sadly it's proven to be one of the better movies I've seen lately. It's the London Film Fest and I'm being a film whore as usual. I've seen 3 films so far, one the pretty well known 50/50 and two more obscure ones, Mourning and There Was Never a Better Brother. 50/50 delivered the goods, but both Mourning and There Was Never a Better Brother failed to fully realise their potential. So I suppose, Un Homme was the movie (rather than Better Brother) that made my day yesterday.
Though of course I was attracted to Better Brother because I wanted to SEE what Baku, Azerbaijan was like, since I am focusing my History dissertation on it. It reminds me a bit of what I imagine Cuba/Iran to look like.
And on Monday, I watched Driving Miss Daisy with Dexter. Got to watch Darth Vader voice man in action. Cool.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
BT/VM/3
I have not fallen off the face of the Earth. Rather, thanks to lovingly decaying British infrastructure, I appear to have fallen off the face of the Earth.
First Virgin Mobile tells us they will take 3 weeks to come over and set up the internet. Alright. This was a week before I was due to return home, so it really was 2 weeks. That was livable, I suppose. To augment the many trips of going to Shu's/Dexter's/the Library, I bought BT Open, which sucked and sometimes worked.
Then last week the Virgin Mobile men came. They were a friendly, happy lot the two of them. First the set up seemed very straightforward, then it soon became apparent there was Big Trouble ahead when they had to take a ladder and access the cables from the outside. They'd been cut and disconnected, they said, evidently mystified as to why someone'd do that. We'll get Virgin to give you a call back.
So wait we did, for that proverbial call. Then it came one day as I was at Shu's house, this Wednesday I think, and I hit the roof. The diplomatic female voice on the other end of the line said it'd take "6 to 8 weeks" for construction to come and install the lines. WHY? I asked, obviously seething with rage and frustration. "Because we need to get permits and blabalabalabala".
I went to 3 and got a dongle (either a terribly bad or terribly brilliant name). But because my 5GB a month contract kicks in on Monday, I am brought back to a place where I was when I was 12. Dial up pay-by-the-data/time-internet. So as I type this I am surreptitiously thinking of how much this is going to cost me (it says 2.72MB for this sojourn already!) BUT GOODNESS IT HAS TO BE SAID. RAGE RAGE RAGE, I WANT MY INTERNETZ.
First Virgin Mobile tells us they will take 3 weeks to come over and set up the internet. Alright. This was a week before I was due to return home, so it really was 2 weeks. That was livable, I suppose. To augment the many trips of going to Shu's/Dexter's/the Library, I bought BT Open, which sucked and sometimes worked.
Then last week the Virgin Mobile men came. They were a friendly, happy lot the two of them. First the set up seemed very straightforward, then it soon became apparent there was Big Trouble ahead when they had to take a ladder and access the cables from the outside. They'd been cut and disconnected, they said, evidently mystified as to why someone'd do that. We'll get Virgin to give you a call back.
So wait we did, for that proverbial call. Then it came one day as I was at Shu's house, this Wednesday I think, and I hit the roof. The diplomatic female voice on the other end of the line said it'd take "6 to 8 weeks" for construction to come and install the lines. WHY? I asked, obviously seething with rage and frustration. "Because we need to get permits and blabalabalabala".
I went to 3 and got a dongle (either a terribly bad or terribly brilliant name). But because my 5GB a month contract kicks in on Monday, I am brought back to a place where I was when I was 12. Dial up pay-by-the-data/time-internet. So as I type this I am surreptitiously thinking of how much this is going to cost me (it says 2.72MB for this sojourn already!) BUT GOODNESS IT HAS TO BE SAID. RAGE RAGE RAGE, I WANT MY INTERNETZ.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Goreng Pisang
I've learnt something interesting over the past few days: Singaporeans (or maybe people in general?) have a bad habit of invading people's personal space IF they think they see dirt on another person. It's like a Obsessive Compulsive Thing, despite the whole Asians Like Their Personal Space thing. Ok maybe it's not a Singaporean thing, since one of the people who did it to me recently was my Korean pottery teacher, Ms. Lee.
So anyway yes, dirt. For the past two days I've been rocking what looks like a dirt patch on my right shoulder/back. It is not a dirt patch. Rather (surprise!) I've gone and gotten a tattoo because I felt tired of being scared of every damn thing in life, and wanted to push my boundaries and do something unexpected. So that dirt patch is really the new tattoo leaching ink out. However before I am given a chance to lie and tell all the adults around me that it is a 'old blouse, an old stain', they reach out and slap my back (HELLO FRESH RAW TATTOO-ED SKIN) in an attempt to brush off the dirt. It hurts. And sadly though I don't like lying, lying is just easier here. I could easily tell my dentist, my hairdresser, my pottery classmates that it is a tattoo. But then I'd have to do the whole Explain Why I Did It Thing, and Do My Parents Know? (yes they do, but my mum complains that it is ugly and I ought to have gotten a rose instead of a cross). Easier to just lie. And talk about other inane things, like the weather.
Today was my last pottery class. I glazed my pieces, and it was the first time today that I finally got around to using the spray gun. On a pot with a lid (I think that if I die suddenly, I want my ashes to go in there, seems morbidly fitting), I used copper dust mixed with water, and covered it with Shino White. The other piece I made, ages ago when Jessica was still around, was half Namoku Blue (such a beautiful glaze with such depth) and half Shino White again. I am eagerly waiting the results.
I had lunch with Diane, one of the pottery women afterwards. We went to the Tanglin food court and she treated me to lunch. I had pasta with chicken chop. In return I told her about chicken chop, Singaporean taxi drivers and their propensity to be anti-government and conspiracy theorists and about crime. It was all in all a very nice and good conversation. One of the best I've had in a while really, and all the better since I initially feared it'd be awkward. At the back of my mind I kept thinking about how sad it is that my net amount of speaking to middle aged British people was at least triple that of speaking to a British person the same age as me, nevermind that I'm surrounded by them in university. Pffft.
Then I got my hair cut, and found a goreng pisang store on the 5th floor of Far East Plaza. I have not SEEN goreng pisang in AGES. It's like all the places in Singapore stopped selling them. Goreng pisang is essentially bananas fried in batter, and it's bloody delicious. So anyway I bought one, even though I wasn't hungry at all. Then I bummed at some Taiwanese eatery, slowly sipping my milk tea (which made me feel sick - nice lactose intolerance) and read Brave New World as I waited for Ashraf to appear.
Dinner was at Skinny Pizza, where we both ate till we were stuffed. Then we walked about randomly, exploring the sad Toy Fair at the basement of Ngee Ann City.
I've been sniffing like mad all day. Sucks.
So anyway yes, dirt. For the past two days I've been rocking what looks like a dirt patch on my right shoulder/back. It is not a dirt patch. Rather (surprise!) I've gone and gotten a tattoo because I felt tired of being scared of every damn thing in life, and wanted to push my boundaries and do something unexpected. So that dirt patch is really the new tattoo leaching ink out. However before I am given a chance to lie and tell all the adults around me that it is a 'old blouse, an old stain', they reach out and slap my back (HELLO FRESH RAW TATTOO-ED SKIN) in an attempt to brush off the dirt. It hurts. And sadly though I don't like lying, lying is just easier here. I could easily tell my dentist, my hairdresser, my pottery classmates that it is a tattoo. But then I'd have to do the whole Explain Why I Did It Thing, and Do My Parents Know? (yes they do, but my mum complains that it is ugly and I ought to have gotten a rose instead of a cross). Easier to just lie. And talk about other inane things, like the weather.
Today was my last pottery class. I glazed my pieces, and it was the first time today that I finally got around to using the spray gun. On a pot with a lid (I think that if I die suddenly, I want my ashes to go in there, seems morbidly fitting), I used copper dust mixed with water, and covered it with Shino White. The other piece I made, ages ago when Jessica was still around, was half Namoku Blue (such a beautiful glaze with such depth) and half Shino White again. I am eagerly waiting the results.
I had lunch with Diane, one of the pottery women afterwards. We went to the Tanglin food court and she treated me to lunch. I had pasta with chicken chop. In return I told her about chicken chop, Singaporean taxi drivers and their propensity to be anti-government and conspiracy theorists and about crime. It was all in all a very nice and good conversation. One of the best I've had in a while really, and all the better since I initially feared it'd be awkward. At the back of my mind I kept thinking about how sad it is that my net amount of speaking to middle aged British people was at least triple that of speaking to a British person the same age as me, nevermind that I'm surrounded by them in university. Pffft.
Then I got my hair cut, and found a goreng pisang store on the 5th floor of Far East Plaza. I have not SEEN goreng pisang in AGES. It's like all the places in Singapore stopped selling them. Goreng pisang is essentially bananas fried in batter, and it's bloody delicious. So anyway I bought one, even though I wasn't hungry at all. Then I bummed at some Taiwanese eatery, slowly sipping my milk tea (which made me feel sick - nice lactose intolerance) and read Brave New World as I waited for Ashraf to appear.
Dinner was at Skinny Pizza, where we both ate till we were stuffed. Then we walked about randomly, exploring the sad Toy Fair at the basement of Ngee Ann City.
I've been sniffing like mad all day. Sucks.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tamara Drewe
"You've got an infestation."
"Of what?"
"Jody."
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I don't know how it got only 3 stars out of 5 on IMDB, but Tamara Drewe is easily one of the most enjoyable and funniest movies I have seen in quite some time.
"Of what?"
"Jody."
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I don't know how it got only 3 stars out of 5 on IMDB, but Tamara Drewe is easily one of the most enjoyable and funniest movies I have seen in quite some time.
An Asian Travelogue
I typed this up because the women in my pottery class, Diane and Christine, asked for it:-
Thailand
Phuket/Phang Nga
Phuket is the main area, with the more remote and expensive area of Phang Nga to the North. The main beach area, filled with backpackers, restaurants, bars and chaos, is Patong Beach. The nicer beaches are Karon Beach and Kata Beach. Tours brings you see James Bond island (where a scene from James Bond was shot in the '70s) and Phi-Phi island. Many opportunities for low-end shopping around.
Koh Samui
There is also another beach spot known as Koh Samui. I personally have not been here and don't know much about it.
Bangkok
Bangkok is massive, jammed, and a very chaotic city. It however, is a huge tourist hub. There is the Royal Palace, very nice and shiny, with the Vimanmek Mansion where the old Kings resided. There are lots of Buddhist temples here, if that's your sort of thing. There's Chatuchak market on the weekends, and Patpong night market for shopping. Bangkok is a launching off point for the floating market tours (tourist trap), the tiger temple (tame tigers, I wanted to see that but had no time), snake show, the River Kwai (of WW2 fame). You can ride elephants too if you want, but I think Phuket/Luang Prabang is a better place for that sort of thing.
Hua Hin to the North is apparently a nice beach about 1 hour away from Bangkok.
Laos
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang was a little disappointing. It used to be the old capital, and there are lots of Buddhist temples around, in various unrestored states. The most famous/pretty is Vat Xieng Toung. All the temples cost about 2-3USD per person to go in, quite a rip off. There is also the old Royal Palace, which is worth looking around in. Then there's the morning alms ceremony where the monks walk large parts of the old town at 6am to receive alms. There is a Hmong market during peak season and a night market.
There are tours to the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si waterfalls. We didn't see the falls, but saw the caves. The caves were just caves with lots of bought buddha statues in them. There was also a whiskey village, were you can see one man brewing whiskey in a metal drum. He then puts weird stuff like snakes and various insects in them.
You can take elephant mahout courses there for a few days. That seemed interesting, but expensive.
Vientiane
There was not much to see or do in Vientiane. There are some nice Buddhist temples, but not much beyond that. There is also That Luang, a massive gold stupa. But it's just a large stupa that is gold.
Cambodia (visited Nov 2008)
Siem Reap
I loved Siem Reap. Home of the Angkor Wat, it is also nicely located nearby the Tonle Sap/floating villages. The town has a nice half rustic half touristy feel. There are night markets and handicraft markets. It's a fairly relaxed place. Lots of cheap silk the last time I was there.
Vietnam (visited Sept 2010)
Hanoi
Hanoi was very busy and hot. My family and I didn't like it, so we left for an overnight cruise in Halong Bay instead. There are the usual lot of cultural and military museums here, along with the infamous Hanoi Hilton where prisoners-of-war were kept during the Vietnam War. There is also the French Quarter with the old remnants of French architecture.
Halong Bay
Halong Bay is definitely worth going to. You can book a tour from Hanoi. They drive you to Halong Bay itself, which is about 3-4 hours away from Hanoi, one way. Halong Bay is essentially a bay filed with hundreds of limestone mountains, and is very scenic. A cruise brings you around the area, and lets you off to enter some of the tourist caves. The highlight of the trip is watching the sun set over the limestone mountains.
Hoi An
The nearest airport to Hoi An is Danang, where Silkair flies directly. Alternatively, Jetstar operates flights there, but require transiting through Ho Chi Minh airport. Hoi An is definitely worth going to.
The main attractions of Hoi An are threefold:- 1) My Son: old ruined Hindu temples built more than a thousand years ago by the ancient Champa kingdom. It's the Vietnamese version of the Angkor Wat. 2) Hoi An itself: the whole town is an UNESCO world heritage site, with impressive architecture built by the old Chinese immigrant settlers. 3) Tailoring:- good tailoring is very cheap in Hoi An, and there are many tailors there. I got a nice silk lined pencil dress for USD50 from Phuong Huy (http://phuonghuysilk.com/index.html). Some of the tailors can be a bit suspect though, with shoddy handwork/fitting. I've seen other customers bring pictures of runway outfits for the tailors to copy. Alternatively, there is also a beach nearby Hoi An itself, but I didn't get the chance to go there.
Hue
Hue was the location of the old Imperial City. However the Imperial City itself was damaged by multiple wars and fires, so the main structure is gone. Still the unburned parts are quite impressive. There is also the Thien Mu Pagoda and cruises down the Perfume River. Hue is also the launching off point for DMZ/Vietnam War tours, if you're into that sort of thing.
Hue is about a 2-3 hour coach ride from Hoi An (to the North). You can easily book passage from the tour agents in Hoi An.
Sapa (visited Sept 2011)
Sapa is very off the beaten track. It's about a 9 hour train ride from Hanoi (overnight sleeper). However if you're into trekking/seeing minorities, then it is very worth it. Sapa itself is just a launching off point, and you need to trek out of it to see the minorities. Cat Cat is supposedly a Hmong village, but it's really now a huge tourist trap. Instead, Ta Van is an authentic and easy to walk village. There are also special markets to see on certain days like Sunday and Tuesday, but I didn't get the chance to see them. Seeing all the minorities was very interesting, especially since they still largely preserve their traditional ways of dressing and living, except the one about the women learning English and obsessively following tourists around.
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I'll post about my trip soon.
Thailand
Phuket/Phang Nga
Phuket is the main area, with the more remote and expensive area of Phang Nga to the North. The main beach area, filled with backpackers, restaurants, bars and chaos, is Patong Beach. The nicer beaches are Karon Beach and Kata Beach. Tours brings you see James Bond island (where a scene from James Bond was shot in the '70s) and Phi-Phi island. Many opportunities for low-end shopping around.
Koh Samui
There is also another beach spot known as Koh Samui. I personally have not been here and don't know much about it.
Bangkok
Bangkok is massive, jammed, and a very chaotic city. It however, is a huge tourist hub. There is the Royal Palace, very nice and shiny, with the Vimanmek Mansion where the old Kings resided. There are lots of Buddhist temples here, if that's your sort of thing. There's Chatuchak market on the weekends, and Patpong night market for shopping. Bangkok is a launching off point for the floating market tours (tourist trap), the tiger temple (tame tigers, I wanted to see that but had no time), snake show, the River Kwai (of WW2 fame). You can ride elephants too if you want, but I think Phuket/Luang Prabang is a better place for that sort of thing.
Hua Hin to the North is apparently a nice beach about 1 hour away from Bangkok.
Laos
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang was a little disappointing. It used to be the old capital, and there are lots of Buddhist temples around, in various unrestored states. The most famous/pretty is Vat Xieng Toung. All the temples cost about 2-3USD per person to go in, quite a rip off. There is also the old Royal Palace, which is worth looking around in. Then there's the morning alms ceremony where the monks walk large parts of the old town at 6am to receive alms. There is a Hmong market during peak season and a night market.
There are tours to the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si waterfalls. We didn't see the falls, but saw the caves. The caves were just caves with lots of bought buddha statues in them. There was also a whiskey village, were you can see one man brewing whiskey in a metal drum. He then puts weird stuff like snakes and various insects in them.
You can take elephant mahout courses there for a few days. That seemed interesting, but expensive.
Vientiane
There was not much to see or do in Vientiane. There are some nice Buddhist temples, but not much beyond that. There is also That Luang, a massive gold stupa. But it's just a large stupa that is gold.
Cambodia (visited Nov 2008)
Siem Reap
I loved Siem Reap. Home of the Angkor Wat, it is also nicely located nearby the Tonle Sap/floating villages. The town has a nice half rustic half touristy feel. There are night markets and handicraft markets. It's a fairly relaxed place. Lots of cheap silk the last time I was there.
Vietnam (visited Sept 2010)
Hanoi
Hanoi was very busy and hot. My family and I didn't like it, so we left for an overnight cruise in Halong Bay instead. There are the usual lot of cultural and military museums here, along with the infamous Hanoi Hilton where prisoners-of-war were kept during the Vietnam War. There is also the French Quarter with the old remnants of French architecture.
Halong Bay
Halong Bay is definitely worth going to. You can book a tour from Hanoi. They drive you to Halong Bay itself, which is about 3-4 hours away from Hanoi, one way. Halong Bay is essentially a bay filed with hundreds of limestone mountains, and is very scenic. A cruise brings you around the area, and lets you off to enter some of the tourist caves. The highlight of the trip is watching the sun set over the limestone mountains.
Hoi An
The nearest airport to Hoi An is Danang, where Silkair flies directly. Alternatively, Jetstar operates flights there, but require transiting through Ho Chi Minh airport. Hoi An is definitely worth going to.
The main attractions of Hoi An are threefold:- 1) My Son: old ruined Hindu temples built more than a thousand years ago by the ancient Champa kingdom. It's the Vietnamese version of the Angkor Wat. 2) Hoi An itself: the whole town is an UNESCO world heritage site, with impressive architecture built by the old Chinese immigrant settlers. 3) Tailoring:- good tailoring is very cheap in Hoi An, and there are many tailors there. I got a nice silk lined pencil dress for USD50 from Phuong Huy (http://phuonghuysilk.com/index.html). Some of the tailors can be a bit suspect though, with shoddy handwork/fitting. I've seen other customers bring pictures of runway outfits for the tailors to copy. Alternatively, there is also a beach nearby Hoi An itself, but I didn't get the chance to go there.
Hue
Hue was the location of the old Imperial City. However the Imperial City itself was damaged by multiple wars and fires, so the main structure is gone. Still the unburned parts are quite impressive. There is also the Thien Mu Pagoda and cruises down the Perfume River. Hue is also the launching off point for DMZ/Vietnam War tours, if you're into that sort of thing.
Hue is about a 2-3 hour coach ride from Hoi An (to the North). You can easily book passage from the tour agents in Hoi An.
Sapa (visited Sept 2011)
Sapa is very off the beaten track. It's about a 9 hour train ride from Hanoi (overnight sleeper). However if you're into trekking/seeing minorities, then it is very worth it. Sapa itself is just a launching off point, and you need to trek out of it to see the minorities. Cat Cat is supposedly a Hmong village, but it's really now a huge tourist trap. Instead, Ta Van is an authentic and easy to walk village. There are also special markets to see on certain days like Sunday and Tuesday, but I didn't get the chance to see them. Seeing all the minorities was very interesting, especially since they still largely preserve their traditional ways of dressing and living, except the one about the women learning English and obsessively following tourists around.
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I'll post about my trip soon.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Jetstar 514
I touched down in good old Terminal 1 at 12:40am this morning, and felt a strange sense of happiness to be back. Like, 'hello home', and knowing that everything is Predictable and not Unexpected and Foreign and New (except when it's one of those many newfangled malls that keep popping up). The taxi driver that picked up us was a jovial and friendly Malay woman, who told us about her motorcycle racing accident, while avoiding a sleepy swerving taxi driver on the ECP on the way back home. She kept telling me to go get a driving license.
This morning, all showered and changed, I finally feel Female again after a while, that is, Feminine as befits my birth sex. Strange, but I never gave much thought to it while traveling.
This morning, all showered and changed, I finally feel Female again after a while, that is, Feminine as befits my birth sex. Strange, but I never gave much thought to it while traveling.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Hello There
I am still on the road, and currently in rainy Vientiane (it's been raining for more than 18 hours straight, I didn't know this was even possible in South East Asia). Tonight my Dad and I are headed across the border to Thailand, to catch yet another sleeper train to Bangkok (the 3rd thus far), hopefully the train will be more like the Lao Cai-Hanoi train than the Guiyang-Kunming train. From Bangkok we'll take a plane ride and get back in the wee hours (cheap budget flights) on the 16th Sept, making it a total of 3 weeks on the road.
It'll be nice to be home.
It'll be nice to be home.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Panda Coitus
Today I met up with Cheam for lunch, before watching Hadi's play, Family Outing. We ate at a place I had found on hungrygowhere.com, because I was craving steak. It was disappointing. In turn, I did a very Singaporean thing: I wrote a bad review about the place. Then, we met Debbie, Mel, Paul and Eliel at the National Library to watch the play. It was by far one of the best plays I've seen in Singapore (which comes to about 5 proper non-school plays). It had a really good script, with good acting, lighting and sound. Quite a change from the usual standard of plays where I ended up feeling like I want to slap someone.
Afterwards the lot of us went to Seah Street to eat crepes (Debbie's suggestion). Pricy, but delicious as hell salted-caramel-butter-crepes. And I'm not even a big fan of excessively sweet stuff. Then Hadi came and the shop was closing, so we went to nearby Mcdonalds for Hadi to grab a bite. Then we all went off to get home, and I took the bus to my grandparent's place for dinner. After a delicious dinner of vinegar pig's trotters (sounds gross but, I try not to think of it as pig legs D: ), I ended spending ages trying to fix up my grandma's newly acquired toy: a voice recorder/mp3 players.
The highlight of the night however was after I had succeeded in fixing the player and had gone upstairs to see my grandfather for a while. The awesomely cold air conditioning (my grandfather likes it vaguely arctic) was a fantastic bonus. Upstairs, he first started off by complaining that I had arrived late for dinner (well they eat dinner at 5:50pm, wtf?). Then he went into his usual round of telling me that 'I have some bad habits that I need to change' (which include anyhow throwing things, and anyhow buying things - directly translated from Mandarin of course), during which I tuned out and made Mandarin Assenting Sounds like 'ORH'. As it happens the TV was turned onto CCTV4 (hello cable), and we're both watching TV as he's talking. It's some Panda breeding programme in Chengdu.
Given that my Mandarin is dismal from a lack of use and general suckiness, I'm not sure how but I remember understanding that they were closely monitoring the urine of the female panda to check for it's ovulation. Shots of pipettes (cool stuff) and vials of acid yellow urine appear on the screen. All the while my grandfather is working down his list of Things I Need To Change. Then suddenly the screen actually shows PANDAS and I'm like AWWWW, but I realise they're separated by cages. I'm still half listening to my grandfather at this point and he blocks out the commentator's audio for a moment with his monologue, and then next thing I see the bars between the two pandas is lifted up and one of the pandas goes into the other panda's cage. At this point I'm thinking "oh come on, no way in hell this is what I think it is".
But it is. Next thing I know I'm watching stunned as one panda (PROBABLY THE MALE ONE) fucks the other panda from behind. No this is not happening I'm thinking, I wonder has yeh yeh noticed it? And for a brief painful few moments I think maybe he hasn't because it's still pandas fucking on the TV. The male panda opens his mouth and makes weird moaning sounds. HOLY SHIT. And then mid panda groan, the channel changes abruptly to some Taiwanese game show. All the while my grandfather is still talking, but he falters slightly during the channel change. Um.
Even though the pandas fucked for maybe 5 seconds maximum on TV that day, I think that memory is forever, disturbingly, seared into my mind.
Afterwards the lot of us went to Seah Street to eat crepes (Debbie's suggestion). Pricy, but delicious as hell salted-caramel-butter-crepes. And I'm not even a big fan of excessively sweet stuff. Then Hadi came and the shop was closing, so we went to nearby Mcdonalds for Hadi to grab a bite. Then we all went off to get home, and I took the bus to my grandparent's place for dinner. After a delicious dinner of vinegar pig's trotters (sounds gross but, I try not to think of it as pig legs D: ), I ended spending ages trying to fix up my grandma's newly acquired toy: a voice recorder/mp3 players.
The highlight of the night however was after I had succeeded in fixing the player and had gone upstairs to see my grandfather for a while. The awesomely cold air conditioning (my grandfather likes it vaguely arctic) was a fantastic bonus. Upstairs, he first started off by complaining that I had arrived late for dinner (well they eat dinner at 5:50pm, wtf?). Then he went into his usual round of telling me that 'I have some bad habits that I need to change' (which include anyhow throwing things, and anyhow buying things - directly translated from Mandarin of course), during which I tuned out and made Mandarin Assenting Sounds like 'ORH'. As it happens the TV was turned onto CCTV4 (hello cable), and we're both watching TV as he's talking. It's some Panda breeding programme in Chengdu.
Given that my Mandarin is dismal from a lack of use and general suckiness, I'm not sure how but I remember understanding that they were closely monitoring the urine of the female panda to check for it's ovulation. Shots of pipettes (cool stuff) and vials of acid yellow urine appear on the screen. All the while my grandfather is working down his list of Things I Need To Change. Then suddenly the screen actually shows PANDAS and I'm like AWWWW, but I realise they're separated by cages. I'm still half listening to my grandfather at this point and he blocks out the commentator's audio for a moment with his monologue, and then next thing I see the bars between the two pandas is lifted up and one of the pandas goes into the other panda's cage. At this point I'm thinking "oh come on, no way in hell this is what I think it is".
But it is. Next thing I know I'm watching stunned as one panda (PROBABLY THE MALE ONE) fucks the other panda from behind. No this is not happening I'm thinking, I wonder has yeh yeh noticed it? And for a brief painful few moments I think maybe he hasn't because it's still pandas fucking on the TV. The male panda opens his mouth and makes weird moaning sounds. HOLY SHIT. And then mid panda groan, the channel changes abruptly to some Taiwanese game show. All the while my grandfather is still talking, but he falters slightly during the channel change. Um.
Even though the pandas fucked for maybe 5 seconds maximum on TV that day, I think that memory is forever, disturbingly, seared into my mind.
The Golden Notebook
There remains in my memory no other book which I have found so incredible, yet so difficult to read that I would not go through the experience again if possible. Lessing's The Golden Notebook is the first to fit into this ambiguous category: is it a good thing, a bad thing, or perhaps indicative of its remarkable nature? I don't really know.
The Golden Notebook was probably one of the most feminist texts I've ever read. Yet as Doris Lessing writes herself in the reader's guide that came with my book, she never intended it as a feminist text. It just was. Lessing's ability to portray human relationships, male-female sexual interactions in all their different shapes and messed up forms was mindblowing. She isn't one of those overwrought emotional writers which waste endless words, ink, paper on a simple interaction - her succinctness is probably one of the best I've seen. Yet at the same time due to the sheer mass of all her words, the density of content, made her extremely tiring to read. It was like eating a too rich cake. No wonder I could only plod slowly through.
Finally there is the aspect of mental illness: a theme I had not noticed as I read the book. Simply put, I had not noticed that it was there at all, because I legitimately thought that people did behave like that (and that it was acceptable). That idea, strikes me mostly more than anything else in the novel.
I guess I've found a book to add to the 2011 list.
The Golden Notebook was probably one of the most feminist texts I've ever read. Yet as Doris Lessing writes herself in the reader's guide that came with my book, she never intended it as a feminist text. It just was. Lessing's ability to portray human relationships, male-female sexual interactions in all their different shapes and messed up forms was mindblowing. She isn't one of those overwrought emotional writers which waste endless words, ink, paper on a simple interaction - her succinctness is probably one of the best I've seen. Yet at the same time due to the sheer mass of all her words, the density of content, made her extremely tiring to read. It was like eating a too rich cake. No wonder I could only plod slowly through.
Finally there is the aspect of mental illness: a theme I had not noticed as I read the book. Simply put, I had not noticed that it was there at all, because I legitimately thought that people did behave like that (and that it was acceptable). That idea, strikes me mostly more than anything else in the novel.
I guess I've found a book to add to the 2011 list.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Mints
My favourite mints are Tic Tacs. They're sweet, smell nice (in an artificial way) and have just enough minti-ness in them to do the job when my breath feels gross. I much prefer them to the more popular Eclipse mints, although I have to admit that the tin the Eclipse mints come in is way more fun to play with since the metal is malleable.
When I dream of cold hot chocolate, I dream one the one I first drank when I was on a date with Patrick and we ended up at Far Coast. It was not too sweet and had a wee bit of minti-ness to it. I loved it.
I am reading Doris Lessing now, and she makes me want to write things.
When I dream of cold hot chocolate, I dream one the one I first drank when I was on a date with Patrick and we ended up at Far Coast. It was not too sweet and had a wee bit of minti-ness to it. I loved it.
I am reading Doris Lessing now, and she makes me want to write things.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Holland Village
Bearing absolutely no correlation to anything in this post, I thought I'd load up a picture of a very charming desk I spotted on etsy.
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I spent most of today at Holland Village.
I met Sharyl for brunch, eating at Breko Cafe. I had a rather unsatisfactory pancake with Canadian-sausage meal, mainly because it was cold and started to feel greasy. It was good meeting up with her though, seeing as that I haven't seen her in over a year. It transpired she was going to Canada in a few weeks to study in university, which came as a pleasant surprise to me. Of all the friends I still keep in touch with, she really was the oldest one, from when we were both in Secondary 1.
After brunch, I went over to her house for a bit. Partly to help babysit, partly because I wanted to see her niece and nephew, partly because I didn't want to go home and return to Holland Village in a matter of hours. I learned something today: looking after kids is tiring. In the house there were a grand total of 4 adults (Sharyl, me, her dad, her sister) to 2 kids (one 3 year old girl, one 1 year old boy) and they ran everyone ragged. Not only that, I had trouble figuring out what was appropriate for the 3 year old's age group. When she said she wanted to go to the babytv website to play games, I wtf-ed because 3 years old is hardly a baby right?!? I really don't know. Then she said she was hungry and went to eat a sweet that her grandfather gave her, and that's enough to make her full?!? Then I realise I don't know phonics and all and was trying to figure out how to get her to spell 'dancing' and attempted to get her to write C by saying it in a S-sound way (it's like danSing right, come to think of it?!?). Then the 1 year old started crying like mad because he couldn't find his parents.
Ok good thing I won't be a mother any time soon.
Afterwards I met N Seow, and spoke to him as he was getting his haircut. After that I ate Chili at Wendy's because I was dying of hunger. Then when Kyle came to pick up Nic for his farewell dinner, I went home. I spent a good 8 hours at Holland Village.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Phuket
I've been to Phuket 3 times in my life. First time was in mid-2004 with my parents. Second time was with my classmates in IB, in early 2007, to aid rebuilding work. Third time was the past few days, with my mum, to celebrate her 50th birthday.
Spent most of it doing nothing. Started reading two books together, The Golden Notebook and The Book of Tomorrow. Both acclaimed female authors in different fiction fields, both about women and their diaries. Both going along very different courses (hello Nobel Prize winner, hello chick flick author), providing a lovely illuminating contrast to the women in the novels. Went to the beach and as I swayed while wading in the sea thanks to strong monsoonal tides, I tried to imagine what it was like when the Tsunami hit. The lifeguard kept blowing his whistle to chase people who had wandered beyond mid-thigh sea water level out of the surf. Ended up shopping alot (because naturally of my mum). I wondered what happened to my beloved Danger! Mines! shirt that I bought in Siem Reap as we browsed the touristy t-shirt stores.
I ended up sending loads of postcards out. A roadside vendor in Patong Beach charged me 40 baht for a 15 baht stamp. Later, I stumbled upon a post office along Patong Beach and went in to get more stamps. I ended up stumbling slightly backwards in shock when I entered it. I had walked into the darkness of the post office to be greeted suddenly by 5 pairs of staring, idle eyes. It was the emptiest post office I had ever seen in my life. Most post offices it seems, tend to be packed with tired public, all struggling to get a piece of underfunded public services. At least this is the case of what I've observed in Singapore, the UK, Germany and France. Thailand it seems, is unique in more ways than one.
I realised the tasty 'White Curry' that my class was served on our 2007 OEP trip was actually a soup: Tom Kha Gai. I dreamt terrifying dreams every night. Once I dreamt of Shu falling down a muddy slope, and her slipping out my hands as she tumbled down a yellow-ey mud precipice. Then I dreamt of a tiny dog stuffed into a ball that opened in the middle, and me losing it as it ran out of sight. Another night I dreamt someone was spreading a frightful rumour about me, and I was doing my best to stop it. Then last night I dreamt of R, that we were friends and I touched his arm, feeling his smooth velvety skin. I dream in colour, feel textures, feel real emotion. I dream in bouts, sometimes I go weeks dreamless, then suddenly I can't stop dreaming at all.
I ate a lot of drunken prawns tonight for the celebratory dinner tonight. My mum turned 50.
Spent most of it doing nothing. Started reading two books together, The Golden Notebook and The Book of Tomorrow. Both acclaimed female authors in different fiction fields, both about women and their diaries. Both going along very different courses (hello Nobel Prize winner, hello chick flick author), providing a lovely illuminating contrast to the women in the novels. Went to the beach and as I swayed while wading in the sea thanks to strong monsoonal tides, I tried to imagine what it was like when the Tsunami hit. The lifeguard kept blowing his whistle to chase people who had wandered beyond mid-thigh sea water level out of the surf. Ended up shopping alot (because naturally of my mum). I wondered what happened to my beloved Danger! Mines! shirt that I bought in Siem Reap as we browsed the touristy t-shirt stores.
I ended up sending loads of postcards out. A roadside vendor in Patong Beach charged me 40 baht for a 15 baht stamp. Later, I stumbled upon a post office along Patong Beach and went in to get more stamps. I ended up stumbling slightly backwards in shock when I entered it. I had walked into the darkness of the post office to be greeted suddenly by 5 pairs of staring, idle eyes. It was the emptiest post office I had ever seen in my life. Most post offices it seems, tend to be packed with tired public, all struggling to get a piece of underfunded public services. At least this is the case of what I've observed in Singapore, the UK, Germany and France. Thailand it seems, is unique in more ways than one.
I realised the tasty 'White Curry' that my class was served on our 2007 OEP trip was actually a soup: Tom Kha Gai. I dreamt terrifying dreams every night. Once I dreamt of Shu falling down a muddy slope, and her slipping out my hands as she tumbled down a yellow-ey mud precipice. Then I dreamt of a tiny dog stuffed into a ball that opened in the middle, and me losing it as it ran out of sight. Another night I dreamt someone was spreading a frightful rumour about me, and I was doing my best to stop it. Then last night I dreamt of R, that we were friends and I touched his arm, feeling his smooth velvety skin. I dream in colour, feel textures, feel real emotion. I dream in bouts, sometimes I go weeks dreamless, then suddenly I can't stop dreaming at all.
I ate a lot of drunken prawns tonight for the celebratory dinner tonight. My mum turned 50.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Funky Forest/Do the Right Thing/Poltergay
I spent today having yet another movie marathon with Patrick and Nic. We watched the immensely wtf Funky Forest (Nic's), followed by the rather bleak Do the Right Thing (Patrick's) and rounding out with my absurd selection of Poltergay. For dinner we ended up at Ghim Moh, eating at De Burg, some hamburger place at a kopitiam. It was then I realised that in a week and a half's time, Nic would be gone for Oberlin, that he wouldn't really be around anymore. That everyone was really going on their separate ways now. It felt rather strange.
Afrer, we ended up walking around Kent Ridge Park, and mucking about NUS to see the new campus. Then, they drove me home.
Afrer, we ended up walking around Kent Ridge Park, and mucking about NUS to see the new campus. Then, they drove me home.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Oh! The Places You'll Go!
This is the first night I've been home in what feels like ages. Somehow for someone who's not working, I seem to be spending a remarkable amount of time not-at-home and being busy. I had to seriously rack my brains just to recall all of this. Another wisdom tooth removal tomorrow D:
Sunday (31st July): Had a quick lunch at home before dashing out to meet Hidayah and Ianthe at Vivocity. Amazingly I took just 30 minutes to reach despite having to change both the bus and the train at least once. Eyed Red Army Cameras at Page One, despite the fact that I haven't touched my Diana in ages. Watched Winter's Bone with my parents at night, and a bit of Liang Po Po before I got fed up and switched it off.
Saturday (30th July): !nk gathering at Jia's place. Put too much salt in the zucchini almond I had brought. Arjun picked me up, and Steph sent me back home. Having friends who drive is excellent.
Friday (29th July): Had lunch with Arjun at Al-Ameen. Tried iced horlicks. Had my favourite butter chicken with garlic naan. We then wandered to Udder's and I had a green tea ice-cream. Went to Bukit Timah Plaza to buy groceries for the !nk potluck on Sat. Went home, showered, and left immediately to meet Nic at City Hall. The train was horrendously crowded, goodness. Finished reading Of Mice and Men on the way there, was quite blown away by how well it was written. Had a really salty Japanese soup at The Soup Spoon. Watched Mong's play, and had drinks with Mong at the KKK afterwards. Mong drove me home, driving at a scarily breakneck speed.
Thursday (28th July): Pottery class in the evening. Spent the day with my Dad, watching Wu Xia and then viewing Requiem, an exhibition at NAFA on war photography during the Vietnam War. Ran into my Dad's friend, and he joined us for the photography exhibition. Went shopping around Tanglin Mall and bought myself a mini Lego aeroplane kit. Decided to buy a pink Nanoblock pig kit for Jessica, as a gift. She hugged me in appreciation. Probably the least disastrous Pottery class thus far, with my coiling going well, guess I'm getting better.
Wednesday (27th July): Reached the office in the nick of time to catch Mr. Tan before he left for court. Spent an amusing time at court with the clients, remembering the old case. Got mistaken for an actual lawyer by another random lawyer, and had an entertaining time talking to him as I waited for the case to proceed. The case ended up getting settled out of court, for 34k. Had lunch with the client's at Furama. Spent the rest of the time hanging around the office, then following Mr. Tan as we went to Challenger to buy a portable hard disk. Ate popiah.
Tuesday (26th July): Had pottery class and spoke quite a bit to Jessica, a girl who's the same age as me, visiting from New Orleans. Promised to go for Thursday's class in order to see her one last time.
Monday (25th July): Celebrated Shu's birthday with the LSE people.
Sunday (24th July): Had brunch with Hadi and Cheam. Afterwards, I went swimming at my Uncle's place with my Mum, before the whole family gathered for a nice steamboat dinner. Played with my Uncle's new massage chair and spilled a wee bit of juice on it.
Saturday (23rd July): Spent the day at home, not doing very much in particular. HM dropped by for a wee bit.
Friday (22nd July): Movie marathon with Nic and Patrick. Had lunch first at Cedele, then watched Sandcastles (not worth the time) followed by Citizen Kane (lived up to it's reputation) and then Rocket Science (hipsterrrrr). Ended up walking around botanic gardens at night, using my handphone's puny flashlight for illumination.
Thursday (21st July): Visited my Uncle at the office, and found out about an old case I worked on in 2009 finally going for assessment of damages the next week. Had lunch with him at some bento place nearby. Went home and bummed.
Wednesday (20th July): Pottery, followed by pilates as usual. Painted my pottery pieces. Spent ages sanding down a badly done piece.
Tuesday (19th July): Went for Pottery in the afternoon. Visited my grandmother in the hospital at night. She checked out the next day.
Monday (18th July): Went to return costumes, took out stitches, bought Shu's gift. Visited my grandmother in the hospital.
Sunday (17th July): Watched Your Highness with Shu at night. Had a small supper/coffee time with her after in Coffee Club at Wheelock afterwards.
Saturday (16th July): Met Ianthe and Steph at North Bridge Road, to rent costumes. Ended up renting a silly quasi-Arwen costume in honour of the intended LOTR marathon Ianthe wanted to host. On the way there, I had a rather entertaining conversation with the taxi driver over chicken parts, HDB flats and studying overseas. Played some Call of Duty. Ate a delicious celebratory meal her brother, Ian, cooked. Watched 2/3 of the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Friday (15th July): Met my grandmother in the morning, so that she could pick up a free luggage from a travel agency. Had lunch with her at Tampopo in Liang Court. While leaving the carpark, my grandma drove into a divider, knocking off a bit of the car. Watched Harry Potter at Shaw with Ianthe, Steph, JH, Liselle and another HM.
Sunday (31st July): Had a quick lunch at home before dashing out to meet Hidayah and Ianthe at Vivocity. Amazingly I took just 30 minutes to reach despite having to change both the bus and the train at least once. Eyed Red Army Cameras at Page One, despite the fact that I haven't touched my Diana in ages. Watched Winter's Bone with my parents at night, and a bit of Liang Po Po before I got fed up and switched it off.
Saturday (30th July): !nk gathering at Jia's place. Put too much salt in the zucchini almond I had brought. Arjun picked me up, and Steph sent me back home. Having friends who drive is excellent.
Friday (29th July): Had lunch with Arjun at Al-Ameen. Tried iced horlicks. Had my favourite butter chicken with garlic naan. We then wandered to Udder's and I had a green tea ice-cream. Went to Bukit Timah Plaza to buy groceries for the !nk potluck on Sat. Went home, showered, and left immediately to meet Nic at City Hall. The train was horrendously crowded, goodness. Finished reading Of Mice and Men on the way there, was quite blown away by how well it was written. Had a really salty Japanese soup at The Soup Spoon. Watched Mong's play, and had drinks with Mong at the KKK afterwards. Mong drove me home, driving at a scarily breakneck speed.
Thursday (28th July): Pottery class in the evening. Spent the day with my Dad, watching Wu Xia and then viewing Requiem, an exhibition at NAFA on war photography during the Vietnam War. Ran into my Dad's friend, and he joined us for the photography exhibition. Went shopping around Tanglin Mall and bought myself a mini Lego aeroplane kit. Decided to buy a pink Nanoblock pig kit for Jessica, as a gift. She hugged me in appreciation. Probably the least disastrous Pottery class thus far, with my coiling going well, guess I'm getting better.
Wednesday (27th July): Reached the office in the nick of time to catch Mr. Tan before he left for court. Spent an amusing time at court with the clients, remembering the old case. Got mistaken for an actual lawyer by another random lawyer, and had an entertaining time talking to him as I waited for the case to proceed. The case ended up getting settled out of court, for 34k. Had lunch with the client's at Furama. Spent the rest of the time hanging around the office, then following Mr. Tan as we went to Challenger to buy a portable hard disk. Ate popiah.
Tuesday (26th July): Had pottery class and spoke quite a bit to Jessica, a girl who's the same age as me, visiting from New Orleans. Promised to go for Thursday's class in order to see her one last time.
Monday (25th July): Celebrated Shu's birthday with the LSE people.
Sunday (24th July): Had brunch with Hadi and Cheam. Afterwards, I went swimming at my Uncle's place with my Mum, before the whole family gathered for a nice steamboat dinner. Played with my Uncle's new massage chair and spilled a wee bit of juice on it.
Saturday (23rd July): Spent the day at home, not doing very much in particular. HM dropped by for a wee bit.
Friday (22nd July): Movie marathon with Nic and Patrick. Had lunch first at Cedele, then watched Sandcastles (not worth the time) followed by Citizen Kane (lived up to it's reputation) and then Rocket Science (hipsterrrrr). Ended up walking around botanic gardens at night, using my handphone's puny flashlight for illumination.
Thursday (21st July): Visited my Uncle at the office, and found out about an old case I worked on in 2009 finally going for assessment of damages the next week. Had lunch with him at some bento place nearby. Went home and bummed.
Wednesday (20th July): Pottery, followed by pilates as usual. Painted my pottery pieces. Spent ages sanding down a badly done piece.
Tuesday (19th July): Went for Pottery in the afternoon. Visited my grandmother in the hospital at night. She checked out the next day.
Monday (18th July): Went to return costumes, took out stitches, bought Shu's gift. Visited my grandmother in the hospital.
Sunday (17th July): Watched Your Highness with Shu at night. Had a small supper/coffee time with her after in Coffee Club at Wheelock afterwards.
Saturday (16th July): Met Ianthe and Steph at North Bridge Road, to rent costumes. Ended up renting a silly quasi-Arwen costume in honour of the intended LOTR marathon Ianthe wanted to host. On the way there, I had a rather entertaining conversation with the taxi driver over chicken parts, HDB flats and studying overseas. Played some Call of Duty. Ate a delicious celebratory meal her brother, Ian, cooked. Watched 2/3 of the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Friday (15th July): Met my grandmother in the morning, so that she could pick up a free luggage from a travel agency. Had lunch with her at Tampopo in Liang Court. While leaving the carpark, my grandma drove into a divider, knocking off a bit of the car. Watched Harry Potter at Shaw with Ianthe, Steph, JH, Liselle and another HM.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Somewhere Out There
When I was younger, pre-laptop times, I'd watch the night sky from my open air kitchen as I ate supper. As I got older I was more pressed for time, and often brought my supper to the computer to eat. I stopped spending time looking at the sky. Not that there was much to see though. When Google Earth first came out, you could barely see Singapore because it was covered with a massive cloud for good reason: Singapore is a very cloudy place. This cloudiness of course, affected any proper attempt to stargaze. That and the massive light pollution from all the street lights, which combined to make stargazing near impossible.
I remember when I was younger, I'd look out at the night sky, at the moon and think "this is the same moon my loved one is under". For a particular partner (I'm not being mysterious, I really can't remember who it is anymore), I even told him to think of me every time he saw the moon. So the moon became a quasi-symbol of love and remembrance for me. Today when I looked out however there was no moon at all. I'm not even being dramatic, I saw no sign of the moon. The internet tells me it's a waning moon, but it sure looked like a new moon to me (I just learned that no moon = new moon while trying to find the right terminology for this). I however did see an unusually bright twinkling dot, that made me think was a satellite, and three stars dotting the night sky. I do really wonder where the moon is.
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Today I am starting Steinback's Of Mice and Men. It already feels promising, pages in. Hopefully it's small size will be a welcome respite from the Forna that I finished today.
I remember when I was younger, I'd look out at the night sky, at the moon and think "this is the same moon my loved one is under". For a particular partner (I'm not being mysterious, I really can't remember who it is anymore), I even told him to think of me every time he saw the moon. So the moon became a quasi-symbol of love and remembrance for me. Today when I looked out however there was no moon at all. I'm not even being dramatic, I saw no sign of the moon. The internet tells me it's a waning moon, but it sure looked like a new moon to me (I just learned that no moon = new moon while trying to find the right terminology for this). I however did see an unusually bright twinkling dot, that made me think was a satellite, and three stars dotting the night sky. I do really wonder where the moon is.
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Today I am starting Steinback's Of Mice and Men. It already feels promising, pages in. Hopefully it's small size will be a welcome respite from the Forna that I finished today.
Rosoff and Forna
I read two books about the experience of war recently, Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now and Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love. Both books, failed to really impress me. Of the lot I suppose Forna's was better, but clocking in at 445 pages it really wore me out with it's excruciatingly slow pace and lack of dialogue. Rosoff's on the other hand, I blew through in 5 hours.
Both books were critically acclaimed, but I found the hype to be overrated. That and I didn't like the characters at all. Daisy in How I Live Now was overtly precocious in an annoying way, Edmond too self-assured to be a plausible teenager. A whole swathe of characters in The Memory of Love are overly indulgent with their emotions, choosing deliberately to linger on events and feel sad for years after with no actual steps taken to rectify things, the most annoying being Elias Cole who I wanted to strangle at various times.
While not being bad books per se, I found them nonetheless disappointing and unimpressive.
Both books were critically acclaimed, but I found the hype to be overrated. That and I didn't like the characters at all. Daisy in How I Live Now was overtly precocious in an annoying way, Edmond too self-assured to be a plausible teenager. A whole swathe of characters in The Memory of Love are overly indulgent with their emotions, choosing deliberately to linger on events and feel sad for years after with no actual steps taken to rectify things, the most annoying being Elias Cole who I wanted to strangle at various times.
While not being bad books per se, I found them nonetheless disappointing and unimpressive.
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