J-Tunes

In the spirit of firefly's YouTube posts which have benefited me greatly, I decide to start recommending songs here too. ^_^

(Since I'm still on J-fever, the recommendations this time round will be tuned accordingly.)

This one is pretty ancient, as it came to me through a long and winding backwards road, which I might feel like writing about some other time. The catchy theme song from Nobuta o Produce, sung by the two male leads, with the PV full of prancing boys -- but the mass dance effect was probably forgivable when it came to the stage-crossing flips that were kinda cool.


修二と彰 - 青春アミーゴ
Shuuji to Akira - Seishun AMIIGO (Friend from Youth Days)




Kobukuro... where have I been all this while not to have discovered them sooner? Beautiful songs. Beautiful harmony. And really good vocals. (I know PVs don't prove much, so go check out their live performances on YouTube if you are curious.) I certainly don't mind the pretty sing/dance/act visual-oriented idols that this country manufactures nowadays (see reco #1), but this, now, is the kind of music that touches.


コブクロ - ここにしか咲かない花
Kobukuro - Koko ni Shika Sakanai Hana (The Flower that Only Blooms Here)




コブクロ - 桜
Kobukuro - Sakura

跟自己的约会

If you know you can trust yourself
you will feel relaxed
and unmoved by praise and blame.
Regardless of what others say,
you are content.

Those who do not have a firm foundation in practice
can easily be sucked in
and their perceptions are warped as a result.

When you understand this matter
you will be truly untroubled.

Nothing that happens is wrong.
Everything is Dhamma.

- Ajahn Chah -

The one thing I'm missing right now... that trust in myself.

Aaa yosh, strive on with diligence! o_(>_<)_o

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

"Your life is an occasion. Rise to it."

心の友

Got this from Eka. I usually despise the practice of rewriting lyrics for foreign language songs, but I like this arrangement so much, it is readily forgiven.

Delon and Mayumi Itsuwa - Kokoro no Tomo


Here's a short clip showing them singing together (live on stage).

That kind of vocal is close to making me regret that I never followed Indonesian Idol. =P

Kacang Hijau

sepotong ingatanku adalah ruangan kecil itu,
ramai di jangka lima belas menit antara kelas,
tiga empat suara kita di sepi usai sekolah,
kauhitung untung rugi dan kuisi petak-petak kaca.

tempatmu yang kusinggahi kala hujan,
menghafal biologi sambil kaumasakkan mi instan;
kartu ulang tahunmu pun kubuat sendiri,
di sela liburan kausurati aku dengan kertas warna-warni.

ingatan masa itu yang tertinggal saat ini
kumpulan wajah-wajah, kilasan kesan suasana
selalu kulihat kamu dalam seragam abu-abu itu,
tak peduli di suatu kota kau kini seorang ibu.

entah dari mana kita dulu mengira
di usia itu cuma ada satu macam cinta
kalau memang kurang romansa yang kita tidak punya
maka terserahlah mau disebut apa,
nyatanya sampai sekarang kaulah yang paling dalam terasa.

Scamothology

Received an email alert from NUS Security today on the latest scam method to watch out for, as several staff and students have received strange calls. I copy below the content of the letter from the Police to the public (probably on announcement boards that we don't have at our place since I never knew about it ^^0).

---

Date: 18 Oct 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

Crime Alert: Phone Scam Involving Impersonation of Court Officials

Over the past few months, there were numerous cases where members of public fell prey to cheating scams such as the foreign lottery scam. A recent variation used by culprits involves the impersonation of Supreme Court officials to dupe victims into parting with their money. Generally, the culprits would accuse the victim of being involved in criminal offences such as money laundering. The phone call is then transferred to an accomplice who would instruct the victim to transfer money that was deemed to be ‘gained by illicit means’ to a bank account in order to exonerate him/her from the criminal charges.

Modus Operandi

2. The scammers usually operate in pairs (male and female) and would call the victim to inform him/her that he/she had failed to attend a Court hearing to answer criminal charges. The call would usually contain some of the following content to mislead the victim:

i. The female culprit would call the victim up and accuse the latter of being involved in a commercial crime such as money laundering or in unlicensed money lending. In some instances, the initial call was in the form of a voice message which required the victim to “press 9” before the call is transferred to a female operator.

ii. The scammer would question the victim as to why he/she had failed to attend a court hearing to answer to criminal charges. This would be followed by the transferring of the call to the male accomplice.

iii. The male accomplice would then impersonate a Police officer who will use various names. In order to add credibility to their claims, the culprit would quote genuine judges’ names and provide legitimate contact numbers to the Supreme Court Information counter or Quality Service Management.

iv. The male accomplice would also ask for the victim’s particulars, which includes his/her NRIC number and bank account details for verification purposes. On two occasions, the culprits(s) were able to provide some of the victim’s details such as the bank account and credit card numbers.

v. The culprit(s) would stress the importance for the victim to deposit the ‘dirty’ money into a specific account which would presumably ‘exonerate’ the victim from the charges he/she faces.

Crime Prevention Measures

3. The Police would like to advise the public to note the following:

i. Ignore any notification calls from unknown persons who claim to be government officials. All notices to attend court hearing would be notified by post or accompanied by an official letter.

ii. Police or court officials would not ask anyone, especially those who is in connection with a criminal case, to make any transfer of funds to unknown bank accounts.

iii. Do not give your personal details such as NRIC and bank account numbers to anyone over telephone or e-mail.

4. Those who receive such calls may wish to pass on such information to the Police at a Neighbourhood Police Centre. Alternatively, you may also contact Community Involvement Division at 6478 2135 for more information.

---

Eight

It's our eighth reunion this year, and eight of us managed to come. Eight is a good number, no? =D Some of you will know why I think that (nothing to do with the Chinese belief of auspicious things). After the record-setting attendance of 19 (?) last year, you'd think it would at least follow some normal curve...

Forgot to bring a camera to the event. -_-|| Somehow I have very little awareness of my possession of that thing (maybe cos I've gotten it free). Ata please remember to upload the photos ya. Don't worry I will remind you for it. Huhuhuh.

Agree with firefly's opinion on the low attendance. For all it's worth, there were last-minute unforeseen circumstances too (some of whom had really wanted to come) and the honest timing issue, so that's not as discouraging as it seems. =P

Admittedly while asking around for confirmation I already had this assumption in my head (that not everyone really wants it) though of course I wouldn't hint on it and encourage the negative response. =D For twenty-four people to feel the same about something is quite unreasonable to expect really.

I have priorities myself, and they don't always follow the queue of obligations. It's probably a bad thing when I was late for appointments because someone was sharing an emotive conversation with me, and I didn't want to break the momentum. (Too heart-ruled?) Low maintenance as they could be, all relationships consume time to a certain extent, and the choices had to be made.

But half-heartedness can be problematic to manage, as we would make compromises and sacrifices only when we feel strongly for something (unless it's a personality trait..) and when I was in the wrong mood I really felt like saying, it's okay if you don't want to come, I understand really; just tell me that so I can focus the planning effort on those of us who want to.

Sorry for that confession, ya. ^^0 It is not a right thing to do, of course, because even while not enthusiastic about it, most of us will still make efforts to connect, either out of care or simply social awareness. And that connection is the important thing, which is why we will still have our ninth (with better planning if I could).

(On this point I'm also feeling bad for not making time for someone whom I usually would.. ah, I've been defeated by money*! >_< )

Am I putting pressure on people with this talk? Hope not. I too might be a reluctant manager who wanted to avoid the responsibility. =P I feed on people's energy and enthusiasm, and I might get impatient when I felt there wasn't enough support that I mistakenly expected.

人間だから、御免ね。


* quoted from Nobuta wo Produce, which, by the way, is a strange drama for managing to be a crack (or is it just the Japanese sense of humour?) while having surprisingly good morale points.

Bersahaja

There are songs that are extremely moving in their intricateness, like this one:

Klakustik - Tak Bisa Ke Lain Hati


And then there are those that are beautiful in the simplicity of the tunes. Letto to me is latter case, judging from their two albums so far.

From their latest album, aside from this one I don't care much for the other songs (which probably reflect more of their actual style?).

Letto - Sebelum Cahaya


The style and the guitar solo interlude is reminiscent of my favourite hit from their first album:

Letto - Ruang Rindu


(The female backing vocals in 'Sebelum Cahaya' also reminded me a little of Samson's 'Kenangan Terindah', but not nearly as powerfully employed.)

I've since had more favourites from that first album, so maybe given some time I'll grow to like some of the rest. Do have a try yourself. Anyway, I have too limited exposure to Indonesian songs, and even more outdated than Eka, to be sufficiently analytical about this. =)

Bridge for Babel

Feelings
can be fragile, can be strong;

Words can go wrong,
Actions can go wrong,

All things vague lost in translation,

the kind of things life is mostly made up from.

But
with those same feelings

We forgive,
We learn.

---

You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm falling behind
Can you read my mind?

The good old days, the honest man;
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees;
A broken wrist and a big trapeze

Oh well I don't mind, if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go, can you read my mind?

It's funny how you just break down
Waitin' on some sign
Can you read my mind?

Slippin' in my faith until I fall
You never returned that call
Woman, open the door, don't let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again

She said I don't mind, if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Put your back on me...

The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun
When you read my mind

-- The Killers, "Read My Mind"

Hot! Hot Hot!

Scalded my hand on some hot water two days ago -- wasn't so bad, and I attempted some home treatment with help from online info and several friends who happened to notice. Quite surprising that there is actually no consensus in the medical articles about what the proper treatment should be; and also that most of us (including me) are rather ignorant about it.

In short, I finally stopped by the campus health center this morning, just to find out for sure from a doctor =D and so I thought I'd share. I should first emphasize that I have no qualification to give medical advice here; please use your own discretion if you decide to believe me. ^^

Types

The type of burn I get is a second-degree burn -- the type that blisters, with clear fluid inside (or oozing, depends whether the skin is punctured). First-degree burns are the dry ones, the most popular being sunburn. Interestingly, third-degree burns (the worst type) are actually not painful, though it's nothing to be happy about because it stems from the fact that the nerves are damaged. Third-degree burns are usually surrounded by the exquisitely painful second-degree burns, anyway.

First Aid

All articles agree that the first thing to do for any kind of burn is to stop the burning (think "drop and roll" in fire accidents). In my case I ran tap water on it. In contrast, ice shouldn't be applied directly, because the extreme cold might shock the wounded area and damage the cells further.

Treatment

Common sense, wounded area should always be kept clean to avoid infection. (No such risk if the skin is intact.) But from here is where opinions differ: should we drain the fluid or leave it to dry by itself? remove the blister skin so it dries faster, or leave it as a protection layer?

I was confused by the contrasting suggestions until an article clarifies that there are indeed three schools of thought regarding this, and I quote:

"[1] One group contends that the blister should be left intact, as the top layer of the blister acts as a barrier to infection.

[2] Another group adopts the "middle-of-the-road" approach of aspirating blister fluid with a syringe (the fluid is thought to impair white blood cell activity), but leaving the blister covering intact.

[3] The third school of thought advocates complete removal of all blister fluid and the outer blister covering, due to concerns about impaired wound healing."

[3] is obviously painful as it exposes the nerve ends, but I've always thought it was necessary to allow the applied medicine to reach the relevant parts (the outer skin is mere dead cells by then). However I suppose this alternative requires proper dressing or some other means of avoiding infection -- something to note for people who, like me, are less meticulous about wound-caring.

Doctor Says

This person related that his doctor went for [3], so I initially thought that the professional care would be [3].

Differently, though, my doctor advised [1] for the protection reason. He said the blister would dry by itself in time (about a week), and I could leave the fluid (that was the plasma, he said) to ooze out naturally. In my case the blister skin is still intact (I've "put back" the peeled part) so there is no need to cover it, either.

He asked if I wanted pain-killer (not necessary) and if I wanted anti-tetanus injection (also very little necessity in the case of hot water scalding, which is unlikely to be non-steril). He then gave me some cream ("Bactroban ointment") to apply on it. Unless there are signs of infection (swelling redness) he told me not to worry.

Home Treatment

I asked the doctor if I should prevent contact with water, and he said there is no need, though I should dry it up as soon as possible. From experience, I think the concerns about getting the wound wet are basically these:

(1) In the early stage, the open wound will throb when water gets on it. But for me, I am more tolerable for this short-term pain than for the inconvenience of not using the wounded hand. =P

(2) In the healing stage, the forming scab/crust gets tender when it is wet for an extended period. Need to take care that it doesn't peel off, which will revert the process and prolong the healing.

My trip to the doctor is quite "dry" after all =D and indeed burns below the third degree should be able to be treated at home. General-purpose antiseptic like Betadine lists burns as one of the wound types it is applicable to, so I suppose it should suffice to help the wound dry out. I went for the "yellow medication liquid" (Hemisulphate lotion) which served the same purpose. This one leaves stains, not permanent on the skin, but not sure if on clothing.

Ah well. I hope the above is useful as some tips. Do apply with reasonable judgement. =)

Bloody Truth

We wanted Stardust, but it was still on those awkwardly-timed sneak previews, so I said, "Let's ogle Jake Gyllenhaal then," which Eka didn't mind (I don't think she's in the fan club though).

That mission kind of failed, maybe because I was kind of expecting the Donnie Darko of six years past. He didn't shine, but other parts of the movie unexpectedly made up for it.

(Warning for SPOILERS below, by the way.)

Rendition was heavier than I was prepared for. The generally available synopsis led me to think it would be mostly a drama of Reese Witherspoon searching for her disappearing husband (Reese did well on her climactic scene, which affected me quite a bit), plus bits of moral issues that were Jake's share. It didn't register to me that such a theme would of course warrant some disturbing torture scenes.

In retrospect, even if I'd been aware of that, I might have overestimated my capacity to stomach them, considering my past exposure to some gruesome dark manga. I hadn't felt compelled to blog about this movie since I saw it two days ago, until just now in the shower when I was promptly reminded of the waterboarding scene. Static ink on paper surely pales in comparison to live action with a real person.

Throughout the story, the audience was led to conclude that Anwar (the suspect) had been wrongly accused. Never mind the breach to the 'innocent till proven guilty' principle; I went by feelings more than principles, and I sympathized with him just because I knew he wasn't the bad guy.

However, when he finally caved in and confessed, I thought for a moment that he might actually be involved after all, and that the torture had indeed brought out the truth. After all, we couldn't help but acknowledge that Abasi (the 'torturer', another great performance) did operate on fair assumptions when he laid out their findings before Anwar and asked, "Tell me, what do you want us to think?" (Not the exact quote, which I wish I remembered.)

As should have been obvious, though, we did find out later on that Anwar had given a false confession only to avoid further torture, and it was like, fiuh, but still.

You know those Knights and Knaves logical puzzles -- wouldn't it be handy if there were a provable way of determining if someone speaks the truth without a precondition to know what that truth is?

Is it the essence of detective work, after all? Lie detectors have the desirable property (context-free) but not the desirable result (provable). I suspect that in this case we might find these two qualities contradicting each other.

At this point I'm rather tempted to discuss a thought from Tokyo Babylon: "In most cases, we only know the reality of what happened. Not the truth behind it." The original context is an emotional treatment of the issue of manifestation versus motivation; throw in the matters of perspective and interpretation, and it's a whole different topic. Hence, I'll refrain for now.

遠い旅をしている... 君は

A sad news five months late: Sakai Izumi (of Zard) has passed away on 27 May 2007. May her music remain with us for a long time to come.

If not for all the tribute videos on YouTube, who knows when I would find out about this..

She was one of the earliest singers (if not the earliest) that I noticed in my first foray into J-pop, and I remembered sampling all the Zard songs I could find and collecting the translation to all her lyrics.

A pencil drawing of Sakai Izumi that I did at the start of my obsession.
She was definitely more beautiful than this, though..

I haven't been a dedicated fan, as I only care for a very limited subset of her discography, but learning about her death shook me enough to write about it all the same.

Musical-wise, it was her self-written touching, down-to-earth lyrics that I admire; but it was more her quiet kind of beauty and intriguingly modest image that earned my sort-of idolization, as I believe they also did for her many fans.

While the heart-wrenching Eien (as my long-time favourite) might be more fitting for the occasion, here is instead, the song from her latest album in 2005 (not counting compilations) that relived my adoration of her after quite a few years -- the definition being, one that had me scrambling all over trying to find upon seen on TV.

遠い旅をしているみたいに
別々の道を このまま...
二人もう 会えないのかな
もうサヨナラだね
君とのふれあい

Just like a long journey
On separate roads like this
The two of us will never meet again, will we?
It's the end to everything
The reunion with you

Kanji lyrics quoted from: http://www.videouncovered.com/lyrics/4705/1190/zard/kimi-to-no-fureai.html

Translation is my own attempt with help from the clip subtitles; correction will be much appreciated.

Teman Seperjalanan

It was a long ride to Changi, and I didn't remember to bring something to read nor my mp3 player. Caught glimpses of Scar and Colonel Mustang on what a schoolboy standing beside me was reading, but from my position I couldn't tumpang read without being obvious, and it was a crowded train. Staring would be rude, wouldn't it?

But I started to think that perhaps some people actually wouldn't mind. If I were the one reading my favourite comic book in a public place, strangers would indeed be very welcome to preview. (We folks who aim for world domination are eager to share like that. To think other people need to pay to advertise, eh.)

Of course, as long as they don't invade my personal space lah. Otherwise can get quite scary.

As it was on my ride back, when I managed to get a seat. A guy sat down beside me with a bag on his lap, and proceeded to sleep. After a while there was a movement inside his bag, at the side that was facing me. It made a scratching sound as whatever it was came into contact with the fabric.

Somebody's phone happened to be ringing at that time, so at first I thought it was his cell phone vibrating, but then I saw more movements at another region, so that couldn't be it. The thing wriggled for a while, stopped for some time, then started again. I kept eyeing the bag every time that happened, while the guy continued to sleep.

Could there be an animal inside? Maybe he just returned from taking his puppy for a walk? Kaypo lah, I know, but somehow I felt quite intimidated mah.

Anyway, I finally alighted with relief and walked home. Another person caught up with me near the red light crossing, when his phone started ringing -- definitely was a ringtone this time, and whaddya know, I heard, "Di daun yang ikut... mengalir lembut..."

Ola, I know that song heh. I turned to look at him (this one without bothering to be discreet) but couldn't be sure if he was an Indonesian or not, and I didn't catch what he said into the phone. (Now that would surely be rude.)

Maybe I was overreacting ah? Many Indonesians here, what. And as we could see from the various local talent shows that I no longer take interest in, many non-Indonesians also know Indonesian songs, rite (this spoken -- or rather, written -- with rare nationalism).

Ah well. There wasn't really a point in my relating these encounters, just that it has been an amusing journey after all. ^__^

Orange Coffee

The taste of orange from the orange coffee
still resides below my throat
to jump up at the push of air
and spread the fragrance inside my mouth.

As it is with my attachment to you
that subsides in favor of many things else
yet far away from being forgotten
catches me indulging in these secret smiles.


Image source: indianetzone

Force of Nature

For all the means of connectivity in this age
there are so many broken channels between us
How far would I go for this friendship
when the distance gets more than physical?

It all comes down to the depth of concern
that should've been able to cross
more oceans than just this one

Yet days lost are days not shared
An empty chair is hardly a place in the heart
Not that circumstances are above us
Rather that we don't see the need to fight.

秋去夏來

Having escaped the chilly Beijing autumn, now back in hot, hot Singapore. =) Sore, dry throat is unfortunately carried over, but water and fruits should solve that soon.

First day in once-again unfamiliar SoC @ Law Link (nope, we didn't get the permission to change the road name), I kept turning my head at people who looked like any of my friends back there. Parting is such sweet sorrow, ah?

In some ways my time in China has made me more aware of my "roots" -- the social connectivity that my parents put a lot of emphasis in, really is a very important matter for Chinese. Most of our generation tend to put pragmatism first and favor low-maintenance relationships. It is convenient, it is pressure-free, and it is acceptable in our environment.

But having been in a stranger country and braced myself for the loneliness, yet didn't feel it for long... the warm friendliness of the people I just got to know really moved me. I could imagine myself in their shoes wouldn't have done so much.

Of course, as I realized in a recent conversation with dish, it also takes sincerity for that to work out. Still I think in most cases the connection first started with a sense of social duty: to get to know the ones you sit with, to take care of a junior -- before developing into a real friendship.

I guess in my awkwardness I didn't return their hospitality as much as I should have.. but I am quite resolved to pay better attention to the people around me, now. =) My roommates and I talked so much while I was there, that I found myself much more talkative these days.

Ah well, have lined up catching-up dinners and repeated stories throughout this week, while I'm still settling down for work. =D Next week, will have to dive into hard work again. ^^;

Cross-Platform Madness

Repeat after me: I should not port AMD binaries to Intel machines without rebuild.

Sigh. Lost sleep chasing a bug that's not in the code after all! *yawns*

In the Air

rushing out
        not quite words,
    i need a tune,
    or something.

                    so they say
                         it's all of heaven we have below;
                                         and said he,
                                vivo per lei,
                                io vivo--

      so much to feel

          and with such intensity,

      this luxury of many a great company
might tie me forever to this wheel,

    but bless them,
        oh bless them, indeed.

法灯此心照一照

Several things happened yesterday that annoyed me -- petty matters really, but such are my peeves. =P

My reaction, as usual, started from justification:
1. It was their fault.
2a. Hm, but maybe I did trigger it a bit.
2b. Hm, but seemed like they really wasn't aware of the situation.
3. Inconsiderate folks, can't stand them.
4. But wait, did I also do something similar in the past?
...

Well, that was exhausting. Turning to Buddhist teaching I thought, I was building up so much anger and negative energy, I'd better dispel it.

So I started another round of analysis:
1. As the teaching says, these are my "teachers", I should be grateful to them.
2. But I should be entitled to expect certain things from people, no? Surely everyone else has something he/she is particular about, too?
3. Yet probably these things are done not out of courtesy, but kindness, so you can't really expect them.
4. Why should I be angry while they are oblivious to all this?
...

No proper conclusion still.

In a last attempt to find peace I thought back to the teacher figures in my past -- what would they have said?

It so happened that the first one I recalled was 开照师父, from whom I took The Three Refuges four years ago. I was quite amazed that I still remembered his face very clearly after so long (I rarely attended his talks since they were usually in Mandarin) -- such a bright smile left a very deep impression indeed.

Anyway, on the mere recollection of him I could imagine what he would have said: "你这么烦恼干么呢?" (er, yah, a more polite version of it maybe) and just like that, the heavy feelings were lifted off my mind.

It came back to me what he had always said: "不要让此心随意转﹐不要做一个烦恼的人."

There are all sorts of problems with this world (life), and a lot of them are just because we see them as so. They are not meant to be solved (想的通) but rather, to be apprehended with an open mind (想的开). (These are probably from somebody else, I don't remember exactly. And probably not a proper translation, hard to find the suitable terms..)

Come to think of it, it would be the anniversary of my taking The Three Refuges soon. This time, I can certainly appreciate the Sangha component much more. =) Often we know the teaching; we're just not skilled enough to apply it. And we do need those who have truly known happiness to teach that.

While You Were Sleeping

Was checking out the new location map of SoC, then I saw the label "LT27" and was suddenly struck with an unexpected nostalgic feeling. =) Ah, I've been seeing that building for years, and now we will be quite a distance away.

(Though one could easily say, how big is NUS campus really, or for that matter, the whole Singapore town?)

I have surely forgotten that I once missed the CELC at the old Admin building, the old NIE park, or the old KR hall (I suppose it's part of RVR now?) just the same.

Thufir Hawat said, "Parting with friends is sadness. A place is a place."

I can tell you many things I miss about Singapore as a place: the fresh air, the manageable size (long live Street Directory) and even more as an environment (the lack of all those things one would be fined for doing)... but I guess the core of it all is a matter of familiarity.

And we humans can adapt very well. The air quality has not improved in Beijing, but my dissatisfaction about it certainly has.

I've been so comfortable with my life back then, with all its ups and downs, with my semi-static circle of friends, even with all that my personality lacks, with all the shortcomings that attack my conscience from time to time. I accepted the offer for this temporary posting in Beijing because, simply, the opportunity was there. Minutes from the so-minimally-prepared departure, I was thrown to the discomforting realization, "Oh no, I will have to make new friends soon?"

By now I know there'll be bits of the same bittersweet feeling towards these new friends when I leave this city, as what I felt when I left for it; as what I still feel once a year on that taxi trip to my hometown airport.

And yet, it might just be a subdued sentimental recollection one year from now.

Much as it may sound anti-romantic, feelings do pass... or change, and I think that is perfectly all right, 'cause I'd like to think that romance lies, in contrast, in all the effort we spend on the feeling while it lasts.

Now is that mushy or what? =D

Searching

First laid-back weekend after a while. =) This blog will have jumbled things I've wanted to say for some time, so it's unlikely to be coherent..

First, a link: The Keropok - Singapore Daily Photo

I guess partly because the photos are well taken, partly because I'm rather tuned to sight-seeing mood recently, and partly because I'm currently away... I thought, "Eh, Singapore is quite a beautiful country too." =D (Over here all they say about Singapore is "So clean!")

Hope I will still think so when I'm back in a few months, so I'll make time to look around the few places I've never really explored before. Eka, would you be up to it? As an alternative to our movie weekends. ^^

The photoblog by the way was found through a "Google query chain" for "NUS School of Computing relocation", when I needed to find out the new location of my lab, to re-apply for the expired IT resources. I'm working on something related to web search these days, so these search stuff mean a little bit more to me now. =) My browser starts on Google, and I always have an open tab for on-demand googling the whole time I'm working at a terminal. Now, occasionally I'd feel like I should contribute to my own datapool by using MSN Live Search instead. =D

As for the browser, I've been using Mozilla Firefox back home, mostly for its convenient tabbing. (It is supposedly more secure, too, but I never understand much about computer security, so. =P) Now that IE7 -- pre-installed on my lab machine, while Firefox is not -- has tabs too, I've switched sides.. for now. =D IE's tabbing feature feels slower in response, but this comparison is on different machines. Any of you have the experience?

Before the trip to the Redmond campus, we met up with our General Manager Hon Hsiao-Wuen, during which I asked him if, being "Microsoft people" (of which sense I don't have enough yet), we should be careful in revealing our preference for competitor products to these people we were going to meet (within/outside the lab/company). He said that, they would actually encourage us to experience other products and provide feedbacks and criticisms, but please make sure to convey it respectfully. =D

I did miss the powerful built-in/shell tools I'd been using on SoC Linux servers, and once gushed to my project leader about them. =P Hopefully that wasn't too... er, enthusiastic-for-the-wrong-side. The researchers I work with are very young and the team shares a much more casual interaction compared to the professor-student relationship I've had in campus, so it's easy to reveal those kind of things in conversations. =D

Things are moving at a faster pace for me here, being in a team, compared to doing my own research in the uni. My prof gave me a lot of time to explore ideas; we met once a week; I have life outside school. ^^ Here we have concrete targets and are eager for progress; we meet twice a week, plus occasional sync meetings with another department; I don't have much to do outside the lab.

Conclusion: OT. =D

(Of course a portion of these OT periods is utilized for emails, blogs, chats etc, like now. Search data are huge so experiments have long runtimes, and so I have sort of excusable in-between idle periods, har.)

I'm working on a photo blog for recent happenings, will post the link here when it's ready. I wonder if the amount of photos I'm putting up is giving you the impression that I'm on a long vacation trip instead of an internship? XD Somehow I feel obliged to post them just because my usual folks (family and friends) aren't here to experience it with me.

Last-last week my parents were here in Beijing on an invitation to attend the MSRA Intern's Day. My father has always wanted to visit China (the "knowing your root" thing) so despite my normal paiseh attitude I worked out the courage to ask the management if I could invite them. Glad I did, because they approved. =)

So by now I've visited the Badaling Great Wall twice and the Summer Palace twice, but still I would like, someday when my mood has recovered from this touristy overload, to hike the Simatai and to go all the way to the hilltop of the Palace. ^_^

But aside from the general feel-good I'm probably losing the enthusiastic edge with all that happened in my life, though when casual acquaintances asked I'd surely say they were exciting, just so it wouldn't sound as if I were disappointed with anything, which I indeed wasn't. I am still aware how fortunate these were for me, so I could at least not appear ingrate. =D

But still I feel that I've been giving a whole lot of "it was all right" answers, which were honest, because the amazement did not stay with me for long. Now that I'm analysing this to write about it, it might be because I sort of know what standard to expect once I get into certain situations, so it wasn't as impressive when they came to pass.

Does one become like this when too many pleasant surprises came in a row? It seems like I got lucky once, then one unexpected thing comes after another; and suddenly I look back at all these "high-end" experience that were amazing as I name it but not so much as I feel it... if you get what I mean.

I guess the biggest weight was that I think of it as an "undeserved favor" (Hady's term), and it really is a favor in more than one sense as various parties have kindly made room for me -- those breaks from my regular obligations, less work accomplished because my time was divided for the preparations -- so, for one, my mind was not entirely free to enjoy it, and there's also this pressure to justify this good turn by, in some way, earning the rights after-the-fact.

I kept thinking "I really should be more excited about this!" but you know when you think that you should feel something, it just means you shouldn't, because you in fact do not feel it. Am I making sense? =PP

Yet here I'm faced with an offer for another weekend++ trip to Shanghai with a group of foreign interns end of this month. I tend somewhat towards the negative decision: I'm rather tired of the sight-seeing business after all these weeks; this trip is expected to be exhausting, plus it's going to eat a day into the work week and I don't want to ask for another leave. It's also a bit of a bet, because I'll need to decide (and pay) on Monday so we can book tickets, but I cannot be sure what to expect from the trip as we do not have a solid itinerary as of yet.

The decision comes down to: I'm totally okay not to go, but I'm wondering if I'll regret it later if I miss the opportunity, considering that I'm already in China right now. Classic, eh. =P

By the way, the title came about as I tried to connect these jumbled parts.. and you might notice I've highlighted the relevant words using the color of this text. **PLUG** It is also the title of one of our Soracco songs from the Passage of Time musical, which we're going to restage January next year, and which I might as well promote here. =D Stay tuned!

Not Quite Home

Back from the trip. =) Not in the mood to write yet (and it seems like this will continue for quite a while =P) so just a few of my favourite photos here for now.

The blue sky of Seattle.

The "aquarium" at the MS Museum.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

That's us. =)

The central library at University of Washington.

1905 UW entrance exam.

And the sunset on the way home (but not quite home for me yet).

Weekend Excursions

Uploaded all photos up to yesterday's adventures. But time spent on these trips == less time for blogging, so here are some teasers, and please go to the link for all the photos -- un-selected and un-captioned. =P

First week

Second week

Visited the Tian'an Men (天安门) Square last week. We actually wanted to go to the Forbidden City (故宫) first, but we sort of lost our way around the Square =D so we thought might as well finish touring the Square first. Then our cameras ran out of battery and mine ran out of storage space on top of that.. so we decided to leave the Forbidden City till next time.



Before going up to the main building, we found a garden at the side. It turned out to be the Sun Yat-Sen Park (中山公园). I'm glad we made the detour, because the park was full of very interesting trees, and I should say I enjoyed this part more than the actual Tian'an Men. =P




Third week

Great Wall! =) Angie happened to be in town, so we went together.. or more exactly, I hopped into their rented car. =D We took the easier path, Badaling Great Wall (八达岭长城) where we took the cable car up to Haohan Po (好汉坡), hiked for a bit, played Spiderman as Ben put it.. then took the cable car back down.



In the afternoon we continued our journey to (a small part of) Summer Palace (颐和园). The place is huge!

Explanation courtesy of Peter: the number of animals carved at the end of the roof signifies the rank of the resident in the imperial household. Interesting!

After the sightseeing business, we met up with Rong Hui and Wei Lie, BF members who are studying in Beijing University.



The university itself is almost a tourist attraction, it has such wonderful sceneries and you can find souvenir sellers at the side of the road. Here is the library, one of the three major places as I was told. The other two are the lake and the pagoda.



I got treated to a mini tour, then a nice dinner with Rong Hui and Mei Ying, another BF member. It was the closest to home dishes I've had since coming here. =D

I peeked into their dorm rooms, or slums by their terms... and for a good reason, poor thing. =P Made me quite thankful for my small hotel room. Got many a tip and language crash course from them too. =)

Seems like I talked quite a lot after all.. Next weekend I'll be on the trip to the Redmond campus for a 5-day visit, so the next post will be much delayed, especially since we have homework before, during and after the visit. =P It's hard work to be lucky!

Something So Right

Heard this song on the plane here. (That reference to China is surely just a coincidence.)

Loved the rather haunting atmosphere; have since checked out the whole album (ahem).

---

Something So Right
Vocal: Annie Lennox
Album: Medusa


You've got the cool water
When the fever runs high
And you've got the look of love right in your eyes
And I was in a crazy motion
'Till you calmed me down

It took a little time
But you calmed me down

Some people never say the words "I love you"
It's not their style to be so bold
Some people never say the words "I love you"
But like a child they're longing to be told

They've got a wall in China
It's a thousand miles long
To keep out the foreigners, they made it strong
And I've got a wall around me
That you can't even see

It took a little time
To get next to me

If something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
The first to admit it --
But the last one to know

If something goes right
Oh well, it's likely to lose me
It's apt to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight, oh

I can't get used to something so right
To something so right

Some people never say the words "I love you"
It's not their style to be so bold
Some people never say the words "I love you"
But like a child I'm longing to be told

They've got a wall in China
Hm, yea..
And I've got a wall around me
Yea..

It took a little time
To get next to me

First Week in Visuals

Here be pics. Mostly for Eka, who requested. =)

By a roughly chronological order, this should go first:

Cool motto, huh.

The large-sized dinner. The guy in the back was a Japanese intern (the one whom I talked to about J-rock and anime =D -- see previous post). Quite ex (each of us spent around 100Y), since they follow the international standard, I suppose. Service charge was 15% (!) ...owwie.

But on that note, only foreign-brand restaurants here would have service charges (as far as I've seen, at least). Local ones are mostly family-style, cafetaria-sized, with no service charge. My roommate (from US) was wondering if we should give tips and how much the standard is. I frankly don't really care since I don't plan on giving any =D *cheap cheap* but at that time I was perky enough to ask the waiter (bwaha) who told us, nope, no need.

Back home of course I never have to worry about this, Singapore is so practical they decide everything for you. But since it mattered to my roommate I suppose it might be useful info to put up.

Next, here's the view from our hotel room that I took one night when I was bored.

Nothing magical about that cube of light; it's the reflection of our lit room.

Thought they were nice colours. I was intrigued because the lights in those "blocks" kept coming on and off in brisk succession. Still haven't figured out why. As for the "rays", they were not planned. Those are actually the window curtains. ^^0

I did some search and asking-around about the type of electrical plug to bring, but still wasn't sure about it before I arrived. =P So here is a pic for whoever is planning to come. =) It fits many types, how convenient. The two-round-legged (pardon the non-terms) standard plug we get in Singapore or Indonesia, the parallel two-flat-legged, the triangular three- or two-legged (i.e. just fit the bottom two).

The day before work started we went to explore the shopping complex at Wang Fu Jing (王府井). Our first bargaining experience went rather... errr... ahaha.

By taxi from the hotel (Haidian district) to Wang Fu Jing, we passed by the Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City at its opposite. I would really like to visit these two places in the near future, but for now I've only got the distant view of them. =)



Here's (one part of) Wang Fu Jing's crowd:



This board caught my attention, ads for the 2008 Olympics at Beijing. They've even started selling the souvenirs in some of the shops. 6_6 That was Beckham, in case the resolution is not good enough to recognize him. I have to admit I needed to see the signature and the Chinese-adapted name (below) to recognize him. =$


Around that same area is St. Joseph's Church. Read from the guidebook that it's one of the most photographed sites. I realized it too late to suggest going in for a look. XP



Some random shops.. I just liked the colour scheme of this one. =D


And this one because it has that old-style door. Probably too blurred to see, though. We are still wondering, to date, whether those are fog or (polluted) haze.


A lantern-adorned shopping alley:



Nine million bicycles as the song says, not that I'm counting.. And that pavement is a nice view. They have several similar paintings further down the street.

And here's a local bemo. =D

We entered a small bookshop along the street, because we glimpsed some manga artbook there. I was so happy to see those going at 42Y each (S$8+) which would be perhaps one-tenth the price back home (depends, actually, but around that). Was about to get a Saiyuuki one for 40Y, but then I saw the cover was in bad condition, and the owner offered to get it replaced, so I'll need to return there some other time.

Should have asked for that same book for half the price =D seeing as I might not feel like taking another taxi ride there.. but we'll see. =P

Anyway, the moment we entered that shop, this was the sight that greeted us:

Cute horrrr. And he did this some more:


Well, aside from this store's keeper, I do have complaints about most shopkeepers I encountered. I put them into three categories: (1) the over-friendly ones (buggy and touchy) who turn nasty once you bargain too low or decide not to buy after all, (2) the ones you have no conflict with, either because they are polite or because the shops have fixed prices, and (3) the couldn't-care-less grumpy ones.

I couldn't decide yet if this society is courteous -- the people generally are not, e.g. they don't say a word when bumping you.. and sometimes it is even on purpose to get on their way. But a flyer-distributing guy on the crossroad quite amazed me with the amount of greetings he threw my way just while handing me that piece of paper: "Hi, this is such-and-such service from us. [I took it.] Thank you. Our store is just over there. [I said thanks and started walking away.] Thank you. Bye-bye. [I returned the bye.] 慢走." (common parting saying that literally means "walk slowly")

Some people are reasonably polite but they are just naturally loud so it's like they're yelling at you. =D I don't really have problems with these, but the grumpy shopkeepers really get to me, the way they're answering my questions like I'm such a bother.

I guess I do have a problem with this city's business system in general -- where everything is to be bargained. ^^0 This morning I helped my roommate bargain the cost for laundry -- imagine having to bargain even that. 0_0

Unless in supermarkets, the prices we see in stores are never the real price. We should really get a local to take us shopping next time -- how they cope with this system, I wonder. Most things are cheaper than they are in our homecountry anyway, but by local standards it would still be a rip-off and of course no one likes that feeling. =PP

This morning, I was walking around a nearby shopping street, and thought I might as well get an international calling card. First I entered the China Post building. Thought, civil service should be cheaper ah? Read in the guidebook that an IP card worth 100Y could go for 35Y (strange as that wording may sound) so that was the price I asked for. But the lady insisted on 50Y. What's more, she was type number 3, so I walked out on her. `_-

Later, found another phone shop; the guy wasn't sure if he had the card that matched my requirements (destination etc) so he called someone else to ask. That person probably told him the real price directly, because he simply gave me the price of 32Y, which I took up happily.

See, business-customer relationships would be so much better this way. `_'

Anyway, the nearby shopping street I was talking about is Zhongguanchun Shopping Plaza. They happened to have this African art sale, with the actual African ladies manning the place. =)


Some more pictures from around the plaza, since I quite like the glassy scenery.

That's all I have for now. =)

And oh, this is from a Beijing city online guide my roommie forwarded me:

"On the whole, Beijing is a pretty safe place. Your greatest dangers include crossing the road and paying much more than you should for your souvenirs."

The "crossing the road" part could be quite true, though Indonesian-road-trained people shouldn't need to worry. Simple Singaporean jaywalking skills also suffice. But it's probably more of a habit problem -- on my way to first day at work I was wearing formal shoes and so half my concentration went to proper walking. =D Seeing the zebra-crossing, I just walked onto it with my pedestrians-own-the-road attitude. As a result, a bicycle-riding man had to swerve very suddenly, yelling angry words at me. =P

Well, I'm getting used to things here, weather and food and roads (language is still taking some time..) that I'm actually wondering what it'll be like when I return to all the humidity and skimpy food portions back home. =DD