Friday, December 03, 2010



If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?




The Four Seasons
NIKIIE



Don't stop talking; please try to go on,
since these unsettled feelings have surfaced.
Nights so lonely that your tears won't fall,
how many of those have you endured alone?

Those who say "I can't"
are not those who want to run away,
but those who don't want to give up.

Because there is spring, summer comes;
Because there is summer, autumn comes;
Because there is autumn, winter comes;
It is a natural thing that the world changes.


Being free from trouble, is that happiness?
It is when you're deeply troubled that certain things will surface.

Those who say "All of myself vanishes"
are not those who want to erase things,
but those who want to change themselves.

Because spring comes, winter is dear;
Because winter comes, autumn is dear;
Because autumn comes, summer is dear;
It is by oneself that the world is changed.



What is it that can't be given up? Who is it that won't give up?
You know it from the start, don't you?
Don't stop talking; please try to go on.

Because there is spring, summer comes;
Because there is summer, autumn comes;
Because there is autumn, winter comes;
It is a natural thing.

Because spring comes, winter is dear;
Because winter comes, autumn, too, is dear;
Because autumn comes, summer, too, is dear;
It is by oneself that the world is changed.



---


Post title has nothing to do with the song, but the conveyed meaning is certainly related.



Thursday, October 28, 2010



Before We Can See the Sky


I really should have stalked her better. Not only so that I wouldn't discover these beautiful things so late, but also so that I can perhaps start saying what I've been hearing people say about k.d. lang: "This woman can do no wrong." =D


Katie Melua - Blowing in the Wind (Bob Dylan cover, live)




There have been many renditions of this song but the only one I've heard before this is Peter, Paul and Mary's acoustic version (at the time when I haven't known what the lyrics meant yet). While I like this one for its own style, the comparison just added on to my marvel at the dynamics in Katie's rendition.

On the topic of seeing the sky... 
Welcome back, my beloved clouds, colours of sunset, glimpses of stars.
心配していた--
また会えて良かった。



Sunday, October 03, 2010



Green Beginnings


...which are not so green new anymore, but it's only now that I get the time AND motivation to write about them, so. =D


Roses Are Green


--A new cell phone last August, because I renewed my line subscription (and because I lost my old one around May and had been getting by with a borrowed phone). It's Sony Ericsson Elm, with a 5 MP camera (for all the photos I like to take on the move) and a "normal" keypad (I do not trust touch screens as yet). Loving the camera so far. =)

It's also a green (eco-friendly) model, so I get interesting reminders such as after setting the alarm: "works even when phone is off"; and after charging: "unplug the charger from the socket as well to save energy". =D But seems it's considered an old model in this country because I couldn't find a screen protector for it anywhere (I usually like my gadgets accessory-free, but this one gets dirty easily and more persistently than I can tolerate), until a helpful shopkeeper in City Plaza got me a similar model (G700, note to myself) that works satisfactorily.

And yes, as the image shows, it's pink (or as per the official description, "pearly rose"). ^_^ The customer service guys (seen more than one of them 'cos the process had involved other complications not elaborated here) sounded skeptic when they told me the alternative black was not in stock, but I actually do prefer this colour. (Metallic makes most colours okay!) It's prettier, no?


It's Black, It's Green, It's Not Blinking Red


--A new portable hard disk from COMEX 2010, because the last one, an 80GB Samsung (a case-it-yourself which was still common back then), went puff without warning a week before (good timing?). But seeing as it had lasted five years in my not-so-tender care, I had good opinions about it, so I decided to get the same brand. This time I got a 320GB G2 model, which is also a green product (thus cheaper than the slicker S2 series).

I don't get why the reviews have been keen on the G2's visual design, with the dots and novel colours... I happen to not think it's nice, so I chose the least-offending black (^^0), but otherwise it's been working great -- lightweight and quiet.

On the note of dead hard disks, I have recovered data from a few before, but this latest one was a tougher case as the hard disk couldn't be detected by the PC, knocking noises and blinking red light and all. So I tried the freezer trick. Still no luck after a 24-hour freezing, nor a 3-day freezing, after which I abandoned it in the fridge and went on to dig up old backups. =P Three weeks after, I thought I had to put a proper end to it, so I took it out and gave it a last revival attempt, which, to my pleasant surprise and absolute delight, worked!

I'm not trusting any more important data to it, but it was still working okay the second and third time I plugged it in, so maybe there's life in it yet. =)


The Colour of Magic (Is Probably Not Green)


By DIsk's recommendation I got to know the wonderful wit of Terry Pratchett, whom I first ignored because fantasy was not my usual genre (LotR and HP have been somewhat short-term interests =P). As it is, I think it's more his fresh sense of humour that baited me, though the fantasy setting certainly lends a unique quality to it.

The title of this subsection (minus the bracketed part) is the title of the first book in his Discworld series, which ironically I haven't read (but soon will!). I started from the second book, and have since acquired the National Library membership (which I'd been postponing to do) just so I could start on a quest to consume the entire series. Do try it! It took only one line (conveniently the first in the book) for me to decide I love this author, so I'm venturing to say you won't waste much time testing the waters. =P

(In a semi-fandom clash, the latest release names of the VideoLAN VLC media player (used in my work project) seem to hint that the developers are sharing this interest. =D)


Green with Evil, We're Not


This is a closure to my previous post on Werkz. I have received response from NUS as well as an apology token from the studio, possibly after a follow-up from the university. I haven't quite expected this level of response, and it made me feel a little bad for the "blow-up" of the issue, though I guess it should've been the whole point of making a feedback. =D; Myself may still avoid dealing with them in the future, but I hope this incident has somehow improved things in the big picture...


Green Green Grass (Among Other Things) of Home


"I always say home is where you hang your hat."
"Um, no," said Twoflower, always anxious to enlighten. "Where you hang your hat is a hatstand. A home is--"
-- Terry Pratchett, "The Light Fantastic"


And this is just a notice that in two days I'll be disappearing for a while (not that I haven't, judging by the interval between my recent posts) for a trip back home. =) Back here mid-October, when you'll hear from me if I have anything worth publicizing. ^^



Thursday, September 09, 2010



Bad Works at Werkz


This is going to be one spiteful post, my apologies. (If I know something is bad and I still do it, what does that make me? --Not caring, for once.) I experienced so much annoyance with these people that I'm actually writing this with the intention of leaving an online trace for anyone who may be googling for a review of Werkz Photography. (I'm even avoiding to hyperlink that to their site for fear of inadvertently helping them advertise; that's how spiteful this will be.)

I have sent separate feedbacks to somewhat-relevant parties, but there of course I limited myself to somewhat-relevant points, while here I wouldn't hold back so much... so I'm making sub-titles in hope that anyone finding this tl;dr can just skim through! ^_^0


* Background

It started July this year, around my Commencement ceremony in NUS. Werkz was the official photographer for the event, so it was the one providing the stage photography service (during the ceremony). I was looking for a studio to take a family portrait for this same occasion, and I decided to take up the offer from Werkz, as it conveniently came packaged with the stage photography. I thought this studio should be credible since it was the official photographer, and the staff who talked to me at the stall was a pleasant uncle.


* Photographing: Nice

The photo-taking session itself went pleasantly. The photographer was good at lifting everyone's spirits, and the helper showed a lot of care when helping me adjust the graduation gown, directing us for poses, etc. The photographer did jokingly say something along the line of, "I'm not the one who's going to take your money, though!" and looking back now, that turned out to be quite ominous...


* Purchasing: Money-minded much?

The package I took was for one framed family portrait and one individual portrait, each with 6 preview-sized prints. When I signed up, I asked how many takes we would get, and the answer was, "We will take many; we use digital films so it's not limited. You can choose afterwards."

Well, during the photo-taking we took a variety of arrangements by the photographer's suggestion: other than the whole family posing, we had my-parents-and-I, my-sisters-and-I, and so on. But it turned out that the 6 previews we could get were all of the same arrangement (the preview sets were fixed); we had to purchase the other arrangements separately at a minimum print size. (I forgot the detailed numbers and pricing myself, but I found belatedly this forum post relating the similar experience with better details.)

I said to the uncle at the counter, "But these previews are already done. Can't you just give these to us? We don't need extra printing." He insisted that even if we took those small-sized previews, we had to pay the price for that minimum print size.

Now we do understand that business people certainly can't make money if they easily give things out for free. They didn't exactly breach any term either, as we could indeed choose which photo to enlarge (obviously); it just didn't occur to me to clarify during sign-up whether we could choose the preview sets. At most I could say they weren't flexible about it. But it was the way he put it across that really got on our nerves: "[Just taking these?] Nobody does business that way!"


* Upgrading: Snide is worse than Snape

Anyway, we decided not to make the extra purchase, and settled with one family photo to be enlarged and canvassed, though we did upgrade the size. The uncle then offered to do the same for the individual photo for 30 dollars, which I turned down because I didn't plan to display my own face so prominently in our house, heh. Admittedly it was also largely influenced by my already deflated opinion of them.

The uncle nevertheless kept applying the pressure, saying that it would be a good investment because photos last longer when canvassed, especially since we wouldn't have the digital softcopy. At length, tired of his persuasion, I told him we could get it reproduced on our own if we ever wanted it (though I omitted the detail on how my sister used to work in a photo studio back home and still had friends there) and he outright laughed at me.

I could chalk that up to merely my hurt ego, what with his remarks implying how a "Doctor" was so stingy and misguided, but I seriously questioned his maturity (being disrespectful here given he was a generation older than me, but really!) when he deliberately said to his passing colleague in front of me: "She said she could do it herself! Hah!" I guess in certain cases annoying someone might get the person to do what you want them to do, but in this particular one, the more I'm annoyed the less I'm inclined to let him earn money.

(If my assumption is true that they were also the ones (with official photographer badge) taking photos in the post-ceremony mingling session outside the UCC Hall, then I have also encountered another photographer of theirs who came out of the blue and took our photos all cheerfully, and when we didn't want to buy them (we'd taken photos with our own cameras after all), said aloud, "So stingy!")


* Collection: Unapologetic mistakes

(This is still fresh in my mind, so there'll even be [paraphrased] dialogue! xD)

Then two months passed, and as promised, last weekend I received a notification that the processed photos were ready for collection, so I made my way there.

They produced the family portrait promptly, but the individual photo was missing. While a staff was searching in the back room, another staff, this time an auntie, showed me the receipts and said that I needed to pay 30 dollars more because the abovementioned uncle had made a mistake in the calculation, blaming it on the erroneous calculator. 0_0

In our upset mood the last time we had only made sure the component figures were correct but had not verified the summing itself (upgradedPackagePrice - stagePhotoDiscount - voucherDiscount - deposit) and now I saw that the sum was indeed mistaken. After re-clarifying that they had counted all the promised discounts, I paid her the balance -- reluctantly, to be honest, but at least that was fair.

And then the auntie mentioned (her speaking tone was probably naturally casual), "Oh, if that is a photo-only, without frame, then the amount is correct, because there should be a price reduction." Well, at least she was honest enough to tell me that even as an afterthought! The 'photo only' was clearly written there, and now I realized it was actually that individual upgrading part I rejected (I didn't know the upgradedPackagePrice had included that even after I said no), and I told her so.

"Then it's also a mistake, he should have put down here 'minus 30 dollars' and it'll add up," she said. So what, I thought, that is still your side making the mistake, but she continued, "We'll see when it's found, if it's indeed without frame, then I'll return the balance to you."

"But even if it's with frame, I didn't ask for that!"

"Then we'll just take it out, lor."

...-_-0

Well, I got the money back, but as for the photo, someone had apparently thought it should be framed yet hadn't, and thus had sent it back to the lab for framing. "But they did sent you the notice to come and collect?" she clarified, somewhat apologetic, or so I hoped. "Could you come back another day?"

I didn't feel like making the effort to fix the mistake they made, so I asked her to send the missing photo to me via post.

"But it cannot be sent, what, the material--" At this point she seemed to notice how I was ready to lecture her on the secure postal services available to the general public, and instead of finishing that sentence she quickly sent someone to try recovering the photo from the lab while I waited.

In the end, she told me they couldn't get it because "the lab was busy", but they would send the photo to me, though she still couldn't say when I could expect it because "we need to find it at the lab first".


* Feedback: Prompt response

I had thought of writing a blog entry to this effect after the photographing session, but I had only worked out the motivation after that second experience. Thinking that a direct feedback would be better than a whiny blog, I first wrote an email to Werkz. To quote the main bits:

"...I want to re-confirm that your studio will resolve the issue and send the pending photos to me, as soon as possible. I plan to bring the photos with me when I travel to my hometown in a few weeks, and I hope you will understand that my family has been looking forward to this.

If I may also offer a feedback, the studio photography session was pleasant and the photography staff were very friendly and helpful. But afterwards, during choosing/payment, and now during collection, I'm afraid the service attitude was disappointing, even if we tolerate the honest mistakes. This makes me worried if the studio will handle the pending issue well, and so I feel the need to write this email."

Against my grim expectations (considering that the ones reading the email might be the same problematic staff), the studio's reply was fairly prompt, via email and followed up with a phone call within 2 days, which almost made me feel that I'd been too harsh. Probably the same auntie (judging from that casual tone) talked to me, saying that they would send a courier to my office the following day, or latest on Monday, and she asked me to call back if I had not gotten it. That actually made me glad and thinking that the feedback had worked after all.


* (Failed) Redemption: Irresponsible claims

Today (the promised day), I hadn't thought much of it while at work, until she called me some minutes after 3pm and asked if I had gotten the photo. I told her I hadn't.

"But we have sent someone out this morning, you know? He said he would get there by 4pm."

"Did he actually report back that he had left it here? Because maybe he got to the reception [of my office] and not me directly."

"Yeah, so could you maybe check with them if they have received it?"

I okay-ed, a little worried that some mishap had occurred, and then went to check with our receptionist, who told me firmly that she would have called me if there had been any package for me.

I called the studio back, but before I could ask if she was sure the courier had come, she went back to her previous statement of "if he has not reached by today, then you will get it Monday". Whatever had possessed her to call me up then? If she had misunderstood anything I'd never know because she didn't utter a single word of apology.

...And that was the point where I decided that a whiny blog post was needed after all, because they have even messed up in the process of redeeming themselves in my opinion, not that I think they intend to nor care about it at all. They probably have enough customers, and so this evil part of me wants to ruin that just a little bit...


* Conclusion (?): Problematic attitude

I have also sent a feedback to NUS through the Alumni office, mainly relating the attitude I found unprofessional in contrast to the trust one might unsuspectingly place on the studio given its official photographer status, but I frankly don't expect much could be done on that front -- it might be a stable decision with a lot of considerations that will take stronger and more voices to change than just mine. But to quote what I said there in conclusion:

"To be fair, from what I have seen, they deliver good quality products, and the glitches might just be isolated incidents, but their service attitude has made it an overall unpleasant experience for me."

Of course this is a very subjective experience; your mileage may vary; there are certainly people who have no clashes and no reason to be upset with them, and so on. Every time I complain about someone's service attitude I do have to pause and think how much of it is (equally problematic) customer's higher-than-thou ego -- rather than the "customer is king" concept I much prefer the "civilized human give-and-take" concept.

So again, sorry for spouting all this negative energy; but at least I've gotten some weight off my chest (and into the cyberspace) now.

Unless they somehow find another way to annoy me come Monday.



Monday, August 30, 2010



側にある天壌


彼女は
私に似てるから
大切な人だ。
(the earth,
the gravity that keeps me grounded)

「これは悪くない」と
「このままでいい」と
人世は大丈夫。
私たちは大丈夫。

彼女は
私と異なるから
大切な人だ。
(the horizon,
the momentum that keeps me growing)

「そんな事もある」と
「そのままでいい」と
人世は不思議。
私たちは不思議。



Monday, August 23, 2010



Gray City


When it rains it rains so slowly,
In the city where I'm from.
-- Turin Brakes, "Rain City"


Dusk comes easily enough,
no red nor yellow to chase off the horizon.
Muted colours like white noise implode,
overflowed with drops immaterialized.

In my mind, the words he sang:
"It's raining on Sunday morning..."

King of melancholy, child of gloom!
Where can I find salvation for us both?


Evenings like this I get unquiet,
when beneath the black is not clear distant sky.
Never relied on the moon for light,
but space feels bitter when stars too hide.

In my mind, the song he wrote:
"Sparkling gems are flooding the streets..."

Lyra, Sagitta, Cygnus, Aquila!
When may I delight upon your radiance?


Cold it might be when the waters fall,
chilling all the more when they linger.

My heart still ponders the soulful refrain:
"It's raining on--"



Tuesday, August 17, 2010



Language is a Virus (from Outer Space)


Listening ears are temptation indeed
to talk,
checked only by the amount of trust
placed on the owner.

Communication is needed
and food for feelings,
but in idle chatter devils keep watch,
and mood is fickle
   that feeds argument seeds.

Oh, would that I'd chosen what was golden
and always knew when to choose it,

because
diction and tone and lingual flavors
make for a complex interpretation control;

because
human speech as it stands
has no reversible editing functions;

because
even in the harmless case
I take 'mundane' to a whole new level--

--for instance,
the urge to share at this very moment,
how the thematic word 'babble'
led me to the connoted-punitive 'Babel'--

so perhaps
only if you're a lit enthusiast, kindred spirit,
I'd suggest to click on these further reading links.



Wednesday, July 28, 2010



Uranoleon


Through clouds rich the strips of orange sun flares,
as yesterday it has been a full sphere burning cumulus black,
through day passing that has seen it golden upon bluest blue,
to the pale and the fierce of depths across shades of vermilion.

Sky, adored sky,
like life,
beautiful because you're looking like that,
fascinating because you're never the same.



Monday, July 19, 2010



advocatus diaboli


There are no perfect men in this world,
only perfect intentions.
-- Pen Densham

He, the voice within who asks for perfection,
is he a friend or a foe?
He who frowns at the world's defects,
-- pained by them, rages at them --
he who demands a wholesome self,
is he for better or for worse?

She, the voice within who asks for perfection,
is she a friend or a foe?
She who judges poor-mannered folks,
-- pained by them, looks down on them --
she who detests indulgence in flaws,
is she for better or for worse?



Saturday, June 26, 2010



Sounds Surround


I am all warm and fuzzy after watching this romance movie called "Oto-na-ri":


The main premise revolves around two neighbours ["otonari"] who become familiar with each other only through the sounds ["oto"] they hear through the thin separating wall of their apartments. As such, most of the movie steers attention to sounds -- daily activities, nature stirring -- sounds that we rarely notice consciously, yet (as a character puts it) "you'll feel something is missing if they are not there" (this reminds me of what DIsk said about rendering natural scene effects). I'm usually more of a visual person, so this is a bit of an "ear opener"... It's beautiful.

Most of the characters are sincere and likable-- the only exception feels rather unnecessary and smells like plot device... but I can tolerate that. =D I like how the movie also stirs thoughts about taking responsibility of one's life (or another's) and what might be thought of as "fate". The psychological twists are a delight, while the event twists might have felt randomly convenient had I found it in a lighter content, but they work fine for me here as the other aspects are well connected.

It also helps that I happen to appreciate the sweetness of most of the gestures portrayed, but I think it's really quite recommendable as a drama. Please watch [listen to] it. *bows*



Monday, June 21, 2010



Broken People Get Recycled


Katie Melua! I love her already for the mellow tunes, but haven't expected her to come up with something this grand. ♥♥♥




The Flood
Katie Melua



Broken people get recycled
And I hope that I will sometimes be thrown off the pathways.

What I thought was my way home
Wasn't the place I know.

I'm not afraid of changing,
I'm certain nothing's certain.

What we own becomes our prison.
My possessions will be gone,
Back to where they came from.

Blame... no one is to blame.
As natural as the rain that falls,
Here comes The Flood again.

See the rock that you hold onto;
Is it gonna save you
When the earth begins to crumble?
Why'd you feel you have to hold on?
Imagine if you let go.


Blame... no one is to blame.
As natural as the rain that falls,
Here comes The Flood again.

Flush away the weight that pulls you down.
Light the ways that freed from the dusk.

Don't trust your eyes,
It's easy to believe them.
Know in your heart
That you can leave your prison.

Don't trust your mind,
It's not always listening.

Turn on the lights
And feel the ancient rhythm.

Blame... no one is to blame.
As natural as the rain that falls,
Here comes The Flood again.



>> Katie on song inspirations



Wednesday, June 16, 2010



The Good Doctor


I'm very impressed with my dentist today, so I feel the need to blog and help advertise his clinic, even though it doesn't seem to lack patients. =D

It's a dental clinic near where I stay at Ghim Moh, called Royce Dental Surgery. I've been having my regular cleaning/scaling there. They have two dentists; I didn't make my pick but the one who's been seeing me so far is Dr Ng. (Aside from him, a dental apprentice [forgot the term, sorry] only for cleaning.)

Today I went there with a GP referral because of the pain in my left jaw. I got it one fine morning after having fallen asleep in an awkward position ^^0 so I expected it to be some kind of sprain that should get well on its own (with a little help of medicated oil), but a week passed and the pain is still there, though only when the jaw joint is exercised, such as when I open my mouth wide ('dislocating' the jaw) or when I chew on something hard.

To cut the long story short, Dr Ng did some tests, concluded that it was inflammation, which might be curable with home remedy. He assured me against the GP's rather gloomy prediction (no harm done since she just mentioned possibilities and referred me to a dentist straight away), as he didn't think it was one of the worse possibilities, so there was no need for major treatment for now. He suggested I try applying ice compress on my own for a week. If this doesn't cure it, then only I need to return.

The impressive thing is, maybe as he thought he didn't do anything major for me, he didn't charge me any fee. ^^ We talked for quite some time, he was generous with explanations and I was quite satisfied with the conclusion, so I wouldn't have minded to pay the consultation fee. I guess that's one of the good things about independent clinics, as they can be flexible. (The GP I first consulted is from a major medical service company, and I did pay the consultation fee, without thinking it unjustified.)

I still need to see if the recommendation does solve the problem, but right now I am happy enough having consulted him. ^__^



Sunday, June 13, 2010



Finality


Fullmetal Alchemist the manga has ended! That's one month of excited waiting since I found out it would be ending. ^^ (I feel little need for me to re-summarize the series =P so please just click on the hyperlinked title for the description.)

The series started (9 years ago) with good humor, interesting scientific angle and cool action scenes, then it grew darker as the serious plot unfolded, at which point I stopped following it closely. ^^0 I picked up again when the climax drew near, and got firmly hooked until the end. The whole thing is really quite well developed, I think, and with a reasonably happy ending -- not "everything is all right" perfect but one that does see to the deserved fruition of the characters' effort.

The [remade] anime has 3 more episodes to go, and I'm still quite looking forward to watching the rapid-fire climax/ending in animation. (That reminds me that I may have forgotten to advertise the ending of Cross Game, the manga as well as its pretty good anime adaptation, although I have felt totally adequate with the manga alone, given Adachi-sensei's delightful story-telling.)

Here's a selected opening sequence to further entice you:




In the past week, I also managed to watch Ao no Honoo (The Blue Flame), a movie I've read some good reviews about. The lead actor is the younger self of one of the main actors in the critically acclaimed Letters from Iwo Jima.

I think the film is good in several aspects, but boy is it depressing. =X I should have anticipated it since the suitably haunting The Post War Dream was playing in prelude to the first scene, but I thought things would be resolved somehow. Instead, the ending left a feeling of despair that made me think of the word "finality" for this entry.

Trailer for those of you who may be in the mood for something angsty and sobering...




On real life news, Commencement is drawing near. In my mind, my student days have been practically over for some time, but there have been "echoes" of it when the School contacted me for something or other... All these will probably be laid to rest once I get through the Commencement. Not that I want to cut off these ties -- I do gladly stay in contact with my supervisors and ex-labmates (and if needed, my juniors), but when those links have to do with my results from back then, it sometimes feels like hanging on to "past glory" (not that it's particularly glorious either!) while I have been trying to pick up speed on my current career. A chapter closed, I guess? =)


This final point doesn't have much to do with "finality" except maybe the winter theme and the fact that I discovered it through Last.fm recommendation, hoh. I just like this song and the vocals that sing it. =D




Tuesday, June 08, 2010



The Land of Shadow


So all's to be rain clouds today,
gray upon gray upon gray?
Won't you let me see again
    cliffs red, ocean yellow,
    desert crowned silver halo,
that enchanting trophosperic land?



Thursday, May 06, 2010



Surya Tenggelam


Relived this gorgeous song by Guruh Soekarno Putra while populating my playlist today.




Idle browsing on this song turned out its "happy" counterpart, which is news to me:




The Kid Brothers's version is oldies-sounding and is an oldies all right (1980 album, if I gather correctly), but I am surprised to find that Chrisye's version actually first appeared in his 1978 album. I thought I first saw it on TV in the 1990s (also the period that would justify the more modern arrangement), but I can't remember if there was any event/movie/... that might have re-popularized this song at that time.

This discovery certainly crushed my half-formed hypothesis about the "generation gap" of music tastes. xD



Monday, May 03, 2010



to Mother


Beautiful song, beautiful person.



Because you wanted to be loved,
no matter the pain, you showed your laughter.
Sadness would be endurable, if only I were alone.
Kindness is so cruel, isn't it? It confuses even your heart.

I want to always stay together,
but things I don't like about you seem to increase by day.
We're like-minded, aren't we? I feel that I can understand.

Happiness doesn't exactly shine like magic,
but even so, isn't hatred just a slight misunderstanding?
So please don't cry.

Sadness can feel warm when we snuggle together.
Kindness will spoil you when you get close.

Hey...
I'm happy, probably because

I had you with me.



The above is quoted and adapted from the full lyrics and translation here.



Monday, April 26, 2010



Hero


The song is cheerful, the kid is cute, and the dad is a familiar cameo from the entertainment news I sometimes watch. =D The theme is not new but I'm happy that this one has a happy ending progresses to a happy direction.




As you pass through the entrance of the nearest station,
Daddy, who's a little braver than usual,
on your shoulders are the cheering voices of those you love.



Friday, April 23, 2010



The Elements of Companionship


I want to believe there is nothing sacred about love. That it is as commonplace as the smile you exchange with the nameless someone who works on the same floor. That it is as down to earth as the passion you pour into your art. That you can have much of it to give to many.

I want to believe there is nothing complicated about love. That it is as easygoing as extending your arm to a frail woman alighting from the bus. That it is as natural as greeting your elders at the dining table. That it can come and go leaving your heart as capable of it as before.

And then there is trust.



Wednesday, April 14, 2010



The Flip Side


During the last forum meeting our big boss showed us an inspirational video which is interesting in terms of both message and delivery. The speaker is a fun guy, so when I found the link to that video I also clicked on his other presentation.

I'm sharing this one here because the message is something close to my heart, which also ties in nicely with the daily literary quote on my iGoogle today, as currently posted under the "Something XX" section at the right panel of this blog. (I update this section whenever I feel like it, so this line may become irrelevant any time at a future timestamp, sorry. =P)

The message delivery also involves the culture of my fascination, but that's a minor point. Really.



Thursday, April 08, 2010



Pianoforte


Being contradictory is fine at this point of time;
being contradictory is perfectly understandable.
I feel like telling the world with words I cannot find;
I feel like keeping precious secrets of bits so trivial.

Ah-h-h, the lightheadedness from minding every little detail,
the delirium from grasping what has not felt this real for a while,
how I am relieved at how much I am bothered:
are why it is simply sensible to utterly embrace this sentimental nonsense.



Sunday, April 04, 2010




想いに気付くから
ためらった
心に知ってるから
迷わない。

今の私なら
艶物を現実的に書くこと できる
君となら
明日の確実はいらない。



Monday, March 29, 2010



Desiderata


I was in a poetic mood today, and was googling for the original of a translated poem I recalled from a Sidney Sheldon novel when I came across this "advice" poem (reminiscent of Kipling's "If"), and was quite touched by it.

Haven't I always, always come back to this crossing every now and then...

---

Desiderata
Max Ehrmann, 1952



Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.


You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.



Monday, March 22, 2010



心上的人兒




Oldies.. but believe me this is already the more (most?) contemporary rendition among them all. xD The version I first heard and liked is probably this exact one or similar. (Lesson learnt: internet links do not live for ever.)

It's a personal example of mental association that contradicts the actual meaning of the words, as I have, inexplicably, always thought of the phrase "心上的人兒" (lit. the person in my heart) in a plural sense, and associated this supposed-romantic-love-song with my family.

Probably it's how their faces in my memory are always smiling; how they are the ones I can count on to give me the sun in the dark of night; how I automatically think, whenever reminded of them, "do not be sad; I wish for your smile to stay that way forever" --- as I suddenly do right now.



Friday, March 19, 2010



Reminiscing is a Sign of Aging, and I'm Dragging You Down with Me


(...with a truckload of links!)

We had an all-Indonesian lunch today. At one point we started talking about the science syllabus in Indonesia (getting more advanced nowadays than what we experienced in our high school days) and proceeded to reminisce about the early days we came into contact with computers (the 90s).

Oooh, nostalgic. =DDD

To think that back then we were happily using those flimsy 5.25-inch IBM floppy disks whose capacity I couldn't recall because file sizes weren't big enough to be a concern at that time. Nowadays we can hardly find a new PC with a 3.5in floppy drive, let alone those "A drive and B drive"...

Then there was Digger, the popular PC game of that time. (Even thinking about it now I can relive the panic at being chased around by those mice. (Oh yes I suck at action games even now.))

There was BASIC, our first programming language; mIRC, our first chatting experience (
*pops* asl pls
*types* m
*disappears*
). Before Winword and Excel there were WordStar and Lotus 123...

(Incidentally today too I just found this HCI comic about Lotus Notes from the same company.)

But even with these vivid recollections, our lives had (naturally) been so much more detached from computers that they are now, so we went on to appreciate Bobo, the hugely successful children magazine of our childhood. Probably because the memory was shaped during our most absorbent age, we could still recite the names of most recurring characters in that magazine. I have a very good impression about it in terms of being educational both intellectually and morally. I just had this similar reminiscence with my childhood hometown friend, and she said she would probably subscribe to it for her son after he'd grown a bit more. I hope it still maintains the same quality.

Randomly I was also reminded of Sanggar Cerita, the Indonesian version of audio stories that came in cassette tapes. I only owned one that was "Cinderella" by young Ira Maya Sopha (singing "Hari ini, hari ini, Ira ingin ceritera..."). To jog my memory I tried to sing the whole storyline in the shower (they had a summary song and a conclusion song and one at each main event), but I had blanks here and there. xD

There, there, enough reminiscing for now. ^^ I would call them "the good old days" but without undermining "the good nowadays" with all my present indulgences enabled by the technology leap, even if it means I'm constantly on watch for disk consumption while owning a total of nearly 750GB harddisk space...



Thursday, March 11, 2010



However


突然感じて...



HOWEVER


In this place, where gentle wind blows,
right now, the two of us slowly walk on.


Thousands of meetings and partings are born on this planet;
but some people walk right past without understanding.
When I lost my way in the unreachable dreams of an unfamiliar town,
the one who gave me the courage to run through the darkness
was you.

If a love that pours incessantly can be called 'forever',
no word can ever express what I need to say
to convey the meaning of 'loving'.

I want to make you happy;
I will live on while weaving
a future pictured in your heart
that won't be drenched in tears of sadness.


There was confusion in my heart as love began
in that summer afternoon when I turned my back.
There were, in retrospect,
those sins in the unreliable, shaky days of youth.
Even so, no matter how far we are apart,
I feel you.
If we can return to it this time, let's live together;
indeed, it'd be great to be together, always...

Shouldering loneliness, I stand still among the crowd,
searching for a place to draw closer to my heart.

There've been nights of crying, "We met too late."
The detour the two of us took,
that alone has taken up the stretch of a lifetime.
To you, whom I've hurt, I'll say this right now:
that I love you more than anyone.


If a love that pours incessantly can be called 'forever',
no word can ever express what I need to say
to convey the meaning of 'tenderness'.

The restlessness of those days in love,
the casual weekends,
that voice lingering from our youth,
the spirited gaze--
I will embrace everything that paints you
as we slowly walk on...

...in this place,
where gentle wind blows.



---



Tuesday, March 09, 2010



Summer Wars


Watched Summer Wars with DIsk over the weekend. It's nice and entertaining, but I guess the technical sophistication is somewhat below our expectation. =P; With a geek as main character and the "virtual world" as central theme, the "wars" feel only slightly above game level to me. I suppose they do need to simplify things to keep it mainstream? All in all it's still pretty exciting to watch. ^^

Some reviews promised a twist, but I didn't really see any unexpected turn that isn't already in the synopsis. Because of such anticipation of my own, when Kazuma (sidekick character) first showed up, I thought he might be a girl (well yeah, we only got to see his back the first time) and that maybe the main guy would fall for 'her' instead. =D; That of course is nothing novel either because many a manga have employed that plot, lol.

The unexpected thing, however, is to find that the ending theme was by Yamashita Tatsurou, whom I knew through KinKi Kids because he wrote their debut song (he sounded like an influential musician from the way they talked about him).




Probably chosen because of the "summer" in the title ("Our Summer Dream")? =) That compelled me to list out all J-pop (or related) songs with "summer" in the title that I know.. =DD


* Kobukuro, "Summer Rain"
Kobukuro + Cross Game is double awesomeness, even though this one is not my favourite out of all Kobukuro songs nor of all Cross Game soundtracks. =)P

* "Summer Snow" drama theme songs:
- Sissel, "Summer Snow"
- KinKi Kids, "Natsu no Ousama" (King of Summer)
Quite a contrasting pair, but I do like both in their own ways.

* Southern All Stars, "Merry Xmas in Summer"
Very much an oldie. I've always been enchanted by the vocalist's deep voice.

* Tackey & Tsubasa, "Ho! Summer"
I wonder if this group goes for the 'silly' image or if it's an unintended effect, lol.

* YUI, "SUMMER SONG"
To be honest I don't know her music well, but she's got a quiet lovely feel.


(Since those already included the Japanese word for "summer" by chance, let me also slyly take the opportunity to recommend some more.. =3)

* DEEN, "Kimi ga Inai Natsu" (A Summer without You)
A 'regular' in my playlist when I'm feeling selective. I think DEEN-san sounds slightly less nasal in the PV than live. xP

* Mr.Children, "Kimi ga Ita Natsu" (The Summer When You Were Here)
Used to confuse this quite often with DEEN's.. =D;

* Inoue Yousui, "Natsu no Owari no Harmony" (Harmony at the End of Summer)
I like the 'unusual' feel of this song.

* KinKi Kids, "Natsu Moyou" (Summer Pattern)
And this, I like the folksy (Okinawa) sound.

* Yuzu, "Natsu Matsuri" (Summer Festival)
Cheerful-sounding guys. I'm easily baited by the harmony-style duet and harmonica accompaniment. ^^

* ZARD, "Natsu wo Matsu SAIL no You ni" (Like a Sail Waiting for Summer)
Not my favourite ZARD song, but it's nostalgic to hear her voice, and the video is nice. From one of the Detective Conan movies.

* Suga Shikao, "Manatsu no Yoru no Yume" (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
From Death Note the movie, suitably haunting.

* Southern All Stars, "Manatsu no Kajitsu" (A Midsummer Fruit)
The original of the melody used by Jacky Cheung in "Mei Tian Ai Ni Duo Yi Xie".


And lastly, why not the lovely Natsukawa Rimi too.. =33



Tuesday, February 23, 2010



非常的幸福


Been following the series 宝莲灯前传 (Lotus Lantern Origins) on CCTV while I was back home, and I'm now a little addicted to its ending theme.





It seems to be a rearrangement of an insert song in the older Lotus Lantern series:




In the distance is a mountain
On the mountain is a tree
Under the tree is a grass hut

In the sky is a cloud
Slowly dispersing into fog
The wind on earth is chasing it

In the distance is a mountain
On the mountain is a tree
A family lives in the hut
Very, very, very happily*


* Given the drama's celestial genre, I was quite tempted to translate this more romantically as "an extraordinary happiness". =D


I never noticed Yvonne Lim until I watched her there. She has such a pleasant look that makes me not mind her character being so childish and crybaby, and sometimes makes me want to smack that Yang Jian for not treating her better. =D; Curious as I am as to how they would end up, I wonder if I have enough energy to follow through that series now that vacation is over. ^^0 The story is really quite interesting as it covers the (complete?) Chinese mythology including Journey to the West.


...


Colours 'been holding themselves off the sky;
words, off my fingers.
But ironic how I break the silence
to talk about silence.



Sunday, January 24, 2010



Black Butterfly


                                                                 my heart lifting
      at the sight of you

                                   is the only

                                        sign i need.

                                            when have i

                                                                               come to be
so attached?