I skirt around the pool
peer into the darkness of its depth
intently, insanely, inquiring.
I fear what I might find
what might find me
overwhelms fear.
The draw of mystery so strong
I refuse to just stand
on the brink
peering.
Plunging
seems a lot more alluring
against rationale ways
always, I take a plunge.
Sometimes I find the castle, and I delight
Sometimes I get caught in a tussle,
I get hurt
Yet every discovery, smiley or teary
an embroidery, every shred of what is humanity.
Recently, a few Couchsurfing friends had very positive reaction to some of the photos I had taken on a trip to, in and around Chengdu (absolutely my favorite Chinese city) in September 2009. They’re photography professionals/enthusiasts, so that made the feedback even sweeter. I thought I’d share them here again, especially the first two which are the favorites of my CS friends.
I missed the bus to the Chengdu panda reserve, waited for half an hour in frustration for a bus that never showed (well, I gave up waiting after that). But in the meanwhile, I fiddled with my camera and shot this.
The smallness of man against machine ... and time ... as the steam powered train rumbles along its tracks ever so slowly, delivering passengers, parcels and pockets of love from one end to the other.
My absolute love in Chengdu. Teahouses, and the serenity that ensues. This is a strange paradox, for the best teahouses are raucous. Yet, I find peace in the ruckus.
Granny having an early afternoon nap outside her house in an older part of Chengdu, a pretty nice rare find 
- Makes me think: While we're sleeping, what happen to dreams? And not forgetting that dreams happen while we're sleeping.
Chairman Mao paraphernalia in the custody of his ex-staff, Wang Anting. Mr. Wang's private collection is now open to visitors in his home, now called Wang Anting Mao Museum.
The cool side of Chengdu: indie rock live, chill ambience, art books @ Little Bar. Average age of audience, 20. Oops, think I bumped it up a little that night ...
You are staring at a 5,000 year old relic. Believe it.
Heya! It’s mid-Feb (what?!) so I guess it’s high time for my first post of the romantic month. Well, for all the romance, food and friends are the best bets.
Yesterday, I caught up with two designer friends from Singapore, Lynnette and Dawn, after we didn’t manage to have a mini CNY gathering back home. We chose Nepali Kitchen, after the initial choice (The Nest) fell through since I’d already brought another friend there just the night before.
THE ROMANCE: The HOT DRAGON KING and his FAIR BUNNY MAIDEN. While waiting to be served, I showed my friends my favorite (Kingston) USB thumbdrives - the Dragon that I'd just received from Taobao, and the Bunny I received as a gift last year from Chris of ACC's Marketing team.
The delicious mixed platter with cheese balls, chicken and ... I don't remember cuz the cheese balls are really what I'm after!
Delicious, of course. But I realized later that we should have ordered the other fish since I ordered this same fish on the previous outing.
(Top L-R clockwise) Cheese naan, pumpkin curry (rather unusual!), spinach, garlic naan. We cleared every single dish on the table, no problem.
Everest monster for dessert! Under the white foamy facade hides a cave of fruity and ice creamy jewels. The girls love it!
Love the colorful lamps in different shapes, shades and sizes.
Got inspired to throw in a quote from Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore", my favorite Murakami.
On the aforementioned previous outing, New Year’s Eve to be exact, I brought a couple of friends from Beijing – Open and Pan Yang – there for our final meal of the year 2011, before we headed out to Xintiandi for a totally miserable countdown. Haiz … luckily we had a super awesome dinner and then some fun girly times after the lousy countdown.
(left) Open highly recommends this restaurant, (center) Me, a very satisfied customer, (right) Pan Yang lost in her iPhone game.
Mutton ribs, excellent!
Tasty fried rice. We also ordered the mixed platter, naan and dhal soup. Totally filled up and ready for the countdown!
So, on Thursday night, I met up with German couchsurfer, Michael, who is in town for a couple of weeks to audit a Chinese company preparing to list in Germany. I know, they’re so aggressive. Of course, my first choice was to show him this cozy hidden treasure of Shanghai, The Nest (窝), unaware that Dawn and Lynnette wanted to go to the very same place the day after … next time, girls, and soon!
The cozy and tastefully decorated interiors. The staff is super nice too.
Their two giant bunnies are real treats! Haha, sorry for the pun, I harbor no such 'feeding' thoughts 
While waiting for Michael, I snapped at pretty things.
Light me up pretty.
Get a little poetic the Chinese way.
Get a little poetic the English way.
Dinner's served! Spicy giant prawn pasta.
And what's left of it. Yummy, as usual.
What are the odds that I get to see lion dance performances twice in a row.
Yesterday after lunch, we saw a performance at the new mall at Changi Business Park. Today, I was lucky enough to choose to go to the bank at about 12.30 pm, and after I was done, decided to walk over to Compasspoint Mall’s atrium. It was written on the board that the performance would be at 12:30 pm so I thought I had missed it. But there was a crowd gathered around the ‘stage’ where pilars that the lions would be climbing on had been laid out. Sure enough, an announcement was broadcast shortly that the lion dance performance was starting, and the deafening drums began to sound.
Although from the same lion dance troupe, though not necessarily the same people, the routines performed today were simpler than the one we saw yesterday, which involved much swifter and complex moves. As if to make up for it, we had a pair of lions today instead of a lonely cat like yesterday.
Feeling their way up the poles ...
Jump! One of my favorite routines is this when the front of the lion piles onto the back
What's super cool about today's troupe is that the drummer and cymbalist are girls!
Flinging oranges into the crowd. The furthest the got? An amazing Level 3.
Traditionally, members of the troupe are very young boys (and girls) from dialect clans (like Hokkien Huay Kuan), and even before that, they were from Chinese secret societies. As Singapore and Malaysia modernize, and parents prevent their children from joining these clans or participating in activities that pose bodily harm to the kids, will lion dance performances eventually disappear from Chinese New Year celebrations? I hope not! If my kids want to, I’ll say yes. This is good workout and who know cuts and bruises are part of growing up, aren’t they.
The teenagers who delighted us with their smooth moves.
I felt really sick today, more than last week when I was down with the first bout of flu. Woke up with a throb in the head and the throat felt funny too. It only got worse as the day drew on. Still, I had to go to the Singapore office as I’ve really missed my colleagues there, and yah, there’s work to be done. But I knew I was really sick when:
1) My hearing was impaired – kept hearing the wrong things or not hearing at all. Cindy had to repeat a few times to get the message across. A poor Citibank telemarketer had to repeat his a few times before I could finally grasp what he was saying.
2) My comprehension was messed – when Liren asked when I would be coming back to Singapore after the CNY, I said the 20th, before she quickly corrected me that the CNY had not even started on the 20th. I really meant “on Tuesday”.
3) Feeling hot and cold at the same time. I finally wore the fleece sweater Fauzie gave me last year, and out in the afternoon sun, without feeling especially hot. Yet, my skin and breath were burning up, and I was float-walking (or it felt like it).
As usual, I took bus 27 home. That must be the longest ride ever. Yes, there was some traffic jam but it would have been nothing had I been well. But having to stand in the crowded bus with the heavy laptop weighing down my shoulders, and one hand carrying four containers of CNY cookies, and oh so sick, I felt like collapsing.
I finally made it home, sent a message to my sister to bring me some soupy food when she came back, and then took a nap. Yup, the one redeeming factor of being sick at home was at least there’re people looking out for you.
Ah! if only everyday was like today when I could pamper every little inch of my mind, body and soul.
I landed at 6 am. By the time I got home, it was already seven and daylight was breaking. Still, I slept. For 3 hours till ten or so. After a nice warm shower (what a treat after weeks of lukewarm showers in Shanghai!), I took a leisurely walk to the eatery for my coffee – kopi gao (thick coffee in Hokkien) – which I brought home in a plastic bag. The coffee and I spent a couple of lazy hours in front of the computer before I was due to head out to meet a 1:30 pm appointment with my wonderful masseuse, Ivy.
Ivy gave me chocolate-flavored body scrub. When she was finished, I felt like I could eat myself! I smelt heavenly After an equally delicious bone-breaking and muscle-tearing massage (haha, kidding!), I was ready to leave for my skin-stretching and pore-pinching facial appointment. I was feeling hungry, so I headed to Bugis Junction to grab my favorite Old Chang Kee curry puff. And I found these! Three pairs for SGD13.
I wanted the panda one, but it was for kids 
These are super cute anyway, so no problem! Btw, the cute graphics are supposed to be anti-friction!
The 2-hour facial was totally decadent too, stuffing my face with all the nutrients that I’ve been depriving it with my poor eating and lotion application habits. Then, I was off to Chapter 2 to make my hair short and cute, and of course, somewhat healthier via hair root treatment. Again, to compensate for my poor diet and general (other than washing) hair care habits.
It was already past 8 PM when I left the salon. I decided to head out to Albert Center to grab some Chinese New Year goodies and also some dinner. I was delighted to find the super crowded store this time of year had a queue system in place this year so that in spite of the ever-growing crowd, I was not stressed out trying to out-fight the aunties to place my orders. I walked away happily with bags of shrimp and pork floss snacks as well as some pistachios (开心果 – happy nut, a must-have for a Happy Chinese New Year!).
My dinner turned out to be this – the famous Singapore Rojak! Really, it’s highly recommended on TV.
I asked the uncle to put more chili, and he really was a generous man. Super spicy, just the way I like it
With the heavy bags, I decided to take bus 80 home, where I could park my bum on a seat (no chance on the for-sure-crowded MRT).
Homeward-bound, I walked past the elderly couple who sold ice-cream sandwich under the overhead bridge. They were wrapping up, but cut a piece of the cubish ice-cream to share between them. How sweet! Such simple enjoyment with one’s beloved beats all the riches in the world.
Uniquely Singapore/Malaysia.
And the soundtrack to all this happiness?
Life is beautiful! \(^_^)/
I am taking off homeward-bound at 10 mins past midnight later today. So excited! I want to be back in the Singapore/Malaysia pre-Chinese New Year festive mood. It is odd that in spite of this being China, the festive atmosphere is not thick at all. Maybe it’s only because I’m in transient Shanghai.
I remember accompanying my friend back to her ancestral hometown in rural Fujian one time during the 2003 春节 (Spring Festival, which is essentially the Chinese New Year) and the ambience was fantastic. The fireworks were brilliant and firecrackers loud.
Anyway, you know the Chinese New Year celebrations are near when you start hearing those hair-raising but catchy “dong dong chang” songs in the mall. Then, every screen you turn to is playing a video like this:
Or this, a nice old skool “God of Fortune” Cantonese version.
Thanks to Loi who sent some of those videos, there is some CNY mood these couple of days before I actually head home later. Can’t wait.
