:: Merida ::

Sitting in a dimly lit courtyard
in the sultry heat ..
enjoying whatever cool breeze i can get

listening to a lonesome guy in the corner
strumming his guitar ..
singing a plaintive Mexican song

His voice echos with melancholy
to the inattentive audience sitting here

I feel strangely awkward for him
to be singing to an unappreciative audience
to bare your soul
but nobody cares

when he ends his song
a silent pregnant pause filled the air
i clapp self-conciously
knowing that its probably not enough of a reward for him
but I am doing what I can

Life is full of such embarrassing little moments
but in time..
I will probably only remember his beautiful voice ..
haunting the night

Merida is full of beautiful colonial buildings
living out their last days of splendor
the peeling paint and dirty walls cannot hide
the beautiful iron lattice work of the grills
nor the ornate cornices and moldings
telling stories of the dreams and aspirations
of the wealthy when building such houses in the past

now .. most of these houses are occupied by laundromats,
auto-shops and internet cafes
which is sad..but inevitable i guess
goes to show that life still goes on
on matter what happens

Hopefully I will get to go snorkel in the Cenotes tomorrow
Limestone caves, carved out by the waves
Sounds and looks beautiful in the brochure
But then they always do
If only life is as simple as a colourful brochure
short , concise and all exciting ..



on the long road to Merida
I know I'm suppose to think and reflect
and find an understanding with myself
however..when forced into such a position
I rather watch the cars zoom by me in repetition
... typical

Like a breeze through San Fran

It is not called the windy city for nothing
Like a breeze through San Fran
We stormed the city .. and left many spinning in our wake..

well... not EXACTLY

How shall or should I begin

Charming as charming can be when I'm freezing my toes off..
>>Would be my most honest statement

While we started out with all those ambitious plans
of places to go and things to do
when it came to the actual execution ..
as usual...
there is no perfect plan ...

Jet-lag is a big culprit
and the constant need to go into a coffee house for a hot drink
to recover from almost-frost-bite would be another big reason
and of course when you have 2 people the the combined attention span of a squirrel
attacked by the constant tendency to go into trigger-happy fits
>> There you go

In the end
out of like 6 places we plan to hit a day..
we end up with like 3 destinations..
all reached through a meandering route
filled with fruitful stop-overs

I guess.. in the end..
We wont really remember much of the Golden Gate Bridge ..
other than it being very big an very red ..(like duh)
And we wont remember much of the Fishermen Wharf ...
other than it being like a Disney theme park..
filled with corny gifts
>> that only the very taste-challenged can think of

But we will vividly remember the long-slow-motioned 2k trod
through the soft sand by the beach

A sunset view enjoyed with great Merlot and feet-tapping jazz..

The little Italian deli that we bumbled into..
authentically decked out, hanging salami and all
and the wonderful beef sandwich and pasta salad
which never the likes have I ever tasted in Singapore before

I can paint many more pretty pictures but I have to stop somewhere
Or Ill be here typing all night
and without much context ..
much is lost in translation
or in this case
>>my lousy narration ;p

The beauty of travel ..is that nothing ever happens as expected ..

Hopefully a sunny Mexico will be awaiting tomorrow..
because if I ever feel that cutting wind through my bones again..
I will have to start burning all the shorts and bikinis
that I bought for this trip to keep myself toasty

The horrors.. !

Well to scorching sun, pesky mosquitoes bites and sand up my butt
>>> Here I come


ready or not ...

Right there waiting

4 days and counting..
finally after talking toot about Mexico for so long..
the talk is finally firming up into reality

Route is set.. well roughly
travel is all about the spontaneity ...
right..? ...
right.. ;p

My first accommodation booked..
And now all I have to do is packed the gigantinomous backpack...
When my friend asked me if I wanted to borrow his 70 liter or 40 liter backpack..
Well the choice is obvious >> ain’t it ??

I need all that space to fill up the goodies..!!!

hmmm..
Maybe I should I just bring my bikinis
And leave even more space for shopping!!
ooooo the dilemma..

Already there is a growing list from people on what I have get/do in Mexico
1. Find out why they put the legendary lemon wedge in the all-famous beer
2. Jumping beans >> well Im sure its even more hilarious when you are drunk..
3. The hottest chili in Mexico >> and I do not mean the girls
4. The ever coveted ipod..>> well I AM stopping by the US
5. To taste all the fantastic Mexican cuisine >> their grasshoppers, their mole
AND their men*..
* well a certain source** told me that Mexican men aren’t very good
**I assume he had tried them before..so maybe I might just give them a miss

But who knows...
I just might do it all in the name of adventure ..
If lucky I mind find a Ronaldo look-alike (the Man Utd one.. not the buck-toothed one)
Who has strayed up far from home..
Hmmm…

In view of all the re-fried beans and guacamole I will be eating in the coming 2 weeks
I had foolishly believed that I can make it good by going for an epic run..
While I know most guys will roll their eyes..
Saying that eating is not like Maths.. >> there is no perfect balanced equation.
The cupcake you just ate, won’t miraculously disappear after a gym session
The cupcake will be STILL on your HIPs
The exercise just moved the fats around a bit ;p

Well ..with my female logic foolishly pushing me on
I had embarked on a prodigious run ..
The one same route that I had taken before>> and gave up halfway the last time..
Dying for a drink..I had turned around to head back home for some life-saving agua..

Well I survived it..
Enjoyed my first sunset in a long time..
Pat some cute babes and even cuter doggies
Listened to the birds chirping and missed stepping on a snail or 2 by just this much..
Out-run the some fat kid on a bike and a Gurka (well only for a very short distance..right at the start)

All in all it was a very ..well satisfying run..
I managed to half-run-limp-crawl back.. with an almost-butt-cramp
And the full-moon in the darkening skies laughing down at me.
Reminding me that inside this 25 yr-old body,
There are 50 yr old knees..and probably 40 yr old kidneys..

But all the while.. these images were going through my mind..

>> white sandy beaches..


>>ancient ruins


>> and all the tequila I can drink..
Well.. I WAS thirsty from the run..


Right now .. I am reading the wonderful ‘The Art of Travel’..
And while it says that the anticipation of travel will always bring disappointment in reality..
I on the other hand believe to never expect anything
Then.. every experience will be new and exciting..
It might not be the most fun…nor the most idealized.. but it will different 

In my heart.. I still believe in the romance of travel
The mysticism of lands unexplored..
The trill of trying something total foreign..
And the friends made along the way..

This is to travel.
I toast to thee
...with all the tequila I can drink :)

The Oldest Game On Earth

The place was appropriately dim
And the beer was flowing freely
There we sat in our front row seats..
Just in time to catch the match being played at the bar

And so it begins..
Opposition won the toss..

Starts out smoothly.. Posturing and all
First..He invades her private space..
Whispering close to her ear..
all the while gazing into her eyes..

Ooh ...
but a clever deflection from the home side!
She placed her glass in front of her
In between them..
Defending her space well. .. and laughing as she did so

Looks like a tough match tonight…
Both sides are experienced at the game and raring to go..

The Opposition gets frustrated.. flustered even
At the lack a goal in sight..

But he preservers on
Buying her another drink and another …

This time he tries a different tactic..
First he sneaks quick touches at her elbow
As he talked animatedly..
Disguising it all as part of the story-telling

And she unwittingly let that pass..
Preoccupied with her drink and the story unfolding..

Suddenly..
he starts touching her shoulder...
Success! As he moved past the first level of defence

She smiles on..
perhaps defences weakening
Losing stamina (or just the alcohol working)

Sensing a slack in the defence ..
He moves in for the kill
With a flourish..he ends his story
And while she tilts her head back to laugh..
He angles himself in ..
Catches the back of her head and he brushes in a kiss..

Score!!...
1 - nil

As suddenly as it began..
The whistle is blown..
HALF TIME

Well… That’s about all I saw of that match
Didn’t stay long enough to watch the second half being played out

But I guess..
Only those involved in the match would have known the final score
Perhaps both side won..
Perhpas it was a loosing game..

Its amazing the things you see ..
If you open your eyes..
And there I was.. just hoping for a margarita and a decent DJ

But with a name like Gypsy Bar..
One might expect some magic to happen that night..

KL has its charms.
And it was a wonderful birthday
I cant believe I have actually survived for 25 year ..

I keep expecting myself to be having some sort of quarter-life-crisis..
Perhaps … I more well-adjusted than I thought..

Perhaps its all the wonderful people around me
That make life too fun to worry about the little things

Like growing old.. ;p

Cheers

The 2 Kinds of Riches

Since all the riches of all this world
may be gifts from the devil and earthly kings,
I should suspect that I worshipped the devil
If I thanked God for worldly things

The countless gold of a merry heart
The rubies and pearls of a loving eye,
The idle man never can bring to the mart
Nor the cunning hoard up in his treasury

~ William Blake

To all my friends who have just graduated
... anxiously awaiting entry into the working world

Hope none of you will be lost in the myriad
of the mindless mass money-making monster
that is our industry.

<3 the pureness of joy derived from truly living
is worth more than all the treasures in the world <3

A toast to more crazy times to come!! muacks

Beached in Bali

The past few weeks had been madness
it felt like I'm back at week 12 of uni term
which coincidentally WAS actually week 12
of SMU term..

To all the nerds mugging in the library now
with only 3 hours of sleep but 100 more readings,
4 more textbooks and 10 more past exams papers
to go through...

I give you the proverbial finger
by lazying by the pool with a book in hand
wondering if I should have my eggs scrambled or sunny side up ..

lallalallalalal



okay I'm not that cruel
but as i was gazing into the Bali sunset
with the sea salt crystallizing in my hair
i wonder if this is what all the mugging is for

What have all the mugging got me
other than bouts of bad acne, love handles from too much junk food
and stained teeth from too much coffee

In the end ..
the coffee stains remains
Only now, I have more money to pay for facial and healthier food
which leaves my wallet alot lighter
which again begs the question
where does that leave me...

But I digress ..
Back to hell week..
While the final presentation in school
accounts for 30% of your final grade
which seemed to be a life or death situation back then

My presentation at the Bali Conference
probably accounts for the rest of my career

well ..okay
that may be a wee too drama
but I guess if I had totally sucked
in front of my colleagues from all over Asia
and some big shots from Europe
well...

I can probably throw myself into Bali sea
and hope for the crashing waves to
sweep me away into oblivion

Sounds romantic...
alas, i dint get to die with such melodrama..
thankfully it all went better than I thought
with people asking for my presentation
Although I was a nervous wreak ~

I changed 4 outfits in the morning
then deciding on to wear back the first outfit
I sprayed perfume on myself 3 time without realising
I poured papaya juice onto my cereal
I talked to my eggs
seriously...

Ah well
at least this tale
has a fairy tale ending
in a family entertainment kinda way..
a la ~disney cute







BECAUSE THERE WAS NO DECENT PUBS
IN THE WHOLE BLOODY STRETCH OF PRIVATE BEACHES...
thus gone was the chance for crazing boozing
bar top dancing
sexcapades on the beach...

okay maybe NOT the last part
but at least watching OTHER people frolicking by the beach
would have been more entertaining
then trying to drink myself to a very bad hangover
on cheap red wine..
by a bar that does not play any music
and a bartender that cannot pronounce "Cabernet Sauvignon"


and the waves continues to crash
time waits for no man
but the sand sinks in
as I step on it
dragging me down
"wait for me"
i shout at the sea
"wait for me, for i cant catch up
.....wait for me"
but the sea turns a deaf ear
dancing in its frothy white skirt
with the stars as the audience
leaving me washed ashore ....

Are you the Clod or the Pebble

The Clod and the Pebble

"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And Builds a heaven in hell's despair"

So sung a little clod of clay,
Trodden with the cattle's feet.
But a pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:

"Love seeketh only Self to please,
To blind another to its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a hell's in heaven's despite."

~ William Blake

While reading Blake as I ambled home
I found this poem that struck a cord
especially i was just talking about love
i shall continue with this theme
with more food for thought

are you a pebble or are you a clod?

happy pondering....

and i must say
Blake proves to be a wonderful companion
for those long walks home..

Paris, Je T'aime

Paris, I love you..
from the city of romance
comes 18 stories of love from the heart of the city
18 five minute clips by 18 different directors
all based on the title theme..
with a huge assortment of famous stars

At first glance one might wonder
how beliveable can this be
with actors like Elija Wood and director Wes Craven
would it become a hollywood version of an arthouse flick
like a wolf in a sheeps clothing
all the grittyness removed to be made palatable for the masses

I had my reservations..
especially since im not a romance-chick flick kinda gal
give me Apocalypto anytime...
and never try to force me to sit through Lake House ;p

Never-the-less it had turned out
to be a rather interesting experience
For I guess..
epecially in our age
we tend to forget love is far more than being 1 dimensional

the flick in that short 90mins
had managed to conveyed that love
is more than just romance

it is about...
~lost memories that we hang on to
~maternal connections that transcends physical distance
~closure that doesnt come with death
~expectations that we cannot fulfill
~responsibilities that tie us down
~purity and innocence

But yet..like a enfant terrible
it can be fickle, selfish, cruel, lost in delusions
and just full out weird...

and we are just caught in its storm
like swirling leaves...

The most poignant clip for me
was about an American Lady
who learns french so as to travel to pars
as we listen to her speak in panifully slow french..
she becomes more and more pitiful
with delusions of her solitude life
that you begin to feel sorry for her..
and then you laugh at her to cover up your embaressment for her
then in the end
you start to see the world from her view
and you realise
that who you are doesnt make you more deservable of love
it is something almost so etheral
that to be in love is just to feel blessed

Paris is a wonderful setting for the film
it makes me miss Europe even more
i wonder what would it be like if the film was set in Singapore
well definately not something i will see
if Jack Neo is the one directing it ;p

Tagline: One City. 10 Million Hearts. One Love Story. One Film.

sometimes I wonder what is love
and am I in love

now perhpas i can see that i have always been in love
in many many small ways...

by loving life
you love everything that encompass it
<3

as for now..
I shall spread some love ..


A very hot king he will make
I cant wait for his new film ..
Hollywood crap or no crap..

No more roses to stop and smell...

The new year seems to bring with it a certain lazyness..
its as if we left ourselves back in 2006 while being pulled into 2007
the inertia weighting us down..
as we move in this new year with swimming pool slowness...


Perhaps the imminent chinese new year will jolt us into action
But even the new year has taken its time to come
Being the year of the pig...
who can be surprise ;p
And I shall celebrate it like the pig that i am..
havign seen 2 full cycles of the zodiac..
my time has come again!


celebrate all ye fellow pigs...
it is our year
and what best way to celebrate it than to eat
yes...
barbecued pork and roast pork and pig trotters!!
yums
i can wait for the slaughter to start..
bawhhahahhaha


well before the aroma of honeyed crispy skin can fill the air
let us celebrate the perfume of flowers
hundreds and hundreds of bouquets
i saw being unloaded at the florist
while i was out for lunch
you can almost see the florist grinning with manic glee
thinking about all the poor guys she can swindle off money
"buy a bigger bouquet lahh"
she will say ..
"the more flowers "..
"the more she will love you.."


as if flowers can be quantified into love
the only thing these innocent looking roses can quantify into
is 12 bucks each.. flying outa your pocket..
phew.. faster than u can say....
"i love you" ...


In this mad captilaist world
let us all take a moment to ponder and remember
that love is not about ...
what brand of chocolates you get
or how many gifts you have unwrapped
in the end
the number of flowers dont mean a thing


However i am not a total sad sack ;p
let this be my ode to my Shanghai Romance

my love for natural lattice work


The view outside my hotel

cute hoghe-porch of small houses with a backdrop of sky scrapers



interesting colonial houses that the british left behind



The wonderful french connection





Obscure art galleries tucked in a corner of the industrial area





Blackie in repost



Lots of art work on anti-capitalism





The outside grafitti is just as interesting



To my relief .. the museums were not all about traditional art







While abstract is not my cup of tea ..
i think it has provided an intresting education
perhaps i am not giving the art form enough credit





alot of time was spent reading maps in the cold...



While i entertain myself snapping pics..




























its wonderful to walk the small streets
and discover the real city beneath all that cosmopolitan
althou with a heavy heart
i can see its character slowly being erroded
under a film of shiny westernisation
where every few feet is a starbucks
and mass consumerism moves to the beat of mass standardization

Even this little villiage of zhou zhuang
is no longer the quaint water-village it used to be
its claim to fame as the
Venice of the East
had brougth millions there
including Tom Cruise
who filmed Mission Impossible 3 on location there

but regardless of all that ..
it is nice to try and imagaine
yourself back in time
enjoying a true blue ancient chinese sunset







and this is one of my sweetest memory of Shanghai
I loveeee breakfast..



But this of course will be the saccarin-dripped-in-honey-sweetest
memory of alll..



awww....
to the one who kept me warm
fed me well
and made sure we dint get lost
<3

witnesses in the dark

Blue is the day as Grey is the sky
Black is the colour to fill my life by
I see colours
I see no colours
Find me a butterfly
So I can crush it down
To pound its wings into fragments
Into indiscernible nothingness
Broken colours


For colour is dead
Nowhere to be found

Manila In Repose

Snapshots of my business trip to Manila ...
My journey through their small towns "barangais"


























One cannot forget the heat ...
that permeates and oppresses...