Departures and Separation
POSTED AT 09:18 PM

My flight leaves tonight (or early tomorrow morning), and I'm trying to use this occasion to envision what it would be like on August 17th when I leave for the States.

On the bus ride home from work, I tried to magnify the knowledge that I would be getting on to an aeroplane in a couple of hours time to replicate the impact as if I wouldn't be coming back for at least a year. I think it can be pretty hard to accept, to leave everything and everyone behind.

It would be nice, in these last few months (2 and a half), to be able to meet up with everybody who matters to me here. An image comes to mind - that of Ed Bloom in Big Fish being carried down to the riverside by his son as he prepares to draw his last breath, cheered and waved on by just about everyone significant in his life. Clearly there's that end-of-life allusion which can't be ignored, but to extend the metaphor, Ed doesn't expire on the riverbanks in the company of friends and family; he turns into a fish and swims away, to lead a new life. That, I believe, is the kind of aftermath that we seek as well.

In any case, I'm looking to enjoy myself immensely in HK.

Return to life
POSTED AT 08:51 PM

So I'm back from my trip to Hong Kong. Thankfully, it wasn't too much of a deja vu from the other time. We did repeat some of the things that I had done the other time, such as visit the Tian Tan Buddha, go to Ocean Park and enjoy the view from the Peak, but I must say that everything happened under such different circumstances that it really was a new experience.

We didn't plan on going to the Tian Tan Buddha at first, because I'd already seen it and the other two weren't too excited by sightseeing. However, the Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride, which we were interested in, would bring us to the foot of the Buddha, so it really didn't make much sense to give it a miss.

The last time I went there, I took a ferry from Central to Mui Wo and then a bus on to the statue, so our route of advance this time via cable car was totally different. We also discovered a little hiking trail next to the site, aptly named the "Wisdom Path". It led us along a nature path to a little clearing which afforded breathtaking views of the rolling hills and soothing reservoir, shrouded dreamily by the fog and clouds.

Ocean Park was loads of fun the other time - exciting rides notwithstanding, I found the aquarium and dolphin show, as well as the great view all around the park to be worth the cost of admission alone. This time, however, the weather threatened to make it an abysmally dreary experience for us. What began as a slight drizzle when we got there quickly escalated into an all-out, shirt drenching, umbrella flipping storm. Most of the rides were closed due to the inclement weather, and the rain obscured most of the view from the cable car ride, which I considered to be the highlight of the whole experience.

The rain got so bad at one point that we had to hide indoors, and forcing ourselves to look at the fish swimming round and round in the Atoll Reef Aquarium for the second time while waiting for the rain outside to abate was pretty much the low point of the day.

Thankfully, the weather improved eventually, and though some of the rides never reopened, I was pretty satisfied at least to be able to catch the dolphin show, get a decent view on the return cable car trip and go up in the newly added hot air balloon.

We broke away from tradition (and perhaps common sense as well) in going up to the peak in the day. I must say the view from the top really isn't impressive at all in the day, plus the rain and clouds hardly did much to enhance the experience. Perhaps we were a little too carried away by our immense success on Taipei 101 in catching the sunset, but we were undone by bad intelligence - our hotel's weather forecast put the sunset at 1720 - which was probably two hours too early - and we stupidly believed it.

We met up with loads of people in Hong Kong - my aunt and uncle, my ex-classmate, JW's sister, Samantha's friend. We also discovered the joys of cheap beer - Tsingtao was going at HKD20 for 2 x 640ml bottles, which translates to about SGD1.50 per pint. Despite some negative preconceptions on my part, JW assured us that it was pretty good, and he was right. I like the sharp bite and not too full-bodied taste - pretty comparable IMO to the Kolsch Ale at Brewerkz.

Before leaving, I mentioned that "All I hope for is a chance to satisfy all those food cravings, some decent shopping and an overall enjoyable time." I think I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

Three Dim Sum lunches, an extremely delicious Sichaun la mian breakfast, some of the best you tiao that I've ever had were enough to satisfy my food cravings indeed, not even to mention the sumptuous Satay King seafood dinner or the Yun Nan rice noodles.

Shopping wasn't too terrible - I came back with two t-shirts and a pair of pants - which is decent by my standards.

And we had a great time, whether it was playing dice in a seedy Joo Chiat-esque pub in Wan Chai, having "the best Margaritas in town" at Lan Kwai Fong, enjoying the Victoria Harbour with Tsingtao beer, as well as other non-alcoholic exploits like cycling around Lantau Island or watching planes take off from the Ngong Ping 360.

Running is a religion
POSTED AT 01:37 AM

After a relatively long hiatus (of 2 weeks), I decided to get out of the house and go for a run. Since I broke my routine when I took up the second job, running became a rather rare affair for me. I've lost some of the motivation, and nowadays I'm more prone to making excuses.

The extended layoff must have got to me somewhat, because it was a little more difficult than usual running the regular route, finishing 3 mins behind the regular time.

I always think strange thoughts while I'm out running. It's not exactly the most conducive time to do serious thinking, because the lack of blood to my head can often make it difficult to string two thoughts together. But today I had a little revelation that the exertion of physical activity made me realise.

It's hard to convey in words. In short, the present is ephemeral, and we should look to long term satisfaction over short term gratification. A simple concept, but we often fail to grasp the true significance of such ideas.

The Rehearsal of Life
POSTED AT 09:22 PM

I'll be leaving for Beijing on Tuesday night. I think it would be a fitting rehearsal for how it would feel to leave for college in August. Hopefully, internet there is cheap/free and plentiful. Till then.

Greetings from the Middle Kingdom
POSTED AT 08:49 PM

For all those concerned, I've arrived safely and settled down nicely. Everything's fine.

Housing was a bit problematic and almost catastrophic when I first arrived - the student dorms were all full, and all other housing options around the campus were unavailable. In the end I managed to find a rather nice place about 15 min walk away from campus. Although it's rather pricey (~SGD32 per night), the room is really big and nice. Apart from the distance and the relatively greater expense, it's pretty perfect.

The weather's fine. It's a bit cooler than Singapore, which is nice. On the downside, it's very dry, and the air can get quite dusty at times. That said, as long as it doesn't rain as often as it did in Hong Kong, or have any sand storms, I'll be pretty satisfied.

One thing to note is that the traffic here is pretty crazy. Traffic rules are merely suggestions at best, and crossing a major junction can be quite a pain (and an exercise in courage as well). There are government educational ads along the sidewalk exhorting the people to "please recognise these roadsigns", followed by a general list of basic road signs.

I haven't really managed to make many new friends yet, because I'm not living in the student dorms, which is unfortunate. I have, however, fortuitously discovered that there are a few familiar faces in Beijing as well and hopefully will be able to get to see them soon.

School officially starts tomorrow, so there's nothing really to be said about that now, except that I hope I come away with something from the whole course.