29/12/2007 National Stadium

And then after that, I watched Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful again after so many years, and the ending made me cry.

I have just finished watching A Chinese Odyssey or Xi You Ji, Part 1 and Part 2, which I bought from JB on Thurs, yes I know it's ancient but I really like it! Behind all the usual Stephen Chow slapsticks is a compelling, heart wrenching love story. Who can forget the classic final scene below the city gates, as Sun Wukong turns away from the girl he loves (the loveliest Athena Chu) to continue on his journey to retrieve the scriptures.

Merry Xmas everyone!

Shadow Boxing with a smile :)



The last couple of days were wonderfully spent hanging out with good friends and family. I couldn't have wished for a better birthday week. And this is the song which will for me, be synonymous with these luminous times.


Give this a go, I promise you will like it.

My parents are great.  Each year without fail, on our birthdays they will make sure we get a cake with candles and all. Although we are all too old for fancy parties, the simple affair of cutting the cake with your family does leave a good warm feeling in the heart. 2 days before me today, we celebrate my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Weiquan! 

I like this entry alot, from Ah Shin's blog.

The Window Washer

As though washing a loved one, he carefully wipes clean every pane of the clever window. He places the sponge saturated with grimy, soapy water into the small pail suspended near his waist, and focuses completely on rinsing the window with his hose, letting the falling water drops drip from forty or fifty meters high. The wind is loud, so the window washer doesn’t hear the lament of the water drops hitting the ground.

The glass reflects the window washer’s own image, just like a girl looking into his eyes. That’s the one thing he doesn’t want to remember, though it’s further and further away, that memory from Gravel Town.

The window washer came from Gravel Town, where there were dark gold rays of sun shining through brick tiles and broken walls. All around you, the air in the little alleys was filled with the smells of cooking, wafting with sincerity through the town and into every household.

Of course, the little alleys were formed of gravel blasted from the local mountains. The gravel was full of sharp edges and corners, so children couldn’t run through the alleys barefoot. But here even the cows wear shoes made of woven grass, much less the tender soles of children’s feet.

Traveling to or from Gravel Town isn’t easy. First a long ride, back and forth through countless tunnels, sleeping and waking, waking and sleeping, until finally waking in a daze, grinding your teeth as you enter and exit still more tunnels. At last the bus stops at a desolate stand beside the highway and leaves you off, and that’s when you finally realize what it means to be rid of Gravel Town.

If you looked carefully into the gloomy expression in the window washer’s eyes, you’d think that old Gravel Town is a curse that he’ll never be rid of. The window washer actually doesn’t believe that modern society has such things as curses, so he carried his fat wad of five kuai and one kuai bills and leapt onto the bus heading through those countless tunnels, escaping Gravel Town.

That’s how the window washer arrived in this city. The girl who came to the city with him ran off after two weeks. In Gravel Town, they had dated solidly for two years; he never imagined that after two short weeks in the city, what remained of their destiny was all used up.

It seems the hearts of these Gravel Town girls are also made of coarse, sharp gravel.

The window washer rubs his nose, a bit broken-hearted. His one lucky break in the midst of his misfortune is that he hasn’t any time to listen to any of those popular songs of turbulent love and hate tearing you to shreds, so he can avoid crying even more wasted tears.

He’s been washing this building for nine years. Although in the end a building isn’t a lover, still people in the end are emotional creatures, and over the course of these years he has washed this building with his emotions. Occasionally when the sky is darker and the glass doesn’t reflect light so strongly, he can see into the messy, unkempt hotel rooms and that always makes him furrow his brow. Clothes and towels hanging in each and every unexpected location, emptied cans and discarded food, beds that look like they’ve exploded. Those messy guests, at least they didn’t defecate on the carpet.

“It’s always these people who can’t keep the outside clean and bright, inside they’re a complete mess.” When he furrows his brow and thinks this way, it always makes others sympathize with him and furrow their brows along with him. However, sympathy is sympathy, but there’s never been a girl who sympathized so much with the window washer that she fell in love with him.

He hasn’t loved anyone else, these nine years.

You often hear people say, “Because of my work environment, it’s really hard to find someone.” They use this to explain why they’re single.

However, if the window washer doesn’t say this, then there’s no one in the world with the right to say this.

Rocking back and forth so many meters in the air, aside from the grimy water drops splashing his face and the roar of the late autumn wind, occasionally his fellow window washer, Old Liu, works along with him, but he’s not much of a companion; there are no regular guys around for him to talk to.

This is how the days dully, monotonously were disposed of, until that one day. His gaze pierced through the dark green glass, and he saw an unbelievable scene in the room. A girl sitting beside a strange man and watching television.

It was her! That unforgettable face, the girl who left without saying a word, that girl with the gravel heart.

The window washer didn’t stop his movements, even though innumerable words suddenly bubbled up in his heart. With extra strength he wiped the window clean, with new hysteria rinsed it with water, as if he wanted to make that gravel-hearted girl see a cleaner sky.

Water drops dripped down and attacked the earth, bursting, exploding, but no one could hear them; it was certainly the world’s most humble lament.

Pensive in Kobe

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

I had decided I wouldn't think about it anymore, but on my last day in the evening, I sat down by the waterfront listening to The Fray on repeat.

On the train, on the way to my final stop Osaka, I couldnt help but dwell on what had happened, even though I told Paul last night when he asked me how it went that I was gonna "fuck it". It feels like I have come off of it all like a bad guy and she a victim when I feel she should share a portion of the blame as to what went wrong. And it went so fucking wrong I cant even comprehend why it did. And I guess its all a matter of perspectives, the way we view the world and the way we deal with situations. I feel I have to write this all down so i can somehow make better sense of this mess and perhaps glean some lessons from it. We live, and we learn, dont we.

So I go back to Monday, when we left for different destinations on good terms, after all we had a wonderful Sunday in Osaka didnt we, ending it off sharing a blanket with a good friend watching Last Life In the Universe and finding parallels between our situation and the movie. So the next day, she went to school and I went to Nara and I was supposed to look for her in school to go to some temple nearby, but I decided she was probably too tired after we turned in only at 3am in the morning, so I told her I was going to Fushimi Inari instead and I got lost coming down the mountain so I only got back at her place at around 6 when it was already dark where I called her and she told me she was having friends over for dinner and told me to buy pasta ingredients from the supermarket, I realised I had only 800 yen left but I decided I would go anyway to see what I could get. The big tomatoes were too expensive, and I couldnt find minced meat since the Japanese staff did not understand what I was saying so I went home with only half of what she wanted, but offered to go again with more money, and I ran all the way there because she told me to hurry, her friends were coming, only for her to comment on how stupid I was not being able to find the minced meat, and "coming home only with half the ingredients" and when the food was served, I said "hmm its not bad" which I meant in a good way but you could see the storm clouds gathering for she took that as me being unappreciative and then she goes on to tell her friends in front of me how much of a hassle putting me up has been, she feels that I have taken her for granted and I guess and it was all the little things like not saying "thanks" more often or asking her if she did the laundry because I needed my towel and she construed that to mean I treated her as the a hotel maid.

So you can expect that I wasnt in the best spirits, and then after I bathed as I was taking off my lens behind where she was blogging on her laptop and I saw her posting a picture of our Osaka trip and as I took a closer look which some people might consider rude , I was curious and I saw that the post title was titled <16 sq meters of agony> and so I decided that if she was so upset I would move out so as not to inconvenience her anymore, or be labelled a burden but that didnt mean I was angry with her or didnt want to be friends with her anymore so I dont know why she was so angry the next morning, and I guess I should have tried to talk to her instead of rashly deciding to move out, but I was tired and irritated after a long day lost in the inari hills, and since I had said I would move out, I couldnt not move out the next morning and you could see her eyes getting red so it somehow spiralled out of control with me and my clumsy attempts at trying to make sure we part ways on amiable terms, but she being so angry which I couldnt really understand why(I still dont) and I was trying to make her listen to my explanation, buying her breakfast the next day and then going in the night to her place because I had spontaneously bought her a xmas present as I was shopping for presents for other friends but somehow that made her even madder, perhaps I went too late, making me out like a stalker. The harder I tried to make amends, the worse the situation got.

I guess the biggest mistake was me making myself too at home, because I thought she was a good friend and she didnt care about all the little gestures of decorum you uphold with less close friends, its like I am grateful to you for putting me up but I dont have to say it every hour of the day do I? And each time I ask her why she was so unhappy, she refused to tell me. How am I supposed to know, laid-back me if you dont tell me, how was I to know that asking whether she did the laundry because I need a towel to bathe would make her feel like I was treating her like a laundry maid? I thought it showed that she was appreciated, from me taking the effort to make her a real living xmas tree, blinking lights and all and buying her presents from every part of Japan that I travelled to using my JR pass, from me trudging into Japan with heavy bundles of singapore food, pandan leaves, noodles, coconut milk and all. I dont expect to be thanked but I didnt expect that after waking up early to try to cook her nasi lemak, I would be scolded for being an idiot because I used too much rice, 2 cups more and using too much coconut milk, and her being irritated at me for waking her up too early when it was she who told me the night before to wake her up and it seems she comes out of this looking like the victim and me the big bad wolf . I may be tactless and stubborn at times, and for all that I will apologize but I also believe that she was oversensitive.

And this is all that I will say about this matter. I resolve to put it all behind. This aside, it has been a good trip, where I made alot of friends from different countries, which on hindsight, some I may not have met, Paul from Manchester whom I really enjoyed talking to, Yoshi from Okinawa who showed us around Kyoto and who brought us to a Japanese restaurant for a good dinner, Megumi from Tokyo, eye candy and Pierre the Frenchman, romantic and thoughtful born in the wrong era, if I had not moved out. I regret deeply that I lost a good friend, hindsight is a wonderful thing if it wasnt too already too late, but I realise there is nothing more I can do about it except to let it slide.

With the last 2 days pretty much wasted after travelling back and forth between Kyoto and Uji trying to patch things up, only to see the situation spiral crazily out of control, this evening after I let it slide, I went for a walk around town with Pierre, a carpenter from Monaco, who knew his way around town, and as we walked we talked, he told me about life in France, how the unemployment benefits are being abused, how the French love their food where meal-time in France is long, drawn out and enjoyable as opposed to the Anglo Saxons, the British or Americans, who eat too much fish and chips or burgers and who have their dinner in front of the TV. Then we had sake at a small Izakaya and I told him about Singapore and he told me about his experience working in the farms in rural Japan. Then we went to Gion to try to spot Geishas but not much luck but wandering around Teramachi, I came to a shop specializing in Lomos and got a Holga for 4800 yen. It was an enjoyable evening but I couldnt shake off that freadful sense of regret which comes from the knowledge that I had lost a good friend.

So I decided last night to cut short my time in Japan and rush back to Singapore in time for Blockbuster Sunday, and also because I have just about have enough of Silly Susan's generous hospitality and mood swings. It's like theres always something bristling and prickly at the back of her mind, preventing her from truly letting go. And I guess I can only tolerate this much of someone constantly reminding me I am living at her place, (I pay for food and groceries though) and threatening to make me sleep on the streets. We have the most fun together and I really like her and enjoy myself with her when she doesnt go into her mood swings but I am all packed up now and ready to go, heck I might even fly tomorrow if I didn't still have 40,000 yen unspent. Remembering what my friend Matias' words, all you really need is your backpack and good shoes. I shall strive to be footloose!!

In the evening, on my last day in Tokyo, before I caught the Shinkansen back to Kyoto, I went to Senguku - Ji, to offer incense at the graves of the 47 Ronin.





Coming back from Osaka after a day in the city with Silly Susan, I suddenly remembered it was one day after John Lennon's death 27 years ago in 1980.

Hiroshima

Terrifying, poignant, and heartbreaking.

On my first night in Tokyo, I checked into Khaosan Tokyo rest-house and met a whole bunch of people from all around the world. First I went for a walk and to get some food with Matias the German, a trained doctor who has not been practicing since he graduated but traveling and working in different continents. Something he said as we were walking to the 99 yen shop got me thinking. He said, "after you've been traveling for awhile, you realize all you really need is just your backpack and a pair of good shoes." And there was something to that, forget about nationalities, forget about race, we are all citizens of the world, home is where the heart is. Although, i stupidly added after the shoes part, "and your camera," which is really dumb I know, and his reply to that was, "actually you don't even need a camera." We came back and we started talking and soon Helena from Namibia joined in, and then Yan Yan from Inner Mongolia, and Daniel from Mexico, and a couple of Koreans I cant remember their names. One of the joys of traveling is meeting new friends from different parts of the world. I would recommend Khaosan Tokyo to anyone who's backpacking in Japan and stopping over in Tokyo.

The Adventures of Weird Wayne and Silly Susan in Kyoto

Kangozan. Sunday. 9 train transfers. Mister Donuts. Steep Ascend. Breath-taking views. Autumn valley dressed in red and yellow. 1 degree celsius at the Summit. Matching winds to chill us to the bones. Taking our chances.The mad rush to the ropeway. A minute more to spending the night in the mountains. Sunset glow in the distance. Hitching a ride to the train station.


"Let's never go there again, because it will never be as fun."

On my first day in Kyoto, while everyone was still sleeping, I took Silly Susan's bike out on a spin, all the way to Ginkaku Ji or the Silver Pavilion, pedalling furiously, cutting through autumn and the crisp fresh air towards the hills and the clear blue sky in the distance, all the time grinning madly like an idiot.

So I am here in Kyoto after spending a day in Osaka at the aquarium and the castle. Silly Susan picked me up at the station, and as much as we had been saying about how excited we were that we were gonna see each other the first thing I said to her was, my bag is so heavy! And I cannot remember what she had said now, but the first thing I noticed was she had brown eyes, okay brown contacts, and with her brown hair and dressing, scarf, mini skirt over black tights, she fitted right in and I might not have spotted her in the crowd had she not come up and tap me on the back. Nonetheless, the lack of histrionics aside, it's nice to see her!

Singaporeans really do have a distinct accent. Today at the aquarium, I heard a lady go, "Later mummy buy you ice-cream." And I knew immediately where they were from. At the station in the afternoon, there was a family poring over the subway map, and from their conversation, there was no mistaking where they were from. So I offered them my help and turns out they were heading the same way towards the castle so I told them they could go with me and it was nice to have someone from home to talk to on the train-ride.

Later on at the everyone at the dinner table agreed. Susan's Israeli friend, I cannot remember his name, even went as far as to say she speaks pidgin english. We had an Udon party, home-made Udon where they put to good use what they had learnt on their field-trip last week. I had a good time, just talking to the people from all over the world, or just listening in on their conversations, a mishmash of languages, French, Thai, Korean, Singlish, broken Japanese, and it was interesting to discuss Thai politics with Thais, Mai and Cheer, who were happy to see Thaksin go.

After dinner, we watched a DVD, all in Mai's room, Love Actually, which most of the South East Asians have seen, but not the Israeli, French, Korean. Then there was an invasion by some animals as you can see from the photo below:

Crazy stuff!