Pillow talk

"Aye...you've thought about where you'll be at 30?"
"Mm...in SG lo...be the best and youngest SG...."
"How about the shop?"
"Mm...dad still working in shop, mum also, sister helping, brother also help"
"Other business?"
"Bookstore? Dunno...."
"Erm....how is your house like?"
"Got dogs, cats..."
"Erm....married?"
"Mm...."
"Erm....what if your wife not at home, come home once a month, how?"
"Like that...no choice lo....."
"You don't mind?"
"No choice lo...as long wife happy"
"................."
"........................."
"35?"
"Huhhh?"
"35 years old leh?"
"Mm...mmm....maybe MP lo....or maybe continue in SG....."
"Family?"
"You mean my family? Dad more free, travel, go gambling...mum stay home, play mahjong with friends....."
"How about your own family?"
"Mmmm....?"
"Kids leh?"
"Mm....One son or daughter lo..."
"........"
"Teach everything I know to him/her....read lots of books, teach how to play chess, bowling...."
"...................."
"Zzzz...."
"The house?"
"Zzzzz...."
"*pushes gently* how about the house?"
"Mmm....got all kinds of animals...dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, ducks, chicken...lots of books"
"Where is it wor..."
"Hmm?Dunno wor....If MP then KL lor"
"At 40 leh?"
"Die already lo..."
"Ha? Die?!"
"Too good and popular....people assasinate me..."
"*giggle*.....Wah, how can die so early....*hits with booster*, then wife how?"
"*giggle* She ar.....marry again lo...."
"Aiyo...marry you die so fast one.................then if don't die leh?"
"Mmm.....retire from politics lo....start teaching..."
"What if you're offered to be M?"
"Then I make gao gao the dept the best lo...."
"Mmmm...Kids leh..."
"Zzzz..."
"*nudges with booster*....kids leh?"
"Huh?....maybe got one more lo...."
"The house?"
"Same lo..."
"Wife leh?"
"Still busy traveling here and there..."
"You don't mind meh?"
"Zzzz...."
"......................."

Rhythmic jazz of “Sunday Morning”,
A deep voice singing to me,

Tears from laughter,
Tears you flow with close ones,

First whiff of air in a foreign land,
The familar smell of home,

Heart thumping from infatuation,
The lullaby of his heart beat,

The adrenaline of the new,
The peacefulness of contemplation,

The beauty of both worlds.

A part of my soul...

(Written in front of PSZ library after the two previous blog and after being awake more than 24 hour)

Without specific order, pouring out of my mind:

The climax of an orchestral piece, the mystical inspirational tune of a new age music that you feel your heart will burst(Adiemus, Now We Are Free from Gladiator etc etc), the haunting piece from The Piano and the double ending, the majesty of nature during a sunrise or a sunset no matter viewed from the mountain top or by the beach, the assuring and soothing rhythm of late night or early morning rain, the melody from Forrest Gump that inspires innocent but sad hope (and how we almost shed tears listening to it being played by Mr Joost on the oboe), the first sight of the pure blue and white sand beach when cycling in Terengganu, the opening big bang of (most)musicals, the feeling of totally connecting in thoughts with another person…ok, I’m a bit stuck for now…might continue next time....

Things I hope will be a part of it..

A field of sunflower in Tuscany, the majestic Grand Canyons, the beauty of the aurora, the hopeful and eager faces of children...

Farmers and hunters

The Valkyries: An Encounter with Angels by Paulo Coelho

"Some people feel that they are alive only when they are facing challenges. They are the hunters, and for them it is the only way to achieve their power. For others it is the way of the farmer, and it is on that path that they find their power."

I’m almost definitely a hunter. I guess everyone who knows me will say so too without blinking an eye. Challenges and the prize of the game keep the spark in me glowing. Above all challenges, I seek to prove my ideals right. So there you go, the romantic hunter…the poet in me. How long will this romantic last in the jungle of life full of other hunters?

The Art of Living

Living is an art, because art is about knowing what mistakes we need to learn from and move on, and what mistakes to keep.

I guess when they say this, they are talking about the artistic process of a painter, when he (well, most famous ones are male) dabs a little too much of that awfully bright pink paint on those….clouds and presto! We have given birth to a some new neo-classical chapter in the “Art Appreciation for Beginners”. Perhaps that’s also how Gaudi came to have all those wavy patterns on his balconies and marzapine-like houses. My own version would of course be in a more musical sense, so it would involve a flat sounding C note on the sax, which stumbled on to a series of chromatic scales downwards, missing a few notes here and there.

Enough on romantics…

Mistakes. Here is my two major ones in the last 5 years which I am keeping:

Mistake number one: Being totally blur about my future at the age of eighteen and submitting it to whatever that comes. This is a mistake I intend (and am forced) to keep. I was capricious, moving from genetic engineering (because it was a really new thing and sounded cool), medicine(because I liked my Biology teacher and the sweep of inspiration to make a change by serving as a overworked underpaid civil servant….yeah well, Hui Woon was like that since then), actuarial science, management, business administration(the last ones came because I knew I have a tact and interest for management and actuarial science was deemed to make more use of my toils in the science stream). Above all, I knew very strongly that I wanted to study abroad. But since I was like a fallen leave getting swept down by the river flow, I found myself staring at the gates of UTM in no time. Entering those gates, I remember vividly how I made a pact with myself. I was going to learn as much as possible, make the best out of everything no matter what. So as a mistake I kept, I am who I am today.

Mistake number two: Next mistake is like a Jengga block of mistakes. How the final blow was built slowly on one circumstance on top of another, and eventually if you took out a piece of it recklessly, it would just topple mercilessly. I took Orchestra as Ko-Q without registering. I dropped a subject or two. I went on lucrative adventures in the management faculty. I took the word of someone too easily. This is how I broke perhaps another record….one of the few Chinese students who are taking a sixth year in Chemical Engineering. This eleventh semester however gave me a lot of time to think, to contemplate, to question myself, to plan and execute my next move. I’ve found what I needed, and it is indeed a very blissful feeling to have the conviction of knowing the “what” and “how” of your life.