Friday, September 28, 2007
You know when you were young(like maybe about 5 years old) and you kept complaining to your parents, "The weather so hot!" when its scorching, and your parents, as the typical chinese do, reply, "Stop complaining! Complain, complain, complain! Learn to appreciate what you have." They themselves are clearly sweating profusely yet somehow refuse to admit that the weather is driving them crazy. Since they kept quiet about it, I used to think that I should as well.
But then a few years ago, when my knowledge span increased dramatically following the influx of TV programmes and technology, I came up with the excuse of, "We're chinese. We weren't made for this weather." I know for sure my ancestors did NOT come from Southeat Asia where the weather was tropical all year round, and hence, being born of their blood, i often consider myself unfit and unadapted for this weather. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, because humans can adapt very well can't they? We're HIGHLY SPECIALIZED, so to speak. Well then, tell me, how am I supposed to practise Chinese traditions like drinking hot tea when the temperature is enough to boil the water itself? Exaggerating of course, and not that I like Chinese Tea.
Digressing, once you say "I don't like to drink Chinese Tea", people assume you hate being Chinese, because China is also famous for their tea, and how can you dislike your own culture? Excuse me, I said I don't like the TASTE of Chinese Tea, it doesn't mean I don't like the art of Chinese Tea itself.
And after that they usually shake their heads forlornly and go, "Ahh the greatness of Western Influence..."(Or something like that since I don't know how to directly translate it from Chinese). You know, some people have the perception that the West is full of bad influence which pulls the Chinese away from our rich culture and traditions. But that's not very true. I mean, every society has their own faults. We're not uptopia, we can never be because it's not possible. But every race definitely has their strengths. Take the Europeans with their appreciation for art, we don't have such passion in Singapore(frankly speaking, I wish we had). Take the Japanese who dress daringly and have the courage to start new trends, Singaporeans don't even dare to walk down Orchard in a hat.
And who are we to say that the West has influenced us negatively? They invented electricity, they invented vehicles. They taught us architecture so complex so that we could build our infrastructure. And rather than be grateful, we start picking on really small nitty gritty things like, "Oh the people are SO kai fang. They have a bad effect on our youngsters." In my humble opinion, and as a 'youngster', I find that if the teenagers don't have the brains to distinguish right from wrong it is their own fault. They didn't have to learn those bad habits, but they chose to.
You want us to keep traditions? Fine then, tell me first, what is our Chinese traditional costume? The Koreans have their Hanboks, the Japanese their Kimonos. What do we have? Cheongsams? I DO NOT acknowledge the Cheongsam as the Chinese traditional costume. Why? For the simple reason that 500 years ago, no one would dare to walk down the street in the figure hugging tight silk dress that shows off every curve, not to mention baring both arms and legs with a slit down the side. It looks traditional, no doubt, but it isn't.
The correct Chinese traditional costume, I believe, should be those you see in the Chinese dramas where there are emperors and waring states. It comprises of mostly belts, sashes, thin coats, and lots of diamante hair jewellery. THAT IS OUR TRADITIONAL COSTUME. I feel so sad for our race, because if I ever meet a person from another race, I can never be proud of a traditional costume because I never really had a proper one.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
After 9 months of procrastination, I finally managed to connect the digital camera to the computer! And so I've taken some photos of Japan(where I went to last Dec) and uploaded them here. I don't like to post many pictures of people, so you won't see many here. Maybe only about 2. The different coloured font indicates the different days so you won't get confused.
Destination 1: Tokyo DisneySea
We chose DisneySea because we'd been to DisneyLand in USA(california) 8 years ago so we thought we'd give DisneySea a go. Besides, the crowd isn't as large in DisneySea as compared to DisneyLand.
THE SIGN!!!!
The huge globe fountain thing near the entrance. Yes, my winter jacket is GREEN!
The volcano roller coaster thing I told you guys about in my Dec post.
Quote:
"... one PARTICULAR ride I took in DisneySea. That PARTICULAR ride was called 'journey to the centre of the earth', the first part was really nice, full of gems and exotic flora and fauna and fungi. But then this giant lava monster appeard out of the darkness and I actually SCREAMED when I saw it, like screamed for REAL. Then we were suddenly blown back into the darkness and we SWOOPED all over the place(it was going really fast) then we started DROPPING, yes, I kid you not, DROPPING, like a downhill roller coaster. I had my eyes closed then, but I opened them when the drop stopped. HUGE MISTAKE. As soon as I opened them, I found out were at the top of some artificial volcano spewing smoke and ashes and we lurched down and all I saw was this black hole below me(I was in the front seat, worst luck) showing a drop that would last for all eternity. It was a long drop, REALLY long, even worse than the Jurassic Park, and it was really unexpected too ... "
Night time in Tokyo Shinjuku District(I think)! We had Sukiyaki for dinner, which was absolutely delicious(beef, egg, tofu, veg with sauce).
Shinjuku.
Mt. Fuji the next day! The weather was petty good so we got to the peak. It was REALLY windy. 
Some scenery at the mountain. I've got loads more but most with people, so I didn't put them here. And besides, the uploading takes AGES.
Yes. They sell cans of OXYGEN at Mt. Fuji. If I'm not wrong, the words on the can mean "Fu Shi Shan de Kong Qi".
To Fujikyu Highlands for lunch. It's located somewhere in the middle of Mt. Fuji I think. It's some amusement park but no one really goes there.
Apparently, there's some roller coaster here thats famous worldwide. A few million people sat on it, and out of that amount, 2000 were carried away in an ambulance.
Our lunch. It's some barbeque thing, which we couldn't finish cuz there was too much food.
Night: Off to take the Shinkansen(a.k.a. Bullet Train)
It was really hard to get these shots cuz it moves really fast!
Kyoto the next day. 
After viewing some kimono fashion show, we went for lunch. It was tempura lunch, and surprise surprise, I was last in the tour to finish my food. But ti was really good, needless to say.
Coah ride again.
Some photos of the beautiful old town of Kyoto.
Off to Kyomizu shrine(I think). Mean pure water or something like that.
Part of the roof.
Beautiful scenery at the shrine. Reds and oranges, and greens and yellows. I have about 10-20 photos in total but then I don't have time to upload them all.
Some random tiny cave in the midle of some pond.
Osaka!
The famous Shinsaibashi. It's like a maze there.
Universal Studios the next day
.
I went on only about 4 rides. THe queue was so long and I waited approximately 2 hours per ride. I went on the Jurassic Park though, and it wasn't as scary as I expected it to be. In fact, I think the volcano ride was worse. Still, fabulous experience.
Lunch at this nearby comples. I insisted on ramen for lunch cuz the tour guide recommended it and I'm not leaving Japan without eating a bit of their ramen.So I had to go search for it in the complex, but it was worth it. The ramen was SO SO SO good., well, it was probably cuz we were hungry as well.
I went in to Hard Rock cafe and bought a Hard Rock cafe 'Osaka' badge. I have this habit of collecting Hard Rock Cafe badges of every city I go to. And I make my aunties buy them for me as well whenever they go overseas.
On the Blue Highway cruise to Kyushu Island(The lower portion of Japan, I think)
This was already the next morning in the cruise. I had to stand out in the deck and snap these shots of sunrise. I didn't know which mode in the camera would make the sun look nicer so I took about a shot for each mode. It was freezing out there, PLUS wind but I gather it was worth it. I personally prefer the darker shot, but some might like the lighter one more.
Breakfast!
Breakfast in the cruise with the sunrise. We didn't eat much because we were pretty stuffed from the dinner the night before. But of course, we still ate SOMETHING. Even though the plate looks empty.
And the cruise docks!
so THIS is what it looks like!
Lunch.
We had a great lunch. So many tiny dishes, it's like eating all kinds of Japanese food in one meal.
Ibusuki.
The dinner that night in Ibusuki was even more filling than the lunch. Most of the tour group wore our Yukatas to dinner but some didn't. I did, for the fun of it.
Breakfast the next day.
This was our breakfast in the same hotel. We were all stuffed from the dinner but I still ate some because I'll be cranky if I don't.
Scenery stops.
This is Mt. Kaimon, I think. If it isn't its some random mountain we went to. It's all mountains in Japan.
Sumo restaurant.
Dinner was at some Sumo Wrestler restaurant opened by a former sumo wrestler.
Our meal. It's basically a steamboat which the whole familt shares. Apparently, that's how much ONE sumo wrestler eats for a meal.
Nagasaki- site of atomic bomb explosion.
A statue in fron of the Atomic Bomb museum. Enough, the less said about the museum the better. I left the place heavily traumatised.That's about it. still, it is a LOT of photos.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
This post is going to be about how stupid I was yesterday, and its really lame. So don't read it if you don't want to.
I bought laksa for lunch yesterday(And the auntie gave me extra soup! But thats beside the point) and I ate it at home while watching La Bi Xiao Xin(I know its really gross and all, but it make me laugh). When I was done, I went to empty the bowl with the remaining soup in the sink. In the midst of pouring the soup in, I suddenly remembered that laksa soup contains many tiny "food sediments" from the taupok and I wasn't supposed to dump any solid food in the sink cuz it'll choke up the pipe(or something like that). Oops.
Needless to say, all the tiny food particles accumulated at the erm...(I don't know what you call that hole thing that drains away the water from sinks and bathtubs so I'll call it the drainage hole. I you've got a better name, tell me) drainage hole and the remaining soup refused to go in. I didn't have any other choice other than to remove the food particles from the drainage hole, so I used a spoon to scoop the food sediments out. And when I was going to lift it up from the water, all of the food particles floated all over the place and I only ended up with a spoon ful of soup and one or two particles of food.
I then remembered that the drainage hole had a small (Ok, I don't know what this is called either) plate-like thing that you place over the hole which has tiny holes to drain away water as well and my mum used to take it out to dump the food trapped there into the bin. So I reached into the water(which was absolutely disgusting I can tell you. laksa + water + taupok pieces) and pulled the plate out and all the water suddenly flowed into the drainage hole.
SUCCESS!!!!!! SO that was how stupid I was and how I managed to solve my problem. Yes, I know its really lame.
Monday, September 10, 2007
What is wrong with me? First it was hats, now its boots. What will it be next, huh? And now is no tiem to get obsessed. EOYs are round the corner, but I can't hep thinking about boots. I love them! They are so beautiful, yet versatile.
And don't give me all that talk about Singapore is too hot for boots, because you wear jeans in Singapore don't you? You wear sneakers with socks with the Jeans don't you? And yes, so what if I look short? I'm way past that stage.(Besides I already am anyway, so lets just embrace that) And I wear the boots, not the boots wear me. So as long as I like it, I don't think anyone has any right to criticise.
Look at these boots. They're from skechers, I saw them at www.skechers.com. 
GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS with a capital G.I wish I owned them. Beautiful, simple, classic. It's all in one. And best of all, its only US$54, less than S$100. But the thing is, skechers only sells its products online to American citizens. And not to mention that Singapore does not sell Skechers shoes at all. Sighs, I practically hyperventilated when I found out.
Friday, September 07, 2007
HG came to my house yesterday, with Janice! I didn't exactly have anything planned for them even though HG wanted me to practically draft out a timetable for activities. As you can guess, I didn't do that. I don't do things by planning, I just GO, when I feel like it. I'm not a do-a-proposal-for-the-activity kind of person(unlike, AHEM, a CERTAIN CCA). I do things when I feel like it, where I feel like it. I live in a world with many shades of grey, some things unexplained, with exceptions to every reason, unlike the logical black and white, in which things either do, or do NOT belong. And half the time we plan stuff, we don't follow it anyway, so what's the use?
So all we did was eat, play badminton, play computer, and mess around with the piano. Nothing much, so to speak, but HG found it fun. So I shall assume it was, FUN, that is.
I was reading a magazine, and they were talking about the word Emo and about Emo people. TO tell you the truth, I've never liked the word EMO. Everyone claims that emo is being emotional, and dressing umm... emotionally(which to me, is just a lot of black. Seriously, businessmen wear it too, EVERY DAY, but they're not considered emo). To me, every human has emotions. When you're happy, sad, angry, you're emotional, aren't you? If they say that emo people are emotional, then all humans are emo, because no human would be totally void of emotions.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Lunch at Kuishinbo yesterday! It's a Japanese style buffet restaurant. I ate loads of food till I didn't have to eat dinner! There was the usual sashimi, sushi, handrolls, teppanyaki, tempura bar... I jsut took some photots of the most interesting dishes I saw(and tried). They sell this in Maplestory! We call it a tri-couloured dango and I used to buy heaps fo this(in Maplestory) but I've never seen it in Singapore except in this restaurant! I'm sure you can get loads of this at Central though. Right, that's all for now I suppose. I've actually posted 100 posts. Unbelieveable.
This dessert(its from the small cup with green stuff in the background) was so sickeningly sweet that after eating a teaspoonful of it, my cola tasted like plain water. And I did not even add ICE to my cola.
We saw some Koreans int he other table drinking this and they kept taking more and more if it. We though it was tea, but when we saw the sign beside it, it was actually "clear soup"(whatever that meant), so I took pot back to the table and its actually a very yummy soup!
We took out the cover and VOILA! It's a prawn and a chunk of chicken inside! NO wonder it tastes so savoury! 
M brother stuck a straw into the spout after we finished the pot of soup because he wanted the waiters to think that we drank the soup with a straw. Very " -.- " i know.
I wanted to see fi I could capture the hole throught the straw and I could! Even with my inferior 1.3 megapixel phone camera!
Actually, It didn't taste that great. It didn't have much taste, really. And it really filled us up. My brother loved this though, he had 2 sticks.
Looks interesting, doesn't it? Its a paper bowlon top of a wire mesh on top of a fire. Sort of like a mini hot pot.
Yes! Inside the bowl is soup! And it was delicious! But the vegetables were hard so we didn't eat that.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Ever heard that breakfast is important?
Some people don'ty even need it to get through a day, and some can't stomach the thought of it. But I can't imagine a life without it.
Yesterday, my school had this 50 Laps @ Cedar thing where basically all you do is run round and round the school. I only ran 2 rounds, but others ran more because they claimed that seeing their friends run made them feel like running as well. Apparently, I wasn't swayed to run extra by friendship of any sort.
Since i was one of the first 5 runners, I had to report to school at (get this!) 5.30am. I kid you not. There is not bus service, no MRT and cabs on the roads are a rarity. For that, I had to wake up at 4.40am in order to set off at 5.15am. All the nutrition I had was a puny bottle of Brands chicken essence. My breakfast was in my bag as I didn't have time to eat it. I walked out with my mum, hailed a cab, and got to school in minutes.
When I reached the foyer, I was not awllowed to eat as we are only allowed to eat AT THE CANTEEN. I stood there stupidly in the glaring yellow light surrounded by the chatter of Cedarians(how they can be so awake I have no idea) and stared forlornly into empty space. My friend from another class came and commented, "You look like you don't want to get out of bed."
We were then chased into the basketball court(which was pitch black except for a few headlights and tiki torches) and I sneaked a bite of food there but my classmate(who was a PSL) would not let me eat anything more. After wasting about half an hour of time, the run started. I was number 4, so I got to run in the dark with the cool breeze and it wasn't that abd. But because I did not have breakfast, my stomach was crying out for food. I felt weak, I didn't have to mood for anything else. My abdomen was getting uncomfortably grumbly. Still, I couldn't eat in the basket ball coutr and the canteen was not yet open.
At approximately 9am, my friend arrived and I must say I was very bad tempered by then. I threw a big tantrum and was all prepared to scream and I vented all my frustration on her. Sorry! I marched into the canteen and bought a whole lot of food. At this point I was so hungry to the point that I didn't care anymore. I walked around teachers, prefects and students eating for all I was worth even though I wasn't in the canteen because I simply could not take it anymore. After finishing 3 fishballs, I had to go run another round and by that time, I was famished.
I went up to the classroom, even though we were supposed to be assembling at the courtyard, and started breakfasting again with my friends away from all the other people. In total, I ate a curry puff, 3 fishballs, 1 big chocolate muffin, 1 small muffin, 4 chiffon bun things, 1 packet of green tea, 1 bottle of chickne essence and still I wasn't full. All that was left was my friends home baked muffins but I wasn't really keen on sweet food so I didn't eat anymore. i felt MUCH BETTER after that and I'm so glad I managed to eat my breakfast.
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
