I need a compact camera!!
On average, I bring at least 2 cameras on a trip. (3, if you consider my iphone camera as a camera) Its getting heavy. Extra lens, filters, or underwater camera etc etc. Its like never going back, you can bring more but nothing less ;D
Who cares bout the great wall. One hasn't been to china if they've never visited shaolin! All the monks wear sports shoes here. =D So I'm left with 华山, 峨嵋山, 武当山 and whichever place that are mention in the chinese swordplay novels.
Kids, foreigners and locals travel all the way there to learn the 72 arts of shaolin. All are rather aggressive, if they have something like 易筋经 i don't mind learning. Its super cool to learn some kinda martial arts in shaolin!! If they are going to whack my head with a metal rod after i've gather my qi then i rather learn pilates back home. Hahaa maybe need some kinda martial arts background or experience.
The guide say many many years ago the shaolin monks were practicing the diamond finger (一指金剛法) when they left all these marks on the tree trunk.
China is a completely porkified nation, pork dumplings, pork noodle soup, and even lays potato chips has a finger licking braise pork flavor. The muslim quarters is the only place that goes porkless. They eat more of mutton. Not that it's any better for me. Maybe we are just not used to their flavors. Its either too salty, oily and in really big portions. And maybe its really near sichuan that the only chili they have is the ma la chilli. Numbing and tingly. Even their mac have a ma la burger. I miss my sambal.
This is their famous rose mirror cake, its rice cake with some jam and nuts on top. Not exactly very nice either.
The weather was so hot at this time of the year that even going to the museum seems like a really good idea.
You simply need a popsicle at a time like this. Old popsicle. I had 3 in the entire trip but i still couldn't tell what flavor was it. It taste like some chinese new year candy that i couldn't remember.
So i'm sick and stuck at home for the entire week. Down with some kinda mysterious illness. And why is baking becoming the most popular activity around?
But NO i didn't want to bake a cake or something i rather sleep.
I'm bored.
Arghh. I dread listening to all the chinese new year songs during this period of time. Its the same every year, and it doesn't help when the bus driver on my transport decided that they sound better than the usual happy birthday song on 97.2fm.
Enjoying my cuppa while doing nothing on this Chinese new year.
It national day! I've been there working for the past 3 years and i'm still feeling lethargic every morning before my coffee. Someone told me i will get so used to working life that i will wake up early even on weekends. Apparently it doesn't apply for everybody. Just last week, I woke up close to 7 in the evening without alarm clock.
I drew this on the whiteboard of microlab in celebration of the 7th month ghost festival and nearly got other people into trouble. Tsk tsk. But what's wrong with it? Isn't it cute?
The sky look different everyday. Busy urbanites should slow down and take note of the finer details of life.
My yearly Pilgrimage. It may not have the most beautiful beach but it's near enough, the people are nice, its cheap and i just like it.
A friend of mine said that this is a perfect place for people to retire in. Cool weather, close to home, grow some flowers in your yard, read a book in the ye olde English style architecture and furnishing. Hmmm its beautiful no doubt but its wet and eerie at night. I still prefer a seaside setting. Watching the waves and feeling the sea breeze on my face while reading my book lying on the warm sand. I guess that explains my pilgrimage.
Until i get it figure out, all my photos are like this.
Many years back, i bought a book from Kinokuniya. The land of green ghosts, A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe. I've got no idea what got me interested in the book then. But after reading, i knew i'll be there one day to see them in person. Everyone is discouraging, telling me its difficult to get there and all. It did took me quite a few years to gather my courage and all but finally. ;)
"Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what helps me face these days that are all the same, these mute crystals on the shelves, and lunch and dinner at that same horrible cafe. I'm afraid that if my dreams is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living."
"I just want to dream about Mecca. I've already imagined a thousand times crossing the desert, arriving at the Plaza of the Sacred Stone, the seven times I walk around it before allowing myself to touch it. I've imagined the people who would be at my side, and those in front of me, and the conversations and prayers we would share. But I'm afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so i prefer just to dream about it."-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Taking a photo using photo booth on a macbook - the alternative to buyin a pop art camera. But this is not even the thing for my insatiable appetite for cameras. And yup i like kitschy stuff ;)
