The Three Swans

Along the stream i walked in the woods
Till i saw a swan in lovely mood
With grace with daze she glided
In that morning i felt so blessed

Decided i had to capture her
Grabbed my hands did and kicked her webbed feet
Alas, won her over i did not
Instead, in agony parted we did

Sighing, i continued walking
Till i saw in that morning light
Another swan was glowing white
Decided i did to try again
And again, my effort was in vain
As she flew away, in the pouring rain

Drenched myself was, i moved ahead
Till i chanced upon one in a glade
In silence i watched she danced with sway
If only time could stop to make her stay
Alas, ere long, she took to the sky
As i could only wave her goodbye

What .. is ...

Long time ago, I had a dream. There was a little boy. He stood there, less than 12 feet away, facing me. Standing at about 3 feet in height, he couldn't be more than 6 years of age. His complexion was of milky shade, which matched his golden brown hair so naturally. He was dressed in a striped round neck T-shirt, lines of white and navy blue running horizontally across his small body, with a pair of navy blue shorts which came down to his knees. Clutched around securely with his left hand was a medium sized teddy bear.

He doesn't seem to notice me.

The little boy was looking around for something, or someone. The fringe of his hair bounced about as he turned this way and that. With eyes open wide, he gazed at the sight before him, taking them all in in a very innocent manner. His search didn't seem to be fruitful but, apparently, he wasn't about to give up yet as well. He continued peering here and there faithfully, his attention broken only by his occasional glances at the teddy bear in his hand. Suddenly, his eyes brightened up. As he stared fixedly ahead, his face beamed with excitement and anticipation. Instinctively, I turned to the direction which he laid his eyes at.

A little distance away, was the silhouette of a man. I had to strain my eyes hard just to make out the outline of his figure as he had his back turned towards the light. The man was of medium built. As far as I could tell, he had a nineteenth century sense of fashion. A stovepipe hat was nested atop of his head proudly, straight and erect, and on his left hand, he held onto a lean walking stick planted at an angle to the ground.

"Mister! Mister!" The little boy called out eagerly as he broke into a little run. Rhythmic thuds echoed across the space as each of his tiny steps brought him closer to the man.

The man took a step forward.

Ding...

A faint tinkle of a bell.

"Tell me boy, what is the sum of nine and eight?" asked the man.

His voice is rather warm but, authoritative.

"Seventeen!" Came the reply almost instantaneously. The boy did not have to stop and think to solve that."Eight plus nine gives you seventeen, Mister!"

"Well done!" The man proceeded with another step forward.

Ding...

"How about the root of sixty-four? Do you know the answer to that?"

The little boy was still running towards him. Almost there now. "It's eight. Eight is the root of sixty-four, isn't it, Mister?" answered the bright little boy, albeit with a little uncertainty within himself.

Smart.

"Correct again, you little Einstein!

Ding...

Again, the bell tinkled softly as the man strode forward. Just then, the little boy finally managed to catch up to him. He halted in front of the man; his face reddened and little droplets of sweat forming around the forehead. Nevertheless, the little boy did not show any signs of exhaustion. Rather, he looked elated, almost to the point of jubilant, to have found this man whom he had been looking out for all the while. A smile is fixed upon his face as he looked up and met the man's gaze. He reached out with his free hand.

Lightly, he tugged at the man's arm,"May I have a candy please, Mister?"

The man smiled warmly. Gently, he withdrew his arm from the boy's tug, bent down and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder,"Of course! But before that, tell me, what is my name?"

The little boy's mouth parted slightly, in a gesture of wanting to speak but stopped short of doing so at the very last moment. He continued to look at the man squarely in the face. Little by little, the curves of smile disappeared from the boy and at the same time, shadows of doubt began to crept into him. He focused on the face before him. It was of no use. The little boy looked more and more quizzical the longer he tried to make an impression out of the man's facial features.

"Well?" The man pressed for a reply.

The boy seemed lost now. He thought hard but he just couldn't locate that fragment of memory which his familiarity to the person in front of him laid hidden. His shoulders shifted uneasily under the man's hand as the confidence gained from his answers earlier evaporated. In a resigned manner, the little boy hung his head low and sought for solace from the teddy bear in his arms instead. Quietly he muttered,"I'm sorry"

"I don't know your name, Mister."

The man remained knelt before the little boy. The air turned still and heavy, as if it was weighed down by the boy's failure to answer the final question. Moments passed in silence between the two; time itself momentarily frozen by the chill emanating from each of their disappointment. The warmth stemmed from the reciprocal show of affection earlier had all dissipated by now.

"YOU WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW!!" the man hollered at the boy.

Huh?

In an instance, the hand on the boy's shoulder tightened and turned into a grip. The little boy winced as pain shot through his arm. The man had changed. As he gripped the boy's arm, he shook him violently; the little body rocked by the brutal force exerted. He let out bursts of fiendish screams into the boy's face as he unleashed his true, violent nature.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?! HOW?! HOW!!"

Stop it!! You're hurting him!

"I'm sorry, Mister! I'm sorry," the boy called out in pain in between his cries. The teddy bear had been dropped. With the free hand, the boy tried to pry away the man's hand that was holding his arm in a grapple. The face that was shining brightly just now had turned untidy, drenched wet by the tears that were pouring out relentlessly.

"I'll know the answer next time, Mister! I promise you!" pleaded the boy through his jerking sobs.

"Next time? THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME!!" The man finished his line with an inhumane roar.

In a spate of fury, the man threw his walking stick aside and rose, lifting the little boy off the ground effortlessly as he did so. He dangled the boy before him by his arm. The little boy let out a helpless, painful scream. His little legs kicked about wildly in a desperate bid to free himself from the man.

Damn you!! Let go of him!

Without compassion, the tormentor grabbed the boy by his left leg with his other free hand and hung the boy over his head, so that the boy was hovering above him. The man broke into a maniacal grin as the little boy twisted and writhed in his grasp. Slowly, the grin grew wider and wider; the outline of his lips thinning and curling upwards at the same time. Dark red blood trickled down his chin as the skin that held his cheek together was torn apart by the parting of his mouth. As his mouth opened, the rows of teeth, planted on a soggy mass of red came into view. His gums. Soaked bright red and swollen beyond recognition by the bleeding around the roots of his teeth. The opening into his mouth was now as large as an eight-inch plate.

You're not going to do that!! No!

Slowly, the abomination lowered the little boy head-first towards the oral cavity that was the entrance to his digestive tract.

Don't do it! Please!!

The boy gave a horrified scream as he felt the hot breath rushing out from the hole to greet him.

NOOOO!!!!!!

It was dark. A faint blurry streak of eerie light danced hurriedly overhead as the light escaping from the groove under the door was reflected by the rotating blades of the ceiling fan. Suspicious shadows were all about the room, always eager to cast their menacing stares. The only sound that filled the room was my thudding heart, as it pounded furiously away at my chest. Droplets of cold sweat had had poured out all over my body and the mattress was damp beneath my back. Without hesitation, I reached over and felt for the switch to my table lamp.

Pi = 3.142

"The Life of Pi", said Wooi Min as I tilted the book in my hand towards her. She pronounced the final word of the title as "pea".

"The Life of Pi," I corrected. Pi read as "pie", in reference to the mathematical constant. Later, when I have read the story behind the name of the main character would I realized I was the one needing correction.

It has been a long while since I wanted to lay my hands on this book and finally, last Saturday, I welcomed him to my little collection of paperbacks library. His arrival has been much anticipated, going by the number of approving reviews and praises for the book. From what I am savoring right now, I feel positively sure that my hopes have not been misplaced.

"If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross,"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as the philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." - Life of Pi

That is the most insightful passage I've come across in a very long while. To appreciate its depth, one will have to see the full picture. Earlier in that same page, Pi had voiced out his resentment towards agnostics. He argued that the true unbelievers were actually not the atheists, but the doubters. Simply put, even atheists hold their believes in the notion that God does not exist!

Later on, when I reflected upon that passage, a scene from another classic literature jumped into my mind. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. Each time I recall those words, I find myself standing at the head of the diverging paths. On my left, a narrow path overridden with thick undergrowth on both sides. On my right, a well kept path, with a sign that says,"This Way" and an angelic smiley face painted just below the two words pointing in that direction.


Now, the believer, as reasoned by Pi, will follow the proper, well kept path and forward he goes. The unbeliever, with a deep mistrust of the directional sign, is convinced that the shabbier way forward is the right one and off he goes too, down the path. What about the doubter?

The doubter, unsure of which to choose, whips out his mobile phone, calls his friend for directions but later feels that his friend's answer may not actually be the correct one, turns around and returns to where he came from. So, while the believer and the unbeliever eventually end up somewhere in the board of snakes and ladders, the doubter is forever stuck at square One, unsure of what to do and too afraid to leave it.

Believe, or do not believe. Do not take the third option.

P.S. if u're unsure of whether u should believe or not, Pascal's Wager might help u make your decision.

Hong Kong, 10/05/08 - Day 4 Part 2 (End)

Every tale has an ending.

But...

This one happened too long ago to allow my memory to reconstruct its conclusion. 

(murmurs...

if he wasn't this lazy, this blog could've been published months ago..

murmurs...

Yeah..what a bummer..

murmurs...

He took this long and managed to come up only with this?! Given the same amount of time, I could have come up with a novel and..)

And have it shoved up your sorry arse. That's right. No complaints or you will suffer predicaments of unimaginable pain like.. errm... having a paperback stuck in some holes that it doesn't belong.

So well, as an appropriate lazy ending to this pictorial tale, I've decided to select some of the better shots to be displayed here. 

The marketplace, Hang Hau 

Impressive! This place is totally clean and tidy despite being a wet market. What more, it's fully air-conditioned!

The mall, Hang Hau

Oh, this is another thing I found fascinating in HK! There were so many interesting and seemingly delicious snack chains everywhere. Such a waste that I couldn't get to sample everything..  :(

Ladies Market, Mongkok

This place is umm...like a pasar malam in Penang but 5x bigger in capacity, 10x the vibrance in lighting effects and 20x more crowds of all shapes, sizes and colors.

Ladies Market, Mongkok

These people were ready to brave the rain, umbrella or no, just to hang out around here on a Saturday night.

The End

24th Birthday

Crap! I feel so bad for putting this off for such a long time. My sincerest apologies to those who shared the joy with me that day. Anyway, it was kinda surprising coz this bunch of people just suddenly popped up at my doorway with a cake. During lunch time!! (Lit Ting was actually having lunch halfway when they dragged him over, lol!!)

Yup. This is the cake that Luke and Michelle "supposedly" traveled all the way to Pasir Ris early in the morning to buy for me. Well, their effort was definitely not wasted. The cake was really yummy! =)

So, boys and girls, thanks a lot for bringing me such a delicious cake as an appetizer to my lunch! And also for the card. (Kap Lam, you didn't really think that I was that pro with Mandarin did you?)

Thanks a lot also to the rest out there for all the well wishes, namely, Wantan and Clim (Obama_Ho? Lol!!) who wanted to paste their faces into the group picture and also Dj`G_Man for hosting a special session for us on Sexy FM.

Again, thanks a bunch guys and gals!!

*This post is supposed to have been published on the 23rd of June 2008. Due to certain human errors, the post was stored as draft for 2 months instead of being published.

Hong Kong, 10/05/08 - Day 4 Part 1

Day 4. Where should I go? Anyway, that wasn't exactly the first question that popped up in my head when I first woke up. It was, breakfast!! Ahah! Mealtimes in Hong Kong always got me excited. They were always filled with anticipations and a lil' bit of economic judgment as well. After all, taking a certain lunch set meant that I had to forgo other lucrative options. Mind you, it wasn't easy, that, since I had only one stomach. (Probably my greatest regret in Hong Kong :P)

With one bowl of wanton mee resting contentedly in my tiny stomach, I set out for my next destination, Sai Kung. The journey was going to take quite awhile. An MTR ride all the way to Hang Hau followed by a bus trip to Sai Kung Waterfront Park awaited.

So, I embarked on the MTR ride with my reflection staring back at me from the glass panel across where I sat for the entire journey. I didn't remember having him staring at me for this long before back in Singapore. It was then I realized that there was something lacking from the MTR rides in Hong Kong.

The sceneries.

All my MTR rides had been underground thus far. Apart from the Airport Express line, all the other railway networks were located below ground level. Probably I hadn't traveled far enough from the core of the city. ( A mental note to travel further if I ever return to Hong Kong)

Sai Kung Waterfront Park. This place was, home. It felt so much like Penang. Reminiscences, one after the other, slowly crept their ways back into my mind. One couldn't help it but to ponder what could have become of Penang Island today if proper measures were taken to preserve its glory.

In a stark contrast to the now dilapidated Gurney Drive, Sai Kung Waterfront Park was so well kept. Overlooking a serene bay, it was the perfect retreat after a furious week of battle in the office. Judging by its location, it was no wonder that this area was frequented by the upper middle class of the society. One could easily tell this just by taking a look at the breed of dogs hurrying alongside them. Very well groomed and rushed about in such a lively manner, the monthly expenditures of those dogs might easily dwarf the living expenses of the less fortunate ones.

The other end of the seafront where the jetty was located, was abuzz with activities. Little groups of visitors were crowding around here and there along the edge of the esplanade to inspect the fresh catches brought back by the fishermen after their day of hard work.


From the dock, just next to where all the fish-mongering was taking place, one could also catch a ferry ride to the outlying islands. Filled with curiosity and also largely due to the seduction posed by the pictures of serene seafronts taken off those outlying isles, I hopped onto the wooden boat for a ride.
Anyway, that was probably a wrong choice. The boat took me to an isle about 10 minutes off the quay and I alighted onto Kiu Tsui Beach. Soon, I was to find out that the isle wasn't really a tourist attraction. There wasn't much to see here. I actually finished walking along the accessible seafront in 10 minutes. Worse, the stretch of beach where a, I repeat, A family was having an outing was less than 100m long. Dang.

Hong Kong, 09/05/08 - Day 3

Alright, this pictorial journey will begin with my visit to The Peak in the late evening of Friday, 9th May 2008. What happened to my afternoon then, you ask? Well, it is a shame, but I deleted all the pictures that I have taken up to that point by accident and hence cannot be included in this pictorial journey. I do not have the perfect recollection of that event anymore but it goes somewhat like this.

"I was finally reaching the Lower Peak Tram Terminus when I noticed to my shock that the ticket queue actually snaked its way out to the entrance! Gosh! I should have expected this; I was not the only tourist, plus it was a evening at the beginning of a long weekend. (12 May 2008 was a public holiday in conjunction with Buddha's Birthday: Our version of Wesak Day? Though Wesak Day was celebrated on 19 May2008) Anyway, I fell in line with the queue since I was already there. There were all sorts of people all about, ang mohs here and there, quite a number of PRCs as well and oh, a cute Jap girl!!! With her boyfriend. :(



So, I was waiting like forever to reach the ticketing booth when a thought dawned upon me. That Jap girl, wasn't she on the same MTR as i was just now? Wait, no. I was thinking if I should check to see if I had enough memory on my SD card for all the shots later. Soon, I was jamming away at the buttons trying to locate the summary screen where it displays the utilization of memory of the card. That magazine she's reading, that's a Jap pop culture mag isn't it? No, no, back to my camera. Ah, here I am! The screen said, Low Level Format: CANCEL/YES.

YES.

Wait. Low Level Format? Yes?! CRAP!! Stop it!! What are you doing to my pictures, you stupid camera!!"

That, more or less sums up how my camera devoured my pictures from the earlier part of my trip. The cause of that accident cannot be immediately determined, I suppose. Whether it is due to the fatigue from lack of sleep and all the walking about or due to er...umm... the noises and distractions, remains a mystery up to this day. :P


Night was just about to set in when I finally stepped out into the open air Sky Terrace on The Peak. The change in the temperature of the atmosphere was such a welcomed respite after I spent the whole afternoon getting roasted under the sun by walking around the Avenue of Stars. The Sky Terrace offered two contrasting panoramic views: a bird eye's view of the densely packed skyscrapers which is so iconic of Hong Kong while on the other side, one could look across a vast stretch of lush green forests and beyond that, a bay, lying peacefully under the fading sunlight beckoned.


Soon, I was busy taking shots of the amazing views while waiting for darkness to come. All around me, visitors were occupied with taking pictures as well; most of them equipped with DSLR and were busy moving from one spot to the other to locate the best angle for the much anticipated night shot. The Sky Terrace seemed to be a popular haunt for families and lovebirds as well. I would soon come to learn later that night how popular it was when I had to wait in queue for almost an hour for the tram to take me back down to the foothill.

As the world around me dimmed, the temperature dropped as well. It was not long before I felt the cold biting into my skin with each puff of the wind. Slowly, the city of Hong Kong began to light up in a marvelous, rich tapestry of colors. Sadly, among the skyscrapers with the more strutting display of lights, I only knew the name of one: the Bank of China Tower.

Anyway, night was finally here. Before us, Hong Kong basked proudly in the lights of the city. Tall buildings, one after the other showered by the warm luminous glow, stood majestically amidst the enshrouding darkness. The whole metropolis looked vibrant and seemed to burst with life as the decorative lightings of the buildings changed from time to time in their own rhythm.

This, clearly was the product of capitalism I thought. Those staying in the apartments and condominiums below probably bought decorative lamps from IKEA to liven up their living room. Further away from here, the less fortunate ones were probably forced to 'decorate' their living quarters with the lights from the commercial signboards on the streets since the buildings were all so close to each other. On the other hand, the unimaginably rich, who lived in the mansions even higher up from where I was, had those skyscrapers lit up at night to serve as decorations in their living room. When the curtains in their living rooms were parted, they had the whole city of Hong Kong beneath their feet. Capitalism, good or bad? You decide.

An Early Start

The air was cool. As I carried my baggage down the four flights of stairs, a gentle breeze stirred and sent a chill through my body. It was 5 am; I was still early, I thought to myself for the umpteenth time. I had been keeping watch of the time ever since I woke up in that wee hour of the morning. One could never be too cautious when he had a schedule to follow.

After a bit of heaving and a stop in between, I was finally at ground level with the baggage at my side. I made my way towards the entrance of hall of residence, pulling the wheeled baggage along behind me. Rrraatttaaaa....Rrrraatttaaaaa..... The sound echoed across the quiet open space between block 45 and block 46 as the wheels rolled against the brick pavement.

I came to a stop at the junction leading into the Hall 9 residential area and looked left and right for a cab. Towards my left, the road ran along in a straight line until it reached a crossroad just after the Hall 11 residential area. Beyond the crossroad, it was darkness. Towards my right, the road sloped upwards, veering in the right direction all the way until it disappeared from sight behind block 41. In both directions, the road was empty. 5.05 am; I was still early.

Lady Luck was with me that morning. It was not long before a taxi zoomed past and dropped its passengers at the apartment block opposite where I waited. I seized the opportunity and hailed the cab as soon as it was turning out from the apartment block and soon I was speeding along the empty streets.

"Uncle, do you know what time the first train is?" I asked the cab driver after I had directed him to the Jurong East MRT Station.

"Oh, I'm not sure about that. Five forty five or six. Six fifteen even! Maybe. Why? Where do you want to go?" came the reply.

"I need to catch a plane at the Changi airport at eight thirty," I told him.

"Ah, I see! Well, how about this then? I'm on my way back to my house in Yishun as well. I can just take you all the way there. Five dollars discount. How about it?"

"Err, no. It's alright. I'll be too early if I head directly towards Changi airport now." I insisted.

It turned out that the first train departed from Jurong East towards Boon Lay at 5.15 a.m. It would take another half an hour before the train turned back to Jurong East to pick passengers for the trip in the other direction. So, finally, off I went on my mini trip away from Jurong at exactly 5.45 a.m.