Democracy is about continuity.
It sets a platform which leaders can use immediately when they take over.
Continuity is the problem with all other forms of government. Monarchy, in all its forms, was pretty close but the king or queen still has to gain the trust of the rest of the people with power when he/she takes the throne.
Democracy, on the other hand, takes away this issue by letting the newly elected leader choose new people for the positions of power in the new government. Nobody is too deeply entrenched in the system and thus nobody can amass power beyond that of the leader.
Or at least, that's my theory.
I should probably just read a book.
23 May 2015
I'm about to wear a bright pink T-shirt for the walk today to Bollywood Veggies.
New milestone in life.
11 June 2015
No, I didn't go on the walk mentioned on the 23rd last month. Weather didn't look good and gf didn't want to walk long distances in wet shoes, so it was called off.
Moving on, it's her birthday tomorrow and I still haven't gotten her a gift as of 1.55pm. Planning to get her a bouquet of teddy bears, just not sure when.
Cantonese is one of the oldest Chinese dialects. Got me thinking while watching "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" how related the Swedish language must be to the German language due to the presence of Niedermann, a German, in Sweden in which the film was based in.
Are the Scandinavian languages as close to each other as our Chinese dialects are if we hadn't lost our written forms? Similarly, how related are the Indian dialects to one another?
Anyway, I think that is why Cantonese is so complicated compared to Mandarin. To understand this, one has to know that in the past, the written language was only used by the wealthier part of society, eg the government officials. Even today, farmers have little reason to study very hard, with a few exceptions, so imagine what it was like centuries ago in the agricultural-based economies in most of ancient China throughout the millenia.
In this context, it is clear that there is little reason to simplify the language at all. Languages are often simplified to make it more accessible to the masses, like in the relatively recent cases of simplified Chinese and modern Turkish. However, if a language was only used by the intelligentsia, then it would make sense that there is a certain sense of elitism among the literate people, ie "if you think this language needs to be simplified, maybe you're just too dumb to be studying."
However, Mandarin was indeed simplified by its users in ancient China, just not at such a basic level as our modern simplified Chinese. Historically, writers were more succinct and used minimal characters without losing their meanings, eg "why" is now "为什么" as compared to "为何" or "何必"in the past, although I feel that "何必" is closer to "Why is this necessary?" This makes the language pretty poetic if you think about it.
This brings me to the question of what happened to the poetry of our various Chinese dialects before they were unified by the First Emperor. Surely before that dude got famous, they were already writing those in their own written forms instead of the standardized official language aka Mandarin.
Why aren't those ever mentioned?
17 June 2015
Why do I procrastinate so much?
Jurassic World didn't really shock me. I'm concerned. Am I numb? Or was I distracted the whole time by her?
18 June 2015
The Fermi Paradox is famous for good reasons.
Just read about it and it's about aliens.
1) The Sun is a pretty young star and there are billions of stars billions of years older (billion = 1000 million).
2) It is very possible that some of these stars have planets similar to Earth, especially with all the Earth-like planets we've already discovered so far in the last couple of years. Thus it's also very possible that there is intelligent life out there.
3) Space travel can't be that hard - we managed to reach the moon after a couple tens of thousands of years - so with all that billions of years of head start, some aliens out there must already be capable of interstellar travel.
4) Even if it takes millions of years to travel between stars for them, they should already have colonized plenty of stars.
Therefore the paradox: where the heck are they?
01 July 2015
The SAFRA Tampines swimming pool was pretty awesome. The first SAFRA pool I've ever visited, it was small yet impressive compared to the public and private swimming pools I've been trying out recently.
The Bedok Swimming Complex is my benchmark. Entry is a dollar, no time limit, and it has a shallow kiddie pool, a practice pool and a real swimming pool. For most of my visits there, I've been using only the practice pool because it had more space and nobody gave a damn if I just rested in a corner for too long just because my stamina sucked.
The Clementi Swimming Complex was another pool I had tried recently. It was older and smaller, with the practice pool and deeper swimming pool separated by the canteen and entrance area. Not very convenient if anyone wants to switch pools. I've only been to the deeper pool and it had, by far, the saltiest pool water I've ever accidentally tasted. That can't be good.
A third pool I've tried was a private pool at a condominium. It was small and had a baby pool next to it, but the water was great. So low was the chlorine content my hair felt noticeably less dry compared to what it felt like after a visit to any public pool. The shower facility was tiny and not as well-maintained as those at the public pools though, strangely.
The SAFRA Tampines pool was just a single pool larger than the Olympic size. Everyone there was pretty serious about swimming and there was no children around. No practice pool. The water seemed fine, less chlorinated than public pools and cleaner, but not as awesome as that of the private pool. The safety was better, with at least one lifeguard on duty the whole time I was there, sometimes two. The shower room, however, was the best I've ever seen. Not only was it clean and free of the stench of urine, it had tiled benches at the walls, doors that only reached the chest level so that you can watch your belongings you left on the bench, at least one rack for your bottles in each shower cubicle, and ceiling-mounted rain shower heads.
Best of all, it's free for SAFRA members, and I'm a member till the next decade LOL!
The only issue is that with just a single pool, it can get quite crowded there even in the off-peak weekday afternoon I was there. Can't imagine what it's like in the weekends.
Funny thing about that particular pool was the sight of men suntanning on the benches.
Seriously? You can easily get a tan just by going out for lunch!
Just received my Krisflyer card. Didn't even know that I should be expecting it. I'd thought the account I'd signed up for earlier for a bit of free mileage didn't include an actual card until I book a flight on Singapore Airlines.
Guess I was wrong. Anyway, cool! Not sure if I'll be booking any SIA flight this year or the next though... LOL!
14 July 2015
So I had typed quite a bit on my first two days in Perth earlier this month but they were wiped out when the Blogger app updated after the iPad finally got some WiFi at home. Whatever.
19 July 2015
I felt nothing. After the quarrel a few days ago, this most recent one that happened last night incited no emotion in me whatsoever till later today.
Now, I only feel bad that I made a little girl cry.
There is a puzzle here that needs to be solved, one that I may be ill-equipped to understand in the first place - why are there so many incidents in which I become utterly emotionless?
26 July 2015
So I'm watching this documentary "Monarchy" about the history of the English monarchy and there was this incident that seemed particularly interesting to me somehow.
After the William the Conqueror occupied England, the first white collar crime to be mentioned in the series happened during the reign of King Henry, the third king after him. Apparently some people at the mint had been mixing in baser metals like tin into the coins and the discovery had led to massive inflation, so Henry had every single person there hauled away for trial.
94 of the 150 men were found guilty; the punishment was the cutting off of their right hands... and castration. Best of all, nobody protested despite the fact that all of the guilty were English, not Normans, plus some of them were pretty high-ranking too. That was so barbaric, yet just.
Anyway, while packing the storage room yesterday, we found some pretty cool stuff. The Urban Stranger wallet was nice but it was too thick even without all my cards, so I'm donating that. More importantly, I found letters from my great-great-aunt to my father written in 1995 still in its envelope, albeit with the stamps removed, unsurprisingly. My father used to collect stamps too.
Just by scanning one letter, it could be learnt that back then, 700 ringgits were the equivalent of 400 Singapore dollars.
On the back, however, was a detail far more interesting than our historical exchange rate with the currency of our closest neighbour - the address of my great-great-aunt 20 years ago.
Still going to get a wallet from the duty-free shops at the airport before flying off to Melbourne then. My current one has a hole in the coin pouch :(
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Rant 1214 / When Laser Weapons Become Common, Mirrors Will Be All We Need.
It's funny because the more that happens in my life, the less I blog. This ends up turning this blog into a record of nothing - a compilation of over a thousand posts of insignificance.
There is a task you have to outsource and by word of mouth, you found this company in another country that constantly does a terrific job while charging only the local price, ie a pittance.
Do you go," Hey, you guys are awesome! You can easily charge [price level in your country] for the quality of your work! Here, go to this website and advertise there," or do you simply keep hiring them?
There are a number of consequences for this, and neither is good or bad, depending on your perspective.
Option one, their opinion of you improves; you help to alleviate their poverty; they end up finally getting paid fairly for their sweat; your costs go up unless you find another company which is risky because in those countries, quality is inconsistent and you were just lucky that you found one that was that good, hence in most likelihood you become less competitive, your profits shrink immediately, your future becomes less stable.
Option two, status quo persists; they get far less than they deserve, maybe someday someone else will do the above for them; you give them regular business so it kinda improves their situation and maybe lets them expand.
You know, when I describe the situation this way, it actually feels like the more selfish option is the better option.
Walked 8km the other day to a big local temple I've never been to before. Very posh, I have to admit. Beautiful building. The items in there were rather ridiculous though.
This temple was supposed to be about a tooth from the Buddha, but on the third level, I found what was described as bits of his brain, muscle tissue, bone and etc, all of which appear to be tiny gems. This is what I'm confused about; they may have been supposed to be some representation of his body parts and not the actual bits and pieces of his corpse, unlike the tooth the temple was named after.
The tooth itself was housed in a platform within a glass enclosure. It was too tiny to be visible, tbh, but it was also magnified in LCD screens nearby.
That was just a walk of 8km, and I decided not to walk back. Not sure why because I would have walked back if I were in another country, like I did in Taichung recently. Pretty sure I walked 15-20km the second day during the trip.
Today, I walked 13km to some sort of farmers' market called Farmart Centre at Chua Chu Kang. Most of the shops were closed since it's a weekday and the animal enclosure was closed by the time I arrived in the early evening, but the quail shop was opened.
Apparently the owner does farm trips or something too, but what I was interested in was the quails and quail eggs.
I haven't eaten quails in probably a decade, and the shop offered spring quails and old hens, all frozen, so I bought 10 spring quails on the spot for S$18.
Timing was epic during this walk. For about an hour before I got there, there were a few drops of rain here and there, not even a drizzle, but just cloudy. I arrived, found the washroom, took a leak, got out, and it was raining. Wow.
So I looked around, found nothing interesting but that quail shop, booked a cab, and sat down to chat a bit with the quail shop owner before the cab arrived.
So I backed the Halfbike II and it should be arriving in August later this year. I don't expect it to arrive punctually though because all Kickstarter projects I've backed have been delivered later than the stated delivery date.
It's probably got to do with the crazy confidence all entrepreneurs need to start a business, except these guys can't stick to a deadline to save their lives.
In any case, the Halfbike II looks pretty interesting, and I've just picked the Black/Yellow colour combination for it. Really excited and looking forward to riding it outside.
It's really a tricycle without the seat, I feel, and it's foldable and not too heavy (over 8kg), so I thought it will be fun to use outside in the urban landscape. Topped up a bit for the gears too, so that I can climb slopes with it. It's going to be great!
So far so good with Vanessa. It's been three months and the friction seems to be mostly gone. I think we were just adapting to each other, and I, in particular, was adapting to life being attached, so the difficulties were not surprising.
The trip to Taichung about a fortnight ago also raised my metabolic rate, making me much more energetic, so it seems I became a much more loving boyfriend even though I didn't love her more - it's impossible for my love for her to get any greater; you can't add anything to infinity for an even larger number. I think it just appeared that way because I became more attentive and more talkative and maybe even more thoughtful with the increase in energy.
This is why I'm trying to keep it up through these walks.
She deserves the best from me, being the sweetest girlfriend that she is. It's just crazy that she would come out to see me on her one free day even though she's been living on 4 hours of sleep every night for a week before that.
I've come to the conclusion that I cannot control my diet. This is bad. Every time I visit Taiwan, my appetite increases, yet it never decreases after I return.
Something needs to be done.
There is a task you have to outsource and by word of mouth, you found this company in another country that constantly does a terrific job while charging only the local price, ie a pittance.
Do you go," Hey, you guys are awesome! You can easily charge [price level in your country] for the quality of your work! Here, go to this website and advertise there," or do you simply keep hiring them?
There are a number of consequences for this, and neither is good or bad, depending on your perspective.
Option one, their opinion of you improves; you help to alleviate their poverty; they end up finally getting paid fairly for their sweat; your costs go up unless you find another company which is risky because in those countries, quality is inconsistent and you were just lucky that you found one that was that good, hence in most likelihood you become less competitive, your profits shrink immediately, your future becomes less stable.
Option two, status quo persists; they get far less than they deserve, maybe someday someone else will do the above for them; you give them regular business so it kinda improves their situation and maybe lets them expand.
You know, when I describe the situation this way, it actually feels like the more selfish option is the better option.
Walked 8km the other day to a big local temple I've never been to before. Very posh, I have to admit. Beautiful building. The items in there were rather ridiculous though.
This temple was supposed to be about a tooth from the Buddha, but on the third level, I found what was described as bits of his brain, muscle tissue, bone and etc, all of which appear to be tiny gems. This is what I'm confused about; they may have been supposed to be some representation of his body parts and not the actual bits and pieces of his corpse, unlike the tooth the temple was named after.
The tooth itself was housed in a platform within a glass enclosure. It was too tiny to be visible, tbh, but it was also magnified in LCD screens nearby.
That was just a walk of 8km, and I decided not to walk back. Not sure why because I would have walked back if I were in another country, like I did in Taichung recently. Pretty sure I walked 15-20km the second day during the trip.
Today, I walked 13km to some sort of farmers' market called Farmart Centre at Chua Chu Kang. Most of the shops were closed since it's a weekday and the animal enclosure was closed by the time I arrived in the early evening, but the quail shop was opened.
Apparently the owner does farm trips or something too, but what I was interested in was the quails and quail eggs.
I haven't eaten quails in probably a decade, and the shop offered spring quails and old hens, all frozen, so I bought 10 spring quails on the spot for S$18.
Timing was epic during this walk. For about an hour before I got there, there were a few drops of rain here and there, not even a drizzle, but just cloudy. I arrived, found the washroom, took a leak, got out, and it was raining. Wow.
So I looked around, found nothing interesting but that quail shop, booked a cab, and sat down to chat a bit with the quail shop owner before the cab arrived.
So I backed the Halfbike II and it should be arriving in August later this year. I don't expect it to arrive punctually though because all Kickstarter projects I've backed have been delivered later than the stated delivery date.
It's probably got to do with the crazy confidence all entrepreneurs need to start a business, except these guys can't stick to a deadline to save their lives.
In any case, the Halfbike II looks pretty interesting, and I've just picked the Black/Yellow colour combination for it. Really excited and looking forward to riding it outside.
It's really a tricycle without the seat, I feel, and it's foldable and not too heavy (over 8kg), so I thought it will be fun to use outside in the urban landscape. Topped up a bit for the gears too, so that I can climb slopes with it. It's going to be great!
So far so good with Vanessa. It's been three months and the friction seems to be mostly gone. I think we were just adapting to each other, and I, in particular, was adapting to life being attached, so the difficulties were not surprising.
The trip to Taichung about a fortnight ago also raised my metabolic rate, making me much more energetic, so it seems I became a much more loving boyfriend even though I didn't love her more - it's impossible for my love for her to get any greater; you can't add anything to infinity for an even larger number. I think it just appeared that way because I became more attentive and more talkative and maybe even more thoughtful with the increase in energy.
This is why I'm trying to keep it up through these walks.
She deserves the best from me, being the sweetest girlfriend that she is. It's just crazy that she would come out to see me on her one free day even though she's been living on 4 hours of sleep every night for a week before that.
I've come to the conclusion that I cannot control my diet. This is bad. Every time I visit Taiwan, my appetite increases, yet it never decreases after I return.
Something needs to be done.
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Rant 1212 / Crap Alone If You Feel Like That's What You Want To Do!
14 March 2015
I feel so relaxed now. My tension has indeed been exterminated. Exterminated!
And she almost left me again because cutting contact temporarily was the same as leaving her. Did my best to persuade her to stay and it finally worked after a while. It's just crazy how bad she wanted to leave and also stay at the same time.
Now that she's back, I need to focus on making her stay. She just fears the possibility of me leaving so much that she tries to leave me pre-emptively all the time.
18 Mar 2015
21 Mar 2015
Finally checked out her Instagram last night and it was like a photographic version of a blog.
Her older photos and their captions gave me a better idea of her life before me, and they taught me that to find the right partner, you don't have to be a great guy; you just have to be a great fit.
Similar to the older girl I had accidentally developed feelings for, she's dated far better guys than me, yet none of her relationships endured. I'm sure this is going to last, so the conclusion that can be drawn from here is that suitability is just a bigger factor than eligibility.
Her Instagram, in turn, led me to her blog which she updates as often as I do - when she's bored. The difference in our styles is clear; while I describe the events with minimal emotions, she's all about how she feels. This is quite expected given that girls are generally more emotional than guys, but I just haven't really seen this in terms of writing styles.
As for her, I think I've learnt enough of her to avoid most of the mines in the minefield. I'm glad that she's stayed long enough for me to find out and hopefully, I can make her happy more often than I unintentionally piss her off.
Now that we're where we are and I've seen her blog and Instagram, it is only right that she sees mine too. She's going to be the first person whom I'm allowing to see this side of me since my secondary friends who were introduced to this blog soon after I started it.
That pretty much makes it about eight years since I told anyone about this, given the fact that 2015 is the 9th year of this blog's life.
It's crazy, isn't it? On the 10th of January 2017, I'm going to celebrate the 10th birthday of this blog. That's not so far away now, and the feeling is just like the time when the blog reached its 1000th rant. I've never thought the blog would last this long, but then again, I can't imagine letting this blog die. There are always details of my life that I'd like to record down that would bore my friends to death, so this blog shall serve that purpose even though blogs are now pretty much obsolete for the rest of the world. Everyone just does the same through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Except for me, because I'm a hipster like that.
I feel so relaxed now. My tension has indeed been exterminated. Exterminated!
And she almost left me again because cutting contact temporarily was the same as leaving her. Did my best to persuade her to stay and it finally worked after a while. It's just crazy how bad she wanted to leave and also stay at the same time.
Now that she's back, I need to focus on making her stay. She just fears the possibility of me leaving so much that she tries to leave me pre-emptively all the time.
18 Mar 2015
21 Mar 2015
Finally checked out her Instagram last night and it was like a photographic version of a blog.
Her older photos and their captions gave me a better idea of her life before me, and they taught me that to find the right partner, you don't have to be a great guy; you just have to be a great fit.
Similar to the older girl I had accidentally developed feelings for, she's dated far better guys than me, yet none of her relationships endured. I'm sure this is going to last, so the conclusion that can be drawn from here is that suitability is just a bigger factor than eligibility.
Her Instagram, in turn, led me to her blog which she updates as often as I do - when she's bored. The difference in our styles is clear; while I describe the events with minimal emotions, she's all about how she feels. This is quite expected given that girls are generally more emotional than guys, but I just haven't really seen this in terms of writing styles.
As for her, I think I've learnt enough of her to avoid most of the mines in the minefield. I'm glad that she's stayed long enough for me to find out and hopefully, I can make her happy more often than I unintentionally piss her off.
Now that we're where we are and I've seen her blog and Instagram, it is only right that she sees mine too. She's going to be the first person whom I'm allowing to see this side of me since my secondary friends who were introduced to this blog soon after I started it.
That pretty much makes it about eight years since I told anyone about this, given the fact that 2015 is the 9th year of this blog's life.
It's crazy, isn't it? On the 10th of January 2017, I'm going to celebrate the 10th birthday of this blog. That's not so far away now, and the feeling is just like the time when the blog reached its 1000th rant. I've never thought the blog would last this long, but then again, I can't imagine letting this blog die. There are always details of my life that I'd like to record down that would bore my friends to death, so this blog shall serve that purpose even though blogs are now pretty much obsolete for the rest of the world. Everyone just does the same through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Except for me, because I'm a hipster like that.
Friday, 13 March 2015
Rant 1211 / What Can I Do With A Columbia Sportswear Hong Kong Membership?
11 Mar 2015
This relationship is so tough. Life is full of problems, but she is one heck of a sea urchin. All spiky on the outside but totally delicious once I get pass the spines.
Her issue is her major insecurity. Nothing else. Her quick temper is not an issue without her insecurity.
She's so insecure, she would push me away just because there's a risk of losing me, even when I am completely fine with the problem that would lead to that risk.
Right now, she likes someone else too because I had let her dump me for a week while I was overseas for almost three weeks. She wanted my attention for hours everyday and that was impossible because I was overseas. I couldn't possibly chat with her all day; that would beat the point of being in another country.
But try I did, and after 3 straight nights of 4 hours of sleep, I decided to call for a break, believing I would make up for it when I return. But her messages got more and more uncaring as she got increasingly upset, till she said she was dumping me. So I said ok.
That was a week before I returned.
During this week, while trying to get over me, she went out with several guys and developed feelings for one.
Yet when I asked her to return to me the day I flew back, she did without hesitation.
Now, however, she feels it is unfair to me that she still has feelings for him, and wants to push me away because I love her so much but I'm not the only man in her heart.
But I don't care! She returned to me before she even asked why I came back to her, and that was enough proof of her feelings. She didn't ask why, she didn't play hard to get; she simply said she was going to be free the day I arrived.
Why would I feel that it's unfair? Clearly the other man didn't stand a chance!
And just now, while trying to push me away with her words, she always stayed in my arms and in my hand, with minimal pulling away.
I just wish she wouldn't do that. We could have spend the time and brain power on solving the actual issues. I wish she would hold on to me as hard as I am holding on to her.
Ok fine, she just agreed to hold on to me. Glad my coaxing worked.
The last 3 weeks, I went to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing and Sapporo.
Hong Kong was uneventful. Went for dinner with a few relatives but we didn't really have much to talk about. My cousins with my youngest aunt were cute and the elder brother really liked me somehow.
In Shanghai, the cousin of the wife of one of my cousin brought me around for the entire stay because she was also clearing her 2014 leave and extending her Chinese New Year holiday with them. Brought me around in Shanghai but quickly ran out of things to do, so we went to Wu Xi for a day, then Nanjing. The high-speed rail was awesome because I can go to any major city in China within hours, and I don't even have to check in early the way flights do.
Anyway it was nice and her mum even let us in to the top floor of the Bank of China building in Shanghai for the view.
In Japan, however, I learnt to ski. Frickin awesome, having a private instructor.
I arrived on the 28th of Feb and spent a day in Sapporo with a friend, where I had the best roe right in the airport. Seriously, no fishy taste at all! Never tasted such fresh roe in Singapore before! No wonder the Japanese can just have them with rice. Without the fishy taste, roe is just epic.
For dinner, we went to a random place because the nicest looking restaurant was full. This random place turned out to specialise in grilled ox tongue, and they turned out to be delicious! On a related note, one ski instructor informed us later that ox tongue was the specialty of Sendai. My friend praised the chef who was grilling it in front of us (we were at the counter seats) and despite the difficulty in communication (we relied on pictures in the menu and the few English words in the waitress's vocabulary), we ended up taking a photo together and they gave us two handful of sweets before we left. Oh, and the chef and his brother (I think the other chef in charge of all dishes other than ox tongue was his bro) even sent us out all the way to the lift, partly since we were their last customers.
After that, we stayed in a hotel in Pole Street, a rather touristy place that had everything. Nice, but too... un-local.
The next day, we returned to the hotel after failing to find breakfast, and went to the airport for it instead. There, we went to a restaurant that I later realized specialised in sushi, and had another bowl of sashimi and roe on rice for breakfast, before meeting the rest of the ski group.
The van they booked brought us to the house in Niseko that was called a hotel, but I felt it was more of a serviced apartment. Miyuki 1 was a semi-detached house and had the amenities of a hotel, and the housekeeping came every alternate day. After we were settled in, we went to Rhythm nearby to rent our gear, and I had to buy a few more as well.
Rental was about the skis and poles, the helmet and the ski boots; and on top of that I had to buy ski goggles, a neck warmer with a patch designed for the nose and mouth, and this rubber sole to fit under my jogging shoes to improve traction in the snow.
Skiing was not easy, and although we had hired the instructors for two hours on the first day, I called it a day after 90 minutes. Skiing uses muscles that we normal don't use a lot in the legs, and I was not in a particularly good shape in the first place.
The good thing was that I started out with a good stance for balance, probably from my experience in both rugby and basketball a long time ago, so I only started falling on the second day when we tried the tougher slopes. The first day, despite the short time we spent, was actually pretty good, according to the instructors, because I was ready for the slopes within 15 minutes, and we tried the slopes twice within the 90 minutes. I think the powder snow in Niseko really helped a lot because it was easier to ski on than ice, and the privacy of the rather empty ski resort we went to was awesome for us beginners. Seriously, it was so empty, everyone who went said it felt like a private ski resort, while the gentle slopes there were great for beginners.
Oh btw, dry snow is so awesome to ski on. Dry snow, as far as I can tell, refers to snow in dry air that simply falls apart when you try to make snowballs. Wet snow can easily form snowballs and even ice when you press it hard.
Second day, another two hours, but I decided the ski boots were not comfortable at all. The toe area was too tight and it actually gave me an abrasion on my right ankle and a bruise on the left. We changed it on the third day, but Rhythm didn't have any regular boots that were any better so they gave me a premium pair instead. That was the final option and although it didn't solve the ankle discomfort, my toes felt really comfortable in them. In the end, I got that for no extra charge.
As for the skiing, we actually used up all 3 single trip ski passes on that day.
Then we started having crepes at this house called Odin near our house for tea, since we usually skip lunch. That place had the most amazing crepes and soups!
The fourth day was the last day we spent at the empty ski resort. I had initially wanted to ski alone by myself to try to get the hang of relaxing while skiing, like trying to cycle without supervision for the first time, but the night before, the group decided to go to Risutsu together on the fifth day, so I needed as much training as I could, and my friend lent me her instructor while she skiied alone. She had learnt to ski last year so I needed the training more.
The day didn't go so well, probably because we didn't have the synergy that I had developed with the first instructor, but it was better than nothing.
Risutsu turned out to be fantastic. It had a wide range of slopes for everyone and the mountains had a great view that day. My friend had a problem with her elbow so she didn't go, but I went my instructor anyway together with another newbie in the group who had been sticking to her snowboarding boyfriend during the last several days. He decided to finally have some fun with the rest of the group who were mainly expert snowboarders and they were planning to try the unsupervised slopes that was beyond the highest double black rating.
So the three of us started at the east mountain where there was a beginner slope and a beginner slope for jumps. Of course we didn't jump; I could barely lift my legs while skiing. Then we tried the west mountain where there was a green (ie beginner) slope with a little bit of red (intermediate) between the start and the gondola exit, and we got passed it without falling.
Now I guess I'm intermediate, but that was a very short and easy red, so I still see myself as a beginner. Moreover, I was still going down the slopes by zigzagging through stopping with each leg alternately instead of smoothly straight down like the other people were.
Returning to Singapore gave me two major issues though. First, the flight reservation done with Edreams for flights on Air China was changed while I was out of Singapore. The new flights turned out to have absolutely no transit time - the arrival time of the first flight coincided perfectly with the departure time of the connecting flight. What the heck?
So I tried calling Edreams Japan from Niseko, and there was an automated message that probably meant it was not working or something. Email didn't work because they just told me to call, meaning roaming was necessary.
It's not funny calling on roaming and get put on hold, but the call lasted for an hour and it wasn't solved. Yes, an hour of roaming call, my phone bill is going to be insane.
In the end, I gave up and booked a new one-way flight to HKG instead since I could still use the flight from HKG to SIN. But this is absolutely the last time I'm booking a flight through a third-party website. I'll gladly pay the difference, thank you very much.
Second, the plan was to pack light, ie one backpack, and in order to avoid checking in any luggage, and I'll stay overnight in HKIA as I'd arrive in HKG at night and the following flight to SIN would be in the morning with another airline. I'd go sleep in one of the lounges using my Priority Pass and then go through immigration only in the morning and check in for my final flight home.
It was only when I reached HKIA that I realized there was one obstacle - entry to the departure area is only allowed with a boarding pass. Unlike Changi, they're separate in HKIA, so I had no choice but to get out to the public area and sleep on the benches. After walking around for a few hours while chatting on Whatsapp using the airport's free wifi, the only alternative I found was the pay-per-use lounge that my Priority Pass doesn't give me free access to.
So I found some nicer seats and slept for three hours at around 3am, and woke up at around 6am as it got busier. Walked around and found some breakfast at 7 and chilled there till it was time to check in.
There, I discovered something important - Monday morning flights are empty. That's a very useful piece of information given my flexible hours.
13 March 2015
So we quarrelled again yesterday just before my phone died.
Leaving my phone off, I decided I needed a day of peace. So I've done absolutely nothing today.
We need to talk. She's just like another girl, saying that I question everything. Well, what's wrong with clarifying things I don't understand? And I don't understand a lot of things.
And I wonder what she has been lying about. See, I have this impression that she's honest about the things she say when she's angry, except they're phrased to maximise the pain they inflict. She claims she doesn't mean any of it, but I don't believe it; I have done that before because I have been angry before.
So when she said she's "been lying about countless things", I know for a fact she has been lying in regards to at least a few issues. And as for jokes, seriously, be careful what you joke about.
I still love her, but now I don't know if she really loves me or the security I provide. When a person does something for a person he/she loves, is he/she supposed to expect a reward? I don't, but she seems to. Can it be due to her lack of maturity?
Tomorrow maybe I'll turn on my phone.
Still loving these
The best part starts at 1:47
This relationship is so tough. Life is full of problems, but she is one heck of a sea urchin. All spiky on the outside but totally delicious once I get pass the spines.
Her issue is her major insecurity. Nothing else. Her quick temper is not an issue without her insecurity.
She's so insecure, she would push me away just because there's a risk of losing me, even when I am completely fine with the problem that would lead to that risk.
Right now, she likes someone else too because I had let her dump me for a week while I was overseas for almost three weeks. She wanted my attention for hours everyday and that was impossible because I was overseas. I couldn't possibly chat with her all day; that would beat the point of being in another country.
But try I did, and after 3 straight nights of 4 hours of sleep, I decided to call for a break, believing I would make up for it when I return. But her messages got more and more uncaring as she got increasingly upset, till she said she was dumping me. So I said ok.
That was a week before I returned.
During this week, while trying to get over me, she went out with several guys and developed feelings for one.
Yet when I asked her to return to me the day I flew back, she did without hesitation.
Now, however, she feels it is unfair to me that she still has feelings for him, and wants to push me away because I love her so much but I'm not the only man in her heart.
But I don't care! She returned to me before she even asked why I came back to her, and that was enough proof of her feelings. She didn't ask why, she didn't play hard to get; she simply said she was going to be free the day I arrived.
Why would I feel that it's unfair? Clearly the other man didn't stand a chance!
And just now, while trying to push me away with her words, she always stayed in my arms and in my hand, with minimal pulling away.
I just wish she wouldn't do that. We could have spend the time and brain power on solving the actual issues. I wish she would hold on to me as hard as I am holding on to her.
Ok fine, she just agreed to hold on to me. Glad my coaxing worked.
The last 3 weeks, I went to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing and Sapporo.
Hong Kong was uneventful. Went for dinner with a few relatives but we didn't really have much to talk about. My cousins with my youngest aunt were cute and the elder brother really liked me somehow.
In Shanghai, the cousin of the wife of one of my cousin brought me around for the entire stay because she was also clearing her 2014 leave and extending her Chinese New Year holiday with them. Brought me around in Shanghai but quickly ran out of things to do, so we went to Wu Xi for a day, then Nanjing. The high-speed rail was awesome because I can go to any major city in China within hours, and I don't even have to check in early the way flights do.
Anyway it was nice and her mum even let us in to the top floor of the Bank of China building in Shanghai for the view.
In Japan, however, I learnt to ski. Frickin awesome, having a private instructor.
I arrived on the 28th of Feb and spent a day in Sapporo with a friend, where I had the best roe right in the airport. Seriously, no fishy taste at all! Never tasted such fresh roe in Singapore before! No wonder the Japanese can just have them with rice. Without the fishy taste, roe is just epic.
For dinner, we went to a random place because the nicest looking restaurant was full. This random place turned out to specialise in grilled ox tongue, and they turned out to be delicious! On a related note, one ski instructor informed us later that ox tongue was the specialty of Sendai. My friend praised the chef who was grilling it in front of us (we were at the counter seats) and despite the difficulty in communication (we relied on pictures in the menu and the few English words in the waitress's vocabulary), we ended up taking a photo together and they gave us two handful of sweets before we left. Oh, and the chef and his brother (I think the other chef in charge of all dishes other than ox tongue was his bro) even sent us out all the way to the lift, partly since we were their last customers.
After that, we stayed in a hotel in Pole Street, a rather touristy place that had everything. Nice, but too... un-local.
The next day, we returned to the hotel after failing to find breakfast, and went to the airport for it instead. There, we went to a restaurant that I later realized specialised in sushi, and had another bowl of sashimi and roe on rice for breakfast, before meeting the rest of the ski group.
The van they booked brought us to the house in Niseko that was called a hotel, but I felt it was more of a serviced apartment. Miyuki 1 was a semi-detached house and had the amenities of a hotel, and the housekeeping came every alternate day. After we were settled in, we went to Rhythm nearby to rent our gear, and I had to buy a few more as well.
Rental was about the skis and poles, the helmet and the ski boots; and on top of that I had to buy ski goggles, a neck warmer with a patch designed for the nose and mouth, and this rubber sole to fit under my jogging shoes to improve traction in the snow.
Skiing was not easy, and although we had hired the instructors for two hours on the first day, I called it a day after 90 minutes. Skiing uses muscles that we normal don't use a lot in the legs, and I was not in a particularly good shape in the first place.
The good thing was that I started out with a good stance for balance, probably from my experience in both rugby and basketball a long time ago, so I only started falling on the second day when we tried the tougher slopes. The first day, despite the short time we spent, was actually pretty good, according to the instructors, because I was ready for the slopes within 15 minutes, and we tried the slopes twice within the 90 minutes. I think the powder snow in Niseko really helped a lot because it was easier to ski on than ice, and the privacy of the rather empty ski resort we went to was awesome for us beginners. Seriously, it was so empty, everyone who went said it felt like a private ski resort, while the gentle slopes there were great for beginners.
Oh btw, dry snow is so awesome to ski on. Dry snow, as far as I can tell, refers to snow in dry air that simply falls apart when you try to make snowballs. Wet snow can easily form snowballs and even ice when you press it hard.
Second day, another two hours, but I decided the ski boots were not comfortable at all. The toe area was too tight and it actually gave me an abrasion on my right ankle and a bruise on the left. We changed it on the third day, but Rhythm didn't have any regular boots that were any better so they gave me a premium pair instead. That was the final option and although it didn't solve the ankle discomfort, my toes felt really comfortable in them. In the end, I got that for no extra charge.
As for the skiing, we actually used up all 3 single trip ski passes on that day.
Then we started having crepes at this house called Odin near our house for tea, since we usually skip lunch. That place had the most amazing crepes and soups!
The fourth day was the last day we spent at the empty ski resort. I had initially wanted to ski alone by myself to try to get the hang of relaxing while skiing, like trying to cycle without supervision for the first time, but the night before, the group decided to go to Risutsu together on the fifth day, so I needed as much training as I could, and my friend lent me her instructor while she skiied alone. She had learnt to ski last year so I needed the training more.
The day didn't go so well, probably because we didn't have the synergy that I had developed with the first instructor, but it was better than nothing.
Risutsu turned out to be fantastic. It had a wide range of slopes for everyone and the mountains had a great view that day. My friend had a problem with her elbow so she didn't go, but I went my instructor anyway together with another newbie in the group who had been sticking to her snowboarding boyfriend during the last several days. He decided to finally have some fun with the rest of the group who were mainly expert snowboarders and they were planning to try the unsupervised slopes that was beyond the highest double black rating.
So the three of us started at the east mountain where there was a beginner slope and a beginner slope for jumps. Of course we didn't jump; I could barely lift my legs while skiing. Then we tried the west mountain where there was a green (ie beginner) slope with a little bit of red (intermediate) between the start and the gondola exit, and we got passed it without falling.
Now I guess I'm intermediate, but that was a very short and easy red, so I still see myself as a beginner. Moreover, I was still going down the slopes by zigzagging through stopping with each leg alternately instead of smoothly straight down like the other people were.
Returning to Singapore gave me two major issues though. First, the flight reservation done with Edreams for flights on Air China was changed while I was out of Singapore. The new flights turned out to have absolutely no transit time - the arrival time of the first flight coincided perfectly with the departure time of the connecting flight. What the heck?
So I tried calling Edreams Japan from Niseko, and there was an automated message that probably meant it was not working or something. Email didn't work because they just told me to call, meaning roaming was necessary.
It's not funny calling on roaming and get put on hold, but the call lasted for an hour and it wasn't solved. Yes, an hour of roaming call, my phone bill is going to be insane.
In the end, I gave up and booked a new one-way flight to HKG instead since I could still use the flight from HKG to SIN. But this is absolutely the last time I'm booking a flight through a third-party website. I'll gladly pay the difference, thank you very much.
Second, the plan was to pack light, ie one backpack, and in order to avoid checking in any luggage, and I'll stay overnight in HKIA as I'd arrive in HKG at night and the following flight to SIN would be in the morning with another airline. I'd go sleep in one of the lounges using my Priority Pass and then go through immigration only in the morning and check in for my final flight home.
It was only when I reached HKIA that I realized there was one obstacle - entry to the departure area is only allowed with a boarding pass. Unlike Changi, they're separate in HKIA, so I had no choice but to get out to the public area and sleep on the benches. After walking around for a few hours while chatting on Whatsapp using the airport's free wifi, the only alternative I found was the pay-per-use lounge that my Priority Pass doesn't give me free access to.
So I found some nicer seats and slept for three hours at around 3am, and woke up at around 6am as it got busier. Walked around and found some breakfast at 7 and chilled there till it was time to check in.
There, I discovered something important - Monday morning flights are empty. That's a very useful piece of information given my flexible hours.
13 March 2015
So we quarrelled again yesterday just before my phone died.
Leaving my phone off, I decided I needed a day of peace. So I've done absolutely nothing today.
We need to talk. She's just like another girl, saying that I question everything. Well, what's wrong with clarifying things I don't understand? And I don't understand a lot of things.
And I wonder what she has been lying about. See, I have this impression that she's honest about the things she say when she's angry, except they're phrased to maximise the pain they inflict. She claims she doesn't mean any of it, but I don't believe it; I have done that before because I have been angry before.
So when she said she's "been lying about countless things", I know for a fact she has been lying in regards to at least a few issues. And as for jokes, seriously, be careful what you joke about.
I still love her, but now I don't know if she really loves me or the security I provide. When a person does something for a person he/she loves, is he/she supposed to expect a reward? I don't, but she seems to. Can it be due to her lack of maturity?
Tomorrow maybe I'll turn on my phone.
Still loving these
The best part starts at 1:47
Monday, 16 February 2015
Rant 1210 / Recession Incoming.
So a well-connected friend gave us a friendly warning that there's a global recession on the horizon.
Sucks that I've already booked all those trips, so the next best thing is to minimize the impact of the possibility of a weakening SGD - I'll be buying half my expected budget for the trips in the respective currencies this week.
16 Feb 2015
It probably says something about me that I can click with a 20-year-old girl. Went out with her for the first time yesterday and wow, we can really chat. Or maybe she's just friendly. First time a girl would feed me popcorn on the first day we meet. Yeah, she's either really awesome or too good to be true.
Then we hung out at a cafe till her mum called at 2am and I sent her home before going home myself. We chatted till 4.30am when I decided I had to sleep. Work to do today!
But I'm already proven to be absent-minded at 10.20am. I just called my transporter to bring some goods to a client that were meant to be sent next month. Had to call him again to correct myself.
How will I survive the rest of the day??
Oh, and I'm already sipping coffee now; it clearly isn't enough.
Sucks that I've already booked all those trips, so the next best thing is to minimize the impact of the possibility of a weakening SGD - I'll be buying half my expected budget for the trips in the respective currencies this week.
16 Feb 2015
It probably says something about me that I can click with a 20-year-old girl. Went out with her for the first time yesterday and wow, we can really chat. Or maybe she's just friendly. First time a girl would feed me popcorn on the first day we meet. Yeah, she's either really awesome or too good to be true.
Then we hung out at a cafe till her mum called at 2am and I sent her home before going home myself. We chatted till 4.30am when I decided I had to sleep. Work to do today!
But I'm already proven to be absent-minded at 10.20am. I just called my transporter to bring some goods to a client that were meant to be sent next month. Had to call him again to correct myself.
How will I survive the rest of the day??
Oh, and I'm already sipping coffee now; it clearly isn't enough.
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Rant 1209 / Insane Holiday Plans
So maybe I'm just very pragmatic and not completely lacking in empathy. I don't know.
This year is going to be crazy. I have travel plans throughout the year already.
After the work trip to Seoul, I was looking at Amsterdam this week plus a really cheap ski trip in Bulgaria immediately afterwards since I would already have been in Europe. That got postponed indefinitely.
But I'm still looking at 3 days in HK and a week in Shanghai, flying from SG on the first day of CNY.
A friend just asked me to go for a ski trip in Japan immediately after I return, so I've just adjusted my flights to fly directly from SHA to Japan instead, and then to HKG where I originally had a flight to SG on the 28th of Feb. That flight has been postponed to the 9th of March.
This is kinda sucky but a necessary sacrifice if I don't want to book a new flight. The airline only has that flight after I reach HKG, and the flight from Japan to HKG is the cheapest I can find.
Another option was to take my flights as planned and then fly to Japan, which was time-consuming, didn't make sense and cost a lot because it's not a short flight between Singapore and Japan.
Third, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan and back, and adjusted my return SHA-HK and HK-SG flights, but the SHA-HK was non-refundable, unchangeable and, again, the flight direction didn't make sense.
Fourth, I could have flown to HK as planned, then got a return flight to Japan, and postponed the HKG-SIN flight, but that was only slightly cheaper than booking a flight from Singapore to Japan.
Fifth, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan, then back to Singapore directly, but that would have wasted two budget fares in addition to the fact that a flight from Japan to Singapore was not cheap.
In addition, most of these other options would have prevented me from reaching Japan on the same day as the rest of them since the SHA-HKG flight cannot be changed and arrives in Hong Kong only in the afternoon, too late for most cheap flights to reach the right airport in Japan before the next day.
And no, I'm not talking about Narita Airport.
After these three countries, it will be Taipei in May, where I'm looking at trying the relatively unknown bungy jump around Tainan, and paragliding if possible. And catching up with that tour guide I met last year, maybe asking her to bring me around in her home city, Tainan.
July will be Canada, and I'm considering a Contiki tour for this but there is some hesitation because I also want to spend more time in the cities where my relatives are. Maybe I'll fly between them just before the tour but that's a lot of extra money. In any case, I still have to wait for more discounts; right now I can only get a total of 15% off.
September will be Sydney but may want to adjust to August so that a friend can join me to try night skydiving there.
Dec will be a long European tour with Contiki again, going from London to Belgium to Czech to Italy to France to the Netherlands and back to London again. For this trip, I'll take it easy and not book too many things... maybe.
This year is going to be crazy. I have travel plans throughout the year already.
After the work trip to Seoul, I was looking at Amsterdam this week plus a really cheap ski trip in Bulgaria immediately afterwards since I would already have been in Europe. That got postponed indefinitely.
But I'm still looking at 3 days in HK and a week in Shanghai, flying from SG on the first day of CNY.
A friend just asked me to go for a ski trip in Japan immediately after I return, so I've just adjusted my flights to fly directly from SHA to Japan instead, and then to HKG where I originally had a flight to SG on the 28th of Feb. That flight has been postponed to the 9th of March.
This is kinda sucky but a necessary sacrifice if I don't want to book a new flight. The airline only has that flight after I reach HKG, and the flight from Japan to HKG is the cheapest I can find.
Another option was to take my flights as planned and then fly to Japan, which was time-consuming, didn't make sense and cost a lot because it's not a short flight between Singapore and Japan.
Third, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan and back, and adjusted my return SHA-HK and HK-SG flights, but the SHA-HK was non-refundable, unchangeable and, again, the flight direction didn't make sense.
Fourth, I could have flown to HK as planned, then got a return flight to Japan, and postponed the HKG-SIN flight, but that was only slightly cheaper than booking a flight from Singapore to Japan.
Fifth, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan, then back to Singapore directly, but that would have wasted two budget fares in addition to the fact that a flight from Japan to Singapore was not cheap.
In addition, most of these other options would have prevented me from reaching Japan on the same day as the rest of them since the SHA-HKG flight cannot be changed and arrives in Hong Kong only in the afternoon, too late for most cheap flights to reach the right airport in Japan before the next day.
And no, I'm not talking about Narita Airport.
After these three countries, it will be Taipei in May, where I'm looking at trying the relatively unknown bungy jump around Tainan, and paragliding if possible. And catching up with that tour guide I met last year, maybe asking her to bring me around in her home city, Tainan.
July will be Canada, and I'm considering a Contiki tour for this but there is some hesitation because I also want to spend more time in the cities where my relatives are. Maybe I'll fly between them just before the tour but that's a lot of extra money. In any case, I still have to wait for more discounts; right now I can only get a total of 15% off.
September will be Sydney but may want to adjust to August so that a friend can join me to try night skydiving there.
Dec will be a long European tour with Contiki again, going from London to Belgium to Czech to Italy to France to the Netherlands and back to London again. For this trip, I'll take it easy and not book too many things... maybe.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Rant 1208 / NPD?
This may be the longest time I've ever taken in between posts. I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure it is.
And you know what I get when I google "lack of empathy"? Narcisstic personality disorder.
Many things have happened since the last post, but they are insignificant in comparison to what is on my mind now.
Some friends just told me that I seem to have no empathy. I'm not sure if that's what they really meant because their explanation is that I'm never down, that I'm always happy.
Is that a lack of empathy?
Yet when I made a bad joke after one said that her throat was still sore after a week, she cited that as another example.
This reminds me of my old suspicion that I really do lack empathy - I simply cannot feel sorry for others, despite all the proper things I say when I encounter such situations that call for them.
It's not that I consciously, deliberately don't feel sorry for them; I just can't feel anything when someone tells me his grandma just passed away, nor happy when someone gets married. So there, the truth is out.
I know that makes me a terrible friend and one of those aforementioned friends did say that it makes me hard to connect with, but I can't help it! I'm not trying to not give a fuck; I just have no fucks to give!
And you know what I get when I google "lack of empathy"? Narcisstic personality disorder.
It's impossible, IMHO, that I'm as abrasive as the examples frequently cited in those articles, but the fact is that I'm hitting 30 and my social circles are small enough to be symptoms of an underlying problem. Something is probably wrong somewhere and that needs to be solved ASAP.
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