Trespassing the Forbidden City

30th March 2008 11:55pm Bright Sunday morning


Feeling kinda screwed up lately. Not that i really did screw anything up, guess its just a feeling of overwhelming unhappiness. There is this sudden urge to get out of this hot, humid, tasteless country, happens to me whenever i came back. This sense of despair will religiously tagged along with me the moment i set foot on Singapore ground.

Almost surely, this feeling of distress intensifying itself with every trip I made.

Slowly I begin to question or even try to balance this internal struggle within me. Personal freedom on the right and all my attachments, commitments, friendship and kinship on the left. Is there anything in Singapore that is worth staying? This place is almost like a concrete rainforest. Everyday you can hear noisy horns from drivers trapped in their miserably small looking cars, rude, dead looking commuters u see helplessly on the trains, rising cost of living, materialistic society, and a whole load of more shit under this thick, humid atmosphere. Thats Singapore for u. Ungraceful, cold, no history, ugly HDBs sprouting everywhere and high rise apartments almost creating a impossible maze around us, making everyone even more narrow minded in their perspectives than ever before.

Like the Russians call it (refering such housing structure), "people living in cages".


Sigh.

Came back from Beijing recently, though Tammy and gang isnt there for me this time, I had a totally new or even better experience from what I had in Taiwan. In fact I am largely captivated by Beijing's rich unrivaled history, something which i personally feel, that none of the cities i been to can even come close. History and deep communism ideology aside, I realise the younger generations are able to gel both their roots and demands of modernization seamlessly together. This is, in the good example of Michelle, a Swets colleague in beijing office. Thanks to her i had a wonderful time and a deeper understanding of Beijing.

Michelle is a cafe hunter, art appreciator, bossa nova addict and carries a soft spot for animals. No surprise we clicked almost instantaneously. She brought me to many interesting and cozy cafes in Beijing, many I thought a tourist like me can never discover on our own. Some of these cafe are so exotic, they managed to hide themselves brilliantly along those dark narrow alleys of those old low roof houses that are probably centuries old. Imagine the nostalgic feel these cafes are able to bring out from the coffee we sipped, the cheesecakes we tasted, the old classics from the radio or even the freezing air we breathe. None of these could ever exist in my shit hole country.

check this out

http://www.nlgx.org/area-directory/food-drinks/sandglass-cafe/


Sand Glass Cafe 沙漏 咖啡



Michelle


Peking Roast Duck


刷羊肉


天安门


The Forbidden Playground



The irony of power.


颐和园 - The summer Palace












wish am there this very moment now...



Bryan

我的简单生活. Taiwan

29th March 2008 3:05pm Humid Saturday

Right. not exactly the right mood to begin with, but well, since I've oredi got my mug of coffee with me and loads of dying afternoon songs over the radio, I'll try to scribble something here.

Anyone of u watched the 2nd season of the show, " 简单就是美 " hosted by lin pei fen~ ? Hmm I can assure u that i am so captivated by the show that till today I still couldnt accept the fact that the series has ended. Thats got to be the best show ever to grace Channel U . Basically, peifen travels around to look for people and places that stands out with their own definition of simplicity. The one that left me the deepest impression would be a owner of an organic tea plantation in Taiwan. His name is 小周.

小周 took over his dad's tea plantation after a accident that lost two of his fingers. His passion for tea made determined to turn the plantation "organic". However he wish to turn the plantation organic, he can never compete with the production line of other plantations in terms of volume, cost and pricing. This cost 小周 to operate at loss for the past 10 years. Still he is determined not to risk harming his tea with chemicals because his tea ask him not to.

"小周喜欢与茶说话."

Well, its facinating because if he ever did something wrong in the process of harvest, ferment, roast and preserve his tea leaves, his tea will be able to "tell" him from the first sip of his tea. This is how 小周与茶说话.

小周 never use a single drop of insecticide or artificial fertilizers for his tea plantations, basically he does everything by himself... all with his pair of blistered hands. Soft hearted PeiFen then ask him why doesn't he get a machine or somebody to help him out.

小周 smiled and replied, "If I ever use machine one day, my tea plantation would have become a production line..... 我就在也做出一杯我小周的茶了"

I was like... wat de?? how cool was tat?

Hence I called Tammy eagerly that very night, I wana ask her if there are any nice tea plantations I can visit. Somehow I guess my stars did heard my pathetic pleas, Tammy happens to live in nan tou famous for their tea plantations! And being my god mum, Tammy promised to plan everything sui sui for me. hee Oh gosh~ how fantastic things can turn out to be?

ha..Unfortunately for Tammy, she had to spent the next 15 mins listening to my 小周 story. =P

http://poeticlifejourney.blogspot.com/

well, it sort of sums up my motivation behind my business trip to Taiwan. *sips coffee*

I dun wana go on about what eventually happened in Taiwan office, where I realise that are lots of people out there who are holding high positions when in fact they couldnt really make it at all.... plain retard.

Imagine a middle aged female country manager asking a favor from a 28 year old regional product manager to sell her products for her, beg my Managing Director Asia to lower her GP targets for her, advise her on product strategies and best of all, help her to keep her best staff for her. (In this case Tammy, my god mum).

Then back stabs him on his back when he returns to Singapore. Unfortunately for her, my MD is too smart for this move and made her eat her words eventually.

Anyway, enuff said on how stoopid she is. No wonder God Mum is fuming.

Well, that is some short history that is not worth mentioning. Eventually Li Ann, Iris, Tammy (All from Taiwan Office) and I spend 3 wonderful days together at Taichung and Tai nan =D

wooo

Winter in Taipei, a scene in Jimmy's art works?

Tammy's best friend, Cherry's Tea plantation cum factory





Mr Liu, owner of a coffee plantation in Taichung. quit his high paying job in Taipei, set up a small coffee plantation and cafe on the hills of Tai Chung. Another 小周 personality =)



Believe it or not, I had "Buddha jump over the wall" for Breakfast! Thanks Grandma!



Morning walk round the village with Tammy, Li Ann and Iris after our heavy breakfast. Tai Nan


Paintings by local kids can be found on the walls of most houses.


Under the shades of Tammy's ancestors' house



The three Taiwanese girls looking over me while i lie on the doorsteps. Air's cool and quiet.. sky's blue and clear. what a bliss...


Waving Tammy's Grandma goodbye. Thanks so much for your warm hospitality. =)



Coffee over the breathtaking scene of the sunset. Tai Chung.
Frankly, I wouldnt exchange this for anything in the world.



Back to reality, ... Sigh


Not if I am surrounded by the babes. =)


Well that's about my trip in Taiwan.

Cant think of a word that is good enough to describe this bond i have with these gals. Of all the many places i been to, Taiwan has got to be the one which i find the most 人情味. But yeah, none of these would be possible without Tammy, Li Ann and Iris.

Thanks for everything.


Sincerely,

Bryan

Oranje

7th February 2008 5:37pm Lunar New Year First Day

BORED. If there is a better word u might find that is able to better intensify it further, cool... u got the idea. Whats with the CNY visits anyway, could tell from those faces, everyone seems to be simply doin for the sake of doin it, do they really enjoy visiting each other? if they are that sincere why wait until CNY. Crappy pple... Anyway, this surely will be the last time i celebrate CNY.. for good.

Four months since i wrote anything here.. surely things happened. Like it or not these events just comes and goes, no one can possibly have any control over them or wat so ever. Sort of procrastinating my return just so it wun remind me of those sad moments.

A v close uncle of mine has passed away lately, v nice, honest, hardworking and humble man. Just before his death, he asked the doc how on earth did he got cancer, thats the first time he ever lost his cool. He was 62. Earlier, another fren of mine whom i known since poly days passed away in a motorcycle accident, an event absolutely no fault of his. Very polite, friendly and positive minded guy. Just moved into a new apartment with his gf... Both he and my uncle are surely one of the nicest pple i ever ever knew my whole life. These are the guys whom i knew deep down i can never have a personality half as good, never will be.

Reminds me of Darren who is always motivating and stressing his fav quote, "Life isnt fair, live it to the fullest while you can. "

These are the events that probably changed my perception of life pretty drastically. I no longer look forward to marriage, kids or be allowed myself tied down to by anything. Still wasnt that sure that i will see life as it is, but at least until someone or any event comes along that manage to change my mind, i will stick to it like a divine inspiration to life.

Well not everything's that gloomy tho, landed myself in a new working environment, new boss, role, colleagues as well as more responsibilities. Cant tell for now if this is a smart move, so far everything seems fine, probably a couple of colleagues whom i felt i could click at first sight. Darren and Tammy especially, cool pple to mingle with~

Came back from Netherlands a couple of days ago, just in time for CNY crap. Should have gone straight to phuket, probably i will do that every CNY. So hows Netherlands? pretty ok, but wasn't really the best European country i would recommend. Sky's either too dark and gloomy or the wind's just too strong and chilling to walk comfortably on the streets. Not many grand architectures or cathedrals that fascinates me as compared to the time i was at Saint Petersburg, no fireworks to see, no hour glass blond babes that u can see with ur eyes closed in Russia. Probably what stands out most would be the famous Amsterdam Red Light District, then again like Victor puts it, "i wouldnt fuck them even if they pay me a 100 euro", enuff said abt the quality of the girls over there.

Then of coz of my most fav, the Van Gogh museum, probably more than 100 of his masterpieces and scribbles are exhibited, most fascinating is the way they exhibited his works, its like walking thru time, tells us alot abt van gogh's mental drive right from the beginning, his inspirations and art influences over his works, his battle against depression as well as his ever burning passion for art, of coz how tragically fate played against him. Very sad end.

Well still, we managed to visit the famous "coffeeshops" for their weed of coz, surely an enchanting first experience to forgot all sorrows. =P

So thats abt it. Netherlands, will be back pretty soon i guess, probably 2 or 3 times a year? Taiwan and China are still the places i look forward to, Asians are still my cup of tea, hopefully my new role can bring me there. Likewise, this job brings me places round the globe but not as much as my previous one, good or bad? still too early to tell. but like the divine inspiration suggests, "live life to the fullest while u can", i will stick to it and see where it brings me to.



Bryan