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
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
posted by Bryan at 11:52 AM
2 comments
