Thursday, April 28, 2005

Wuxi one-day visit

Left the budget lodging at around 8am and reached the nearby makan place for breakfast.
Thereafter headed for train station for tickets to Nanjing.
We headed for the tour bus at about 830 and got to LinShan to pay a visit.
Thereafter had lunch at some pearl restaurant.
Anyway Tai Hu (lake tai) is the third largest in China... we took a boat ride around it... and yah... it was breathtaking... a bit sunny. :)
Thereafter visited some shop which sells traditional tea pots that can be poured at 90degrees... closed with pressure... and also controlled at ease... it even produces a metal sound.
Ha... ok ok.
Dinner was excellent! We ate in a local famous restaurant... Wonderful pork ribs... and also dan shui yu (white fish steamed)... and also yummy desert delicacies... :) Feels so great!!!
GR headed for Shanghai today, after two pool games at train station... tmw me & xx...


dk scribbled
9:19 PM
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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

A new chapter which ended

I'm now in Wuxi... really looks the same as in suzhou. Except that the people here are different and the streets look a bit different. Yup... staying in a lodge which is really budget. Would be visiting TaiHu and some attractions.

Anyway the new chapter that may have unfolded has ended.

Au Revoir... ;) Cheers!

dk scribbled
2:51 PM
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Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Journey...

It's been an eventful stay in China... i'm leaving Suzhou tomorrow on a train bound for Wu Xi. The trip has been eventful and I've learnt much about the local culture and also myself. Looking forward to Wuxi trip.

A summary of the days in China till now:
Day 1) Landed in Shanghai Pudong International at around 10pm. We got on a shuttle bus to the shanghai train station and tried to find a lodging... but actually got driven off by some touters. Chose to stay in a rather posh hotel eventually, to get rid of touters. The evening was really tiring and the rest was so very deserving... a journey unfolds.
Day 2) Reached Suzhou by Train and we managed to get really good seats 1 & 2 of the first carriage leh... some more it's those soft seat one...And from train station we took a bus... to SIP... reached SIP and met with the friends in the Singapore office. They were wonderful hosts and really great! The harvest was not very encouraging for the afternoon as we tried to get into the companies to obtain views. Dinner at Simon's with YY... thereafter took cab with XX to Guan Qian Jie and later met up GR and LH at the office... stayed at Xiao S's place for the evening.
Day 3) GR and LH joined me and XX at SIP. We began our surveys at some industrial estates within SIP... it was rewarding and we managed to get much of the responses. The evening was a dinner with XX's uncle and friend... walked around Guan Quan Jie.
Day 4) Equally rewarding surveys. We even had an opportunity to enjoy a nice lunch at Simon's too! Dinner was with LH's friend, BJ... we even rode bikes around Suzhou. Nearly got crashed by a bus... ha... stopped in front of a bus and the driver stared blankly at me... and as a novice rider... I stared back at him... lucky! We had some fun riding around till Su_Da.
Day 5) We are left with 3 as GR headed for Shanghai to work on Pudong. Had to get to SND and have a look. It was not easy to do surveys. Evening was spent going past carrefour and watching some river boats... and I think it was lunar 15th too!
Day 6) Got to Zhuo Zheng Yuan with XX, BJ, LH. We walked around. I was not in the best of moods as I was quite depressed for the day. But yah still tried to hang around. We met YY and her friend for mushroom hotpot dinner. Thereafter pubbing at local pubs... some hollywood thingie and another one. Drank a bit. But yah... the usual stuff, shun if possible... And of course must take care of the other one too.
Day 7) Got to Zhou Zhuang to visit and we didn't know it was that far! We took cab. It costed a bomb really. But yah... the place had lots to buy and see... rushed back on the 5pm bus to prevent paying another bomb to the drivers. Had dinner in town and thereafter shopped for gifts for our friends in Suzhou. I guess I threw quite a bit of tantrum these two days but I think few understood why. :)
Day 8) Got a great start in surveys. Dinner with BJ. Bidded Farewell, biking.
Day 9) Worked on another stuff now. We had a pleasant dinner at a Xinjiang place and treated YY to the makan... :) Thanks to her we can really enjoy our stay here leh. I am really touched by the hospitality offered. And I noticed one thing... in China, a call from one region to another may be considered overseas calls. We'll be heading for Wuxi tomorrow. :)

Signing off... goodnight!

dk scribbled
10:10 PM
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Saturday, April 23, 2005

confusion is abound

Feeling a bit lost emotionally... tired and confused...
Hopes.

dk scribbled
5:42 PM
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Awakening... a rude one to say the least

For the first time this year my ego was blown up!
Tattered into pieces by the mere observation of how big the world actually is and that it is NOT confined to SMU.
I've been myopic.
In fact, too narrowed vision.
At times I believe I've planned and thought a lot... secured quite a bit of credentials and worked out a good path to carry on my future ambitions.
But honestly, the world is a big one, an eye-opener.
How many all-rounders do we have in SMU... not too many in my perspective... blunt as I may be now... it's partially because of the day I had. Now I'm typing in an internet cafe and deciphering how difficult it is to face the world.
We are a small island.
China's really huge... an average student in their university may be a totally all-rounder in his own right.
We may think those bicycle trekkers who screech along the highways are not as technologically advanced or capable... but the fact is they are much more trained. It may not be army training... it may not be academic training but it doesn't really matter 'cos they have a stronger aptitude compared to many of us. The Chinese elites in SMU are just a portion of what there is in China... I am really awed by how strong the competition is among graduates.
Time and again I think to myself... how would the world be in the future... would we be able to make a big one in the big world outside... or would we be just a portion of the middle strata, struggling.
I'm really upset.
Ego-less... :( hoping my close friends are with me now. :(
Shall post another update later.

dk scribbled
5:15 PM
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Monday, April 18, 2005

Leaving =)

Dear all,
I'll be flying off today.
Back on 6 May. Would remember you folks one. :) Take care! Happy summer vacation!

dk scribbled
8:56 AM
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Sunday, April 17, 2005

Ambivalence

Today had ambassador's interview & prepared China trip & met GA for dinner.

dk scribbled
12:30 AM
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Friday, April 15, 2005

Movies

I watched two movies over the past two days... a third tomorrow? Maybe. I plan to watch with Z but yah... still only left with Pacifier. :)
Anyway Wednesday I watched Interrogator with "jie". She got some free tix so I so happy she invited me... 'cos it's the day I ended my exams... and it was so coincidental to go chill out!
The nicole kidman movie was nice but I didn't really like the sloppy ending... the pun in the movie was really interesting and the script was filled with quips.. =) Yes! Anyway I came out concluding that it might be good being watched... at least you are protected... if you are watched by the right guys... ha... and we sometimes complain of the possibilty of being watched... guess it's security. :)
For the Thursday. Watched "Guess who". It was quite a racist-based movie... exploring the rather tense but not totally impossible unison of two different people... one black and one white. Conclusion: Sometimes we find someone so different that he/she makes us complete... and when we lose that person one day... we learn again that in fact the completeness was so crucial and only then we appreciate and know we are whole!

dk scribbled
1:02 AM
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Thursday, April 14, 2005

Exams are finally a "history"... for 4 months? :) Yes!

For those who dwell silently,
In those muddled territory...
Never alone you've walked,
All quietly we have mugged...
Last papers a call for a jug,
Last calls for freshmen years...
Yearning, never tears...

I'm so relieved.

Hoping for the best now... :) Flying to China on 18th... will try update... back 6/5/5.

dk scribbled
5:51 PM
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Monday, April 04, 2005

Looking through a child's eye... :)
~dk

dk scribbled
8:30 AM
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Saturday, April 02, 2005

Struggling? You are never alone. You never walk alone too.

=) for my friends... if you need me in this period of SMUggerism... i'll always be there still... =) Gambate!

dk scribbled
11:08 PM
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Friday, April 01, 2005

Touch across generations

Have you ever touched or held a old lady by the hand... the feebleness of the skin... the patched conditions... the rougness... evidently...
It's this hand that had probably sculpted part of the world before us.
I saw a poster at the water cooler... a Tzu Ching poster about some activity. I remembered the day I went with Guitarissimo to the old folk's to join them for mid autumn... we massaged their hands too. :) It's really cool. Miss the days of spreading love in the world... guess it's depressionistic to write these... but be rest assured I'm in the sanest of mentality... ha... going through FA... thinking of my granny out of the blue and yah... I held her hand over the weekend as she was walking. Feebleness within age, wisdom within roughness... hands in hands... generations we bridge.

dk scribbled
5:34 PM
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Innocence of Kin

I'm at McDonald's enjoying breakfast.
Saw a super touching scene... a young little girl who's at most 5 years old was massaging for her mum who had a sudden headache... I was so stunned as the mum suddenly clutched her forehead. The little girl without prompting leaned over and massaged her.
Innocence of Kins... when did you previously massage your mum/dad... say something so lovely and caring to them... when did you make that special brew of coffee or tea for daddy or mummy... guess the time and the struggle in society has ruined the bliss of innocence in many of us. Sometimes I really hope to spend more time with my family and grandma... it's so tiring sometimes I simply slopped into slumber upon reaching home. I've got to succeed in life to do my family proud... few can empathise with the strong desire within me... it's quite intrinsic if you've gone through something I had. Cheers!

dk scribbled
7:58 AM
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