I want to change strongly. The change is not about hairstyle as you guys might have been suggesting ^^, but about ways that I do things and live my life. Wanna change to be a much better person, in many aspects of life. I know I can be but I always lazy to go out of my comfort zone.
Now it's transitional period in life. If I don't change now, I will lost the golden opportunity to change. Past 4 years of university life have taught me many lessons (non-academic one), and it's time for me to practice. Along the way I has slowly learnt that I have many weaknesses but only one unique strength. Hence the only way to improve myself is to rectify my weaknesses by capitalizing on my strength.
In the coming months, I will scrutinize my set of moral values, keep the good ones so that you guys will feel I am still the same, and improve on the weaker ones by learning from others so that you guys can see the better of me. Challenging, but interesting.
Talk about change, there is no other words more powerful than this quote from one of the most influential people that had ever walked in this planet:
Monday, June 30, 2008
Learning to change
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
序言 | Prologue
[注：这是柬越游记的其中一篇文章。为了文章的连续性，请从主文：柬越游记开始。]
[Note: This is one of the articles of "Cam-Viet Tour". For better reading experiences, please read from the main article: "Cam-Viet Tour"]
古有西游记，今有柬越游记。古有四人长途跋涉历经磨练为取经，今有四友游山玩水偶经磨砺后取了经，不同的是，前者取的是佛经，后者取的是社会经。原来，毕业旅行的意义不仅仅在于共同玩乐的体验，也在于接触五花八门的人和经历繁琐复杂的事后，对社会和生活多了深一层的认知和体会。因为这些人和事，在平日千遍一律的生活里，是很难在短期内汇集在一起的。而这些体会，对即将要踩进江湖的我们，更是难能可贵的。
话说回来，虽然同样是游记，同样是四个人，但古今毕竟不同，角色如不雷同纯属不巧。
In the classical Chinese literature "Journey to the West", there were these 4 guys embarking on a long and dangerous journey in search of Buddhist sutras. At present times, there were another 4 friends traveling to Cambodia and Vietnam after graduation for fun and exposure. They weren't given the task of finding any text, but along the way, they had learnt that there's another objective. Through various events and interactions with all walks of life, they had gained more insights about society and life. These experiences are unlikely to be obtained through monotonous daily life, and hence are precious, especially to us that are going to enter society soon.
Both journeys were joined by 4 journeymates, but seperated by few centuries, and hence there are bound to be differences in the roles played by members. It will be a miracle if things can be matched so well.
高瘦白净、沾酒出瘼、不忍杀价、舍钱喂商的绝种好人。生来既有使命，为了找寻不惜攀山涉水，终于在越南找到与名字相对应的Chon 8。（注：Chon 8 是一种越南咖啡品种）
Tall, slim and fair, he's such holy that he seldom drinks due to allergy and bargains for a better price, not for himself, but for seller. He was borned with a mission, and is willing to take on challenges to search for it. In Vietnam, he found the ultimate Chon 8, which was perhaps named after him. (Note: Chon 8 is a type of Vietnamese coffee bean)
皮黑发卷、顽皮活泼、爱玩易累、悟性极高、擅长七十二变，变成当地人易如反掌。
腰粗股大、有肉又油、时有疏忽、自认帅气、善于搭讪，但却从不偷懒、负责体贴。
Round and plum, muscular yet fatty; he's slightly absent-minded. He will never feel shy to show his handsomeness and to "flirt". Ironically, he's determined, responsible and caring as opposed to what you might think of him.
眼细朦胧、喝多睡多、好吃懒做、性格随和、善于被“搭讪”、却最具有冒险精神，给予的意见最中肯。
Modern Sandy : Eddie (Chow Chuan)
With small eyes, he always look like he's not having enough sleep. In fact, he sleep, eat and drink the most and avoid to commit. But he has great temper and adventurous spirit and always give objective comments. Perhaps that's the reason why he's popular to be "flirted" by ... ^^
夜半迷思
突如其来的生病，打乱了生活的规律。好不容易恢复了，却又少了奋斗的目标。工作，还有一段日子；投资，想先妥善理财；知识，不懂的无限多；娱乐，从来不是必要；朋友，更是一个接一个开工，而自己却在挥霍着时间，确实不是滋味。找房、搬家、上班这一些都距离我好远，大半年后当朋友都已安定了，我才要面对这些问题，教我如何不愁？诚然理智定能解决这些问题，但有时候理智不是一切。能去美国见识固然是好事，却也并非全无隐忧。虽然我讨厌被安排命运，但对于未知，却总有种莫名的恐惧。
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Cam-Viet Tour 柬越游记
(Newly updated: 02-07-2008)
人一生能有几次长达十八天的背包旅行？对工作假期多得是的西方人来说，这问题是不可思议的，但对我们而言，能有几次已经很满足了。我很有幸能在毕业之后和三位志同道合的朋友去柬越玩了十八天，这一段旅程必将成为我们以后美好的回忆，但回忆若没有被整理、重塑和升华，就只会是凌乱的碎片。
How many times can you afford to spend 18 days for backpacking? This question to westerners whom have long working holidays seems redundant, but for most of us, to have few times of it will be satisfactory. I am glad that I had experienced once at least as my graduation trip with three other friends of similar interests. That will stay in our memory forever, but memory will be meaningless without organizing and reshaping.
我想将所见所闻所感所想写成一篇游记，不仅仅是像流水账这样的记录，而是希望和大家分享经验，通过我们的眼睛看到我们所看到的，通过我们的感觉感受到我们感受到的，通过我们的喜怒哀乐去想象和体验，仿佛如亲身经历一般。我也想以此测试我的双语写作能力，但知易行难，语言功力有限，希望辞能达意。
I am not satisfied just to record things plainly but I want to put down what I've seen and felt nicely in a comprehensive journey, to share with friends our experiences, to see through our eyes what we've seen, to feel what we've felt, to imagine and experience as if it was their journey. This will also test my ability in writing bilingually and I hope I do it clearly.
也因此，要完成这事需要一段很长的时间，或许是一两个月，也或许是更长。以下的每一项题目都将是一篇独立的文章，等我写好了我就会链接起来。没耐心的朋友，可要吃亏了哦。哈哈。
And hence, it may take quite a while for me to finish this, maybe one to two months or even longer. When I finish each separate article, I will link it with this post. So please be patient and stay tuned ya, my friends. ^^
水鱼记 | Unfortunate rip-offs
寻食记 | Foreign delights
求物记 | Art of Bargaining
冒险记 | Adventurous acts
摄影记 | Travel Photography (Updated: 02-07-2008)
人物记 | Peoples
第一天：初识高棉—风雨无情历史满泪
Day 1: Khmer - A place of unpredictable weather and history contrast
第二天：探访庙窟—四辆铁马四处骑访
Day 2 : Wats - Visiting by cycling
第三天：再见吴哥—正邪交汇爱恨交织
Day 3 : Angkor - The good and the bad
第四天：抵步金边—璀璨已逝动荡重建
Day 4 : Phnom Penh - Former oriental Paris in quick reconstruction
第五天：寻找历史—悲剧重现意外横生
Day 5: History - When terrifying genocide meets enduring accident
第六天：人在西贡—越龙躁动人车齐飞
Day 6: Saigon - In the mantra of rapid development
第七天：地道古芝—战争教育完美旅历
Day 7: Cuchi - The perfect enlightening and informative tour
第八天：悔去湄公—跟团吃买游船看无
Day 8: Mekong - The buying and boring tour
第九天：如是水市—屋漏船迟机坏钱失
Day 9: Water market - Disappointment and disheartenment
第十天：再寻历史—正义邪恶殊有定论
Day 10: History - The same old division of good or evil
十一天：暂歇会安—古色古香购物天堂
Day 11: Hoi An - A short rest in a relaxing old town
十二天：沿岸北上—海天山岛古都香江
Day 12: Traveling north - Magnificent coastline and scenery
十三天：速游顺化—迷你中华惟独凯定
Day 13: Hue - It's so Chinese except Khai Dinh Tomb
十四天：上越下龙—海上桂林船上天堂
Day 14: Ha Long - The Perfect Paradise
十五天：闲逛吉婆—真假猴子时间炸弹
Day 15: Cat Ba - All about monkeys
十六天：终站河内—人流繁杂水偶惊叹
Day 16: Hanoi - Modern people and ancient arts
十七天：迷失古区—天气酷热欲走无力
Day 17: Old quarters - We're beaten by the hot weather
十八天：再见柬越—提早离去后话再续
Day 18: Goodbye Cam-Viet
高棉寺庙 | Khmer Wats
柬埔寨的高棉寺庙有什么好看？就是去看精美的Bas-relief咯。这样说不但可以秀你的知识，还可以秀你的法文。要在墙壁上雕塑只用两种方法，一就是让图案凸出来，即为浮雕（Relief）；二就是让图案凹进去，即为阴雕或凹雕（Intaglio）。浮雕还可以再分为低浮雕（Bas-relief）和高浮雕（Alto-relievo）。好了，现在是时候欣赏古代高棉建筑艺术了。
What's so interesting about Cambodian Khmer Wats? Well, it's about master piece of Bas-relief. Answering like that can definitely show your knowledge. LOL. There are only two ways to make wall sculpture, either by carving it convexly or concavely. The former one is known as "relief", which means carving in relief; and the latter one is known as "intaglio", which means incised carving. Relief can be further classified into low-relief (Bas-relief) and high-relief (Alto-relievo). With this quick piece of knowledge, it's time to appreciate the ancient Khmer architecture.
在过去那段长达六百年的辉煌时期，高棉民族建造了多不胜数的寺庙，其中闻名遐迩的就是吴哥窟，以致于其他的寺庙都被统称为“吴哥窟群”。在暹粒省的三天里，我们参观了大约十间寺庙，很坦白说在参观了五六间后大家都看得有点意兴阑珊，仿佛当晚一旦发噩梦最恐怖的莫过于反复被人载去看寺庙。但有审美疲劳不代表审的不是美，所以在这里我还是尝试描绘出每间寺庙的特色吧。
During that glorious period that lasted for about 600 years, the peoples of Khmer had constructed numerous Wats. Among them, Angkor Wat is the most prominent one to the extent that the whole area is called "Angkor National Park". In the three days at Siam Reap, we had visited about ten Wats, and were feeling the diminishing return after visiting 5 to 6 Wats, as if the worst possible nightmare we could have that night was to visit Wat and Wat and Wat and ... Anyway, I will try to outline their unique beauties here.
Oriented to the east.
Flat vs "temple-pyramid"
Angkor Wat "City Temple"
Preah Khan "Sacred Sword"
Neak Pean "The Entwined Serpents"
Bayon - Multitude of serene and massive stone faces, "face towers"
Pre Rup -
Ta Prohm - "Ancestor Brahma"
Ta Som -
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
JP's Ichiban Sushi
On the next day, I moved few packs of my stuffs to Kok Ern's house, with Krix's help. We had our brunch at JP's Ichiban Sushi and well.... it's DAMN NICE and well worth the price. No wonder there's always a terrifying queue during peak hours.
tori maru cheese set (Best one! How lucky was Krix)
sushi mgoriawase (Jap pro Kok ern was quite satisfied with the sushi's quality)
suruga unagi yanagawa (Tasted good, but portion was a bit small)And the unique thing? The green tea cup. I was trying to link every fish "Kanji" to the picture, but there were 9 "Kanji" and only 7 pictures. Cheating!
Hawaii BBQ Buffet
This time we had another gathering near Turf City, to celebrate the end of our student life. Ah bee brought us to enjoy Hawaii BBQ. ALOHA!
So what's special there? I think the pineapple drink was quite fine.
It's the drink that's special, not the head. :)Other than this, hotdog BBQ and tomato-sauce chicken were nice. But opinions are divided on whether does this buffet worth its price. The famous people this round couldn't be other people but the ultimate careless child : Luke, whom successfully splashed few glasses of juices onto others. He's not used to be that, there's a hidden objective. ^_^
Clementi Sakura Buffet
It has been long time since I arrange my photos. Now that I have a bit of free time, I will update food gatherings that are ""outdated" ". The first one dates back to 26th February, at Clementi Sakura.
Among us, the more prominent peoples are:
God of Acting - Wan Tan
Cupid - Kok Ern
Ultraman - Chak Hon
LC Couple (LC stands for ... Hmm...) - Ting & Lian
Man in White and Man in Black - Ah Bee & MeWell, it's time to back to the main topic: the FOOD! On top of our favourites are:
Baked Oyster
Durian Puff
Fry DorySunday, June 22, 2008
Friends and communications
There are two types of people in term of ways of keeping friends, tie inside a circle or tie across circles. For the former type, they believe that few soul mates are enough to support them, at good times or at bad times, and hence reduce efforts in making new friends; for the latter type, they prefer to know as many peoples as they can, and hence often reduce efforts in developing deeper rapport with friends. A mix of these two types, could be anything. So are you the former type or the latter type, or a mix of both? It certainly needs efforts to keep a friendship and hence your choice reflects your need. I think I belongs to the mix type but I've no idea to what extent.
There are also two ways of communicating, one-to-one or one-to-all. Some people are good in heart talk, some people are good to lead the talk and some people excel in both. Often, people that are good in one-to-all communication get most of the attention and leaves the most impressive impression to others. But this impression will burst into devastation if they are not good in one-to-one communication, failing to establish close rapport. I think I am good in neither ways as sometimes I am insensitive to friends' feeling and lack genuine care. Hope I can improve it continuously.
But sometimes I feel that, everyone has his/her own way in building rapport with friends, and it's good to learn from everyone. For example, BK may not excel in one-to-all communication but sometimes he surprised me with his sheer sensitivity and empathy, by asking me question that struck my hidden chord. How brilliant!
It's a long long way to go... let's keep walking together, my dear friends~
Uncertainties
Life is full of uncertainties. For one moment everything could be fine but for another it could be the total opposite. There's no reason for things being shiny to become cloudy. Hence, it's necessary to prepare for possible dangers in good times. Can I count this as first lesson of life for me? :)
Besides being worried, I also fell sick. For the first time, I am suffering from low appetite as a post-symptom of 18 days backpacking. Home-cooked dishes are so delicious and warm and yet I can only eat half as much as I could. In the morning, it's even worse: 3 slices of toast and I am done. What a pity for a bony cookie master to have poor appetite. Even worse, I've got another companion: common cold. :(
Physical illness and mental anxiety is the best partner to force a person to rest. I hope I can get rid of this partnership in a few days time. Meanwhile, I guess I have to trouble friends more than usual. Last few days I had met up with few friends. It's good to see them again, albeit supposedly not in this kind of form.
Well, life is full of uncertainties, I guess I just have to take one best step at a time.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
圆滑
大面和朋友从马来新参观展览会，并和我们约好了去加冷吃自助火锅。在那一条长长的大街旁，有着十数间火锅店。对业者来说，竞争激烈；对顾客来说，选择困难。但为了对得起钱包和肚子，大家不得不仔细比较各店。
在毕业旅行的种种砍价经历后，我已坚持买货要货比三家，才能保障自己的利益。如果自己不保障自己的利益，别人是很乐意带走的。顾客想在比较后才选择，而商家想尽早锁定顾客的选择，双方都知道彼此的利益，但两者是矛盾的。这时候就需要做事比较圆滑，捍卫自己的利益的同时亦保存双方的面子，而不陷入博弈的诡异。
既然你积极拉客，那我就不应该不好意思进去看看和问个仔细；既然我想要比较，那我就不应该不好意思离开再去问其他的。捍卫自己的利益是没有不好意思的，但不一定需用刚硬的手段。简单的微笑道：“我记住了，如果觉得你好我会回来的。”会赢得通情达理者的尊重。我不过是想吃一餐而已，你不过是想做生意而已，大家好来好往，没有必要破坏彼此的心情。
或许是我想得单纯，但是我觉得这么做是比较好的方式。或许所谓的“圆滑”，需要有一定的“同理心”。
曾经，我会闪避派发传单的人，觉得拿了传单过后不看就直接丢进垃圾桶的人很虚伪；但是现在，我认为那些传单如果派不完最终的命运也是要进垃圾桶，我不拿传单并没有增加经济效益，而且还加重了派传单的人的负担，是不是损人不利己呢？或许，看看传单里的是什么新东东也是好事？
为了这么小的事发表伟论，是否胡扯了点呢？:D
Little shock
After waiting for about an hour, finally it was my turn to be interviewed for visa application at US embassy. Standard questions, standard answers. The interview just lasted for few minutes and I happily proceeded to counter 9 to pay processing fees. That's pretty reasonable since they must had repeated the same questions few ten times for my future colleagues.
So when I returned to counter 6, I was expecting a small card and coming back to collect 2 days later, as everyone else. Suddenly, she started to ask some questions in slight questioning tone.
"Where's your letter of employment?"
"Can you show me where's in the letter that mentions about training in U.S.?"
She took my letters to photocopy. Then she said my application would take about 10 days to process. 10 days? Why not 2 days? But short moment after, I take things as it come, calmly. It didn't seem to be a problem at first thought.
On the way leaving embassy, the more I thought and discussed with friends, the more cloudy I felt. What could be the possible reasons? Definitely it's neither because of company nor my nationality.
I was trying to make up reasons:
i) Perhaps I traveled to Vietnam not long ago?
ii) Perhaps of my passport expiry date?
iii) Perhaps I look like a fundamentalist?
Whichever reason, they could easily asked me for clarification, before allowing me to proceed to pay. Strange. Sometimes logic doesn't apply. And that left me swinging with pendulum of confusion. I recalled that lay wen's friend had faced similar problem and was delayed for quite a while. Some heard of a case that dragged until the training programmed had to be postponed. Oh, no no no... Not wise to continue dwell on this, but I have to mentally prepared for the worst scenario: training to be delayed.
With my passport detained for as long as processing period, I couldn't do medical check-up (which requires passport) and go back Malaysia. It's going to be cloudy.
But one night's sleep should be enough to buffer this little shock. @.@ And shall similar thing happen, I should immediate raise up my alarm level and ask instead, to avoid torture of pendulum.
是非八卦
自旅行回来后见了一些朋友，聊了不少，发觉话题都集中于工作前景、人生方向、金钱管理、男女情爱这四方面。这些确实是将后人生的重点，大家都需要交换资讯和心得，既了解朋友的近况，也增广见闻开拓视野。
当然偶尔也会议论朋友的是非，难听一点就是“在背后说人坏话”。大家都认为这样做是缺德的，是三姑六婆的特色，做了会有少少的愧疚感，仿佛“在面前说坏话”才是正直清高，但实际上每个人或多或少都曾这么做，也肯定会在以后继续做。而更为奇怪的是，既然这个是事实，却总是被忽视，大家一旦听到别人在背后窃窃私语，猜忌心就会变得特别重，怀疑别人在背后造谣和中伤，邪恶战胜了理智，冷静完败于愤怒。赤柬恶魔波尔波特的主要力量正是来自猜忌，所以才会视屠杀为正义。
人与人之前的相处，总有许多灰色地带。很大程度上，“在背后说人坏话”并非造谣和中伤，而是交换对周遭朋友的评价。通过交换，一来拉近说话者之间的共识，二来了解更多的是非后才能更不主观地评价朋友。
若说做人应大方接受别人坦率的批评，那也应该有气量去接受背后的议论。两者皆是镜子。若是扭曲的哈哈镜，何妨大笑一番？若是真实的平面镜，还不赶快细看？
大学的终点，社会的起点
当我知道上学期的成绩分别为3个B+，一个B和一个B-的时候，我已接受渺茫希望的破灭。我预算必须全部考到A-才行，而如今连一个A-也没有，这不可不说是成绩考得最差的学期。诚然，仅靠临时抱佛脚的努力，能考出这样的成绩其实还算不错。
直到我被告知怎样检查学士等级时，我才发觉一切都是自以为是。我难以解释这样的等级是否是我应得的，就当作是运气赐的礼物吧。实际上我并未感觉到异常兴奋，毕竟这不是我的首要目标。
不过，这礼物倒是能送给更适合的对象，带来更大的愉悦。
“这是一级荣誉学士，是学士里能拿到的最高级别，当然里面还有更高资格才能进的的dean's list，不过这也算是一等的了，懂吗？”什么class honours，什么dean's list，搞得母亲头昏脑胀，不过在我故意加了“最高”，“一等”等词后（我的本意并非是要炫耀），她也懂了，并伸出手祝贺我，还在握手后轻巧地拍了我肩膀几次。于是，我和母亲有了最温暖的一次握手。能让两老开心，自然也是这礼物最深层的意义。
毕竟，这是四年大学生涯的终点。踏入职场后，一切将从零开始，名衔称号一概无用。正如进入大学之后，谁还管你大学先修班有多优秀？英雄，莫问出处。
