J-A-Z-Z

I havent been this excited in ages. I went to jazz today (yes I DID!), caught up with long lost jazz time.

We went to this pub call Jazz at South Bridge in Singapore (which ive been to a few times before). when we arrived, it was an ordinary trio comprising a piano, drum, and of course a bass. but after a couple of songs, they introduced a vocal (that was a suprise, whats more amazing is, there wasnt any cover charge!). This vocal - James Flynn, scott-ish, turned out to be a very humorous guy. we've had the privilege to mingle with him (and his Eva-one-of-the-desparate-housewifes-look-alike partner) after two sessions. it was good good... Goooooooood....

also, My brother brought me to a CD store earlier this evening before jazz, a place call Gramaphone. its got a few listening post (nice Pioneer cd player, and veeeery nice headphones) with loads and loads of recommended cds, its good pretty good deals on cds, and whats more is its got all the cds I couldnt find in other places!! haha..

good times.

A Nice Dinner

4 primary school mates
2 Entrees
2 Soups
1 bottle of nice New Zealand, Hunter's Malborough Chardonnay
4 Main Courses
3 dessert
2 hours

... 560 dollars.
but thanks to my friends company, we've got a 600 dollars worth of voucher. we didnt pay a penny. Thanks again Nic. I had a great night. =)

So its being said

whats a loser?
a loser is someone who is so afraid of losing that they dont even try.
so am I tryin? or should the question be..

am I tryin 'hard' enough?

Merry Christmas

to... you! whoever you are!

Flash back

to the time when blue is blue, and white is white.

Time flies like an arrow..

life has been afloat. on still water. occational breeze trembled the stillness of the water surface. yet I wind-up floating on the exact same spot. no where to run, no where to hide, anymore.

came back from Wellington a little less than 4 weeks ago. has it been that long? trip to Australia and Taiwan didnt do the trick. I went straight to Penang up north west of the peninsular after the spin across south east asia, then all the way down south to Singapore. I knew dodging the reality was as impossible as dodging the bullet. the various indifferent choices of life huh? living the choice you've made is as hard as making it at the very beginning.

yet, I sit here, having fullfil Anna's request, trying to force my mind to concentrate on what matters the most - on searching for the very thing that when being found, things will, according to a lot of people, sort itselve out - a flippin' job.

can someone please give me a good slap?

Still excites me!

seeing a...

... for Welly on the NZ weather forecast site.

must have been a great day! =)

Alisan National Park, 11th day in Taiwan

Our train ride up to Alisan mountain, call the "little red train". it was being built by the japanese during their occupation, to transport wood from the mountain.


we took a walk around the woods as we arrived. it was absolutely soothing.


its being dubbed "four sisters". fours trees grew on a very old tree trunk (which was being chopped off ages ago) by coincidence. nobody planted them!!


Before sunset (dedicated to AK)


Before Sunrise (this too!)


(half an hour after sunrise, sunrise time - 6.33am) We went to the peak of Alisan Mountain at 4 in the morning to wait for the sunrise. there was more than 100s of us waiting. this is the scene of the cloud and fog under us, shielding the valley in between from our sight. the sky was clear blue. if felt like heaven.

Impression

things I found interesting about Taiwan up until now:

1. they speak loudly. specially aged citizens
2. (this is a common thing... but still...) left hand drive?!
3. some lady used garbage bag as suitcase (yeah.. for travelling...). awesome.
4. the amount of 7-11 on one street. it freaked me out!!
5. (now im glad about this) Chinese characters are bigger on road signs. my first time seeing this.

til then! peace out!

3rd day in Sydney

the traffic junction strucked me as a battle ground. ground zero. two battalions of soldier from opposing side in their pre-war formation. ready to charge whenever the signal is given. the green man flicked on and thousands of soldiers crashed. if it were to be a real war, throat would be cut open, heart stabbed, heads chopped off - if it were to be a real war. people slided through each other like water and oil wouldnt mix. the crowd was just amazing.

walking through the streets of Sydney, countless chattering can be heard in coutless languages, sky scrappers filling up the sky like curtains would cover the view through the window - only glimpse of the clear blue. with all the japanese, koreans, hongkies, chinese, taiwanese... etc walking by, I became very self conscious off what im wearing. its hard not to. I felt as if im on the venue of a fashion show.

but right after the long tiring walk about the city centre, was a rewarding coffee experience by the opera house, harbour bridge with a book in my hand.

awesome.



Flatwhite by the opera house - THE opera house


(not to the mention, the flies here are annoying!!!!!)

D-day plus 1 - Sydney

it was almost 8 when i took these. lights of the city glowed while the sun faded.
its a Sunday evening, and as a guy who just came from Wellington, its ... weird to see the city so alive, on a sunday night. it was awesome.


Sydney Opera House


The Harbour Bridge


Sydney Cove

3 Days and Counting

Wednesday
now thats more like it.. =)

4 Days and Counting

Tuesday
Windspeed: 48km/hr
Temperature: 8 C

so this is how my last week in Wellington is going to be huh.

the whistling of the wind woke me up this morning (afternoon). it was so strong that part of the billboard on the building across the street was being torn out. it was left hanging on the building. what was originally a smilling man holding its right thumb up, with blue background and a quote "all for one", is now but a sail on a huge boat which was being freezed in an ocean of buildings. the sky was grey, wellingtonians were too shy to come out. I had my most easy-going music on, jack with his guitar, stacey with her luring voice, oscar with his playful piano, stan with his sax, but they didnt seemed to do the job. my mood was still as it is. tearing apart.

upside is, Im leaving for sydney, taiwan and malaysia, which, the weather will be guarenteed HOT.

flippin hot...

Strawberry Tiramisu

what you think about that huh...?

Weather Forecast

Sunday
- Rain, easing to shower.

Monday
- Some Rain

Tuesday
- Periods of Rain

Wednesday
- Rain Clearing

Thursday
- (yet to be announced) but its clearing up... right?

Just jotting down

things done:
1. got my new passport
2. transfered my NZ Visa
3. got my Aus Visa
4. change of tenancy
5. flight comfirmed


things yet to be done:
1. pack - things to be brought back, and things to be ship back
2. close bank account
3. sell assets
4. give things away
5. book accomodation in Taiwan
6. one last cup of Flatwhite (Masi.. emmm..)
7. make sure i say goodbye to everyone
8. takes pictures around Wellington like an asian tourist (which i refuse to be one)
9. buy some souveniers?
10. Lido Jazzzzz...
11. YHA membership


things that can never be done:
1. be fully prepared to leave
2. not miss Wellington
3. ...

and counting.

12 days and counting.

so i had yet another great day.

woke up a gloomy day, but my mood was on the other extreme end of the scale. I woke up fresh and new. found everyone in the lounge as I struggling to wake myself up completely. with my hair still well (badly) shaped from sleep, I decided we should all go for a movie. as a flat. movie didnt turn out eventually, thus, live music in Hummingbird.

it wasnt until work almost kicked in that the sun shown its majestic ray on us. the warmth landed upon the city. work was fun, its been fun for months now.. lots of jokes, dirty jokes. left work early for a dinner at Carmens, thanks to her, this is where and when the highlight of the day took place. good food, a selection of alchohol, laughter, good people from around the world, and a camera blended into one fine night.

walked AK home after getting "a bit" drunk. on one of the winding road uphill to Upland road, among houses and greens, there was an opening which the display of the whole city was visible. we stood. amazed. the wind was gentle. we could hardly hear anything from the city. as if the view was only a photo - a flat sheet displayin the city.

ive got 12 days left. and I am going to miss Wellington.







so much.

Crazy Mooncake Festival

so we had a very fun sunday. how fun? see it for your self. haha...
.
.
.

20 days and counting.

the soundtrack of the moment - In Between Dreams, Jack Johnson.

20 days til my departure. 9 days til roy's.

it has been a very gloomy week. until today. the sun unfiltered, through the vacuum space, through the clear ocean-blue sky. I woke up extremely excited, partly because of the sun, partly because I finally get one day off work (after 3 weeks of non stop working). this is the day where i dont have to start looking at my watch starting at 4 pm (making sure im not late for work), this is the day i can do my laundry, this is the day where i get to enjoy the street, at its 8 pm. this is the day where my day, is comparatively longer (length of 6 hours). this is the day where i dont have to STAND in tropical weather (you know, stoves, ovens.. heating lights..) for 6 hours.

going off for a cuppa. read my book. 20 days is all i got left.

Day Light Savings

So I love the whole day light saving thing. the whole of NZ will loss one hour on the first day of October. thats means we will be one more hour ahead of the world.

Guess I love longer day time. makes you think you can get more done. while in fact you get to spend longer time under the sun. its good good... goooooooood...