A Better Place

Ivy wants to go to a better place. She needs a pair of shoes. Once a fairy told her the most important things for a woman were a pair of shoes that could bring her to a better place. Ivy remembers. But she could not find what her heart desires.

Ivy climbs over a mountain and sees the sea on the other side. She says to herself," I wish to go to the sea."

Ivy goes for the sea yet is marooned on a desolate island. She is among different tribes and cannot decide which one to join, so she sets up the "I" tribe.

Ivy despairs over the "better place" but never forgets her old wishes. "I need another pair of shoes," she thinks.

Ivy is walking and every step is like walking on the knife tip. She looks up and sees the monkeys laughing. She looks down and sees her toes bleeding.

Ivy throws a stone at the monkeys. Then another. Then another...The monkeys keep laughing. She feels drained out.

An albatross flies over the island and drops a message in the bottle in the near sea.

"My letter!" Ivy cries," Finally it comes! Someone is saving me."

"You will get a pair of shoes," the note reads," but before that, you have to learn to walk on the knife." Ivy nodds. She is waiting for that day to come.

RE: Korean version V.S Taiwanese prototype

If you step into the TV Room at some ungodly time you will go berserk.

Yesterday I happened to watch the blockbuster Korean version of "Meteor Garden" and had a heart attack. It is genuinely hurting to see the original Taiwanese version has been changed into such a "masterpiece" of superficiality. Admittedly, the scenes are more dazzling in the Korean version with all those sumptuous parties and breathtaking views, which are just traditional features of most Korean dramas to "nurture the eyes of the audience". If you watch the Taiwanese version and judge from the current standard of modernity, you will not find anything impressive. In fact, you might think the male protagonist's house like a hotel room "in construction" and his bathing robe as something your father also wears, let alone the outdated Nokia phones used by the main characters. However, if you really want to compare the two versions, the Taiwanese one definitely will win out.

As for the plot, the original one is very long and slow paced, which has the benefit to show the emotions and the "changes" of emotions in a very detailed and believable way. Yesterady when I watched how one scene jumped to another without any elaboration, I doubted the producer over-estimated the number of nodes of Ranviers in our nerve cells.

As for the acting, I quite approve of the Jin Sicao in the Korean version, though I am not sure she always grasps the real feelings of the female antagonist. Like in the party, when she was dancing with Zhi hou, she was superfluous with her joy and was beaming all the way! On the contrary, Xu Xiyuan reveals a more subtle and reticent character of oriental women, which makes her acting more natural and professional. As for the males, I admit all the four flowers in the Korean version are handsome, but once again, they are more suitable to be idols than actors. F4 in the Taiwanese version actually had never received any professional acting training when they were casted, yet their bearing and abilities to emphasize made them shine without borders.

Both versions have ample use of flashbacks and music. The images from the Korean version are definitely more beatific and more suitable to make into bedroom posters. However, since the emotions are not amply shown yet just flashing past, the impact of those scenes is greatly abated. To be honest, though the marine vessel in the Taiwanese version is so dilapidated and the dancing hall so perfunctorily furbished, I still like it for its genuineness. Moreover, I like the music in the Taiwanese Meteor Garden more!

As the Chinese saying goes," one is always most impressed with the first person he meets in a party". If you really like the Korean Meteor Garden, there is nothing to be sorry about. However, if you are really interested in the plot and want to have a proper meal instead of instant noodles, I sincerely recommend you go and watch the Taiwanese version.

Sane...

I suddenly realise that I am not an ultimate mugger, there is a person actually posting five new vocabs daily online. Puff...since your job is to post them, at least I can plagiarise them. As for the copyright...sorry.

1. atruism: unselfish thoughts 2. dubious: doubtful 3. egoism: self-centered(ness) 4. pivotal: important, decisive 5. tantamount: equivalent to

1. alleviate: to relieve, lessen 2. assimilate: absorb mentally; adjust 3. clad: dressed 4. palatable: agreeable 5. telegenic: related to televised image (TV, videos, music)

1. burgeoning: to grow or develop quickly 2. demographic: arithmetical; numerical 3. impunity: freedom; exemption from punishment 4. overwrought: extremely/excessively excited or agitated 5. vanguard: forefront; leader

1. amalgam: a mixture or combination 2. bona fide: genuine; honest 3. effigy: dummy 4. feckless: ineffective; incompetent 5. reconciliation: reestablishment

1. annihilation: utter destruction 2. austere: serious; strict; uncompromising; 3. paradox: a seemingly contradictory statement that might be true 4. syncretic: reconciliation of two principles into one environment 5. venerate: to regard or treat with reverence

Oh man, I will frequent your blog this June holiday...

East & West

I have been here for more than one and a half years, yet it is quite a routined life confined in the West. Since the school is in the west and I am not a wanderlust, for the most of the time I still stay in my 10 square-foot room. In more recent days I break the record of going East thrice within one month. It may sound completely unimpressive, but for a home-hooked, pillow-hugging and a standard bookworm like me, it is a totally different story.

Pasir Ris and Bedok for last month, Expo and Tanah Merah for these days, all these east territories attracted me intentionally or unintentionally like a magnet(if there are east and west poles). Singapore's terrain is quite similar, you will not feel like going to a totally different place from east to west. On the contrary, MRTs with almost the same outlook and overhead bridges with the same flowers planted on them have created quite a homogenous look for this "Garden City". I remember when the bus drove us back from Malaysia last summer(are there four seasons?), I could feel the breathing of the land here: the same overhead bridges, the same conduits for the rain water, the same roadsigns with white words on green backdrop, and the same broad and clean streets. That was totally different from Malaysia, a country more resemblant to China where you can see bare highways with clouds of weird shapes.

In Singapore, even the east and west are the same. One good point for this is that you will never lose your ways. In case you do not know your way, you can always move your lips to ask. Here, people are much simpler so worries about being abducted by human traffickers are almost unnecessary. As a result, I grow bolder with time. No matter it is an old man going for his morning jogging, a savvy-looking businessman or a maid walking a labrador, for most of the time they are willing to get you where you want to go. What a convenience!

However, being much more familiar with the west, I still find here more hospitable. When M&D came here last June holiday, and we went off at Clementi after a tired day-out at Central, it was quite a mutual feeling that we were home. Walking at night is scary, especially if you refer to the night-time incidents in San Francisco. Yet in here you just feel safe.

Though in east there are more entertainments, I think I still prefer west. However I cannot deny that the white sand beach at seaside is bewitching.

Wait~If I have to buy a house, that will be in Bishan~~~Why? Because of...haha:)

Fishing in the Air and Sowing Seeds

To kill two birds with one stone.
Pigs might fly.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
All mouth and no trousers.
More haste, less speed.
Once a use forever a custom.
Let the dead bury their dead.
There is no smoke without fire.
To put all one’s eggs in one basket.
To leap out of one’s skin,
To fish in the air.
To look for a needle in a bundle of hay.
A bad beginning makes a bad ending..
A bad thing never dies.
A bad workman always blames his tools.
A bully is always a coward.
A closed mouth catches no flies.
Actions speak louder than words.
Adversity leads to prosperity.
A faithful friend is hard to find.
A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit.
A fox may grow gray, but never good.
A good medicine tastes bitter.
A leopard cannot change its spots.
All good things come to an end.
A miss is as good as a mile.
A new broom sweeps clean.
A man cannot spin and reel at the same time.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
As a man sows, so he shall reap.
A single flower does not make a spring.
A word spoken is past recalling.
A young idler, an old beggar.
Beauty lies in the love’s eyes.
Better late than never.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Blood is thicker than water.
Cannot see the wood for the trees.
Constant dripping wears away a stone.
Creep before you walk.
Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
Don’t try to teach your grandmother suck eggs.
Do well and have well.
Even Homer sometimes nods.
Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
Easier said than done.
Every little helps a mickle.
Every day is not Sunday.
Every dog has his day.
Everyone’s business is nobody’s business.
Every potter praises his own pot.
Experience must be bought.
Fields have eyes, and woods have ears.
Fire and water have no mercy.
Fools grow without watering.
Forbidden fruit is sweet.
God helps those who help themselves.
Great minds think alike.
Habit cures habit.
Harm set, harm get.
Hear all parties.
He knows most who speaks least.
He laughs best who laughs last.
He sets the fox to keep the geese.
He who does not advance loses ground.
If you venture nothing, you will have nothing.
It is easy to be wise after the event.
It is hard to praise all.
It is no use crying over spilt milk.
It never rains but it pours.
It takes three generations to make a gentleman.
Jack of all trades and master of none.
After meat, mustard; after death, doctor.
All is over but the shouting.
As poor as a church mouse.
Entertain an angel unawares.
A fool may give a wise man counsel.
A man cannot serve two masters.
Love is blind.
All things are obedient to money.
All things are difficult before they are easy.
All shall be well, Jack shall have Jill.
A little spark kindles a great fire.
A little leak will sink a great ship.
A life without a purpose is a ship without a rudder.
At one’s wit’s end…

I forgive U

Conformity comes with rules,

Maturity comes with ages.

Perceptiveness comes with experience,

Forgiveness comes with love.

To forgive is a virtue, but once again, nobody says it is easy.

Initial shock followed by gloom, initial hatred surrounded by bewilderment.

The giant gap swallowed by darkness, the slim crevice for the injuried to take shelter.

And there is always a saint. With him comes the light.

Then enlightment shall prevail.

A Lump

The wind was strong today. For the first time I felt I was almost blown away by the invisible force, tugging me and adamant to bring me to nowhere. Dining time has thinned once and once again and recently it has hit the all-time nadir of merely five minutes. The meal was nice, but could not be swallowed in that carefree way as usual. I felt a lump in my throat, blocking all my senses and feelings, just holding me down and down to the place unknown.

Was it pressure? Was it due to Mr Tan's important words on "21st May"? Was it due to Ms Ng's electrifying countdown to 35 teaching days? Or was it due to Principal's "work-hard" message? We can live our lives peacefully day in day out but at the end of each day we still have reasons to feel empty. We seem to be working all the time but when reality strikes we still can be as vulnerable as a stray. We are able to dream about the future but still feel the "realisation" so faraway, so vague, so intangible.

"Every household has its own business to worry." What are in my house? Can I sort it out?

Maybe the process of inspiration is also the process to feel the weight upon your shoulder, to feel the burden pulling you down, and to feel the lump in your throat. Six months of way to go. The time is always running so rationally that our irrational mind can never get the hang of it. You can see the door. You stretch out your arm. You take out the key. But you do not know whether the key fits in or not.

The bends will become straight by the time you set you hands on it. This time, if they do not turn straight, I will hammer it flat.

Hi! Babe, I'm on The Way~See you there, too.

Fate...

Fate has no logic. You cannot argue with it any more than you can argue with a tornado, and earthquake, a terrorist...

"There was once upon a time a farmer," I told myself, "who wanted to go across a tumultuous stream." "He carried with him two chicken, a cow, a cage of parrots, a baggage of cabbage, two sheep and the bow and arrows passed down from his ancestors as legacies. Facing the stream that was so full of peril, he faltered. He said once and once again to himself: if only I get get across with the bow and arrows, I am willing to drown all the others. But please...let me get away with my legacies..."

"The result was: he sailed across safely to the other side of the stream, leaving all his possessions on the bank except the bow and arrows. It was an exhausting journey, during which he thanked God once and once again for his holy help, and for his mercy that had calmed the water and let it abide his will. However, when he set his foot on the solid ground with the bow and arrows in his hands, he began to look glumly at the direction from which he had come, look glumly at the two chicken, the cow, the cage of parrots, the baggage of cabbage, and the two sheep, regretting that he had not bring them along. He cried and cried for that until the bow and arrows bagan to rust..."

"I'm like the farmer," I told myself again," only that I'm not going to let my bow and arrows rust...not like this."

One must learn to let go, if one has made a decision to abandon certain things.

Just like sometimes, you have to cut off one finger to save your palm...