虽然已经是2008年的歌曲，还是想想各位推荐一下，MC Mong 这首非常 playful 的《Circus》。

两天一夜

Source: http://nonie4u.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/1n2dheader.jpg

最近疯狂迷上韩国综艺节目《两天一夜》。这是一个以两天一夜旅游为主题的节目，组员为六位韩国男艺人，其中包括综艺主持人、笑星、演员和歌星。艺人们每次都得通过各种游戏和挑战来争取食物和住宿，失败了就必须饿肚子和露宿。虽然听不懂韩语，但六位男主角的身体语言、语助词和鬼马的旁语翻译，足以让我捧肚。真的从来没有想过六个年龄平均三十多岁的男人一起旅行也可以创造出那么多笑点，不得不佩服制作组和演员们的才能，和他们之间的默契与化学作用。《两天一夜》经历过几次换角，而我个人最喜欢的梦幻组合有的是姜虎东、 Kim C、李秀根、殷智源、MC Mong 和李胜基。这一组人在一起创造了不少非常经典的搞笑动作和剧情。《两天一夜》年度的“酷寒”和“酷热”特辑是其中最折磨人，也当然最搞笑的。在寒冷的冬天里，这组人曾被迫在野外睡纸皮箱，甚至跳进零度以下、表面已经结冰的溪水中；在炎热的夏天里，他们也曾被迫搭乘没有冷气、窗口不能打开的轿车，甚至被罚从头到尾穿着鹅毛绒衣。如果需要轻松一下，我绝对强力推荐各位看看吧这个有时候会让人笑到抽筋的节目。

Source: http://files.myopera.com/september17/blog/1.jpg

Source: http://annals.yonsei.ac.kr/news/photo/200810/697_1852_2222.jpg

假期牢骚

正在放假中，每天睡到日上三竿，喝咖啡、读报纸、看电视、跟家人和米奇男吵吵闹闹地，逍遥得不知时日过。如果可以每一天都这样就好。可是，心里毕竟有点不踏实，我还是吃着家里老米的人啊，父母还得为我操心，真的很惭愧！

漫长三个月的假期，想要找一份暑假工，没想到困难重重。原来以研究生的身份申请工作还蛮难的，有些公司会认为我 overqualified, 但事实上，我在business方面是零经验；有些工作则非常基本，好像没有什么学习机会。当初选择重回校园，是因为需要一张可以让我名正言顺转行的文凭。 “隔行如隔山”，现在发现很多事情并没有想象中简单。我觉得我目前的能力或许还逊于undergraduate学生的能力。他们毕竟是有经过正统训练的本科生，技术方面的知识肯定比我优秀，要追赶上他们的程度，确实需要付出更多的努力。老实说，心里还是未能完全平衡过来；怎么说也曾经是一个社会人，有时候被当作freshie一样对待真的很不是滋味。结果人变得很躁，心情阴晴不定，有时甚至会说出不好听的话，事后才懊恼不已。

目前的我有很多“心虚”，却不够“虚心”。个人确实还有很多需要改进的地方。目前最应该做的是放下“前身”的包袱，从基本开始努力。君子能屈能伸，现在这个阶段是屈就、虚心受教、尝试和准备失败的时候；这个世界本来就没有什么事情是理所当然的，没有比别人付出更多又怎么可以祈求比别人值得更好的待遇呢? 所以，从今以后也要抱着这样的信念好好地奋斗下去。

Coffee Prince

最近重新看《咖啡王子一号店》，2007年的作品，2010年重看，一样温馨满满。爱情美在暧昧不明时。两个人摸不透对方的心意，想要表白，又怕被拒绝，所以默默猜测、试探、苦恼，对方的一句话语、一个举动，都能让人脸红心跳，甚至象白痴一样傻笑。啊！真想有多一点的青春可以挥霍在单纯的恋爱中。

考试周

进入考试周了。希望可以保持头脑清醒，进行逻辑思考。希望可以保持意志力，抗拒诱惑专心读书。美好的假期就在不远处了！

The last marketing class

There is an exchange student in my International Marketing (IM) class this semester. Her name is Kate, and she is from Monash Australia. During the last class, the prof. asked her, "So, how was your experience at the Malaysian campus?" Kate said, "Different." The prof. asked again, "How different?" She hesitated and answered, "Just different". Then, the class fell into an awkward silence.

It seems odd that an Australian postgraduate student would choose to come to Monash Malaysia, because the course selection here is very limited compared to the Australian campus. Furthermore, Kate is doing a Master of Marketing, a course not offered here. Perhaps there are some overlaps between marketing and international business, but she was definitely up for some disappointments when at least 2 elective courses got cancelled at the beginning of the semester, leaving her no choice but to take IM.

The prof. of IM (Y) is an old guy who is kind of in his own world. I got him last semester for "Marketing and International Consumers", and vowed to never take his class again (I should have known better that the opposite always happen when you vow not to do/have something). Y may be very knowledgeable in his field, but he definitely does not communicate well to the class. Every time I thought he is explaining an example, it would end up being irrelevant to the topic. Every time someone asks him a question, he would end up not answering the question, leaving everyone more confused.

I gave Y an average review last semester. I am sure Y knows how he performs based on the students' unenthusiastic response . It was rather funny and bold that someone in the class should ask him today, "Sir, would you grade us better if we grade you better?" Luckily, he just brushed the remark aside.

Y looks like he is over 60yo. He mentioned that he lived in Australia for many years; however, he still speaks with a heavy Indian accent. I wonder why he decided to teach in Malaysia. It doesn't seem like he is acculturated to the local culture. It must be difficult to change for someone at his age. Perhaps the class should cut him some slack.

"You guys are smarter than me, and your children will be smarter than you," these are some of the final words of Y. Time sure is merciless.

江山易改，本性难移。

江山易改，本性难移。最终还是落得鄙视自己的结果。

龙猫“正传”

朋友在面子书 post 了一个 link，连接到一篇关于日本卡通片《龙猫》的文章。《龙猫》似乎不只是单纯的儿童片。根据传说，龙猫竟是死神的化身！如果仔细观察，便可以发现《龙猫》其实弥漫着一股死亡的气息。这确实是一个很有趣的想法，有机会一定要重看龙猫以便好好确定一下。

放假

学校放一个星期的假，目前正在家中。昨晚在电视上看 “天才冲冲冲”，才发觉原来已经好久没有看综艺节目了。唉，真的好怀念 “国光帮帮忙”。以前工作的时候，全靠综艺节目来减压。现在读书的时候，则靠电影来减压。回家两天，差不多有一半的时间烂在电视前。真庆幸宿舍那里没有电视机，否则后果不堪设想。

这次的假期，只能允许自己一两天的悠闲。明天起，我必须开始做功课了，手头上正有两项3000字的报告要写。同时，还得写信申请工作，因为我打算趁接下来3个月的暑假打工累积经验。未来6个月的生活大概有一个方向了，现在需要做的是有纪律地去实践自己的计划。过程之中难免会遇上困难，平时对于讨厌做的事都是靠 “拖延” 来逃避，这次我想要尝试积极地去面对。最近读了一本关于 critical thinking 的书，作者提议对于越讨厌做的事情应该越尽快去完成，一日没有解决，那事情都会是心里的一个包袱，持续地影响我们的心情，让我们没有办法专心地去完成其他的事情。这个提议确实很有道理。每次拖延任何事情的时候，都会有罪恶感，甚至讨厌自己的懦弱无能，直到拖得不能再拖的时候，便会一边痛苦地去把事情完成，一边咒骂自己 “早知今日，何必当初”。最可怕的是 “拖延” 这个弊病难以根治，每次的觉悟都是“刹那的光辉不是永恒”，说要改、要改，回头老毛病又犯了。

如果可以彻底地把这个坏习惯改掉，生活的操作应该会有极大的改善，就像从老爷车换成跑车，效率肯定提升好几倍。那种不需要临时抱佛脚、挑灯开夜车的生活，感觉一定很好。从这个假期开始，我要考验自己能否按照计划，而不是拖到最后一分钟才把功课做完。如果失败的话，我真的要鄙视我自己了！

生活报告

回到学校上课有将近 7 个月了。还无法决定读书和工作哪个比较好玩。两者都要面对压力，不同的是压力的源头，读书的压力是自己给的，工作的压力是老板给的。

对于选择深造的决定，并没有后悔。我真的学习到很多新的东西，也认识了一些新的朋友，同时，却更缅怀西北大学求学的日子，甚至有些后悔当初没有把握机会学习更多。我现在的学校是无法和西北大学相比的。师资和学生的素质还差一段，有时候确实让我很 frustrated。但是，机会是靠自己去争取的，学校学不到的就得靠自己去摸索，现在的我肯定比大学时期的我更会找门路。老实说，学校的目前教学方法确实有待改善，我不想一竹竿打翻整艘船，但根据 7 个月的经验，我发觉教授很喜欢照着 ppt slides 讲课，十分着重考试会出什么题目，而学生也相当依赖教授提供考试提示。事实上也不能全怪他们，最后真正重要的毕竟还是那一纸文凭和一张漂亮的成绩单。

上个学期发现学校有一个国际交换学生计划，不但有机会出国留学，而且只须付本地（马来西亚）的学费。我毫不犹豫地申请了，虽然结果还未揭晓，但我非常希望这次可以被选中，就像当年非常想要到美国读书一样。不知道为什么，有一种非常迫切想要转换环境的心情，可能漂流习惯了，生理时钟被设定每年都要换一个城市生活。这次申请的学校是北京大学，我至今仍未踏足中国，所以有些向往，而且中国现在正迅速地发展着，是很多国际企业争相抢夺的‘肥肉’市场，可以到那里学习肯定对我的学业很有帮助。只能交叉手指祈祷可以梦想成真吧！

这个学期，时间一如往常过得很快，一眨眼已经过了大半个学期。最近为了marketing 的功课必须访问某公司的 CEO。公司名叫 AYS Sdn. Bhd.，是一间小型企业，只有员工 35 名，他们出产冷冻微波炉食物（Frozen Ready Meal), 在马来西亚算是首创，因为之前并没有这样的市场。虽然公司刚开始两年，但可以感受 CEO 兼老板 Liow 先生的雄心壮志，他确实是一个很有想法和热诚的人，完全符合他们公司的精神 -- “Celebrate life! Be passionate in what you do.”。他逢人都说要在未来 5 年内开 100 家分店，目的是为了激励自己（为了面子）不可以失败。其实，这项功课原本并没有要求我和公司做访谈，是我自己自作聪明去联络人家，因为是间只得两岁的小型企业，可以找到的资料有限，所以想试试直接从公司那边着手。还好我作了这个‘聪明’，所谓“贤人一席话，胜读十年书”，和 Liow 先生短短一个小时的交谈绝对让我获益良多。

我也参加了一项义务活动，帮助一个叫 Elevyn 的社会企业（social enterprise）在校园做宣传。这是由三位二十多岁的年青人所创办的一个很有意思的组织；秉着公平贸易（fair trade）的精神，他们提供一个网络管道让弱势族群以公道的价钱拍卖他们的手工艺品赚钱维生，避免他们遭到中介的剥削。有兴趣的朋友们不妨到他们的网站浏览并给予支持。

还有一个星期多就是 mid-semester break，迫不及待地想要回家，因为非常想念家里的爸爸妈妈和米奇男。不过，假期之前有两项功课要完成；最折磨人的总是等待的时候，希望功课顺顺利利完成，假期可以快快到，慢慢过！

流连忘返

今天又做了奇怪的梦，梦见我在欧洲旅行，玩得乐不思蜀。其中一天还参加了当地大型的 open-air 乐团演出；让我印象深刻的还有一条都是花店的街，店里卖的都是我没有见过的花，每个都有瘦瘦长长的枝茎，长得和人一样的高度，可以想像它们随风摇曳的姿态会是多么地优雅。某天，突然察觉在这个地方呆得蛮久了，怎么还不回家，却完全想不起来究竟计划了哪一天回家。于是急忙检查回程机票，怎知时间、日期全模糊了！我到底有没有错过了回家的飞机？！着急之中却又陷进了另一个梦境里头。

26岁生日快乐

很早的星期六，我携带简单的行李搭巴士前往新加坡。要变成26岁的这一天，我和很想红小姐有约。途中接到了好朋友、家人们的电话和sms 祝福，真的感谢不已，难得还有人记得我的生日。其实今年只想过一个简单、平淡的生日，和好朋友聚一聚，喝几杯，畅谈一番。虽然不是什么酒鬼，但还蛮想念酒还是垂手可得的那些日子，现在居住的地方，喝酒没这么方便。谢谢很想红小姐为我炮制的梅酒，现在想起来有一点意犹未尽，找一天也得买一瓶来细细品尝。

晚上出发到Expo参加张信哲的“幸福觉哲”20周年纪念演唱会。有一点早到，现场实在很没有即将举行演唱会的气氛。没有很high的歌迷，没有贩卖荧光棒的人，甚至连一长张信哲的海报也没有。等候室的电视机重复地播着蔡琴、王杰、萧亚轩演唱会的预告，真的很没有张信哲演唱会的感觉。演唱会预定7.30pm开场，但7.20pm现场看起来还相当空荡荡的，我们不禁为张担心，还好7.45pm现场终于坐满人了。没有绚丽的舞台，没有华丽的服装，没有性感舞团，只有穿着t-shirt的乐团，是一场纯音乐的演唱会。荧幕还附上歌词让歌迷们可以合唱，现场有如一个大型ktv室。久违了，那些陪伴我们长大、感动过我们的歌。曾经我们在教室走廊排队时唱着，在毕业旅行巴士上唱着，甚至把喜爱的歌词写进生日卡、毕业纪念册。很多以为忘记的歌，前奏一响，熟悉的歌词和旋律自动地想起来了，不枉我们当年那么努力地练唱。

陶醉于两个小时多的“回忆过去”，踏出会场又得回到现在；演唱会完了，又长大一岁。长大了，心情好像有走向一条直线的趋势，平平稳稳地，不轻易地为任何人或事大起大落；变得更理智也算是一种好事吧。所谓“学然后知不足，教然后知困”，回学校读书的这些时候学了很多，发觉自己实在有太多的不足了，反尓感到更无助。“知不足然后能自反也，知困然后能自强也” --听起来很容易，做起来很艰难。26岁了，我真的很想要做一些有意义、有建设的事情，很想要变得更聪明、更有智慧，可以更客观地分析事情，也可以有力地坚持自己的想法。但是，或许真正最最需要的是去实践的意志力吧。

p/s 去年8月发表的blogpost感觉好像是不久之前的事罢了，事实上一年真的已经过去了，叫人如何能不感慨光阴似箭啊？

http://ah-boss.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html

My new laptop - Acer Aspire 4741G

After enduring countless of screen blackouts and system restarts with my hp laptop of 4 years old, I finally bought a new laptop yesterday. I got an Acer Aspire 4741G for RM2239. I was planning to buy a Dell Inspiron or Toshiba Satellite, did plenty of research on those two models. But when I got to the store, the salesman (with chicken voice) was strongly promoting the Acer to me. Comparing specs-to-specs, it is a very good deal indeed. For RM2299, the Acer comes with Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD and 3 years warranty; Dell or Toshiba at similar price range only offers Intel Core i3, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD and 1 year warranty. I was actually quite suspicious of the deal. I asked the salesman why is Acer so cheap? It's a marketing strategy, he said.

I could have stick with my original decision of getting a Dell or Toshiba, but being the kiasu person I am, the deal was too good to give up. Too bad I didn't have internet access to check out the reviews (word of mouth marketing definitely works for people like me). My concerns were: 1) is Acer an inferior brand compared to Dell/Toshiba? 2) does the brand have anything to do with the machine's performance? 3) does the laptop heat up easily? (overheating was the main problem with my hp and compaq - I ask this same question to a few salesman, off course everyone says their products don't have overheating problem)

I probably walk around the mall a few times before finally coming to a decision. Actually, this is my 3rd visit to the mall already in search of a laptop. I decided to take a leap of faith with Acer this time based on a few reasons: 1) my brother had an Acer which lasted about 3-4 years 2) the free 3 year warranty is too good to give up (if I bought a crappy laptop, at least I am still covered for its crappiness within the next 3 years, right?) 3) it is definitely not time efficient for me to come back for the 4th time.

So here I am writing this blog with my brand new laptop. There is nothing to complain about the hardware so far, but the machine doesn't come with any MS Office software. The original software costs RM299, and comes with 3 licences; probably sensing the cheapskate in me, the chicken-voice salesman recommended using openoffice which is a freeware that you can download online (http://www.openoffice.org/). I am trying out openoffice now, the interface is quite similar to MS Office, but you still need some time to get used to it; it's quite amazing so far, you can actually read MS office documents, and save documents in MS office version, it's free and you don't have to go against your conscience by using ciplak software. Hopefully this new laptop will serve me well for another 3-4 years.

Inception

我甘拜于Christopher Nolan的天才。他是这部片的导演兼编剧 。故事的构思很好。新颖的题材利用简单、有结构的表达方式让观众可以明白；观众因为可以明白如此有深度的概念所以有一种自我提升的好感，也所以对电影有所好评。故事要探讨的是“虚幻和现实只是一念之差”这个概念。而导演就是那个要把这个概念植入观众思想里面的关键人物。非常佩服导演想到用“梦中梦 （a dream within a dream）”的构思来诠释虚幻和真实的区别。相信每一个人都有进入过梦中梦的境界，那种在梦里梦醒的感觉真的奇异，有时候的确难以辨别自己到底回到了现实还是在梦中。也非常佩服他懂得利用不同阶层的梦去创造不同的时空，然后用巧妙的剪接手法把去连贯在不同时空同一时间发生的事情；确实，那种在梦中过了很久，醒来时才发觉不过睡了十多分钟的感觉是大家都很熟悉的。最绝的要属结尾所留下的“问号” --那个陀螺究竟有没有停止旋转，主角最后真的回到现实了吗，抑或依然困在自己创造的梦境当中？

这部戏让我联想到曾经读过的一篇诗, Edgar Allan Poe 的《A Dream within A Dream》:

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

或许当人走到绝望之时，总会创造一些“梦/假象”去帮助自己以逃避的方式去面对接受不到的事实；或许，“梦”是人与生俱来的求生本能，在现实世界无法活下去的时候，就编造另一个世界来延续自己的生命，所以才会有精神错乱的人、靠毒品成日沉迷于兴奋状态的人等等；比起寻死的人，我们是否应该赞赏这些仍有一丝求生意志的人呢？

献给阿明和黎小姐

第一次知道关于阿明的事情，是从很想红小姐和Charlene那里听来的。是属于男对女一见钟情的故事，虽然有点质疑现实中是否有一见钟情这回事，但故事当然也没有停止在一见钟情而已。第一次看见阿明是在Subang某商场，当时他正式以男友身份出现，接受好朋友们的“面试”，除了表现得有点腼腆之外，也算漂亮过关。第一次体验阿明的为人是大学时候和一伙朋友到意大利旅行的时候。那趟旅行有两对恋人 – 黎小姐和阿明，Soha和Sara – 还有郭小姐和我。整个行程中阿明表现很得体，照顾女友有方，领导大队有方，让大伙玩得很放心。当时就觉得黎小姐实在很有眼光，选了一支低风险、高回报的蓝筹股，简单来说就是一个值得依靠的好男生。郭小姐和我一路上都是落在队伍后面，我们自嘲没有爱情的力量，所以走得比较慢，其实是不想打扰情人们的卿卿我我。

其实，对于黎小姐和阿明这段感情，我也只能以一个站在很远的旁观者身份去观察和诠释。但我相信两人言行之间的感情流露是真实的。这两人形成一对很有趣的搭配：一个曾经是华文学会主席，一个是华语不通的香蕉人；一个是非基督教徒，一个是基督教徒。这不是一段简单的爱情故事，语言和信仰上都要做出不少让步和妥协。两人能够从谈恋爱发展到结婚的阶段，看似简单，应该也不容易，相信他们也经历过不为人知的矛盾和挣扎，最重要的是在面对各种挑战之下，他们终究选择彼此、选择守住这段感情，才有我今天有感而发写这篇东西。往后还有更长的路要走，至少现在有两个人一起面对和承担，希望两人可以发挥 1+1>2的效力，越战越勇，用爱情和亲情的甜蜜融掉身边的每一个人。请别担心我们，我想我们应该受得起的，也会替你们感到非常非常地开心。祝福你们。

执子之手…

与子偕老。

夜有所梦

昨晚梦见自己站上了超级星光大道的舞台，成为了决赛的参赛者之一。结果竟然在唱最后一首歌的时候完全忘词！乐队继续玩着背景音乐，而我却完全想不起歌的词和旋律，只能傻傻地对着观众放空。全场观众包括评审开始交头接耳地低声讨论着我到底出了什么问题，有些人甚至发出嘘声。我很急，越急脑袋就越空白，我瞄向主持人，瞄向乐队，没有人可以给我提示，没有人愿意帮助我……然后我就惊醒了。上帝保佑，我千万不好在大考的时候脑袋失灵，想不起来读过的东西呀！

A boost in confidence

I submitted my second paper for the International Business Theory & Practice class two weeks ago. The first paper was not great, I only got a credit (60-69) for it. I wrote until the very last minute for the second one, in fact, I had to miss half of the class because I was still writing the paper :( I definitely felt less confident with the second paper because it was done in such a rush.

The prof. was going to return the paper today. "No one fails, and there are three high distinctions," said the prof. That's good news, I thought to myself, I would be happy if I can get a credit, even though it seems likely that I would get a pass. "There is one paper that is very well-written, you guys should have a look at it, who is Heng? " I sheepishly raised my hand, while in my mind I was like "You must be kidding me!". Carmen shouted from the back, "Hey, you have to treat us now!" I silently prayed that the prof. had better not mistaken me with someone else, otherwise, it's going to be so embarrassing......

Finally, when the class ended, we went to the prof's office to collect the paper. I did get a high distinction for my paper. I wonder where went right. Anyway, I am guiltily soaking up the happiness (I still don't think I deserve the marks, but whatever).

I have been feeling unsure about myself recently; the more I study, the more I realize my own shortcomings. There are so many things that I don't understand about this world, I am not an expert in anything, I cannot argue confidently about any issues because I don't feel I have any original/valuable inputs to add......I guess I just need to work harder. Getting a HD for my paper is definitely a boost to my confidence, I think I am not too bad after all.

Damn, woke up too early!

Room-mate has a class at 8am. She was up around 7am. Light switched on, switched off, and switched on again. I think I heard her slurping her Milo, maybe she is rushing. I tossed around in my bed, using my blanket to cover my face, avoiding the brightness. I didn't want to wake up, but I couldn't sleep, partly because of the light, partly because I was hungry. I got up reluctantly, drank a packet of milk, switched on the computer, checked email, checked facebook, opened the window, seems like a lovely day out there, very peaceful, I can hear the birds chirping, someone is cleaning the pool......suddenly “你阿妈揾你，你阿爸揾你，你阿婆揾你，你阿嬷揾你，你阿爷揾你，你阿公揾你…… ” oh, that's my alarm ring-tone. It is only 8.30am. Shit! what am I supposed to do next?

Maybe I should just go back to sleep......

九把刀《上课不要看小说》

很久没有买书了，之前在新加坡工作的时候，办了图书馆卡，借书很方便。住家附近的图书馆藏书还蛮齐全的，英文、中文的书籍都找得到。回马读书，唯有依赖学校的图书馆，要找学术的书籍和某些英文非学术小说没有问题，中文书就抱歉了。前天到大众瞎逛 （我真的是一个 loser “书家”，难得假日还非得与书为伍），大众正在做推销，有些书籍可以得到 20 至 40 八仙的折扣。结果一次过买了三本书回家。

买的其中一本书是九把刀的新小说《上课不要看小说》。之前听过这个作者，老弟也有一本他的书 《楼下的房客》，但我不曾读过他写的东西。因为被第一章吸引到，才决定买他的书的。故事一开始讲的是一个男生的爸爸被神秘溶解掉的事件。虽然搞不清楚书名《上课不要看小说》跟一个人被溶解的神秘案有什么关联，但还是有想知道故事接下来是怎么样的欲望。

结果咧，只能承认我对于台湾“现代流行创作”有一点脱节了。如此“新潮”的书我还是第一次读到。整本书除了偶尔提一下男生如何因为爸爸被溶解的事情痛苦继而变得更坚强之外，对于溶尸案再也没有别的交待。每一个章节讲的都是一些低俗的怪事。其中一章讲述一个怪异疯女生如何从疗养院“偷”了一个矢智老人，假装他是自己的老爸，然后用自己的呕吐物当食物喂老人。在这里和大家分享一下作者如何描述失智老人：

“我注意到他在大便，因为的的确确就有一截大便卡在他的肛门里，不上不下的，还有点干，不晓得那样的状态到底维持了多久。”

“老人就这样漫不在乎地裸露下半身，晃着皱巴巴的小鸟，晃着干掉的大便，走过我的身边。”

花了十六块钱买了这本书，读到了作者对于老人和干掉的大便如此有画面感的描写，让我有感而发写了这片文章。真的要多多感谢这本书所启发的灵感。我想我也该试试看吧，写小说这一回事。大便、乔奶、疯人、鬼怪之类的事情我也略懂一二，或许也可以凑得上一本小说。书名就叫《超级无聊也不要看的小说》吧。

忙里偷闲写一下

今天，忙里偷闲重看 Billy Elliot 这部戏。故事讲述一个来自英国矿工家庭的男孩如何在重重困境当中追求跳芭蕾舞的梦想。和第一次看的时候一样，哭得稀里哗啦地。

这部戏好像是在 2001 年推出的。那年我刚中学毕业，没想到竟是9年前的事了。我目前的室友1993 年生，芳龄 17 岁。26 岁不算老，和未满 20 岁的少女相比，还是相形见绌。那些陪我长大的流行歌曲都已被封为老歌。王力宏好像也有一点out了。张信哲更不用说。当年当红的 boy bands，小妹妹没有听过。如今最热的是一个乳臭未干，看起来不难不女的 Justin Bieber。

室友应该不曾看过 Billy Elliot 这部戏。有机会要介绍他看看。饰演Billy Elliot 的男生， Jamie Bell，已经是个20出头的青年。意外地发现他是 Green Day “Wake Me Up When September Ends” MV 里的男主角。不管你长得怎样，一双有灵魂的眼睛真得很重要，对于演员尤其如此。长大的 Jamie Bell 样子稍微变了，但是那对眼神还是会让我想起 Billy Elliot。现实生活哪里去找一对会让人着迷、陷入恋爱的眼神？

漂亮的纸老虎

将来有能力的时候,我的家也要安置两只这样的老虎。

"Origami Tigers" – by Chris Bosse, LAVA, Sydney
Source: http://www.kualalumpurdesignweek.com.my/2010/installation.php

纯文艺恋爱

“你轻轻柔柔地细诉着槟城下的雨……”

当初听见电影预告里播的这段旋律、这段歌词，心里浮现一种淡淡的布鲁，那是为回不到从前而感慨。

对于电影未抱有太大的期望，但最终还是决定捧场。熟悉的画面，熟悉的腔调，有几分真实的故事，略嫌煽情的（有一些）对白，让我想起了中学时期写过的那些充满年少情怀的文章。

真怀念年少时期的多愁善感。那时候的情绪总是轻易地为各种小事起伏波动。那些曾经在乎的东西，虽然有一些已经成为过去，偶尔还是会慢慢地想起，几十年来依旧那么地清晰……哈，突然之间，我也很想谈一场纯文艺恋爱！

p/s 电影主题曲《纯文艺恋爱》是一首80年代歌曲的翻场。原曲由【陈绍安】作词、作曲，【吴旺庆】主唱，发布于1988年《流行与不流行之间》专辑。原唱版的编曲和唱法很有罗大佑的feel。在此附上电影版和原唱版给各位欣赏一下。Malaysia Boleh :)

想起来，佛都有火

I got my marketing assignment back yesterday. It was a group assignment. Two weeks ago, a few days before the due date, I had a crisis with my group mate. She went missing in action, ignoring my emails, smses and phone calls. Our assignment was divided into 4 parts, she was supposed to do part 1, while I part 2; we were supposed to combine our reports and make further analysis in part 3 and 4. I sent her my part for review, never heard back from her. I asked to review her draft, never got a single word from her.

I have worked in many group projects before. I have worked with slackers, but have never came across someone as irresponsible as this person. I tried to make contact with her for almost three days, until at one point, I thought something bad might have happened to her, like she got into an accident or something. Then I thought maybe I am giving her too much pressure, so I tried to be nice, polite and encouraging in my emails and smses. Later, I even resorted to try to contact her via another class-mate, W. If she was well and alive, it was very obvious she was avoiding my calls.

Two days before the due date, she finally "resurfaced from hiding". W organized a meeting so we can help each other out with the assignment (W was in a different group). She responded to W's invitation and decided to go for the meeting (all the while, she was still not making direct contact with me!). W advised me to be "easy" with her; apparently she seemed very stressed out because she hasn't finished her part yet, and she feels guilty about it. For Christ's sake, we are all adults! If she couldn't cope, she should have asked for help earlier. Instead, she chose to leave me in the dark not knowing if I should just do the whole thing myself (and the hell she knew I have two other assignments due in the same week). The worst part was, she acted as if nothing happened at all. She never even tried to explain nor apologize for her unresponsiveness during the past few days.

To cut a long story short, she was still not done with her part during the meeting. She couldn't send me a soft copy of her draft because there was something wrong with her computer and she couldn't save the file. LUCKILY, I managed to read through her hardcopy draft (which she only had one copy), and I had to do part 3 and part 4 myself, title page, content page, plus rewriting the executive summary (which she merely cut and paste from our report). Maybe I should give her some credit for doing the bibliography at the last minute.

The irony of it all is, our assignment actually got the highest mark in the class. She wasn't present during the class. I sms-ed her about the good news. She replied:

"Huh? Wtf? I tot only 60, considering such a last min job. Omg."

I really wish we hadn't got the highest mark, because someone really doesn't deserve it.

Haiku #1

Amidst white silence,
the bandits were scavenging
trash cans for treasures.

祝生日快乐

今天是王弟弟的生日。

祝福
花香自有赏花人，人才自有用才人，
襄王神女皆有意，两情相悦互倾心，
事业情场兼得意，早日会出人头地。

就算
人生不如意事十之八九，唯有快乐在心头，
闲来无事谈谈情，苦中还可作作乐，
成败乃人生常事，应以常心应得失。

且记
世上有两大不教，既是比较和计较，
人比人会气死人，斤斤计较吓跑人，
做人处事刚刚好，日子轻松乐逍遥。

The Adventure of Booking Air Tickets

I wish I could predict airfares.

Recently I had a very frustrating experience with buying air tickets. The story starts with my plan to follow my parents to UK to attend my sister’s graduation. Because I have a longer holiday, my parents and I agreed that we will fly to UK together, and come back separately. We requested our travel agent to check if there is any good deal during the recent Matta Fair. Her best offer to us was RM4200 per round trip to London via Thai Airways.

I thought the price was quite high, plus we will lose a lot of time during transit. I did my own research, and managed to find a relatively good deal from Etihad Airways, which is RM3900 per round trip to London. I was very excited and “kan-cheong” at the same time, because there were 4 seats left only. I proceeded immediately to booking, but I faced a problem -- I could only buy one ticket at a time due to credit limit. I was concerned that the stupid slow internet connection at my hostel would slow down the online purchasing process. What if someone goes and “chop” all the other tickets while I am buying one ticket? I had no choice but to take the risk. Luckily, all went well and the tickets were booked successfully.

But my happiness was short-lived. Within the next hour, I found out that it is even cheaper to fly to London and return from Manchester! That also works out to be a better itinerary because my sister goes to Manchester University. That was when I really felt like banging my head on the wall. I was a fool! Somehow, I just got it in my head that flights to London are generally cheaper than to Manchester. That's why I didn't bother checking in the first place. Now if I want to change the booking, the penalty charges will be RM100, and mind you, the price difference of the tickets will not be honored if the new price is cheaper. What a bummer!

I had yet to buy my own air ticket by then. I planned to stay longer and go Paris with my sister; hence I needed to book a return trip from Paris instead. I found a great deal: RM3413 to fly London (with my parents) and return from Paris. However, luck was not on my side when I tried to book the ticket. First, my debit card didn’t work; second, no one answers my phone when I called the debit card’s customer service (multiple times); third, and the worst of all, the price hiked up the next day to RM4013, which is a RM600 difference! I was seriously very upset. I simply couldn’t accept the fact that I almost had the deal, but then lost it in such a short time due to such stupid circumstances. I even thought of asking the debit card company to compensate for the opportunity lost!

Anyway, life moves on. I tried to scout for other options, but just couldn’t find the next best thing. I almost gave up on the trip until I made a new discovery during a phone call to Etihad Airways. Apparently there were tickets selling at RM3713 for the same route but on a different day. I was both confused and surprised. I had been spending so much time playing around with different conbinations of date and destination, I couldn’t have missed that price. So I went to check online again, and the agent was right, it was selling for RM3713! Without losing time, I immediately tried to book the ticket (I had already solved my debit card problem by then). Again, my debit card didn’t work, or rather, in a more objective context, Etihad Airways was experiencing difficulties processing my payment. I tried a few more times, it still didn’t work. I knew there was no point calling the debit card company, so I decided to book directly from the airline via telephone call.

“Sorry, miss, but I am afraid the price just went up to RM4013.”

" (OS: WTF!) How could that be? I just called you one hour ago, and you told me the price was RM3713. Now on my computer screen, it is still showing RM3713, but the thing is the (OS: f**king stupid) system is not processing my payment!!!”

Ok, I hope you get the idea. This whole experience of booking air tickets is just extremely frustrating. The price fluctuates like crazy, and there is no way to predict which way it is going. According to the agent, the airline only offers limited seats for a certain low price, when those seats are booked, the remaining seats will sell for a higher price; but sometimes, those low-price seats will become available again, if the customers/agents do not confirm their bookings before a certain deadline. So this agent was kind enough to offer to help me monitor the price for the rest of the day, in case people give up their bookings. I wasn't carrying too much hope, I didn't want to be disappointed again. I was already losing out. I wasted too much time on the computer when I was supposed to be studying, my eyes were sore, my back was aching, and I still didn’t have a ticket.

In the end, I managed to get my ticket for RM3746. Someone released his/her booking, but somehow, the price had already increased by USD10, maybe due to change in currency exchange rate, interest rate, fuel rate, tax rate……God knows. I really wish I could predict airfares. But for now, I am happy enough to not have to go through the ups and downs of airfare fluctuation again, at least not in the near future.

Life as a student, again

As of 1 March, I am officially a graduate student at Monash University Sunway, studying for a master degree in International Business.

I have finally settled down at Sun-U-Residences, which is a hostel managed by the Sunway University College. I am staying in a twin-sharing room, but I don't have a room-mate yet. There are 2 more double rooms and 1 single rooms within the unit. One of the double rooms is occupied by 2 girls from China, another by 2 girls from Nigeria; whereas the single room is occupied by a girl from Tanzania. Not much interactions with my house-mates so far, except for S from Tanzania. Very interesting stories she had told me about her home country, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located (maybe I will write about them in a different post).

There are part-time and full-time students in my classes. There are 3 girls whom I am closer with, all of them part-timers. NC is working at UOB, EW at Public Bank and WW at IBM. Most people from my classes do not have business background, which is a relief I suppose, because we are starting off at the same level. After 4 days of classes, I can already foresee my future days being buried in endless reading and writing. The last and only economic class I have taken was "Introduction to Macroeconomics" back in 2nd year of college, so there is definitely a lot of catching up to do.

Not having a car here is a handicap. There is a free shuttle bus that goes to Sunway Pyramid from the hostel. The longest that I have waited (exposed to blazing hot sun albeit standing under the shelter of the bus stop) is 30 minutes, and the shortest 15 minutes. Plus it takes me 5-10 minutes to walk to school (one way), and some times I have to make several trips to school to use the wireless network there simply because the internet service at my hostel is crap. The distance is actually nothing to complain about, I have walked farther distance; it's the weather that is the killer, not to forget the risk of being mugged/snatched on the street as well (as so many have warned me by now). Maybe I was too pampered with the efficient public transportation of other more developed countries; I felt so wretched everytime I strain my neck looking beyond the horizon for the bus that has yet to come, sweats are pouring down like rain, and I really feel like dying of dehydration. But I guess I am getting a hang of it now. Umbrella, jacket, UV sun-screen and a book for leisure-reading are items not to be missed everytime I walk out the door.

That's all for now, my new life as a student at Sunway. Until next time then, take care.

《啊啊》

最近得知刘墉将会出一本新书《啊啊》，讲述一对野雁的故事。刘墉一家更合力制作了一出叫《啊啊》的短片，记录他们和野雁的相遇。因为家里养了米奇男，对于动物的灵性有更深一层的体会和了解，所以看了这出短片特别有感觉，想藉此和大家分享：



Source: http://www.syzbooks.com/

生死一瞬间

今天，我们差点失去了我家的米奇男。

事情发生在傍晚。老爸兴血来潮要带米奇男出去走走，顺便到附近的一块空地“做大事”。米奇男很醒目地跑到前门让老爸用链子把它拴上，然后高兴地摇着尾巴出门了。当时阿嬷、老妈、和我正在饭桌上闲话家常，突然我隐约听见外面传来一阵叫喊声，声音听起来蛮凶的，像在骂人一样。我问：“是不是爸爸在喊啊？” 我曾经遛过米奇男，知道它有时候会很不听话，该时候回家却不肯回家，所以我怀疑可能是老爸在对米奇男叫喊。“出去看看。” 老妈说。一踏出家门，我们差点被吓坏了。

在大声叫喊的真的是我的老爸，但，那是求救的叫喊声！隔壁家的大狗正紧紧地咬着米奇男的肚子不放，老爸死命地拉着米奇的链子，试图把它拉出大狗的口中，形成一幅人狗大拔河的画面。“快点！米奇要被咬死了！” 老爸大喊着。老妈和我赶紧前往协助，大狗并没有因为人多而松懈，直到老妈拿起附近的一个花盆丢向它时，它才肯松口，却还尚未罢休、凶狠地瞪着我们。

老爸和我把米奇抬进家里的时候，它的眼睛已经翻白，身体软绵绵地一动不动，似乎没有了气息。它的身上有多处被咬的伤痕，但最致命的其实是被链子勒住了脖子不能呼吸，因为刚才老爸情急之下只顾着用力地把米奇拉回家，并没有注意到用力过度导致链子勒住了米奇的颈项。慌慌张张地，老爸尝试解开米奇脖子上的铁链，可是手却不听使唤地没能成功解开。“爸，你放手，让我来吧。” 我压抑着心里的紧张，慢慢地把铁链从米奇的头部脱出来。老妈也使力地把米奇的嘴巴拔开，害怕它可能不小心把自己的舌头咬断（因为它的嘴巴外边有血丝）。可是，米奇男还是瘫在那里没有一丝动静。“米奇死了，米奇死了……” 老爸喃喃地重复着。阿嬷也说：“哎哟，可惜呀，好好的一只狗就这样死掉……” 我抚摸着米奇男，一直呼唤它的名字，叫它不可以死；明明早上还活蹦乱跳的它怎么突然间就死了，这是不可能的，这是不可能的--如此的想法一直在脑里回荡着。

然后奇迹发生了！忽然间，米奇男的眼睛微微眨了几下、放空，然后大口地喘气。大家陷入一阵兴喜和慌乱。在老妈的指挥下，老爸赶紧联络某兽医，可惜上次忘了记下电话号码，所以只能通过他的朋友查询，偏偏朋友又在外打高尔夫球，须等他回家后才可以让我们知道……急得如热锅上的蚂蚁的我们最后决定亲自把米奇男送到兽医那里，尽管诊所可能关了（因为时间蛮晚了），但还是得搏一把。重得像小猪仔一样的米奇男必须由老爸和我合力搬动才扛得上车（有机会真的要好好地替他减肥了）。然后，我们用毛巾裹着它以免它身上的血沾到车内。

去诊所的只有老爸、老妈。听老妈说，他们真得非常幸运，赶到诊所的时候，刚好碰见正要离开的兽医。经过诊断，米奇男身上有两处较深的伤口需要缝针，除了惊吓过渡之外，并无大恙，可以直接带回家休养。回到家里的米奇男一副沮丧的败犬模样，软趴趴地躺在地上，泛红的眼睛露出楚楚可怜的眼神，让我们心疼死了。其实这已经是米奇男第二次被其他狗攻击。上一次被攻击后，它消沉了整整三、四天，吃不下、动不得，变得跟一个哑巴似的连吠也不吠了。这一次死过翻生，或许也会陷入同样的消沉期？无论如何，我们一家人已经准备好好地照顾它直到康复为止。

回想之前曾经一度以为米奇男已经死去的时候，依然心有余悸，眼泪更不由自主地流下来。我这才深深地体会到米奇男在我们家里的地位，已经不只是一只狗那么简单；它已经成为我们日常生活中不可缺少的一分子，就像我们的家人一样。

白头发

今天发现了一根白头发！从发根开始都是银白色的，只有发尾还有些许黑色。

天啊，难道这是衰老的象征吗？

驾车恐惧症

回家将近一个月，感觉自己患了“驾车恐惧症”。不知为什么，一想到要出门要驾车，就很抗拒，觉得很麻烦、很危险、很没有意义，结果索性不出门算了。

新年的时候，曾经不小心撞坏车子的 bumper，老弟抓着我这个痛脚一直到今天还没放。对于驾车这回事，我算是家里的兄弟姐妹当中最没有胆量，也最没有天分了。弟弟妹妹曾经在吉隆坡生活过，驾车技术也经过了大城市交通的洗礼，而我则被纽约和新加坡的公共交通宠坏了，认站不认路，可以说是个路痴 （方向感很好的那种 ^_^）。

为什么会抗拒驾车，其实有几个原因：

第一，找停车位很麻烦，而且我的停车技术是有限公司，我曾经试过进退几次都无法把车泊好，还被后面的车子按喇叭，真的很丢脸。

第二，马路上潜伏着太多粗心大意的司机/骑士，就算自己小心开车，倒霉起来的时候还是有可能遇上车祸的；最近就有好几宗严重的交通意外，肇事的都没事，出事的反而是无辜的人；还有几宗让人切齿的撞后逃事件，受害者都是以死亡收场；别怪我杞人忧天，可是一想到这些事情也有可能发生在我的身上的时候，我就会觉得背脊发冷。

第三，路霸实在太可怕了，真正的路霸我没有见过（touch wood x2），新闻报导的倒是听闻不少，而且受害者都伤得不轻；最接近遇见路霸的经验要算在新加坡搭德士的时候，德士司机和别车司机因为某些冲突互比中指、互用唇语骂脏话（车内倒是听得很清楚），还好他们只是隔着车镜装腔弄势，没有真的下车大打出手，但仅仅如此已经让我又尴尬又害怕了。

当然，因为以上原因而不驾车也不是办法。如果想留在马来西亚发展，不会驾车是handicap #1，没有车是 handicap #2，所以再不喜欢，我还是得征服驾车这件事，更要挑战在吉隆坡和槟城这两个我认为颇具高难度的城市里驾车。

Reflecting on 2009

2009 has not been the best year for me, but indeed, I have grown as a person, learned new things from work, made new friends and went places, so I am not going to complain.

There are a few things that I want to take from 2009 and bring forward into 2010:

"It's not about being Miss Popular"
-- this is what my boss told me once. I was quite upset at first, but I realize he was right. I do have a tendency to get on everyone's good side. Whenever someone made a mistake, missed a deadline, delivered below expectation......I would try to listen, understand and be considerate towards his/her situation(potentially an excuse). I guess that's why people like me, but I have learned through the hard way that this is a no-no at work, because people tend to take advantage of you when you are nice. I need to be firm with my position, and make it clear to people that I mean what I say, instead of letting them manipulate me back. I need to care less of what others would think of me (I don't think people give a damn anyway) and just get the job done. Some might be unhappy, but I think they would at least respect me for doing my work.

"Follow up, follow up, and follow up again"
-- the exact thing that I need to do with myself and everyone else. One should never assume that people will do exactly what they are being told, or something will be done correctly according to instructions. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong -- the absolute truth with all the projects that I have worked on so far. Therefore, no shame in being a broken record, repeating yourself over and over again, because something will definitely go wrong, and it's always better that you know it earlier than later.

"Failure is not an option."
-- a very important attitude that I need to have to succeed. I have been doing alright in life, but I have not succeeded. One of the reasons might be my not giving 110% in the things I do. I have allowed myself to have reservations, and hence the excuse/option to fail. I had turned a blind eye towards problems and run from difficult situations because I was afraid of failing, not realizing that the act of running away is already choosing to fail. There is a Chinese idiom "破釜沉舟 (po4 fu3 chen2 zhou4)" which means cutting of one's way of retreat and be determined to fight to the end, and this shall be the spirit that I must have and follow from today onwards in everything that I do.