Awesome music

There is such awesomeness in this world and here I am, struggling to understand chords. Drats!

When I heard this piece by Tchaikovsky, for the first time I truly appreciate the beauty and expressiveness of the violin.

If I have to put up with all the pain of mugging for theory exams to get the chance to learn to play something like this one day, dang it, I will. But right now, the pain is very real!

Itzhak Perlman, you are so good, you're badass! :)

All about food in Taiwan

Jiapalan food from the Shilin night market such as the famous 鸡排 and sausages. So-so only--was quite disappointed after hearing so much about the night market.

扁食in Hualien, 云吞to us.


We heart breakfast!

烤肉串from Hualien's night market. Long queue and highly recommended by the taxi driver. Not bad not bad, but extremely oily... -_-

Zhi char at the same night market. Singapore's is tastier, thank you.

We eat nao! Jiapalan food from Hualien, including sweet potato, beancurd, KFC and McDonald's.

Rose milk tea and mixed fruit tea at a teahouse at Jiufen.

Taiwanese bento eaten at the Taroko National Park: not really my kind of food though.

Dinner at the 五角船板 restaurant: a most satisfying meal, especially the smooth and succulent cod fish and the yummy drunken chicken rolls. The restaurant is enormous, occupying a whole building and consisting of 4 floors.

Nice pasta at the Mr J(ay Chou) cafe: I finished my big plate of aglio olio pasta (lower right), to everyone's surprise.


Crunchy prawn balls at Jiufen. Yums. We also had grilled mushrooms there, juicy and chewy!

Helper at the mushroom stall: 来试试杨过的最爱！

Us：？？？
Helper at the mushroom stall: 好吃的菇菇！
Us：......

BREAD!!! Lots of it! Need I say more?

星空

最近在学华文，所以想多用一点。这一次到台湾，姐姐和我买了好几本几米的书。第一次真正接触到他的作品是当同事送了一本《向左走，向右走》。我非常喜欢，之后便开始留意他的作品。

看他的书，感触很多。 前晚深夜，我阅读了《月亮忘记了》，读着读着，哭了。

他的故事描写了孤独的成人和小孩的世界。他把最新的作品《星空》献给无法与世界勾通的小孩。我也曾经是一个孤独的小孩。 认为父母不了解我，姐弟不喜欢我，朋友不需要我。地方太小了，没有一个容得下我的角落。

孤独的小孩现在长大成为孤独的大人，但也了解寂寞是难免的， 在孤独中有时也可以自得其乐。孤独也可以是一种自由。

只是， 为什么世上有那么多不快乐的小孩呢？美好的童年跑到哪儿去了？

Lavender Fields Forever

Sleep doesn't come easy, even with eyes closed.

When everything in life is but a supposed.

If I should dream of the answer,

may it be lavender fields forever.

Welcome to Taiwan!

This is the trip during which electronic devices fail me and I was forced to listen to the roar of the modern life. My ipod nano played dead and refused to be recharged (but of course it immediately springs to life when I anxiously connected it to the PC at home). Because of that, I had to hear the mutter and chatter of fellow passengers, but mostly the drone of cars, buses, trains and planes that we travelled on. Usually, I nod off after a while. And so I realised how music props me up and yet at the same time, how I actually can do without it.

The digital camera decided it had enough on the 3rd day and retired as well, and so while my companions were busy snapping away, I took mental pictures. Of the delicious food that we had, the quiet restaurants that we went to, the solemnity of the mountains, the Mediterranean gleam of our 民 宿 (called 境外飘流 -- loosely translated as "wanderlust". Doesn't it sound beautiful already!) in Hualien under the fierce sunlight.

Our time at Hualien is perhaps what I will miss the most. Our 民 宿 didn't come cheap, but we all thought it was worth it. There are only 4 rooms, each with a different colour and theme. My sister and I stayed in the green room called "Seeking" while her friends had the red room, "Desire". I especially loved the country style of the latter. (I will post the photos when I have it!) And in the morning, we were always served a hearty breakfast with the nicest black tea I ever had.

The owners, a Taiwanese couple, are very friendly and chatted with us about how they decided to run the 民 宿. They were originally from Taipei and decided to retire and migrate to Australia (They must be darn well-off, because they look no older than in their early 40's). However, the wife (called 小球-- OK, she does look somewhat plump) was hesitant about starting a new life in a whole new environment, and so they settled on Hualien. When the facade of their home was completed and the work on the interior was just beginning, people began to appear on their driveway to ask how much it would cost to stay there. They thought that if people like their home so much, they might as well open it up as a 民 宿, as the appeal of gardening and farming all day would wear off after a while, too.

The Taroko National Park at Hualien left an impression on me too. I've seen taller and more imposing mountains while travelling on train through the Swiss Alps, but this was the first time I've really trekked on a mountain and come so close to the real thing. I also realised I have a fear of heights. We were walking on a trail with no barriers whatsoever, and the sight (and thought) of nothing out there to separate me from the edge which reveals a deep valley below gave me a fright enough to quicken my pace considerably. But the feeling of walking through the fear was really quite good. The suspended bridge after that was a piece of cake.

All these beat the night markets and shopping for me, hands down. BUT, browsing at the bookstores was a joy. The 24-hour bookstore that I went to had little nooks and corners, platforms and steps that seemed designed to invite people to sit down and read. They even had a long table like the libraries. Try finding that in a local bookstore.

I will remember the evening in Hualien when I sat on the balcony of our room that overlook the Pacific Ocean, with eyes closed and arms behind my head. I was trying to catch the slight breeze. While listening to the very soft lapping of the ocean and the passing of the occasional vehicle, I thought of the things I want to do before I die. And I concluded that yes, there are still many fun things to do. :) To borrow from the Emirates commericals, there will always be more first times. If only work, which starts tomorrow, doesn't get in the way of living!