Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sorry for the abrupt end.

I mean my last post, i didn't manage to have the time to end it properly.

anyway, conclusion of the previous post - wicked is a really good musical. Its good not just because the sound, lighting, stage effects, story, entertainment etc.. its really good because it has some grounding in reality and mocks the government or authority as not always being as good as it seems to be...

ok, so moving on.

in the previous post, i was at heathrow airport waiting to fly to HK for business. "wahhhh" i hear all of you say. relax la, its nothing special really, they just want me to come down to HK so that I can help with a bit of work, get to know a few pple in person rather than just communicating over email etc...

and now, guess what, i'm at an airport waiting again. seems to be the routine huh, i'll only update my blog when i'm going overseas.. hahaha.. the reason could be that i can't find anything to do while waiting for my flight - i don't have my laptop, so i can't play wow.

this trip overseas has been really helpful to me. i feel i have learnt a lot, experience-wise. i got to know a little bit of the difference in lifestyle and work culture between taiwan, hk, london and singapore. i got to know a few really good people - not necessarily the successful people in their career, but good in the sense that they're friendly, honest, and sincere. Funny I find it so hard to find pple like that in London.

and i've been complimented a few times, on various little things, such as
- i've got a "good" smile. i got this said to me twice in the same day, by completely unrelated people. the "good" smile apparently gives the impression that i'm optimistic and cheerful.
- i adapt fast. nice to know.
- my spoken mandarin isn't too bad. though to be honest, i really really need to take mandarin courses if i'm to work in taipei/china. maybe i will just talk more to my chinese colleagues.

ok then, till next time...

Monday, April 16, 2007

My last post was 7 March!?!

Blame my infrequent updates on WoW. But hey, at least I manage to post once a month eh?

My darling came down to London (well, really Cambridge, where she had a conference for 4 days) last week. Unfortunately, she came down with the flu just one day after she arrived, and when she got better three days later, she was off to Cambridge for the conference. Bad timing I must say, but at least she was ok for the conference. Rather be sick with someone familiar to take care of you than be sick at someplace foreign with nobody to help right?

So the days that she was sick, she spent the time sleeping, and I spent my time entertaining myself with wow. The days she was at cambridge, I was at work, or at wow. but then she finished her conference on sat afternoon, and thats when the real fun began.

We went to watch Wicked, a musical. Its soooo good. Really watch it if you get the chance. The story was engrossing, with little twists, and though the general plot was easy (well, children can enjoy it) and funny at times, there were little subtle lines throughout and some parts of the story was eerily representative of current world politics... But I'm not a very good writer, and I don't think I can explain well, so... watch it for yourself if u can.

There was this line that was particularly memorable for me. The wicked witch was complaining to the wizard of oz that he's not telling the truth and that the citizens of oz are being kept in the dark. He said, "Truth is not based on fact or reason; Truth is what people agree on." I was like nodding in agreement while watching.. Then he continued saying that people can be thieves or philantrophists; invaders or crusaders; etc etc... And I kept nodding. It just rang a bell within me. I had been thinking all this while that history was written by people - it could be accurate, but nevertheless it could have a bias. Imagine if the Nazis won the world war, they'd be credited with uniting the world, perhaps... Their unethical scientific research could even be credited as breakthroughs in science...

Anyway, I gotta go, got a flight to catch. catch u later..