 | | |
| | |
|
Spaces home  ray of lightPhotosProfileFriends |  Tools   |
|
March 12 I Wanna Go Home...Another winter day has come and gone away, In even Paris or Rome. But I wanna go home! Let me go home! Maybe surrounded by a million people, I still feel all alone. I just wanna go home! Oh, I miss you, you know? (I miss you, dear... I really do...  )March 10 HujanMega mendung di angkasa Hembusan bayu dingin terasa Gerimis berderai di merata Bagai mutiara Rahmat dibawa bersama Limpahannya meresap dijiwa Adakala bahgia terasa Meskipun duka nestapa Tika hujan turun Sayup mendayu lagu keroncong Merdu irama dialun Bersenandung Hujan membasahi bumi Melahirkan keluhuran budi Mengeratkan perpaduan suci Kasih sayang abadi March 03 EverythingYou're a falling star, You're the get away car. You're the line in the sand when I go too far. You're the swimming pool, on an August day. And you're the perfect thing to say. And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute. Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do. Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true. Cause you can see it when I look at you. And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times It's you, it's you, You make me sing. You're every line, you're every word, you're everything. You're a carousel, you're a wishing well, And you light me up, when you ring my bell. You're a mystery, you're from outer space, You're every minute of my everyday. And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man, And I get to kiss you baby just because I can. Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through, And you know that's what our love can do. And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times It's you, it's you, You make me sing You're every line, you're every word, you're everything. So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times It's you, it's you, You make me sing. You're every line, you're every word, you're everything. You're every song, and I sing along. 'Cause you're my everything. Yeah, yeah So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La March 02 Who should I vote?According to the 100% accurate kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-This-Election Decision Generator™, I am voting for...
January 24 相见欢 Xiang Jian HuanWritten by Li Yi, the last emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the late AD 900s (historians are still unable to determine the the actual date), this poem has become the epitome of Song (Dynasty) Poetry, 宋词. It describes the deep sorrow of the late emperor of his failing empire with the emergence of the Song Dynasty. Having the opportunity to learn the poem back in high school, it still remains one of my favourites. This is my attempt to translate the poem. It's amazing how a beautiful poem in Chinese can sound really weird when translated into English! 无言独上西楼， Quietly walking alone
to the West Pavilion This
unbreakable December 03 Back in LondonI know it is not fair that the blog has been long abandoned when I was very busy with Solarfox. Nope, not nice at all. Absolutely no excuse! The worse is I even vowed to write about the adventure in Australia, which I know, is not going to materialise especially now when 'writing' the thesis is way up on the list of priorities.
One day, one day... fingers crossed. June 08 Pan Fried Salmon with Broccoli......dressed in rosemary and balsamic vinegar sauce on a bed of brown rice. This is something that kept popping up in my head and it was rather annoying. Finally I managed to get it off and shove it right into the stomach. It was a simple dish, but the result was astounding and hugely satisfying! Forget Gordon, forget Jamie, this time we do it Ray's way! The salmon - seasoned and then marinated with extra virgin olive oil and fresh rosemary for a couple of hours. Pan fried on olive oil, skin facing down and then baste with oil till it turned pink. The broccoli - can't be any simpler. Blanched for not more than a minute. The rice - brown rice, boiled, drained per instruction on the packaging and then lightly dressed in extra virgin. The sauce - this is the hard bit, well not that hard actually, just a bit more complicated. Garlic and plenty of shallot - fried till fragrant. Add fish stock then Chinese dark soy sauce (caramel type), balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary and wee bit of sugar. Simmer in low heat and reduce. Remove the bits, leave only the sauce. Last but not least, put everything together. That's it, really. Can't think of anything else. Enjoy! May 04 Kings HeadSmokey fog Carpet stench Sticky wooden tables Sick on the benches Warm and cosy log fire Inviting winged armchairs Mates sipping Spitfire Real ale and lager's always there "What would you like, mate?" "A pint of IPA, please" The bar's never the same without Jake Who wouldn't want chunky chips and melted cheese Dimmed lighting and no music To the folks it's home away from home This is almost a lyric About the place I love to roam April 30 Today, For My SunshineYesterday has passed Today is a brand new day Gone were the agony and sadness of yesterday Came are the hopes and joy To welcome today. Do not despair, do not give up You've been through the past And now it's gone Last night you slept And in your dreams You dreamt of a better tomorrow Today is tomorrow and tomorrow has come For today you are new And new is you Take a deep breath, embrace the sun Smell the flower and feel the wind Say to yourself Today is going to be good Today is going to be brilliant Never look back, and do not remember Just look ahead, my sunshine With every passing yesterday There will be a new today And a better tomorrow April 20 Yang Yang and Yang YangOnce upon a time, Yang Yang met Yang Yang. They fell in love. This is their story:
February 12 (Untitled)...... Part 1Prologue Ming sits on his bunk and looking out through the porthole into the raging waves. He has never seen water so fierce before. One moment it's the sea covering the entire porthole, the next moment nothing's in sight apart from the grey sky. It seems that the ship is rolling at forty five degrees port and starboard. He's very worried that any moment the ship would just capsize. Two years on the course at the polytechnic has not prepared him for anything like this. He feels unsafe and not one bit secured. But there is nothing much he can do now apart from praying. Amir, his cabin mate is nowhere to be seen. But he could not care less for now. The furniture in his cabin is secured tightly with lashing, just so they wouldn't race from one side to the other when the ship is rolling. Earlier in the engine room the second engineer has made him and the other fellow engine cadet from a rival academy lashing up equipments. Ming knows better that the sooner they finish the job the better, because as soon as the storm closes in the ship rocks harder and that will make life a lot more difficult. The other cadet puked until he's blue green in the face. Amir is his name, a nice chap. He and Ming became friends when they met for the first time at the company's head office two weeks earlier in Kuala Lumpur. The imposing tower that houses the office has an identical twin that stands beside it. Collectively they are known as the Petronas Twin Towers, the highest towers in the world. That was 1999, a time when the grass was green and the sky was blue. Amir is a tall dark chap with a smile that attacts every girl from the kampung. Ming knows from that moment that they will be good mates. With the first "Hello" then on to "I'm Amir, where are you from?", the friendship buds like a flower in spring. Leaving his close mates to embark on a journey so foreign to him, Ming thought he would be lonely, but meeting Amir was a pleasant surprise and he is now more comfortable knowing that, whatever it is, he won't be facing it alone. Ming joined Lagenda Sutera two weeks ago at Port Kelang as part of his training. The 6000 TEU container vessel is heading west to Southampton. Ming is very excited at the prospects of travelling overseas. This is his first time. Ming is a third year senior in the diploma course leading to a qualification that promises 'an ocean of opportunities', or so the advertisement claimed before he signed up for the shipping company's cadet sponsorship program. Ming knows nothing about marine engineering back then, the only thing marine that he could think of was fish. And that was about as marine as he could get. Two years on, with each and every subject that he studied in the lectures, he came to appreciate the internal combustion engines, loved the art beyond the numbers in naval architecture and admired the power of the steam in turbines. Without knowing it he came to know and loved the subjects. He knows his stuff like the back of his hands, he excels in exams and even knows when the lecturer is bullshitting. But he has learned the hard way not to make his lecturers lose face. Ming's very afraid, even though he knows damn well that as long as the GM remains positive, the ship will not capsize, but nothing stops him from worrying when the ship rocks furiously. The last time he remembered a rock so great was the cot that his mom was pulling with him in it. Ming rests his head on his palm, at the sill of the porthole. He can't sleep now. He is drowsy but in no way sea sick. He fell into a daze, then onto a place that he alone on the ship knows and so longed to return to. Most of his shipmates are foreigners and they hardly know what nasi kandar is, let alone Ming's dreams and thoughts. February 07 CNY, Crapping and Mixed FeelingsONE It has been almost a year and a half since I last went home. It has been four years since I last spent CNY at home. That's how much I miss my family in Taiping. I have always waited for the moment when I can just leave everything behind, board a plane and fly home for CNY. Enough of cold lonely CNYs in London, enough of depressing long distance calls home and taking turns to speak to every member of the family, enough of watching so-called CNY celebration in Chinatown and sodding kids demonstrating bloody wushu and ribbon dance. We don't need all these on CNY, all we need is our family. That's what it's all about really. That's what CNY is really for. TWO I've spent enough time away from home to know and appreciate what's good about being home. Mummy and Papa's cooking, fighting with brother, bitching with family about annoying relatives, Papa's nagging whenever I lose anything, Mummy's nagging that I spend too much time away with friends and shit. It's all so familiar and yet at times seem so far away. I missed doing all those again. It's good to be the boy that I used to be once in a while. It's tiring growing up. It's tiring being 6000 miles away from home and have to be the father, mother, brother and even myself all by myself. It's tiring to be independent. THREE Having said that, at the same time, strangely enough, this trip home is also the first time that I am sad. Sad because I will be leaving my life in London for a short while. A life that I have built up myself, a life that I'm used to, a life that I've been living for the past six years of my life, a life that is mundane and yet comfortable, a life that's lonesome and yet is totally mine, a life that gives me a sense of independence and yet vulnerable at times, a life where I sometimes felt like a complete failure and yet it's my best achievement so far. I have never felt like that before. It's the fear that I might not get back to this again when I return to London. FOUR I'm also sad that it might be the last few moments of aDe's time in England. He's my best mate, drinking buddy and someone that I can talk every crap with. My mate from high school and most important of all, himself. He can be the most annoying bugger sometimes but he's also the person that knocks the sense in you when you're too elevated. He's always been around ever since I came to England. I could not imagine being here without him around. It's a strange feeling. Hmm.... Everyone's gotta move on I guess. Whatever it is, if he does go, I'll sure to miss him. FIVE It might just be me, but has anyone ever feel that loneliness can come in strange manifestations? I am lonely. Lonely not because I'm missing someone but missing "someone". That "someone" is not anyone in particular but just "someone". There's no particular face that appears in the mind but just that feeling of missing "someone". It's more like loneliness as in loneliness but not as in loneliness as in missing someone, but loneliness when you don't have "someone" to miss. It feels more like emptiness rather than loneliness, for the fact that there isn't a particular someone but just "someone". I have a feeling that I'm just talking crap here. SIX It must be from somewhere that I have picked this up, it can't be me who thought it out. I'm not that brilliant. But over the last weekend, whilst with a bunch of good mates, I do feel that the loneliest place that one can be is in a crowd. Especially a crowd with couples. SEVEN Happy new year to friends and foes alike, the very few loyal readers, you know who you are, to Granny, Papa, Mummy and Hoe, family and relatives, mates in England, Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore, Canada, US of A, etc. Gong Xi Fa Cai to all and a good year ahead. More money, more successes and more shags in the new year. And oh yes, more craps on youtube! EIGHT Many thanks to 1. Sharon for the yummy CNY cookies. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. 2. YD for the soothing mee sua soup. For delivering coals in the cold winter. Yours, Ray January 30 记得II谁还记得是谁先说永远的爱我 以前的一句话是我们以后的伤口 过了太久没人记得当初那些温柔 我和你手牵手说要一起走到最后 For a good few months, each and every time this song is played on the mp3, it's almost certain to be given a skip to the next track. I could not bear revisiting the theme that epitomises the painful episode. This song sums it all up in a few short verses the period when one feels most loved, lifted right to the top of the world, only to be slammed hard to the ground when the harsh truth is revealed. 我们都忘了这条路走了多久 心中是清楚的有一天有一天都会停的 让时间说真话虽然我也害怕 在天黑了以后我们都不知道会不会有遗憾 It was the very first time that today, when it's played that I listened in it's entirety, without much pain and feelings attached. Very surprised was I that even humming along. It was once said in a movie that, we should not try hard too hard to forget someone, but to carry on living our lives. In time, when we look back we'll soon realise how far we've left them behind [1]. It took me almost half a year but I'm glad that I've done it. It has not been easy. No one said it was. It is like the wound from that crash when we first learnt to ride a bicycle that is taking it's time to heal. Long enough it took, and in time we don't feel much pain anymore. What's left on the knee is the scar that stayed forever. That remained as a reminder that we should be careful when riding a bicycle. 谁还记得是谁先说永远的爱我 以前的一句话是我们以后的伤口 过了太久没人记得当初那些温柔 我和你手牵手说要一起走到最后 Thanks for the lesson, V. Thanks for singing 记得 to me in Finsbury Park. This was our song but now it does not mean anything anymore. You've lead me to heaven, then hell and back. It has been quite a journey but without you, I would probably still think that there's an angel behind every cute, decent and innocent face. I know every single thing that happened and I know what you did behind my back. Just when you thought that you've fooled the world, in the end you are the actual fool. I remember asking you if we still have a chance. Well, no thanks, love! I'm alright. I only let myself get bitten once. And now, I can even let the song play until the end. 我们都累了却没办法往回走 两颗心都迷惑怎么说怎么说都没有救 亲爱的为什么也许你也不懂 两个相爱的人等对方先说找分开的理由 谁还记得爱情开始变化的时候 我和你的眼中看见了不同的天空 走的太远终于走到分岔路的路口 是不是你和我要有两个相反的梦 谁还记得是谁先说永远的爱我 以前的一句话是我们以后的伤口 过了太久没人记得当初那些温柔 我和你手牵手说要一起走到最后 Reference: 1. J Chan et al, Gorgeous (玻璃樽), Hong Kong, 1999. December 06 On your wedding day...Dearest Phang Jie and Shou Feng, This has been the moment that you have been waiting for. It is the moment when you embark on a new chapter of your life. Even though we could not make it to Taipei to share it with you, but it is with much love and joy that I send you my best wishes for a happy marriage. May everything that you've ever wished for comes true. Shou Feng, take good care of our dearest Phang Jie, OK? Love, Ray November 28 The Journey HomeHigh seas, towering waves Bay of Biscay, the Indian Ocean From Pusan to Kaohsiung, then Port Klang to Lyttelton Bunga Pelangi, and oh... Bunga Delima Where the hell am I? And how far is home? "I am sailing, I am sailing Home again, 'cross the sea" We used to sing to Rod's Day and night, night and day Now I'm not even sailing anymore But this is not home The journey's long, the streets are old I've always been walking, all alone From Gower Street to Charing Cross Road Then Picadilly Circus to High Holborn The street's wet, damn the night's cold Is this my home? I want a rest, I want a home I need someone, to call my own But at the moment,, the work's not done I'll have to carry, on and on Till then, I should stop to moan And dream instead "The Green Green Grass of Home" Photo courtesy of Tommy Phang November 22 Sainsbury's: Try Something New TodayBacon and Garlic Chicken Kiev on a Bed of Leafy Salad What you need:
Total Time: 20 min (time to bake the chicken kiev as recommended by the manufacturer) Effort: Minimum Cost: Less than a special fried rice on takeaway Who says we need to sweat for gorgeous dinner? Che Det and SitiDunno about you but I do think that this is one of the sweetest photo of the year. Photo Ref: www.generasi-m.com Simple TreatThis is something for hainanese chicken rice lovers out there who got stuck overseas, where the price for a portion of chicken rice in the restaurant is roughly equivalent to 14 or so portions in Malaysia. It's for those who loves the fix but too lazy or can't be asked to do the full monty. Despite what I wrote about rice cookers in my past entry, I am still using them for this because it's really the most convenient. What you'll need:
There you are, the lazy buggers' hainanese chicken rice. Simple as shit. It may not be the real thing and you can't expect this to taste exactly like the real one, but it definitely is a quick fix. |
|
|
Print
