One Blank File

Coincidentally two brothers dropped their front tooth almost at the same time. Not only speaking with leaking wind now, but also food biting with special marking.

The growing process is more prominently displayed. But for the old, this process is stressful as every moment of growing for the children represents every moment of aging.

If I also drop the front tooth like them, that is the end. It's will be another teethly problem.

Where there is love, there is happiness

Sounds nice and soothing. All people want to love and to be loved, which they think will lead to happy ending. In reality it is just the opposite; Where there is love, there is suffering. In a lifetime, there are so many things that remain unknown and need to be learned. The person you love and see as perfect today may not be the same tomorrow. Life is not a single roll of feature film that comes to a conclusion easily in the end nor is it water in a glass that is transparent to the bottom.

Interesting paragraph that I read from a book. The female spouse said that prior to their marriage, when they dined out together, she hardly needed her own hands with her. But after getting married and having the fisrt child, she never seemed to have enough hands to deal with the trouble her husband put her through. A loved one had turned into a trouble-maker in barely one year.

Pinehurst Golf Club

One month stint in Ayuthaya, Thailand on working assignment has provided good teaching for me. I worked 12 hours per day (including Saturdays). Thailand operation was tough as it was not too ready to produce current customer's specified parts. Everyday is a drudgery and hard struggle as if going through war or "hell". Discovered new surprises in each day and it can really drives one's up to the wall and go crazy. Somehow I started to complain and asked why me? why I am here?

Then with a calm and peaceful mind, I realize that life is not always a smooth journey. Sometimes good, sometimes bad and this is following the nature way of life. Probably my previous experience was too smooth and so I expect my current job to be the same. But how can it be the same? Looking at the surrounding of my accommodation (a country club house) appreciating the beautiful greenery of the golf course, it made me feel good and settle. This is a good dhamma lesson.

Wat Mahathat - Historical Park

Amazing site of The Sandstone Buddha Image at Ayuthaya. This Buddha Head is the only remainder of the entire image appeared at the base of Bodhi Tree, where the Lord Buddha gained enlightenment. No one knows where is the body and lower limbs go to, but this site is well received by the devotees and became of the main holy attractions throughout the country.

Thailand Motorcycle Taxi

The new company that I work now has a factory located in Ayuthaya of Thailand, 50km away from Bangkok city. It is an industrial area with many industrial parks and factories. It is quite “ulu” place compared to Bangkok, and not so many taxi and “tutu” transport here. But there are many motorcycles on the road including “motor-taxi”. I tried this motor-taxi to move around this dead town to the nearest shops for sight seeing. It was quite exciting to be carried around as pillion rider without helmet. I wonder whether my insurance policy has this coverage if something happen to me on the road?

Temple Wat Panan Choeng

Wat Panan Choeng

This is another ancient temple 5 minutes away from the temple of victory. This temple is an old monastery housing Thailand’s largest ancient Buddha image known as “Luang Po To”. It also housed the Chinese三宝佛宫 and 观音菩萨 believe to protect those who sail, since much sailing was done by the Chinese then, for trade or for migration. As this temple and many others were built at the centre of river, boat ride service is available to cruise round and view the magnificent and ancient temple structures.

The Great Temple of Victory in Ayuthaya

Wat Yai ChayaMongkol

It looks similar to the famous Ang Ko Wat temple, but this is in Thailand. Established 660 years ago and was proclaimed by the King U-Thong as the royal temple then. The temple had been the place of many important historical events. It was the seat of the Buddhist patriarchs and monks of the Forest Tradition which was noted for the practice of meditation and insight. The name “Temple of Victory” was derived from the Chedi built to commemorate the renowned victory of King Naresuan over the massive Burmese invasion in 1593. There is also a huge reclining buddha statue and the main Ordination Hall next to this stupa.

First blog 博客 post in Mandarin

在北京的一年光景一瞬间就这样过去了. 在这过去一年里, 我在剩余时间尽力学习汉语拼音及用电脑写文章, 虽然很吃力可是还是坚持尝试一下.

我的师傅嶒经説过, 如果您在单位工作找不到快乐和满足, 那就是监狱, 和囚犯没什么俩样. 可是如果囚犯在监狱里找到的是无比快乐和满足,那就是自由, 他不需要到任何单位工作挣钱也一样能快乐. 我想这应该是心态问题.如果您能满于现状, 无论在那一个地方,也一样能快乐.

798 七九八

The 798 Art Space is located in Dashanzi, an area to the northeast of central Beijing. It was formerly a large state-owned enterprise built by the Russians in early 1959 as part of a war-reparations deal with Germany.
In 2002, artists and cultural organizations began using the space for design, photography, publishing, exhibitions, performance and art. They rented space in the factory and converted individual workshops into independent studios for art, architecture, music and fashion.
The 798 art space and culture project has generated great interest and should not be left out of any Beijing art tour.

Yuan Meng Yuan 园明园

This is one of the tourist spots that I missed out in BJ. So I took this opportunity to visit on the 5th April (Thursday) by myself. I took a public bus (number 834) from my apartment directly to YMY. This is a huge garden built during the Ming and continued in Qing dynasty. The architecture was marvelous and grand. The pillar and arch was carved with european design. There are many water features and fountains at the garden area surrounding the main palace. Xiyanglou is the first replica of European style garden consisting of 10 western style palaces and yards. One can imagine the nobel status and luxury that indulged by the owner and the guests that were invited for any parties hosted before. However YMY was looted and burnt down to the ground in 1860 by the Anglo-French forces consist of 8 countries including UK, Germany, France, Italy..... Today we only see the remnants of stone buildings as a reminder of the national tragedy. Next to YMY is the famous Tchinghwa University. I took a stroll down this university just to feel the undergraduate days again. How nice if I can turn back the clock and go through my school again. I am sure I can do better than before.

Last working day in China

As tomorrow will be my last working day in BJ, I have to return this PC, mobile phone and office badge. That will mark the end of my one year & one month stint in China. It is hard to believe that time flies at the speed where I thought as if I just came on-board few weeks ago. Even though it is just a one year stay, the sequence of change and happenings in this company is really exciting, especially so in the last 3 months. It was like going through war with lots of casualties all over, some staff were laid-off officially, some disappeared (killed) in silence, some have a sudden change of roles or department. For those remains at their current position were working in fear, the fear for the unknown, as everyone does not know what is next, who will be next and how the company is going to proceed. For me, when I was told that my contract will not be renewed and I have to leave as soon as possible. It was a shocking moment for me but I thought there is no turning back. I reacted promptly by moving my belongings hurriedly and plan to fly back within few days. When I informed my boss who was away for business trip at that time, about my return plan. He stopped me and requested to extend my stay for one more week. He fought hard to keep me by asking other department to absorb me. He was confident and sounded positive. However the waiting time is killing me softly. I have decided to go. I really appreciate what he has done for me, but I thought it was a little too late as I have moved and shipped all my belongings. I am left with 2 working shirts, 2 T-shirts, 2 pants, 1 shorts and that’s it. It was hilarious. Finally a farewell dinner has been arranged for me this Friday and so that confirms the end of my career in BJ. It was indeed a different kind of experience for me in the process. It was another lesson learnt.

The Lower Huayan Monastery (华严峙)

This monastery was built in 1038 during the Liao Dynasty, it is one of the best and complete monastic architecture of Khitan 契丹 ethnic group remaining up to date. This Lower Huayan Monastery is a historical monument and it is a museum of Art of the Liao dynasty. There is another Upper Huayan Monastery 50m away from here where it is meant for praying and hosting various religious events. The taxi chatted interesting statement to describe Datong City as “官僚腐败， 警察无赖，人民乞丐”. Not sure whether he is only joking?

45 Grottos (云冈石窟)

There are total 45 grottos/ caves with 53,000 buddha statue carved out of the mountain rock. It took about 100 years to complete these caves. It is unbelievable on seeing how these sculptures are carved, how many tools used and how many people are involved. The statue sizes range from small, medium and big, various postures from standing, sitting, lying and on the floor to the wall up to the ceilings. Different kinds of statue and celestial carving can be seen, inside and outside the caves.

A weekend visit to Shanxi, 山西 (悬空峙)

We took a night train at 2330 hour from Beijing to Dadong, a city of Shanxi on the 30th Mar 07, to visit the Hanging Temple (悬空峙) and the famous grotto (云冈石窟). Dadong has around 3 million population with a area 20 times bigger than Singapore. It has gone through the Liao (辽), Jin(晋) and Yuan(元) periods and left with very rich cultural and religious heritages. The Hanging Temple was built 1,500 years ago on the middle of the mountain (恒山) cliff. It is hanging half way the cliff and only supported by wooden pillars and stilts, long and short. It’s spectacular how the construction and architecture is done to support the weight and withstand the “wear-and-tear” and more amazingly, it lasts for thousand years !! We actually climbed up and tried our weight on in, but "Bo-Laksa" (no problem).

Olympic Stadium 2008

As my stay in Beijing is numbered, I try to visit as many interesting and memorable sites as possible within the next few days. Obviously one of them is the Olympic Stadium. It is located at 北辰区, north east of BJ city. It looks like a bird nest from outside and thus it is called 鸟巢 in mandarin. There is a lot of constructions going on around this area and most of them are related to olympic. The nearby olympic pool is built in the building which has the shape like the blue water bubble. It has the under ground water storage tank which stores the rain water collected from the roof. It's brilliant idea as it rarely rains in BJ.

Beijing "Clark Quay"

Behind 前海 is 后海 which is more vibrant and exciting than the former. Took a trishaw ride at the "Hutong" 胡同 brings more insight into the whole place. There are 醇亲王府 (last emperor "PuYi"'s father house), 宋庆龄 (孙中山's wife), 恭王府(dawagen's uncle house), 广化寺 (1 of the 10 temples that guard the area from evils), drum tower (provides time during ancient days) etc.....
The houses here are mainly 四合院 (4 walls enclosed in rectangular shape). Gate stones at the main door of each house indicate the status and academic level of the household e.g. governor with power, teachers or military officials.

Side Gate of The Seasons Park

This is the east (side) gate of my apartment where our hired driver Zhang usually pick us up. 3 of us car pool to-and-fo work everyday. We pay RMB65 for one way journey, which is equivalent to RMB2600 (S$520) per month for him. He is very glad and happy for this amount and arrangement instead of running risk to take passengers on the streets. He is driving 黑车, a illegal taxi (evading tax).

Beijing "Boat Quay"

前海 or Front Sea is located behind the forbidden city. There are many restaurants and pub along the sea front. This is also the place to house the close relatives and government officials during the dynasty periods. Today the offsprings of these officials and rich families are staying around here. But on one condition that the architecture and building structure must be the same and blend well with the surroundings. Note that there is no customers at the outdoor table as the weather is only about 5C.

Beijing "Lau Pa Sak"

This restaurant is located at 新东街 near my house and it is owned by a Singaporean "Ah Beng". He speaks hokkian "singapore style" and dye his hair brown. I think you will never like to associate with him if you see him on Singapore streets. But here, he sells delicious food that I like such as Laksa, Mee Siam, Hokkian fried mee and even "小碗面" at the recent promotion special. So he is the one I like to associate the most when I walk into his restaurant. He gave 10% discount recently to us, without asking.

The Eight "do" and "dont" slogan

Beijing government always reminds the citizen to be cultured "讲文明" by avoiding spitting, littering and refrain from talking loudly in public. The premier Mr. Wen 温 came out with The proud eight "do" and disgraceful eight "don't".

Hard to explain every details but roughly the "dos" are hardworking, discipline, unity, service and love the country. "Donts" are the direct opposite. Strange thing here is religion is not very well supported and propagated. Hardly find any churches or temples around the city. Some of the good things like behaviours, disciplines and human characters can be taught through religious teaching, instead of the government. Maybe this has got to do with history that all religions are deemed to be "superstitious" and it were discouraged at that time (till today).