6 degrees apart
Monday, April 28, 2008
A picture of my mug!
Drink anyone?!
The commute home!
View next door from the office window.
Believe it or not the chains are for this fellow’s benefit after his predecessor was kidnapped!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Eastern Flora
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
the lesser of two evils
those who see my mug day in and day out will know that over the years i have developed a morning cough, caused by weak lungs, exaggerated by cold air. a hacking cough will be a more appropriate description and not exactly conversation conducive. too little lung pounding exercise? too much lounging on the sofa? i thought the mere thought of exercise was enough! blame it on useless reader-digest unproven small facts.
a little while back, mum brought me along to visit a chinese doctor. a miracle worker! an eastern medicine practitioner who could make disabled walk. *raise eyebrow* perhaps mum was tired of being unable to get a word in through my melodious and jarring coughs. anyway, the doctor placed her fingers on my wrist and immediately pronounced weak lungs. a little like visiting a fortune teller. the mystery is unfolded. i was presented with three bottles of capsules; red, yellow and brown. very colourful - for chinese medicine.
without much thought, i popped those into my mouth, over the course of time. i basically will put anything into my mouth. that's the underlying reason i am having trouble keeping the weight off. but then that's another story altogether. the result was fast. almost instantly, the cough stopped. i can hear myself think again. another cynic was converted. and i continued to pop those pills - on and off. on when i remember them, and off when.....i don't remember them.
miracle pills? mum, who had constant pain in her shoulders, was cured. aunt, who found walking to be difficult, became relatively more active. and then there was her and him, and her and him, a whole posse of people who were miraculously cured. whilst we were still taking the medicine, that is. but it has to get you thinking, doesn't it? what is in these pills?
the test result came back last week. arsenic and steroids, it will seem. acccccckkkkkkkk! thump! that was the sound of me falling dead on the floor. i feel like a lab rat! the bottles were immediately chucked into the rubbish receptable. steroids? i can still understand. no wonder i was feeling so full of energy. arsenic? *raise eyebrow* i quite fancy the idea of living and would like to enjoy that for a number of years. i like being witty and clever too, thank you. i'll keep my brain and its not-quite-full-capacity operation, if you don't mind. it helps with the breathing and eating part, another favourite past-time of mine.
today an old friend visited me. i am coughing again.
a little while back, mum brought me along to visit a chinese doctor. a miracle worker! an eastern medicine practitioner who could make disabled walk. *raise eyebrow* perhaps mum was tired of being unable to get a word in through my melodious and jarring coughs. anyway, the doctor placed her fingers on my wrist and immediately pronounced weak lungs. a little like visiting a fortune teller. the mystery is unfolded. i was presented with three bottles of capsules; red, yellow and brown. very colourful - for chinese medicine.
without much thought, i popped those into my mouth, over the course of time. i basically will put anything into my mouth. that's the underlying reason i am having trouble keeping the weight off. but then that's another story altogether. the result was fast. almost instantly, the cough stopped. i can hear myself think again. another cynic was converted. and i continued to pop those pills - on and off. on when i remember them, and off when.....i don't remember them.
miracle pills? mum, who had constant pain in her shoulders, was cured. aunt, who found walking to be difficult, became relatively more active. and then there was her and him, and her and him, a whole posse of people who were miraculously cured. whilst we were still taking the medicine, that is. but it has to get you thinking, doesn't it? what is in these pills?
the test result came back last week. arsenic and steroids, it will seem. acccccckkkkkkkk! thump! that was the sound of me falling dead on the floor. i feel like a lab rat! the bottles were immediately chucked into the rubbish receptable. steroids? i can still understand. no wonder i was feeling so full of energy. arsenic? *raise eyebrow* i quite fancy the idea of living and would like to enjoy that for a number of years. i like being witty and clever too, thank you. i'll keep my brain and its not-quite-full-capacity operation, if you don't mind. it helps with the breathing and eating part, another favourite past-time of mine.
today an old friend visited me. i am coughing again.
Friday, April 11, 2008
only in japan
Monday, April 07, 2008
candid
bah humbug! it's monday again. life is dead for another 5 days. sigh.
last thursday, we had a big party for some overseas visitors. pretty clothes, fine wine and you know the rest. a nice break from my mindless routine.
last saturday, the little one had a bowling birthday party. lots of kids, food and funny moments. if only i can start remembering faces!!
last sunday, the mother hen brought all five (not all mine) children to pay respect to their great-grandparents at the memorial park for the very first time. a lesson in filialness.lots of kodak moments.
lots of potentially beautiful shots. i brought my camera and i envisaged myself slipping around quietly, taking candid photos of touching moments. i love beautiful photos, i don't know why. i find it touching and inspiring. something about a frozen laugh, a suspended gesture stirres deep.
my first encounter with magical photos was during a holiday to pangkor laut with some friends. after 3 days of lazing around the poolside, playing in the sea and just lapping up the beautiful ambience, i went back fully satiated. mr. friend showed me the pictures he took of the holiday, and i was totally taken aback. it was so breathtaking, like the glossy pictures that jump out from advertorial magazines, and i was in awe. to have spent 72 hours in post-card beauty and not recognise it. there was a desperate yet intangible need to catch that beauty, to preserve the charm. that's where and when i was hooked.
but the physical act of taking photos is not simply pressing the button and chee-chak out comes glamourous pictures. the mood, the ambience, being quietly by yourself, observing all that goes around, being a part of it all. to be in a new place, or a new time. so far i have not been able to do any of that. my relatively quiet photo blog will be testament of that. inspiration is hard to come by when you see the same old things everyday. i always end up rushing here and there, getting caught up in the middle of things and letting things go by before i have the chance to freeze frame it eternally in the shutter window. maybe it's called living life.
it's a tiny regret now. but it is also something i look forward to. when things are not so hectic. when i have a small window of time to myself. to catch all the beautiful things in the world. and freeze frame it for memories.
last thursday, we had a big party for some overseas visitors. pretty clothes, fine wine and you know the rest. a nice break from my mindless routine.
last saturday, the little one had a bowling birthday party. lots of kids, food and funny moments. if only i can start remembering faces!!
last sunday, the mother hen brought all five (not all mine) children to pay respect to their great-grandparents at the memorial park for the very first time. a lesson in filialness.lots of kodak moments.
lots of potentially beautiful shots. i brought my camera and i envisaged myself slipping around quietly, taking candid photos of touching moments. i love beautiful photos, i don't know why. i find it touching and inspiring. something about a frozen laugh, a suspended gesture stirres deep.
my first encounter with magical photos was during a holiday to pangkor laut with some friends. after 3 days of lazing around the poolside, playing in the sea and just lapping up the beautiful ambience, i went back fully satiated. mr. friend showed me the pictures he took of the holiday, and i was totally taken aback. it was so breathtaking, like the glossy pictures that jump out from advertorial magazines, and i was in awe. to have spent 72 hours in post-card beauty and not recognise it. there was a desperate yet intangible need to catch that beauty, to preserve the charm. that's where and when i was hooked.
but the physical act of taking photos is not simply pressing the button and chee-chak out comes glamourous pictures. the mood, the ambience, being quietly by yourself, observing all that goes around, being a part of it all. to be in a new place, or a new time. so far i have not been able to do any of that. my relatively quiet photo blog will be testament of that. inspiration is hard to come by when you see the same old things everyday. i always end up rushing here and there, getting caught up in the middle of things and letting things go by before i have the chance to freeze frame it eternally in the shutter window. maybe it's called living life.
it's a tiny regret now. but it is also something i look forward to. when things are not so hectic. when i have a small window of time to myself. to catch all the beautiful things in the world. and freeze frame it for memories.
