Wouldn't It Be Good Nik Kershaw

Feeling kinda retro tonight.

马拉帕斯加

 每一次出游都有不一样的体会。

和一群朋友到马拉帕斯加 (Malapascua)潜水找长尾鲨。  虽然连续了三天抹黑的四点起床五点出海，但收获满满，总共看足了十二次。

最难忘的还是最后一天，我们去探索岛上其他的景点，如无人的海滩，和岛上的灯塔。比起宿务（Cebu），马拉帕斯加 显得更贫穷些。沿途上，看到了离旅客区有一段距离的乡村，屋子是用草编的，村民出来打井水，犹如时光停留在好久好久以前。

在找灯塔的途中，半路这三个小男孩从路旁的草丛溜出来，每个两手得提着像jackfruit的果实，嘻嘻哈哈得走在我们当中。其中两个还穿着校裤，另外穿着绿色T恤的则回朋友的话，说他不喜欢上学。明明这三个小瓜就是旷课去采水果。嘿～

这三个小瓜伴这我们一段路，过后见到他们的朋友一群的在中途等着他们。两个穿着校服出列去回友人。穿着绿色T恤的和他们打眼色，继续和我们走着。到了另一个村落，在其中一间草编屋放下手上的水果，跟在我们更前。问他是不是要带我们去灯塔，他腼点地点头。

也还好有他带路，不然我们也不可能找的到那完全看不着，躲在另一个草屋，上灯塔的小山路。

路上，他还领了一个他认识的小女孩，和她低声细语地有说有笑。就这样，Abor （小男孩）和 Astrina （小女孩）和我们到了立在小山丘上的灯塔。

下山丘后，Abor带我们到海滩去，遇到另一个朋友就随着他玩去，Astrina带着我们到路口，指着回去的路，挥手后跑回家。

对比着乡村的落后穷苦，这几个小孩们的快乐也就那么的真纯简单。印象特别深刻。

下一站，兰屿岛。

解忧杂货店

“正因为是白纸，所以可以画任何地图，一切都掌握在你自己手上，你很自由，充满无限可能我衷心祈祷你可以相信自己无悔地燃烧自己的人生”

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

　　“這裡不只賣日常生活用品，
　　還提供消煩解憂的諮詢。
　　困惑不安的你，糾結不已的你，
　　歡迎來信討論心中的問題。

靜僻的街道旁，佇立著一家「解憂雜貨店」。只要在晚上把寫了煩惱的信丟進鐵捲門上的投遞口，隔天就可以在店後面的牛奶箱裡拿到回信解答。”

好一个解忧杂货店。往往人在迷惘时，其实心里已经有张地图，只是迷了路，不知道想要往那里走；经旁人一提点，又找回了那条路，继续坦荡荡地走下去。

当初也只为了封面特别显眼，翻了翻觉得故事大纲蛮特别的，就买下来了。结果爱不释，手几天内就读完。

其实还不知道東野圭吾是谁 （惭愧，‘圭’字我都不知道怎么念），读过wiki 才知道 《侦探伽利略》是他的作品 （电视剧好看！），以后又多个华文书籍的选择。

也盼啊，何时自己也能找到一间一样的杂货店，解忧解忧......

Before Midnight

They met on a train and parted way at sunrise, both so hopeful about the lives ahead of them.

They found each other another 10 years later, talking about how their lives have changed by, well, life, but looking through all these, to grab the second chance and decided to stick together before sunset.

And another 10 years later, found themselves knowing less, and feeling even less sure that they even know anything, than they did 20 years ago, arguing into late of the night and finally came to a compromise to see beyond the gritty stuff in lives (presumably) by midnight. 

The most memorable scene for me was when Jesse, Celine and their friends sat around the table talking about the difference between men and women, partners in life or the fallacy of it, and the essence of what it means to be together.

Before Midnight carries its own really well to talk about the uncertainty and fears that all of us have, that we may never be able to do the right things because we don't know better, but put it together with the previous two, one of the best trilogy movies ever about different hope, dreams, fears at different stages of our lives. 

(Hurray for Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy for sticking around so long in the industry so that this trilogy spanning over 20 years is possible!)

Angkor Wat

Why when it was one of the Unesco listed heritage site within a few hours from Singapore, that I waited so long to see it? 

Alas, I had a nagging feeling that it could be a little bit too late. Pub Street was a clear sign that the tourist influence had totally infiltrated, with the proliferation of restaurants that came with wifi, locals touting souvenirs speaking in mandarin asking you to buy their goods, and many roadside shops offering cheap foot and body massage. Overall, it feels like another Phuket. AlThough I can't say that I don't appreciate the convenience and the simple luxury of the possibilities of having foot massage everyday, it feels a bit sad to see another town converted to another way of life to. 

A few things never change though. 

Looking at the ruins which were originally glorious temples in their own rights, I wonder if the kings then would have known that what they had worked so hard to build, upon the blood and sweat of their people, would ever reduced to a half day highlight tour. (Angkor thom and Angkor Wat was flooded with tourists, despite it not being the tourist high season. Though not all, most Korean and Japanese tourists by the bus load, while the Caucasians usually come in pairs or groups of threes and fours, often with only their guide books in hand.) Khmer was a glorious and strong empire when the powerful kings were reigning, following the downturn where other empires rose and took over its prominence in history. Again, it's amazing how the priests (cum architects as explained by the guide) managed this architectural feat during those primitive times, not to mention the intricate carvings along all the reliefs. The ingenuity of human always amazes. 

One thousand years ago, different kings fought wars over resources and religions. One thousand years later, humans are still fighting wars over resources and religions. Just that the weapon of choices were no longer arrows and on elephants. 

Such are the nature of human that transcend time. 

迈

我们都不出声
是不是都怕
说出不能收回的话

你这通电话

说是替我抚伤

却像让自己心境豁达

我听错了吗

你抽泣了

还是我哭了吧

盔甲本以为
可以卸下

一贯的坚强

又派上用场

以我的潇洒

背对着你的世界

大步迈向前方

Deadweight

So, I had this project at work that got totally derailed. The planning premise was larger than what was briefed and when the plan went to the honcho, the new direction it took left me dumbstruck. And for at least the past week, I looked at the big elephant and wonder which end of it should I start on. 

It took a little kick on the butt, but I eventually decided to take a bite and started chewing on it today. Took me the whole of today to think about what issues to address, and how to pan out the work based on what the team had amalgamated so far. But the ends still did not tie up and I was left with a blinding headache after another late night in the office. 

As I stood exhausted, hungry and drained in the shower, it suddenly occurred to me that I should have just dump whatever that had been done and start afresh. So much for the emotional attachments to the labored effort that had been gone in, but it was going nowhere with this piece of deadweight around. 

Right on. Time to re examine how's this playing out in my mind for other stuff too.