spirit me away.

I have been away from home the past three weekends out of four, and this weekend the ratio will be four out of five. the first was a pound-loading foodie trip to Ipoh during that one week with the Friday off; next was spending the weekend of the King's birthday in Bukit Gambang for my church camp; and when I got back I left for Kuching for a week's worth of work. was home for Father's Day this past week, and this Thursday... I'm off to SINGAPORE! ^_^ I love being away, could you tell? Maybe it's because I don't get to travel often... unlike a certain Mr Wang here who's lamenting about his nomadic living situation:

17-June | Weibo 

我这次住了加州三个星期。 难得这么长时间在一个地方。下个礼拜终于要回亚洲继续住旅馆的日子了。 从19岁出唱片之后搬家成了习惯，但还是会舍不得。 你们有搬家过的经验和同感吗？ 请分享…

I’ve been in California for 3 weeks now. It's rare for me to be staying in one place for such a long time. Next week I’ll be back in Asia resuming my hotel-living days. I've gotten used to moving like this since I debuted at 19, but there's always the lingering reluctance. Have you had the experience of moving or do you feel what I do? Please share… 

I'd say the rate at which he travels would be unsettling for me. Might be fun the first few years, but to be at it for 17 years and counting is no mean feat. But it doesn't look like it's time for him to slow down yet. And as for me, I dream every day that I would be some other place. I would love to travel the world, first second or third class!

With that, I leave you with Yuna's latest song, I Wanna Go.. which totally is a loop-worthy song :)

i wanna go wherever, wherever you go, whenever you wanna, i wanna go with you

i wanna go wherever, wherever you go, whenever you wanna, can i go with you?

• what is a gift? for me today it was waking up from a three-hour nap on a sunday evening, and then realising that the next day, a monday, is a public holiday. oh JOY!

• 2012 for me was also about chinese songs. i don't think i've ever heard that many chinese songs in the span of 9 months. granted, 90% of the time i was listening to one particular singer who doesn't need to be named but i shall, just because. hello, leehom :) along the way, i revisited david tao, and took some interest in the songs from mayday, sodagreen and khalil fong. i kinda realised that i would never be able to fully get the whole chinese pop music scene. not that i want to: the thought of another sappy ballad makes me bleh.

• i am aware that i've not set any goals for my spiritual life for 2013. it's not that i have not been thinking about it. perhaps i'm afraid of all the resos i could make, that i would not be able to keep these. i don't think it's any different from other resos, but not achieving the ones in this category is like breaking a promise to God, which i have done often enough. maybe it's all in my head. but perhaps it's to do with my not wanting to commit to this form of sp discipline. 

• tentative travel plans for this year: Taiwan (yes, again :) and maybe Bali and hopefully Singapore w00t! i had hopes to visit Beijing, not now but one day when the air quality becomes better (right now it's off the charts bad!)... and maybe Wuhan next year and someday LA! :D and New York! and Lapland! and Tokyo and London! when oh when is money gonna pour down from my sky? hehehe

• i am halfway attempting to translate this song from Khalil Fong that i've been looping the entire evening, but i feel like i'm falling short. i think it's a simple but poetic piece, and my direct translation is just killing it. but because i'm halfway done, i'm pushing forward with it. forgive me, 大同! so here's 春風吹 Spring Wind..

吹紅了桃花　吹綠了柳樹
你在路上總會安慰誰
吹醒了青蛙　吹來了燕子
我在城裡剛好缺了誰
你縱然帶來地下的玫瑰
能否收回地上的滋味　有人唱胡不歸
the wind blows and makes the peach blossom red and the willow tree green
who will you be comforting on this journey?
the wind blows and wakes up the frog, and brings the swallow
in the city, i just missed someone out
you brought with you roses from the undergrounds
could you take back the taste of the ground
someone's singing recklessly and not returning

春風一吹想起誰
有所謂　無所謂　只要不後悔
春風一吹忘了誰
我上一次流淚又幾歲
when the spring wind blows, who are you thinking of?
does it matter? it doesn't matter as long as there is no regrets
when the spring wind blows, who have you forgotten?
the last time i cried and how old was i?

你會退　我想追　會不會　對不對
也難怪我有點累
洞裡蛇　冬日睡　原上草　春風吹
到夏天我變了誰
you will retreat, and i want to follow after you
would i? am i right? no wonder i'm tired
the snake in the hole, hibernating in winter
grass in the meadow, the spring wind blows
when summer comes, i have become someone else

吹過玉門關　吹過南泥灣
你在北方註定拋棄誰
吹皺了河水　吹散了雲堆
我在世界不巧背著誰
你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜
the wind blows past the Jade Gate and past the Southern Muddy Bay
from where you are at the north, who have you decided to abandon?
the wind blows and creases the river and scatters the clouds
here on earth, i have had to carry the burdens for someone
could you instigate the melancholic thunders of March?
could you ensure our date on the tenth year
someone's releasing a turtle to its freedom

皺/皱 zhòu - to wrinkle / wrinkled / to crease
堆 duī - to pile up / to heap up / a mass / pile / heap
慫恿/怂恿 sǒngyǒng - to instigate / to incite / to egg sb on




春風吹
方大同

作曲：方大同
填詞：周耀輝
編曲：方大同

吹紅了桃花　吹綠了柳樹
你在路上總會安慰誰
吹醒了青蛙　吹來了燕子
我在城裡剛好缺了誰
你縱然帶來地下的玫瑰
能否收回地上的滋味　有人唱胡不歸

＊春風一吹想起誰
有所謂　無所謂　只要不後悔
春風一吹忘了誰
我上一次流淚又幾歲

你會退　我想追　會不會　對不對
也難怪我有點累
洞裡蛇　冬日睡　原上草　春風吹
到夏天我變了誰＊

吹過玉門關　吹過南泥灣
你在北方註定拋棄誰
吹皺了河水　吹散了雲堆
我在世界不巧背著誰
你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜

REPEAT＊

你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜

REPEAT＊

春風吹

Away.

I want to be somewhere somewhat (far) away. I want to feel at home in another place; to be a foreigner then maybe a friend. Just for a week, a month or a year.. not too long, I still belong here.

hello city.

Got to go Hong Kong for work this time around, was very happy (thanks to the boss who made it happen ;) Everything about the trip was great, esp the food. Well, it'd better, esp when it goes into the thousands per meal. We'd some glorious roast goose daily, amd a banquet of other decadent dishes that are beyond me to name :)

Loved our lodging (chk out Lanson Place on Keswick Rd), even when it meant having to share room w the boss. Didn't mind the nightly late nights slogging away; Sept is our dont-even-think-of-breathing month, so yeah. Our HK office, despite its modest size, overlooks the harbour and an awesome view. Did I mention the food? *contented sigh*

No, I won't pay to go back to HK. It's beyond our means as budget tourists. But on the company's tab? Bring me back anytime! :)

reminiscing.. :)

somewhere in the lion city, c. feb '11
sometimes i just can't sit still
most times, actually :D

had lunch with a friend whom i've not met for 15 years -- since we left school (urgh i dread every time a point of reference goes beyond a decade). she left for US for her studies way back when, thought she'd come back when she was done but didn't -- ended up working, marrying and having a kid and settling down in seattle. we hardly kept in touch with each other or other friends after form 5 -- back then, keeping in touch meant picking up a phone to call or writing actual letters -- i missed those cumbersome ways sometimes -- but thank you, mark zuckerberg. :) it was good to catch up again after all these years.. the turns that life takes, they are nothing less than surreal in hindsight.

i've often thought that here's where i will be for the rest of my life. but now i hope it would not be. 70 years is too long to have it spent it in one place. and i'm almost crossing the halfway mark.

maybe it's the friday speaking, maybe it's the wanderlust singing, maybe it's the new year calling. but here's to new experiences and strange faces and fresh perspectives.

nothing unusual, nothing strange
close to nothing at all
the same old scenario, the same old rain
and there's no explosions here
then something unusual, something strange
comes from nothing at all
I saw a spaceship fly by your window
did you see it disappear?

damien rice :: amie