Love Book

終於有空著手整理我那一堆書
剛好翻到了我去年在台灣買得一本書
書名叫Love Book而作者是位日本女性 廣瀨裕子
它還有本姐妹書叫Heart Book
越翻這本書就越有感想
就挑幾篇跟大家分享

單純的思念
Just by thinking of you
因為喜歡所以在一起
所以希望能陪伴在身旁
會有這種感覺是很自然的
但是就算無法陪伴在一起
就算相隔兩地
喜歡的心意還是可以存在
喜歡的形式分很多種
單純思念的喜歡
放在心底不說出來的喜歡
如果會傷害到某人或是心上人的話
那這份喜歡就化為單純思念就好
只要單單想起喜歡的人
就會產生力量
喜歡的人如果幸福就滿足了
這個世界上
單純思念的喜歡也存在著

無法比較
As precious as love
喜歡的人如有工作或者是有想做的事
甚至是必做的事時
往往就無法見上一面
就算約定好了也有可能作罷
這個時候
很容易就會將其陷入和自己的比較
自己和工作, 自己和想做的事
到底對這個人而言何者比較重要
但是這兩者是無法比較得
因為二者原本就不是能放在互比的位置上
見不到難免會感到不安, 寂寞
但偶爾也會有無法見面的時候
就像自己也有最重視的事情一樣
喜歡的人也有重要的東西, 必須做的事
這就是他的工作, 他的理想
如能這麼想就能了解比較也沒用
哪一個重要或不重要
並非是由比較所決定的

Hot Yoga

Thanks for Ying's birthday gift book to me, Singapore CityScoops, and Celina's recommendation. I had my first ever Hot Yoga at Yogaffinity this evening.

I have started practicing Yoga early last year and been reading some articles about Hot Yoga but it was only available in Taiwan at that time. Late last year, Celina told me about Yogaffinity in Singapore and happened that it was mentioned in the book, Singapore CityScoops, also. So I have been thinking of going for this Hot Yoga for a long time.

I have been very busy with work, study and traveling for the first three months o this year and didn't really have time to relax and enjoy my free time. I finally finished MBA courses and one of my major exhibitions this year last weekand so that I can really spend more time with myself and decided to resume my regular yoga class.

Basically, the postures are very similar to the regular Yoga that I have been doing but the heating environment makes quite a lot of difference. Firstly, I really sweat a lot and I think that's the key part of the whole exercise. The postures are actually not as intensive as what I have done but the whole effect might be greater because of the detoxing effects with heat.

Guess I found something new again in Singapore and this should keep me busy for a while. Besides, I also decided to spend more time exploring this island as I don't think I know it good enough. It might be a good start to visit those interesting places on the book.

Sentimental

Just realized I can be very sentimental. I had one of my worst days 2 days ago. I was feeling very ill and even being send to clinic for injection by my colleague from office. I can only say that's "wonderful injection" as it released the pain immediately but you can also tell how bad the situation was.

We normally would only realize how lonely and maybe helpless we are when we are really sick. I was send back home after the injection in clinic by my colleague. Then I just knocked off totally. By the time I wake up again, it's about 10pm. I was feeling really bad that night when I was trying to cook something for dinner. Can't really figure out why I was alone here and suffering all these at that particular moment. Anyway, couldn't really think too much as I was sick enough to ignore most of the things.

The uncomfortable feeling has been going on these 2 days and I still need to need to finish the planning and preparation for my next fair in KL this Friday. Yesterday, I just wanted to have some Chinese herb soup for dinner as I think I need nutrition to keep me going through this weekend. The funny thing was the first person I though of was my ex-boyfriend. He might be one of the very few people that I considered family or close friends here, but the response I got was just a simple message that he had dinner appointment with somebody else. Can't really blame him as I was the one who decided to end the relationship as I think I don't really need him.

Today, I finally submitted my binded thesis and it's really the end of my MBA course. Suddenly, I wanted to talk to people and share my happiness and relief so much but I can't really think of anyone other than my parents. Their response was just simple also as they were too far away to really sense how I felt. Wanted to share with another friend but guess he was busy with work & traveling and won't have much time to care about this also.

Guess I'm really sentimental now as I'm sitting at the living room of my new place and wondering what's the next for me.

P.S. This is the result of three months hard work. Can't believe I really finished it.

Women On Top

There was an interesting article on Sunday Times last week, Women On Top. It's talking about the so-called "successful and confident" women in Singapore and how they look at relationships. Women who are educated, successful, high-earning and confident are called "alpha women" according to this article. Traditionally, men tend to marry "down" as they prefer women who are less educated. So there is a saying that more and more men can not find suitable partners locally so that they would have to look for their brides from other countries. I don't really agree with the idea of finding brides from other countries but I do believe that women want to marry "up", too, as we are looking for partners who are better or if not at least on par to us.

In my opinion, the modern women like us are looking for lifetime partners or so-called soul mates as what we really need is those mental stuff. We can afford most of the material needs as we have enough income. We don't really need people to perform the "traditional" roles that boyfriends or husbands are doing such as drivers or bread-earners. To me, I'm looking for a partner/good friend that we enjoy spending time with each other, inspiring to each other so that we can achieve much more than when we are left alone. Normally at this kind of case, this person needs to be more outstanding than I do in some ways so that I would be inspired to go for a bigger or higher goal.

Lately, a lot of friends are either getting married or having babies. I really started to realize that I'm stepping into a different stage of my life now as I'm also thinking of having babies. : ) I do believe having a happy family and kids are also another kind of achieve and sense of fulfillment other than work. Maybe someday I would become full time housewife and mom as I find that much more challenging than working, but some day maybe. May need to find this partner and get married first. Seems I'm not that un-traditional though my mom was trying to persuade me to buy sperms as long as the guy is smart, tall and handsome enough. What an interesting and different mom. : )

Happy Birthday to Jessica!

Happy Birthday to Jessica!!

We have been spending quite a number of birthdays, valentine's day, Christmas, new year and a lot more countless festivals together. This year, we went to both our favorite place, Skyspace at Swissotel Hotel, to enjoy the drink and the city view of Singapore. I didn't really have time to prepare anything. So I just checked with the waitress and see if they can serve some cakes, but they suggest their strawberry plates which turned out to be an excellent present together with the nice live birthday song. : )

Don't really want to count the number of years that we have known each other. It would only show how fast time passed. We don't really have many chances to meet up though we are all staying at this tiny Singapore because we both are terribly busy and traveled quite a lot lately, but it's always good to spend this kind of significant dates with old friends. Guess we would have a lot more to go these 2 years. : )

I Made IT!

I MADE IT!!

That was a challenging week last week. Firstly, I finished my thesis last Friday and this is the last part of my entire MBA course, which means I finally finished these tough two years. The graduation ceremony would be this July and that would my parents' first time visiting Singapore after almost 5 years. Haha.. There is no more excuses for them.

Besides, Ceci and I also moved to our new place at Boon Keng this Saturday. Both of us can't really believe that we "ACCUMULATED" so many things during our 2 years in Potong Pasir. It took us 5 rounds to move everything. Thanks for the help from Ceci's great colleagues. : )

I really like our current place. It's really homely to me as the place is well decorated and maintained. The whole decoration is very comfortable and cozy. Finally, it's really like our "HOME". Would be organizing some house warming thing after I finish the exhibitions in Malaysia. Let's celebrate a bit as I have been terribly busy with both work and study previously. Haha.. : )

Low Blood Pressure

The doctor has declared that my blood pressure is constantly below the average. That normally doesn't bother me too much though I used to have a few fainting spells every year. The doctor can't really figure out the causes for the fainting but assumes that it "might" relate to low blood pressure. However, things are getting worse lately because of my irregular biologic clock I guess. The whole world around me looks very funny as I can see two or more exactly the same things appearing in front of me. Sometimes the world itself is spinning or I'm the one who is spinning. Anyway, I thought I have been used to it but now it proved to wrong because I really hate the dizzy feeling.

Insomnia

It's 4 AM and so that you guys know that I'm having "INSOMNIA" today, or I should say I has been like this for the past 2 weeks. Maybe becuase of my jet lag back from Europe or the stress from work and thesism, I'm having very wired biologic clock lately. Besides, I have been burning mid night oil for my thesis as the deadline is actually this Friday. So either I can't sleep the whole night or just wake up very early. Hopefully, it would be the last 2 days as I should be finishing everything by "today", exactly 30th April as I need to submit the complete draft to my supervisor for editing on Friday.

Can't believe that I'm really going to finish the whole MBA thing in 2 days. Can't wait to see the end of the whole day so that I can start my new life soon. : )

Steam Bowl Dinner

Have been very busy lately because of work and thesis. Supposed to spend the whole last weekend at home to finish my thesis but just can't stay at home for two full days. Finally decided to go out with my girl friend gangs for something different. : )

It's actually a bit wired to me to have steam bowl in Singapore because the weather is so hot everyday. Besides, the spicy steam bowl in Taiwan is too famous and too good so that I seldom fancy about any others here. However, this one we went to is indeed very nice to my standard. The restaurant is called sheep steam bowl near Bugis and it's Mongolian style though I can't really tell the difference. For steam bowl, the most important is actually the soup. Their soup is really quite nice and guess that's the reason why it turned out to be quite nice. Can have a try if you guys are keen on steam bowl in Singapore but remember to have it "indoor" with air-con. ; )

14th~19th Mar 2006, Barcelona

Came back from Europe this Monday evening actually but was very busy with work, struggling with my thesis, adjusting to the jet lag and got a friend in town. Finally, I got settled down a bit today and thought of putting down my Barcelona trip as a lot of people are asking about it. ; )

I can only say "I LOVE BARCELONA". It is a very relaxed city to me. Maybe it's because I'm on holiday there. Beautiful city with nice weather, nice food and the most important the nice "companion".

I have one group of very close girl friends and we knew each other back in uni because some of us were from the same faculty and also because of AIESEC. Ariel is taking her MBA in Barcelona and I had been thinking of visiting her in the past two years but finally I made it this time. Tina is actually studying in US for her MBA also but she is having her exchange program in Germany. So three of us happened to be on the same continent and we definitely got to meet. ; )

15th March - Day 2


I always like to walk around the city whenever I am traveling as I believe that is the best way to"feel" about the city. So I started my walking trip in Barcelona on my 2nd day there. I start walking from Ariel's place to the major business and shopping area of Barcelona. That is a whole stretch of nice buildings as you can see from my photos. I like those kind of European buildings which are so elegant and beautiful. It made me feel that I'm in another world. The best thing is the weather. It's so cooling as it's only about 15 degree but "sunny". So it's not cold at all and I can just walk walk and walk without sweating.

Besides, food in Barcelona is also quite nice. I'm those kind of people who like to try a lot of different things but just a very little portion. So their tapas is just nice to me. Furthermore, I love the cafe there. I'm not a person who drink coffee every day but I did drink coffee there every day as it's so so nice at every single shop I visited.

That night, I joined Ariel with her classmates at a nice Japanese restaurant for dinner. I was surprised that the Japanese food there is quite nice and can match our Asian standard. That is also my first time to learn the interesting lifestyle Spanish has. They normally start their dinner very late say 10pm and it can go on until midnight. After that, they can continue to go to bar or clubbing. That is also my first time to learn that I'm really lousy at drinking and Ariel has been well trained in the past 2 years. ; )

16th March - Day 3



I continued my walking trip in Barcelona to the National Catalunya Museum on my 3rd day there. People in Barcelona are actually a total different group of people from the rest of Spain. They have their own language and culture. So this museum is displaying the original Catalonia culture which is heavily influenced by their religion, catholic. There are a lot of paintings, sculptures and decorations to show the progress of the culture and the city. I also love the view from the museum as you can see almost the whole Barcelona there.

One of my interesting finding is the nice restaurant inside the museum. The deco is very elegant and luxury and the food looked and tasted good also. That is really a nice place to go with the loved ones but seems I was enjoying myself there quite a lot also.

This is also the day Tina reached Barcelona to join us. That night, we went to Arile's MBA team dinner. That was a very nice Argentina restaurant and it's good to see that Ariel got such a nice group of friends taking care of her for us. : )

17th March - Day 4
I got Tina joined me on the Barcelona walking tour on that day. We went to the famous Sagrada Familia on that day. That is a catholic church design by Gurdi and the construction has been going for at least 130 years and they expect to finish it in another 30 days. That is really an amazing church because of the creative idea on this church. However, I personally preferred the classic side as I don't really like things too modern in a way I guess.

After that, I went to Ariel's school, IESE, to join her for lunch. That is a very nice campus though it's quite small. The buildings are just the classic Europe style. They got grass and flowers almost every where. Guess it's really "spring' already in Barcelona.

That afternoon, Tina and I started our walking tour in the old town of Barcelona. We walked around those old buildings to enjoy the nice European atmosphere and we went to Picasso museums also though they do not have much collections there already.


That night, we have a Taiwanese gathering there together with another two classmates of Ariel and we went to try the famous Spanish seafood rice. It tasted quite good though it's quite salty for all of us. After dinner, the whole group of us just walked along the famous beach of Barcelona. I can imaging how good it would be during summer.


The last part and also highlight of the day was we went to a small local bar that night and it happened to be the St. Patrick's Day. The whole area were full of people and we were kind of excited to see so many people around. However, when we were thinking of heading back home, things were quite different. A lot of people were drunk and things were getting messy. Some people started to attached cars or trash beans around and polices are all over the place. We three became a very obvious target as there are very few Asian girls there. So we were kind of worried and tried to walk as fast as possible to get out of that area. I was really shocked and scared in a way as I have never really experience violence like that but it was a good lesson that we need to be extra careful when traveling around.




18th March - Day 5

This was our SHOPPING day in Barcelona. We started our day in the early afternoon at the centre of the city. We walked, shopped and ate the whole day. Just for your information, Mango and ZARA there are actually not so cheap. It might be quite cheap compared with prices in Taiwan but definitely not Singapore. So people who are keen on Mango and ZARA can actually visited Singapore and I got 5% discount card for Mango here. : )

That night, I tried the 2 most famous and authentic Spanish food. The Chorrus and Tapas. It really tasted very good with the super thick chocolate. As to the Tapas, I can say "amazing". We can teel how creative the chef is from the all different types of foods presented on the counter. That is really wonderful and it was considered one of the cheaper meal over there but it's just "nice".



19th March - Day 6
This is our last day in Barcelona as Tina and I were flying off in the evening. We started our day quite last as well and the first stop is to get my stomach full. We went to one of the local bakery and coffee shop. The baker and coffee in Europe are really nice. Luckily, I'm living in Asia. Otherwise, I don't know how I can resist those nice things. That morning, Ariel was rushing to fax something back to Taiwan and that's where we learn how Spanish works. The service there is still not as good I would say and maybe it's also because of the racism. So they tends to be quite slow and not so attentive to Asians. Guess that's also the reason why I choose to stay in Singapore where they really practice EQUALITY among races.


In the afternoon, we went to the famous Park Guill which was built by Gurdi as well. That was a wonderful day. The sky was so clear and blue. The weather was just cooling and sunny. It's those best weather for picnic. We took the most pictures here as that is really a very beautiful and interesting place.






It's always good to hang out with old friends like this. It's so comfortable to walk, eat, shop, sleep and club together. It is definitely one of my best trips ever and I really want to organize another one for all give of us. That's going to be great. Hey girls, I'm going to New York to visit Tina during New Year. Anyone wants to join me?? : ) Looking forward to traveling with you all again.

P.S. Visit Jenny in Barcelona for all the wonderful pictures. : )

Mar 14th - Barcelona Day 1

Arrived Barcelona yesterday afternoon and had some little "incident". I'm supposed to meet Ariel at the city centre of Barcelona, Plaza Catalunya, but my dearest Ariel thought I would be arriving today. Lucky that she gave me her address so I went straight to her place by taxi. However, the point is her handphone was not on because she was in library.

This is actually my second time encountering this kind of situation. My first time was actually in Thailand in 1999 but I was too "green" at that time. I decided to fly back to Taiwan straight away as my host was not around. However, this time, I'm much much more experienced in terms of traveling. So I just found a cafe shop near Ariel's place and checked with friends to confirm her number as I'm afraid that I got the wrong number (sorry to disturb Cindy and Ruby at midnight in Taiwan) After two to three hours, I was actually thinking to find a hotel to settle down first then I got the notification that she received my message. Finally, we got "connected".

At night, Ariel brought me to walk around the Old Town of Barcelona. This is a very interesting area as the buildings there are all hundreds of year old and there are all sorts of interesting small shops selling all different types of stuff. It is full moon these two days and the town looks so nice with the bright moon light.

After that, we went to have the famous Tapas. They served all different types of food with a small piece of bread and these are really all about creativity. These are exactly for me as I always like to try a lot of different stuff but with small portion. All of them look so nice and taste also very delicious.

German Duck

My dearest Korean supplier invited me for dinner on my last day in CeBIT. This restaurant is actually recommended by their agent and seems it is authentic German food as we are the only Asians in the whole restaurant. They gave us a very interesting table with these small men around. My dearest Korean was joking if I'm the "princess" as there are "little men" around. Unfortunately, there are only three instead of seven. :Q

This duck tasted very good and it's a little bit like the Beijing Duck but it's not as crispy and a bit oily for me. Overall, it is considered good compared with pork nickels to me. :)

Another interesting finding at the end of my stay in Germany is "World Cup" is really heating up. Even Lufthansa is putting football heat on their airplane. Enjoy this picture and just for a laugh.

CeBIT Gathering

CeBIT is always an interesting gathering place as I'm always joking that CeBIT is for a big bunch of Taiwanese to meet up at the other side of the world. Of course, I would have my bunch of friends here, too. Previously, I would only met up with Michael or Edwin and that seems to be the only few places that I would see Michael during his post in UK. This year, we have 2 more new members, Duncan and Gwan. Gwan is having her traineeship in Bonn now so she just came over to visit the show and us. We went to a nice German restaurant reserved by Gwan. That was a very enjoyable diner as the whole bunch of old friends gathering together to chit chat about this industry and the future development.



Thanks for my kind landlady, Gwan stayed with me at my private apartment as she wanted to stay one more day to visit the show and there is no more train back to Bonn that night. Guess we are lucky enough that we have the wonderful "SNOW" greeting us in the morning. We just walked from my apartment to the train station and played with the snow along the way. : )



This is actually my last day in CeBIT and would be leaving for Barcelona tomorrow morning to meet up with Ariel and Tina. Hopefully, the sunny Barcelona is all ready for me as I started to miss the "warm" weather at the other side of the world.

Last, CeBIT is kind of a mark for my blog as I started if from last CeBIT also. So Happy Anniversary to my blog and hope you guys enjoy reading it so far.