I forgot to include this in my travel entry on Slovenia and decided to post it up here instead of in the original travel post.
On the night I arrived in Slovenia, there was a busker performing by the Triple Bridge - Jimmy from Florida, as he introduced himself. He had a surprisingly good voice and his singing stopped me as I was hurrying back to the hostel. Lightning had been flashing across the sky for some time now and I was trying to get back before it started to pour. However, as he started singing Lionel Richie's Stuck on You, I couldn't help but stop and listen, so touched was I by the romantic feel of the song. When I'm alone in a romantic city on my travels, I tend to be more easily moved by romantic songs, movies and gestures, and this time was no exception. I'd heard the song before but I'd never liked it as much as I liked it that night and it almost brought me to tears.
God bless you, wandering Jimmy, wherever you are. Keep on singing.
Monday, August 30, 2004
I've just watched Fahrenheit 9/11 and while I'm definitely not a Bush supporter (I cannot abide stupidity), I simply cannot take it when someone tries to shove his or her views down my throat... and this is exactly what watching the documentary felt like. While I don't doubt the veracity of the entire film, it did feel as though certain quotes or scenes had been taken out of context; I wasn't entirely convinced that the speakers were referring to the events that director Michael Moore himself was referring to at that point in the film as the speakers featured never once mentioned what the sentence was in response to.
For those of you who'd like to know both sides of the story, take a look at Richard Bushnells 'Bowling For Truth', a site which covers the inaccuracies in Fahrenheit 9/11 as well as Bowling for Columbine. For responses from a seemingly more official site, try Dave Kopel's monograph on the 56 deceits in the show.
For those of you who'd like to know both sides of the story, take a look at Richard Bushnells 'Bowling For Truth', a site which covers the inaccuracies in Fahrenheit 9/11 as well as Bowling for Columbine. For responses from a seemingly more official site, try Dave Kopel's monograph on the 56 deceits in the show.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
The Guardian - John Humphrys: Savaging of 'seedy and cynical' TV
John Humphrys, arguably the BBC's most influential news presenter, made a
powerful case against the corrupting influence of reality television last night,
railing against a tide of "mind-numbing, witless vulgarity" and wondering
whether Mary Whitehouse's clean-up campaign was right.
On a related note, check out Take this oath: First, do no harm, also from the Guardian.
John Humphrys, arguably the BBC's most influential news presenter, made a
powerful case against the corrupting influence of reality television last night,
railing against a tide of "mind-numbing, witless vulgarity" and wondering
whether Mary Whitehouse's clean-up campaign was right.
On a related note, check out Take this oath: First, do no harm, also from the Guardian.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
"Because a promise between friends means never having to give a reason."
Phoebe to Joey (Friends: Episode 10.15 - The One Where Estelle Dies)
Ah, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Ross. You've been one of my favourite sitcoms ever since I started watching you guys from Season 1 in 1994. Two more episodes to go. I'll dearly miss your presence every Monday night on my television.
Phoebe to Joey (Friends: Episode 10.15 - The One Where Estelle Dies)
Ah, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Ross. You've been one of my favourite sitcoms ever since I started watching you guys from Season 1 in 1994. Two more episodes to go. I'll dearly miss your presence every Monday night on my television.
A long-awaited gold for the Israelis through wind-surfer Gal Fridman. (USA Today)
"Fridman wants his medal to have a legacy of many things — an end to the killing among them.
'Fighting should start in the water,' he said. 'If you want to fight someone, fight them in sports. This is our job as an athlete, to show the other side of Israelis. All the people I know want peace.
'One of my best friends is Turkish. I call him my Muslim brother. He calls me his Jewish brother. In sailing, we are all friends.'
He can speak of such things now, and people might listen. He is a gold medalist. He held it his hands Wednesday, as the people flooded around, in a moment too important not to share."
"Fridman wants his medal to have a legacy of many things — an end to the killing among them.
'Fighting should start in the water,' he said. 'If you want to fight someone, fight them in sports. This is our job as an athlete, to show the other side of Israelis. All the people I know want peace.
'One of my best friends is Turkish. I call him my Muslim brother. He calls me his Jewish brother. In sailing, we are all friends.'
He can speak of such things now, and people might listen. He is a gold medalist. He held it his hands Wednesday, as the people flooded around, in a moment too important not to share."
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
I haven't had much time to post lately because I tend to work long hours. By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is spend more time on the computer. Although I've got to get into the office earlier than usual tomorrow (before 9 am - I am not a morning person and tend to get in around 9.15 am to 9.30 am), I've decided that I should post this today seeing as the Olympics Games will be finishing rather soon.
I've started watching the Olympics when I was eight years old even though I had no understanding of what the Games were. Ever since then, I've been watching every other event that comes on every four years. Without fail, I'd be following the Olympics, World Cup or European Championships via the newspapers if I didn't watch the live or recorded broadcasts. Coincidentally, the major exams of my life fell during those years too. My sixth grade leaving examination (otherwise known as the PSLE here in Singapore) was in 1992 when the Olympics were held in Barcelona. My O Level Examinations were in the same year as the 1996 Olympics, my A Levels during the World Cup two years later. And finally, my final year examinations in university in 2002, again during a World Cup. In fact, the 2002 World Cup was broadcast right smack in the middle of my exams, but that didn't stop me from watching them.
I do love the Olympics. My sport of choice is gymnastics (especially the women's floor and women's balance beam exercises) and any good performance, such as Catalina Ponor's gold-medal-winning performance on the beam (I haven't watched her floor just yet), can move me to tears. I'm not a huge fan of any gymnast but I do like Alexei Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina. Alexei is rather good-looking and has a gorgeous smile. He's not called Sexy Alexei for nothing. And with a career total of thirteen Olympic medals, one can tell that he's a very talented gymnast. Svetlana is tall, graceful and elegant; although she's tempermental, she is absolutely breathtaking when she performs up to her usual standard. Many other gymnasts tend to rely on their tumbling prowess, so it's refreshing to watch her perform because she exudes beauty and grace.
This year's gymnastics finals have been especially controversial. First off was the judging error in the men's all-around finals which ended with the South Korean Yang Tae Young being deducted 0.1 of a mark incorrectly, thereby ending up in third position instead of first which would have been the case if he had been given the correct mark. Now, I sympathise with Paul Hamm. Through no fault of his own, he's no longer the 'true' gold medallist. Regardless of whether he gets to keep the medal, his moment of triumph will never be as nice and as precious as it was on the night when he made one heck of a courageous comeback after that disastrous fall on the vault. (Yes, his horizontal bar performance did bring a tear to my eye. The sheer joy of the expression on his face was particularly touching.) However, this isn't being fair to Tae Young either. If everything had been right and fair, the gold medal would have been his - fair and square. Simply declaring that the South Koreans filed their protest too late and therefore, aren't entitled to a fair hearing doesn't cut it. John Romano from The St. Petersburg Times sums it up the best in South Korean deserves gold, too. "The IGF says no. Says the rules clearly state an appeal must be made before the end of competition. Yes, well the rules also say Yang should have been awarded a different score. So if we've already colored outside the lines, why are we so worried about the rest of the picture?"
The least that should be done is that this error gets rectified. Give Tae Young a second gold medal at the very least. Or as the Joplin Globe, a Missouri newspaper, states, in the spirit of the Games, Paul should give up his medal. After all, the Olympics should be about sportsmanship and honour. As John Romano says, "Is justice really a precedent we're trying to avoid?"
Incidentally, I'm also of the opinion that the judging did seem to be biased against Svetlana, given the duration she had to wait for some of her scores. I was also surprised by the somewhat low score she was given for her rather entertaining floor routine during the all-around women's finals.
And of course, there's the 10-minute delay caused by the audience's unhappiness at the judges' awarding Alexei a low 9.725 after his fantastic routine during the men's horizontal bar finals. He did five spectacular releases very well (as opposed to the other competitors' three), but at the end of the day, I - and many other people, as it turned out - felt that he wasn't recognised appropriately for them. To further support my view, would Adrian Stoica, technical director of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), have intervened in Alexei's scoring if the score had been an accurate reflection?
As Liz Clarke from the Washington Post explains in Not Normal Routine for Gymnastics, "gymnastics judging starts with the concept of perfection. Assuming the routine is sufficiently rigorous, each athlete begins with 10.0 points. His final score is what remains after judges whittle tenths and hundredths for glitches such as bent knees, splayed legs and wobbly landings. But the code includes no mechanism for rewarding athletes who exceed perfection, like Nemov did in his high-bar routine. The gymnast who surpasses previously accepted standards of perfection -- either with a radical new skill or unparalleled virtuosity -- gets no bonus."
Despite these controversies, I do not for a second believe that gymnastics should be "kicked out of the Olympics" (as Mark Purdy from Mercury News writes). I'm not a gymnast and most definitely not a gymnastics expert, but I do love watching gymnasts perform... as do many other people. It'll be a shame to let these controversies bog the sport down and get it tossed out of the Olympics.
At the same time, it'll also be a shame to let the injustices done go unaddressed. It's a tough call for the IOC and the FIG. Do the right thing. Don't stand by and do nothing.
I've started watching the Olympics when I was eight years old even though I had no understanding of what the Games were. Ever since then, I've been watching every other event that comes on every four years. Without fail, I'd be following the Olympics, World Cup or European Championships via the newspapers if I didn't watch the live or recorded broadcasts. Coincidentally, the major exams of my life fell during those years too. My sixth grade leaving examination (otherwise known as the PSLE here in Singapore) was in 1992 when the Olympics were held in Barcelona. My O Level Examinations were in the same year as the 1996 Olympics, my A Levels during the World Cup two years later. And finally, my final year examinations in university in 2002, again during a World Cup. In fact, the 2002 World Cup was broadcast right smack in the middle of my exams, but that didn't stop me from watching them.
I do love the Olympics. My sport of choice is gymnastics (especially the women's floor and women's balance beam exercises) and any good performance, such as Catalina Ponor's gold-medal-winning performance on the beam (I haven't watched her floor just yet), can move me to tears. I'm not a huge fan of any gymnast but I do like Alexei Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina. Alexei is rather good-looking and has a gorgeous smile. He's not called Sexy Alexei for nothing. And with a career total of thirteen Olympic medals, one can tell that he's a very talented gymnast. Svetlana is tall, graceful and elegant; although she's tempermental, she is absolutely breathtaking when she performs up to her usual standard. Many other gymnasts tend to rely on their tumbling prowess, so it's refreshing to watch her perform because she exudes beauty and grace.
This year's gymnastics finals have been especially controversial. First off was the judging error in the men's all-around finals which ended with the South Korean Yang Tae Young being deducted 0.1 of a mark incorrectly, thereby ending up in third position instead of first which would have been the case if he had been given the correct mark. Now, I sympathise with Paul Hamm. Through no fault of his own, he's no longer the 'true' gold medallist. Regardless of whether he gets to keep the medal, his moment of triumph will never be as nice and as precious as it was on the night when he made one heck of a courageous comeback after that disastrous fall on the vault. (Yes, his horizontal bar performance did bring a tear to my eye. The sheer joy of the expression on his face was particularly touching.) However, this isn't being fair to Tae Young either. If everything had been right and fair, the gold medal would have been his - fair and square. Simply declaring that the South Koreans filed their protest too late and therefore, aren't entitled to a fair hearing doesn't cut it. John Romano from The St. Petersburg Times sums it up the best in South Korean deserves gold, too. "The IGF says no. Says the rules clearly state an appeal must be made before the end of competition. Yes, well the rules also say Yang should have been awarded a different score. So if we've already colored outside the lines, why are we so worried about the rest of the picture?"
The least that should be done is that this error gets rectified. Give Tae Young a second gold medal at the very least. Or as the Joplin Globe, a Missouri newspaper, states, in the spirit of the Games, Paul should give up his medal. After all, the Olympics should be about sportsmanship and honour. As John Romano says, "Is justice really a precedent we're trying to avoid?"
Incidentally, I'm also of the opinion that the judging did seem to be biased against Svetlana, given the duration she had to wait for some of her scores. I was also surprised by the somewhat low score she was given for her rather entertaining floor routine during the all-around women's finals.
And of course, there's the 10-minute delay caused by the audience's unhappiness at the judges' awarding Alexei a low 9.725 after his fantastic routine during the men's horizontal bar finals. He did five spectacular releases very well (as opposed to the other competitors' three), but at the end of the day, I - and many other people, as it turned out - felt that he wasn't recognised appropriately for them. To further support my view, would Adrian Stoica, technical director of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), have intervened in Alexei's scoring if the score had been an accurate reflection?
As Liz Clarke from the Washington Post explains in Not Normal Routine for Gymnastics, "gymnastics judging starts with the concept of perfection. Assuming the routine is sufficiently rigorous, each athlete begins with 10.0 points. His final score is what remains after judges whittle tenths and hundredths for glitches such as bent knees, splayed legs and wobbly landings. But the code includes no mechanism for rewarding athletes who exceed perfection, like Nemov did in his high-bar routine. The gymnast who surpasses previously accepted standards of perfection -- either with a radical new skill or unparalleled virtuosity -- gets no bonus."
Despite these controversies, I do not for a second believe that gymnastics should be "kicked out of the Olympics" (as Mark Purdy from Mercury News writes). I'm not a gymnast and most definitely not a gymnastics expert, but I do love watching gymnasts perform... as do many other people. It'll be a shame to let these controversies bog the sport down and get it tossed out of the Olympics.
At the same time, it'll also be a shame to let the injustices done go unaddressed. It's a tough call for the IOC and the FIG. Do the right thing. Don't stand by and do nothing.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
In my incredibly long post about my vacation - which incidentally is still in the midst of being completed as at this point in time, I haven't even spoken about Paris - I believe I mentioned how safe the lovely little city of Ljubljana is. Other than for my foray a little further south than tourists usually walk on my first night there, I never once felt threatened by anything. And, might I add, the only reason I felt nervous during that walk was because I wasn't sure where I was going and the streets were rather dark. Yes, another splendid example of my incredibly intelligence when it comes to travelling by myself. In my defence, I have to say that I was looking for the KUD France Preseren as it was the main concert venue for the Trnfest, Ljubljana's alternative music summer festival. I caught part of Liars' electro-rock performance and I have to say that I wasn't terribly impressed. They struck me as Radiohead-wannabes, except that Radiohead are much much better than Liars could ever be.
But I digress.
Anyway, after the safety of Ljubljana, I returned to London on Friday the 6th and had to make a tough choice between returning back to my brother's apartment and eating dinner with my family or rushing down to Somerset House and trying to get a ticket off a tout for Basement Jaxx's sold-out concert. Having been to one of the Jaxx's performances before, I was really hoping to catch this concert as "there's still no-one who throws a party quite like the Jaxx." (NME). But, owing to fatigue and my desire to go clubbing at Fabric later that night, I stayed home and ate dinner with my mother. It was around 8 pm at this point and I was waiting impatiently for my brother to get home so that we could leave and get to the club before 11 pm. South, the band which sang Paint the Silence, my favourite song off the soundtrack of The O.C., would be performing live, as would Adam Freeland and UNKLE. My brother was late as usual. As such, we left the apartment close to 11 pm, only to find that something - we weren't quite sure what - had occurred along the street just a block away from the apartment building. A man was lying on the road, the police were there and there were plenty of people around and various people yelling at each other. It was clear that this wasn't a place that we wanted to be around so my brother just urged me to walk faster. When we returned at 6 am on our way back from the club, the police were still there and this time, the road had been cordoned off. The officer on duty refused to tell us what had happened and took down our particulars as we walked through to get to the apartment. It wasn't until five hours later, on our way back out, that we found out that there had been a shooting the night before, most likely racially-motivated.
That incident really brought home the fact that I was indeed no longer in safe little Ljubljana (or Singapore for that matter) and back in London.
But I digress.
Anyway, after the safety of Ljubljana, I returned to London on Friday the 6th and had to make a tough choice between returning back to my brother's apartment and eating dinner with my family or rushing down to Somerset House and trying to get a ticket off a tout for Basement Jaxx's sold-out concert. Having been to one of the Jaxx's performances before, I was really hoping to catch this concert as "there's still no-one who throws a party quite like the Jaxx." (NME). But, owing to fatigue and my desire to go clubbing at Fabric later that night, I stayed home and ate dinner with my mother. It was around 8 pm at this point and I was waiting impatiently for my brother to get home so that we could leave and get to the club before 11 pm. South, the band which sang Paint the Silence, my favourite song off the soundtrack of The O.C., would be performing live, as would Adam Freeland and UNKLE. My brother was late as usual. As such, we left the apartment close to 11 pm, only to find that something - we weren't quite sure what - had occurred along the street just a block away from the apartment building. A man was lying on the road, the police were there and there were plenty of people around and various people yelling at each other. It was clear that this wasn't a place that we wanted to be around so my brother just urged me to walk faster. When we returned at 6 am on our way back from the club, the police were still there and this time, the road had been cordoned off. The officer on duty refused to tell us what had happened and took down our particulars as we walked through to get to the apartment. It wasn't until five hours later, on our way back out, that we found out that there had been a shooting the night before, most likely racially-motivated.
That incident really brought home the fact that I was indeed no longer in safe little Ljubljana (or Singapore for that matter) and back in London.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Friday, August 20, 2004
The Great Vacation of 2004
July 31 - August 2, August 6 - 12: London
I spent a week or so in London. Stayed with my brother in Canary Wharf, met up with three people: my London best friend, a university course-mate and yes, my ex. I went to Camden Market, Oxford Circus to just troll the high street, HMV to pick up some bargain CDs and DVDs, Covent Garden, clubbing once at Fabric, Greenwich a couple of times... Basically just re-visited my favourite places and shops in London. I wasn't intending to do much shopping, what with the strength of the pound, but was seduced by the summer sales. I went to Boots and Superdrug (two of my favourite shops as I LOVE toiletries) more than 15 times in total over that week! I also stopped by Paris on my way back to Singapore and did a little bit more shopping (but not much since I was acutely feeling the pinch by then).
The very first store I went into upon my arrival was the Boots at the airport! Over the course of the three days prior to my departure for Ljubljana, I went into Boots four times and Superdrug twice! That made me realise how much I miss the wide variety of brands available in England... and how much I love toiletries! I ended up buying three different types of hairspray (two Charles Worthington and one Umberto Gianni) to bring back to Singapore and had to force myself not to purchase two kinds of shampoo other than the Toni & Guy copper colour-depositing shampoo that I purchased on my last day in London as well as loads of different kinds of body moisturisers and shower gels... I was longing to bring back a couple of bottles of The Original Source Tea Tree & Mint shower gel as that scent isn't available here.
HMV in London has always been one of the stores which I simply must visit. It's not one of my favourite stores, mind you, but there does always seem to be something in the shop which I consider quite a bargain. This time, my haul consisted of three CDs (Ministry of Sound presents the 50 Greatest Trance Anthems of All-Time mixed by Judge Jules, Female Vocal Trance and Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo) and three DVDs (Human Traffic, High Fidelity and Donnie Darko). Now, the last movie may seem a rather surprising purchase, even for someone with as eclectic tastes as myself, but I'd heard a lot about the dark and disturbing movie and had even read a recent review in a British newspaper on the flight over. Still, I don't know when I'll watch the movie as I've got tonnes of DVDs which I'd been meaning to watch but haven't yet found the time for them!
Camden Market... Camden holds a special place in my heart. Aside from its innate charm, I stayed there with my ex for a few weeks after moving out from Butler's Wharf and we had an absolutely wonderful summer there. I hadn't been there since I'd left London in 2002 and I was to return there on August 8. On my way to meet my brother at Golders Green for lunch before continuing to Camden, I bumped into my ex on the tube in what I can only call a massive coincidence. It was great to see him so unexpectedly and was to mark off what would be one of those rare perfect days you get every so often in life. Lunch too was a wonderful affair and it was fortunate we decided to go when we did, for the proprietors of the restaurant we were eating at had decided to close from the next day till the end of August so that they could return home for the remainder of summer. After lunch, I went off to Camden with 50 pounds in my wallet and a comment from my brother going through my mind - "how could anyone spend 50 pounds in Camden?". We'd see, big brother. We'd see.
Even before going to Camden, I had several shops in mind which I wanted to check out. For one thing, I really wanted to check out Punkyfish, a London-based streetwear label with a lot of attitude, Cyberdog, Psychedelic Dream Temple (both clubbing-related) and the little accessories stores in the hope of purchasing a wristband similar to what Ryan Atwood wears on The O.C.. By the end of my three-hour walk through Camden, I had ended up with three items from Punkyfish and two bags from an Aldo sale shop, as well as a frozen coffee beverage from my favourite London coffee shop, a href="http://www.caffenero.com">Caffe Nero. Curiously enough, I had purchased a major amount of pink: a pink hoodie, a white sleeveless tee with pink ribbons, pink cargo pants and a pink bag. The strange thing was... I didn't even notice until my mother asked, "How come you bought so much pink?"
Camden was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of memories. While walking towards the market, I saw the large Sainsbury where my ex and I used to get our groceries from before embarking on attempts at a gourmet dinner. I still get cravings for the Mexican dishes we used to cook from time to time and I'm still rather proud at the salmon hollandaise I made specially for him one night. I ducked down Inverness St to see if Singapore Sling, the restaurant where we celebrated his birthday and my farewell, was still there (it was). I went into the Psychedelic Dream Temple where I got him a CD as part of his birthday package and it was nice to know that they still play really great trance music. The only problem with the CDs sold there that is that they're very pricey as they're not available elsewhere.
One of my favourite moments of that day - and there were so many! - was walking into Cyberdog in time to catch two members of the public dancing to the music that was playing. They were poppin' and body lockin' and just putting on a performance for the rest of us. It was that moment which captured all that I love about Camden - the quirkiness of the shops, the eclectic range of people, the sense of freedom and liberty one gets just being there... It was just wonderful.
August 2 - 6: Slovenia
Slovenia was great fun although towards the end of the five days, I did have a suspicion that if I stayed there long enough, I'd have the same feelings for it as I would for Singapore: terribly nice and safe to be in, easy to get around, but too small. Ljubljana was terribly safe; on my last night there, I walked around with a fellow backpacker (an older guy from San Francisco who I had just met that night but sorry, no romantic interlude there, just two people out to explore the city) until 3 am and never once felt like I was in any danger. The locals are indeed very friendly. When I was walking out of Cafe Anika after buying some very nice ice-cream with the Lonely Planet Slovenia guide in hand, the other customer in the store called out, "have a nice stay in Ljubljana!" I loved the area around the river. It felt very vibrant and full of life when the restaurants were open, though I was very surprised that virtually every bar and club closed by 1 am. That's just not my idea of nightlife.
Bohinj was a lovely little place. The water was incredibly clear and there were quite a few people sunbathing and swimming. Unfortunately, being by myself, I didn't really partake in such activities. I just felt a little shy, so despite the fact that I was wearing a bikini, I kept myself covered up in a long-sleeved tee-shirt. The little church by the lake which LP described as having very pretty frescoes on the inside was unfortunately closed for renovation, a theme that was to recur throughout the remainder of my trip, I was to find. I went up to the Savica Falls and although I didn't spend that much time there, it was purely due to the sheer number of people there, and nothing to do with the awesome natural beauty of the place. It started raining while I was up there (another event that was to persist no matter where I went) and I was a little put out because... it's summer! It's not supposed to rain!
After this, I headed over to Bled even though it was already 3 pm because I had no desire to repeat my journey given my limited time in the country. Due to the lateness of the hour, I could only see Bled Castle and spend some time by the lake writing in my journal. I didn't get a chance to go to Bled Island and ring the bell where all your wishes are supposed to come true. In fact, I got off at the wrong coach stop - one bus stop too early, but I had an enjoyable speed walk to the town, so I was fine. The krema sniza (sp?) was absolutely divine - two layers of great flaky pastry with three inches of cream sandwiched between them!
The Skocjan Caves were awesome, incidentally. While caves are well, caves, I haven't been to one before and I found this one breathtaking. It takes 30 years for a stalagmite and stalactite to grow by 1 mm so I was awed by the sheer size of the dripstones found in the caves. There's also an underground river running through the caves so it just seemed like something out of a movie; all I needed was to see some bats and my very first cave experience would have been perfect! As the caves were most easily accesible via a 45-minute hike through a forest near the nearest train station, I ended up walking quite a fair bit that day. I think I must've walked more than 10 km that day easily. The hike's ostensibly 3 km but I don't usually take 45 minutes to walk 3 km so I think the hike's really longer than that. The walk to the caves was 1.5 km and the walk through the caves was another 3 km and then I walked another 1 km out of the way to check out the museums so that makes 3+3+3+1.5+1+1=12.5 km before I returned to Ljubljana where I walked some more!
Piran, a little coastal town along the Adriatic Sea and just 1.5 hours away from Venice, was cute. It was a pleasant stay but again... too small! I must have finished walking through the whole place by noon and I had only arrived at 9 am! I did like the Venetian feel to the town though. Again, I was too shy to sunbathe (again!) but I was content to walk around and try and get some colour on my pale legs.
I bought quite a few souvenirs from the Dom handicraft shop in Ljubljana - a small vase, a thimble, a mug for my dad, a beekeeping panel painting and a painted egg which caused me much anxiety while I was travelling as I was so afraid it would break before I got it back to Singapore! I also bought two bottles of red wine: one for my mother and one for my ex in London as his birthday was coming up soon. The last purchase resulted in my missing the airport bus and I had to get a cab... twenty quid! Argh! Still... at least I had my wine!
July 31 - August 2, August 6 - 12: London
I spent a week or so in London. Stayed with my brother in Canary Wharf, met up with three people: my London best friend, a university course-mate and yes, my ex. I went to Camden Market, Oxford Circus to just troll the high street, HMV to pick up some bargain CDs and DVDs, Covent Garden, clubbing once at Fabric, Greenwich a couple of times... Basically just re-visited my favourite places and shops in London. I wasn't intending to do much shopping, what with the strength of the pound, but was seduced by the summer sales. I went to Boots and Superdrug (two of my favourite shops as I LOVE toiletries) more than 15 times in total over that week! I also stopped by Paris on my way back to Singapore and did a little bit more shopping (but not much since I was acutely feeling the pinch by then).
The very first store I went into upon my arrival was the Boots at the airport! Over the course of the three days prior to my departure for Ljubljana, I went into Boots four times and Superdrug twice! That made me realise how much I miss the wide variety of brands available in England... and how much I love toiletries! I ended up buying three different types of hairspray (two Charles Worthington and one Umberto Gianni) to bring back to Singapore and had to force myself not to purchase two kinds of shampoo other than the Toni & Guy copper colour-depositing shampoo that I purchased on my last day in London as well as loads of different kinds of body moisturisers and shower gels... I was longing to bring back a couple of bottles of The Original Source Tea Tree & Mint shower gel as that scent isn't available here.
HMV in London has always been one of the stores which I simply must visit. It's not one of my favourite stores, mind you, but there does always seem to be something in the shop which I consider quite a bargain. This time, my haul consisted of three CDs (Ministry of Sound presents the 50 Greatest Trance Anthems of All-Time mixed by Judge Jules, Female Vocal Trance and Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo) and three DVDs (Human Traffic, High Fidelity and Donnie Darko). Now, the last movie may seem a rather surprising purchase, even for someone with as eclectic tastes as myself, but I'd heard a lot about the dark and disturbing movie and had even read a recent review in a British newspaper on the flight over. Still, I don't know when I'll watch the movie as I've got tonnes of DVDs which I'd been meaning to watch but haven't yet found the time for them!
Camden Market... Camden holds a special place in my heart. Aside from its innate charm, I stayed there with my ex for a few weeks after moving out from Butler's Wharf and we had an absolutely wonderful summer there. I hadn't been there since I'd left London in 2002 and I was to return there on August 8. On my way to meet my brother at Golders Green for lunch before continuing to Camden, I bumped into my ex on the tube in what I can only call a massive coincidence. It was great to see him so unexpectedly and was to mark off what would be one of those rare perfect days you get every so often in life. Lunch too was a wonderful affair and it was fortunate we decided to go when we did, for the proprietors of the restaurant we were eating at had decided to close from the next day till the end of August so that they could return home for the remainder of summer. After lunch, I went off to Camden with 50 pounds in my wallet and a comment from my brother going through my mind - "how could anyone spend 50 pounds in Camden?". We'd see, big brother. We'd see.
Even before going to Camden, I had several shops in mind which I wanted to check out. For one thing, I really wanted to check out Punkyfish, a London-based streetwear label with a lot of attitude, Cyberdog, Psychedelic Dream Temple (both clubbing-related) and the little accessories stores in the hope of purchasing a wristband similar to what Ryan Atwood wears on The O.C.. By the end of my three-hour walk through Camden, I had ended up with three items from Punkyfish and two bags from an Aldo sale shop, as well as a frozen coffee beverage from my favourite London coffee shop, a href="http://www.caffenero.com">Caffe Nero. Curiously enough, I had purchased a major amount of pink: a pink hoodie, a white sleeveless tee with pink ribbons, pink cargo pants and a pink bag. The strange thing was... I didn't even notice until my mother asked, "How come you bought so much pink?"
Camden was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of memories. While walking towards the market, I saw the large Sainsbury where my ex and I used to get our groceries from before embarking on attempts at a gourmet dinner. I still get cravings for the Mexican dishes we used to cook from time to time and I'm still rather proud at the salmon hollandaise I made specially for him one night. I ducked down Inverness St to see if Singapore Sling, the restaurant where we celebrated his birthday and my farewell, was still there (it was). I went into the Psychedelic Dream Temple where I got him a CD as part of his birthday package and it was nice to know that they still play really great trance music. The only problem with the CDs sold there that is that they're very pricey as they're not available elsewhere.
One of my favourite moments of that day - and there were so many! - was walking into Cyberdog in time to catch two members of the public dancing to the music that was playing. They were poppin' and body lockin' and just putting on a performance for the rest of us. It was that moment which captured all that I love about Camden - the quirkiness of the shops, the eclectic range of people, the sense of freedom and liberty one gets just being there... It was just wonderful.
August 2 - 6: Slovenia
Slovenia was great fun although towards the end of the five days, I did have a suspicion that if I stayed there long enough, I'd have the same feelings for it as I would for Singapore: terribly nice and safe to be in, easy to get around, but too small. Ljubljana was terribly safe; on my last night there, I walked around with a fellow backpacker (an older guy from San Francisco who I had just met that night but sorry, no romantic interlude there, just two people out to explore the city) until 3 am and never once felt like I was in any danger. The locals are indeed very friendly. When I was walking out of Cafe Anika after buying some very nice ice-cream with the Lonely Planet Slovenia guide in hand, the other customer in the store called out, "have a nice stay in Ljubljana!" I loved the area around the river. It felt very vibrant and full of life when the restaurants were open, though I was very surprised that virtually every bar and club closed by 1 am. That's just not my idea of nightlife.
Bohinj was a lovely little place. The water was incredibly clear and there were quite a few people sunbathing and swimming. Unfortunately, being by myself, I didn't really partake in such activities. I just felt a little shy, so despite the fact that I was wearing a bikini, I kept myself covered up in a long-sleeved tee-shirt. The little church by the lake which LP described as having very pretty frescoes on the inside was unfortunately closed for renovation, a theme that was to recur throughout the remainder of my trip, I was to find. I went up to the Savica Falls and although I didn't spend that much time there, it was purely due to the sheer number of people there, and nothing to do with the awesome natural beauty of the place. It started raining while I was up there (another event that was to persist no matter where I went) and I was a little put out because... it's summer! It's not supposed to rain!
After this, I headed over to Bled even though it was already 3 pm because I had no desire to repeat my journey given my limited time in the country. Due to the lateness of the hour, I could only see Bled Castle and spend some time by the lake writing in my journal. I didn't get a chance to go to Bled Island and ring the bell where all your wishes are supposed to come true. In fact, I got off at the wrong coach stop - one bus stop too early, but I had an enjoyable speed walk to the town, so I was fine. The krema sniza (sp?) was absolutely divine - two layers of great flaky pastry with three inches of cream sandwiched between them!
The Skocjan Caves were awesome, incidentally. While caves are well, caves, I haven't been to one before and I found this one breathtaking. It takes 30 years for a stalagmite and stalactite to grow by 1 mm so I was awed by the sheer size of the dripstones found in the caves. There's also an underground river running through the caves so it just seemed like something out of a movie; all I needed was to see some bats and my very first cave experience would have been perfect! As the caves were most easily accesible via a 45-minute hike through a forest near the nearest train station, I ended up walking quite a fair bit that day. I think I must've walked more than 10 km that day easily. The hike's ostensibly 3 km but I don't usually take 45 minutes to walk 3 km so I think the hike's really longer than that. The walk to the caves was 1.5 km and the walk through the caves was another 3 km and then I walked another 1 km out of the way to check out the museums so that makes 3+3+3+1.5+1+1=12.5 km before I returned to Ljubljana where I walked some more!
Piran, a little coastal town along the Adriatic Sea and just 1.5 hours away from Venice, was cute. It was a pleasant stay but again... too small! I must have finished walking through the whole place by noon and I had only arrived at 9 am! I did like the Venetian feel to the town though. Again, I was too shy to sunbathe (again!) but I was content to walk around and try and get some colour on my pale legs.
I bought quite a few souvenirs from the Dom handicraft shop in Ljubljana - a small vase, a thimble, a mug for my dad, a beekeeping panel painting and a painted egg which caused me much anxiety while I was travelling as I was so afraid it would break before I got it back to Singapore! I also bought two bottles of red wine: one for my mother and one for my ex in London as his birthday was coming up soon. The last purchase resulted in my missing the airport bus and I had to get a cab... twenty quid! Argh! Still... at least I had my wine!
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
I didn't enjoy The Street's debut album (Original Pirate Material), so I never expected to find his latest single, Dry Your Eyes, such a heartbreakingly sweet tune. The vulnerability revealed in the words that he chooses, the frustration evident in his voice and the unconvinced tone as the chorus voices that "there're plenty more fish in the sea"... This is indeed a beautiful song about that long-over relationship that we've all mourned at one point in our lives. You wouldn't think so given that other than the chorus, everything is spoken in a London accent. In spite of this, or maybe because of this, I found this song heart-wrenching and original.
Dry Your Eyes
- A Grand Don't Come For Free
In one single moment your whole life can turn 'round
I stand there for a minute starin' straight into the ground
Lookin' to the left slightly, then lookin' back down
World feels like it's caved in - proper sorry frown
Please let me show you where we could only just be, for us
I can change and I can grow or we could adjust
The wicked thing about us is we always have trust
We can even have an open relationship, if you must
I look at her she stares almost straight back at me
But her eyes glaze over like she's lookin' straight through me
Then her eyes must have closed for what seems an eternity
When they open up she's lookin' down at her feet
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
So then I move my hand up from down by my side
It's shakin', my life is crashin' before my eyes
Turn the palm of my hand up to face the skies
Touch the bottom of her chin and let out a sigh
'Cause I can't imagine my life without you and me
There's things I can't imagine doin', things I can't imagine seein'
It weren't supposed to be easy, surely
Please, please, I beg you please
She brings her hands up towards where my hands rested
She wraps her fingers round mine with the softness she's blessed with
She peels away my fingers, looks at me and then gestures
By pushin' my hand away to my chest, from hers
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
And I'm just standin' there, I can't say a word
'Cause everythin's just gone
I've got nothin'
Absolutely nothin'
Tryin' to pull her close out of bare desperation
Put my arms around her tryin' to change what she's sayin'
Pull my head level with hers so she might engage in
Look into her eyes to make her listen again
I'm not gonna fuckin', just fuckin' leave it all now
'Cause you said it'd be forever and that was your vow
And you're gonna let our things simply crash and fall down
You're well out of order now, this is well out of town
She pulls away, my arms are tightly clamped round her waist
Gently pushes me back and she looks at me straight
Turns around so she's now got her back to my face
Takes one step forward, looks back, and then walks away
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
I know in the past I've found it hard to say
Tellin' you things, but not tellin' straight
But the more I pull on your hand and say
The more you pull away
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now.
Dry Your Eyes
- A Grand Don't Come For Free
In one single moment your whole life can turn 'round
I stand there for a minute starin' straight into the ground
Lookin' to the left slightly, then lookin' back down
World feels like it's caved in - proper sorry frown
Please let me show you where we could only just be, for us
I can change and I can grow or we could adjust
The wicked thing about us is we always have trust
We can even have an open relationship, if you must
I look at her she stares almost straight back at me
But her eyes glaze over like she's lookin' straight through me
Then her eyes must have closed for what seems an eternity
When they open up she's lookin' down at her feet
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
So then I move my hand up from down by my side
It's shakin', my life is crashin' before my eyes
Turn the palm of my hand up to face the skies
Touch the bottom of her chin and let out a sigh
'Cause I can't imagine my life without you and me
There's things I can't imagine doin', things I can't imagine seein'
It weren't supposed to be easy, surely
Please, please, I beg you please
She brings her hands up towards where my hands rested
She wraps her fingers round mine with the softness she's blessed with
She peels away my fingers, looks at me and then gestures
By pushin' my hand away to my chest, from hers
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
And I'm just standin' there, I can't say a word
'Cause everythin's just gone
I've got nothin'
Absolutely nothin'
Tryin' to pull her close out of bare desperation
Put my arms around her tryin' to change what she's sayin'
Pull my head level with hers so she might engage in
Look into her eyes to make her listen again
I'm not gonna fuckin', just fuckin' leave it all now
'Cause you said it'd be forever and that was your vow
And you're gonna let our things simply crash and fall down
You're well out of order now, this is well out of town
She pulls away, my arms are tightly clamped round her waist
Gently pushes me back and she looks at me straight
Turns around so she's now got her back to my face
Takes one step forward, looks back, and then walks away
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over
I know in the past I've found it hard to say
Tellin' you things, but not tellin' straight
But the more I pull on your hand and say
The more you pull away
Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now.
So... with Ronald Susilo's defeat to Boontak Ponsana in the badminton men's singles quarter-finals, Singapore's first real Olympic medal hopes in 44 years have vanished. And while you might scoff at how Ronald's two wins shouldn't have raised the nation's hopes so high, the thing is... he did beat the world no. 1 Lin Dan decisively in their encounter a few days ago. Despite the fact that I have never followed badminton and that personally speaking, I have never rated Singaporean athletes much accord, the mere fact that he was just three people away from a possible gold medal did get me excited. I am Singaporean after all. This is my country and my home. No matter how much I want to escape from this place, I do love it. And I, like all of my countrymen, was, until a while ago, behind Ronald, willing him to go the distance. We all wanted the world to see that even a small, tiny, minuscule country like mine, with pathetic training programmes could produce someone with the mere potential to win a medal.
I'm not making very much sense, I realise. In any case, Ronald, you've done us proud. I apologise for rubbishing you to my colleagues a few days ago. Much respect to you, mate.
I'm not making very much sense, I realise. In any case, Ronald, you've done us proud. I apologise for rubbishing you to my colleagues a few days ago. Much respect to you, mate.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
I’ve taken to listening to London radio stations. Compared to the staid, formulaic radio programmes on local radio stations, London radio is a much-needed breath of fresh air, although some of them do have the same problems that every other radio station has (i.e. playing the same songs over and over). My radio station of choice would be BBC Radio 1 but for some strange reason, I’m not able to listen to it at work, so I’ve had to settle for Capital 95.8 FM instead, which has a pretty decent morning show, with games such as “Mind the Gap”, inane (or insane) breakfast show hosts (case in point: they hosted the “Toaster Olympics” on Monday morning seeing as Great Britain are doing so poorly in the Olympics, but alas, the German-made toaster still beat out the Russell Hobbs) and an interesting little segment called “Flirty at 9.30” which is either a boon or a bane for those of us too shy to tell the object of our affection that we’re interested in them. I haven’t been able to decide which yet. Anyway, the host, James Cannon, will ask out your target on your behalf. Obviously, it could go either way. Regardless of the outcome, the identity of the secret admirer will be revealed. Today’s show resulted in the new girl in the office being rejected (ON LIVE RADIO!!) by her colleague (AND AN OFFICE TARGET AT THAT!!) as he had a girlfriend and she wasn’t aware of that because she didn’t want to be too obvious about the fact that she fancied him. Poor girl.
There’s also a contest called “Beat the Boss” in which easyJet, bless them, are giving away tickets to Nice (and most likely some other destinations) to people who are successful in getting through to the radio station. But that’s not all. The lucky winner is allowed to appoint four colleagues to take with him/her. The boss is then asked a series of four questions (about easyJet of course) and should he get one/two/three/four of them right, then one/two/etc. of those colleagues has to remain behind. Cute. And the boss must be extremely sporting too. I wish I had that kind of boss.
There’s also a contest called “Beat the Boss” in which easyJet, bless them, are giving away tickets to Nice (and most likely some other destinations) to people who are successful in getting through to the radio station. But that’s not all. The lucky winner is allowed to appoint four colleagues to take with him/her. The boss is then asked a series of four questions (about easyJet of course) and should he get one/two/three/four of them right, then one/two/etc. of those colleagues has to remain behind. Cute. And the boss must be extremely sporting too. I wish I had that kind of boss.
Monday, August 16, 2004
It’s 11.31 am now, approximately two hours and 15 minutes since I came into the office. My first day back since my two-week Europe holiday… and I’m still feeling unbelievably happy. The first colleague I greeted upon my arrival noted that I appeared happier and gave it half-an-hour before I would return to my normal self. I’m happy to report that he was wrong.
On my way to work, having decided to walk to the nearest MRT station since I was – as usual – running late for work, and also in an effort to get some sun in order to get over my jet lag, I found myself walking with a spring in my step, singing “Summer Sunshine” and “At Your Side” (both by the ever-so-talented and cheerful Corrs). I was determined to ensure that this good mood of mine would last more than just the morning, which, given my office environment, is a greater challenge than it would seem.
Another colleague of mine, having just returned from Hong Kong after going there for the weekend for her father’s birthday celebration, bestowed upon me a gift: a little coffret of Two Girls Brand Florida Water (also containing some towelettes and a small jar of rose cream), a local specialty from Hong Kong, and once featured in the September 2001 SELF Magazine as one of the great beauty finds from around the world. I haven’t used anything yet (duh!) but they smell great.
Incidentally, I had approximately 180 e-mails to clear once I had logged on. It took about 20 minutes for my laptop to start up completely and load my Outlook. Still the same. I don’t know why I expected it to be different, but having experienced so much in the last 16 days, it just didn’t seem possible for nothing to have changed during my absence, if you get what I mean.
And I’m really looking forward to tonight when I’ll be seeing my Sec 4 class for the first time since December, which was the first time I saw them ever since early 1999. One of my friends will be leaving Singapore on Thursday and another friend – my oldest friend, since we’ve known each other since primary school, so that’s… 18 years now? – will be leaving to return to Australia to work at the end of this month. We’re both Catholic, learnt French together for a bit, went to the same schools for ten years (which is a bit of a hard act to follow, because we were the only two from our first primary school to transfer at the age of eight to our second primary school. The only person to beat that is my best friend in London; we’ve been in the same schools for 12 years.)… I’ll really miss her. On the bright side though, we’ve made a pact to meet up wherever we are in the world when it comes to our 20th anniversary of knowing each other.
On my way to work, having decided to walk to the nearest MRT station since I was – as usual – running late for work, and also in an effort to get some sun in order to get over my jet lag, I found myself walking with a spring in my step, singing “Summer Sunshine” and “At Your Side” (both by the ever-so-talented and cheerful Corrs). I was determined to ensure that this good mood of mine would last more than just the morning, which, given my office environment, is a greater challenge than it would seem.
Another colleague of mine, having just returned from Hong Kong after going there for the weekend for her father’s birthday celebration, bestowed upon me a gift: a little coffret of Two Girls Brand Florida Water (also containing some towelettes and a small jar of rose cream), a local specialty from Hong Kong, and once featured in the September 2001 SELF Magazine as one of the great beauty finds from around the world. I haven’t used anything yet (duh!) but they smell great.
Incidentally, I had approximately 180 e-mails to clear once I had logged on. It took about 20 minutes for my laptop to start up completely and load my Outlook. Still the same. I don’t know why I expected it to be different, but having experienced so much in the last 16 days, it just didn’t seem possible for nothing to have changed during my absence, if you get what I mean.
And I’m really looking forward to tonight when I’ll be seeing my Sec 4 class for the first time since December, which was the first time I saw them ever since early 1999. One of my friends will be leaving Singapore on Thursday and another friend – my oldest friend, since we’ve known each other since primary school, so that’s… 18 years now? – will be leaving to return to Australia to work at the end of this month. We’re both Catholic, learnt French together for a bit, went to the same schools for ten years (which is a bit of a hard act to follow, because we were the only two from our first primary school to transfer at the age of eight to our second primary school. The only person to beat that is my best friend in London; we’ve been in the same schools for 12 years.)… I’ll really miss her. On the bright side though, we’ve made a pact to meet up wherever we are in the world when it comes to our 20th anniversary of knowing each other.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
I'm back!
And completely exhausted. Other people go on leave to for relaxation. I, on the other hand, go for mini-adventures... or at least the urban version of an adventure.
I'll go into more detail later but this is where I was.
Jul 31 - Aug 2 London (met up with one of my best friends)
Aug 2 - Aug 6 Slovenia though mostly in the capital, Ljubljana ('lj' is pronounced as 'li')
Aug 6 - Aug 12 London (had one of those rare perfect days at Camden where I'm just so happy)
Aug 12 - Aug 14 Paris (had fun at a Miss Sixty sale)
I must have walked over 30 km during my five-day Slovenia break, given that I went to the Julian Alps, the lakes (Bohinj and Bled), the Skocjan Caves, the Slovenian coast town of Piran, but returned every night to the lovely little town of Ljubljana. Unfortunately, I ate a lot of gelato (the best of which was from Cafe Anika in Trnvo in Ljulbljana. Try the Cherry Mania flavour. It's delicious.) so the expected weight-loss/toning effects of such activity was not that significant. Oh well.
A shower and church beckons.
And completely exhausted. Other people go on leave to for relaxation. I, on the other hand, go for mini-adventures... or at least the urban version of an adventure.
I'll go into more detail later but this is where I was.
Jul 31 - Aug 2 London (met up with one of my best friends)
Aug 2 - Aug 6 Slovenia though mostly in the capital, Ljubljana ('lj' is pronounced as 'li')
Aug 6 - Aug 12 London (had one of those rare perfect days at Camden where I'm just so happy)
Aug 12 - Aug 14 Paris (had fun at a Miss Sixty sale)
I must have walked over 30 km during my five-day Slovenia break, given that I went to the Julian Alps, the lakes (Bohinj and Bled), the Skocjan Caves, the Slovenian coast town of Piran, but returned every night to the lovely little town of Ljubljana. Unfortunately, I ate a lot of gelato (the best of which was from Cafe Anika in Trnvo in Ljulbljana. Try the Cherry Mania flavour. It's delicious.) so the expected weight-loss/toning effects of such activity was not that significant. Oh well.
A shower and church beckons.
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