Thursday, August 23, 2012
Recently, my moods, behaviour and energy level have been fluctuating like mad. Suddenly emo, next moment super hyper, the next day with even more energy and riding my bike like a mad hare (by my standards) and still not depleted yet. Plus i've been laughing (read: screeching) a bit too hard at times (which includes the times i just laugh out to myself when i hear something odd on the radio or something...)
Is there something wrong with me or it's just one of those times?
i think i was just bitten by the riding bug again ever since returning from Sushi-land. Mich thinks it's the high altitudes that gave me this crazy burst of energy... but i didn't climb anything too high!
i've been riding hard the past few rides. Love the pain when i push myself to go a bit faster, a bit more and some more faster.
i cannot believe it but i was so lethargic at work today, only to have the spirit unleashed in the evening when i got onto my bike. i didn't feel super strong on the bike but the little climbs and flats went by much more smoothly today. i hope i'm not getting manic or something...
My concentration span is getting shorter and shorter... Just the other day, i was trying out some IQ test online by request of juju and i wanted to give up halfway through because i kept thinking about other stuffs and couldn't focus on it. i have to consciously force myself back to the test and that really somehow reminded me of the dreaded times in school.
i told biggie i think i need a fling - just for the company and for the fun of it. In the past weeks, i thought to myself that i just want to be with someone, just for the company and no other obligations. Although i haven't got the house thing figured out, it seems to make things much easier if i just settle it on my own rather than depending on the partner....
Strange way of thinking. i have to get out of this mentality.
Is there something wrong with me or it's just one of those times?
i think i was just bitten by the riding bug again ever since returning from Sushi-land. Mich thinks it's the high altitudes that gave me this crazy burst of energy... but i didn't climb anything too high!
i've been riding hard the past few rides. Love the pain when i push myself to go a bit faster, a bit more and some more faster.
i cannot believe it but i was so lethargic at work today, only to have the spirit unleashed in the evening when i got onto my bike. i didn't feel super strong on the bike but the little climbs and flats went by much more smoothly today. i hope i'm not getting manic or something...
My concentration span is getting shorter and shorter... Just the other day, i was trying out some IQ test online by request of juju and i wanted to give up halfway through because i kept thinking about other stuffs and couldn't focus on it. i have to consciously force myself back to the test and that really somehow reminded me of the dreaded times in school.
i told biggie i think i need a fling - just for the company and for the fun of it. In the past weeks, i thought to myself that i just want to be with someone, just for the company and no other obligations. Although i haven't got the house thing figured out, it seems to make things much easier if i just settle it on my own rather than depending on the partner....
Strange way of thinking. i have to get out of this mentality.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
i just need my little space to voice out about something from my recent trip in Japan.
On the last day of my trip, i decided to be the most touristy i could and visit Tsukiji market and Shinjuku - eat sushi, buy souvenirs, look around for local produce and crawl as the world spun by. As i was strolling away from the money changer in Shinjuku, i took a good look around to see the weekday crowd moving with paces much faster than my own, to see the frowning salarymen standing by the cigarette bins having their little refuge, to see the departmental store crew arranging their products to perfection and to see the occasional (there's not much litter) cleaner wiping out the bin with pride.
It occurred to me that they were all local. Japanese.
In the streets of my own country, Singapore, there is hardly a time in this age that i see purely locals driving the country. By "drivers", i do not mean the government or the CEOs of big organisations. Perhaps it is more accurate to use "foundation" instead. What is the foundation of a country without its own people?
From young, i've been seeing certain jobs worked by only foreign workers. Construction workers are mostly Bangladeshi, domestic helpers Indonesians/Filipinos, and more recently, Filipinos in the F&B/service industry and a huge influx of Chinese from China cooking your food and cleaning the tables.
The first time i ever noticed that this wasn't normal was when i was bunking in with a friend in NZ in 2009. A house down the road was under renovation and every time i walked towards the supermarket, i would pass it and see the builders doing their thing. The first thought that shot through my mind... "Angmoh Bangla!". i am not trying to be rude or stereotypical here, but in Singapore, locals like to refer to construction workers as "bangla" because almost all of them are from Bangladeshi. "Angmoh" just means caucasian (and a direct translation from Chinese just means "red hair"). Back to the moment in NZ when i saw the builders, i was surprised/shocked. Why are there locals sweeping the floor??? i was just not used to seeing locals doing the job.
This time in Japan, i got exactly the same feeling, except this time i was more indignant. Why is Singapore so different! Why did our parents say "If you don't study, you will end up sweeping the floor or collecting rubbish..."? What is wrong with working menial jobs? What is there to be ashamed of to keep the streets of your countrymen clean? Is it degrading in some way to get rid of the cigarette butts that the stressed, highly-educated population conveniently throw beside the bin? i don't quite understand... And this frustrates me to tears.
On the occasions you see Singaporeans doing menial jobs, too many are the most heart-wrenching moments of seeing hunched Septuagenarians (read: people over 70 years of age) struggling to the next table to collect dishes for washing and packing half-eaten food into their plastic bag. They are paid miserably. We are talking about S$800 a month to support oneself and a spouse, in a society where a basic government flat costs over S$150,000, where a cheap meal of rice or noodles outside costs at least S$2.50 (without a drink), where it is probably cheaper to die than to seek medical treatment and where retirement is 62 years of age.
The thought of this is really tormenting. Visitors from overseas would ask us "Why are these old people still struggling to make a living? Doesn't the government take care of the old folks?" and I have no answer for that. My friend says "The uncle very poor thing" and I reply "Maybe not, he is fortunate to have some income.".
In the last 2 years of sudden influx of China residents into Singapore to fill up the well-underpaid positions in the F&B industry, i've found myself in countless situations where i spoke English to order some food in the restaurant, only to be given a hard stare by the Chinese server that made me feel i was speaking aliengibberish. For a moment, i would even wonder if i were in my own country...
Things seem awfully wrong to me and all i have are questions and no answers. It was just that split second in Shinjuku that brought all these to thought. The sushi that morning must have been spiked.
On the last day of my trip, i decided to be the most touristy i could and visit Tsukiji market and Shinjuku - eat sushi, buy souvenirs, look around for local produce and crawl as the world spun by. As i was strolling away from the money changer in Shinjuku, i took a good look around to see the weekday crowd moving with paces much faster than my own, to see the frowning salarymen standing by the cigarette bins having their little refuge, to see the departmental store crew arranging their products to perfection and to see the occasional (there's not much litter) cleaner wiping out the bin with pride.
It occurred to me that they were all local. Japanese.
In the streets of my own country, Singapore, there is hardly a time in this age that i see purely locals driving the country. By "drivers", i do not mean the government or the CEOs of big organisations. Perhaps it is more accurate to use "foundation" instead. What is the foundation of a country without its own people?
From young, i've been seeing certain jobs worked by only foreign workers. Construction workers are mostly Bangladeshi, domestic helpers Indonesians/Filipinos, and more recently, Filipinos in the F&B/service industry and a huge influx of Chinese from China cooking your food and cleaning the tables.
The first time i ever noticed that this wasn't normal was when i was bunking in with a friend in NZ in 2009. A house down the road was under renovation and every time i walked towards the supermarket, i would pass it and see the builders doing their thing. The first thought that shot through my mind... "Angmoh Bangla!". i am not trying to be rude or stereotypical here, but in Singapore, locals like to refer to construction workers as "bangla" because almost all of them are from Bangladeshi. "Angmoh" just means caucasian (and a direct translation from Chinese just means "red hair"). Back to the moment in NZ when i saw the builders, i was surprised/shocked. Why are there locals sweeping the floor??? i was just not used to seeing locals doing the job.
This time in Japan, i got exactly the same feeling, except this time i was more indignant. Why is Singapore so different! Why did our parents say "If you don't study, you will end up sweeping the floor or collecting rubbish..."? What is wrong with working menial jobs? What is there to be ashamed of to keep the streets of your countrymen clean? Is it degrading in some way to get rid of the cigarette butts that the stressed, highly-educated population conveniently throw beside the bin? i don't quite understand... And this frustrates me to tears.
On the occasions you see Singaporeans doing menial jobs, too many are the most heart-wrenching moments of seeing hunched Septuagenarians (read: people over 70 years of age) struggling to the next table to collect dishes for washing and packing half-eaten food into their plastic bag. They are paid miserably. We are talking about S$800 a month to support oneself and a spouse, in a society where a basic government flat costs over S$150,000, where a cheap meal of rice or noodles outside costs at least S$2.50 (without a drink), where it is probably cheaper to die than to seek medical treatment and where retirement is 62 years of age.
The thought of this is really tormenting. Visitors from overseas would ask us "Why are these old people still struggling to make a living? Doesn't the government take care of the old folks?" and I have no answer for that. My friend says "The uncle very poor thing" and I reply "Maybe not, he is fortunate to have some income.".
In the last 2 years of sudden influx of China residents into Singapore to fill up the well-underpaid positions in the F&B industry, i've found myself in countless situations where i spoke English to order some food in the restaurant, only to be given a hard stare by the Chinese server that made me feel i was speaking aliengibberish. For a moment, i would even wonder if i were in my own country...
Things seem awfully wrong to me and all i have are questions and no answers. It was just that split second in Shinjuku that brought all these to thought. The sushi that morning must have been spiked.
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