Friday, June 27, 2008
SZ21
Just when I thought that I would wither and wilt under the unbearable heat from the scorching summer sun, a typhoon happily came along and brought with it rain that seemed to pour on forever. My initial doubts of the local drainage system soon gave way to much relief when there was no massive flooding on the roads and I could still walk around on the streets without stomping on 3-inch deep puddles.
My working stint shall formally end in one week's time and I can't wait for that day to come. I'm not particularly looking forward to leaving SZ since I have been having a rather enjoyable time here most of the time. Yet, going back to sunny, clean and safer home seems not a bad idea too. Above all, I can play the game that I have been craving for.
It's the lychee season now, so obviously I'm gorging on them. They're sweet and the seeds are damn small. The price? RMB12-14 for 1kg! And those honey peaches, although a wee bit expensive, are simply scrumptious! I never thought I would love lychees and peaches to such exaggerated extent... But I wonder why the apples cost about the same as those sold back home. Like, aren't apples sold here the same as those sold back there?
What's more, now that I've started on this food thing, I should have MacDonald's again before I leave! The juicy grilled spicy chicken burger cannot be found in Singapore. Oh gawd. The fantastic Hunan cuisine restaurant near the office offers superb dishes that make me asks for more rice every time. I've also got to try that steak house at the mall next to my apartment. It's perpetually full at dinner time. I've heard rave reviews for it. Oh, and the chicken claypot-steamboat that I have mentioned before along a street of the Geylang of SZ...
There was a time when I was thin. But now I am still about the same, but only slightly more flesh. I wonder where all the food that I've consumed gone to.
It looks like it's going to be another wet, wet, wet day.
My working stint shall formally end in one week's time and I can't wait for that day to come. I'm not particularly looking forward to leaving SZ since I have been having a rather enjoyable time here most of the time. Yet, going back to sunny, clean and safer home seems not a bad idea too. Above all, I can play the game that I have been craving for.
It's the lychee season now, so obviously I'm gorging on them. They're sweet and the seeds are damn small. The price? RMB12-14 for 1kg! And those honey peaches, although a wee bit expensive, are simply scrumptious! I never thought I would love lychees and peaches to such exaggerated extent... But I wonder why the apples cost about the same as those sold back home. Like, aren't apples sold here the same as those sold back there?
What's more, now that I've started on this food thing, I should have MacDonald's again before I leave! The juicy grilled spicy chicken burger cannot be found in Singapore. Oh gawd. The fantastic Hunan cuisine restaurant near the office offers superb dishes that make me asks for more rice every time. I've also got to try that steak house at the mall next to my apartment. It's perpetually full at dinner time. I've heard rave reviews for it. Oh, and the chicken claypot-steamboat that I have mentioned before along a street of the Geylang of SZ...
There was a time when I was thin. But now I am still about the same, but only slightly more flesh. I wonder where all the food that I've consumed gone to.
It looks like it's going to be another wet, wet, wet day.
It is coming in two weeks' time. The day that I shall relinquish all responsibilities related to my brief stint in PRC. I'm just wondering how I'm going to move the things I have across the South China Sea, along the Straits of Malacca and back home. Still scratching my head.
I was intending to locate someone's blog a moment ago and it dawned on me that I forgot the blog's address. The logical thing to do is to "google" for it. After several attempts, I finally found the blog and that's it. I was relieved but on the other hand... worried.
Not so long ago, a friend of mine told me that he found my blog accidentally while google-ing for SMU Runteam. Apparently I had mentioned something on the blog and he stumbled upon it... Thank goodness that I hadn't written anything that would have put the club's status - or mine - at risk. Over and above all, I had written something wonderful. So that's that.
But as for the other not so pleasant entries, which I have been accumulating of late, my worst fear is to know that those entries are being meticulously read by those whom I don't wish to know about at all. That, would be so embarrassing. But then again, the blog is operated under some public domain, which, is obviously accessible to a lot of people with a computer and Internet.
But I am not about to censor myself with scotch-tape just in case someone whom I don't wish to read the blog is reading the blog any minute right now. If that CNP reads it and has any problem, he can jot down his rebuttals on his blog for all I care. The blog is really a public diary that is easily accessible by anyone who knows the 26 alphabets (and possesses a computer with Internet access). So I will blame myself if I get fined or jailed for the things I wrote or posted on the blog.
It is quite ironic though. The blog is a public diary that I use to write down my thoughts and post whatever else I want to remember (if you don't want to remember, why post anything at all?). I personalise it so that I feel good when I look at it. I post pictures that I feel good about. But some people start on a blog, only to worry about some other people finding them out. They frantically try to hide this "open blog" from those people by withholding the blog address or tell those who knows about the blog to shut their gab. How weird. If anyone wishes to write a blog about his life and not let anyone else look at it, why not just write it on Word document and save it in the external hard drive? Or, just place a password on the blog so that only selected people may view it?
I'm sure the latter option is rather popular, just that people don't tell their friends that they're using it lest they're asked: "Hey, can I look at it?" or questioned: "How come you don't tell your best friend, which is me, about it! What do you have to hide!"
In the end, writing a blog is really a past time. I write to while time away and make inconsequential comments/complaints about my observations of my surroundings and a group of people, with the hope that some other group of people whom I know will read the blog, reads it and understand more about my views and opinions. In that process, this group of people who reads my blog will then form their own opinions of me and I will - perhaps, but unlikely - become part of their own observations recorded in their own blogs.
P.S. I don't hate the CNP. I merely like to make public my own observations. No hard feelings.
The weather. I talk about it when I've nothing to say. People talk about it when they don't like what it is on that particular day. But some people have to talk about it just so they can make comparisons. Read on...
The in-house CNP revels in making such remarks (in mandarin, of course): "It is so hot in PRC during summer that it is even hotter than Singapore." Or, "Hey, look at the dark clouds. I bet Singapore's clouds weren't so dark."
It wouldn't sound so bad if he were making a teasing remark or as a joke. But the tone and pitch all suggested superiority and prejudice. Yes, everyone knows PRC is big, great and rising;Ii is surely super duper great high up up up. I like the mountains and caves and rivers here, they are so aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of an urbanite (and those whose countries do not have mountains or caves worth mentioning on tourism brochures). But that moron made those remarks in such debasing, insensitive and tactless manner. Most definitely I felt slightly uncomfortable.
But it wasn't until he commented at me that I got really flared up inside of me:
As mentioned before, the food here is extremely oily and salty. The most obvious remedy to this problem is to cook. But I don't so that option's out. I drink tea, like most other people. That CNP has a keen knowledge of tea drinking. He had given me a lecture on tea before, although he admitted to being a novice of tea drinking compared to the experts (DUH! Who isn't a novice compared to an expert?).
So, I tend to bring tea leaves into the office and make some tea after that oily lunch. Instead of a cup, I use my reliable plastic bottle to contain the scorching tea (it's safe, I know). Today, everyone was eating in the same room. As usual, the CNP was trying to impress upon the other two colleagues about oil price movements and the repercussions, etc. I wouldn't want to - and I couldn't - catch what he was gibbering about in that mandarin slang. Gross. As I walked into the room with the hot tea, everyone seemed to focus on the bottle of tea. Suddenly, the CNP made a comment: "Don't know how to drink tea, still want to drink like others (i.e. other CNP)."
I could swear I was stunned momentarily. Immediately after that I suppose there was a moment of silence until another colleague asked: "Can the bottle hold hot water?"
Without much guilt and apparently oblivious to the very untactful remark he just made, he continued to chat along, this time comparing how his father's friends are so successful in their business while our company seems to be missing out of the "guanxi" part. I don't know about this, but I wonder if he has realised that his father's friends are CNP too, while our company is a Singapore owned. It's not difficult to tell which company has a higher probability of being more successful in PRC, right? (Emphasize: probability)
There is just so much more to describe the disgusting character that this CNP has. One of the classic ones: "It's so cheap", in the public. I don't really like to shop around with him, unless the prices are fixed and non-negotiable. He is everything that one imagines an above average-income and spoilt CNP to be - unkempt, snob (to most service providers), talks big, etc. Oh, he suck up to the boss in a very unconvincingly subtle way (BUT I guess it is the way things work here - hierarchical system still pervades most organizations here).
Before I continue on indefinitely, I would like to end here with the ultimate comment I have of him: That qian-bian shit face of his. Those disgustingly pouting lower cracked lips, hideous white complexion and beady eyes combined with the bloated cheeks are enough to make anyone want to punch the nuts out of him.
The in-house CNP revels in making such remarks (in mandarin, of course): "It is so hot in PRC during summer that it is even hotter than Singapore." Or, "Hey, look at the dark clouds. I bet Singapore's clouds weren't so dark."
It wouldn't sound so bad if he were making a teasing remark or as a joke. But the tone and pitch all suggested superiority and prejudice. Yes, everyone knows PRC is big, great and rising;Ii is surely super duper great high up up up. I like the mountains and caves and rivers here, they are so aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of an urbanite (and those whose countries do not have mountains or caves worth mentioning on tourism brochures). But that moron made those remarks in such debasing, insensitive and tactless manner. Most definitely I felt slightly uncomfortable.
But it wasn't until he commented at me that I got really flared up inside of me:
As mentioned before, the food here is extremely oily and salty. The most obvious remedy to this problem is to cook. But I don't so that option's out. I drink tea, like most other people. That CNP has a keen knowledge of tea drinking. He had given me a lecture on tea before, although he admitted to being a novice of tea drinking compared to the experts (DUH! Who isn't a novice compared to an expert?).
So, I tend to bring tea leaves into the office and make some tea after that oily lunch. Instead of a cup, I use my reliable plastic bottle to contain the scorching tea (it's safe, I know). Today, everyone was eating in the same room. As usual, the CNP was trying to impress upon the other two colleagues about oil price movements and the repercussions, etc. I wouldn't want to - and I couldn't - catch what he was gibbering about in that mandarin slang. Gross. As I walked into the room with the hot tea, everyone seemed to focus on the bottle of tea. Suddenly, the CNP made a comment: "Don't know how to drink tea, still want to drink like others (i.e. other CNP)."
I could swear I was stunned momentarily. Immediately after that I suppose there was a moment of silence until another colleague asked: "Can the bottle hold hot water?"
Without much guilt and apparently oblivious to the very untactful remark he just made, he continued to chat along, this time comparing how his father's friends are so successful in their business while our company seems to be missing out of the "guanxi" part. I don't know about this, but I wonder if he has realised that his father's friends are CNP too, while our company is a Singapore owned. It's not difficult to tell which company has a higher probability of being more successful in PRC, right? (Emphasize: probability)
There is just so much more to describe the disgusting character that this CNP has. One of the classic ones: "It's so cheap", in the public. I don't really like to shop around with him, unless the prices are fixed and non-negotiable. He is everything that one imagines an above average-income and spoilt CNP to be - unkempt, snob (to most service providers), talks big, etc. Oh, he suck up to the boss in a very unconvincingly subtle way (BUT I guess it is the way things work here - hierarchical system still pervades most organizations here).
Before I continue on indefinitely, I would like to end here with the ultimate comment I have of him: That qian-bian shit face of his. Those disgustingly pouting lower cracked lips, hideous white complexion and beady eyes combined with the bloated cheeks are enough to make anyone want to punch the nuts out of him.
I try to keep updated of the happenings in Singapore even though I'm overseas. The most easily accessible source of news is CNA online. As much as I would like to surf The Straits Times web page, full access comes only with subscription, which doesn't apply to me.
Usually, I would barely glimpse on the Home page on CNA before I click on the World tab. But today, the news of two deaths in the army caught my eyes. Like before, the two hapless soldiers died during training. While the previous deaths had to do with extreme training regimes, for these two soldiers who just passed away, one collapsed while undergoing harsh jungle orientation training and the other fainted during a two-kilometre walk training exercise.
Then you think about how those ah peks roughed it out in the 1970s and 80s. Everyone is certain that their training regimes were at least twice as tough as what it is today. And the people of my time eat better than the previous generation. All those tonics and vitamins and what have you, really! But the people today also lead a more sedentary lifestyle than those in the past. Who would want to walk 5 km to school daily if there's a bus that will take you there in five minutes? Also, there's the food that we consume. Chocolates, fried sotong, oyster omelette... People don't eat such lavish and unhealthy food in the past.
So it all adds up. We eat good food, we live the unhealthy lifestyles and we party like hell. No wonder some people die so easily. How sad.
On the bright side, maybe these incidents could mean less reservist training!
Summer days and nights are pretty unpredictable. One moment it pours, and before you know it, the sun is out again, for the third time within the past two hours. But in it all, summer is but a time of predictably hot weather. I didn't believe I would perspire as much here since I've been living in the summer all my life back home. But I mostly end up reaching the office sweating like a pig.
My mum's been bugging me - as do all parents, no doubt - whether I miss home and everyone else back home, specifically herself. In any case, the answer that I've been replying is a flat "no". I think it kind of made her feel disappointed, but I think sometimes truth is more important than delusion, right? Well, apart from the highly censored media, the oily and salty food, and that CNP, everything else seems fine. I feel foreign but at the same time, excited at the prospect of exploring the different and new places here. Just two days ago, I got lost while trying to locate the darn Book City. A kind lady assisted me to my destination and we had a fine chat along the way there.
There are definitely times when I wished certain things could be the way it was back home. Like, there are no That CD Shop here selling the genres of music that I crave for. Even in bookstores, English books are quite limited in variety and range. It can be quite disheartening, especially since the TV is boring sometimes, the movie is exorbitantly priced and there isn't much to do in SZ. The thought of reading Chinese written books could actually turn me off so badly I'd rather surf Facebook a thousand times.
Whenever I walk alone here, I like to listen to music, window shop a little and watch people walk by. It's soothing. It is something that I wouldn't do so often in Singapore because there's really nowhere interesting to walk and surely, it's not difficult to run into a familiar face back there. I must be thankful that I have Internet access in the apartment in a highly accessible residential district. Getting to anywhere is almost a breeze. That is also why I like it here.
So I don't really miss home, but I do ponder about my bed, the swimming pool, mahjong, etc. in small bits. But I guess life is unpredictable, isn't it? I might get seriously homesick next week... Hur hur. Anyhow, I think I should turn in. It's raining heavily here so I'm guessing it'll be a comfy night on the sofa.
As I ponder about how I should begin my internship report, I start to wonder about what I have actually learnt here so far. Needless to say, I've learnt to appreciate saltier and more oily food without feeling grossed out like I did before back in Singapore. I'm sure my Chinese language has improved slightly... and I'm not rolling my eyes. But seriously, work wise I think it's been rather disappointing. I thought there would be opportunities to learn and see many new and different things. But the things that I've learnt and saw are food, places and people. It's more like "Live Like and WITH a Chinese" exchange visit.
I guess it is just a matter of bad timing. During this period, there are a lot of issues at the customs especially since the Olympics is nearing and due to the current political issue with Tibet. For a trading company that is involved with importing and exporting goods, any bottle-necks or problems with the customs is never a good sign. I can safely say that the whole company is pretty much lobo-ing. I'm sure I can finish the DH season 4 by the end of this internship.
As time flies, my weekends remaining in PRC are also decreasing. I need to begin planning how to spend my weekends meaningfully. I still need to climb that mountain in SZ, go to Zhu Hai, visit the beach in SZ and fly kite... And there's this trip to GZ that the rest are planning on for the next weekend. The excitement is mounting... But then the SMU people are not really used to planning early; they tend to plan ad hoc. This tends to make timing a little tight. So I'm just considering going off by myself to the mountain and the beach...
Deep down in my heart, I yearn to stay longer in PRC. It's been really nice and I feel that the people here exudes less attitude than people I see in Singapore. But I'm only saying that for people whom I've met here.
Time to do some research for my excursions.
There are rows upon rows of mountains and a river that seemed to flow continuously down into the sea... Whatever it is, there were no floods as the meteorological stations had forecasted. For that I heave a sigh of relief! Otherwise the trip would have been a total waste of time and absolutely humiliating since I emphasized on going despite the CNP's repeated advise against it. But the thing was, it did rain on the last day. Fortunately the rain only began after we finished the day's visitations and were just going to those super-commercialised and money-sucking gemstone, TCM and local produce factories. As expected, nobody was too interested in purchasing any products.
But I think we could have bought some stuff had the tour guide been friendlier. Along the entire trip, the tour guide, Mr Shang (if I remembered correctly), looked like he couldn't wait to get rid of us. I don't remember him smiling to us or chatting with us. Perhaps a little small talk would have build the camaraderie that was otherwise non-existent during the whole trip. In addition, he had poor time management. For the entire 3 day trip, the first two days were very slow and easy as we visited only one or two spots at most. But for the third day, we visited 4 spots and that's excluding the factories. Everyone was pretty much unsatisfied with the itinerary's arrangement and the tour guide's facilitation.
Luckily, we met really nice people on the trip. Excluding the four of us, there were a couple from SZ and four Chinese elderly siblings from Indonesia. Along the trip, everyone inevitably gossiped about the tour guide's ineptness. Besides the hotel and mountains, everything else sucked. The air-conditioner in the coach was so weak that we had to open the windows. The food tasted really bad, even by most Chinese standards.
On the other side, like what my friend said, it's best to remember the good things rather than grumble about the bad ones. This is so darn true. At least we managed to see the Olympic torch relay on our first day in Guilin. That was exciting and sort of fun, although the event disrupted our morning itinerary and we had to fight with the aunties to get a decent view. And I got two Olympics supporting tees from the streets. Hur hur.
I did immerse myself in the beauty and awe of the mountain ranges and wonderful Li River. Although the weather was scorching hot (as opposed to the supposed "rain and thunderstorm") and I wore the same jeans throughout the entire journey, it was still worth it. As an afterthought, I think I enjoyed the trip more than I had intended to because of the people. It was such a joy and my luck to have gone on the trip with the other SMU Singaporeans. Imagine the CNP was there - I can't imagine how to enjoy (I found out later that they also thought likewise).
The standard of living is lower than SZ and the living pace, we soon realised, was much slower too. In addition to Guilin, we also went to the nearby county, Yangshuo, which was where the really nice river and mountains were. It is a place much less industrialised and developed than Guilin. The air is definitely better than SZ and buildings are mostly low-rise. But being shrewd humans, the place is highly commercialised and business touting is rampant. For instance, after we attended an ethnic folk performance, a fee was charged if we wanted to pose for a picture with the performers. The obvious choice was not to take photos and take pictures of the mountains instead. As we tried to walk off to the next destination, we were tailed by the performers to pose for pictures, relentlessly. There was even Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse that popped out of nowhere. Mickey Mouse and PRC - what's the link? That wasn't the end, as we next watched a cock fight under a tent, we thought the pestering would cease. But to our horror, the performers just stood outside the tent and waited until the fight was over and continued to pester everyone. There was a part of the tour in the ethnic village that, if we paid RMB1 we could ring some bells for good luck. These, and some more of the attractions that, needless to say, required some form of payment.
We also took a ride along the Li River. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chance or the mood to spend money on the bamboo dinghy. I wanted to take it at first, but the price was simply not worth the ride. In addition, there wasn't much time for a leisure ride down the river for some reason. But we did have a good light tan because it was so sunny.
On the second day, we finished the tour at 3pm! Taking things in our own stride, we went cycling along the streets and took many pictures. I think we were stopping every 100-200 metres to take a couple of shots during the entire 3-4km ride. Luckily we went cycling because that was the only chance that we could take photos of many mountains and fields while not on the road. It would not have been possible to ask the coach to stop for us to take a few shots along the roadside. As such, that cycling trip (which was not part of the itinerary!) was worth so much.
Now that I'm back in SZ, I'm aware that reality has to set back in again. But I also know that I took a good break away in Guilin.
I've no relish for the terrible haze or the increasingly warm days to come as summer creeps in. I almost perspired a bucket by the time I got into office this morning. Nonetheless, I'm still fairly relieved and glad that I can spend my weekend in peace and comfort in Guilin, away from the hustle and bustle of the polluted city, and that person/thing/creature. But suddenly something worse dawned on me recently. If I'm going to Korea, that means I'll be joined by two more CNP who also applied for the same exchange...
Sometimes when I think about the amount of oil that Chinese use to prepare their food, I start to wonder if there's really an oil crisis at all. If not, then the Chinese sure has some oil reserves that can last several centuries to come. Then again, PRC does import lots of oil.
When I first came, I thought I would get plumber or something since I'm eating so much. But I think it's not happening anytime soon. Maybe it's the genes. Maybe it's just that I'm not eating much more enough. Does sleep play a part? I've been having bad nights before I moved to the living room recently. Maybe now that I'm getting better sleep I might gain weight.
Speaking of which, my boss brought back some girl last night without awaking me. He's definitely improved on that part. The last time he brought a girl back I had to pretend I was only stirring in my sleep. If I hadn't noticed a pair of ladies sport shoes at the front door this morning... What a sleazy night.
I'm all set and ready for the trip. I feel like I'm pretty distracted by the trip - and that somewhat eyesore CNP - that I'm writing nonsense here. Now, all I've to do is to find the tour guide at the train station holding a blue flag with the words: Fantasy Travel (in Chinese of course - Meng Huan Lv You).
Fantasy travel...
I spent the weekend at illy reading the novel I bought weeks ago with the other interning students. It was a good getaway from the apartment and someone else. Despite not being able to recognize some words, the novel wasn't difficult to comprehend. It wasn't until I chanced upon an English written magazine on the rack that I realised that there's an English translated version of that novel. Damn.
Speaking of illy, I do think they have better services than Starbucks here. Over here, one can have their drinks served to their table without incurring additional service charges. I've often fantasized about making my own coffee at home using illy's coffee beans and sipping the beverage at the balcony overlooking a mesmerising view of the beautiful... East Coast Park. But the reality is, I'm stucked in a polluted city with overlooking gloomy skies right now. But worry not, just to make the best out of the situation, at least I still get to sip hot Longjing tea in the living room on weekend mornings watching TV and HK dramas on my laptop simultaneously.
Yesterday, I just had the most amazing and thorough sleep of my time in PRC. It was a peaceful and soundless sleep from night until this morning (when the stupid alarm jolted me out of my slumber). Is was a good night although I was sleeping on the sofa. Luckily, the sofa isn't the typical leather sofa at my place, or else I would have a stiff neck by now. The sofa is long and wide like a couch used for smoking opium. I only had to use two pillows to support my head and it was more comfortable than the bed in the room. I'm considering moving permanently out of the room. In this way, I get to watch TV and/or use the laptop at the same time (provided the CNP stays in the room all the time) in privacy.
Just for the record, and to disspell all misconceptions that anyone may have, I do not detest the CNP. It's just that he may not be tactful sometimes and probably has no experience cohabiting with another person. So... at times, he may seem quite annoying, frustrating to communicate with or simply give the impression that he knows every whole damn thing in this world when he doesn't. Other than that, he still manages fairly well in human relations (if he tried really hard).
Time for lunch.