this morning, marathon man woke up before 6, to catch the 1st bird chirp.... he intended to do that a few weeks ago. but forgot about it until today.
the sky was still gloomily dark. then as the seconds ticked away, dawn emerged with its better and better-defined details from its silhoute of shapes .... at 0604 sharp, a soft twitter in double-syllabic tones came thru the cool air, from a tree outside the window. not that impressive at all. not something i would have imagined like a low-pitch call from the melancholic notes of a cuckoo, or the sophisticated but melodiuos song of a shama.... it probably was from the minah, the smartest city bird, or some sparrow, the busiest bird in town . instead it was this hardly audible, non-event-kind-of bird-whisper.... perhaps creation was not from a big bang after-all. imagine, even if there was one, who was there to listen to it?
more and more bird cracked the morning fresh air as the clock ticked away, and 7.30am there's already a cacaphony of chirps, calls, twitters, crooos. the morning belongs to the birds - a very powerful reminder that the saying "early bird catches the worm" does hold water.
marathon man had a kick out of this bird call thing, as he looked thru his windows at the various fyling creatures beginning their day with gusto and with songs.
he did his part as well. he braced the cool morning when he dropped himself in the middle of macricthie reservoir - the tree top walk. as he was enjoying the surroundings from the vantage point at the midspan of the hanging bridge, a sun bird halted its flight and perched on top of a tree. it made afew fast and sharp chirps.... as if to arouse the attention of marathon man. he took notice. then the bird.... somehow seemed to say : "hey, macho man, can you help me?"
"what?" after he got over his initiave puzzling and astonishment.
"i'm going after this adorable female sunbird, but she could give me a damn. what is your advice?"
"me.... hahaha.... i'm as lost as you are on this lovey-dovey thingie..... you see, i'm alone here."
"hm, you look happy. i thot a happy man is a man with love."
"i thot you too looked happy, chirping, fyling, foraging for worms..... why be bothered with male-feamle thingie?"
"me a happy bird, yes.... but all birdies need some thing to burrow. doesn't yours in need of some bushy holes for comfort?"
"my bird? i don;t have to worry."
"why?"
"it can take care of itself."
"how?"
"holes for the birdie to fill are easy to get, but the hole in the heart is not easily filled."
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
free willy
religions give man the free will to choose. science tells the story that man is but a small part of the whole picture, which is developing according to some scheme, where by all things are suppose to take their proper place in nature.... no such thing as free will.
what's free will?
marathon man asks the guru, ah mohsing.
ah moh says, "see me and you jog this place call south bona vista. the place has no will of itself to be named such. we name it. and we can name it some other name.... we have the will to do so."
"then does man really have free will?"
"accoridng to some religions, we are created by God, and he has the free will over us. so it's up to him to decide whether we should have free will or not."
"can we know whether we have any free will, just by scientific reasoning, by logic?"
"now, we are in kent ridge park, do you see the two de-barked trees?"
"yes, out of all the other trees, only they are the ones stripped of any bark from bottom to top. why you ask this question?"
"bark is to a tree like clothes to a person. without bark, the tree is naked. do you think trees are ashame of being naked?"
"i don't know."
"why you don't know?"
"because i'm not a tree."
"very well. do you think you will know that you have free will, since you are you and by your reason of the naked tree, you should know things about yourself."
"ok. but i still don't know whether i have free will or not. am i not myself?"
there was silence, as they walk on the canopy walk. there are various trees, the canopies of which which are well within their touch; simpoh air tree, wild cinamon, rubber trees... many birds are chirping at a tall tree with money plants entwining its trunk.
they get off the canopy walk at peppy's road, where the A-shaped peppy's hill condo is right beside it. they pass by jln pasir ria, yew siang rd, jln mat jambol, springwood ave, jambol place, lorong sari, lor sarhad, chwee chien rd, siok wan close, zenhder rd, pasir panjang hill. they have dinner at west coast food centre......
what's free will?
marathon man asks the guru, ah mohsing.
ah moh says, "see me and you jog this place call south bona vista. the place has no will of itself to be named such. we name it. and we can name it some other name.... we have the will to do so."
"then does man really have free will?"
"accoridng to some religions, we are created by God, and he has the free will over us. so it's up to him to decide whether we should have free will or not."
"can we know whether we have any free will, just by scientific reasoning, by logic?"
"now, we are in kent ridge park, do you see the two de-barked trees?"
"yes, out of all the other trees, only they are the ones stripped of any bark from bottom to top. why you ask this question?"
"bark is to a tree like clothes to a person. without bark, the tree is naked. do you think trees are ashame of being naked?"
"i don't know."
"why you don't know?"
"because i'm not a tree."
"very well. do you think you will know that you have free will, since you are you and by your reason of the naked tree, you should know things about yourself."
"ok. but i still don't know whether i have free will or not. am i not myself?"
there was silence, as they walk on the canopy walk. there are various trees, the canopies of which which are well within their touch; simpoh air tree, wild cinamon, rubber trees... many birds are chirping at a tall tree with money plants entwining its trunk.
they get off the canopy walk at peppy's road, where the A-shaped peppy's hill condo is right beside it. they pass by jln pasir ria, yew siang rd, jln mat jambol, springwood ave, jambol place, lorong sari, lor sarhad, chwee chien rd, siok wan close, zenhder rd, pasir panjang hill. they have dinner at west coast food centre......
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
the best prick
if you don't go back to the past, how do you enjoy your food? don't you notice, your taste depends on memory? when you taste something, it bring backs memories of your childhood. or you judge whether something is good tasting base on the benchmarks set when you were very young. reminiscence puts perpsective in life, makes it more dimensional, makes you appreciate it more. life is only real when you have lived it. and if you don't fall back to something real, there's no way to go forward. recalling the past doesn't mean you live in the past, doesn't mean you avoid the presence, avoid facing reality. it's just a way life is.... you may deny doing it, but you cannot deny your past, and you cannot deny living it everyday, as you talk, as you eat, as you travel, as you smell, as you hear, as you touch, as you work..... the past is what we are, the present is when the past begins, and the future is when the past is yet to come.
jogging in donwtown penang brings back a lot of memories. penang road, campbell street, carnavon street, chulia street, burma road, macalister road..... and he takes his makan break whenever he likes it - having koewtiawtng and duck-meat koawtiawtng in campbell street,charkowytiaw in macalister road, white coffee in burma road and chendol in side street of penang road. but no memory when marathon man enters transfer road, argyll road, hutton road...which don't look diferent from other parts of downtown, but which are quieter, not so busy.
the mingood hotel at argyll road is where tourists want to stay, mean(cheap) and good, but strictly no extra helpings in pillows, towels.... no tooth brush, tooth paste... marathon man's fren ah chee who stayed there one week before told him to bring his own slippers also. he checks in the hotel the nite before. now he's at the 5th floor cafe for his breakfast after the jog. he orders two eggs, which is outside the room-charge menu. he seats beside a tourist. she greets him, and he greets her back.
meeriam said, "hi, do you know where to find penang durians?"
"in the streets, everywhere."
"i mean the durian in the plantations."
"oh... that you have to go balik pulau. the back of penang....eh... since i'm also thinking of eating durian, why not you follow me?"
"thanks..."
they go baosheng durian plantation, and pick the best durians, but miss out on the "red prawn" as they are already sold out, that day. they eat the "holor", the "chehpui angbak", d101, d6.... the kimhong. the view from the hill-side kampung house is fantastic, facing the indian ocean, and a big stretch of sloping greens all the way to the sea....
meeriam, "i bet with my fren, that i am going to take durian in this trip, and i'm so glad i just i did that. it's the best food and fruit i ever had.... the smell, hmm at first was very yakky, but once i bit and tasted the pulp, it was umghhh - heaven. the problem is how am i going to prove to my fren who is in america, that i have done that?"
"easy - take a video of you eating the durian."
"ok. good idea. and i'm going to put it in youtube. and label it - the best prick i hv had."
jogging in donwtown penang brings back a lot of memories. penang road, campbell street, carnavon street, chulia street, burma road, macalister road..... and he takes his makan break whenever he likes it - having koewtiawtng and duck-meat koawtiawtng in campbell street,charkowytiaw in macalister road, white coffee in burma road and chendol in side street of penang road. but no memory when marathon man enters transfer road, argyll road, hutton road...which don't look diferent from other parts of downtown, but which are quieter, not so busy.
the mingood hotel at argyll road is where tourists want to stay, mean(cheap) and good, but strictly no extra helpings in pillows, towels.... no tooth brush, tooth paste... marathon man's fren ah chee who stayed there one week before told him to bring his own slippers also. he checks in the hotel the nite before. now he's at the 5th floor cafe for his breakfast after the jog. he orders two eggs, which is outside the room-charge menu. he seats beside a tourist. she greets him, and he greets her back.
meeriam said, "hi, do you know where to find penang durians?"
"in the streets, everywhere."
"i mean the durian in the plantations."
"oh... that you have to go balik pulau. the back of penang....eh... since i'm also thinking of eating durian, why not you follow me?"
"thanks..."
they go baosheng durian plantation, and pick the best durians, but miss out on the "red prawn" as they are already sold out, that day. they eat the "holor", the "chehpui angbak", d101, d6.... the kimhong. the view from the hill-side kampung house is fantastic, facing the indian ocean, and a big stretch of sloping greens all the way to the sea....
meeriam, "i bet with my fren, that i am going to take durian in this trip, and i'm so glad i just i did that. it's the best food and fruit i ever had.... the smell, hmm at first was very yakky, but once i bit and tasted the pulp, it was umghhh - heaven. the problem is how am i going to prove to my fren who is in america, that i have done that?"
"easy - take a video of you eating the durian."
"ok. good idea. and i'm going to put it in youtube. and label it - the best prick i hv had."
Monday, July 6, 2009
kl - the bump
re-union, when there's some time in between the last union. and now the time was 30 years. jogging under the street lights of lower peirce reservoir, along the dyke, marathon man's fren ah chen told him, he just went to KL to meet up with his classmates one week ago. there were entrapreneurs, ceo's, datuk's, vp's, towkay's, and of course, and still-engineers....
his fren ah chan asked ah chen, "what are you doing now?"
"engineer. what else you expected to be if you took up engineering?"
"ah... i don't know. i switched line after three years in my engineering post. i'm now doing my own business, in consulting. not in engineering, but in human resources."
"traitor. you got to be ashame of yourself." he rebuked him sharply.
"come on, don't be like that lah. i only chari makan...."
"hahah.... only kidding lah... cheers!"
"yum sheng!"
the dinner went on with an out-of-date, out-of-tune and out-of-humor singer. but who cared? it's not that often they got to talk to each others, though not as what they used to talk 30 years ago, only asking how every one else was doing, where they live, what they do..... just like any ordinary dinner, where strangers meet... but some old frens did find that very touching.
he went back to his chow-kit road hotel in KL after midnite. the pasar malam infront of the hotel was still very much in business. he had a drink in the nearby pub. he met a gal that looked like quite cute. they drank and talked.
she said, "you alone?"
"well, you can say that. i got a gal fren, but she left me."
"why she left you?"
"for security. i guessed."
"you don't look a vagrant."
"not now, but some years ago, i was."
"what were you doing then?"
"nothing much, just go from one place to another, from one job to another."
"and now?"
"in the office. 8-5, munch my breakfast, skip my lunch for my nap, and play some golf after 5.... semi-retired, or rather virtual retirement... hey.... how about you? why came here alone?"
"me.... hahaha..."
"what?"
"i'm the boss here."
"oh.... "
"and i like to drink with people...."
"you like what you r doing?"
"sort of..... i was working in a factory, engineer also. then i met my man, a manager. we separated after 10 years."
"why?"
"for a younger chick."
"hah... that's man."
"man? would you go for that?"
"why not? if the young chick throws herself at me?"
"you men...."
"we men just like women!"
"no.... i am not like you men. i'm a one-timer."
"then you are not going to find another man?"
"hm, not in the mood."
"your old man must be so good that you fell for him head and toes?"
"to others he's the best, but to me he's the worst. and to think the rest are worse than he ..... just puts me off."
"why put a value to someone that you love? why not just love for the sake of making yourself happy and knowing that you life is sharable."
"like what?"
"like me. somebody left me, though i still have her in my heart, i went on with my life, meeting new freinds and loving new lovers along the way, happy, sad, loneliness, but that's what you are in for."
"i don't like failure."
"then you are a failure. you fail to stand up to failure."
"failure.... i'm a failure...hahaha.... tell me, what do you think of me?"
"you? look like ... why you so care about what others think about you? i don't mind so much.... though i hate to be a nobody."
"you are not a nobody, you also look like my ex....... tonite, just for a nite, you r my everything....."
the live stage singer went on with her effortless, melancholic crooning .......
http://www.feiyuching.net/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=100
<<遙遠寄相思>>
詞/四大山人 曲/吳進明
輕輕的春風 拂不去心底創痛
枯萎了的愛情 再不會青蔥
遠去的愛情好像月光 她好似偎依在你身旁 卻是這般渺茫
微微的細雨 洗不去心底創痛
凋零了的愛情 再不會青蔥
遠去的愛情好像浮雲 她好似流連在你心上 卻是這般無望
如煙般往事 今夜又重回到夢中
遙遠的愛 就像夢般虛空
如煙般往事 今夜又重回到夢中
遙遠的愛 就像夢般虛空
his fren ah chan asked ah chen, "what are you doing now?"
"engineer. what else you expected to be if you took up engineering?"
"ah... i don't know. i switched line after three years in my engineering post. i'm now doing my own business, in consulting. not in engineering, but in human resources."
"traitor. you got to be ashame of yourself." he rebuked him sharply.
"come on, don't be like that lah. i only chari makan...."
"hahah.... only kidding lah... cheers!"
"yum sheng!"
the dinner went on with an out-of-date, out-of-tune and out-of-humor singer. but who cared? it's not that often they got to talk to each others, though not as what they used to talk 30 years ago, only asking how every one else was doing, where they live, what they do..... just like any ordinary dinner, where strangers meet... but some old frens did find that very touching.
he went back to his chow-kit road hotel in KL after midnite. the pasar malam infront of the hotel was still very much in business. he had a drink in the nearby pub. he met a gal that looked like quite cute. they drank and talked.
she said, "you alone?"
"well, you can say that. i got a gal fren, but she left me."
"why she left you?"
"for security. i guessed."
"you don't look a vagrant."
"not now, but some years ago, i was."
"what were you doing then?"
"nothing much, just go from one place to another, from one job to another."
"and now?"
"in the office. 8-5, munch my breakfast, skip my lunch for my nap, and play some golf after 5.... semi-retired, or rather virtual retirement... hey.... how about you? why came here alone?"
"me.... hahaha..."
"what?"
"i'm the boss here."
"oh.... "
"and i like to drink with people...."
"you like what you r doing?"
"sort of..... i was working in a factory, engineer also. then i met my man, a manager. we separated after 10 years."
"why?"
"for a younger chick."
"hah... that's man."
"man? would you go for that?"
"why not? if the young chick throws herself at me?"
"you men...."
"we men just like women!"
"no.... i am not like you men. i'm a one-timer."
"then you are not going to find another man?"
"hm, not in the mood."
"your old man must be so good that you fell for him head and toes?"
"to others he's the best, but to me he's the worst. and to think the rest are worse than he ..... just puts me off."
"why put a value to someone that you love? why not just love for the sake of making yourself happy and knowing that you life is sharable."
"like what?"
"like me. somebody left me, though i still have her in my heart, i went on with my life, meeting new freinds and loving new lovers along the way, happy, sad, loneliness, but that's what you are in for."
"i don't like failure."
"then you are a failure. you fail to stand up to failure."
"failure.... i'm a failure...hahaha.... tell me, what do you think of me?"
"you? look like ... why you so care about what others think about you? i don't mind so much.... though i hate to be a nobody."
"you are not a nobody, you also look like my ex....... tonite, just for a nite, you r my everything....."
the live stage singer went on with her effortless, melancholic crooning .......
http://www.feiyuching.net/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=100
<<遙遠寄相思>>
詞/四大山人 曲/吳進明
輕輕的春風 拂不去心底創痛
枯萎了的愛情 再不會青蔥
遠去的愛情好像月光 她好似偎依在你身旁 卻是這般渺茫
微微的細雨 洗不去心底創痛
凋零了的愛情 再不會青蔥
遠去的愛情好像浮雲 她好似流連在你心上 卻是這般無望
如煙般往事 今夜又重回到夢中
遙遠的愛 就像夢般虛空
如煙般往事 今夜又重回到夢中
遙遠的愛 就像夢般虛空
Sunday, July 5, 2009
michael learns to sleep
rainy day, normally would discourage marathon man from jogging. but today, after the whole day lazing around trying hard to catch some rest, and shut-eyes, his system went into a severely out-of-balanced state. he had to jog it out, to shock it back to some life and hence hopefully, would be able to catch up on his sleep tonite. very likely he's going to have to rely on panadol to put him in good restful dreams. he took 3/4 of a piriton tablet, two days ago to calm his hyper-state of mind down, did catch abit of sleep, but far from good enough. michael jacskon begged for drugs to put him into a good sleep. and he had run out of options when he had the strongest drugs already given to him, and yet he had grown out of the effects of these sedatives. more and more would supposedly to be administered and SLUMPPPP..... he fell into deep sleep and has remained in that state, since 25 jun 2009.
when marathon man is in hyper mode, he's not in any mood to blog.
summer time is here, fruits of different kinds clog the markets, he drove up to oasis bay in muar with frens to eat rm25 durain buffet, and bot some back. he ate many times afterwards, he loved mangosteen, and could not help when he saw them in the market. lychee, is cheap this year, the chinese small-seeded, green-skin, "lormaichi" selling for less than $3/kg, the rambutan goes for free in durain plantations, the cherry, all the way from washington, cost less than 10bucks/kg..... mangoes, biggest every seen from taiwan, drago fruits, passion fruits, the ubiqutious bananas, papayas and water mellons, a big one would only cost $5, full of soggy and juicy red pulp, and very good as a summer cooling agent especially when chilled in the fridge. how not to get over-sugarised.... the white coffee added to the imbalance of the brain secretion... pushing marathon man to a state of highly restless, completely out of control for his mental power, if he thot that he could somehow lower his piqueness by some practical techniques like deep breathing, relaxing on a bed... or even get himself to a bus..... he was helpless, they did not work.
he dragged his shacked-up body along jln bingka, jln bengket, jln gaharu, jln keria and wajek walk.... the rain came heavier, beating down on his glasses, blurring his vision, water dripping down to his nose and mouth disrupting his breathing.... his hair was all wet. he wiped clean his glasses with his t-shirt. continued toward yarwood ave, wilmona ave and dunhem ave where big bungs abound.
he entered hua guan ave, sian tuan ave, then turned into binjai park and swiss club road, there were more of these big bungs, and where jet lee was rumored to have bot himself and his family a 20000sft good class. but the houses were not that impressive from the outside, simple squarish or greko-roman antiquated, out-of-place archietectural forms. alot of rich people could not care less what house they live in. they are too busy to put time into the building of a good house, just a piece of big land is all they care to have.
marathon man ate beef horfan in black bean source in hongkong chun kee, in a binjai park kopitiam. the stall lady was kind enough to allow his special request of adding in slices of ginger.
she asked, "why so wet?"
"oh i ran."
"what? iran? are you saying you came from iran?"
"no.....i reck..."
"what? iraq? you mean you come from iraq?"
"no i reckon, you may think that i am crazy to jog in this rain?"
"what? you jog under the rain?"
"yap. cool and refreshing, as a glass of ice barley."
"hmmm, you want order a glass?"
"why not.... but wait, no sugar."
"no... already mxied with sugar."
"then, thanks but no thanks."
"why, r you diabetic?"
"no, i just have too much of it for these few days.... i need to go on a sugar-free diet until i get back the control of my resting schedule...."
"tell you what. you want to sleep? simple."
"how?"
"you ran, you think that puts you into a better state of mind for you to sleep. that's so wrong. the more you run the more active you will be, and that state of alertness would only be cooled down after the next 8 hours, ie, beyond midnite tonite... and there goes your nite of good sleep. but never mind, follow what i say, you will be alright. you should just eat a lot of food.... until you are bloated. sure tonite you can sleep."
"why?"
"why? food needs digestion, and digestion needs energy. so when all your energy is channelled to the stomach, your brain will be given a chance to take a good break."
"ha..... give me another plate of horfan, now make it a dry one."
when marathon man is in hyper mode, he's not in any mood to blog.
summer time is here, fruits of different kinds clog the markets, he drove up to oasis bay in muar with frens to eat rm25 durain buffet, and bot some back. he ate many times afterwards, he loved mangosteen, and could not help when he saw them in the market. lychee, is cheap this year, the chinese small-seeded, green-skin, "lormaichi" selling for less than $3/kg, the rambutan goes for free in durain plantations, the cherry, all the way from washington, cost less than 10bucks/kg..... mangoes, biggest every seen from taiwan, drago fruits, passion fruits, the ubiqutious bananas, papayas and water mellons, a big one would only cost $5, full of soggy and juicy red pulp, and very good as a summer cooling agent especially when chilled in the fridge. how not to get over-sugarised.... the white coffee added to the imbalance of the brain secretion... pushing marathon man to a state of highly restless, completely out of control for his mental power, if he thot that he could somehow lower his piqueness by some practical techniques like deep breathing, relaxing on a bed... or even get himself to a bus..... he was helpless, they did not work.
he dragged his shacked-up body along jln bingka, jln bengket, jln gaharu, jln keria and wajek walk.... the rain came heavier, beating down on his glasses, blurring his vision, water dripping down to his nose and mouth disrupting his breathing.... his hair was all wet. he wiped clean his glasses with his t-shirt. continued toward yarwood ave, wilmona ave and dunhem ave where big bungs abound.
he entered hua guan ave, sian tuan ave, then turned into binjai park and swiss club road, there were more of these big bungs, and where jet lee was rumored to have bot himself and his family a 20000sft good class. but the houses were not that impressive from the outside, simple squarish or greko-roman antiquated, out-of-place archietectural forms. alot of rich people could not care less what house they live in. they are too busy to put time into the building of a good house, just a piece of big land is all they care to have.
marathon man ate beef horfan in black bean source in hongkong chun kee, in a binjai park kopitiam. the stall lady was kind enough to allow his special request of adding in slices of ginger.
she asked, "why so wet?"
"oh i ran."
"what? iran? are you saying you came from iran?"
"no.....i reck..."
"what? iraq? you mean you come from iraq?"
"no i reckon, you may think that i am crazy to jog in this rain?"
"what? you jog under the rain?"
"yap. cool and refreshing, as a glass of ice barley."
"hmmm, you want order a glass?"
"why not.... but wait, no sugar."
"no... already mxied with sugar."
"then, thanks but no thanks."
"why, r you diabetic?"
"no, i just have too much of it for these few days.... i need to go on a sugar-free diet until i get back the control of my resting schedule...."
"tell you what. you want to sleep? simple."
"how?"
"you ran, you think that puts you into a better state of mind for you to sleep. that's so wrong. the more you run the more active you will be, and that state of alertness would only be cooled down after the next 8 hours, ie, beyond midnite tonite... and there goes your nite of good sleep. but never mind, follow what i say, you will be alright. you should just eat a lot of food.... until you are bloated. sure tonite you can sleep."
"why?"
"why? food needs digestion, and digestion needs energy. so when all your energy is channelled to the stomach, your brain will be given a chance to take a good break."
"ha..... give me another plate of horfan, now make it a dry one."
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