Trip 2008 (7)

Today is Good Friday. There seems to be no hint of any celebration today in Tokyo. Life goes on as normal, with shops still open and just as much people on the streets.

Maybe in a way, there is a great need for the gospel here. I am constantly being reminded of this in my travels to Asia. Who is willing to be the messager in these parts of the world? I was thinking how ironic things are - we are more willing to learn a foreign language for travel than to learn one for the purpose of gospel.

The last two days were basically spent shopping in Shinjuku, Shinbuya and Harajuku. It is so funny that every time I walk into a shop, people think I am Japanese. Maybe it is because of the way I dress now - beannie and scarf - just like the other Jap guys. Also went to Rappoggi Hills today, and marvelled at the design of the LV building. While we were there, we went up to the observatory deck of the Mori Tower, and had a marvellous view of the whole of Tokyo.

My second travel buddy has been missing in action for two days. He probably went out himself with some of his friends. Well, given that he is not interested in shopping and stuff, maybe this is a good thing.

My travel buddy and I have been doing alot of 'chick spotting' during our time in Japan. We even tried to take photos, but at times was found out by others, resulting in the target turning away. This is something I would not do in Sydney. I wonder why I am doing it here.

Last day in Tokyo tomorrow - so much to do, so little time left.

Trip 2008 (6)

Today, we visited the Ghibli Museum, where the whole museum was devoted to the works of Ghibli, the creator of anime movies such as Laputa and Spirited Away. It was a very interesting exhibition, and we were able to see images from his works in the display. I only wished I was there with a friend who is also a Studio Ghibili fan. I am sure I could shared more with him than with my travel buddy who is not so familiar with the works of Ghibili.

I spent a fortune at the gift shop, getting mostly gifts for my sister and my nephew. How I wish I could bring the whole shop back.

The afternoon and night was spent in Odabah, and visiting the Fuji TV studios as well as the Venus Fort where it was decorated like an ancient Eurpoe architecture.

We are just so tired now, from walking around so much.

Trip 2008 (5)

Having been in Japan for about a week now, I have made the following observations about the Japanese:

1. Japan is all about convenience. Toilets are fitted with heatable seats, and water can be used to flush your ass after you finish. You can get anything at convenient stores and vending machines, and the food they sell there is actually quite nice. For example, sushi rolls sold in convenient stores are wrapped in a way that separates the rice from the seaweed which is aimed to retain the crunchiness of the seaweed. It is so much better than the sushi roll being sold in Australia, where the seaweed is already soggy from the rice. I have been having this for breakfast for a few days now, and they are always nice and fresh.

2. Japanese people are polite and friendly. They will bow to you and say sorry when they bump into you. However, beyond this, they are like other Asians, who are only concerned about themselves. I have seen many young Japanese people on trains and buses not giving seats to eldery people even though they are seating in priority seats.

3. Japanese people seem to be more cultured than we expect. I went to the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo today and they had a special exihibition of works deplicting Venus, the goddess of love, which have been sourced from all over the world, including Florence and Naples. Even though its a week day, there were many Japanese people there, and it was quite packed inside. The normal exhibitions in the museum was quite small in comparison with the Art Gallery in Sydney, but their section of works from Impressionist artists were very impression, with a few works from Monet (including a painting of the famed Water Lillies) and other artists such as Manet and Renoir. There is even a painting by Vincent van Gogh there.

So far, I do not really like Tokyo. Such a big busy city and people do not seem as warm as those in smaller cities like Kyoto. We went to a tour of the Imperial Palace grounds today which we had to pre-book. In the afternoon, I split up with my travel buddy and I went to the National Museum fo Western Art (as described above). Last night was spent in Shinjuku, where we went to a restaurant and you had to fish your own fish and lobsters and they cook it for you on the spot. It was really fun and we are planning to go there again tonight. My other travel buddy is arriving today (he was sick so did not arrive earlier) so hopefully we will have more fun in the next few days.

Trip 2008 (4)

Have been in Kyoto for the past three days. Most of these days were filled with temple visits during the day and at night. We went to around seven temples in these couple of days.

It was good that we got a volunteer tour guide on the first day, who showed us around several temples and explained the meaning of the differnet symbolisms used in the temples. These themes carry across to all other temples. It was interesting to learn about their fear of fire, and the significance of water in its effect on creating zen gardens and the like. The influence of China also plays a role in these temples, especially in some of the paintings on the walls inside the temple.

Seeing so many people visit these temples, buying charms and praying to the statute again makes me realise how spiritually hungry we all are. We all strive for something greater than ourselves to help us, and sometimes when we are at crossroads, we don't know who to turn to. Spening a few hundred yen on a charm gives them a sense of hope and asssurance that they may be blessed by higher beings. We, as Christians, should tell them the real hope we have found so that they too can experience the real joy and peace from this real hope.

The day trip to Hiroshima today was a major highlight of the trip so far. Walking through the memorial park and visiting the museum and looking at the effect of bombs and the things left behind made me so sad and brought a few tears to my eyes. How can human beings treat each other like this? After understanding the political factors in play for US to drop the bomb on Japan, I really feel sorry for the innocent civilians affected by this. While we can all advocate for world peace, we also realise that true peace will never come in this life, as long as selfish humans are in power.　All we can long for and hope for is the true peace from the kingdom of God.

We tried some interesting foods in these few days (after my encounter with raw crab on the first night), including raw horse (which tasted quite nice, but the thought of eating horses made the experience more painful than necessary), tofu kaiseki (what a way to eat tofu but only eating the skin off a pot of boiling liquidify tofu), Hiroshima oysters (large, succulent and delicious, made using a variety of ways), Hiroshima yaki speciality (it was yummy, but I can't describe what it is) and onokomiyaki (so much better than the ones in Sydney). The food in Japan is so good that I am afraid that I will be a fat boy when I return.

Our night times were spent wandering around. We spend some time in the clubs and cafes areas, as well as the red light district. We also went to the small street and saw a few geishas walking around. Unfortuately we couldn't take any photos with them.

The weather in Japan has been so weird. In these three days, we experienced rain, sun, cold and heat. It is like four seasons in one day. I would be able to wear t-shirts during the day, but had to wear a large jacket at night. Global warming is getting out of control. Hopefully we can all play a part to reduce its effects.

Looking forward to going to Tokyo tomorrow, and hopefully will have internet access then.

Trip 2008 （３）

Finally arrived in Japan.



I had a haircut on my last day in ＨＫ. One of the most expensive haircuts I ever had. This stylist do the hairs for a lot of HK celebrity, and my friend introduced his services to me. He cut my hair really short and gave me a discount as well. Even with the discount, it is still excessive, but at least the atmosphere of the place (at IFC) makes it worthwhile. I also met up with my the mother of my friend, and had lunch at the famous Tai Ping Koon. The souflee was so massive that we did not even finish half of it. At night, met up with a friend and his partner at Soho, and we had a quick drink. It was interesting to see so many new bars and clubs opened in that area.

I was also confronted with some personal temptation this day. It shows how weak we are and that I really needed God to really help me.



The next morning, I had to catch the plane to Japan. I woke up later than expected, and instead of catching the bus to the airport, I caught the taxi to Tsing Yee and then the train to the airport. The food on the plane was really bad, again. I must lodge a complaint to Cathay for the quality of food they serve. The satay beef tasted like leftovers from three days ago. The plane food on Cathay used to be better than this. I wonder what happened.

Arrived in Osaka in the afternoon, and after taking a bus to the city, checked in at the hotel. My travel buddy and I went up to the Floating Observasation Garden and took in the splendid view of Osaka. Later that night, we headed down to Namba, and the famous Dotombouri, where we tasted the famous giant crab. The crab set dinner was very filling and was terrific. We also tried taking pictures of some of the nice girls, and I even got my picture taken with one. We walked around for quite a while, and we passed some strip clubs and brothel places, and it was so funny that they thought we were Japanese and invited us in, and once they found out we weren't, they were no longer interested in asking us.

The second day, we went to the Osaka Castle, and experienced the majestic nature of the castle, with the high moats and fortifications surrounding it. Saw some cherry blossom too, which was great. Then we headed off to lunch at Kobe and had the famous Kobe beef. The chef did so many variety with it, and cooked it in so many different ways. From the simple steak, to the use of fats in dishes and the use of other vegetables. Then off to Himeji we went. The bad thing about this day was that we had to carry our bags around, but it wasn't too bad. At Himeji station, there were lockers to put our bags in, and we thought at first they only had small lockers (and we tried to stuff our big bags into those at first) , only to find out that there were larger ones elsewhere in the station. It was disappointing that we couldn't go into the castle, since we were a bit too late. Hopefully, we can work around our plans and try to go to Himeji again, as the area is really one of the nicest areas I've been to in Japan.

At Himeji, we caught the bullet train to Kyoto. These trains were so fast that I couldn't believe it. Stand at a platform when they travel past, and I can assure you that you wouldn't never stand close to the edge of the platform ever again. We arrived in Kyoto early evening, and we wanted to see the temples being lit up at night (since they were going to do this). We had a hard time working out which bus to catch, and when we were on board, we did not know how to pay for the bus ride. Worse of all, the driver and the passengers did not speak English, and we missed our stop on the first night! What made it worse was that when we got off at the next stop, and tried to find those temples being lit up at night, we were told that we were one day too early. And so we got a bus back to Kyoto station, hoping to find something to eat. But alas, all the restaurants and cafes closed at 10pm. We ended up finding a bar, and we had bar food, which consisted of skewers and fried stuff. I did not know they had an English menu and was ordering from the Japanese menu, trying to guess the food with the Chinese characters used in the menu.

The trip so far has been good, but my impression of Japanese people so far was that they tended to mind their own business and do not really look after other people. However, we did meet some nice people along the way too, and when asking people for directions, most of them were too happy to assist. However, our experience with the bus was really bad, as none of the passengers attempted to help us.

Trip 2008(2)

I have only been in Hong Kong for three days, but it seems like I have been here for much longer than this. Maybe it is because I go from place to place every day.

Went to morning yum cha again today and then to the island of Cheung Chau (by ferry) to see cherry blossoms with my relatives. It was disappointing, as there was only one large tree. Hopefully I will be able to see the real thing when I am in Japan in a few days time.

Later in the day, when I came back to Hong Kong, I met some friends for coffee. As I am chatting with them, I wonder what I would have been like if I actually came to Hong Kong to work. Maybe I would be so caught up by the culture of Hong Kong that I would be a different person to who I am now. Thinking back, I have gained so much perspective from staying in Australia. My faith in God has grown deeper these few years, and God has given me so much opportunity to experience him in different facets of my life.

At night, I met with an old friend for dinner. We talked about our relationship issues. We used to chat frequently when he was in Australia, and it has been a while since we last chatted. Talking about my own experience made me realise that I seem to have lost the passion or desire for relationship. I know I expect too much, but I can't help myself. Maybe I concentrate too much on the flaws of my potential partners and not on their good points. Maybe I am just a selfish guy, who is continuing to live in a fantasy land. The irony behind all this is a lack of urgency in this matter in my mind at the moment.

Trip 2008 (1)

My trip to HK and Japan came so quickly.

It seem only yesterday that my friend mention in passing of trip in March, and I told him I was interested as well, and here we are, several months later, blogging from Hong Kong.

It still doesn't feel so real yet, as I was still working until the last day, and getting on the flight at night doesn't give me time to settle and think.

The flight was pleasant, apart from the new Cathay seats, where you are not able to recline the back part of the seats. The food was the worse I've had. Its the first time in any trip that I did not eat breakfast. How can one swallow the watery scrabbled eggs?

The first day I was back, I spent half the day trying to renew my China travel documentation. The rest of the day I did alot of things - karaoke (Neway - songs were old, but they did have internet access in the room), buying a camera (considered Casio and Olympus, but eventually reverted back to the old favourite, Canon), eating street food (stinky tofu) and eating great food (baby lobster that have not grown yet - it looks cruel at first but the flesh is so tender, also had duck stuffed with scallops and other treasures). Apart from spending time with my relatives on the first day, it was also great spending a few hours with my friend from church, who was flying back to Sydney that night. It was great to be with a familiar face on the first day, and we chatted in English like we do in Australia, to the dismay of some people in the busy streets of Mong Kok.

Today is the second day, and being a Sunday, I went to a local church with my auntie. Similar to my experience in previous years, the sermon in local churches in Hong Kong is very shallow and did not contain any exegesis. The point about obeying God's law (based on a passage in Leviticus) was hammered for about an hour, but what the speaker did not mention is that most of us are not able to do so. The speaker did not explain the impact of Jesus and the NT on the law. The role of the law is to show us that we are sinners, and that we need Jesus, but this was not emphasised in the sermon. The face that I picked this up may yet be God talking to me again and trying to show me something in my life that I may not want to face at this point in time.

Went to yum cha with my relatives after church. My cousin asked me whether I have any plans of getting married or owning a property. This is so embarrassing. What can I say? That at this age, I am still so troubled in my relationships with others and that even if I have plans, they may not eventuate anyway? So sad.... =(

The afternoon was spent walking around the new shopping complex Elements with one of my travel buddies, and going into all those designer label stores. The service was extremely good (with special mention going to the IWC stores who spent a long time showing us the watches and allowing us to try them on, but no matter how nice they were, I think it is too excessive to spend $7,000 to $15,000 AUD on a watch). I also had a great time looking at the H&M store. It is the first time I've seen this brand (which is associated with Madonna) in Hong Kong. Had Japanese dinner with an old friend from church who has came back to Hong Kong with her husband a year ago, and it was great catching up. She is also working at the Hong Kong office of the firm I am working for in Sydney, and we were also talking about the various people that we know and the gossips that are associated with them.

Baby

As I walked into the hospital in the rain, I realised how fast time flies. My little sister has given birth to a baby boy, and I felt the significance of the moment, as I was walking in to visit them. I just can't fathom that she is now a mother of someone else and the days of our childhood still seem not so long ago.

It was a joy to see the tiny baby and to feel its soft skin. And I can't believe that I am an uncle now.

Time never stops for anyone. The new replaces the old and the new will become the old.

Hows your family?

I'm getting to an age where it is embarrassing to answer this question.

I used to answer this question in relation to my family as in my father and mother.

But as you get older, when people ask you about your family, they mean your wife and kids.

And when you are still single, it is hard to answer such questions and provide explanations.

Senior Associate Conference

It was a much better conference than I expected, and the ability for all senior associates across all Australian offices to meet together face to face is a great opportunity indeed.

The activities involved us walking on tight ropes, 10 metres above ground level. The process of climbing up the telegraph pole was scary enough and then walking on the ropes is even more of a challenge. I did the leap of faith, where I had to climb up the pole and then up out to grab a bar. It was horrifying leaving the platform and jumping out, and it was more of a shock when I missed the bar. Luckily, there was a harness to protect me.

For free time, I chose to do a tour of the artists' studios. Seeing them work, and hearing them explain their art and passion, makes me want to become one of them. I was able to drown myself and lose myself in their paintings. I was touched by the explanation given by Ruth le Cheminant behind her paintings. I was impressed by the use of light in the landscape paintings of Warwick Fuller and the impressionist illusions in the paintings of Herman Pekel. I laughed at the humour in the paintings of David Beschi.

As for the rest of the conference, the seminars and workshops seem like brain washing sessions. They assumed everyone wanted to be a partner of the firm, without addressing the true needs of the participants as to how the firm may assist those who do not want to be partners. The truth is that in this age and time, people come and go so quickly and they have done nothing to address that. These kinds of issues were touched upon in the last seminar on the last day, but by then, most people have left or are too tired to care.

Anti-Valentines Day

For many years now, this day is a day of dread, as every year I would see couples on the streets with flowers and chocolates and I would be all alone, feeling sad and wondering when this loneliness would end.

This year, I spent the day with a bunch of other single people at an anti-valentines day party at a bar. It was cool, meeting with a lot of different people, and not feeling alone on such a date.

But this may just be a way of escaping from reality, a glim and cold reality. If you asked me in November 2007 what I expected would happen on 14 February 2008, I would not have imagined I would be at this state again. Maybe it is my choice again, but it is hard not to think about "what if".

The fear is that I will continue to experience this state for the rest of my life.

Edison Chen

The great controversy surrounding the leaking of photos depicting Edison Chen having sex with various Hong Kong female stars is hitting the front pages of tabloids all over Hong Kong, day after day. Most people blamed Edison for the leakage of the photos and others are disgusted by the immorality shown in the photos. Most people felt that Edison should be responsible and should say something about the incident, but at the same time, they felt sorry for the female stars being caught up in the controversy.

I am not going to comment on the morality of the images depicted in the photos. This should not be the issue we should be concentrating on. The issue is the leakage of the photos on the internet and whether it is justified that Edison takes the blame.

Edison's contribution to the leakage is taking his computer for repairs. I do not think he is aware of such images in his computer and he would certainly not expect repairers to access his personal files in the computer.

And the reason why it is such a big issue at this point in time is the public reaction, and it is the public who demand those photos. We are feeding into this whole issue. We want to see more photos. We buy the newspapers and magazines selling this story. We search the net for the photos to satisfy our curiosity. We are fueling this whole controversy by our actions. We are as much to blame as anyone else.

One thing most people doesn't realise is the fact that Edison is also a victim in this. He did not want this to happen, just like the female stars. Sure, he was the one who took these photos, but these were meant for his private pleasure and was not meant for the world to see. Whether you think he is perverted or not based on the photos is not relevant, as these photos were only meant for himself. Noone realises that Edison is hurting as much as the female stars. He would be feeling that he betrayed the trust of the other people in the photos. His career is also affected by this whole incident. His life may also be in jeopardy, due to the connection of some of the female stars involved. So the fact he stayed silent and staying put in the US is a wise choice at this point in time. What did the media expected him to say? If he apologised, he would be regarded as being insincere and fake (see reaction after his video). If he kept silent, he would be regarded as not being a man and taking up the blame. He is in a lose-lose situation.

I really hope that he and the female stars involved will hang on and be strong, and hopefully with the support of their family and friends they will overcome this.

Double standards

I really dislike people who have double standards.

They can use cruel and mean words towards others (even though deep inside they do not mean it) but when others do it back to them, they get upset.

And when others try to reason with them in relation to the cruel and mean words they used in the first place, they will defend themselves by saying that they did not mean it. But how something means to a person is up to the person listening. One needs to convey the right meaning using the right tone and choice of words. They need to be responsible for what they say, and not try to find ways around it.

And what they don't understand is that they can be manipulative with things they do. They can be a stirrer and they do not know it. Then after they stir up things, they accuse people of being fake, but it is themselves who cause this to happen.

Try talking to them, and getting them back, and it wont work, as you will upset them either way. And the only thing they will do is just to hit you back physically. So sad.

Write offs

It's hard to avoid trouble when trouble comes to find you.

I have tried to keep a low profile at work, doing my work, not engaging in any mind games with the evil boss. There is not much work flow from him in the past few months, and I have been doing work for other people, which has been good.

However, trouble seems to come and find me even when I try to avoid it. There has been an issue with the disconnect between the fees I earn for my firm and the number of billable hours I work. And that comes down to one issue - write offs! Upon further investigation, I realised that the evil boss has been "writing off" my time on files. He usually quotes low to get the work in, and keeps to the quote during billing at the expense of people working for him. I am sure it is not an issue with me in spending too much time, as none of the other people I work for write off my time to the extent he does.

Anyway, this may turn out to be an issue which needs to be addressed to management, and when the time comes, I will need to defend myself. I have gathered all the evidence of writeoffs already, but I do not want to result in a war of words between me and him. It is so hard to be a witness at work.

What do we want?

Sometimes we think we know what we want. We may dream about wanting a certain thing, and convince ourselves that the thing we want is the best thing for us. We may try to achieve this, and our past efforts and hard work further convinces us that we should get this thing.

And once we achieve it, how do we feel? We may be happy at first, but this joy quickly disappears, when we discover that what we have obtained may not be suitable for us. Of course, from a distance, such things are nice and perfect, but when they are up close and personal, they are not that much different from other things. Then we start to question whether we actually know what we want, and we begin to wonder maybe the best thing is something that we have all along, something that we are comfortable with, something that we loathe but yet have accepted.

And we continue to live, to dream new dreams, to make modifications and adjustments to our dreams, until one day our true dream is realised or until we depart without the chance to realise our dreams.

New and Old

Its the new year.

What is new?

1. Work offices have moved to a new building, but ironically, its the same building that I was working in when I first started work in another company as a graduate. Office fitouts are modern and slick, but rooms are divided by glass panels, which make us look like we are all in fishbowls.

2. Met a new group of people on NYE, formed from friends inviting friends inviting friends to see fireworks. Been hanging out with them a few times this year. Nothing special, just something different.

What is old?

1. Work. When to stop? Where to go?

2. Relationship. Unresolved issues, still trying to escape.

Emo

Feeling emo in relation to the current state of things...
relationship issues remain unresolved...
work not bringing about satisfaction....
not knowing where I am heading.....

Tried to find someone to talk to the other day...
sent texts to the few people who I can trust...
but noone is free to reply or spare an hour or two for me...

Christmas spent surrounded by family and friends...
but will they still be here in 20 years time...
will I be all alone, with noone to celebrate with...

Refocus.
Pray.
Try to not avoid it.

Festive Season

There are so many reasons for joy - the birth of our Saviour, the Christmas parties where we exchange gifts for one another, being involved as part of the initiative at work to donate food to the homeless....

But my mind is focused on just one issue... a choice I have to make, a choice which I may regret or be excited about...

Throughout my life, I have been at this stage many times. But each time is harder than the last. Maybe I carry too much burdens. Maybe I still don't know what to do.

I can continue to live my life, to be with people, and try not to address the issue. I can laugh with people to try to cover my sense of uneasiness. I can continue to type "lol" to people but not mean it. But when things quiet down, the issue is there again. It will be haunting me unless there is a resolution.

It's hard for others to help me. What do I expect them to do? Ultimately its up to me and what I feel is the right decision to make.

Crying in the party

Work Christmas party.

Year after year its the same thing. Costumes. Dinner. Drinks. Dancing.

This year, a text message on my phone changed everything. Why did she send that message? What did I do to make her send it? I tried calling her, but her phone was off. All I could do was send her a reply asking her what was wrong.

My colleague next to me knew something was wrong, and asked if I was ok. Hell, no, but what could I say to him? I didn't even know what was wrong myself. All I said was that things were fine, but I wanted to leave the party. And I did leave the party early and the whole night I was thinking and dreaming of what could be the reason.

The next day I got another text message with certain accusations. Are women from Venus and men from Mars? I did not know how she came to those conclusions. I was upset and hurt by them. I couldn't be bothered ringing her back, and all I could do was send an email back to her explaining the situation. She sent me a text wanting to talk after that. But the fact that she sent the text message already affected me so much that I still cannot face her at this point in my life. Even though we were supposed to talk today, I couldn't bring myself to it. I just don't know what to do.

I am so confused right now that I don't know what I am saying and whether there were any truth in what she said.

The only thing I know is that this song continues to be in my head the past few days.

Mess.....

Personal life in a mess...

Why am I such a noob? What's wrong with me? Why do I like to avoid questions and build all these walls around me so that I block out everyone? Maybe its past experience, maybe it is fear of failure, maybe its insecurity......

............