Travellers and Paddlers

Quotes from "Under Heaven"

2012-01-26T04:06:00.000-08:00

At the lowest ebb, of a person or a nation, the first seeds of later glory may sometimes be seen, looking back with a careful eye. At the absolute summit of accomplishment the insects chewing from within at the most extravagant sandalwood may be heard, if the nights are quiet enough.

Most of us are foolish in our dreams. The trouble comes when we bring folly out of dream.

A person can adapt to more than he might have thought he could. What he is uncertain about is when that stops being a virtue and turns to something else, leaving you too much changed, undefined, unanchored, like a fisherman's empty boat drifting on a river, with no way to be returned to where it belongs. (abridged)

from Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Mutual Support

2012-01-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

My first ever ceramic piece. Created 23 July 2011.

丑小鸭的故事

2012-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

不久前，在报章上看到了一则以丑小鸭为题的文章，
突然有感，在Facebook上写了这么一段：

随着日子一天一天过去，
丑小鸭依然是丑小鸭。
最后，丑小鸭是老死的，
始终没有变成天鹅。

结果引起了一阵喧哗。

许多人大喊，太悲伤了！太悲观了！

又有人问丑小鸭不好吗？难道丑小鸭注定悲伤，而天鹅一定快乐？

又有人说，鸭子怎么可能变天鹅？这种不合逻辑的童话本来就骗小孩的。

又有人说，人生总要有一点童话，有一点梦想，才活得美丽。

其实，丑小鸭慢慢老去，最后死去，始终没变天鹅，难道这不是你我平凡人生最写实的故事吗？

丑小鸭快乐吗？天鹅幸福吗？冷暖自知！

不要因为曾经有只丑小鸭变成了天鹅，就以为丑小鸭必有变成天鹅的一天。

不要为了等待那一天而蹉跎了一生。

Rethinking meritocracy

2011-10-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

Singapore is a country that prides itself on meritocracy, and indeed most Singaporeans are proud of that too. The basis is that meritocracy is fair in that everyone has a chance to raise up in the society as long as you have merit, regardless of your ethnicity and your social class.

However, recently, I began to have second thoughts about meritocracy. One of the problems I find is that it breeds a sense of entitlement and a tendency towards indifference for the less fortunate. It is common to find people who feel they are entitled to huge rewards, believing that they deserve so purely because of their own merits, and disregarding any forms of interactions with other people that lead them there. And then there are people who thought the poor deserves to be poor because they are not working hard enough.

Today, I come across another interesting idea in the Straits Times article Misguided fight against 'inequality' (by Samuel Brittan. Straits Times, 8 Oct 2011 p.A39). What is interesting is that the article referred to Hayek's an argument that there is a difference between "value" and "merit". What we are actually doing in the name of meritocracy is not so much rewarding people for their merit as much as their value. Perhaps that's where meritocracy starts to go wrong.

According to Friedrich A Hayek:

The inborn as well as the acquired gifts of a person clearly have a value to his fellows which does not depend on any credit due to him for possessing them. There is little a man can do to alter the fact that his special talents are very common or exceedingly rare. A good mind or a fine voice, a beautiful face or a skilful hand, and a ready wit or an attractive personality are in a large measure as independent of a person's efforts as the opportunities or the experiences he has had. In all these instances the value which a person's capacities or services have for us and for which he is recompensed has little relation to anything that we can call moral merit or deserts. Our problem is whether it is desirable that people should enjoy advantages in proportion to the benefits which their fellows derive from their activities or whether the distribution of these advantages should be based on other men's views of their merits.

For the full reading on this idea, see the following URL:
http://www.woldww.net/classes/General_Philosophy/Hayek-equality.htm

What do you lose when it doesn't matter to you?

2011-10-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Heard this anecdote today:

Girl loves boy very much. Boy not really interested. Friend tells girl: "If you breakup, the boy loses a girl who loves him very much. But you only lose a boy that doesn't love you much. So the boy loses more."

Hmm... I say this is just Ah Q mentality. The harsh reality is that if someone doesn't love you, he won't think it is a loss. In the end, it's the one who loves most who gets hurt the most.

On conventional wisdom

2011-10-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

We Associate truth with convenience with what closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being or promises best to avoid awkward effort or unwelcome dislocation of life. We also find highly acceptable what contributes the most to self-esteem.

-- John Kenneth Galbraith
(Taken from Freakonomics)

曾经有一个人爱过

2011-09-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

J，你跟我说过，在你状况最差的时候，有一个人爱着你，你很感激。

我明白，那只是一份感激而已，你无法以爱回应。

谢谢你陪我走了这一段。无法给你什么。希望你会记得：

曾经，在你状况最差的时候，有一个人爱过你。

Oceanful of tears

2011-09-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Buddha said,

Sentient beings are subjected to
Much sufferings in endless cycles of birth and death;
And the tears shed from being separated from loved one,
Is enough to fill an ocean.

- Sutra on Relieving Sorrows.

I wonder, how much more tears will I shed?

与爱别离，泪流成海

2011-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

在释见介著的《与佛陀赏花去》里，看到了这么一句：

佛经说：“我们过去生中与所爱的人分离所流的眼泪，比四大海的海水还要多”

那我在无止的轮回中，曾流了多少，还会流多少？

-----------------------------------------------------
注：出自《佛说解忧经》
“又彼有情，生死别离，爱恋泣泪，亦如海水”。

Images from temples in Northern Thailand

2011-06-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from my recent backpack trip in Northern Thailand. These are mainly from Nan and Lampang.

Pink Dot 2011

2011-06-18T16:40:00.001-07:00

This year's pink dot is so big that it is not a dot! From the arial view, it looked like the whole Hong Lim Park was a patch of pink!

I was there at 4pm as part of the Pelangi Pride Centre group. There were already quite a buzz with many people having set up mats and having a picnic. The signs were there that it would be much bigger than previous years, and it was.

I was there at the first one three years ago. Although I was not part of the organizing committee, I knew it only came through after much hard work of those who worked behind the scene. It was postponed many times and at some time, almost fell through.

There was much anxiety then. People weren't sure what will exactly happen. Would the police give trouble? Would the religious groups protest? But in spite of it all, the event was attended by more than 2000 people, and went through without any issues.

As one of those in that dot, it felt like I was witnessing a important moment in the LGBT movement in Singapore and I was part of the historical movement. I knew things were not change over night. But it was the start of something important.

At the first pink dot, many people were still cautious and afraid. There were many people who would only loiter around the edge of the park and looked on. Many did not dare to wear pink.

But they would eventually join the dot.

This year, I saw so many new faces. So many were there for the first time. There were still many on-lookers, many who would only loiter by the side. But mostly, it was like a party in the park. People who about happily, confident with no sign of anxiety.

After the event, I did saw someone changing out of his pink outfit in the toilet. Still, the fact that he participated in the event, was probably an important journey for him.

I suspected this year, the Pink Dot benefited some what from the spill over effects of the May General Election. Boo Junfeng's very well made video also helped to generate quite a bit of publicity. Furthermore, mainstream newspaper like Straits Time even reported mentioned it about it, and Google Singapore sponsored the event as well.

I must say we have come quite a long way in the three years.

And I hope in years to come, this would have build the bridge towards the rest of the society and help build a more inclusive and accepting society.

Thank you to the Pink Dot organizers who made this happen!

And yes, I spotted Nichole Seah and Vincent Wijeysingha in the event! I can't resist getting a photo with them! I must confess I was quite a big fan of both of these politicians during the last election!

Letter to ST Forum

2011-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

My letter to Straits Times Forum appeared on its online edition:

http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_659158.html

Here's it:

Apr 21, 2011

Better an affordable home, than asset enhancement

THE Government argues that by enhancing the value of HDB homes (read: increasing the prices of homes), it gives a valuable asset to Singaporeans and a stake in the country ('WP's housing proposal irresponsible, says Mah'; April 15).

I find this problematic on several counts. First, for the majority, the home is an indispensable basic necessity, not a disposable asset. When prices of homes increase, the average home owner is not able to gain from it - while he is able to sell at a higher price, it also means he has to buy the new home at a higher price. Only the rich who can afford more than one home stand to gain.

Second, it deepens the divide between the haves and have-nots, for those financially less well off either find homes slipping beyond their reach, or face the heavy burden of financing a huge loan.

Third, the objective of asset enhancement through rising home prices naturally conflicts with the objective of providing affordable housing. It is tough to balance the two and implement effective policies.

Fourth, the argument that asset enhancement ties Singaporeans to the country holds little water. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people who emigrate cite 'unaffordable housing' as a reason among others. Ironically, the rising property prices here means emigrants can use the gains from the property to buy a 'more affordable' home in a foreign country. In fact, a majority of Singaporeans are displeased with rising home prices.

Instead of thinking of increasing prices to enhance the 'asset value' of the home, we should start to recognise that an affordable home is an asset in itself. Keeping home prices low and affordable means Singaporeans, especially young people planning to start families and buy their first home, can rest assured that they will always be able to own a place to call their home.

I think this would provide a more rooted sense of belonging than that of an expensive house. We need to recognise that we are deriving much utility from that house even if its resale price remains stagnant. We need to appreciate that while stagnant prices may mean little capital gain when selling the current house, it also means not having to pay through the nose for the new one.

Let us go back to the primary objective of public housing - to provide affordable housing to the majority of the people. Let us recognise that affordable housing is an asset in itself, both to the individual and the nation.

Lai Nam Khim

明月千里寄相思-吳鶯音

2011-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

老歌，在Love of Siam里听到的，找了很久才找到。

遇上、错过、放弃

2011-03-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

在冗长或转眼即逝的人生里，你遇上，错过，又或放弃了几个？

- 《小狗情人》

《一个我未曾到过的地方》

2011-03-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

《一个我未曾到过的地方》 E. E. 康明斯

一个我未曾到过的地方，欣然地
超乎任何体验，就在你眼内的静谧：
在你最柔弱的手势里，是那些包围我的，
那些太近，以致我无法触摸的东西。

你淡然一瞥，便轻易解开我，
尽管我已如手指般紧闭，
你总是一瓣一瓣地把我打开，就如春天
（娴熟地，神秘地，轻触着）把她的第一朵玫瑰打开

若你的意愿是要把我关闭，我连同
我的生命便将合拢，美丽又骤然地，
就如这花朵内心里，幻想着
雪花小心翼翼地四处飘落；
我们世上所能感受的，无能媲美于
你那强烈的脆弱所蕴含的力量：其质感
连同其所有国度的颜色，驱使着我，
在每一次的呼吸间，诠释着死亡与永恒

（我不清楚，究竟是你的什么特质，关闭
又打开；但我心里某处能明白
你眼神的声音比所有的玫瑰还深邃）
没有人，甚至雨，有如此般细小的手。

translated from Somewhere I have never travelled by E. E. Cumming

大屿山之恋

2011-01-31T07:15:00.001-08:00

Images from Lantau:

1) Homage to the Buddha 朝拜大佛

2) Tai O 大奥渔歌

Vegetarian in Hong Kong

2011-01-31T05:47:00.000-08:00

I was in Hong Kong 1-4 Jan and getting vegetarian food is more difficult that I expected.

I was staying in Tsim Sha Tsui, some where near Chungking Mansion. So there is always Indian vegetarian food to fall back on in the worst case. But I wasn't too keen on that.

Through the Happy Cow website, I found a few vegetarian restaurants.

What I found was that restaurants seems to be the only option available, and they don't work well for a lone traveller like me. I took a look at a few restaurant's menu. Dishes were generally HK$40 upwards. If I order 2 dishes, with the pluses (service charges and taxes), it will add up to something like HK$100, with probably too much food for 1 person as well. That's kind of expensive.

To be fair, at HK$40 - HK$50 a dish, it's comparable to the restaurants in Singapore. However, I do not eat at restaurants every meal -- it's too expensive! If I weren't alone, I would probably try a few of the vegetarian restaurants.

Besides, the vegetarian restaurants were not easy to find. I had to write down the addresses from Happy Cow to find them. Whereas in Taiwan, I can easily run into a vegetarian eatery while I wonder around.

There are many small eateries around but they do not offer vegetarian options. Many primarily sell meat (e.g. roast meat, BBQ meat etc). The ubiquitous Hong Kong style "tea restaurants" (cha chan teng 茶餐厅) do not have vegetarian food other than plain steam rice rolls and toast.

It took some effort, but in the end, I got by quite alright.

I was staying in a guest house along Cameron Road. The nearest vegetarian restaurant was the Ah Sin Vegetarian (G/F 71 Chatham Road, South Oriental Centre) along Chatham Road South just round the corner from Cameron Road. This was reported to be a popular restaurant, but I did not eat there. I did buy some dim sum from their takeout counter. The dim sum were going for HK$10 for 3 pieces, which weren't too expensive. The only problem is that they were cold and the steamed dim sum just do not taste good when cold. I suggest you go for the deep fried or baked dim sum instead. The takeout counter also sold lunch boxes for HK$25, and they had set lunch for 2 at HK$125.

After having problem finding food the first day, I got onto the net and search HappyCow.net again. To my delight I found a vegetarian noodle joint nearby and I ate there almost everyday for the rest of my trip.

The restaurant is called Lan Lan Vegetarian Restaurant. (靓靓) It is modelled after the traditional push cart noodle (车仔面).

It's a small restaurant, with limited seats. There is a piece of paper on each table. On the piece of paper, you choose the noodle you want (there are more than 10 type of noodles available), and the ingredients you want (e.g. mushrooms, broccoli, leafy vegetables, etc), and finally the soup base. Unfortunately, it's all in Chinese. There is no English menu. In the worst case, you can ask for the recommended noodle set in the picture on the wall.

The noodles are between HK$11 to HK$13 (depending on the type of noodles), and the ingredients are HK$6 per order. But what I found is that if they normally give half an order if you select more than 3, so it did not added up to be too expensive. With a selection of 6 ingredients, my bowl of noodles came up to $35 only. That's the most value for money and economical meal I found in Hong Kong.
With lots of vegetables, the soup noodles were an healthy and hearty, and nice in the cold winter weather.

Besides noodles, they also have rice, stir fry vegetable dishes, and other snacks.

I tried their fried tofu, pan-fried dumplings (水煎饺 HK$18)as well as the vegetarian version of Hong Kong's street food -- fried stuffed trios (煎酿三宝 HK$25) which is "fish meat" stuffed in egg plant, chili and tofu skin and deep fried (see picture).

The address of the restaurant is Ground A, 15 Austin Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui. But it is actually along Kimberly Road (I think it is part of a building which faces Austin Ave). It is easier to find it by walking along Kimberly Road northwards toward Austin Ave. However, you may miss the sign for it because it is covered by the signboard of another restaurant. It is directly opposite a 7-11, if that helps.

Another restaurant I found was at the Lady's Market. There were many street food stalls, but I could not find anything vegetarian. I found that there were 2 vegetarian restaurants along Tung Choi street. But it is not easy to find them because the makeshift stalls blocked the view. Walk behind the street stalls. At the end of Tung Choi street near Dundas street, there is a Vegetarian Kitchen. This is a Japanese restaurant. You can get sushi, sashimi and ramen. I ordered a bowl of rice with a meat pattie in it (HK$38) and an order of vegetable tempura. The food was pretty good. The final bill came up to HK$78 because there were some additional charges. It's a little pricey, but I guess in Hong Kong, that's about what I have to expect to pay for a meal.

The best meal I had was actually in the Po Lin temple in Lantau.
I paid HK$60 for the meal ticket, which included entrance to an exhibition hall inside the giant Buddha.

At first, I expected to be grouped with some strangers for the meal which is the common practice in temples. I was surprised to be lead to a small table instead and was served individually. First, I was given a big pot of rice, a big bowl of miso soup and a pot of hot Chinese tea. Then I was served 3 dishes. The dishes were very tasty. It's actually a little too much for one person, but I finished them all nonetheless. A friend warned me that the food at the temple was bad -- just a some badly cooked vegetables, he said. But I think it's probably because he didn't like vegetables. I thought the food was excellent. I saw that other tables with more people had 4 to 5 dishes. But I was happy with my 3 dishes.

I had problem finding breakfast in Hong Kong. I saw many noodles joints but none vegetarian. Of course, there is always bread available from 7-11, but I am really not a bread person. I walked into one of those Hong Kong tea restaurant (茶餐厅). The only vegetarian option I could find was plain steam rice rolls (斋肠粉) and toast, which I ordered.

Then I found the Singapore chain Toast Box and the next two morning I ended up having my breakfast there. (HK$28 for a set meal, with kaya toast, two fried egg, and a coffee).

There is, however, one thing I like about Hong Kong. Desert stalls are quite common. Sesame paste, peanut paste, mango pudding with pomelo (杨枝甘露), dumpling balls ("ah bo ling" 汤圆) etc. When I could not find food, these were good snacks to fill the stomach.

Vegetarian in Taipei

2011-01-30T04:57:00.000-08:00

Taipei must be one of the most vegetarian friendly city I know of.

Vegetarian food is easily available in Taipei and quite cheaply too.

That's one of the many reasons I really like Taipei.

I arrived at Taipei airport at 8:30pm on the 13 Jan 2010. By the time I checked into my guest house next to the Taipei Station, it was 10pm. I had not had my dinner (I flew budget airline and the only thing vegetarian they were selling on board was a vegetarian cup noodles).

Most shops were closed by then. Bread was still easily available in the convenience stores, but I was hoping to have something more substantial then bread. I walked around a bit and found my way to the Taipei Exchange Station (long distance bus station north of the Taipei Station).

Many convenience stores in Taiwan have a small hot food pot called "Guandong zhu" (关东煮, I suspect its something copied from Japan), in which sticks of meat or vegetables were boiled. Many Singaporeans (and obviously the Taiwanese) like that as late night snacks. Although there are some vegetarian options like tofu, mushroom and radish, they were all cooked in the same pot of soup with the meat, and I was afraid it might have the meat taste. So I avoided it.

I browsed around and found a pack of vegetarain TV food in the fridge. It was a vegetarian "meat" patty meal with some vegetables, selling for NT69. I bought that and the counter staff heated it for me in the microwave oven (a standard service at the convenience stores here). It was quite tasty.

So at least I went to bed without feeling hungry that night.

The next day, I made a trip to Shenkeng （深坑）, a town reowned for its tofu. The town is just on the outskirts of Taipei, just 10 min bus ride from the Taipei Zoo.

Along the old street, it's row of restaurants and eatery selling all sorts of stinking tofu dishes. Yes, stinking tofu! I do not understand why they made all their tofu into stinking tofu. There are so many other types of tofu...

But the stinking tofu is quite nice. They don't smell that bad, and are quite tasty. There is a vegetarian tofu eatery, and all dishes are pure vegetarian. I ordered a bamboo shoot stew and a stinking tofu in hot soup. They were OK (i.e. nothing worth craving for). There were many push carts selling BBQ stinking tofu as well. These were all vegetarian, though the sauce contain garlic. But those who do not take garlic can tell the stalls they want "pure" vegetarian, and they do have sauces without garlic. I like these, primarily because the sauce is quite taste and the tofu is tender (Tofu cooked too long in soup becomes hard).

That night I was out till late and again. I thought the best bet to get food would be at the night markets, and I was right. The night market nearest to the Taipei Station was the Ningxia (宁夏), about 15 min walk away. And there, I found a vegetarian stall selling the usual vegetarian stuff: rice, noodles and mock meat stew in soy sauce (卤味). I ordered herbal soup noodles, soy sauce tofu and soy sheets and it was a filling meal for less than NT100.

Shilin Night market is one of Taipei's biggest night market and probably the most popular among tourists. I always go there too because there are a few vegetarian stalls in the market building next to the Jiantan MRT station, there are 3 vegetarians stalls. Two are found at the back of the market (you have to walk all the way to the end to find it). There is another one that sells mini hot pots.

I always eat at the "Miao Xiang Yuan" (妙香园) stall, because it has a lot of tasty snack food.
Oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) is a popular Taiwanese street food. This stall has a pretty good vegetarian version, that is made from mushrooms, tofu sheets and seaweed.

I don't like the pinkish sweet sauce on the omelet. Otherwise its pretty good. I've tried the same dish at other stalls. So far, Miao Xiang Yuan did it best. Egg is actually optional, because the main binding ingredient is starch, not egg. So for those who do not eat eggs, tell them not to put egg.

The oyster omelet is NT50 per order (about than SGD 2.30).

I like to eat buns, and Shanghai pan-fried buns(生煎包) are a standard night market item. I always look at those longingly, but the fillings almost always use meat.

At the Shilin night market, along the main road (Wenlin Rd, 文林路), there is a vegetarian pan-fried bun store. Each bun sells for NT10, and the filling is mushroom and cabbage. I always get 2 buns when I am there to satisfy my cravings for the buns. But honestly, these aren't that good. The best ones I have tried is actually from a stall near Longshan Temple.

My favourite snack from Shilin Night Market is deep fried mushrooms.

The stall is also along the main road, just a few steps away from the vegetarian pan-fried bun store.

It is unhealthy: deep fried in oil and seasoned with lots of salt. But really I love it!

There are three type of mushrooms. You can order just one type or a mix of all three. Each order is NT50.

This trip, I found a vegetarian eatery in the Taipei Station underground shopping mall. For most of my trips, Taipei Station is the transport hub. So this eatery is really a great convenience. I don't have to go hunting for a vegetarian stall when I am hungry.

The eatery at the west end of the underground shopping mall, near the exit to Chongqing south street. They have rice and noodles and side dishes. In the picture, I ordered a Japanese style curry rice (NT60, but I won't recommend it. It's just rice and a big piece of deep fried TVP meat pattie). The side dishes (pickled cucumber, green vegetables, tofu, mock meat made gluten or TVP etc) are NT20 for a small plate and NT30 for a bigger plate. It's economical and convenient. I ate there twice this trip.

Finally, I would like to introduce my favourite vegetarian pan-fried bun stall.

I found out about this stall (上顶皇家素食水煎包) from the internet. This is located near Longshan Temple. Directly opposite the temple, there is a open plaza (the Longshan MRT is beneath it). There is a small street beside it where there are a few vegetarian restaurants. From that street, there is a side street that leads to a market place. There stall is located there.

The stall offers three types of fillings: cabbage (NT10 each), bamboo shoots (NT10 each), and mustard (雪里红). I always order one of each. There stall also offers pot stickers (basically the same thing as the cabbage bun but made into a pot sticker shape with a thinner skin). These buns are way better than the buns at Shilin Night Market. However, this time round, I found the bamboo shoots bun (which is mixed with glass noodles) a bit too salty.

This stalls open early in the morning and is a good stop for breakfast. So if you come to the Longshan temple, grab a few buns from here for breakfast!

Vegetarian food is easily available in Taipei and pretty good too. The only problem is that the street stalls and eateries uses too much mock meat and tofu. Green vegetables are quite lacking. However, if you go to a restaurant, there are many vegetable dishes.

One disadvantage is travelling alone is that it's difficult to go to restaurants (too expensive and too much food). There is a restaurant along Nanking East road offering vegetarian Sichuan style spicy hotpot (小心上瘾素食麻辣火锅). I've been there once and it's really good. Unfortunately, you need to have at least 2 person to start a pot, so I did not get to go there this time.

So, anyone wants to go and try with me next time?

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 书乡书香

2011-01-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨之书乡书香

台北有很多书局。很多。

去过许多地方，还没见过有那么多书局的城市。香港都没有。上海也没有。成都、重庆也没几间书局。

台北最出名的是诚品书局吧。诚品的旗舰店是一座好几层的大楼。在敦化南还有台北唯一的二十四小时书店。诚品书多不用说，而最棒的地方宽敞，还有椅子让人坐下慢慢翻读。我2007年去时，找一本2000出版的书，其他书局找不到，但就在诚品买到了。

但我到台北，一定去的书局不是诚品，而是晶晶书库。这是华人首家的同志书局。其实，似乎也是唯一的。到目前为止，还没听说有其他的华文同志书局。

晶晶还是颇有名气的。我在新跃大学上课，就有一个讲师，说到台北可以到晶晶见识见识，开开眼界。

我到这里主要是买一些同志文学。其实，这些书一般书局都有卖，只是不容易找。在晶晶，所有的同志文学都在一个架子，很容易找，而且一些比较旧的也能找到。

当然晶晶也有卖一些男色写真集，甚至一些日本色情片。这些我都不卖，男色写真，要看的话，网上一大堆。而色情片，第一太贵，第二入关被抓就完蛋了。

哦，我买的不少书，看过都捐给了 Pelangi Pride Centre。要看的话，可以去借。

台北车站附近的重庆南路是出名的“书局一条街”。新加坡人好像不怎么认识。这一条街，有很多书局，而且一般书都打折，杂志除外，一般都有85折，比诚品还便宜。确定是，这里书局比较小，周末相当拥挤，不像诚品那样，可以比较舒适地看书。

在捷运双莲站与中山站之间，还有一条地下书街，尽是小书局。只是，这里的书比较多是清货的（也因此挺便宜），而且比较大众化，食谱、风水之类的书比较多。

这次，我去花博会的途中，在中山国中站下车。一走出来就看见一栋“文化大楼”，忍不住进去看看，是三重书局。进去一看就是一个小时多。如果不是赶去看花博，不想扛着一带重重的书，就会又买了一批书。在这里，看到了陈克华的《善男子》，是一本同志诗集，便买了下来。

书的问题就是重量。每次，都要担心行李会不会超重。如果不是行李的限制，会买更多的。但其实，主要的限制还是时间。我的书架上，还有不少书都还没时间看呢...

喜欢台北的书香味。所以喜欢台北。

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 冷天泡汤真享受

2011-01-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 冷天泡汤真享受

泡汤，是台北行程不可少的项目，尤其是在冬季。

1月14日。星期五。早上到深坑，下午到花博会一直到天黑。走了一整天，走到脚都累了。这时，去泡温泉是最好的。

台北有不少温泉。北投与乌来是两大著名的温泉区。我则是到阳明山附近的温泉。搭捷运北投线到石牌站，转公交车508号，到行义路。这里有一条温泉街，有好多间温泉餐厅。我就是到这里的川汤。

台北泡温泉收费不贵。在北投，有一所政府设立的公共温泉池，男女共浴，需穿泳衣，收费才NT20！我第一次来台北就在这里泡过。在行义路温泉区的汤馆，收费从NT200起，新元不到$10。我付了NT200用川汤的露天大众池。这里是裸浴的，男女分浴。

当天气温大约12度，不算太冷。泡在热水里，紧绷的肌肉放松，疲惫一洗而去。

知情的人都懂，川汤是同志们常去的汤馆。上一次，我也是听朋友说了，所有特地来看看。

其实，根本没什么的啦。至少我去过几次，没见过什么色情活动。只是，一走进温泉池，就会感到很强烈的眼光。但大家都是乖乖的看而已。而一些人就是一直走过来走过去，我到觉得相当滑稽。在这里，不是看人就是给人看。只有寥寥几人，闭着眼睛，泡在水里。

我则是纯粹去泡汤的，真的！但是有养眼的男色，不看白不看吧？！

泡了一个半小时，身体轻松舒服得很，皮肤也变得很柔滑，感觉非常好！

在台北的最后一天，我先到故宫博物院，之后又跑去川汤。我原以为周一下午应该会没人，没想到竟是相当拥挤，只是叔叔伯伯比较多，但也有不少学生。

当天气温下降，天虽晴，但很冷，大概只有摄氏8度。温泉池的蒸汽特别盛，一片迷蒙，看不清人。每当一阵寒风吹过，吹散蒸汽，有一种拨开云雾的感觉。

走了台北几天，是相当累的。在这种寒冷的天气，疲惫的身体泡在热水里，真的是一种享受。若不是还要赶去搭飞机，真的不想走。

我一直泡到四点，才依依不舍地离开。飞机是晚上八点飞。从行义路到台北车站，吃了晚餐，再搭机场快车到桃园机场，时间刚刚好。

到台北，泡汤真是一种享受。

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 又寂寞又美好

2011-01-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨之又寂寞又美好

《又寂寞又美好》 Beautiful Solititude，几米的作品。

在台北逛书局时看到，便买了下来。因为我也是个寂寞的旅人，也想了解，几米的寂寞，是如何的美好。

这一次游台北，又是一个人，但玩得挺尽兴，不觉得孤单，反而觉得，一个人，其实也可以很好的。或许，是习惯了一个人，习惯了寂寞。

寂寞，感觉最深刻，是游平溪线那天。非常寂寞，但无悲伤，对寂寞有种不曾经历过的平常心与舍离心。似乎又重新认识了寂寞。

那天，与侯硐的猫咪们交流了一阵子后，吃了简单的午饭，便乘火车到平溪线的终点站青桐。

天气突然转凉，山上的气温更是冻。来平溪的情侣似乎特别多，火车里一对一对的，相依偎着。

午后，开始下起雨。

我买了一杯热腾腾的姜母茶。捧着热茶，暖了冰冻的双手。一口一口地喝着，辣辣的姜味似乎也暖了身子，暖了心。

冬季的雨虽冷。旅人的心不冻。

在绵绵细雨中，青桐弥漫着浓浓的浪漫。幸福邮筒等着爱的限时批。

竹简写着许许多多祝福，愿长长久久不分开，愿伊人幸福快乐。

我走着走着，离开了青桐老街，离开了双双对对的恋人。

铁路边的小路上，就我一个人。

一个孤单的背影。撑着伞。踏在湿漉漉的山间小路。

虽然寂寞，但不孤单。从青桐走到平溪，一路上只有我一个人。还有青山、绿树、寒雨、铁路、思绪。有点悠哉，有种自在。

如果有人相随，也许不错。但或许就无法静静地感觉朦胧的山与绵绵的雨，寂寂山路与默默的铁道，还有，一个人美好的寂寞。

走到平溪，正好有人放天灯，看着人们的祈福，随着炮竹声响，与天灯一起升天。

从平溪搭火车到十分，天色已开始暗了。游人已散，店铺也开始收拾。我没走到十分瀑布。到基隆河便掉头。

十分，又是一个浪漫的煤矿小镇。或许与其名有关。因为“十分”加上“幸福”，就是“十分幸福”。于是，到这里来的人都带着一份祝福而离开。

回程时，搭火车到松山，到拥挤的饶河夜市逛，喝了一碗热热的番薯汤，再加上一个葱油饼做晚餐。

在无人的山路中，寂寞。

在拥挤的夜市里，寂寞。

但是没有悲伤，没有怨艾。

一个人，也好。

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 侯硐有猫！

2011-01-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨之 "有猫随行，猴硐最美"

侯硐，又叫猴硐，是在平溪线上的一个煤矿小镇。

一般旅客对平溪铁路应该不陌生，不少人到九份都会搭火车到平溪线上的瑞芳镇换公交车。平溪线上的十分、平溪、青桐也是旅游旺盛的小镇。但大多数人对侯硐或许没印象吧？

侯硐是近一两年才受到瞩目，而让侯硐红起来的是猫。

我是在《我报》的一份报道认识到侯硐。这里有很多猫，一些“好摄之徒”到这里拍了一些猫的照片放到网上，传开来后，引起了人们的注意。

这份报道引起了我的好奇，于是这次便来凑热闹，来这里找猫。

到侯硐，最直接的方法是在台北买张区间车的车票，直接到侯硐火车站。我则是坐火车到瑞芳，买了张平溪线一日游的票，才转车到侯硐，结果浪费了一点时间。

侯硐和平溪线上的小镇一样，以前开采煤矿，现在还保留了废弃的煤矿厂。

猫村就在火车站旁的山坡上。

到了这里，我才明白，侯硐红起来，不只是因为猫多，还是因为有山村作背景，可以拍出不少美丽的画面。

这里的风景怡人，即使不喜欢猫，也是值得一游的。

这里真的很多猫。有些非常亲切，见到人就靠过来。或许是天冷，有些猫还爬到我的怀里，不肯下来。

外国游客似乎还没发现侯硐。到这里的都台湾人，带着相机来拍猫的。

如果有去十分的话，顺道到侯硐走走吧！

有猫随行，猴硐最美！

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 深坑吃豆腐

2011-01-25T05:39:00.001-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 深坑吃豆腐

早在几年前，便听说台北附近的深坑，有一条老街，以豆腐闻名，只是一直没机会去。这次终于去了。

一直以为深坑离台北市区很远，其实不然。搭捷运到动物园站转公交车，几分钟就到（其实在木栅站转车会比较方便）。

深坑老街，就是一条短短的小街，味道有点象九份。

只是，这里尽是买豆腐的店。说是豆腐街，但都是臭豆腐。这点我就不太明白，为什豆腐都做成臭豆腐。豆腐本身可以有很多花样，不一定要只做臭豆腐吗。或许是台湾人特别钟意臭豆腐吧。

在街口的大榕树边就有好几摊烧烤臭豆腐。烧烤臭豆腐是素食，但酱料有蒜，不吃蒜的话，通知老板，一般都有净素的酱料。挺好吃的，豆腐不会太臭，所以不必怕。

这里的臭豆腐都不是很臭，整条街并没有臭味，不像香港或中国，老远就嗅到臭豆腐的味道。

麻辣臭豆腐似乎最受欢迎的料理法，每家店前都有一大锅。

台湾的麻辣味，不太辣，也不太麻，是可以接受的。（不像在四川，可以麻到“食之无味”）

我最开心的是，这里有素食店，可以放心地吃素食豆腐餐！只可惜，一个人无法吃太多，尤其是路上吃了不少小吃。

我叫了一份炖笋和麻辣臭豆腐。不是那种会让我特地跑来吃的美食，但吃得还是挺开心的。

除了臭豆腐，这里也有其他的糕粿、花生酥、姜母茶等。

有时间的话，下次还会来可以到这里吃豆腐的！

	这里的草粿也是挺好吃的。我买了个菜莆米味，好吃！
	卖酱料的店。我在这里买了一包姜母茶，一斤才NT150。上一次来台北时，在几处问一斤都买NT200。不知道是降价了，还是深坑比较便宜。
	菜单都是臭豆腐！
	流动菜市场！刚好看到一辆卖菜的车开过老街。已经几十年没看到这样的车子了。让我想起小时，住在乡下，我们就是向这样的卖菜车买菜的。
	这里也买生的臭豆腐，可见不只是做游客生意的。

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 花花世界

2011-01-25T05:01:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨之花花世界

我不是特地来看花博会的。但既然台北国际花卉博览会正在举行，还是该去看看的。

1月14日，星期五。怕周末人多，所以星期五就去了。

早上到深坑吃豆腐，在中正国中捷运站出来时看到一间大书局，又进去耗了不少时间，结果到花博会时，已是两点半。早上放晴，所以天气清爽，是游花博会的好天气。

首先，令我印象深刻的是免费的接驳巴士。虽然花博会就在圆山捷运站旁，但主办当局还是安排了三条线路，免费载游客到会场。进入会场，游客中心是服务周到，有医疗站，有食水供应，有人派发地图，还有免费的储物柜。我特别喜欢储物柜，因为可以放下东西，轻松的游览。

几年前，我去过泰国清迈的花博会，所以难免做过比较。我觉得，泰国的好像比较大，比较多花，而且各国的展厅比较好看。台北的是场地太大，花都分散了。另外，一些展馆的商业味似乎重了点。有些展馆是挺不错的，只是要排队，很费时。比较特别有养生馆，展示盆栽。一些展馆有人介绍展出的植物--这就让我印象深刻。

花博会太大了，从2点到8点，也只看了一半，走都走到累。

整体来说，是办得挺不错的。我认为如果集中一点，或许会更好些。

这里分享一些花博会的照片。

冬季到台北来看雨 -- 我的TOP经验

2011-01-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

冬季到台北来看雨之 “我的TOP经验”

我想和大家分享一下“我的TOP经验”。

哦！不是我是TOP经验！是在台北出席的一个讲座，叫“我的TOP经验”！

我事先并不知道有这个讲座，是瞎猫撞上死老鼠，刚好碰到的。

当天星期六(1月15日)，原来打算去侯硐看猫的。只是感到累，一直睡到9am。梳洗后，到后街找前一天吃的豆浆馒头摊，但老伯没开档，于是便跑去龙山寺。那里有一间素食生煎包小店，挺好吃的。但是到龙山寺总不能不进去礼佛吧？出来后又看到“剥皮寮”的指示牌，便跑去看《猛甲》的拍摄场景。这样一耗就近中午了。

想想似乎不够时间到侯硐，于是决定当天就留在台北逛算了。先去重庆南路的书店买书。妹妹给了一条单子，都是少女漫画与读物。一个大男人买少女漫画是有点尴尬的，但这也不是第一次，我也不是太在意这种东西的。买了书，吃了午饭，回旅舍放下新书，便到晶晶书库去。

晶晶书库，号称是华人首家同志书店，是同志们到台北不可不去的书店吧？我每次到台北都会到晶晶的。

到晶晶时，大概是两点。门前有一群人，感到有点奇怪，进去发现里面很热闹。问一问，原来是有个讲座，不需登记，可以参与。

原来台北人跟新加坡人一样，都不喜欢坐在前排。我不想站着听讲，便坐到前排去了（更与谈人有跟亲近的距离，嘿嘿！）。

看看前面的布条，哦，原来是台湾同志咨询热线协会举办的“爱滋爱滋亮晶晶讲座”，主题是：“我的TOP经验”。（宣传海报的标题是：I Wanna Be a TOP！我的1号性爱经验谈）。

讲座的主持人：吸力哥（高头大马的男人）
与谈人：
梁小星（个子小，但超可爱的帅哥，传闻是“资深TOP哥”）
光廷（号称“娘1”，高瘦，有点娘，一般不会联想是TOP的那种）
徐阴卖（斯斯文文，传闻是特别喜欢“底迪” -- 就是有恋童癖啦！）

（我是不认识这些人啦。但他们似乎在台湾的同志圈子颇有名气，据说当天还有不少粉丝，尤其是小星，好像粉丝不少！他们的名字是我后来到爽歪歪的网页找的：http://www.songyy.org.tw/action_3.asp?ACTID=ACT11114103236538&myarea=2）

讲座先由小星开始，分享他在高雄的经验。小星真是经验丰富，还“示范”了不少pose。
接着，光廷破除迷思，证明娘的不一定就是0号。最后阴卖再分享他如何“散播自由民主的种子”。然后，与谈人以抽出预先准备的题目，再作答讨论。最后，再让现场朋友发问。

很庆幸能碰上这个讲座。在新加坡是有出席过一些有关爱滋的讲座，但是台北朋友的做法是有点不一样，让我开开眼界。

首先，主持人就摆出立场。这虽然是爱滋小组举办的（即目标是要提倡安全性行为，防止爱滋蔓延），但不要求与谈人只说政治正确(politically correct)的立场。

其实，这一点是挺具争议的。我曾碰过一些情况，感觉座谈会好像没有提倡安全性行为，反而是认可危险的性行为。所以，一般上，对那些脱离“政治正确”立场的言论，我是有所保留的。但这次的座谈会处理的挺好，主要是谈得有深度。就无套性交的课题，主持人就特别花多了点时间，要三位与谈人都讨论，立场是要提供足够的信息与论点，让大家参考再做决定。

事实，一些人要是坚持冒险，如果只盲目宣传安全性行为的话，不一定有效。那不如正视问题，全面地讨论各个角度。问题是，我碰到的情况，一般都讨论得不全面。比如说，有一次，在一个座谈会上，一个与谈人说戴不戴套是自己与伴侣讨论后的决定。但是到底应该讨论些什么，有要考虑些什么，都没说到。

这个讲座在短短的时间是无法谈得很透，但我认为至少谈到了不少角度。

对于无套是否比较“爽”的问题，阴卖所分享的体验是值得参考的。他认为在生理上，感觉其实不是差很多。差别其实主要是在心理上，少了套就好象少了一层隔膜，好像更加亲近伴侣。

光廷是坚持戴套的，主要原因是卫生，还有责任--保护自己也保护对方。光廷提到一个很重要的问题就是，就是谁能担保不会出轨或永不犯错。出轨后能坦诚吗？（尤其是爱得深，怕会因此失去对方）。

除了用套的问题，讲座也大略谈到一些用药的问题。

第二，主持人也说，这讲座也是要破除人们对1号的一些迷思（myth）。

我觉得，三个与谈人选得还恰当的。

小星是比较刚阳1号，但个子小，不是那种筋肉猛男型。

光廷既然号称“娘1”，就是比较娘，就破除了1号的框框。

阴卖则是刚柔介中。

三位都宣明有过零号的经验。而其中一个还分享说，一般上，0号比较能“作自己”，而1号则需要顾虑到保持形象，摆出1号的。其中一个就有一个典型的刚阳1号朋友，总是表现的很man，但一次被发现在暗暗三温暖，戴着墨镜，以为没人会认出情况下让人上。

其中，讨论的一些问题包括，1号是不是不喜欢主动的0号以及一些性能力方面的问题。

三位都宣明，只是分享自己的经验，不代表所以的1号。但是，至少还是让人有机会认识到典型框框以外的例子。

第三，我觉得台北朋友的讲座和新加坡最不同的是活力。

这个讲座整体很精彩，很有活力，相当搞笑，真的好像那些台湾综艺节目。

一开始，让我喷发笑的是与谈人摆出的一个招牌：“只是分享经验，并非制造口碑！”（大略）。并在讨论是一直摆出这个牌子。（如果你不明白“制造口碑”的意思，那就是“宣传自己”啦！）

主持人和与谈人的默契很好，有时一来一往，笑话连珠。

讨论的问题也相当有趣，例如：撞号真么办？碰到“土石流”真么办等。

与谈人真的很有口才与墨水！既然是台湾人，华语说得流利是理所当然的。他们说得都很快，绘声绘影，用成语，引典故，幽默又搞笑。尤其是阴卖谈到他和大陆底迪的一段“罗曼史”，讲他在快要高潮时，听到底迪以标准的北京叫了一声他的名字，竟然让他“软掉”，接着又如何“反攻大陆，散播自由民主的种子” -- 真的是叫人喷饭。

在新加坡，就我出席过的一些座谈会而言，总是比较严肃，少了那一份综艺性的精彩。

讲座到四点半结束。这次有缘碰到这个讲座，看到了台湾朋友讲座的实况，是一个难得的经验。

冬季到台北来看雨

2011-01-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

我喜欢台北。

文化上的亲切感。书局。博物馆。素食。同志文化。温泉。大自然。浪漫。

如果机票便宜的话，我是会更常到台北的。这次，虎航新开台北航线，有优惠，就买了机票。

1月13 日，乘搭3：45的飞机，到桃园机场时是8：30pm。

前几天在深圳冻得要命，一直怕台北也一样冷，幸好温度还挺舒服的。

大巴开进台北市，细雨开始飘落，司机先生埋怨说，下午才放晴，真么又下起雨。

这就是台北冬季的雨吧？细细绵绵，冷冷冰冰。

或许是因为孟庭苇的那一首《冬季到台北来看雨》的关系，我一直对台北的冬季有一种浪漫的幻想。

冬季，到台北，来看雨。

Kayak expedition to Pulau Hantu

2010-12-13T04:57:00.000-08:00

Just over the weekend, I did an expedition to Pulau Hantu, one of Singapore's Southern Islands.

We started picked up the kayaks from Kayak Asia in the morning on Saturday and trucked them to Tanjong Beach in Sentosa. We launched our crafts from the beach at about 10:30am.

It was a cloudy and windy morning. Just after we move off the beach we were caught right in the middle of wash of 3 pasting motor motors, which means crazy crashing waves. But after that it was pretty straight forward rowing to the Sisters Island. We reach sisters at roughly 11am stopping briefly for a toilet break.

From the Sisters Island we head for the tiny hump of Jong, which is commonly know as the "hamburger island", because it looks like a round bun on top of a piece of patty. The water was pretty choppy. Sometimes my kayak would rise above the crest of the wave and the crash down and water start to get into the craft. It was a good thing we had water pumps to pump out the water.

In spite of the choppy water, we made pretty good time. From Sisters Island to Jong, we took slightly more than 1 hour. We kind of hang around the island and rested for a while, eating some snacks and took some pictures.

On the map, the distance from Sentosa to Sisters is about 2.6km and Sisters to Jong is about 5km. So we did 7.6 km in about 1.5 hours, which was a pretty decent pace. Since Jong marked more than half of our journey, I thought we reach Hantu in just another 1 hour at the most. Boy, was I wrong.

From Jong, we started to paddle towards Pulau Semakau. After a while, it became apparent that the progress was becoming very slow. Every time we stop paddling, we were quickly pushed back. It was starting to get tiring. Semakau has no beaches (at least on the side opposite Bukom). I spotted a ramp and suggested we stop at the ramp and take break for lunch. The distance from Jong to the ramp was only about 1.3 km. But it took us close to 1 hour!

After lunch and a good rest, we set off again. At this point we split into 2 groups. 2 of the guys paddle directly towards Pulau Hantu taking a course that brought them closer towards Pulau Bukum. Choe and I hugged close to Semakau as we wanted to check out the mangroves.

It was easy paddling as the water appeared to have become calmer. I thought the worse was over. But later I found out that it was because the water currents were weaker in the inner curve of the island. The other 2 guys were having a much harder time. Although we took a longer route, we reach the northern tip of Semakau before them.

Once we rounded the northern tip of Semakau, we hit the currents again. It took me a while to realize that I was hardly moving. I was definitely paddling a lot, but if I mark my progress against the landmarks on Bukom, I was hardly moving! It was like on a tread mill. You paddle and paddle and you are still at the same spot! Once I stop paddling, I drift backwards quickly.

The short stretch must not have been more than 1 km. But I think we must have taken close to an hour to break through that stretch. This was the first time I encountered such strong currents.

It was a great relief when we finally reached Pulau Hantu. It was almost 4pm when we finally reach there. This was more than 2 hours beyond my projected time of arrival. I had initially expected that we should have arrived on the island and frolicking in the lagoon by 2pm.

We were all exhausted. After we set up camp and had dinner, we just went to sleep about 8pm.

At about 12am, a thunderstorm hit the island. It was flashing lightning and crashing thunder. But luckily rain was not heavy and wind was not strong. We were able to get back to sleep without getting wet.

Day 2 saw us getting up at 6am. By 8am, we were all packed and launching our crafts. The tide was low, and the water was pretty calm. There was little wind. We spent some time exploring the shallow waters off the west coast of Pulau Hantu. There were lots of sea grass and fishes. And twice, I caught what I thought was a sea turtle peaking out of the water before diving back down again. My friend thought it might be a dugong, but I am quite sure it's a sea turtle because I saw its beaked head quite clearly.

We lingered for more than 1 hour, before heading back to Sentosa. The rest of the journey was pretty easy, except for the last part near Sentosa. The water got choppy and the current was uncertain. It became tiring keeping the kayak on a straight course, though we were still moving.

We reached Tanjong Beach at 12pm. We took some time to relax at the beach before the lorry came to pick up the kayaks at 2pm.

It was a rather tiring trip though quite an adventure. My advise for those of you who might want to plan a similar expedition is to prepare for a possibility of strong currents at the channels between Pulau Semakau and Pulau Bukom.

This is the distances of the trip (my friend checked it up using Google Maps)

Day 1
Sentosa - Sisters' 2.6 km (about 0.5 hr)
Sisters' - Jong (hamburger) 4.8 km (about 1 hr)
Jong - Semakau (factory) 1.3 km (about 1 hr)
Semakau - Hantu 3.4 km (about 2.5 hr)

Day 2
Hantu - Semakau (mangrove) 1.6 km (about 0.5 hr)
Semakau - Bukom (staff quarter jetty) 2.4 km (about 0.5 hr)
Bukom - Sentosa 5.2 km (about 1.5 hr)

Meat or me?

2010-10-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting column on last week's Sunday Times.

In her article "Who's scared of dating journalists?", Sandra Leong wrote:

A while ago, while writing a feature about ethical eaters, I interviewed a woman who shared with me the pitfalls of standing up for her beliefs.

Despite being attractive and intelligent, she had apparently been told by several men that they "would never date a vegetarian".

When asked to choose between the two primal needs of meat and woman, the men decided that their stomachs came first.

- Sunday Times Oct 17, 2010. Lifestyle pg 14.

Now, I have not yet met anyone who says he is not willing to date me because I am vegetarian. Oh wait. Maybe I had. They just didn't tell me directly. Perhaps that's why they all disappear...

But I have met people who keep saying
1) he can't believe I am vegetarian (Get over it! Vegetable proteins CAN build muscles!)
2) he will never become vegetarian (but I didn't even suggest that he should be.)

I have not made anyone choose between meat or me (yet). Well, I never got that far anyway.

But I really don't require my partner to be vegetarian. It would be ideal if our partners share the same beliefs, but life's not ideal.

However, I do hope he is willing to settle for vegetarian food when we go out on dates. Sometimes, we can go to vegetarian friendly places and he can have his meat while I eat my carrots (sometimes, not all the times). He can eat meat for all he wants at other times.

I don't think that's too much to ask. But I know for some people, that's too much.

So meat or me,
what will it be?

Love, like you've never been hurt

2010-10-12T04:45:00.001-07:00

Our body develops defense mechanism to protect us against hurt.

After frequent abrasions, our skin develops callous. Callous protects our skin against cuts and abrasions, but in the process, our skin also becomes less sensitive.

In similar ways, the heart may harden after each time it is hurt. While this protects it from being hurt in the future, the heart becomes callous and insensitive.

As I remember it from a TV serial, the ghost of a father who died from heart-attack told his heart-broken daughter: "When the heart completely hardens, that's the end of life."

True love may hurt. But it was true, then it will never become hatred. It will never become bitterness, nor dead cold indifference.

Therefore, "Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt."

孤独

2010-09-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

“思考是孤独的，
但这样的孤独却是必要的；
创作是孤独的，
但这样的孤独也是迷人的。
我们有太多无法与他人言明的幽微感受，
说不出来，
所以孤独。”

“孤独是我的，我同样无法分一些给你，
但孤独开启我创作的动力。
我用画与文字去营造打动自己的美好或悲戚，
并借以来打动你。
若是有缘，
你必也能读懂我那一刻的美好与悲戚。”

摘自《绘本创作记》 -- 阿果
（刊登于《联合早报》文艺城。2010年9月17日，zbNOW P7)

We must heal when we can

2010-09-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

We must heal, when we can;

comfort, when we can't --

and be wise enough to know

which would be the best course of action

in each particular case.

-- Lee Wei Ling

(from the Sunday Times, 12 Sept 2010 p31)

I am a fan of Wei Ling's column. I am always amazed how different she is from her father. In spite of herfamily background, she seems to live simply and austerely ...

Home

2010-09-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

I've fallen in love with Joe Ng's version of HOME that is featured in the Sandcastle:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=459012710545

Sandcastle itself is full of symbolism loaded with socio-political critique about this place I call home. And some reviews of the movie chose to add on the criticism and attack on the Singapore.

Sometimes, if you believe all the criticism you read on the web, you would think that this place is really a rotten place. And for a person not born here, why did I choose to call this place home?

The truth is, in the end, it is the emotions that binds. This is where I grow up. This is where my friends and family are. This is where my memories are. It is the bits and pieces, here and there, then and now, that forms the emotional ties that roots me here.

This is not a perfect place. I wish the 377A is not there and gay people won't be discriminated. I wish censorship can be relaxed. I wish there is more political freedom and debate. I wish the government won't be so mercenary, holding economic growth above everything else, and constantly bribing people with money and materialistic things. I wish the government won't be so harsh on criticism, and doesn't have to insist it is right all the time. I wish for more nature space and more preservation of its past.

But things are improving, even if the changes are not fast enough for some people. The silver lining in all the criticisms is that there are people who know somethings are not right. That our Home needs more than material enrichment. As long as there are people who are aware, we can be optimistic that this will become a better place. Of course, there are many people who choose to complain and do nothing. But there are people who get on their feet and do something, through civil groups, through forums and feedbacks, through art and creative works, through individual actions in daily life.

And some, choose to create a movie with a message to awaken the socio-political consciousness of the people.

I think it is significant that Sandcastle choose the song HOME to close the movie.

In the end, this is home, and after all the criticism and self-reflection, we'll get down to make this a better place, in spite of the circumstances.

Urban amnesia

2010-09-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

On Singapore's frenetic urban renewal:

"If we are constantly rewriting our city,
we are constantly in a state of amnesia
and it will be hard to connect back
to our original feelings about the landscape of our country."

- Architect Khoo Peng Beng (quoted on The Straits Times, 7 Sept 2010 Pg A24)

If only the URA understood that.

抄袭《梦见大树》

2010-09-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

最近，我发现有人抄袭了我写的《梦见大树》，放在他自己的部落格上。

说是抄袭，因为除了改了名字，更本是字句相同。

起初，也不知道是开心还是生气。我想，人家要抄袭，应该也是有所感动，喜欢上了这一篇，才抄到自己的部落格上。说起来，这也不是我的原创。我也是看到了一篇感动的作品，再改写出来的。所以就算了。

一般上，如果是转载他人的作品或引用典故，我都会指明出处或原作者。

《梦见大树》是改写的，所以没记下原作。但是其实与原作还是非常相似，难免会有抄袭之嫌。只是，现在已记不起来了，无法找回原作。依稀记得，好象是从一本从图书馆借来的中国微型小说集看到的。原来的作品只提到了春、夏与秋。“冬天挡风”是我加上去的。

有谁看到了原作，通知我一下。

Vegetarian food in Ho Chi Minh city

2010-08-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was in Ho Chi Minh city for about 5 days last week.

It wasn't too difficult to find vegetarian food. There are a few vegetarian restaurants around, though it does take a bit of effort to look for them. You just have to keep an eye for them. I always look for the word "chay" (pronounced like zai as in banzai).

Vegetarian restaurants are called "quan chay". I was in a shopping centre looking at a menu, which did not appear to have any vegetarian options. The waiter could not speak English, but when I told him "an chay" (meaning "eat vegetarian"), he immediately pointed me to a few vegetarian dishes.

Of course, it helps that my friend there had a few local friends who knew were the restaurants are. Here's a few places I went to.

	Sen Vegetarian (Lotus Restaurant) This restaurant really needs to get into the Lonely Planet or any of the travel guide. It is a good restaurant in the Pham Ngu Lao area, which is the backpackers area. It is less than 5 min walk from Sinh Tourist. Prices are comparable (and in fact cheaper!) than the restaurants that caters to tourist in the Pham Ngu Lao area. A bowl of pho is only 26,000D. (I had a bowl of soup noddles of 35,000D at one of the touristy restaurant) Dishes are 30,000D upwards. A spring roll is 5,000D each. They crispy spring roll (see pic on left) is small and at 5,000D each, seemed pretty pricy. But it really good. They also sell vegetarian baguette (called Banh Mi) for 10,000D each. I tried to buy one to bring to the airport on my last day at HCMC, but they were sold out at 1pm. The mango salad (see pic) is similar to Thai's som tam, but not as spicy. It is sweet and tangy, and the extra herbs differentiates it from the Thai version. It is really tasty and makes a good appetizer. The pineapple rice is more like fried rice put in a pineapple. I won't recommend this. I really like the fried tofu with lemon grass (see garlic). The toppings on the deep fried tofu is a mixture of lemon grass and some other herbs. It was a little too salty for my taste, but otherwise would have been perfect. The second time I visited the restaurant, they run out of it. We ordered a braised pork in claypot (see pic). I must say it looked too much like the real thing! If I weren't in a vegetarian restaurant, I wouldn't touch it! The sauce is really tasty though again too salty. But it's great if you mix it with steam rice. The claypot tofu (see pic) is great too. The dishes here were all between 30,000D to 40,000D (i.e. about SGD $2 to $3). It is cheap by our standards, though this is probably one of the better restaurants locally. But if you go to the tourist street, the prices were all 35,000D to 50,000D. We walked into the Zen vegetarian restaurant (just 3 min walk from Sen Vegetarian), which is listed in the Lonely Planet. The place was practically deserted. We took a look at the menu and the prices were more expensive than Sen! So those of you who end up in Pham Ngu Lau, I really recommend Sen Vegetarian over the other restaurants. Address of the restaurant: 171 Ngyuen Thai Hoc. District 1. It is in the same block as the Chua An Lac temple, but on the side facing the main street. Directly opposite is the New Urban Male shop. The menu is in English, but very little English is spoken.
	Vegetarian Buffet at Liberty Hotel This is the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, also known as the Hungry Ghost month. My friend told me that many Vietnamese observe a vegetarian diet this month. Indeed, I saw a few restaurants put up posters indicating vegetarian options. I was walking along Pham Ngu Lau and I noticed this poster publicising a buffet for 110,000D for lunch and 140,000D for dinner. 140,000D is SGD $10! I am not sure if the restaurant is a vegetarian restaurant or not. We got there at 6pm and the restaurant was full of people. I think we were the only foreigners there. There was a very large spread of food and I didn't get to eat all of it. Finally, I had my first bowl of pho in Vietnam. Pho (pronounce like "fur") is rice noodle with beef broth. The pho was delicious and it was served with 2 slices of "beef". But what I was most delighted to find was a tomato broth noodles. I tried this once when I was in US. It was a vegetarian restaurant ran group of Vietnamese nuns in Portland OR. I liked it very much. But I was not able to find it again. So I was really happy to see it. It was really delicious. Unfortunately, I don't know what is it called. I like Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. They had 3 types of rolls. But one of them had this stinking vegetable which I really hated. There were a few pots of curries on the buffet spread as well. One of the curries is ketchup based (see pic), without curry powder and coconut milk. I don't know why it is even called curry at all. But it is good. I tried this curry when I was in central Vietnam and liked it very much. What is good about the buffet is that it is an opportunity to try many types of Vietnamese food. Well I tasted as much as I could without over-eating. I just could not eat buffet the way I used to eat when I was a te The restaurant is called Van Canh and is located inside the Liberty Hotel. There is a chain of Liberty Hotels around the area. This one is located directly opposite from the famous Ben Thanh Market across the round-about. It is at the junction of Calmette road and Tran Hung Dao.
	Local Roadside Stalls I told my friend I would like to try their local 大排挡(roadside stalls). Our Vietnamese friend brought us to this street where there are 4 to 5 Vegetarian stalls at a stretch. These are small "hole in the wall" eateries, with dining tables spread out along the streets. There were 3 of us. We each had a order of fried wanton, fried spring rolls, fresh spring rolls, curry noddles, and sugar cane. We were really stuffed and the bill came up to only 110,000D for the three of us! A bowl of noodles was only 15,000D! Unfortunately, there is no English menu and no English spoken. If you are not here with a Vietnamese friend, it will be difficult to order. The only thing you could do, I guess is to point at what others are eating. The street is Tran Dinh Xu. It is only a short distance from Pham Ngu Lao. At one end of the street, there is a Vegan restaurant call Dao Vien. The looked like a pretty nice restaurant too.
	Dinh Y If the restaurant is crowded with locals, it must be serving good local food. And Dinh Y does fit the bill. Dinh Y is listed on the Lonely Planet. It is across the road from Thai Binh Market, at the other end of Pham Ngu Lao area. (About 10 min walk from Sen Vegetarian or SinhTourist). I came during lunch time and it was packed with local working crowd. There was only 1 table of tourist. I ordered a bowl of soup rice vermicelli (hu tieu) and it was only 20,000D. (About SGD $1.50). I also order 2 fresh spring rolls (I think it was 2,000 each, i.e. about 15 cents!). But what I enjoyed most was Cha Gio, or fried spring rolls. A order of 6 spring rolls was 15,000D if I was not wrong. It was serve was a plate of greens and a dip. I saw how the locals eat it and ate it the same way. They take a leave of lettuce and wrapped the spring roll in it with other herbs like mint and basil (and a bunch of leaves which I can't recognize). It was great! The waiters could not speak English. They have an English menu and I just pointed at what I wanted in the menu. For simple good and inexpensive Vegetarian fare, I would really recommend this.
	Viet Chay On Sunday, I made a trip to Chua Vinh Nghiem (永严寺), which is supposedly the biggest Buddhist temple in HCMC. This is Chinese Mahayana temple. It was preparing for the Water and Land Grand Service (水陆大法会). There is a vegetarian restaurant within the temple grounds. It is a relatively upscale restaurant. Main dishes were 40,000 upwards. Food was pretty good, but pricy by local standards.
	Tourist stop I took a day trip to Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnels. For lunch, we were drop at a nondescript eatery, which the tour guide claimed is inexpensive. It wasn't expensive for a tourist, but I think the locals would find it overpriced. Most dishes were 35,000D to 50,000D. There were only a few vegetarian options. I ordered a fried vegetarian spring rolls with rice. It was served with 5 mini spring rolls. 35,000D. The spring rolls were actually quite nice though. There are 2 types of wraps used for fried spring rolls. This one was the "net" type, which I like better. I don't know how to specifically ask for this though.
	Fruits On my first day here, I was delighted to find pink guavas at the Ben Thanh Market. It was only 30,000D per kg, which is about SGD$2 per kg! Pink guavas are quite rare in Singapore and are quite expensive. When I was in Taiwan, I bought 1 fruit for almost SGD$1! I bought 1 kg of pink guava and 1 kg of custard apple (I bought smaller fruits for 30,000D per kg. Bigger ones are 40,000D - 50,000D per kg). The guavas were very fragrant. I left it on the table in my friends apartment. When we came back from dinner, the whole place was filled with its fragrance. I had pink guavas and custard apples every day. The only problem was that they rippen very fast. I bought 2 kg of pink guavas home. Unfortunately, quite a few them were crushed. Dragon fruit is not native to Vietnam, but is widely cultivated and cheap here too. But I don't like dragon fruit. Durian was quite common too. These are big durians. But it doesn't doesn't have the pungent durian smell like those from Malaysia. So I wasn't interested.

I eat lots of fruits and vegetables

2010-08-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

Someone once asked me how I get well-built without eating meat.

My friend who was with me answered for me, "He eats LOTS of fruits and vegetables!"

Yeah, I eat lots of fruits and vegetables. And that's all to it! You don't need to eat meat.

The truth is, it is exercise that builds muscles, not meat. Of course, protein is required to for muscles to grow. But ultimately it is exercise that builds muscles, and vegetable proteins are just as effectively as meat protein to fuel muscle growth.

My diet

There is nothing special about my diet. I do not make or pack my own food to work. So I just eat what is available in the cafeteria, food courts or hawker centers.

These are my considerations when I get my food:

Brown Rice: I always get brown rice if it is available.
Green Leaves: I always make sure I have some green leaf vegetables. Actually, I grew up hating green leaf vegetables, but green vegetables are important for vitamins and minerals. I do like Kai lan and spinach, but they are rarely available at the usual food stalls because they are more expensive. Most likely, you will get cai xin (which I hate but will still eat), xiao bai cai (I really hate it when they cook the whole plant without cutting it into smaller pieces) or Chinese spinach (xian cai).
Protein food: I love bean sprouts and tofu. Other protein-rich vegetables are long beans, french beans and peas. The cafeteria at my office serves India vegetarian food, so sometimes I can get chickpeas and dhal.
Mock meat: Mock meat adds variety and texture to the meals. But I usually limit to just 1 dish each meals, because these tends to be highly processed with lots of additives and seasoning. These tends to be made from wheat gluten (which is a form of protein) or soy (Texturized Vegetable Protein), and are actually high in protein.
Deep fried stuff: People always say vegetarian food is mostly deep fried stuff, but I don't think that's true. There is a lot of fried food available at the vegetarian stalls. But if you choose to avoid the deep fried food, there are still other choices. The only problem is that the deep fried stuff tends to be the tasty stuff... I usually limit to a maximum of 1 dish of fried food each meal.
Other vegetables: Generally, I try to get vegetables and limit deep fried or highly processed food stuff to at most 2 side dishes. The one vegetable that can be found at almost all vegetarian stalls is cabbage and that's one of my favourite vegetables. Brinjal is nice too, except that it is tends to be cooked too oily and salty, so I don't take that too often. I consider potato a carbo food rather than a vegetable dish, so if I get potato, I will ask for less rice.
Desert: I will go for green bean soup or red bean soup if I would like to have some protein. Otherwise, I will get cheng teng or some thing with real fruits (like honey dew sago).
Drinks: I drink at least 1 glass of soy milk everyday. My favorite is Unisoy Organic Soy Milk with no sugar added. If I buy from Mr Bean, I will ask for less sugar. Generally, I avoid sugared drinks. In the morning, I drink black coffee with very little sugar (Kopi O siu dai). I always drink Chrysantamum tea without sugar and avoid soda drinks like Coke or Sprite.
Eggs: I do like eggs. But I do not rely on it for protein. I know people who will eat 3 to 5 hard boiled eggs every day, but I don't do that. I allow eggs mainly for convenience, because many cakes and pastry has some eggs. Sometimes I'll add a fried egg to my breakfast.
Milk: I am slightly lactose intolerant. I can take milk tea or coffee without problem but a piece of cheese cake or a glass of fresh milk will send me to the toilet. Most of the time, the milk I take is what gets into the tea, coffee or deserts.

So, I really just eat the usual stuff available from food court. There is no special home cook food or magic diet. I just try to be more careful and mindful about what I eat. Here's my typical meal each day:

Morning: A plate of fried bee hoon or fried kway tiao, sometimes with an egg or tofu. A cup of black coffee with little sugar.

Lunch: Brown Rice with 4 - 5 dishes. A piece of fruit. I usually ask for less rice and have more side dishes instead. I always bring a lunch box with me and sometimes I will split the lunch into two portions. The other portion to be eaten after 3pm.

Tea Break: The other portion kept from lunch, or some biscuits, or a egg mayo sandwich, or a curry bun. I need a tea snack because my lunch is light and I will usually get hungry by 3 to 4pm and dinner is usually after 7pm.

Dinner: Rice (about 1/3 of a bowl) with lots of vegies/tofu. My mother is not a very creative cook, but there is always lots of variety, even if they are cooked almost the same way. My family is not vegetarian, but if I eat at home, my mum cooks vegetarian for everyone. I will eat 2 to 3 pieces of fruits. There is always fruits in the fridge because we buy fruits regularly as offerings to the Buddha.

I know for many people, home meals are the most problematic because the rest of the family are not vegetarian. You will need to talk to family for more vegetarian variety. You can also prepare some extra side dishes for yourself, like pickled vegetables, veggie patties, and salads. These can be kept in the fridge and you can just take small portions for yourself if the rest of the family are not interested.

Supper: No supper. If I am hungry late in the night, I will eat an apple or an orange.

Snacks: I avoid snacking. Once in a while, I may have an ice cream, or some potato chips. If temptation is great, I will snack on some nuts (cashews or almonds), or eat a piece of fruit instead.

Supplements: I have a bottle of Vitamin B12 on my desk and once in a while I will pop a pill.

I do not take protein supplements until recently, although a few years ago, I did take some spirulina (I stopped because it was too expensive). And there is really no need to unless you want to really put on bulk. We can get enough protein from our regular diet. The other problem is that most protein supplements are whey protein, which is milk protein. Although I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian, I did not like the idea of taking whey protein. If you have read the book The China Study, you will know why. Whey protein is after all animal protein, and taking it in concentrated amounts can't be too good for you. Two months ago, a friend introduced a vegan brown rice protein, and I have added it to my diet. It is called "Brown Rice Protein" by Jarrow Formulas. It is not available in the shops, but someone is selling it on Singapore's Ebay. Since I just started on it, I can't tell if it is any good. But at least it adds variety to the soy-based protein that is most common form of protein in Asian vegetarian diet.

So that's basically how I eat. Nothing very special really.

Vegetarians can have hot bods

2010-08-02T08:22:00.001-07:00

I'm going to be a bit shameless and show off a bit.

Vegetarians can have hot bods. You really don't need to eat meat.

Anyway, I know I look hot in that picture because the sun was really blazing hot that day. Trust me...

Ubin on a Kayak

2010-07-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

I wanted to explore Pulau Ubin on a Kayak for a long time.

I finally made the trip yesterday with 2 friends.

The weather was great for kayak. It was sunny and windy. There was lots of clouds in the morning but it did get a little to hot in the afternoon. The water was relatively calm and the currents were not too strong.

I saw lots of interesting things, including rubbish. When we kayak up the river, it was a little bit like those scenes you see from the nature documentaries. I almost expect a crocodile to jump out and snap at me.

Here's some photographs I took with my waterproof camera, the Fujifilm XP. It was quite difficult to take photos on the kayak as it is constantly moving and many pictures turn out to be quite blur. The colors from the camera turns out to be rather flat, especially when the sun light is strong. In constrast, I get more vivid colors from the Panasonic Lumix camara. The biggest problem is the water droplets on the lens panel. It's difficult to wipe it dry when you are out in the water and all wet. I will need to find some fabric to wipe it next time. Camera makers -- here a feature to consider -- add some coating or material to the lens panel that will repel water.

Replacing fonts in Open Office Writer

2010-07-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

When you have have large document with a few different fonts, how do you replace one font with another font?

This was a big headache for me. I have a document of more than 200 pages. Interspersed through out the document are bits and pieces of text of a different font. I want to change the font because the print output of it does not go well with the font of the main text.

But it is a tedious process going through the document, highlighting the text, and the manually change the font.

I searched on the internet for a quick solution, but there is not much available information. There are a few people who used scripts to replace the font. I cut and paste the scripts but wasn't able to get them to work. I wasn't going to learn the scripting language to debug it.

I was about to give up when I stumbled on the Open Office Extension Services. Although the main installation of Open Office does not have a feature to replace fonts (it does have a feature to replace the font on screen, but it does change the original font in the document, which is not good if you need to pass the document to someone else), Open Office support "Extensions". These are additional bits of code which other people wrote that can be added into the application.

One of the Open Office Extension is the "Alternative dialog Find & Replace". It is Find & Replace tool that has more options that the standard one packed in Open Office Writer. Most importantly, it has the ability to replace fonts!

Assuming you already have Open Office installed, you will need to go to this web site to download the extension:

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/node/525

Install the extension and restart Open Office. You will have a "Alt. Find & Replace" item on the "Edit" menu.

You can use it to replace the fonts now!

In the screen shot below, I used it to replace all Arial fonts with Gentium Basic.

I used this tool to make more than a thousand of replacements, saving me hours of precious time!

This is one more reason to use Open Office!

诵经的益处

2010-07-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

唐代僧人义净法师(634-713)说，诵经有以下益处：

一能知佛德之深远。（认识佛陀德行的深远）
二体制文之次第。（学习文体的规律）
三令舌根清净。（说话善好）
四得胸藏开通。（扩张肺部，使呼吸通畅）
五则处众不惶。（面对众人而不胆怯）
六乃长命无病。（强身益寿）

《南海寄归内法传·卷四》，《大正》54.2125

翻译与还原

2010-07-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

翻译时，最麻烦的就是碰到原文是从译入语翻译过来的情况。碰到这种情况，正确的做法是应该是还原而不是翻译。但是如果不熟悉原来出处，麻烦就大了。为了找回译入语的原文，可能要费时费力。但这却是常常碰到的情况。

最近在翻译时又碰到这种情况，结果短短的一篇却是花了好长的时间才翻译出来。

首先碰到的就是人名的问题。

原文： Yunch’i Chu-hun (1532-1612) was one of the greatest Chinese monks of the last 500 years.

既然此人是中国人，必定有中文名字。在这种情况，是不应该音译的。但我从来没听过此人，而这名字又不是用汉语拼音拼出来的。我用谷歌与百度找"Yunch'i Chu-hun", "Yunchi Chu hun"等不同的拼法都找不到任何头绪。还好，这里给了此人的生年。最后我是用这个信息找出来此人的原名。原来这便是净宗八祖莲池大师。"Yunch'i Chu-hun"即是“云栖祩宏”。云栖是指大师常住的云栖寺，而祩宏是大师的俗名。

找到了原名，又碰到另一个问题。

原文： One of his most famous innovations was encouraging both his ordained and lay disciples to have what he called a ‘Book of Good and Bad’ in which they wrote a record of their thoughts, speech and actions as an aid to self-examination and character building.

什么是“Book of Good and Bad”？当然最直接的做法就是直译为“善恶书”，但我相信这肯定是错的。其实，如果找不到原来的名称，最好还是不要翻译，而是用解释的，以免误导读者或给错的信息。比如，可以译成“...把思想、言行等记录下来...”如果赶时间的话，这是没有办法中的办法。但我想一个好的翻译员，就是要尽责，做出最准确的翻译。结过，我花了不少时间，寻找莲池大师的资料。问题是，原文作者认为这书是大师的著名创举，但有关大师的资料却都注重大师的其他贡献。最后，是找出来了。此书便是“功过格”！

这一篇短文不到一页，但却耗上了大半天来翻译。主要的时间还是花在寻找资料以便准确的还原译入语原来的名称。

还好现在有万维网，有谷歌与百度，要不然，可要在图书馆不知耗掉短少时间！

顺便一提，名字的翻译问题不只出现在翻译汉语名字。日本人与韩国人，甚至是越南人的名字都有汉字，或是以汉字为本。翻译是应该用对应的汉字，而不是音译。

之前，我碰见一篇译文把日本人“Nikkho Nirwano”名字音译为“尼高尼互那”。我还是花了不少时间，找出对应的汉字，即“庭野日敬”（其实，英语的拼法也不是很规范，所以也造成了困难。比较规范的拼法应该是Nikkyo Niwano）。

还原的问题不是一种挑剔，而是尽责的做法。要不然，读者原来认识的人或事，译回来，反而变成不认识的了！

唐詩三百首

2010-07-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

李佩菁的《唐詩三百首》从童年时候便一直陪伴我到如今。

这首歌旋律简单，节奏轻快，容易朗朗上口。小时，从收音机上听过几次，就记下来了。跟着美丽的旋律，我也学会了李白《静夜思》里的“举头望明月，低头思故乡”以及王维《渭城曲》的“西出阳关无故人”。当时我并不明白歌词中这两首诗有什么意思，更不明白歌里说的乡愁与离愁是什么东西，只知道这首歌很好听，很容易唱。

小时候，家里贫穷，连电视机都没有，更不用说什么电子游戏。收音机是我们的简单娱乐，而那还是爸爸捡来修理好的收音机。小时的许多下午都是在收音机旁听着一首又一首的歌曲。这首《唐诗三百首》就是那样走进了脑海里，这么多年来都不曾忘记。

长大后，到国外工作，经历了离乡背井的愁绪，尝尽了孤单想家的滋味，终于明白了什么是乡愁。随着岁月的流逝，经历了几多悲欢离合，和知心的人说过再见，和心爱的人道过离别，也懂得了什么是离愁。孤单低落的时候，哼起这首歌，总能抒解一点愁绪，带来一点安慰。

这首歌，让我与唐诗结下了缘，以致后来对唐诗感兴趣，进一步去认识。看了这些美丽的诗词，
我感受到了各诗人的壮志豪情与相思愁绪，似乎，我的人生也更丰富了。后来再重新认识这首歌，听到歌里说，童年时妈妈教我唐诗，求学时老师教我唐诗，我也能体会歌里的一种感恩与情感。

现在的流行歌曲，情情爱爱太多，旋律复杂难以上口，少了当年的那一种单纯与天真。而《唐詩三百首》那简单、轻快的旋律总能带来一点童年的回味，回想起那种不知愁滋味的天真与青涩。

这首歌，让我认识到唐诗的美，让我认识到离家的乡愁，让我认识到分手的离愁。这首歌，带给我童年的回忆，也常抒解我的情绪。这也就是为什么，经过了人生这么多的起起落落，我还唱着歌里那最后一句：“只有那《唐诗三百首》，它时时刻刻伴着我。”

再见！伊人！

2010-07-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

再见伊人，
人事已非。
曾经的恋慕，
竟已不存。
再见伊人，
如今已是
再见，伊人！

It is not about being picky. It is about finding happiness.

2010-06-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

Your mother told you so. Your father told you so. Your relatives told you so. Your friends told you so. Even Mr Lee Kuan Yew told you so.

Don't be too picky. Settle for someone less than perfect.

There is even an advertisement the ministry commissioned to "educate" people about this.

But really, this is not a matter about being picky. It is about finding happiness.

Today, I finally found in Ms Shenton (a columnist in the Chinese language My Paper, whom I believed is married)， a person who is able to empathise with the middle-age single and tell it as it is.

The fact is, the partner you end up with is frequently not the same as the ideal partner in your dreams. But there is nothing sad about this, because, as you know it in your heart, true happiness is meeting someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Before Mr Right appears, you impose on an imaginary person requirements such as appearances, physique, hobbies, etc. You can dream about how handsome, how great and how romantic he is.

But when you find meet the right man, you will abandon all the requirements you have. Even if he is not as outstanding or as good-looking as you imagined he to be, you would not have thought it a compromise on your ideals.

Dear Makei-Inu sisters, what you really insisted on, is not about finding the ideal man. Your insistence is really about finding happiness. Have confidence in yourself. Don't wait passively. As long as you do not give up the courage to love, even if you are just an ordinary girl, you will be able to find your happiness eventually.

- from My Paper, 30 Jun 2010

Note: Makei-Inu (まけ‐いぬ【负け犬】), is a Japanese word which literally means "failed dog", and is used to refer to single ladies above 30 years old.

单身者所常面对的舆论，就是自己太挑了，不切实际地要求完美的配偶。的确，每个都会对理想伴侣有一定的要求与条件。然而，我们都明白，没有什么人是十全十美的。当我们遇见心仪的对象时，即使不符合原先的种种条件，也不会觉得是一种妥协或委屈。

其实，我们的坚持，并不是要求一个完美的梦中情人，而是一种勇于追求幸福的坚持。

事实上，所选择的终身伴侣往往和心中的理想伴侣未必吻和。这不是一件难过的事，因为你心里知道，当你遇上了一个愿意共度一生的男人，才是真正的幸福。

真命天子还没有出现时，你会把外貌、身高、爱好等条件付诸一个想象中的人物身上，那时你可以尽情构想属于自己的这个理想人物有多帅、多伟大、多浪漫。

而当你遇到那对的人时，之前所有的标准都会被抛诸脑后。即使他不那么优秀，不是你理想中那个样子，你也不会觉得这是一种妥协。

各位败犬姐妹，其实你所坚持的，不是那个梦想中的男人，而是勇于追求幸福的坚持。不要质疑自己，不要被动等待，幸福需要自己去紧紧抓住。只要不放弃爱的勇气，即使是再平凡再普通的女生，也能迎来自己的春天。

《败犬的最终幸福》 - Ms Shenton
《我报》 2010年6月30日（星期三）

Confession of a forty-year-old virgin (well, not quite, but almost)

2010-06-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, in a gay community discussion list, I saw someone wrote that "being gay is just about sex, sex and more sex". Sadly, it is a sentiment that seems prevalent throughout the gay community. While that certainly applies to many gay people and does characterise to a large degree the visible part of the gay community, there are really many gay people who not subscribe to such sexual indulgence.

I know because I am one of such people. At the risk of being the butt of jokes, I must confess that I am looking at the unenviable prospects of becoming a forty-year old virgin (nope, I never saw that movie).

If it is hard to come out as a gay person, it is even harder to come out as a virgin in the gay community that is characterised by much hedonism and sexual indulgence. A virgin is often met with much ridicule, the stuff of jokes and gossips, or simply thought of as having "problems".

Often, we are thought of not being able to reconcile with our gay sexuality (or as some would put it, "suffering from internalized homophobia") and thus choose to abstain from sex. To be fair, I do know of some people who avoided sex because they are wrecked with guilt over same-sex attraction or think that sex is "dirty". But for most of us, the problem wasn't so much with our sexual identity, but just a simple fact that we had not been able to find that special someone to share the physical intimacy with.

If the straight people who have so much more opportunities to find their partner need help from the government and match-making agencies, how much more difficult is it for the gay person to find his/her partner in a most hidden community?

I did not set out to be a forty-year-old virgin. But I guess, except for those who had undertaken a vow of celibacy for religous reasons, nobody actually did.

When I was young, I had dreams of find a prince charming and living happily ever after. I guess everyone did, right?

Unfortunately, as the years go by, prince charming never came. If he did come by, I must have missed him.

I know that for many gay men, no love need not mean no sex. To many, love is love and sex is sex. And before they find love, they can have all the fun they want. Perhaps, I am the old fashioned man who is not able to separate the two.

If sex is all I want, I am pretty sure I can get laid. It's really not too difficult nowadays, with all the saunas in the town. But how do I explain that it is not a matter of getting laid. How do I explain that I find sex without love some what regretful and lacking? That I cannot bring myself to share physical intimacy without the emotional closeness?

My close friends say I was just being too picky. Perhaps. But I never saw the need to get attached simply for the sake of getting attached. If I can't find the right person to share the journey of life together, I am quite happy to travel on my own. I do not wish to just pick any person to be a partner for the reason of loneliness. This is not like looking for a carpool partner. I would rather deal with the loneliness of singehood than the fights and problems of being with the wrong person.

There had been a few times, when someone really nice seemed interested in me. But then, I lacked the courage and confidence to seize the opportunity. And when I finally worked out the courage, the opportunity was gone. That's how it is with life, when we do not treasure the opportunities.

However, I must confess, I am not really all that principled and that steadfast in holding out against temptations. There had been a handful of men, whom I found so hot and attractive that I was willing to have a fling with them even there was no possibility of a relationship. But they had no interest in me. If they did, I am not sure I would have ended up regretting or not.

Virgins like us are a lonely bunch. For it is something we were not willing to share, even with each other. It is a thing that somehow seems more shameful or regretful than being gay. Something that other people, even the closest friends, do not seem to be able to understand. And perhaps, we all suffer from a tinge of that "nobody wants" complex, and are too proud to admit as much -- even though frequently the truth is not so much "nobody wants", but rather, those whom we were interested in did not have a reciprocal interest.

One of my close friends thinks that I am just hung up being a virgin and tells me I should just "go and get laid and get it over with". But I do not know how to explain, that if I have any regrets, it is not so much that I had not lain with another man. Rather, it would be that I had not been able to experience the joy, the sweetness, the trial and tribulations of a romantic relationship. That I had not know the sweet little romances and intimacies couples share. That I had not learn how to love and be loved. That I had not been able to learn the lessons that are to be found in such a relationship, even if it would not work out later.

However, I know I am not alone. And even if not virgins, there are many gay men who are mostly celibate because of singlehood. I know because I know some of these people personally -- gay and single, and not very sexually active. Truth is, not every gay men indulges in sex with abandonment. I am not making a judgment against those who engage in causal sex. To each his own, I would say.

Even though some of you might not be able to understand, there are some of us who simply find a physical romp without the emotional fulfilment somewhat unsatisfactory and regretful.

As much as I yearn for a person with whom I can share both physical and emotional intimacy, I really don't care if I die a virgin. I am not planning to stay single if I can help it, but if that's how it is, that's how it is. If I am single, then I will enjoy the freedom and benefits of being single. If I manage to find a fulfilling relationship, then I would treasure it as best I could.

If, after being single for all these time, Sumiko Tan did manage to find love finally at 46, I guess there is hope yet.

请你种棵黄花树

2010-06-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

亲爱的，我便将要离去。
请你，请你，不要哭泣。
就让我化作灰烬，
埋入土中。
请你种棵黄花树，
以树作为碑。
每当严冬过去，春暖花开，
此树黄花满枝丫，
或许，你便会想起我：
“啊！亲爱的，这就是你的壮美！”。

2010年6月17日
看《姑尸王本生谭》后而作。

-------------------------------

母！乞收吾之骨，路旁行荼毗。
母！汝为吾作田，遍植黄花树。
严冬过去，每于花开时，
母！当想吾子，彼女如斯姿！

取自《南传本生经·姑尸王本生谭》（Kusa Jataka， Jataka,V,302)

红尘未了

2010-06-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

《红尘未了》

身披袈裟已出家
酷似朽木隐山崖
深埋情窦一颗心
偶遇时节随开花

-- 原文日文/兼芸法师
-- 汉译/ 陶惠

眼看着一季就要离去

2010-05-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

我一直挺喜欢张艾嘉的那首《爱情有什么道理》，因为我也不是很明白爱情有什么道理。

歌里有一句：“眼看这一季就要离去，我的春天还没有来。”

我一直唱着这首歌，等着春天的来临。

可是我最近这么想。或许，春天已经来过了，只是在青涩与愚昧中，莫名地蹉跎了，却一直以为春天还没来。

我想，不论是蹉跎了，还是错过了，逝去的，无法再来。

如果，一直执着着春天会不会来，而连夏天与秋天都一起错过了，那才是真正的遗憾。

这一季，过去就让它过去吧。我应该把握的是来临的季节，不管是夏天、秋天，还是冬天。

Bathing the Buddha

2010-05-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

In Singapore and Malaysia, Vesak is celebrated with bathing the Buddha, or rather a statue of baby prince Siddharta.

There are many people, especially those from the Theravadan tradition, who are quite puzzle with this practice and wonders where this comes from.

This practice is actually adopted from the Chinese Buddhist festival "Bathing Buddha" day, which celebrates the birth of the Buddha.

Vesak is the official public holiday that is celebrated throughout the Buddhist community. So much so that even many of the Chinese Mahayanist Buddhist are not aware that Vesak is not the tradition Chinese Buddhist holiday that marks the birth of the Buddha.

The tradition Buddhist calendar marks the 8th day of the 4th month of the Chinese calendar (四月初八)as the birthday of the Buddha. This is known as the Bathing Buddha day (浴佛节) which is a public holiday in Hong Kong.

This day is normally in May, and is usually one week before Vesak day. Most Chinese temples still celebrate this quietly, reserving the public celebration with devotees for Vesak day.

There is an interesting legend associated to this. According to an ancient Chinese historical record Book of Zhou -- Records of the Extraordinary （《周书异记》），on the 8th day of the 4th month of the Chinese calendar in the 26th year of the reign of king Zhou Zhuang (周昭王二十六年，1027BC), the king saw auspicious colorful radiant light descending on the palace. When the king asked his court about it, the court historian explained that this means that a holy person had come into the world in the west. He predicted that the teachings of this holy person would eventually come to China after a thousand years.

When Buddhism came to China, many people believed that the record found in the Book of Zhou refers to the birth of the Buddha. Nonetheless, the Chinese always celebrated the birthday of the Buddha on the 8th day of the 4th month of the Chinese calendar.

There are doubts on the authenticity of this "history record". Some believed it was fabricated by the early Chinese Buddhists who tried to use historical basis to promote Buddhism. However, it had been celebrated up to this day.

According to the legends, after the Buddha walked seven steps immediately after his birth and declared himself to be the greatest among the humans and the devas. The Chinese version had the additional detail of dragons appearing and showered the prince with water. Supposedly, that's why people celebrated the birthday of the Buddha by bathing the baby statue of prince Siddharta.

Almost every Vesak day, I hear people asked what is the significance of bathing the Buddha. The consistent answer I hear is "it an act of purification."

I am not sure if people interpreted it literally or symbolically. We must bear in mind that the Buddha himself never believed in ritualistic purification. He objected to it in many occasions. In the Udana, he said, "Not by water is one made pure though many people may here bathe, but one in whom there is truth and Dhamma, he is pure, he is a brahmin." It is clear that the Buddha did not believe that the act of washing (whether yourself or a statue) would purify yourself, but rather, the mind is pure through the thorough understanding and practice of the Dhamma.

We can take this a symbolic gesture of wishing to be pure, but should not believe that it would actually purify us in anyway. In Chinese Buddhism, when bathing the Buddha, there is a verse to be recited that goes like this:

《赞佛偈》
我今灌沐诸如来， I now come to bathe the Tathagata
净智庄严功德海， May the pure wisdom adorn the sea of merits
五浊众生令离垢， May all beings be free from defilements
同证如来净法身. And thus attain the pure form of the Tathagata.

It is clear from the verse that the act is really just a symbol of an aspiration for enlightenment.

Yesterday, I attend a talk by Ajahn Bram at the Buddhist Fellowship. Someone asked the same question again and Ajahn Bram gave a very interesting answer.

According to Ajahn Bram, in ancient India, pouring of water in represents an exchange or a transfer. Hence pouring water on the Buddha represents giving up oneself into the practice of the Dhamma.

I thought that was an interesting explanation.

Don't mock my mock meat

2010-04-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Just recently I attended dinner with fellow vegetarians. Sitting at my table was another vegetarian who was deriding mock meat, saying things like "if you are still craving for meat, then you might as well eat the real meat."

This is not an isolated incident. Over the years, I have encountered many vegetarians who attack or ridicule mock meat.

I can understand if a meat-lover sniggers at mock meat. But I find it most unfortunate that vegetarians do the same thing.

The ground for objections is over the fact that eating mock meat appears to indicate that the vegetarian has not given up meat and still craves for meat. In some ways, that is probably true. But it is not fair then to add on remarks along the line that "there is then no difference between eating mock meat and real meat".

Well, to the animal whose meat would otherwise being eaten, I am sure it is a BIG difference.

To a person whose purpose for becoming vegetarian is purely spiritual, eating mock meat perhaps indicates a craving for meat. From that perspective, the mind still craves, and perhaps it made no difference whether the meat is real or not.

Indeed, I can agree with that from an academic point of view. However, we must bear in mind that this is not the only reason for going vegetarian. One of the most important motivations for being vegetarian is the practice of compassion -- to spare the animals from suffering and to avoid killing. And that's precisely where mock meat comes into the picture.

While mock meat does not help a person get rid of the mental cravings, it does avoid the direct killing of animals. The bottom line is that mock meat is NOT animal flesh -- and that should matter.

As frequently as I have met people who are simply dismissive of vegetarians, I also have met many people who agree with the values or benefits of vegetarianism. But they feel that they are not able to give up the craving for meat altogether. To these people, mock meat can play in important role in helping with the transition.

Even from a spiritual perspective, I think there is still a difference. No matter what, these meat substitutes just are not the same as the real meat. If a person is willing to give up real meat and settle for the substitute, that is a level of giving up. The person should be applauded for the will power to give up that much in spite of his cravings. For the matter, who is to say that the vegetarian who does not eat mock meat has no craving for food in other ways?

Thus, I think mock meat has its place in the vegetarian diet. Whatever vegetarians may feel towards it, it doesn't not deserves that kind of scathing attack it frequently gets.

It's OK if you do not eat mock meat. However, do not mock my mock meat.

***

Personally, I find that mock meat spice up the Asian vegetarian cooking. It adds variety and textures, and is also a source of protein (surprise, surprise! Most mock meat are actually vegetable protein). The key is not to look at these as "meat" -- in spite of names like "vegetarian BBQ pork", "vegetarian fish", "vegetarian squid", "vegetarian mutton" etc. Learn to look at these as processed vegetables.

However, I do not advocate eating too much of these. A balanced variety is key to a healthy vegetarian diet. It is unhealthy, if mock meat becomes dominant in the vegetarian diet. Further more, most of the mock meat are highly processed. They contain high levels of salt, sugar, fats and artificial flavouring. It is definitely not advisable to eat too much of these.

In my regularly diet, I always try to eat more fresh vegetables and keep mock meat to less than one third of any meal. So, for lunch, I may choose 1 dish of mock meat at most and 2 other vegetable dishes. That has work well for me.

孙梓评。《男身》。

2010-03-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

孙梓评，一个陌生的名字。直到与《男身》邂逅。

我不曾读完一本书，又马上重读。《男身》是第一本。

张曼娟在《男身》的序文里说：“然而，看见他的创作手稿的时候，就再也无法忽略他。”真的。

《男身》不是新书。2002年初版，2007年再版。第一次去台湾时，看到了，没买。去年再访台湾，差点就不买了。原因是：封面不好看。最后还是看了张老师在序文里的推荐才买了下来。回来，搁在书架上几个月，上个月才开始看。一看，就放不下手了。

这不是因为这是一本同志的故事。而是因为孙梓评的文笔竟是如此的美，把故事里的每一段爱情写得如此扣人心弦，如此地动人，让人一同坠入感情里的漩涡。

孙梓评的文笔令人震撼。

“我在夏天的气味中，遇见京都。”

当我看到这一句时，真的被震撼了。这么简单，这么平凡的一件事--到京都，竟然能写成这样地美丽，是我不曾想象过的。

张曼娟老师说：“他的文字带着一种霸道的温柔，长驱直入，掳攫你心灵内在依旧柔软的那个部分，以诗的均衡与神奇，引导你的想象力去探险。”

孙梓评描写感情的笔法极细。他善于制造气氛，以景烘托，以事喻情，以物指人，让人不知不觉中被牵动。

“夏季盛开的蝴蝶已飞，树上只留下孤单的枯枝。”
“秋天过得好快，偷渡着冬天的气息，冷不防地，学校山坡上的枫树全都疯狂地红了起来，向一把凄凉的火。”
“风吹落残叶，我侧身走入一座公园，澄蓝的光泽筛在树椿下，别有一股夏日的凄凉。”
“车子驶上山区，路旁渐次绿了起来，秋日，苔在山壁上写诗，每一句，都是渐行渐远的相思。”
“电话铃声像是死了一般，屋子里只有一股寒冷的寂静。”

有时，不知道写的是景还是情。

就连失恋，他都写的那么婉转，却又是那么黯然，那么深刻。

“我以为自己就要和幸福相逢了，一失神，却终究只是擦身而过。”
“我站在原处。许久，才发现爱情已经落幕。”

关于爱情的道理，关于人生的哲学，孙梓评写得深、写得真，让人细细咀嚼，味道久久不散。

他的爱情道理：
“爱了就算，爱了才算。”
“相爱，是两个人的事，一个人的力量太单薄了。”
“爱，是一座天平，我们都小心翼翼，衡量着彼此的心，孰重孰轻？”
“爱，是一座港口。总有船会来，总有船要走。”
“冰冷的爱情往往比死亡更带着一丝寒意，伤人至深，沉沦最底。”

他的人生哲学：
“很多事，当初不经意，将来都会后悔的。”
“很多东西，错过了，遗憾了，反而美。”
“其实，紊乱的往事或许根本不须回避，只要小心梳理整齐，摆在有月光的天台上，放久了，说不定也能逸出一些温暖的暗香。”
“我们人生中的许多遭遇，原来都是一场一场缤纷炫丽的烟火，因为只有刹那，所以美得令人心悸。然而，如果能够明白，烟火在盛开的同时，也注定了凋谢的命运，是自然而不可违逆的，或许，我们都能愿意去领受千般滋味，甘之如饴。因为，我们还是可以等待下一场烟火，还可以预约另一场缤纷炫丽。”

我拿着笔，一面看，一面把句子画出来。

我不是很懂得文学。我不清楚为什么，孙梓评的《男身》在同志文学中，似乎不怎么显著。

但这是将一本我会收藏的书。

在感情荒芜的日子里，让那文字里美丽的相思，一点点偷渡过来。

带我去远方

2010-03-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

每个人心里都有一段秘密的旅程
渴望一个值得等候的伴侣
去一个没有忧愁不再寂寞的地方。

这是一部感人的电影。不想多说。有机会去看吧。

http://www.myjourney.com.tw/

烟火

2010-02-26T16:08:00.001-08:00

我们人生中的许多遭遇，
原来都是一场一场缤纷炫丽的烟火，
因为只有刹那，
所以美得令人心悸。
然而，如果能够明白，
烟火在盛开的同时，
也注定了凋谢的命运，
是自然而不可违逆的，
或许，我们都能愿意
去领受千般滋味，甘之如饴。

因为，我们还是可以等待下一场烟火，
还可以预约另一场缤纷炫丽。

《男身》孙梓评

向日葵之恋

2010-02-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

我的恋情是一朵向日葵
夏天里绚烂
没等到秋天
便已夭折

梦见大树

2010-02-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

我做了一个梦。

梦里，我问：“你的心，究竟是什么？”

他想了很久，说：“我想，像一颗树吧。
春天有花，夏天有荫，秋天有果，冬天挡风，
四季都有不同的美丽，
时刻都可以为他人奉献些什么。
而你，我也希望你是我身旁的一颗大树，
春天一起开花，夏天一同遮荫，秋天一起献出果实，冬天一

齐挡风遮雨，
在地底下，我们的根紧紧交缠，谁也不能把我们分开。”

那只是一个梦。

somewhere i have never travelled

2010-02-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

by E. E. Cummings

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

遗憾

2010-02-12T05:17:00.000-08:00

很多东西，错过了，遗憾了，反而美。

看见孙梓评的《男身》中的这一句时，忽然有一种震撼。

错过的人、事或物，会感到遗憾的，都是美的。

但如果当初真的得到了，
如今是否依然觉得那是美的呢？
会不会看清了真相或是厌倦了，
而不再眷恋？

我不清楚。

但我突然觉得，或许，
当初的错过、遗憾，
未必都是都是可悲的。

至少，如今还留下了
美丽的幻想、回忆与印象。

Buddhist signs

2010-01-17T04:50:00.000-08:00

I am clearing my computer of some old stuff and came across some signs (as in sign language) which I created a couple of years ago to help my interaction with a few hearing impaired friends. I haven't been keeping in touch with them and have almost forgotten about these.

I was going to delete them but then thought perhaps someone could find these useful.

Buddha
The sign for Buddha consists of a B resting on a open palm.

Shakyamuni Buddha

The Bhumisparsa mudra, hand touching the earth is distinct to the historical Buddha and hence most appropriate sign to represent Him.

Amitabha Buddha
The Varada mudra or the Blessing mudra, i.e. open palm pointing downward, is a mudra Amitabha Buddha is often depicted in.

Bodhisattva
Make the Buddha sign and then move the B sign to the side. The idea being "next to the Buddha."

Ananda
Make the Buddha sign, then the standing palm changes to a A sign by the side. This represents the idea that Ananda was the Buddha's close attendant.

Dhamma
This is modified from the SEE sign for Law. Instead of L, the hand forms a ring by touching the middle finger to the thumb, which is the mudra for preaching (the Dharma).

Precept
Also modified from the sign for Law. Replace the L with P.

Refuge
Modified from the SEE sign for Shelter. Replace the S with R.

Who do you want to spend eternity with?

2010-01-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

I came across Catherine Lim's blog on her exchange with a Christian.

http://catherinelim.sg/2010/01/02/a-most-awful-scenario/

I thought it very funny. Yet, I believe it's something many non-Christians can relate to. It's so exasperating dealing with these evangelical Christians. Not everyone can handle it as well as Catherine, with such humour and patience.

I thought she said it best when she said, ‘Well, if God decides to send me to Hell despite the glaring injustice, then maybe He’s not exactly someone whom one would like to spend eternity with.’

Finding vegetarian food in Thailand

2010-01-07T04:20:00.000-08:00

About vegetarian food in Thailand

When I was backpacking through Thailand last month, finding vegetarian food was a little bit of a challenge.

Outside Bangkok and Chiang Mai, "pure" vegetarian food can be difficult to get. When you don't speak Thai, it is always a challenge trying to tell the cook not to put meat in the dishes. Even for meatless dishes, it's difficult to avoid the ubiquitous fish sauce.

All in all, I managed to get by pretty well through the 11 days. Only once, I was still served noodles with meat balls even though I thought I managed to get the cook to understand I did not want meat in it. I just picked out all the meat and passed them to my travel mates. As for the fish sauce, it was not strong enough to offend. This was in stark contrast to my experience in Cambodia, when several times, I almost puked from the strong offending meat taste in my vegetable dishes(which I suspected was from the stock).

In Thailand, there are basically two type of vegetarianism being practiced. One is known as mangsawirat, which means vegetarian. The other one is jae (or jay). This is an religious form of vegetarianism which is practised by Chinese Buddhists and Taoist but is common in Thailand as well. The main difference is that jay also excludes pungent vegetables from the allium family (i.e. onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, shallots, chives etc).

The two words are the important words you need to learn to get vegetarian food (unless you are prepared to eat from guesthouses or hotels only).

In one of my earlier trips to central Thailand a few years ago, I found that I had little difficult getting by with the word "mangsawirat". However, this time, when I was in Northeastern part of Thailand, it seemed to me that the people did not quite understand me when I say "mangsawirat".

The problem with the word jae is that some people do understand that to mean strict vegetarian food and they will just tell you "no jae!" and won't cook anything for you. It's probably because they use sauces and stock that are not vegetarian.

I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian and I do take eggs. However, for those who do not eat eggs, the other word to learn is "khai". Quite a number of times, I was asked if I want egg after they understood I "kin jae" (i.e. eat vegetarian).

Noodles stall

Noodles stall are found every where in Thailand, but there are very few vegetarian ones. We were eating noodles for breakfast almost every day. However, the ingredients are mostly meat and the stock is definitely meat stock. To avoid the meat stock, you will have to ask for dry noodles (instead of noodles in soup). The word is "haeng". So I normally, point to the type of noodles I want and tell the cook "haeng". If they understood the jae part correctly, what comes out would be a bowl of noodles with a few leaves of morning glory (i.e. what we know as kang kong in Singapore) and a few bean spouts. It's normally quite bland because they do not put any sauces in them (Thailand mostly use fish sauce instead of soy sauce). Once I managed to get tofu on top of vegetables and bean sprout. Another time, I got carrots in my noodles.

Plain kway teow, served with vegetables and bean sprouts only.

I sprinkled some chilli powder for some flavouring. The texture of the kway teow is quite good.

Dry yellow noodles with tofu.

I saw the fried tofu and pointed at it and managed to get it into my bowl of noodles.

The yellow noodles looked like egg noodles. However, Duen at May Kaidee's vegetarian restaurant told me that normally, the stalls would not use egg noodles because they are more expensive. It is just plain wheat noodles (yellow color is from coloring not from egg).

Stir fry stalls

For lunch, I ended up eating fried rice (khao phat) or fried riced noodles (phat Thai) most of the time.

While travelling through towns and villages, the easiest way to get meatless food is to look for a stir fry stall. Next to the noodles stalls, these are most common. These are the stalls that will cook your noodles or rice on the spot when you order them.

You can order vegetables dishes, but unless you can speak Thai, it's difficult to ensure what turn out does not contain meat. So I stick with the two safe bets -- khao phat jae (for vegetarian fried rice) or phat Thai jae. They should be able to get it right -- once you ask for variations, chances are they won't turn out right. My friend who always wanted something different from the menu almost always got something wasn't quite he intended. However, do note that chives is almost always found in phat thai. Egg is frequently used is both fried rice and phat thai. Some cooks will ask if you want egg, some won't ask. If you don't want egg, say "mai khai". Some phat thai looks meatless -- but they may have tiny dried shrimps. So always tell them "phat thai jae".

Various phat thai dishes.

The traditional vegetarian stalls in Thailand normally will put up a yellow banner with the word jae in red along with the Chinese word for jae (齋). If you see this banner, you can be assured it is "pure" vegetarian (with vegetarian sauces used as well). This jae word is also found on vegetarian sauces.

The picture here is taken in Chiang Mai, at the market at the southern gate of the old city. I had a bowl of hot soup noodles here. Yes, in spite of what it looked like, this bowl of soup noodles is vegetarian: the red color "BBQ pork" is made from gluten, while the stick of meat balls is made from TVP.

My special woon sen

This was my attempt to get something off the menu. We were at a food stall in a market in Chiang Mai old city. The food stall has a menu with description in English. However, I was tired of fried rice and phat thai. I saw that the menu had woon sen (bean vermicelli aka glass noodle) but cooked with meat. That was something I wanted. So I made an attempt to tell the cook I wanted woon sen jae.

After she served up all my friends' orders, I noticed she appeared confused. She knew I wanted woon sen she took it out of the fridge and showed it to me. So I went over and pointed to the vegetables and the woon sen. I pointed to the woon sen, pointed to the vegetables, told her "mai gai mai moo" (no chicken no pork), and repeated "jae" a few times, she finally got it. What impressed me was that she actually opened up a new bottle of soy sauce for this dish!

This turned out to be a very delicious dish! And it's only 40B (less than S$2).

Dinner at Lopburi

The ruins in Lopburi are scattered all over the old city. You get to eat practically by the ruins when if you eat at the food stalls that are found by the railway line.

Here, we ate at one of the road side stalls with lots of vegetables. This is an example of what you order is not what you get.

Sheung and I tried to order 3 vegetables dishes (among other meat dishes which the rest of the guys wanted). What turned out was just 1 dish with all the vegetables which we wanted thrown in! But it was delicious anyway!

Chilli basil vegetables

In Bangkok, the stalls more likely to have dealt with tourist and hence more likely to get it right. Here I was at a roadside stall at Wat Chanasongkran (very close to Khao San road). I tried to order something off the menu again. I asked for a chilli basil stir fry vegetables (Chilli basil chicken/pork was on the menu). They got it right. What came out was a very delicious dish of mix vegetables that is slightly spicy, with the fragrance of basil.

Vegetarian snacks from the markets

Most of the snacks in the night markets or street markets are not vegetarian. But there are some nice vegetarian ones as well.

This is steamed oyster mushroom and white fungus. It's served as a vegetarian salad. Very nice but the dressing is burning spicy hot (yes, even for someone who has a high tolerance for spiciness like myself).

Corn fritters, vegetable tempura and chives pan cake (the little bit on the right side of the picture). The corn fritter was nice. The vegetable tempura was bad because it was oil soaked -- a result of being deep fried in low temperature. The chive pan cakes were delicious.

Sweet potatoes and tapioca. It's sweet, more of a desert than a snack.

I mostly avoided buns because I suspected the stuffing is most likely meat. My friend Sheung told the hawker, kin jae, and the hawker pointed to the green color buns (what we call mun tou in Chinese) and another bun. The mun tou shaped is exactly like the Chinese mun tou -- plain dough, no stuffing but slight sweet. The other bun had red bean paste as stuffing (i.e. tau sar bau in Singapore) but the bean paste is not as smooth as those we get in Singapore.

Restaurants

In big cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai, vegetarian food is relatively easy to get. There are vegetarian restaurants targeting the tourists. The cafes and restaurants in guesthouse always have something vegetarian. Even if they do not, they will speak enough English to whip up something you requested.

In Chiang Mai, there a few vegetarian restaurants that target mostly the tourist market, such as May Kaidee and Aum restaurant. There are the traditional Thai restaurants which display the yellow jae flag as well but they mostly close after lunch.

I had a buffet dinner at May Kaidee for 80B (only S$3.5!). The spread included fried noodles, fried kway teow, fried spring rolls, fried yam and sweet potatoes, pumpkin soup, fresh salad rolls, salad, tofu stir fry, vegetable stir fry, masamam curry and brown rice. It was a sumptuous meal.

In Bangkok

The food court on the 7th floor of MBK had a vegetarian stall. It's like the economy rice stalls in Singapore. You pick the cooked dishes to be served with rice. 2 dishes with rice came up to be 45B. The dishes are more like home cooked food, but I found them to be quite tasty.

We had our most sumptuous meal for the whole trip in the Central Mall next to the Sala Deng MRT station. Someone recommended the Banana Leaf restaurant at the basement. It's not a vegetarian restaurant, but they do have a vegetarian menu.

The vegetarian Tom Yum soup was heavenly (it's a clear soup, not like the redish soup we get in Singapore, and very spicy very sour). The chilli basil straw mushrooms were great too. The bill was about 2000B for 6, but that's because the others ordered many dishes like chilli crab, a big fish and pig trotters. They are meat eaters. I guess if I weren't around, the vegetarian dishes ordered for me would be meat dishes as well.

Overall, it ain't too difficult getting meatless food in Thailand while backpacking. You need a smattering of Thai, some gesturing and a bit of adventure. However, it's difficult to avoid fish sauces and oyster sauce unless you are at a vegetarian restaurant.

Oh heavens! What big endowment you have!

2010-01-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

When I read My Paper, I normally pay attention to the "HELPDESK" column which is a translation of some words used in the report. This is sometimes useful and helpful for my own translation work.

However, I noticed many times that the translation are not necessary according to the use in context I was especially tickled by what appeared on January 6 page A17, in the report about Tiger Woods.

Writer Buzz Bissinger also revisits the embarrassing interview that Woods gave to GQ magazine in 1997, when he joked about lesbian sex and the endowments of black athletes.

The word "endowment" was picked for translation. The Chinese word provided was 天赋, literally "bestowed by Heaven". The Chinese word typically refers to some quality, especially talent, which someone is born with. In some ways, this is an accurate translation of "endowment". However, I wonder this actually help some Chinese reader to under its use in context.

In this case, endowment is not referring to any sporting talents of black athletes. It is actually an euphemism for the sexual organ, with the implication that it is big. In fact, I wonder if the person who picked the word for translation actually realized that or not (I would not have picked that word to avoid the complexities of pointing out the hidden meaning).

I had never heard of the Chinese word 天赋 being used in anyway that could have a connection to the sexual organ. It's another case of meaning lost in translation.

Images of the Buddha, from the last Thailand trip

2010-01-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

Backpacking in Thailand - 29 Dec 09

2010-01-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Day 11 - Home Sweet Home

We checked out in the morning and got to the airport to find the that the flight was rescheduled (from 11:30am to 1pm) and was annoyed that the airline did not try to notify us (we could have slept a bit more of have a proper breakfast before rushing to the airport).

It was an uneventful journey back home. It's good to be home!

We did a calculation on the total costs. The basic travelling costs (transport, accommodation, food, entrance fees, groceries; excluding personal shopping and entertainment) worked out to be S$30 per person per day! For 11 days, that worked out to be $330. The air ticket was $280. So the total costs for the trip is only $600!

That's about the same as the cost for my 10 day backpacking in Thailand 5 years ago. I thought inflation would have brought up the costs, but it's still as cheap!

But of course, I did spend more if I included my personal shopping. I spent about $100 at Wat Rong Khun, $50 on DVDs, about $150 on clothes and some small amounts on gifts and donations. The total expenditure is less than S$1000 including shopping.

Anyway, it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, although quite tiring (mostly due to inadequate sleep). My travelling companions were great. Thank you Sheung, Willy, Eileena and Yvonne: for the birthday present and the companionship during the trip!

For me, the most enjoyable part was the excursion to the Sunflower fields near Lopburi and the day trip to Wat Rong Khun.

I look forward to another enjoyable trip again soon!

Backpacking in Thailand - 28 Dec 09

2009-12-31T06:21:00.000-08:00

Day 10 - Bangkok (Wat Suthat, Golden Mount, shopping and night clubs)

We got the 2nd class aircon seats on the train to Bangkok (sleepers were sold out). It is more comfortable and I was able to catch some sleep on the train. We arrived in Bangkok at 9am.

From the Hua Long Pong railway station we took a tutuk to Wat Chanasongkran (just next to Khaosan road) for 40B each (the first tutuk wanted 100B each!). We had not booked a room yet and we just walked around the Banglamphu area looking for a guesthouse. The popular ones were fully booked. We finally found Sidthi guesthouse and got an triple aircon room for 500B.

We our breakfast in a roadside stall in the Wat Chanasongkran compound. This was the same stall that I ate at a few years ago on my first Thailand trip. The food was really good and cheap. And the cook is a pretty girl (what's with all the pretty boys and girls working as chef?) who looked like she could be pretty popular if she choose to work in a bar or night club.

After lunch, we took a boat ride down the river and got off near the Royal Palace. We walked to Wat Suthat. Around Wat Suthat, there are many shops selling Buddhist statues and religious goods. Years ago, I had bought a wooden stupa here. However, I had donated that away for a temple's fund raising and I am trying to get another one now. Unfortunately, I could not find any. Finally, I came across a shop which owner could speak Teochew. She told me that they just don't make the wooden stupas any more. That was a pity as I was looking forward to adding the Thai stupa to my collection. Well, I guess I should not be attached to it.

We took a rest in Wat Suthat, sitting in the main hall to escape from the hot sun. Among the various temples in Bangkok, Wat Suthat is my favourite. I simply like the peaceful and restful atmosphere of the temple and the impressive Buddha statue enshrined in the main hall with interesting murals.

Sheung and I had already been to the Golden Mount before. But Willy had not, so we brought him there. Sheung and I had more interests in old temples and ruins, but Willy was more interested in living temples.

From Golden Mount, we head to MBK for a meal. What's good about MBK is that the food court has a vegetarian stall. We split our ways here. Sheung met up with the girls for a massage, while I shopped with Willy in MBK. I bought a couple of t-shirts and DVDs. There were stalls selling pirated DVDs. But I bought the copy-righted ones that come in box sets from a DVD shop. They were really cheap. Most of the old titles were going for less than 100B (less than SGD5), the newer titles ranging from 200B to 300B each. I came across the DVD set for the BBC series The Planet Earth. It was going for 600B. I remember this was my favourite documentary during my secondary school days. I found the DVD for the Japanese movie Departures. Unfortunately, it only had Thai subtitles. Another interest find was The Dark Crystal, another memorable movie from my secondary school days. I bought it for 88B.

We meet Sheung, Eileena and Yvonne at the Central next to the Saladeng MRT station. They had ran into another Singaporean Steve. We ate at the Banana Leaf restaurant at the basement. The restaurant offers a vegetarian menu and the food was great. Of course the price is a lot higher than the street food but you would have to pay a lot more to get the same food in Singapore. The other thing interesting was that there appear to be quite a large gay cliente. Later I found that that it was because we were next to the gay district in Silom.

The gang wanted to go to a gay bar and so we ended up in Telephone. The bar used to have telephones at each table which people could call the other tables if they see some one they are interested in. But the phones are not there any more. I found it quite boring. Most of the people there were aged caucasians with their Thai boys and there weren't very much to see.

There was a bear Karaoke bar opposite Telephone. As Willy was into bears, we brought him there. The bar was less intimidating the streets below and the atmosphere were more relaxed. There were 2 Taiwanese "bears" who were singing Chinese songs.

We originally planned to visit the wholesale flower market (which starts about 12am), but in the end we were too tired and decided to head back to the guesthouse instead.

Backpacking in Thailand - 27 Dec 09

2009-12-31T05:42:00.000-08:00

Day 9 - Chiang Mai : Cooking class, Wat Sri Suphan, Sunday Market

I got up early to attend the cooking class. As I was walking around, I chanced upon the Chiang Mai Marathon that was going on. And I saw a fairy finishing the race.

Vegetarian cooking class at May Kaidee's

I love Thai food and always wanted to learn how to cook Thai food.

Sure I can whip up a pot of Tom Yum soup easily using the bottled Tom Yum paste. But those just aren't the share as the soup that is cooked from the raw ingredients. My attempts at cooking green curry at home also failed miserably.

So the cooking class was one of my main itinerary for this trip.

I went to May Kaidee's at 9am. I was the only student that day. (May Kaidee's only take 4 students for each class) The teacher was the owner of the restaurant Duen (May's sister. May's the owner of the Bangkok restaurants of the same name).

I was served a breakfast of tea and a fruit salad before we head to the market. Duen introduced the vegetables and ingredients, most of which I am already familiar with. At the market I saw many tourists from other cooking classes as well.

We got back to the restaurant and Duen showed me how to cut the vegetables and prepare the ingredients. And then we started cooking.

The cooking is actually very family-styled. We cooked a total of 12 dishes. We used similar ingredients for most of the dishes, changing the spices for different dishes. Initially I was a little disappointed. But then I realized that this was actually good for easy home cooking. The tom yam soup wasn't the best I have tasted but it was still pretty good. The green curry turned up pretty good too.

I think what made the course easy was that I am already familiar with asian cooking. Duen commented that most Westerners had problem with stir frying as they are more used to sautee slowly with low heat.

I finished cooking at 12:30pm. Sheung had gone for a massage in the morning, while Willy went exploring the temples nearby. They came in and shared with the food I cooked.

For about S$50, the hands-on cooking class was definitely worth the money. In most cooking class in Singapore, you only get to see the teacher cooking. Those hands on classes would be a lot more expensive.

The class gave me a good idea on how to get the taste in some of the Thai dishes. What was good was that they really turn out to be very simple.

I would recommend the class to anyone who is interested in vegetarian Thai food.

After a sumptuous lunch, we took a slow walk back towards Wat Sri Suphan, dropped by a few temples along the way. It turned out that the Thanon Wua Lai, the street leading towards the temple was actually a street of silver crafts and there were many shops selling silver wares.

Back at Wat Sri Suphan, we were able to catch the artisans working on the temple decorations.

Honestly, I did not like the metallic feel of the temple and didn't think very highly of the idea of transforming the temple into a "Silver Temple".

It appeared to be an attempt to claim fame by being the "First Silver Temple" in the world.

For the rest of the evening, we wondered through the Sunday market in the old city. Snacking our way through until it was time to go to the train station to catch the overnight train to Bangkok.

Backpacking in Thailand - 26 Dec 09

2009-12-31T03:55:00.000-08:00

Day 8 - Day trip to Chiang Rai (Wat Rong Khun, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Chet Yot)

Superstar breakfast

Today, we got up early to catch the 8am bus to Chiang Rai.

We had breakfast at a eatery at the bus station and were all charmed by the handsome cook.

He was very good looking. He was wearing a leather jacket and a scarf, and cooked with style. We were all happy to be served by a superstar chef.

Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun was the main reason I decided to make a northbound trip after visiting the Northeastern part of Thailand.

The temple is relatively new and the guides books do not have any information on the temple. I searched the internet and figured out that it was just outside Chiang Rai, along the highway between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. We asked the bus to drop us at the temple.

The temple is well worth the almost 3 hours bus ride.

It is a awe inspiring and very beautiful temple. It sparkled under the sun and dazzled all the visitors. Bus loads of tourists (most of them Thai) came to this temple. The temple is still under construction and is estimated to take another 60 years to complete.

The murals in the main shrine was very beautiful. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the shrine. The shrine hall was simple. There is statue of a beautifully carved Buddha in the center. A huge golden Buddha was painted on the center wall. Mara was painted on the entrance wall so that anyone one wanting into the hall appears to be walking out of the mouth of Mara. There are many interesting elements on the wall murals. You can find spiderman, superman, handphones, spaceships etc.

There is a Master's Works Gallery which showed case the art work of the artist behind the temple: Chalermchai Kositpipat. The art work is simple awe inspiring. It made me wanted to pick up my artistic skills again. I had not drawn or painted for quite a while and here I found the inspirations to start drawing again.

What I liked about the temple was the way it raised funds. Given the popularity, it could easily charge an entrance fees and aggressively sell all sorts souvenirs. But there was no charges, even for the foreign tourists. There is a donation box outside the gift shop. The gift shop sells postcards and prints of Chalermchai's art works as well as some T-shirts.

What is interesting is that there is a limit on the amount of donations the temple would take. They would not take from another one more than 10,000 baht (about SGD 450)!

We spent more than 3 hours wandering through the temple and the gallery. I bought 3 t-shirts and a stack of post cards.

Directions to Wat Rong Khun

I had a hard time figuring how to get to Wat Rong Khun and kind of piece the information together.

Wat Rong Khun is a few kilometers from Chiang Rai.

If you are heading to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai or doing a day trip from Chiang Mai, the bus will definitely pass by Wat Rong Khun. Tell the bus driver to let you get off at Wat Rong Khun.

If you are doing as a day trip, you should buy the tickets ahead. We bought the tickets at Chiang Mai bus station for both ways the day before (8am departing Chiang Mai and 5.15pm departing Chaing Rai). The super VIP bus (non-stop with toilet on bus) for 263B per person each way. The bus ride was very comfortable and it took about 2.5 hours getting to Wat Rong Khun.

There is a sawngthaew service that runs from Chiang Rai to Wat Rong Khun. We saw the sawngthaew waiting at the junction where we got off the bus and that was the sawngthaew which we took to go to Chiang Rai. It only costs 20B per person!

However, I am not sure where the sawngthaew starts in Chiang Rai as we asked the driver to drop us a Wat Phra Kaew instead. Since the temple in not too far from the city, I think it probably would cost only about 100-200B for a tutuk trip.

Alternately you can check at the bus terminal if there are any local buses heading towards Rong Khun village.

Warning! There is now a new bus terminal in Chiang Rai and the long distince buses departs from the new terminal. This is not found in the guide books! In my last trip I remember I took a Bangkok bound bus at the bus terminal in the city center. However, when we got there, we found only a few local buses. We were told to go to the new terminal. There is a sawngthaew service plying between the two terminal. We had to give 100B to the driver to get the driver to leave for the new terminal immediately (it was about 15 min away) and only got there just in time to catch our bus. It was a nerve-wrecking 15 min ride to the terminal for we would have to spend the night in Chiang Rai if we missed the bus.

Wat Phra Kaew

This is one of the temples that once enshrined the famous Emerald Buddha that is now found in the temple of the Royal Palace in Bangkok.

Wat Chet Yot

This temple has the same name as the temple in Chiang Mai because it also has the similar seven spire stupa. However, this is not as beautiful as the one in Chiang Mai and there are no stucco ornaments on the stupa.

What is interesting is that you can get up to the stupa. There is small chamber where a reclining Buddha is enshrined. On the sides of the chamber are two narrow stairs that provide access to the upper terrace of the stupa. However, there are signs which prohibit females from accessing the upper terrace.

Another interesting feature of this temple is the fresco on the ceiling of the front veranda of the main viharn. It features the Thai astrology.

The bus terminal was just a short walk from Wat Chet Yot. However, when we got there at 5pm, we were told that the Chiang Mai bus was at bus terminal 2 (it's new). Our bus to Chiang Mai leaves at 5:15pm and we had it was a "Amazing Race" to the new bus terminal. We barely made it in time. The bus left the terminal 2 minutes after we board the bus.

When we arrive at the Chiang Mai bus station at 8pm just in time to meet the girls (Eileena and Yvonne). We were splitting ways here, as the girls wanted to head to Bangkok for some shopping. We had dinner back at the eatery we ate in the morning but the superstar chef was not there any more.

After dinner, the girls boarded the Bangkok-bound bus and we headed to the Saturday night market that was just outside the southern city walls. The street market here is different from the main night bazzaar. It features a lot more handicrafts and art work. And we chanced upon Wat Sri Suphan which is now modelling itself as "The Silver Temple". We decided it was interesting enough for another visit the next day.

Backpacking in Thailand - 25 Dec 09

2009-12-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

Day 7 - Chiang Mai: Wat tours: Doi Suthep, Wat Chet Yot, Wat Ku Tao, Chedi Luang

We arrived in Chiang Mai about 7am in the morning. We checked into the Your House Guesthouse, greeted by grumpy staff who partied till 4am in the morning the night before (it was Christmas eve!).

The girls and guys were splitting our ways in Chiang Mai. The girls wanted a relax day with a massage visit. For the guys, our plan was to make a day trip to Chiang Rai. However, when we got to the bus station, the tickets were fully booked for the morning buses and the next available was at 12:30pm. So we booked the tickets for the next day instead.

Willy wanted to visit Doi Suthep, having heard a lot of it from his friends. So we took at tutuk to the Doi Suthep.

Doi Suthep

Doi Suthep is a busy temple atop a hill overlooking Chiang Mai. It's visited by many locals and it has a carnival atmosphere to it. I thought it some what commercialized too.

Wat Chet Yot

Wat Chet Yot is outside the Chiang Mai city walls, on the way to Doi Suthep. We asked the sawngthaew driver to drop us at the temple on the way back from Doi Suthep (80B per person).

My interest in Wat Chet Yot is the stupa that is modelled after the one in Bodhgaya in India. I had not know about the temple in my previous trip to Chiang Mai, and missed it. So I made it a point to visit this time.

It turned out to be an pretty interesting temple. Besides the stupa of interest, the temple had a lot of Burmese influence. In one of the shrine hall, we met some artisans who were painting the murals and had a chat with one of them. The murals were beautiful modernist with a dreamy mood.

The whole temple ground is a sprawling garden with a few old stupas. Because it is outside the city wall, it does not see as many tourists as those temples within the city wall. Even though it's slightly out of the way, it's definitely worth a visit.

Wat Ku Tao

This temple piqued my interest because of the unique stupa found in this temple.

The stupa is shaped like stacks of diminishing spheres. According to the Lonely Planet, this design is commonly found among the Dai Lu people in Xishuangbana in Southern China. However, in Thailand, it is only seen in this temple and in Wat Phuak Hong.

Unfortunately, there the stupa was under maintenance and we weren't able to get a clear view of the stupa shape.

This temple clearly has a big Burmese patronage. Besides Burmese script, there were statues of nats (Burmese deities) and the Buddha statue in the main viharn was of Burmese royal style.

For the rest of the late afternoon, we dropped by Wat Chedi Luang and visited the nearby temples as well as the Three Kings Monument.

At May Kaidee's Vegetarian Restaurant

For dinner, I suggested we go to the May Kaidee's Vegetarian Restaurant as I wanted to book the cooking class.

The restaurant had a buffet every Friday for 80 baht per person. It was a pretty good deal and the food was good.

Then I had a surprise. My friends paid for my cooking class as a birthday present for me. My birthday is a couple of days away. But my friends thought that the cooking class would make a great present since this was something I wanted to do. I really appreciated it!

Backpacking in Thailand - 24 Dec 09

2009-12-30T05:03:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - Day in Lopburi

Day 6 was spent exploring Lopburi old city in the morning and afternoon.

We boarded the Chiang Mai bound train at 5pm and had another sleepless overnight train ride.

Wat Sao Thong Thong

This temple is just right next to the morning market. It is an interesting temple, having been a mosque and a church at some point in time.

The first unusual thing which I noticed is the pointed arch -- more commonly found in mosques than in Buddhist temples.

The main viharn enshrines a majestic Buddha image. There are antique Buddha statues on the niches on both side of the walls.

The viharn is only open in the early morning. When I came by again in the afternoon, it was locked. So do drop by early if you want to visit the shrine hall.

Lopburi's "Chinatown"

This was not mentioned in the guidebooks. I came upon this area by chance.

The northern stretch of Phra Ram Road next to the Lopburi River from San Luk Son northwards has an old town charm to it. There were many old houses and many Chinese shops. It is an interesting area to explore. There are 2 Chinese temples around there. One is the San Luk Son and the other one the temple of the City God (Cheng Huang 城隍庙). There is also a small morning market in an alley.

The Luang Pho Saeng Pagoda and Wat Maneecholakhan

The three tiered Luang Pho Saeng Pagoda is at the northwestern corner of Lopburi old town. The pagoda is unusual as it is not the usual like the usual round stupa nor like the Khmer prangs.

Opposite the pagoda, there is a temple with a huge Buddha statue that over looks the Lopburi river.

King Narai's National Museum

The museum is converted from King Narai's Palace.

This is a sprawling compound with ruins in a garden setting. It's a good way to escape the mid-day heat.

The collection in the museum is not too big, but still worth the visit. There are some interesting exhibits as well as a few beautiful Buddha images.

Wat Phra Sri Raitanamahathat

Although this temple complex features Khmer style prangs, this is a distinctively Buddhist temple. There are images of Buddhas on the frescos, as well as round chedis (stupas). There is also a viharn (main shrine hall).

This ruin complex is just opposite the railway station. In the evening, the school kids waiting for the train to get home treat the place as a play ground. There was a group kicking a soccer ball around, never mind the damage the flying ball could cause to the temple. A few couples were scattered all over the temple.

The railway station

While quite not a place of tourist interest, the buzz at the railway station was very interesting in the evening.

We were only in the railway station because we waiting for our Chiang Mai bound train. The station were full of high school students waiting for the local service train to the nearby towns.

There was an interesting and lively atmosphere in that reeked the charm of a simple old town.

Backpacking in Thailand - 23 Dec 09

2009-12-30T03:39:00.000-08:00

Day 5 - Morning market and Sunflower fields

One of my favourite activities when backpacking is to visit the local markets. I always find that a very interesting experience which provided an insight to the local life.

I did not have a good night in the guesthouse as the bed was a little too soft. I was awake at 6:30am and could not sleep anymore. So I got up and explored the local markets on my own.

One thing Lopburi is famous for are its monkeys. While I was sitting by one of the road side stalls for a drink (I thought the big pot of white liquid was soy milk but it turned out to be fresh cow milk), I saw a monkey snatched the toast from another table.

When I got back to the guesthouse, the rest of the guys and gals were just getting up. Once we got ready, we ate breakfast at one of the roadside food stalls. I brought them back to the market again.

We then went to the railway station to book our tickets to Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, the sleepers were all sold out. We decided to try the bus instead. But we were told there were no direct bus from Lopburi to Chiang Mai. The bus ride involves a transit. In the end we settled for a 2nd class seat on the trains.

We dropped by the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) office for information on how to the get to the Sunflower fields. The friendly staff provided detailed information on how to get to the fields on public transport.

At the Lopburi bus station, the bus driver told us that there were no more sunflowers. We were disappointed and almost aborted the trip. But Sheung insisted that we make the trip anyhow. We waited half an hour for the bus and the journey took another 45 mins. It was a slow and stuffy ride on the crowded bus. Along the way, we saw some sunflower fields that were dried and withered. I thought we were going to be disappointed.

We were dropped off at the junction with the road leading to Khao Jin Lae temple. The sunflower fields were all dried up. We continued walking down the road. We bought drinks from a little stall and the old lady pointed down the road indicating that we should continue walking. That was good news. After about 15 minutes. We suddenly came upon a huge field of sunflowers. It was pretty amazing. It was rows and rows of sunflowers, stretching into the distance. We had the whole fields to ourselves. There was only another group of students who stopped by briefly.

Besides the sunflower fields, there is a temple further up on the hill side in Khao Jin Lae. Unfortunately, we did not have time to trek up to the temple as we needed to catch the bus back to Lopburi. The last bus passing by Khao Jin Lae leaves at 6pm. We did not want to risk our chances and hence headed back to the road junction to wait for the bus back. It would be nice to come earlier and have a whole day to explore both the sunflower fields and the temple.

When we got back to the old city, there was a night market going on right outside our guesthouse. So the night was spent exploring the night market again.

Directions to the sunflower fields

The easy thing to do would be to charter a taxi or tutuk. The fields are in Khao Jin Lae, about 30km away from Lopburi.

It's easy if you want to take the public transport. First get to the Lopburi station (8 baht from the old city to the bus station). At the bus station, ask for the bus that goes to Wang Muang. Tell the driver you want to get down at Khao Jin Lae.

The bus is not very frequent. We waited for half an hour for the bus to leave the station.

This is a local bus. It moves slowly through the town and can get pretty crowded. The journey took us 45 mins. I reckon it would only take 20-25 min by car. It costs 15 baht per person.

You can see sun flower fields around the junction. Walk in for another 15 minutes and you will come across huge expense of sunflowers.

The temple on the hill side looked like an interesting trek. I would recommend heading there early and visit both the sunflower fields and the temple as a day trip.

According to the staff at the TAT office, the last bus leaves Wang Muang for Lopburi at 6pm. So the safe thing to do is to get to the junction to wait to the bus around 5pm.

Drop by the TAT office for more information. The staff is friendly and speaks English.

Backpacking in Thailand - 22 Dec 09

2009-12-30T03:03:00.000-08:00

Day 4 : Phimai Historical Park & travelling to Lopburi

We got up early in the morning and got into the Phimai Historical Park before the sun got too bright and the crowd comes in.

This park was a pretty large temple complex. The temple was built a few hundred years before Angkor Wat. The main prasat is similar to those found in Meuang Tam and Phanom Rung.

The temple has three prasats which make it look quite similar to Angkor Wat.

This is a Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist temple. Most of the carvings and shrines are Hindu. However, there are also some Buddhist elements. In one of the chamber, there is a Khmer styled statue of the Buddha with the Naga hood.

There is also a sitting statue of Angkor King Jayavarman VII (a replica, the original one is now in the Phimai National Museum), which looked exactly like the one found in Cambodia.

We checked out of the guesthouse and had lunch before heading to Lopburi. We have to take a bus to Korat. From there, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Lopburi.

It was dark by the time we got into Lopburi. We checked into the Noom Guesthouse. Noom Guesthouse only had 3 "bungalows" and we took the remaining 2 for 350 and 450 baht.

The street by the railway was a night food street. We ate at a stall which had a "katoi" cook. We had a bit of problem communicating what we want and the food that turned up on our table wasn't quite what we ordered but it was delicious anyway.

The ruins in Lopburi are scattered all over the town. We are practically eating our dinner right next to the ruins.

Backpacking in Thailand - 21 Dec 09

2009-12-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - From Nang Rong to Phimai

We had a leisurely morning in Nang Rong, catching up some rest and spent a little time exploring the village houses near the guesthouse.

As Nang Rong is located along the major highway, many buses to Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) passing by stop at the Nang Rong bus stop. We just hopped onto one that happen to call at the bus station when we got there. The bus journey to Korat was about 2 hours. We had lunch at the Korat bus station before catching another bus to Phimai (1 hour).

We check into the Old Phimai Guesthouse which was just outside the Phimai Historical Park. It's a old wooden house converted into a guesthouse.

It was about 3pm by the time we settled in. For the rest of the afternoon, we decided to walk to the banyan tree about 1.2 km away.

Sai Ngam

Sai Ngam claims to be the largest banyan tree in Thailand.

In Sri Lanka, the botanical garden in Kandy had a giant banyan tree that was very beautiful. It was a huge tree with a canopy that spread over a large area.

Sai Ngam, on the other hand looked more like a forest on its own. From the distance, you can't tell it is a single tree. Even when you walked into the tree, it does not look like a single tree either. It looked more like many co-joined trees instead. You can't find the main tree trunk of the original tree. Apparently the main trunk the tree grew from had died and rotted away.

It was a pleasant walk from Sai Ngam back to the town in the evening twilight. The night market was abuzz when we got back. It's difficult to resist the snacks in the night market. We ate quite a bit of junk food before we got to a restaurant ran by two transexuals for our dinner.

Backpacking in Thailand - 20 Dec 09

2009-12-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

We took an overnight train from Bangkok (10pm) and arrived at Buriram at 7am.

After a simple breakfast of noodles at the railway station, we took a tutuk to the bus station and took a 45min bus ride to Nang Rong, a small town near to the ruins we wanted to visit.

We checked into the Honey Inn guesthouse which was just a short walk from the Nang Rong bus station. We caught a nap before heading out to the ruins in the afternoon.

We chartered a pickup to bring us to Prasat Meuang Tam and Prasat Phanon Rung for the afternoon. It cost us 1000 baht, including the service of the driver for about 5 hours (1pm - 6pm).

Prasat Meuang Tam

Prasat Meuang Tam is restored Khmer temple. The restored ruins is set in a pleasant garden surrounded by laterite walls. Galleries surround five prangs, which are similar to those found at Angkor Wat.

The most obvious similarity with Angkor Wat are the window grills.

Prasat Phanon Rung

P rasat Phanon Rung is one of the grandest temple ruins in Northeast Thailand region. It is set atop a hill on the Korat plateau.

The approach to the temple features an impressive promenade the leads up to the temple. There is a naga bridge just before the steps leading up to the temple.

The center of the temple is a huge impressive prasat. This is a Hindu temple. On the lintels, there are carvings of various Hindu gods such as Indra, Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Within the prasat, there is a Shiva Linga as well as the sacred cow Nandi.

Most people visit Phanon Rung visit and then Meuang Tam. However, I would advise to do the trip the other way round. Meuang Tam is set within a garden and the shady trees offer relief from the hot sun. After Meuang Tam, then you head to Phanon Rung and wait to sunset. The evening sun casts a beautiful golden glow on the prasat and you get to see the sun setting over the flat Korat plateau.

Night market

Nang Rong is a small town along the major highway in Northeastern Thailand. There is nothing much in the town, but the night market is a very vibrant and interesting one.

The night market near the bus station is pretty big. The interesting thing is that there are stall selling meat and vegetables as well, which is normally not found in night markets. And of course there are all sorts of interesting snacks. We just snacked through the market. Unfortunately, the market close pretty early. The stalls start to close at about 8pm.

Backpacking in Thailand - 19 Dec 09

2009-12-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

This was a trip I planned last year. I had booked my tickets but had to cancel the trip in the end because of the airport closure in Bangkok due to demonstrations.

The theme of this trip was the Khmer ruins in North-eastern Thailand. One of the major ruins was Praeh Viharn at the Thai-Cambodia border, which unfortunately was closed due to political tension between the two countries.

Whereas I was preparing to go alone last year, this trip, I have four other companions: Yvonne, Eileena, Sheung and Willy.

We arrive in Bangkok at 6pm and took a taxi to Hua Long Pong railway station. Sheung had asked his friend who was going to Bangkok to help us book the overnight train tickets to Buriram a month ago. Unfortunately, there were no sleepers for the late trains and we had to get 2nd class fan seats.

The temperature started to plunge in the night and it was really close in the train. The seats can be inclined but weren't too comfortable. Most of us were not able to get much sleep. We got off at Buriram at about 7am in the morning.

一个影子

2009-12-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

那是一部很旧的电影。

好像一部台湾电影，内容是什么也记不起了。
只记得是一部非常悲惨的电影。
看了会哭的那种。
好像是关于一个失去父母、无依无靠的孩子。

那时，好像是一二年级而已吧。
我在电视上看了这部电影。
不知为什么，其中一幕却深深地刻在脑海里。

那一幕，一个孩子孤独地在月光下，沿着铁路走。
是一个孤单的影子。

我还清楚记得那一幕播着的歌曲其中的一句：
“月光之下只有我，一个影子太寂寞。”

我甚至还记得那一句的旋律。

我不知道为什么，就看过那一次，印象却那么深刻。

昨夜，以那一句谷歌了一下，竟然找到了这首歌的歌词。

这的确是一首悲伤的歌。

《一个影子》

阳光之下只有我
一个影子太寂寞
虽然也有光和热
好象缺少了什么
孩子们脸上都有甜蜜的笑
为什么亲情温暖离开了我
多少话想要说
不知对谁说

月光之下只有我
一个影子太寂寞
虽然月亮一样明
好象缺少了什么
我多么需要一个温暖的窝
心里才不会觉得被冷落
多少话想要说
不知对谁说

Vakkali, Buddha's gay disciple?

2009-11-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

I was reading a short story and came across a reference to Vakkali. In the story, the characters founded a Gay Buddhist society named after Vakkali, because "Vakkali was a gay disciple of the Buddha".

Now, that was news to me. I have not came across any "gay disciple of the Buddha" before. Intrigued, I did a bit of research on him.

Vakkali was from a brahmin family of Savatthi. After he saw the Buddha, he became fascinated by the physical appearance of the Buddha. He followed Buddha around in admiration and became a monk in order to be close to the Buddha.

In order to helped Vakkali get over his obsession, the Buddha said to him, "Enough, Vakkali! Why do you want to see this foul body?" Then, he uttered the famous statement, 'one who sees the Dhamma sees me; one who sees me sees the Dhamma’. This is recorded in the Samyutta Niyaka (Vakkali Sutta, S.III.119).

I found basically 2 differing accounts on Vakkali's life. (See more details at this link)

However, what is apparently interesting about Vakkali was

1) his obsession with the Buddha's appearance
2) his "implicit faith"(saddhādhimuttānam) (I am trying to figure out what is this)
3) his apparently committed suicide, yet the Buddha declared him as enlightened

Pertaining to his obsession with the Buddha's physical appearance, I did not find any descriptions or references that imply it is a sexual attraction. Nor were there any references to his sexuality, or relationships with either man or woman. On the surface, it does appear to be something akin to a crush or some strong physical attraction.

Since it is quite unheard of for straight men to have strong physical attraction to another man (if there were, chances are it's a gay man in denial), I suppose that is was natural for gay people to assume that Vakkali was indeed gay. But really, it seems that there nothing in the scriptures that explicitly suggested Vakkali was gay -- his sexuality was an extrapolation from his physical attraction to the Buddha. So I would rather leave it open to interpretation.

Now, what I found interesting about Vakkali's story was that he apparently committed suicide and yet gained enlightenment. According to my copy of Samyutta Niyaka (translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications), Ven Vakkali "used the knife". This is significant because Buddhism frown upon killing, including one's own life (i.e. suicide). It is considered unskilful. Yet the Buddha declared that Vakkali attained enlightenment upon his death. The sutta itself did not give any details that may yield any explanation. Apparently, the commentaries tried to explain this by claiming that when Vakkali slit his wrist, the pain caused him to meditate and he attained arahantship just as he died.

There is another similar story recorded in Godhika Sutta (Samyutta Niyaka, S,I,121). Godhika too committed suicide and the Buddha declared that Godhika had attained final Nibbana.

Base on these two stories, it does appear that Buddhism may not regard suicide as immoral as it is thought to be.

However, Damien Keown noted the following in A Dictionary of Buddhism (2004) (see the entry under Vakkali):

"On the basis of this and a few similar cases of suicide it has been thought by some Western scholars that Buddhism does not regard suicide as immoral for the enlightened, but this conclusion is not supported by the Theravāda commentaries and tradition nor by a close reading of the canonical passages in question."

Another interesting thing about Vakkali is that the Buddha declared him foremost among those of implicit faith (saddhādhimuttānam). I haven't been able to find out what exactly is "implicit faith". There are a few references on the internet that links Vakkali to faith. Vakkali is upheld as an example of having gained arahantship through "love and faith for the Buddha".

That would be an interesting topic to look into.

最后圆舞曲

2009-11-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

这是周华健成名以前的歌曲。

小时从收音机听过，一直非常喜欢，
但始终找不到收录这首歌的专辑。

现在终于在youtube找了。

向左转，向右转

2009-11-16T04:11:00.000-08:00

每天早上搭地铁上班时，进了闸门总是向右转，乘搭南向的列车。

每天傍晚，下班时，进了闸门上了电动扶梯，总是向左转乘搭回家的列车。

几年来，每天这样的向左转、向右转，久而久之变成的一种习惯。

几米有一本书叫《向左转，向右转》。故事里的两人原来是邻居，但是一个总是习惯性地向左转，另一个则是向右转，所以总是没有碰面。后来有了一次的邂逅，过后却仍然一直错过对方，始终不知道，爱慕的人竟只是近在咫尺。

我不知道，我这样的习惯性动作，是不是也因此错过了某人或某事。是不是也有一个帅哥总是习惯系地走到地铁站的另一端月台，所以我们两一直错过了彼此？

我知道的是，习惯了之后，就会变成一种，不再思考，不再注意的动作。好几次，因为加班的关系，回家要到另一个地铁站搭车。我还是习惯系地上了电动扶梯就向左转，看到列车一来就上车了。过几个站后，才发现搭了反方向的列车。几次，上车后，很投入地看书，过了好久才发现搭错列车，结果浪费了好多时间，很迟才到家。

其实，生活中，我们总有一些习惯性的动作，再也不再思考或观察，结果因而犯下了错误，错过了良缘；也因此把某人与事当成一种理所当然，心变得淡漠，少了一份感恩，少了一点回馈。

所以，正念的修行不过就是对日常生活中的言行多多注意。别让习惯使自己变得盲目、冷漠。

Collective Kamma

2009-11-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

After the Tsunami disaster in 2004, many people were asking why do such tragic disasters happen. There were many Christians who asked how can God let such things happen.

From the Buddhist community, two explanations were offered.

The most common explanation that was offered was that it is Kamma. In this case, since it was Collective Kamma since it involved so many people, i.e. it is a phenomenon that happen due to the aggregate Kamma of many people and affected as many people.

The other explanation that was offered was that it is simply a natural disaster. If you live in this planet, you are subjected to the natural forces that operate here and that include natural disasters. There is nothing Kammic about it. Whether there are humans or not, Tsunami would occur every now and then. It is not a phenomena due to Kammic retribution. If Kamma is involved, it is the conditions that lead to this human birth.

Now, I always had some discomfort with Collective Kamma. I did realize that our actions do have effects that can affect our community, society or humanity as a whole. But is it fair that some people not involved in the actions suffer the consequences?

But what came as a very interesting surprise to me was that when I asked Ven Dhammika about Collective Kamma, he said he had not heard of that before. He had not come across it in the Pali scriptures.

That came as a shock to me because I had always thought that was a teaching by the Buddha. I started paying attention to the scriptures. I had not read the scriptures extensively enough, but does seem that where Kamma is mentioned in the scriptures, there is no mention of it being in collective in nature. I am not sure if they are found in the scriptures of Mahayana traditions or not.

This was a situation when I realize then that I had simply relied on hearsay -- some the Buddha had warned against in the Kalama Sutta.

It became clear to me that Collective Kamma is perhaps just something people came out with to explain mass disasters.

But I am not dismissing that our actions do have collective and aggregate effects. But rather, we should see not see those effects as a punishment or reward mete out by the forces of Kamma.

If we want a peaceful and happy community, we have to take certain actions to make that happen. In the end, the consequences may or may not be what we intended -- it all depends on the conditions. It is not Kamma.

If we continue to be greedy and exploit the planet's resources heedlessly, humanity eventually will suffer the consequences -- such as climate change. But climate change is a natural phenomenon. If we continue to spew green house gases into the atmosphere, the planet will heat up. Before there were humans on this planet, the planet had already gone through cycles of warming and freeze. What we are doing is to foolishly feed into the natural forces. It is not Kamma that determine humans should be punished for being greedy and hence decide to heat up the planet.

As long as we are bound to samsaric existence, we will be subjected to the natural laws that operates in those realms of existence. Whether we are happy or we suffers depends on the quality of our consciousness. When we continue to perform actions that generate positive kamma, we cultivate qualities which allows us to face those natural forces and phenomenon with positive attitudes and equanimity, hence leading to happiness and eventually to liberation.

Thus, when we are faced with disasters, whether natural or man-made, do not blame it on kamma. Instead, recognize the causes and effects, which may be due to a variety of conditions, including human actions as well as natural phenomenon. Then respond and deal with those disasters with the correct attitudes and actions that will lead to happiness and liberation.

Kamma and my love life

2009-11-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

This is a sidetrack on the topic of Kamma.

There was a guy who was interested in me, but I was not particularly keen in him. However, what happened was he totally blew his chance over a discussion on Kamma.

I could not remember what lead to the discussion about Kamma, though it lead to his declaration that everything is due to Kamma.

But that's not true, I countered, there are other Niyamas besides Kamma.

He had never heard of the Niyamas. So I started explaining the Niyamas -- based on what I understood from some of the Buddhist texts. Yet, he insisted everything is due to Kamma, and a argument ensued.

Finally, he asked me whether I meditated or not.

I said no.

There, he said, you are just an intellectual Buddhist. You have no direct experience and insight from meditation. You are just regurgitating stuff from the text books.

He blew his chances.

OK. OK. I admit. I was being egoistic and defensive. I took the accusation of being an "intellectual Buddhist" as grave insult (I did then, though now I would not. But that's another topic for another day).

So what's the significance of this?

1. It shows that many Buddhists are ignorant about the Niyamas and many believes everything is due to Kamma.

2. Meditation is important to Buddhists

3. If you want to date me, don't make the same mistake! (haha!)

But really, the past few posts are just a sharing of my understanding of Kamma. It is not insight gained from the jhannas. It may not completely correct either. However, I think there has been so much misconceptions about Kamma that it deserves a discussion from a different perspective.

	这里的草粿也是挺好吃的。我买了个菜莆米味，好吃！
	卖酱料的店。我在这里买了一包姜母茶，一斤才NT150。上一次来台北时，在几处问一斤都买NT200。不知道是降价了，还是深坑比较便宜。
	菜单都是臭豆腐！
	流动菜市场！刚好看到一辆卖菜的车开过老街。已经几十年没看到这样的车子了。让我想起小时，住在乡下，我们就是向这样的卖菜车买菜的。
	这里也买生的臭豆腐，可见不只是做游客生意的。