Kayak expedition to Pulau Hantu

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?

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

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

“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

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

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

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》

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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！

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.

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）

请你种棵黄花树

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

《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

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

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

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》。

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

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

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

我的恋情是一朵向日葵
夏天里绚烂
没等到秋天
便已夭折