Sacrifice to the Marina Barrage

While paddling on the waters of the Kallang basin last Sunday, I saw a strange sight.

Lots of fishes were splashing near the surface of the water and many were flipping out of the water.

When I got near, I saw that the fishes were in fact struggling. They were not swimming upright. Most were on their sides, some were upside down. The fishes were dying. It was their final struggle.

The reason must be the desalination of the water in the basin. The Marina barrage has closed and the water in the basin is slowly loosing its salinity. What happened on Sunday was that there was a storm which added lots of fresh water. The current was strong as the rain from the drains and canal gushed into the basin (while the barrage was probably letting out the water).

While many people celebrated the completion and starting of the operation of the barrage, the marine life in the waters behind the barrage went unnoticed. This was perhaps the necessary sacrifice to the Marina barrage, in return for the benefits the barrage brought.

If I had not been paddling in the Kallang basin for the past few years, I would not have thought of the countless life that must be dying as the water desalinize. Now I felt a certain amount of closeness and concern for the basin.

I guess there is nothing much that I can do about it. I can only say a mantra for the dying fishes. May they eventually be free from suffering.

Comfort food

Recently, there is a discussion about "comfort food" in a mailing list. But I thought these people were talking about favourite food rather than comfort food.

Can food actually give comfort? Apparently it can and frequently it is due to pleasant association of childhood.

In the animation Ratatouille, the harsh food critic Ego was won over by a dish ratatouille (a French vegetables stew) because it was a dish his mother cooked for him when he was a child. It brought him memories of his mother's love.

My comfort food is not my favourite. It is not something I eat frequently or even yearn for it. But when I am sick or down, I find a bowl of hot porridge extremely comforting. Perhaps that's because whenever I am sick, that's what my mother would cook for me. It is something I associate with care and concern. Also, being plain on its on, I like its blandness when I do not have appetite and just want something simple.

The following is something I wrote a while back.

The porridge of my life

May 21st, 2007 by laink

Haven’t been sick for a long time. Almost had forgotten how bad it can be.

My head was throbbing, my nose dripping and my mouth was dry and bitter. But when I tuck into the hot bowl of porridge my mother cooked for me, I suddenly found it so comforting.

I am not much of a porridge person. But when I am sick and have not much appetite, a bowl of hot plain porridge with a bit of preserved bean curb and salted beans is still the best. It may not be something I eat much when healthy and well. But when sick, there is something very comforting in a bowl of porridge.

And I remember the time when I was living alone in the USA, as sick as I was, I had to get out of the bed to cook myself some porridge.

And I remember, in the show My Lovely Samsoon, how Samsoon cooked porridge for Hyun Bin when he was sick.

And so I am thankful, for my mother for the love she put in in the bowl of porridge.

And so I wonder, if there will be some one else who will cook porridge for me when I am sick, and for whom I will cook porridge when he is sick.

红尘路上，我不敢期望太多。只想，生病时，有人给我煮一碗热腾腾的粥。

Melaka Trip 29-31 Dec

This was a backpack trip to Melaka.

I meet my friend at Kranji MRT and took a bus across the border to the Larkin bus terminal. We reach Larkin about 9:40am and went around looking for a coach to Melaka. The price of the coach ticket to Melaka were all RM19. However different bus companies had different departure times. We bought one which departed at 10am.

The coach was quite new and it was pretty comfortable. It departed on bus and only stopped briefly at a rest stop for a toilet break. We reached Melaka Sentral station at 1pm.

From the Sentral bus station, we took the Panaroma bus (RM1) to Chinatown.


Jalan-Jalan Guesthouse

I had booked guesthouse which was right in the middle of Chinatown. It was a relatively new guesthouse called Jalan-jalan along Jalan Tukang Emas,just a stone's throw away from the Kiling Mosque (see pic). The manager Sam had converted it from a tradition shophouse that was in ruins into a guesthouse just a few months ago.

I paid RM35 per night for a twin private room. For that kind of price, you really can't expect much. It was a small room with a double-decked bed and a fan (no air-con of course). There is a common toilet and bathroom and there is hot water shower. You get free use of internet service as well, but as there is only one computer, you have to wait if someone is using.

It's basic, but the house has a nice character. However, my friend did not sleep very well because the bed was rather creaky. I liked the location as it was convenient to wander around Chinatown.



Chinatown

Jonker street was the tourist belt in Chinatown. The place is being invaded by tourists with the award of UNESCO heritage status to the old town. Tourist souvenir shops, galleries and eateries are over taking the houses.

However, if you wander beyond the tourist belt (not many tourists do), you will discover the charming part of Chinatown. There are many distributors still plying their trades there (I saw dried food, cigerates, plastic wares, coconut milk, metal ware). There were also many craftsmen still working their crafts there. I saw a metal smith smelting a cleaver, an old man making wooden buckets, rattan weavers, a lady making popiah skins. There are interesting things to see, if you have the interest to look for them.




Baba Nonya Heritage Museum

I visited the Baba Nonya Heritage Museum. It is a private museum. The entrance fee of RM8 comes with a guided tour.

It is well worth the money and I would strongly recommend any one visiting Melaka to drop by.

The museum was owned by a third generation baba family. The collection were actual items used by the previous generations. Obviously, the family was very rich.

The guide told me that she was seeing a sudden spike in Singaporean tourists, obviously thanks to the Media Corp TV serial Little Nonya. According to her, previously, most Singaporean visitors were students. But recently, she was seeing a lot more Singapore tour groups and visitors.


Dutch Square

I guess a visit to Melaka would not be complete without a visit to the Dutch Square and St Paul's Church. It's a nice visit, but nothing particularly special.







A walk through the cemetry

Bukit Cina is the Chinese cemetry ground. There is a small temple at the foot of the temple. I thought the temple was supposed to be dedicated to the Admiral Cheng Ho of Ming dynasty, but the statue of the admiral was at a corner outside the shrine hall.

It was quite pleasant walk through the cemetry grounds to the top of the hill.





Cendol

I lost count of how many bowls of cendol I ate over the 3 days in Melaka.

Cendol in Melaka is good. Rich cococut cream, thick and sticky gula-melaka (palm suger) makes this unforgetable. You just don't get the same thing in Singapore!

雷雨

我是一蕾忍不住的春天
为你的来到绽出少年
而你却远远打住
望不见我翕敛的眼睑

你是夏末的一场焦躁的雷雨
匆匆促促自来自去
明天时干干净净
把我的心事全都不许

安克强《我恋你依然如昔》

Acquired taste

This morning I made a cup of coffee from a coffee bag. It was only half way through the coffee that I realized that the coffee appeared to be unsweetened at all. What I was amazed is that I was not even aware that it was unsweetened.

I remember many years ago, I made unsweetened coffee for my diabetic uncle. I had a taste and found it totally "undrinkable".

Yet, unsweetened coffee is now quite palatable.

It's all really an acquired taste. For the past year, I have been reducing sugar intake for health reasons. Over time, I guess my palates must have adjusted.

I remember when I was very young, I hated vegetables. Back then, becoming vegetarian is probably unimaginable. Yet I have been a vegetarian for 8 years now. Again, it was a slow process of getting acquainted with vegetables over time. In my teens, when I realized I was not going to get enough nutrition if I don't eat any vegetables, I forced myself to eat some every time. But the time, I was ready to become vegetarian, it was not a problem any more.

Taste can be acquired and changed over time. So too habits and practice can be changed.

I think I need to apply the same attitude towards the practice of meditation. It's something I have not been able to get into regular practice yet.

It will be a good new year resolution and I will start with observing a day of silence and meditation at a temple on New Year's day.

《印记》

不要因为也许会改变
就不肯说那句美丽的誓言
不要因为也许会分离
就不敢求一次倾心相遇

总有一些什么
会留下来吧
留下来作一件不灭的印记
好让 好让那些
不相识的人也能知道
我曾经怎么深深地爱过你

席慕蓉《印记》

快乐是一种选择

幸福掌握在自己手里，
快乐是一种选择。

我常常这么想。快乐就是一种人生观，乐观则幸福，悲观则忧伤。

最近一个朋友选择了一很不错的男朋友，感到非常幸福，也觉得快乐是是一种选择。其他朋友也都祝福他们。

然而“有来只见新人笑，有谁听见旧人哭？”

这次，我看见旧人哭了。

猛然发现，原来，“快乐是一种选择”，对在选择中被抛弃的人，是多么残酷的。