Ha ha ha.
My daughter gave me an Ang Pow this birthday!
Unimaginable joy!
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Dragon's Year
It was not a happy Chinese New Year for me.
There, I've put it down, right there up front so that everyone who reads this knows that this is not going to be one of glad tidings and contented musings.
The cause of my unhappiness was of course, my daughter. Not that she was behaving badly, or making a bloody nuisance of herself. Those days come with greater frequency nowadays, as she grows old enough to knows what she wants. And that usually conflicts with what the missus and I want. Sigh.
No, she caused this madness because she had the bad timing to fall ill just prior to the ending of the year. I've only just learned that it was bacterial infection, that caused her to run a fever, flucuating between mild and moderately high, over the last five days. And for some reason, it usually peaked at night, which meant loss of sleep-time for me and the missus. Especially for the missus, who worries and worries, until she drops.
As for me, there went all of my visiting plans out of the window. Along with all the plans to bring her around Chinatown and other visually appealing sights over the celebratory period. On top of that, I had cooking duties, to boil soup and porridge (well, congee, to be precise), for her. Who, naturally, disliked the bland stuff, and wanted fried bacon and luncheon meat instead. Double sigh.
And now the wife is feeling under the weather as well.
No, it does not look like a happy Chinese New Year at all.
There, I've put it down, right there up front so that everyone who reads this knows that this is not going to be one of glad tidings and contented musings.
The cause of my unhappiness was of course, my daughter. Not that she was behaving badly, or making a bloody nuisance of herself. Those days come with greater frequency nowadays, as she grows old enough to knows what she wants. And that usually conflicts with what the missus and I want. Sigh.
No, she caused this madness because she had the bad timing to fall ill just prior to the ending of the year. I've only just learned that it was bacterial infection, that caused her to run a fever, flucuating between mild and moderately high, over the last five days. And for some reason, it usually peaked at night, which meant loss of sleep-time for me and the missus. Especially for the missus, who worries and worries, until she drops.
As for me, there went all of my visiting plans out of the window. Along with all the plans to bring her around Chinatown and other visually appealing sights over the celebratory period. On top of that, I had cooking duties, to boil soup and porridge (well, congee, to be precise), for her. Who, naturally, disliked the bland stuff, and wanted fried bacon and luncheon meat instead. Double sigh.
And now the wife is feeling under the weather as well.
No, it does not look like a happy Chinese New Year at all.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Doctor Who Revisited
I mentioned my daughter joining the ranks of the Doctor Who fandom before. Well, it has been more than a year and a new Doctor (with the requisite new Tardis, new companions, new bad-guys, etc) later, she's still as mad about the whole thing : )
Of course, it helped to have both parents Doctor mad as well.
Having said that, I must point out that it is nigh impossible to find stuff on the Time Lord here in Lyonesse. Go to any assistant in any major/independent video/book shop and ask for Doctor Who, and the answer invariably will be 'Doctor Who who?'. And that's just for the DVDs and books. Other merchandise are always absent.
Which is why this last trip to the Great Southern Land was so satisfying - Doctor Who toys!
Yes, there are now more than 10 sonic screwdrivers (different models with some repeats - both the missus and I wanted the functional screwdriver version) at home. Not to mention 3 die-cast Tardis(es), 2 plush ones, and 1 rolling-along version (that doesn't work very well, unfortunately). And assorted other stuff. He he he.
Of course, the sonics saw some use during the vacation itself. There was the Ghost Tour at Port Arthur, where it got really dark and scary. When the guide started to get to the truly spooky part of the tale, she must have been shocked to see three (yes, me too) sonic screwdrivers whip out of our pockets!
Ha ha ha. That was fun!
Of course, it helped to have both parents Doctor mad as well.
Having said that, I must point out that it is nigh impossible to find stuff on the Time Lord here in Lyonesse. Go to any assistant in any major/independent video/book shop and ask for Doctor Who, and the answer invariably will be 'Doctor Who who?'. And that's just for the DVDs and books. Other merchandise are always absent.
Which is why this last trip to the Great Southern Land was so satisfying - Doctor Who toys!
Yes, there are now more than 10 sonic screwdrivers (different models with some repeats - both the missus and I wanted the functional screwdriver version) at home. Not to mention 3 die-cast Tardis(es), 2 plush ones, and 1 rolling-along version (that doesn't work very well, unfortunately). And assorted other stuff. He he he.
Of course, the sonics saw some use during the vacation itself. There was the Ghost Tour at Port Arthur, where it got really dark and scary. When the guide started to get to the truly spooky part of the tale, she must have been shocked to see three (yes, me too) sonic screwdrivers whip out of our pockets!
Ha ha ha. That was fun!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Letters and Numbers
I have just returned from the Great Southern Land. More specifically, I visited that isle where devils roam. Over the course of my next updates, I shall doubtless be writing about my experiences there.
Yet.....
While the diversions were plentiful and diverse, and I enjoyed the Great (oh, yes, truly!) Outdoors immensely, there was one particular programme on television that I wish to highlight first:
Yes. Television. Now, this is the point at which my friends and acquaintances will go, "What! You went all the way there and you're telling me about TV?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Well, of course I am. But that is besides the point.
Actually, the programme that I wish to mention is also a gameshow (gasp! collective clutching at chests expected here ; P) which goes against everything that I have said about such in the past. But I will plead this: this is the sort of gameshow that I loved as a child, the sort that was replaced by inane prancing about and back-stabbing politics, not to mention physical exertion. If I don't like running and jumping about, what makes the TV people think that I want to watch other people doing that? Duuh!
Anyway, the program is ABC's Letters and Numbers, in which two contestants are pitted against each other to form words, solve mathematics puzzles and conundrums. On top of that, more words and their curious histories are introduced. Most excellent! It was smashing! And very educational! I loved it! Go look for it!
Of course, the daughter was bored by it all, and didn't understand how her father was so bloody hyper when someone formed the word Scrounged, which used up all the available letters (incidentally known as a full monty!). Such fun!
Yet.....
While the diversions were plentiful and diverse, and I enjoyed the Great (oh, yes, truly!) Outdoors immensely, there was one particular programme on television that I wish to highlight first:
Yes. Television. Now, this is the point at which my friends and acquaintances will go, "What! You went all the way there and you're telling me about TV?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Well, of course I am. But that is besides the point.
Actually, the programme that I wish to mention is also a gameshow (gasp! collective clutching at chests expected here ; P) which goes against everything that I have said about such in the past. But I will plead this: this is the sort of gameshow that I loved as a child, the sort that was replaced by inane prancing about and back-stabbing politics, not to mention physical exertion. If I don't like running and jumping about, what makes the TV people think that I want to watch other people doing that? Duuh!
Anyway, the program is ABC's Letters and Numbers, in which two contestants are pitted against each other to form words, solve mathematics puzzles and conundrums. On top of that, more words and their curious histories are introduced. Most excellent! It was smashing! And very educational! I loved it! Go look for it!
Of course, the daughter was bored by it all, and didn't understand how her father was so bloody hyper when someone formed the word Scrounged, which used up all the available letters (incidentally known as a full monty!). Such fun!
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Japan
Prof Tommy Koh published an essay entitled Why I Believe in Japan recently. In it, he praised the Japanese people for their resilience, unity and civic-mindedness, and attributed their survival through Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster to the same.
Yet, at the same time, he mentioned that it was time for Japan to 'open up and embrace the world'.
I do not disagree with his assessment.
I have spent a little time in Japan, and found that theirs is a culture that was founded on very strong traditions. Every japanese that I had met was excruciatingly polite, some to the point that I was wondering if I was being mocked or pitied. There also appeared to be certain unspoken signals which passed between, which I, as a 'gaijin' was unable to decipher.
And despite my ability to understand (in a limited fashion) kanji and (in an even more limited fashion) hiragana and katagana, I was often lost whenever I tried to find my way in the Tokyo railway system. According to friends of mine from Kyushu who were with me then, they had a smiliar problem. It was the system and its layout that made it complicated, sometimes beyond the explanations available on the maps.
Then there was the culture shock that I received at Akihabara. Needless to say, the presence of young women dressed in diaphanous replicas of schoolgirl uniforms was unexpected. Yet, everyone elsed passed them by as if they were a normal sight. Perhaps they were, just not to me! And imagine how I felt when I visited Harajuku after that!
To a tourist, or someone taking a course there, these were all little quirks of the country that made for good stories. But it also shows how closed off Japan has become. It is as if its people live in a separate world. Even Tokyo is distanced from the other parts of the country.
So, yes. Japan needs to open up further. And perhaps it will.
But not in my lifetime, I think.
Yet, at the same time, he mentioned that it was time for Japan to 'open up and embrace the world'.
I do not disagree with his assessment.
I have spent a little time in Japan, and found that theirs is a culture that was founded on very strong traditions. Every japanese that I had met was excruciatingly polite, some to the point that I was wondering if I was being mocked or pitied. There also appeared to be certain unspoken signals which passed between, which I, as a 'gaijin' was unable to decipher.
And despite my ability to understand (in a limited fashion) kanji and (in an even more limited fashion) hiragana and katagana, I was often lost whenever I tried to find my way in the Tokyo railway system. According to friends of mine from Kyushu who were with me then, they had a smiliar problem. It was the system and its layout that made it complicated, sometimes beyond the explanations available on the maps.
Then there was the culture shock that I received at Akihabara. Needless to say, the presence of young women dressed in diaphanous replicas of schoolgirl uniforms was unexpected. Yet, everyone elsed passed them by as if they were a normal sight. Perhaps they were, just not to me! And imagine how I felt when I visited Harajuku after that!
To a tourist, or someone taking a course there, these were all little quirks of the country that made for good stories. But it also shows how closed off Japan has become. It is as if its people live in a separate world. Even Tokyo is distanced from the other parts of the country.
So, yes. Japan needs to open up further. And perhaps it will.
But not in my lifetime, I think.
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