Saigon has totally forgotten its past and is rushing to a happy future - at least the people think. Why not? The war, the dead, the dramas and tragedies - isn't time the best cure-it-all elixir?
Today is R's birthday - this is something that he definately hates. But anyway counting the meaningless numbers is for the pittiful who are alive.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
To Last
TO LAST
To last is to live
To last is to live
Non-conforming
Neither compromising
But in peace
To my heart’s content
And to say at the moment I cease to last:
“I am heading to eternity”
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Reminiscence of Xiamen
Feb 25 2010. Singapore. Trip to Xiamen in Jan 2010
I made a trip briefly to Xiamen. The town has changed beyond recognition like all the towns in China. I overlooked at the JiMei bridge in the airplane and thought about my "big brother".
I met him in a ball room dance event in this German architect school in Shanghai when I was 18. Obviously he fell in love with me but the more he was after me, the more I was pushed away. At the end, the guy says:"OK, why don't you become my younger sister as I don't have any sister at home." And that was the deal.
That summer the big brother invited me to Xiamen where he found a job as a junior architect in the state-owned construction firm. That was my first trip on my own - a 20 hour train ride with standing place only. But I was so excited that the same day I arrived I went to see the Island Gu Lang Yu and was almost carried away by the waves, physically. 20 years later when I visited it again something still struck me as this place has a different soul -although it got much more touristic.
So life was good. By day, I helped him collecting data for the construction of the JiMei bridge. Sometimes some data was missing and guy just made it up - I am glad that the Jimei bridge hasn't collapsed yet. At night we went everywhere by bike. In many afternoons he would sneak out to go to the sea with me and tried to teach me how to swim. One day the tide was too low and the sun was a bit too strong so we hid in the show of a big boat. We were both wearing swimming suits and through his little swim trunk, I detected that the little bird got really excited and stood straight up. Curious and absolutely inexperienced, I looked at it with great interest. He was so embarrased that he jumped into the sea and swam so far that I was afraid that he would be shot by the Taiwanese soldiers.
During the whole summer I was staying in his little dorm and he stayed with his friends. The last night of my stay, he claimed that he lost the key to his friend's apartment so he had no where to go. I did not get the hint and spent half day looking for his key. And that evening, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and left without a word.
About 15 years later I got his call when I was living in New York. He said that he found my phone number through some friends. He had a family and the daughter entered middle school. He got promoted as the head of the contruction company handling billion dollar construction deals. Life was ok until a few months ago when he was almost dead due to hipatitis B. Now he is back to life and he thought that it would be good to reconnect and only wants to focus on the important things in life, including calling me.
I took down his phone number. I called him before coming to Xiamen but the number is no longer valid. The construction company got privatized and there was no trace of it.
So I lost my big brother in Xiamen.
I made a trip briefly to Xiamen. The town has changed beyond recognition like all the towns in China. I overlooked at the JiMei bridge in the airplane and thought about my "big brother".
I met him in a ball room dance event in this German architect school in Shanghai when I was 18. Obviously he fell in love with me but the more he was after me, the more I was pushed away. At the end, the guy says:"OK, why don't you become my younger sister as I don't have any sister at home." And that was the deal.
That summer the big brother invited me to Xiamen where he found a job as a junior architect in the state-owned construction firm. That was my first trip on my own - a 20 hour train ride with standing place only. But I was so excited that the same day I arrived I went to see the Island Gu Lang Yu and was almost carried away by the waves, physically. 20 years later when I visited it again something still struck me as this place has a different soul -although it got much more touristic.
So life was good. By day, I helped him collecting data for the construction of the JiMei bridge. Sometimes some data was missing and guy just made it up - I am glad that the Jimei bridge hasn't collapsed yet. At night we went everywhere by bike. In many afternoons he would sneak out to go to the sea with me and tried to teach me how to swim. One day the tide was too low and the sun was a bit too strong so we hid in the show of a big boat. We were both wearing swimming suits and through his little swim trunk, I detected that the little bird got really excited and stood straight up. Curious and absolutely inexperienced, I looked at it with great interest. He was so embarrased that he jumped into the sea and swam so far that I was afraid that he would be shot by the Taiwanese soldiers.
During the whole summer I was staying in his little dorm and he stayed with his friends. The last night of my stay, he claimed that he lost the key to his friend's apartment so he had no where to go. I did not get the hint and spent half day looking for his key. And that evening, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and left without a word.
About 15 years later I got his call when I was living in New York. He said that he found my phone number through some friends. He had a family and the daughter entered middle school. He got promoted as the head of the contruction company handling billion dollar construction deals. Life was ok until a few months ago when he was almost dead due to hipatitis B. Now he is back to life and he thought that it would be good to reconnect and only wants to focus on the important things in life, including calling me.
I took down his phone number. I called him before coming to Xiamen but the number is no longer valid. The construction company got privatized and there was no trace of it.
So I lost my big brother in Xiamen.
Steve McQueen
Feb 25, 2010. Singapore. Saw 2.5 McQueen movies "7 Mousquetaires" "Bullit" and "Le Mans" during the long flight to Paris.
Here is a guy who can ride horses, shoot double guns, drive fast cars, play cool cops and seduce women in a coffee shop without saying a word - just a smile and the next scene is she being naked in his bed. Wow!
I was bored by the car racing scenes in "le Mans" until this French actress asked McQueen a question after her boyfriend was seriously injured: "What is the meaning of driving faster than the others?" And McQueen's answer was pretty philosophical: "Racing is life, everything before and after that is waiting".
So with these smart words, the guy is unbeatable.
Here is a guy who can ride horses, shoot double guns, drive fast cars, play cool cops and seduce women in a coffee shop without saying a word - just a smile and the next scene is she being naked in his bed. Wow!
I was bored by the car racing scenes in "le Mans" until this French actress asked McQueen a question after her boyfriend was seriously injured: "What is the meaning of driving faster than the others?" And McQueen's answer was pretty philosophical: "Racing is life, everything before and after that is waiting".
So with these smart words, the guy is unbeatable.
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