you.me.and a thousand different ways.

Friday, November 12, 2004

i've finally had my pc fixed. turns out the hard disk will crash because of a power trip at home. which did happen i think before i left. so now you know. maybe it's a good idea to just turn off the power current everytime you leave the house.

ok, shall be writing about my adventures of shanghai.

May, my sis, envied my trip this time round. she told me that travelling in a group is so much more fun than being on her own. her trip the last time was very much boring. i definitely agree with it, yet at the same time, i know that my trip would probably be more eventful & in some cases, fulfilling if I've had a chance to some things that i wanted to. but my mom told me that i shouldn't be complaining too much so i kept my mouth shut. but travelling is something that i've always enjoyed. to be able to learn and gain knowledge is truly enriching.

china is truly a very beautiful country. it's historical landmarks & stories & tales of the dynasties never failed to fascinate me. shanghai, on the outside, has changed dramatically since the last time i visited 5 years ago. my trip this time round was filled with one big task: shopping. but we did go to hangzhou for 2 days to visit the beautiful xi hu and also to a water village just 2 hours outside of shanghai called zhou zhuang. yet, underneath this beautiful & dramatic change, one thing never changed : the people. true, some have been bold enough to make changes and truly, there are people who are really nice and decent and well, polite to most situations. (i thank the lord that the subordinates directly under my mom are so pleasant. if not her life there would be true torture.) the chinese there remained rude, obnoxious, and selfish. spitting though illegal now, is still done by both young and old, and they still believe in pushing their way through all the time. the only "thank you" i heard were from the hongkongers when we were at zhou zhuang.

bryan's right when he told me that china is going through a culture shock. with these vast improvements in landscape, agriculture & technology, it's just an unspoken statement that the people's 'manners' will change for the better. but the word here is 'contradiction'. when i was there, i saw well-architected bridges, high-rise apartments & office buildings, and a much more high-tech & sophisticated airport. yet beneath and within these buildings stodd those old and run-down houses with roof tiles dropping any moment; and beneath these people with formal suits & business pants & attire (read : coats & leather shoes) are people who would yell and scream at you even if it's a normal conversation. and of course, who could forget the pickpockets.

my mother told me : they have the hardware, but lack the software. very true. whilst shopping at the flea markets, i was amazed at the workmanship of those immitation products. so articulate and lack of flows. at the food court where my mom manages, i was in awe of the technology that enables the management to check on sales of each outlet at the click of a button. so quick & convenient. at the train station (MRT), i realized that it functions in the same way as it would have in S'pore, and they had TV mobile as well. (though i wonder why the need for it if these people seem to just be able to talk non-stop throughout the bus ride.. *grinz*)

oh and the one thing that baffled me the most : how could they just use the bathroom in broad daylight? they just use the bathroom without even closing the door and would remain the least bothered about it! i simply refused to go into any bathroom when i was not in my mom's premises or at some hotel!

but let's not forget that such acts were still observed by us when we were at the peace hotel, a five-star hotel in shanghai.

overall, my trip was pretty alright. bryan, pearlyn & i laughed ourselves downright silly at some of the jokes that we've come up with. and we managed to watch a dvd every night before we go to bed and had lots of xiao long baos there. i was the laughing stock in s'pore, and i continued to be the entertainer in shanghai. i have the most amount of funny tales, embarrassing moments, and weird incidents. the brown corn, the rubber duckie corn, the blood etc. the list just goes on.

this trip made me realise a lot of things. my mom's bravery especially. singapore's industry is already considered hard to deal with. Try it with China's people, rude personality and you get a real tough & rough combination. Yet she could brave the weather, the attitudes and all these contrasting personalities and get the first Kopitiam outlet in China up and running. Accomplishments no less, but it's lonely. I cried when i left. Because i hate loneliess and being all alone with nobody around. especially when you want to share joys. although everyone has happily noted that she looks and seems a lot healthier now, and it's truly a blessing that the Lord's blessed her with no serious mishaps, it's still very lonely.

think she'd do anything to be back home. and in due time, she'd be. i'm going to start praying very hard for her return. remember my favourite verse in the bible says, "delight yourself in the lord and he will grant you the desires of my heart." so i will. and she'll be back.

until then, i'm definitely going to be putting in more efforts in staying in touch with her.

at the same time, i realise how lonely it is for my best friend Robby and even my dad to be away from their loved ones for long periods of their lives. my respect and admiration have grown by the miles. and i'm definitely going to go all out to make sure that they don't feel that lonesome. and for now, i guess, if my parents are really so adament about me staying in S'pore and not venturing my education overseas, i'll do that.

i have to. it's my responsibility now to please them. and i'm not going to complain.

12:44 | com[ments] |