本應由此出發，為夢想振翅。
Toronto trip was fun.
I don't know how to describe it, I've been here for two weeks last year, yet I still get surprises along the way.
Met a lot of awesome people. Hot Korean and Chinese babes too.
It seems like Angmoh-born Asians are hotter. WHY HUH?
Talking about immigrants, Toronto has A LOT A LOT of immigrants.
When I reached their airport almost everyone I saw had black hair.
Canada is a bilingual country with English and French. But here, Chinese and Korean characters are everywhere.
What does being an immigrant imply? Increased competition for finite resources? Overcrowded trains and buses? It seems to me that migrating is a trend globally. Many angmohs (along with PRCs and Pinoys) chose to move to Singapore, while many Singaporeans are getting PR statuses elsewhere.
During the good old monkey-ape days, people moved to seek shelter and food. The notion of nations and races, however, added identity to them. People started to gather as families and communities. With that added sense of belonging, they stay put and that's how we get the magnificent cities we see today.
It would take a lot for someone, therefore, to uproot himself (and his family) to somewhere else different just to seek better living conditions....
Okay. Shall talk about the Distillery District instead. I sense increasing xenophobia here, hahaha.
The Gooderham and Worts Distillery was founded in 1832, and by the late 1860s was the largest distillery in the world. The district fell into derelict however, due to recession and increasing competition, and finally shut down in 1990.
The area contained the largest Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America and over 800 films were shot here, including X-man and Chicago and many more. In 2003, the district was reopened to the public to great acclaim. The new owners refused to lease any of the retail and restaurant space to chains or franchises, and accordingly, the majority of the buildings are occupied with unique boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, jewellery stores, cafés.
I was at this particular building called ArtScape (there are over 40 buildings here by the way). Inside were all leased to artists as studio spaces and to office tenants with a "creative focus". I enjoyed my afternoon chatting with many of them, sharing ideas on how to make our communities more appreciative towards the aesthetics. Most of these artists hold two jobs, as art itself, as they say, can't generate much income. The locals are apathetic to art appreciation, and I was rather surprised. I thought angmohs enjoyed drawings and stuff.
It is indeed true, that in a society where development and progress led the way, "non-essential items" like music and art tend to be tucked away silently.
The distillery itself was also an architectural wonder. Another typical example of 老厝新用. 厝 by the way, means house, or "chu" (like in Choa Chu Kang) in Hokkien.
I've seen a lot of such buildings in Taiwan and Macau. Even in China.
Singapore? Looks like we're losing out on many things!
Perhaps, we should do something.
Yay. USA, Japan added to my list of visited countries. Hohoho.
Watched three movies on the long flight back: 八星報喜'12, 麒麟の翼, and Starbuck (without the s)
八星報喜'12 was a no-brainer. Obviously. Chinese New Year 贺岁片s were meant to be brainless. Oh well.
麒麟の翼 Kirin no Tsubasa was a great show though. It was adapted from 東野 圭吾 Higashino Keigo's novel of the same name. Higashino Keigo is a great author, I watched another film called 白夜行, which was also adapted from his books. The plots were all very thrilling. Nothing to expect, unlike local serial dramas.
The story was about a murder, a dead man who was thought to be the murderer, and the real murderer who was a classmate of the victim:
I definitely getting the book in Kinokuniya these days.
Quoted: 即使誰都不相信，至少自己要去相信。
As for Starbuck, it was a pretty funny French Canadian film. This supposedly loser in life donated sperm 600-odd times and produced 500-odd kids. And these kids wanted to reconcile with him. Hahaha. Sounds funny? Well, it showed how great paternal love was towards the end of the film.
Oh gosh. It's 8:16am. I need to leave for NUS CSC Camp. And suffer from extreme jet lag, considering I arrived in Singapore only a few hours ago. DIEEEEEEEE.
I don't know how to describe it, I've been here for two weeks last year, yet I still get surprises along the way.
Met a lot of awesome people. Hot Korean and Chinese babes too.
It seems like Angmoh-born Asians are hotter. WHY HUH?
Talking about immigrants, Toronto has A LOT A LOT of immigrants.
When I reached their airport almost everyone I saw had black hair.
Canada is a bilingual country with English and French. But here, Chinese and Korean characters are everywhere.
What does being an immigrant imply? Increased competition for finite resources? Overcrowded trains and buses? It seems to me that migrating is a trend globally. Many angmohs (along with PRCs and Pinoys) chose to move to Singapore, while many Singaporeans are getting PR statuses elsewhere.
During the good old monkey-ape days, people moved to seek shelter and food. The notion of nations and races, however, added identity to them. People started to gather as families and communities. With that added sense of belonging, they stay put and that's how we get the magnificent cities we see today.
It would take a lot for someone, therefore, to uproot himself (and his family) to somewhere else different just to seek better living conditions....
Okay. Shall talk about the Distillery District instead. I sense increasing xenophobia here, hahaha.
The Gooderham and Worts Distillery was founded in 1832, and by the late 1860s was the largest distillery in the world. The district fell into derelict however, due to recession and increasing competition, and finally shut down in 1990.
The area contained the largest Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America and over 800 films were shot here, including X-man and Chicago and many more. In 2003, the district was reopened to the public to great acclaim. The new owners refused to lease any of the retail and restaurant space to chains or franchises, and accordingly, the majority of the buildings are occupied with unique boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, jewellery stores, cafés.
I was at this particular building called ArtScape (there are over 40 buildings here by the way). Inside were all leased to artists as studio spaces and to office tenants with a "creative focus". I enjoyed my afternoon chatting with many of them, sharing ideas on how to make our communities more appreciative towards the aesthetics. Most of these artists hold two jobs, as art itself, as they say, can't generate much income. The locals are apathetic to art appreciation, and I was rather surprised. I thought angmohs enjoyed drawings and stuff.
It is indeed true, that in a society where development and progress led the way, "non-essential items" like music and art tend to be tucked away silently.
The distillery itself was also an architectural wonder. Another typical example of 老厝新用. 厝 by the way, means house, or "chu" (like in Choa Chu Kang) in Hokkien.
I've seen a lot of such buildings in Taiwan and Macau. Even in China.
Singapore? Looks like we're losing out on many things!
Perhaps, we should do something.
 |
| Click to enlarge. |
Watched three movies on the long flight back: 八星報喜'12, 麒麟の翼, and Starbuck (without the s)
八星報喜'12 was a no-brainer. Obviously. Chinese New Year 贺岁片s were meant to be brainless. Oh well.
麒麟の翼 Kirin no Tsubasa was a great show though. It was adapted from 東野 圭吾 Higashino Keigo's novel of the same name. Higashino Keigo is a great author, I watched another film called 白夜行, which was also adapted from his books. The plots were all very thrilling. Nothing to expect, unlike local serial dramas.
The story was about a murder, a dead man who was thought to be the murderer, and the real murderer who was a classmate of the victim:
I definitely getting the book in Kinokuniya these days.
Quoted: 即使誰都不相信，至少自己要去相信。
As for Starbuck, it was a pretty funny French Canadian film. This supposedly loser in life donated sperm 600-odd times and produced 500-odd kids. And these kids wanted to reconcile with him. Hahaha. Sounds funny? Well, it showed how great paternal love was towards the end of the film.
Oh gosh. It's 8:16am. I need to leave for NUS CSC Camp. And suffer from extreme jet lag, considering I arrived in Singapore only a few hours ago. DIEEEEEEEE.
