The Retrocession

Got myself a couple of surprises in Taiwan. 1. Kena typhoon. Damn suey? News said that it was the strongest in X years, but honestly I didn't feel anything, and we got a day off for it. Went to Kaohsiung to find some friends, and visited the ancient Tainan city myself. And the best part, I found out that the Confucius Procession will be held on 28 Sep at 4am. SEE YOU THERE, CONFUCIUS. 2. CCA Fair. I guess I am joining their Dragon Boat team? No choice, I really need to beef up, Singaporeans cannot lose out to the Taiwanese. Especially when the teachers are not exactly very sensitive. 3. The Teachers in the Political Science Department. Not all teachers are like that, but some always ask, "Oh you come from Singapore, how does it feel like to be living in a extremely authoritarian regime?" I really don't know what to say. I just felt like punching them because....... that is simply not a very nice thing to say to a foreigner. Democracy is definitel...

Came across a new song in the gym today: 《你甘攏袂不甘》 那會酒後的心聲　在傷心的酒店 轉頭是落雨聲　落到繁華攏是夢 望春風的那天　我愛到才知痛 雨夜花雪中紅　攏是命中註定 愛到無命不知驚 猶原是孤孤單單一個人 想你的心　這呢痛 等無聲　找無人　 我是欲安怎 猶原是空空夢夢一個人 想你的心　這歹款 不甘願　不甘放 不甘到這陣嘟散 你甘攏袂不甘 Still picking up the pieces, it's gonna be a long process. What to do? Life carries on. I need my friends.

A long day after back to back lectures. The lectures in Taiwan are uberrrrrrrr long, like 3 hours, with minimal breaks. So for Tuesdays, my schedule is lectures after lectures from 10am till 5pm. 7 hours, without lunch, because apparently there is no canteen in the campus. Hohohoho. But it's okay, I guess I'll just have make do with this. Anyway I am still rushing my Bahasa Indonesia report (the embassy, known as KBRI, is rushing me for it already) and while typing I was forced to recollect all the food I ate in Indonesia. I have to say that although people keep saying that Taiwan is 美食天堂 (which I always frown, because SEA is obviously better, hello...?) it's really just the street food that is amazing. At the end of the day Taiwanese people still eat Chinese food at home, i.e. rice, noodles, mantou, etc. It's really a lack of variety that bores me after two weeks, and I miss sambal. I guess I can't find any of this in Tainan for the next 18 weeks. Today is t...

劲草折腰为荷痛 春风喜雨有杏生 I know I complain a lot, but I am starting to like this city. Honestly this city has nothing much to offer me--it's boring, it's quiet, it's slow. It's really different from home, but that's the fun part of it. Today I had some amazing gyoza and soba at some roadside stall. 手工的面条真的很嫩，冰凉爽口 (yes they cook the noodles on the spot and soak them in ice water)，饺子馅含有虾肉和猪肉，不仅口感不腻味道也很香。 This is probably my longest meal ever because I sat down and waited for my food for at least half an hour, something which I would never ever do in busy Singapore. Guess what, I told myself 我有的是时间 and just sat there and chilled. Okay I did talk to the shopkeeper a bit lah, but spent most of the time thinking about what I would wanna do in Tainan. Like legit deep planning, since I am already here and have adequate resources to know what this old city has to offer. Many people would assume that I chose Tainan as my destination because 1. it's Chinese-...

It’s been slightly more than a week that I arrived in Taiwan. I have always been looking forward to doing my exchange here, but as the time come closer my excitement starts to drop. I have to say that I miss home (or at least I knew I would miss home). There are to many things back home that I took for granted. Arriving in Taiwan wasn’t a smooth one . It was raining heavily, and I had to make multiple transfers on the bus and trains before reaching my destination, National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, only to realise that the bed has no mattress. No big deal lah actually, I sometimes sleep on the table back in Hall too, but it is a reminder that things are just too convenient back in Singapore. I visited the farm yesterday. Rice fields, to be exact. 我喜欢这样的生活，贴近土地，贴近自我。农耕社会发展到都市化的今天，失去的便是在地的浓浓人情味。生活步伐加快，我们无从知晓明天的安排会是如何，但是在乡村，日日夜夜年年都是如此平和稳定。这种追求安稳和简单的心态，恐怕是对我的空虚和浮躁的一种回应吧。 你還是住在我的回憶裡 不出來 讓我們微笑離開 讓故事留下來 放手後 愛依然在 雪融了 就應該花開 緣若盡了 就不該再重來 内心有许多心结放不下，自己却不愿意（抑或是不敢）去面对。所有的问题都...