Rain rain come again...

I love it when it is raining at night...

I love it especially while doing my revision because I can look out from my window, from time to time and watch the rain drops on the puddles. I'm sipping a cup of hot chocolate now in my warm room. Surprisingly, there is not a single shop here that sells milo. If there have been one, I would be savouring it rather than this hot steaming cup of hot chocolate.

I made my hot chocolate extra sweet, sweeter than the milo made in mamak stalls. I'm not a sugar addict, but when it comes to studying, I prefer to "nourish" my poor hardworking braincells. The sweetness keeps me awake too.

I love it when I watch the trees swaying in the wind, the howling of the wind, the beating of the heavy raindrops and when the thunder roars in the middle of the night. I love it because of this shelter, protecting me from the unmerciful storm. Having a place to stay and to shelter me from the rain really is such a wonderful thing.

Why has it been raining these past few days? This does not depict summer properly. Where are the clear blue skies? I love the clear blue skies too. Pure blue stretching from end to end. It gives me the feeling of freshness, openness and hopefulness.

It has been cold these few days. I'll be needing my faithful jacket again which I had abandoned at the start of summer.
Sometimes, while studying late at night, we seem to ponder on the most simplest things in life.
I wonder why...

To go or not to go?

Sometimes I don't understand my parents. Actually most of the time I don't. Last year while choosing the date of my return flight from Lyon to Singapore, I wanted to come back earlier but my dad said, "Just put it on the 10th July, like that you have more than 1 week to travel around Europe".

So now, after telling my parents my plans to travel to Budapest and to Berlin and to Barcelona, they suddenly feel uneasy.

"Who are you going with?"

"No one" I replied

"What!!? No friends?? All your friends in London, in Germany and those in France? Go traveling with them!"

"They have already gone back home. Most of them are not around."

"How about those people in France?" asked my dad

"Some have exams. The others don't want to go with me."

"Eh, traveling alone ar....You want to come back earlier?"

"What?! You last time said I should stay for 1 more week to travel. Now, you say come back?"

"I thought you have friends to travel with mar.."

"I came here alone, didn't I?"

"Aiya, I leave the decision to you la.."

"If you leave it to me, I'll be traveling then"

"Got other friends or not? Travel within France la. Go Paris?"

"Paris is not safe lo...France is in fact not as safe as the other countries"

"You decide lo..."

Sighs...this is always the strategy he uses...make me feel guilty. I guess they also miss me alot. But if not now, when??

Yeah, Budapest is not safe but it is still safer than JB. Berlin is not safe either, but it is still safer than London or Paris.

Cusiner

Cooking, that is what I had picked up here in France. I never cook at home, never touched raw meat, and never cooked anything besides pasta and instant noodles. Somehow, 5 months of being in France had changed me about the art of cuisine.

I'm still far from mastering culinary arts. I have experimented on various dishes and invited friends to join me for meals. This week, I had like a few people coming over to my place to eat on weekends. This is (I guess) the response to my complaint about feeling lonely here in Lyon last weekend. Somehow, I find that this weekend filled with activities and I enjoyed cooking and cooking for them.

Nostalgia

It was only a year ago, at this same day, that I went to US with a group of my friends for work and travel. Somehow, last night, lying upon my bed, the memories of it all flooded my mind. It was indeed an experience. How would I describe it? Describing it as 'good' seems superficial because it leaves out many things. On the other hand, saying that it was 'bad' is not appropriate either. It was truly an 'indescribable experience' as Wendy had put it(Although he meant it as a negative sense).

Ironic. While I was there, towards the end, I was so glad leaving. I wanted to leave everything there, the place, the fellow colleagues, the friends, everything. But somehow, last night, I began to think about them, somehow, suddenly, I missed them...I remembered the good times I had with them. Eating lunch everyday in the canteen with the same group of friends. We were always bragging about our tips and complaining about our workloads. I remember us going for roller coaster rides after our work. And how Utt and I will take the front row with hands up. Yes, and later when the Taiwanese came and how they were quite nice to me. LOL, I realised that I have many friends in Taiwan as well.

I wonder how my host family is doing. Wendy and I used to go visit them and talked about inheriting their boat or their red mustang convertible. But sadly, she never called us after we had rejected going to her daughter's graduation party. Well, there goes our boat.

Me, Wendy, Jenny, and her son(I forgot his name)

All the memories...

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt

Quite a nice song! I really like the way they play it. But this is definitely a pre-recorded edition, at 3:26 background voices start coming and and at 4:26 the crashing cymbals followed by the bells followed by the string quartet. Correct me if I'm wrong. Such an ingenious arrangement...kk when I go back home, I shall attempt to play this song...haha..note: "attempt"...

when wandering eyes grow weary...

Since when I was young, I pursued whatever fascinates me. I went for popularity with my friends, academic results, excellence in sports, excellence in computer games, playing musical instruments, etc, etc...

Somehow, now in my later stages of University life, I realised I had no real vision. I was just going with whatever I like at the moment. For example, last time I wanted to go overseas so much that I wanted to go for an exchange. And then, suddenly now, I find myself here in Lyon.

So, what am I supposed to achieve here? Travel around and see the world? Learn a new language? Adapt to a foreign lifestyle? Educate myself with their education system? Make new friends? Take more photos at tourist attractions?

Why did I even take engineering in the first place? Since I was young, I had only one ambition drilled in my mind, to be a doctor. (probably due to the influence of my parents who always wanted me to be a doctor) In the end, electrical engineering, and that was according to what my father had suggested. Whether I like it or not, I would say, no not really. I don't hate it also except when the work given becomes unreasonable.

The point I'm getting to is, I'm doing everything right now according to what I wanted(or had wanted at a certain point in time). There is no fixed vision, there is no direction, just going wherever my wandering eyes land on.

I came across this poem recently...

Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,

I've lost sight of all beside,

So enchained my spirit's vision,

Gazing on the crucified.

A wish

One day a boy from a very poor family found an old oil lamp. Knowing what to expect with childlike fantasy, the boy rubbed it with eager anticipation. And behold, a genie appeared but unfortunately he could only grant one wish.

"What do u mean one wish? Aren't you supposed to give me three wishes?" exclaimed the boy indignantly.

"My one wish could give you anything you ever wanted or imagined. The only catch is, I will only grant it if you really want it, badly." affirmed the genie.

Without hesitation, the boy demanded "I want all the riches in the world! I really need it badly! I need it to feed my starving brothers and sisters!"

With a snap of his fingers, the genie filled the entire cave (the cave was very big) with so much gold that the boy could not bring himself to believe it. He euphorically grabbed a few coins, his heart pumping wildly with tears of joy. And with another snap, the gold disappeared, to his utter horror.

"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted the boy bitterly. "You said that you'll grant me one wish!"

"I told you, I will only grant it to you if you want it badly." replied the genie calmly. "Oh I'm hungry, get me some food and then I'll see whether you really want you wish. Oh ya killing me or forcing me won't do any good, I'm too powerful." he added seeing the boy's murderous eyes.

"I'm struggling even to feed my brothers and sisters at home let alone buy you some food. Forget it!"

"Its a pity...Forget about your wish then..."

The worst thing that can ever happen was to have your heart's deepest desire clutched firmly in your hand only to let it slip through your iron like grip seconds later. That was what he felt, the boy had no choice but to listen to his demands. He reasoned that a meal in exchange for a vast amount of riches is still a reasonably good deal. So he went back tried desperately to find means of getting some food.

He did all sorts of odd jobs and eventually brought back some food to the genie. Each time, he will say "See, I have brought you what exactly what you have wanted. I really need the money!" But each time after eating, the genie was not satisfied and demanded for more exotic food. Each time, the boy got more angry but reasoned with himself that the exchange would still be worth it. And each successive time the boy became more obsessive. He worked harder and traveled to even more distant lands to acquire it and got various famous cooks to prepare it, even from cooks of the Sultan's kitchen, cooks from the Eastern Emperor's kitchen to the cooks from the barbaric nomads in the furthest deserts and to the cooks of pirates sailing the seven seas every meal according to the genie's demand. That was his obsession with the glimpse of salvation, a possibility of freeing him and his family from the never-ending cycle of poverty.

30 years passed and the boy(Actually he already grew into a man, but for identification sake, I'll refer to him as 'the boy') kept bringing back various food according to the ridiculous demands of the genie. One day, the boy finally could not take it anymore and unleashed his anger on the genie.

"I HAD ENOUGH!!! EACH TIME I BRING YOU WANT YOU WANTED YOU KEPT DEMANDING FOR MORE! IF IT WERE NOT FOR THOSE RICHES, I WOULD HAVE JUST GOT RID OF YOU!! SEE, ISN'T THIS PROOF OF THE EXTENT OF HOW MUCH I WANT IT! I HAD ENOUGH!!!!!!"

As though as the genie was expecting this since a long time ago, he said, "Yes indeed, I've seen how much you have wanted it." After waiting for him to calm down the genie resumed:

"Now look at yourself. Do you realize how much possessions, livestock, servants, properties, artworks and wealth you have acquired since the day you had met me? Do you realize how much you and your family had climbed up the social classes in your society? Do you realize how much fame you have achieve by your various feats of obtaining rare delicacies? Do you realize how much respect you have gained from common folk and nobility? Do you know that you are the richest person living now and will be for the next 1000 years? Do you still want your wish now?"

Like being awoken suddenly from a dream, it dawned upon the boy that every word of the genie was true. His obsession had blinded him for more than 30 years so much so that he didn't realised that gradually he accumulating riches to the extent that no one except him has ever been able to achieve.

Then, without a word, the boy walked towards the genie, took the lamp, flung it along with its host into the deepest depths of the cave and left.