Life after Sino-Sing
Thursday, June 28, 2007
If you don't realize, I have been so so lazy these couple of weeks in updating this blog. You might be wondering why there are some blank posts. That's because I decided to pre-publish the posts for my Sino-Sing trip. And I have yet to distribute the photos to all my friends! Argh... super procrastinator, a perfectionist procrastinator.
Why is perfection a building block for procrastination? I am always thinking of post-processing my pictures perfectly before posting them. It takes up so much of my time then I am put off by the effort. High volume editing is boring; but I really enjoy small volume, high quality editing. My mentality is changing: post the pictures first and if there are any major improvements after editing, delete & replace the previous uploaded one; if one looks more or less the same before and after, leave it. Perhaps it's the same for everything we do? Like my 40SAR S2 officer said to me a long time ago:"Do a rough-and-dirty job first and edit it continuously later." I never quite believe it till now.
I have also been reading up on religion, relationship and, as usual, photography. Life has been so eventful and changing...
posted byWilliam at 11:58 AM 0 comments
Travelling in Hong Kong
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Travelling in China
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Sino-Singapore @ Hangzhou
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Sino-Singapore @ Xiamen
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Sino-Singapore @ Guangzhou
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Sino-Singapore @ Kunming
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The first warning for Yunnan: it's going to be cold. Yes, and I was always checking the weather forecast on Yahoo! and Weatherunderground a few days prior departure and deciding very hard on whether to pack my fleece jacket into the little 21" trolley luggage. My always-cautious dad was perpetually psychoing me to bring that bulky, furry fleece while I struggle hard to pack as little as possible (I have had a bad experience backpacking in Europe). It doesn't really matter if I freeze a little, afterall, I have stayed endured the sub-zero temperature of Kiruna, Sweden overnight and outdoor. Ok, my dad won in the end... The weather in Kunming was really a little sucky, perhaps the suckiest of all the cities I visited. The temperature was really cool, maybe like a little over-powered air-conditioning ~13 degrees Celcius. But it was the rain, sometimes downpour and always drizzle, that made the weather really cold. Brrr... not to forget the wind that is blowing.
At the airport... it was really heart-warming to see my Chinese friends come and pick us up. It was during their exam period and I know it's a difficult struggle deciding between mugging a bit more and being hospitable; they were both important. They were so sweet: they gave us each a rose. Unfortunately, there was an urchin that went around stealing, snatching and smashing the beautiful flowers on the floor; he was very much like the manifestation of a destroyer.
The hotel in Kunming was the best among the 4 official visit-cities. The beds were huge, king-size single, and the room was large. I was happy to see a wedding couple receiving their guests at the lobby. It is one of the ways which allowed me to peer in one aspect of modern Chinese culture. Just want to share one interesting observation: the couple was holding a tray filled with candies, peanuts and cigarettes and offering the items to guests. I think the first two items are auspicious and the last is not quite getting anywhere when it comes to blessing the couple. I suppose it was just for the pleasure of the smoker-guests.
Prior the KTV session, I had the chance to walk the streets, small and shopping, of Kunming. We passed by this food court, which you can see from the picture above, where they had one of the most aggressive promoters I met on trip. It's quite easy to understand, we were travelling in a huge group of ~10 and if any stall successful sat us down, they could easily rip a huge bill off us. We didn't eat in the food court, obviously put off by the "extra" attention. We chose, in the end, to eat some roadside grilled food from a Muslim stall.
I had the wildest partities in Kunming. For this first-night party, I think Yefeng ordered close to 4 dozens of Budweiser beer for the KTV. You can see the number of empty bottles on the table, which is just the tip of the iceberg literally. The bulk of the empty bottles were at the bottom of the sea of chaos. One thing I found out about myself after all these parties: I will never mumble gibberish while drunk; I will maintain consciousness and recover from the violent head-throbs. Terrible feeling.
posted byWilliam at 8:28 AM 0 comments
Back Home!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I'm finally back in the comfort of my room after a month of traveling. I will be posting some stories and pictures later in the week. As usual, I am busily processing some pictures for printing (nothing beats a well-printed photo!)and sending out the presents to my relatives.
I will be meeting the Sino-Sing people this Sat, so hopefully, I can get as many photos printed out as possible.
posted byWilliam at 12:31 PM 0 comments