Category: 06. The chRoNIcles

it took me half a day (not continuously doing it every minute though) to migrate the MT storeroom to the WP platform. has been contemplating this move since many months ago and i’ve finally gotten it done (:

have been very satisfied with MT except: (1) every upgrade of platform will cause me to lose all Chinese/unicode entries (turn all content into gibberish) (2) lack of nice themes/templates. so it’s goodbye to MT for now.

i’ve chosen this butterfly theme as i thot this shift resembles the lifecycle of caterpillar to butterfly. it’s a renewal! (:

yesterday i left office somewhat 15mins later than usual, and i arrived at my destination the usual time even though i’ve took a longer route to drop off a friend; this morning, we left home somewhat 15mins later than usual, and i arrived at my desk the usual time as well. traffic’s predictable? the usual thought was ‘yes’, and that would probably change with the recent experiences (:
other long-ago observations:
– a whole line/lane of traffic was crawling due to the leading car who’s very conscious abt safety
– u’re driving an average car (0-100kmh: 12-14s) on the road yet u’re leading the 3-lanes traffic with powerful car (0-100: <10s) trailing behind - the entire road traffic's crawling becoz up front (as u realised later) parked some vehicles that were involved in an accident. (i always like the idea that if u would like to LOOK/STARE at accident vehicles so much, just jammed your breaks when cars' following close and u'll soon have some samples to taste and examine. , so juz use it if u like) assuming u drive, perhaps you can link the above to similar experiences in life/work/friendship/watever-u-name as well (:

guvf z0eavat v 4z f0 hgg3eyl shev0hf gu4g v’i3 g0 chg 4fvq3 zl q4g4 4a4ylfvf 4aq w0g q0ja guvf e3sy3pgv0a-phz-y34eavatf o3s0e3 gu3 cvpghe3 t3gf p0ashf3q 0i3e gvz3. gu0htu z0fg ccy3 j0hyq p4yy vg fghql, v j0hyq ce3s3e g0 p4yy guvf 4 y34eavat w0hea3l 4f v e3p4yy q34e3fg qe x0u 0ap3 f4vq juvy3 ce3c4evat z3 s0e zl vag3eiv3j “(fhzz4evf3q) gu3 vzc0eg4ag guvat 0s guvf gevc j0hyq a0g o3 gu3 y3pghe3f a0e guvatf va gu3 o00xf, ohg g0 yvi3 4z0at gu3 y0p4yf, f33 u0j gu3l t0 4o0hg gu3ve q4vyl yvi3f vapyhqvat fu0ccvat 4g fhc3ez4ex3gf. y34ea 4o0hg gu3ve yvi3f 4aq phyghe3.” vaq33q, v’i3 e3z3zo3e3q gu0f3 j0eqf 4aq v u0yq 0a g0 gu3f3 y34eavatf 4og gu3 puva3f3 q34eyl 4f 0a3 j0hyqag u4i3 gu3 0cc0eghavgl g0 3kc3ev3ap3 4yy gu3f3 vs l0h’e3 4 g0hevfg.
j3 4yj4lf yvx3 g0 f4l 4 fpu00y p4a o3 4 e3sy3pgv0a 0s gu3 f0pv3gl 4g-y4et3. se0z zl vag3e4pgv0af jvgu zl c33ef 4aq ce0s3ff0ef, v’yy o3 4oy3 g0 3kge4c0y4g3 gu3 zvaqf3g 0s gu3 t3a3e4y c0chy4gv0a. vs ccy3 va guvf “uvtuyl-phyghe3q” cy4p3 vf 4g 4 y0j y3i3y, 0a3 p4a vz4tva3 u0j shegu3e y0j3e vg p4a t0 va gu3 e34y f0pv3gl. j3yy, gu4g o3vat f4vq, v zhfg f4l gu4g v’i3 z33g z4al avp3 4aq geh3 ccy3 va shq4a (juvpu 3kge4c0y4g3f g0 gu3e3 4e3 z4al fvzvy4e puva3f3 y0p4yf gu4g l0h p4a z33g g00). u0j3i3e, ju3a j3 z4x3 whqt3z3agf, vg’f 4yj4lf gu3 zva0e ‘u4cc3avatf’ gu4g t4vaf 0he 4gg3agv0a 4aq y3aq z0fg j3vtug 0a gu3 sva4y 3i4yh4gv0a.
guvf vf j4g u4cc3af … gu3 z4fg3ef p0hef3 gu4g v’z g4xvat @shq4a e3dhve3f hf g0 g4x3 GJ0 p0zchy0f0el z0qhy3f, 4×4 S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3f. 0a c4c3e, vg vf jevgg3a gu4g gu3f3 gj0 z0qhy3f j0hyq o3 z4q3 4i4vy4oy3 4aq j3’e3 fhcc0f3 g0 p0zcy3g3 vg jvguva gu3 svefg l34e 0s fghql (4of0yhg3yl y0tvp4y, 0gu3ejvf3 jul p4yy vg ‘s0haq4gv0a’ 4g 4yy evtug?). u0j3i3e, guvf g0c havi3efvgl va puva4 u4f 0ayl gu4g 0a3 ce0s3ff0e ju0 g34pu3f guvf S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3, 4aq u3 vf 4j4l 0a 0ssvpv4y ohfva3ff s0e gu4g ju0y3 l34e f0 a0 0a3 3yf3 4e0haq p4a p0aqhpg gu3 S0HAQ4GV0A 4aq j3 4e3 4yy y3sg jvgu0hg S0HAQ4GV0A juvy3 j3 ce0p33q g0 l34e gj0. f0 zhpu 4o0hg gu3 flfg3z 0s 4 g0c e4ax3q havi3efvgl [vapvq3ag 0A3]. 0a3 p4a u4eqyl vz4tva3 ju4g’f gu3 fvgh4gv0a va 4 2aq 0e 3eq e4g3q hav va puva4. o3gg3e f4i3 f0z3 oe4va p3yyf.
4aq s0e 0a3, v’z z0fg p0ap3ea3q 4og gu3 4i4vy4ovyvgl 0s guvf S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3, 4f (0a3) v p4ag te4qh4g3 vs v q0ag t3g g0 g4x3 guvf z0qhy3 (gj0) v’z 0a guvf fpu0y4efuvc gu4g 0ayl svyyf zl evp3 o0jy s0e 0a3 l34e, gu3 e3fg 0s gu3 gvz3 l0h’e3 3kc3pg3q g0 fheivi3 0a gu3 fge0at ‘j3fg-a0egu jvaq’, 4aq j3yy, gu3 jvaq vf dhvg3 fge0at va fu4at u4v 4alj4l. u3ap3, 3 zguf o3s0e3 gu3 ce0s e3gheaf se0z uvf 0i3ef34f qhgv3f, v’i3 t3g va g0hpu jvgu uvz iv4 3z4vy 4aq u3 CE0ZVF3Q gu4g gu3 p0hef3 j0hyq o3 z4q3 4i4vy4oy3 0ap3 u3 e3gheaf. 4aq l3f h th3ff3q vg gu3e3, gu3 S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3 vf 0ap3 4t4va A0G 0ss3e3q qhevat l34e 2 f3z 1. f0 zhpu s0e gu3 ‘ce0zvf3’, 4aq ju3a 4cce04pu3q s2s, u3 u4f gu3 s4p3 g0 g3yy hf gu4g ‘j3yy, v p4ag 3i3a g3yy h a0j vs vg’yy o3 0ss3e3q gu3 a3kg f3z a0j’ [vapvq3ag GJ0]. 4f 0s a0j gu3 o3tvaavat 0s le 2 f3z 1, gu3 S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3 vf 0ss3e3q, ohg gu3 fg0el q03fag 3aq u3e3.
va iv3j 0s (2) 4o0i3, v’i3 g0 svavfu hc gu3 p0hef3 f00a3fg c0ffvoy3 4f 3i3a vs v p4a fheivi3 0a gu3 jvaqf, zl s4zvyl p4ag. v’z a0g 4 y0a3e ohg 4 s4zvyl z4a jvgu u34il e3fc0afvovyvgv3f 0a zl fu0hyq3ef/o4px. vs a0g s0e gu0f3 3ZCGL ce0zvf3f 4aq fpe3j3q hc flfg3z, v j0hyq o3 4oy3 g0 p0zcy3g3 zl p0hef3 jvguva 2 l34ef 4aq guvf 3agel j0hyq a0g u4i3 3kvfg3q. j3yy, j3’i3 g0 3kc3pg gu3 ha3kc3pg3q va yvi3f, 4pg 4f a3p3ff4el 4aq z0i3 0a jvgu vg, 4aq f0 v’i3 z4q3 cy4af s0e zl e3ghea g0 FT g0 p0aqhpg 4 e3f34epu 4f c4eg 0s zl fghqv3f. v’i3 f33x fc3pv4y c3ezvffv0af se0z gu3 puva3f3 q3c4egz3ag u34qf 4aq fhc3eivf0e (o3y0atvat g0 gu3 te0hc 0s i3el haq3efg4aqvat 4aq avp3 ccy3) gu4g v p4a e3ghea g0 FT g0 p0aqhpg zl e3f34epu, 4aq gu4g S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3 p4a o3 p0zcy3g3q ‘0ss gu3 p04fg’ 4aq v j4f g0yq g0 u4aq hc gu3 a3p3ff4el 4ffvtaz3agf g0 t3g gu3 e3fhygf gu4g’f a33q3q. u3ap3 juvy3 qe4ttvat zl s4zvyl o4px se0z fu4atu4v, v 3z4vy3q gu3 ce0s 4o0hg zl e3gheavat g0 FT 4aq zl 3kc3pg3q a0a-4gg3aq4ap3 0s uvf S0HAQ4GV0A z0qhy3 jvgu oy3ffvatf 0s gu3 q3cg uqf/fhc3eivf0e. l3f, v t0gg3a 4 e3cyl jvfuvat z3 j3yy 4aq v j4f g0yq g0 3z4vy uvz 4t4va ju3a gu3 p0hef3 fg4egf [vapvq3ag GUE33].
4aq f0 gu4g’f ju4g v qvq 0i3e gu3 y4fg j33x3aq 4f y4fg sevq4l j4f gu3 svefg y3ff0a. 4aq v’i3 t0gg3a 4 fu0eg 4aq fjvsg e3cyl “vs l0h p4aa0g o3 4e0haq g0 4gg3aq zl y3ff0af, gu3a q0 a0g f3y3pg gu3 z0qhy3” [vapvq3ag S0HE].
chggvat [vapvq3agf 0a3-s0he] g0t3gu3e f0 s4e (z0e3 jvyy o3 p0zvat v o3yv3i3), guvf j0hyq o3 zl o3fg y34eavatf va puva4, 4aq ge4afy4gvat vg vag0 4 fvaty3 cv3p3 0s 4qivp3 g0 4al0a3 ju0 j4agf g0 q34y jvgu puva3f3 (fc3pvsvp4yyl CEP s0yxf; FT puva3f3′ 4 qvss3e3ag y0g jvgu qvss3e3ag i4yh3f a 0hgy00xf va yvs3): y34ea 4aq haq3efg4aq 4f z4al puva3f3 ce0i3eof 4f l0h p4a. gu3 e34f0a vf fvzcy3, ce0i3eof ‘ce3f3ei3q yvs3’ s0e uhaqe3qf 4aq gu0hf4aqf 0s l34ef, 4aq gu3f3 ‘4apv3ag jvfq0z’ 4e3 f0 q33cyl e00g3q va gu3 o3yv3s flfg3zf 0s gu3 CEP puva3f3, 3fc3pv4yyl guvf 3guavp te0hc yvx3f g0 y00x o4px va uvfg0el 4aq u4at 0a f0 gvtugyl g0 gu0f3 ‘j0aq3eshy 4aq te34g c4fg z0z3agf/4puv3i3z3agf’. y34ea 4f z4al ce0i3eof 4f l0h p4a 4aq l0h j0hyq a0g o3 p4htug va fhecevf3 ol gu3ve 4pgv0af. 4aq vs l0h j3e3 p0ashf3q ol gu3ve 4pgv0af, whfg y00x s0e 4 z4gpu va gu3 ce0i3eo, vs vg p4a o3 s0haq (vg’f 4yz0fg ava3gl-ava3 c3ep3ag 0s gu3 p4f3), vg vf ‘a0ez4y’, 4g y34fg g0 gu3 ccy3 ju0 fc34xf gu4g y4ath4t3 3i3a vs h c3ep3vi3 vg 4f 4ofheo.
4f j3 e34q puva3f3 a0i3yf 4aq j3e3 y3q g0 o3yv3i3 u0j ‘a0oy3’ 4aq gehfgj0egul 4aq phyghe3q gu3 puva3f3 4e3, j3yy v j0hyq 0ayl f4l gu0f3 4e3 ‘che3 svpgv0af’, 4g y34fg va gu3 phee3ag q4l. 0e, c3eu4cf gu0f3 4e3 0ayl svpgv0a4y ‘q3fve3q 0hgp0z3f’ gu4g j3e3 a3i3e e34pu3q ol gu3 z4ff? uzzm …

amidst the thesis writing, had spent some time to prepare for the annual CNY gathering tomorrow. this year my students are not receiving the ‘conventional’ angbaos (in other words no cash inside) because i’m for once having the same “STUDENT” status as many of them. hope they like it though 🙂

Well, if you reading this post after this blog has been neglected for close to 2 months, “THANK YOU” for visiting. And I think it’s good for me to recap some of the events in the past two months coz I know my day-to-day failing memory cannot recall any of these if I were not to pen it down soon *haha*

On 23rd Nov, we took flight SQ835 to head back home@SG, leaving behind the cold Shanghai behind us, where we lived for close to 15 months. We were ahead of schedule for the return as I need to return to SG for my research data collection and more importantly, we need to return to SG to start work as our “income” has stopped and there’s now 2+2 mouths to feed. And yes, that leaves the fact that I have left Shanghai and my course is far from complete. On this day, we dragged with us some 140kg of luggages with us to board the plane (with special mention and thanks to SQ’s Shanghai Customer Services Manager for granting us extra baggage FOC for our relocation). Yes, the load is nightmarish.
And back home, one of the major event is to unpack all the things that we brought back from Shanghai (did I mention we have another 12 boxes of stuff that took a 1 mth ship ride which costs us >RMB3000 for it?). And before we left for Shanghai, I have an entire room locked out with boxes of things. Yes (x2), it’s nightmarish (x2) for the whole unpacking business, and it’s only _almost_ done after 2 months. CNY’s round the corner so there’s not much time left to complete it.
Other major “events” for the past two months include hunting & registering yh juniors for school/childcare, hunting & buying a car for all the ferry purposes, yh2 starting work 7 days after we landed back in SG (this is the single most impactful event that slows everything else down. and the best thing is she’s not paid a single cent for all the work done in the whole month. and it’s for you to guess the why), completing the second and third last assignments for my coursework (yes, ONE last module and dreadful assignment to go), handholding events for my thesis research etc etc). And yes, finally I get to sit down to blog this entry.
The way ahead is going to be quite an unimaginable one. I have less than 1.5 month to complete analysing all my data and to write out the entire research thesis becoz I intend to graduate by Jul 09. This would accelerate my 3-yrs course to 2-yrs and I cant guarantee I can make it as life comes with so many events unpredictable. We can only pray for the best and prepare for the worst. I will be returning to work wef 1st Apr as I mentioned we needed the income to feed the 2+2 mouths. Where I’ll be posted to has been decided and I hope to get it ‘un’-decided and ‘re’-decided as I hope to be able to return to school to teach (and to lead). In any case, I would be glad to return to where I ‘left behind’ if the re-deciding part fails 🙂
And for now, Chinese New Year is just round the corner and I’m very much in the festive mood. This year for CNY we’ll not be able to fire up fire crackers and fireworks as we did back in Shanghai 1 yr ago. But this year, we’ll have our friends and relatives and students with us for the celebration. Nothing beats this human relationship, not the snow (definitely not the freezing icy coldness), not the fire crackers (though personally I felt it’s time for the relevant authorities to review the 30(?) yrs old ban. In Shanghai neighbourhood, you get to buy and fire up as many of those as you want to, and everyone abides to some social norms for the firing. No fines, no black-n-white written rules, no road closure, and everybody gets their chance to contribute their part to the festive moods). And so, that’s about all I want to pen for now. And to you if you have patience to complete up to this point, may I wish you and your family:

Cheers 😉