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writings and drawings when I am not daydreaming

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Showing posts from July, 2005

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Getai Blues

on July 30, 2005

HDB

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Viva Cinema

on July 29, 2005

film

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bondfree

on July 27, 2005

personal things we make

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Promised Rest

on July 25, 2005

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Obliging I am

on July 25, 2005

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Drama(grand)mama

on July 24, 2005

family history personal singapore theatre

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Arriving Home

on July 22, 2005

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in my city

on July 21, 2005

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My sis will be as big as...

on July 20, 2005

family personal

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Detainees and Boys in Blue

on July 19, 2005

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Prophecy

on July 18, 2005

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Never far away from you

on July 16, 2005

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how not to be kiasu

on July 16, 2005

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Egg-Hatching

on July 15, 2005

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Mischief

on July 13, 2005

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My very own Superhero

on July 11, 2005

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The Family Business

on July 09, 2005

family personal singapore

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We'll be home for August

on July 07, 2005

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Work to Eat

on July 04, 2005

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Wisdom collected

on July 01, 2005

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ampulets

Labels

MissingJ
art-design
books
domestic tourism
film
nature
personal
taiwan
things we make
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Popular Posts

On Moths and Meaning

Moths have been appearing in the house these past few weeks. They are small, maybe 2-3cm in wing span, and of the grey, furry variety.

miracle man

I can never quite tell if Ma J is asleep or just pretending The old lady in the bed next to Ma J's is in hospital because of a second stroke. When we were visiting Ma J this afternoon, the old lady's middle-aged son was also there. He was in his usual round-neck tee tucked into a pair of blue jeans with a belt made of buffalo hide. His limbs are slim, but his belly is round. His bald head, too, is round and abnormally large for his small frame. Let's call him Ah Biao , or if you prefer an English name, you can think of him as Bill (after his buffalo hide belt). When J and I walked out of the ward, Ah Biao or Bill followed us. Three of us stood around the counter by the nurses' work area. J and I were quiet, enjoying the break. Then Ah Biao wanted to show us something special. "Eh, I show you something." Ah Biao unzipped his black waist pouch and took out a small yellow cloth pouch. He untied the colourful string that secured the opening of the pouch. He weigh...

on a Hou Hsiao Hsien movie set

By the tracks of the Jiji Station, the oldest train station in Taiwan OK, not quite. We did not even manage to go all the way south to Hou Hsiao Hsien's KaoShiung or even Tainan, but we did venture out from Taipei for 3 days to Taichung. But the real takeaway was actually this supposed feature of Hou Hsiao Hsien's films - trains! Trains are about the best thing about traveling. Unlike cars and taxis, trains are a social mode of transport. Train stations allow for reunions and departures, points to assess and affirm relationships. I admit that all this fades away when you are tired or in a great hurry (or both). But seriously, cars (oh, 4-wheelers!) have only brought about pollution and wasteful consumption, traffic jams, asphalt, mindless obsession with speed and countless quarrels in the stressful, enclosed interiors of cars. Friends, take it slow. Take the train. Read a book. Hold your partner's hand. Be there with the people around you. With Taiwan's highspeed rail ...

time

[Trigger warning: this post mentions death and suicide.]

Here's looking at you, kid.

When you look at the lifeless body of someone, they never quite look like themselves.

Saying goodbye

Sleeping J, portrait circa 2006. When archiving images of J recently, I discovered many photographs and drawings I made of him asleep. This is probably quite typical. Your partner, when asleep, will look extra adorable. If not for work, I can spend my mornings just looking at his sleeping face. Of course these sleeping portraits are like death masks. Friends you always ask how am I doing. The concern is sometimes embarrassing. I am definitely doing okay. God has been good. The feeling of gratitude is real. I am blessed with friends, family and both purpose and provision in my work. Many people dealing with the death of a spouse are supported by much less and deal with a whole lot more - young children, ailing parents, a loss of income or subsistence. This is also how I try to keep self-pity at bay.

Taiwan Number 8

At J's fave cafe in Taipei Perhaps it has nothing to do with any intrinsic qualities of the city, the land, the people or the culture that we keep returning to this place. Maybe it has to do instead with the time we lavish walking through its streets and alleys, the quiet we give to ourselves in its hills and valleys, the curiosity we award to its conversations, and our willingness to receive. And so our 8th trip together to Taiwan (a 9th trip was with me/Y with my mom in 2010) yields little in terms of new discoveries. Our typical itinerary is to spend a week in wider Taipei, day trips and all, and another 2-3 days in another part of the island.

On Failure

first Amps photo together - taken on Polaroid 2001 It is inevitable that we all experience failure.

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