peachy space

We watched "This is it" last weekend. 

It felt more like in a concert than in a cinema hall. There were people behind us clapping, whistling, singing along with every scene. The cinema manager had to come in to see if anything went wrong. Interestingly, we actually much enjoyed this surrounding sound effect. I constantly wanted to stand up and dance during the documentary.

MJ is probably the most influential foreign singer for people around my age. Yet, at the end of the show, aside from the usual grief of losing such a talented person, I feel more sorry for all those dancers, vocalists, guitar players etc who thought they have finally got their chance to perform on the same stage with MJ.

Almost everyone interviewed in the documentary, some even before their audition, tells how he/she has been MJ's fan since a kid, and if/when they got the part, the concert would be the best thing ever happen to them. So, after all those years of practice and all those effort they put it, some eventually made it to the crew. Thrilled, they practiced even harder. They even had some great moments rehearsing with MJ himself. But then, MJ passed away.

This concert is not happening. Their childhood dream would never be realized.

...

This morning, an email with a shocking title popped in my inbox. A teacher passed away.

Roland probably would only be a vague name in my memory if he didn't give us that speech just a little over 1 month ago.

He was invited to join our 10-yr anniversary party, as one of the very first teachers we met in Sg. Towards the end of the party, his kids were sleepy and he had to leave first with the family. He gave us a toast. He said he was happy that our batch remained united and close to each other, that he was sure in a few yrs many of us would become very very successful.

Then, he announced that he was going to take a break from his job, and bring his family to Africa for a year for voluntary work. He shared his thoughts as in seeking what is more important and meaningful in life than money and work, and his plan with his wife to take such a break every 10 yr (or perhaps 5) throughout their career. He urged us to keep in mind what's meaningful and important, what do we truly want, in our course to pursue success in our own perspectives.

At the party, most of us are just a few years into working life, maybe with a few already fast climbing up their corporate ladder. We were ambitious and we believed we would fly high. So we got really quiet during Roland's speech, attempting to digest this unexpected advice while trying to convince ourselves that we can have it all. It was in fact one of the most memorable moment in that party for me.

We all wished his family a happy and fruitful trip in Africa before saying goodbye.

Just when we thought he must be happily packing his luggage with family, here comes the painful news.

...

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

在Phuket吃了几天海鲜和Thai food后，O无比希望能吃点大块的肉。于是google了一下“best steakhouse sg"，出来的都是指向Morton's，就带他奔了去。

地点在Mandarin Oriental四楼，一个不是很起眼的角落里。里面的摆设，ambience什么的倒是挺有感觉的。一个看似经理的家伙过来，寒暄了几句，说最好能预定先（还好我们去的时候早）。我们点了餐前酒和水。等了会儿上来个挺大的面包，味道挺好的。

然后发生了我从来没有在restaurant里面碰到过的情景：我们这桌的专属waiter推了个trolley过来，上面有只大龙虾，一个装满了各式cut牛肉的大盘子，和一个装了几种vege的盘子。然后开始向我们介绍本店从前菜，salad，主食（steak）到甜点的特色和选择。那个口若悬河滔滔不绝啊。。没见过waiter这么专业的！后来发现人家连收盘子，斟酒，甚至是刮掉桌布上的面包屑的动作都那么专业。。当然太专业的食物用词的结果就是我和O的vocab加起来大概就听明白了人家介绍的50%的内容。。那种场合也没好意思厚着脸皮去刨根问底。。

反正我听明白了那么多种cut的选择中，只有一种是我能吃的--8oz的，其他都是14oz的超大份量的。。

无比期待的牛排上桌时，我还有点小失望：盘里除了那块肉以外就一根小小的菜叶，连gravy都没有什么。但是切下来送入嘴里后，我和O都被征服了。他家的牛排至少有两大特点：1. 通常吃到的steak都有配这样那样的source，他家的什么都没有。似乎除了少量的盐以外没有使用任何调味料，让我一直感叹这么simple的烹饪居然能出来这么好的味道，简直可以用elegant来形容。2. 虽然不是入口即化（咬起来真真是牙齿舌头味蕾的享受～～），但是吃下去后完全不会觉得好像吞了一大块扎实的肉，以至于我打算某日回来挑战14oz的。。

写的我都又馋了。。 对了，价格是有点不菲，我们salad，dessert之类的都没点，用去了300多大洋。。但是不要太常去的话，很值啊。。

最近的奇怪新闻太多了。
NTU出事了，NUS也出事了，NTU又出事了。

又有人患白血病了。
在NTU待的几年里已经不是第一第二次EEE lab的人患白血病了。真的怀疑那个lab是不是有radiation之类的。

反正就是听了很难受。

最近发生了很多怪事。

生日的那天，先是wireless router被reset，然后固定电话讲到一半突然断掉，之后打不出也打不进来。然后网络也没有access。中午出去吃饭的时候看到有人被困在电梯里面。吃饭的时候遇到停电。

我就想，是不是接下来就应该有一大片黑云过来，盖住整个城市，然后外星人什么的就该出场了。。

今天看到meimei和huihui的blog都记录了些奇奇怪怪的事情，越来越让人糊涂。

给几个赤道上的朋友去了电话，他们一致打算趁我不在多组织几次吃喝玩乐。 恩，说明大家都挺好的。

成都大熊猫繁育基地春节的时候把所有的大的小的大熊猫都放出来了，难得看到大熊猫玩耍打架的场景。

自己拍的：Part 1
  

Part 2