2008/01/28

Belgium - Brugge - 2008/01/27

I visited Brugge with some friends in year 2004 already, but didn't mind to visit there again. I like the lovely houses, tranquil alleys, nice restaurants and cafes, and etc. over there. To me, Brugge combines many elements for a quality life.



Belgium beer is famous. Although I didn't drink this time, I remebered that it's quite good.


More photos for the trips in Brugge in year 2004 and 2008: http://picasaweb.google.com/aprilhsutw/BelgiumBrugge20042008

2008/01/27

Few songs from the TV show

There are few songs/performances I like from the famous TV show 超級星光大道 in TW. :)

1. 林宥嘉 - 你是我的眼
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=mbcJ0QFfPIo

如果我能看得見
就能輕易分辨白天黑業
就能準確的在人群中牽住你的手

如果我能看得見
就能駕車帶你到處遨遊
就能驚喜的從背後給你一個擁抱

如果我能看得見
生命也許完全不同
可能我想要的我喜歡的我愛的
都不一樣

眼前的黑不是黑
你說的白是什麼白
人們說的天空藍
是我記憶中那團白雲背後的藍天
我望向你的臉
卻只能看見一片虛無
是不是上帝在我眼前遮了簾
忘了掀開

你是我的眼
帶我領略四季的變換
你是我的眼
帶我穿越擁擠的人潮
你是我的眼
帶我閱讀浩瀚的書海
因為你是我的眼
讓我看見這世界就在我眼前

2. 林宥嘉 - Creep
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiJ8KdZsQc

When you were here before
Couldn't look you in the eyes
You're just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather
In a beautiful world

You're so very special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here
I don't belong here
I don't care if it hurts
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice
When I'm not around

You're so very special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here
I don't belong here

She's running out
She's run
She's running out
She's run run run run ～
run ～

Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so very special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here
I don't belong here
I don't belong here

3. 蕭煌奇 - 阿嬤的話 (someone sang in the show, but I like the performance by the original singer who is blind.)
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=T7yyTaHuJk0

在細漢的時陣，阮阿嬤對我尚好，甲尚好的物伴攏會留乎我。
伊嘛定定帶我去幼稚園看人在七桃。
看人在辦公伙兒，看人在覓相找。
伊定定跟阮說，叫阮著要好好仔讀冊。
嘸通大漢像恁老爸仔這麼狼狽。
在彼個時陣，阮攏聽攏嘸。

阿嬤你到底是在講什麼，大漢了後才知影阿嬤的話。
我會甲永遠永遠放塊心肝底。

想可一步一步的過去，定定攏會乎人真難忘。
時間一分一秒塊過去，在阮的心內定定攏會想到伊。

阿嬤你今嘛在叨位，阮在叫你你甘有聽到。
阮的認真甲阮的成功你甘有看到，阮在叫你你知影沒。
阿嬤你今嘛過的好麼，甘有人塊甲你照顧。
希望後世人阮擱會凍來乎你疼，作你永遠的孫仔。
擱叫你一聲阿嬤。

4. 梁文音 - 花香
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=HyIhxs652mI

離開彼一晚　
會記得故鄉的花香　
微微啊天未光　
伊就起床來顧花叢
不曾一句怨嘆　
搖阮大漢　
不甘阮在異鄉乎風雨淋
離土的花叢　
為一個夢　
人茫茫　
海也茫茫
伊惦惦在等　
阮回來那天　
花蕊漸漸紅　
伊惦惦在等

看無伊的人　
像海上船啊找無帆　
行過這多冬　
嘛看透人情的冷暖
故鄉彼條小巷　
如今猶原　
不同是阮返去伊無在等
無人惜花叢　
花哪會香　
世間阿母　
攏共款
伊惦惦在等　
阮回來那天　
花蕊漸漸紅　
伊已經遙遠

誰人著叫著我　
甘是阿母的聲　
親像故鄉不時在叫我
伊未擱等在那　
不敢來哭出聲　
叫阮寶貝心肝　
有閒就緊回來看我
伊惦惦在等　
阮回來那天　
花蕊漸漸紅　
伊已經遙遠
啦~
啦~
花蕊漸漸紅　
伊已經遙遠

5. 林宥嘉 - Last Order
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=nAww-Gtw55I

沒關係 真的沒關係
我也許 早就該回去
再一杯 我告訴自己
到此為止 乾了不再續
麻煩你 加冰威士忌
對不起 來個DOUBLE的
喝到這裡 終於夠勇氣 說一個經歷

那晚下雨 在這店裡 也放著這首曲
有個男子 搭上一個女子
反正失戀 他當然不介意 有段艷遇
只是回到 他的家裡
十幾坪 家徒四壁
一聲不響
那女的 掉頭離去
就像 三個小時前
未婚妻 初次到來
嫌棄的樣子

沒關係 真的沒關係 一晚上 就失戀兩次
那男子 還不懂懷疑 到底自己是否沒出息
不客氣 別給我ICE TEA 客人們不是我嚇跑的
別看著我 這個不過是 我朋友的經歷

那晚下雨 在這店裡 也放著這首曲
有個男子 搭上一個女子
反正失戀 他當然不介意 有段艷遇
只是回到 他的家裡
十幾坪 家徒四壁
一聲不響
那女的 掉頭離去

就像 我的未婚妻
對不起 好像說成是我的樣子
我是沒關係

2008/01/23

Welcome, little guy!

Walking out of the office building, I saw the full moon hanging on the dark sky silently... felt like I am back to the childhood in the grandmother's garden... staring at the moon... because you told us that you would watch the moon at 20:ooPM everyday during your business trip... so when we were all watching the moon, it’s like that we were together... that's family I think.

Thinking back about what happened in year 2007...
Jan - grandmother passed away
Mar - moved from Taipei to Linkou because of changing my job to ASML
Apr - business trip to the Netherlands
May - back to Taiwan because the other grandmother passed away
Jun - business trip to the Netherlands
Aug - back to Taiwan and rented an apartment
Oct - bought a presale apartment
Dec - flied to the Netherlands for personal vacation and business trip

To me, 2007 is the year with most significant affairs and mental impacts in my life. I lost the most important person in my life and I wasn't there while she passed away. I don't remember how I went to the airport... waited long for the airplane... couldn't stop crying... couldn't believe what I was going to be missing starting from that moment in my life... I was so glad that my brother was there with me all the way back to Tainan. It couldn't be better that someone could understand your feeling and could share the infinite pain, without saying anything... in fact that's one of the reasons my sister decided to have the second child... after the experience, she imaged that if someday she and my brother in law left, not only the only child has to accept the huge impact, but also he couldn't share the pain and sorrow with someone based on the same memory. Of course, there is always some other ways to release the emotion, but it's still nice to have someone to share when you need.

Now at the beginning of year 2008, I am in the Netherlands, and the new member of the family just joined! My second nephew, a little 3.4kg boy, was born on January 19th, 2008! Welcome to the world with tons of love, little guy! :)

2008/01/20

The meaning of travelling

For most of us, travelling is like breathing, normal and natural. We always look for new places/cities/countries/continents to explore, being able to experience others' live in days, in weeks, in months, or in years. By connecting to the world, we feel satisfied and know ourselves more... then... when we are tired of the new things, we go back home and am eager to be surrounded by all familiar things, friends, and family... however, sooner or later... we would take our packs and go for next trips.... it's an endless cycle... we know it, but can't help it...

In the past few trips, I realized that somehow I lost some excitement while travelling. I keep going, still love going somewhere to see new things and meet new people, but am much easier to get bored. I talked to people, but forgot their names in days, or in minutes. I took the maps to walk around, to take photos, to meet nice people, and to do whatever a tourist would do, but then all the difference in various places became one thing, difference, which I might feel sometimes even in Taiwan. There are many places I want to visit but haven't done yet. I just need some new elements for my following trips, although I am not sure what those elements could be. The world is too big and too small. Then I asked myself, what next while even pretending to be local is not exciting anymore?

A good article at http://www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/showthread.php?t=54979 was forwarded by a friend. According to the author, we broke through the definition of beauty once and once through travelling, and then the definition and meaning of travelling and feeling about places became unique only to ourselves, no matter what the rest of world says. To her, the meaning of travelling is to dip in an unfamiliar culture and feel it, the same meaning and feeling as sitting in a cafe in Taipei. To her, travelling is the position by which she reads the world. The Author quotes a line from Osho "People do not reach destinations because of running, but they do when they stop."

The article for sure aroused echo in my heart. However there is still something I have to figure out by myself. Why am I not as excited as before when I heard someone visited a new country, but am more excited when I heard someone describing his experience of bringing some stationary to the kids in Angkor Wat?

Two nice videos

1. A great video about Taiwan

http://www.youtube.com/v/gRu2oK0Kqc4

2. An incredible puppet show

2008/01/13

Germany - Remagen - 2008/01/12

Remagen (*)


Remagen is a city situated on the River Rhine and used to be the former West-German capital. I thought it would be nice to have a cup of coffee next to the River Rhine. However when I arrived on Saturday, there were only one pharmacy and one supermarket opened. I walked along the River Rhine with some local people with their dogs... seeing the huge boats busy in shipping... but why the color of River Rhine is yellowish brown...

Comparing with other cities, Remagen is relatively small, but with many lovely and well-maintained buildings and churches, even back to sometime 13 or 14 century.




Along the River Rhine, I drove to Bonn, enjoying the views which I used to see in the train two or three years ago. However when the GPS led me to the city center, I could hardly breath... Bonn is a big city which didn't fit my feeling on that day I thought... then I escaped from it... spending two hours driving back to Eindhoven...


Go for decisions... and then smile...

How long the lives of human being are?... If we don't even know whether we would have tomorrow or not, why do we care the consequence? However it's really difficult to think this way.

We face various situations and make decisions daily. What to eat, what to do, where to go, when to meet, who to spend time with... some people cares, while the others don't... some people care these, while the others care the others... it's normal that people put priorities on all the decisions... and then go for the important ones. As long as that's what people decide, we should respect it.

We make decisions and review them later, without regret. I still believe that "Choose what you love, and love what you chose." Based on my current knowledge, information, and feeling, I might struggle and then make a decision. If my heart tell me that it's the best choice I want to chose and the best decision I want to make at this moment, even in the future the time go back to the moment, I should still make the same choice and decision, as long as I listen to my heart and try my best at this moment.

Go for decisions... and then smile...

2008/01/07

Switzerland - Lausanne/Montrex/Geneva - 2008/01/02 ~ 2008/01/06

Lausanne (***)
Around 50 minutes with cost CHF 25 by train from Geneva Airport, Lausanne is situated on the northeast shore of lake Geneva.

I like walking. Therefore even it's extremely cold, I woke up early, walked along the shores, and found some spots to enjoy the view of the lake and the mountains at Ouchy. It was so peaceful. By the way, the headquarter of the International Olympic Committee is located next to the lake in Lausanne.

The city center of Lausanne is in the valley, making the city even more unique and beautiful. I bought an one-day ticket, CHF 8.6, to visit the city by bus and metro as far as I wanted. One thing I was eager to do in Lausanne was to listen to the live Jazz. However the Jazz bar, Chorus, was closed due to the holiday season. Maybe next time...



More photos for this trip in Lausanne:
Lausanne Guesthouse & Backpacker http://www.lausanne-guesthouse.ch/indexe.html (Strongly Recommended; very clean; great location)



Montreux (***)

Montreux lies on the northeast shore of Lake Geneva as well, taking around 20 minutes by train from Lausanne. Suggested by a gentleman in the hostel, instead of taking the train directly from Lausanne to Montreux, I transferred twice at Puidoux-Chexbres and Vevey, taking 35 minutes in total. The ticket cost CHF 11.8 while the direct train back cost CHF 10.2. For sure the view on the way worth the time and money! Comparing with Lausanne, Montreux is more touristy, but closer to the mountains!

Because it was cloudy, I didn't take the train up to Les Rochers-de-Naye Jardin Alpin (2042m). Instead, I spent some time hiding in my personal spots to enjoy the air, sound, and views of the amazing lake and mountains, and getting lost in the old city to overlook Montreux.


More photos for this trip in Montreux:


Geneva (**)

Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland. Before climbing up to the northern tower of Sant-Pierre Church, I was kind of bored of the city. During winter, it's not very vivid in Europe. However on the tower, I overlooked the city and thought Geneva is not so bad somehow. I wrote my diary in the cold... to feel myself alive...

It was cold and raining, so I found a nice cafe and hope a hot chocolate would keep me warm. However it ended up with an ice cream costing CHF 9... although I got a running nose already... I enjoyed the ice cream a lot... :)


More photos for this trip in Geneva: