Back home

After three months in the Netherlands, I am back home! This year I have been in the Netherlands for 6 months. Now it's time to make it equal for my home country. :P

In year 2001, I made one book by myself to record all my flights by asking the pilots to sign. One of the pilots, who signed my book today in year 2008, actually signed once before in 2002 already. Such a coincidence!

During the 15 hours in the plane, I watched 5 movies. One of them is Mamma Mia. Last time I saw this musical play was a live show in Taipei. Although this time it's a movie, I still like it and paid more attention on the lyrics.

[ The Winner Takes It All ] by ABBA

I don't wanna talk
About the things we've gone through
Though it's hurting me
Now it's history
I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser standing small beside the victory
That's her destiny

I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence
Building me a home
Thinking I'd be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear
The winner takes it all
The loser has to fall
It's simple and it's plain
Why should I complain

But tell me does she kiss
Like I used to kiss you?
Does it feel the same
When she calls your name?
Somewhere deep inside
You must know I miss you
But what can I say
Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide
The likes of me abide
Spectators of the show
Always staying low
The game is on again
A lover or a friend
A big thing or a small
The winner takes it all

I don't wanna talk
If it makes you feel sad
And I understand
You've come to shake my hand
I apologize
If it makes you feel bad
Seeing me so tense
No self-confidence
But you see
The winner takes it all
The winner takes it all...

The various floors of friends

It's a file 朋友的不同樓層(the various floors of friends) in Chinese, forwarded by a friend. Below is only part of the content.

There are around 6 billions of people in the world. How many of them could we hug, how many of them could we hold hands, how many of them could we talk to but without touching, and how many of them would we just pass by? Who could really get into our heart in our lives? Maybe they could be counted within the fingers of our two hands.

The author separated the friends into various floors.

The friends on the ground floor are normally the ones who you might talk within 20 sentences, such as "how are you", "where are you going", "it's nice", and etc. Everyone looks stable and satisfied.

The friends on the first floor are the living room friends who you would like to spend time together to talk about social news, economic situation, fashion, and etc. You might pass the loneliness of everyone, and feel happiness.

The friends on the second floor are the kitchen friends who you share your happiness and sadness. You feel that you are known and understood by them, so you don't feel lonely.

The friends on the third floor are the bedroom friends who you could talk and touch. You want to share all your idea, imagination, and dream with them. The ones who know when and how to adjust the atmosphere for you are your good roommates. Meanwhile, you should learn to be the master of changing the atmosphere as well.

The friends of the balcony on the roof are the ones who stop by sometimes, leave some seeds, but you don't know when or whether it would sprout. Some people stop by slowly while others do quickly. Some people stay short, while others do longer. Later on the wrinkle might remind you the memory and feeling, leading to some stories of experience.

We might spend one second to pass by the ground floor, three seconds to pass by living room, three minutes for kitchen, four hours in the bedroom, and maybe five days on the roof to wait for a miracle. Sometimes with a little touching experience, we might forget the fact about 6-billions people, feeling like having everything including all the friends in the building.

A normal friend never saw you crying. A real friend borrows the shoulder for you to cry.
A normal friend don't like your to call while sleeping. A real friend asks why you called late.
A normal friend wants you to stay and support. A real friend wants to stay and support you.

Could not breath

Have you ever experienced that you couldn't breath?
Later on you would realize that you are alive by finding the breath back...

後知後覺 by 張雨生

It's an old song by a talented Taiwanese singer, who passed away few years ago. I am not going to translate the words of the song... :)

張雨生令人懷念的聲音...

[ 後知後覺 ] by 張雨生

你披星戴月 你不辭冰雪
你穿過山野 來到我的心田

你像遠在天邊 又似近在眼前
直到充臆心間 我才後知後覺

你給我安慰 我不致頹廢
你寬容慈悲 我能振翅高飛
你卻功成身退 我不及言謝
你不告而別 我才後知後覺

★間奏★

你披星戴月 你不辭冰雪
你穿過山野 來到我的心田

你像遠在天邊 又似近在眼前
直到充臆心間 我才後知後覺

你給我安慰 我不致頹廢
你寬容慈悲 我能振翅高飛
你卻功成身退 我不及言謝
你不告而別 我才後知後覺

你給我安慰 我不致頹廢
你寬容慈悲 我能振翅高飛
你卻功成身退 我不及言謝
你不告而別 我才後知後覺

我期待 by 張雨生

It's an old song by a talented Taiwanese singer, who passed away few years ago. I am not going to translate the words of the song... :)

張雨生令人懷念的聲音...

[ 我期待 ] by 張雨生

我期待 有一天我會回來
回到我最初的愛 回到童貞的神采
我期待有一天我會明白
明白人世的至愛 明白原始的情懷
我情願 分合的無奈 能換來春夜的天籟
我情願 現在與未來 能充滿秋涼的爽快
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
前前後後 迂迂迴迴地試探
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
昂首闊步 不留一絲遺憾

我情願 分合的無奈 能換來春夜的天籟
我情願 現在與未來 能充滿秋涼的爽快
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
前前後後 迂迂迴迴地試探
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
昂首闊步 不留一絲遺憾
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
前前後後 迂迂迴迴地試探
SAY GOODBYE SAY GOODBYE
昂首闊步 不留一絲遺憾

It is more blessed to give than to receive...

"Let us complain less and give more!"
It's the content on the last slide at http://spaces.muxlim.com/siecantik/blog/32885/voted-the-best-email-of-this-year-and-deservedly.

Caring what other people think?... what do you think?...
Looking for happiness?... it's inside ourselves...

A man felt frustrate about his situation, and talked to a wise man. The wise man asked the man to put a bucket of salt into a lake, and then asked him to taste the water from the lake. The water from the lake was not salty. "it's not about the salt, but about how wide the lake is. It's not the event itself which makes us to feel sad, unhappy, frustrate, and etc., but the capability which we could take and handle our feelings."

零度 Zero degree

儀表板顯示 零度
聽著 Katie Melua 的 Piece by Piece 專輯
括除 車窗上結冰的霜
冬天 巧巧到來
短羽絨衣下 短袖一件
竟不覺得冷
草坪上 覆蓋薄薄一片雪白冰霜
心裡想著 是否會錯過今年的第一場雪

(Cursory Translation)
Zero degree
It was shown on the appearance of bearing in the car
Listened Katie Melua's Piece by Piece
Scratched the frozen frost off the windscreen
Winter was coming tranquilly
Under the down coat
only one shirt
But didn't feel cold
Snow-white frost put a cover over the grass
Wondered
whether I would miss the first snow this year

New Single "Don't Believe in Love" by Dido

[ Don't believe in Love ] by Dido

I wanna go to bed with arms around me
But wake up on my own
Pretend that I’m still sleeping
Til’ you go home

Oh I can’t look at you this morning
I should probably have a sign
That says ‘Leave right now or quicker’
You’ve overstayed your time

If I don’t believe in love nothing will last for me
If I don’t believe in love nothing is safe for me
When I don’t believe in love you’re too close to me
And that’s why you have to leave

Maybe I slept peaceful on your shoulder
Your arm warm around my side
But it’s different now, it’s morning
And I can’t face your smile

The second that I feel your safe hands
Reaching out for mine
I slip away and out of sight
You’ve overstayed your time

If I don’t believe in love nothing is good for me
If I don’t believe in love nothing will last for me
When I don’t believe in love nothing is new for me
Nothing is wrong for me
And nothing is real for me

When I don’t believe in love why do you care for me?
When I don’t believe in love nothing is real for me
If I don’t believe in love you’re getting to close to me
And that’s why you have to leave
And that’s why you have to leave

If I don’t believe in love
If I don’t believe in love
If I don’t believe in love
Nothing is left for me
If I don’t believe in love
You’re too good for me

Germany - Ibbenbüren - Outdoor climbing - 2008/10/12

With few friends, we went for an outdoor climbing. It's my second time for this sport, but I was doing ok. :P Since Fede is the expert, I was not worried. It's fun to see how the experts climbed up the rocks with beautiful movements, while I saw no way to get up to those places.

According to the GPS, the place we went to is at

L591 Brochterbecker Straße
49479 Ibbenbüren
Germany

There was one place which we went first. However because of the moss and humidity, it was too slippy to climb. Maybe next time...

K24 Im Bocketal
49545 Tecklenburg
Germany

Since I bought the climbing shoes, I planned to go for indoor climbing every week during this business trip in NL! :)

Netherlands - Landgraaf - Ski - 2008/10/05

SnowWorld is located at Landgraaf, close to Masstricht. There are multiple facilities, but we only went for skiing. For slope entrance, it costs 35 euros for 4 hours, but only 37.5 euros for 8 hours. When you leave the slope for a drink, food, and etc., the clock stops clicking.

Since I didn't bring my ski trousers with me to NL this time, I wore three layers of trousers instead. The socks, the gloves, and the hat were borrowed as well. Thanks for the owner. :) When we felt cold or my fingers/toes were frozen, we just went to the bar for a snack or hot chocolate. We stayed in SnowWorld around 7 hours, skiing for around 5 hours in total. It's my second time to ski, and I still enjoyed it a lot. Maybe next time I should take a lesson to learn the technics better.

Note. My first ski trip is shortly recorded at another blog article.