inertia

that's a word fitting to label the past few days of attempts at working. i can't seem to get started on work again. time is running out though. i really have got to get these things done. singapore, home and all the friends may just be a short 2 months away, but the exams are an even nearer month away. i'm beginning to feel the pressure.

a glimpse of equilibrium

for want of a better model of analogy.

breakfast at tiffany's goes down as one of the best movies ever. everything about it. simply divine. i'm not just talking about audrey hepburn and the cat, but the use of technicolor and the simplicity of film at that time. classic films of the time are just adept at stripping away (or being safe from the subsequent progress of) glittery razzle dazzle that serve to distort and distract one's attention from a simple heartening plot.

and it's allowed a glimpse of this tender equilibrium. a contentment or appreciation of life as it should be. stripping away all the fear and anxiety of 'what if' lifestyles and the perennial desire to hold on to every possible option-- the epicurean life. life at the equilibrium as i tasted it...a simple approach more than a goal, a clarity of significance that encapsulates the post-modernist rejection of a universal end (even for an individual). i mean no pomposity or pretension with the complex ideas, but they serve as concise concepts that save me from breaking into a drivel of incoherent descriptions.

critique d'essai des fleurs et de la joie

it isn't viewed as a big deal after all, at least not in the negative sense. which dispels all prior scares and apprehension about a birthday bouquet, albeit to someone in particular. glad about that. that's really put a smile to the entire week. indeed, what a lovely week it's been. for once the peace and quiet of warwick life seems interspersed with life and joyous moments, although some came from actors of foreign origins. i'm being obscure no? haha... just know it's been a lovely week. a harmony of sorts in the fluttering fabric of contentment, void of expectations.

familiarity as ecstacy

this morning ends jieming's tour of the 'quiet and peaceful' warwick university, coventry and its surrounding little towns of leamington spa and warwick. felt really great having a familiar face of so many years show up half way across the world in an environment drastically juxtaposed to any memory of it (especially when the last i saw of him was when both of us were in fatigues -- he had dropped by hendon camp on an errand and looked me up for a little chat). and it extends beyond the familiarity of acquaintance to broadly similar attitudes and perspectives to things and people! manifest usually in humour, it felt so comfortable being in the company of yet another ri guy. we're sorely wanting of them over here. seriously. haha. can't wait to get back to singapore then...haha

marathon!

just saw footages of the london marathon on the tele...decided i shall run a marathon next year!
as an intermediary, i shall go for the sheares bridge half marathon! let me know if anyone wants to run that with me..

coming up for air

Imagine having your head under the water in a quiet swimming pool. the haunting resonance of current in your head. haunting emptiness. the absence of anyone but yourself. deep blue emptiness. breath held and lungs tensed, a constipation and a constriction for preservation. a moment when your thoughts scream and every motion cries a futile attempt to plead sanity.

Then imagine coming up for air. a first gasp that burns the lungs, senses liberated with the sounds of nature-- the static of crickets, rustle of foliage, and a brilliant burst of colours. initial awe overwhelming the relief born of past fear, there is nothing more ecstatic than this. a conscious existential note tinged with gratitude. a feeling, nay, an emotion so intense it brims. for this is what it feels to be alive. to be human.

jolly good. a heartening conversation that inspired reflection and melancholy. it's been a while...

a whiff of nostalgia in the air

i'm homesick. i miss all my friends back in singapore. it begun with talking to alvin charmian and ahmad online. really miss hanging out with u guys. u guys really know me inside out and in that sense act as an anchor of sorts, being the better me in periods of blindness and folly. 'dusk and summer' by dashboard confessional totally kicked up the nostalgia fever bringing me back to memories of j1. digging up old posts from the period really brought back memories of the episode relating to tt fateful person-- emotions and events rather conscientiously depicted in words that roused similar feelings by simply reading them. depictions that included the sound advice and help dear friends rendered. i love you guys. this trip down memory lane was really overwhelming. but people have changed and the intense emotions no longer apply to a person in particular, but in abstract. it's insane how much one event can impact one so much, even beyond the period of objective relevance. i can't wait to go back to see these people. 3 more months.

amsterdam koln & berlin in pictures.

Berlin:

neau berlin synagogue. by stereotype, that's an oxymoron..

some medical university in west berlin. pretty eh?

can't rmb what this place was called, but jem said it was the seat of some monarch during the peak of their reign in germany. excuse the ignorance.

a frontal shot of the palace/court/place(?)

pretty architecture!
where berlin stores stolen architecture and art from ancient civilisations worldwide.
stolen from a roman city in pegasus (or of some other spelling)

stolen roman statue...

another stolen roman relic.

i love the uncoventional shapes and materials employed in many of their architecture pieces!
at checkpoint charlie (soviet-american border in berlin: sounds weird doesn't it?) note the picture of the american soldier.
...on the bk of it was a picture of a soviet soldier.
the infamous sign...
the guard post at checkpt charlie today... checkpoint charlie during the cold war...

if i had to live in berlin, i'd definitely live here. presenting the sony centre (has residential apartments too), my favourite piece of modern architecture in berlin.
look at the apartment windows and balconies!
and the diff wings form a circle overlooking this huge atrium of cafes, restaurants and a cinema. kinda like..hmm doubt spore has anything like tt.
...and this is the skylight that joins the wings together, overarching the atrium.
...simply divine.

the jewish war memorial: see how they all seem irregular esp in height?
...likewise in this picture?
...but they're cleverly arranged in military like order and precision
like so. brilliant art installation.
the soviet war effort memorial.

another example of beautiful german architecture...is that sicilian/scandinavian influence with the windows?
this seriously reminded me of singapore's hdb blocks. east berlin had qt a few of these kinda housing.
another fragment of the berlin wall at potsdamerplaz
their subway entrance in the middle of the modern commerce district.

next 5 pictures are of the berlin wall and its art. lotsa grafitti defacing it though.
lovely cartoons at east side gallery along the wall.
also at east side gallery...pity i didn't bring my passport tt day.
it's two jeremys tall! no wonder it wasn't easy to climb.

the german reichstag: 'dem deutsch volke'
u can see the pretty glass dome above the reichstag. ppl can walk up ramps that circle the inside of the dome! line was too long to get in though.
merkel works inside here! another example of impressive modern german architecture.
also examplified in their bahnofs (train stns)
pretty shot of dusk inside the train stn

epitome of german efficiency and order. they measure the distance btwn trees!
the brandenberg gate...considered their most prized monument.
one of my favourite buildings in berlin! its a wing building of the bunderstag
...and it's next to a canal tt separated east & west berlin! pretty huh?

neptune's fountain at alexanderplatz
pretty windows!
the Berlin Dome
can't rmb what this museum was, but twas next to the Berlin Dome view from the top of the berlin dome.
inside the Berlin Dome (cathedral)...

Koln:

german kaiser
nighttime cologne by the river...
simply loved this picture of the railway bridge and the Dom Cathedral in the bkgrd
nighttime cologne along the river..

Amsterdam:

the waag which is near the hostel where we stayed. it's a restaurant now.
the quaint crooked little houses that lean into the alleys.
canals like these formed a network that we call amsterdam. the infamous redlight district. closeups weren't allowed.
at a beautiful sprawling park...
amsterdam's obsession with bicycles..a multi-storeyed carpark for em!