A Famed & Soulful Chinese Song (Sung Peah: Farewell)

I would like to share this wonderful Chinese song. This famous Chinese song has a romantic story and the lyrics was composed by a famed Chinese legendary multi talented artist. Anyway, the lyrics was set to an American song he heard while he was studying in Japan: Dreaming of Home and Mother. So this artist was the only son of a wealthy family in Tientsin and he was schooled in the classical way but later went to Japan to study art. He was the pioneer in bringing the Western way of art such as drawing nude models. He not only drew but also wrote musics and plays and excelled in calligraphy of which original copies were highly treasured by learned Chinese such as Luxhun. He married a Japanese but later became a monk during his 30s and became a venerated monk until his passing in his old age. This song which was his most famous song was inspired one day when one of his five best friends came to bid him goodbye. His friend was once from a wealthy family but was ruined due to the policies of Premier/General Yuan Shuakai who was then the del facto ruler of China. His friend came to the outer door of his home and cried out to him, telling him that he was ruined and will be going to seek out Yuan Shuakai to try and get redress for his destitution. After crying out his story to him, he bid his friend goodbye. Our hero was then getting out of the house amidst the snow as it was winter and stood immobile as his friend had left and he did not know how to comfort him... so he stood out in the courtyard like a stone statue reflecting upon the travails of human conditions. It was maybe an hour later standing out in the freezing cold that he was finally prevailed to come into the house and it was then he was inspired to write this soulful song as a memorial to the parting of his impoverished friend whom he had found so much enjoyment together with other liked minded friends. The original song is short but there are some versions that had additional lines not written by him. The first few times I heard this song on Chinese documentaries, I was hooked by its emotional power but was not able to find it on the Internet as i don't even know the title of the song but by and by, I chanced upon this song in Youtube and was able at last to heard it to my heart's content. A fast paced version was sung near the beginning of the acclaimed Chinese film: Let the Bullets Fly.

 

Father's Third Eye Operation on Right Eye (10-2-2012)

Took dad to his 3rd eye operation at Subang on 10th February 2012. Sis did not took a day off as she can just made use of her lunch break to visit father as her office is rather near to the surgery. We had lunch before at the same corner eatery in which dad's wheelchair had to negotiate some obstacles getting there; dad's eye was being dilated as we had our lunch. After lunch, we went back, They had did an eye check on dad earlier and the surgeon had father's eye examined and then took a photo. He told us that dad's eye had improved in that the wet area in the middle of the eyeball had dried up substantially; and their eye examination in which dad was asked to see alphabets of various size revealed that dad's vision had improve so that he can see another line and he can even make out two of the alphabets in the next line below. Formerly, dad can see the largest and the next largest lines of alphabets; so now he can see the 3rd line and even make out 2 alphabets of the 4th line in the decreasing sizes of the alphabets. We were glad to hear this news as it was like a bonus since the doctors had cautioned us not to expect improvements but rather to get the idea that the surgery is to protect his eye from further deterioration.


The little patch near the middle (south west) is the thing that gave rise to dad's vision problem; this was the old photo (date is incorrect; this also refers to the two other photos) ; the surgeon also showed us the newer photo after the first treatment and said that it showed the wetness had improved much and hopefully, it will improved more after the 3rd treatment.


The surgeon told us that before the operations, dad can see only the first two lines of the alphabets starting from the top. But after two operations, his vision had improved so that he can see the third line and even two alphabets at the 4th line. The surgeries were successful and hopefully, father's eye can see more of the alphabets at the 4th line after his 3rd and final sugery.

Second Eye Operation at Subang Eye Specialist on 6th January 2012

Father had his second eye operation for AMD; the operation went smoothly thanks to the skills of the surgeon. There remains the third operation in one month time. I had a merry time going to and fro in the mazes of KL but as both Subang Jaya and Kuantan are both important directions, I eventually manage to get on to the right tracks. Progress had been swift in Klang Valley but still slow in comparison with powerhouse metropolises in China such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzen, Guangzhou, etc. But such rapidt developments brought with them many problems... Frankly, I don't much like the hustle bustle of cities (aka concrete jungle) especially as places to stay... a suburban environment is more to my liking.

After the operation, Sis treated us to lunch at the corner shop.

Taking dad to see an eye surgeon at Subang Jaya

Yesterday I brought father to Subang Jaya Eye Specialist Centre to treat his eyes of AMD. Many things had changed since my long ago trips with mom to Subang Jaya and I had some trouble arriving at the centre. Nevertheless, after an inquiry from a local and also help from sis who also went there to met us, I managed to get there. I was glad to get a parking right in front of the premise; the parking situation there is pretty congested. Dad was examined and while we wait for dad's eyes to dilate; we then went to a nearby shop for our lunches. Eventually, the surgeon arrived and gave us a more thorough briefings on dad's condition. Eventually, for fear of the risk of infection, he suggested we do dad's right eye only and left his left eye for the time being as it is in better shape.

Sis treating dad and me to lunch at a nearby shop.

Dad sporting the cool look of wearing sunglass for eye protection.

The surgeon appearing in an awareness article in a Chinese daily.

An unexpected and unwelcome visitor!

This morning, I was notified of the presence of a snake in the house. I went down stair and saw the snake at the back staircase; it was lying at the midsection. I was quickly given a rottan kept for security in my room and as I poised to strike, I hesitated as I bring the tip of the rottan about two feet above the snake which was then raising its head. I believe its head looks triangular and remembered reading that such shape might meant that its poisonous but I was not sure. Anyway, I felt very reluctant to strike at the snake as I have not desire to kill it but this was an emergency and I knew I had to attack it to prevent danger to my household. I was also cautious as I was afraid I might miss it and cause it to move around and become aggressive in response to my attack.

So I braced myself and finally crashed the rottan down on the snake. Whack! The snake was hit but it slithered down the ladder onto the floor. Father then had came out of his room and was at the dinning table as I struggled to kill the snake which remained alive even after receiving several blows to its head; its was sickening to me as I find it difficult to kill it as quickly as possible- I hate to cause it any further pain than necessary. I even resorted to using a sheet of paper to cover its head before hitting it again and again as I find it psychologically difficult to bring the rottan on its bare head.

In the evening, I heard from the maid that she was then walking up the stair and backtrack in response to a call from father in the room which was just besides the staircase; then she saw the snake which was in a striking mode and then she sounded the alarm which led to the ensuing battle which ended in the demise of the snake which until now, I do not know is poisonous or not. Anyway, I was relieve to have resolved this problem but at the same time was sad for having to kill this snake especially in such a painful manner; I feel sad for the snake...

Obituary for Steve

FAREWELL TO STEVE JOBS

I was moved to write an obituary for Dr Carl Sagan in the late 1990s when he passed away in The Star paper when I did not read of any obituary relating to him; I thought that it was most inappropriate that the popularize of COSMOS was not mentioned in a periodical named after a celestial object; I objected to the idea that it did not have at least one article in eulogizing such an individual. When I heard of Sagan's death; it was almost like I lost someone I knew personally - especially from his ground breaking documentary series, his books and from his live appearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson during the mania of the Halley's Comet in the 1980s. Although my feelings for Steve Jobs was not sad in comparison, yet I felt a sudden desire to eulogize him in my blog as a form of tribute. Steve Jobs was not just a geek but also an articulate thinker; he was an inspiration to millions of people such as encapsulated in one of his famous address to an audience of Standford University graduates.

I saw the news of Steve Jobs passing on TV this morning (6-10-2011 in Malaysia; 10-5-2011 in US). It was a big news as Steve certainly attained an iconic status in today's tech heavy society. I remember the time in the early 1980s when TIME magazine famously named Computers as Machine of the Year- the first time the honor went to a non-human. Steve Jobs who had co-founded Apple Computers was an inspiring story even then... and his dismissal from the company he co-founded saw the true character in which he later bought Pixar which made movie and computer history by making the first full length animation using exclusive computer technology. It is said that we should judge someone not by how successful he or she become but by how they deal with setbacks and failures and then to come back even stronger than before, having become wiser as the diamond in the rough was cut which allow the fire within the gem to sparkle. Steve Jobs was such a dazzling individual. He was great in the marrying of tech and style and he had the creativity and vision to make computers into very user friendly tools that empowered people from all line of work to unleash their creativity and productivity.

I remember the Mac when it first came out and drool at the concept of the graphical user interface which was perfect for a non-geek like me but it was then extremely pricey. Recently, I saw the IPad2 and heard raves from my brother-in-law about the genius of Steve for bringing out this gadget which even his 22 months old toddler can use. Steve's genius was apparent even in the coining of the name for his company which is surely one of the best brand in history- the use of the simple fruit-Apple was truly a stroke of genius and Mac is just a continuum of this idea as Mac stood for MacKintoch which is a kind of apple. Today, we live in a high-tech age of which the central tool is the computer and Steve Jobs was certainly among one of the most remarkable geniuses, innovators, visionaries in this field. The Nobel organization should come out with a special prize for life time achievement award for geniuses like Steve Jobs who help to change and make this a better world for all mankind. His life was in the best American tradition of helping to make a difference in the lives of others and he certainly helped to change the world for the better.

My Maiden Pizza!

Before

Ever since a DIY article in The Star Newspaper appeared probably a few years ago that teach reader to make a home make pizza; it had put a seed into my mind about trying this idea out. But it seem somewhat complicated. So I checked the Internet for resources and basically watched two videos. I see that the techniques and ingredients are not exactly the same and anyway, some of the ingredients are not easily get over here. But I think I can improvise. Anyway, I had been informing Jia Yin and Meng Lan of my project quite a while back and after a period, I felt like the boy who called wolf... So after carefully going over the tutorial videos and making notes, I finally decided to get my hands busy and fulfill my promise... As I rarely cook nowadays, I gingerly went about the project during one lazy Sunday but the project went off with a glitch which was irritating as Meng Lan who told me we had all the ingredients discovered we do not have the all important yeast! But no matter, she was going to the town for grocery shopping and she will get some at the supermarket but this will entail delays as she will take almost two hours as she need to go the the wet market first... well, I can always prepare and cook the pizza source first. The pizza source came off more or less okay and after the yeast arrived, I started on the pizza dough and it was when I put the amount of water as dictated in one of the tutorial that I discovered that there was simply too much water as the dough was so very soggy! Lesson learned, do not trust 100 percent in recipe... I should have added water slowly until it is enough... its like doing carpentering, there is a rule of measuring twice before cutting as once you cut, there is no turning back... Anyway, eventually, I gradually added more dough as advised by my overseer-Meng Lan before letting the yeast do its magic. But after two hours of fermentation, I see that the dough is still too soft and soggy and I though this pizza project is not turning out well; but Meng Lan observed that more flour is required and also another half hour is needed to let the dough grow. So the command was followed. Eventually, I was able to get the still somewhat soft but much better conditioned dough rolled and the source which was then ladled on to the rolled dough. Then I added some sliced sausages as were two slices of cut up cheese. There into the electric oven it went. I fired the oven at the maximum heat but as I monitored it, I turned the heat down after about ten minutes and let it cook for another 5 minutes. The verdict? The pizza was slightly overcooked but it was very crispy; but all in all, it turned out better than I expected for a maiden effort. Hurray, I finally did something I had wanted to do for a long time... this small success later gave me the ambitious idea of DIY an outdoor over... and since there are mountains of resources in the Internet, I think I might get it done.... yeah, I can not only bake pizzas, bread, cakes, but roast chickens and how about a roast turkey for Christmas?

Mission Accomplished!