Creatively Nauseating Yusheng

The thing about Christmas in S'pore (apart from that it's too warm, especially after coming back from far colder places) is that it segues into CNY way too quickly. As i've said before, i really don't enjoy CNY apart from it being a holiday (and a long weekend this upcoming year too :) and usually once the new year comes, i avoid stepping into the supermarket for fear of hearing more awful CNY music.

Yesterday's ST was thus slightly worrying in the sense that it's not four days since Christmas day itself but already one of the food write-ups was on where to go for different kinds of fancy yusheng. (Seriously, Sichuan spicy ox tendon yusheng with blueberry sauce or abalone yusheng with rojak sauce? *gags*) Yup they didn't even leave room for the usual "what to do with my Christmas dinner leftovers?" article this time - maybe some overly-creative chef should have created a roast turkey and ham yusheng with cran-apple gravy *bleah*

Noël, know well?

I forgot where exactly i read this (i thought that it was in the ST this morning but now i can't find the quote, perhaps it was a dream?) but well it said something to the effect of "around 2 billion Christians around the world celebrate Christmas, along with millions of other people". That was quite a striking statement, as evident as it is. I mean, already among those 2 billion, i wonder how much of the seemingly elusive "true meaning" of Christmas is actually reflected upon, rather than it merely being an opportunity to take a break from work, eat possibly copious amounts of unhealthy food, and catch up with friends and/or family. Not that these are not in some way (some more than others) linked to this true meaning, but perhaps at the end of the day the actual meaning is overshadowed by all these these peripherals and incidentals. And if it's like this among us 2 billion, what more for the millions more who observe/celebrate the holiday but (generally speaking) don't go beyond the commercial/social aspects of it. For example, how about how in some places Christmas is promoted for its perceived (and very real as well) commercial benefits but any religious bent on it is strictly out of bounds.

And as i normally do, let me make the disclaimer that perhaps i too sometimes fall into this trap. Perhaps year after year of celebrating Christmas since childhood has made me take it for granted to some extent, when it really has become at times nothing more than a time to take a break, pig out, and receive presents. Even the wide array of carols that we sing all become appreciated more for their melodies rather than the richness of what their lyrics mean to convey to us all.

But well, i guess the cool thing in this case is that the Lord has made it such that at least where religious holidays are concerned, Christmas is perhaps the most observed (or at least recognized) by non-believers, which is in a way a real neat opportunity for outreach, more so than perhaps any other holiday. Yup so while sometimes we may lament as to how Easter is perhaps more important to our faith than Christmas is and yet is lesser recognized, or as they do elsewhere, complain about how in the interests of religious freedom/sensitivities and what not, "happy holidays/season's greetings" has become the pc way to go rather than "blessed/merry Christmas", hopefully that will not get in the way of simply seeking to spread the message about what we believe Christmas to really be about...

Why go?

As last semester at nie was going by, it became more and more clear to me that i would not last another one (even with a month-long break in between it, and around half of the next one being spent at a school rather than at nie itself) without taking a good long overseas holiday during the aforementioned break. I figure that i'm the kind that needs regular holidays abroad to retreat, reflect and recharge. This being the last confirmed opportunity i'd have to do something like this since i dunno how things may be like next time, i felt i had to make sure that i'd make something out of this one. And me being me, i had to do it in some far away ang moh-inhabited place, and not something in the same continent. Granted that i've already had the opportunity this year to go on one of each of the two types of aforementioned trips for a reasonable amount of time, but i reasoned that hey i don't really spend on much in S'pore anyways (i'm set to match last year's record of one movie watched in a cinema in a calendar year), and i guess the money saved from that could go into a good far away trip.

Initially, i was thinking of doing the US again, maybe hit the magic 30 at least. But then again, i already went there earlier this year, and have been there pretty frequently in the past too. So i thought maybe that can wait for another time, especially when i can find others to go with (and maybe drive around for me :p). And since i was (and still am) getting so frustrated of the heat here, which meant that i'd to head somewhere in the northern hemisphere, the only other option would be somewhere in Europe. And since i'd be going by myself (cos while i didn't really ask around, i didn't get any "i want to take a good, reasonably long holiday in some far away ang moh country and i'm looking for others who want to do the same" vibes from anyone), i figured it would have to be in a place that i would be able to survive reasonably well enough. In other words, i'd have to go to a place where i can manage with at least one of the languages commonly spoken there. That meant English and (God willing,) French [Mandarin would be out unless i would be doing a tour of Europe's Chinatowns, sampling the Singapore Fried Noodles of the Chinese restaurants in each place...]. So after a heck of a lot of surfing of sites like expedia, momondo, and eurail, i managed to find a really good ticket on non-crash-prone carriers (SIN-AMS, CDG-SIN) and a suitable rail pass for Benelux and France. For the latter, since it was the last year i could take advantage of the youth pass (until 26 years old) and train travel allowed me to be more flexible in my travel plans (since i'm so last min), as well as less polluting, while affording the convenience of traveling to/from train stations which are often near/in the city center as opposed to airports at the fringes, i thought that it was a no brainer to get a rail pass compared to choosing to fly from city to city.

Hmm so that's a really long preamble to the actual trip itself, long-winded as i am... The rest will come soon...

No Country for Corrupt Men

So it turns out that the time i was in Amsterdam was the only time i had the opportunity to put something here. And well, now that i'm back (oh crap), i can say that it was a real nice trip that i had, and hopefully far from the last... But i'll talk more about it in detail another time (though of course i said the same about the election and look what's happened - i'll make sure it happens this time)

Actually, i just realized that i've some lingering nie stuff to do before the new term (hence the "oh crap"), so this will be short. On a semi-election note (so at least i still keep to what i said earlier), and in light of recent political happenings, i recalled that when i was in Chicago during fall break while on exchange, i came across this sign (the guy was running for a second term) and took a picture. And i remember sort of inferring from the local press that he was rather inept. And yet at the end of the day he still won by a 9% margin over his Republican opponent, who was the last Republican elected official left statewide at that time (hence now there are no more...). The Illinois GOP must really stink, really bad... Anyways, whatever it is, i like how this sign shows how much things can change in one short election cycle...

gone dutch

hmm don't have long left on my 1.50 Euro internet so here's the short of it:

am now in Amsterdam
flight non-eventful
staying in red-light district
but in a Christian-run hostel
so they cancel each other out (?)
already got offered weed and mushrooms on the street
love the weather
could be colder
you should visit Anne Frank House
and i'm out (not from the weed and mushrooms)