Archive for the 'Life' Category

Revolutionary Road

Published on 19 June 2010 in Books and Life. 0 Comments

Written by Richard Yates. It’s a story set in 1950s about an US middle-class couple, April and Frank, who was bored with their suburban lives and decided to move to Paris. It ended up in betrayal and tragedy.

The story lingers in my mind for a very long time after I finished reading the book. I keep thinking how much it resonates my life, or even lives of people around me. We are bored by our surrounding and our neighbours and our jobs, we want to make some change but have no courage, and we don’t know how to love. We are never getting anywhere.

A very good read.

 

Christmas aftermath

Published on 28 December 2009 in Life and Thoughts. 1 Comment

Christmas to non-Christians like me is nothing more than a nice to have festive season when uncontrolled shopping and eating are excused. After three days of jolly parties and drinking it’s no surprising that many people, including me, suffer from post-holiday syndrome and become exhausted and sick.

Apart from my health, there are of course other aftermaths to deal with, such as:

  • a fridge full of party foods like ham and cheese and snakcs, which no one wants to eat anymore;
  • a kitchen full of empty and semi-empty wine and champagne bottles;
  • a couple of useless items one gets from the routine rubbish gift exchange at parties; and
  • photos sent around by friends which may end up on the most evil social websites…

What am I going to do? Nothing at the moment, becos I’m now busy planning my New Year parties!!! 

 

寂寞，在生命最後八天

Published on 7 April 2008 in Books and Life. 0 Comments

Poulet aux prunesPoulet aux prunes (Chicken with Plums in english) is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about the last eight days of the life of Nasser Ali Khan in November 1958. Nasser Ali was a musician whose beloved musical instrument tar was destroyed by his wife. Feeling very depressed, he chose to lie down and end his life. During the last days, he thought a lot about his family and friends, and his unforgettable love. 

The whole book was realistic and sarcastic, funny and sad at times. An easy and good read.

January

Published on 1 January 2008 in Life and Thoughts. 2 Comments

Janus

January is named after Janus, the god of gates, doors, beginnings and endings.

Janus had two faces, one looking forward, the other looking back.

I have decided not to do a review of 2007 this year, since I found that it’s not something cheering to do to start a new year by looking at your mistakes again. They can’t be corrected anyway now. Let’s just look forward in 2008.

緣份的故事2則

Published on 7 November 2007 in Life and Thoughts. 0 Comments

在釋迦牟尼佛和十大弟子的故事中有提到 …

有一天祂對著所有弟子在講經說法, 忽然他叫起了阿難說 “你拿一個桶子, 到前方五里路遠的一個小村莊, 向一個在井邊洗衣服的老婦人要一桶水回來. 記得態度要客氣和善一點…..阿難點點頭, 拿著空桶子, 往世尊指示的方向去要水. 他想說, 這麼容易的事, 一定輕易就能辦妥世尊所交待的任務. 走到了那村莊, 真有位白髮蒼蒼的老婦在井邊洗衣服. 阿難很有禮貌的向這位老婦恭敬的作揖, 說:“老人家阿老人家, 可以跟你要一桶水嗎?” 那老婦一抬起頭望向這年輕人,不由怒從心生…很生氣的說:“不行! 這口井只能給這村子裡的人使用, 任何人是不被允許的!” 接著就把阿難給趕走了,任由阿難苦苦哀求也不為所動!阿難無奈, 只有帶著空桶回去. 他將他所遭遇的種種情形,娓娓的向世尊和在場的弟子道來…世尊點點頭, 示意阿難坐下, 接著祂叫舍利弗去.舍利弗一樣走阿走到了那村莊, 一樣見到那個白髮蒼蒼的老婦還在井邊洗衣服.舍利弗一樣很有禮貌的向這位老婦人, 說: ”老人家阿老人家,可以跟你要一桶水嗎?”那老婦一抬起頭望向這年輕人,不由得心花怒放…彷彿見了一個很投緣的親人很高興的說:“行!行! 來來, 我來幫你打水.” 打好一桶水給舍利弗後, 又叫他等一下,老婦人匆忙的回家拿一些齋食叫舍利弗帶著路上吃. 他帶了整桶水回去, 將他所遇到的種種情形,也娓娓的向世尊和在場的弟子道來…世尊點點頭一樣示意, 舍利弗坐下. 阿難和在場弟子就很納悶,疑惑,問世尊是何種因緣造成阿難和舍利弗這兩人有這麼大的差別. 世尊開示說道: 在遠劫前的一世,這位老婦淪為畜牲道是隻老鼠, 牠死在路邊被烈日豔陽暴曬著.阿難那時候是個趕貨經商的賈人, 見到這隻死老鼠, 心中起了嫌惡之心, 掩鼻而過.舍利弗那時是個正要赴京趕考的讀書人, 見到這隻死老鼠,心中起了憐憫之心, 順手捧把泥土將牠掩蓋.經久遠劫以後, 現在他們見了面, 產生這樣不同的差別待遇... 

**************************

從前有個書生，和未婚妻約好在某年某月某日結婚。 到那一天，未婚妻卻嫁給了別人，書生受此打擊，一病不起。 家人用盡各種辦法都無能為力，眼看書生奄奄一息。 這時，路過一游方僧人，得知情況，決定點化一下他。 僧人到他床前，從懷裡摸出一面鏡子叫書生看。 書生看到茫茫大海，一名遇害的女子一絲不掛地躺在海灘上…路過一人，看一眼，搖搖頭，走了…又路過一人，將衣服脫下，給女屍蓋上，走了…再路過一人，過去，挖個坑，小心翼翼把屍體掩埋了…疑惑間，畫面切換，書生看到自己的未婚妻…洞房花燭，被她丈夫掀起蓋頭的瞬間…書生不明所以…僧人解釋道，那具海灘上的女屍就是你未婚妻的前世。 你是第2個路過的人，曾給過她一件衣服，她今生和你相戀，只為還你一個情。 但是她最終要報答一生一世的人，是最後那個把她掩埋的人，那人就是她現在的丈夫。書生大悟，唰地從床上坐起，病癒 !  

生日雜感

Published on 17 August 2007 in Life. 1 Comment

又大一歲了，也沒有什麼感觸，畢竟我的心境還很年輕，只是人老了，少不免會想到/遇到生死的問題。去年生日一個人在Budapest，今年則去了Glasgow 跟老友T團聚，又去了Stirling探F。她看起來精神很好，去年A逝世後雖然她由大屋搬到細屋，但新地方仍有2層樓及過千尺，一個人住不免太寂寥。沒有時間去掃墓，有點可惜。 

Economist cover前2天打算與TK出來慶祝，在當日他太太忽然胎動，生下了他們第2個bb。由於bb早產了2星期，所以他們有點措手不及。那天早上TK找我想我幫他照顧歲半的大孩子，以便他與妻子入院。但不知為何我收不到他的電話，很明顯這是個blessing in disguise，因我肯定不會是一個合格的保母。這年頭肯生孩子的年輕人不多，所以我很佩服他。加上我相信優生學，像他兩夫婦這麼聰明，我會鼓勵他們生多幾個，為德國及日本的未來作出貢獻。 忽爾想起上月一期The Economist有關人口委縮的封面，一個bb身上有個寫著”Made in Japan, limited edition”的標籤。很搞笑。

吃藥刪傷心記憶 《無痛失戀》故事成真

Published on 2 July 2007 in Life and Movies. 2 Comments

正打算重看《無痛失戀》 (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)，卻看到以下的新聞…

—————————————————

【明報專訊】電影《無痛失戀》的情節成真！美國及加拿大的研究人員成功利用藥物幫助人們忘掉不快記憶，以後要「無痛失戀」，毋須像戲中主角占基利般光顧洗腦公司，只需吃一片藥即可！

原用於治高血壓心絞痛
加拿大麥吉爾大學及美國哈佛大學的精神病學家利用一隻名叫「propranolol」的藥物，成功「抑制」心理創傷病人的部分記憶，但其他記憶則不受影響。「propranolol」普遍用來治療高血壓及心絞痛，副作用是會令病人失去部分記憶。
研究人員找來19名意外或強姦受害者分成兩組接受研究，要求其中一組一邊憶述10多年前的可怕經歷，一邊服用「propranolol」。10天後，研究人員發現服藥的一組受害者回憶起可怕經歷時，心跳沒有那麼快，少了緊張的徵象。
「毋忘記憶 免不快情緒吞噬」
麥吉爾大學的納德教授解釋說：「回憶往事時，我們腦部會從記憶庫中存取及復元舊記憶。我們的做法是在病人復元記憶的過程期間，給病人吃藥，以減少記憶帶來的情緒作用。藥物只會影響記憶的情緒部分，不會影響到記憶的意識部分，因此病人會記得所有細節，卻不會被回憶帶來的情緒吞噬。」
研究人員認為，記憶的運作好比製造玻璃，玻璃製造時先經過高溫融化階段，降溫後才成形。記憶也一樣，回憶往事時，記憶先經過一個不穩定的「融化階段」，後才成形，故可用藥物「干擾」記憶重新成形過程。

—————————————

「藥物只會影響記憶的情緒部分，不會影響到記憶的意識部分，因此病人會記得所有細節，卻不會被回憶帶來的情緒吞噬。」

咁神奇?一片藥有效幾耐?是對所有記憶生效還是只針對單一記憶?停藥後會記起些負面情緒嗎?快樂的情緒又可以留住嗎?…(下刪300條問題)

Nie Wieder Dachau

Published on 3 May 2007 in Germany and Life. 0 Comments

Dachau

Dachau was where Nazi established its first concentration camp in 1933, and it became a model for other concentration camps that followed. Together with Auschwitz they symbolise Nazi terror to many people.

The Dachau concentration camp was big, with 32 barracks lining on two sides. There was a museum with very detailed description of the setup and operation of the camp by Nazi SS, the prisoners, the torture and sufferings, and finally the liberation in 1945. After reading everything and seeing the barrack cell rooms and the gas chamber, I could imagine how hellish lives had been for the prisoners. Walking around the camp site where thousands of people had died, one simply couldn’t understand why such terrible acts could have happened in human history - how and why humans could do this to one another.

I hope the world, not just Germans, have learnt the lesson and something like this will never happen again.

Related post:

Nürnberg and the Nazis

富貴如浮雲

Published on 1 May 2007 in Life and Travel. 1 Comment

前幾天一早乘飛機到馬德里，打算抵境後馬上轉火車往南部旅行。誰料該班火車滿座，被迫要改乘傍晚的火車，於是趁空檔出市區觀光，結果在一間商店內被盜去銀包。在最短時間內我已經cut了我的信用卡及bankcard, 又去到警局報案，但身無分文兼流落異鄉，想改機票回家也沒有錢，當然也不可能住酒店，又聯絡不上中國領事館，一剎那也不禁有點徬徨。

幸好警局內協助我報案的女職員Susanna很友善，她提議我可以叫親友利用Western Union匯款給我，於是我母親半夜飛的士到機場的Travelex（因其他所有agent都關了門）匯錢給我，而10分鐘後我已經在Western Union拿到現金。（雖然手續費比較高，但這服務實在太便利，值得推介）拿到錢，人也安心了不少，但基於心情已大受影響，不想繼續留在西班牙，故馬上致電航空公司改機票翌日回德國。

為怕我沒錢會流落街頭，Susanna又替我聯絡了Samur（類似社區服務團體），他們很快來到警局接我去了一個社區中心，在那裡他們安排了晚飯及一間雙人房給我，完全免費。當晚在那社區中心內只有我及２個羅馬尼亞家庭入住，雖然房間不能上鎖，但由於身無長物，也沒有什麼好害怕的，整晚睡得出奇地香甜。

第二天Samur的職員送我去地鐵站，又教我怎樣乘車到機場，還多番苦勸我要再來西班牙。其實我並沒有因此事而討厭西班牙，但總覺得與這國家沒有什麼緣份。原本這旅程是編排在２月份的，但因臨時有公事令行程被迫取消。今番又碰上不幸事件，大概我應該考慮「信邪」，暫時把西班牙剔出我的旅遊目的地之列。

今次事件實在令我體會良多，原本住向海酒店卻變成社區中心，原本在海邊度假卻回到家中看電視，原來人真的可以一舜間變得一無所有，際遇能在一天之內大起大跌。富貴如浮雲，今次的不幸令我對身外物看得更豁達。

Hiddensee

Published on 10 April 2007 in Germany, Life and Travel. 0 Comments

IMG 0475

I guess there is no better place to hide yourself in Germany than Hiddensee (as the name speaks for itself if you read it from English perspective), a small island on the northeastern part of Germany situated at the Baltic Sea.

IMG 0429Hiddensee can be reached by ferry (Weiss Flote) from Stralsund, or from Schaprode, a little port on Germany’s largest island Ruegen which is just opposite Hiddensee. There are three stops: Neuendorf, Vitte and Kloster. Neuendorf is on the south, Vitte is the centre of the island and Kloster is on the north with a lighthouse.

The island is small and car-free. A large part of it is a national park. You can hike there or rent a bicycle to go around. From the lighthouse in Kloster you can go down to the tip of island where you will be surrounded by blue Baltic Sea water. It’s not just the tip of the island, it’s also tip of Germany, and tip of the world. The scenery of the island is not super fabulous, but the tranquility and the stress-free environment is definitely the gem there.

IMG 0433 IMG 0440

Lust auf Rückzug? Go to Hiddensee and you will find your peace.

More photos from here.