New layout featuring Ohno
3:32 p.m. x 08.08.10
Just in time for National Day tomorrow.
I've changed my layout, after almost....4 years? According to this entry dated 24 Dec 2006, yeah, it's that old. Meaning, I've been a fan for over 5 years!
But that's beside the point.
A new layout, featuring Ohno Satoshi from Arashi!
I've been lazy to update the layout, but when I saw this scan of him in the recent magazine, I knew I had to use this picture on diaryland! But even after changing, you realise that the general positioning is still more or less the same. Lazy me!
The colours are quite bright this time round, compared to the more...monotone wintery feel of the previous. Afterall, it's summer! ^_^
The song you hear playing in the background is the latest solo from Ohno, titled 静かな夜に (On This Silent Night). I had wanted to put a more upbeat, summery song but decided against it because I think it gets quite tiring after a while...A gentler one works better as background music, and so here's Ohno's piece.
And here's the lyric, translated by Denise on vox. If the Japanese characters don't display, change the encoding to Japanese (Shift-JIS)!
静かな夜に
Shizuka na Yoru ni
On This Silent Night雨の調べ 漂う涙の奏
ame no shirabe tadayou namida no kanade
The rain checks on the rhythm of drifting tears
霞む空が 覗いていた
kasumu sora ga nozoite ita
The haze-veiled skies had been peering down on me
時を止めて まどろむ森の深くに
toki wo tomete madoromu mori no fukaku ni
Time stopped in the depth of a dozing forest
記憶を隠したまま 光探す
kioku wo kakushita mama hikari sagasu
I shall search for light while keeping my memories hidden
幾つも色を重ねるたび 夢のように滲んでゆく (baby)
ikutsumo iro wo kasaneru tabi yume no you ni nijinde yuku
Each time I pile up the colours one after another, they get blurred out just like a dream
たなびく風に身を委ねたなら 届かないこの声も
tanabiku kaze ni mi wo yudaneta nara todokanai kono koe mo
They still can�t reach you after I entrusted them to the flowing wind, not even this voice of mine
#
伸ばした手のひらに触れた光 通り過ぎてゆく
nobashita te no hira ni fureta hikari toori sugite yuku
The light my outreaching hands once touched had long been gone
目覚め忘れた 花を濡らして
mezame wasureta hana wo nurashite
Drenching the flower which was forgotten when I awoke
まるでそれはいつか見た景色 戻れない
marude sore wa itsuka mita keshiki modorenai
The sceneries all around which I once saw will never return
ひとり描き続けた 静かな夜に
hitori egaki tsuzuketa shizuka na yoru ni
I continued painting alone on this silent night
#
瞳閉じて 流れる涙はどこへ
hitomi tojite nagareru namida wa doko e
Where would my flowing tears go when I close my eyes?
眠れぬ長い夜に 星を探す
nemurenu nagai yoru ni hoshi wo sagasu
I shall search for the stars on this sleepless long night
指先なぞるかすれた色 形さえ薄れてゆく (baby)
yubisaki nazoru kasureta iro katachi sae usurete yuku
The colour I traced with my fingertips, even the form of it is fading out
震える胸に溶かした傷みが 流れてはとめどなく
furueru mune ni tokashita itami ga nagarete wa tomedo naku
There is no end to the ever flowing pain which dissolves in my shivering heart
*
追いかけて儚く消えた夢に 心は揺れて
oikakete hakanaku kieta yume ni kokoro wa yurete
My heart wavered in the faded fleeting dream which I�ve been chasing after
別れを告げた 何も言わずに
wakare wo tsugeta nani mo iwazu ni
Without saying anything after bidding farewell
誰かの呼ぶ声が今もまだ 響いてる
dareka no yobu koe ga ima mo mada hibiiteru
Even now I can still hear the voice of someone calling out for me
ひとり立ち尽くしてた 遠く見つめて
hitori tachi tsukushiteta tooku mitsumete
I remained standing alone as I gazed afar
*
月は君を映し出して 白く輝く
tsuki wa kimi wo utsushi dashite shiroku kagayaku
The moon shone on you, so fair yet so bright
雨は降り止むこともなく 僕を包んだ
ame wa furiyamu koto mo naku boku wo tsutsunda
Not showing any sign of stopping, the rain took me in its embrace
#
*
------------------------Ocean Heaven
12:27 a.m. x 08.08.10
I happened to chance upon the movie section in Life yesterday (I don't usually have the time to read news, much less the entertainment section). I noted a few movies that looked quite interesting.
Inception
Aftershock
Ocean Heaven
The first stars Leonardo, and Ken Watanabe. But the premises....is very...Hollywood, and though interesting, I'm kinda sick of the heavy plot/action genre.
The second is about the aftermath of the Tangshan earthquake. While I'm a bit interested in the plot, I fear that it's too heavy.
The third stars Jet Li. Yes, Jet Li. Allow me to digress a bit.
Jet Li and Vincent Zhao Wen Zhuo are my favourite action stars (though I prefer the latter in period dramas/movies). And for Jet Li, he's more than a celeb. I respect him. In fact, he was my topic for my final presentation in CommFund. I can't remember the topic exactly, but I think it's along the line of 'Discuss the communication methods of someone you look up to'. And yes, it's Jet Li. My first and only 'role model'. I knew about his charitable nature, but it was only when I did more research on him that I realised how far he went.
He set up the One Foundation, with the moto:
"1 person + 1 dollar + 1 month = 1 big family."Even if everyone just donated a dollar, the total sum is powerful enough to help many.
And for his efforts, he was named one of TIME magazine's Most Influential People in 2010.
My tutor was surprised when I told her that my topic was on Jet Li, because to her, Jet Li was just an actor. I told her about his philanthropic side, and she seemed genuinely surprise.
I really like the story behind the One Foundation. Jet Li was vacationing in the Maldives on 26 Dec 2004. Yes, the day of the tsunami. And while he managed to grab hold of his elder daughter, his younger one got swept away. Fortunately, with the help of the locals, she got saved and was reunited with her family. This near-death experience was the pushing force that made Jet Li go beyond just personal donations. After the foundation got set up in 2007, Jet Li ceased film production in 2008 to focus on the foundation. Amazing, don't you think. He has previously said that filming is his hobby, while the foundation is his job. =)
And now, back to the movie.
Ocean Heaven. Because I've not seen him act since Hua Yuan Jia, the movie which he said was a conclusion to his life as a martial arts star, I was terribly excited when I saw the ad in the papers. So, I went to google it up immediately. The plot summary promised warmth, and so I decided to catch it.
It is good. I cried here and there and everywhere, but unlike most movies of this genre, I didn't cry at the end. Because while the ending was sad, there was hope, hope that was planted by what Jet Li's character did throughout the movie. It's a really touching movie that you can watch with your parents. Also, it draws attention to the lack of social welfare to some members of our society. But don't worry, it's not all heavy, there are funny parts interspersed throughout that movie. There's also a sub-plot of Jet Li's character handling an affection that he cannot return...It's all touch-and-go, showing another kind of love, different from all those heartwrenching love stories of the young and rash. Something...more mature? There's also a sub-plot between the son and a girl, a tale of friendship. I have no problems with that, but I don't really see the point of including that in, because it doesn't seem to contribute to the main plot or to the character development of the son. I suspect that it was included to add a more cheerful look to the movie, which would otherwise be filled with the struggles of the father and son.
Really, go watch it. You won't regret it.
Don't google the summary. It'll spoil things for you. I'll give you a very very brief summary here.
Jet Li plays father to a son suffering from autism. Life has been smooth, but situations arise that force them to change their lifestyle.
Some movie posters:
And here's the opening scene. If yoou observe closely, you'll spot something.
More stills here, and a brief review here (SPOLIERS INSIDE!!!!!).
------------------------Special
2:00 a.m. x 07.08.10
You don't need to mean the world to someone. Sometimes, it's enough to know that you occupy a small space in his/her heart, that occasionally, you'll pop up in his/her mind without warning.
I got quite happy when I deduced that he asked me before asking the others. It's good to think myself as special, even if just a little. ^_^
------------------------Lunch
2:52 p.m. x 06.08.10
"Singaporeans are very afraid of the sun! They care so much for their skin, they carry big umbrellas out even when walking to the food center during lunch."
Yes and no.
I noticed this during lunch at Amoy this afternoon (we were given 1.5 hours of lunch today, yay!). The society has progressed. Instead of just tissue packs, people are using umbrellas to reserve seats.
Instead of bringing newspaper down from office, they get it (for free!) from the-guy-who-gives-out-newspaper-at-the-hawker-centre.
I was eating when I spotted a group leaving a table nearby. A while later, another group came and hovered around that table, hesitatin got sit. They left soon after and a few other groups came and did the same. Why? Because there were 2 newspaper on the table so people thought that it was reserved.
But it was not.
Someone just left the newspaper there.
So, when I got up to leave, I walked over a threw the newspaper away.
Seriously, I accept that this behaviour is now part of working society. But, at least be considerate to fellow lunch warriors.
------------------------A long week back, and a long one ahead
1:23 a.m. x 01.08.10
Work has started for a week, and although it's been e-learning only, I'm feeling the strain.
As expected, I still can't mix well into big groups, in this case the ex-interns group. I tend to fare better with single people. So, yup, I have my lunchmate in the form of a fellow group 4er, who is not an ex-intern. lol.
We had lunch with our seniors on tues and Thurs, using the Group 4 fund. lol..I've seen them around, and some during mentor group outing back then, so there's a sense of familiarity. Nice people, I feel.
On Thurs, I went for my convo. In the end, mom went too, and watched the convo outside the audi. Oh well....we took photos! ^_^
My seat is at row K!
I clapped for everyone in front of me. I mean...it's not very nice to have no applause on graduation right? It was out of politeness that I clapped during the master degrees, but it was out of friendship (though not deep) that I clapped for the bachelor degrees. Saw many old friends, old tutorialmates. There was even this performance by two people from Group A, where they performed a medley of songs with the lyrics changed to fit our NBS days...like mentions of the FRS, the FAL, the Canteen 2, and many more. It was entertaining and I really appreciated their effort.
Here are 2 photos. I didn't take many photos, just a few with some friends I saw. Somehow I wasn't in the mood for photos...I was just...enjoying the very lsat gathering of Group B students.
Some photos are with others, so I've got to get those from them! I saw people throwing their mortar boards up and stuff, but we didn't do it. We were...too rational? lol. No one even suggested doing that.
Anyway, the next day was workday so I had to return home early, hence there wasn't much time for hanging out. Two incidents shall remain on my mind though.
First was Samantha and I going to the toilet before entering the audi. She just passed me her seat ticket, thinking that I wasn't going to the toilet too. I was, so I slotted her card into the convo booklet into which I had slotted my card too. Sam went out of the toilet first, and after I went out too, I found her searching desperately for her card. She didn't remember giving the card to me. *dies of exasperation*.
Second was also Samantha. I was getting ready to leave when I came across her. She said that her phone was missing. But when her father tried calling her phone, it was ringing. Inside her bag. *dies once more*
Forever blur Sam.
I'm quite proud of myself for helping Sam and SH put on their graduation robe and mortar boards. It's an art to pin the two front flaps together so the skirt won't show under the robe when we walk. But I managed that well! It's really quite an art. So, sw, come to me if you can't figure it out next time! I helped Den put on his too, because he came quite late, and Sam was rushing to the toilet...again. lol.
Friday.
Let me touch a bit on my work on Friday.
I reported to work on Friday thinking that I was unassigned. But after signing into the unassigned log, I checked my email to find an email from a senior I worked with during internship. She had booked me for a job! YAY! This is one good thing about returning to the internship company. You know some people, and it's easier at the beginning. My lunchmate was unassigned till lunch, and perhaps beyond. It's quite boring, and you can't slack because we were all sitting on the actual office floors. We had to pretend to be busy.
SW!! I made an overseas phone call! Fortunately, it was to Taiwan only. hehe. But I can understand the frustration and anxiety when tasked to make such phone calls.
I bought some new work shoes today. Hopefully they won't hurt as much as my old ones. Actually, the old ones are good, but when I need to walk fast in them, my feet rubs against the sole of the shoe and it hurts.So, I bought new, lower ones for times where I think I'll need to hurry scurry! Next thing on the to-buy list will be work clothes that don't need dry cleaning!
And lastly, here's a random nugget. one of my Arashi picture actually got featured on the sign in page of vox! Lol...super funny...it's additional publicity for Arashi I guess, but the image is a bad choice. I wonder how the editor caught sight of this one phot in the midst of so many other uploads from people.
------------------------Respect my time (and your money) please
10:21 a.m. x 28.07.10
IT downtime is a waste of time.
I've been sitting around doing nothing for the psat 1.30 hr.
------------------------Posting from work
9:26 a.m. x 28.07.10
I can't go onto lj, vox and most other sites of entertainment. But Diaryland works! YAY!
Hey hey, I'm not really slacking k? It's just that we're scheduled to do elearning but the elearning page is down, so everyone can't access the site. A legitimate reason to slack! I'm currently listening to some music (heng I decided to bring the mp3 player today) and reading Murder In Mesopotamia, thanks to sw's friend's recommendation. Ok, I admit. I've forgotten how to spell her name. =P
Tmr's convo already. Then uni will be truly over.
And work. sucks. Or rather, the need to try mix around sucks. And then despite me ending work at 530 everyday (that's an amazing thing in my line), I have less than 2 hours at home to do my own stuff. Imagine when peak sets in! sw, are you sure about this?!
------------------------
Oh.no