:: iMMortaLising the scene of the cArtier man ::

i walked out of takashimaya last thursday and saw an old uncle walking towards the window display of cartier. yes…jeweller cartier.

i wish i had a chance to immortalise that moment.

the chinese uncle, everything on him says traditional…loving..thrifty….very “ci xiang”. probably would never imagine the price tags that come with each piece of cartier.

initially he was looking from a distance. then he walked closer. and he took a few more steps closer. and for the longest time…he was just looking at the set of jewellery – necklace and ring…for the longest longest time.

i can’t quite explain. but i was very touched and moved by that moment. i teared. i very much want to know what old uncle is thinking about. most importantly….i want to know who he was missing at that moment, if he was thinking of somebody…

i walked closer to him…just observing him. i walked past behind him…observing him. i walked further from him….still turning back to look at him. old uncle was still there. i stopped and waited. old uncle was still there.

a while later, old uncle left. and me too. but until today…i keep wondering what that moment was really about. i want to know old uncle’s story so much.

his love story….

:: with a lot oƒ love ::

‘i made this promise to my fiancee who then became my wife’
~fernand geyselings

it started as a hobby to honour a promise made in 1947.
when he retired in 1987, he decided it was time to honour his promise.

he planted up to 3000 bulbs. the hobby soon turned into a full-time job, with fernand working 14-16 hours a day. the garden was opened to public in 1993.

the garden covers one hectare (10,000 sq meters), contains 230,000 flowers. 300 variety of tulips mix with 120 variety of daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths or fritillaries for a colourful effect. the garden opens to visitors at the beginning of april while the flowers are blooming, only for about 5-6 weeks per year.

after the blooming season, fernand will have to work 16 hours a day to remove all the bulbs and clean them one by one, dry them and sort them by variety. this will keep him busy from mid may till the end of august. fernand said the bulbs have to be removed from the ground at the end of every season and dried to keep their quality and prevent them from degenerating. he designs the garden himself, alternating the type of flowers he plants every year to regenerate the ground.

fernand is now looking for someone to take over his garden.
his wife wants his back home.

‘it has been enough, we have been pensioners for 21 years and all those years i have hardly seen you because you are always in your garden, in your paradise on earth and so i am on my own most of the time. you will soon be 80 years old, it is time we spend those last years of our lives together.’
~ fernand’s wife

a promise can be honoured,
with a lot of love.

i have always wish for a fairy tale like this in life. now it feels so possible…that almost anything can be made a reality, with a lot of love. mr fernand started honoring his promise made to his wife only when he is 60. he made it happen. for 20 years.

also known as the vredehof garden.
it is located in the north of belgium, not far from the dutch border. last year, 40,000 visitors from 46 countries came. many birds have chosen to make it their permanent home. burgundy lace…calgary or blue ribbon tulips…visitors discover the names of each variety of flowers thanks to the small labels.

~—- neW scHooL sNake —-8

i have been playing the volkswagen human snake game for a few days now..

it doesn’t really matter that the site isn’t in english…i mean..snake has been evolved so much since it first came out in 1977, but many of us still recognise it in whatever forms it has become. only 4 buttons involved anyway… 😛

i like this one with its cheery music and nice rendering of the visuals. it’s just fun and simple…nice.. 😉

volkswagen snake

:: aBout coM!cs ::

there are 35 pages and 124 illustrations in the average comic book.

a single issue ranges in price from $1.00 to over $140,000.

172,000 comics are sold in the US everyday. Over 62,780,000 each year.

The average comic collector owns 3,312 comics and will spend approximately 1 year of his or her life reading them.

~ from movie “unbreakable”

me in the Mini…

24th April 2008 Thursday

i finally sat in the mini for the first time ever. and it had to be the new mini clubman (yeah…the one with the “legendary” suicide door). the feeling was unexplainable. it felt like the car i would love to have…besides just the physical appear that i have drooling over all these while.

they were doing a launch at clarke quay for the mini clubman and a radio dj was doing a guerilla stunt – to live in the mini clubman for 4 days. They have 2 mini clubman copper s on display there – 1 dark gold one which the dj is living in and the other…my favourite bubble gum blue with sport stripes. nice. nice nice nice.

everything felt right…
the driver’s seat feels perfectly comfortable..fits my bottom perfectly…
the steering wheel feels just in the right size..with the very desirable mini logo…
the gear shift doesn’t feel too difficult to handle..
the gauges and dials make me want to look at them all the time..
the rear and side mirrors..beautifully shaped…

ok…i don’t want to leave the mini. i can live in it for more than 4 days.. 😉
wish i can just buy one…look at it everyday…sure is a good motivation and encouragement for driving license…

is it love?

i stRipped mR pOrKy!!..and did 20 lAps…

mr porky…i met him at colbar yesterday. well….ok…he’s actually some really sinful snack i discovered.

it is seriously no different from the side dish being served (quite rarely) in chinese restaurants or even as a very tasty ingredient in some dishes.

yes….pork lard. i am just surprised that they made it into some snacks like potato chips… :O lightly salted. i hate to say this….and i feel guilty saying this – mr porky pork scratchings taste very DELICIOUS… 😛

yeah…i took the last packet off mr porky and that just completely stripped him (i thought the point of sale stuff was quite funny). and i certainly didn’t forget to return a favour to my body last night – do my laps… 😛

wHAt others seen on eArth….

another beautiful shot to go onto national geographic…

– shot by sol neelman from the united states
‘A red-clay spray showers spectators at the mud-pit belly flop, highlight of the annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. Other events include a hubcap-discus throw and bobbing for pigs’ feet.’

i like how unreal the mud seemed to be..
i am imagining it being shot by some camera on high film rate…
or even something being cg…
i can almost feel how thick it really is…
like chocolate fondue!!…
ok…ewwwwk……

wOrld dOm!nat!on plAn now on…

my fiend and i have finally launch our long awaited “world domination” plan.

Peanut Butter & Slime

we will definitely try to make it less painful… 😉

.. cRasHed iNto “cOma”..~~

i went for my first bm (bronze medallion) training today and went into a “coma” when i got home. i was really really exhausted.

thou i am a frequent swimmer…disciplined enough to do my laps, the stress of completing 1 of the drill within a certain time frame just killed me. ok….more laps and more workouts from tomorrow onwards.

my target: 3mins to complete the following –
• unbutton of a long sleeve shirt (the rule: shirt must have at least 6 buttons)
• taking off the long pants (the rule: pants must have a zip)
• tightening it around my waist
• straddle jump into the pool
• swim for the casualty’s dearest life at the other end of the pool (50m)
• loosen shirt from myself and put it under casualty’s arms to be used as tow support
• chin tow casualty back (another 50m)
• put into support position

(passing time is actually 3mins 15secs but yeah 3mins will be safe)

manz….my partner and i had our first try today and it was really an “experience”. i didn’t do so well clocking 4mins 20sec. ok…that’s 1.5mins to shave off

i had a few screw ups along the way which i would need to rectify and improve on.

1st – i kind of lose my rescue tool (the shirt around my waist) along the way as i was swimming, it loosen and came off, so i probably have to tighten it properly before i jump in.

2nd – as i was towing the casualty, i think i was going zip zag in the pool. that really put on extra time on me!!

3rd – i didn’t hold the shirt properly to support the casualty, like i lose one side of the sleeve quite a few times. so i probably have to hold it by a knot or something.

4th – figure out what swim style i am more comfortable with. either freestyle or frog style for the first swim out. and side stroke or back stroke when doing the towing swim.

5th – don’t panic.

i can really feel a major muscle ache coming tomorrow manz.. 😦 ouch…

// iN the mOOd for “mOre”….

while i am in the mood of working on some headers..i decided to have a new one for e_Mot!onsfLy too.. 😛

the first one to go into the “library”…after about 4 months into this new blog.