SHE

Original singer: Elvis Costello           

My preferred singer of this song: Fei Xiang __________________________________________________________________

It was love at first sound. 

I fell in love with this song after watching its MV in year 2000.

Then, in September 2001, I proposed to my family members that we should surprise Ma by singing this song to her on her 57th birthday.

Today, I was once again mesmerised by the remarkable charm of this song, thanks to KissRadio , a Taiwanese radio station that broadcasts a wonderful selection of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English songs. I tuned into this radio station for the first time in my life, and was lucky to be able to get hold of Fei Xiang's delightful rendition of SHE.

Ladies & gentlemen, allow me to present you the classical, mystical SHE. This song has transcended space and time, bringing me back to yester years, and reminding me of my Ma in certain ways.

_________________________________

SHE

May be the face I can't forget

The trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay

SHE

May be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things
Within the measure of a day

SHE
May be the beauty or the beast
May be the famine or the feast
May turn each day into a heaven or a hell

SHE 

May be the mirror of my dreams
The smile reflected in a stream
She may not be what she may seem
Inside her shell

SHE

Who always seems so happy in a crowd
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud
No one's allowed to see them when they cry

SHE 
May be the love that cannot hope to last
May come to me from shadows of the past
That I'll remember till the day I die

SHE
May be the reason I survive
The why and wherefore I'm alive
The one I'll care for through the rough in ready years

Me
I'll take her laughter and her tears
And make them all my souvenirs
For where she goes I've got to be
The meaning of my life is

She
She, oh she...

In memory of my final college year in Ithaca 

Dear Jin,

Just finished reading your latest entry and it brings back such good memories of my final college year in Ithaca... I can't believe it's been another year already!!! It really feels like yesterday when we estatically celebrated the end-of-school year together...

I still remember how much fun we had together at the awesome IC-kicks carnival last year. Before we walked to the field where the carnival was held, (the field in between campus centre dining hall and the gym), you even treated me to a yummy smoothie using your bonus bucks. Remember, remember??? We certainly walked away with lots of prizes and laughter that day, didn't we? I'm still keeping the colourful beaded necklace that I won at the event, hehe...Hmmhhhh... miss those wonderful times we shared...So you're going to be a junior in the new semester? Wow...4 years of college life can fly past so quickly...

I also notice how you seem to get prettier each passing day...Really!!! Every time I vist your blog, I can't help but think that you're such a sweet young thing...And, hey, there's no need to blush ...Just let me know what's your secret, would ya?   And in case you're wondering, my sexual orientation remains the same as before---I'm still straight.

Special thanks for writing this entry, Jin. It really reminds me of how much I miss Ithaca. It was kind of unfortunate that I didn't have a camera to snap happy pictures of us at that time ... And so, I would like to thank you sincerely for reminding me of how blessed we all are.

I wish you love, my very dear friend. You deserve so much of it.   

P.S I don't know why the Chinese characeters would switch to some unknown characters the moment I hit the save/submit button. My dear blog readers, please forgive me if you're looking at some weird charcters and not the well-written lyrics as promised. If you know how I can fix this problem, please inform me! Would appreciate your advice as I'm a low techie.  Thanks!!!  

My brother turned 30! Woah!

Hmmmh...It feels like yesterday that I dedicated a post to my brother's 29th birthday. 

WOOoommP! KazOOOMm!!!

In the blink of an eye, today's my bro's birthday again. The difference lies with the fact that he is no longer a twenty-something man. He has joined my older sister in the big 3-0 (or 9 yrs beyond) club.

I doubt he will read this entry, but I still wanna say Happy Birthday to my caring brother! I wish you love, bro, regardless of how old you are. You'll always be remarkable in my eyes.

Stay gorgeous! 

P.S. Koko, if you're really reading this at this moment, please visit my blog more often if possible!  Leave a comment too ok. (>_<) 

With Love,

Your equally remarkable sister (ahem) May.    

Surprise, surprise! I'm gonna be a TUTOR soon!

Michael, the Account Director in my company approached me at the end of work day. He asked if I was interested in giving tuition in Mandarin! WAOaaah!!! How flattering...I was pleasantly surprised that he thinks I'm good enough for this task, even though he's aware that I'm totally inexperienced as a tutor, and that my Mandarin might be a li'l rusty...   

It's unbelievable! I was offered my first-ever tuition assignment. Later, I discussed the details with his wife, Alice, and she's asked me to coach two of his teenage sons, aged 16 and 14 respectively. I'll be teaching the boys elementary mandarin, since they did not attend Chinese schools when they were younger and had not been attending Mandarin tuition for 2 years. I'll be tutoring them twice a week, for 1 hour and 15 minute each session.  

For 2-and-a-half hour of Mandarin lessons per week, my pay is not that high judging by the standard market price. It's possible that the more experienced tutors will only be willing to do it once a week given the same offer.

All things considered, I generally feel quite happy with my part-time job. Firstly, Michael and Alice are a wonderful couple.  Their sons, a.k.a. my students, are also a pleasure to teach. Though they are both at their rebellious phase in life, they are often polite and co-operative, which is a big relief to me. To top that off, their cute Indonesian helper, Osawam, always serves me nice drinks and fruits whenever I'm there. I feel very well taken-care of whenever I'm there, and it's such a wonderful feeling that I feel guilty whenever I have doubts about the offer.    

 I'm passionate about my job as a tutor and I genuinely want to see my students master the language well. But how long is this going to take, and, will our relationship last long? I don't know, because I'm thinking of applying for a job in some foreign countries soon. At the moment, I have plans to work in Hong Kong, and to take a postgrad course there. 

Hong Kong, Hong Kong...That's the place where my lovely friend, Jin, is goin to spend a semester at. That lucky gal is going to attend Hong Kong University on a student exchange program. Gosh, how I envy her! I wanna experience life in that country too.  *Pray* *Pray*  I should send in my applications and see whether I have the luck. l know I do NOT have the relevant experience, and that this will definitely work against me. But I still think maybe I should give it a go....Aiya...Talk about the dilemma in life...