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January 05 2007终结篇
2007的结束也是我漫长休假的终止，在世外桃源般的纽西兰及充满阳光和海滩的澳洲 阔别绿草悠悠的仙境，回到大漠是极大的转变，不免感到有些忧郁。我开始怀疑原 在2008里，很想为自己努力些，定好生活的方针！
November 03 Images of IranJust updated an album of my recent Iran trip at the following website:
Have a look if you are interested!
December 03 摩洛哥之旅很久没有放长假。最后一次的背包旅行是在六年以前的事了，让我体验了很多，也挨了不少苦，可是其中的点点滴滴都是很值得回味的。自由行最大的好处就是想到哪里就到哪里，而且有很充裕的时间可以享受每一刻的惊喜，不需要被行程表限制。旅行最可贵的就是探索出乎意料的惊喜，而由土耳其转移阵地到摩洛哥这一举想不到是让我惊喜连连的选择。
对于摩洛哥，本来是属于陌生，鲜少听人提起。可能它的位置远在非洲的关系，也很少有连接卡萨布兰卡机场的班机，而且在2003年发生过恐怖爆炸事件，在欧洲以外的旅客都不多。她是个很神奇的地方，在不是很大的面积上散布了多么不同的景色，有连绵不绝的山峰，一望无际的沙漠和海鸥飞处彩云飞的海港，美不胜收。
印象最深的莫过于那片神秘的大漠，布满了风的痕迹，而攀爬上看起来不是很高的沙丘是比想象中还要困难的事情。在这片属于沙哈拉的沙漠，吃了不少苦，不单是挨了几个钟头以骆驼为坐骑的旅程，连要小解也要找个隐秘的地方而在沙漠里几乎是空无一物，哪里找来的树木可方便的？风沙不断的吹入了鼻子和喉咙，引发了恼人的咳嗽和鼻塞，埃到了帐篷已几乎要崩溃。牵着骆驼的人跟我们说，无数沙丘的后面就是美丽的日落！我苦恼的看着这那重重的沙峦，有可能吗？就在下一秒，我被拉了上去，开始了另一个艰难的行程。途中，发现踩着沙攀爬是如此费力的事，如果不前进，就很快的跟着沙退下。过了几个沙丘一望下去，怎么还有阿？我一边走，一边嚷着痛苦，好像没有止境的这么爬着，太阳再多一阵就要下山了，我的毅力也很快的消失。终于，我说我不要上去了。两个人这样拖着也不是办法，不如放另一个人自由去享受这片沙漠的美景吧！“为我拍下这最美丽的时刻，好吗？”我说。我紧紧地捆着头巾，把头埋入不再让风沙吹进，有些失望的蹲在一角。。。
不久后，我听到了一阵很兴奋的欢呼。一抬头，看到了在不远之处有一个雀跃不已的影子。我开始努力的走向那看日落的地方，最后连手带脚的一拐一拐爬上。终于。。我看见了这辈子最美丽的日落。一样的太阳，不一样的感觉。。。 September 03 Treasure the Moment 3It is unfortunate in the short span of time I'm here, I've yet again received another news of death which hits me so hard I could not believe it happened. It was a good friend of mine this time, I am ashamed to say. The reason is her death makes me feel somehow I have not fulfilled my duty as a friend at a time when she needs somebody most. If you haven't guessed it by now, it was a death by suicide. A death by choice.. to not go on anymore and say "quit" to life. After giving so many attempts at it, she has finally given up. After not being understood by so many and deemed a failure in almost everyone's book, she had enough. The stress of the high-strung society and making her feel not living up to everyone's expectations including her own family is wearing her flat out.
Having been through failures at school or work have pulled us closer through similar experience. The only difference is she is not as lucky as I am, to have a emotionally supportive family when things go awry. It is true that failures ultimately make you a better person and after all life is full of ups and downs but there are times when you see only utter hopelessness and you despair at not being able to find any way out of the depression..ever. This is the time when the safety net of family and friends could catch your fall in this darkest moment. But how many of them in reality wants to lend you their listening ear and helping hand or could even sense your despair being caught up in their own world?
Having lost a friend through the worst way you can ever imagine, I'm filled with regret. Regret that I always have an excuse for not contacting her on a more regular basis in my own engagement with my life in Bahrain and not being able to detect there was anything amiss underneath that bubbly front . It pains me when I think about how she probably has tried to reach for somebody before like her own family or closer friend but got shunned. They probably have their own problems and reasons too, and somehow lost their compassion for someone who may have started to bore them with the same old problems, her same pain. The memory of a tragic character in 鲁迅's book was brought to my mind which tells of how her loss of both husband and son finally led to the maid's death. When tragedy struck her, people in her town and beyond came all the way out of curiosity to listen to her story of how her loved ones were killed. In her pain, she was lost in her own world and relived the tragedy time and again by repeating it to the curious people. They took great pity on her and even cried for her ... initially. Their compassion was short-lived and soon they became bored with the same old story to the extent of getting impatient with her. They could not understand her persistent pain and how deeply it affected her performance in her work. She was ultimately dismissed dispassionately by her Master, as an utter waste like how this society dismisses people deemed to be failures.
The demise of my friend was a cruel reminder of how little room there is for failure and sympathy in the fast-paced life everyone is caught up in. The irony is she could not even find sufficient comfort from the holy ground she steps in every week. It has been a few days since I've received the sad news. I have to remind myself the next time I fly back to Singapore, expecting a momentary constriction in my heart ... my bubbly friend will no longer be around.
August 10 Birthday in a Foreign LandLast year when I departed from my homeland Singapore, I made certain that I did not have to spend my July birthday in a foreign land which was why I chose August to start my first overseas job in Bahrain. Even though birthday celebrations were never a big deal to me from childhood to adult life, the prospect of spending it away from my family and friends was quite scary, not to mention in a place deemed to be devoid of life and activities. Imagine lighting a solo candle in the vast emptiness of the barren desert and singing happy birthday in the whispers of the sand-laden wind. How sad is that. I was determined also not to spend this year’s birthday in this place I can’t call a home yet. I had it all planned out, to travel in July to the exotic land of Turkey and spend my birthday basking in the famous Turkish baths, tasteful Turkish delight and hopefully the admiration of delightful Turkish hunks. I must and was desperate to make my last twentysomething birthday an extraordinary one. It was unthinkable to have it otherwise.
However, it was all not meant to be. My Turkey trip had to be cancelled due to last minute change of minds by my friends. All was not lost when Sweeleng organised a mass celebration at an authentic Arabian restaurant, Al-Abraaj with other fellow Singaporeans/Malaysians which are growing in numbers by the day. It was a tasteful restaurant with beautiful Arabic deco like multi-coloured glass windows, intricate Arabic carvings and hanging lamps at the grand stairway and the cozy niches. I had to marvel at the finding of another such gem in the apparent barrenness of the desert. How ept is the story of Ali-Baba & the 40 thieves. A lot of such restaurants lie in the most deserted of areas but the Arabs seem to have no problem seeking the way to them. It was as if they all have the secret code of Open Sesame and what appears to be a shed at first sight will reveal itself to be quite something else. At Al-Abraaj, we were given a small room with a long table and twenty-over seats. The restaurant was instantly transformed into a marketplace when the people had all arrived and filling it with endearingly familiar Singapore slangs of lahs and lehs. Everyone was enjoying the sumptuous meal and at the same time chatting to each other aloud, raising their voice higher as it becomes more difficult to hear each other, initiating a vicious cycle. I could not help but marvel at the ever-prominent food culture in the Chinese community which enabled the high turnout. Here we are in this strange land, strangers in our homeland but bound together as a community at this table on this special day. As I tucked into the delicious food amidst the rowdiness and looked around at my many new-found Singaporean/Malaysian friends, I was overcome by a strange feeling. There I was, holding the hand of my loved one and surrounded by the warmth of my countrymen. Home had never felt closer since a year ago.
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