A joyous weekend

I had a great weekend!

 

On Saturday, while I was nua-ing at home playing computer game, sis received a call from my cousin. She said it was the opening of her brother’s handphone shop and asked if we were free to join them. Oh my god! Is it meant to be a ninki (popularity) test, to see how many people one can get by giving last minute notice? :P

And of course, we went! How could we miss such a joyous event? It’s not only a big day for my cousin, we had a great time gathering J So, allow me to do a little advertisement here:

 

KNP Electronic Mobile Service

100 Eu Tong Sen Street #B1-25

Pearl’s Centre S(059812)

Tel: 6536 3354

 

It is a small shop located at Pearl’s Centre, dealing with MP3, MP4, new & old handphones, handphones repair and handphone accessories. Among the accessories, I found a DIY mobile phone sticker, no compressor needed. Yes, it may not be as lasting as those using compressor, but it allows users to change the design as and when they feel like it. Also, it prevents the depreciation of your handphone when you trade in.

 

 

On Sunday, I went for a trek. Nice weather, beautiful blue sky and interesting commentary by Kid. However, the high note of the day was the meeting of JB and AC by chance! We went to a coffee shop for lunch after the trek, and to my surprise, AC was sitting at next table with her secondary school classmates. JB was somewhere else but we managed to catch up for a short while before we headed home. It was a real nice surprise. It has been quite sometime since we last met, distance is always an excuse :P Well, fate deserve the credit, they stay in the east and I in the south… yet we met in the north J

 

Normally by Sunday I will start to get Monday blues… but not this week! Too many beautiful things happened to keep my spirit high to welcome another week of slogging J

《走马看花土耳其》

         2001年，订了团要到土耳其去，却因911事件而取消行程。

          2006年，再次订了团要到土耳其去，伊斯坦布却在不久后发生爆炸事件！幸好，这次总算顺利成行。然而，出发前心里还是忐忑的：那里的卫生状况如何？人是否友善？空气污染指数高吗？毕竟，对这个国家的认识太少了，所得到的讯息又大都是和恐怖活动或天灾人祸有关，尤其是在出发之前的爆炸案，更是让我戴着有色眼镜上飞机。抵境后，渐渐发现自己的杞人忧天有多无聊。

 

          不知为何，印象中土耳其应该是沙尘滚滚的，也许因为“新”加坡什么都要“新”的，因此“土”耳其理所当然应该漫天“尘土”？:P　而事实上，那里的空气相当清新，冬天当然记上一功，但相信即使在夏天，空气素质应该也不会太差。街道上没有太多的垃圾桶，却不见人们随手扔下的垃圾。能够拥有这样的空气和环境，在街上散步就已经是一种幸福。

          值得一提的是，这里的厕所很干净哦。印象最深刻的是在表演肚皮舞的夜总会厕所里，竟然有提供马桶坐板套，而且不是我们常见的即用即丢纸套，是已预先安装在坐板上的塑料套！只要轻轻按钮，塑料套就会转动更新，保证了马桶坐板的卫生。

 

          土耳其的食物偏甜，而且不是普通的甜。特别是“甜”品，每一口都像是在吃糖浆，吃得味觉都麻了，两餐后我就举白旗，不再碰甜品了。然而，正宗kebah却让我回味无穷。一片一片鲜美多汁的牛肉切得薄薄的，铺在面包上，淋上酱汁，咬在嘴里非常有嚼劲。单单回想就足以让我垂涎三尺，好想再吃哦。

 

          曾经在不同地方观赏过肚皮舞，都无法体会这个舞蹈的美。这一次在土耳其看了两场肚皮舞表演，却让我彻底地对肚皮舞娘佩服得五体投地。一身性感装扮的舞娘，仿佛在腹部和臀部装置了两台马达，抖臀部和抖腹部的速度若非亲眼所见，实在难以置信。舞娘的上半身和下半身就像属于两个不同的人，扭臀、下腰、旋转，流畅的肢体动作和婀娜的体态舞出各个不可思议的角度，这当然是台下勤练多年的功力。

 

          到土耳其，不能错过其独特的托钵僧舞。这舞蹈原本是萨满教的托钵僧与天地沟通、人神相连的管道。舞者身穿白色传统长袍，头戴黑色高帽，一只手稍微高举向天，另一只手低垂向地，以同一个姿势无休止地旋转。动作看似单调，其肃穆的气氛却成功地释放一种能量，让人叹为观止，表演结束之后仍然震撼不已，久久不能自己。

 

          人在旅途，有时候风景仅仅是背景，回忆是否美丽往往取决于所遇到的人与事。出发之前，因为其不时发生的爆炸案，因此会担心土耳其人是否都是凶神恶煞的“恐怖分子”？然而，走在街上，看到的大多是俊男美女，他们非但没有想象中的凶神恶煞，脸上刻着“恐怖分子”的字眼，而且很友善、热情，会向旅客微笑、打招呼。周围的环境气氛宁静，实在难以和恐怖活动挂钩。当然，防范之心还是要有的。

          也许是很少见到华人的缘故，在土耳其人的认知里，长得像我们这个样的都是日本人，因此无论男女老幼，开口闭口就是konnichiwa。他们对我们充满好奇，但成年人只是含蓄地看着我们微笑，小孩和青少年则是肆无忌惮地一路簇拥，问东问西。然而，无论如何向他们介绍我们来自新加坡，他们还是一知半解地在分手时大喊sayonara。

          旅行时，将有民族特色的当地人作为摄影的题材已成为纪念旅程的一种方式。而这一次到土耳其，却轮到我们成为当地人的摄影题材。看见一架架的相机对着自己拍，是一次特别的经验，却也让我有些费解。曾经到过埃及、挪威等地，这些地方的华人也不多，但当地人都不曾如此兴奋、好奇。这是因为到土耳其的华人真的那么少，加上热情的土耳其人本性求知欲旺，对不熟悉的人或事物都要探个究竟？又或者我们的东方脸孔对他们来说是具有相当吸引力的神秘民族特色？想要感受当明星的滋味，到土耳其去应该不会让你失望:P

 

 

          旅行，是认识一个国家的最佳途径。这次的土耳其之行，却因脚步匆匆，加上身心都有些疲惫，无法更深一层地感受这个国家的内涵，真的觉得有点糟蹋了这次的旅程，惭愧。然而，仍然深切地体会，要认识任何人、事、物，都必须亲自用心地从多方面去了解。若非这次顺利成行，土耳其在我心里将永远都只是一个充满尘土、危机处处的地方。

Tree top walk

Hurray! after talking for so long, missed a few outings, today finally I get to do the tree top walk @ MacRitchie :) J said we walked about 11km... hmm.. have not been exercise for a long time, this is kinda of an achievement.

My resolution for year 2007, be more hardworking (well, my sister and brother turned their heads away when i told them this ) and be healthier... so must make sure I exercise more regularly :P

Looking forward to more of such walks :)