Round Table Conference with the Governor

Oh! Just to share the good news. For those of you who don't already know, I was one of the four first year ALTs to make a speech to the governor at the round table conference this time round. My speech was extremely well-received (thank God!), from the p.o.v of the other ALTs at least, not sure about the governor. But as Heather (America) put it, we "don't care about what the governor thinks, but we do care about what the (other) ALTs think!"

Nick Hornby: 31 Songs

Some of you might remember Nick Hornby as the man who wrote high profile books like Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy. Quite a number of his works have made the jump from page to screen, so he's definitely no small fry; strangely, I realise that I had read a book of his years ago, but I have absolutely no recollection of what transpired in that book, and I'm talking about How to be Good. After searching for some excerpts online, I decided that I did read that book, and the quirky dialogues in it definitely made me laugh when I was reading it, but I just don't remember much detail about it. Might as well write about this book of his that I'm currently reading - 31 Songs.

31 Songs is exactly what it is: a book about 31 songs. Something that strikes me about Nick Hornby is that he doesn't seem to have too many mind-boggling titles; everything seems to be presented just as it is, no false advertising, no unnecessary hype whatsoever. But then, I've only had two books of his behind me, and I don't even really remember that first book by him that I read, so this, along with other general "observations", could be absolutely false.

The first thing that struck me was the non-fictional nature of the book, coz I've come to associate N.H. with fiction. But I suppose, Fever Pitch can be seen as belonging to the same genre as this, being a memoir of some sort for the purpose of putting his obsessions to paper. The second and more important thing that struck me was the way in which he decided on the 31 songs. N.H. rightly points out that "if you love a song, love it enough for it to accompany you throughout the different stages of your life, then any specific memory is rubbed away by use." Loving a song because of the feelings it evokes, or the memories it brings back is quite different from loving a song simply because of what it is. Enjoying a song out of context keeps us to the basics: the sheer enjoyment of music as it is. Hey, children enjoy their kiddy little songs coz of the way they sound and ... just simply coz of what they are, isn't it? Linking songs to events and memories would have made this book an autobiography (with a tad too many lamentations, perhaps), but that's not what this book was meant to be.

Here's just a couple of things that I remember from his list:

N.H. decides that Van Morrison's Caravan will be a must-play at his funeral. But of course, being the classical-averse popster, he's wary of the string section that might cast him in a bad light as making concession to classical music. LOL. The lengths that a person goes to to preserve his honourz.

N.H. doesn't say it but he probably puts his vote down for Rod Stewart as being among the best interpretive artistes around. "He was the first singer to teach me that there was an art to interpretation." Rod Stewart's innumerable songs such as "Bring it on Home to Me" and "Mama You Been on My Mind" were covers that supposedly improved on the original versions.

I've got to put this down, coz it's like the only real pop song by today's standards recorded in the book. This is Nelly Furtado's I'm Like a Bird". Personally, I find it pretty cool too! Addictive tune + lyrics = formula for pop-ish succuess! Plus, the last dynamic scene (from the music video) with people - regardless of race, language or religion - supporting her with outstretched arms and the unpretentiousness it carries make it stand out a little more from the airheadedness of the sex-sells approach inundating the mainstream. Keep it simple man, why complicate things when you don't need to?

Faith.

A visiting pastor from America cites the crossing of the Jordan River as an illustration of faith. He says, "Faith is of no value if we choose to exercise it only in times of comfort. It is only when we are in times of uncertainty that we need faith."

Sometimes, it is funny how we have more faith in a chair than in Him.

Serving with an Attitude!

I don't think that all Japanese customer service people are always polite.

I do think that some Japanese customer service people discriminate against customers of certain backgrounds =(

I do think that some Japanese customer service people just look tooooo friendly and ready to serve to be true; who knows what's going through their minds?

BUT I ALSO THINK THAT SINGAPOREANS HAVE A LOOOOT TO LEARN FROM THE JAPANESE WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

Anecdote 1: At the supermarket

Ben was struggling with some change at the cashier as he was about to pay for some groceries. Being his usual clumsy self, a coin fell from his hands and it rolled all the way to the next cashier. The cashier who was serving him excused himself politely and ran to the next cashier to retrieve the coin for Ben, despite Ben's repeated pleas to let it pass.

Anecdote 2: At the petrol kiosk

Our protagonist, Mr Ben, was cycling past a petrol kiosk at hellrider's speed (as usual) when he saw something most astonishing, having come from a service-sucks-big-time country. This pump attendant - a very young lad I must say - was bowing repeatedly at more than 90 degrees in the direction of a car that was manoeuvring its way out of the kiosk. While such acts of servitude, for the lack of a better word, are not totally unfamiliar to Mr Ben, he was shocked to see what happens in Japanese drama serials take place right in front of him. He was reminded of the pathetic state of customer service in his home country, and he slowed down his bike with a heavy heart.

Let's hear what people on the streets have to say about customer service in Singapore:

Auntie Duku, Buah:
"I tink dat young peopol (subtitles: "people") nowsaday har, don like to serve other peopol anymore leh. They want to be serve oni."

Mr Cheong Fan, Chee :
"I think that Singaporeans lack the initiative to serve others partly because of their self-centredness. They don't see serving others as a job to be proud of, perhaps, in comparison to the Japanese who seem to take pride in whatever job they are doing. We can have the best IRs and all, but with such poor service attitudes, we will not be able to do as well as we hope to. But then again, maybe all the croupiers and frontline staff will be Malaysians. "

Hmmmm... :( It breaks my heart just to hear such comments from people. Surrrely it can't be true!? :O

会津下集

很 多人跟我说会津是“乡下”（田舎），没什么好玩的。但是，在我来日本还不到3个月的时候，就已经去了会津2次。在那里，不但有我的新朋友和好客的客居家 庭， 还有很多人工无法媲美的自然风景和具历史性的文化遗产。上回提到的城堡（荒城之月）也是众多历史遗址的其中之一。

在大内区，仍然可以看见许多建于江户时代的建筑物。它们多半是一些类似住家的建筑。它们原来的风貌大致上都保存了下来，为历史留下了既简单又丰富的 一页。


























走 在两排古屋的中间总不免教人感叹事态的变迁及人类历史的伟大和些许的遗憾。走进古屋参观，更让人了解长幼有序，宾主礼节和简单勤勉等思想是如何投射在一栋 房子的布置，装备和设计上的。现代人的思想和生活作习当然和古人不同，而其中的利与弊又有谁有资格来评估呢？就算是。。。单纯的改变，自然的进化吧。保存 历史遗产的重要性也不就是因为世界日日新，旧物天天弃的缘故吗？





从高处往下看，的确是一览无余。问：是站在高处的人心旷神怡呢，还是在下面走的人更为脚踏实地？有人喜欢时高时低，但现实生活又岂是人能掌控的？

会津篇

The good thing about my job is that they are really serious about promoting internationalization. One of the programmes that was organised with this in mind is the homestay in Aizu. Although it was only a short stay of about 3 days, I was fortunate to have been able to bond with my family and especially, the kids! I also got to know a really subarashii family from China. And guess what, I've already been back there once already! My homestay family, with whom I stayed both times, is expecting a newborn this month. On my next visit, I'll probably get to see a cute and chubby addition to the family!















My homestay family (the Satos!)















Dad holding the obachan Tonoko and Granny, the sjuper-djuper noisy (but friendly) Yumeko.















The famous Tsurugajo Castle. The famous traditional Japanese song, "Kojo no tsuki" (荒城之月）（荒城の月）, was supposedly written with this castle as its theme.















The magnificent view from the top of the castle. On this day, the Aizu Matsuri, a major festival in Aizu, was held and the participants gather here at the square for the rituals.













































:O Is that a ... gaijin (foreigner) I see in the midst of the procession?!　3人もいるんだ！






























Shiho, my homestay daughter, looking solemn at a separate display. This is the second year she's participating in this.
Below: The kids and me making akabekos (a red cow thing). Can you even tell that I'm not local? lol. It is supposedly easier for people who look like Japanese to forge friendships with them (I'm not talking about the over-the-board wannabes who probably wanna befriend the local bengs and lians, smirkz), since the constant visual reminder of one's status as a gaijin is not present. But then, on the flip side ...

This is Ma Jiali's family, the Chinese family I was talking about at the beginning. 彼らのおかげで、回転すし屋で素晴らしい晩御飯をいただきました。きっと、今度も会いましょうね！