back-stage...

6 years

the last time I did a role in a theatre play was almost exactly 6 years ago(not counting a short 2-lines role in one of Erwin's exams)...I had finished that show with a promise that as soon as I start university, I'll find an amateur theatre group to join and continue what had been to utermost wonderful experience of my life..

well, nothing goes by the script, so that didn't happen...new exciting things, ideas, opportunties...somehow it seemed a waste keeping doing the same as before...

this year I finally pulled my sh*t together and joined a theatre club here in singapore..ok, it's not the best of plays, definitely not among the greatest performances, in fact it's pretty much what I don't like in acting - cheap, quick comedy....BUT, but today, after 6 years, I'VE BEEN ON A STAGE AGAIN...

the biggest truth in the world for me now is the one that says that you never know how much you miss something until you have it/do it again....

I've been a fool...I love theatre, I love acting, and spending 6 years of my life without something I care for so much is just stupid...

lesson learned.Solemnly promise to myself not to let that happen again...and next one, I'm not wearing any tights, nor funny hats..

Angkor vs Guns, Germs and Steel

Reading Guns, Germs and Steel was mind-blowing. It felt like all my questions, frustrating questions, on how are the huge differences in society development/civilization around the world possible had been answered...and, going by the arguments and scientific proof presented, it makes perfect sense that the ultimate factors behind of all these, lay far, far in the past....

But the visit to Cambodia this wkd has challenged my newly aquired opinions/thoughts.. Angkor is not as visually astonishing as I expected...It's not as shiny and colourful as the royal palace in Bankgok, in terms of size the buildings are not the biggest I've seen..But, beyond all, the whole Angkor area is the proof of a strong, developed society - which had the intelectual, material and physical human resource to build what was done there over the course of couple of centuries.

This was less than a thousand of years ago...Today, Cambodia is frightengly poor and underdeveloped...how come? even looking at decayed former empires/civilizations I can't think of any which is in this state today...what went different here? how can an advantage so big be erased over few centuries? or was the Angkor period the 'accident' in this country's/region's history?

If anybody knows more about it/knows a good read on the topic, would love to hear from you...

I was hoping to learn the world by travelling...but all I get is more and more questions...

Stadhuys

it was surreal going in a small coast town in Malaysia and seing the city hall with its dutch name proudly posted at the main entrance while in the square facing there was a pretty windmill, just as one of the many, many which you see around Netherlands. This town - Melaka has seen many 'visitors' - dutch, portuguese, british. Walking its streets, it almost felt like europe...almost, nonetheless...



it was an awesome wkd, couple of weeks ago...a small romanian gang driving randomly around south malaysia...props to pixi for neat handling of it's first driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road session....

travelling with a rented car totally kicks ass and wins in front of any other form of teritory exploration 'methodology'...the liberty of movement, the freedom to randomness in your decision, and the ability to reach those spots where there is no-apparent-point in going...



funny moment of the wkd: visiting Seri Menanti, the old royal(but extremely small)capital of the Negeri Sembilan state, we stopped to eat something at was likely the only eatery around. When asking for the menu, we were presented the full range of options in 5 secs: " to eat - Nasi lemak, to drink - lime juice"...guess what we asked for...