假.面.

“Who are you?” is a question for which the name is never the answer. – Edgar A. Morales

- 你是否为明天的人生选好了那一具假面？晚安...

The Chertsey Museum

After 52 days of residing in the UK, I finally decided to let myself out of the closet and start cruising down the street as a tourist. Recently being distressed by work due to the resignation of my direct superior, I needed to pick up various tasks and responsibilities in a short time. Therefore my weekends were spent burying myself in stress. However enough is enough now and I demanded a change in my life wanting something different, hence I made up my mind to visit one of the nearby attractions – the Chertsey Museum this weekend. 

It was a rainy morning when I get out of bed thinking that I might need to postpone the weekend plan. Nonetheless, the weather surprisingly turns out to be excellent in the afternoon despite that the weather report forecasted a rain. 

Walking down the road, the museum was easily spotted along Windsor Street. This museum first opened to the public in 1965, displaying a collection of local historical items, photographs, paintings, clocks, furniture and a collection of ancient Greek pottery, funded by Runnymede Borough Council with support from the Olive Matthews Trust. It was a 3 stories building: 

1st Floor: Archaeology of Runnymede and Fashion Collection of Olive Matthews

 

2nd Floor: Ceramics, Local & Social History items, Documents and Photographs

 

3rd Floor: Horology, Furniture and Pottery

 

  

It was fun testing on a few replicated 18th-20th century outfits, and not forgetting to get myself some souvenirs for this visit- 2 collectable coins and a fossil. This is a good beginning and I am looking forward to have more fun in coming days in the different part of this country.

飞翔：黑夜的彩虹

独自坐在心中的黑空洞，望向深渊，只有太多伸手不及的原来。累了，躺下来放空，闭上眼，任思绪漫无目地的漂浮。每个步伐，都将自己与天空的距离拉远了。天使与凡人，所看见的天空是否呈现一样的颜色？隔着一道银河之距离，能否跨越那道无形的分割线？ 

也许细心倾听和善解人意之优点，只适合于陪伴支撑过忧郁灰暗的日子。然而当太阳再度升高普照时，却再也容不下一把只适合雨天的伞。人，只不过是群体中孤单的个体。经过时间的洗礼，大家都变了。当初简简单单一个幸福的微笑，都随着时间的流失而变得不再单纯了。原本珍惜的，变得不珍贵了。想守住的，却守不住了。 

对别人的承诺都势在必行， 然而对自己的承诺却兑现不了- 就是学不会对自己好。

Dare to be Different

Theory and Philosophy are only set of rules created by others telling you how you should live your life according to their experiences, and setting norms on how you should behave to follow what they think. However my life is M.I.N.E. and I could make a different!

Nothing but Facts

* The wrong person at the right time = Broken-Hearted 

* The right person at the wrong time = Regrets & Sighs 

* The wrong person at the wrong time = Tragedy & Disaster 

* The right person at the right time = Go to bed earlier, you might find it in your dream…lol

Surviving the First Month

It’s been exactly a month now that I am in the UK. I must say that this is not an easy life to be here in the beginning: 

Different Culture: Great effort is needed in observation to keep myself up with each and every step of their lifestyle and culture. I can’t even find the trashcan to dispose the waste on my first week -.-" In the supermarket, the consumers will have to pack their purchases on their own and most of the people are quite patient in general during the queue. 

Different Currency: Changing cents to pence is posting me a hard time to differentiate the coins during payments. The 10 pence is bigger than the 20 pence which always put me in confusion. 

Different Climate: The cold weather with almost an average of 10°C daily is killing me. But still as an Asian, I am used to the daily shower and needed it so badly despite the shivering I would suffer. My nose was even bleeding continuously for a month due to the cold and dry weather. 

Different Equinox: It is quite often that I am being awakened by the bright sky at 4am or 5am in shock thinking that I am late for work, whereby the sun is up like the normal 10am Malaysian time. The evening seems to be longer after office hours due to the late sunset at around 9pm. Mobile phone is hence becoming my essential need in order to tell me the exact timing. 

Different Language: All I can speak here is none other than a proper professional English (no more mixture of Cantonese, Chinese, Hokkien and Malay. Arghh…I miss Manglish or Singlish so much…lol). Having spoken to some of the Scotsmen, I started to hesitate on the visit I need to make to the Bellshill office as I doubt if I could actually understand their question at all during the training due to the Scottish accent. 

Different Lifestyle: Having to wake up at 6.00am to cook for my breakfast and lunch is not an easy thing for me especially when cooking is not part of my interest. Needed to crack my head and hurt my brain cells to think of a bundle of weird recipes just to facilitate the daily cooking process, especially when I have only a set of metal chopstick, a spoon and a folk with me in this house. Imagine a life without plates and bowls: I am drinking soup from the cups, serving broccoli and fruits also in cups. >.< On the bright side, will I become a great cook eventually? (Lol…who wanna be the lab-rat?) 

But I guess my life has all the while been prepared for this move since the daily timing I had in Malaysia was rather reversed whereby I used to sleep late and waking up late. But here in the United Kingdom, I am living a healthy lifestyle by sleeping early and waking up early. (Not a bad change afterall) :)

A New Life Begins

16th April 2014, it is finally the day, the day of my move to the United Kingdom after a long visa process of almost a year. Neither do I feel anxious, excited nor sad during the departure, but everything seems to be so abnormally calm. Perhaps I knew deep down that this is the road I have chosen and I have to follow the path no matter how challenging it might be. 

This long visa process which started since mid-2013 includes: 

- Certificate of Sponsorship Application by the company 

- IELTS Examination 

- TB Test at the appointed hospital 

- Biometric Appointment at the visa centre 

- Online Visa Form Application and Payment 

- Documents submission to the British Embassy in Manila 

- Final Entry Clearance & Visa Approval 

Thanks to few of my best mates who sent me off at the airport as well as those who wished they could have made it there for me. I appreciate the wishes, gifts and red packets from all my dearest friends and colleagues. Your warm wishes are well received and remembered with me to this far away land.

With 2 medium + 1 small luggage bags and my hand-carries, I arrived at the Heathrow Airport at 5.50am. This move is indeed not as easy as one might think it could be, whereby this is a totally new life for me to be all alone by myself in an alienated country. Upon my arrival at the Heathrow airport, I am still as calm as I shouldn’t be while waiting for my boss to fetch me. It might be due to the long journey which took me 13 hours and 10 minutes and I am still half-awake from my dream.

Being surrounded by a totally unfamiliar culture and environment, I needed to explore everything by my own. Without internet access or a laptop, my life could be so miserable knowing not what to do sitting alone in the apartment. I have thus taken a decision to travel to a nearby town- Staines to get myself a mobile sim package, because the town that I am staying was rather small and was not well equipped with all basics even though the street that I am staying was considered the centre of the town. This pre-rented one room apartment was just nice for me, having a supermarket few steps away which is very convenient and it was only a 5 minutes walking distance from the train station and office. 

My first try on Pay-As-You-Go Lebara sim offers 500MB of internet at £5, but 500MB was so little that I finished them just in few days. Again I went to Staines but this time with more researches done and decided to go with the monthly Pay-As-You-Go Three sim at £15 with unlimited data. 

I am absolutely grateful with my life for being surrounded by angel/angels whenever I am in predicament. They are beautifully described as angel because they are unconditionally supporting me in facing the different challenges in life.

Taiwan (台北 + 花莲) - November 2013

没想到相隔不到七个月的时间，我竟有机会再次到访台湾，参加亚洲CDM的年度会议。 

11月10日 星期日

由于其他航空都客满及时间不符，我第一次乘搭亚航出差。庆幸这回没太多的行程耽误及拖延。抵达台北已将近傍晚，然而被吓到的是公寓管理员竟说我预定的住宿是明天?! 开玩笑，我人都已经抵达了那要我在哪落脚啊？再次确认邮件后，才发现他们由原本说定的11月10日在最后的邮件里却误改为11月11日。经过一番解释后，还好他们还有一间空房，要不然我可要流宿街头了。 卸下行李后，我当然不会错过台湾让人垂涎三尺的道地美食- 鸭舌，臭豆腐，大肠面线，烤肉串而最终决定再次到访士林夜市，而因此又错过了踏足龙山寺的机会。逛完士林夜市，再次回到双连站，精力旺盛的我继续速往宁夏夜市，再续狂吃后半段。

11月11日 星期一 

又一次回到淡水，然而这次到访的景点却与上次不同。这次也不再是我一个人的单独旅途，而是难得的拥有同事们的相伴。沿着淡水老街一路逛，欣赏尝试着街边商店所售卖的各式各样不同的精品与小食，也在这找到了我爱吃的铁蛋和鱼酥。移伴中的一位孕妇，总把我们身边的人吓得心惊胆跳的。怀胎4-5个月的她，仍旧活奔乱跳，还跟我们一块儿搭乘渡轮到对岸的渔人码头（船费TWD 120）。然而那寒冷的风，把我们吹得都快冻僵了。 

照往例，会议参加者都于7.00pm集合于福容四星级饭店的大厅，集合来自中国(2)，台湾(2)，香港(2)，印度(1)，中东(1)，菲律宾(1)，新加坡(1)，芬兰(1)，泰国(2)，马来西亚(4) 的同事们共聚晚餐。非常开心能再次与我的工作伙伴们欢聚。

11月12日 星期二 

会议于9.00am开始，热烈讨论着眼前的问题，解决方案，三五年计划，分享进展及成果等。经过一整天的脑细胞摧残，会议结束后经由我们台湾同事的细心安排，我们乘搭小型巴士前往位于台北101的鼎太丰餐馆享用晚餐。由于这是属于台湾一家有名的餐馆，尽管我们已提前预位，然而仍得等上一小时。盛餐后的自由活动，我们则结伴5人（A.C.K, C.K., R.C., J.K., L.C.Y.) 同往“五分埔”前进。据说这是购买衣物的必访地，然而我们5人却都无获而返。我难得看上的一件青绿色外套，却因尺度稍微松宽而放弃了。尽管终究没买到什么，然而我们却一路交谈什欢及乐在其中。

11月13日 星期三 

会议的最后一天，总结了各项议题，大家就都开始各自前往不同的方向离开。提着行李箱再度回到双连站附近的公寓，尽管疲惫不堪，我仍然决定依据当初的计划前往“饶河街夜市”。早闻这里的食物种类甚多，更多的是夹娃娃机。那拥挤的人潮，绝对不像周日。路经五分铺，不放弃的我还在努力找寻一件合适的冬装（为我的英国之旅筹备），终于让我看上了一件桃红色外套。

11月14日 星期四 

半清醒状态下，乘搭早上7.20am的台铁自强号前往石头的故乡- 花莲。三步一小庙，五步一大庙绝对适合用于形容台湾，那精致的手工雕刻绝对会让你叹为观止。 “花之恋”是一间网上颇为好评的民宿。价钱公道，环境干净，接待友善已成为焦点。安顿好行李后，就迈步探索四周的景点。可惜徒步可达的地点不多，必须乘搭德士到达目的地。 第一站- 郁金香花园和在于网上搜寻到的景象拥有太大的出入。那没打理的花园犹如一座失去皆日风采的荒城，让我失望了。在不知何去何从之时，亲切的德士司机就建议到访附近的吉安庆修院，一座由日治時期建造的花莲三级古迹，是唯一保存完好的日式寺院。 同事极力推荐的庙口红茶，确实是下午茶的好地点。美味的茶点和饮料，吸引着不少当地的顾客光临。 经过一番网上搜索，花莲只有两个夜市，其中一个就是南滨夜市。当晚骑着向民宿借来的脚踏车冒着细雨去探个究竟，然而这是一个没落及冷清的夜市，只有少数的档口营业着。接着就骑到邻近的石艺大街，那上好漂亮的玫瑰石雕品，让我差点忍不住就要破费了。 

11月5日 星期五 

花莲，这一个台湾同事介绍的地点，果然非同凡响。由于还未过度开发，这里还保有那原始的美。相对于花莲市中心，郊外的景色额外迷人。经过民宿小姐细心的安排，我就参与一个小型团队享受花莲一日游。我们到达的第一站是七星潭，一个非常漂亮的海滩。它的特色莫过于那形形色色的鹅柳石，经过岁月的洗礼留下不同纹路。那清爽的海风不像热带国家般湿粘，而是清爽的。第二站是太鲁阁，以雄伟壮丽的大理岩闻名。路经“清水断崖”及经过重重隧道，我们终于抵达燕子口 。每當春夏之际，常有小雨燕和洋燕在峭壁间穿梭鸣唱，或在洞穴內筑巢。由于那段隧道常有断断续续的落石，游客都被要求戴上安全帽。

砂卡礑步道，从入口到原住民的三间屋长达4.5公里，倚傍著砂卡礑溪而行。砂卡礑步道平缓易行，除了可沿途作自然观察之外，步道全线亦设置十余座大小观景平台，供小憩赏景。祥德寺

最有特色的莫过於那世界最高36尺的地藏菩薩，在民国80年建造完成，是世界最高的地藏菩薩金身。长春寺供奉着中橫公路兴建工程殉职的225位筑路人的灵位，唐式风格建筑依地势嵌入山壁间，清新的泉水自山壁湧出，形成一道飞瀑，如同一幅秀丽的画像。

我们的旅途于傍晚接近尾声，友善的导游提议带我们到自强夜市购买晚餐。由于时间尚早，只有少许档口开始营业，所以我们只有幸品尝棺材板，果汁，番薯蛋，也请了那亲切的司机一杯凤梨葡萄汁。 这一趟TWD 850的太鲁阁行程绝对值得。

11月16日 星期六 

有惊无险的早晨，莫过于计程车司机给的“惊喜”。前晚预约了6.15am的德士以便搭乘7.00am前往新竹的火车，却在6.30am都还不见司机的踪影。超感激有位热心的邻居帮忙联络一位相熟的司机，以及司机大哥的超速让我赶上了火车。 这一趟火车开往新竹，因为我的目的地是新竹绿世界，只为了一睹我觉得超可爱的草泥马。那呆呆笨笨的样子，确实非常讨喜。 原本的计划是乘搭客运再转高铁前往桃园机场，然而我已精疲力尽而无力再搬着行李了，最终决定不顾费用而搭计程车前往桃园机场。不够现金的我，还得在机场换台币来付车费呢。 

这一趟台湾行也让我花费不少，然而感激有机会踏足于台湾东部。* 我的下一站 - 台南！