Japanesy

Here’s a random haiku that hit me like a parabolic flying acorn.

A stone on the banks
Flowing water gushes fast
I see buds in bloom

I miss eating dango all of a sudden. I realised I didn’t have any in my last trip, think I should make it a compulsory thing when I head over again.

Mmmmmmmm

I My Me Mine

I’ve been a fan of POLYSICS for awhile now but can’t seem to get much of them here in Singapore.

If you don’t know, Polysics is, Wikipedia describes it as: “[Polysics] are a Japanese new wave/Rock band from Tokyo”. I call it electronic awesomeness from the land of the awesome.

I’ll just share some Polysics love through some of the videos of my favorite songs.

Pause the Songspot and enjoy!

I My Me Mine – POLYSICS

My Sharona – POLYSICS

Each Life Each End – POLYSICS

Plus Chicker – POLYSICS (This is old, but I like it too! XD)

Last, but definitely not least, my favorite Polysics song, ever:

Peach Pie on the Beach – POLYSICS

That’s all for today, until next time everyone.

P.S. For little updates over time, check out the Twitter RSS over to the right.

Innovative, no?

Pause Sonific and Play. You don’t have to know much Japanese to understand it.

Enjoy.

[via Japan Probe]

Ponder #01: Age vs. Culture Part One

Today, I’ll be talking about age versus culture in the context of Singapore.

First and foremost, we need to understand what is Age and what is Culture.

I’ll just be using the one or few definitions that are similar to my own definitions.

Age – “The length of time during which a being or thing has existed.”

Culture – “The quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.” or “The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” or “A particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period.”

These are the definitions provided by dictionary.com.

Does culture require age? Can culture develop overnight? Can culture be reinforced or dissolved over time? What does it take to destroy a culture?

These questions will be answered as we move along. Singapore, being a young country as compared to many countries around the world. With a culture developed through the amalgamation of many other different cultures. A city of migrants and fusion.

I believe culture can evolve, changing over time and adapting to circumstances through the natural selection of stronger traits within the different cultures to better equip the people for survival.

In Singapore, we have a culture of being kia or afraid of many things. Afraid to lose (kiasu), afraid to die (kiasi), afriad of the government (kia cheng hu), afraid of bosses (kia tao kay), afraid of wives (kiabo). This culture of fear develops habits that makes up part of Singapore’s culture. Namely complaining, conforming, selfishness and discourtesy.

It’s not as bad as it is being portrayed here though. We complain because we want something better, we conform as to not make things difficult for others and in turn ourselves, we’re selfish for our needs and the needs of our loved ones, discourtesy I cannot defend, but I have reasons for that,

I know, I don’t sound as objective as I’m supposed to, but these traits ensure that we’re on the top of the food chain.

“Deny your enemy his meat and let him grow pathetic weak.“

We have a culture whose people have developed a mindset to be on top, to be the best. However, I feel that we have a long way to go to in order to develop a more gracious culture. These traits are passed down from a generation that had to compete to survive. Yes, we have to survive now, but not to the extent of our forefathers.

I’ll stop here for now, so we can all digest what’s going on. And if you were wondering, I’m not done with this topic yet. I haven’t answered all the questions anyway.

Let me end this off with a quirky video to help you relax after all that reading.

Saw this over at DannyChoo.com, enjoy.

Nightmares

I’ve been quite busy/sick/bored these past few days, pardon me for my lack of updates. My past few nights were plagued with nightmares.

No monsters, nothing evil. Just replaying my mistakes and regrets over and over again. The same nightmare recurring for the past week. I woke up at 5 a.m and just stayed in my bed, not moving, even when I’m awake these memories threaten to break me. Freaky, but it’ll help with my writing I guess, nightmares always gave me inspiration.

I keep getting visions, these visions are getting more vivid as time passes. Think I’d better get them on paper, they make good art.

I would be updating the Ponder series every Sunday, when I actually have time to think. As for now, I’ll leave you with a few videos to help you pass your time.

Oh, and Sandy, I want sushi!

Same old procedure.

~Via Japan Probe one of my favorite blogs~

Ponder

Looking at my PS3 while playing Armored Core 4, I pondered the meaning of life, culture, age, information and existence.

With every pixel saturated explosion and fractals passing under my NEXT, I came closer to the conclusion that this problem will never be solved.

What exactly is life?

Does age affect culture?

In a world where information is can be stored, would it come to the point where we have too much useless data?

And what defines existence?

I will touch on these issues on a series a posts called Ponder.

For now, enjoy this clip that was featured on one of the blogs I frequent called Pink Tentacle.

Pause Sonific and enjoy.

Respite

I have gotten my fair share of rest and I can finally drag my ass out of bed to blog.

Japan was fun, but getting there was quite the experience. Quite the INTERESTING experience.

The flight to Bangkok to transit was very smooth, but the transit in BKK was hell. We had to run from one end of the damn airport to the other end. It was like running 2.4 with luggage and the moment we reached, they haven’t boarded.

My legs are still sore from that experience.

The flight was peaceful though and the stewardesses were quite pretty, well, a few of them anyways.

So, when we landed, we had to make our way to out hotel, MaRRoad Inn Akasaka. We got off one station before Akasaka and tried to walk there. Turns out we walked all the way to Roppongi. After some help form a few kind strangers, we managed to reach our hotel.

When we stepped in, I found the girl of my dreams standing behind the front desk.

We had them look after our luggage and made our way out.. where? Stay tuned for the next post. I’ll try to get some pictures up as soon as possible.