Presentation - The Power of Words

The following is a presentation I did for English class about the power of words. Partly inspired by John Green's analysis of the book The Catcher In The Rye.

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Good morning, everybody. During the discussion about the power of words, I had a book and a personal experience to share. But I didn't do it because I was afraid. Afraid of what you might ask. Well, let's just say I had something precious, so precious that I was reluctant to share. I know I am not a great speaker, without any minimal preparation, I am afraid that I am gonna trivialize that precious experience by the way I say it. Now with proper preparation and your full attention, it is the right moment to say what I want to say.

This book by J. D. Salinger, The Catcher In The Rye (french Attrape Cœur) is about Holden Caufield's expulsion from school and his journey back home in new york city, where he lingers around for a few days trying to get people to listen to him. This is a dividing book, some readers find it boring, and some find it enlightening. I am one of the latter. You see, I met this book during the lowest point of my life so far. People always say that literature can do good to us, and that was the first time I actually felt that that statement is so true. I feel like the book understand me in the most improbable ways. I feel like holden is a real person and he says things that I have had always difficulty to say. And that, for me it is the greatest compliment anyone can give to a fictional work. Just like what american writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said, in the works of great writers, we find our own neglected thoughts.

Like Holden, I was too having difficulty expressing my thoughts, feeling like I was the loneliest person ever. Through this book, I know I am not that alone anymore. Holden had inspired me to write, as a tool, just like he did to get people to listen to him. Holden also told me, that no one can ever fully empathize with some one else. In my case, eventhough I did say I feel like Holden understands me better than myself, but still he can't fully empathize with me. That's why I keep reading, to find those losing pieces of me that make me who I am. Might be a bit cheesy, but it basically means to find myself.

So are words powerful ? For me it seems like a rhetorical question. Of course it is powerful and this book is one of many proves. It is exactly through words that Holden gets his way into millions including me. Thank you.

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Alternate ending of the Edge of Tomorrow

Edge Of Tomorrow, I love it. In recent years, it is difficult to get a film that is not a sequel nor a prequel nor a set up to another franchise. A film and a film as a whole unlike all those overhyped Marvel films, this kind of film will get me to watch it no matter what. This one delivers in many levels, a really good film generally. It gets good reviews and it gets my love too. If there is one thing to criticize about this film, it would be the ending. In my opinion, the ending falls a little bit short comparing to the build-up.

The following is my attempt to improve it and there will be spoiler. But why the hell you have not yet watched it?! Until the part where only Will and Rita are left after they went under the Louvre and found the Omega, I am still fine with it. The part I don't like is Rita's death and miraculously Will got back the Alpha's blood and resets the day again. I would prefer Will to die.

My version goes like this : Will has his confession to her, she should be a bit confused. She isn't as emotionally attached to him since she just knew him. But she understands the situation and that he is being sincere regarding her relationship between her and Hendrick before. Rita tries to stop his plan of ultimate sacrifice, but Will forces and traps her into a container or some kind that can survive the blast later on. Will manages to survive long enough from the guarding Alpha to drop the bomb in the Omega thus destroys it.

Sun rises, Rita survives the blast. She dives into the water, finds Will's dead body and drags it out of the water, it then follows by a slow zoom onto Rita's facial expression. As she holds hs dead body, her eyes slowly swelling with tears. Then drop planes from Heathrow fly over the site to signify the end of war. Will dies and stay dead. Repeat no more.

So my ending isn't a happy ending. After a huge event such as an alien invasion, a conveniently wrapped happy ending without any consequence is just bugging me. I love a heroic sacrifice in movies and I really want to see more of Rita's emotional side after she kicks so much ass in the majority of the runtime, that's why I wrote my imaginary alternate ending as so. Anyway, I am not saying that my version is better than the original, but I really prefer so sort of ending with some consequences.

"Nation of One" photo contest - my contribution

Ba-ba-ba dook! dook! dook!

I totally did not expect a horror movie to be so touching. If a film is by defaut conveying ideas and stories through images and not words, this is certainly the epitome of film making. A movie full with emotions and I feel every single one of them through the characters in the movie. 

The true horror is grief, depression and the loss of loved ones, and this movie is all about that. If you had been through tough times in your life, then there is a Babadook living inside you. Listen to the main actress herself explaining a little bit of the film in the following video, will also help you appreciate the film more.   

Grief is a monster. Dark times from the past, if not dealt properly, will haunt us forever.

Vanilla, it has been a misunderstanding between us

Vanilla, probably the flavor I want the least. Not that I hate that flavor or so, just that if given other choices, I would certainly not choose vanilla. The image linked to vanilla is often cheap and uninteresting, Not sure about other people but the statement is at least true for me.

Vanilla is on the contrary one of the most interesting flavor and it is not cheap, at all. It is the second most expensive spice after saffron in term of price per kg, and its flavor is described as delicate in The Book of Spices. But why I don't appreciate vanilla that much? 

It is probably because of a simple fact, anything can be really expensive when it is scarce, and vanilla is just so widely used as a flavor in many food especially dessert, thus it appears to be "cheap". Even Wikipedia says, vanilla is "default" flavor for ice cream. Nowadays, nobody likes default setting. Everybody wants customized choice to reflect his or her own personality. 

Although the price of vanilla per kg is high, a small quantity of vanilla is often enough to have a huge impact on the flavor of whatever food you put it in. So in term of "efficiency" of the flavor, vanilla is highly efficient. If you want vanilla flavor in your food, you don't have to pay a fortune, another reason why vanilla flavor is so wide spread. 

I would like to revisit the flavor of vanilla, to taste its delicateness. But to do so, I must get rid of the bad "stereotypes" linked to vanilla. Vanilla, it has been a misunderstanding between us.    

Hardwired to anarchy?

I am still in progress of reading The Art of Not Being Governed. The fact that it focuses on Southeast Asia, the fact that many terms used are very close to my origin, it is strange at first but interesting, to rediscover the history of the place where I was born and grew up on.

The book does provide a different perspective than my history textbook of secondary school, mainly redefine the terms civilization and barbarians. However many of its ideas are surprisingly not that new to me. In fact, I might just find out the main reason why I was attracted to this book in the first place. In fact, I think I might have been hardwired to anarchy myself, and I just didn't realize. 

Exposing a fresh mind to a philosophy is a dangerous thing, because this philosophy will become the person's philosophy for as well as ever. Just like what it is said in the movie Inception, it will take root in your mind and define you for the rest of your life. I was brought up in heavy Chinese influence school, both primary and secondary, and of course I was first exposed to Confuciusm. But it was what my friends and I considered as too mainstream. It was almost peer pressure to embrace a school of thought other than Confuciusm. It was "cool" to act so. 

I can't tell how I found myself in this school, but I was and I am still heavily influenced by Taoism, especially ZhuangZi's Taoism. I had read many of his works, possess many of his works, ranging from original copy in classical Chinese to illustrated picture of his philosophy. Come to think about it, I acted more or less according to his philosophy during my whole secondary school, and I always dreamt of living as a hermit, out of reach of the society, out of reach of civilization.

All and all, it was long time ago already. Many things had happened ever since, many things had evolved and so is my philosophy of life. But ZhuangZi provided me my first way of looking at many things in life, and I feel like it has defined me ever since.

So why I am so interested in this book by James C. Scott? Perhaps it is because of one of the essential points of view of ZhuangZi is anarchy. ZuangZi is probably the world's first anarchist. 

2 Mo Zuo Inn review

Never felt being treated so warm by a stranger, so warm that it felt so strange and it was almost an instinct to step back a little bit. I am sorry for thinking bad of the people who treated me so,  thinking that they must have some kind of ulterior motive. I feel guilty for being rude in response to their enthusiasm. And that is how I feel about 2 Mo Zuo Inn. 

The greastest thing about 2 Mo Zuo Inn is its friendly butler. I found butler a bit anoying at first, knocked at our door a few times and kept asking about our plan, about the places we wanted to visit. But soon I understood, he was just so enthusiastic and so eager to make our stay better. 

On the last night of our stay, he asked us to join him and a taiwanese family who was staying in that inn too, together we went to a hidden but very famous restaurant for dinner. The restaurant is famous for its seafood, some I had never even seen before in my life. And apparently it is so famous that a few of the former presidents of Taiwan visited that restaurant. 

After dinner, with three scooters, each with three people on it, we made a tour around a large portion of the western part of the island. We also went to the seaside to enjoy the night view of mainland China across the strait. 

The owner of the inn is a really nice guy, not to mention a passionate farmer too. The proof is the fonctional garden/orchard behind the inn. Just before we left, he took us and the taiwanese family for visit at his garden. And then, he also fetched us to airport, without any extra charge. 

Their friendliness and kindness made my stay in Kinmen awesome. 

The restaurant that I talked about

Sumptuous dinner, nom-nom-nom...

Group photo after the stomachs were full.
(my low quanlity camera, the photo is a bit blur)

2 Mo Zuo Inn

The owner in yellow T-shirt, explaining some farming stuffs.

Another group photo with the taiwanese family and the owner. 

The way to 2 Mo Zuo Inn

Reaching a new place at night is one of those things I love and also hate the most. The combination of unfamiliarity and darkness is frightening but it does make me feel I am on an adventure. Satisfaction is especially powerful when the place I try to reach is hard to reach and difficult to find, and the night when everything is dark does exactly that : it makes the challenge more challenging. 

So I chose to reach Kinmen after sunset at 20h, partly because the flight ticket was cheaper at this hour and also partly I wanted an adventure, a little uncertainty. At 20h the plane was preparing to land, and all I could see through the airplane window is what I can identify as ghost town, lack of artificial light and no sight of human activity. While the roads were lit, they were totally devoid of cars. 

Got off the plane, got into a cab, heading to this 2 Mo Zuo Inn, the accommodation I had booked. My advantage is I speak the language. 2 Mo Zuo Inn should actualy be pronounced as "Er Mao Zuo" Inn. At first luck was on my side, the taxi driver knew the place. But as soon as we reached the place, it seemed like the most remote place on Earth. There was another building beside the Inn, but apart from that, there was no buildings within a few kilometers radius (or at least it felt like so). Without any light apart from lights from the taxi, the worst was the fact that the building seemed vacant, so as the neighbouring building. I knocked the door and nobody answered. 

There was a phone number on the door, so we asked the taxi driver to make the call for us. Through the phone, a person would be sent to us and opened the door for us. Decided not to stay with us, the taxi driver went off hurriedly as soon as the call ended, which seemed a bit awkward and suspicious. Me and my mom were left alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere. It was really worrying.

In the end, a light came to us, literally. Three motorcycles came, carrying 7 people in total and one of them was the butler of the Inn. We later found out that the other 6 people were a family. As soon as the butler helped us into our room, deep inside me I felt so relieved.   

Going to an unfamiliar place at night can be frightening sometimes, and going to an under-developped unfamaliar place at night is frightening most of the time. But the truth is, great emotions can be found in catharsis. If you choose to do so and reach the place you want to go safely, the next morning when sunshine hits and when you have a look at your surroundings, you will feel like you are magically transported to that place.

  

    

Manly yet peaceful Kinmen

This place reminds me so much of my grandpa. This is the perfect place for him to retire in. On the other hand, it is probably the manliest island I have been to, regarding the things it is famous for : military, knives, liquor and horseshoe crab. 

I have long heard about Kinmen, just never thought of visiting it. I even doubt that is it worth visiting at all. It is not a famous tourist spot, many Taiwaneses on the main island have never even been there. This time, it was actually my mom's idea to go there. She had watched a taiwanese series and she absolutely loves it, a series which set in Kinmen.

Kinmen is composed of a series of islands. But the main island plus Lie Yu (also called Little Kinmen) together are no larger than the Penand island. The most interesting thing about the island is how close is it to the main land China, so close that it is merely 5km away. In fact, it is closer to China geographically than to the main island of Taiwan which is a few hundreds kilometers away.

Since China and Taiwan were in conflict and still it is true today, Kinmen becomes naturally the frontline between two powers. It was heavily bombarded during the peak of the conflict, around the 50's and 60's. It serves as a military point for Taiwan side until today, as many military posts on the island are still operational. It is said that all minefields are disarmed but bunkers and coastal defence measures are still everywhere.

Of course, the conflict is no longer as heated. It have just diluted into this dilemma nobody wants to mention about. Simple fact, all out war will just deteriorate the fragile situation and bring no benefit to any side. So despite being heavily militarized, Kinmen is quite a peaceful place to live in. With very few buildings taller than 10 storeys, Kinmen stays more or less in an agricultural state where almost everybody is still a farmer. My grandpa always loved this kind of places, peaceful and very close to the nature and he loves gardening. That's why I said this is the perfect place for him.

The island is not big, so travelling within on a scooter is ideal. But again without international licence, my mom and I couldn't rent one. Bicycle was the next best choice, as so what I originally thought. How wrong was I! Roads in Kinmen are hilly, plus the intense summer heat, biking is a really bad choice. I still could withstand the severe circumstances, but my mom wasn't. After one morning of biking around, we quickly dropped the idea of visiting all touristic spots on bicycle. Public bus was not so bad after we tried it. The coverage was not as extensive, but it still could get us to major places we wanted to go.

It might be a little hipster-ish, I always have a special love to places where very few people know about. I always love to be among the locals when I visit a place, without the overwhelming waves of foreigners. That is exactly why I love Kinmen!

Taipei SongShan domestic airport

To prevent ships from approaching the coast

Barbwire on the wall of a fort

One of the military post, Mashan observing station

Putting on helmet to enter ZhaiShan tunnel

ZhaiShan tunnel

Right at the entrance of the tunnel

Some heavy artillery outside the tunnel

823 War Museum

Just some used bombs randomly stacked up

Kinmen Military headquaters during Qing dynasty

The headquarter is now transformed into a musuem

The iconic street of JinCheng

Have a stroll in JinCheng oldtown 

One of many knife shops, it is said that knifes from Kinmen are made of bomb shell

Bikes renting requires no fee, just give your ID and fill out some form

Fake horseshoe crab

JianGongYu, can only be visited during low tide

Water level is gradually decreasing to allow us to walk through to JianGongYu

JianGongYu

The village is really nice looking, but the extreme heat is not so friendly

JinCheng bus station during school time

Taking ferry to LieYu (little Kinmen)

Doing "yoga", the city opposite is XiaMen, China

JiuGong tunnel

Water selling station?!

Kinmen airport

Picture with Kinmen's mascot before saying bye bye