居無竹, 人俗 The Index of Speculative Architecture

Nothing escapes politics.  From strolling around the quaint alleys of Taipei to reading about tensions in the Taiwan Strait and Pelosi’s delegation, how does Chinese diaspora from Taiwan navigate the chaotic ambiguity?

No. 1:  Futuristic condo stood akimbo in juxtaposition to traditional incense permeated temples within Taipei.  新舊之間的台北, 空中園景公寓和在地神祇廟宇.

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香惆 Happenstance

After the month long sojourn in Taipei, I stepped into a scene of GOT returning to work.  Welcome back to the reality or...  surreality!  Power play is at the core of psychology, dominance and submission.  Canines piss, felines hiss… and the homo sapiens?  The contortion between smiling and sneering resulted in the epidemic of hypocrisy.  Never an orator, I reconstruct my reality in the drawing.   

這趟台北行多年來待最久的一次, 也是首度, 略可想像, 若返鄉長居, 未必不可能.

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寒盡不知年 No Time to Die

While I was never enamored with the Bond series, Daniel Craig’s portrayal was my favorite by far so to watch his reign ending in a cliche was a disappointment.  The graphic elements were stunning though from the hill town of Matera, the poisonous zen garden of Safin… to the lithe silhouette of Paloma in the rippling black ball gown while kicking villains’ butts with her long legs.

向來近鄉情怯, 睽違長長三年COVID, 總算決然告假一個月回台北探親.  如今旅行不如疫病蔓延前自由自在起而行, 核酸檢測, 全面酒精消毒, 防疫旅館隔離, 衛生署鄰里日日電話查詢, 才剛到埠我已精疲力盡.

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颶風紀 Mighty 19

本來該寫六月京都遊記, 然十月東京蒙難, 先插播滿腹牢騷, 今年是否沖撞掌管航運神祇?  東方應是媽祖默娘, 西方大抵為飛靴長翅的Hermes, 請受小的奉上空也紅豆最中兩枚, 保祐敝人消災除噩, 平安到家.

June, strained in Taipei due to cabin crew union strike.  July, strained in Chicago after a cancelled connecting flight on my way to Firenze.  October, strained in Tokyo in clearance of Typhoon Hagibis.  That's my luck and stocking up on any kind of food was all I could do for my hideout...

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荒誕 His Piercing Gaze

As I composed the finale to my Firenze travelogue, I also survived a tumultuous development season.  Action is the window to a person's soul and I am happy to report that professionalism has triumphed.  

Cappelle Medicee.  Stolen moments with Michelangelo's magnificence via a discreet entrance.

不知從何時開始, 每年生日禮物是單獨旅行, 無特定主題, 想到哪走到哪… 存在主義的起手式, 與往昔未雨綢繆的自己過招.

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我與春天有約 Surviving the Briar Patch

I wanted to revisit La Primavera since the summer of 2015.  Four years later, Le Gallerie degli Uffizi I came, reunited with not only Botticelli but also Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio.  Botticelli wields artistic refinement with clinical precision, Leonardo da Vinci transcends time in his dynamic intellectualism and Caravaggio, instills a lush fluidity between light and shadow. 

佇立艷陽下的聖母百花大教堂, 青春洋溢姐妹花請我替她倆照相, 紮著絲巾的微捲褐髪, 碧眼與玫瑰色紅唇閃爍笑意, 短裙翩翩筆直的勻稱長腿, 真是幅美景!

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綠光 Data - Info - Knowledge - Understanding - Wisdom

Schizophrenia lingers.  While the Chinese version of this blog post socializes the musing about Firenze, the English version assumes the spirit of organizational analysis.  An ounce of information is worth a pound of data.  What constitutes politics?  Too many lazy brains with overly active wagging fingers.

 The renaissance Italian certainly did politics with excellent styles:  twining muscles in homoerotic postures, bravissimo!!!  Here's Palazzo Vecchio overlooking Piazza della Signoria.

喜歡稱呼佛羅倫斯 - 翡冷翠, 義大利文Firenze音譯, 閃綠光, 我喜歡的顏色.  有多少風流便有多少折墮, 翡冷翠之行先折墮, 再風流; 休完假回歸工作, 則是折折折, 墮墮墮, 折墮折墮…

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古墓奇兵 The Lost Heaven on Earth

Catching up to write about my scenic detour during the April trip to Southeast Asia - Angkor Wat.  The spectacular archeological site and the exuberant mythology of Hindu Buddhism topped any anthropology lesson for me.  Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm unraveled such melancholy splendor of the Khmer civilization.  What was once lost was found in the end.

 LK(aka Lonely Knight) outside the Bayon Temple.

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危轉機 Farce and Hamartia

明明老了不認老, 頻頻提當年勇, 或從頭到腳堆砌學生時代負擔不起, 今時今日也未必適合自己等等時尚名牌, 大抵是中年危機最表層症狀; 再深入, 便是條條大哉問… 近來吾兒青春期發酵, 一窩子misfits摔門互吼, 突覺前陣子職場種種不過小巫見大巫.  不是完全無理解善意, 頂頭上司從書架找出本Raising Boys塞給我, 前兩日春分, 團隊彩印我喜歡的Botticelli名畫春天, 悄悄懸掛於辦工室正牆逗我會心微笑 :)

With a Teenage Rex in the house, our household of midlife crisis vs. adolescence has raised stress to the level of art.  The modern art of chaos, parody… all crumble into a farce.  I needed much self helps in the form of writing and reminiscing our winter retreat in Tokyo.  Sizzling crabs on crackling charcoal and sake fused snapper stew.  I told you, I am taking the 'comfort' of comfort food very literally.

於東京過新曆年未曾書寫, 近幾年頻赴東京, 熟悉有份安寧, 是老朋友的默契老情人的窩心.

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俠客遠行 Procrasti-write

Among all forms of expression, I seem to have an immediate connection with writing and drawing.  Both require the conduit of a pen/pencil/stick…  Nope, that's not the direction I am heading to.  Although from time to time I do enjoy a good debate, I abhor the dueling of narcissism.  I write to distill chaotic thoughts, to experience life twice and to be at peace with myself.

戊戌年多變, 多位人物離世… 奇才Stephen Hawking, 靈魂歌后Aretha Franklin, 廚神Joel Robuchon, 科幻作家Ursula K. Le Guin, 怪傑Anthony Bourdain… 還有我們的金庸.  眾俠客, ㄧ路好走.

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始終 To Find An Ending in The Beginning

Experience over possession - the birthday present to myself this year is to study Shakespeare at Cambridge, just for a week of midsummer night’s dream.

萬物逆旅, 百代過客, 人生如虛擬實境, 2011-2014連續痛殤父親小阿姨外婆和一個本來有緣為母女或母子, 不知性別的小小靈魂... 心底有個自我掙扎著默默療傷, 雖然, 命運沒特別刁難.  去年的健康風暴似乎啟動豁然機制, 今年給自己的生日禮物是重回校園讀書 :)

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情書 Billet-doux to Tokyo

這些時日馬不停蹄, 驚覺若不在東京, 便是在前往東京的路上... 是啥緣由, 讓LK居所的灣區如失丈夫歡心的髪妻, 良人趁空即奔赴小三懷抱?!  嚴格來說, 東京我最熟悉的活動範圍是銀座, 從虎屋菓寮, 椿屋咖啡, 蔦屋書店, 久兵衛… 漫步到丸之內是一保堂嘉木茶室.  人生至此, 喝杯好茶, 來幾貫活跳跳握壽司, 逛書店, 似乎就剩這點出息.

Reading my blog sequence, I have come to the realization that I might as well plan the move to Ginza, Tokyo.

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聽雨, 風骨 Esquire: Manners Maketh Man

Caught merlot handed(that pairs with my sin in palatable harmony) spending over two million… VND on chocolates?!  We will get to that later, I promise.

2018首度商旅無可推卸, 新年次日便整裝飛行, 上海, 深圳, 香港, 河內, 臺北… 待月中歸返, 灣區冬雨連綿, 高速公路大塞車, 忍不住播放Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, 磅礡交錯滂沱, 陣天價響的寬慰, 即使由文青活至耄耋, 某種情懷常在.  我, 終究是讀書人, 當無邊落木蕭蕭而盡, 淡定處世, 從容待己.

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挑戰 Sweet Dreams(Are Made Of This)

想到哪寫到哪, 這大半年病的心慌卻馬不停蹄, 行萬里路良藥苦口, 次次遠航受益良多.  喜歡脫隊單行, 孤獨, 是我深度旅遊唯一方式.

 2017 is the year of my favorite guys.  Ishiguro is awarded the Noble Prize in Literature and during my stopover in Tokyo, I discovered my architectural hero, Tadao Ando was having a retrospective, Endeavors, at the National Art Center an hour before the museum closed for the day(and I was leaving for HCMC next morning).

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千年繁華之侘寂與懷石 Summer in Kyoto 2017 Wabi-sabi

Try as I might, I still couldn't make it to the August post so there it is, left wide open for concerns and speculations.  I was caught in a perfect storm, the perfect storm of wabi-sabi.

A page from my travelogue depicting the weekend getaway to Arashiyama.  

有些書, 要到ㄧ定年紀才懂得, 如'老子', 禍兮福之所倚, 福兮禍之所伏…

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千年繁華之喫茶趣X紅豆辭 Summer in Kyoto 2017 Green Oasis

Before my journey to Kyoto, I was plagued by such insipidity.  Yes, Mr. Knightly, I needed a project.  It was as if Gollum finally deserted Smeagol, my inner dialogue stopped altogether… okay, bad metaphor.  However, the moment we arrived at the Kyoto station when I caught a glimpse of two Japanese ladies in silvery gray and egret kimono, I knew I was home.

 放暑假前, 似乎到了臨界點, 精神倦怠像揮不去的霾, 五感之厭世… 然京都遊歸, 方悟千言萬語皆可以淺笑替代, 遙想高鼻深目的佛像, 心中靜謐無限; 願遁道嵯峨野綠蔭森森的竹林, 京都俯拾即唐詩, 隨手拈為宋詞.  我獨鍾綠色, 深深淺淺的綠色…

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莒哈絲的情人 Moment In Ho Chi Minh

The minute Ho Chi Minh City made it to my itinerary, I knew it was time to reread Duras.  L'Amant or The Lover is a poetic lamentation about youthful awakening, class struggle, sexual tension, and lost love.  Park Hyatt Saigon exudes architectural charms reminiscing the colonial era.  From the double spiral staircase, chandeliers overlooking the tea parlor, and its classic french window encased room, Duras haunted where I dwelled.

上次來胡志明市三年前, 不記得悶燒成這樣, 踏出門便汗流夾背, 一天要洗好幾次澡才舒服.

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出塞曲 Lady Luck, She Turned Her Back on Me.

逛誠品, 看見席慕蓉的詩集, 忍不住提筆, 寫屬於我的出塞曲.  非西出陽關無故人, 而是此趟商旅長途跋涉頻出狀況, 真真出門帶塞.  臨行前人事命令突遞, 要我接掌某燙手山芋部門(就說嘛, 年度考績給我全項優等, 這麼好康… 原來還有記回馬槍).  第一站到胡志明市, 因SFO飛HK班機誤點, 在國泰地勤指引下, 我於香港機場施展飛毛腿, 成果較似連滾帶爬, 人是趕上飛往胡志明市的原定航班, 行李沒趕上.  在東方巴黎的首日, 我只能穿著髒兮兮的衣服閒晃, 幸好隔天才開會, 不然資料都在託運的行李箱, 兩手空空有損專業.

A bit random to show this image, the steamed rice roll at the lounge in HK airport.  What I tried reminding myself was the beauty in the seemingly banal everyday life.

My recent work trip was very Star Wars Episode 7.

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行者無疆之我和上海有個約會 As I Stride Out to The World 11.3

Nooooooooo… as the world was sinking deeper and deeper, one must find a way to cheer up.  I think about what I love.  I love Shanghai.  For the amazing pre-war architecture on the bund, its nostalgic alley lined with sycamore trees, the scrumptious hairy crab delicacy, I might even move there one day, who knows.  Exodus from US is en vogue.

或許滬菜對味, 還是前世曾住過上海, 每回出差到此, 都有份溫柔的熟悉.  這趟老朋友皆不在, 難免小小失望, 反正LK獨行俠慣了, 星期天不開會, 連日陰雨也總算放晴, 還是興高采烈整裝出門, 赴我與上海的美麗約會!

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行者無疆之一千零一夜 As I Stride Out to The World 11.2

In light of what's happening in this country, some felt an uncontrollable depression and others, a sinister sense of triumph.  I am feeling lethargic, the tiredness of fighting.  Born non white and non male, proud being both really but couldn't help to question… what happened to basic human decency?!

這趟商旅… 陰錯陽差, 未能赴格友Echo衣香鬢影的生日宴, 出發前一天, 老朋友M興高采烈傳簡訊告知我他快來灣區開會, 想來是要給我驚喜, 結果我大潑冷水說將遠遊未歸 :(

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