my busy days hasn't ended yet, but I simply just couldn't resist the itchy craving for a great film.

this time, I picked "Seom", aka "The Isle" (english title), 2000 by Kim Ki-duk.

I do not know the reason I picked this film, maybe because it's korean, since there are so much buzz about how great korean films are; or maybe because of the naked girl on the cover got me imagining; or maybe because the 7 ouf 10 rating on imdb.com; or maybe, just maybe ...

it turned out to be a very unique yet visually striking piece of artwork.

the whole film probably has a total dialogue of no more than 2 pages long, yet the story was full on. I have never seen any other film like this one, not because the lack of dialogue, but the immense emotion on screen and the intensity of the characters. it is also a very "raw" film in many ways. it stripped the disguise of superficial mask that we live under, then it served with a cold dish called "naked humanity", hard to digest of course, it's everything that we're trying to hide and avoid, yet it's under everyone's skin, in the darkest corner of our skulls.

sex, violence, rawness, uniqueness, visual painting, love, emotion, pain, suffering, self destruction, sin ...

lovely jubly

my friend Dipak passed me 3 little books today by a Bristol based graffiti artist named "Banksy", the strong messages and wit embedded in his work are genius and like throwing a stone into a pool of peaceful water, it triggers a series of ripple, only those ripples are only happening in our minds.

Here are paragraphs of his quote in the first book:

The human race is an unfair and stupid competition. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water.

Some people are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side.

It's not surprising some people have given up competing all together and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse.

What we need in this race is a lot more streakers.

--"Cut it out" by Banksy

Also quote by banksy "if you only ever read one book in your life, I highly recommend ...

... you keep your fucking mouth shut."

Let's face it, we all know that there is no justice in the world, you can either just ignore that facts and move on with the struggle, or you can choose to live in your own little world where you are the king and you get to decide what's fair and what's not, which one would you choose?

Please do check out Banksy's website http://www.banksy.co.uk , if you like his work on the site, make sure you buy his book, definitely worth collecting.

Now, let's get back to the race ...

that's right, I bleeded the first time for skateboarding yesterday while filming this corporate video, but funny thing was, I wasn't even skateboarding myself ...

it was towards the end of the scene where I needed to grab my rucksack and make an exit and move out of frame, while I was on the top end of a half pipe. Then I slipped on the iron-made edge ... slidding down the pipe with rucksack in one hand and phone in the other, therefore my elbow performed the role of supporting my body while I was trying to get back up again.

but it was no use, instead, it started to burn my skin all the way to the bottom of the half pipe ...

... so, that was it ...

the highlight of the morning, lead actor bleeding away while filming kept on going.

I never thought I can act, and never even come across the thought that I might even be good, but yesterday they were really delighted with my performance, which I found it hard to take and don't know how to take it.

It could be a start of something great, it might just opened up door to a whole new world :D

It's been 2 days since I've seen "March of The Penguins", it touched me in many ways and I learned a lot about life from the birds that can't fly, fish that can't swim, animal but walk rather like human.

Before I watched it, I read a few pieces of reviews on it. Many praises for the amazing work put behind the project and vivid captures of empire penguins and their cute yet humble portrait. American critiques our family value and society in comparison to penguins and suggested that there are something we humans are worth learning from the animal. Soon after, I read a British piece which laughs at what Americans suggested, it then stated that if we humans ever need to learn how to run a family and society from animals, then we'd be in some serious trouble.

Now. When I first read it, I didn't think it over too much. Americans being Americans only means one thing, they are stupid, dumb and ignorant to the rest of the world; British being British, they hate Americans(as well as French), they are witty and humourous, and they think they are better than the rest of the world. Having had this perception in mind, I went with what British critics said. Until I told this to my friend Dipak.

He completely agrees with the American saying, which is unusual for his support to a country who has fucked up the world and its people, who is still fucking things up, and undoubtably will fuck up even more in the future as long as we are breathing. He then asked me a simple yes and no question "do you know that human race is the only species on earth that would kill, either their own kind or other species, without having to have a logical reason?"

Did I know? I would be lying if I said no, but I would also be lying if I said yes.

Everyday we hear stories of killing, murder, many of them are categorised as "motivation unknown", "undergo investigation", "no obvious motive", "speculation" etc. Did we acknowledge the message embedded in those incidents? I cannot say for anyone else. Did I acknowledge it? No.

Animals kill for survival, what do we kill for? The answer to that would be a list too long to even begin to think of. That, made me sad, shamed and angry, yet feeling numb, because there is nothing I can do, or you, to make a change. We humans are unpredictable, unexplanable, odd, weird, simply cannot find a place in the chain of nature.

Human behaves in many ways alike a deadly virus, self-reproduce, self-destruct, constantly consuming the environment it lives in without giving anything back, constantly destroying other inhabitants, we even kill our own kind ...

Should we learn from penguins? Definitely, not just penguins, all other animals too. Many people say "we are not animals". That's right, we're not, we're not even qualified to put ourselves in the same position as animals; we put stains on the word "animal" if we even get a little bit closer; we disgrace the name.

Which come to the conclusion of today's blog: we do not belong here, but where do we belong? Are we abandoned bunch?

so, where was I?

That's right, I was enroute to Titlis to experience the fun and danger of ski.

My patience was being tested at rental counter, every time I approached a desk, clerk behind the till either move to another or call up customers who was behind me, or simply let new comers to jump right in front of me, which got me really confused, soon my confusion turned into fury? Was Swiss queueing system different from the rest of the world? Or am I doing something wrong? Was it because I wasn't wearing ski pants like every other fucker did? They didn't say no jeans allowed on the wall, or was it because I was renting basic set that they couldn't bother with "low end" customers like me? I couldn't figure, but one thing I did know, I wasn't happy.

After years of living in England, I've developed quite unique temperament, a mixture of patient Chinese and fussy British, don't ask me how, I just did. And it has been practiced and tested many many times in life. I was near the edge of explosion, when this cute little blonde girl took over the till that I was waiting for what seems like centuries. Then the strangest thing happened, all my anger, was completely gone, melt away like thin ice under the summer sun, except this time it was her gorgeous smile that performed the magic.

I turned into a quiet puppy waiting to be fed from that moment on.

Anywho. Jason and I finally got what we needed, lock 'n' load. Titlis, here we come!

According to the cartoonish map we had, ski track for beginners was at the first stop of the entire journey, being brave, exciting and all, didn't mean we lost our brain and we decided on the easiest spot on the map. Step inside the carriage, we bumped into two Swiss snowboarders, roughly the same age as us or may be younger. The skin head guy sat next me was crumbling up something in his palm, I couldn't help with the smell and took a peek. Weed! Stinky skunk! He was rolling up a joint sitting right next to me. I couldn't help, conversation initiated by me immediately with an international stoner's greeting "gooooood shit", followed by a big grin on my face. The rest is history, due to language difference, the entire conversation was restricted to caveman fluency, which no more than 3 phrases was allowed in a single sentence, in compliment, our hands did most of the info exchange.

We reached our stop fairly quickly, just before we ran out of hand signs. I think if we stayed together all the way to the stop, we would develop a whole new sign language for Chinese and Swiss to communicate, I would call it "Chiwiss"(might have to work on the name). We got out the cable car in very clumsy style, while kindly rejecting their invitation to the ski course half way on the mountain where they were heading.

Came out the station, I followed a bunch of well equipped, professional looking skiers - roughly around the age of 8. Well, it only made sense in my opinion at the time - I simply did not want to die.

But our plan was interfered by some random guy sat at the beginning of the track, we were sent to the opposite direction, where some "adult" beginner courses were. "fucking great ..." I thought, then turned around and started walking.

Just before I put on my ski, a couple were pushing their toddler son the snow sled. The huge rush of adrenaline already took over my body and brain by then. I had a huge smile on the face, nearly shouted to the couple "It's my first time on the ski, I've never done it in my life, ever, can you tell me the emergency number for ambulence, please?"

How confident was that!!! The couple laughed, then they told me "112, and good luck!"

"I fucking needed that!" I thought. Off I went.

It was downhill, so my weight and gravity were doing a superb job to pick up the speed, within half second it already reached the speed that started to scare me. While looking at the huge bend in front of me, I started to examine this track. Something wasn't right. First of all, no other skiers on the course, secondly, there was no fences or protections of any sort on the right hand side of the track, it was just a steep hill with trees covered in thick snow. It was an open road! Another second gone by, the bend was nearly there, but I couldn't turn, well, I didn't know how!

In a split second, I remembered the "GOLDEN" advice given by Jason just before we set off. "If you see danger or not sure if you can handle it, just fall onto the ground, it's only snow, how much could it hurt, right?". He was off before I could ask another question.

well, bend was getting closer, there was no sign of me slowing down whatsoever, time for action.

I closed my eyes and shifted my weight to the left ... BANG! There, I found myself lying in the snow, 3 meters away from the cliff, looking at the sky above and laughing my tits off. "This is fucking awesome!" I said to myself. I quickly got up and back on the track, within less than 3 more bangs, I caught up with Jason, found him lying in the middle of the road, trying to reach his ski pole about 5 meters away, also laughing out loud.

I couldn't remember the number of times we fell, but each time we got further and further, a clear sign of steady improvment! Until we reached the end of the road ...

we were out of the woods and winding roads, in front of us was a massive open field covered in white, with hundreds of skiers and snowboarders ... so ... THIS ... is the ski course ... that winding road was ... was just a winding road! ... we nearly killed ourselves there thinking Swiss people must be really good at ski naturally, even beginners track has such difficulty ... OOPS!

After waking up from our boldness and adventural stupidity, we kept on moving towards the cable which would drag us to the top of the hill where everyone was practicing. I must say that the elastic cable and plastic handle you put around the waist felt weird, I lost my balance 5 seconds after and face down into the snow, like the comic fall you usually see in the movies. Then some stupid arsehole started shouting behind "Move away!". I couldn't even crawl, how the fuck on earth did he expect me to move to the side??? Anyway, I eventually got back down to the starting point and gave it another attempt.

This time, everything was smoooooooth!

Half way uphill, Jason was sitting in the snow trying to put on his ski after fall. I didn't stop there, instead, I kept going up. It was getting colder and more windy by the inch. But I didn't stop, I kept on going. Then a real steep hill showed up in front, did I stop? Nope, I was still moving on ... Some guts for a first timer, you'd say. Absolutely! At least, that was what's written on my face.

Didn't I mention that plastic handle thing felt a bit weird at the start? Well, I couldn't get off it!!!!

Believe me, I tried to get off it, many many many times, but it was useless ... I ended up going ALL the way to the top, the very very top of the hill ... ~~>_

... it was no use to cry for help, some 10 years old was circling on snow going downhill like fish swim in water, while I was more terrified than inmates on deathrow ... I calmed myself down and tried to figure a way to get down once I reach the top without break any part of my body, nor to lose my life. So I started to watch and learn.

It was my gift of quick learning that saved me. Otherwise I'd be flying off to the other side of the hill as soon as I got off the handle at the very top. A hash right bend was right in front of me, I quickly bent my right knee and lean my body towards right. magically, I smoothly sailed on snow, a perfect right turn! "yahhhhh ... noooooooooooooooo!" Before I had time to celebrate, I found myself going straight down on a roughly 70 degree angled hill ... not good, not good at all ...

I thought of fall or just dive to one side, at that speed, I had to be insane to do that, but I wasn't! So I started to mimic what other skiers do, snaking downhill.

If you were at the foot of the hill and observing actions at the time, you could have easily spotted me. The "snake" path I was drawing on ice would be a python if others' were snakes; and speed I was at could easily be mistaken as athletes or pros, due to the simple fact that I had no control over it, gravity was doing its full time job ... On a huge left turn, instead of semi circle I was supposed to draw, my track carried on, before I could stop it. I was on my way to draw a full circle but slowly coming to a halt ... not for long ... and there I was, going directly downhill again, only this time, my back was facing it!!!

I have certainly gone wiser from all the falls coming this far, before the speed picked up, I dived to the ground, helplessly waving my hands in the air and poking into snow, desperately trying to increase friction to slow down ... nothing ... then my body started to spin ... didn't know how long that took and how far I went, but after my coat gathered enough snow, the spinning came to a stop.

Time for a rest, I said to myself ... my sweater was all wet, not from the snow, but sweat! I took off skis, loosened boots, sat down, tried to steady my heartbeat, while figuring how much further I had to go. Then it hit me. I hardly travelled far, it was merely 1/10 of the entire distance!

Bugger!

For the rest of the course, I walked, slided, rolled, crawled and skied. Finally, I reached the bottom, only found Jason's been sitting there waiting for me for like half an hour. I looked at everyone who was eager to join the queue to get back on again, and I looked at the what I just came down off. Should I join the queue back up again? ... I ain't fucking stupid!

For the rest of the day, we found ourselves more suited at a junior's track, even then we encountered difficulties.

We were the last few left the course before the day got dark, squeezed ourselves into 'Chalet", a local pub at the bottom of Titlis. After some hot rum tea and mulled wine, we got our energy back again. It then dispensed to dancing, singing and chatting with skiers from all over the world, before we kept just enough to drag us back to Luzern, and got on the train to our next destination - Interlaken.

Some said it before that one can only truly cherish life when they are on the verge of losing it. I couldn't agree more.

my life is awesome ^_^

Before I carry on with my Swiss adventure, I'd like to take a small break, just to clear some thoughts. So I watched "The Game" today, a 1997 film starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. It was recommended by a mate of mine, not a strong recommendation, he simply handed me the DVD and told me to watch it.

So I did.

It's definitely a good film, worth watching, original and entertaining. The build up of the story was nicely paced, and it put in a lot of details into the characters. Michael Douglas certainly lived up to his expection, though it wasn't the best performance you could get from Sean Penn. What attracted me the most was the outcome of this film, the sign that embedded in its story and the message it tried to deliver.

Needless to say, people change, it happens all the time, it is happening right now as I type and as you read. There are many factors that contribute to the change. People that are around you, place you live and work, information you receive and money.

Money can cause the most significant change to a person, or has the most influential effect on one. Without money, no problemo; with money, no problemo, too; but from with money to without and vice versa, it generates series of turbulence that would shake you to the ground.

But money itself doesn't really give you the problem, it's the illusion that comes with it blinds our eyes. Few people can see through that, the ones who can, are the wise bunch that would smile on top of the mountain; the ones who can't, however, are constantly circling around the mountain.

Why is that? Because they keep looking in front of them, try to break the fog that surrounds them, try to see through the blinds to find their way out. But the path to the top is not in front our vision, it's above our brain.

Have you ever wondered why people look up to the sky when they lose everything or completely devastated? Because only then, people drop the burden that's been pressing them for days, months or years, that's when you're truly relieved from illusion that world has been giving you, that's when you find the gateway to the top, the essense of life, the only things that really matter to you in the world.

The world suddenly becomes very simple, your view becomes very clear, things you feel become more real than you've ever felt.

"Simply the best", we all heard of the phrase, but have you tasted it? :)

I never thought there would be another country who runs double deck trains other than China, how ignorant I was!!! Swiss rail service not only runs double deck trains, and they do it with comfort and style!

We had a little problem finding our hotel at first, everywhere was shut after dark apart from kiosks, a lovely lady kindly pointed precise directions for us, but my stupidity still managed to get us lost in a small town of Luzern, thankfully not by too much :p

We stayed in Hotel Magic, lovely place, every room is decorated with unique theme, ours was Aladin, as you can tell from the name, it was Arabic and accompanied with two naked lady paintings on the wall, didn't really know how to take that but hey, they were awesome ;-)

The blonde Swiss girl behind the reception was an absolute sweetheart. She called out my name the second I stepped into the lobby, it felt more weird than welcomed. Later she told me I was the last guest due to check in that day(dah!), that just destroyed all the fantasies I had from that instant, never mind ...

Our walk to train station took 3 times longer than it should, mainly because we kept stopping and taking photos, Luzern is beeeeeautiful!!!

Finally got on the train from Luzern to Engelberg, we were heading towards Engelberg, where the famous Titlis is. It was an old train, but very quiet, some locals, a lot of skiers and rest were tourists. It was rather interesting to see the train running through back garden of houses, literary. It felt like anyone could just get off and knock on their doors!

We sat opposite an old lady and being a chatty person, the conversation started to flow. She pointed out a mountain named "Burgenstock" on the way, where, many Hollywood celebrities and famous people own properties, inspecting the surroundings, I could easily see why. Later, she told us they experienced flood in the summer for the first time and it caused a lot problem for people to commute, soon, we were told to change to carriages in front for the remain of the journey.

Scenaries changed dramatically from cityscape to the wild and nature as we moved on, forest and mountain covered in snow kept emerging. Soon after, sun broke out the grey sky and shed golden shine onto the peak, it was absolutely breath taking. If wasn't for the window that kep us away from the freezing cold, I'd be snapping away, non-stop.

40 minutes later, we landed at the foot of Titlis, it was the first time in many years that I was surrounded by such amount of cold air, shiver shot up my spine as soon as I stepped out onto the platform! But with the spectacular sights in front of me, it soon was ignored by my body.

I had a huge regret on the day, that we didn't managed to get to the top of Titlis to take photos while the sun was out; but I did however, had a fulfilling time, because I went ski, for the first time, ever, in my life.

Try to imagine someone who has NEVER skated in his life, NEVER skateboarded in his life, NEVER played any sports on ice or snow, just boldly put on a ski set, and went uphill.

The rest will be here soon in part II, I'm too beat at 1 in the morning, watch this space :-)

Ciao

It's been a while since I got up at 5am, but today is no ordinary day, it's the day that I'm heading to Switzerland to start something extraordinary, boy, am I excited!

Sitting on the small aircraft with merely other 20 passengers, it felt very different from flying home, it was more like taking a train ride to London somehow. Did I feel less safe because of that? Not a bit. If you know anything about Swiss, they are precise, dedicated, efficient and trustworthy, I've never felt safer in fact.

For Chinese students who studies in UK, visa isn't required, however, do make sure you have return ticket handy or printout of E-ticket for that matter, because I didn't and for the first time in my life, Jason and I were retained by the customs while checking our journey details.

It didn't feel good ... at all. I was well pissed off and felt criminated. But there was no way that I would let this ruin the trip, not on earth.

Finally stepped onto the Swiss territory, in Zurich. All bad feelings ... gone!

Camera ... check! Wallet ... check! Swiss ... here we come!

Unfortunately, it wasn't sunny in Zurich, overcast above our head all the way from flughafen(Swiss for airport) to city centre; fortunately, it was a cloudy day, it turned out later that we wouldn't have enough time to tour the town if daylight is good for photos.

We walked from Zurich main station to the river which is about 10 minutes away, took a little detour over the bridges, saw a lot of designer shops and watch retailers, plus the magnificent cathedral sitting at the bank of Zurich Wasser(Swiss for water or river, I guess). That, was where all the fun began.

After a hot coffee to boost our energy, we went out in the cold and dark again. Then the beautiful sight of river and reflections captivated me in an instant.

The floating boats, dimly lit houses on the other side of river, bright bridge, moving traffic, resting seagulls and my vision made up a peaceful and beautiful painting waiting to be snatched up. The rest is just me running up and down the bank, composing, shutter clicking and patiently waiting.

I was truly lost in time, completely buried in the world of my own until Jason dragged me away, reminding me that we had a train to catch.

Zurich is a modern yet quiet city, maybe it's because we arrived on Christmas day, maybe because it is the lifestyle people live there and maybe it is because the cloudy day. I didn't hear the noises that one would normally be surrounded by in a big city, I didn't feel crowded at all while walking down the high street, I didn't breath in much polluted air in the heart of the city. Eletricity powered metro quietly humming pass by, people talked quietly and privately, streets were decorated in a very fashionable style, Christmas was definitely there.

One thing I couldn't help noticing was the heavy advert campaign for two major banks: UBS and Credit Suisse. If you see a logo of either one on a building, you're guaranteed to see the other bank's sign on top of the block next to it, and it goes on like this all the way along the street. I guess if you got the money to burn, you might as well let the whole world know.

Ciao for now