if you allow, I would like to talk about the Kahitsukan

This was a draft I wrote as a submission. But of course it didn't get through to the Art magazine successfully, so I decided to post it here because I think this place in Kyoto needs a mention. To the practically non existent pool of readers of this blog, I hope you read this...(: Pardon the overtly pompous English, vanity on my part, my bad. I think I'm better off writing in my own voice.

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The Kahitsukan, Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art exerts a dignified and elegant presence, along the languorous stretch of Gionʼs bustling shopping street. An easily overlooked art enclave in the face of constant traffic flowing past every minute, it is almost rarity to find tourists or shoppers walk in randomly to the museum. An unplanned detour took me to this gem unexpectedly. In the spirit of seeking out Japanese restrospective, I decided to let ignorance and surprise come to play.
Elliot Erwittʼs exhibition was on showcase. On the rice coloured walls were framed displays of black and white photographs set in 1950s-60s Europe and U.S. Bearing witness to the era of post war and Gatsby style glitz and glamour, viewers were often compelled to go through the photographs a second time. At first glance, the monochrome photographs may appear flat and lacking vigour, with the art captions stating plainly the year and event during which the photographs were taken. The depth of the still images slowly permeates as the viewer recollects on the historical background of the event, taking in its significance, yet irony and absurdity of the candid captured moments amidst the unfolding of the events.

The slick contemporary backdrop of the art museum provided a hotbed for introspection with occasional artistic disruption of unrelated yet tastefully placed sculptures and paintings. I found myself liking the Fidel Castro picture, the Cuban revolutionary taking a smoke and looking terrifically serious in contemplation. His charismatic demeanour stood out especially during the time of Cold War tensions between Cuba and U.S. I liked the fact that Elliott Erwitt photographs are all shot with superlative freedom, without any subject briefs. It is sheer luck and providence, that the subjects seem to be sculpting themselves in front of the camera, creating stories which were natural. I guess this is what gives Elliot Erwittʼs pictures their uniqueness and rarity.

appealing to all sensates for a bowl of chicken soup

Wells I'm back. Other than the fact that I'm fiddle whoring on my new Surface Pro, I'm good. Not humble bragging (I'm sure, yay). Sought out new opportunities and am starting with my new work in August. So what do people usually call this fortunate turn of events & pockets of free time? -> Temporal joblessness yet feeling damn good about it (: I have nothing but pure appreciation and genuine thankfulness for it.

Binged watched on Sense 8 Season 1 on Netflix and the show has been nothing short of mind blowing. The overtly graphic images (nudity of course is nothing new), complexity and struggles of each sensate, cultural backgrounds, majestic geographical backdrops, dramatic twist of stories, surprises from pockets of violence and bonds developed between inadvertently street strangers to family.... are simply mind f*********** blowing. Call me noob as I've got nothing close to gay affection material on mainstream media. (Except for those Instagram posts for Pink Dot hashtags). I have seen nothing/anything close to this sort of openness and connection. Kudos kudos kudos to Netflix, I'm ashamed to have been ignorant of Pride for so long now.
This sudden shock of openness is quite liberating I must say. It forces itself and breaks free of all barriers of societal perceptions I previously had of the gay community. I'm not sure about the local gay community, but the one I seen on Sense 8, they are connected on such a deep sense of knowing/understanding that I felt like I could understand their feelings for each other. Because as cliché as it may sound, love is love and love supposedly transcends gender (that which I didn't realise can happen). I felt like I can fully understand the romance, the deep bond they share, because it is the same as for any relationship (:
I am a romantic. I like romance and I like seeing love happen. Just like how things happened between Kala & Wolfgang. I am definitely rooting for them. Now, I'm just waiting for WL to start on the second season together(:

tonggump's guide to south africa - free & easy in the offbeat way! (Part I)

tonggump is finally back from the longest hiatus! Happy 2017! Missed writing so much, can't wait to share with you the South Africa trip WL and I took in Mid Nov. I love walking ALOT and exploring/experiencing the City in an offbeat way. Travel packages are no-no for me, except for the occasional one day tour for activities like shark diving/ safari tours. But given the choice and extra familiarity, I would definitely have gone for the self drive.

 

I was asked a few times over by friends why South Africa and why Cape Town as a travel destination. Of course there are many places I would want to visit (long list), but Cape town is somewhere I have read from magazines and seen from movies and music videos, so here we go...

 

 

 

Part I: Kruger National Park & Johannesburg

 

To get there:

6 hours flight from Singapore to Dubai (With 3 hours transit)

9 hours flight from Dubai to Johannesburg

4 hours car ride from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park

 

Emirates A380 was a very comfortable ride.

hmm yup. WL wants some fashion shot he says

 

Pretty fascinated with these LEDs

 

After 236873621748364 hours of flying and travelling on the road, we finally reached Kruger National Park. Stayed in Sabi Bush River Lodge, which was at the perimeter of Kruger National Park, overlooking a river in the park. You can spot the occasional hippo/leopard bathing or drinking water in the river. Service was impeccable and food is so much quality. It made us really sad to have left the lodge after just two nights.

 

The Safari tour was 3 days 2 nights, you can have as luxurious accommodation as you want, so long as you are willing to pay. Sabi Bush River Lodge was good enough for us though, and its about 400 SGD per person for 3 days and 2 nights inclusive of a game drive.

 

 

Enroute to Kruger National Park from Johannesburg Airport. Save me, I think I'm quite done for long distance travelling for awhile.

 

Negotiated for the juiciest, succulent slab of beef with Calvin. He is super thoughtful and very sweet. Watching Calvin worked his magic is the ultimate grill amateurs' dream.

I'm pretty impressed how good they grill their meat. They just know how.

 

Eating with the bonfire. Beer/wine on free flow. Enjoy like a bottomless pit.

In the cold of the night, the lodge stayers gather round the bonfire with more wine and talked under the stars. Our guide told us about his Botswana camping experience.

 

Lucky for us, the game drive on the second day was very productive. We managed to catch a glimpse of 4 out of the Big 5. Amazing experience, and that was probably the whole point of going to Africa for WL and I (:

 

Kruger National Park is about the size of whole of Wales (Obviously I got this off the web, please google if you want to know exactly how big that is.) The point is, the park is so big, we have to circle an area (Say for example in Singapore; Tampines to Clementi) for the animal sightings because the animals are nomadic by nature. But with some knowledge of the animal behaviour and habitual patterns, we were lucky enough to spot some(:

 

A picture with the super funny driver and guide, Lucky. He is our guide for the game drive. His parents worked in Kruger and he practically grew up here. Love listening to his animal stories: Amarula tree, hunting strategy for giraffes and how stupid Wildebeest can be. 

 

Met some Brazilian friends who were warm and friendly. Love their laughters and jokes. They just know where the best beef is at in Johannesburg.

The Great African Adventure

Our open top 4WD

Plenty of Impalas here, I also tried impala meat for the first time here. Quite delicious I must say..hahaha
 

 

We had that ZEBRA CROSSING MOMENT when we stopped to let this pair cross the road. All I had was an iPhone, can only manage to shoot this much.

Crocodiles infested water, no joke.

 

I think everyone should go to Africa and its Safari at least once in their lifetime. The experience is real worth the 287389473294 travelling hours, and you feel like you have seen the real deal of wild animals like you see in NatGeo. It is not like zoo where the sad animals are kept in enclosure waiting for tourists/ visitors to come say hi to them. Their eyes often lack lustre and spirit, waiting for life to pass.

 

The ferocity and tenacity wild Safari animals have is something you'll never get to find in a zoo.

Kota Kinabalu 2015

And, I bet you can always find more comprehensive and long packing lists off the Net, but the simplistic list below is something that is tailored to just me and probably you can use as a reference. Nothing fancy, with no heavy duty bazookas to carry.

-1 pack of dry tissue
I'm not talking about the mini packets sold in hawker centres, its the power pack 300pcs, 3-ply Kleenex kind of tissue that will save you somewhere somehow. Wiping blood etc..just kidding. Just don't bring the bulky box along.

-1 pack of wet tissue
Because you won't get to bathe for..let me see..3 days? The first night we reached the hostel, it was already 11pm and there was limited time for us to settle and pack for the climb, let alone bathing time. What more temperature dips at night, you wont want to put yourself through the daunting experience of bathing in freezing water. Just use wet tissue and you are clean enough I guarantee. If you are a clean freak, knock yourself out and bring more wet tissue.

-Keep your spare clothes in a zip lock bag or carry a waterproof bag.
I bought my climbing bag (a cool black killer looking exterior with drawstrings which are too long and the guide kept helping me to tuck it in) from the army market in Lavender. 30 bucks and its scratch resistant I must say, just. not. waterproof. I made the mother of all mistakes which was to assume that the material was thick enough and no water can seep in. But I am so wrong. Wrong with the big X on my face. Zip lock could have been a life savior. If you wish to use a waterproof cover for your bag, I suggest you check the coverage. Because, you know, climbing action and all that, waterproof cover slips off your bag, water seeps in and you are back to the square one.

-Bring snacks & bread.
On Day 1 of climbing, we reached the Laban Rata resthouse at about 1.30pm. Not to brag, the guide told us it was pretty awesome timing for us mountain climbing amateurs. We had a lot of time to rest until the next morning (2am) for supper. But. our resting place was 150m above the main cookhouse, and we had to get down at around 7pm for dinner (nightfall).

Honestly, after 6 hours of climbing and wobbly legs and cold shivering body, trekking 150m down to cookhouse in pitch darkness (we had headlights), and wet clothes was just simply not an option. So we skipped dinner and WL had a slight gastric. That was when my yucky gardenia bread came to the rescue. But it doesn't have to be gardenia of course. I just couldn't find any twiggies left.

-Bring a brolly
I, like most people, think that wearing a Goretex jacket wards off all weather elements. From thermal insulation to waterproof to windbreaking properties. No doubt, it is waterproof as hell, but when you have to climb muddy slides in relatively heavy rain and wind. A brolly is the one that saves you. Think, wet hair wet face wet pants with dry torso or dry hair dry face dry pants AND dry torso. You got the point.

-Dua ratus ringgit Timberland may not be as good as a lapan ringgit kampong kasut
I spent about 200 bucks on a pair of Timbs which I have proudly sweared by and carefully broken into so it moulded my feet shape before the trip. But when the crucial time came for me to kick off the wall and pull myself up the 60 degrees steep slope, the shoes kept slipping and I just couldn't manage a kick. Partly because my arms were weak (this I admit), the shoes werent helping at all. Later when I was asking the guide on his shoes, he told me Timbs are meant for trekking and walking on terrains rather than climbing. His pair of kasut is rather soft and flimsy on the underside, so I guess it helped with more grip, allowing his feet to mould onto the rock. So...I'm guessing those Teva vibram soles will help better with more grip and moulding. 

-Gloves (MUST)
If you are going to bring those pair of gloves worn by durian uncles, you might as well not bring at all. Gloves are so important in the entire climbing trip I cant emphasise enough. Fancy all your palms tissues and skin getting torn and abraised by the thick white nylon rope when you abseil? If yes, go ahead with bare hands. If not, bring a good one but does that mean you should burn a huge hole in your pocket? NO. Man, just go into their hostel convenience store and get one pair at 10 bucks. Waterproof, thermally insulated and helluva fashion statement with different colours to choose from. Works better than any of those your friends bring I can bet.

-3 litres of H2O is seriously minimum. Its for the 2 days in mountain (no watercooler pls)
Didnt your mama tell you to drink more water? Please don't scrimp on water unless you are rich kid enough to just carry 200ml and buy the rest at the resthouse. Intensive climbing action warrants sufficient and frequent hydration. Drink less but often. Vertical distance is really different from lateral distance.

-Swear by Uniqlo's heattech 
When we started our summit trail at 2.30am on the third day morning, I thought I was already geared for the cold cold unforgiving temperature. I had a base parka sweater to trap heat, thick white cotton sweater also to trap body heat, and lastly the Goretex jacket for windbreaking and waterproofing, all zipped up to the topppp. But when I was halfway through (about 1 hour into summit trail), I was feeling incredibly breathless, with giddy spells and felt like puking. Told my guide, Johnny he asked me to loosen those clothing around my neck, leaving Goretex zip open around chest area. Was asked to take in deep and slow breaths it definitely helped. 

I wore Uniqlo's heattech bottoms below the trackpants. Just these two layers and my legs were kept pretty snuggly warm, I think I did better with the bottoms tho. 



Anyways I think I'm pretty much done with my list of exhaustibles. Of course it depends on individual needs, you bring however much you want as long as you can carry them up. The reason why I love trekking/ climbing mountains albeit abit amateurish, is its simplicity. Contradicting right? Most people fuss over whatever technologies/gears they can test out in the mountains, but I for one love the simplicity climbing mountains bring. You are stripped to the very feelings and emotions you are vulnerable to when you are at home with nature. There is simply no  branding/labels/clutter/noise . You are stripped bare to  your core, and you focus on the ultimate goal and you walk the talk. You just keep walking.

How to procure a good sofa

“There are people who drive luxury cars, but have only second- or third-rate sofas in their homes. I put little trust in such people. An expensive automobile may be well worth its price, but its only an expensive automobile. If you have the money, you can buy it, anyone can buy it. Procuring a good sofa, on the other hand, requires style and experience and philosophy. It takes money, yes, but you also need a vision of the superior sofa. That sofa among sofas.”

― Haruki Murakami Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

1. Walk into a furniture shop and try all its sofas.

This seems like common sense but the trial is absolutely necessary to gauge the softness/cushioning desired on various body contact points (depending on the individual). The head, arm and back are vital points for support and maximizing comfort. You'll be surprised there are actually sofas which have no head or back support. Heaven in all realms forbid such useless procurement by any comfort seekers.

2. You don't really need a full leather sofa unless you have much cash to spare.

A half leather sofa is more than good enough. Half leather means the parts of sofa that are in contact with your body will be made of cow's leather. If its of a pig's then its simply pigskin.(: The other parts not in contact with your body will be made with synthetic leather..a fake leather which hardens as time goes by..though I'm quite sure nobody sits at the back of a sofa. If so, hmm just what are you doing there?

3. More popular designs of sofas nowadays have reclining seats..

...for at least 2 seats out of a 3 seater. If you are intending to buy a full set (3 seater and another 2 seater) and placing them in a L-shape, just be sure that the 2 seater has no reclining seats. 

So that your reclining seats can fully extend without obstruction. If you really do happen to purchase a full set and your 2 seater has both reclining seats, I'll try my best to manage a feeble attempt of a mockery(:

4. Don't buy white. For. Sofas. Never.

Why? Because white turns yellow or greyish overtime, the part in contact with your money buttock turns black and hardens with friction. Give it abit more time and the hardened part will crack, exposing the wool/cotton/sponge/padding/whatever they use to stuff your glorious white sofa.

5. Request for a new piece.

Once you have decided on the ideal sofa, request for a new piece:)

My dad wanted to get the showroom piece just because he couldn't wait to sit on a new decent sofa. Our existing one is canvas and has too many holes in it.

kensy wedding

It's like a graduation. Graduation not from education but from the school of life, life of a daughter and singlehood. Real happy for my friend sinyi who finally tied the knot and am on the way to more blissful living and happiness. Shan't go on to talk about how awesome and elaborately planned the wedding was, how pretty the wedding dresses were and how heartwarming to see some of the once very familiar faces of seniors during my uni years.

The most touching part of the wedding and the only time when you could hear many muffles and hushed sobs was when sinyi and kenny delivered their thank you speeches to their parents. Its always a bittersweet moment to see young ladies marry to become part of the guy's extended familia, and to some sort leave their own maiden family. Tearing up during the wedding dinner is only natural and testament to the many years of fostered closeness and familiarity to their own siblings and parents.

I too teared during Sinyi's speech. Of course its not just Sinyi having to leave her maiden family, but also the sincere gratitude for the boundless love received from her parents' daily yet consistent gestures. And like Kenny's closure for their speeches; a toast to all parents.

the black dress im wearing, but too bad the embroidery is not all that obvious. yup im wearing freaking flats to a wedding har har har. i wore a pair of wedges to danny's wedding previously and nearly fell on my face. so lesson learnt

my skin is quite dry

I do'nt wear accessories often but am a sucker for dainty ones. 

the solemner (is that correct?) makes the solemnization v fun and heartwarming

kenny and sinyi(:

love the train and the bride(:

danny

tongliang, dannay & wifey joyce(:

I am actually happy just that you can't tell from this picture

py and i. so long since I last seen her!

mary jane and peter parker

attempt 1 of an artistic expression

attempt 2 of an artistic expression

the sparkly glittery highlight of a dress

I love her train! Her dress is literally drop dead gorgeous...

mer ce des. not our car.

say hi to pancake face(: shit I can't do upfront shots.

sleeping on a picture

Not a bad thing

Its my first time doing a staycation thing and lucky for me I had it at resorts world. Chose Equarius Hotel initially thinking that we might get a free upgrade to some underwater view villa haha so. not. happening. Its cool to take Equarius Hotel if you are thinking to do the sentosa cove waterpark as well cos hotel guests can access the waterpark with the backdoor so you dont have to squeeze with the crowd at the main gate.

The waterpark was fun just not great fun. Honestly, you dont have to spend the whole entire day there (say for the full operating hours of the park). You probably need 3-4 hours and thats really enough. Everything was good until we queued for snorkelling. I was already having second thoughts about snorkelling, contemplating if I should just stand aside to wait. Went ahead with what proved to be the worse decision made in the water park LOL it scared the hell out of me. Yep I do swim occasionally at the 1.4m wading pool but am just not cool enough or feeling ready to do 3m.

After the instructor's briefing, everyone in the batch proceeded feeling all excited about swimming with colourful uneatable and poisonous looking fish.I just could not budge and get down the platform to float even with a lifejacket. I finally kinda like floated freely with no control of my directions and pathetically crying in my fogging snorkel it was just. sad. One of the lifeguards pulled me out of water back to platform and everyone was looking at my monkey buttock crying face. It was such a bitter funny situation to make out of and we just laughed it off(: Quite a story.

little monster crossing the road. I hate insects and have a sadistic nature actually.

a toilet to kill for. the boxy thingy at the bathtub makes it seem like some trapdoor.

long winding corridor of Equarius. seriously imbal distance we had to walk to the room.

foresty view, not something rynette would like LOL

crazy big mirror warrants a piggyback selfie

the toilet behind. can see people naked in their full glory unless you put the white screen down pressing some button.

spacious! 

pretty white sheets

this is my favourite ride of the entire waterpark. electric generated wavessss. super in love with them wish I can float the whole day off here.

ride operators who occasionally stop me for my camera. as you can see, not in this case. Just tell them you need a boost they will oblige and do something to make your boat go faster or something.

army of people carrying their floats and queuing for rides

I think its some twister ride..too bad speed of boat slows down here, what a waste.

the uber friendly snorkelling instructor before all hell unleash underwater.

pretty much summed up my snorkelling experience. taking a picture. outside. the tank.

queued for an hour plus for this awesome ride. they should fill the entire waterpark with such rides

backswim..with a lifejacket

adrift in lazy river

your friend says hi. have a nice day (: 

titties at Crockfords tower

hard rock for dinner

hickory hand pulled pork sandwich. totally regretted not eating beeffff.

the customary rounds of alcoholic indulgence.

flying fish

Happy birthday WL. I wonder how does 27 feel like for you and what will my life from 24 to 27 entail. 27 is a count enough for one to assess and look back on life drawing conclusions, deciding on a new direction or to just continue rolling. Nevertheless I wish you all the best in everything you do and render support in all the good or bad decisions you may make. After all. life is too short to live it thinking it will last forever.