L got married.



It's been a while after L's wedding in June. I just saw the photos of the ceremony these days and was again touched by the beauty and the significance that this event was meant to be. She was extremely pleased and was surrounded by friends and beloved families. It was a shame that I was unable to attend her wedding.



L and I have been friends for almost 12 years since the first day of our university life. We and four other girls shared a room in NCCU female dormitory for an entire year. Six of us in total. That was an extraordinary year for all of us, I think, or at least for me: trying to know and to get used to each other, especially it is perhpas the first time for all of us to live far away from home. We also enjoyed an extraordinary excitement in exploring Taipei city by scooters. Riding through empty streets on countless midnights. After the first year, we continued living close to each other almost for the rest of the 3 years before completing the degree.

L is such a different woman, realistic but temperately and pleasantly imaginative. Although she always thinks that she has a rather rash temper, in fact a very tender and caring friend she is.

Our friendship went through ups and downs at some turns during these years, and thankfully L is such an open-minded and passionate person that she tolerated my quirkiness. We hadn't seen each other for years before a meet-up last December when she told me this news about her marriage.

After that, she kept me updated about their preparation for the new house, the wedding and the photo-shooting, and she told me the date as soon as they'd reached a decision. She kindly shared with me every bit of happiness in the process. Their smiles are charming, so tenderly reflecting each other's good nature.

Happy marriage and blissful future together to L and her husband!

In March 2007, some of my coursemates and I went to Gregynog Hall in Wales to attend a Palaeography workshop. It was my first time to journey to Wales, and have liked it tremendously! Fields and endless fields spread out in front of us, sheep and horses and piglets scattered across the vast tapestry of green. Sweet smell of grass and tender breeze. Nature is such a gift of grace.

I recalled a cake that I made a while ago, a cake themed Yorkshire Dale with plenty of sheep merrily wandering around. (Although I had heard about some really naughty sheep which trampled down gardens and farmlands in the countryside and although I also had been told about the evil nature of these 'pretentious' creatures...)

I did my laundry today, and the smell of lavender of the washing powder is now lightening the heavy and thick air on such a humid day. I am reminded of the sweet and refreshing smell that I encountered in Wales.

Go to see photos of my trip to Wales, including Gregynog Hall and an involuntary but pleasant detour to Shrewsbury.
(I am trying this new place to house my photos and have been excited about the 'map photos' function that Piscsa provides.)

National Palace Museum, Taiwan

The National Palace Museum in Taiwan (here after the NPM) is one of the best museums in the world and definitely the best place to explore Chinese culture and history. It is incomparable in its comprehensive collection of quality Chinese art.

In recent years, the NPM in Taiwan won several important international awards that recognized its creative maneuver in managing the museum, in particular, in its efforts in transforming the culture of antiques into a fashion.

It might still be a fashion of culture tourism, but more significantly, it also creates a fashion for museum culture. The NPM has introduced a new lens of technology through which ideas of past, history, and culture could be seen from a up-to-date viewpoint.

I am frequently appalled by some popularized forms of culture, to be honest. However, efforts in makingthe so-called high-brow culture in museums 'popular' and 'known', like what the NPM is making, have to be appreciated. New technology adds a modern flavor to the hidden beauty of objects from the past, and this modern touch also meets the expectation to draw closer to each other the modern audience and the artifacts.

One of the NPM movies that I have been intrigued by is the 'Adventures in the NPM'. The story takes place on a quiet night in the NPM where national treasures all come alive and run in search for a missing katydid.

Follow the click below for a view of the film:

Adventures in the NPM

(Originally downloaded from the NPM website)

This 3-D animation stars a small child, whose image is derived from an artwork of NPM's collection--"Child Pillow"--a ceramic pillow that is molded into a sleeping upper-class child. Another star in the film is a katydid, probably the most valuable insect in the world. The katydid is drawn from another famous work of art: a jadeite cabbage upon which a katydid perches. The film is also narrated against a stream of images, which is made up of some of the most representative features of Chinese art: calligraphy, dragon, plump ladies from Tong dynasty, etc..

Every click on the NPM website ushers me into my memory of such a rich culture that I grew up with. Every turn of the web-page provokes unceasing amazement that I once had in the classroom of Chinese art years and years ago.

Let's talk more about this place in the future.


More reading:
* The news of the premium of 'Adventures in the NPM';

More adventures:
* National Palace Museum in Taiwan

A man and his muddy dog

On a morning early this summer, on a fence in the neighborhood stood two toys: a man and a dog. 'Are they lost?' I wondered. On that same afternoon, I was surprised again to find them there, still, except that the man changed his pose.

The mud on that toy dog was curious: traces of so much memory and time that had gone passed. He must have just been dug out of soil where it was buried some time ago. Why was it buried in the first place? Perhaps the keeper was suspecting any possible loss of this toy, or plotting to make the dog carry out a certain mission.

The toy man in a technician's costume has a peculiar vividness in his body and feature. He was made with so many joints. Must be very agile! Did he come with a girlfriend? just like Barbie and Danny* were made a couple.


I was thinking, is there any toy like them hidden in my garden back home?




* 'Danny', a mistaken figure for 'Ken'. Thanks to a live-in commentator's reminding. [emendation made on 3/08/07]