Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"There's a battle that goes on between men and women. Many people call it love."
- Edvard Munch -
30th November 2006

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"You are the sun, you are my light

And you're the last thing on my mind

before I go to sleep at night.

You're always 'round

when I'm in need.

When trouble's on my mind

you put my soul at ease."

- Damage -

29th November 2006

.

a really old but really nice song that i loved a lot too.

Quote of the Day

(by Mr Brown)

"I think we dream so that we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time."

- Calvin and Hobbes -

28th November 2006

.

the one thing i cannot tell you,

is that in my dreams,

we have never been apart.

Ever.

Quick Wit I

"How you see a country depends on whether you are driving through it, or living in it.

How you see a country depends on whether or not you can leave it, if you have to."

- Alexendra Fuller, Scribbling the Cat -

How are you seeing this country right now?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

How am I seeing this country right now?

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"Start everyday with a smile and get it over with."

- W. C. Fields -

27th November 2006

books and essays

3rd 15 page research essay completed. these are the books i have used for this essay, excluding 5 which i have either returned, or which i cannot bring out of the libraries.



and of course the few articles i got off JSTOR.



there Mr Sheares is having his cameo role in this erudite photo moment.

final class test in 3 hours' time. after which i can commence my 4th 15 page research essay.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"失意，是要你停下脚步听听四周的声音。"

- 王子变青蛙 -

26th November 2006

3rd out of 4 Fifteen Page Essays.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry. And I know you do the same things too. So we're really not that different, me and you."

- Collin Raye -

25th November 2006

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"我要对你说爱你爱你爱你爱你

不管是黑夜或是黎明

不管是梦中或是清醒

深深爱你

多么幸福

让我遇见你。"

- 黄舒俊 -

24th November 2006

and today was eat out for lunch day. auntie candy and i both needed good food to perk ourselves up. its been a torrid yesterday for both of us. for pretty much the same bunch of reasons. life really sucks sometimes.

the "Ghetto"

a sample street of the conglomeration of brick housing (the "Ghetto") that throngs of Queen's students emerge groggy-eyed every morning to trudge to school. right down this Alfred St would be the Stauffer Library and Union Street, so its really near school.

nice idyllic view of the park in all its glorious baldness. the sun was nice and warm today, altho the air was very chilly. good walk to the cantonese restaurant, good food. pity my camera died on me just as i was taking pictures of our excellent zi char dishes (i had "prawn in lobster sauce with rice" which was fabulously tasty).

life's not so bad still. at least food can be good.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!


"Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film."
- unknown -
23rd November 2006

Sombre Theological Hall on a sombre day, sombre mood.

The day didn't get any worse than I imagined.

It simply felt worse.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"Promise me you'll never forget me because if you would, I'd never leave."

- Winnie the Pooh -

22nd November 2006

and in totally unrelated newsflash, my squirrel theory posted yesterday was empirically undermined. in a (comparatively) warm afternoon, on my way to lessons at 1530, i was passing by Stauffer Library when at the steep slope that formed sort of a waterless moat hugging the west side of the building, something moving against the backdrop of the building caught my eye.

this little fellow.

got up closer... he was still nibbling away, enjoying his photographic moment. the need for food near hibernation apparently relegated the threat of the evil camera lenses in their imagination. previously in summer they would have scooted in the blink of an eye. maybe they are simply too fat by now to move fast so they no longer bother to. which is somewhat true; they do move a lot slower now compared to summer and fall. is there any scientific corroboration i wonder....

and then from the corner of my eye i spotted more moving furballs on the ridgeline:

a second squirrel, a grey.

and a second black squirrel

perched so still, upright, that if his mouth hadn't been furiously nibbling away i would have dismissed him as part of the rubbish on the grass patch. and believe it or not he kept this zen position for the entire duration i swivelled towards him, walked audaciously up, snapped a shot, and kept my camera. last i saw him as i turned to continue my way to class he was as still as i first saw him.

apparently these furballs aren't only out scavenging on colder days. its all the acorns that had rained down on grass patches with the end of fall that made squirrels risk life and limb to overcome photophobia.

Shaw Festival and Niagara Falls!!

yes i know once again this is loooong overdue and this has become distant memory even in my own little head. but still, the most famous natural attraction in Canada deserves an entry here as part of my adventures through maple syrup land.

furthermore, its not just about the frothy waterfalls! also on the agenda were The Shaw Festival and Stratford Festival!

BUT

because of logistical and transport issues as well as artistical preferences, Stratford was out. there were no shows compelling enough for us to overcome the logistical and transport problems and get our asses to the famed city of regional theatrical fame.

first, getting our asses to Niagara.

i had wanted a complete experience of modes of transport, and i was delighted (and auntie candy distraught) when the train ticket to niagara was sold out and we had to take a coach: we would get to go there on coach via toronto, and return by train! and it turned out cheaper somehow, abysmally.

on the day we got to the Kingston CoachCanada Bus Terminal, to our serious concern there was only ONE coach catering to the entire population of torontonian Queen's students dying to jettison back to toronto for Thanksgiving (which in canada falls on Oct 9th; we left for Niagara from 6th to 8th). so CoachCanada arranged to have us bundled to toronto on....


Yellow School Buses.

for the rest of the freezing cold 3.5 hr ride to toronto (no air-con=no temperature control inside the bus), auntie candy was verbally skinning me alive for my aforementioned careless vacation wish of a "complete travel experience" ("be careful what you wish for!!" she berated) in between our grumblings about the cold and our hunger.

nevertheless, we managed to get to toronto exactly on the dot as the doors for our connecting coach ride to Niagara opened. talk about timing, this vacation is all about that, since the planning phase. precision, to the milliseconds.

and a short 200m walk (in the freezing cold midnight winds it felt like a km or two) to our hostel.


Niagara Backpacker's Hostel!

a 19th century red brickhouse built by a doctor for his wife, it was bought over in the 1980s by Josh's parents who were French Canadians. they didn't know they bought for a bargain a historical relic, and auctioned off below value an antique grandfather clock amongst other historically valuable items left in the house. now run by Josh, his sister and his family as a hostel for budget holidaymakers.

our room, which we shared with 2 other backpackers from england and japan

beautifully designed on the interior with redwood, a must-stay when in niagara (unless like melisa you have lobangs that give you free rooms at Niagara Falls Hotel, 4 star), with excellent beds, blankets and comforters, showers and free breakfast of home-made muffins and excellent strongly brewed coffee at a budget cad 22 per night. we had the fortune of staying in guestrooms on the wing where Josh's family had their rooms, instead of the hostel wing where other backpackers stayed.

the next morning we made our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a little atas town situated at a bend along Niagara River which houses the Shaw Festival.


Shaw Festival

an annual theatre festival showcasing and commemorating the works of George Bernard Shaw as well as other excellent pieces by excellent and/or acclaimed playwrights, the Shaw Festival attracts audience of all ages and demographic groups from all over the world every year.


Boulevard, Niagara-on-the-Lake

the obelisk clocktower in the background, of which i took an excellent picture that could not be uploaded for some reason, is a prominently useful landmark for theatre goers. it reminds everyone in the vicinity of the time with chimes on the hourmark.


horse carts everywhere in canada, here in NOTL as well.

this horse, on the direction of the driver, gracefully crossed a T-junction diagonally and caused abrupt stoppage of traffic in all directions. seemingly oblivious to the temporary pandemonium it has caused, the horse cantered as serenely as the driver sat triumphantly atop his perch displaying his law-bending power.

idyllic little town, splendid shows. auntie candy and i caught the critically acclaimed The Crucible at The Festival Theatre, the aptly named main theatre for the annual festival. excellent, powerful and amazing use of lighting and set amalgamation and coordination in look and transition. 2 hours later, after we had extensively deconstructed the literal, philosophical, theological, political and sociological significance of each and every scene in the 3 hour play, we returned to the SAME theatre where we watched High Society.


High Society

the scene changes was amazing; sets flew in and out with almost every scene change, stage-width props rolled out to the beat of the transition music and settings changed seamlessly. which further confounded me to the fact that they had made happen a total switchover of the entire theatre from one show to another, lights and fly inclusive, within the short span of 2 hours. and some foh and foh side lights were clearly re-focused, with different colour schemes from The Crucible. wow.

and that sums the day. two excellent shows for which i still owe my brudder in Richmond Hill cad 128, and a gregarious cab driver who drove us on the hour long, cad 30 ride back to Niagara. a Muscovite who lived and worked in Singapore for a few years, he alerted us to the fact that it costs as much for us to fly to vancouver from toronto as it does to fly to europe. moscow costs only cad 700. HMMMMMMMMM...... moolah permitting, i might just land in venice, rome or paris before i get back to singapore.

and the next morning we were off to the falls itself. the 20 minute stroll to the falls in the cool morning breeze certainly is uplifting and awakening, considering we only got back to the hostel at 12 midnight because High Society ended at 11pm. Josh's coffee was great, but the walk did wonders waking us up proper.


view of Niagara River along Zimmermann Ave.

nearing the American Falls on the left, and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls on the right.


Rainbow Bridge
one of the bridges across which canadians can get into the state of new york along the river.

and we reached the jetty for the Maid of the Mist ride to the foot of the falls! the jetty unfortunately is making exhorbitant profit at nature's expense. witness the froth of petrol discharged from the boats which accumulate and coagulate at the sides of the jetty.

nevertheless, we partook unashamedly in this despicable act of nature genocide. aboard the Maid of the Mist we set sail, each tourist covered from head to toe in a ridiculous thin blue plastic raincoat THROUGH which many many tourists took photos in apparent protection of their cameras. oh i'm sure their pictures would turn out perfect. not blue.

Maid of the Mist trawling into the mist and the morning sun

and we approached the American Falls!

in any case, the falls supposedly had a splash radius of more than 2 km from the foot of the falls, depending on the wind that carried the water droplets. thus we were rained with water droplets from the falls as far as just after Rainbow Bridge on our way to the falls. as the Maid neared the falls, up close it felt like a torrential downpour.

okay it wasn't that bad. we could still take pictures. this is the foot of the American Falls, with majestic powerful rapids.

morning sun caught in the mist

the Canadian Horsehoe Falls

by comparison spanned a longer distance across the river because of its horseshoe shape. in my opinion much more beautiful because of its comparatively more powerful and awe-inspiring feel.

man versus nature

the Falls and the tourist city that grew out of its fame.

Niagara Falls Tourist Area

embellished with casinos, hotels, retailers and thematic galleries, including Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum and Warner Brothers galleries.

the problem with Niagara Falls is that it has, in my view, become much too touristified. especially the tourist area which was very expensive for a tourist destination. in addition to the cad 8 we paid for the Maid of the Mist ride, even the nature trek behind the falls cost us cad 14, which we decided was a ripoff for a nature walk. everything here cost money, except the work of nature itself which fortunately by its own magnitude of existence judiciously preserved for all visitors to the falls the free and unrestricted admiration of its magnificent handiwork; had it been any smaller, or the profiteers gotten any greedier, i suppose they might have built a dome to enclose the two waterfalls and charge entrance to even smell the air.

half a day came to a close, and we embarked on our way home. Via rail!

okay this is free publicity for VIARAIL, a picture taken off its website. from Niagara to Kingston, we got an hour's transfer time at toronto. went to a shop opened by a taiwanese woman to ask for directions to the nearest chinese makan, and she gave us a free map (which she said she would sell to non-chinese). hmmm.

bumbling around, we managed to find our way to a dimsum place that sells very nice changfen. the closest to singapore's chee cheong fun i have found in canada, but i'm sure i will find better chinese fare here in toronto... no time for this short stopover, we had to catch the train back to kingston. but the next trip, during my exam travel window (oxymoronic huh...) i will, with my brudder's and micnie's kind guidance (hopefully... haha), discover greater enclaves of culinary accomplishment which i believe adorn the city of toronto.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words."

- Calvin and Hobbes -

21st November 2006

and in unrelated news, i woke up this morning to a thin bed of snow on grass patches, cars and roofs. its been zero for most of today; according to weathernetwork.com, i'll wake up to -4 tmr.

Grant Hall with silvery snowy roof, against the morning sun

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!

"Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see"

- unknown -

20th November 2006

6 page essay + 15 page research essay done. with cheesy titles to boot. 2 more 15 page research essays to go.

Quote of the Day

by Mr Brown!!


"But logic never could convince the heart."
- Collin Raye -
19th November 2006



weather update...

somehow when the weather gets real cold i can always see squirrels come out by the dozens stocking up their hibernation hideouts with acorns and nuts...

this fellow was spotted on a cold cold morning in montreal.

and this obese fellow this morning outside harkness.


temperature dip coming up this week... its gonna be oscillating around zero from now on, according to weather forecasts...

Quote of the Day by Mr Brown

Hi everyone! How are all your essays going? To bring one and all daily relief from the hustle and bustle of work and exam revisions, Mr Brown shall bring you the

Quote of the Day!

Mr Brown
B.A., M.Sc. Lounging Kinetics and Nocturnal Freudian Studies
Ph.D Horizontal Philosophical Existence, on Spring Mattress

And now, bringing you.....

Yesterday's Quote of the Day!!

"Rivers know this; there is no hurry. We shall get there someday."
- Winnie the Pooh -
17th November 2006

And...

Today's Quote of the Day!!!

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes."
- Jack Hardey -
18th November 2006

quotes are taken from

"This Belongs To Jing Wen: 90 Quotes for 116 Days",

from Jessie to Jing Wen.

all rights reserved, Copyrighted Jessie Ng 2006.

enforceable by law.

my law.

Deep in Thoughts with Nowhere to Go

this is one of those times when i would have pulled a singlet on, and go wandering deep in thought around my blk in hall, walking along corridors silent and pondering, stopping only to sit and stare and ponder even more. essays and life.

but there is no blk d here in kingston.

anyways here is what a corner of my room looks like. all these books for my current 2 essays and the upcoming one, a 6 page response and two 15 page research essays. Queen's library system allows us to borrow up to 99 books per year, or renew up to 99 times. no limit on the number of books we can sign out each time.



this excludes the pile of books on my table that are currently engaged with my brain.

and to top the day off today is 1CentPerCopy Day at the Printing Centre at JDUC. bargain of the year where academic photocopying is concerned. i now have Walter Benjamin's "Paris, the Capital of the Nineteenth Century" and selections of "Myth and Metropolis" with me for life. and it cost me 60 cents. i wish i had discovered this promotion earlier in the day; i might have jus borrowed auntie candy's book and Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence and rip them off the printing centre as well.

Ottawa, Capital of Canada

i wasn't at all keen on ottawa given that

1. i was fully prepared to mug once semester begins and pick my fights in terms of travel

2. ottawa is boring according to my star player who had been to every conceivable travel destination in canada BEFORE he stepped foot into waterloo proper

3. i wanted to make sure i have money to spare for new york now that i decided i have a travel window before my one and only sit-in exam on the very absolutely last day of examinations on the Queen's academic calander for Fall 2006, and visiting Jerk in NY after visiting Micnie in Toronto sounds like a good idea. Broadway beckons too, hence the financial consideraton.

but since my good travel mates decided that after a tough week of commerce mid terms and deadlines they should reward themselves with a relaxing trip to the capital, and i can afford the time, i decided i should tag along too. after all, the capital is the capital, i'll only be here once, and its gonna be a budget trip. supposedly. so after much deliberation and self-rationalization to micnie over msn, i packed my bags for ottawa. much to the derision of auntie candy whom i convinced a month ago that ottawa is most dispensable as a travel destination.

lodging is a nice cosy little house called Ottawa Backpackers Inn. the owner is a malaysian-born canadian whose english sounds uniquely like simon's (a singaporean-born canadian masters student who stays at harkness), instantly familiar. maybe he is used to speaking to foreign travellers from asia, since lots of such travellers put up at his place. nevertheless, his warm voice and brand of english sounded immediately close to home.

even closer to home are 2 malaysian girls who are on cultural exchange to the US and travelling canada for the month as part of their vacation. bishan and jiawei. even their names sounds so close to home. the 2nd maybe a little imported, but singaporean nonetheless.

Ottawa Backpackers Inn!

the halloween mood lingers apparently. incidentally, this pic was taken on the morning i left for kingston, when we woke up to a snowy morning. we didn't actually stayed here; we were given an apartment in a red brick house right next to the inn. here it is:

our abode for the night

ottawa is noted for its pristine government buildings. as we walked down Confederation Boulevard we were greeted by grand buildings of stately stature whether or not their current purposes fall under the purview of the state functions.

Confederation Boulavard

bustling with vehicles and pedestrians, complete with banners on lampposts all along the street that created sort of a fanfare atmosphere amidst the stately environment. the weather was, however, too gloomy to inspire any substantial liveliness from these sleepy travellers who woke to catch the 7am greyhound bus to ottawa. still, the boulevard remains a sight to behold, in its own stately grandeur.

on our way to Parliament Hill, we passed this point along the Rideau Canal, which was supposedly (according to a touristy-looking signboard) the site where Byward Village, the first settlement of Ottawa, first sprung up. the site, in exact 30-digit MGR, is the little grey building with 3 red panels to the left of the canal outlet in the picture below.

Rideau Canal and Byward Village

Parliament Hill, a hill of unnoticeable gradient, houses the Parliament of Canada along with the East and West Blocks which used to be centres of important state departments.

the Canadian Parliament Building

wow.

anything is grand i suppose, compared to the ridiculous UFO we have in our heritage district. but i wouldn't discount any of the grandeur of this building here.

The East Block, till recently (okay not so recent but i forgot which year) housed the Prime Minister's Office. on its own the East Block is pretty breathtaking.

the East Block

West Block is under renovation so no pictures of its ugly state of reconstruction. its all walled up anyway.

all these are in the same complex atop Parliament Hill. inclusive of these, plus the huge plaza and lawn in front of Parliament Building, is this interesting fire that burns in the middle of a fountain at the entrance to the plaza. around this fountain are important years that marked milestones for Canada in its formation and development as a state.

so, history majors, what happened around the world in 1871?

the interior of Parliament is, to make a severe understatement, magnificently breathtaking. now i really understand why micnie faced a lack of expressive vocabulary in her blogs on her travelling exploits because every thing we see in this building is simply awesome. the architecture, the wall carvings, the bas reliefs, the ceiling decorations. all with outstanding artistry, solemn and brooding with political and historical significance in the stories they tell.

the House of Commons

the Left, the Right, and the Speaker of the House in the middle.

in the House, seats and flooring are green in colour to signify the autonomy of the House from monarchical interference. royalty are barred from the House in preservation of its political independence; the two bars right at the entrance to the House are physical barriers meant to prevent intrusion of the royal crown into House sessions.

one of two bars

the Senate, however, is where the monarch and his/her partner would partake in parliamentary sessions. in Canada, because the Queen is so far away in England watching the English Premier League, a Governor-General would sit in as the queen's representative in the Senate, performing on her behalf the ceremonial role of nodding his/her head as approval for the legitimacy of the PROCESS of Bills passed, not the Bill itself. constitutional monarchy indeed. the dignity of the crown is, however, preserved in equally ceremonial ways: the seats and flooring in the Senate are red in deference to the monarchical presence and sanction of the parliamentary process, and there is nothing to bar the monarch from entering the hall. not that i think the bar in the House of Common served any pragmatic purpose; no queen is so fat that she can't squeeze through the wide gap that Ministers of Parliaments file through to enter the House.

the Senate

also with the Left, the Right, and the centre for the Crown or its representative.

the pinnacle of magnificence in this entire building has to come at the most sacred location of all: the Library of the Parliament, where MPs and Senators spend hours browsing through tons of publications in preparation for the passage of Bills through Parliament. housing 50000 volumes (i hope i remembered correctly; the pamphlet says 17 linear km of meterials in its collection to date), the library has a regal and sacred air to it as a haven of academic excellence. the security guard on duty within affirmed that he had read all the volumes in the library. twice. i might just take his word for it. he was reading under a tablelamp when we arrived.

the iron doors to the library, which preserved the entire collection of government books and national archives during the great fire of 1916 which razed the rest of Parliament. the architectural design of the library, consequently, is markedly different from the rest of the building rebuilt in the aftermath of the First World War; the interior of the library, in Gothic Revival Style, is bright and welcoming compared to the grim stately solemness of the building that reflected the wartime mood of the Great War.

The Library of the Parliament

Queen Victoria

queen mother of the empire with the coat of arms of Ontario on the column in the background.

Parliament burning

the fire of 1916.

view from the Peace Tower

view from the top of the clocktower. right across the bridge is secessionist Quebec. if it really happens every single of such bridges would become a customs checkpoint. there are a handful of them visible from where we were at the top of the tower.

i couldn't resist this doubly oxymoronic picture.

Parliament Hill took up a good part of the day. a fruitless search for a recommended Italian restaurant wasted a bit more of it before we settled for morrocan fare at Byward Market. since we are in the capital, museums are in order. ottawa has quite a number of recommended ones. we looked at the time, and went for one we could fit considering their opening hours.

the National Gallery of Canada. protected by a gigantic spider at its entrance.

Herr Friedrich Nietzsche

the root of all historians' philosophical miseries

a year on, i am still in confusion over "On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life", although "Beyond good and Evil" was a more comprehensible exposition of utter contradiction.

for the empire, whichever one it is

Inuit Art on japanese paper

looks very Nippon-fied.

an Inuit sculpture i really liked

and finally we managed to hunt down the Italian restaurant that the innkeeper recommended us for our dinner. Mamma Grazi's Kitchen corresponded to the Singaporean food index: queue means good, long queue means really good. we waited for half an hour before a table for 5 was finally pinched out of thin air by cheerfully overworked staff.

the Daily Special of shrimp and salmon penne in cheese sauce and olive oil.

due to the short tenure of my stay in ottawa, i could only catch Parliament Hill and the National Gallery of Canada in the one day tour, and Byward Market the next morning. i would have stayed for the Just For Laughs show on sunday night if i didn't have lessons early monday morning, and i would have taken pics of Byward Market, if not for the heavy snow on Sunday morning itself.

that's it for ottawa, back to my essays! again!