I am touched when I attend a wedding. The promises of a lifetime together appeals to me somehow.

Attended a wedding tonight. The only thing different is the bride and groom are both over half a century old. But it is still a wedding. Tying the knot is the same whether you are 20 or 50.

Perhaps to make them feel better, I realised that they are trying their best to make their dinner futuristic. It was pretty interesting and unique to be sitting through the entire episode. Blend of vintage and modern.

I went through a grading session today: grading people.

I was fairly uncomfortable when slotting the bargaining chips in the grading machines, contesting the efforts of the team over the others. The normal scruples get slightly forgotten as we battle for the monies from a better standing.

I realised that all things being equal, this world simply isn't fair. Oft times, the credit for a concerted efforts goes to an individual. I remember some kind soul was telling me that there are no unachieveable targets with hard work. But I realised that getting the target is only half way through in the socio-work scene; the more important perhaps is getting the work recognised and endorsed by someone of status.

At the end of the day, the message was clear: it is all about the presence in the authority's mind. Doing the right things at the right time simply means appearing to work hard when the boss is around. The rest ain't gonna matter.

******

On a separate note, was hanging out with a friend I had not seen for many months. It is always good to catch up with someone after a long time. I realised that there are really two categories of friendship.

The first is really those that did not make too much of a different to you. You know it when you are not really catching up, but starting for the first time in your emotions and feelings with the person. Everytime you leave the person puts an emotional period and the next time you meet, it need warming up of the emotional engine before allowing the piston to play.

The second is the other spectrum. They always leave a longing desire when you leave the union. The feeling does not shut down entirely on this person, but enters an idling stage, and the next time you meet, it just need to engage the drive shift to go on where was left off. These are the true friends in life, those that really matters.

I did some furniture rearrangement in my room today.

After careful consideration, I decided that I did not really like the way my room looks. So I started shifting the cupboards and the tables, in the midst of migration, both my cupboards and bookshelf gave way.

Now the room is in a pathetic state: with no place to hang my clothes and everything lying on the floor.

Right now I am trying for the life of me to remember why I wanted to move my things. ARgghhh.....

It is incredible that I spent a mid-autumn at at a mental home. Nope, not that I have gone bonkers with lose screws, but just volunteering at the shrink home.

It shocked me that the mental patients to be pretty normal. Sure they look funny with the involute facial expressions, yet I was so pleasantly surprised on their creativity when it comes to making lanterns. It seems that they find creativity in another dimension of mind. The designs they made really put some of the saint people to shame; the untapped ingenuity stays latent underneath the warped mind.

Even some of them seems pretty natural at the mic when they are singing their favourite tune. In fact the bulk of them seems pretty happy in general. Perhaps being crazy is a buffer for sadness: a mechanism to relieve melancholy.

******

It is a small world too. I actually bum into two acquaintances that I knew from separate occasions; at the mental institute: of all places. Maybe it is a sign.

Looking from the land of Mars, the Venusians looks better as time prods on

Finally back from Oz.

My impression of the place was tinted the fact that the people from the place are laid back, perhaps it has to do with the perenial association with the koalas or the wombats. One gets the feeling that these people just like to sloth in the sun, soaking up the afternoon heat and exposing themselves to dangerous amounts of radiations (fact: Skin cancer is a big problem in Oz)

The last stint with these people more or less confirms the suspicions. These people don't really think pass tomorrow. They live only for today. As a whole, they seem pretty hedonistic as a group. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against that. As a matter of fact, I have always complained that these world is too serious, too scheming. Alas, our little society lack people who can have a good laugh at themselves. Hedonism is really a good sport where future minds their own business and happiness stand in the spotlight. Who cares what happens tomorrow?

******

Managed to stay with my aunt for the last day in Oz. It was really an auntie that I never knew existed; up to the point when my mum tells me that she migrated there before my time. Notice the mobility of chinese people? Just an insignificant family like mine have managed to grow roots all over the world. I am having relatives in Asia, Europe, Australia and US. Seems that Chinese are migratory in nature. While it is the warmth that draws the migratory birds ea`h fall, we are always drawn by the prospect of better life. We are by far the most pragmatic and merciless tribe I know. Oh well, every culture have their own traits.

I also found out that I have a second cousin, who is wildly artistic. And in her you can find a myriad of character fused into one. Much like her painting that won the award; the conservative East meets the open West.

Oh well, it is good to be back home.