visions of clarity...do as infinity

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

High Flyer!

An interesting article my dad sent me..

High-flyer

Oct 25th 2007 SINGAPORE
From The Economist print edition

Booming, bustling and bursting at the seams
THE strong global economic tide has lifted the boats of most South-East Asian countries, but perhaps the most impressive performer is Singapore. Its national income per head is already higher than Spain's and New Zealand's, and five times that of its nearest neighbour, Malaysia. Yet in the year to the third quarter, its economy grew by 9.4%. Singapore is “a developed country that grows at developing-country rates,” as Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an economist at HSBC, puts it. Since the 1997 Asian crisis it has fared markedly better than its rival, Hong Kong (see chart).

The signs of a boom are unmissable. The shopping malls along Orchard Road are bustling. Fancy hotels are full of wealthy tourists despite cranking up their room rates. Marina Bay, by the financial district, is a forest of cranes as a $3.6 billion casino resort goes up. The Singapore Flyer, a giant Ferris wheel, looks down on the vast expanse of building site. Office rents have risen by 50% in the past year, while the price of homes is up by 28%.
Any downturn in America, which buys a fair chunk of Singapore's exports, is bound to have an effect. But, reckons Mr Prior-Wandesforde, a slackening of foreign demand might be just what Singapore needs to avoid the only danger to its sizzling economy: overheating. Inflation hit a 12-year high of 2.9% in the year to August, though it fell to 2.7% in September.

Singapore has sustained its growth through unusually clean and efficient government, and by having one of the world's best education systems. While Hong Kong has shifted most of its factories to its southern China hinterland, in Singapore manufacturing still accounts for around 25% of GDP. However, anticipating the competitive threat from China, it has moved up the value chain, away from low-end electronics, and found lucrative new niches. Its marine-engineering and biomedical firms are growing at around 40% annually. Its finance industry has cornered the regional market in private banking for the wealthy.

Singapore's boom has already sucked in millions of immigrants: new figures show that, as in London, almost one-third of residents were born in other countries. To keep the economy growing and reduce pressure for wage rises, the government is keen to admit more foreigners: its development plans assume the population will grow from 4.7m now to 6.5m in 40-50 years' time, mostly by immigration. Many of the new immigrants come from India and China. They are wowed by Singapore's order and prosperity, notes Sinapan Samydorai of the Think Centre, a think-tank. They also tend to be conservative-minded and thus are likely to embrace Singapore's unique mixture of free-market economics and strait-laced politics.

There have been worries that lower-paid Singaporeans are missing out on the boom. Indeed, until recently, consumer spending was lacklustre. But it has gathered pace in the past few months and, with employment and wages each growing at around 9% annually, there is plenty of domestic spending power to help the economy survive any export downturn.
Though its Gini coefficient, a measure of income disparity, suggests Singapore is a rather unequal place, there are few visible signs of poverty. Most Singaporeans live in massive, publicly built housing projects that are freshly painted and surrounded by neat, litter-free gardens. No graffiti or menacing youngsters here. Most residents have bought their apartments and are seeing their value soar.

Singapore still has plenty of green space it could build on. But the plan, says Lim Eng Hwee, a senior planning official, is to keep this and find other ways to accommodate the growth in population and new businesses. One is to continue reclaiming land from the sea. Since independence Singapore's land area has grown from under 600 square kilometres (230 square miles) to around 700. Mr Lim says it could be increased to about 760 sq km by closing gaps between Singapore's main island and lesser ones. But this might prompt more envious grumbles from Malaysia and from Indonesia, another close neighbour, which has become reluctant to sell Singapore sand for its reclamation projects. Like Malaysia, Indonesia feigns environmental concerns about them.

If the scope for extending sideways is limited, one solution is to stretch upwards—ever taller skyscrapers are being built, with financial incentives to encourage owners of low-rise apartments to make way for them. But also downwards: Singapore's big oil-storage business, which takes up much land, is being shifted to underground caverns. Roads, which use up 12% of Singapore's land area, will increasingly be put below ground too. Then perhaps concert halls, sports stadiums—who knows? Such schemes are hugely costly but Singapore has massive financial reserves for its size. In creating enough space to continue its breakneck expansion, money will be no object.

Hopefully the Singapore economy will continue to boom! ^_^ Though there are always those.. I don't know. Economic cycles or whatever they are called where theres boom then depression, boom then depression and so on.=S Hopefully when we start working, the economy will still be in good shape.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : That bizarre Japanese song from Conversation Table]
[mood : sleepy]
[food : peanut butter!]

sam: We went to the arb.=)

dad: No. CCH was not at the party.

Jiamin: Hmm. I still think Saga looks good.=D And Nao! Drools! And I agree that my costume was so not a costume but I had to improvise right.xP Haha. You should wear something different to class!!! I'm trying to think of something but like, I have an exam at 8am so it's not very appealing to have to dress up.xP Do you know. My friend will get extra credit if she dresses up for class. How unfair is that! SIGH.

Labels: misc, thoughts

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hell Vegas!

Hello!

Not too long ago we returned from HELL VEGAS! the Halloween Party 2007 by the SSA.=D =D =D Yay them! It was largely a phototaking session though we did try to play cards every now and then.^_^" Following this will be a TON of photos but I'll put everything up on Facebook for easier referencing.=)

Disclaimer: Owing to the fact that this is, after all, a personal blog and since no one else knows who everyone is, I'll be posting all the photos that don't include me on Facebook! ^_^ So go check there!

By the side of Washtenaw,
Behind the span of weeds in Fall,
Masked beneath the skin of a quotidian architecture,
Trotter house echoed with sardonic laughter.

On the twilight of this very day,
Even the sun goes out of ray.
Faceless figures start gliding in,
The kind of ambiguity – veiled, guised and inked.

An abrupt whirlwind of black and red,
Set the impetuous winds of fear that shakes.
The wheels gyrate, the dice rotate,
The Kings and Queens evidently elate.

Abruptly, the bell chimed thrice,
Trotter House echoed with Marie’s cries.
A sea of distressed souls startled and scared,
It is within Hell Vegas that everyone’s trapped.

Guo Lu and I after completing our hair and makeup! ^_^ We then had to set about helping others... O___o

In Rachel's room before setting off to hunt Kevin down!

Upon arrival at Trotter House, we discovered that we were far too early and the place was completely empty. Hence, after taking the obligatory group shot, we set about playing bridge [which I am terrible at] and tai-ti [which I am less terrible at but still terrible at].

Before the masked dealers arrived!

When the party got into almost full swing.

Rongs is a GREAT dead person!!! xD And Xiaowei looks so L-ish.=P

Hi Ted!!! ^_^

Lihui's witch hat is so cute!

The power of the accidental effect.

Finally! A closeup of our dear friend Kevin! Haha. His costume was really interesting. ;) Loads of symbolisms and whatnot.

Sam!!! ^_^

Eugene is pretty scary...xP

Group photo!

Shuying! Looking great as usual... ^_^

Teehee. Bao En is the Statue of Liberty Michigan style! xD She even had a Blue Book [a book you use for writing your exams] with her.=D

John... The Matrix?

Kai Jian.. One of the masked dealers! At one point, they shut off the lights, and had some horribly gross thing fall from the ceiling before all the dealers whipped off their masks to reveal halloween makeup.;)

Check out Xiaowei's cool surfboard! And no. It's not a boat. Made exclusively by Kevin and Xiaowei.^_^

After we came back, Guo Lu and I were still pretty hyper and started taking MORE photos! =P I won't post all of them. My fingers will die from clicking.

Kawaii! [Not me obviously. Guo Lu.]

Our costumes! Urhhh though my "costume" would be what I would wear on a regular occasion if I could be bothered with all the makeup and hair..=P Rachel did my hair.. It's really nice!!! xD

By the way, I was supposed to be doing my version of "Japanese goth". Hmm. Japanese represented by the hair decoration and fan and goth by the urm... corset-ish top and cool spiderweb tights? Haha.=P

Ok. I am BEAT. -___-" And I think I still need to study!!! WEEPS. Shouldn't have posted so many photos. But at least everyone will have stuff to read for the next few days. Hahaha.=P

A quick weather report! It's getting cold but we just go out in a top with a jacket over. How brave we are! Haha. Every building's heater is on though so it ain't so bad. East Quad's heater is wonky sadly.xP Last night, it dropped to almost -2 degrees Celcius! Guo Lu and I almost DIED of shock.O___o Negative! IN FALL!!! O___o FAINTS. And tonight when we were walking back from the Halloween party, it was about 2 degrees Celcius. Shudders.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Rachel's playlist of clubbing songs!]
[mood : extremely tired]
[food : something better and more nutritious than dorm food]

YX: You lucky cow you. Umich won't cancel classes even if there was a bad bad snowstorm. Oh the horror.

Fel: Yup! My friend is at UCSD. Those lucky cows! xP But it's also bad because not only are forests being destroyed, it's also killing off poor little animals and stuff. And to think it's getting cold here...

Labels: Ann Arbor, east quad, Halloween, misc, photo journey

Saturday, October 27, 2007

ALPHA, TSUBASA, Suicide Club and Blood Brothers + FREE RICE!

Hello!!!

Yesterday Guo Lu and I had a mini movie marathon! We watched Suicide Club [自殺サークル, Jisatsu Saakuru in Japanese] that was part of the Center for Japanese Studies Friday Film Series then we came back and watched 天堂口 [Blood Brothers in English]!!! =D =D =D

Suicide Club was um... Okay but completely messy and ununderstandable.. Okay. No. I understood most of it but there were certain elements that were completely flabbergastingly nonsensical. Like some weird blonde gay dude.-_-" It's basically a horror-mystery story though I preferred the mystery to the horror that was very juvenile to say the very least.. And they used shockingly bloody imagery too which was quite gross but apart from all of that.. It starts off with the mass suicide of 54 schoolgirls who jump into the path of an oncoming train. This sparks copycat suicides, more mass suicides, internet BBS postings, weird going-ons, detectives and an identity crisis. Some of the horror bits were juvenile though I scared to death as usual... And there were pretty gory bits though Guo Lu totally rolled her eyes at them.. =P But all in all, I'd say that the social message coming through was pretty clearcut though the director took a roundabout way to tell it.

Watch it if you like bizarre movies, avoid if you hate gory scenes.

天堂口 stars Shu Qi, Daniel Wu, Liu Ye and Chang Chen. It is set in 1920s Shanghai and is another of those triad movies but with very goodlooking men and a very hot lady.=D =D =D I am SO SWAYED by Chang Chen [张震]!!!! xD xD xD SO ABSOLUTELY DASHING. *faints* Haha. I watched the show for Daniel Wu and Shu Qi but came away falling in love with Chang Chen.=D =D =D Shu Qi is perfect for such roles by the way. Anyway, it's about 3 guys [Daniel Wu, Tony Yang and Liu Ye [I think it's these 3] who come from a village and then go to Shanghai to seek a better life. In their quest for betterment, they get involved in one of those giant gang organisations and from then on, the story focuses on their comings-and-goings within the triad. And the conflicts within the triad. And a blossoming love story. *nods* It's great fun to watch and Shu Qi is gorgeous all the way with yummilicious clothes! Plus, Chang Chen. Omg. *fans self* It was a nice brainless show to watch after Suicide Club.^_^

Watch it if you like Chinese gangster shows and 1920s Shanghai, avoid if you hate cliched scenes.

The next movie Guo Lu and I are dying to watch is 色，戒 [Lust, Caution], the new Ang Lee show!!! =D =D =D Like hello. It's got Tony Leung. A total must watch. *nods* And she's also got this movie The Tokyo Trials [probably on the post-war trials on the WW2 criminals in Japan] that looks pretty interesting.=) Yay! And there's a Takeshi movie coming out in December! OMG! xD xD xD

Anyway, TSUBASA [the new alice nine. single] is already out!!! And ALPHA, their new album, is being released tomorrow!!! I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!! =D =D =D

Their new image:

Shou!!! =D I hate the laser thingies in the TSUBASA video and I feel that the Ruri no ame video is FAR more inspired but I have to admit they look terrific here.^_^

SAGA!!! What is up with his curly hair? But whatever it is, he looks amazing!!! *_*!

NAO!!! He's looking better and better with each new release.=D =D =D

Now I'm totally promoting TSUBASA and ruri no ame because the styling for ALPHA is completely and utterly hideous. I don't even know what to say.O___o

Improve your vocabulary and help people by playing at:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php (LINK)!!!

Okay. End of random and pointless update.=) Sorry I don't have nice photos to post but I've been busy all week and I'll be busy next week so I don't think there's much time to take photos of anything. Besides, it's raining and it's cold so everything looks dreary and wet. O well. And dorm food has been extremely depressing as of late. I am seriously reconsidering this 13-meals a week thing. xP

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Winter sleep OLIVIA inspi'REIRA (TRAPNEST)]
[mood : ---]
[food : something better than dorm food]

Joyce: You always say things are "pastoral". Hahaha.=P There's less greenery in Manchester? So sad! Ann Arbor is a city too but it's full of greenery everywhere..=)

sev: O cool! =D I'll be in Washington DC for Thanksgiving. Too bad we'll still be on opposite sides of the country.

YX: Why is he going to California?!??! And I can't believe you are having forest fires in FALL! But I hope it won't spread...

Labels: alice nine, Blood Brothers, misc, movie review, Suicide Club

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Finally Getting Cold..

The weather is finally getting cold and will steadily drop over the week and next week..

According to CNN.com, we're supposed to get our first hit of snow next week!!!

I could not be more excited!

I sense groaning on the part of my friends though.. So sad.. And it'll probably just be light flurries if you ask me so no snow angels as yet.xP

I shouldn't expect too much though. Everytime I expect snow, it doesn't snow. SIGH.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Wu ding Jay Chou + Some girl who's name I can't remember]
[mood : xD SNOW!]
[food : apples!]

Jiamin: Is there any point asking WHICH tree you think is pretty? Haha. There are a TON of trees there!

fel: I'm going to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving. How about you? And I won't be going back to Singapore for winter break. Will you be?

mom: We ate all the ikan bilis before I remembered to take a photo. =X

Joyce: Don't you have red trees there? Isn't it autumn for you guys?? Haha. And the word pastoral is very you Joyce.. xD

cch: EH. No idea. We just decided to trust Kevin. Coughs.

Labels: Ann Arbor, misc

Sunday, October 21, 2007

An Adventure at the Arb

Hello

Yay I'm updating twice today which means.. Fewer updates during the week! =P Haha. But anyway, today, Xiaowei, Guo Lu, Kevin and I walked to the Arb and proceeded to have a mini-adventure.=)

The Arb [short for the Nichols Arboretum] is an absolutely GORGEOUS place for a walk and needless to say, I took a kazillion pictures! =D So did Guo Lu. And I must wait for her to upload her pictures.. *drums finger on table*

So anyway, we were out enjoying Fall [or autumn for those from the other side of the pond] in all its glory! ^_^ The leaves were gorgeous, the weather was beautiful and the sun was cooperating with us most of the time.=) I think Umich really has a beautiful campus.

In order to explain why we had an adventure today, I must lead you through several steps: The Pre-Game, The Journey, The Arb, The Getting Lost, and The Return.

The Pre-Game

Right outside East Quad is where we started our little journey. There was a lot of wind but the sun was blazing down and thus, it was warm enough to walk around in a t-shirt.^_^

I think this is on South Forest.=) Beautiful!!! And the wind was blowing merrily enough to induce Guo Lu into madness.=P

On a street just off South Forest leading to Washtenaw, is this absolutely quaintly pretty lane!!! =D If the rent is not exorbitant, I think this would be wonderful place to stay.=) We were happily taking photos with Guo Lu's camera so yes.. Have to wait for her to put them up on Facebook!

The Journey

The start of the long journey to The Arb [although it had already begun, that was but a little part of the actual journey] brought us through this grand entrance to the...

Cemetary. Look at the magnificence of this tree!!! It indeed captures the colours of fall.=)

The peaceful cemetary.=) There were squirrels running around everywhere and we spotted an extremely cute chipmunk!

Ahh too pretty a path to pass up a photo opportunity!

A hill right before we found the exit to one of the Arb entrances.=) Such a pretty journey no?

The Arb

The pathway leading into the Arb.=) There are 3 entrances and this is just one of them. For some reason, this really reminded me of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.. I have no idea why.

One of the many random benches donated by people.=)

We were climbing down into the valley of the Arb... It is absolutely and amazingly gorgeous! ^_^ Plus when the wind rustles through the leaves, it makes a magical sound...

The shady path we walked through at the bottom of the Arb.=) There were loads of people walking around, taking in the nature all around them, studying, reading... ^_^ It's nice to see people enjoying their nature reserves here. It is easier to appreciate nature though, when you aren't sticky and sweating...

^_^ Us among the dried grasses. It doesn't sound remotely romantic but it could be.. ;)

As the wind rustles the leaves, a calming effect comes over everyone.^_^ And look at the great colours!

This reminded me greatly of farms and now I remember why.. It reminds me of Gackt's Shall We Cowboy video!! xD xD xD

There are many many many paths in The Arb and each one takes you to a new pretty place.^_^

The Huron River flows through the Arb and presents you with a magical scene. Isn't it just.. I don't know.. Amazing? =) =) =) And it's even prettier in person!

This guy was trying to.. I don't know.. dam the river somehow? And direct the flow somehow? We have no idea why though...

Another pretty path to another pretty location!

Doesn't this path look... great? Haha. And it led us to the most amazing sight...

Look at that... Doesn't it just make you gasp? I certainly gasped. And squealed. And squealed some more.=X

This is SO Lord of the Rings!!! xD xD xD Guo Lu kept saying that the Arb is perfect for shooting music videos.. Well.. I think this would be perfect for that horse chasing scene where everyone can gallop through these tall grasses!!! And theres a path!!! SO COOL!!! =D =D =D

And the sky was so gorgeously blue!

There are so many different types of plants!!! These might be dried up Goldenrod but I'm not too sure..

Again, might be Goldenrod but I'm not sure...

A splash of purple amidst the drying up plants.=)

The blazing sun that was shining down upon us!

The whole field is huge so we turned back and came upon yet another path! ^_^

I think that the colours of fall are amazing...

Doesn't this clump of trees remind you of those medieval settings in movies where the clans are about to wage war against each other?

Mmm.. So beautiful... =)

Having reached the caretaker's cottage, there was one main path and one small path.. Kevin said that we might be able to take the small path and off we went. The path itself was really steep but SO BEAUTIFUL! xD xD xD Haha. However, upon reaching the end of the path.. We kind of realised that.. Maybe we were lost.O___o

The Getting Lost

One of the gorgeous houses we saw along Regent Court/Regent Drive/Highland Drive.^_^ Knowing the street names was no help at all because well.. What's the point of knowing the names if you don't know how it links to everything else?

We walked around aimlessly, I called my brother who was no help at all and finally, someone drove by so we asked for directions.. After directing us to Geddes, we still had to figure out the way back to East Quad and eventually.. We found it!!! Passing by the cemetary, Oxford Housing and loads and loads of beautiful houses, we eventually came upon Washtenaw again.^_^

Another radiant purple flower. ^_^ So pretty!

Maple leaves changing colour...

The Return

We did find our way back to East Quad right after we found ourselves along Washtenaw. Yay us!!! Haha.

The Courtyard in East Quad!!! ^_^

Haha. And then dinner wasn't too crappy either so all is well today except for my undone homework. Which I will get cracking on right now.^_^ Wasn't it a great adventure?? =) I'm really tired but... I'd love to do this again.^_^ Plus it'll be nice in winter to go into the forest and make snow angels and such...=D

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : 发如雪 周杰伦 + 童话光良 + Open Up Your Mind Mirai]
[mood : sleepy and happy]
[food : RIBS!]

YX: Yes. I've joined the Ballroom Dance team!!! ^_^ Now all I have to do is look for a partner.. SIGH. Easier said than done..xP And it's not cold really.. It gets cold at night but it is currently very unseasonably hot.=S Go figure.

Labels: Ann Arbor, east quad, flora, misc, photo journey, The Arb, umich

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