Don't Believe Everything You See

The wonders of make-up, lighting, and Photoshop...

Pachelbel's Canon in D

Ahh... Pachelbel... baroque era's one-hit wonder... Canon in D...

Grossly overplayed at weddings, advertisements, lullabies, self-help stress-relieve CDs, building pipe-in music, etc etc etc...

Anything in overdose just brings the puke out of a person...

The first time I heard this tune was during my college Guitar Ensemble days... my conductor walked in one day, bringing us a new piece of music to play... we had 3 sections in the guitar ensemble, guitar 1 plays the melodies, guitar 2 plays the supporting sub-melodies, and guitar 3 plays the accompaniment and bass...

I remembered we were all quite amused when all three sections of us received the same score... we couldn't quite believe that the everyone of us were to play the same tune...

But Mr A (my conductor) explained that the trick behind this Pachelbel's music is to stagger the starting time of each section... i.e. guitar 2 will start 2 bars after guitar 1, and guitar 3 will start another 2 bars behind guitar 2...

The magic and genius of Pachelbel henceforth unveils... the overlap due to the delay in the start gives this piece of music the full body and crescendo and grandeur... pretty amazing...

I used to like to play this piece of music a lot on the guitar... just the melody of course... but as I grew older, and the piece gaining popularity... over time, it begins to eat into me...

Almost like too much saccharine will cause diabetes... yuuucks!!!

Ground Zero

Well... my sore and dry throat has miraculously disappeared after I returned to ground zero, sea-level Singapore... For once, I'm so glad to be back in the humid climate of this tropical isle... a few of the irritating symptoms that I experienced in the dry, cold and high altitude Tibet are cured... No more breathlessness... no more tight-chested feelings... no more blocked and blood-clotted nose...

Amazing how a human body can adapt and adjust with 50% lesser oxygen... I wonder how my body is adjusting when I suddenly return to sea-level, with much more oxygen in the air?

Back from the Rooftop of the World... Almost

Now sitting in an internet cafe in Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, waiting for my flight back home at 8 pm... Long wait... Decided not to venture into Chengdu city after the plane from Lhasa touched-down at 12.30 pm... The sky is overcast, temperature is 7 degress celcius, drizzling, wet, cold... not the kind of weather to lug my 15 kg haversack and 8 kg camera bag around...

Shall just find some corner in the airport to while my time away...

Yeah!!! I've gone to the rooftop of the world... and back... the high altitude was demanding... thankfully, I only experienced mild Acute Mountain Sickness while I was there... Lhasa is 3650m, and it took me 2 nights before I could sleep well at night without waking up every 1-2 hours... but that acclimatisation process was disturbed when I ventured out to Gyantse (3950 m) and Shigatse (3900 m)... gosh... I had to sleep breathing through my mouth as I can't seem to breathe in enough of air at night... the result was super dry lips and dry throats... kind of reminded me of my trekking in Nepal...

Nevertheless, what's left of the traditional and mysterious Tibet is really amazingly awe-inspiring... I said what's left, because after China 'liberalised' Tibet from the 1960s onwards, much of the ancient Tibet has been mercilessly destroyed... A great pity and a crime to have detroyed such a great culture...

Anyway, shall elaborate more as I process the photos I took when I get home... Think I have shot over 1000 shots on this trip...

Closer to Heaven

In 7 hours' time, I'd be on the flight to Chengdu... and there on, will board the Qinghai-Tibet high altitude train into Lhasa, the rooftop of the world...

Weather forecasts predicts an average high of 10 degree celcius in the day, and low of -4 degree celcius at night... freezing... and I've been asked many times why on earth do I still want to go there in December? Why not June?

Cos' I don't want to procrastinate any longer... looking at my workload, it'll be a blessing if I could even go for a trip at year-end next year...

Tibet is the kind of place where the environment is so harsh that I better get there while I still have the motivation and physical tolerance... and even then, I'm prepared to be hit with some Acute Mountain Sickness, diarrhea, nausea, headache etc... with an average altitude of 3900 m plus cold and dry climate, I hope I've done enough preparation and preventive measures to reduce any physical discomfort...

Checklist:
- goose feather jacket (bought it in 2000 for NZ trip but didn't use much since)
- goretex water and wind-proof jacket
- fleece jacket x 2
- woolen jacket
- long sleeves shirts x 3
- chemical heat pack x 10
- fleece gloves
- woolen gloves
- Acute Mountain Sickness pills
- cold pills
- diarrhea pills
- pain-killers

But all these discomforts aside, I'm really looking forward to the amazing terrain and impossible beauty of the Himalayan Range... And I'm also looking forward to the spiritual journey as well... to redeem myself of all the bad karmas I've accumulated in my lifetime...

I'm a bit more wary this time round, as compared to my other trips to the more cosmopolitan cities... got more things to watch out over and not let my guards down at all times...

Okie... all's set... haversack's packed... time to begin a journey that I've been looking forward to for so many years... Look out for this space for the photos of Tibet... : )