Good Morning ...

Good Morning ..., originally uploaded by maotai.

i wake with a song in my heart

it is a joyous song

its beat is pure and simple

its melody is clear and uplifting

the song is you, my dearest love

good morning.

As we part

As we part, originally uploaded by maotai.

longing reflected from your eyes

stabs my heart with its steely blade

i fear to know the fullness of the pain

for as we part that it will surely be

Simple meal

Simple meal, originally uploaded by maotai.

simple meal for a simple man. hong wen mutton soup at beauty world plaza.

brings back memories of maotai and friends during pre-u days. when we would pontang the last session for the day and rush over to capitol cinema. there was a food alley there and the chinese mutton soup was divine.

most of you are too young and would have no idea that there was even a food alley there :)

so ask a respected elder like a parent or uncle or aunty. anyone who can help me track down that chinese mutton soup will get a bottle of maotai from uncle maotai. LOL

Nothing better to do

got to this from mandrake.



create your own visited country map

She said.

She said., originally uploaded by maotai.

what i want you cannot give me, she said

you cannot and will not offer it because that is the way you are

when we first met five years ago

i sense the danger to my being, the possible heartache, the pain

i know you are a well, your walls are smooth and your waters deep

for five years i enjoyed you on the few occasions

when you came into town, sipping wine and coffee

talking of our common interests, having great meals

i know you are a well, you are deep and your waters refreshing

i tasted waters from the well and it quenched my thirst

i think i did right for the five years, i went on with my life

i immersed myself in my work not thinking about the impossible

i found myself a boyfriend who looks like you

thinking that probable is better than the impossible

i think i did right for the five years

till four nights back

you called we met and i started thinking 'just once' 'only once'

as we walked your warmth overwhelmed me

as we sat across the table i wanted you

'just once' 'only once'

to have what i do not have cannot have will not have

'just once' 'only once'

i think i did right for the five years

then that was four nights back

i drank i drank deeply and sank into the well

you are a deep well your walls are smooth i find no escape

bring me to the top release me

i cannot do it alone i do not have the strength

i hate you

i did right for the five years

i love you

please release me

... and we cried, bound.

Today

Today, originally uploaded by maotai.

the day seems the same

the work, the people

and the games i play

but the familiar is different

for i look through your eyes

from my heart you reside

Remember

Remember, originally uploaded by maotai.

remember our kisses

remember our hugs

the tender moments

when our heartstrings tug

for we know when tomorrow comes

the mind returns and logic rules

then we die a little and rues that time is rude

Shanghai - Linda

Nokia(11).jpg, originally uploaded by maotai.

Linda, the boss of Real Shanghai Cafe. Maotai's hangout in Shanghai...

sgblogconspiracy - There Is NO Conspiracy

what with the rumors spreading in the singapore blogsphere that has even managed to reach maotai here in changzhou?

maotai does not believe that there is a conspiracy going on. after meeting the bloggers at the hideout last month, maotai has submitted a report detailing the personalities of those said bloggers. the truth is that there is not one conspiracy but SEVERAL conspiracies!!! maotai will reveal three of the cases he has uncovered;

Conspiracy 1: mr. miyagi is lim buey tor!
the mild mannered gentleman we know so well is the wild partying gentleman lim buey tor of whom we also know well. LBT's lifestyle; the partying, the drinking, the 5/10 games and the young women has certainly taken its toll. remember how tired looking mr. miyagi was? look at their blogs, completely different, the contrast is so wide that it could only has been deliberate! the blogsphere's very own clark kent/ superman.

Conspiracy 2: none of the bloggers look the way they actually do.
this has been aptly demonstrated by LMD whom we were misled to mean 'littlemissdrinkalot'. how wrong we were LMD is the Lethal Mistress (or master, no one of coz really knows) of Disguise. LMD has offerred her skills under the guise of nail shaping and painting. how deviously clever! one of her customers is FF, deliciously disguised as a shunu. if you are a regular visitor to FF's blog you would know that she is an axe wielding testicles crushing amazon equipped with hot irons and army boots,certainly not looking like the gal in a japanese chekopek's wet dream.

Conspiracy 3: the coming sgblogcon is a trap!
the authorities know that most of sg bloggers are actually aliens. yes, aliens. why do you think that even after years of mind numbing brainwashing singaporean style education, bloggers here are able to keep an independent mind. that is because we are not human. look at the real picture of LMD for proof. many bloggers are into deviant alternate lifestyle practises like spinning weird music, copiously downing macallan, using apple products, talking too much about sex, having too much sex, having no sex, tattooing, body piercing, bar top dancing and other deviant non singaporean mainstream social behaviour. and horror of horrors, they are not doing all these to be cool but really enjoying and blogging about it too!
with all the aliens in one place (NLB branch too!), the sgblogcon is the perfect opportunity for the gahmen's MIB (Mission to Influence Bloggers) to identify know us, to vivisect understand us and to control engage us better.

but maotai will be ready! he has his grouche marx disguise ready. he suggests that all bloggers to visit LMD's "nail spa" and get their custom made disguises for the event.

LOL
sgblogconspiracy

5/10 Showhand

how do u define a winner? the one who gets to drink or the one who does not get to drink?

To Beijing

the regular monthly for me. SQ812 1.20am takeoff which will get me to Beijing by 7am.

Breather

was rushing the entire morning. now that i have some time before my 3pm appointment, i can relax a little. at starbucks @suntec for my first(!) cup of coffee for the day and a tiramisu,

a pitstop in the rat race LOL

Band of Bruthers... Kenna demoted.

we drank + we drank + drank... absolut-ly wonderful LOL

E, you are OK. wait from 6pm. YOU are okay!!!! V, you are okay too but i think we cheenas can drink more vodka!!!!! LOL

and you appeared. we 5/10 little bit. we sussed each other out. coz that's the way men are. we pushed. we ranked.

for speaking bahasa indonesia, E you are bruther. for tuning down and keeping quiet L and V you are bruthers. L, you understand, you let me go. I KNOW.

i no longer uncle to you guys. i owe you E two drinks.

Cowboy Bar barflies get real...

the place was hideout at 31b circular road. where maotai met some of the nicest young people in singapore. makanguru the organizer was late but i spied mrbrown, mr. miyagi and james seng. they drove and weren't able to partake the alcohol to the same level as maotai. leave your cars at home the next time!!!

onelittletwit was so warm and welcoming. got maotai plugged into the group with intros and all. we have a bet, no smoking for a month for 2 dozen bottles of hoegarden. bloggers' honor! red wine at wine & company also can do.

tripleperiod, i don't know why you have problems looking for galfrens? if i were 20 years younger my problem would be too many choices!!! all the intelligent and mature ladies around, the cream of the female youth in singapore were gathered there.

good dependable mandrake, solid as a rock. with jordangoh who actually uses his real name coz he has nothing to hide (unlike the most of us LOL)

FF who really really looks like a "shunu" (drool drool... makes uncle a chee ko peh). would look so good in a sailor school uniform, who is so different from her blog persona. FF, do you have a ghost writer????


Joel is also "shunu" target. long long hair sweet sweet one LOL

MailOrderBride looked every bit as desirable as in her photos. so no need to advertise in catalogs lah LOL

celle and sandra caused a stir when they walked in... no, celle you are not too vulgar uncle has heard worse LOL yes, yes, please talk to moblog about including rssfeed, ask them to consider it for the convenience for us blog stalkers.

blend into the background mirclay, watching observing... you are a dangerous one LOL

cute cute barffie with her jeff boy boy. such a cute sweet couple!

and LMD, the one who makes me think. in your search for answers you have pushed me to do the same. to understand myself and my emotions and my needs. to constantly evaluate my stand. thank you.

yes, thank you everyone. for letting me know that a far far better world will come because you guys are.

dogs or rather skinned dogs on the way to the market. dogs here are either pets or food. 

grapes in liuzhou. didn't know that grapes can grow so far down south. 

Changi Terminal 1

am off again to Liuzhou, Guangxi China. will continue posting by email. if you are on Blogspot, i may not have access to read your blogs. yes i talking to you my fav bloggers, LMD, FF, al, twit, shion, ... at least i can get LBT. take care and see you guys soon.

China Southern CZ352

the plane to Guangzhou, another flight to Guilin and a car ride to Liuzhou.

It Is Hard When One Is Popular

as a drinking buddy. have now butterflied over to be with A, S and R at Muddy Murphy's for a couple of black and tan. i am turning seriously alcoholic i tell you LOL

On To SPAN

where we finished a bottle of Johnny Walker. Jiajia was much much nicer than JW.

New Friend - Miss Highland Park

she is a little rough and saucy.

Three Scottish Ladies

am at my fav joint and the guys decide to tango with three different scot singles; miss macallan, miss highland park and miss bowmore.

What Can Never Be

but life is such
can only create in the mind
what can never be
but sometimes that is enough
let the spirit be pampered
see us thru another day
in hope of happiness

Third Bottle At Thumper

but brenbren not around. the band was good though*hick*

Three Bottles of Macallan Today

12 year old, a little young but great for five ten :)

Got Thirsty

was chatting with LBT and Biatch on msn. when LBT opened a can of beer and got me thirsty. ran out found a pub and got myself a drink. no self control LOL

My New Reading Glasses

yes, uncle needs them *sigh*

Imperial Stormtrooper

the empire has landed stormtroopers along scotts road.

A Chinese Story - How Alcohol Was Invented

a long long time ago, a man had a dream. in the dream a fairy told him to collect a drop of blood each from three different persons and to add the blood to a brew of rice and water.

when the man woke up he went to the village crossroads and waited. the first person that came along was a scholar carrying books and in the robes of the class. the man then asked for a drop of blood. the scholar consulted the i-ching, decided to provide the man with his blood and went on his way.

the next person who came along as a soldier. the soldier gladly offered his blood without even asking why the man needed it.

the man waited and waited, soon evening came and he was tired. as he was making his way home he saw the village idiot squatting at the side of the road. deciding that the fool would do, the man pricked the fool's finger and took a drop.

when the man reached home, he brewed the rice and water, added the three drops of blood, let the brew sit for a few weeks and alcohol was invented.

thus the nature of alcohol, the first phase of drinking allows us to wax philosophical, we would seem learnt and would have the answers to world problems. the second phase makes us brave and reckless, fearing nothing and wanting to fight everything. and lastly we reach the stage of being fools.

so now you know, LOL

Plane to Guangzhou...

Liuzhou Airport

Liuzhou Airport

Liuzhou Airport

To Liuzhou Airport

To Liuzhou Airport

To Liuzhou Airport

To Liuzhou Airport

Liuzhou - Done Deal

came in two nites back from shanghai. liuzhou is a small industrial city in guangxi. it is located two hours by expressway from guilin and share the same geographic topology. it has little hills surrounding the city and the liujiang (river) running a course round the city.

they having a saying here; liuzhou men are manly but liuzhou women are even more manly LOL. liuzhou women are tough and quick businessmen. my partner W started talking to a local businesswoman Y on a $10m deal on monday and i flew in to sign the deal on wednesday midnite. the deposit was transferred into our account the next morning. and W has never met Y till monday afternoon. the speed and agressiveness of Y surprises us. a matronly woman with children in their 20s, Y and her hubby control a business empire covering auto parts and property development. the hubby looks after the operation of the factory while Y is the strategic planner, deal closer and troubleshooter.

we celebrated the deal with a simple dinner for four with two small bottles of maotai, but of coz.

Shanghai

after all the partying in changzhou it is back to work in shanghai. am staying at the ascott in pudong. arranged to have a breakfast meeting at the westin. they serve a great breakfast buffet here.

getting here was a pain, the traffic in shanghai is horrific on workdays. always try to stay near your place of business but that doesn't usually work out for me. i have to meet people all over the city. that's the life of a salesman.

Changzhou - pufferfish

changzhou is two hours car ride out of shanghai. maotai flew in to spend a day with his good friend here. Tao is a young businessman dealing with cooling towers and industrial coatings. He is also a crazy party animal and gourmet of strange exotic chinese cuisine.

for tao, there is a sop (standard operating procedure) for a relaxing weekend. it starts with a brunch of exotic foods. this trip is 'he tun' some sort of pufferfish. it came braised with brown sauce. we had a whole fish each. the meat is firm and very sweet. the spikey skin is served whole and if possible swallowed whole. it is believed that the roughage will help scrap the stomach and intestines thereby cleaning out the internal plumbing system.

this dish is served last coz everything else will taste bland after eating the fish. it is also that they have to wait twenty minutes after the dish is first sampled by the chef. if the chef survives the dish is served otherwise you don't get 'he tun' that day. yes, the fish is very poisonous if not prepared correctly.

Chinese Red Wine

10 people 7 bottles 1 hour. when you drink like this the taste of the alcohol is not important. then it was on to a k place where there was chivas much much soda little bit.

Beijing - Fish Head Curry

yes, quite a surprise! we came over to the traders hotel for breakfast coz the one provided by the ascott sucks.

besides the curry there were also these small square pieces of roti prata. but these were horrible, like corrugated cardboard :(

the curry was ok, too lemak for my taste.

Just for LBT

more ascott calligraphy. remember the famous line from this poem ;) LOL

Beijing

home away from home.

Lovely Miriam

at the la casa, presenting the goodies available.

Maotai? Nope...

macallan.

At Changi Airport...

maotai is waiting for a friend coming from SF via narita. happy to see this friend. will definitely have some good drinking and cigar sessions over the next few days.

Drunk and Happy

started at 5pm with macallan whisky. so maotai and friend had 1 bottle of said whisky by 9pm. then headed off to thumpers. coz maotai's other friend did not reserve table, gang went to k place.

maotai was bad. he forgot he is in singapore. never screw around on home ground. maotai never screw, maotai is of age that can control.

maotai is happy coz gang also had chivas. it was a scots' night. now maotai can feel whisky breath, if light match now, can have circus show LOL

i love you, those reading this blog
i love brenbren for giving uncle face
l love gang for standing by me and find place to drink and rubba
i love ... coz life is short.

7000+ days and counting DOWN.

It is Friday!

It should be maotai time... 

Wine Tasting

had a fun evening which of course had to include alcohol. it was a wine tasting session which started at 6pm. most of the wines were forgettable. but two that made me happy were;

1. willow bridge "black dog" shiraz 2001 geographe wa
full body whacked you in the mouth no nonsense take me taste me sorta wine. a little thick but with 5-10 years of cellaring or 3 hours airing it should be tame enough for a good long slow session. take this wine alone or with a close fren listening to the blues.

2. willow bridge reserve shiraz 2003 geographe wa
very fruity. the ribbena with alcohol type that i like. get half a dozen bottles with a few friends for banter/ ribbing/ chat/ gossip and snacks.

ended the evening with a nice buzz... =)

Love many Marry Once... II

"love changes for the better" because the "love" at the beginning of a relationship is a different emotion from the "love" which comes later.

maotai's friends break up/ divorce with excuses like "i don't love him/ her anymore because i love someone else" or "i found my true love" or "this time is real" (LOL)

this is BULLSHIT maotai's belief is that between couples the "love" thing starts as "spark/ interest/ lust/ crush/ chance" then with work continuous commitment from both sides almost all relationships can be turned into "love", the kind of "love" that lasts.

so if the "spark" is not fanned then no fire will happen. maotai's experience is that those who seriously believe in the "one great love binding two hearts forever" concept are the most likely to get hurt and/or change "the one great love" in their lives.

Love many Marry Once...

the concept of one great love binding two hearts forever does not exist for the majority and in experience. i believe that it is possible to be in love with more than one woman at the same time. but because of the times we live in a man can only marry one.

what does last for the majority is responsibility, appreciation, security, understanding and comfort in the familiar (better the devil you know LOL).

depending on one's culture/ values, these qualities in a marriage can last. to appease those who believe in hot flash passionate romantic love, the wise tell them that over time love changes for the better and into a different form.

... more on this later.

Holland V Starbucks

took a picture using my nokia of my bunch of keys, headset and coffee. posting to blog by email. i love technology especially when it is used for something as lame as this =)

Now you know me ... maybe ... :)

You scored as Interpersonal. You enjoy being around people, like talking to people, have many friends, and engage in social activities. You learn best by relating, sharing, and participating in cooperative group environments. People like you include salespeople, consultants, community organizers, counselors, teachers or any other helping profession. Interpersonal 96% Musical/Rhythmic 79% Visual/Spatial 71% Intrapersonal 68% Verbal/Linguistic 57% Bodily/Kinesthetic 46% Logical/Mathematical 32% The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences created with QuizFarm.com