Tuesday, January 31, 2006
I was channel surfing just now on cable and caught this show called "Worlds Apart" on AXN. I figured the producers of the show couldn't have chosen a more apt name. It's kinda like a survivor style show whereby 2 couples(aint't married yet) were given a challenge to live together with an African tribe in Namibia for 10 days. The moment I saw the kind of people and personality they were, I knew tougher days are ahead for the 2 couples. The tv crew even went to their houses and asked them the stuff they will miss during their trip and they went showing their fridges, hairdryers and food etc. It was long journey to the place where they were supposed to stay for 10 days. After reaching Namibia, they have to take a 2 hours plane ride followed by another 2.5 hours in a jeep to finally reach their destination. I guess travelling in such a small place that could only take 4 people affected one of the guys abit and he started throwing up. I don't really fault him for that considering I'm the kind of guy who gets airsick easily as well. You then see a different side where the guy turns to his girlfrield for support when he is feeling sick and low. Well, it's not always the guy who's strong.
I felt that the human geography stuff that I've learnt in secondary school and jc kinda helped me understand the certain aspects of the show better. Things like how the man are treated like kings while the women are made to do all the hard work like carrying water and collecting firewood. It's a different lifestyle here in the modern world though where the guys never let their other half do the heavy work. Basically the only tough work the guys did was to climb a mountain to collect some water whereas the women were busy collecting firewood, water and to collect branches to build a hut etc. The guys were slacking under a shelter while the women were in the hot sun. The food there really sucks, it's as good as eating the menu 5 chicken rice. I can totally understand that part where they complain about the food.
This show also took a toll on the couples' relationships as they can't stand the sight of their men sitting around doing nothing while they are hard at work. One of the girls even commented that if they ever break up after the show, we will know the reason for it. It's like one of the guys promised the girl's mum to take care of her in Africa but he didn't keep his promise. All I can say is that it's been a good show and the 1 hour spent was worth it. If I had a chance to know them, I would have recommended snake powder and some engineering gloves to bring along for the trip beforehand.
Cny came and passed so quickly, just like that. Even though cny is 15 days long in the Chinese calendar, it's just 2 or 3 days to me. It's time to go back to school, work and camp for army guys like me. It's back to reality. The reason I needed this holiday is because it will be some time before any holiday comes again. I won't really count Good Friday and Labour Day as hols because not everyone celebrates them. It's probably just cny and Christmas that are more important to me so it's best to enjoy them when they are here.
Cny seems rather boring this year, maybe it's the fact that I'm in ns but my friends said that I shouldn't let it be an excuse not to enjoy it. Cny also takes on a different meaning as you grow older. Of course I like the festive spirit that fills the air whenever cny is around the corner and it's not different this year. I start to appreciate the time spent with my family, relatives and friends more this year because half the time I'm in camp. I think it's a known fact that the older u get, the less hongbao money you collect but others beg to differ. They countered this argument with the fact that more people are getting married and therefore, more hongbaos. In my case, I proud of myself for declining hongbaos from relatives and friends who are not so well to do. I mean I could do with the extra cash but I've asked myself whether I will really enjoy the stuff I might have bought with their money. They need the money more than I do. Maybe when I was a child, I would have take every hongbaos that comes by way like there's no tomorrow but now that I'm older, it's better to think twice.
Cny is not just about collecting money, it's about spending quality time through gatherings of family, relatives and friends. However, it doesn't mean that you need holidays like cny to do so. You can always try to find time out to to meet up with your friends.
A new year, a new start.
