MY FRIEND. He has DEPARTED. Bless his Roaming Soul.

He left.

He Passed on.

Suddenly.

Without the slightest of a murmur.

Not even a tearful goodbye.

I was late and shaken.

With disbelief.

He’s gone forever to another world where wondrous happiness will greet him.

Or so, I hope.

My friend ….

I am telling you.

It’s right HERE, (cross my heart)

The PAIN that was searing at my heart for a long while,

If only words can paint a thousand pictures,

Then I can describe how the wind howled a thousand banshees ….

How the rain darted in mad torrents …..

Splashing furiously across my paned window,

Making puddles of aimless designs on the glass.

I gaped, closed my eyes and questioned:

Are these my feelings of grief at this very moment?

Can I set myself free from the irksome past?

The past with those awful memories that are often lurking in the back of my mind,

I wanna free myself from this guilt of acknowledgement ….

To say a prayer for your roaming soul.

You are now in another dimension ….

You should learn from this day onwards

to embrace living as fully as you can in your realm,

You are now free to be YOURSELF,

And to soar even higher than you’d ever have imagined.

If only you had realized then that:

Life is oft too short

To ponder and worry,

But when you finally understood,

It was your time to leave!

Yeah, he is my friend.

My friend has departed.

This is an ODE to him.

Because he greatly matters.

He’s my DAD.

He passed on in the late 90s.

Bless his wandering soul.

Amen.

THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 Taiwan Drama. You’ll LAUGH, You’ll CRY, You’ll LOVE in this SMALL FUNKY TOWN. MEMORIES are made of THESE.

POSTER featuring FULL CAST

TIMIMI CHEN YI RONG 陳怡蓉

WEBER YANG 楊一展 (formerly LEROY YANG)

MEGAN LAI 賴雅妍

TENDER HUANG 黃騰浩

THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 Taiwan Drama

Stretch out your hand ….

CAN YOU CATCH FLEETING MOMENTS?

No …?

Then they are out of our clasp.

MOMENTS are made up of this thing called TIME,

And TIME waits for no man.

Treasure youth while you have it.

Flaunt it,

Relish fleeting moments -

Savor the wind,

Smell the earth,

Romp nature ….

Because TODAY is present tense,

TOMORROW IS YET ANOTHER DAY,

And YESTERDAY has already passed.

光陰的故事 THE STORY OF TIME is a timely parable told through 54 episodes of a Taiwanese drama that takes you on a nostalgic trip into the 1960s, if you are a baby boomer.

It spins a heart-warming tale of LOVE for your parents, siblings, friends, neighbours and everyone around you.

Kiss them, hug them, treasure them.

THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 is one cool maverick.

Ever once in a long, long while would you come across a telly gem such as this.

My heart ache and palpitate with the joy and sadness as I share “the LIFE’s roller coaster ride” with the characters.

It’s so real.

It brings out the raw emotions in me …. in gushes.

I relish the heartfelt script that explores the ultimate in realism,

one of the best I’ve ever appraised

in years in the Chinese television.

Hail the TAIWANESE RENAISSANCE which’s been in the deepest of doldrums for more than a decade.

This drama series is going to stay imprinted in every viewer’s mind for ages.

Rally around, folks.

Don’t you know that the world is round and that love is always around?

For crying out loud, you don’t have to look that hard,

THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 is painstakingly researched, has a great well-crafted script, a team of talented directors, real actors (young and old) who portray characters so vividly real, that they seem to “jump” out of the telly right into your living room.

There are many scenes that’ll find you reaching for the tissue box ….

You might have this lump in your throat and fight back real tears whilst watching the series.

You might exclaim, “Gosh, I understand my parents better now. But they are no longer on this earth!”

And I’d like to borrow the title from CAROLE KING’s famous song “I hear the Earth moves under my feet ….”

Oh yeah, THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 rocks!

When you have the full set of DVDs, it’s real hard to stop

and you may make the choice to skip meals to relish episode-by-episode,

It’s like observing a camaraderie of old and young folks sharing warm banters and familiness.

Hey, as blood is thicker than water, families are that important.

THE STORY OF TIME 光陰的故事 is not probably, but IS definitely the best among the “bestest” (pardon the pun) of Chinese telly dramas that I have enjoyed in the last decade.

Whether in SINGAPORE, HONG KONG, CHINA or MALAYSIA, nothing ever comes this close to this wonderful, heart-warming, spellbinding, didactic drama.

The adjectives can flow …..

Stay braced.

Here are a couple of lessons learnt from this series:

I must spend MORE time with my loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

I must pat the head of someone who looks up at me in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave my side.

I will squeeze you with a warm hug, because that is the only treasure I can give with all my heart and it’s free.

I will say ‘I love you’ and mean it.

A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt, when it comes from deep inside of me.

And to lock hands and cheeks and cherish this moment, because someday you will fade from my sight.

AND I MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT:

Life is not about breathing, you get to be blown too.

NOW, GEORGE CARLIN (famous comedian and wise adager) …..

For all of the above, I salute you GEORGE, as always.

Your teachings are like priceless pieces of jewels to me,

Yeah, TIME and TIDE indeed wait for no man ….

For the baby boomer, it’s like basking in the good old days.

And oh yeah,

Lest I shall forget …..

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE.

Indeed so.

Geez, SHOWERS can be BEAUTIFUL. Have you LISTENED to the RHYTHM of the FALLING RAIN? NOW, do you wanna DANCE?

YEAH, SHOWERS CAN BE THERAPEUTIC

It’s pouring now!

I can see the scurrying raindrops ….

They pitter-patter furiously against the window pane, forming circles of beautiful patterns.

I admire the uplifting sight.

I love the smell of rain.

Everything about it - from the musky fragrance of the air before the impending downpour

to the sound of the torrent as it smatters against the windows.

It’s a splash of poetic indulgence for me.

It’s therapeutic to marvel at the busy streets as they are bathed in the glory of sudden showers.

It’s fun to smirk at peeved people rushing for shelters

cursing that there’s yet going to be another traffic jam.

When the storm brews over

and the sun once again begins to shine warmly through the clouds ….

do observe the beauty of nature in all its splendor.

Let’s revel in this lull-after-the-storm, this precious calm.

After all …..

What is LIFE if not for its smallest pleasures?

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…

It’s about learning how to dance in the rain”

singer VIVIAN GREEN cajoles us.

She’s absolutely right!

LULL AFTER A STORM

Poet RAVEN SANCHEZ ALEXANDER, however, expresses a different interpretation of the rain when he laments:

” The clouds are crying

Out for you

The rain is falling

Fast and blue

The puddles on the ground

Shimmer in my sight

I dance in the rain

On this dark, cold night

Enjoying the water

As I ignore the pain

Forgetting it all

As I twirl it away

I must be a sight

All covered and wet

But I ignore the stares

Instead, I just forget

Forgetting the broken promises

All the fakes and the lies

The stories of heartbreak

Of love and demise

I need a break

From all this hate

From the world of doom

The cloak of gloom

That we weave around ourselves so tight

It clings to us

All day and night

My hair is soaked

My eyes are red

I might be crying

So sick from dread

Lightning flashes

Thunder booms

The world’s aglow

As more storms bloom

Sometimes rain is all I need

Heavy falling water

With a light breeze

To blow away my troubles

For a minute, or a year

And instead i can imagine

The good things that are true

And as I’m dancing there alone

I dream that I’m with you.”

SHOWERS are really beautiful.

Next time when you espy the clouds dispersing,

That the wind takes on a certain howling ….

And you feel the coming of an impending rain.

Take a chance,

Break into a light dance.

Let your hair down,

Bask in the shower,

LIBERATE YOURSELF ….

It may not be your normal routine …

But hey, it can be food for your weary soul!

Seen the classic movie SINGING IN THE RAIN starring GENE KELLY and DEBBIE REYNOLDS?

After all these years, that rainy scene still still lingers ….

leaving one big imprint on my aesthetic mind.

Anyone who says that SUNSHINE brings HAPPINESS has never danced in the RAIN.

For sure!