여름 늦더위

Blue sky after the long gloomy monsoon

Iced coffee to drive away the remaining summer heat

먹고 살아야겠다

During a dinner, a person asked a businessman if he is the CEO of a chain of supermarkets. The businessman replied rather humbly, "Tan jiat, tan jiat."

'Tan jiat' in Hokkien dialect literally means 'earn to eat' and it can be taken as 'earning a living'. It is definitely more than just 'earning a living' when you are talking about a business involving a chain of supermarkets.

Anyway, I was not interested in how much he earns or how I can tap into his network, I was drawn by what he said. Work is 'tan jiat' and I saw wisdom in the word. We work because we want to earn enough to eat so that we can live. Isn't that the whole thing about working? But, why do so many people want to earn more than they ever need to eat and live?

Happiness is not directly proportional to wealth so I just wanna 'tan jiat, tan jiat' and leave time to live a life. I don't mean enjoying or living to its max, just living it will be great.

A happy girl, she must be

Happy ducks, they must be

불꽃놀이

Sunset view of Kallang River

Night view of buildings at Marina, downtown business district

Finally, the fireworks display started after an hour of waiting

Not a good place to watch fireworks but at least it was not crowded

Fireworks display lasted for only 5 minutes and all was over

국경일

Happy 45th Birthday, Singapore. I am proud to be Singaporean because I am bilingual and speak Singlish. Singapore, huat ah!

Flags and banners at the spectator stand at the Padang

정류장

"Bus 9602 will be arriving in 13 minutes time. Bus 9706 has departed the bus stop before. Bus 9708 will be arriving in 12 minutes time."

All the traffic information you need to know about the buses is clearly displayed on the sleek LED board. To give better readability, lines of information alternate between white and blue light. Most important of all, the information shown is accurate. I can get myself a mocha from a nearby cafe while waiting for the next bus without fear of missing it. This is what I call world class transportation system.

P.S. There are many ways of saying bus stop in Korean. You can call it 정류장 (停留場), 정거장 (停車場), 승강장 (昇降場) or 정류소 (停留所).

열대야

'열대야' (熱帶夜, tropical night) describes nights which minimum temperature read 25degC or above. A good place to cool off in Seoul during one of those warm nights is Cheonggye stream. Another good place is Hangang river but I don't really go there often as it is so much further from my place of stay.

You only see people walking in the stream during summer

So many people and you thought there was a festival going on

소나기가 지남

비가 오기 전 (Before rain)

 

비가 온 후 (After rain)

꽃과 잎

벌레들을 구함 (Searching for insects)

누구의 눈물 (Who's tears)

여름밤의 즐거움

As the sun set, the summer night starts

Summer heat slowing dissipates in the melody of smooth jazz

Music revitalises the otherwise lethargic and worn-out body

Chilling out continues at the water fountain at Cheonggyecheon

The last bit of the day heat is removed with a bowl of fruit yoghurt

이제 여름입니다

Cosmos flowers between July and September. However, it is more associated with autumn than summer. Perhaps, the best season to view the flowers is early autumn.

It's summer now but that doesn't mean you don't get to see red maple leaves. The season of maple leaves may be in late autumn but there is nothing to stop any tree turning red earlier than the 'designated' time.

Ears of rice start to appear in summer. Rice is called 'mo' (모) when it is planted in spring. In summer, it 'turns' 'byeol' (벼). In autumn, it is harvested as 'ssal' (쌀) which we use to make 'bap' (밥). That is, roughly speaking, the 'annual life cycle' of rice.