Giữa bầu trời bao la có điều vô thường, giữa núi non bát ngát có kẻ tha hương.
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天外有天有無常 山外有山有他鄉。
//
There is impermanence behind the world, there is a wanderer among the mountains.
P.s.: Picture taken in Langmusi, Sichuan and Gansu, China in 2019.
On celebrating 10 years of my domain NgocNga.net, I decided to post an entry on how I picked music to listen on the road.
First, songs whose lyrics inspired me to go.
– This type of songs accounted for the big part of my playlist. For several years now, Đen and Da Lab’s raps have been famous all over Vietnam. These tracks were in my list: Chạy Trốn Mặt Trời, Đi Theo Bóng Mặt Trời, Ngày Khác Lạ, Ta Cứ Đi Cùng Nhau, Đưa Nhau Đi Trốn, Cho Tôi Lang Thang, Đời Là Đi, Lái Xe Một Mình.
– English songs: Airplane (Plain White T’s), Moving Along (The All-American Rejects), I Am The Highway (Audioslave), Somewhere Only We Know (Keane), Have It All (Jason Mraz).
– Chinese songs: Ping Fan Zhi Lu (Pu Shu), Piao Xiang Bei Fang (Namewee ft. Wang Lee Hom), Mi Lu Lu Wen Wen Dao (Zeng Zhao Wei), Yi Lu Xiang Bei (Jay Chou), Jin Ri Wo Li Bie (Mao Bu Yi), Ru Guo Wo Men Bu Ceng Xiang Yu (Mayday), Ren Yi Men (Mayday), Bu Jian Bu San (Ashin).
Second, songs with places in titles.
– Worldly, there were songs like Across The Universe (The Beatles), On Top Of The World (Tim McMorris), Li Kai Di Qiu Bao Mian (Mayday).
– Songs with country names: In Italia (Fabri Fibra ft. Gianna Nannini).
– Songs with city names: Dien Bien Victory (Various Artists), Hue Saigon Hanoi (Hong Nhung), Tokyo (Owl City ft. Sekai No Owari), Chengdu (Zhao Lei), Copenhagen Fairytale (Cynthia Wang), Prague Square (Jolin Tsai), Harbin Snow (Gao Jin).
– Just some random places: Trường Sơn Đông, Trường Sơn Tây (Thuỳ Chi and Tạ Quang Thắng), Lake Baikal (Li Jian), Beverly Hills (Weezer).
Third, songs about home.
After all, I’d come back home after a trip. And these songs I’d like to play on the way back: Đi Để Trở Về (Soobin Hoàng Sơn), Sẽ Hứa Đi Cùng Nhau (Da Lab ft. Soobin Hoàng Sơn), Về Nhà (Da Lab ft Kaang), Bình Yên Là Khi Trở Về (Thuỳ Chi), The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (The Script), Next Plane Home (Daniel Powter), Svet V Tvoyom Okne (Alsu), Zai Jia Xiang (Li Jian Qing), Zhong Yu Jie Shu De Qi Dian (Mayday).
Fourth, classical music.
Sometimes it was hard to sleep on the plane. Then I chose to listen to some classical crossover by Maksim Mrvica.
Last but not least, international songs.
I don’t mean world music. I like listening to songs of many languages. I’m not a multilinguist, but I listen to English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Russian, and Italian music, anything that suits my ears. Sometimes I put my player on shuffle mode and it made me feel like I was traveling to other countries when jumping from language to language. Interesting!
Nếu như chúng ta chưa từng gặp
Sẽ không tồn tại chiếc tattoo này.
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如果我们从不曾相识
不存在这个纹身。
Rúguǒ wǒmen cóng bùcéng xiāngshí
Bù cúnzài zhège wénshēn.
//
If we had never met,
This tattoo would never have existed.
In order to be present at Sentosa Island early, I decided to skip the breakfast somewhere not near the 5footway.inn. Unluckily, Singapore seemed to be a country that woke up late though the Sentosa pass said they operated from 8:45am. Around 9:30am we changed the tickets and took the cable car to see what Sentosa had to offer.
After reaching the Faber’s Peak to find out that it was closed, we went down to have lunch at Beaver’s Cafe. Though the restaurant was kinda hard to find, their meals were delicious.
As we only had 3 options out of many recreational spots at Sentosa, we went around for quite some time before picking the aquarium though the Royal Albatross had to be redeemed together. Though we were in time for the last opportunity to visit the ship, it was nothing like unique nor luxury.
The Trick Eye Museum (a 3D+AR studio) was our last choice because I didn’t feel like visiting the likes of Madame Tussaud after something lookalike at Ba Na Hills in Danang, Vietnam. Turned out we had some fun for the afternoon though the museum was rather old.
After leaving Sentosa Island, my sis and I made a shopping spree at Daiso in VivoCity before we parted ways. My sis went to see the Gardens by the Bay while I found my way to the Mayday concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium. As usual, I made another mistake with finding the right MRT line and it took me rather long to get to the right station. Luckily, the stadium was right outside the station and I still had time to check in and buy some snack for dinner.
The Singapore fans gave me some banners to cheer the band. They were so organized. I took the wrong seat at first, but later I still found my seat quite comfortable. Only at the end of the show did the fans behind come in front of me. The light stick was so much better than the band at the Coldplay’s concert earlier this year in Bangkok. And Mayday’s sponsor also gave us some gift (face masks I guessed).
Out of 3 gigs I attended this year, this was the best one. However, I missed the last song at 11:15pm as I was afraid that the MRT would stop operating. I kinda found myself and very few people on the last trains back to Chinatown.
20:14
VCR
1.派对动物
2.最好的一天
3.OAOA
4.入阵曲
5.后来的我们
6.超人
VCR
7.你不是真正的快乐
Talking
8.如果我们不曾相遇（半首）
9.干杯
10.兄弟
11.人生有限公司
VCR
12.成名在望
13.我心中尚未崩坏的地方
14.孙悟空
15.知足
16.少年他的奇幻漂流
17.黑暗骑士
18.顽固
VCR
19.Do You Ever Shine （团员solo）
20.凡人歌
21.离开地球表面
22.OK啦
Talking
大型喊麦现场（嘿嘿嘿嘿）
感谢名单
Talking
23.星空（一段）
24.任意门
25.转眼
26.人生海海
VCR
加班
27.伤心的人别听慢歌
Talking
28.彩虹
29.倔强
加班
30.突然好想你
31.憨人
23:23下班
I’m gonna leave the setlist here to remember the songs played at my first gig ever, Coldplay’s A Head Full Of Dreams tour, in Bangkok, Thailand.
My heart was deeply touched, softened, and melted by my long time idol Coldplay performance. I used to say that Coldplay would be my first ever gig. I felt overjoyed to check it off my bucket list.
P.s.: Picture taken in Bangkok, Thailand in 2017.