Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Of all things, I am addicted to Xi You Ji, the Channel U show where host Belinda Lee goes to 10 countries in search of Singaporeans in far flung places. So addicted, that I actually bought a mobtv 1 month subscription just to watch the show and the previous season. (yes now you know who to go to for your monthly dose of local drama serials, all available online)

The Tango Fanatic

I watched the first episode of Season 2, about this Singaporean named Isaac. He gave up university studies halfway, and went to work in the Armed Forces. After 6 years in the SAF, he decided to head for Argentina to pursue his dreams - Argentine Tango. And there, his life is nothing but that -tango, tango, tango; day and night, every hour and every minute almost; for work, and for play. He pursues a degree in Philosophy at Universidad de Salvador in Buenos Aires, and when he's not studying, for example during the holidays, he takes tango lessons, practises tango at friends' or his appartment, works in a social tango club as a dance partner for tourists. Pursuing his dream, passion and his talent for tango. Now that really gives you something to think about, and he really deserves all my respect.

The Bear Hugger

Meet Darren, 33 year old Singaporean and ex-architect with an established architect firm in Singapore. He was previously working in Singapore and China on various projects; for example, a condominium project in the Western city of Chengdu. He married a Sichuan native, also an architect, and they have a 2 month old baby (who happens to be really really cute!). His career change was to a bear conservation and rescue centre, where he designs the bears' playpens and living areas, and also does work at the centre.

The Sentimental Samba

Stella married a Chinese Brazillian and now lives in Brazil with her husband and her 4 children. They speak English and Portuguese, however Stella tries to teach them Mandarin at home. They speak it with a really cute accent though :) And her daughters are so pretty! Not surprising though, cos she used to be an air stewardess. So, she showed Belinda around Sao Paolo, where the streets are not safe and after 20 years of living there she never once took the public bus. Brazil is also the place with the 4th highest number of murders in the world.

They also celebrated Chinese New Year during the TV crew's visit, and it was cool and strange seeing these ang mohs doing lion dance, dragon dance and wushu on the streets in celebration of CNY. Then after, they invited close friends for a round of hotpot at Stella's house, consisting of Singaporeans and Brazillians who have lived in Singapore before. And one of the guests, a Singaporean woman who married a German and are currently living in Brazil, had this comment: "Marry a chicken, follow him; Marry a dog; follow the dog; Marry a monkey, travel all around the world." It was quite cute la! Hahaha.

But the most touching moment was when Belinda brought out some Chinese New Year goodies for Stella. She only gets to go back to Singapore every 5 years or so because of the huge distances, so she really missed local food. Furthermore, throughout the whole show, she had always mentioned that she missed home - when drinking sugar cane, when walking by the beach looking at the sea - she never failed to mention how much she missed home. So when Belinda brought out the goodies made for Stella by her mum, she started to cry and it was really a very touching scene. Homemade pineapple tarts, sambal chilli sauce, hay bee hiam. All made by Stella's ageing mother; it was really very heartwarming.

And after watching all these episodes, I feel a touch inspired. It gives me hope, like the world is out there for me to see, gei wo qu chuang yi chuang shi jie. Giving me the inspiration that I can do anything, go anywhere and lead that fulfilling life that we all crave for. Maybe someday then ;)

Mrs Brightside at 11:53 pm

{xoxo}