Entrance Exams

(My dream journal dated 25 June 2005)

I have just done the series of National Entrance Exams for University (in China).

There are six exams altogether. I finish my last exam on English in the morning. It is late afternoon. My English teacher is on the panel of marking the exam papers and he has just finished his first round of marking the exam papers.

“There are some pleasing results.” He said to a bunch of his students including me. “Two of my students achieved 100%”.

At first I almost believe that I am one of the two students. But since he does not tell me in person that I get 100%, I begin to doubt it. I have known the result of one other subject already - Chinese. I get 117 (out of 120). I am very happy with that, I must say.

To remove my doubt, I muster the courage and approach my English teacher, and ask him if I am one of the two students who achieved 100%. He says: “Of course you are! Who else do you think would be?”

I am relieved.

I feel very good with my overall exams. The results of the Chinese and English are just an assurance. With this momentum, I am sure I would be able to choose any University I want to go. At that time, someone asks me which University I’d like to go.

“University in Shanghai, of course.” I replied. “As that’s the economic forefront at the moment. Besides, I can learn a bit Shanghainese.”

The statement soon turns to be self-contradictory as when I start to fill out the application form, I have consideration of only two Universities - Beijing University of Foreign Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs and Institute of Beijing 2nd Foreign Language. None of them is in Shanghai, but both of them are the best Universities in China in the area of foreign languages and international diplomacy.

I think I am going to choose Beijing University of Foreign Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs after consulting someone who is in the know and tells me that the attitude of the students from the Institute of Beijing 2nd Foreign Language sucks because they thought they are so elite and extraordinary as such most of them are an arrogant bunch.

Tigers, My Parents and Me

(My dream journal of 25 December 2004)

There are two tigers at large, and I am escaping from them.

I run back home, closing the door behind me. As if one door is not secure enough, I enter the next room, and the next, and the next… I try to lock all the doors. However, I still feel unsafe. The locks are those old fashioned ones and you push the latch into the other part. The two parts are not installed properly and are not exactly in the same line which makes it very difficult to push one part of the latch into the other part completely.

I wish we’d had better locks - locks that could save my life. I wait nervously to see if the tigers have broken in…Indeed they did, and I can hear them coming, closer and closer.

The last room in the house is my parents bedroom. I am so desperate now and I know that the only way I can escape is through my parents bedroom and get out from the door at the other end.

I get out of the house successfully. However, I am worried sick about my parents‘ safety. In a few minutes or seconds, they will wake up in huge shock. I have no idea what they are going to do with the tigers. I am worried that they are not going to be prepared or equipped upon the invasion of the wild cats.

In the meanwhile, I am not totally out of the scene of tigers. Somehow there are another two tigers - a cub and its mother. This time I am not panicking as I find myself very fond of the cub and start stroking on its back - the most natural things to do, to make it feel comfortable. I don’t feel threatened by anything, and the mother tiger is not aggressive at all. I feel the bond between me, the cub and its mother.

I see my parents coming out of the house. What a nice surprise! Apparently they have found a way to keep those two tigers under control. They are both injured and there are scratches all over their bodies from the tigers. However, the injuries don’t appear very serious.

I am very curious as to what happened to them. They explain to me that when they awoke by the tigers they panicked at first and fumbled to fight them. But they soon gained their composure and came up with a strategy. They realised that they must befriend the tigers and look after them, instead of treating them as enemies. They stopped their defensive mode, and started to relax. It was when they made eye contact with the tigers did the whole scenario changed miraculously. The tigers somehow saw kindness in their eyes and stopped being aggressive immediately. They somehow became allies.

“Shall I take you to the hospital, mum?” I ask.

“Yes please. By the way, your father is injured too. Are you taking us both to the hospital?”

“Sure… sorry Dad!”. I make a face to my father.

Ocean And Angels

I am on a mountain. Underneath I can see an ocean.

In the ocean, on one side I see seahorses, sea elephants, whales and dolphins. They are not life sizes but hundreds times bigger than life size. The ocean is calm and they co-exist peacefully like one big family.

On another side of the ocean I see angels, about twenty of them. They are all females. Like the sea creatures, the angels are also gigantic. They are very tall and slender. They talk to each other and giggle, very happy.

The person with me says to me that if these angels are so happy, we should adopt the same diet which could benefit us. Although I can see his point, I am not entirely sure. I think that their diet could have too much salt in it.

When the angels get out of the water and land on the shore, my friend and I join them. We naturally mingle as a group. The angels lead us to somewhere and I remember that we have to go down some wooden stairs one by one.

(There are bits and pieces which I can not retrieve now but the following is still very vivid:)

There is a story about these angels. The story takes me back to an old huge mansion owned by a wealthy business man. All these angels were once his misses. He had a wife already. Every time his wife returned home was the time he killed one of his misses because he didn't want his wife to know about his misses. One minute he would be in the middle of playing with his misses and everything was perfectly normal, and the next minute he would kill his missis violently and quickly. All the ones he killed were either buried under the mansion or built in the walls. This story was never recorded or revealed somehow I accessed this memory in the universe. (In my dream, I understood and can rationalise how I got this story)

Apparently all these young ladies have formed one big family and have transcended into angels. They now live happily ever after as angels.

The Ring

(My dream journal of 20 April 2004)

I was in a filming crew. The crew included Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Before they went off shooting, Jennifer asked me to take care of her ring as she can’t wear her own ring to do the shooting. She took the ring off her fingers and gave it to me and off she went.

I had a good look at the ring. I was surprised to discover that it was not a glamorous ring at all - not what I would expect from a celebrity like her. More bizarre, the ring looked similar to mine. Her ring was simple but very nice. Obviously it was specially designed and she had a taste for simplicity.

I had thought about where to keep the ring. It didn’t take long for me to realise that perhaps the best way to keep her ring for a few hours is to wear it on my fingers. I put it on my ring finger first, oops, too loose! I changed to my middle finger this time, and it felt perfect.

When Brad and Jennifer came back from the film shooting, Jennifer asked me where her ring was. I took the ring off my finger and gave it back to her. She did not seem very happy that it was on my finger and questioned why. I explained that I had to wear it on my finger to make sure it wouldn’t go missing! She seemed okay with that and happily walked away with Brad.

Enter Me

Di is my childhood friend.

She is now the mother of three young cute daughters. Although she is a capable, positive and bubbly woman, she hasn’t been very fortunate in relationships as the three daughters were from two men who she no longer has a relationship with.

She tells me that she is moving away to live in another country.

‘Where are you moving to?’ I ask.

She tells me she is immigrating to Iran.

‘Are you immigrating to Iran?’ I feel I need her confirmation although I have heard what she said.

She tells me that she is now with her partner who is an Iranian. He is doing import and export business. They are going to spend winter in Iran and summer here.

Also with me is my childhood friend, Shu. Shu, Di and I used to be part of a circle of friends. Shu lies there on the ground with one leg bent, the other on top of it.

‘You know there are two Chinese herbs you women can use for contraception.’ He says.

I wonder why he starts such a topic as I am not sure what to say. I have a look at my sister who is nearby. She doesn’t know what to say either. We think a guy talking such things is somewhat funny but in the meantime it’s hard to respond for a woman.

‘You know some women take injections but that doesn’t mean they are that clean.’ He continues.

Again my sister and I remain silent. I wonder if what he meant refers to contraceptive injections. If so, he was right of course as injection can be an effective and hassle free contraceptive method but that doesn’t mean a man (from his point of view) is having safe sex.

It appears Shu is very open about this subject. I feel very safe, and ask him the following question:

‘Does that mean… you don’t mind using condoms then?’

‘Not at all.’ He replies.

I start to like him. It is easy for me to accept such an honest and considerate man. He seems to have nothing to hide and he deals with real issues in life with a mature attitude. I move close to him and lie down next to him.

We cuddle together. His arms wrap around me. I respond passionately. I don’t know what is it that’s between him and me but there is certainly some connection. In his arms I feel warm and safe. He is like my rock. I yearn for him to enter me as that seems to be the most natural thing to happen.

................

I was somewhat half asleep and half awake, realising hubby was holding me tight. He was awake too. It was mid-night.

I also realised that the warm and fuzzy feeling in my dream was exactly the feeling I was having now with hubby. Shu, the person in my dream, was nothing but a substitute figure for hubby. The feeling was the same - the warmth, the connection, the acceptance, the yearning…

Apparently hubby was in the same mood and state as me. We made passionate love... then drifted to sleep...

New Job

(My dream journal dated 21 May 2005)

I’ve been in the current job for five years. A sense of dullness starts to sink in. It’s time for a change.

I get a new job in a law firm as a legal secretary. I think by working in a law firm I could learn a lot of legal side of things which will be valuable for me. Not only that, they pay me reasonably well - $46,000 per annum.

It’s my first day in the new job. I note that there are four lawyers in this firm - all of the four partners are male. Funny enough they all look similar - dressed in dark suits and all appear either in their thirties or forties. There are three young ladies who are the secretaries or assistants.

“They must be doing well then, if they can afford three secretaries in a firm of four lawyers.” I think.

The lawyers all seem very busy. I don’t know which one is my boss as no one makes a special effort to talk to me. They are constantly on the go.

The receptionist at the front desk is kind enough to volunteered herself to give me a tour in the office but it is very brief. I am disappointed that they don’t seem to have a plan for me as a new person to help me to fit in. I feel no personal touch either.

Then I am given a handwritten document by a lawyer who asks me to type it out for him. I take the draft document with me and sit in front of my desk to type. During typing I am wondering as to why they bothered to employ me as it seems to me that what they need is a typist. I am not really a typist material.

After four days in my new job, I feel terrible about it. Not only I feel under-utilised, nobody seems to have time for me. I must leave this new job.

I want my old job back. I know my previous organisation has no grudge against its previous employees so I approach Bruce my old boss and ask him if it’s possible for me to have my old job back.

He says unfortunately the moment I left he had to replace me. Even though it’s only been a few days he has had my position filled already and the replacement is a young lady who was a solicitor before. I understand that this is not a reflection on his unwillingness to support, he simply doesn’t have a job to give me now.

Attending to wedding

My sister works as a PA. She is going away for a short period. I ask where she is going. She tells me that she is going away to attend her boss’s wedding. The wedding will take place in three different cities: Nan Jing, Nan Ning and Nan Chang. She also explains to me the reason for three wedding ceremonies: One is her boss’s hometown, one is her wife’s hometown, and one is where they both lived for some time.

Interesting enough, all the three cities have Nan in its name. In Chinese, Nan means ‘south’. Nan Jing is in east China, Nan Ning is in West China and Nan Chang is in central China.

I am a bit curious that her boss is getting married. I tell my sister that just about a month ago I knew they had no plans to tie the knots. My sister tells me that they’ve only recently decided to get married and apparently that’s what they want to do.

In the Bank

(My dream journal dated 10 April 2005)

My husband and I are in a bank.

This bank is nothing like the banks here in New Zealand, where we normally do our dealings through the counter or talk to an bank consultant at his/her desk or office. Rather, it is a big open-plan office. There are many banking consultants in this office, most of them are female. There is no office partition to divide the office space. It looks like an open market as a matter of fact.

I am talking to a female banking consultant with my husband nearby somewhere. The consultant looks in her forties. Although appearing friendly to me, I feel that she is only half hearted in her job. I don’t think she is that interested in helping me sort out my finance.

I ask her to withdraw a lump sum from our joint bank account. Instead of warning me that such big amount of cash perhaps is not the most sensible thing to do, she processes it without asking any question or given any advice. Watching her counting the notes, I suddenly realise that there is a risk for me to carry so much cash with me walking on the street as it amounts to $14,000. I am a bit worried at this point and start looking for my husband. I yell his name, almost like a screaming. I am sure the whole office can hear me. When I find him, I try to explain to him that I don’t feel comfortable with carrying so much cash. We then both try to get the banking consultant to change our instructions and issue a bank cheque instead of giving us the cash. She says that the transaction has already been effected and cannot be reversed.

When she gives me the cash, I notice that my handbag is too small to contain it all. As we frustratingly exit the office, there is a stand-alone front-line reception at the entrance. There is an Asian man standing behind a huge desk. He looks like in his twenties and I wonder if he is a new graduate. Unlike our banking consultant, he appears very friendly and dedicated to helping customers. We ask him if it is possible if we re-deposit the cash we have just drawn and ask for a bank cheque for the same amount.

He says no problem. We are pleased that he is so helpful. However, he explains that the bank cheque won’t be a round figure of $14,000. There is a small loss incurred due to the foreign exchange difference between the buy rate and sell rate. We got a sell rate when we cashed out which was in our favour. However, since we now want to re-deposit it back the buy rate would apply this time, which is lower than the sell rate. Effectively the cheque amount would be something like $13,7##.

I tell my husband that we’ve just been taught a lesson over this money transaction and we need to be careful on our money matters in the future.

Approaching Death

I am old, very old. As a matter of fact, I am dying.

I have a bladder that I can no longer control. I hardly move. The life sap is waning. I know that I am dying.

There is no emotion – no sadness, no happiness, no hope, no regret, no anger and no frustrations. My emotional state is completely neutral and void, like the way nature should be.

My sister is beside me. She is still young.

I am ready to die, maybe in a few hours, maybe in a few days, or maybe, in a few weeks. I am okay with that.

But suddenly, I realise that there is one important thing which I’ve almost forgotten! At this very moment, while I still have a few breaths before I go, I know I can still write a letter! This letter will be addressed to my family, close friends and all the people who have cared about me. In my letter, I will tell them that they don’t need to mourn for my death. They don’t need to hold a funeral for me. If they have loved me, that’s good enough for me. There is no point in wasting time and energy to dwell on sadness and grief. If they’ve loved me and I’ve loved them, what sadness is there to mourn? I will also tell them that I want them to move on and carry on with their individual life, do whatever is important in their life. If they don’t want to mourn their own death, the only thing they need to do is to enjoy each living moment.

I am a Lucid Dreamer!

Pat (a colleague of mine) is drawing a sketch at her desk.

I have a look at what’s on the sketch. It looks like the twin tower in New York.

“I had a dream last night. I dreamed that the twin tower is still there and this is what it looks like.” Pat says.

“What a coincidence, Pat! I have had at least two dreams recently of the twin tower. Just like yours. The twin tower hasn't gone at all.”
(My dream journal dated 12 December 2004)

..........

Do you know what a lucid dream is?

According to a source: “During a lucid dream, we know that we are dreaming while it is occurring. While the body sleeps, we feel ‘awake’ in a world which has the qualities of a regular dream, and we are able to think clearly, act willfully, and change the course of the dream around us.” The source further listed the following characters in a lucid dream:

1. Our alertness. At our best, our mental skills are comparable to (or better than) those of wakefulness in such areas as concentration, reasoning, memory, and control of our actions.

2. Our senses. The senses are functioning during a lucid dream. While our physical body is asleep, we experience the dream in a dream-body which usually resembles our physical form (as in a non-lucid dream). This dream-body has senses which are similar to those of the physical body, so we can see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. In a lucid dream, these senses seem absolutely authentic; for example, if we touch someone, the person's skin feels warm and soft. Sometimes this "virtual reality" is more real than "real life" (and certainly more real than non-lucid dreams); the colors have a greater vividness and the sensations a deeper intensity -- from the sound of celestial music to the explosiveness of a lucid-dream orgasm.

3. Our emotions. A lucid dream brims with emotion and feeling. During the dream, we might feel any emotion, including ecstasy (perhaps during a visit to a heavenly dreamscape) -- or fear (although nightmare creatures can be confronted and even befriended, in contrast to our helplessness during non-lucidity). Lucid dreams give us a chance to know freedom; we can fly, walk through walls, live out any fantasy, and even change ourselves into another person. And when we awaken from a lucid dream, we are not tired from the adventures; our body feels as rested as it would feel from regular sleep, and our mind feels stimulated and refreshed (if we took the responsibility of creating a pleasant experience while lucid).

4. Our control. We can control a lucid dream. We can create any scenario, assume any identity, and invoke characters to play any role. The range of possibilities is almost incomprehensible. Among the limitless selections (which would be experienced with utter realism): We can visit a dreamscape which resembles the Mardi Gras, or the moon, or the Egyptian pyramids, or the crucifixion, or our childhood home. We can meet characters who speak and interact in a lifelike manner -- and we can create vivid images of specific people such as our first girlfriend or boyfriend, or a movie star, or Carl Jung, or Cleopatra. Our own identity can be that of our wakeful self, or a person of the opposite sex, or an animal, or a centaur. We can swim with dolphins (and "breathe" the dream-water), or jam with Jimi Hendrix, or star in a scene from our favorite movie, or fly to another planet, or enact any social or sexual fantasy with any partner. There are no restrictions on the time, place, or activities; anything which we can imagine can be accomplished with the same visual detail, emotions, and tactile sensations which we would expect from wakeful life.

I have been commented by a few people who read my dream journals that my dreams are too ‘real’ to be true. If you have read the above about lucid dreams, you should now know the answer - a lot of my dreams are lucid dreams. While in most people’s dreams their personality becomes that of a total stranger (weird, bizarre, mad, insane…); In most of my dreams, my personality in the dream is like my awake self. I have had ecstasy in my dream only to wake up to find that I have just orgasmed(http://thedreamweaver.blogspot.com/2005/08/climax-in-kiss.html); I have cried myself awake because I missed my mom so much (http://thedreamweaver.blogspot.com/2005/07/i-miss-you-mom.html); I have vividly seen the splendidness of a mirage and woke myself up laughing and felt blissful (http://passioncity.blogspot.com/2005/08/miracle-iii.html); I have had intellectual yet emotional and subtle conversations with my friend (http://thedreamweaver.blogspot.com/2005/08/my-friend-hou.html); I have received wisdom as to why adults are more defeatable than children (http://thedreamweaver.blogspot.com/2005/08/childrens-play-fight.html) etc.

There should be no more mystery. I am a lucid dreamer! The dream quoted at the beginning may not strictly fit into the definition of a lucid dream, but it’s close enough.

The source further listed the benefits from our lucid dreams:

Dreams provide us with a vast arena for self-improvement, adventure, creativity, problem-solving, pleasure, psychological growth -- and increased understanding of the unconscious mind and our underlying spiritual realities. The delight which is experienced during lucidity often carries over into wakefulness; the elation lingers, and we feel better also because lucidity allowed us to resolve emotional conflicts (by directly communicating with the unconscious mind).

In other words, my dreams are helping me to grow and improve!

School Reunion

A school reunion has been organised, for my primary school classmates.

Approximately twenty people turn up. To my surprise, after twenty years I can still remember everyone’s name! Not a single person has changed so much that I cannot recognise. Chou is the first one who comes to me, and tells me that she owed me some thirty odd dollars when we were at the school and wants to return the money to me now. At first I don’t believe she said is true. I tell her that even it’s true, I have completely forgotten about it so I don’t expect her to return me the money. Chou then reminds me of the details on how she borrowed money from me which helps to recollect my memory. I am most grateful that she hasn’t forgotten about the debt after twenty years and appreciate her integrity.

I greet a few other old school mates, including Guo. Guo used to be one of the top students in the class. Guo tells me that she owns a small shop which sells computer gadgets. In order to show me her business, she takes me to the shop which is located on the left side of a busy street which is full of shops. I notice that her shop is full of joysticks apart from other gadgets. Guo explains to me that running a small business is very hard and that her sales is going downhill.

Although I have managed to talk to a few of my old school mate, time soon runs out before I can talk to everyone. At this moment someone realises that this school reunion is not well planned. Firstly, a contact book hasn’t been compiled to be dispatched to everyone; secondly, our school teacher hasn’t been invited to this reunion. A decision has been made to have another reunion the very next day. Of course, a contact book will have been available by then, and our school teacher would be invited.

Forty-one people turn up on the next day, compared to about half the numbers on the previous day. This is just about the whole class. Li is our old monitress in the class and she is responsible for the organising of the second reunion. Shu used to be a naughty student in the class. I hear him saying to Li that she has the most beautiful hair in the world. I am actually not too far from them.

I also see Dai. Dai used to be the most hopeless student in class. In one exam he only got 3% which made him famous in the school. However, I notice that he is wearing a very high quality business suit and looks very smart and professional. I ask him: ‘Dai, tell me, what do you do?’

He tells me that he is a lawyer. Upon hearing this, I burst into laughter. Not just me, several other people around us laugh too. I laugh and laugh and can‘t say a word. Dai laughs too. We know what’s in each other’s mind: even the worst student can be a high achiever yet a top student can be very mediocre. That’s why we all laughed.

To Go To Melbourne, Or Not To Go?

My sister and her son are going to Melbourne for a short holiday. Naturally I am happy for them. It’s summer. I imagine that the weather in Melbourne must be really hot, which is the way I like.

My sister asks me to come along. So far I've never given it a thought to join them. I am busy with my work at the moment and don’t think the timing is right for a holiday.

‘Come on! You only need four days. It’s not that much.’ she says.

She’s actually worked out how to save time for me. She has booked her holiday deliberately so that she can utilise a weekend, which include Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. She convinces me that I only need to take two days off which by all means is not too much to ask from an employer. It seems my nephew is very keen for me to join them also. I guess that he’ll no doubt write some interesting travel journals like he always does.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't think that’s a bad idea. However, I am really reluctant to tell my boss that I want to take two days off, because at the moment, another colleague of mine has already applied for some leave, and her leave happens to be the same days I want. Not only has she applied for leave prior to me and has been approved, as a team we have worked out an arrangement already which is for me to cover for her on her absence. What happens if we are both absent? It doesn’t look like it’s going to work. I have always been very aware of my responsibility to my clients.

City In War

(My dream journal dated 26 September 2004)

The city we live in is no longer a peaceful seaside city any more.

Invaders have launched attacks to destroy us. Hordes of plane fighters were hovering in the sky dropping bombs. Citizens were panicking. Old and young, men and women, adults and children were all running on the street like mad without knowing where they were going. Screams, cries, yelling which were mixed in the background bombing noises filled in the air.

I had a look in the sky. The bombs were dropped here and there from the plane fighters but somehow from a distance. I was amongst the running crowds, who eventually found a cave to hide.

The cave made me feel a little safer, but just a little. I was scared. I did not understand why this happened, and what I was supposed to do. The attack happened so abruptly that it was impossible for us to absorb it let alone assemble a strategy to protect our lives.

Something strange happened. We heard some noises outside the cave. It sounded like a choir singing. Out of curiosity, we all slowly but suspiciously walked out to see what was happening.

Hundreds of people were forming a circle on the street, hand in hand, chanting. They all wore robes (like those ancient Greeks). They did not look worried, or scared. They acted as if there was no attack at all and their lives were not in danger. They were totally oblivious that a war was happening.

More and more people (including myself) joined the circle and the chanting naturally, a little puzzled and confused first. As I was chanting, suddenly a surreal sense of peace came all over me and all I felt was me, peace and power. I was hardly aware of what was going on outside the chanting circle. Suddenly, I realised that this was a way of fighting. Instead of running around madly and clueless, this was the only way that could save my life – if I can remain calm, ignore the chaos in the outside world and have faith that this is all I need to do, nothing can destroy me.

In Tonga

My husband and I are having a holiday in Tonga.

We walk into a local store. The layout is somewhat like those local dairies here. The owner is a dark-skinned, thin man in his forties. He greets us and asks us what he can do for us.

My husband asks him if we can buy a sewing machine. I notice that there is a sewing machining in the store, which looks like the owner’s personal belonging rather than merchandise for sale. My husband asks him in Tonga language, to my surprise.

The shop owner says that he does have sewing machines if we want to buy. Unfortunately none of them is packaged. He realises that we are tourists and feels sorry that he cannot satisfy us.

At the moment his wife comes out from a back room. The man has a quick discussion with his wife. They then tell us that they are willing to rent us their sewing machine for seven days after that we can return it to them. My husband is happy with this deal and we are grateful for these people.

I don’t understand though, as to why my husband wants to buy or rent a sewing machine in Tonga, and ask him. He says that it’s very cheap to have tailor made business suits in Tonga. I tell him that I know nothing about sewing (in case he thinks otherwise) and that if he wants tailor made business suits he can perhaps make the suits himself. I actually think he is quite funny to come up with such crazy ideas.

......

We are on a boat. There is a large aquarium on the boat which shows all the sea creatures. When we come out of the aquarium, I ask my husband if he has brought with us the suitcase, as I have just realised that I don’t have clothes to change or cosmetics in my backpack. He tells me that all we have got is the stuff in our backpacks (he’s got his and I’ve got mine).

There is a tiny shop on the boat, at the corner. The shop sells cosmetic products. I think that’s just fantastic. But when I have a close look at them, I am disappointed. Although they have some well-know brands such as ‘lo real’, they all look fake and locally produced. It is also interesting to notice a brand called ‘Westpac’. Westpac is a bank. I wonder if Westpac is a sponsor to this range of product. All the ‘Westpac’ products are packaged in red boxes and have the Westpac usual logos on them.

.......

We are visiting a cave in a group. The cave is up high, in a mountain. To get there, we have to climb a ladder. The bamboo ladder is very long, narrow and steep. I look up and see four or five people already on the ladder, making their way up. I am a little worried because the ladder to me doesn’t look straight and wonder if the other end of the ladder is fixed. While I am hesitating, someone in the group seems to have read my thoughts and convinces me that the ladder is very safe. So I got on the ladder. I soon become very scared as the ladder feels very fragile and makes squeaking noise.

I have reached the top. After a tour in the cave we are heading down. This time I take a close examination of the ladder. I was right! The ladder is not attached to anything! But both ends of the top of the ladder are covered with some cotton material (I presume this is to prevent the bamboo from slipping away from the rocks). I am not impressed with this design of safety and ask a girl in the group to help grab hold of the top ends while I make my way down the ladder. (She is He Xinyin, a classmate of mine in high school).