photo credit: ihasahotdog.com
In nature, as in most things humans create, symmetry is often regarded as a form of perfection and beauty. Symmetry is supposed to signal genetic “fitness” in evolutionary terms. It symbolizes harmony in more abstract terms and is considered aesthetically pleasing. Even in the sciences and more technical fields, it allows patterns to form more easily and is respected for its precision. Most creatures and plants we know have a least one axis upon which is forms (more or less) a symmetrical image around. We often look for it in the furniture we buy and the mates we choose. There’s some sort of allure about it and any asymmetry is “tastefully” done so that things don’t appear “out of balance.” Surely you’ve noticed this?
Symmetry comes in many, many forms and has affected all things from art to religion to science. For me, it is most apparent in the peculiarities that come of being very conscious of symmetry in terms of balance. I try to eat equally with both sides of my mouth. I try to use both arms equally (constantly switching the hand with which I brush my teeth and hair, for example). I try to not always sleep on the same side. In all this effort, I have found I concentrate a lot on my semi-ambidextrousness: eat with a fork and spoon with my left hand; eat with chopsticks with my right hand. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work out so nicely and it’s unavoidable to drive with my right foot most of the time (I’m still working on the precision of applying pressure with my left foot), or —
Holy cow, I’ve just realized that I nearly thought my default thumb for pressing the space bar was my left one because I’ve been using that, but it’s because I trained myself to do so a few months ago! Wow, it really worked and now I am far faster and more accurate typing without using my right thumb. Now I’ll just have to switch back and forth between the two so I don’t lose dexterity in my right thumb now. Ok, sorry for that digression.
So, as I was saying, not everything works out as well as I’d like, but for the most part I am constantly changing how I do things. Some are just dangerous though – cutting with my right hand is still shaky business, shifting gears with my left hand could pose a huge hazard on the road, and riding goofy on my longboard could potentially give me more battle wounds and scars.
I'm not imagining it! 🙁
What I really wanted to address is the unevenness I suddenly noticed a few days back, when I took pictures of my belly (inspired by Katana, who did it to track her fitness). I have not been this thin/light in many years, so I wanted to document how it looked so later on I can see the difference (and perhaps be inspired by it to not gain too much weight). After all, I couldn’t see the difference in the weight I lost in the past 5 months. The only way I could kind of tell a difference was that my pants fit looser and my belly got flatter. Otherwise, I still have hefty thighs and a fair amount of belly fat. When I looked at the first picture I took, I was shocked and thought I must not have stood straight, so I took another. This time, it became apparent that it was not my posture – my waist really is uneven! One side is a pretty straight line from ribcage to hips, but the other has that kind of “cinched” waist look that is supposed to be feminine.
I’ve always had a slightly uneven backside, with the muscles along my spine on the left side being bigger than the muscles along the right side. Now it seems I have another problem with my right side being weaker and less muscular than my left! How tragic. So now I’m concentrating on trying to put more strain on that side and working it out more in my day-to-day movements to slowly even it out again. My asymmetrical hair may be an accepted look, but an asymmetrical body… not so much.
Now what am I going to do about the one-sidedness of riding my longboard?
As luck would have it, I also won a raffle item and chose to take home the mug. I was a sucker for the gold trim and black and white image of Royce Hall. I was almost tempted to get the mouse pad, but then I realized I never use one. This clocks in as the second mug I’ve won and one of many that I have unofficially collected over the years. I will never forget my beautiful black mug from Gallery and Toff’s (two nightclubs in York), which I got during Fresher Week when I first arrived for my year studying at the Uni of York. I think it’s the sturdiness, yet fragile nature of them that make me feel they are valuable enough. Everyone’s a winner when I win things, because I get really excited and that brings a smile to most everyone’s face (except for the super bitter who reaaally wanted to win too, I suppose).
What a fabulous experience at Sentosa! I touched so many creatures I can’t even count them anymore. From butterflies to sting rays and even a dolphin, it was an absolutely thrilling time for me. Though I enjoyed the views from the Tiger Tower and Merlion, what stood out the most was the time I spent at the Butterfly Garden and Insect Kingdom, Dolphin Lagoon, and Underwater World.
The Dolphin Lagoon provided good entertainment as the pink dolphins there showed off their speed, balance, and accuracy. They even showed off for us before the show and posed for pictures. They are still adolescents, so only their bellies have started to turn pink, which was interesting to see. After the show, we were allowed to pose for a picture with one of the dolphins for a small fee, so I happily lined up for my turn. My dolphin’s name was Splash and loved the ladies, but swam away when the only guy entered the water! He was good for me though and struck the best pose. 🙂
Continuing on, there was a pool entirely of rays that would whisk by and occasionally stop to say hello and see if you had food. It made me want to have a pet sting ray – they’re better than dogs! I spent a lot of time there, petting their soft bodies as they went by and marveled at the opportunity. There was a display showing sharks at their stages of development with live examples! Then it was case after case of bizarre and brilliant species, like jellyfish, cuttlefish, seahorses, crabs, and sharks. There were these “angels” that flapped their wings and cuttlefish that changed skin patterns in the blink of an eye. Some leafy-looking sea horses floated around near the seaweed they resembled and some giant crabs scuttled slowly across the sand.
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for five months and even harder to believe I’m about to leave on Friday. Thankfully, there’s lots to do so I don’t have much time to mull over it all. On the one hand I’ve missed Panda for nearly 150 days and I can’t wait to see him, touch him again. It’s been too long of pretending I could touch him and feel him hug me through the webcam. On the other hand, the people here are amazing and have taken great care of me. Plus, I’m just getting around to exploring Singapore! It’s a pity it’s ending already, but I can’t help but look forward to who and what I have waiting for me back home.
Each one has its significance to me (and may not be the most practical, but I was going for more meaningful…): for Zen, a pair of silver dragons because that just seems fitting for an influential man; for Mizu, a pair of gold electric guitars because he truly is a rock star (in so many ways); for Typea, a pair of blue and sea green golf clubs in their bags (or whatever it’s called) for his enjoyment of the game and the lifestyle it represents; for Marylin, a pink cover with a pretty peacock for her growing involvement in the beauty industry; and for Starfish, a cool blue cover with an elegant flower for her cool head and classiness as well as the spray I mentioned above because she loves VS. As for the elephants, I figured that Mac would want the purple one (actually why I bought that particular pack, though I liked it because I like purple too) and Lorry would appreciate the green one (a bit of an inside joke on that one, for all his Greenness). Skim was the only wild card, who could go for the pretty light blue one or the more royal blue one, or maybe even the bright white one.
Sadly, when I got to City Hall to locate the restaurant, I found it is under renovation, so I was redirected to a place called Jasmine in the La Jardine building nearby. It turned out to be one of those fancy places that I hardly frequent, offering bird’s nest and albacore or something like that. I don’t really care for high class food, but I was desperately hungry and wanted dim sum, so I went anyway. The food itself was tasty and they still served them in the bamboo containers, but it was so unceremonious it made me sad. No lady pushing a cart, touting her choices. No cutting the food in front of me or adding soy sauce and other last-minute touches. No sheet filling up with stamps to indicate the dishes I’d eaten. Just a waitress placing my orders on the table.
That’s what I thought, anyway. Then I saw pictures and it was undeniable; these things are PINK. Like little girl playing hopscotch and blowing Bubble Yum gum pink. Like pink rose pink. Like how flamingos are neon pink, they are baby pink. Nothing like the “pink” tint of human skin or other such wannabes. So, I was really excited to go out to see some of these creatures for myself. I almost couldn’t get on a tour, but we managed to book me for a tour before I was due to leave (though I had to delay my intended departure time by a few hours).
When we were first heading out, we were right around the area where the planes were coming in for landing at the airport. Distracted, I took pictures and videos of them as they roared overhead and came down for a smooth landing. By the time one plane landed, another was appearing from the clouds, making its descent. One by one the planes took turns coming in, like clockwork, as others left going in the other direction. I marveled at how many people and how much cargo I had just seen arriving in Hong Kong. It was the first time I’d ever spent some time watching the operations of an airport and it was pretty cool.
At one point when we were further out, I was sitting in front, staring down at the water when a little fish jumped out and quickly got overrun by the boat. I continued staring down and soon more came, jumping just ahead of the boat, then falling off to the sides to avoid being hit. Excited, I started to film and snap away, trying to get a good shot of these little flying fish. Maybe it was just my imagination, but they looked a lot like mini dolphins. I spent a long time observing them and noticed that when they are in groups, they all jump at more or less the same time in some sort of coordinated effort. They also really seemed to like jumping in front of the boat in the rushing water, but once they went off to the side, they seemed to resume swimming more. I guess they’re looking for the adrenaline rush!
I so wanted to hop in the water, toxins and all, and go join them. I wondered if they’d come closer to explore if I had some body parts dangling in the water. Still, it was so rewarding to finally find them, after so many hours of searching. I had even begun to entertain the idea of how I could go on another trip (they offer a free retry if you don’t see any on your trip) – perhaps I could get an IOU that wouldn’t expire, so I could use it years down the line, or whenever I return. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about that in the end and we ended the trip on a happy note.
