The SWord for freedom

  I never thought I would return to writing under such circumstances.  I originally thought I would write about my feelings on immigrating to the United States, a review of my new Lexus, or some thoughts on China... but I never imagined that it would be an article like this. About two months ago, I watched a film I'd long wanted to see, " Memories of Matsuko ". I watched it 3 times in two months, and today, I watched it again. Suddenly, I felt the urge to write something.  Because I have seen too many Matsukos. ==================== The first time I heard about this movie was probably around 2014. At the time, a young girl, who is a friend of my ex-girlfriend, had her WeChat name as "Matsuko Kawajiri(川尻松子)," which is the name of the film's protagonist. Looking back, she was also a girl who needed to learn how to love herself. I will discuss her in more detail below. I spent my last two decades in China in Tianjin , a city just a half-hour train ride from the ...

The internet went out again this afternoon. I went downstairs to ask the landlord, and it turned out the system needed an update. Yes, the optical modem's system needed an update, and it had to be taken to the service station to have the system flashed. This is quite different from my previous experiences. The landlord said she was heading out to the Spectrum service station right away and would be back in about two hours. I said I couldn't work in the meantime, so I might as well go to Costco and stock up on 10 days food. The landlord said, "Great! I need to go to Costco too, let's go together! You can also try out my new car!" ==================== The landlord usually drives a Toyota Sienna , I've seen a lot of these at Google headquarters ---- they’re work vehicles, used for transporting people or goods, with a big number in circulation. It's a standard North American MPV. The landlord just bought a new model of the Sienna, a hybrid. I have to say, thi...

My Life is Perfect. The flight attendant who was handing out drinks noticed that I like this milk. The taste of this milk is particularly rich, much more so than any of the whole milk I usually drink. So I kept refilling for it. Yesterday, she even showed me the packaging of the milk, hoping that I could find it in the U.S. Back to the main story. Just now, while she was handing out drinks, she smiled at me and said, "You probably want the milk, right?" "Yes, please, I really like it." As I took the cup, she said, "You’re so cool." (Ah? Is it because I’m the only one asking for milk....so that she thinks my unique style is cool?) Just as I was stunned and unsure how to respond, she added, "Your hands are a bit cool." Oh, so I misunderstood ---- it wasn't that she was saying I was cool, but that my hands were cool  ---- When I took the cup, our hands had touched. At this point, I really didn’t know how to respond. After I stunned there dazed f...

  Last night, the hotel sent me a yummy mooncake with a cherry blossom flavor for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I forgot to ask them where I could buy it, but it's very likely that it's not for sale. Today, I’m leaving Singapore and flying to Los Angeles with ANA . Why didn’t I choose a direct flight and instead opted for a more cost ANA flight with a layover in Tokyo? Of course, it's because I wanted to buy Shiseido at Narita Airport, and check out if they have the local Oceanus store(Casio's watch brand). Though I’m not getting my hopes up too much. Also, I’ve always had a good impression of ANA and Japan, and now that I have the chance, I decided to give it a try. At 3am, the driver took me to the airport. Singapore's Changi Airport is said to be the best airport in the world, but it's still pretty quiet in the early morning. I suppose this is because of the epidemc. I spent some time with a girl from the Philippines, looking for something to eat and so on. The AN...

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask in Beijing, Feb. 3. PHOTO: KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES Original article  of this pic and I did not feel offended Although there is a lot to write about the coronavirus, I just talk about what I have experienced and thought about during this COVID-19 epidemic. 1. News Sources Do not get news from Chinese Internet. China has always been very strict with information control, and it has become stricter in recent days. The latest speech censorship laws came into effect on March 1. Several of my friends' WeChat or SNS accounts have been banned. For a long time, I am almost silent on Chinese Internet. Fortunately, I have always been freedom to access the Internet. In mid-December 2019, I heard that patients were infected with unknown pneumonia. Several of my relatives who are doctors have confirmed this. I reminded my friends in Wuhan , the center city of the epidemic, and did not make it public. Because at the same tim...