Renewed my passport. I feel like I need a break; want to go away for a couple of weeks (while I can still afford to). Finding time between now and Christmas is not going to be easy, between work and choral commitments...

at 10, I was discovering what the world is all about.
at 20, I had the confidence to change the world and do anything.
at 30, I reached my greatest ambition.
at 40, maybe I will discover what the world is all about, maybe not.

what happens in the second half of my life?

since starting up facebook, I'm not on this site very often any more. I now think that the great majority of LJ posts could be said very simply in a one-line facebook status line!

I'll be keeping this for my travel journal, but only using it very infrequently. Find me on face book if you haven't already! -- Matt Auc

Patience rewards. The more I choral singing I do, the more I learn about my own voice, and the more beautiful blends I discover with other people. In a big choir, you don't often have a chance to discover this, except perhaps in a solo or semichorus situation. I don't have to sing with someone whose voice is exactly like mine, to achieve a good ( Read more... )

Back home and finally able to update my journal with the European part of my trip (not having been in the vicinity of convenient internet access ( Read more... )

Since I arrived in Taiwan just over a weeek ago, I've used the time productively and covered a lot of ground. Firstly, there's the ground between the airport formerly known as Chiang Kai-Shek and the Taipei Railway Station (where I met my friend Wei-chih). The next day was the significant ground covered by the great square which is still (for the ( Read more... )

自從來到台灣短短一個星期以來，我去了不少地方玩。坐了從前所稱為中正機場二廈到台北車站的國光客運和威志碰頭，隔天就去了到現在尚未改名的中正紀念堂照相，不過天氣實在太熱，剛來自澳洲冬天的我一下子適應不了，只能回家休息，晚上再出門去永安市場附近的樂華夜市吃到我最愛吃的東西（附註一 ( Read more... )

There's always something new to look at in Singapore. I decided to take the MRT from the airport into town, because I hadn't done it before, which very surprisingly involved changing 3 times to get to Little India (quicker to Walk from Dhoby Ghaut, perhaps) yet the experience included the travelator-reduced miles of wlking along the new carpet of ( Read more... )

Went to the opening of Donizetti's Elixir of Love last night - a simple love story, with all the classic ingredients of a good opera - unrequited love, uncertainty, treachery, deception, greed, and ultimate resolution. Musically, the principals were all impressive, particularly Adina and Nemorino, the soprano and tenor, between whom the passion ( Read more... )

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/11/1976100.htm