there beneath the blue suburban skies

Wonders Will Never Cease

Today my father mopped the floor; when we ordered Coffee Pork Ribs as part of dinner at Forture, they came with blobs of whipped cream with coffee powder sprinkled over.

I'm surprised I don't see pigs flying.

And now, I am going to blog in Mandarin, and attempt to translate a Liang Wern Fook song. If you are displeased with the translation you are free to offer a better one.

Don't be surprised if you see a large pink pig backside suddenly appear at your window as you read this.

***
亲爱的文耀，

（如果你不能读以下的短文，你可以 scroll down for translation)

今天我们庆祝我们两年半的生日。 其实我的华语没你想象中那么好吧。但是我们两都知道我是骗人的。哈哈。去了北京四个多月，一直听八八三家FM，听华文MP3，看第八播道并不表示我的华文会讲得写得完美正确。

可是我的华文还是比你的好。记住啊！

这首歌虽然是首伤心的歌，但是我非常喜欢它。是我们最爱的梁文福写的，而这版也是他和潘盈唱的。 有点老套 (what is "old-fashioned" in Mandarin?!) 但是我知道你也会像我一样欣赏它。

谢谢你这两年半来给我的勇气和自持，爱心和保护。谢谢你每次很愿意和我共享你的食物。我知道食物对你来说是很重要的 - 你奋不顾身的牺牲你的食物对我来说是你表达最高度的爱心。

如果没有你，我可能还会被困在以前伤心的回忆中。

我已不再怀疑我究竟有勇气几许，因为你给我勇气继续。



我总是忘记 怎样地不去想起你
I always forget how to not think about you

我总是怀疑 你依然相信我的心情
I always suspect you still believe I have feelings for you

每一次伤的是你 每一次刺痛的是我的心
Everytime you get hurt it is my heart which feels the pain

我紧拥着你 却经已失去我自己
I've held on to you so tightly that I've lost myself

一条漫长路经已走到这里 走下去我就不再是我自己
I have come thus far down a long road, and if I go on walking I will no longer be myself

然而望着你的背影 究竟我有勇气几许
But as I look at your shadow, I wonder just how much courage I possess

回头去走那无尽无止的记忆
And I turn back to walk through those endless memories

一条漫长路经已走到这里 然而分离是否就拥有我自己
I've come down this long road, but if I leave you I can find myself

因为思念不是当年没有一丝牵挂的你
Because memories of yesterday are not yesterday and I'm not holding on to any part of you

寂寞也不是最初的我自己
Being lonely is not something which I ever was

Another sweet song, another heartbreaking story.

Except that our story isn't heartbreaking, of course not.

Here's a translation of my note to Jon, for his (and your) benefit:-

Dear Jon,

Today we are celebrating our two-and-a-half-year anniversary. Actually my Mandarin is not as good as you think it is, but then we both know that I'm just a fraud where this is concerned. Haha. Staying in Beijing for about 4 months, listening to 88.3 FM, having Chinese songs on my MP3 player and watching Channel 8 dramas definitely does not mean my Chinese will be wonderfully accurate.

But remember, my Mandarin is still better than yours! Haha.

This is a sad song, but I like it very much. It is by one of our favourite composers, Liang Wern Fook. This version was sung by him and Pan1 Ying2. Even though the arrangement is extremely old-fashioned, I know you will like and appreciate it just as much as I do.

Thank you for the courage and support, love and protection you have given me for the past two and a half years. Thank you for always being so willing to share your food with me. I know food is very important to you, so the fact that you are ever-willing to share your food with me so self-sacrificially shows me that your love for me is of the highest degree.

If it wasn't for you, I might still be stuck in the sad memories of the past.

I don't wonder anymore whether I have enough courage - for you give me courage to carry on.

好肉麻喔！
Eeee, so mushy.

May God grant us many happy years ahead, together. Thank You, for all You've done for us and everything You've brought us through.