I've known Bruce since mid-July '96.The first time we chatted,wewent on for 5 straight hours! It was the longest chat I've ever hadwith one person at that time (the record has since been broken hehe). He comes from Beijing, China, and was the head of the R & D department of his company. I confess I was guilty of stereotypinghim as a "typical Chinese" 'cos I was so impressed by his fluent English! Haha! How stuck up I was...ironically, HE was surprised by my English too! Hehe...both of us are guilty, so end of story ;)
It was an amazing thing; have you ever met someone that instantly'clicked'? It was like that with Bruce. He private chatted me, and I was so amazed to know he was in China, that they did have internet access there! He told me he was like a curious little boy, 'DCC-ing' everyone on the channel. That night, we talked about anything and everything under the sun; really enjoyed chatting to him, so much so we always made a date to chat, almost daily I think. I even met his colleague,who came to S'pore for a corporate meeting. Too bad it wasn't him who came...
The panda is a very special animal to both of us. Not only is it the national treasure of Bruce's homeland, but it is also because of how I look like a panda! You see, all of us in the family have dark rings around the eyes, thanks to my maternal grandfather. (You should see the family portrait! Haha!) Well, we all have to live with this 'flaw', but what was meant to be a joke got stuck. I became Bruce's 'panda'. Later on, because of a silly comment (an innocent mistake on my part, believe you me) he has been calling me "XiongMao Ben Ben", meaning Panda Stupid (cute kind), or 'BB' for short now. Not happy, I retaliated and called him "Chun Chun", another form of'stupid' in mandarin :) What a coincident that his English name used to be "Chu Ching"; so 'CC' is THE name for him! Hehe...Actually, his name,"Zhu Qing" in Chinese means 'red' and 'black'; his friends in school used to call him "Red Black" too!
I think Bruce is a really brilliant and smart guy. He got his bachelor degree in electrical and electronics engineering, as well as his master degree in computer science in the elite Qing Hua University in Beijing. This uni is as good as, if not better than, the prestigious Beijing University. Both universities are located near the Yuan Ming Yuan, a famous monument or rather palace that was burnt down by the Anglo-Saxon soldiers during the invasion during the end of the Qing Dynasty. It still saddens me to see the great loss to my culture and history of the Chinese. The gold and jewels that were looted cannot compare, in terms of value, to the art and caligraphy, scriptures and manuscripts that were burnt. Those are irrevocable damages and and shall forever be lost to mankind...sad indeed. Lucky Bruce, he said he used to jog there daily when he was studying! Oh my!
If I have a chance, I'll do a page on the Chinese culture and what I've learnt from my trip to Beijing early this year. I look forward to making this page and share with you my culture and the Chinese history. Meanwhile,do visit The China Page; a great site where you can learn Chinese too!
Bruce is born in the year of Dragon, which makes him 37 years old.That makes him 1 year older than my country, Singapore! Haha! I really wish him all the best, especially since he is now married to Maggie (the colleague who came to S'pore!!) and they live in Vancouver, Canada. I really admire his guts, since he wants to enjoy a new way of life, he gave up a great job and the chance to live in such a nice city like Beijing and went to Vancouver to start life all over again. I've not chatted with him in ages, since sometime just after I came back from Beijing. Really miss you Gor Gor! All the best in your MBA course! And when will I hear the pitter-patter of small feet? *wink*
I really had the most memorable birthday in 1997, which I celebrated in Beijing with Peking duck which was real yummy! But what makes it more special is because I got to spend time with Bruce! To be frank, the main reason I went to Beijing, is not just to accompany my mom, but also meet Bruce! Thank God he came back from Vancouver in time to meet me (he was there 1 week earlier to do some admin stuffs about his migration.) He is also the only guy who ever remembers my birthday, and I was really touched :) Thank you for the lovely cloisonné pen with masks! I love it so much it is still in the box; can't bear to use it hehe...
Hope to visit you and Maggie in Vancouver one day, Bruce!
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