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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A Stroll Through Tijuana



This video was taken during a trip as I took two friends for a visit to a friendly dentist in Tijuana.  This also serves as a sort of a mini travel guide to those who would like to know how one crosses the border from San Diego in the USA to Tijuana of Mexico.  Of course things are easy if you know how.  For this second time around, it was a fun 3 mile one hour walk on a warm sunny spring day that almost became a time travel. 

From a Facebook comment I wrote, 為友為義為恩深入異地有何難.風和日麗無限笑樂隨心飃, sprang forth the following inspiration...

為友為義為恩報, For friendship or for righteousness or even for gratitude repaid,
深入異地有何難? How hard it is to enter a foreign land?
風和日麗無限春, A sunny spring day filled with boundless beauty and warmth,
慢步笑樂隨心飄. Strolling leisurely with smiles and joy emanating from the heart.

時去時過時隔多, Time goes, time went, time became distant,
盡忘舊境非難事. Forgetting places of old is no difficult task.
天寒地凍亦不懼, Even if the sky turns cold; the earth becomes frigid; afraid I would not be,
杳然片中重歡看. In quietude joy returns once more upon viewing this video.

Of course reentry to the US is a different story.  Depending on your luck, even on a same Saturday around the same time, the queue may take an hour or more to pass through immigration or just a mere 10 minute breeze through that happened to us this second time around.

The last Chinese song of the video is called "Love Eternal".  For those interested in the first Chinese song, here are the lyrics, the translation and commentaries.

 逍遙遊                            Wandering In Unfettered Leisure

走啊走啊走                     Walk1 oh walk, oh walk,
好漢跟我一起走             Come walk with me ye good man.
走遍了青山人未老         Roam all the green hills, old age still never comes,
少年壯志不言酬             Youthful lofty goals need no repayment.
莫啊莫歸首                     Oh never turn your head back,
管他黄鶴去何樓             Care not which tower the yellow crane2 flew from.
黄粱他一夢風雲再變     No matter how the winds in the Dream of the Yellow Sorghum3 may change,
灑向人間是怨懮             It is but sprinkles of sorrows and worries upon the mortal world.
划一葉扁舟                     Row a skiff4,
任我去遨遊                     And I can go anywhere.
逍逍啊遙遙                     Such is unfettered leisure,
天地與我競自由             Heaven and Earth vie with me for freedom.
共飲一杯洒                     Let us drink to that!
人間本來情難求             Difficult it is to beseech favours from the mortal world,
相思啊難了                     Hard it is for me to think,
豪情再現                         That the way of heroes will appear once more.
亂雲飛渡仍閑遊             Clouds may be turbulent but they are at their own pace.
划一葉扁舟                     Row a skiff,
誰願與我共逍遊             Who shall join me in this leisure wandering.

天若有情                         If Heaven has any passion,
天亦老                             Heaven is already ancient.
不如與天競自由             Why not vie with Heaven for freedom?

天若有情                         If Heaven has any passion,
天亦老                             Heaven is already old.
不如與天競自由             Why not vie with Heaven for freedom?

啦…                                 Tra-la-la…

NOTES:

This is the title song of “The Eastern Journey” a TV made serial.  The classical story is the first of the four epic journeys indicated by its direction. The story deals with the Eight Immortals where their home is in the Eastern Blessed Isles. The Southern Journey is the story of how “Brilliant Light” saves his mother from Purgatory. The Western Journey is of course the story of the famous Monkey King. The Northern Journey deals with the apotheosis of the Dark Emperor of the North. For more info see

http://baike.baidu.com/view/609460.htm

1. Cantonese kept the Classical Chinese meaning, “to run” while in Mandarin it became “to walk.”

2. One for the four famous towers in China. One legend says that the tower was built as a commemoration to an immortal seen flying away on a yellow crane while others said he departed from this tower. The poem advises that where the immortal went is unimportant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Crane_Tower

3. See http://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2011/02/dream-of-southern-bough-chinese-antz.html

4. A flat bottomed boat with a few planks put together. A common sight in Guilin

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