Thursday, May 31, 2007.11:29 PM
German Coast Guard
*LOL*
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(Translated) Angry German Kid - Correct Translation
...This kid's room has a CCTV???
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007.7:15 AM
Funny Commercials #6
C.A.N. D.I.E.
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Funny Commercials (1)
Hilarious!!!
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Funny Commercials (3)
I like the playstation ad! (in german: that character's telling the old lady to start the gas already, the rest are almost finished with the race! - they're advertising on a better game controller :D)
The Thai ads are quite gd - not to mention that gorgeous male model!
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Grave of the Fireflies : Setsuko, my sister
This movie came from the animation by Gibli Studios. Done to commemorate the 60th anniversary of WWII. Very touching...watched the whole movie and I couldn't stop crying. The cruelty of war that forces us to choose between pride and survival. And even then survival wasn't guaranteed. Really impactful, this movie.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007.12:26 AM
My Bassoon!!!
The title says it all. *BEAM*
Come June, I'll have a bassoon of my own! Thank you Lao Shi, Uncle, Auntie, Mama, --!
Even a mere mention makes me happy... ^^
Can't wait to see how my baby looks like...is it a boy or a girl? What name shall I call it? What should I put it in? Oooooooh so exciting!!!
My baby shall look like this, with a couple of minor customisations.
Further updates upon its arrival!
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Monday, May 21, 2007.11:29 PM
Work
People don't seem to get the name of Peiying right away. They never fail to hear it as Pei LING. Sometimes I don't even feel like correcting them. Whatever...anything...
Now now...don't these words ring a bell? Hint: On Tvs and bus-stop ad panels
*Yuck*
Doesn't seem like I have alot to do in office, but well, I guess it's 不是不到，只是时辰未到！I do get somewhat intimidated when Dr R gives me work in his unyielding english accent. How lovely. K's a very nice supervisor - the chinesey type. He does funny things with his jaws sometimes...Everyone's all quite nice, but no one seems to lunch together at all. ???
I think this job might tell me whether I'll work for gahmen after graduation next yr...or not. Latest news on Gahmen servants' starting pay will be raised to highest 2.8k for honours grads...hmm...
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Saturday, May 12, 2007.2:00 AM
Random...
Sometimes, it still hurts...sigh. I have kind of given up hopes of it becoming normal again.
Leave it up to God.
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Long time ago...
I haven't seen DY for the longest time! Ever since I graduated from RV that is. She hasn't changed much, except that she exudes more charm now! Can't help but recall how 'tut' we were then...haha...We were so mean then! When she got teased, she'd stomp off on her own to take bus 178 home from JEC. Yes, JEC was the RV students' favourite haunt! Like the St. Pat boys' haunt is at Parkway Parade. We'd always go to JEC after band prac and bring our food upstairs, sit down on the floor at a corner and bitch. One particular ah-soh would come to chase us away...but we ignored her. So pai kia! :p
JY has slimmed down sooooo much...! She used to be so meaty and now she's about my size. She's working at Sony now, but on a contract basis. WC's so lucky to get a temp job there for more than 2x what I'd get per month lor!
I meet up with CS and the other girls regularly, so nothing surprising there...just that she's busy with SOKA stuff again! Oh, she's also helping to organise the MILK Run - that I'm also participating, thanks to her! Looking forward to the charity run training! If I can manage this Run, I should be able to do Stan Chart's 10km lar... lol!
That same day I met up with the girls, I went job-hunting with CS. Hopefully I'll get the job at CSC!
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Monday, May 7, 2007.12:34 AM
What a concert...
Anyway, wanted to blog about *** concert last friday, 4th May. There were complimentary tickets that day, so I went. This female cellist, NK, performed Dvorak's cello concerto in the first half and Beethoven's 3rd Symphony 'Eroica' was up for the second. Well, I was late for 4 mins so had to wait till they end the first movement of the concerto.
It's so embarassing to have the people on stage waiting for the latecoming audience to get seated in the middle of a piece. It'll be the first and last time I ever do that.
NK plays on a 17th century Guarneri cello AND ... a 17th century Du Pre Stradivarius!!! That aside. Her performance was disappointing and uninspiring. The sound coming from her more-famous-than-thou cello was unexpectedly ... small and depth-less. Some finger slips here and there resulting in some intonation and note inaccuracies. Her encore was a Russian folksong which I think an amateur can play it lor. Even more disappointed. The only treat was that she was rather pleasant to look at. I bet shasha had a great time feasting.
While she was doing her encore, I recalled the last 'live' cello concerto I was involved in a month ago at the same hall. QLW charmed everyone with 3 encores, starting with a duet (!!!) with his student, Liz. Later on were virtuosic displays taken from Bach's cello suites and the other also a kind of dance movement. Another 3 months ago, QLW's student performed the Elgar cello concerto. Both his concerto and encore were inspiring, enjoyable and moving despite a few mistakes. Yes, perhaps most people have gotten so used to watching virtuosic encore performances that soloists get 'penalised' for playing simple pieces. Then again, the word 'soloist' always goes together with the word 'virtuosic'!
Next came the Eroica. The orchestra, led by yayaling, took about 10bars to find their tempo. I think either the orchestra didn't understand his conducting or he's doing it too fast. (I think both.) Not even halfway through the 1st movement, the principal horn missed his entrance of the main theme. (......) Anyway, the entire first movement was quite a wreck from the 3rd bar to the end.
Then came my favourite 2nd movement. The double basses couldn't groan properly and it became such a slow, drawn out groan. Painful. The oboe solo that came after the violin melody was tooooo emotional. And for the rest of this movement, Yaya ling fiercely and very clearly directed the basses' groanings till the end.
By this time, I had lost all interest in what was going on onstage. And when the symphony ended, I gave my unenthsiastic yet polite applause and exited the hall. The orchestra gave no encores.
You should have seen the musicians' faces. Eyeball rolling and sheepish grins.
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Friday, May 4, 2007.3:11 PM
Saiunkoku Monogatari
*Images taken from Anything-Asian Network
On to another anime - Saiunkoku Monogatari 彩云国物语! Am now at the 16th episode and can't stop watching!!! If you have watched The Twelve Kingdoms before, then I think you'll love it. It has great animation and its first release was only last year and the second season was recently aired in Japan only this April.
Spoiler Warnings!
The story is set in a fantasy realm resembling medieval China and contains strong drama, comedy and romance elements. The story, which takes place in the fictional medieval empire of Saiunkoku, follows the adventures of Shuurei Kou, a descendent of a noble family that has fallen on hard times. Her father serves as librarian in the Imperial palace, a post which offers prestige and respect but little compensation. Shuurei teaches in the temple school and works odd jobs to make ends meet, but her dream is to pass the imperial examinations and take a post in government, a path forbidden to women. Shuurei's plans come to an abrupt halt when the Emperor's Grand Advisor makes a startling offer: join the imperial household for six months as the young Emperor's consort, and teach the Emperor to be a responsible ruler. If she succeeds, the financial reward will be great. The story details Shuurei's growing relationships with the Emperor and other members of the court, the intrigues that surround imperial politics, and Shuurei's commitment to better herself and her country. [Synopsis taken from Wikipedia]
Initially I thought this would be another gay anime - the Emperor Shi Ryuuki perpetrated the rumour that he likes males. Why would any male do that? Hehe...Go watch the anime!
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Princess Tutu
I'm done with Princess Tutu.
Actually, Princess Tutu was way too cute and fairytale-ish for me.
The use of music in the 'classical' repertoire like Pictures at an Exhibition, Scheherazade, The Nutcracker etc. was a bit too much for me. While the music might have suited the story somehow or another, it seems to be a mere compilation of readily available 'program music' from the western masters plus 'fairytale' characters taken out from the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling set in a real town named Nordlingen in Germany.
The animation is a little kiddish too, reminding me of the animes I used to watch more than 10years ago. The theme is, well, those of the prince who's got to save his princess and we've got to defeat the monster in order to save the princess. Everyone in this town seemed to be characters in the story 'Prince and the Raven' that Herr Drosselmeyer (this guy is the same person who gave Claire a Nutcracker in Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker) wrote.
I don't even know how a normal girl came to become a duck in the story which was turned into a girl. And with a pendant (which is actually a piece of the Prince's heart), she turned into Princess Tutu, whose purpose was to find all the lost pieces of the Prince's heart and return it to him. This reminds me of Tsubasa Chronicles whereby Syaoran and Sakura set out to retrieve Sakura's feathers of memories.
It is also odd that the ballet school would have a Cat as their ballet coach, an alligator, a snake, a cow and an anteater for ballet students and a goat as another of their teachers. The Cat would always threaten the students and especially Ahiru (the duck aka Princess Tutu) with marriage. (They would never fail to play the famed Wedding March there!) That part I always find quite funny - his catty reactions whenever the students reject him.
All in all, it's quite a good story with good bits of comedy but there're so many twists in the story that sometimes make me roll my eyes.
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Thursday, May 3, 2007.7:10 PM
Another personality quiz
Your Existing Situation
Volatile and outgoing. Needs to feel that events are developing along desired lines, otherwise irritation can lead to changeability or superficial activities.
Volatile and outgoing? Think this isn't that true...
Your Stress Sources
Delights in the tasteful, the gracious, and the sensitive, but maintains her attitude of critical appraisal and refuses to be swept off her feet unless genuineness and integrity can be absolutely vouched for. Therefore keeps a strict and watchful control on her emotional relationships as she must know exactly where she stands. Demands complete sincerity as a protection against her own tendency to be too trusting.
Attitude of critical appraisal, yes...towards those I know better I think, and especially towards myself. Tendency to be too trusting, I agree to a certain extent.
Your Restrained Characteristics
Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity but is inclined to be emotionally withdrawn, which prevents her from becoming deeply involved.
Circumstances are forcing her to compromise, to restrain her demands and hopes, and to forgo for the time being some of the things she wants.
Circumstances are forcing her to compromise, to restrain her demands and hopes, and to forgo for the time being some of the things she wants.
Trying very hard to raise enough money to buy my bassoon, but it's making me feel weak and tired.
Your Desired Objective
Has exaggerated demands on life which are concealed behind specious rationalization and cautious behavior. Wishes to impress others with her achievements, but camouflages this desire and is inclined to be covert.
I guess the one about achievements are true...but who wouldn't?
Your Actual Problem
Needs to protect herself against her tendency to be too trusting, as she finds it is liable to be misunderstood or exploited by others. As a result, she adopts a critical and stand-offish attitude, being willing to participate only where she can be assured of sincerity and trustworthiness.
Often feel misunderstood by some, but perhaps I'm just too quick to infer something from what people say...and that's not a good thing...cos that'll be reading too much into what people say. Low self-esteem?
All my three personality tests are quite different! Hmm...I guess there're just too many sides of me.
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Tuesday, May 1, 2007.3:08 AM
Forget your troubles...
Words by Ted Koehler and Billy Moll; music by Harry Barris.
Introduced by Bing Crosby.
When skies are cloudy and gray,
They're only gray for a day,
So wrap your troubles in dreams,
And dream your troubles away.
Until that sunshine peeps thru,
There's only one thing to do,
Just wrap your troubles in dreams,
And dream your troubles away.
Your castles may tumble,
That's Fate after all,
Life's really funny that way.
No use to grumble,
Just smile as they fall,
Weren't you King for a day?
Say!Just remember that sunshine
Always follows the rain,
So wrap your troubles in dreams,
And dream your troubles away.
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When you're depressed...Smile.
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
** Words by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons
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