I managed to get on the interwebz from my uncle's computer, therefore I thought I'd post what I've done so far:
-Shopping, shopping shopping. I'll post pictures of the things I bought (and there are a LOT) once I get back to Canada.
-Visiting my grandpa in the hospital almost everyday. He's doing a lot better nowadays. When I first walked in, he didn't immediately recognize me, but when he did, he started to cry. :(
-Was forced to get two moles removed by my family by laser surgery. Apparently they grew in a bad place and had to be removed... now I have two holes in my face.
-Bummed around and watched pirated DVDs. I managed to get all the seasons of House for 15 RMB, which is $2.50 Canadian. :P
That's all for now, hope you're all enjoying your summers! It's not boiling hot in China right now, surprisingly, today's high is only 28 degrees Celsius!
Well, it's exactly what the title says: I'm going to Shanghai! Yep, I'll be fried alive daily out in the streets of Shanghai for 3 weeks.
I won't be able to blog there because Blogger is blocked in China, and I haven't written any posts in advance because... well, I'm lazy. :P
Things are quite hectic at the moment. Since my dad's not going with me and my mom, I had to bake him 4 loaves of bread and a dozen muffins to make sure he doesn't starve. I also still need to pack all my clothes and toiletries, but I can't pack the latter until tomorrow morning after I've brushed my teeth and stuff.
I'm going back mostly just to visit family; my grandpa's been in the hospital for a while (about two years now) and I also haven't seen my other relatives in about 3 years.
Anyway, I come back on August 11th, so I'll see you all then!
Also, I'm interested in knowing what you've done/are planning to do this summer. :)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The original was probably the scariest movie of my childhood; the new one was also quite frightening. Here's why:
The Original
Keep in mind that I watched this when I was like, seven years old. In Willy Wonka's factory, bad things happened to every single one of the children except for Charlie, who was of course the protagonist, so he basically had no faults. I knew I wasn't perfect; I was a greedy, ambitious and most of all bitchy child, kind of a cross between Veruca and Violet. As a result, the seven-year-old me thought to myself, "Oh my god I'm going to drown in a bucket of melted chocolate."
No, it did not make me want to be a better person.
Another reason why I was terrified is this:
Why hello, old man... *wiggles eyebrows*They're
orange, with
green hair, and HUGE white eyebrows! They're mutated carrots! Nevermind my seven-year-old self, I STILL think they're scary, especially the one on the bottom left.
Lastly, there's a creepy scene that I remember to this day even though I only saw the movie once: when Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder) takes them on the
boat trip and you see a whole bunch of images in between a rainbow of colours. It seems that everyone on that boat is scared out of their wits... except for Charlie and his grandpa of course. And Willy... he's just creepily staring at all of them.
Well, I wasn't amused. The RemakeJohnny Depp as Willy Wonka. 'Nuff said.
*Runs away from screaming fan boys/girls*As awesome as Johnny Depp was in Pirates of the Caribbean, to me, he was a creep in this movie.
*shudders*
So, what are your opinions on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?
... because I'm materialistic like that... not. Jeez guys, I'm Buddhist.
- Photo paper: Oh my god, it's so shiny and perfect in every way. Good photo paper always makes photos look better than they originally were. Not to mention they make the memories captured on film so much nicer. :)
- The sun: Or more specifically, lying in the sun and then getting that warm tingly feeling afterwards. It usually means that I got slightly burnt, but it seems like a good trade-off to me. Plus, I don't get burnt that easily, so I don't have to deal with gross peeling skin at all.
- Eating outside: Especially by a body of water. Like this one:
Despite the large amount of people, I still had a pretty good time eating and basking outside in the sun. Oh, but you know what sucks? The fact that my mother thought it was too cold for me to go into the water. *shakes fist*
me: do you see all the people that are out there in the water?
her: they're all crazy.
- Cute animals: His name is Chip.
Need I say more?
While talking to my dad today, he said something (in Shanghainese of course) along the lines of:
"You can't treat the refrigerator like a safe; sooner or later all the food's going to go bad anyways."
...and that when I had an epiphany! My heart is a refrigerator!
No, really, think about it! I'm not talking about your heart being physically able pump blood and stuff, but instead about it acting like a safe to harbour the secrets, grief, and annoyances that you keep to yourself.
All of it accumulates, much like food, until you can't put more in. And if you don't take some out, they'll go bad and stink up the rest of the place. So, I guess my point is: it's not healthy to not have a way of letting out the suppressed anger, grief, or sadness.
I suppose I should really take my own advice, but I don't like to burden others with my anxiety. *Sigh* I find it helps if I blog about whatever's troubling me. :)
How do you manage your anger/sadness?
Rating: 5/5
Up, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, tells a touching story of a 78-year-old widower, Carl Fredricksen, who travels to South America to fulfill his lifelong dream by tying thousands of balloons to his house.
When I first saw the trailer for it, I thought, "This is going to be just another hilarious comedy." But I had forgotten that it's Pixar, not Dreamworks, and Pixar never disappoints.
The story goes beyond Carl's wish to go to South America, and delves deeper into the human aspect of guilt. I won't will try not to spoil the plot, so I'll start of by saying this: I cried three times during that movie. It starts of very sweet and cute: a young Carl is at the movie theatre watching a documentary about his favourite explorer. On the way back home, he meets a little girl named Ellie, who he later marries. She is also a wilderness enthusiast and makes him promise (he crossed his heart!) to take her to South America one day.
Fast forward a few decades: Ellie is dead, and Carl is anguished at the fact that he hadn't kept his promise. So he ties thousands of balloons to his house, and off he goes to South America!
Pixar is great at storytelling; Carl Fredricksen's actions were so believable, that I truly felt like I was there with him. Every little detail was explained in the end; every loose end tied up, just like the balloons to Carl's house.
In all, this was a great concept which bloomed into an amazing story with some original laughs and real heartfelt moments. Just as a sidenote, I think my favourite character would have to be Dug, the friendly dog, just because I can relate to him the most. He's friendly, very absentminded, and gets distracted very easi - SQUIRREL! I would recommend this movie to anyone, because there's something in it for everyone.
Also, if you're like me and you like listening to the soundtrack during the movie, it is absolutely superb as well. :)
So, if you've seen it already, what were your thoughts? And if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?!
In my previous post, I said that my first summer project would be to make a decent fruit sculpture. While making dinner, I decided to tackle the tomato rose. That's like saying you're going to do a magnificent painting and then end up painting something like this; interesting and nice to look at, but not exactly the most difficult challenge.
Well, anyways, here's my result on my first try:
I was pretty proud of it actually, because I originally thought that there was no way I'd get it right on the first try, but it looks decent! I think I'll tackle the swan apple soon.
Let me know what you think!
