舞個性 舞出息...

I used to think that this kind of picture must be photoshoped, but apparently this guy is playing it for real! I just can't believe someone, especially people in HK, can do something like this. I'm not sure if he really looks like a hip hop guy, but I'm impressed!

In the hip hop class, I can't even make a 180 degree turn smoothly, not to mention that my arms and legs are not coordinating with each other. Hip hop? I feel I'm like a crab walking from this end to the other end....

Sigh, 現實總是現實。

***

The school application wasn't smooth. I searched high and low last night looking for my secondary school number, but found none. But then not surprisingly I went through the website by punching in all zeros for that number. And then their systems were down--up until now I still can't pay the registration fee. Thankfully they pused back the deadline to tomorrow mid-night.... hopefully things will go well tomorrow.

***

Who is budda? May be I should start learning things about other religions as well. Sometimes I found myself living in a world too small too protected no nothing....

***

At work it's still quite hectic. The aftermath of not getting enough sleep is getting attacked by virus. I think I need to get more sleep now.

Money, Position, or Glory?

Got a lot of books recently, one of them is Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything.

I picked it up and read a few lines while I was having dinner, which reads:

Many years ago Rudyard Kipling gave an address at McGill University in Montreal. He said one striking thing which deserves to be remembered. Warning the students against an over-concern for money, or position, or glory, he said: “Some day you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.”
– Halford E. Luccock

That is indeed striking. It reminds me if I have to start anything, the ultimate goal should be something that is larger than money, position, or glory. Something that will be honored by Him.

Something that should be achieved whether or not I am to start building or not...

Hopefully on that day, He will say to me,

"I have tested you, and found you worthy."

好久不見....

.....天日

Finally! The project is on its way out, after camping in the office over the sunny nice weekend, and having a week of mid night meals... Finally, all work is done, and it's time to wait for a remedy ticket :)



Received a call from an old friend when I was about to leave... and guess what, after being laid off by the biggest online retailer for three years he's now a director in a biotech company, managing a lot of high tech product launches and managing several teams!

Good job!!

When I was stepping out Columbia Tower, I tried to imagine what it would be like if this is my last day at the company. As much as I love to start a new life, I hate to miss this place -- I met a few best friends here, I was honored to work with a few smartest minds in the world, and above all, I spent the most enjoyable time in my life here.

Hum, I start missing this place.

「天涼了　掛念了
有從前還是好的
這熟透的臉孔
我還真的捨不得

和你的　記住了
雖然將來會塵封
也許一天再相逢
說聲好久不見
沉默了」

****

Oh well, I haven't done my school application yet :-)

midomi

A very cool tool! Now you can search music by just humming the song! If you can't find it, be the first recroding it and contribute to the database! (argh, unfortunately they have a bug that crashes my Firefox on Mac....)

Apparently people over there sing (and, urm, look :-) really good. An online verison of American idol?

I'm sure sooner or later someone will get big bucks from record companies because of that.

Hum, when will we have a website that can help a cook to get a show on TV?

Looks like searching voice file is a big hit this coming years, since my friend just left for a startup that does software that can search podcast.

I'm so looking forward to image matching coming out of the lab...

***

Another day of staying late in the office. Hopefully things will go smooth next week.

***

My salty duck eggs aren't salty at all! Good though that they're still edible :-)

我

Reposted from this blog, haven't thought that I am so precious no matter what!

========================================

我 (your name)，在基督裡是蒙悅納︰

我是神的兒子／兒女。(約一12)
我是基督的朋友。(約十五15)
我已被稱義。(羅五1)
我與主聯合，在靈裡與祂合一。(林前六17)
我是用重價買來的；我屬於神。(林前六20)
我是基督身體的肢體。(林前十二27)
我是聖徒。(弗一1)
我得著神兒女的名分。(弗一5)
我靠著聖靈可以直接來到神面前。(弗二18)
我蒙了救贖，所有罪惡已得赦免。(西一14)
我在基督裡已得完全。(西二10)

========================================

我 (your name)，在基督裡是得穩妥︰

我永遠不再被定罪了。(羅八1-2)
我肯定萬事都互相效力。(羅八28)
我不再受控告了。(羅八33-34)
我不能與神的愛隔絕。(羅八35、38-39)
神堅立我、膏抹我，又在我身上蓋了印。(林前一21-22)
我深信神在我身上開展了的美好工作必會完成。(腓一6)
我是天上的公民。(腓三20)
我與基督一同藏在神裡面。(西三3)
神賜給我的，不是膽怯的靈，而是有能力、仁愛、自律的靈。(提後一7)
我可以蒙憐憫，得恩惠，作為及時的幫助。(來四16)
我是從神生的，那惡者不能碰我。(約壹五18)

========================================

我 (your name)，在基督裡是有貢獻︰

我是世上的鹽和光。(太五13-14)
我是真葡萄樹的枝子，是傳遞祂生命的通道。(約十五1、5)
我蒙揀選及分派去結果子。(約十五16)
我是基督的見證人。(徒一8)
我是神的殿。(林前三16)
我是叫人與神和好的使者。(林後五17-20)
我是神的同工。(林後六1)
我與基督一同坐在天上。(弗二6)
我是神的工作。(弗二10)
我可以坦然無懼，滿有把握地進到神面前。(弗三12)
我靠著那加給我能力的基督，凡事都能作。(腓四13)

========================================

浮世繪

Looking back to my banners, it's like telling a story of mine over the past year. Every banner represents a stage in life, it can be struggles, it can somehting that is delightful, something dull; and something colorful.

浮世：源自於佛教用語，意思指：繁華放任、卻又虛無短暫的塵世。(link)

So what's the purpose of life if it is so hopeless?

This week has been hectic. I've been working working working and working late till mid-midnight all the week, except Monday.... and didn't have dinner until after I got back home... and then start working again.

Finally I undersatnd why people can work 80+ hours per week: once you've passed a certain threshold, you'll want to stick with it :-)

One night when I was riding the last bus back home, Pastor Shiu's sermon about heaven suddenly popped up in my mind. What he mentioned wasn't anything new to me, but the insights was different.

I'm so glad that I have only one chance to live on this world, that I don't need to come back again.

Don't get me wrong, this world is indeed beautiful, since it's created by God!

But there is a better place out there, where we work, but don't need to OT; where we work, but don't need to be laid off; where I can pursue my "career", but don't need to worry about not having enough to feed my family.

Right now, I'm already living in the prototype of heaven :-)

幻想

I was dreaming on the bus ride back home tonight... and the dream was all about preparing food.

Apparently, it's all because I read this artile by Ruhlamn about how top chefs make a living...

I didn't know that Mario Batali has co-owned 9 restaurants already, where there are two still under work!

堅持 堅持 幾多錢一茶匙丫

Finally we went to the hip hop class! We were hesitated a bit since many of the students it seems so weird, not to mention that we're wearing jeans while all other people had sporty baggy clothes. Anyway, it was pretty fun, but I can say for sure I have no talent in following the beat and remembering all the moves. I think this class isn't an intro class at all since most of the students are dancing darn good!

***

I'm considering seriously to sell all of my SLR and related equipments. I guess I'm in a different stage in this hobby. People are telling me that my pics actually... suck :-) Oh well, yeah I know... I don't have talent capturing those million dollar moments. I guess to me, photography is just a way to express myself. My writing sucks, I can't draw and I can't sing. I guess taking pictures is the best of all...

Talking about taking pics, I realy like the Ilford 3200 :-) Argh, too bad more and more film making companies are going out of the business....

***

Finally I started to apply the school. After I keyed in my birthday, the website popped up a window saying, "According to your birthday, you are now 31 years old. Is that true?"

I was like, what? You don't need to remember me that I'm a mature student trying to learn cutting carrots together with kids!

***

After the hip hop class, 456Wing's song kept swirling in my head...

作曲：DJ Galaxy｜填詞：陸永｜編曲：DJ Galaxy/DJ Tommy｜監製：DJ Tommy

聽呢首歌之前 你未必識我
聽完 你可能會想黎識我 你會賞識我
又或者你會憎我想打擊我
不過 無論如何 我淨係想你記得我係邊個

俾支筆我寫歌詞　我寫足幾萬次
俾支咪我rap 我好寫意
我叫做S-I-X-W-I-N-G S-I-X-W-I-N-G
SING!

ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
今次唔明唔緊要 至緊要下次我聽得清
ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
今次唔齊唔緊要 得你一個嗌都動聽

佢地話冇人會鐘意我 如果我太過HARD SELL自己
我淨係想多D人黎講我是非 好似話:要贏人先要贏自己
我話:要RAP人地 先要RAP我自己
我拍過電視 扮數學博士 教細佬認字 O個D教育電視
我拍過電影 我覺得我可以提名 如果金像獎有最佳路人丙
我拍過廣告 D觀眾睇到好鼓譟 收到好多投訴既廣告
但係講到我最叻 就係RAP 我RAP到深造 我RAP到乜都冇做
我RAP到戶口趺到雙位數 我堅持 我堅持
我RAP到 我阿媽都叻到識RAP我 佢話:

(媽咪:堅持 堅持 幾多錢一茶匙丫 你都咁大個仔啦 有乜為
窮到日日搭地鐵偷雞用特惠)

但我堅持 我堅持 到有一日 俾地鐵罰左五百
係O個一刻我諗我終於明白 有D野我堅持再撐都冇法
我冇再堅持偷用學生飛入閘 但我堅持到呢一刻做HIP HOP

ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
紅唔紅唔緊要 我呢刻好似攞左傑青
ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
窮唔窮唔緊要 我生命因你動聽

GO! 大大步走上前大大步
走 屬於你自己既路 唔好著人地對鞋 走人地條路
NO! 我諗我搵到
大大步走上前大大步 我冇博大霧 FEATURING?
話我博大路 我淨係知道冇狗仔隊跟我
冇O靚妹仔跟我 仲憎我話我
OH! 有人話我似阿rain So,又話我似祖名
NO! 你話我似兩個巨星 我唔敢認
我淨係希望有一日你會話佢地兩個都幾似陸WING
呢首歌我淨係要你識得 我Six Wing 我冇得逼你覺得我得
但萬一你覺得我得 Throw Your Hands Up!

ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
或者我第日好紅 我唔會忘記呢一刻
你地嗌我個名既呢一刻
ONE TWO THREE齊話聲 456嗌陸WING
或者我第日好窮 窮到係街乞
我唔會埋怨我曾經玩hip hop

希望你都可以有一次 大大聲係人面前嗌你個名俾人聽
但係o係呢個之前 齊話聲陸wing

我唔係rap既表表者 我d力都係用左少少啫
我淨係想各位先生小小姐 記得我個名叫陸永
謝謝謝
我唔係rap既表表者 我d力都係用左少少啫
我淨係想各位先生小小姐 記得我個名叫咩?
yeah 謝謝

一封未寄的信

01. 我的80年代 (MV)
離開得越遠越好　我那軟弱的夢

02. 黑暗之光 (ad hoc MV)
海靠近我　空氣濕了
美麗的夢　請別遠走

03. La Paloma (Folk)

04. 造字的人 (MV)
世界　已沉沒在喧嚷

05. 別人的天使
是為了要拯救自己　卻成了別人的天使

06. New Dreams
它是海邊的一枚蚌殼
作了一個海市蜃樓的夢
有時浪潮殘酷拍打　像要吞沒蚌殼

07. 清晨旅行 (MV)
你的友誼　寬諒的心
讓我還有勇敢繼續前進

08. 未來女孩 (MV)
鬆開你的手　拉拉我的手
看看這世界　還沒那麼好
妳不要害怕　一起加油吧

09. 發光房子
請給我足夠的勇敢　往前飛
考驗我的心　別說後悔

10. 黑暗之光 (Version 2)
黑暗溫柔　改變過我

雷光夏 《黑暗之光》
Official website

英皇道炳記

Argh, missed Hilary Hahn's recital today, and my friends were saying that it was a very good concert...

Oh well, may be it's a good thing, I don't need to pretend I know classical music during and after the performance :-)

***

Didn't know that 英皇道炳記 was one of the hottest restaurants in Hong Kong (yeah I said "was" , since you know how fast things change in that little place). This place is right across to the street where I lived when I was small. It reminded me a lot of my first times: my frist time having 炸醬面 with my dad, the first time I had hot pot, and the first dinner I had with my friends at night...

I heard that the following are not bad:
杏汁豬肺湯
燒汁白鱔
砵仔焗魚腸
砵酒焗生蠔

地 址 ︰ 鰂 魚 涌 英 皇 道 911 號 地 下
電 話 ︰ 25614351
營 業 時 間 ： 星 期 一 至 五 12nn-2:30pm ， 5pm-12:30am 星 期 六 、
日 及 公 眾 假 期 5pm-12:30am
收 費 ︰ 只 收 現 金 ， 不 設 加 一 。
交 通 ︰ 魚 涌 地 鐵 站 B1 出 口
泊 車 ︰ 麗 池 花 園 $16/hr 。

Naive

《三峽好人》 finally arrived! Joyo.com has done a better job this time, since instead of just using an evelope, they're using a box! It's still shipped from Hong Kong, I guess they must have set up an FC over there. Anyway, the only thing that's missing is the zip code--not sure if they forgot to put it down or I may had missed it on my end. Anyway, the shipping took less than 10 days for only $2. The total cost is less than what Yesasia offered ($5.99 + shipping). I'm impressed.

May be I was too tired, I didn't pay much attendtion to the movie. Don't get me wrong, it's a good one! What catched me the most was that every one in the movie seems to be going no where in life--whether you're a worker, a leader, a businessman, or someone who is just looking for love, every one is so 失落, 無依... It's easy to disassemblage and build up the Three Gorges Dam, but it's not as easy to rebuild people...

***

I can't believe that the business class has so many people -- 26 in total! The instructor Michael Odell is pretty experienced and effective, although most of the time we spent on learning how to deal with different taxation issues. I was hoping to get more inspiration from the class, rather than this purly technical stuffs.

One thing I got out from the class, was that I'm actually pretty naive... how so? There was a T/F quiz at the end of the class, see what I answered:

1. With a good product or service, at a fair price, customers will always come to you. (true??)
2. Before starting your own business, the first step is getting a business license (true??)
3. An entrepreneur is someone who is willing to take extreme risks? (true??)

All of them, of course, are false.

Sigh.

Mike gave every one of us his book at the end of the class, 《Marketing Plans for Lemonade Stands: The Micro-Business Owner's How-to Guide to More Sales & Bigger Profits》, which seems to be a pretty good book. Read this quote:

Field of Dreams: If you build it they will come. No they won't! The baseball story Field of Dreams is a movie fantasy. No matter how good our product, service, or idea, they will not come. We must go to them. If we don't, our venture will fail.

轉個身，走吧

Farewell, my friend! Wish you all the best starting your new life on the other side of the world. Yeah, this isn't a place you need to spend any more time.

年輕是你(我)的本錢... 轉個身，瀟瀟洒洒的走下去!

Haha.... Found this MV really cute:

51%

It was the second time I discussed with this friend about homosexuality through IM till 2 in the morning... Indeed the topic is controversial and it's never easy to find out what is the "correct" way to handle this issue that has huge societal pressure--I mean pressure on those who still think that homosexual is wrong. Accusations are saying that we are disrespectful, hypocritic, discriminating, so on and so forth.

I have to agree I know nothing about 同性戀 except what I've been told by my limited knowledge about the bible that it's condemned.

(may be continued :)

***

Just read that 51% of women are now living without a spouse.

Married couples are now minority....

In fact, who would care if "I" am living happily?

Quoted from the NYT aritcle:

“I’m in a place in my life where I’m comfortable,” said Ms. Crenshaw, who has two grown sons. “I can do what I want, when I want, with whom I want. I was a wife and a mother. I don’t feel like I need to do that again. -- Carol Crenshaw, 57, of Roswell, Ga., was divorced in 2005 after 33 years and says she is in no hurry to marry again.”

All in all, it's about "me".

And people need to respect that.

『不要以惡報惡，眾人以為美的事，要留心去做。』 羅馬書 12.17

叱吒撈飯

Can't imagine that GIE and I were so 擦得, we almost finished this bowl that had: one bottle of oysters, eight large clams, half a package of assorted fish cakes, one pond of veggies, four large shitake mushrooms, one large bunch of baby oyster mushrooms, half a pack of yam cake, a few pieces of carrot, with soupbase made of bonito and soy sauce....

Not only that, we also had half a pond of salmon fillet....

I wonder how she can keep the below X pond body before Lexin comes back tomorrow, haha!

Well, may be it's because of the 叱吒 show, we consumed all the food 在不知不覺中...

****

The sky is so clear this evening and I was hoping that I can still catch McNaught. So without checking skytonight.com, Jim and I went to Queen Anne Hill. Apparently we won't see him since he's gone already like two days ago.

Oh well, at least we took some pictures of Seattle...



And we saw planet Venus rising!

你、我、他她他

《Me and you and everyone we know》 《你，我，他她他》 is a funny movie. There are a lot of reviews and summaries out there alrady, so I'm not going to repeat.

And what can you say with a film that has 15 awards?

You either love it, or hate it :-)

Well, I guess one of the reasons why this movie got so many awards was that the story is very familiar to everyone, that people are so looking to love and be loved, yet we are scared getting too close to the people around us. We like to communicate with friends using various "high tech" channels--blogging, messenging, emailing. We meet friends, "soulmates", and what not on various websites. The ending of the movie is funny but also satirely.

This movie is a success, since it's a story about me, you, and everyone we know.

If you really love me, let's make a vow - right here, together... right now.

老實不客氣

It's freezing out there, and although I set the thermostat to 60'F the furnace is still running non-stop. The coldness helps Sassy conquering my bed, and she officially built her little quilt cave!

Sigh, looking at how she enjoys the little house, I could do nothing but 心軟... I guess that's the best part of having cats--you enjoy them being naughty.

****
Finally I successfully put tire chains on my stalled car. It's the first time I use it since I bought it for a trip about four years ago. If it's not because of this snow, I would have totally forgotten it. Not to mention that it's life-saving at a time like this.

未雨綢謬, you can't go wrong with it.

Apart from the mess the snow brought to Seattle, it's indeed very beautiful. I used to see a lot of snow when i was in Toronto, but I had never taken the time to take a closer look of it. After all, standing in -30+F with windchill effects isn't something enjoyable already.

****

Read a blog from my friend's learning that there are people out there pledging to themselves saying that they will live on second hand products except food, medicine, and essential toiletries.

Living thriftily, hence, become a recent trend in this rich country :-) Well, I guess I AM living compactly, since I used to shop my furniture and kitchen utensils from eBay and Good Will... Oh well, those are supposed to be collectible vintage quality, so it's supposed to be more thrifty as I can probably re-sell them at the same price.

Argh, every and each furniture/home decor has its own story to tell, and I'm sad every time when I even think of parting with them.

風雪同路

I thought I was smart enough to leave work early to avoid traffic because of tonight's snow shower, but apparently I was too soon to be happy--my car got stuck at an intersection that has some slope. I couldn't get my car go anywhere, despite the fact that I used various materials trying to get some traction. Finally I needed to back up on a rather busy road, and parked it on the street. Apparently my car wasn't the only one that got stalled. It was scary seeing a lot of cars were struggling not to slip back on the slope. Finally I walked back home safe, and it's only five minutes walk so it wasn't that bad.

Sigh, if I were not going to a grocery store picking up stuffs of tonight's dinner I wouldn't experience this!

***

Came across this blog just now, 《不想和你去吹吹水》. It's good to know that Joshua fellowship isn't experiencing the problems all alone. I guess it's something that we have to face sooner or later as a fellowship. It was rather disapointted hearing people saying that Joshua is tagged with so and so, as if we won't be able to climb out this cave we digged for ourselves.

Well, as long as we are still human we'll face all sorts of problems; more importainly though, we're walking together.

It's much better than facing it all alone.

***

Where does Amazon sits if they have a list of 200 (instead of 100) best companies to work with? Well, to me, a company is still a company. Not matter that company is the best or the worst to work with, it exists for profit. Just like Steve Jobs, who cares whether you are a founder or not? If you crewed up with the board, you'd still needed to be fired.

After working for a corporate America for almost seven years, I've learned how to choose what to attach and what not.

Seven years... the itchy seventh year is coming.

Time to quit?!

所以美好

In response to 廿九几, I have one little 「情話」

因為生命可以豐盛，所以美好!

Just read Peter Wong's testimony from 《中信》, and was touched by his experience. Peter was my "marriage" counsellor more than a year ago, although we finally chose to break up instead of getting married. He can't see anything, but has the ability to see through our thoughts. One day he said to us, "Hum, why are you guys sitting so far apart away from each other?" That told us something... yeah, for some reasons every time we meet all three of us are sitting in triangle, trying to keep as much distant as possible...

****

Came across two articles about chef schools. It seems that getting into culinary schools is becoming a trend now, although the industry doesn't really need that many:

From Toronto Star: Prepping chefs
From The Albuquerque Tribune: Celebrity chefs inspire cravings for culinary jobs

It looks like a long education, like three years, is not something I really need. George Brown's one year program is enough.

****

It's really difficult to learn French, especially following those CD's. They're OK, but I think it's a bit over priced. For one thing, you wouldn't learn how to complete a sentece at the end of the course.

Hum, may be I can podcast some Cantonese lessons, and earn some referral commisions to various websites :-)

Fortunately, frenchpodclass.com seems to be very good, they even provide a transcript for each episode!

dailyfrenchpod.com is another site, but you need to pay a montly fee for the transcript. They fact that they concentrate on grammar is something you can't miss.

蘋果在外的蘋果批

評分：70
Le Pichet
1933 First Ave, Seattle, WA
Cuisine: French

I heard a lot of good reviews for a Seattle French restaurant Le Pichet so I decided to go give it a try with a friend tonight.

Le Pichet (meaning "The Jug") is located at the corner of 1st Ave and Stewart in downtown Seattle. It's small restaurant with high ceilings, white tile floors, and tables packed back to back together. The restaurant wasn't full tonight, you can't believe this little place is quite loudish.

As soon as we were seated, the waitress gave us two little pieces of buttered toasts, topped with a soft, very light taste cheese and a piece of radish. It was awesome--the texture, the taste all mixed and matched perfectly, and we were all indulged immediately to the menu.

For "les entrées", we chose "Pàté albigeois", which is a pork pàté served with honey and walnuts. We also ordered another pork pàté, but mixed with foie gras. Both of them tasted OK, but I'm not a big fan of this kind of appetizers.

For the main course we ordered Fish of the day roasted with mustard-onion crust, on stewed veggies. We also got a Preserved duck leg on sauerkraut. Both of them are very rich in taste, and supposedly they are very authentic French food. My friend thought that the leg was done pretty good, since the skin was very crisp, while the fat laid under it wasn't too thick but provided the juice. The meat was marinated well and was really soft. I totally agree with my friend, although I don't think it was presented well to my taste, and the fermented veggie was just a bit sour to me--well, I mean too authentic :-)

I tried my friend's fish, and it was just what I had expected: rather dried. The mustard onion crust was a bit overwhelming and covered the sweetness of the fish--if it had any. Which I doubt since it was probably previously frozen.

For dessert we ordered something like an "apple pie", with the caramelized apple cubes placed aside, instead of inside, to the pastry puff. Again, the presentation wasn't as good as I thought, and the fact that they separate the apple from the puff was an interesting idea, just that I don't really like it.

May be that's their style? Everything is done technically perfect, just that when they're put together they somehow cannot create a surprise.

Overall, I am quite happy with this restaurant as the food is pretty French authentic, uninspiring though it may be.

(Oh, my friend complained to me just now the MSG level was quite high that my friend woke up in the mid-night craving for tea. And now I remember I couldn't get into sleep for a while since my heart was beating quite fast and hard. Hum, MSG effects?)

好幸福

I think Sassy got spoiled already. She now crawls to my bed every night and has to sleep with me. When I just get into sleep, she's gotten 1/4 of the bed; but then when I wake up in the morning, I found myself having 1/4 of the space instead--and Sassy is still sticking right next to me!

Look at her, so satisfied, so enjoyed, so spoiled....

Talking about satifaction, I'm sure Ho Gor is very pleased today too, as he's started to help doing some housework--and I assigned my favorite job: bathroom cleaning. See how he looks after accomplishing such a big task!


***

After listening to your story about the trip, I have better understanding of what I should do with my career change. I'm so glad to learn that it's actually not unachievable at all--at least there are people doing it now, and in the future.

I am so excited. I know it's a long way to go, but I can't wait to start!

***

Went to Joyo.com and ordered the 《三峽好人》 VCD, only USD$4, in which ￥20 is the shipping cost :-) But still, it's a good price to our standard. 賈樟柯, 大力支持你!

他從一個貧瘠的土地來到北京之後，就認定了他的人生道路，成為一名優秀的導演。在大學期間，他觀摩了上百部的電影，同時，結識了日後在他的職業生涯中很重要的幾個伙伴。 (quoted from here)

It's not easy to find the direction in life, yet stick to it no matter what. I'm glad you did it!

Talking about movie, I have quite a few old movies I want to watch:
《Me and You and Everyone We Know》
《Match Point》
《Paradise Now》
《Paris Je t'aime》
《As It Is in Heaven》
《三億日圓極度初戀》
《死亡筆記（前篇）》
《死亡筆記：最後的名字》
《墨攻》
《傷城》

What a day

Things are not going smooth all day long!

I went to a lunch meeting to learn Mandarin, where I introduced myself in 祖國's language. And you know what happened? I need a Cantonese-speaking guy to translate what I said... And apparently the Americans were speaking a lot better than me.

Here's a very good way to learn Mandarin for free: http://chinesepod.com/

And then in the fellowship the picture was taken badly. SIGH

But it was a nice surprise to me to receive those awards. Thanks for the thoughtfulness!

Time to get serious

About learning French.

After doing some research on the best way to learn the language, here's what I got:

1. UW Extension French 101. Price: $1000 tuition, $5 CD, $12 voice mail.

2. Rosetta Stone Level 1&2, Price: $290 + Prime.

3. Living Language Price: $50

Hum, seems like #2 is the most promising as the reviews tell (and my friends and people from Askville).

Although I'll probably not going to take the DELF, I'm sure getting to know French is pretty useful as one day, I mean may be one day, I'll spend a few years in France :-)

Will I be able to bear all the load though? I'm taking a few classes this quarter: Digital Imaging, hip-hop dancing, a seminar series from Small Business Development Center, and now I even put French on my plate.

Argh, whopping workload.

我以為認真去做 就能實現我的夢

Apparently, 娃娃's throat has healed up :-) but this time she's chosen to walk her own path...

《香格里拉》 (listen)
詞：黃玠　曲：黃玠
編曲：黃玠　製作：黃小楨

我以為認真去做 就能實現我的夢
以為寫首好歌 走路就能抬起頭
以為騎摩托車旅行就能變英雄
現在的我 失去了衝動

有才華的人唾棄金光閃閃的獎座
親愛的Cobain 是否也曾愛慕虛榮
多希望有人衝破疑惑帶我向前走
現在的我 變得好懦弱

雨會下雨會停 這是不變的道理
夜空中北極星 迷路的人不恐懼
我唱歌你在聽 一切風平又浪靜

G 和絃的根音 撫平脆弱的心靈
我只想牽著你 走到很遠的夢裡
小木屋紅屋頂 地址是一個祕密
你抱著小貓咪 藍眼睛不再憂鬱
香格里拉在那裡 讓我們去找尋

A loung at the airport isn't new, but I love the cool design of this YOtel!

I thought only European would have those cool looking stuffs, but fortunately American's design isn't bad too! Check out this MetroNap next time when you are at the Vancouver Internaitonal Airport.

I'm sure they'll have a hard time figuring how to lower down our performance curve if they install one of these in the office!

No kidding, if I were the boss, I would definitely get myself one--an office with the door locked and the blinds shut :-) And yeah, add a Bose too.

What's going on....

01. Finally 陳奕迅's 《What's Going On...?》 has arrived. It's kind of disappointed since the packaging is pretty ugly--the main color is pretty dull, and the pictures are... sigh. Overall I think the design doesn't look good to my taste.

Interestingly enough, many of this year's albums have a similar tone in color: 笑忘書, Unlimited, Show Everywhere, 我著10號, Hit Me, etc.

Is this a trend?? If so, hopefully 2007 will be totally different.

02. Looks like I'm not going anywhere but Toronto. I just checked today that Paul Bocuse Institute requires DELF level B2 (which means you need to be fluent in reading and listening in French)--a requirement I obviously cannot fulfill by March.

As for CIA, they require a six-month professional experience before entering the program! Sigh, forget it. So ridiculous.

The only school I'm looking into, as a result, is Geroge Brown Chef School located in Toronto. It may be a good thing after all, since I can get a part time job, and stay closer to the family.

03. My most admirable friend sent me a message saying CNN mistakenly spelled Obama when they actually meant Osama (see news here ). Being so ignorant I asked, "Who is Obama?" And my friend teased me for an hour from that point on.... sigh.... I guess instead of skimming through just the headlines, I really need to go into the details. Well, at least turn on the radio/TV.

04. Can someone tell me what's the best way to learn French with the least financial burden? I looked into the UW Extension and French 101 costs a shinning grand. Yup, online only where you need to record voice mail and send it back to the instructor to evaluate your oral assignment.

05. How much does 200 calories look like in layman term? Look at this...

06. Luther Vandross's 《Dance With My Father》 is a very touching song. Although that day will eventually come, we'll all dance again, in that better place.

If you want to listen to this song, it's the first one on my play list.

Dance With My Father

Back when I was a child,
Before life removed all the innocence,
My father would lift me high,
And dance with my mother and me,
And then…
Spin me around til' I fell asleep,
Then up the stairs he would carry me,
And I knew for sure I was loved

If I could get another chance,
Another walk, another dance with him,
I'd play a song that would never never end
How I'd love love love…
To dance with my father again.

Ooooh…

When I and my mother would disagree,
To get my way I would run from her to him.
He'd make me laugh just to comfort me,
Yeah yeah…
Then finally make me do just what my momma said.

Later that night when I was asleep,
He left a dollar under my sheet.
Never dreamed that he, would be gone from me.

If I could steal one final glance,
One final step,
One final dance with him,
I'd play a song that'd never never end.
Cos I'd love love love, to dance with my father again.

Sometimes I'd listen outside her door
And I'd hear how my momma cried for him
I pray for her even more than me…
I pray for her even more than me…..

I know I'm praying for much too much,
But could you send back,
The only man she loved.
I know you don't do it usually,
But dear Lord she's dying,
To dance with my father again.

Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream

match.com-like questionnaire

Looks like future Google job applicants need to fill out match.com-like questionnaire before they can get into loop....

不笑白不笑

The first day of 2007 is cloudy. Moody cloudy.

So I decided to go for some graveyard shots... on my birthday ;)

To get insights of what people would write on thier gravestone!

I like what 趙善榮's idea on his:

我希望我的墓誌銘是：「一個認真生活，永不言棄的尋夢者。」

尋夢者。If there is such a job title, I'll definitely go for it now.

What would I write on my own?

Haha, probably this:

「旺鋪轉讓，價格面議．」

(quoted from here.)

Haha, I guess, it doesn't really matter. My life isn't all for that sentence on the gravestone that nobody would care.

***

I always thought that it's good to have a "dream" for life, to have a life-long "goal", where you need to sacrifice yourself, and bearing the side-effects to your family.

But then, today I read something that I haven't thought of. Oh well, actually she did tell me that... "find a balance".

生活，就是為了好好生活

每當我專注一個目標
而全力以赴時，
生活的節奏和韻律
就開始紊亂；
自我也變得模糊、疏離。

而社會不就是如此地
目標導向，
來追求成功和卓越嗎？

但究竟有多少目標，
偉大到一個地步，
得犧牲掉 ──
生活本身的神聖性？

生活不是為了一個目標，
生活，就是為了
好好生活。

品嚐佳餚，泡杯好茶，
讓音樂伴奏人生，
暢快地運動，
舒服沐浴、好夢入眠，
鑑賞美景，品味藝術，
享受閱讀，
書寫心裡的感動。
活在愛中，
虔誠地禱告。

這不是沒有目標，
而是拒絕 ──
為目標而生活。

它將目標融化為生活。
在享受與沉醉之際，
不知不覺
實現了目標。

就像是老子的「無以為」 ──
無所「為」而為。
功成、事遂，
我自然。

原載於 《生活，就是為了好好生活》

新一年，快快樂樂的活下去。