Growing up, I have never really been fond of any kinds of sports until I learned how to play ping-pong also known as table tennis at school two summers ago. I have tried playing badminton in the past but it doesn't really appeal to me as much as table tennis which is probably due to the reason that badminton is too simple for my liking. Before enrolling in the beginner's level table tennis class, I had played the sports with my dad at home who had previous experience and I have always lost to him. With no previous experience myself, I didn't know how to serve nor use the paddle the correct way. However, after taking the class, I learned alot of the basic techniques such as serving, slicing, and slamming with both forehand and backhand positions. Now, I'm able to beat my dad who used to go a bit easy on me before but now he doesn't have to do that anymore. This semester, I'm currently enrolled in Intermediate Level of table tennis which is a great PE class to end the year with. Many of my classmates say that I play really well especially using the forehand position but I still have troubles with the backhand position. But practice makes improvement! For the next class, we are going to play the singles tournament which is going to be very fun and of course, tiring since the class is going to be 2 hours long. Someday, I want to challenge my Vietnamese next-door neighbor to a game because they also love playng table table as well. Last summer, I heard them playing almost everyday with alot of ping pong balls flying over to my backyard which my dog has collected.
The next Jay Chou merchandise to be added to my collection is his 12th album entitled “Opus 12” which was supposed to be released on December 28, 2012 on YesAsia.com but the release date has recently been postponed to January 4, 2013. Since I’m a devoted fan, the wait is totally worth it! A very nice thing Jay is going to do for his fans is to release all of his 12 new songs on the radio before the official release of the album so that everyone can be able to listen to them first. I have already listened to all 12 samples of the songs and I have to say that I’m quite impressed with album. Every single song in the album suits my tastes just perfectly. I’m also glad that Jay have persisted with including at least one zhong guo feng (Chinese style) song in each of his albums. The first zhong guo feng which has already been released on the radio a few weeks ago is called “红尘客栈”or “Red Dust Inn“ which will be included in this upcoming album. In the music video, I really like his intensive use of Chinese instruments, such as the erhu, combined with R&B and a bit of other Western elements because it makes the song sound really beautiful. He just knows how to mix the music well with different instruments. That’s because he’s Jay Chou. Here is the official music video of “Red Dust Inn”. The MV is really sad like most of his other zhong guo feng MVs, but nevertheless, it’s really touching and worth the watch!
Another zhong guo feng song which will also be included in his upcoming album is called "公公偏头痛" or“Enunch With A Headache” which is a hip hop song combined with Chinese instruments. The MV was officially released a few days ago with a lot of positive feedback from fans. Notice that the zombies in the MV are supposed to belong to the Qing Dynasty and not the time period shown in the MV but Jay did that on purpose to make it more fun and creative. The storyline is very humorous and may be difficult to understand at first look but after watching the MV a couple more times, I believe that you will start to get the gist of it. The story actually talks about a corrupted enunch in the palace who pretends to be good and honest whenever the emperor is around but the truth is that he steals and lies behind the emperor’s back.
Another special fact to know is that Jay actually choreographed some of the dance such as the shoulder up and down part.
The first ballad song Jay released is called “明明就" or “Obviously”. The melody sounds really beautiful. At first, I really thought the MV was filmed in San Francisco, California because the bridge shown in the MV bears a striking resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge but further research proved I was wrong. Parts of the MV was actually filmed at Scotland. Notice that Jay’s hair is dyed blond which I find to be very cool. I was surprised when I first saw him with the blond hair because I haven’t expected him to dye his hair. The last time I saw him with blond hair was the year he released “Ye Hui Mei” album which was way back. It’s definitely a huge change from Jay and I’m expecting more of his surprises coming our way.
Another MV that was also released a few days ago was "大本钟" or “Big Ben”. I thought this song sounds different from Jay’s style of music but it’s great to hear something new. The MV features Lara, who plays the female lead. It’s great to see her again in the same MV with Jay ever since “Coral Sea”. Here is "Big Ben" MV:
Lara is also featured in another of Jay’s newest MV called "比较大的大提琴" or
“Big Cello” along with Gary Yang. I really enjoyed watching this MV because Jay’s choreography is definitely moving at another level. His dancing is getting more and more sharp than ever! The MV is not officially released on JVR Music yet but here is the fan cam of the MV that Jay had shown at the press conference yesterday. It’s very DIAO! http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDk0MzU1NjU2.html
Growing up, I have never really taken any interest in anything that is Western-related such as Western movies or music even though I was born in America. The things I only found interesting is if it’s Asian-related. I guess the reason why I’m Asianized is because I grew up being surrounded mostly with Chinese movies, dramas, and music which my parents would watch and listen at home. However, thanks to a friend, my view towards Western media has recently changed as I started to become interested in Western music. It’s good to try something that you were never really interested in because you might end up liking it. My interest in Western music initially sparked from a blog post my friend had written about in which she talked about Barry Manilow, a legendary American singer who was really famous back in the 1970’s, when I didn’t even exist yet. She had talked about how one of Barry’s song “Somewhere Down the Road” was very memorable to her. Like always, curiosity got the better of me so I decided to google up this guy and tried listening to a few of his songs on Itunes. I find his songs to be very romantic, something that would remind someone of their first love. My personal favorites are his hit songs, “Can’t Smile Without You”, “Copacabana” and “Somewhere Down The Road”.
When I heard Barry Manilow is going to come perform at my hometown, I decided to give it a try since I wanted to learn more about who this legendary singer is and also on behalf of my friend who was not able to make it to the concert. On the day of Barry’s concert which was held at HP Pavilion, San Jose on December 6, 2012, when my dad and I arrived at the HP Pavilion an hour before the concert started, the line was already formed with a lot of people from the older generation. I was probably one of the youngest fans there. Well, you’re never too young to listen to Barry Manilow, right? Age difference doesn’t really matter; what matters is doing whatever makes you happy. They were selling Barry Manilow merchandises: CDS, T-shirts, etc. I would’ve bought something if the line wasn’t so long. Also, they were selling green glowsticks which I find interesting since glowsticks were very unusual at a Western concert. I wonder why Barry chose green; maybe it was to match the Christmas theme?
The stage was covered up with a red curtain which reminded me a Broadway play. When the concert officially started, the curtain opened up with Barry Manilow appearing in the spotlight; everybody was screaming, cheering, and throwing love out to him. I was touched by how many people of the older generation is still a fan of him after all those years. I don’t recall what Barry’s opening song was but I remembered it was a very romantic song. He first appeared in a red suit which goes along with the color of the curtain and the green glowsticks. Ha, I guess I was right about the Christmas theme.
One of my favorite songs from Barry is “Can’t Smile Without You” which he has performed at the concert. This was actually one of his top hits from back in the days and is still famous as of today. Almost everyone was familiar with this song since they were singing along to it, including me! The song brought a smile to my face when a happy face appeared on the screen during the performance. I liked how Barry said that he likes to make positive and uplifting songs to lift up people’s spirits since he thinks life sucks and it really does. He was full of energy and enthusiasm and was able to interact well with his fans. If I didn’t know he is 69 years old, I would think he is in his 50s since he still looked very handsome as of today. Another thing I liked was how he cracked some jokes to make the audience laugh. The one that really got me was when he said he was the Justin Bieber of the 70’s which I have to agree with him on. Here is a performance of "Can't Smile Without You". Look at all the green glowsticks!
Another one of his hit singles I liked was “Copacabana” which was the cha-cha dancing song. Everybody became more livelier when he performed this song. Here's a fancam of "Copacabana":
There were a few songs he played on the piano and on the keyboards such as "Weekend In New ngland", “Trying to get the feeling”, “I’m your child”, and “Mandy”, which were also his top hits. He played all the songs very beautifully and smoothly. Here is a fancam of his performance of "Weekend In New England" at HP pavilion:
The part that was very enjoyable to watch was the part where he and his band took turns playing the piano, rotating after one another. When he played “Mandy” on the grand piano, at the same time, a video clip was shown on the screen of him performing the song back in 1975 during one of his concerts. I thought he looked really handsome back then with the long hair and his prominent, sharp nose. With his good looks, I bet a lot of fan girls fell for him. If I existed during the 1970s, I would probably went crazy over him too.
Another interesting thing was when Barry showed us some of his previous album covers on the screen. The first album cover showed a picture of him in his 20s when he first debuted. It was hilarious when he said a lot of people thought he looked like Mona Lisa in the picture. Another thing Barry talked about was how his grandfather was the one who had made him into a musician. It was his grandfather who first saw music in him. In dedication of his grandfather, he played a song on his piano with a picture of him and his grandpa shown on the screen. Some people are just born talented; I wish I had that kind of talent too.
A very nice thing Barry did was starting a charity to help music schools to get more instruments. He told us that if we have any instruments we don’t use anymore which is lying at home and collecting dust, then we should do a good cause by donating them to his charity club. This reminds me, I have my older keyboard lying at home which I will probably donate later on. Overall, the concert was very satisfying. Although the concert lasted for only an hour and a half, which was shorter than expected, it was still a very satisfying experience. I have to admit that I have learned quite a lot of Barry Manilow now than before I attended the concert. The next time he comes back, I would be very likely to go again!
After being on hiatus for about 4 months due to school, exams, and piano lessons, I finally found some free time to write today’s blog post. I’m glad most of the midterms are over for my accounting and business classes which leaves only the final exams to be the last stressful thing on my mind. There’s a month of school left until winter break. Following winter break will be the spring semester and then after that, it will be the biggest accomplishment of my life because I will be officially graduating from San Jose State University with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Time sure flies. 4 years ago, I was entering college fresh out of high school but now in a blink of an eye, I am all grown up and about to graduate from college, take the CPA exam, and then enter the real world of accounting. In the real world, I can imagine life becoming more busier and complicated compared to being in school. Well, it’s hard to say what the future will hold for me so I will just have to wait and see what happens…
As for piano lessons, I have learned quite a lot after taking it for 6 months. I’m currently on Lesson 2 and enjoying it even more than Lesson 1. The things I have learned and enjoyed the most is being able to change to different hand positions, moving the fingers up and down the keyboard, and using the pedal to preserve the sounds. Since I wasn’t born a pianist, it’s difficult to play as smoothly as a professional. However, I believe that I can be able to play more smoothly probably in the future when I have master the skills. I noticed that the more time I spent practicing on the piano, the more drawn to it I become. Now I find myself playing the piano more than when I first started.
I just like the feeling of playing a song over and over again until I know how to play the entire song because this makes me feel like I have accomplished something big. This motivates me to practice even harder to try to master another song which I want to play and show off to my family and friends whom I can imagine being amazed by my piano skills. A month ago, I have purchased an electric piano at Costco for a very affordable price which includes a pedal as well as chair. What’s unique about this piano is that the keys are heavy-weight which feels like the ones on a grand piano. As for my old electric piano and dad’s old brown piano, they have been put aside for future use. The brown piano needs to be tuned up but piano tuning is a bit costly, so buying another electric piano is more worth it. Here is the electric piano I have recently purchased. You can see the heavy weight keys and the pedal on the bottom right of the picture:
Also, my interest in reading have grown in the past few months because I found myself purchasing books even when I haven’t even started reading the ones I already have. Maybe I should put a halt to my excessive spending until I have finished the ones I haven’t even started. A book I have recently finished reading is “Total Recall”, a biography on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Overall, the book is pretty interesting and very motivating. He pretty much talks about his life growing up in Austria while carrying the dream of going to America. He accomplished this dream through bodybuilding. After arriving in America, he worked as a trainer in a gym and later on, film companies hired him as an actor which then brought him to fame in Hollywood. You might’ve first saw him in “The Terminator”. He also talks about his experiences succeeding Grey Davis to become California’s governor and how that has changed his life.
I admire the fact that he had put a lot of time and effort to have succeeded in the position he is in today. There are many people who says that something can’t be done but Arnold is able to prove them wrong. For instance, in the book, he mentioned how his father didn’t believe that he will succeed in bodybuilding but Arnold was able to prove that his father was wrong by becoming a championship in bodybuilding. Also, when some people did not believe he will become a politician, he proved them wrong with his victorious winning in becoming a governor. I learned from Arnold that everything is possible if you just try.
Now, to end the day, here is a line from the book I find to be very motivating:
“The only way to make the possible possible is to try the impossible. If you fail, so what? That is what everybody expects. But if you succeed, you make the world a much better place”.
In one of my earlier posts, I have mentioned that I’m beginning to read a lot to improve my writing as well as to boost my sense of imagination and creativity. This summer, besides enrolling in piano classes and writing this blog, I have also devoted myself to reading as many books as possible. In today’s post, I would like to talk about some of the books I have read during my summer vacation.
A novel that I have recently finished reading and become fond of is “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins; there are actually a total of 3 books in the trilogy but in my opinion, the first book was the best of the best. Basically, this novel depicts the story of a girl named Katniss Everdeen who is forced to take part in the game of killing her opponents to be the last one standing at the end. She is only left with these options: to kill or to be killed.
When I first started reading “The Hunger Games“, it was hard to put the book down after the first few pages got me completely hooked while feeling tempted to finish it. To be honest, it actually took me less than a week to finish devouring all 3 books. I wonder if the author got her idea of writing “The Hunger Games” from reading the Japanese novel “Battle Royale” since both novels display the similar theme of “survival of the fittest” in which people are randomly chosen to take part in the game of killing one another in order to survive and be the last one standing. I was expecting all 3 books to be about the Hunger games but turned out only the 1st book focused on that while the other 2 books focused more on the main characters rebelling against the Capital to try to put a stop to the Hunger Games.
Now that I have finished reading the novel, it’s time to watch the movie but I still need to wait a few more days until the DVD is going to be released on my birthday, August 18. It would definitely be a great birthday gift to start with. Some people say that the book is better than the movie while others say that the movie is better than the book but everybody has different opinions so it’s hard to place a judgment on that. Well, I will have to see the movie for myself before making an opinion.
Overall, “The Hunger Games” trilogy were the best novels I have ever read. It was a very great read and a major page turner with tons of unstoppable action sequences. Every genre you ever wanted to read is complete in this novel: action, romance, family, etc. Thanks to the great plot and storyline, I would give this book a rating of 5 stars!
Another novel I have also finished reading was the erotic romantic novel called the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy. It's said that this novel may cause the next "Baby Boom". Before purchasing this book, I had no idea that it was an erotica themed novel because I did not really read the summary of what the story is going to be about. Since it was a very popular novel with over 8,000 ratings and currently ranked #1 on the list of Bestsellers on Amazon, I decided to give the book a try. I thought it was going to be like a simple romantic novel like the “Twilight” series but who knows that halfway through the book when I finally realized that it was an erotic romance novel and had to put the book down because I was not used to reading this kind of novel. However, I reconsidered since I did not want to waste money on my purchase but since I felt like I was still not mature enough to read the intense parts, I skipped most of them. The book is basically about a college graduate student named Ana Steele who meets a rich and handsome entrepreneur, Christian Grey; ironically, they fell in love with one another at first sight and desires to see each other again. As for what happened next, you will have to read the novel to see for yourself.
Overall, the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy was a so-so novel. The book was not badly written but what’s disappointing is how repetitive some of the parts were that it made me want to give up on the book at some point during the novel. However, I was tempted to know where the story is going so I continued to read on. It seems like the author became really lazy by lengthening the novel with repetitive scenes and words. Another thing bothering me is how the author spends too much time on writing the erotic scenes rather than focusing on character development because 50% of the books are focused on erotic scenes. At the end, I was more familiar with erotica more than the characters. Overall, I would give the novel a rating of 3 stars.
If you’re interested in adult fiction, then the “Fifty Shades of Grey” is recommended for you but if you’re not so mature enough like me, then the “Hunger Games” is meant for you.
Another one of my favorite sports to watch during the Olympics is gymnastics. In this year’s womens USA team, most of the gymnasts are new except for one. I was expecting to see old faces from the Beijing 2008 Olympics, but unfortunately, championships such as Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin did not enter this year’s Olympics due to injuries. My favorite female gymnast is Shawn Johnson because I find her different from other athletes. I admire the fact that she has a lot of Olympic spirit as she is all smiles on and off the stage and still manages to smile whenever she loses. It’s disappointing that she isn’t included in this year’s Olympics but it’s great news to hear that she is currently in London watching the Olympics with her teammate, Nastia Liukin. The US womens gymnastic team in the London Olympics is not that bad. Congrats to Team USA for winning gold a few days ago.
For the mens, I was pretty disappointed in the US gymnastic team as it seem like they did not put in much effort in training as they made countless mistakes during the team final such as falling off the pommel horse and stepping out of line during the floor exercise. Due to lack of training, I think that most of them in the team are not ready to enter the Olympics yet. As for Team China, they have snagged gold once again, making history like how they had back in Beijing 2008. They seemed to have trained intensively in preparation for the Olympics because their skills are close to being flawless. My favorite male gymnast is Zou Kai from Team China. The first time I saw him was back in the Beijing Olympics and I thought his gymnastic skills were really good and flawless. He never fails to disappoint because he has done it again in this year’s Olympics. I guess the training he has done all paid off. I can’t wait to tune in the next few days to see him making history again in his next individual final competitions.
The Japanese team were pretty good as well but one of the members named Kohei Uchimura almost ruined the chance at getting a medal for himself and his team when he landed on the floor awkwardly after performing the pommel horse. The awkward landing had cost him a lot of deductions, placing the team at 4th place. However, everything changed when the Japanese coach protested to the judges that they did not give the correct points to Kohei Uchimura, forcing them to recalculate the score.
Final results were: 1st place for China, 2nd place for Japan, and 3rd place for Great Britain. The corrections had moved Japan up to 2nd place, replacing Great Britain who had to be moved down to 3rd place for the Bronze. It was the first time Great Britain had snagged a medal for gymnastics; they were really happy about it as they thought they were going to get silver but were a bit disappointed when the final results gave them the bronze. But they were fine with it because a medal was better than having nothing. The ones who are the most disappointed are the Ukrainians who had to pack their bags and walk away empty-handed after they were pushed down to 4th place when they originally were in 3rd place. It was very emotional watching that scene of them walking away with sad expressions on their faces. The Ukranians were happy and celebrating for 10 minutes but that 10 minute of happiness turned into emptiness at the end. I was almost in tears and will never want to watch a scene like this ever again because it’s really heartbreaking to watch. I think the judges should be more careful next time in giving the correct points.
Also, I did not like the fact that the Japanese coach was handing money to the judges while requesting for an appeal to correct Uchimura’s score because it seems like he is bribing them. I wonder if he knows that he is ruining his country’s image by doing such a suspicious act in public!
It was only 4 years ago when the Olympics had taken place in Beijing, China during the summer of 2008 but it seemed like it had just happened yesterday. Now, 4 years later, the Olympic games are finally back in London, Great Britain. Besides the United States, I’m also supporting other countries such as China, Korea, etc. However, despite being an American born Chinese, I’m supporting China more than my home country because of the strong influence from the Chinese culture as well as from my Dad who is a big fan of China.
One of the sports I enjoy watching the most would be swimming. The most memorable swimming event from the Beijing Olympics was USA swimmer, Michael Phelps, making history by snagging 8 swimming gold medals. I have never been a fan of Michael Phelps but it’s always fun and interesting to watch him racing against other competitors. However, the Michael Phelps I’m seeing this year is different from the legend I saw 4 years ago. I was expecting him to be winning more gold medals for this year’s Olympics but he has not gotten any for the first 3 days until Day 4, which is today, after the 4x200 meter Freestyle Relay final with his teammates.
I’m not really against Phelps but something I find annoying about him from watching the last few day’s swimming competitions is his arrogance; it seems like he is too confident in his ability to win, causing him to depend more on his natural talent rather than on his training. I guess his lack of effort in training and dependency on his talent is the reason why he has a hard time winning this year. After the 4x100 meter Freestyle Relay a few days ago, Phelps & his teammates, which include Ryan Lochte, almost took the gold home but were eventually beaten by the French team who managed to take the lead during the last few seconds of the race. Back in Beijing 2008, France had lost to the US in the same race but now France has finally avenged their loss by grabbing first place. Ryan Lochte was the last person to put a finish to the race for the US team but was caught up by the French. After the race, it was a major disappointment for the US especially for Phelps who had not gotten any gold medal at that time. Lochte didn’t seem too happy with the results because he felt like he had caused the team’s loss but it shouldn’t be his fault as he had the most pressure being the last person to finish the race. Well, at least a silver medal is better than nothing. Anyways, I want to congratulate Team USA for winning their first gold medal in today’s 4x200 meter Freestyle Relay. Michael Phelps has made history again.
In this year’s Olympics, there is a new rising star named Ye Shi Wen who is a 16-year-old female swimmer from China who has recently won 2 gold medals from her swimming competitions (the 200 meter and 400 meter individual medley). In fact, she is the first Chinese swimmer to win gold medals for China’s swim team. Because she has broken the world record in the 400 meter Individual Medley, she became known by many people as the “Chinese Michael Phelps”. I was amazed by how fast she can swim because she had even beaten Ryan Lochte’s time. However, there has been a controversy over whether she has been doping since many people especially the U.S. swimming Coach find her abilities too good to be true. When I heard this piece of news, I find it to be really ridiculous of the US Coach to be suspecting a 16-year-old of doping. Of course, a book shouldn’t be judged by a cover but I’m sure his suspicions were definitely motivated by jealousy. But it’s great news to hear that Ye Shi Wen has passed the drug test today, refuting the coach’s claim on doping. I really admire how hard working she is. To get to the position she is in today, Ye Shi Wen has been training for 2 ½ hours each morning and 2 ½ each afternoon everyday for 9 years and it has all paid off in the London Olympics.
Another great swimmer I have recently become fond of is Park Tae Hwan, the very first Asian swimmer to win a gold medal in the Men’s 400 meter freestyle race during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and also the first Korean swimmer to win a swimming medal for Korea. Although he has not won any gold medals in this year’s Olympics yet, he is still satisfied with winning 2 silver medals in both the 400-meter & the 200-meter freestyle relays. During the 400-meter qualifying round, he was disqualified for a false start but then was reinstated back into the competition; he ended up winning a silver medal which was tied with Chinese swimmer, Sun Yang’s time. The 1,500 meter freestyle relay is the remaining race for him. I can’t wait to see how he does.
Another one of my favorite sports to watch is gymnastics but I will talk about that topic in my next blog post.
