Nov 8, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire-- Dreams on fire


It's the night before Hematology/Oncology midterm. In the past ten days, I took a final exam for III block and an unorganized quiz on eyes examination.

I really need a song that can sooth my anxiousness and calm myself down. I guess I am burn-out.

Well, things are not always bad. A friend asked me how is lif? After thinking seriously rather than saying fine, good, hanging in there, I said can't complain. After all, this is what I choose to do and this career is what I have longed for.

I have been receiving emails from big sis about her exciting trips around the world. She mentioned some places she visited in China in a recent email. It totally reminded me my middle school geography, one of my favorite class. Yikes, I would really love to walk a thousand miles than study ten thousand books...

Hum...maybe I should go back to mastering chemotherapy.

Sep 11, 2009

Kaohsiung



Where is home? Does it mean where you grow up, where your family is, or where you want to be buried?

After leaving the place I grew up for so long, I has become a stranger to the land. Yet, something is still so familiar in the air. I guess it is oxygen... or pollution... or maybe thoughts of home.

Illumina


It felt like the city subway is in a vacuum. Only sunbeam and the frozen time.

2009.07.04 City Subway

An amazing combo



I tried this amazing dessert when I went to visit Jiu-fen, Taiwan. The brick in the picture is made from maltose and peanut. The chef used the tool that carpenters use for smoothing woods to create many thin slices of maltose and peanut mix; this mix is then laid on a thin and round flour-based bread skin and wrap up with a scoop of TARO icecream... (some customers like to put in Coriandrum sativum, a kind of seasoning leaf)

It's awfully delicious...










Here is my dad enjoying the dessert and my mom awaiting her turn to bite on it...haha

Aug 19, 2009

A Quote from the Kiki Delivery Girl



、私-- Kiki

Nagoya Intl Airport, Dec 2005, first time home bounding trip after studying abroad.

Aug 15, 2009

A moment of appreciation



Sally at MOMA 2009.08.09

Aug 6, 2009

崖の上のポニョ (Ponyo)



How exciting! A new Hayao Miyazaki's film, 崖の上のポニョ, describing the story of a gold fish princess, Ponyo.

It will be released in the States on Aug 14th on selective theater.

Theme Song of Ponyo--


Official website--
http://www.ghibli.jp/ponyo/

Jul 30, 2009

Pig Skin



I tried this pig skin dish in a traditional restaurant, 阿月切仔麵, in my home town Kaohsiung. It's one of the most memorable things my tongue remembered...haha

You would think pig skin is something oily and fat. On the other hand, this appetizer is nothing like what you would imagine with common senses. It's not fatty at all but gelatinous and very well seasoned. In chinese, the best way to describe it is 爽口.

Delicious~

Jul 17, 2009

Nada Sousou

涙そうそう by 夏川りみ
詞:森山良子 曲:Begin

古いアルバムめくり ありがとうってつぶやいた
いつもいつも胸の中 勵ましてくれる人よ
晴れ渡る日も 雨の日も 浮かぶあの笑顏
想い出遠くあせても
おもかげ探して よみがえる日は 淚そうそう

一番星に祈る それが私のくせになり
夕暮れに見上げる空 心いっぱいあなた探す
悲しみにも 喜びにも おもうあの笑顏
あなたの場所から私が
見えたら きっといつか 會えると信じ 生きてゆく

晴れ渡る日も 雨の日も 浮かぶあの笑顏
想い出遠くあせても
さみしくて 戀しくて 君への想い 淚そうそう
會いたくて 會いたくて 君への想い 淚そうそう

Translation by Suzi Kim

Turning the pages of old photographs

I whisper thanks to each and everyone
Deep in my heart you have come, come to live
Sure as the sun to see me through

Come rain or shine however the day may be
You shelter me with your smile
However far your memories may fade
Traces of you I hope to find
Then you appear and I drown in my own tears

I wish on a star, the first star of the night
You'll find me here every evening of the year
As twilight approaches I look to the sky
Searching for you with all of my heart

In grief and joy I long for you and your smile
Hoping you feel the way I do
If only you could fine me from where you are
I do believe somewhere in time
I do believe I will see you once again

Come rain or shine however the day may be
You shelter me with your smile
But as each memory of you fades away
I'm so alone longing for you
You're on my mind as I drown in my own tears

Missing you so I'm missing you so
You're on my mind as I drown in my own tears

謝天, 謝地, 謝諸神佛



I took this picture at Jiufen (九份), a village on the Mountains surrounding Taipei basin and facing the Pacific. I got excited to visit this village because of the fact that Miyazaki Hayao based some of his sketches for Spirit Away on this small mountian village.

The title is modified from a novel, 千江有水千江月, by 蕭麗紅.

Jul 8, 2009

I swear, it wasn't me...



2009.06.12 The night before the neuro final exam

I miss you, sunshine



2009.07.04 Bronx Zoo

She fell from the sky



2009.06.23 Park Slope 6th St. between 6th and 7th Ave.

la maison en petits cubes

2009 Oscar winner for the animated short film

Director--
Kunio Kato (加藤久仁生)




Director Kunio Kato's earlier work, 或る旅人の日記, a six-episode short film series is still one of my favorite. I like his unique style of drawing and the stories full of imagination, which I believe are also the two qualities that make Miyazaki Hayo so special.


It's hard to find the link for his earlier work now; try the following link if you are interested in 或る旅人の日記.

Episode 01 VO (http://animeseed.com/pop_eps.php?eps_id=17247&anime_id=742)

The links in this post may not function due to copy right issue.

Jul 7, 2009

Deadline



Post-it Stop Motion project directed by 劉邦耀

Jun 3, 2009

Napping in Sleep Lecture Prohibited


Abe took this picture of me with his phone during a lecture on sleep of Neuroscience Block.

Functionally, I did learn from the lecture immediately...ha

No excuse for broken English

Quote--

If I begin correcting the mistakes you speak of according to rules with no relation to me, I will lose my individuality to grammar I have not incorporated.

I prefer to create myself as I see fit than to bend my words to rules that don't belong to me.

--Unquote

by Pablo Picasso, 1946

I saw this quote from the Yale University Art Gallery. It seems to be a perfect excuse for my broken English...

May 28, 2009

Kaleidoscopic Mind

How often are we lost in translation?

Translation from one language to another language? Translation from one culture to another culture? Or Translation from one person's expression to aother person's perception (or explanation)?

I found myself perplexed all the time...





Two of my favorite scenes in Lost In Translation by Sofia Coppola

Scene 1:
Bob: What are you doing?
Charlotte: My husband's a photographer, so he's here working. I wasn't doing anything so I came along.
Bob: What do you do?
Charlotte: I'm not sure yet, actually


[Later in the film, Charlotte visited a Japanese Temple and observed a Japanese style wedding ceremony]

Scene 2:
[Bob is taking a bath]
Lydia Harris: [over the phone] Is this a bad time?
Bob: [pauses] No, it's always a good time.
Lydia Harris: The burgundy carpet is out of stock: it's going to take twelve weeks. Did you like any of the other colors?
Bob: Whatever you like - I'm just completely lost.
Lydia Harris: It's just carpet.
Bob: That's not what I'm talking about.
Lydia Harris: What are you talking about?
Bob: I don't know. I just want to... get healthy. I would like to start taking better care of myself. I'd like to start eating healthier - I don't want all that pasta. I would like to start eating like Japanese food.
Lydia Harris: [icily] Well, why don't you just stay there and you can have it every day?
Bob: [biting his tongue] How are the kids doing?
Lydia Harris: They're fine. They miss their father.

[pause]

Lydia Harris: Do I need to worry about you, Bob?
Bob: Only if you want to.

May 27, 2009

R&D


Diana and Robert by the Hudson River. 2009.05.18

May 21, 2009

I Adore You



-- by Melpo Mene

May 8, 2009

Race Point Beach



Race Point Beach. The sand of Race Point Beach is not quite fine. At the line where the tide lingered at that moment, a lot of eye-catching stones were left behind.

May 4, 2009

Misplaced


It doesn't belong there.
Providence, RI. 2009.05.02

Deep inside



Cape Cod Coast Guard Beach 2009.05.02

Apr 28, 2009

I think, therefore I am


Cogito ergo sum --René Descartes 1596-1650

One of my favorite pictures of Mou. It was taken in the summer of 2006, the summer he moved from Walnut Creek, CA to Rockville, MD.

Who would have thought that I would become a cat lover. "Life is like a box of chocolate." I said it is karma.

Apr 26, 2009

"If you let them"

(quote)
Words can hurt you, if you let them.
People say them and forget them.
(unquote)

I apologize for the way I quoted these two lines today. They are quoted from Carole King's song, Anyone At All. I felt that I completely distorted the context of this song by the way I quoted it.

I first came across this song when I watched the movie, You've Got Mail. The song gave the movie a wonderful atmosphere at the end. Ironically, I was pulling these two lines out of the context today in an attempt to suppress my negative emotions.

Maybe, I should sing the whole song. That will help.

Apr 25, 2009

In The Mood For Love (花樣年華)



Have you seen a film, In The Mood For Love, directed by Wong Kar-Wei? The wall, with the bricks, the stems, and the mud, somehow reminded me a quote from this poetic film.

(quote)
Chow Mo-Wan: In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn't want to share... you know what they did?

Ah-Ping: Have no idea.

Chow Mo-Wan: They went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it, and whispered the secret into the hole. Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever.
(unquote)

It is a beautiful, yet implicit film.

This wall is just one of the many walls in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They all carry too many secrets already.


Apr 24, 2009

The Dark Years


Do people reflect their emotions in the pictures they took? When you are in love, do you see a world full of love? When you are depressed, does the world look blue in your eyes? When the heart beats serenely, do you see a lake with no ripple or a blue sky with the cloud stays still?

A lot of time, when I reflect on the moment I see the world through the view finder, it seems like that my emotion is always involved in the frame.

Or maybe I am just making this up.

Apr 20, 2009

Pardon the wood



Dad once said: if you want to take a good picture of your mom, don't say cheese. I kind of expanding this rule to everyone (including strangers...haha).

I like this picture of mom a lot, including the wood. Well, things usually can't be perfect. That's life. Without that something on the wood, mom won't smile so naturally. Let's just pardon the wood, and look at the bright smile.

It was taken in Great Fall, VA. last summer. We were enjoying a hiking trip.

Apr 18, 2009

興 Pho'



With Winnie, Pho is a must. Winnie's mom used to invite kids over for her renowned Pho. There was just one episode that Wei-Ning commented that the beef was like chewing gum...haha

This place is like the gourmet's top choice of pho in Toronto. The pho I ordered was delicious.



This lady was waiting ahead of us. She wasn't happy that the line was cut by the other. She was upset. I thought she was charming, though.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden


I took an afternoon off, actually, a day off, to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Cherry hasn't reached its full bloom. Yet, the 70F brought out the crowd. The garden was packed.

I was trying to capture the detail of plants. Then I realized it's about time to invest in a micro-lens.

I accidently met Jen and Michael, friends from DMC. I was alone, though. I should have invited a friend to be my model.



Visitor Center



Love me, Darling


Took this picture in Catalina Island outside L.A. I was amused by the many faces of love. These two couples have such a sharp contrast.

The contentment


I am always bad at keeping in touch with friends.

Three years later since I last met Hui-Chen, she has become a mother. I saw the contentment in her smile. I am happy for her.

Fells Point, Baltimore



Friends and I stopped by Baltimore for lunch on our way to DC. I took this picture as I walked on a side street of Fells Point.

Imaging: Homar is waiting for Bart to come home. Obviously, Bart is in trouble.

We all know how our parents look like when we are in trouble. It's hard to forget, especially when you get to see them like this frequently...ha


Miracle of life


The school is doing reproductive block now. I can't help digging this picture out of my files again.

Took this picture long long ago on the celebration of July 4th in NYC. It must be 2004 in Julie's apartment by waterfront.

I always laugh at my biology-oriented mind when I see this picture.

Isn't this a macro image of fertilization; resembles the splendid beginning of a new life.

Dessert Trends

Winnie w/ Pistachio cupcake

Winnie and I stopped by this dessert place with serendipity. The dessert chef, Donald Duong, was one of the gold medalists of 2004 World Culinary Olympics. I won't hestitate to suggest this place to any gourmets. The presentation and the taste of the dessert are in perfect balance! And my camera and my tongue both appreciated that.

















Top-Down: Chocolate symphony, Wedding cake in display, Unknow, Pear tart, Mango tart, Berry box
Dessert Trends:
154 Harbord Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1H2
416.916.8155
http://www.dtbistro.com/

Cherry Blossom


Took this picture when I went down to DC for the Cherry Blossom. The little girl was just a stranger, who was enjoying the blooming of the cherry and her youthfulness.

Preface


I havent' traveled for my own cause for a long time, and the visit of Toronto was one that I have been postponding too long. It was a trip without any serious planning on my side (lazy bastard, Winnie will put it that way...ha).

I simply drifted with the slow pace of the city; enjoyed a couple drinks, mostly Canadian Beers.

The trip was delightful, just what I needed.

Was it too short?

Nah, it was just right.