I'm gonna watch this on this Thursday

Mao's Last Dancer

Cover of the CD Book

Li CunXin

• I was brought to tears while reading his story and watching the trailer.
• Am preparing packs of tissues for the cinema this coming Thursday.
• It's a true story from Li's autobiography, please go watch the movie!
• Read http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/03/1064988386797.html
• and also watch the trailer:

Happy birthday Confucius 孔夫子

Confucius is born 2559 years ago, happy birthday 孔夫子!

*Western Georgian calender is 28 September; Chinese Lunar calender is 27th day of 8th lunar month, which falls on 15 October this year 2009)*

Am posting this because in Mainland China they are celebrating the teacher's day in conjunction with Confucius birthday today.

Some well known Confucian quotes:

• "When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them." 知錯能改，善莫大焉。(Lit: To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue.)

• "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others" 己所不欲，勿施於人。

• "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my crooked arm for a pillow - is not joy to be found therein? Riches and honors acquired through unrighteousness are to me as the floating clouds" 疏食飲水，曲肱而枕，樂在其中矣。不義而富貴，于我如浮雲。

• "To understand nothing is to understand everything." 知錯大 能改，善樂在其莫焉。

I disagree with the translation for the last quote. It should mean something like "know your wrong deeds and willing to correct them, there is joy in doing so". I am not sure of the meaning of the second verse though .but the first verse is definitely about "to realize what is wrong and attempt to correct it". We learn this in the shortened form: 知過能改，善莫大焉 during primary school. I don't think I am mistaken about this, but... who knows the larger meaning of it is "to understand nothing is to understand everything"?

Argh, unacceptable. That English translation is deviated too far away from its true meaning!

When I googled and apparently lots of Chinese site take this translation and circulate it as the correct translation for the proverb. Oh please Wikipedia, that is wrong!

Art works related to Confucius: http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/art/sacred.asp?mc=15

Raya food and more healthy diet + lifestyle

Saya akan timbang diri sendiri sama ada pada hari Rabu atau Jummat ini, kemudian buat pelan detox dan jadual masa gym serta renang. Sekian.

• I have lots of pimples now and my stomach is bloating almost all the time. Urgently need to detox myself not only from the oil and charcoal food but also from lack of sleep. Will start to adjust my lifestyle back to normal. An email from my student that titled (translated from Mandarin): "Irregular sleeps equals to commit suicide---for people who don't sleep at night", somewhat rings an alarm to me and I suppose I should live a healthier lifestyle.
• I will force myself to go to campus everyday and do my work in the office as much as I can. And this, will require me to wake up early and my room will be the place for leisure and rest only. Making the bedroom as my workplace is probably the factor that contributes to my on-and-off insomnia. But to tell the truth, I love to do work in my room. Hmph.
• Need to build up my stamina at the gym, I lost to a nanny in swimming on the last Thursday and I am ashamed of myself^^
• Lately it's cold again and I don't sweat much. No detox activity at all. No good^^

Aja! Aja! Fighting!

20th Melbourne Queer film festival

Stumbled upon this while booking ticket for Australian Malaysian Film Festival^^

1. This is so interesting!
2. But I'm not sure what they mean by Become a member and enjoy benefits all year round! ^_^

• But let's pray that I won't be in Melbourne during this time LOL

26 on the 22nd

• It's my birthday on 22nd September.
• I don't feel like celebrate it because I had so much fun for the past 4 days.
• I had given myself birthday gifts last month so I won't get myself anything this month.
• I will instead calm my mind and make myself be more focus on my research.
• I just started planning my research plan for the next 3 months, starting today.
• I am seeking peace of mind.
• I am seeking for forgiveness, from my parent, my brothers, my friends, and everyone I know.
• I have a wish. If it is not realised, it's OK :)
• I must improve my academic English.
• I must be well-prepared for my field work and my further chapter writing.
• I wish happy Autumn Equinox day (first day of Autumn) to the people who live in Northern hemisphere countries. That's how I get "Autumn" in my name :)
• I wish I am wiser than previous years. Amen.

Raya di Perantauan

Raya Open House at Basha's studio at Carlton

Raya Open House of Desa Bundoora at Reservoir Civic Centre

• Lots of things on my mind that I wish to say here but my brain is too tired to function. I think the most important thing is gratitute and appreciation during Raya. We hope people are REALLY forgiving each other and appreciate the bonds we bind either from Malaysia and also in Melbourne. You girls are the precious Elixirs that I found in the PhD journey and I thank GOD for that.

Good habit to stay slim and slender

Fresh orange juice and fresh vege with strawberries salad. I love organic food but I have to travel to fresh markets to buy them at cheaper price^^

1. Don't skip breakfast. Even if you wake up late. No matter what, even if you're going to be late for something, grab something to eat, don't skip!
2. Don't take bath right after you eat a meal. So the best way is to bath first, before taking any meal. Taking a bath right after you eat is the cause of your tummy/small belly! Or, rest at least 1 hour after taking a meal before taking a bath.
3. Take the stairs instead of lift. Walk more can tone your legs. Though there are myths saying do more legs exercise would make your legs more muscular, but hey, that is really not the case. Look at the models on the runway and imagine how many miles or kilometers they walk in 1 day (including training and all). Yet they also work out in the gym (on the treadmills some more!). So the muscular thingy is just another reason to be lazy.
4. Think positively. Be happy!
5. Don't go to sleep straight away right after having a meal.

So far these are the things that I can think of, they are additional notes to my detox plan. These are some very simple things to do but apparently nobody is willing to do it. Sigh.

I lost 3 KG in 3 days (or 2 and a half day to be exact!)

Avocado blended with soy milk and topping with blueberries

1. It sounds simple and what you need to do within these 3 days are: Detox for 2 days, eat fruits only for 1 day (on the first day), and 1 hour workout at gym for 2 days-----my total weight loss is 3 Kg. Cool!

Alternate Plan A

1. My detox plan used to be very simple: drink 2 litres of water in the morning for 1 week. And then you eat normal lunch, tea break and dinner or even supper for the rest of the day. I did this during primary school and secondary school when I felt there is too many toxin in my body LOL. Sounds good? Not everyone can drink 2 litres of plain water in the morning.

• My first try (primary 5 I think) I could only drink 800 ml. But I manage to swallow down 1.5 litre the next morning and on the third morning I can drink 2 litres without feeling want to puke.
• I repeated my water detox plan later in university not because I were gaining weight but because I ate nasi lemak nasi goreng and all the unhealthy devilish yummy Malaysian food everyday but still remain slim. I thought there must be something wrong with me (ada ulat dalam perut?) so decided to wash myself clean by drinking lotsa water.
• And I can tell you that for my 3 years of Bachelor study, almost everyday I peed oily urine and also oily faeces. What to do, we were not allowed to cook on campus (no kitchen at all by the way) and I stayed on-campus for 3 full years, so I ate out EVERY SINGLE DAY and the food are damn oily.

Kiwis and fresh blueberries

Alternate Plan B (which I was adopting now)

1. But here in Oz the food are fatty in terms of margarine fat and yeast fat and I don't really fancy salad without salad dressing. Hence on Day 1 I try to use fruit detox: Avocado soy drink with blueberries and 2 kiwis for brunch on the first day of detox. That's all.

• When feeling hungry just drink lots of water. When you go to pee you will see oily substance in your urine! That means the detox plan is success! I also did an one hour workout at the gym in the evening: burn 100 calories on treadmill, another 100 on the peddler, and another 100 on cycling. I did some weighing too on my legs and arms. And of course don't forget a must do routine: pilates. Go to sleep early if you are very hungry.

1. On Day 2, if you cannot stand drinking plain water only in the morning you can choose to make yourself some tea. Some people prefer green tea but for me OoLong tea is the best. For the differences and benefits read this, and this.

• I love Oolong tea since I'm young, before I read about these articles, mohoho. I ate 2 kiwis for lunch. But in the evening I felt very hungry so I decided to eat very little rice with lots of carrots, 100g of baked beans and very little tuna. And then rest for at least half an hour before you drink water or tea (if you drink right after eating it won't help digestion).

1. On Day 3, repeat Day 1's routine: water or tea in the morning, avocado drink for brunch, workout at the gym for one hour. It was at the gym that I weighed myself and found out I lost 3 Kg. So I happily went back and make myself Day 2's dinner with more rice, more carrots, more tuna, and more baked beans LOL. Topping with cheese some more^^

And with this detox + exercise plan I manage to fit into super skinny jeans in the shortest timeframe possible, yay! Which means I lose 1 to 2 size perhaps?

Dokdo is ours because it's ours, m**********r

• LMAO
• Dokdo becomes a Kimchi island XD

1. I love this fella's blog, simply hilarious.

How Korean kid pictured Japan

The kid put the Japan on fire, LOL!

BMW Shorties 2009

I've just finished watching the finalist of BMW Short Film Competition. I Love to watch the finalists and so far I've watched ASTRO Kirana Short Film Award and London's Bob Award's participating films, all in 2009. I guess I am only able to be so active watching short film now because Malaysian internet connection sucks. Period.

• Anyway, I enjoy watching short films by the finalists and I vote for them :)
• In BMW Shorties there are 9 finalists, and I will comment according to the order presented in the website here.
• The first one is Flashes by Prakash Murugiah.

The director use the first person's view to film the whole story. At first I was not fascinated by this technique due to the shortcoming of using such way to film the story. But as the story proceeds, it starts to get interesting and I have to say I love it.

• I vote for this :)

At first the loud and noisy opening of Ma Chai irritated me, but as it proceeds it is so funny and interesting to watch, that it became one of my top favourites :)

• I can't stop laughing watching it and it's sooo Malaysian^^ (with heavy Indian style of course).

Seriously, I am very sure and certain that Afiq Deen's short films are better than this one (sorry Chow!).

• Make sure you manage to enter the next BMW Shorties Afiq :)

I kinda expected what is the end of the story when Tok Imam talked to the troubled guy. And little bit of Final Destination feeling. Hmmm, makes me wonder about some values and thinking related to Islam but I'm not going to talk about them here.

This director has a funny nickname "Katak Chua". Though the story is soooo ordinary that it would touch everyone's heart, somehow there is something missing. What is missing I don't know, you have to watch it yourself.

• But I have to say out of the 9 films, this one gives the strongest impression on BMW car XD

I have to say the plot surprised me a little bit. I thought this would be like Yasmin Ahmad's "Chocolate" where the parent's face would not be shown throughout the film, only at the end the audience realied why it is the case. The actors speak Hakka, reminds me of my next door neighbour in my hometown :)

• The second strongest impression on BMW----> the car key XD

I am very much annoyed by this film. May be I just dislike loud speeches, that's all. Er, may be it is also because I don't like Cantonese, remind some of the lousy Hong Kong TV shows. In my opinion, though dogs pay attention to their breeders but it does not mean they would focus on their owner's face for THAT long. If you ever tried to talk to a dog (of yours), you would know what I mean :p

• By the title of the film I thought there would be a conversation between the two (either people to people or people to animal, it does not matter), but from what I see it is only one-sided story-telling. Misleading betul punya title lah Mr. Bernard Loh.

I am surprised that a short animation is included. I have no faith in Malaysian 3D or CG animation making but I would say this one is not bad. The Boutique's owner reminds me of the old man in Pixar's "Up".

• A very french-themed animation. Guess the production unit loves French culture very much. I would suggest the title be changed to "Les Mannequins". There are 2 mannequins there people. LOL.
• *Mannequin is pronounced as mah-ni-kan (short n) in French*

Finally, a short film about suicide message. I have many dissatisfaction regarding this film. Minus the personal fact that I dislike the narrator's low-tone voice, I would like to question that would you read a boring creepy suicide notes falls out of no where until the end of the letter and just threw it on the street (no civil responsibility as well)? And many more regarding the points made in the suicide note and the method of suicide but I need to rest LOL.

• Just checked the news about the winners from NST. And I become a fan of Parakash's Flashes on Facebook.

Hmmmm, seems like my predictions are not much differ from the outcomes but I am very surprised about the Conversation with the Mad Man :(