Twitter friend Ray Kwong’s tweet about lunch today at Causeway Bay made me wish I could take off for Hong Kong. Guess I’ll just have to experience it virtually in photos from former trips.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thinking about Hong Kong
Twitter friend Ray Kwong’s tweet about lunch today at Causeway Bay made me wish I could take off for Hong Kong. Guess I’ll just have to experience it virtually in photos from former trips.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Speak Fluent Japanese Without Saying A Word (domo arigato to Twitter friend @raykwong)
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2092&feature=player_embedded
Came across this amusing video through Twitter and Twitter buddy @raykwong. It reminds me of my son saying that during his summer internship at a Japanese marketing firm (in Hawai‘i), the office could communicate entirely through grunts. This video does not display the full spectrum of these monosyllabic, non-verbal but totally audible expressions, but you will get the gist. Or maybe the h-s-s-s-s of it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Singing Ship Skeleton: When the music fades
From one of my favorite reads, Shanghaiist http://shanghaiist.com/2009/02/24/photos_aboard_a_singing_ship_in_sha.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery, select photos of the now abandoned New Century, docked along the Huangpu River in Shanghai. You can almost hear the music and imagine dancing spectres.
See all the Ric’s photos and read the accompanying story here http://shanghaiist.com/2009/02/24/photos_aboard_a_singing_ship_in_sha.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery
Saturday, February 21, 2009
More pillows
Select pillows featured on Toxel.com http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/02/17/unique-pillows-and-creative-pillow-designs/ with thanks to Twitter friend @danyocummings
My pikake plant is blooming!
I love the smell of pikake (Hawaiian word for the jasmine flower) - and my little potted pikake plant is blooming! Yay! Not enough for a lei, however, but it makes me happy. By the way, I would rather have a pikake lei more than any other.
My Mother's Narcissus
Every year my mother carves narcissus bulbs for Chinese New Year. She started with a class at the Honolulu Academy of Arts [ http://www.honoluluacademy.org] under a master who taught her the finer art of carving the bulbs in the crab claw style, causing the shoots to later emerge curled under like the claws of a crab. The bulbs take careful tending: lots of sunlight every day along with a daily change of fresh water.
There was a period when my dad was alive that the bulbs took over her whole patio, and dear dad took extra care in helping her change the water in plethora of containers that covered the tables. She was always on the search for more containers for her narcissus as well as river rocks to keep them stable, and at one time had squirreled stacks of tofu tubs for her pet project.
Here is the narcissus she gave to me this year. At 84 years old, she didn’t have the time and energy to crab the bulbs, still the bulbs bloomed beautifully. She said this plant was her best this year. I wish you could smell the blossoms. The delicate fragrance drifts softly through the room, just like a refined Chinese woman. Unfortunately, narcissus only last for not much more than a week.
Thanks, Mom!
Read more about narcissus in this recent Shanghai Daily article where you can also see an example of the crab claw narcissus:
Narcissus, fragrant flower of winter
[http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200901/20090117/article_388287.htm]
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday reading: scientists are finding evidence that faith has all kinds of health benefits.
via time.com
Excerpt:
Here's what's surprising: a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that faith may indeed bring us health. People who attend religious services do have a lower risk of dying in any one year than people who don't attend. People who believe in a loving God fare better after a diagnosis of illness than people who believe in a punitive God. No less a killer than AIDS will back off at least a bit when it's hit with a double-barreled blast of belief. "Even accounting for medications," says Dr. Gail Ironson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami who studies HIV and religious belief, "spirituality predicts for better disease control."
But don't take scientists' word – discover the benefits for yourself. I have!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Chup by Zeb & Haniya |TweetTune for Feb 13, 2009
(3919 KB)
Listen on posterous
Enjoyed the radio story on these two Pakistani cousins, eb Bangash and Haniya Aslam, on BBC The World. Read the transcript or listen to the story here http://www.theworld.org/node/24482. Then enjoy their music.
The "Haka" belongs to the Maori!
via news.bbc.co.uk
Excerpt from BBC Radio transcript:
"The New Zealand government has agreed to acknowledge Maori ownership of the haka war dance used by the national rugby team, the All Blacks.
The agreement comes after protracted negotiations between the government and several Maori tribes seeking compensation for historic grievances.
Millions of dollars are being paid in a comprehensive settlement.
The move follows concerns the Ka Mate haka, known to rugby fans world-wide, was being commercially exploited.
In 2006, an advertisement for Fiat cars featured Italian women doing a version of the haka.
The challenge has also featured in a cinema film about rugby called Forever Strong.
The government has now agreed that the Ka Mate haka belongs to a Maori tribe, the Ngati Toa.
Its chief, Te Rauparaha, was recognised as the originator of the haka, written to celebrate his escape from death in a battle in the 1820s."
Note: I grew up in Hawaii watching the haka performed but never knew its origins until now. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Football team performs their own haka before every game, but a Hawaiian version. Makes the adrenaline rise, probably the testosterone, too.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Davos, Quincy Jones, & What's Sexy
Quotes from Quincy Jones by Calvin Wu Chin twittering from Davos http://www.weforum.org/en/index.htm
“It takes 20yrs to change a culture.
The last 20 yrs we made dumb sexy. we made greed sexy.
Let's make dignity sexy, let's change the culture; let's do well and do good.”
A-men!!
(Twitter users, follow Calvin Wu Chin at http://twitter.com/calvinwuchin)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
