How is everyone going? Stressed? Tired? Bored? haha a bit of everything?
Some
of you may be aware of this already...EarthHour is coming up on
Saturday the 31st of March. And because i know you all love me very
much, i'm urging you, yes YOU, to join in the campaign
of simply switching off your lights for one hour between 7:30 and 8:30.
(And tell all your friends too!) It's a simple action if everyone
takes part, sending a powerful message that we care about the future of
the planet.
United we can make a difference!
So, some of you may
think "what's in it for me?" Well, if you sign up on the website, you
go in the draw to win a TOYOTA PRIUS! HOw awesome is that?! I know i
want one!
Ok ok..so some of you may also be thinking "what am i going to
do for an hour of darkness?" Well, since it's saturday night, i'd be
happy to organise some kind of outing (preferably in the city where we
can actually witness this landmark event). So if anyone have any
suggestions or would like to come along pls email back ASAP.
NANA2 is due to be released in all good asian countries. From
the trailor alone, this sequel seems to be better than its
predecessor. The theme song Hotoiro by Mika Nakashima is also
better because it is more suited her Jazz style. That said however, the
song is not really jrock/punk which sux because Osaki Nana is meant to
be a rocker.
All this excitement of a new NANA movie have induced me to create... something -_-
And hence the following pics ^^
Nostalgic?
The words, "sono yume no naka de oyasumi", are from Hitoiro.
I think it means "so in the middle of a yume, good night".
The words say "ne Nana, watashi wa ureshikute".
Hachi says that in the movie *nod nod*
It's one of the signature lines that defines NANA2.
It basically means "hey Nana, I'm happy".
Simple yes, but if you know the story line, then this line is VERY significant.
(In case anyone's wondering, that's me in the photos! o^-^o)
Of course, it's impossible for a girl mere age of 18 to conqure
each and every cafe and resturant in Sydney, little own the
world. So if you've been to a nice eatery, take some pics, write
a review and send it to me. I'll edit, post and appropriately
quote the source (that's you).
Haha.. it seems like the whole idea of Shanghai
folks being despised is not limited to the Sydney Asian culture.This extract below from Wikipedia nicely
summaries what it means to be a true Shanghai Ning.(The word "ning" is the shang dialect for person, 人).
Shanghainese people have often been stereotyped by other Chinese (both
urban and rural) as being materialistic, pretentious, and disdainful of
provincials; and at the same time, however, they are admired for their
meticulous attention to detail, faithfulness in contract,
professionalism, and style.
While reading this, I was thinking "haha..it's soo true!"
But nevertheless, my favourite part of Shanghai is a part which exists
no longer. Yep..it's the 1920's and 30's Shanghai, popularised by
Chinese series such as Romance in the Rain, 桔子红了(ju zi hong le/the oranges are ripe) and singer Jay Chou.
The main cast of Romance in the Rain. Left to right: Ruby Lin, Alex (i think), Vicky, Leo
The main cast of Ju Zi Hong Le
This period brings back a certain sense of nostalgia of an opium induced time of dreams, hopes and despair.
Depending on which source you read, Shanghai 1920-30 was dubbed the "Whore of the Orient" or "Paris of the Orient".
It is a place full of intrigue, and of paradox. Depending on your
affluence, people wore a mixture of qipaos and "Western"
clothing. The filthy rich lived beside the struggling poor with
no intention on helping the other latter. (There was capitalist selfishness even in those early days) Extreme
conservative morals (eg a singer was likened to a common whore, and
adultery was unthinkable) were enforced but the city still buzzed with
late night entertainment and stories to make modern gossip magazines
look like judiciary reports.
I can't find the source...otherwise i would've quoted it...seriously! I would!
Most of all, there was a sense of chaos under
the calm outlook, or perhaps calmness within the chaos.British then French settlement introduced
their distinctive 19th century European archiecture to the Shang Shikumen (石库门)
townhouses.There was unchecked
violence, sex and drugs. Revolution was stirring, the Japanese was in
Manchuria.The air was thick with
tension. No destiny was secure, yet it was meant to be a time of great
movements towards a promising future. Yet through it all, there were still nightly wild
cha (tea) parties, Chinese opera, dancing and people flocking in abundance to
for a good time.I guess the Shang's
ignorance about domestic politics had existed even then....U~UOn behalf of all Shanghai Ning, I apologise
in our lack of participation during the Tiananmen Sq protest.
So why do I love this period so much? I believe this is the way a city is meant to be - vibrant, electric, resilient, multifaceted, and most of all, dynamic.
Sheila once said "Tough times don't last but
tough people do". Even though she's forgotten that it was her
who uttered those invaluable words, that phrase has been deeply etched into my
mind. So much so, that it was the only thing that got me through this week.
This may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but this week was the longest
week in my whole life. I had to sacrifice Conception and
dinner with Jingya and co!
The week started fairly well with a mini birthday celebration for a co-worker
named Angie at Wellbeing. This, however, proved to be short-lived
when by mid week she was drowned in tears over life direction troubles,
boyfriend troubles, family troubles, and financial troubles. (Friends, if
you're in uni/tafe, no matter how hard it is, POWER THROUGH!!! or else
i'll drag you through kicking and screaming). It is all very well
to sympathise with Angie, but it is hard when one dysfunctional worker results
in all the work dumped onto me who don't feel any better to be trapped in a
hell hole for 6 hours a day, everyday of the working week. I feel very much
like Harry from White Castle. And with Angie moody, there was no one to talk to
which made work that much more boring. Somehow through it all, I managed to get
caught up in her emotions and felt pretty shitty as well. I actually
cried with her for about 2 minutes which i later scolded myself for
crying for no apparent reason.
Then on top of all that, there is my lovely neo nazi "team leader"
who, as nice as she is, makes me want to avoid her as much as possible for
reasons that is not even clear to myself.
In the afternoons, I take a boy whose name I still don't know under my wings as
I teach him about the fascinating scope of Year 9 Mathematics. It
is actually quite fun teaching him because I end up listening to stories about
Ancient Rome, Egypt, Greece due to the fact that he is a Ancient History
fanatic. It is also quite stressful at times as I juggle
between teaching him, getting him to do exercises and listen to his
stories all in the one hour session. Once, I guiltily listened to his
story for the whole one hour.
My own time starts around 6:30pm everyday. I squeeze in about 1hr piano
before it gets too late and too impolite for the neighbours to endure with
my bad piano bangings. After that and dinner is studying. I'm still stuck on
chapter 16 of Learn HTLM and XTML in 16 Days and pg 6 of Australian
Economics after almost more than 5 weeks. Yep..progress is almost non existent.
Despite that, I did manage to finish The Devil Wears Prada and have
started on Sex and the City (the novel). Why all these chic
novels?? I have no idea. >.< Can somebody find me back the old me who
reads Isobelle Carmody and Stephan King please?
Today, I just clocked in another 7 hrs of tutoring fun. Luckily I was
only sneezed on once, made only 5 photocopying errors of which 3 was unnoticeable,
and managed to avoid the sinful garlic bread (free at my workplace).
I will end this post by referring back to the quote that i started with -
"tough times don't last but tough people do". I can't really say i've
toughed it out but at least the end is near. Just one more week and i'll be in
a hopefully better but definitely more relaxing place. =D
