Beijing Day 4 Part 2

Stone Statues established by the emperors, carving the classic novels


Ministry of Education in Yuan , Ming , Chin dynasty


The lecture room of Chin Dynasty for the Emperors , where they gave lecture in the room and eunuchs shouting to the officials from outside.


Beautiful roof top.





Zombie uniform


Record books for attendance , misconduct...


Yong He Gong street , selling all the Tibetan religious accesories.

Bright Star - Movie Review

Story line:
London 1818: A secret love affair begins between 23-year-old English poet, John Keats and the girl next door Fanny Brawne, an out-spoken student of high fashion. This unlikely pair began at odds, he thinking her a stylish minx, while she was unimpressed, not only by his poetry but also by literature in general.

Official Site : www.brightstarthemovie.co.uk

Darby s review :
Being a fan of Jane Campion, captivated by her last movie , The Piano, Bright Star is a film that i want to catch. The story line is simple, and not as tragic as i thought it would be, the emotional bang was far less than The Piano. The director is trying to be an honest story teller this time, depicting how the courtship was started and what matter most to them in a relationship, 200 years ago in London. To re enact the love story between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, we have to go back to 1800s London with the director , we can see the scenery of country side , the dressing code, the language, the music , their leisure activities such as catching butterflies . At the first 20 minutes , the movie just reminded me of Jane Austen novels such as Sense and Sensibility , and i thought may be Campion will be a better director for her novels. As the movie goes on , it turns out the director is telling you a simple love story, about the platonic love between John and Fanny, as simple as your puppy love, except that John was a Poet and Fanny was a baby fat beauty. The pace is slow , but full of breathtaking English country side scenery. As the movie ends, i have to leave with mixed feelings , that it is a good movie great in many aspect , but the simple story line just like a cup of tea , leave you with little after taste. 3.5 Stars out of 5 Star.

Perhaps The Piano is too good as Jane Campion s masterpiece.

Darby

Open the gate and...

After spending years in PRC, i have some basic understanding of the country and its people. I roughly can read their mindsets , their working attitudes , their behaviors, honestly they do not leave a pleasant impression for majority i have encountered. But i must say some of them are really outstanding , honest , hardworking , brilliant and speak good english too, but this is only a small group of people considering China population is so big.

So i was quite shock to find out Singapore is occupied by 20% to 30 % of PRC when i returned for good to Singapore, you can see them everywhere working as the bus drivers , the hawker stalls , the wet markets , food courts. Some still carries their bad attitudes from China with nasty behaviors when serving you and cannnot speak english, but some are very good too. I was joking with Porky that one day Singapore will evolve into some nation that we do not recognise, ppl eat Gyozas , speak Mandanrin , watch China movies, the facial features of Singaporean will transform from ASEAN look (big eyes round nose tan skin )to North East Asian look (slit eyes sharp nose fair skin). Ya , basically a Little China, may be i am not joking. I am not against the idea , but i do prefer more Hongkong or Taiwan for no reasons.

On our way home after a movie yesterday, we spotted a pair of young PRC couples in early 20s . The PRC girl was wearing 1 inch long mascara, big hair, thick make up ,tight t shirt with protruding boobs , hot pants with leopard skin belt, black panty hose, leaning against her PRC boyfriend on the seats as if she s paralysed , not the least in comparison with a showbiz girl. We compared the Singaporean girls stood next to her , plain , light make up , decently clad, tanned skin. I was thinking to myself , how the Singaporean girls can fight with these PRC girls for a husband, they are bound to lose. But again , if i were to choose among them, my preference will still be Singapore girls, simple is beauty. Who wants a X mas tree at home everyday ?

Darby

Got rejected after interview

Today I got the reply from the interview before chinese new year, the answer is that they have found more suitable candidate. I just hanged up and tried to stay calm. It is quite discouraging after all i pinned much hope in this interview, i know i did not do well, but i tried to comfort myself that may be i am hoping too much to get a job just by 1 interview. I learned something from this interview too , that if the person / interviewer is not from your profession , you need to guess on the spot the intention of his / her questions. However i still feel very bad, i need time to get over it, i just do not know will i go crazy to go through this painful process.


Darby

Beijing Day 4 Part 1

Went to Kung Temple and Ministry of Education ( Guo Zhi Jian ) , they are next to each other. And follow by a street selling Tibetan stuffs at Yong He Gong Street.

Beijing ppl believe this bunny riding a tiger is a God can bless students with good study results, i dun understand why the bunny will not get eaten alive.


The Ministry of Education since Yuan Dynasty.








Confucious temple.










They like to offer cute piglet to Kung and his students. How can they eat such a cute animal at the sight of it.

Darby

Beijing Day 3

Went Pan Jia Yuan and Today Art Museum. Heavy snowing last night made my walking more difficult , wearing the wrong shoes.


How thick is the snow.




Pan Jia Yuan , Antique market.





Arty Farty Today Art Museum.




Funny Zigzag entrance for the museum.



Snow outside the museum cafe, alone and i missed the pig.


Museum Cafe interior.

Darby

Beijing Day 2 _ Part 2

Day 2 Forbidden City


Yang Xin Palace , Where Emperor Yong Zhen lived.


Ministry of Defence , Jun Ji Chu.


The purchase order for tonic for Ci Xin when she was pregnant.


The Emperor and Empress Gown


This is their fridge, just put the ice inside.


The teh tarik pot , which the royal family drink the milk tea from.





Cartier was having an exhibition open for publick too in forbidden city.

Keep my fingers crossed

Back from interview and honestly i do not know what is the outcome , as the interviewer is not from my profession , he just asked whatever concerns his department , which i failed to catch initially , but i commented about his concerns later on when i elaborated on my past experience. He is not keen to find out whether i am fit for the job or not , but only concern about how i will interact with his department in terms of my role. Anyway it is over and no point worrying about it.

Porky is having bad cough again , due to his bad habit of not sleeping on time. I am having back aching again due to not enough sleep too. i spent much time on revising my technical knowledge and slept at 1 am last night, In the end there is not a single question asked on it. GRRRRRRR .. Both of us met up for a short while then went home straight for rest.

I have been getting invitation from ex company to ask me to go back to Shenzhen , but i have rejected them. There are many reasons, and the biggest reason is there is no Porky Pig in Shenzhen.

I better go to bed now , my back is aching again.


Darby

I am nervous

I will be having my first interview today after so many applications since January, the jobscope is what i can handle and i like , cause it is not manufacturing based, which means i can leave production floor for good. i am nervous as it will change many things should i get the offer, i will have better financial status , able to support myself and my parents, able to bring my mum to IR and let her spend my money without feeling i am broke, able to do many things with Porky and not becoming his burden. I will not feel insecure.

I know my first job (after i am back again to Singapore) will not be my last job , but i know it is a whole new chapter opened and i really appreciate it. I am nervous but i know i should not be.

Darby

The boys are back

Dsiappointments after watching 2 Hollywood movies , New York I love U and Hachiko, i decided not to watch any more Hollywood films. We went to Vivocity last night to catch a movie by "Billy Elliot" Director , The boys are back. **** 4 stars out of 5 .
The actors are good , the kids and Clive Owen, like their acting. And beautiful scenery of Australia and great background music. Simple plot but never boring, not over ambitious but everything under control, the director did not disappoint me. When is the last time you saw the golden grassfields caressed by breeze, sea shores during sunset , mountain rocks hit by tidal waves. Kids running and jumping with no worries. Husband crying over the loss of wife. The brave child cured his father unknowingly with his innocence. The teenage son recounciled with his biological father. 3 boys in a house with no woman coping with life.

This movie is true , simple , poetic.

Darby

New Year Shopping

I had my shopping spree with Alien and other secondary schoolmates last week, i have bought a shirt for myself and Porky , a business pants for my coming interview on tomorrow. Keep my fingers crossed.

After the shopping, the old boys went to a newly opened hot pot restaurant and chit chat. i always detest Spicy Hot Pot from Szechuan ( Ma La Huo Guo ) , one of the horrible things that China ppl likes to eat, purely and numbing hot, only good for ppl with no taste buds. I was not expecting much from the hot pot restaurant but it turned out that the soup base is light and clear , ingredients are fresh and not oily. We had our fills and chatted for about 2 hours, mainly on why is not Merino getting hitched after so many years of courtship, hehehe. Both Alien and i are now happily engaged in a long term relationship , and the Nun is married to the Buddha ( so he is gay too ), but why Merino , our only hope among the gang is still single ? But anyway why bother to get married since the iceberg of north pole will melt soon , stop producing babies like rabbits is a good idea to save the earth.

After the gathering , we left for home and Alien drove me home. We had booked each other on the third day of Chinese New Year for Kara OK / Mahjong / Drinking and Eating, that is how we gather fat at our waists. Fat tigers roaring. Grrrr...


Darby