My initial thought was, “Night and Day”?  I don’t even know the movie.  After watching the trailer, I said to myself maybe it’s a good movie since the cast are star-studded.  Reminiscing my crush with Tom Cruise era.  haahah!

After a healthy meal at QQ Rice and some spot of ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, we dashed our way to cinema 8 at The Village.  (Side note:  if you watch at cinema 8, they will raffle off three movie tickets after the movie so don’t leave right away.)  The movie is about a secret agent by the name of Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) who was being framed by their agency for “selling” a battery that can light up a whole town.  Battery?  geez.. so lame.  At the airport, he bumped into June Havens (Cameron Diaz) who was also on the same flight as he.  June is a mechanic who love to refurbish old cars.  She’s a typical country girl who hasn’t been even out of the country. 

The scenes went from a plane crash, to a shoot-out, to a remote island, to Spain, to a bull-fight, to the Alps, meeting the parents, to an explosion… the movie is relatively blah and not as exciting as I thought it would be.  The punch lines lack taste and at the end of it all, it’s like “I’m just glad my tickets are for free as it’s not really a good movie”.  Cameron Diaz is most of the time drugged by Miller and the action scenes are not even James Bond or MI3 caliber. 

Verdict: 1 out of 5.  Sorry.. even though it’s star-studded, the plot is shallow, the action scenes lack finesse and the punch lines are so bad.  Makes me think, why do I bother writing a review about it. Heh!

A fan of the 1984 movie with the cute Ralph Macchio, I didn’t know that it was revived by Jackie Chan until a friend of mine suggested that I watched it.  My friend and I went to The Village and checked the schedule.  Luckily there was one starting in 30 minutes so we had time to walk around the mall then come back for the start of the show.  Ticket costs RMB 80 per head and it wasn’t packed.  The movie theatre itself has nice comfy seats and pretty good sound system.

Sherry Parker (Taraji Henson) is a single mom whose work caused her to move with his son, Dre (Jaden Smith) to China.   While playing basketball, Dre noticed a young lady, Mei Ying, who was listening to music while reading her sheet music.  Dre approached Mei Ying but was later prevented by Mei Ying’s family friend who’s well versed in Kung Fu.  A short fight ensured with Dre in the ground agonizing in pain.  Dre later found out, that they all went to the same school and Mei Ying is applying for a slot with the Beijing Academy of Arts.  As a young man in China, Dre dreams of learning kung fu.  He found a school with her mom one day to only find out that the guy who beat

him up was studying there.  Tired of being bullied, he pranked the kid but was later caught and got beaten up again.  He was saved by the maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who was taught by his father kung fu.  Dre asked Mr. Han to teach him but he refused.  However, this all changed when Mr. Han and Dre went to the school where the bullies are studying to talk to the teacher.  Instead of a friendly conversation, it became a challenge to compete in a kung fu tournament. 

Dre was initially scared but later ecstatic as he will be able to learn kung fu.  His enthusiasm waned as Mr. Han only asked him to “take off the jacket, hang the jacket, remove the jacket, drop the jacket, pick up the jacket” over and over again.  When he got fed up, he threw a tantrum which started his “real” kung fu training.  His training brought him to Wudang Mountain where he saw a lady following the movement of the snake.  Mr. Han explained that the lady wasn’t following the snake but the snake was following the lady.  He tried this technique to his mom but wasn’t able to do it.  More practice and some light drama.. Fast forward competition, he won!  hahahaha!  of course he won! The original karate kid won so Dre should also win.  

Changes:

• Location :  the setting for the old one is in sunny California, while this one is in Beijing, China
• Fight Scene : no more looking like a praying mantis.
• Sights:  you’ll see the Great Wall which was pretty cool as it was void of people just like when Obama visited it.  Forbidden City with the red doors. 
• School:  it’s a typical Chinese school.  I should visit it and take a photo outside the school.  My colleague said she saw it already. 
• Wudang Mountain:  I don’t know how they used a train to go to this place but it’s quite far from Beijing.  The stop that they got off from is actually just outside Beijing but the temple is in Hubei province.  Maybe they have the same stop in Hubei.  I’ve never been to Wudang Mountain so I can’t relate.

Favorite scene:  When Dre and Mei Ying went to the arcade and competed in a dance game.  Dre was confident and Mei Ying was initially shy.  However, she showed her moves and man! she’s good!  My friend and I were laughing hard as she’s even better than I am.

Verdict:  4 out of 5.  Somehow the pattern is still there but the way they changed the theme made it much better than the first one.  Maybe I’m just biased as I’m here in Beijing.  However, I would recommend for you guys to watch it.

This trip to Manila was even a question mark in the beginning as prices went up towards the middle of April.  In any case, when I planned for this trip, my goal was to meet my 8 month old niece, get the stuff my sister sent me, spend time with my dad and do some shopping.  It was a good coincidence to have celebrated my Uncle’s 51st birthday.  However, the trip ended in a sad note with my uncle passing away on the day before my flight back to Beijing.

If you care to read on, I’ll be writing a daily diary of my trip:

April 29, 2010 – Beijing – Hong Kong – Manila

DELAYED.  That’s what happened on both legs of my flight.  It would be nice if we were delayed while at the airport but the delay happened while inside the airplane.  I remembered in our Hong Kong to Manila flight, the flight purser apologized and explained in Chinese that the delay was due to air traffic in the runway and we were the 14th in line for take-off.  However, the flight purser who spoke in English explained that we were 14th in line for take off and no apologies.  Where’s the apology??  I mean they should at least be considerate of the passengers.  I just like the airplanes we used on both legs as we have individual screens and the headsets were working in both ears.  The downside is the food as in both legs, they really suck.  I wasn’t even able to finish eating it even though I was hungry.  Breakfast served was running cold and the sandwich was not to my liking. 

April 29, 2010 – John and Yoko, Greenbelt 5

I celebrated my 31st birthday in this restaurant and enjoyed the mango chicken teriyaki pizza.  I remembered how the mango and teriyaki sauce blends well together and the thin crust.  To relive the experience, I invited my dad and siblings to this restaurant.  The Philadelphia roll was a big “WHAT IS THIS?” and the California roll was just ok.  Of course, nothing beats the Mango Chicken Teriyaki pizza which we ordered two and the Oyster overload.   My bill came out to almost PHP 1400.

April 30, 2010 – Dentist, Acer Service Center and Uncle Dodong’s 51st Birthday

Every time I fly to Manila, I see to a point to visit my dentist for teeth cleaning and check-up.  I was happy to know that I don’t need any other dental procedures except for my regular teeth cleaning. 

After my dentist appointment, I went to Metropoint to check with the LTO renewal office if I could renew my drivers license 6 months before expiry.  Lady luck wasn’t on my side and was referred to the main LTO office in Pasay.  He said I should arm myself with my driver’s license, passport and travel ticket as proof that I was set to leave on that date for them to process the renewal.  As it was the last day for government offices to work during my stay, I opt not to pursue it and plan it for my next travel.  Lunch at home was grilled tangigue and chicken adobo.  Yummy! 

After lunch brought me to the Acer Service Center near Robinson’s Otis where I have my laptop voluntary recalled as requested.  According to them, they need to fix the battery or the cables linking to the battery but somehow, it wasn’t fixed as my battery doesn’t fully charge still.     I have to contend with a shorter battery life.  Bummer! 

After a quick grocery stop at Cash and Carry where they don’t even have Corned Beef!  I headed home to wait for my cousin who will also visit my Uncle at the hospital and celebrate his 51st birthday.  For this occasion, my sister baked Strawberry Shortcake.  When we arrived at the hospital, my uncle was conscious and even wanted some ice cream.  I even joked with my aunt and tell her to melt the ice cream and put it in the bag which pumps food to my uncle’s bloodstream.  Uncle was in good spirits even through the pain he’s experiencing.  I was also able to taste Amber’s palabok and barbecue which were the best! 

May 1 – Sonya’s Garden, Tagaytay, Dencio’s Grill and Iron Man 2

As I haven’t been to Tagaytay for quite some time, my cousins graciously volunteered to bring me there for a visit.  It was a quick trip as I need to be back in town to pick up my laptop.  We had lunch at Sonya’s Garden and enjoyed the ambiance.  It was horse food but healthy.  We had fun with the singkamas and had funny pictures depicting vampires and rabbit.  After lunch, we headed to Starbucks to get a shot with Taal Volcano.  Para bang tourist.  Hehehe! 

At night, my cousin Patrick was in high spirits and treated us for dinner.  Since I was craving for sisig, we went to Dencio’s.  It was an ok meal.  The sisig was crunchy but dry, the adobong pusit rice was bland, the lechon kawali with kangkong was bland and another chicken which I don’t know what it was was just ok. 

After dinner, we met up with my cousins’ friends and watched Iron Man 2.  I didn’t know what to expect as I haven’t seen Iron Man 1.  Reviews from friends who’ve watched it were mixed but we were informed that we have to stay till after the credits to catch a short glimpse of Iron Man 3.  The movie was a typical comic book story turned into a movie with special effects and good fight scenes.  It wasn’t a wow movie but it was good. 

After the movie, I headed to my cousin’s place and played with my cute cute niece, Sonja.  She didn’t cry when I held her even if my cousin told me that she was recognizing people already.  The clothes I bought for her were luckily still big even though it was meant for a 6 month old baby. 

May 2 – CCF, Banana Leaf, Hospital Visit and Swimming with Sonja

At 8am, we were already attending the CCF worship service at St. Francis.  The message was to be a proactive citizen.  The emphasis was to go and vote in the upcoming elections in May 10.  He didn’t mention which candidate to vote but to exercise our right to vote.  I will be voting once I return to Beijing.  My candidate?  Most probably Gordon who I initially chose. 

At lunch, my dad, sister and I met up with my Aunt Janet and her family.  We gave the stuff that were meant for my mom and siblings in the US as they were travelling on the 4th.  The pandan chicken was a bit dry for my taste and would have been better.  The pad thai was well received.  The Chinese Kangkong was wolfed down immediately and the fish was wiped out to the bones. 

After lunch, we received a call from my aunt saying that my uncle took a turn for the worse and was asking for all siblings to visit him at the hospital.  We made a quick detour to Rockwell as I want to buy this Pilipinas shirt at Collezione.   After dropping off the items I bought at home, my dad, brother, sister-in-law and I went to the hospital.  We can see that he was having difficulty already.  Somehow he already foresaw that he will be leaving soon.  By 530pm, we decided to continue with our set activities and headed to my aunt’s place for swimming with baby Sonja.  It was uneventful as Sonja wasn’t the bubbly kid that everyone know and was a bit intimidated with the water.  Dinner was delicious courtesy of Judith and Sonja was back to her bubbly self.  I miss you already Sonja especially your smile with your tongue peeking out your cute little mouth.

As dad wasn’t feeling better, we headed home early, but by 11pm, we were back at the hospital as Uncle was requesting to remove the tubes and a family decision was needed.  We came home at 130am and the decision was to let the tubes remain.

May 3 -  Bonifacio High Street, Market-Market and Via Mare

After a home-cooked meal courtesy of my sister-in-law Tia, we were informed that my uncle passed away.  We were concerned about my dad but he let us continue with our plans for the day. 

We went to Bonifacio High Street to check out Runnr.  I was thinking of trying out running and I need to equip myself with the right set of running shoes.  Off we went with my brother behind the wheels.  When we arrived there, I was asked to run barefoot on this running analysis machine.  I was advised that my foot size was 6.5, which was weird and I need a shoes which will give me stability (i.e. cushion on the arch of my foot). 

Afterwards, we headed to Market-market to have a pedicure.  I signed up for a space and went off to another bout of shopping.  The next thing on my list is a pair of glasses.  I was able to find one at EQ optical shop.  It’s red, titanium steel with transition lenses.  I’m quite happy with the design and the weight.  The reviews were quite good.     After hunting for the glasses, I went back to CANS for my pedicure.  With nice toes perfect for summer, we went for our last stop at Mercury Drugstore for some medicines.

For dinner, we picked up my dad and went to Greenbelt for Via Mare.  Via Mare has been a family haunt since I can remember.  We ordered our favorites, pancit luglug, five ways oyster, lechon kawali, sisig, bibingka and pichi-pichi.  The Five ways oyster is the same as I remember.  It still taste so good!  Bibingka was heavenly.  The sisig was a little bit wet so we weren’t able to finish it.  It was a nice dinner with family.

May 4 – Back to Beijing

I was hoping to visit my uncle’s wake before going to the airport but we didn’t know where the place is.  When I arrived at the airport, I went straight to the OWWA area.  I applied for my Overseas Employment Certificate and renewed my OWWA membership for another year.

Since I already checked in online the night before, I just had to drop my luggage and get my boarding pass.  It was a breeze compared to waiting in line for check in.  After giving my OEC to waive the terminal fee, a long queue awaits me in the immigration area.  While waiting for my turn, Cathay Pacific sent me a message saying that my flight will be delayed and won’t take off till 115pm. 

I bought some duty free items for my friends and chocolates then off to the gate.  I went straight to the counter and asked if I have enough time to connect.  They said not to worry and someone will be assisting us when we arrived in Hong Kong.  My flight to Hong Kong took off at 130pm and was estimated to arrive at 330pm.  By the time I got off the plane, it was already 340pm.  20 mins to connect in an airport as big as Hong Kong.

Someone did meet us as we exit the gate but once all the passengers heading to either Shanghai or Beijing were herded.  We walked fast to the transfer gate E1 for security check.  Luckily, the line wasn’t long and we were able to breeze through in 5 mins.  Our guide was long gone with just a message to go to gate 505.  Luckily, I was able to hear what he said to the guy in front of me on how to go to the gate or else I would be going up to the regular gates rather than down. 

When we got on the plane, the pilot informed us that we were still waiting for a few more passengers who were connecting to this flight.  Off we go at 430pm, the pilot said we would still arrive on there on time at 730pm.  The flight was horrible as it was packed.  The kid in front was on hyper mode and the baby to the side was singing her hearts out.  There was no in-flight entertainment and the food they served left me with a big question mark.  Did I really missed out on flying Dragonair in the past year?  I was all praised in 2008 when I flew with this airline but now, it made me scratch my head.  In any case, the food was hot food and Haagen Dasz ice cream only.  No bread or salad any longer. 

As we were approaching Beijing, the pilot informed us that Beijing air traffic control requests us to slow down and we would now be arriving at 740pm.  That’s not bad as we would just be 10 mins late.  However, as we were about to descend to Beijing airport, the pilot informed us that Beijing airport is now closed due to thunderstorms.  The flight would then be diverted to Tianjin airport to wait for the airport to open and refuel.  We arrived in Tianjin at 745pm and as we come to a complete stop, the pilot was pleased to inform us that Beijing airport is now open. (Talk about sarcastic!)  He said that we would be refuelling and will file a new flight plan to Beijing.  It would roughly take an hour.  Two episodes of CSI New York and some biscuits, we were off to Beijing.  The 730pm arrival became 1030pm.  By the time I left the airport, I was hungry, cranky and just want to rest.

The next day I found out from our auditors, they were in the 5pm flight to Beijing from Hong Kong.  They had the worse luck as they were already in the plane and had to wait several hours before they were allowed to fly.  Their 9pm arrival became 3am. 

Conclusion:

It was a good trip.  I was able to meet my niece Sonja, hang out with my dad, siblings and cousins.  Celebrated my uncles birthday and shop.  It was a short holiday and I felt bad not able to meet any of my friends.  Hopefully, next time my flights will be much better.  Till my next adventure!  Hopefully, it will be Tokyo. 

When the local restaurant near our office were giving away free pack of sunflower seeds as promotion, the whole team became hooked to it.  I’m not really sure if there’s a correlation between eating sunflower seeds and acne but I’ve been having acne breakouts again.  Maybe not because of the seeds but because of sleeping late, poor diet, no exercise and stress.  Oh well.. I should get my lazy butt off the couch and dance to Madonna or Lady Gaga for exercise.  Hahahaha!

Since I’ve been eating a lot of Sunflower seeds, I searched the net and checked if it’s really a healthy snack or junk food.  Here’s what I’ve found out about this simple and harmless seed.

Health benefits:

• Good source of Vitamin E, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant.
• It lowers cholesterol.
• Good source of magnesium which helps regulate nerve and muscle tone.
• Good source of selenium, which is a cancer fighting agent
• Good source of vitamin B1 and B5.

Hmm.. it seems like the health benefits sounds good.  I should keep on eating it then.  I wonder what are the side effects if you eat too much.  My boss was saying that she sometimes can eat one 200 gram pack in one sitting if she’s watching a good movie.

In any case, this snack would be a good supplement to a healthy diet and exercise.  I better start using the new running shoes I bought.  I’m thinking of running every Sunday.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue doing it regularly.  I really need an accountability person to whip me up.  Who knows, if I lose the flab on my stomach, I’ll catch myself a guy.  Hehehe!  Happy snacking!

Fashion is not something on top of my list and somehow watching Project Runway educates me about fashion.  Heh!  This season of Project Runway brought them back to New York and Parsons.  Sixteen designers were given challenges each week to see who would make or break in this fast-paced fashion industry.  Heidi Klum who’s beautifully pregnant is back as the host with Tim Gunn as the fashion mentor.  The season has officially ended with Seth Aaron Henderson emerging as the winner. 

The 16 Designers:

This season the designers came from all over the world.  The youngest is 21 and the oldest is 47.

• Amy Sarabi – 26 years old from Plano, Texas – Out in Episode 9
• Anna Lynett – 23 years old from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin – Out in Episode 5
• Anthony Williams – 28 years old from Birmingham, Alabama – Out in Episode 10 and 12
• Ben Chmura – 30 years old from Meriden, Connecticut – Out in Episode 8
• Christiane King – 30 years old from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire – Out in Episode 1
• Emilio Sosa – 43 years old from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – 1st runner up
• Janeane Marie Ceccanti  – 28 years old from Willows, California – out in Episode 6
• Jay Nicolas Sario – 31 years old from Philippines – 4th place
• Jesse LeNoir – 25 years old from Painesville, Ohio – out in Episode 7
• Jesus Estrada – 21 years old from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico – out in Episode 4
• Jonathan Peters – 29 years old from Woonsocket, Rhode Island – out in Episode 11
• Maya Luz – 22 years old from Santa Fe, Minnesota – stepped down from the competition in Episode 11
• Mila Hermanovski – 40 years old from Dallas, Texas – 3rd place
• Pamela Ptak – 47 years old from Pittsfield, Massachusetts – out in Episode 2
• Ping Wu – from Chengdu Sichuan – out in Episode 3
• Seth Aaron Henderson – 38 years old from San Diego, California – Winner

Highlights:

• Maya Luz stepped down from the competition to find herself as a designer and get away from all the stress.  It’s such a shame as she would have reached the end instead of Mila.
• There were two challenges wherein two winners were picked. 
• No additional look in the Finale.
• They used HP tablets for designing
• In one of the challenge, the designers designed their own fabric which was inspired by Vivienne Tam.
• Even if Anthony Williams didn’t show in Bryant Park, he was already a winner as two of his looks were shown in the cover of Marie Claire magazine and Jessica Alba wore his dress in one of the red carpet events.

Looks I really loved:

       Emilio Sosa’s 10th look in the finale.

Jay Sario’s winning look in the hardware challenge.  I can’t believe they’re made out of trash bags.

Seth Aaron’s winning look in the dress the kid challenge.  His tailoring is so good and the kid looks really cute in the outfit.

Part of Jay Sario’s collection for the finale which was never shown as he didn’t place in the top 3.

Conclusion:

I have mixed feelings with this season’s Project Runway.  I’m quite happy that Seth Aaron won as I really loved how his tailoring and his showmanship.  If you watched the entire season, he’s the happy go lucky guy where nobody can ruffle his feathers.  Anthony was the loud but wacky guy and Mila was the resident villain.  Some of the challenges are quite new but if I were to join, I would have quit in the first challenge with all the pressure.  Kudos to all the designers and I hope to see more from all of you. 

Till the next season.  can’t wait!

(Photos ain’t mine.  You can find them in the web.)

The Lost Symbol stars Dr. Langdon, who was part of the author’s original book “Da Vinci Code”.  The setting of this book is in Washington, DC with the Free Masons as the leading organization.  The story is about the Solomon family who in the beginning consisted of brother and sister, Peter and Katherine.  Peter Solomon is a Mason of the 33rd degree.  A billionaire whose son was brutally murdered in the Turkish prison.  Katherine Solomon is a noetic scientist whose research brought her to measure the human soul.

An assistant of Peter contacted Dr. Langdon to deliver a speech at the Smithsonian.  Upon arrival, there was nobody there and a commotion at the Rotunda started the plot of the book.  The commotion was the hand of Peter Solomon.  The CIA got involved and clues lead them to a merry chase from the Rotunda to the Senate Sub-basement, to a ride on the library conveyor belt, Addams building, a priest, Freedom Square, Kalorama Heights and The House of the Temple. 

The villian is Mal’akh who later in the book was found to be Zachary Solomon, the son of Peter Solomon who supposedly have died in Turkey and killed his grandmother.

The beginning of the book was a little bit dragging as the plot was introduced.  The middle part was quite good that I can’t put the book down.  It was so good that I didn’t get to sleep till 330am and scrape my achilles heel while taking a shower the next day.  I don’t want to do that again as the scrape still hurts.  In any case, the ending was a bit dragging and the book itself has too much words.  I even skipped some parts as it wasn’t that relevant.  Oh yeah, there are some explanations where they keep on repeating and repeating.  I mean, you’ve already explained that Zachary was killed in prison but to repeat it several times is just a waste of paper. 

Verdict:  4 out of 5 stars.  It was well explained and the plot was quite intriguing.  The ending was a bit of a letdown and long drawn.   

Anyway, as it’s almost spring, I need to make a decision to either fix the current fridge, move to a different apartment or buy  a small one enough for a person to use.  So, I was contemplating to either buy a mini, compact or a big two-door refrigerator. 

Mini-Refrigerator

These refrigerators are small and can fit inside a car.  It could be a fashion statement or something you can bring on a camping trip. 

The cost is just right around my budget at roughly RMB 250 and can be plug either to a car adaptor or a wall outlet.  The downside is it can only fit 6 cans of coke and does not make ice.  I don’t think that’s big enough to put a liter of coke.  I heard from my friend that makeup artist used it as cooler for their cosmetics. 

Compact Refrigerator

These refrigerators are usually found in hotel rooms, dorms, under sink location or bars.  The cheapest that I was able to find is RMB 580.  I was hoping to try my luck in Amazon but the price is almost the same as in Beijing. 

The compact refrigerator is I think the perfect solution for my problem.  It’s not small like a mini-refrigerator but it’s not too big to take up much space in my room.  I think a 2 cubic foot would be good and I don’t need an ice maker.  I just want to put some coke in cans, water bottles, cheese and the occasional doggie bags. 

I’ve scoured the websites of the top three appliance store in Beijing: Gome, Dazhong and Suning.  I just wish that the cost is less than RMB 500.  I’d probably wait for sale season to come along.  The black one looks elegant. 

Conclusion

I’m not going to talk about the 2-door or 3 door refrigerator.  I’d probably buy one if I have my own apartment to put it into.  Compact refrigerator seems the best but if I move to a different location in the near future, I don’t think I’m going to need it.  It’s just I’m getting tired of lukewarm drinks especially as summer is just right around the corner.

So.. what do you think, should I buy or not?  I don’t think our Royalstar refrigerator is going to be fixed soon.  It’s falling apart.

In any case, between my last post to this post, I might as well note down what’s been happening with me as a way of releasing tension.

It’s “Glee” time!

After reading my sister’s post about this new TV series in the US, I decided to download all thirteen episodes during the Chinese New Year holiday.  The story setting is in a typical American high school with cheerleaders and football players as part of the popular group.  A young, Spanish teacher decided to relieve his high school days by revamping the almost gone high school glee club. 

The music is catching and the vocals of the actors are quite good.  Somehow, I don’t know why they didn’t join American Idol when I’m pretty sure they would win.  In any case, the story is a bit shallow or a typical feel-good story.  If you’re probably in your school years, you might appreciate it but for those who are working they’re a bit young for my taste.  Hahaha.

The song “Don’t Stop Believing” is currently being played in the radio waves here in Beijing.  Baidu also have the songs on their download sites.  Can’t wait to see Sue do the Madonna song come April.

Chinese Class

On my previous post “Decisions.. decisions..”, I was contemplating on studying several things.  In the end, studying Chinese went on top.  For the past two weeks I’ve been looking for affordable schools with good reputation and will fit my schedule.  Yesterday, I attended a class with Frontiers and I’m quite happy with it.  I just now need to put on my game face and really focus and study hard.

Hopefully by year end, I’d be able to watch a Chinese movie without resorting to the English subtitles.  Moreover, I could also attend the training classes our company offers which are usually in Chinese.

TravelFactor in Beijing

A college friend of mine joined a backpacking tour to Shanghai and Beijing organized by TravelFactor.  It’s the first time for this group to travel to China so it was more of a let’s see where we end up. 

This group was quite lucky as they were able to experience snow.  It snowed in the weekend and on the day they went to the Great Wall.  On Sunday, I accompanied the group to Jingshan Park and Forbidden City.  After a hearty lunch at Oriental Plaza, they got me curious with the moshi sweets.  I bought one to try and we headed to Silk Street for some shopping.

TravelFactor is a group of young professionals who pooled their resources to create this company.  They have regular tours to Sagada, Mt. Pinatubo, Indo-China, Kota Kinabalu and other places in the Philippines.  I’m actually thinking of trying their Indo-China tour this coming April.  We’ll see though.

Anyway.. that’s it for now for me here in Beijing.. I’m still here!  Still alive and kicking!

Full Leaf Brewed Tea

This morning at 10am, Starbucks offered for free a tall size tea drink to the first 100 customers.  This enabled their regular customers to sample their new products such as Starbucks Oriental Beauty Oolong tea, Starbucks white mu dan tea and Bi Luo Chun Green Tea.

Each tea bag are uniquely packaged in a triangular shape.  The tea bag can be used 12 times and contains full leaf tea.  A box of 12 bags costs RMB 80.  I tried the green tea and as usual, it’s bitter and needs a lot of sugar for me to drink it.  Chinese drink different types of tea for different seasons.  I’m not sure if Green tea is best for winter and white tea is best for summer or the other way around.  Oolong tea is nice to mix with milk.

Tea Latte and New Cakes

To replace their yummy honey orange latte and to go with their current theme, Starbucks launched Tea Latte.  Tea Latte is a mixed of tea and milk.  Hmm.. wouldn’t that be milk tea then?  Hehehe!  Anyway, you can either choose Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea as based for your tea latte.  Prices ranged from RMB 25 for tall, RMB 28 for grande and RMB 31 for venti.

Of course, what’s coffee or tea without cakes.   This season’s pastry offerings are Green Tea Tiramisu for RMB 23 and Original Ham & Cheese Ciabatta for RMB 28.

Merchandise

Besides the standard global icon tumblers, mugs and mini-mugs, Starbucks also sell seasonal tumblers, mugs, coffee beans, bears, tea pots, and tea bags.  For the tumblers, they have the cherry blossom design in sky blue and pink.  Another set in assorted flower design.  12 oz tumblers are RMB 85 each, 20 oz tumblers are RMB 110 each and 8 oz tumblers are RMB 75 each.

Our Starbucks bear mascot, is dressed like a gardener in green and pink and is selling for RMB 128.  Tea cups and pots are also for sale to complement the tea that you’ll be drinking.  There’s a colorful tea cup set of three in red, green and blue for RMB 160.   

A teapot with 2 tea cups set in white costs RMB 160.  This is commonly used with tea leaves and not tea bags.  There’s also a 12 oz tumbler with filter.  This is good for people who don’t like to remove each and every leaf that you might drink when you use a tea pot.  Also, this is good for individuals and in the office.  This tumbler costs RMB 150.

In-store Promo:

From February 23 to April 26, 2010, when you purchase a tea drink and RMB 48 worth of Starbucks products, Starbucks will give you a free coaster. 

Well.. I’m not sure if Chinese will be willing to pay this much for tea because when you eat in a restaurant, they normally give you free tea.  Who knows, maybe the way they package the tea will attract their customer’s attention and will help drive sales.  In any case, I’m going to miss the yummy honey orange latte.  According to the Starbucks staff in our building, you can still ask for it if it’s still available in that store. 

It’s the end of our holiday and what a good way to end it by watching a romantic movie ALONE (hahaha!).  In any case, I can’t wait to see if this movie will live up to the Korean version standards.

I’ve watched the Korean version of My Sassy Girl four years ago.  I know they’ve released the American version of the movie but it never was shown here in China or maybe I just didn’t notice.  I remember waiting for it and finding it on DVD today, made me buy this movie.

My Sassy Girl : American Version

My Sassy Girl started with Charlie (Jesse Bradford) standing in one of the trees in Central Park reminiscing about the love story of his life.  It started out two years ago with him studying for a business degree in college and finding out that his cousin suddenly died.  He met Jordan (Elisha Cuthbert) in the park who his friend dared him

to get to know.  He met the same girl that day at the subway station who was standing in the railings who almost got hit by the train.  That same girl passed out drunk in the subway and him being this good, country boy, brought her to his dormitory to let her sleep her drunkenness away.

This started their romance with him literally in love with her and her being a bossy lady with a charming smile and strict father.  They went out like boyfriend and girlfriend and basically just enjoying their time together.  On her birthday, he brought her to an amusement park where the day ended with them being hostage by a soldier and was later set free after Jordan related to him her experience about love. 

On their 33rd day together, she asked him to bring her a rose at one of the rooms in the university.  He didn’t realize that it was her piano recital until then.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as his father forbidden her to meet each other again.  However, being a stubborn young lady, she decided to meet up with him again.  She asked him to meet her at a restaurant in the park.  She didn’t tell him that she was with a guy who his father approved of.  Charlie gave the guy some tips on how to court her.  Jordan chased him and they went out that night.  At home, she called him and asked him to write a letter and bring it to Central Park. 

They buried their letters inside a cocktail shaker underneath the tree roots in the middle of Central Park.  They told themselves that they will meet each other one year from that time at 2pm.  To make the long story short, a year had passed and no Jordan.  Moving on with his life, he agreed to meet the girl his aunt would like to set up for him the previous year.  There he realized, the girl was Jordan.

Comparison

Between the American and Korean version, I prefer the Korean version.  I remember when I watched it, I fell in love with the movie and cried with the characters.  Though the American version has the same plot as the Korean version, it was light and like telling a story without being too dramatic.  The one thing I like about the American version is the characters are more wholesome than the Korean ones.

Line to Remember:  “Destiny is building a bridge to the one you love”

Verdict:  3 out of 5.  It’s a feel good movie and an ok interpretation of the original movie.