Rock-style breakfast

Remember Vitas Lu?  I thought not. Anyway, the MV for his song ”Good Morning, the Beauty of the Morning” was really cute so I suggest you check it out and refresh your memory.

This ”breakfast song” MV relates to this post so really you might want to check it out, plus it’s fun to watch, I promise.

Anyway, being one of the people (other than Sodagreen) I really looked forward to seeing at the Hohaiyan Rock Festival when I was in Taiwan, when I came across this film involving Vitas Lu, I felt the need to translate this rather humorous video and share it with you.

One brief note before the video (I promise I will include the bulk of my translation notes after the video so you can ignore them if you like) first Vitas Lu’s real English name is Crowd Lu (or at least for this video)… I’m not exactly sure why it’s Crowd Lu (though his given name sounds the same as the Chinese for “crowd” or “audience”). At least the Vitas nickname made sense…the reason I mistook his English name for Vitas was because of this YouTube video where he imitates the Russian singer, named Vitas, who can do a crazy falsetto (and thus “Vitas Lu” became a Taiwanese internet sensation of sorts). Personally, I prefer Vitas Lu over Crowd Lu (even if it refers back to the somewhat creepy Russian singer, see this MV i.e. the song Vitus Lu imitated ), but perhaps just because it’s what I’ve come to associate him with.

 

more about “untitled“, posted with vodpod

 

 

Notes:

1. Toast with chocolate spread–first the toast is more Texas toast-like (thickly sliced bread); the chocolate spread part can be exactly how you imagine it, because I’ve never tried it (though I’d assume Nutella minus the hazelnuts).

2. Breakfast cafe–this definately could have been a diner, but I associate diners with certain foods, and they are too much an American phenomenon. Also breakfast reastaurant would have been more direct (albeit longer) , but lacks the intamacy of a cafe feel, whereas cafe by itself ignores the focus on breakfast. Also note, this type of small restaurant is typically small, and is also common in Mainland China.

3. Sandwiches–I translated the breakfast foods listed in the song based on both the names given and the pictures. If there exists a better name please let me know.

4.Manager–this could also be owner or boss I thought it sounded more natural to address some one as manager because it is also a title so I used it for the sake of consistency. Probably not the most literal choice.

5.Rock (and Roll)–it seems like a given that rock muscians tend to do some bad*ss  things (this is my way of defining “Rock and Roll Style” at least in the context of this clip), and consequently the reverse must hold true as well. So, doing things like smashing guitars on stage, secretly dating your bandmate’s girlfriend (before he marries her) (I kid you not, this happened in Mayday),  or stealing your classmate’s breakfast could all be seen as very “rock”  In a few instances I would suggest that rock and cool are practically synonomous. Carefully note the use of this word to advocate healthful decisions (I would say this is similar to Jay Chou’s “Cowboys are Very Busy” song where he asserts that he will drink milk because beer isn’t healthy…also one of the most sylistically disturbing songs ever…”Chinese country” music+riverdance-style MV says it all). I think “real” rockstars might also subsist on beer and cigarettes instead of breakfast, but note that this song, like Jay Chou’s, tries to set a good example for the kiddies.

I appologize for the extraordinary number of  “~”s in the subtitles; I used them to show emphasis or for my own amusement.

 One final thought:

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s start from here

In the last three weeks I’ve been sick twice. Besides the obvious bizarre nature of being sick with the same symptoms with exactly a week between episodes, it’s been a bit testing as far as schoolwork is concerned. Fortunately, both times I started feeling ill on a Thursday, and I had the weekend to recover and do work. Only, I didn’t manage to do any work either time. Including the pages and pages I need to make up of my reading for War and Peace and my Economic History class. I had flu-like symptoms and was feverish (well, I felt dizzy and had chills), so I feel my inability to work isn’t, perhaps, without excuse. Now that I’m feeling better, save for some lingering congestion, I have a new ailment–self pity. I’m certainly not going to start my work again or call my friends/family until I’m finished chiding my self for the mess I’m in. Not that it has any chance of fixing itself.

That isn’t to say I’m trying to exaggerate the situation. It’s fairly bad as far as things could go. I have a midterm due next Monday for that Economic History class where I’ve barely opened a book. There’s also a midterm for my International Trade class that day. In addition, I have two other tests that week (one of which is a midterm, the other is not particularly worthy of stress)  and a 15 page report due. 

I suspect judging from the stress of an ordinary, moderately-busy week (which I would pinpoint as a factor in my lowered immune system and any subsequent illnesses) that I will not be a very pretty picture that week. I’ve also been attempting to look at things practically and to think of some basic logistics that might allow me to do the bare minimum. But I’m still sniffling and I’m all too willing to admit defeat. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll be ready to start over.

On another note, I discovered a wonderful singer recently;  her name is Joanna Wang (王若琳). She is an American born singer who has been noted for her unique voice and similarity to Norah Jones’ style, though, take that as you will. Nevertheless, I think her singing in both English and Chinese is incredible and quite captivating.

This is the title track off of her first CD, (which was released in 2008, but somehow I never discovered until last week) “Let’s Start From Here”:

I imagine that I’m just adding this for myself, but here, also, is one of her Chinese songs ”Because You Love Me” (因為你愛我):

I have a lot to feel guilty about as far as schoolwork and everything else is concerned, but I think I will be enjoying this music for a bit either way. With that said, please forgive me and enjoy.

Note: I haven’t receive a whole lot of feed back on this (see comments as of 03/04/2009 11:30 a.m.), so in lieu of responding to your thoughts and feedback I’ll take this opportunity to mention a couple other things about Joanna Wang, because frankly I think she’s amazing. First, despite her mature-sounding voice, in actuallity she’s only 19 or so years old.  Second, I want to add the links for the  Chinese version of “Let’s Start from Here,” “Maze” (迷宮), her cover of Billy Joel’s “A New York State of Mind”, and her English version of a famous Chinese song by David Tao (陶喆), “Love is Simple” (愛很簡單)… on second thought I’ll post both for purposes of comparison. 

“Love is Simple” (愛很簡單) by David Tao(陶喆)

Versus Joanna Wang’s ”I Love You”

Finally, I was going to add “Lost in Paradise” which is another very nice English song by Joanna, but I couldn’t find the video in a format I could post easily. I’m going to settle for “When you Wish Upon a Star”–because it’s pretty, too.

Note #2:  One more addition… I think I’ll just keep adding on to this post until I can convince someone to comment. This is actually for my mom, though. This is Joanna on (one of my favorite) Taiwanese variety show Kangxi Lai Le (康熙來了) singing “Moon River.”　

A comic by Wan Wan (彎彎) translated~

I looked up WanWan’s (彎彎) blog after seeing some of her designs in Taiwan. From her Chinese Wikipedia page  (which I am too lazy to read thoroughly or translate) I learned that she started in 2004 as an anonymous designer of an online journal and from there her designs grew in popularity from there. Anyway,  There were a bunch of planners, post-its, and notebooks that all have her signature style avatar on them there . I, myself, have some playing cards and post-it notes with her designs.  Anyway she uses her comics as a from of a journal on her weblog, and recently, I thought a couple of her comics were rather amusing (many are, actually), so I used my photoshopping and translating skills to make turn two of her weblog postings into English. Enjoy!

comic by 彎彎 translations by inkblueraindrops

Notes:　Obviously that’s Remy from Pixar’s Ratatouille

Personal Aside: That guy with echolocation powers reminds me of Jay Chou, but that may just be me

 

comic by 彎彎 translations by inkblueraindrops

Notes: MRT=Mass Rapid Transit (Taiwan’s subway system)

And that’s about all I have for the moment. I don’t think recounting my winter break so far would be particularly interesting, but it has been relaxing and I’m have an additional two weeks to relax before the next semester. Since I haven’t decided on the content for more regular posts, as of right now, I would only say that  infrequent, random entries may still be expected in the future.

Sometimes I Just Don’t Think Things Through…

I went to Flushing Meadows, Queens today. I went with my Chinese-enthusiast (but non-Asian) friend Sophia. It was actually really fun. I got to practice a little Chinese, order a book written by the lead singer of Mayday (Escape to Japan [浪漫逃亡]), and eat delicious food (cheap dumplings and noodles and bubble tea) and look at Chinese magazines, book, music, and movies. All of these things are relatively safe (inspite of my pre-existing addicions). However, add to that one more thing. A haircut. Yes, this was pretty much a recipe for disaster, because a) I don’t have straight hair which is what Asian salons are comfortable dealing with b) I don’t trust my ability to communicate my hair needs in English or in Chinese c) I only run in to problems when it comes to my hair. Happily, I only have pictures of it straightened (i.e. from today, post-haircut), however I’m dreading the future. I think perhaps the photographs will make the situation clear to you (also, you can see Sophia’s hair…she had hers cut as well…but hers is permenantly straight and longer):

And here’s a picture of the back… which is even shorter

Ah… just wait until I take a shower….

I imagine there will be more to come later on this subject.

D.C. weekend

Ah… there is probably a lot I should and won’t be writing for this post…not only because I’m completely forgotten the meaning of motivation after only two days of school and a five day weekend, but also because I did something kind of crazy today that should get a seperate post. So I’ll just summarize a little. I took the train to D.C. last Friday and met my cousin, Jessica, and we went to my uncle and aunt’s house in Virgrina for the weekend. We made these jack o’lanterns for halloween. Megan designed the one on the right, and Jessica and I made the kitty cat on the left.

On Saturday we went to see The City of Ember at a movie theater nearby. We also played tennis (the real kind twice [who goes twice in one day anyway?] and then the Wii kind).

This is Jessica and me:

Sorry, Jess. I picked the one where I look better…

On Sunday I flew home… and suddenly lost all energy for things like writing…

Waiting

is something I like no more than anyone else. However, right now at least, waiting is probably the best word for this post. I’m waiting for more exciting things to post about, like the Mandarin Language table (where I get to practice my Chinese) and Night Market (it’s more like a bunch of Asian student groups and performances than a night market) at Columbia (which had better have lots of yummy food) both of which I am attending tonight.

Then there is the rest of the weekend. Including tommorrow when I’m going to Blackrock Forest (to look for trees and black rocks, I suppose) for my Environmental Science Lab (is it bad that I’m only looking forward listening to my iPod on the bus?).  Then there are things in the near future that I am anticipating (because waiting doesn’t exactly capture the mixed feelings I have approaching them). I’m going to D.C. for election weekend (and see my cousin who’s a page now!!) but I really loathe traveling by myself. In addition, I’m desperately  waiting for the newest Mayday CD, due out at the end of this month (If only I could make YesAsia.com cheaper and ship things faster), but at the same time there is the possibility that it won’t live up to my expectations. Then there are also the last of my midterms to finish and a policy paper to anticipate (oh, and impossible amounts of Chinese).

I assumed that rather than make everyone wait until all of these exciting things are over with, I would uncharacteristicly update my blog, just for the sake of it.

Other things that I’d also like to add before I neglect to mention them entirely. Last week I forced my nearest Starbuck’s to recreate the delicious Iced Chocolate that I enjoyed over the summer in Taiwan. It was slighly different, but oh so delicious, and surprisingly better than the hot version. (If you’re interesting in trying out the same experiment make sure you ask for the Signature Hot Chocolate iced, the mix is already cold, so just adding ice won’t be a problem; plus it is by far the superior of the hot chocolates offered at Starbuck’s).

Other random things I’ve eaten recently that you should try if you haven’t: mochi,  blueberry pocky, oyako don (chicken and egg donburi although katsu don[pork cutlet and egg donburi] is quite good as well…note some places differentiate between the oyako don and a chicken cutlet katsu don), strawberry juice, and mixing orange juice and carbonated water in the cafeteria (ok, so not that exciting).

I had a couple other things to mention, but then I realized it was all evenly split between Mandopop news and K-drama recommendations (I think that will likely interest only one person–me). So, until there is another really cool video to sub, you can consider yourselves free from having to put up with my obsessive ramblings. Uh, but in the meantime check out this cool MV: “Knut” (“努特”;the name of the polar bear at the Berlin zoo) by 1976. 

… yeah… well… I thought about making it two MVs…

Perhaps doing my homework…

…would have been a better idea than letting myself get distracted with subtitling Mayday’s newest MV. This is my own translation and subtitles for their Mandarin song “You Aren’t Truly Happy” (probably the title alone proves that there are better translators out there). This song is from their soon to be released 7th album, The Poetry of the Day After.

A brief review:

Ashin makes his normal ridiculously exagerated facial expressions while Monster is forced to sell jokes on the side of the road. What I didn’t expect was falling in love with the MV before I even learned to like the song.

I hope you all enjoy the fruits of my labor

more about “Perhaps doing my homework…“, posted with vodpod

 

 

Finally, some signs of life…

Well, after a long wait here is a video from my Environmental Science trip on the Seawolf. I was a bit bored so I learned how to subtitle the video that I took. You can feast your eyes on the results below (and please remember to press the closed captioning button if the subtitles do not show up automatically): 

A word about subtitling if anyone is curious. I used overstream.net, which is incredibly convenient and I would highly recommend it if you have any subtitling projects on your to-do list. I see this site as potentially useful and a tool for creativity in the future, so I assumed others might be interested as well.

I have a few pictures that I promised everyone. So, I suppose before I completely neglect my blog, here you are:

On board the Seawolf, which is the research vessel owned by Stonybrook College, I took this picture from inside looking out of the ditry window out on to the deck. We collected data using several methods, such as the seci disk, which measures water clarity (in that when you can see it anymore you record the legnth of the rope):

We also tested samples of the river water (I totally forget what this measured):

 

My favorite things invovled animals, though. So, that would include the plankton net we used to catch zoo planktons:

Happy little zooplankton!

We also caught things like a blue crab, sea squirts, a hogchoker, and other fish/creatures using the otter trawl which is a big net… and doesn’t seem to catch many otters. (My video that I posted above is of the things we caught).

And finally, here is a picture of the George Washington Bridge and the diminutive red lighthouse beneath it.

While we are still on the subject of photography, though, here are some earlier pictures (with the hope that it will compensate for the absence of more recent ones [that don't exist]):

 

This is the big lake in the middle of Central Park. It may very well have a name, but I don’t know it. I passed this spot while walking with my mom to the Met before school started. It was a pretty long walk, but it was fun.

And here is a picture of me at the Met:

There are more Met photos on my photobucket account. So, you’re welcome to take a look.

I’m also rather pleased to see that WordPress is letting us include videos and polls now. Since I’m trying lots of things out anyway, here is a poll, too:

I suppose you’ve guessed it already. This hodgepodge is indeed an attempt to buy off your forgiveness. On the other hand I may be writing again fairly soon… I have some more music news to talk about (and a few things to say about food, too, of course) .

Hiatus

is a word that by procrastinating in writing I’ve made all the more obvious (but in the way of denial). I guess I should thank a certain someone for at least making my admit it formally.

I’m back in New York now and classes have started which means that my blog isn’t the only thing subject to neglect and procrastination…

I have had a few fun experiences recently (lest everyone assume I’m dying a merciless death of Microeconomics and Chinese 24/7). My Environmental Science class recently got to work on the Seawolf, which is a research vessel owned by Stonybrook University, on the Hudson River. That was pretty cool because I’ve haven’t really been on many ships… unless you count times across the Ohio River via ferry. I took some videos and pictures, which depending on my mood, I may be uploading into their own post, you might want to tell me explicitly if you have any actual interest in seeing them… otherwise you’re chance in seeing anything will rest entirely on my motivation… and I wouldn’t cross your fingers. Also, since starting school I’ve been to the Met, Chinatown, Flushing Chinatown, and Korea-town (and Pinkberry a few too many times…I really have no money now..*sigh*).

Taichung, Hot Springs, and Everything Else

I guess it’s been about a week since I last posted (ok, over a week, I know, I know). You may have thought I got lost in the magical forest I mentioned or got lost in Taichung or just died of excessive heat and humidity somewhere along the way. Rather than let you ponder over this for too long (or make this post excessively boring by eating up space with hypothetical possibilities) I’ll describe some of the more notable events since last week (I’m not claiming that this will necessarily be more interesting, though).

Unfortunately, the “magic forest” must go first on my list of places I didn’t end up going. For the record it’s not only a forest it’s really Allishan (not sure about spelling on this) which is a mountain and a forest. Had I gone with Alexis, she probably would have killed me from my complaining. The day before I spent wandering around Taipei so, it wouldn’t have been pretty to take a trip to the middle of nowhere for some outdoorsy fun hiking. I did actually want to go with Alexis originally (if you recall my last post). What happened was basically that, although I did manage to wake up on time that day, I still managed to leave my cell phone at home. So stuck on a public bus (and already on the freeway) when I realized that I had forgotten my phone, the best that I could do was take a cab and try to race back to Taipei Mainstation (only to be a few minutes too late for the train. After I also tried to get a ticket for the next train (no available seats) and the thought of standing didn’t seem to great after all the walking I had done the previous day, and all the walking I anticipated doing when I reached the forest. So, Alexis and I agreed to meet in Taichung that evening and I would make my way to Taichung at my own leisurely pace. That meant I wandered the streets looking for breakfast and waiting for the bookstore to open so I could buy a new manga to read on the way to Taichung. I took the bus to Taichung, rather than the train in order to waste a bit more time, and, of course, save money. When I got to Taichung it was really, really hot. fortunately I got off the bus at the trainstation, so finding Alexis later wasn’t going to be a problem. I ended up buying some dohua (this is that tofu dessert served with lots of ice with brown sugar and toppings) for lunch/hydration. I then tried to find the Taichung commercial center, this is where I wanted to go see a movie so I could both rest and wait comfortably until the evening when Alexis was arriving. This should have been no problem since it’s tall enough to be clearly seen from the train station, and it has clear, bright, English signage marking it as such. However, the way that Taichung is laid out this commercial center is really just a mirage. It’s next to impossible to actually get there. On the bright side after some tunnel-wandering and deserted-road-wandering, I did make it to the shopping center, and bought myself a ticket to see Wall-E .  Again I had to wait to see my movie, but this time I didn’t mind so much because I just waited in the Starbuck’s on the first floor and had a not-so-delicious mango passionfruit black tea (slushie?).

there’s a lot more here, but I need to summarize:

Wall-E was really good.

I had not so delicious Japanese food for dinner.

When Alexis arrived we went to night market even though it was already pretty late (11 or so) and a weekday. Then we stayed in a really, really nice hostel that night (It wasn’t even expensive and it was comparable with a decent hotel).

The next day we wandered a bit around Taichung, bought some suncakes (which are flaky pastrys with fillings… and are delicious). I also have some pictures of the garden and some place where we had milk tea (some of the only pictures I took there).

Park in Taichung

We took HSR back to Taipei.

Then on Monday, several days later, Alexis and I went to Wulai to the hot springs. When we got to Wulai we each got a bottle of Cocacola and sat at this little restaurant for a while and then had aboriginal food for lunch (which was delicious).

 

Aboriginal Food

 

No... I'm not crazy...these really were delicious

I really wish I could write more about this, but I need to pack… so back to summarizing.

The hotspring (bathhouse?) that we went too was nice. It however is just as awkward as one imagines any public bathing experience to be. 

I went back to Taipei and had mango douhua (that was probably the best part, because feeling like my skin was going to melt away in the super hot pool was not my favorite part).

This week was mostly shopping combined with not knowing what to do with myself. If anyone thinks that by shopping I managed to find lots of cool things to bring back to everyone I will only say not exactly. I have tried to find some cool things (for almost everyone), but unfortunately shopping, by myself, translates into one thing only: buying too many clothes. Really it’s too scary to report in detail, especially if I tell you how much I spent yesterday at one store (on the upside it was a Taiwanese brand, so that kind of justified it). Yesterday, despite eating basically nothing (I was pretty into my shopping quest) I did manage to go to the Rose House for breakfast/lunch and have an amazing waffle with fruit and Victoria tea with milk (it was a bit on the pricer side, but it was still cheaper than most American restaurants). On the other hand, it did taste like my fruit had been drowned in something alcoholic and they also tried to pass off cherry tomatoes as fruit (I refuse to acknowledge techicalities in this instance). Still, just the waffles were too much for me to finish.

Placesetting at the Rose House

 

Bathroom mirrors are not for taking pictures, Liz

Oh, one last thought about food. The other day, I went to this fantastic chocolate cafe, with fantastic hot chocolate (the real kind) and I spent quite a bit of time reading there. Unfortunately, I didn’t even manage to drink it all because I ended up with a stomachache from that day of eating out.

Uh… and with that thought… I have to let this be the last of my Taiwan posts. I’m packing today and leaving tomorrow evening. To everyone in Cincinnati, I’ll be home Monday (August 25th) morning and I hope to see everyone as soon as possible (anyone who isn’t planning on sleeping in is welcome to see me then). I really can’t wait to see everyone! :)