hAHa

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Opening Ceremony

smilegrl123 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:28:23 +0000

The Olympics have started and this time China is the host nation. I’m a Chinese American, so I’m happy and excited! Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to China to see the Olympics, so I had to watch it on tv.

The opening ceremony was amazing! Everything represented something from Chinese history. I loved the drums that light up in the beginning. I wonder how much rehearsing it took to complete the show. I watched the opening ceremony on NBC on the 8th. Later, I watched it again on a Chinese tv network. I was disappointed to find that NBC had cut out alot of the ceremony to fit in commercials! Many parts were shortened or completely cut out!

The torch lighting was also cool. Former chinese Olympian, Li Ning, flew up above the stadium and ran a lap around the top rim of the Bird’s nest. A couple times during the torch lighting, I though it went out!

I post more updates on medals and events when I get to it! Sorry I’m a bit behind!

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Links:

Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Article on Entertainment Weekly

Vacation Summer 2008

smilegrl123 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:44:48 +0000

I haven’t been updating in a week, because I was on vacation. My family and a friend’s family went to 1000 Islands, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.

The 1000 Islands is in between Canada and USA. There are 1000 (and more) islands in the area. Some islands, like Wellesly Island, are very big (big enough for many houses, towns, camping parks, a farm and more room to spare!) and some are just big enough to fit one small house (some aren’t even big enough for a house!). One famous island, Heart Island (originally Hart), has the Boldt Castle. The castle was never completed because work was stopped when Mrs. Bodlt died. There are also a couple man made islands! I took a boat tour through the 1000 Islands that went to both the US and Canada sides.

Wellesly Island

"Just Room Enough"Boldt Castle

Ottawa is the capital of Canada. It is a bilingual city—it’s citizens speak both french and English. Ottawa has some fancy Parliament buildings. Self guided tours of the Peace Tower are free. The view from the tower is amazing and you can see all of Ottawa. The market district of Ottawa has many outdoor stands selling everything from fresh produce to clothing and souvenirs.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

Montreal has a nice shops and places to visit. I walked around old town and shopped in the small stores. I also went to the China Town. I visited the Basilica de Notredame. There is also a large underground shopping mall called Underground City.

Basilica de Notredame, Montreal

Quebec City also has a nice old town. I went shopping there and visited an old church. I also visited the Quebec City Fort.

Quebec City

Links:

1000 Islands (Official)

Ottawa (Official)

Montreal (Official)

Quebec City (Official)

Mittens the kitten

smilegrl123 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:05:47 +0000

I have a cute, little kitten named mittens. haha She is about 2 months old and has been living at my house for about a month! Mittens is very hyper and likes to run around and chase people’s feet. haha (and bite them) She is almost perfectly mitted because she has black on her nose! Mittens is super cute and loves to play with people! Yea, I just felt like sharing that with you.

mittens sleeping

Crisis Core (Final Fantasy 7) is AMAZING!!!!

smilegrl123 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:31:15 +0000

OMG! I’ve started to play FF7 and the graphics are amazing! I love it! I’m only at the beginning, cuz I keep dying (haha). I can’t save either cuz I don’t have a memory stick!!!
My friends and I are obsessed with Kingdom Hearts (2) so I’ve seen a bit of the amazing graphics of square enix. But kingdom hearts graphics are not that consistent. The beginning and end is amazing, but the middle parts, especially the battle scenes, are not as great (but still good). Final Fantasy graphics are pretty good overall, better at the beginning and end, but still great.
I can’t wait till I get a memory stick! I’ll keep you guys updated on new games!

Crisis Core

PSP: Pretty Sweet Player!

smilegrl123 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:13:01 +0000

Yay! I finally got a PSP! yay! Well I just got it today and im charging it now! yay! (as you can see, I’m pretty excited)
I got the “piano black” color. Its funny cuz they always add some adjective before the color. Like its not plain black, its piano black. Its not just white, its polar white. haha sorry that was off topic. Anyway, I ordered the PSP from Amazon and I also ordered Crisis Core (Final Fantasy 7). Yay! So I’ll update more after I actually play my PSP. haha o yea and sorry for the cheesy title!

Vampire Knight (News and Opinions)

smilegrl123 — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:41:12 +0000

I just finished the Vampire Knight manga that it out so far. (SPOILER ALERT) I don’t really like the recent developments! I’m a YuukixZero fan, so was saddening (and a little weird/gross) to watch Yuuki make out with Kaname, her brother! yea…weird. The parts after Yuuki becomes a vampire is a little weird. She doesn’t act or look like herself anymore! It just seemed like some out of character fan fic. But don’t get me wrong, cuz I love the series.

Maybe this next paragraph is a little biased cuz I am a YuukixZero fan. It seems unfair to Zero cuz Kaname leaves it to him to kill Rido, Kaname’s enemy. Kaname uses Zero to protect Yuuki, but he still gets the girl! And even though its common for purebloods to intermarry, its still a little weird when Kaname and Yuuki are together. haha

Vampire Knight News: no spoilers! The secound season of the anime, Vampire Knight Guilty, will start this October. The fifth manga book will come out, with english translations, in North America this September!

I will post more when the manga comes out (in Japan) and when the anime airs!

kuran kaname

Links/Resources:

Vampire Knight Manga at One Manga

Vampire Knight Anime at Crunchyroll

Floral Japan

smilegrl123 — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:21:28 +0000

Today, I was watching TCM (Turner Classic Movies) when I came across a short “Traveltalk” called Floral Japan. The show is called Travel Talk by James A. FitzPatrick. This episode, Floral Japan, was from 1937. I, obviously, wasn’t alive then so I haven’t seen any other episodes. This episode talked about gardens, hair and clothing in traditional japanese culture.

They showed women, in traditional japanese dress, crossing a small pond by walking across stones. The women were wearing traditional shoes. They are like small, wooden, platform flip-flops! I would never be ables to walk in them! If I were crossing the pond, I would have fallen in the water! haha

links/resources:

TCM Overview

LMDb Overview

My Obsession: Manga and Anime

smilegrl123 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:45:16 +0000

I think that I’ve metioned my obsession with manga and anime before. If I haven’t, then now you know! Some of my favorites are:

(key: bold = manga, italic = anime, normal = both)

Vampire Knight, Shugo Chara, Gakuen Alice, Death Note, Welcome to the NHK, Othello, and High School Debut.

As you can see, I watch more anime than manga. Vampire Knight is probably my all time fav! Yea, I guess I’m a Shojo girl. At least I’m not a yaoi fan girl! o wait…..maybe I am (for Kingdom Hearts). haha No, I don’t watch/read Naruto, Bleach or One Piece. Bleach is ok but I dont feel like watching it.

I’ll be talking about manga and anime here on this blog, so keep watching it! AkuRoku!!!

Vampire Knight

Photography

smilegrl123 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:09:48 +0000

Like the new layout? I took the pic on the banner myself! It’s a close up of an ranuculus flower. I have many more random nature pics posted on deviantart. Click here to see my profile. If you have an deviantart account, a comment would be nice! Below is another one of my pics.

lily

Project Runway (week 2)

smilegrl123 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:23:26 +0000

Cocktail dresses! And the models bought the fabric! Here is my favorite of the episode.

Wesley was “Auf’ed”. and Suede (above) won the challenge! I want a dress like that!