Don’t Burn The Day

Foreigner Frustrations:

Being a foreigner here surely has its fair share of frustrations, however there are some rare occasions when having a  foreign face does grant you the upperhand…… So here are just snippet stories of when my “non-Chinese” looks have worked in my favor and other times, not so much…(and trust me, I’m just confused as you are when you read of my “non-Chinese” looks…but then again, I’ve been told many a times before - even while in the States and/or thru other travels - that I don’t look 100% and I’ve learned to accept it, plus my parents tell me I’m theirs, lol … soo whatever…here are the tales….)

October 2008 - Best Buy Story # 1

In the busy tech-area of Xujiahui, there is a Best Buy in Shanghai - whoo hoo!!  I’ve been to Best Buy quite a few times now since I’ve been here for one reason or another, and it’s always crazy in that store… but sometimes just nice to see other fellow expats at a spot other than a lounge/club… because the locals hardly ever shop at Best Buy; If anything, as my local lawyer friends told me over lunch last weekend, “locals walk into Best Buy to test out products, check prices and for the nice service…but then leave the store to go to one of those nearby tech stores where they can bargain for less.” ANYway, back when our internet was defunked a couple months ago, we had thought something was wrong with our modem (which we bought from BB). After a couple of frustrating appointments with our internet provider, China Telecom where the visiting technicians only spoke Mandarin… and nothing was fixed…. my temp rose a bit and figured perhaps it was our Netgear modem. After doing a bit of online research, we learned that it could’ve been a case of burn-out as since we never turned the thing off etc. So we decided that we’d have to take it back to BB. Now, this is China. Nothing is easy. Returns are pretty much unheard of here, but, with the growing expat population, they are  in the process of learning to adapt to the cater towards foreigners, ie. Exchange/Return Policies. But as a whole, “No Returns” is their general nation-wide mandate.  So we all agreed to take it back to BB for an attempt to exchange, only when we looked for the receipt.. it was NOWHERE to be found! Bizarre for sure, because we’re all generally organized. But that didn’t matter, we needed internet and we needed a new modem for it. So, in an effort to keep things smooth, Lisa (ABC who looks Chinese) told Adam (white) and I (ABC who looks mixed/non-Chinese/shrug)… “I’m not going with you guys. You two should take it in to Best Buy for the exchange, because they’ll give me a hard time if they see me.” So, Adam and I took it in with our game, errrr foreign faces, walked up to the counter and was attacked by BB service workers (this is pretty common here as well…being attacked with “service” aka “breathing down your neck and guiding you to things you don’t need…” We held our game, errr foreign faces and stuck to the mission-at-hand: exchange the modem for a new one. The issue of having no receipt came up of course, but I killed that convo by showing them the BB sticker (thank goodness for me saving the shrink wrap with the BB sticker on it). And even though, the sticker didn’t indicate when it was purchased…. we got our new modem with very little trouble.

• Outcome: Foreign Face Wins
  

November 2008 - Best Buy Story # 2

This time Lisa had some issue with her external cd/dvd drive that she had purchased from BB; not that it didn’t work.. she just didn’t want it anymore.  < Insert: UGH, especially in China.. why would you even go near a situation like that?? > In any case, she didn’t want it anymore.. and it was within the 15-day for a full refund policy andddd she had her receipt. Now, if we were in the States, this would no problemo! However, once again… this country… exchanges/returns are very rare. So, Lisa wanted to return the damn thing and I had to put my foreign face to use again. She tried with the Customer Service folks at first without much luck and she had the original receipt!…. slowly, I waited for the right time and popped into the picture, opened my mouth with my foreign face and laid down the law…. The Customer Service folks at first tried to “not lose their face” in front of Lisa by mouthing off some BS to me about “policy” despite the fact that their “policy board” noted full returns with original receipt within 15 days of purchase… but I wasn’t gonna have any of it, and time was being wasted on both parties’ parts….. Minutes later… My foreign face won the battle. Full Return, Granted!

• Outcome: Foreign Face Wins
  

Every Other Day or So

Street vendors are all over the place, selling fried noodles, fried rice, dumplings, smelly tofu, peanuts, kebobs, sweet potatoes, veggies, fruits etc. etc. Sometimes (ok, well most of the time), when feeling lazy and/or just don’t have cooking time… Either way, I get yelled at by Lisa to cross the street and/or to not walk with her as she approaches to pick up our meal. Or perhaps at the black market, she scolds me to wear shades and/or pull my hat down to cover my eyes. The running joke, but truth is:

• Lisa can get something for 4rmb.
• Mimi can get the same thing for 5 - 8rmb.
• Adam will be charged no less than 10rmb.

• Outcome: Foreign Face Loses on the Daily

Local Colleagues

Each of them don’t believe that I’m Chinese and/or has Chinese roots. They accuse me of lying. It boils down to my face structure and, as they’ve coined, “tiger eyes.”

Now, You Be The Judge….

…and I ask this as I sing along to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger…..”

It’s the eye of the tiger
it’s the thrill of the fight
risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
and he’s watchin us all with the eye
of the tiger….

. . don’t burn the day. .

Sunday, December 28, 2008

• The story of NYE actually begins a few nights before the Eve. Namely, when we landed in Shanghai on Sunday morning at 6am and got ourselves home at 8am…. I took a much-need power nap… woke up at 1pm and was outta the house closer to 2:30pm. Where to? Well… to the South Bund Fabric Market, conveniently located in our neighborhood– 3 floors of cloth and tailors, ready to make whatever you want for a negotiated price! (I had been here when I first arrived in Shanghai with my friend, Eugen…but it was all just too overwhelming, I had not returned since then.) Now, I had already picked up a dress for NYE in Saigon (sounds fancy schmancy eh?!), but Lisa didn’t have as much luck, so needed to have one made from scratch. (Thanks to Cin for having left behind People Magazine’s Dec/Jan “Style Watch” print edition.) Soooo off we went and somehow I got all lured into having a coat made as well. (Actually, I’ve been wanting to get a coat made ever since my first visit to the Fabric Market, so this was good timing…) I got me a cashmere –all white… to what else, but match my dress for a real NYE rock-out session! (Thanks Kim for saving us from stall BS and advising to hit the tailors at Stall # 348!) So after having measurements taken and such, we went off for a real shopping day that reminded me of my NYC days…. shoes and jewelry to match… check! and check! I was so proud of myself with my bargaining skills! And was surprised to be so successful during such a time crunch!!

Monday, December 29, 2008 and Tuesday, December 30, 2008

• Tailor came by our apartment on both evenings for reworking of fittings….. at no extra charge. ABSOLUTELY KICK-ASS!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

• At 7pm, tailor came back with final round…. just in time for us to get dressed and out for our NYE celebrations!  Phew! My heart was racing because I had him alter my dress a tad (what if he messed it up, or lost it, etc etc…) for a a little tighter fit… and it worked out perfectly! no drama.
• Getting to this damn party at the Marriott was such an adventure!  First off, we were to all meet at friend, Minh’s place for a little pregame rendevous and much to our bad luck, got the taxi driver who didn’t know how to get to his place!  A 15-minute ride took well over a 30min and plus, circling etc…and it was soooooo collllld outside, we weren’t willing to get out and figure it out ourselves. Plus, traffic was a beeyotch in the city. I guess there ARE a good portion of expats living and looking to celebrate NYE.  Here we are in the cold and arriving at pregame destination…

• I loveeeeeeeeeee my coat! (Customized coat with traveling tailor for unlimited fittings = $54usd.)

• Only a good 10-15minute walk from his place to the Marriott…but in the freezing cold and heels… we were not thrilled to walk… We had a van but was going to take 2 trips to fit all 15 or so of us in… soo I waited for Round 2… only to find out that traffic was a beeeyotch and it would’ve taken much longer to wait for the van to return for the 2nd pick up. So it took us FOREVER to grab a cab to take us there…. and our driver was being a punk and refused to take 5 of us in there… but eventually, we got there…. eventually…

• I totally owned the tunnel entrance.. I mean, really… Do I look Fabulous or do I look Fab-U-Lous??!!! (I’ll put money on that latter )

• Andddd we’re in at last!!!

• Hey 2009,…. I’m ready!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

• But, celebrations didn’t stop then… still in our NYE get-ups, a few of us woke and gathered ourselves around Vietnamese delivery and some bubbly for the NYE in NYC’s Times Square Ball Drop…. Yeah, it was kinda weird to celebrate again at 1PM, but whatevs!

• And it is officially, official!  HAPPY 2009!!

PS. Much to many’s curiosity, I’ve simmered about my hair cut; It’s not as short as in the pics above (I had it up-do’ed for NYE, so you can’t really see), but was just caught in-the-moment of having more than I had wanted chopped off. It’s still at a compromisable length, but thanks for all the concern!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Before I break down the dailies of my trip, I have to say that this was quite an eye-opening trip for me on the personal level. Granted, I was there with 3 friends and a very tight itinerary with primarily, holiday celebrations in mind, but I do hope to  return with more time on the solo, so I can really devote time to explore and connect. See, in the daily frustrations of living abroad (language barrier)  and stresses of work (the lesson planning, the teaching, the office dramatics, the students, the parents etc etc.) can easily overshadow the real reason why I am here in this part of the world.  (Thanks Neena for reminding me!) It all revolves around EDUCATION. Yes, I am here to teach the littles the English language along with practices in Science and Social Studies — which is uber-important, when you think about it. These little youngun’s initial exposure to the “real world” is through me — Quite a responsibility I have!  But I believe I’ve done a kick-ass job with these littles…and truly believe these munchkins will rule the future. :-)  But! these littles aren’t the only ones being taught. I, myself am gaining so much knowledge in observation and experience through my travels. Stories from my grandmother and parents are starting to make a bit more sense… And I’ve really only just begun…..

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

• Departed Shanghai on a 9:20PM flight.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

• Arrived in Saigon at 12:15AM.
• Were picked up at airport and driven out to beach resort area, Mui Ne - arriving at approximately 5AM.
• Look at how beautiful the sunrise was from our resort….. and nope, I didn’t mess with the color scheme.. I’m just getting really good with working the camera

• As it was too early for us to check in and we wanted to maximize on time, we dropped off our bags and our adventure immediately began with a us hopping back in the van to be escorted out to the regions’ claim to fame of Red Sand Dunes at Sunrise. (Having, already camel trekked through the Gobi Desert, I personally was not so impressed.) Here are some flicks nonetheless…

• We had to get some real local eats…

• Then were driven to the fishing village. At this point, I was wow’ed and really wished my moms and pops were there with me on this trip!

• Then finally back at the resort for check-in…

• After a relaxing welcome massage at the resort spa, we motivated ourselves to the pool and beach…and had a little fun for just a couple of hours until rainstorms greeted us…

• But that was ok because we were dead tired and just needed to simmer till the Christmas Eve Gala jumped off at 6:30pm with a Welcome Cocktail and live music - “The Docile Choir” is what we called it….

• A gecko in our room….NOT cool..but it was harmless ….so was forgiven..

• Yay! Christmas Even Dinner!…. The resort put together a rather impressive buffet… fresh fresh seafood …. with “just right” assortment of West and Local cuisine…plus live performances…

• Silly “prom” photos…

• This shot cracks me up; we all lined up to take photos of our presents-spread…

Thursday, December 25, 2008

• Lovely Christmas mornin’ breakfast buffet at the resort…

• Then finally…. a good poolside day… no weather interruptions…

• And for dinner …..  some DAMN GOOD VIETNAMESE FOOD!!  I realized that my Moms and Pops may have been fibbing to me all my life… I think I’m more Vietnamese than Chinese… being that my parents and fam have spent a good portion of their lives in Vietnam back in the day, my parents’ cooking surely follows a lot of Vietnamese techniques….. and it is DEEEEEE-LICIOUS!!! I LOVE FOOD!!

• Then we hit the streets…and landed ourselves at Hollywood Night Club… This place was of course super spacious but super empty with exception of well… those looking to be hired….

Friday, December 26, 2008

• After one last dip in the pool, we headed back on the road to return to Saigon. Check out the cool little contraption that allowed for 2, sometimes 3 of us to share the fine tunes from my ipod…. it’s awesome!!

• Road Scene…

• Yummy pork-filled buns aka “bao geez” - exactly the way my pops makes ‘em… mmmmmm!

• This public bathroom made you remove your shoes and put on slippers to enter… I must say, the Vietnamese are much better with cleanliness than my previous travels… floors are constantly mopped and slippery shiny!

• Through a cute little alley-way of hotels, we found ours. Super friendly staff…. That Tho (sp) chic was soooo spunky with her greeting!! And her partner, Vu was super nice too. Anyway, friendly staff and very clean and super duper cozy rooms…

• Naturally, we took freshened up with showers and hit the streets for some eats… Fresh and Tasty shrimp on rice flour pancakes… “Bun Cuoc” for appetizers… YUMMMMM

• Mmmmmm my pho …..

• Then due for an evening thirst quencher at Temple Club…

• Night shots of the bustling beautiful city of Saigon!! This city has such a unique “always-on-the-go”charm to it! Prior to me taking off for this trip, my sisters had told me how they go all out for Christmas time…and they were absolutely right!!  Open squares were equipped with sound systems, trusts, stages, lights, cameras and action!!

• At Alleboo, I was realllly close to the sidwalk corner… ZOOOOOM!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

• After breakfast at 8AM, we were picked up for a day of tourism. Here are some shots that I took while on our tour bus… Saigon Street Scenes.. I mean look at this madness!! These streets really make Manhattan look like Pleasantville… The motor pollution was awful here! My throat immediately felt dusty…and I am STILL recovering!  I had gotten a face mask for Christmas, but failed to remember to wear it during this trip! Silly and costly undersight on my part…

• We stopped into this Hand-Made Crafts place… where I picked up a painting…

• I got a smaller version of this one…

• Using real egg shells… COOL!!!

• Finally, at the Cu Chi Tunnels. I was OVERLY FASCINATED with this stop. Absolutley A”MAZING”! For those who don’t know…

The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi district of  Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong’s  base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968.

The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerillas as hiding spots  during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The role of the tunnel systems should not be underestimated in its importance to the Viet Cong in resisting American operations and protracting the war, eventually persuading the weary Americans into withdrawal.

• First, we checked a sniper hideout….and I just had to try it out! Tight is the word. The Viet Cong would stay in these hideouts sometimes for 5 minutes, sometimes 5 hours, sometimes 5 days!!!  NOT comfortable at all! This little hole in the ground was JUST enough for me to crouch down for a squat position…. not even to sit flat on my bum!

• Booby Trap!! I felt the spikes without really feeling the spikes! The VC’s were NOT playing around!!

• One tank left out in the field for tourists to climb on and in …. the others are protected in glass shields in a museum…

• More traps!

• Door trap and various hole traps….

• Making bombs and weaponry…

• Rubber trees galore made Vietnam the “it” manufacture all things rubber-made including rubber sandals used in combat  (the outer soles had rubber pieces flaring out… to fake out the enemies trying to trace their tracks… so sneaky and crafty!!)

• Actual bomb crater…can’t really see in the pic because it just looks like a whole bunch of leaves…but impact in depth was definitely there… Then, we tested out a real fighting bunker… these ‘ishes were TINY!!  They allowed for a 100 meter stretch try-out with escape pop-outs at every 20 meters, just like in battle… I lasted for 60 meters and called it a day… I popped out in sweat, it was so damn hot and dark down there…

• We checked a documentary on the war… craziness… there are no words to describe it.. I encourage all to make a visit!! Then swing up to Shanghai to see me.

• Next stop, back to Saigon for the War Remnants Museum:

Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as the “The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government (of South Vietnam)”  Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States, but the museum does not attempt to be politically balanced.

• The museum itself was simple in design - just one open room with an EXTREMELY biased take on the war but still very insightful with important artifacts….

• World-famous photography… So horrific, so captivating, so real…

• These pics really hit home…

• Agent Orange Dioxins… incredibly terrible….

• Bombs and artillery….

• As a first grade teacher,  I found this quite disturbing… Paintings of “War Through Children’s Eyes”….

• After going a little crazy at the souvenir shop, we headed back into the streets.. to find much needed food! I got my wish of traditional Vietnamese subs.. These are soooooooooooooo tasty!!!!!! and some fresh sugarcane juice and eggrolls and such ….

• Shanghai Hotel in Saigon, hmmmmmph!

• Traffic, traffic, traffic!  Amazingly, there are little accidents here and people are zooming in all sorts of directions!!

• And we eat again by the Ben Thanh Night Market…I felt very Anthony Bourdain… which isn’t at all a bad thing!

• This was my whole meal; I had myself some fresh wraps… just like home cookin! with fresh advacado shake! I had soo many of these down here.. Reminded me of when my moms used to make them when I was younger… YUMMY!! YUMMY!!

• Night time traffic with Christmas decorations… perrrrdy!

• Some live perfomances in the square… featuring what I called, “Vietnamese Destiny Child”…

• Thennnnnnnnnn we were off to the airport for our return to Shanghai… but I just HAD to take a pic of this. Here’s a crowd of local aiport workers along with some travellers gathered around the tv that was showing Titanic, of all things! They were each so fixated! LOL

Anddddd that’s the end of it my friends!  This took me forever long to post up…. so ya’ll had better enjoy it!!!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Here are some flicks from my classroom Christmas Activity with the little people….

Here are some videos of the kiddos dancing… Yes, I always look to incorporate music and encourage free expression in my shenanigans… It makes everything all the more better!  I had taught the kids “the twist” dance to go along with this funky version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” …and my little boy Aaron, who rocked out at my Halloween Thriller activity, was once again, the show-boy on this one… So in Video 1, you’ll hear me giving prompt for everyone to follow Aaron’s Twist lead… Then, Video 2, all the kids are following all of Aaron’s moves!! LOL Enjoy!

Here they are in the All-Grades Christmas Celebration Ceremony…

Find me below!

Here are my kids performing, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”  Disclaimer: I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the coreography of this one… because well, if you watch it, you’ll see what I mean. Good thing they are little cuties, so they got the pass.. Their homeroom teachers who came up with the performance… not so much… But Enjoy!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Wow! I just had a little 360 epiphany! Things kinda just come around full circle…. in that …. at this time last year, I was dizzying myself with returning to NY from Christmas family festives in Boston… to celebrate NYE with some good folk, in a suite @ Marriott in Brooklyn with a memorable midnight toast on the BK Bridge….

This year, I find myself dizzying with my return to Shanghai from Christmas in Vietnam…. to celebrate NYE, “Winter Wonderland”-style atop of the JW Marriott @ People’s Square in Shanghai….

Crazy, crazy. Who woulda thunk? I mean, last year… it was a special farewell toast for many of us in that suite…as for the majority, we were looking to peace to lands afar from the States for one reason or another in the ‘08…and here I am….

Apologies for the choppiness, but just needed to share that quick little flashback… From Brooklyn Marriott to Shanghai Marriott…

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!!!!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Even prior to coming overseas, I had been dreading the day that I would have to have a stranger who I can not communicate with, touch my lovely locks… (See, I’ve got sibs who are professional stylists with our own salon at home…. so you can say that I’ve definitely grown up with convenience.) And I’ve been waiting out far too long for a good snip out here… Sooo I popped into the salon that had been recommended by foreign colleagues and was told of a specific stylist, named “Suzanne.” I lucked out… she was available…and I did my best to explain to her what I wanted…. the layers, angles yada yada… and was just crossing my fingers and everything else with hopes that she “got it.”  But there was no way in telling because the communication was super duper brief and her level of English was more or less non-existent!!  So I sat in the chair…and was crying inside as the blades were seemingly non-stop. Cut here, cut there…note: NOT snip here, snip there…. But in the end…. at least it doesn’t look atrocious in that I came out with a mullet.  I give her props for getting the style down..but damnnn she cut it way shorter than I had wanted!!!  But I just keep telling myself, some times this happens back at home too. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe.  But yeah… I’m just going thru long locks withdrawal now and needed to share….hopefully I’ll be over it soon…

To help, I did end up video chatting with one of my stylist-sisters and she checked out my cut, and gave me the “Wow, Mimi, you’re hair is short… But the actual cut looks goood..It gets  a Pass….. It’s short, but doesn’t look bad..It looks like a healthy cut.”

Yes, healthy. I’ll take healthy!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Soooo I’ve returned to the ‘Hai after celebrating my Christmas in Vietnam…. The trip gets an “A” for Awesome; On the very personal level, the experience was very gratifying. More in depth write-up to come of course, but just wanted to touch base and let ya’ll know I’m back safe and all that jazz…and thank you to all who kept me in mind with their holiday well-wishes… trust me when I say I am very appreciative and grateful for your thoughtfulness.

To leave off with a tease….  Saigon - I’ve never seen anything like it…. makes even Shanghai look tame. The number of motorbikes in traffic is out of control!

Check these clips:

#1 - Street Crossing in Saigon is ridiculous! and in retrospect, I was even more ridiculous for having filmed it while trying my darndest to come out alive while doing so!

# 2 - Night time traffic in Saigon is no different from day time…. motorbikes takes short-cuts on sidewalks!!

. . don’t burn the day. .

….. Those words will be shouted by me on the morning of the 25th this year. For why? Welps, I’m heading off to Vietnam tomorrow evening! Whooo Hoo!!!  I have been SOOO looking forward to this one!  Temps have been dropping over here, and I need relief from this bloody cold, baddddd!! Mid-High 80s… Beach… FOOD….. Ahhhhhhh! Calgon, take me away!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! Luvs n’ Hugs!

(hmmmm… I wonder if they’ll show “It’s A Wonderful Life” down there… )

. . don’t burn the day. .

Holidays are fun because teachers receive gifts from the kids and kids’ parents. A pair of tickets to the theatres dragged me out of my apartment today, or else would’ve been a lazy-pop-in-dvd-while-staying-in-my-robe type of day… which I am absolutely, perfectly content with! Being a teacher now, I’ve learned to reallllly appreciate my chill time weekends!!

Sooo, of course it was an experience to say the least. We called ahead to see what was showing in the evening and were given two choices: IP or If You Are The One. I did a  quick google and the latter title won. We arrived at the theatres with approx. 20 min to spare till show time. Now, I just wish I had brought my camera… It was nuts as per usual when the mass-Chinese are involved. Just imagine: Union Square Theatre filled with Asians. So, me being the sneaky foreigner that I am, had Lisa stand with the masses while I poked around to see what the deal was around the gigantic pole that was obstructing all view…. and behold, there was a shorter line… I “psssst’ed” over to Lisa and had her swing around… Awesome. But not really, because the folks in front of us were slow-ass, mo-lass. We did our best to maintain our huffs and puffs….and still a bit clueless with what to do with our gift certifcates etc. Can we walk in? Can we not walk in? Some dude appeared to also be giving away gift certificates, or was he sellling? We still don’t know. Plus the expiration date had been rubbed off  a tad from ours etc. So of course, this is when Lisa decided to make use of my looks. She says.. “Ok, you hold the tickets because they won’t question your foreign face.”  Fast forward - our turn. I step up, had my “I speak English, Do you speak English?” conversation, and eventually got us seats. Get this, they have ASSIGNED seats here. Theatre was packed, (I later found out it was Opening Weekend for this film.)  We got the last two-seats-together deal…and dashed back to the cinema rooms.. We sat, movie started..and at first I thought.. “Wait a minute. This isn’t the film we wanted. Did we walk into the correct room? But this looks interesting nonetheless…..”……But…. it was all part of the movie…. (That would’ve been a good story to tell.. but good fake-out!)

Ok, the movie itself..I’d give a thumbs up. It reminded me of something I’d probably see at the Angelika or something. Highly anticipated romantic comedy directed by Feng Xiaogang is said to be the most expensive of its kind, at the expense of 50 million yuan. Leading the cast is renowned mainland funnyman-actor Ge You and Taiwan actress Hsu Chi, through tales of complicated and conflicted love and another, searching for the one to wed… of course twists of angst combined with slapstick humor kept me entertained. But I do think, perhaps this film could’ve been edited a bit to be a shorter… A 2-hour movie…but by 1.5 mark, I had thought it was nearing 2.5… But nevertheless, still a good one to check out… Romantic comedy? Yes. Serious undertone? Yup, that too.

. . don’t burn the day. .

My Cali homette gets to see Ashton Kutcher everyday and her name is not Demi. Rather, Ana is her name and she’s staffed at Mr. Kutcher’s media company, Katalyst Films (- Punk’d, Beauty & The Geek, The Butterfly Effect). Here’s a little holiday cheer from the Katalyst Krew…

Oh and Ana is the Elf-Executive whose line is, “I mean take a look at these numbers, I think we need a bail out.”… Well done, Maca! and costumes look fab too!

. . don’t burn the day. .