This Saturday morning I had the chance to visit the Chinese garden located in Rizal Park, in Manila. It was almost an hour drive from where I live to Manila. I came to discover the Chinese garden in Manila based on the post of my friends in Facebook. Actually, I was hesitant to go to Manila, since I know its going to be a long trip. But I pushed through because I know I won't be at ease if I didn't take the opportunity to go there. I really wanted to see the huge statue of Confucius and the Chinese style garden design of the place.
It was quarter to 9 in the morning when I arrived there. It was a bit hot, because the sun was shining. There is no entrance fee, you just need to log on the record book provided by the staff. Since its Saturday there are a lot of students, and families at the park. The Chinese garden was not that big and you can go around it in less than 5 to 10 minutes. I have read a lot of negative reviews online, but for me the garden is quite nice. Very Chinese. It feels like I'm in China. ha!ha!ha! Even if I know it can never be at par with the famous Suzhougarden in China. I immediately went to the statue of Confucius, and had my photo taken. It was quite huge, and there is a history plaque below the statue. Its about a short bio of Kong Fu Zi (Confucius). I have watched the movie of Chow Yun Fat who portrayed Confucius, and its a good movie. I also love the soundtrack. I also admire Confucius. I have a Chinese philosophy book, and the life of the great master Kong is included there.
Also, the last week of September is where the world, and the Chinese people commemorate the birthday of Confucius. According to Wikipedia, "Confucius birthday falls on the 27th day of the eight lunar month of the Chinese calendar. It is officially celebrated on Taiwan as 'Teachers Day' on September 28th, and in Hong Kong on the 3rd Sunday of September as 'Confucius Day', though the traditional date is also often observed. While in China, they observe the 'Teachers Day' on September 10."
Here in the Philippines, on the 28th of September 2018, His Excellency Ambassador Zhao Jianhua gave a speech at the Chinese garden at Rizal Park, Manila. Government officials were also present. According, to the speaker, the celebration honors teachers, and promotes Confucian values.
One of my favorite quotes by Confucius, which I shared in my story that was featured in a local Filipino-Chinese magazine goes something like this, "Never tire to study and to teach others."
If you have never been to the Chinese garden, and if you love taking a stroll at the park then you better visit Rizal Park, and the Chinese garden.
Yesterday, since I was on leave from work. My friend and I watched Mano Po 7, Chinoy. When I first saw the trailer I immediately wanted to watch the movie since Richard Yap was the main protagonist in the film. He became one of my favorite actor when I first watched a local drama (Please Be Careful With My Heart), starring him, together with another actress Jodi Santamaria. The cinema was a bit packed when we watched it. I thought that there will be lesser people already since, some days have passed since the initial showing of the movie.
The film centers around a Filipino-Chinese family again. What made the movie different from the other Mano Po films, is that this film centers on the male character. What I like about the movie is that they really showed some traditions of a typical Chinese family, like during the engagement (ting hun) the soon to be bride is seen walking backwards. According to what I've read the meaning of the bride walking backwards symbolizes avoiding the negative energies in the room, and also so that she will not be able to see her groom. Also, in a huge Chinese banquet it is normal to see a lot of people wearing red. The color red symbolizes good luck, joy and happiness. It is considered an auspicious color for the Chinese people. Another thing that I have liked about the movie is the cinematography, you will be able to see some scenes shot in Taiwan. For me, the story line is a bit predictable. Still, this is a movie worth-watching. We should support our local films, and kudos to Mother Lily Monteverde for making another Filipino-Chinese movie wherein fellow Filipinos can appreaciate, and learn a bit more about the beauty of the Filipino-Chinese culture. Mano Po 7, Chinoy is still showing in cinemas nationwide.
'There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.' ~ Chinese Proverb
I'm not sure if I will do a movie review or a book review on this one. But I guess I'll just write a review about the novel and the film, 'The JoyLuck Club'. I am a fan of the works of Amy Tan. I have enjoyed novels that she wrote. Another novel of hers that I like is entitled, 'The Kitchen God's Wife'. I have collected some of her books. Her novels mostly depicts the life of American Born Chinese (ABC) or people who are of Chinese descent who migrated to America.
I first saw this movie when it was shown on tv in a local channel. I was immediately drawn to it because the opening has that 'oriental or Asian' feel to it. The scene that I remember the most was a group of elders and a young woman playing the famous Chinese game called 'mah-jong'.
The JoyLuck Club is about the life story of four mothers and their daughters. The movie scenes alternates between the past and the present. With regards to the movie, I think it is faithful to the novel. Also, like in many novels that's adapted into a movie, due to time constraints it's only usual that not everything that's written in the book is included in the movie.
I am not actually familiar with the actors and actresses who played the role of the mothers and the daughters, as well as the other characters in the movie. But they all did well in playing their role. This movie shows what a mother would do for her child. I was reminded of this movie/novel when I read the tribute of a famous journalist to her late mother.
The movie is very realistic. I really learned a lot from this novel. It has clearly shown the truths with regards to marital problems that some people rarely talk about, thus it resulted to an even bigger emotional abuse. It also shows the role of Chinese women in a male dominant, power-driven culture. I also have learned about filial piety, matchmaking, and other Chinese traditions. If you are a voracious book reader, or a movie fan. Either way you will enjoy watching and reading, the work of Amy Tan.
I recommend this movie to all the mother and daughter's out there. Truly a mother's love is truly admirable. A mother, and being a woman is worth more than a priceless gem out there.
This is one of the Chinese movies 'must-see' films that I've seen on the internet. This is included in the list of the best Chinese films ever made. This is based on a true event that happened in China wayback, a great earthhquake that struck Tangshan (a city located in northeastern Hebei province of China). The characters portrayed in the film were just fiction, but on the last part of the movie, a survivor of the Tangshan earthquake was shown.
The cinematic effects was great. The collapsed buildings and structures, especially the rubble, will make you think that you it was filmed at the time when that event happened. It was really believable. I also like the portrayal of the lead actress, who played a mother who is forced to choose, and the consequences of her choices. She's really good in portraying her character. As if I can feel her feelings. Now, I somehow understood the sacrifices and hardships that a mother can experience.
This movie is very timely, since my country was also devastated by an earthquake last year. We should always be prepared, and we should be aware of what we're going to do, just in case an earthquake will hit our country. Anyway, whatever happens, GOD is in control. If you want to veer away from Wuxia (martial arts-hero) themed films. Then I suggest you see this movie.
Today is a holiday, so as usual, I just spent the day at home. I've watched another movie entitled, 'Xin shi er sheng xiao' 新十二生肖. It's a fantasy film about the Chinese Zodiac animals. I was interested because it was mentioned by my Chinese teacher in our class. She said that Chinese people often ask someone's zodiac sign. In that way they can somehow know the personality of a person by basing it on the year the person was born.
At the beginning of the movie there's an explanation of how the 12 animals came to be assigned.
Long time ago the humans don’t know how to count the date.They ask heaven’s help. Buddha decided to use heaven’s river as the line to have an animal’s
marathon. To pick the first twelve animals arrive the finishing point. As the human being’s guard of the year.
My animal sign is a monkey. I remember, I really like the
monkey character before. The monkey character designed by Paul Frank apparel became even famous when Barbie Hsu wore it in the hit series Meteor Garden.
My Chinese animal year of birth sign is 'hou' 猴. Like the monkey, I really like bananas. Before I would always bring a banana with me at the office, and my officemates would sometimes makes fun of me calling me, 'banana girl'. My former boss told me that I should not eat banana always because she read in a newspaper that there's a chemical or component in the banana that attracts the mosquitoes. I had dengue thrice already, so I'm a bit alarmed by what she told me. Anyway, I still eat bananas up to now, for I've read they're very nutritious. My aunt even gave me a
monkey fancy ring when I was still a teen but I lost it.
Anyway, back to the movie. The movie is about a pretty young girl called 'Bai Ma', who's in search for the 12 animals, to fight the evil leader in the devil island. Her guardian who is always at her side and who protects her like a loyal guard dog is called 'Kan Chu'. Even if the film is quite old I really enjoyed watching it. There's an animation that was shown at the beginning of the film. I'm just not that overjoyed since the monkey was not given a very good role and exposure. As we all know the dragon is said to have been the luckiest of all in the Chinese zodiac animals, so in the movie the dragon is one of the leading characters. I also like a bit of twist at the end of the movie, I never expected it to be like that. Overall the movie was good.
I had the chance to watch some good Chinese 'wuxia' or martial arts, fantasy, romance and suspense movies. The first movie that I have seen was Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame. I was reminded of the 'Guan Yin', statue near the South Sea of China, when I saw the 'Buddha' statue that the first Empress of China Wu Zeitian, commissioned her workers to finish it just in time for her coronation. Anyway, I won't talk about that movie anymore since, my movie review is about 'Bai Hu' 白狐 (white fox), the English promotional title of the movie was called, 'The Fox Lover'. For a person like me who's a sucker for love stories, I was really interested to watch this film, and it has been a long time since I have watched a Chinese fantasy movie.
According to a review in IMDB (movie database) this film is about:
Pu Songling's 蒲松齡, "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio." It is a collection of nearly 500 mostly supernatural tales.The Fox Lover is about
white fox spirit Xiaochui (Gillian Chung), who is irrevocably in love
with a mortal fool Wang Yuanfeng (Chilam Cheung). In the universe
resides the largest bat demon that strikes terror amongst the people.
Inside Wang’s soul, there is a hidden power able to destroy the fiercest
demons. When Xiaochui’s loyalties are tested in the clash between
humans and demons, she is willing to sacrifice her life for love.
It was a very good movie. I also liked the costumes that was used in the movie. Very colorful costumes, for the 'fox sisters'. My favorite costume was the one worn by the lead character, named Willow, because I really like the color blue. Nice combination of blue and white. I've included a photo of all the 'fox sisters'. Here are their names.
Gold is the one holding a rabbit, and of course the color of her clothes is gold.
Dream is the one in an orange colored clothes.
Plum is the girl with a brown or earth color clothes.
Ling is the earthly daughter of Madame Fox, she was adopted, she's wearing a colored tan with a dark green inner clothing.
Lotus is the one with scarlet colored clothes.
Bamboo is the one wearing green.
Peach is the one wearing pink.
Jade andFlower have the same color of light purple clothes.
Willow is the one wearing a sky blue and white clothes.
I haven't watched the other movie version of the 'White Fox', so I can't really say if this movie was worst compared with the other movies. For example, I have seen a tv special of 'The Monkey King' movie remake, and for me, Jet Li and Jackie Chan's version still remains the best. I have yet to see Donnie Yen and Chow Yun Fat's version.
The movie was a tear-jerker! I cried in some of the movie scenes! Best of all I also like the soundrack. I will include the music video here for everyone to see. I also typed the English translation taken from the movie. If you haven't seen this film I suggest you check it out.
Some memorable quotes from the movie:
Willow: Yuanfeng, do you love me?
Yuanfeng: What does love mean?
Willow: It means embracing with you forever, or if you love one girl. You want to stay with her, and take her in your arms and never leave her.
Willow: Don't leave me.
Yuanfeng: No.
Willow: Even a knife in your back?
Yuanfeng: No. I won't leave you.
Willow: Even if you are hit by an arrow?
Yuanfeng: No.
Willow: Even with fire to burn you?
Yuanfeng: No. I won't leave you!
Yuanfeng: The thing of love is interesting.
Yuanfeng: Willow! Willow: Do you know me? Who are you? It seems I have met you before.
Yuanfeng: I was the fool named Wang Yuanfeng.
Willow: Wang Yuanfeng. Why are you crying? Oink! Oink! A piglet will never cry. Who are you?
Yuanfeng: I am Yuangfeng, who loves you the most.
Willow: Love... What is love?
Yuanfeng: It means embracing you forever. It means if you like her, you'll want to stay with her and embrace her no matter what happens. Never let go. Even a knife on the back, or hit by an arrow, burnt by the flame. Never let her go. Never...
After a Chinese
fantasy-action film that I’ve seen, I’ve decided to watch a
historical/biographical movie about a famous Chinese figure. I bet everyone
else has heard about the name Confucius. In Chinese,孔夫子Kong Fu Zi (means Master
Kung). He’s the pioneer in making education available to all. No wonder a lot
of schools, and institutes were named after him. If you’ve noticed, my blog’s header design was
a saying from Confucius. I’ve decided to put a Chinese saying there, because
the theme of this blog is all about Chinese. At first I really have no idea about
the life story of Confucius. I thought he was a just a philosopher and a wise
teacher.
The character of Confucius
was portrayed by a well-known Chinese action star, Chow Yun Fat. This is the
first time that I’ve seen him play a character, that’s mellow, or someone who
doesn’t fight with others, or someone who does martial arts. It’s refreshing to
see him play a different role.
I wonder why this
movie didn’t make so much noise like the other Hollywood movies. I really liked
the scenery, the costume of the characters, and I like just about everything in
the movie. It has even a nice OST, “Virtues of the Silent Orchid”, sung by Faye
Wong. For a China and Chinese studies enthusiast like me, this movie is a
must-see! You’ll know more about Chinese history, and the period where
Confucius live.
I also typed my favourite
lines from the movie, or statements that has strucked me the most. So it took
me almost half of the day to finish this movie. I also made a drawing, sort of
fan art tribute to one of the world’s greatest teacher. Like in one of my shout-outs
that I’ve posted before in a social network, “If the Greeks have Plato, and
Socrates, so do China. They have Confucius, (and Lao Tzu).” If you haven’t seen
this movie I suggest you watch it now. You will have a better understanding of
China, the man, his life, his works and the legacy that he left behind.
Here are some of my
favourite lines from the movie, and below I've included the music video, and the English translation of the song.
---
My favorite lines from the movie:
Kong Qiu: Minister, benevolence is love towards our fellow men. A ritual
murder is still murder, even if it complies with tradition. Lord Shu, you
showed benevolence towards a pheasant.Now I ask you, surely you must also speak up for this wounded boy?
The Zhou code of ethics teaches us to value human life above all. The
burial of slaves was practiced in barbarous times. It was outlawed in our
dynasty when the Zhou reign commenced. Our kingdom of Lu is the ancient home of
the Duke of Zhou, known for its ethics. We should think afresh and abandon
outdated traditions.
Gen. Gongshan:It was Lord Ki Pingzi’s
dying wish that those he loved should die with him. It is not cruel to bury this slave. Rather, it demonstrates the
Minister’s filial piety! His love for his father!
Kong Qiu: Gen. GongShan I know you served Lord Pingzi for years. I hear he
said many times that he could not live without you.
Gen. Gongshan: Right, that’s correct.
Kong Qiu: Given how close you were to him, he must still need you now that
he has passed on to the next life. If you were willing to accompany your lord in death, I could not
object to you taking this young slave with you. It seems the Gen. is not willing
to serve his master beyond the grave. He imposes on others what he will not
impose on himself.
Kong Qiu: "Rotten wood is hard to curve."
Kong Qiu: The poem means, “Even while courting a gentleman observes all
proprieties.”
"The hardness of the task is the measure of the gentleman."
"Poetry, books, ethics, music , a gentleman must understand all these. Rulers should treat ministers with courtesy, ministers serve rulers
with loyalty. Loyalty and filial piety are the keys to humanity and harmony. All professions may prosper. Close to home, attend your parents.Further afield, placate your
neighbours. There is also much to learn, including the names of birds, beasts,
grasses and trees."
“Only in winter does the pine show its true strength.”
"An official wears his robes of office. But it’s his inner character
and spirit which reflect his true mettle."
Kong Qiu:“A pure heart makes a pure shot. ”
Virtues of the Silent Orchid❀(An Ode to Confucius) Elegant orchid, standing tall with its fragrance spread Its aroma faint but worshipped by all other surround flowers If not picked and worn, what sorrow will it be to the orchid? For days and years, I have travelled far across the land One who goes far to search for the talented, Will benefit himself greatly with wisdom and power When the orchid is picked and worn, It becomes alive in spirit and radiates its fresh scent
Even during the winter, when the ground is thick with snow and frost, The orchids’ buds endure the coldness The proper conduct of a man virtue, Is the prosperity of his offspring in generations to come
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