The Ties That Bind by: Teresita Ang-See (Mini-book review)

   Last week my order of the mini-book, "The Ties That Bind" (The Saga of the Sultan of Sulu in China). This is the 2nd edition, written by well-known, and respected Filipino-Chinese writer, and academian. Known in the Philippine media press, as an anti-crime crusader. She is also also one of the founders (along with her late husband Prof.Chinben See) of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, and Kaisa Heritage Center.

From tulay.ph: 

"The Ties that Bind – the Saga of the Sultan of Sulu in China (Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran, 2017, 109 pp.) uses references and resources from China and the Philippines – including valuable photographs – to document the historic visit of the Sultan of Sulu to pay tribute to the imperial court of Ming Emperor Yong Le in 1417. The booklet is published in commemoration of this most significant event which highlights the enduring friendship between the Philippines and China."

You can order online, and have it shipped to your place. Just follow the instructions of their staff. I also contacted them through their Facebook account, and Ms. Meah See, director now of Kaisa, and the daughter of the author was really accomodating. You can finish the book in one-sitting. The book is printed in glossy pages, and the photos are rich, with colorful pictures. As a supporter of the Philippines and China's positive and harmonious relationship,  and as a member of the Philippines - China friendship club. This mini-booklet is full of interesting facts, and details about the long-standing relationship, and friendship of the two countries. Did you know that the Sultan Padaka has living descendants up to now? They have also visited the Philippines.

The story of the Sultan of Sulu, and the Emperor of China was made into a movie wayback. The title was 'Hari sa hari, Lahi sa lahi,' the international English title was 'King and Emperor.'

If you are a Chinese culture enthusiast like me, or if you are interested in culture and history, you should definitely grab a copy of this book. I got my 2 copies for P140.00, plus additional shipping fee. I also requested for the book to be signed by the author. I have not met the author personally, but I'm looking forward for a chance in the near future.

Or you can visit Kaisa, located in Intramuros, Manila. They have a gift shop there when I visited them wayback. They sell t-shirts, and various educational books about Filipino-Chinese culture and history. You should also check out their museum also located in the same building. It is a museum of the Chinese in the Philippine life. It is a definitely must-see. I really enjoyed touring the museum before.

(Fast forward to year 2026, I finally met Ma'am Teresita Ang-See through my new doctor who is her sister.)

For orders and inquiries: 
You can contact them through their facebook page Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran or you may email them at info@kaisa.org.ph 

Vivian 周慧敏 'Leaving A Depressing Habit' Album Review

   My blog post would not be complete if I have not included this album review of mine about Vivian Chow's album,  离开忧郁的习惯 Li Kai You Yu De Xi Guan. This album was really memorable for me because this was the first Chinese (Mandarin) album that I got. Wayback, I asked my late aunt to buy any Chinese cassette tape for me. They always go in Chinatown before to buy pearl cream. This album was recommended to her by the seller. Sadly, I lost the cassette tape, in the previous language school that I have worked before. But I have never forgotten all the music in that album. Today, as I am typing this blog post, it is cloudy, and raining a bit. I remember I often listen to this album before when the weather is like this. I am glad that I have found this album for sale online. It is pre-owned. But I still bought it. I already ripped the music from my pc at work. So my playlist there is JJ Lin, and Vivian Chow's music. The album is still in good condition, it comes with a lyrics photo book.

There are 10 tracks in the album. I'll just list there English titles here. Track 1 Leaving A Depressing Habit, Track 2 I've Never Been to Me (English Version), Track 3 Look at The Sea, Track 4  Look at My Eyes For Awhile, Track 5 Accompany You By Your Side, Track 6 Dancing in the Night, Track 7 Feeling Touched, Track 8 Cannot See Clearly Which One is the Real Me, Track 9 Leave Some Love Until Tomorrow to Love Me, Track 10 Oh! Do Not Talk. I highlighted all of my favorite tracks (songs) in the album. Why I like Vivian Chow? First because she's very pretty, angelic beauty. She's like a Chinese angel to me. I also like her voice which is really sweet to listen too! A fact for you to know, she's a radio dj before! So that's maybe when speaks or sings, she's nice to listen to! I remember during my college days, I would surf the net, and just look at her photos online. I dreamed of having one of her cd's. It has happened, thanks to the Chinese friends that I have met online. We lost touch, but I will never forget you. Hope you are reading this! Today, you can see her photos online, it seems she has not aged at all. I also have her Best Hits, Vivian Chow Gold album, a gift from my online friend - Ms.Yu, a Vivian Chow 1994 'Touch' photo book, also a gift from Mr. Yeung, another online friend of mine, wayback and a pirated karaoke cd that I bought in Chinatown before. Below is her classic music video, 'Leaving a Depressing Habit.' The meaning of the song, is moving on because we are done with being sad, and crying for the person we have loved before. We are leaving that stage. It is a positive song for me. Life goes on, so we must move on, and face bravely another tomorrow. The song has kinda a relaxing feel, same with the music video. Vivian, is shown here as happy, and a carefree person, that is free from worries.

Our Times 我的少女时代 (Wo De Shao Nu Shi Dai) Movie Review

   Two weeks ago, I had the chance to watch a Taiwanese movie, 'Our Times.' The movie is quite similar to the Chinese drama, 'A Love So Beautiful', and a mix of the Thai movie, 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love.' About high school life. I like this movie over another Taiwanese that I've watched before, entitled 'You Are the Apple of My Eye.' (Because the ending is not that good for me. But its closest to reality, life doesn't always have a happy ending) I really don't have any fond memories during high school because I went to an all girls Catholic school. The movie is about Joe Chen, a geeky looking career woman, with a monotonous life. Her name in the movie in Chinese means sincere of heart. The same thing goes with her career life, and she was gossiped about her younger workmates. Then after another hectic and boring day, she decides to listen to her old player, and played a song of Andy Lau. Memories of her highschool days flashed back. The movie has a nice OST sung by Hebe Tian, entitled, 'A Little Happiness.' Anyway, I'm a bit jealous of Hebe because JJ Lin likes her. Well that's just the way, when you like someone, you get jealous when you find out when they like somebody else.

During her highschool days she has a crush with her classmate. But then because of a chain letter she made, she crossed paths with the school bully who treated her as a personal slave, at the mercy of his beck and call. But in the end they came to know each other's characters, and they became friends. So I will not spoil the ending for you, but I really want to mention, it has a special guest appearance of the original F4 star, Jerry Yan who played the lead role of Dao Ming Si in another popular Taiwan drama wayback, Meteor Garden. The movie was really good, it is just a light movie, and really heartwarming. I will definitely recommend this movie for you to watch. I give it, two thumbs up. Below is the music video. The meaning of the song is really fit for the movie. Happy watching and listening!

JJ Lin Message in A Bottle and Music Knight Hits Deluxe Collection

  Today, I got the latest cd of JJ Lin that I have purchased online. Last month, I ordered 2 cd's of JJ Lin. I really did spend a lot buying JJ Lin's cd since they are not available in my country. I bought the cd's from online sellers abroad. They are from Malaysia, and Taiwan.

The first cd that has arrived, that was delivered on my doorstep is JJ Lin's Music Knight Hits Deluxe collection. It is packaged neatly in a box. This album has 3 cd's and a lyrics booklet. The 3 cd's are compilation of JJ Lin's songs from his his various album. This cd came from Malaysia.

The next cd that I bought was JJ Lin's 'Message in Bottle' (outer edition). The packaging was really nice. When you open the box, you will see a small bottle with a letter inside, written on it is a message that JJ wrote. The bottle is somewhat deformed. I have learned that the bottle was patterned after JJ Lin's grasp. (the way he's holding a bottle). So there's really an artistic touch to it. The cd comes with a lyric book, and a 7-11 small ad-paper of JJ Lin, about his message in a bottle album. The inner edition has no bottle included. This album by the way is a bit hard to find now. I am fortunate that I have found a seller from Taiwan who carries this outer edition cd.

I came to like JJ Lin above all Chinese artist, because he's really cute, especially when he smiles, and his dimples shows. He is a talented musician, and composer. Lastly, we share the same faith. I like his songs because they tell a story, and when he sings its really full of emotion. I came to know JJ Lin's music through a friend, who shared to me a video of JJ Lin and Charlene Choi of the Twins. The song is called, Little Dimples.(小酒窝). Other favorites of mine are Ta Shuo 她说,  Dou Jiang You Tiao 豆浆油条. etc. JJ Lin hails from Singapore, he is known as Wayne Lim by his closest friends and loved ones. If you haven't heard his music, please try to listen to it. Happy listening!

(I'm a volunteer administrator to a local JJ Lin fan page in facebook: JJ Lin 林俊傑Philippines) Thanks to Kara Sky - Karyl Sora Parohinog for making me a co-admin. in her blog. This blog was created 4 years ago. To all JJ Lin's fans in the Philippines, please do visit and like the page.

The Secret 消失爱人 (Xiao Shi Ai Ren) 2016 Movie Review

   Today, I saw 'The Secret', movie. This should not be confused with Jay Chou's, 'Secret', 2007 movie. The genre of this movie is a mixture of suspense/thriller, romance-drama movie. I decided to watch this movie mainly because of JJ Lin. He played the cousin of the protagonist in the movie. Yes, I'm fangirling now! I tell you people, I will make a review of JJ Lin's album next time, when my order arrives.

Anyway, back to the movie. (spoiler alert). The opening scene show a man which is played by Leon Lai, watching a tv program, about a supernatural expert talking about ghost/spirit. As the movie progresses we know that the wife of Leon Lai (Kai Feng) who is played by Wang Luodan (Qiu Jie) died due to a mountain climbing accident in the icy Himalayas. Kai Feng wakes up one day, he saw that his wife resurfaced. He can see her again. JJ Lin who played Leon Lai's cousin also can see her, and also Mumu, their son. The wife of JJ Lin was played by Sandrine Pinna. There is a twist in the movie, and I will not further spoil it for you. The movie is quite sentimental, and while watching it. I said to myself if only this is true. I also want to see my departed loved ones. (I miss my grandma, and aunt). But of course, this is only a movie. I also cried in some parts of the movie, near the ending scene, the graduation of Kai Feng and Qiu Jie's son, Mumu.

The movie also offers good songs. There's a song sung by Leon Lai, and of course by JJ Lin both are beautiful. I am familiar with Leon Lai, because my favorite female Chinese singer Vivian Chow had a duet with him wayback. They had this song in Cantonese, I just remember the title in English. 'There's True Love Tomorrow'. JJ Lin's song was played in the latter part of the movie. 只要有你的地方 (晚安版) By Your Side (Bedtime). The movie is not that heavy, it is in fact a light-hearted one, and it shows us that we must value and treasure the time we have with our loved ones.

A Love So Beautiful 之我们单纯的小美好

  Last month, I finished another drama. I have found out about this drama from my officemate. Actually, she was supposed to watch this, but I end up getting hooked on it. This is a Chinese drama. According to Wikipedia, this was aired on Tencent video from November up to December 2017. If I'm not mistaken here in the Philippines, it was aired 2 months ago.

Most Chinese tv series that I have seen are period dramas. So this was something new for me. This drama is about Chen Xiaoxi, a student who has a crush on her classmate named Jiang Chen. This reminds me of my younger days when I really like a classmate of mine.

This drama is about young love, friendship, heartbreak, and true love. This drama has become one of my favorite Chinese drama. If you have not seen this drama I suggest you should watch this. I also love the soundtrack of this drama series. My favorite is 小美好 sung by Feng Jia Qi.

The Beauty of Simple Living 李子柒

  This year as I was browsing YouTube. I saw a video of a young woman who lives in the countryside. The video also showed her preparing, curing different kinds of meat, and also cooking food. What is beautiful about her video, is that is shows us a glimpse of life in the rural area (province). I also like that she uses organic ingredients, fresh produce from where she lives. This woman can practically do anything. I have seen videos of her making Chinese shoes, a swing, making cosmetics out of organic and natural ingredients, and of course cooking various Chinese dishes.

In another social media platform which is Facebook, she has acquired a lot of followers and viewers too. Including me, of course! In the description from another YouTube fansite. The videos in this particular channel has subs or captions in English. It says that she's an orphan. She has worked in the city before, but she moved in the province to care for, and be with her grandmother. I really admire her. Her name is spelled in pinyin as Li Zi Qi. You can see how she looks like from a photo that I posted here.

Watching her videos makes me feel relaxed. I also want to live in the countryside someday. City living is fast-paced, and also a bit stressful. The place where she lives is in Sichuan. I also want to see that place someday. I've been to Hong Kong before but I have never been to mainland, China. If you want to see scenic, beautiful rural living better check her videos. Her weibo account id is mianyangdanshen.