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Man...Chinese class and cheap good food really takes the energy out of me. Plus cable TV in a hotel - what more could I want? Six movie channels (though they are a bit outdated), the Food channel, and even broadcasts of Team USA Basketball routing Canada 120 - 65 in Las Vegas. Yup, good stuff.
On another note, although I didn't watch the highly touted Pixar flick "WALL-E", I did experience Christopher Nolan's awesome, thrilling, and moral inducing epic "The Dark Knight". Awesome casting, genius acting by Heath Ledger, superb special effects, and an intricate script, I can't really find anything bad to say about the movie.
And it seems the rest of America agrees.
"The Dark Knight" has already won the single day record for movies ($66.4 million) and opening weekend ($158.4 million). Nevertheless, the juggernaut refuses to stop.
This weekend "The Dark Knight" became the first movie to reach the $300 million box office mark in only ten days. TEN DAYS!!! The previous record was sixteen days, held by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (Johnny Depp anyone?).
Even more, studio estimates place the movie moving past the $400 million mark in another 8 days (it took Shrek 2 43 days to achieve this record), and even potentially touching the $600 million mark set by "Titanic" eleven years ago.
I don't know about you, but it seems the sleek and techy Batman marooned witty Captain Jack Sparrow all over again.
Oh and it seems that America's oil giants have finally decided to lower gas prices after a few weeks of international barrel price drops.
With plans to hang out with friends, I hope it stays that way.
I find it funny how I discovered the luscious taste of toast and butter in Taiwan....instead of in the US where the abundant staple resides. On the other hand, I first bought a frappuccino from Starbucks in Taiwan...and I'm sure I can list a lot more if I put my mind to 
it.
Call me an idiot.
But back to the real topic: MOVIES!!!!!
Man, sitting here typing in this blog just makes me wish I was still in America. By now, I would have watched with all my friends "WALL-E", "Wanted", "Hancock"....and probably "Hellboy II". But no, I'm stuck in a non-English country typing into an English blog in an English speaking hotel with English TV but no new English movies.
I hate the irony of it all.
Hopefully WALL-E will still be playing at the Cerritos Town Center when I get back...I really hope I don't have to go all the way down to Long Beach. However, from what I've heard of Pixar outdoing themselves yet again, it might be worth the trip. After all, who can resist this face?
Isn't he cute? Don't deny it.
On a positive note, I will definitely be watching "The Dark Knight" in Taiwan. It is, after all, the only movie that is opening in Taiwan at the same time as it will in America (a day earlier, to be exact).
With an impressive array of actors (rumors are already flying about Heath Ledgers possible posthumous Oscar nomination), meticulous directing, and IMAX style action sequences, "The Dark Knight" has already garnered early rave reviews.
I'm sure it won't disappoint.
Animated adventure and superhero films aside, a good comedy is hard to come by these days. "Tropic Thunder" hopes to end this drought with an original screenplay and all star cast. Who can pass on Robert Downey Jr. (practically unrecognizable from his tech savvy role of Tony Stark in "Iron Man") trying to act black?
Coldplay has done it again; "
Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill" are just the singles from their newly released and widely praised album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. With the success of their previous platinum certified A Rush of Blood to the Head and X&Y, one would think a normal band wouldn't be able to live up to it's expectations.
But Coldplay is far from a normal band. Not only did they release another critically acclaimed album, but they did it with a different, more patriotic, and lower style than the piano-driven A Rush of Blood to the Head and techno-oriented X&Y. Selling over 700,000 copies in its debut week, Coldplay's new album also garnered 354,000 downloads within two weeks of its release - more than the two year combined downloads of John Mayer's Continuum.
I admit don't really buy music albums (to be honest, almost never), but Coldplay convinced me otherwise. Within a couple days of Viva la Vida's release, I walked into Best Buy and added my own tally to its first week sales.
Coldplay has stated that they would release a CD of songs not included in Viva la Vida - a B-side - in 2009. With the quality of this album, I wouldn't be surprised if the B-side garnered the same amount of praise and commercial success of its better half.
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends has made it into my top albums of the year, along with Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs. With the expected release of Snow Patrol's to-be-named album later this year, I must say this year is one to remember for breakthroughs in alternative and indie rock (at least to me).
Favorite Songs:
Coldplay - "Clocks", "The Scientist", "Yellow", "Fix You", "Viva La Vida", "42", "Death and All His Friends"
Death Cab - "A Movie Script Ending", "Styrofoam Plates", "Marching Bands of Manhattan", "Soul Meets Body", "Crooked Teeth", "I Will Possess Your Heart", "No Sunlight", "Grapevine Fires", "Pity and Fear"
Snow Patrol - "You're All I Have", "Chasing Cars", "Open Your Eyes", "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking", "Shut Your Eyes"
I'm not much of a tennis expert, but I know the basic rules of the game. I also know the storied rivalry between World No.1 Roger Federer and World No.2 Rafael Nadal.
During a sweltering summer stay in Taiwan, I was basically locked in a house far from the urban nightlife of Taipei. But I had everything I needed: food, water, a swimming pool and basketball court, and, of course, cable TV.
That was last year - when I started following the classy and elegant play of Roger Federer, and the emotional yet smooth play of Rafael Nadal. It was last year that I watched Federer trade sets with Nadal in the Wimbledon final before claiming his championship in five sets. And it
was yesterday that I watched Nadal enact his revenge in what is possibly one of the longest tennis matches in history - dethroning the five-time champion and World No. 1, becoming the first man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively since Bjorn Borg in 1980, and showing off his signature "bite" on his winning trophy. Nadal deserved this win, as Federer stated after last year's final. But he, like the rest of us, must have not expected the Spaniard to win so suddenly.
Nadal seemed to come out of nowhere in the 2005 French Open, showing his dominance on clay for the years to come. He was limited to his clay courts and had a weak serve, critics said. It was expected that the even younger and crowd pleasing Novak Djokovic from Serbia would supersede Nadal in 2008, but with his left handed play and athletic ability, the young Spaniard proved them wrong. Shortly after his first French Open win, Nadal became one of the youngest tennis players to be ranked World No.2 - a title he has not yet relinquished. Since then, he has built up his reputation and reaped the awards - being the only player to be able to play and beat Roger Federer consistently and keeping the Swiss star from achieving a career grand slam in the French Open finals the past two years. And to that list of achievements, he added yesterday his first win against Federer on grass, breaking the World No.1's sixty five game winning streak on the surface and casting an ominous cloud on the security of Federer's rank atop the sport.
Yesterday night was Rafael Nadal's night, yet Federer took his runner up's trophy with dignity - exactly like how he handles all the rumors of his reign on tennis coming to an end. His talent, poise, and records are unquestionable, and only an ignorant spectator would doubt his ability to continue his game. After all, he is only twenty six, and champions like him - Borg, Agassi, Sampras - have continued well into their thirties. Nadal will be happy to hear that Federer will be around for the years to come, and, after this particular Wimbledon final, we will be expecting more dazzling and spectacular moments from this storied rivalry.
It's the end of high school...the end of living at home...and the end of having that nice desktop computer.
So it's just natural that I go shopping for a laptop over the summer, and where else but in Taiwan where most of the heralded computer manufactures are based in? It is true most of their stuff is now Made in China, but that's fine with me (but I can't speak for the rest of the general population).
Good thing the government isn't trying to fight back anymore...
And being the tech savvy guy that I am........I wanted a laptop that is future proof (and also gaming capable - what else will I do in college?) So I did some searching...and viola! I find this Asus beauty.
Intel Core 2 Processor, 250 GB of hard drive space (do I hear illegal downloads?), 3 gigs of memory, and of course an awesome video card: a Nvidia 9500M GS (nothing against ATI).
All for a bargain price.
So I happily went with my dad to Taiwan's biggest computer shopping center (and probably in Asia - they don't call it Computex Taipei for nothing) with the intention of finding this fine piece of engineering. I was all hyped up on window shopping, bargaining, testing, having my dad pay for everything, getting free stuff, and leaving there satisfied.
It hit me all the harder when they didn't have it. I was utterly baffled. It wasn't that they didn't have the "Asus" laptops (they had plenty of overpriced models), but the same model name and look had completely different specifications than those in America. Instead of a Geforce 9 card, most of the laptops in Taiwan (Acer, HP, BenQ to name a few) carried the two year old Geforce 8 cards. It seems that the Taiwanese manufacturers make the "dumb" builds of their laptops here, ship the better laptops overseas to America, and leave aging old gen hardware to rust in their home country.
Is it just me, or is that weird?
After a horrendous subway ride home, I realized it wasn't all that bad - I have Newegg in the good ol' USA to back me up. Them and the sales tax, recycling tax, service charge, shipping costs...and possibly even a tariff for not buying a Dell.
I hope they throw in some extra bubble wrap.
I admit I was counting down the days til graduation just like every other senior, but now that it's all over...the feeling of excitement has been shot down by a surge of nostalgia.
I always thought I'd leave Cerritos High not regretting or wanting anything; I looked forward to college, to USC, to new friends, to freedom, to a new campus, to school pride...more than anything...but I was wrong.
As the adrenaline died down from the last hectic weeks of hanging out with friends, driving out late at night, planning for college, and, of course, an unforgettable graduation ceremony, the indescribable feeling began to slowly hit me: first in annoying jabs, then in a final, lasting uppercut.
It seems like just yesterday when I first walked through the gates of Cerritos High as a freshman clueless to everything happening around me. I was hit with info on classes, credits, teacher recommendations, SATs, extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, volunteer work, grades, college applications, APs...a wild and chaotic transition from the easiness and simplicity of middle school.
There were numerous paths to take : MUN, ASB, Football, Cross Country, Track, emphasis on grades, emphasis on activities...and much more. I picked one; WE picked one; and made it through. Four years ago we walked into Cerritos High as unaware amateurs, and now we walk out as seniors hardened, experienced in the high school life and ready for the next level.
Or are we? Let's just say I ask myself this question constantly.
We leave behind our cliques, our friends, our comfort zone. The activities, academics, and relationships made during these last four years were preparations, stepping stones, for a new section of our lives, of our experiences. What we so cherished...for most of us...we leave behind in this little city called Cerritos...and move on areas across the world. Some, like me, chose to stay close to home in another part of LA...some cities up in North Cal or down south...some the east coast like Washington DC, New York, Boston...and some even overseas.
Most of us have chosen our majors - we have set our goals, our field of interests, and hopefully our careers with a simple decision. Yet in reality we're plunging into an unknown world: new schools, professors, cities, friends, relationships, etc. Our daily routines for the past four years are subject and will be subject to change, and we have to be ready for it.
And I hope I am.
But before the plunge into uncharted territory, we will spend this last summer cherishing these high school years as an unforgettable memory to us, the Class of 2008.
It was a wild ride. Let's get ready for the next one.
