口语课的故事

在口语课每个同学应该讲一个故事， 那这是我的故事：

以前有有一个男人和一个女人谈恋爱。 男人非常爱女人， 可是有一天女人离开男人然后跟别的男人结婚。
男人十分悲哀，他每天哭， 然后他问一个很有知识的老人。 只个老人告诉他： “在你们过去的生活， 女人是你的妻子， 你的对象。 可是他死的时候你没有好好埋葬她的尸体。 你只把毛毯放在她的尸体然后你离开她。 然后有别的男人， 他走路时， 看见女人的尸体， 然后他好好埋葬她。 这个别的男人现在是女人的丈夫“。

现在大家可以想一想， 谁是在过去的时候好好埋葬你的人？ ；）

Counting down to Christmas!

*background music: Deck the Halls by Aly& AJ (and Kenny G's Christmas album)*

Okay, so most of my friends already know that I love Christmas. It's my most favorite time of the year. Plus, I am a sucker for Christmas things, decorations, songs, etc.
I will be spending my Christmas in Shanghai this year (or probably in Hongkong? if only I can find a cheap ticket to fly there). Anyway it's the end of November and Shanghai's already preparing for Christmas. The lights and decorations in Xintiandi, the beautiful decorations at Xujiahui, the amazing Christmas ambience at Plaza 66, the Christmas ornaments at Starbucks and Haagen Dazs, and the Christmas preparations here and there around the town. I love them all! :)
I'm starting to prepare things for Christmas as well... I know it's a bit early but I just cannot help it!

it's the most wonderful time of the year
with the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you'll be of good cheer

it's the happiest season of all
with those holiday greetings and happy meetings when friends come to call
there be parties for hosting
marshmellows for tosting and caroling out in the snow
when hearts will be glowing,when loved ones are near
it's the most wonderful time of the year

I'm mad, but mostly ashamed, just because...

.. these are the reasons the MUI in Indonesia, MY HOME COUNTRY, wants to ban the movie 2012:

MUI: Ada Tiga Kontroversi dalam Film 2012
Selasa, 17 November 2009 - 12:07 wib
Syukri Rahmatullah - Okezone

JAKARTA - Film 2012 yang digembar-gemborkan menggambarkan mengenai kiamat, menjadi kontroversial. Dalam kacamata Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), setidaknya ada tiga poin kontroversi di dalam film tersebut.

Hal tersebut diungkapkan Ketua Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) KH Amidan saat berbincang dengan Okezone di Jakarta, Selasa (17/11/2009).

Pertama, para ulama tidak setuju jika hari kiamat divisualisasikan. Kedua, hari kiamat dalam versi Islam itu tidak ada yang selamat. "Tidak sama seperti yang digambarkan di dalam film tersebut," katanya.

Dia melanjutkan, dalam ajaran agama Islam tidak ada yang bisa memprediksi datangnya hari kiamat. Tidak seperti yang diramalkan akan datang tahun 2012. "Itu rahasia tuhan, hanya Dia yang tahu," katanya.

Yang ketiga, jangan sampai ada propaganda untuk mendeskreditkan agama tertentu melalui film ini. Karena, menurut Amidan di dalam film tersebut digambarkan masjid runtuh, akan tetapi ketika manusia masuk gereja selamat.

"Seharusnya LSF memotong yang bagian masjid itu, jangan ditampilkan. Karena kalau gereja selamat, itu kan wajar karena dibuatnya di Hollywood. Jika di Indonesia kan Masjid. Misalnya bencana tsunami di Aceh, masjid selamat itu kan real ," pungkasnya.

Karenanya, dia mengimbau kepada masyarakat bahwa bagaimana pun film 2012 hanyalah fiksi belaka dan bukan kenyataan, sebagaimana yang digembar-gemborkan. "Kiamat adalah rahasia Allah," pungkasnya.

Finally bought it :)

I finally bought this water globe. Been eye-ing it twice before and yesterday while waiting for the guys shopping at Nike near the People's Square, I decided to ask Liany's opinion about this and finally bought it. It has the 'Moon River' song in it (from one of my most favorite movie ever: Breakfast at Tiffany's) . It costed me RMB 320 but I really love it! =)

Shanghai Must- Do Checklist (according to 一个留学生 / an international student)

1. Circumnavigate the Bund
2. Dinner at exotic Tai Kang Lu


3. Enjoy the beauty of Xintiandi

4. Visit the Yu Garden

5. Eat dumpling from a semi- hygienic street vendor

6. Elbow your way onto the subway during the rush hour

7. Cross (or walk on) the road without being hit by a moped

8. Underground treasure hunt at Shanghai's subway malls

9. Dine at altitude


10. Visit a water town

11. Ride the Maglev

12. Dine on hairy crab

13. Trying out new bars and restaurants

14. Shopping!

The Closet #2

jacket, black shawl, cardigan (inside) and shorts: Zara
black plain t- shirt (inside): Guess
black legging: no brand
black leather boots: from a shoe store here in Shanghai, but I forget its name
watch: dkny
bag: charles & keith

Winter has come! :)

Are you being childish?

I was having a chat with my friend Jane and she was complaining about her new neighbor. She told me that the new guy is ridiculously childish and annoy her a lot. So I told her to minimize any social interaction with him, because, hey, life is too short to please someone else, right? She has other nice neighbors she and Mark can hang out with.

Talking about childish people today, I remember my own experience in 'childish-ness'. Actually I don't like to judge whether a person is childish or not and I always think that every people have their own reason to do anything. So how do you decide whether a person is being childish or not?
A person is being childish when they show no ability to stand in someone else's shoes and look at things with different perspective or imagine someone else's feeling in given situation, even when they already know all the facts behind it. They simply trample on everyone else's ideas, thoughts, and feelings, without regard. Their ignorance is usually apparent, so simple avoidance is often a useful tactic. Sometimes they even accuse us of being the childish one.

So are you being childish towards other people? Or simply doesn't care whether someone else thought of you as a childish person? During a complicated situation, I chose the second one, because I know I am more mature than a person who easily judge other human being with such awful accusation.

To a very dear friend..

I know you can do it! =)

To a dear friend...

♪ You will find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile ♪

- Charlie Chaplin -

The Japanese Guy and the arranged marriage

So I had 口语课 (speaking class) this afternoon and our teacher divided our class into 2 sides: they who oppose arranged marriage (by parents) and they who support it . There were 12 of us attending the class (the rest of the classmates skipped class) and unfortunately among 12 of us there were only 1 person who support arranged marriage. He was a 62-years- old Japanese guy. The teacher asked me and 4 other classmates, to support him during the debate, even though none of us actually support his opinion. The teacher gave us 15 minutes of preparation and then we have to speak out and explain our opinions concerning which side we were supporting.

During the preparation, the six of us exchanged our thoughts, and 5 of us ended up opposing the Japanese guy's opinion. Jennifer, an American friend of mine, even bluntly expressed her thoughts. That no one should be bounded my marriage with someone that they did not choose themselves.
The debate started, and the opposing team made it clear: that arranged marriage is absurd. Marriage is a very important matter and everybody should be allowed to choose whoever they want to get married with. The Japanese guy told us all that we're still too young to understand. While parents definitely want the best spouse for their children, they also have more experience in life, better 想法 (way of thinking) and 看法 （the way you see the world), to choose the right person. Sparks of love, which seemed to be what we, young generation seek after, will only last for a while. And he said that most of us only choose our spouses based on they physical appearance. The opposing team strongly disagreed and said that nowadays we prioritize 性格 (personality). And what if we simply doesn't like and comfortable with the person our parents chose for us? We will be the one who get married and we should be the one who choose and decide.
The Japanese guy then told us that we're too young to decide based on such idealistic reasons. He said that we are all students, 有很多空(have a lot of free time). But if we start to work, we won't have the time to get to know our future spouses. Even on weekends. The opposing team replied that if we simply don't have the time, then don't try to find a spouse. Because it won't be fair to our future spouse, not being able to spare some time for him/ her.
The Japanese guy continued with his reasons. He said that statistic place the divorce rate for arranged marriages much lower than marriages out of love. The opposing team replied that the pressure a married couple encounters from both society as a whole, and from respective families, suggests that divorce is not an option. Moreover, arranged or not, divorces occur because of problems between the husband and wife.

It was an interesting afternoon. And now I have to write an essay for the 读写 (grammar) class. Tomorrow will be the last school day for the week anyway, with the school field trip on Thursday& Friday! :)

The Closet #1

top& shorts: Zara
necklace: a gift from K in Stratsbourgh
black legging: no brand, bought it at the store in front of my current school
white flat shoes: Esprit
black leather bag& ring: H& M

* please forgive the messy background :p

I wish there are more men like him

"Kuburan perempuan telah terbangun di sepanjang kehidupan ketika rasa malu tidak tertahankan dan rasa kotor tidak terbersihkan; ketika tubuh dan kesadaran manusia hidup tidak cukup menanggung penderitaan yang dialami jiwa dan raga.."

alm. Pramoedya Ananta Toer.
A wonderful man, a more wonderful writer, and a male feminist.

他喝醉了！

i我:
莘银福， 你没事吗？ 身体好吗？

他：
哈哈哈～ 没事 ………… 问一下， 为了我的行为所以昨天发生什么事情了吗？

我：
哈哈哈。。 没有什么事情。。 别担心吧。。。 你今天好好休息, 好吧？

他：
托你的福， 我来中国以后初次喝醉 哈哈哈还有你们四个人真的谢谢 ^^ 再见～

我：
不用谢。。 昨天晚上是应该的！：）

Been craving for it for a while now..

and I finally decided to eat it at the usual place- Starbucks! LOL- Irene will be dissapointed hearing this. It's hard to find a local coffee shop who serves a slice of creamy, smooth, rich, and dense new york cheese cake (in short the best cheese cake)here in Shanghai..

The dry season has arrived!

It's almost November here in Shanghai, where I have been staying for approx. 9 months to learn Mandarin Language. It's the fall season already with winter coming in just a pinch of time. This only means one thing: it's the dry skin season! We all know the feeling: dry, raw, itchy dry skin that seems to return every fall and winter.

So, despite of the rip-off prices here at Sephora and Sasa, I finally repurchased my ultimate weapons to fight this season: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel (460 RMB at Sephora) and Jergens Shea Butter Lotion (79.8 RMB at Sasa). Thanks to them, no more dry skin for me!!



*tips for using your moisturizer: use it right after you shower (you have to shower with warm water, not hot water. by then your skin will still be damp and moist, and the moisturizer helps lock in the moisture from your shower.

Hello, Blogspot!

I finally decided to create a Blogspot account! yay! :D I'm getting tired of writing on My Friendster Blog and Blogspot seems to have a lot more to offer.

Well here's my first post here. I've chosen www.eclectichic8.blogspot.com as my blog address for some reasons. Eclectic and chic are two of my favorite words ever when it comes to describing myself. The number 8 was chosen not only because it is the date of by birthday, but also it is simple a lucky number. The Chinese even consider this number as the luckiest number because it is pronounced 'ba' and sounds like the word for prosperity which is 'fa'. Moreover it is a perfect symmetrical shape. You can cut the number 8 in half vertically or horizontally and both halves mirror themselves perfectly.

I'm still adjusting myself to this blog and the applications in it. Thank you for reading my first post, and keep reading! I will write some more when I have the time to do so.

Cheers :)