Kind of Copycat

While most people have not come across The Book of Life (2014), which is about Mexican's Day of the Dead traditions where it is a day to pay tributes to ancestors and family members who have passed on and it is believed that the dead visit their living relatives for a day, like an annual family gathering; however due to a bigger marketing reach, most people have come across Coco (Disney's 2017) and some fans of The Book of Life are calling Coco a copycat. 

The theme is similar but the storyline is a little different. So I suppose I will call it an expansion of the Mexican culture as well as broadened awareness of the different cultural practices of family traditions in paying tributes to our ancestral lineage.

Anyway, I could already guess the plot of Coco, including the twist (I didn't read it online beforehand but still I was able to predict the plot), but the movie was for the kids and they did enjoy it. Kiki says it was one of the saddest movies she has ever watched because she shed tears at four parts of the movie. LOL, so specific, why count?  (she could probably relate more because the main character is a boy and the theme is about teen's angst).

The Book of Life (2014)

I remember "The book of life, apology song" was quite touching. 

It says - "And if you can forgive, and if you can forgive, love will truly live"

you can find it on YouTube.

Christmassy

Christmas decorations from Daiso, simple and festive. 

The Childcare brought the kids to visit the Post Office. Introduced to them the concept of Postal Services and "Snail Mail".  They wrote letters to each other, made a "Penpal" among their classmates. Haha. Nice touch, Pebble Place.

Last night, Kiki told me that leaving her childcare school was one of the saddest memories she has. 

What goes around the world but stays at a corner?

Stepping up on the game

Since she is beginning to win me at Reversi (Othello), I've upped the game by introducing to her, my self-invented rules.

It goes like this-- I'd toss a seed/disc and she would choose a colour (black/white), if the result is the colour of her choice, she will have the "advantage". (if not, the opponent will be assigned the advantage). Each player is being issued 16 seeds. At any point during the game the player with the advantage could use his/her advantage to "swop colours" with the opponent, this Swop must be made before using up the 16 seeds. However, advantage to swop is an option, it is not mandatory to make a swop. The game will carry on as per normal after the 16th move. If the advantage is not being exercised, the advantage will expire after the 16th move. 

So, for the player without an advantage, he/she will have to decide if he will go all out from the start or play a safe game in the first half. If he plays too well, his opponent will call for a Swop. If he doesn't play well, he might not be able to catch up or turn the tides in the second half of the game. 

I also don't know how I came up with these rules but I think it honestly reflects the tilted emphasis our society has. Those people without an advantage has to work not just harder but smarter not to outsmart the people with an advantage but just to have a chance in winning. It is all right, really. It will teach tenacity and resilience which in my humble opinion, are valuable life skills. 

 She was the black seed player, she swop to white at this point.

After the swop, me being the black seed player, couldn't fight my own game.

So fun to add another layer of strategy to this strategy game.

Random

Before the feeling of Embolden, first came a tinge of Sadness.

why did I feel that way...

The TCM pills I take for my back injury. 

May I be able to lessen the injury and have some form of recovery.

It is not serious, but still I have to treat it.

My friend was telling me about his friend's wife's BFF, whose hubby left her after being unable to accept her progressing & successful career, saying he can't play second fiddle to her. 

I was surprised because I had always thought that by playing second fiddle meant being a "second choice" or being a consolation choice when met with love rival. I did not know it could mean rivalry with a wife's career. 

If a man thinks this way, then there will be many other ways to be playing second fiddle. Second fiddle to the couple's children even? Work demands, school's demands, family's demands?

 Grow up!

Not sure if the actual bag will be as nice as the photo itself.
Got to see it to know.

Sundays with Colin: Festive Lights

 Coloured light bulbs from Daiso

I let him bring them out

Been a while since I went out with Colin.
Had been busy with the two concerts.
He's such a sweet boy, co-operative and will wait patiently for me while I shop for my clothes. 

 He decorated the yogurt cake for a pose. 

The cake is very nice tasting

 Mushroom Omelette, nice fragrance. 

He says we could take a picture to remember this cafe

The Yiyi brought us to a newly discovered joint for dinner (after swim class)

The place has a cozy and laid-back ambience, acoustic music, nice breeze, friendly staff.

 I did not know that Maple syrup is the sap from Maple Tree. 

I learned it from Kiki. 

I thought it was honey from a fruit. No, I had never given it any thought as to where it came from. 

Mama, I can do the split. He says.

Humoresque 25th November 2017

 Glad to have made it.

 Morning rehearsal

 Warm up before going backstage

 We were tired and hungry after a long day, but we were happy to have accomplished this. 

Also, we enjoyed the rest of the performance, the principal and her fellow colleagues, along with their students-- their manners were confident, open, fun and playful. It was refreshing.

 Dinner at Pasar Malam. 

Toys reflecting and moving along with the times. 

Doll on Hover Board.

Vicariously Star Struck

My cousin was in LA when Jim Carrey drove past and waved hello to the pedestrians.

She took a short clip but she isn't someone who would do crazy stuff.

I told her I would have ran after his Limousine if I were there.

And then I would have shouted: "Good morning!"   and if I don't see you later, "Good afternoon, Good evening, and Goodnight!" 

I don't have a quotable quote from the other movie- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I can't shout a line from that.

So that's just a fickle of my imagination, you know, living a vicarious life, looking through the eyes of someone else. Don't we all do this these days? All the ogling has subdued my desires. Unreachable goals are better left undesired. But desirable goals will become reachable. Isn't that oxymoron? Once in a while, something like this makes me feel alive again. 

So I thought I would watch Eternal Sunshine during my lunch hour.
I can't begin to tell you how much this movie influenced me.
The moral & ethics behind the intentions to delete "painful" memories from one's mind, if you could do it, will you? If you could perform it, should you?

Happy Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday.
I had a simple day and that was nice.

"Silence is the absence of noise"  

- Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II 

 I wanted to watch Coco (Disney Pixar)  but decided to wait for cheap-tickets-Tuesday and to bring the kids to watch it too (instead of enjoying it by myself).

heh heh heh, my sis got for me my daily staple.
the Mascaras I find good are by Lancome & Loreal.

 Kiki has Creative Writing  (English) class in school, plus Chinese Orchestra CCA (Lots of rehearsals for SYF 2018). Anyway, we were testing out her shoes, to be worn this coming Saturday's concert. As she tried them on, I saw that they were size 35. I thought it was kids' size but when I attempted to put them on, I realised it is adult's size!  Whoa.

Packing some stuff. decided not to do any spring cleaning until next week.
didn't feel like working on my BD.

Meanwhile, the Papa sent me a picture of his lunch.
Finally, he's eating more.
He has lost so much weight & muscles that many of my relatives pulled me aside to express their concerns. 

Finally found a TCM that could croak my back.
He says the left side of my lower back is swollen, like it had been swollen for a long, long time.
I know. the masseuses always tell me that. I need to take good care of myself. 

When I was at the library earlier in the morning, after borrowing some books for the kids, I browsed around other sections. Saw this book and thought that I shouldn't revisit these kinds of books because you know,, been there, done that. Placed the book back but paced back to retrieve it. What the heck, I still need it, I need to revise and revive myself.