Art-Jamming Party

A few weeks ago, my friend organized an art-jamming party at a studio in Causeway Bay.

It's basically a party where we get a bunch of friends together in a studio all for ourselves for half a day and we get to paint our own paintings and drink and eat at the same time. The studio supplied the canvas, paints, and tools. We ordered our own pizza and drinks.

I thought it was a unique idea, definitely different from your usual hanging out at dinner or at a bar. It was fun, and everyone got to release their inner artistic sides.

I shared a canvas with my husband. I was never much of a painter, while my husband actually enjoys painting, so I was happy to take turns with him. (He did most of the work.)

Here are a few photos of the "artists" at work.

Transformers

I watched "Transformers" a few weeks ago, and I must say that I liked it.

As a kid, I wasn't into them (it was more of a boys' thing), so I didn't really know much about them other than the fact that they transform from cars into robots, and they have that catch-phrase, "Transformers - more than meets the eye"! *shrug*

I went in expecting to be bored, so I was pretty surprised to find myself enjoying the movie. I found some of the Autobots to be pretty funny. I especially liked Bumblebee, the friendly Autobot disguised as a yellow Camaro. My husband said that most women also like Bumblebee the most. I can see why... he's got the looks (pretty hot as a smooth '77 Chevy Camaro), he's got the moves (check out how he helps Sam woo Mikaela), he's got good taste in music (I like the grooves that he plays on his radio), he's got strength and good fighting skills, he's caring, and he's sentimental and loyal (he chose to stay with Sam after they developed a bond and they saved either other). What more can a woman ask for? ;)

Oh yeah, the other reason I enjoyed the movie, in two words: Josh Duhamel. He's hot! 'Nuff said. Too bad he wasn't in that many of the scenes, but I'll take what I can get. ;)

One thing though, I wasn't entirely convinced of the love story, but oh well... The rest of it was entertaining to watch anyways.

Concerts

Ahh, Gwen Stefani's concert last week was AWESOME!!! Or, to use the title of a song from her former band, No Doubt, it was "HELLA GOOD"! =D haha. She had so much energy on-stage, she's a great performer. My favorite songs were "4 in the Morning", "Cool", "Luxurious", and "The Real Thing". But she performed all her songs so well it made me love them all.

The best part? My friends and I got some of the best seats in the house... 3rd row seats, front center, baby!! I've never sat so close up before. And being in the front center section was fun because everybody was really into it, everyone was standing up and dancing during the whole concert. Gwen was just a mere 20 or so feet away, and her energy was contagious!

Meanwhile, I also got to go to another concert on sunday... to see Jacky Cheung! If you don't know him, he's a Cantopop singer and he's been singing for the last 23 years. He was one of the original "4 Heavenly Kings" back in the 90's, along with Andy Lau, Leon Lai, and Aaron Kwok. I admit that I don't know his newer songs, but I know most of his older classics. Luckily, he dedicated most of the evening to singing his famous, classic songs. I always thought he had such a good, strong voice, and I was not disappointed hearing him sing live last night. At the end of the 3 hour 10 minute show, his voice was still as strong as ever.

my mom's 'hood

On Sunday night, I had dinner with friends in the neighborhood called Happy Valley (HK). It was actually my first time hanging out in HV and I was amazed to see so many restaurants there. I guess I always thought it was inconvenient to get to because the subway line doesn't extend out there, but it's actually not too bad.

The cool thing about Happy Valley is that that's the very neighborhood my mom used to live in about 40 years ago, before she met and married my dad and moved to the States! I'm pretty sure a lot has changed since then and most of the shops and restaurants weren't around back then. But just being in the neighborhood that my mom grew up in, walking around the very streets that she used to walk through decades ago before I was even born, I realized...

wow, I was hangin' out in my mom's old 'hood! :)

Having lived in the U.S. my whole life, that's something I never expected!

my first signal 8 typhoon

On Friday, we were hit by a signal 8 tyhoon warning, which is officially described as "gale or storm force wind blowing in Hong Kong near sea level, with a sustained wind speed of 63-117 km/h and gusts which may exceed 180 km/h." The highest signal is 10, when it becomes hurricane force winds. It didn't seem so bad though last night, cuz I've heard the winds howl louder last year during a signal 3.

Larry and I were supposed to join some friends on a boat trip, but after waking up to heavy rain and gusty winds and a signal 1 typhoon warning, we got really worried about getting seasick being out on a boat for 7 hrs. So unfortunately, we had to cancel even though the rest of the guys braved it out there. It's a good thing I didn't go though because over the next few hrs, the winds got much stronger, signals 3 and then 8 was issued, and for sure I would've been puking off the side of the boat. =(

In the evening we stayed in and watched a dvd of "World Trade Center". Brought back lots of sad memories from Sept. 11th. Thought it was interesting to see the movie from the point-of-view of the first-response rescuers, in this case the Port Authority police officers. You could really get a sense of the lack of information/communication that the officers were experiencing that day. Even as the officers were in Tower One's concourse level ready to go upstairs to rescue people, they had no idea that Tower Two had been hit already. Amazingly, it was the true story of two of only a handful of people who were rescued alive after the collapse.

goodbye Norma Jean

45 years ago yesterday (Aug 5th), Marilyn Monroe died in her home in LA.

Born Norma Jean Baker, she's one of the biggest sex symbols and legends in Hollywood history. She would've been 81 if she were alive today.

To be honest, I haven't seen any of her movies. I've only seen clips of several of her movies during an exhibit on her life at one of the museums in NYC two years ago. But who *doesn't* know Marilyn Monroe? I'll definitely have to check out her movies some day... Any recommendations?

I really like these two b&w photos of her. The first one is a clear portrait of of her glamour and beauty. The second one shows her looking refreshingly beautiful and totally carefree against a great city background. She's such a timeless beauty!