Feeling Zen?

I love Japanese gardens. They are simple and serene. When I buy my own place -- in another 50 years maybe, when the housing price comes down to an earthly level -- I plan to have a Japanese garden in the backyard.

I like the Zen garden's simple, geometric lines. Even the benches accent the garden perfectly.

Back in ancient times, I am sure this would have been a welcoming sight for weary travelers. Water sustains life. After hiking miles and miles, nothing quenches thirst better than crisp, clean water.

Mysterious bamboo forest -- hmmm, reminds me of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- if I were ever to make a sequel, it shall be entitled Crouching Cat, Hidden Lobster... I love seafood!

This is not particularly Japanese or Zen, but it's such a pretty picture, so thought I'd stick it here. I just love the contrast between the orangish roses and the dark green leaves.

Pretty Flowers

Mucho thanks to L for turning a few inexpensive vases and a $5 bouquet of flowers into these beautiful arrangements. They really brighten up my apartment.

Context and Perspective

Hmm, where is this? Somewhere in the dessert or a cacti farm? Maybe Cat got lost while hiking in the Death Valley and started to hallucinate dessert plants...

Oh, it's the cacti terrace at the Getty Center ...I would not want to fall on top of these thorny little plants :-)

What is this circular thingy? An UFO? Or the dome at the Sistine Chapel? Very geometric looking, Michaelangelo was definitely before his time.

It's the glassy dome at the atrium outside of the Boone Gallery at the Huntington Gardens!

While at the Huntington Gardens, I got lost in this forest of tall trees...

A forest of tall bonsai trees... I mean.

Sand and Rock... at the Malibu Beach or is it at the...

...Japanese Zen Garden?

Pictures taken by the Mars Land Rover of the Martian surface (I see traces of water and life, possibly some Martian worms)...

Oh, it's a tree trunk at the Huntington. Apparently NASA control center was experiencing some technical difficulties and accidentally focused the Mars Land Rover lens on earth instead.

Gadget Update

New Blackberry and new iPod Nano, all in one week. Wooo, they are so shiny and pretty...

Chinglish Strikes Again!

Open letter to Chinese Government

Dear Comrades:

Please allow me to proofread English signs in China. I will do it for free. China needs serious clean ups from Chinglish if it ever wants to be a respected member of the international community. Case examples below:

In Chinese, the word "gong" could mean either public or male depending on the context. So in the sign below, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has its business service hours to the public as "To Male Service."

Well, I have to give credit to the sign below for cramming half a dozen Chinglish faux pas into one sign. So, where do we start? The literal translation of bus station entrance in Chinese is "enter station mouth" or phonetically "jin zhang kou." So, they translated bus station entrance as "bus stop jin mouth." Oh yeah, make sure when you ride the bus, you are a civilized bus rider (this one requires a bit of cultural context, you'll know what uncivilized riders are like once you ride a Chinese bus) and also remember to consciously queue up...

Hmmm, well you get the point.

In summary, we need to clean up Chinglish with the same fervor as we started the Revolution. Viva La Revolucion!

Sincerely,

Camrade Cat

Bye Bye Daylight Savings

It's only 5pm, but the sky is already so dark, winter is upon us, time to go into hibernation mode. Hmm, what would I do to hibernate? Lay down a lambskin rug in a cave and snuggle tight, get a stash of yummy foods like preserved plums, salami, chips, and for entertainment, my new ipod with lots of good music, korean dramas (kekeke, guilty pleasure), past issues of national geographic (when I miss the outside world), shakespeare and joyce (for deep thinking) and Ayn Rand's books ( when I am cold and need to burn something) hmmm, what else, oh yeah, a semi weekly delivery of fresh seafood -- but definitely no cellphone and blackberry!

Kungfu Panda

A new movie called Kungfu Panda is in the works. I like the idea -- though a little cliched cuz obviously anything that comes out of China knows kungfu -- even pandas! Haiyaaaaaaaaaaah!