Monday, August 25, 2008

The Might of the Chinese

The Olympic Games is finally over. After about 2 weeks being spoilt for choice in terms of channels to watch, we again have to settle with the boring and repeated programs being aired in ASTRO. I’ll definitely miss the different sports being played at its best by athletes from all around the world. The swift-ness of Usain Bolt winning the 100 meters race, the beauty of Isinbaeva as she broke the pole vault world record, Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s matches against all the powerful players.. Those would be the moments I’ll remember in this year’s Olympic.
Last night, I watched the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games being held at the ‘bird’s nest’ stadium. It was awesome. The closing ceremony was almost as superb as the opening ceremony. In my opinion, the Olympic Games being held in Beijing had the most beautiful and magnificent opening and closing ceremonies to date. The performance held was almost magical, at least from my seat at home watching it live via TV. To quote one of the commentators “ For the people whose ancestors had built the ‘Great Wall’, of course there would be no problem at all for them to organize this kind of great performance”. Very true, indeed. I was enthralled. Here’s one of my favourite performance in the opening ceremony.



China Dance Performance - video powered by Metacafe


In 2012, the Olympic Games will be held in London. London is a beautiful city with its own attractions and I’m sure the Games would be interesting there as well. However, I’d wish a very BIG good luck for London to come up with a better opening ceremony than Beijing did. During the closing ceremony, London prepared a performance to welcome people to their city in 2012. The performance was very dry in my POV compared to the extravagant presentation by the Chinese. I guess the vast culture heritage of the Chinese people really helped them to come up with such grandeur.
Well, in a different but not totally unrelated matter, I’m currently reading ‘The Last Empress: The She Dragon of China’ by Keith Laidler. It’s about the last empress who ruled China before the monarchy was abolished. It’s an awesome book. Very informative. I love it. It offers great insight on China pre-revolution era. Those who are interested in Chinese culture must read this book. I’m totally awed with how an English man can be so knowledgeable about a culture which is totally different from his. So, this book is highly recommended.
P/s: Now (only?) I’m watching ‘Princess Hour’ or ‘Goong’, in Korean. Adore it.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Past Few Days

These past few days I've been all around Kelantan. My friend Ina came for a visit from kedah so Eme and I took her for a tour. We only visited common places that people come to kelantan for. Wished I could've take her somewhere nicer but truth be told I'm not good in finding tourist spots even in my own beloved state.


By the way, Ina's main reason in coming to Kelantan was to attend a friend's wedding. It was the wedding of Nik Mazrina (Baby, for us) and Nik Ahmad Kamal (a fellow collegue). It was a nice event and we really had great time. Here are some pictures on the tour and the wedding.





The Bride (^_^)


Congrats!