Maybe someday I will start my own videos teaching the Cantonese that I know, but in the mean time, I might as well outsource it! There are plenty of good videos already out there on youtube! This video is from a western blogger in Hong Kong. This particular word of the week deals with leveling up. This word can be used at anytime something great is going on. Check out the video and subscribe to his YouTube channel!
The Steve and Harry Podcast
•March 31, 2011 • 2 Comments
大家好 Da ga ho! I have not been to Hong Kong in almost two years now. I am actually really beginning to feel a little homesick when I think of Hong Kong. I have really adopted it as my second home I think. So until I move to HK in hopefully January 2012, I am trying to remain active in learning Cantonese and with keeping up with whats going on in HK. Some of my friends in HK actually mock me for listening to the RTHK, but I enjoy it. The RTHK is a news broadcaster in Hong Kong, who also has an English broadcast.
So the RTHK actually sponsors a pretty funny podcast called the Steve and Harry Podcast. This podcast is extremely funny and generally talks about the pop culture of Hong Kong or stories that the major news will not pick up. If any of you are familiar with the Bob and Sheri Show here in the United States, it kind of has the same flavor. The talk show hosts just really enjoy focusing on funny stories circulating around Hong Kong.
Unfortunately the podcast is apparently not on a set schedule, because it sometimes will be weeks to a month at a time before iTunes picks up another show. Judging from the show, I think Steve and Harry actually have a full time job outside the radio studio at RTHK and they only do the show part time. But this is definitely a good show to keep in your podcatcher for a rainy day. I am providing a link at the end of this article for those who are interested in listening to the show, until next time! 再見 Joi gin!
Metric, No Not The System of Measurement…
•March 17, 2011 • Leave a Comment
I have been on a quest to discover brand new bands and new artists. As some of you might know, I often listen to CBC Radio coming from Toronto and I remembered during the end of 2010, a program called the Q was counting down some of Canada’s best music. I ended up discovering a band called Metric and they are one of my favorite bands as of now. The band consists of four people, lead voalist Emily Haines, James Shaw on guitar, bassist John Winstead, and finally the drummer Joules Scott Key. If you are interested in Indie music, then this is definitely a band you may want to check out. Metric has been around for quite some time and has released several albums. The two albums that I am more familiar with are “Live It Out” and “Fantasies”. My favorite single that the band released is on the “Scott Pilgrim” Soundtrack and the song is entitled “Black Sheep”. Unfortunately if you plan on purchasing “Black Sheep” on iTunes or Amazon, well they require you to purchase the full album apposed to buying the song individually. I thought that was the benefit of purchasing my music electronically or from iTunes/Amazon MP3 Store? To purchase only the songs you want or like. Hmm anyways the band has several of their music videos posted on YouTube. My suggestion would be to first listen to them on YouTube and then if you enjoy their music, purchase it and support them. Well I hope you all enjoy this recommendation and check them out. This band is not well known here in the US, but I think they are worth getting to know. 😛
•March 13, 2011 • Leave a Comment
I just joined Amazon Student and got a year of FREE Two-Day Shipping http://amzn.to/AmazonStudent
Natural Catastrophe in Japan
•March 11, 2011 • Leave a Comment
This morning was supposedly going to be a very productive day, except I woke up to the horrific news happening in Japan. As cited by the Washington Post (2011) “The quake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. in Washington) at a depth of 15 miles and about 80 miles off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, a mostly rural but still densely populated part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island”. This earthquake is supposedly the worst to hit Japan in it’s history and the fifth largest earthquake in the world since early 1900. The earthquake hit the city of Sendai, except the side effects were felt all around Japan. Japan is prone to earthquakes and they have prepared heavily for these terrible earthquakes. According to about.com, Japan has on average around 1,500 earthquakes every year… So Japan is well accustomed to being struck with earthquakes.
The main reason for such catastrophic power were the tsunamis that ended up striking the northeast islands of Japan. As I was switching between CNN and Fox News, I could not believe the pictures and video that was being broadcasted from individuals in Japan or from the NHK. These tsunamis were taking out houses and sweeping everything in their paths like they were building blocks…
Actually I have some friends in Japan, mostly in Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyoto. I have heard from two of my friends but one of my friends I have not heard from her. Please pray for their safety and especially for their families, because even though some of them might not have been hit by the earthquake/tsunami, maybe they have family in those areas. But also in general just pray for the Japanese people.
Lastly I wanted to point out a relief effort that the American Red Cross is doing. Right now if you text Redcross to 90999 then $10 will be donated to helping Japan. This $10 donation will automatically be added to your cell phone bill. This is not a lot of money and just think that if you were to not eat out once during the week that would probably help some Japanese family that is in need right now.
But judging from the speech President Obama gave today, I believe that the USA will be helping Japan out in any way that we can. Not only that but I have heard that Taiwan is donating a sum of 300,000 USD in support. This is of extreme importance to Japan, because their national credit limit has been downgraded recently (within the last month or so) and they are in a tremendous amount of debt. Funding aid and reconstruction supplies to these disaster areas will not be an easy task.
For those in Japan or have loved ones in Japan, I know it is difficult for you that are directly dealing with these atrocities, but we are praying for you all. It may seem hopeless right now, but God is still in control. He is there for you all and He is taking care of you all despite these circumstances. I hope you all will lean towards Him for understanding and peace. I hope this verse will give you some confort. God bless you all in Japan!
箴言 3:5
“心をつくして主に信頼せよ、自分の知識にたよってはならない。” YouVersion.com
Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” ESV- YouVersion.com
NPR News Story
Washington Post’s Update
BBC News Story
Red Cross
Fox News Response
Google’s Response
•March 8, 2011 • Leave a Comment
My first time trying sashimi! It was absolutely delicious. Octopus, surf clam, shrimp and jellyfish!!
Google Pinyin
•March 3, 2011 • Leave a Comment
Back when I had my iPhone, one of the major reasons why I bought one was because it had Chinese and Korean support. Not only did I want the ability to send and receive text messages in either Chinese or Korean, but I have a good amount of songs in Chinese and Korean. Anytime I pulled up the songs on my old Nokia N95, the song titles would just show up as boxes. So the iPhone had solved this problem, but I eventually got tired of having to hack my iPhone everytime a new IOS update was released because I was using T-Mobile. I eventually switched to the Android platform and I have been enjoying it. I bought the T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream) and have recently installed Android 2.2 Froyo on it. Anyways because Android is open, any developer can add any kind of functionality to Android. Google themselves actually added this extra functionality and is available for all versions of Android. Simple go to the Android Market place or the AppBrain market and type in Google Pinyin. This app adds an IME (input method engine) program to your Android device and now you can type in Chinese (Simplified or Traditional). As you might can tell by the name, this input method is done by typing pinyin. So even though Taiwan uses a different pinyin, you can utilize the Mainland’s Pinyin while typing in Traditional Chinese for those who have friends in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. 😛 If you just want to view websites in Chinese or anything on your Android device in Chinese, you do not need to install this app. Google’s Android platform has built-in mutli-lingual display support. This is only for those who want to type in Chinese. Enjoy!
Email Is Not Personal
•March 3, 2011 • Leave a Comment
Who says snail mail is dead? Well to be honest, I would probably have to agree with them! Except I have been writing letters to several penpals for years. I have been writing to two penpals in particular for close to 2-3 years. One located in South Korea and the other in Hong Kong, who two years ago I had the priviledge to meet. The other penpals that I have are located in Finland, Vietnam, Indonesia and lastly Japan. 😛 This is our first letter (to the girl in Japan) and I am rather excited. But as a small little gift, I decided to draw a little picture for her on the back of the envelope. ;p Her name is Natsumi and I think that that is one of the cutest Japanese girls name. But anyways I would consider myself tech savy, except I think actually writing a hand letter is a lot more personal than an email. Plus when sending an email, you loose the excitement factor to receiving mail. Two of the sites that I have been finding penpals on are http://interpals.net and then http://penpalsnow.com. Except I think I have enough penpals now and I am having some difficulty keeping up with them all!
Facebook Clone
•February 28, 2011 • Leave a Comment
Face App
RenRen App
Well during my stay in China, I decided to set up a renren account. Even though I rarely use it, it is mainly because I am still learning Chinese and I cannot read some of the sections on the site. Just two days ago, I decided to search the iPhone/ iPod App Store to see if they have an app for iOS. Once I found the official renren app, it took me a while before I remembered my username and password. Once I was using the app, I sensed an air of familiarity about the app. Then it hit me, this app looks awfully similar to the Facebook app! It looks like renren decided to copy the user interface used by Facebook on their iOS app. Even most of the icons are the same and even the layout is pretty much the same. I just thought it was very funny and I wonder if Facebook has realized that they are being mimicked? Well you know the saying, imitation is the highest form of flattery. 😀
branhow.com 