Monday, February 04, 2013

Family by Pa Chin

Nakuha ko lang sa kalawakan jinternet para effect. 


From memory lane... 

The Family is the story of the Kao family compound, consisting of four generations plus servants. It is essentially a picture of the struggle between the traditional and the modern, age and youth, Confucianism and individualism—old China and the new tide rising to destroy it—as manifested in the daily lives of the Kao family, particularly the three young Kao brothers. The complex passions aroused in Family and in the reader are an indication of the universality of human experience--very patriarchal (sexist) and passive. 

The eldest brother Cheuh-Hsin, was forced to marry Jeuh-Chi because his family thought he was old enough despite his wishes of studying abroad and despite the fact that he is in love with his cousin Mei. 

When their father, they call him Tsieh-Tsieh, every responsibility has to be weighted on the Big Brother's (as they call him) shoulder. 

On the other hand, the second brother, Cheuh-Hsui, was in love with one of their bond maid Ming Feng who commited a suicide because she was told  that she will be given to their grandfather's friend as a concubine. 

The third brother is Cheuh-Min, who was in love with their cousin Chin. All their relatives think that it is good that they were studying in school because their grandfather thinks that being able to read and write is enough to become useful in the family. the family decision must have their grandfather's approval at all times. 

As the story progresses  only second brother and third brother was able to realize that  they have to struggle and fight for their rights and that the old, accustomed way of living is inappropriate. 

Chseuh-Min, stows away from the family, because he refuses to marry another girl that their grandfather has chosen for him. he came back only when his grandfather was about to die and canceed the proposed marriage. While Chsueh-Hsui, writes for a propaganda movement and decides to move to Peking to have a new life.


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Ajisen Ramen


The local tea. 

It was my first time to try ramen. I was afraid I might not like it so i just chose to stick to what i usually eat in Japanese restaurants which is the beef steak. As you can see, it's really flavorful. It was a very good choice. I let Rommel order the ramen so I could just taste it. After I did, i felt like choosing the beef steak was a mistake. HAHA i rhymed there. I loved the soup that I asked for another bowl so I could get more from Rommel's. He reprimanded me for not taking his advice in choosing the ramen.


Hiyashi ramen. Ham, egg, cucumber and crabstick in ajisen noodle sauce. 

Ramen is a noodle soup that was originally imported to Japan from China. It contains noodles about as thin as spaghetti and are served in a soup that varies based on region.


Beef Tepanyaki. 

Located at:
AJISEN ERMITA
Level 3 - Robinsons Place #197 Manila Midtown, Metro Manila
Operating Hours Sun-Thurs: 10am - 9pm | Fri-Sat: 10am - 10pm
5671935

Monday, January 21, 2013

Bio-organic Tattoo


6 hours of delight. 

One thing I realized yesterday after the tattoo session--i would rather support rising artists like Ricson. He did a wonderful job with Rommel's tattoo which was half finished by another artist. He was very keen to details and he makes it a point that the colors are glowing. Colors are of course a very critical factor in a tattoo. Most of the designs we follow (like the oriental ones) are basically designed to white skinned people. Their skin are like clean canvass. So for us Filipinos, there really should be an effort to burst the colors otherwise the tattoo is futile. It will only look faded.
I think the first one got lazy because he was already fully paid. So, lesson learned for us. If the tattoo will take more than one session, just pay in half. It's very difficult to trust people these days.

Anyway, bio-organic tattoo essentially is an abstract--a fusion of biological or anatomical features with plant-like elements. It took them six hours to finish 75% of the artwork.

uuhhhh... blood! chos.