I recently bought a new juicer, Braun - so far, so good. I must say the old one's (Black and Decker) wear and tear was too early.. which of course is a bit disappointing.. And, I really have close to nothing in mind for this post aside from the following points:
1 orange navel = 100 mL freshly squeezed orange juice
200mL commercial juice = 1 to 2dhs.
1 orange = 1dh.; hence, fresh orange juice cost only as much as those in bottles/tetra packs!
Logically, I should opt the fresh one since it's healthier - only, I have to be patient in the preparation and cleaning up!
What's on your mind? Better yet, what should be? ..what's on mine? MUSIC, Ramadan, Mockingjay, Fifty Shades of Grey, Czech Republic, Vietnam, arts.. and food :)
For the past months, my hands have been full with moonlighting here and there; whereas now that the kids are on a two-month vacation, it's summer and Ramadan is fast approaching, I could say that I have and will have the luxury of time for whatever! Strangely though, it's almost as if I had already forgotten how to deal with this much time!
So much so, that I found myself enjoying Marketa Irglova's & The Swell Season's kind of music.. only enjoying at the beginning but grew fond and kind of obsessed with it now. Goodness! How could I be so into them?! ..not that the music is bad or there's nothing extraordinary in it. In fact, I find it very refreshing (Swell Season's), personal and touching (Marketa's). However, I do not always go into digging even the tiniest details about singers or celebs. Blame it on the free time! :p
And so, I've got a lot to say about them.
Have you heard of the movie "Once"? I'm guessing a lot of you haven't. Well, I don't blame you for that. It came out as an independent low budget film back in 2006. I've only seen it over a year ago. I must say, though, that it was a very lovely movie about music! So what's the connection?
Here's the clip from the movie, please give it a bit of your time :)
Song: Falling Slowly Won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards
for the movie Once
The movie featured Glen Hansard (Irish) and Marketa Irglova (Czech) who were known later as the musical duo "The Swell Season". In real life, the guy was from an Irish band while the girl was only a high school student back then. They made the movie without any expectations of getting anything out of it! True enough, the movie came out to be really simple - the lead characters have no names; the supporting actors were their friends and family; the cameras were rented; there were no permits for filming; the passers by never knew they were in the scenes (as long lenses have been used).. and yet there was something about it that captured the hearts of many.
It was known later that both shared the same feelings that time. Moreover, what made it special I guess is that the songs used, played and sung in the movie were all theirs. They composed it, gave it tunes and rendered it realistically in the movie very well! Such gifted people!
Here's one of their slightly upbeat song as a band:
Here's Mar after four years with the album 'Anar'.. going on her own kind of music, which I absolutely adore! ..And touring Asia on my birth month (sigh!) I particularly like the lyrics in her songs.
We Are Good
Early morning, rising with the sun
Resting where the sky meets the earth
Feeling the first rays of sunlight reaching into my soul
Where they reinstate the sense of my own self-worth
If you're not good, you're bad That's far too black and white Behold the glorious sun in all its radiance bright It too, at times, is obscured by the thick blue veil of night Still the moon and all the stars continue to reflect it’s light.
And so it is that we are good
Though we do not always do as we should
We lose track of right and wrong
And we’re not always standing strong
But still don’t you wanna believe
In things that eyes do not perceive
Like our light shining from within
That in a battle with our darkness can win
The gates of heaven open up before me
As my heart is given wings and flies
Leaving all pretense behind, everything is crystal clear
Even the worry of uncertainty subsides
They say that time will come for us to be reborn
Into the newness of unity that has been torn
Into duality, into “it’s us against them”
It’s from a place of fear that all our conflicts stem
We’re almost there, but not yet, still the stage is set
For the play we may enact according to our contract
That we may both you and I, with everybody in our home up high
To awaken from our deep and long undisturbed though hardly peaceful sleep
If to look is to know the grace, which you bestow
Upon those that you would raise into a kind and loving gaze
Then to look is to see everyone as good as they can be
I love Broadway, but I'd be equally happy to see people like The Swell Season or Mar perform live! I'd willingly pay even if it would be costly! Hence, the frustration of not being in Singapore or Seoul this August!!!
Anyways, if you're lovin' them, here they are again, live :)
I used to wonder what was so thrilling about Hong Kong's Ocean Park. I've never been to the one back home either. In my mind, I so often dismiss the idea of spending that much only to go to 'just another' theme park!
"What else could there be more than Disneyland Paris or Atlantis/Wild Wadi Dubai?!" Forgive me. To be honest, that's what pops in my head when a theme park invitation comes my way! It's simply because it cost a lot of money to be able to enjoy places like these. Aside from the ride all you want entrance fee, of course one has to spend on food and drinks too and these aren't cheap at all!
Hong Kong Ocean Park Cable Car
But recently, in my visit to Hong Kong I have decided to just go with the flow and do what most people do. Go to where most people go. Perhaps they do it for a good enough reason. Don't you think? And, that would be going to Ocean Park for one!
True enough, the experience was fun filled! Maybe I could say, it was worth every penny!
*On a note though, every popular theme park has its own distinguishable attractions so one's degree of appreciation may vary on what actually interests him. Furthermore, there a lot of relatively new parks open today, which I'm sure others may find equally more interesting like Singapore's Universal Studio or Sentosa; UAE's Ferrari World and Iceland etc.
Hong Kong Ocean Park Cable Car
I, along with three other friends, went there just this June. The month was not exactly the best month to visit Hong Kong. It was hot, humid and there were chances of rain if forecasts were to tell you. Indeed it was hot and humid.
Luckily though, it wasn't raining when we went there.
So, what's in Ocean Park?
One of the most popular must do in Ocean Park is riding the cable car! Afraid of heights?! Help yourself and don't be because this, for the most part, is what you pay for!!!
Hong Kong Ocean Park Cable Car
Covering an area of 870,000 square metres of land,
the park is separated by a large mountain into two areas,
The Summit (Headland) and The Waterfront (Lowland) respectively.
The areas can be reached by a 1.5 km long cable car system, a shuttle bus, or the Ocean Express funicular railway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Park_Hong_Kong
Hong Kong Ocean Park Cable Car
Ocean Park features a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) long cable car system connecting the lowland and the upland areas of the park with an 8.3 minute journey.
It has a capacity of 4,000 passengers per hour with 252 cable cars on two pairs of ropeways. Each car has a capacity of six passengers.
The cable car system perches on the side of the mountain and allow its passengers a quite overwhelming scenic view of the other side of Hong Kong.
There were highs and lows along the journey.
It was pretty fascinating to see colorful, bubble-like cable cars which seem afloat and in contrast to the verdant mountain. I was actually in awe... like a child in awe. I couldn't get enough of the experience to the point that I kept on blabbing about it! Not only me though, my friends were also pleased with the experience! If only time wasn't a constraint, I would have taken the ride a couple of times more!
Anyways, here are the photos.
Enjoy and do visit Ocean Park when you happen to be in Hong Kong, ok?!
