Sunday 26 January 2014

Can't Get Enough of Frozen? (Disney's Frozen 2nd film review)

My first film review has reached to the top of the all-time most pageviews on my blog(a total of 67 pageviews)! You guys are awesome, thanks so much for reading and sharing it! Now as I promised, I'm writing a second film review and it starts now! =)

Am I the only one here who is disappointed that Let It Go is not chosen to win the Golden Globe Awards for best original song? But there's still hope because it is nominated for the Academy Awards, so fingers crossed, hopefully they'll win this time. I'll probably add updated nominations/awards here someday.


Now I would like to share some more scenes I enjoy from Frozen. There are probably some people who think that the productions should remove the trolls shipping Anna and Kristoff scene. But to me, this particular scene is important. Why?  Because I'm glad that the scriptwriters make the trolls appear twice in the film, unlike the Wandering Oaken's Trading Post guy who once appear once in the film (but he did show the viewers special characteristics- jovial and always into bargaining). First of all, the trolls are the love psychics /shippers who confirms that Kristoff and Anna are perfect for each other. Even though Anna is engaged to Hans, the prince of the Southern Islands, Kristoff deeply cares for Anna. I just love when the trolls list out Kristoff's "flaws" and strengths, like those little body movements he makes and the "thing with the reindeer that's a little outside of  nature's law". Oh! And I love the line "his isolation is confirmation for his desperation for human hugs". That's sweet, don't you think? Especially when they're talking about Anna to show him love, as in romantic love :3. Come on! You can't resist dropping this song out of your playlist! Imagine a love matchmaker comes to you and tells you that someone in front or next to you will be perfect for you as a soul mate. Who knows, he or she is right? And it's scary, but magical.
You can check out the movie scene below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dt-7RO8k7A

And I know that we hate the prince of the Southern Islands after we see the way he treated Anna later in the film. But I guess the love song he and Anna sang (before he revealed his true colours) makes me imagine myself with a dream guy. "Love Is An Open Door" is a cute and catchy song, and I'm sure single viewers would like to sing a song like this once they met someone who they find in common with..and then they fall in love blah blah blah. But anyway, this is a great dreaming-about-romance song. Don't give up, single ladies! You'll find your man someday! Just keep dreaming and be yourself! Anna here was just being lucky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1jAa03XqWU
One little scene that I absolutely proud of Disney to achieve is when Anna and Elsa talked after so many years of being separated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAwaXE_ZwY
If you don't notice, the conversation between both sisters is realistic like a normal sibling relationship. You can imagine how long they've waited for a laughing unison to happen!
Elsa: "Hi!"
Anna: "H...hi me? oh! Um..hi?"
"You look beautiful!"
Thank you! You look beautiful-er! I mean not fuller..um fuller..but more beautiful."
Thank you! So..this is what a party looks like."
"It's warmer than I thought."
"What's that amazing smell?
Both sniffed and said:"Chocolate!"
Thumbs up if you like this scene and relate this to your sibling relationship! =D

Another favourite scene of mine is when Olaf presents his best line ever "some people are worth melting for." I mean, seriously, who would ever say such a sweet, wise, and true sentence? Snowmen are lifeless and they don't feel any pain or burn with it comes to melting. But as for Olaf, he accepts the melting and he believes that he is alive for a certain period of time in life. Back in the scene when he saves Anna from freezing by lighting up the fireplace, he just stays by the fire and convinces Anna on what she should do in order to thaw her frozen heart. Such a loyal sidekick! I guess he is one of the best Disney sidekicks in history!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXP8tSLLQGk

Okay! One last scene before I end this review! I've shared what I like about the most intensive, saddest scene, that is when Anna freezes into a statue and saves her sister Elsa from being killed by Hans (check out my first review if you haven't!). Anyone here besides me just love the Vuelie background song? It is played when Elsa successfully thawed Arendelle. You will never escape away from the melodious choir voices (reminds me of Brother Bear). Seriously, the harmony is just beautiful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXC80ZUzPsA

And finally...one last dose of  Kristanna (Kristoff and Anna)!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MBj-aFpGDc
:3

I bet all Frozen fans don't get enough of Disney's successful Norway-inspired film, so they've released some genius, amazing little treats for us. One of them is the multi-language version of Let It Go. I mean seriously, I never knew that Disney has arranged dedicated singers all over the world to play Elsa, and they compiled as much versions as possible into this clip. What's your favourite? So far my favourites besides English are Italian, German, French, Spanish, Danish, Taiwanese (it's not in the video but you can check it out on Youtube), and of course, Japanese. Leave what are your favourite multi-language versions in the comments below. =) Go check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC83NA5tAGE
They didn't add the Vietnamese, Hebrew, and Taiwanese version. Oh! And also the Icelandic version, which is new to me, but Iv'e checked it out and it sounds not bad. Those who check out the movie scene of other versions, you'll be amazed at the lyrics they've translated because they're as strong as Idina Menzel's original version and who knows, you'll have a passion in learning new languages.

I'm addicted with the Japanese versions. They're just full of emotions! Check it out below!
Pop version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG0HpmLX0VA
Movie version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1poicuB2s

And also, check this cover of Let It Go out! It's an African version in a Norway setting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAJYk1jOhzk
And also, I just love when a film becomes something real to the world, like a Frozen-inspired suite in the ice resort Hotel De Glace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/frozen-suite-hotel-de-glace_n_4618184.html?utm_hp_ref=travel
The hotel is in Quebec, Canada. And we know that it is colder than British Columbia. The room looks like Anna's and Elsa's room back when they were little in the beginning of the film. The two beds with all the carvings and the bed covers, as well as the triangular window which is attached to one of the walls. However, what I'm concerned about it is how guests can ever sleep on an ice bed? I don't know whether they can sleep for one night on a mattress that covers a large block of ice on the snow. But still, it's amazing.

The film is loved by all kinds of ages that it is confirmed that it will be made into a live musical! You know like The Lion King Broadway show. I bet it's going to be awesome too.
http://io9.com/disney-is-prepping-a-frozen-live-action-musical-1500343151

And get ready for more of icy fractals and warm Olaf hugs because the team will be doing a sequel of Frozen! That's a good idea; I just hope that they won't mess up because sequels usually pull the popularity down like a boulder rolling down a hill. But yes, there are some good sequels like Monsters University and Mulan 2. I would to see more of Kristoff because so far we know that he's born to work with a group of ice men. What happen to his real parents? Does he have any relatives around Arendelle?  To be succinct, I would like to know more about Kiristoff's family background in the sequel. Oh! And also more of Elsa, because seriously she is the badass queen among the Disney princesses and I think she needs more attention in the sequel.
http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2014/01/disneys-frozen-get-possible-sequel

Once again, thanks so much for those who read and share my first Frozen film review. You can continue my support by reading and sharing this new film review. Thanks so much and never stop believing in Disney magic! Until then, see you in my next post! =D

Friday 24 January 2014

Bejeweled Obsidian (First sonnet of 2014!)

Diamonds that decorate the night,
their white glow outstands the dark.
Their centers lit up like fireflies.
Four thin edges stretched out like a ninja's shuriken.
They are scattered over the heaven
as if Iridessa has tossed her pixie dust in thousands of miles.
The complicated patterns they themselves design
creates a mystery that curious eyes can imagine.

Oh how I wish I can stop
and lie down on the roof
to admire such a postcard-like snapshot.
The constellations remain as mirthful as ever,
that I may trace your dots with one active finger
to seek the answer you have clued.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Behind The Rain is a Light of God ( Memoir chapter assignment 2014)

Behind The Rain Is a Light of God
Brief note: The three chapters of this memoir are basically about my experiences of being a Christian. I’ll include two of my experiences in college and one experience in secondary school. Before I came to Canada, I was a half-year student at Taylors' College (in Kuala Lumpur) for the Canadian Pre-University program. Canadian Pre-U (CPU) is kind of like a preparation/transition for Malaysian students to get accessible grades to enter Canadian universities. Living in my first college life at Taylors for six months was definitely an experience, including when I was with a group of church sisters in Subang Jaya (the town I lived). I lived in one of the row of houses just opposite the CPU building, and it was rented for church girls. We went to church together and we did spiritual, holy things like reading the bible and Christian books.

The fierce solar sphere shone radiantly at the city of Subang Jaya in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. The streets outside the campus were scorching, but the classroom inside was cooling.Thick yellow curtains covered the glass windows from the blazing sun. The room was lit up by six white fluorescent lamps above the ceiling. As usual, the students in the Challenge and Change in Society class (a social science course) did their quiz paper before handing in to the instructor, Miss Shelley Smith Dale. She had blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes gleamed along with a white toothy smile. A little background I remembered about her was that she was a grandmother of a lovely family back in Toronto. Even though elderly wrinkles crawled on her skin, she still looked as beautiful as an enchantress.
            “All right, folks! Before we begin today’s lesson, I would like to pass this to you.” Miss Shelley announced. She had a stack of one-page documents in her hands. A wave of curiosity crawled in my head as I waited for a paper to be passed to me. I think I’ll pass the quiz. And then I will be focusing on the assignments these few weeks…including the Life of Pi essay for English class..and oh! The surveys for the research project! And what else…community service…wait what? Community service? COMMUNITY SERVICE??? I paused for a few
minutes. My eyes were glued to a form with the words “community service” on top. (I was not quite sure what the exact heading was because I was too shocked. Silently shocked.) I pleaded to God, Please don’t tell me we have to do community service! I have loads of assignments to do these few weeks! Plus I haven’t done such a thing before! Miss Shelley slipped her round-framed spectacles which hung down her chest by a long string which was tied firmly around the ends of the eyewear. She looked at the sheet through the lens of her spectacles
and explained, “Now as you all know, one of the requirements to graduate from the Canadian Pre-University is by participating in 10 hours of volunteer work. Now it’s the time for you to think about what you want to be involved in.” My inner voice groaned, Oh..just great! I wore a stoic mask on my physical face, but inside I was banging my head on an invisible wall. I didn’t really pay attention to her speaking after that for I was too anxious to remove the imaginary wax from my ears. I panicked for a week that I won’t be able to do it. Jesus knew what I was going
through, and he sneaked in a miracle for me.

It was a typical heavy rainstorm in Subang Jaya. The dark cotton puffs above shed a storm of tears down the earth. I rushed to campus with an umbrella in one hand and presentation materials in a bag in my other hand. I tried not to groan too much because of my wet sandals and soaked jeans which was drenched by the rain. I nearly slipped on the shiny tile floor of the CPU building. Luckily, I made it to the classroom in the nick of time. A classmate, Rimita and I had to do a presentation on AIDS in the Individuals and Families In a Diverse Society course (another social science course).  I settled on a chair in the freezing air-conditioned room before bringing
my pen drive to the instructor's laptop. While doing so, I silently wondered whether the rainstorm would cause more harm to the urban city. This thought slipped when I realized that it was my turn to speak. I was shivering, and it was not due to the frosty-like temperature. It was my speech. I remembered saying a line that made the entire class laughed like I was an alien from Mars. I couldn’t remember what I said exactly but it was something about AIDS that was caused by gay men who had sex (yes, call me stupid). Even my partner covered her right hand over her mouth to hide her chuckle. I had no idea where I got that information from. After the presentation, I was relieved when the instructor, Mr. Craig Hobin announced that class was over for that day. But as I spoke too soon, karma hit me once again when my still-shivering hands made me drop my yellow and white Kingston pen drive on the floor. I quickly picked it up, and I was sure that Mr. Hobin took a short glance at me with a goofy smile on his Irish countenance. I assumed that I would get a D because of what I said during the presentation…or maybe an F.  A friend of mine, Iwin Soosay came to me with a nonchalant smile. His pearly white teeth outshone his dark Indian skin. “I enjoy your presentation very much, Michele!” he said. I stared at him in disbelief, “Yeah right! I look like a joke in front of everybody.” “Well, look on the bright side! You entertain us from the dull weather outside. I’m sure that even Mr. Hobin finds your speech impressive.” he said before he bade goodbye. I made my way back home which was just opposite the campus building, hoping that everything would be fine with a simple dinner and Youtube videos on my laptop. The bottom of my jeans sagged heavier than before due to a small pothole of rainwater at the gates of my house. Thanks a lot, Mother Nature.

The home phone in the living room rang that made me jumped. I left my early dinner of Swiss rolls on a glass table in the living room and took the call. I couldn't quite understand what the person on the line was talking about, for I was rusty in Mandarin. I rushed upstairs to my room to get help with translation from my roommate Jasmine. The Cambridge Advanced Level student was studying at her desk as usual. Her straight silky hair (longer than mine, it reached almost to her waist) draped down and her red-rimmed spectacles revealed a little sheen under the white ray of her table lamp. She looked a little startled when I burst into the room without knocking on the door (Jasmine, if you’re reading this, please forgive me for my rudeness). I caught my breath and said, “Jasmine! A sister’s on the phone!”  She placed a pen she was holding and took the wireless home phone from my right hand with a small smile. Five minutes later, she hung up the phone and passed me the sister’s message. It turned out that the roof in the church we went to was leaking and stacks of Christian books which were stored in the attic were soaked with naughty rainwater. The guardian (we usually call him or her a "serving one") on the phone was looking for volunteers to help out with carrying and moving the books away from the attic. Most of us sisters in the house agreed to drop by. Jasmine remained in her study desk for she had a big test coming up. Sometimes I pitied her for not taking breaks.

We sprinted under the splattering storm, overcoming its droplets that attacked against our skin like bullets. We passed by a long row of bubble tea cafes and local restaurants. We then turned right to an opposite block and finally to the foot of a flight of stairs. A semicircle of saints crowded there; they were waiting for a few muscular brothers to climb down with big cardboard boxes of books in hands. They were like ants building an anthill. “Hello sisters! You’ve finally came!” a brother greeted us with a smile, “Do you mind helping us carry these boxes to the truck over there while we go up to the top floor to take down some more books? Thanks so much!” And the next thing I knew, he plopped a box the size of a 1990s television onto my hands. I didn’t know what the others were thinking but the books weighed like five kettlebells in a parcel. Due to weeks of delaying my priority of going to the gym, my muscles were wailing for a long break after carrying several bundles. We took turns carrying books passed by the brothers and stacked them in the wide-spaced trunk of a truck.  I had no idea how many books we had to carry. After the truck was completely loaded with collections of precious Christian writings, a couple of saints volunteered to drive the troubled books down to another church which was newly-built. This new church was for the church people to gather in the near future. It was the only place for us to store the books until the next day or so.

We continued carrying boxes to another truck that arrived a few minutes later. I volunteered to go up the stairs to the third floor where the small church was situated. I zigzagged my way up three flights of grey concrete stairs as I made way for a long line of muscular brothers to go down the building. They grabbed hold on the wrapped books like heavy dumbbells. It had been half an hour and I could see splats of sweat on their shirts like a child’s
watercolour painting. Speaking of sweat, I felt as if my energy meter had dropped to zero and I tried not to complain about the aching cramps from my thighs to my feet. Eventually, I made it to the third floor. As I walked through the open wooden door, a group of sisters sat on either green plastic chairs or on the cold, white, tile floor. They were tearing out large pieces of newspapers and wrapping bundles of books with them. I remembered that there was a wooden bookshelf with a couple of glass doors; it was placed a few feet away from the entrance. It stored a collection of reused Bibles and spiritual magazines for people to borrow. A couple of long white tables were at the back of the huge room. A medium-sized black and white clock was hung at the
top center of a wall on my left; its hour arrow showed 7:00pm. And lastly on my right was a vertical line of green plastic chairs stacked in five feet towers. I recognized some serving-ones and helped them out with the process. I could feel adrenaline rushing in my veins. I watched as the saint next to me dropped twenty notebook-size books on a square piece of newspaper like a rough parachute landing. She then closed the sides with brown tape and tied it with ropes (there were not enough boxes so we had to use lots of newspapers instead). We tried to finish off this task as much as possible. The books written by founders of the church brother Watchman Nee and brother Witness Lee were categorized into wet and dry, and we had to get them all packaged like elves in Santa’s factory. There were little chatters in Mandarin, but mostly what I remembered of hearing was the rustling of newspapers and the thumping of the godly materials. I took a good three-minutes glance at the window which was at the front of the room. The clouds were still bawling above the sky; their tears splotched the glass panes as if we were hiding from a Paintball attack. We were worried that the rain would get stronger and more books in the attic would be spoiled. It was like destroying God's Word. However, our mouths were silvered with encouraging, hopeful lines of prayer. The Lord soon strengthened us with his light. A tiny spark of luminescence glowed inside of me, telling me that everything would be okay. The circle of sisters around me smiled at me like they were reading my mind and suggested that we should pray together to make the rain subside. Each of our prayers were combined with strong, firm “Amen” into a harmonizing unison like an orchestra.

It was 10pm and there were several dozens of stacks left and a sign of luck was revealed through the fading rain from the windows. One of the serving-ones suggested that we should go for a break. I immediately realized that I hadn’t eaten dinner yet and my Swiss rolls which were covered with an overturned bowl was still on the table back home. I followed a group of sisters to the nearby food court called Asia Cafe. To my surprise, my energy level had aroused like a rocket and I found myself taking three big steps down the stairs like a child who doesn’t entirely grasp the concept of safety. My heart lifted once I felt the severe drizzle. God must have comforted the miserable clouds to be a little more positive. Our prayers had been answered! Kudos to the Father! The neighbourhood’s famous food court was just opposite the block and we could smell a mixture of local dishes from the foot of the stairs. Unlike the buildings around the area, the wide-spaced food court was made up of a roof supported by metal pillars. A large number of white rectangular tables with six to eight plastic chairs each were arranged all over the place, sandwiched by more than twenty stalls that were lined up on both left and right sides.

There were also about ten stalls in the middle of the food court. We were greeted by the buzzing voices from a big number of customers. The rows of bright fluorescent lamps above shone down the nearly-packed restaurant. Hawkers turned their voices loud and captivating to attract customers. Once you entered in this tourist-recommended venue, you would want to try every single dish from every stall here because the chefs were like so well-trained and your mouth would water over their proud variety of cuisines from Chinese to Italian.  And who wouldn’t want to enjoy their meals with a little entertainment? Night owls, especially men, fixed their eyes on a television screen, which was equipped above the very center of the ceiling, while watched football matches live. And strangely, there were also one or two video game stalls that I rarely check it out. We sat at a perfect empty table and ordered our desired dishes. I usually craved fo creamy Carbonara pasta or crunchy Japanese Tempura with thick yellowish-white Udon noodles, but that time I decided to go for something related to my ancestors’ specialties, Chinese wonton. In case you don’t know what the heck wonton is, it is a smaller version of Chinese dumplings with meat fillings the size of a table tennis ball and a pretty twist pattern on top. I added in yellow noodles just to satisfy my growling stomach. For half an hour, I listened to stories told by the church sisters as we enjoyed every single bite or sip of our orders. “So what time do you think we’ll be done with the books?” I asked, slurping in my last few strings of noodles into my mouth. One of them, Lydia, shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not sure. But according to the brothers’ assumption, we shall be done by midnight.” She then pushed her spectacles back up to the bridge of her nose and added, “I’m sure that we will finish moving the books away soon.” We  thanked the Lord by prayer for recharging us with the food before we went back to work. Shortly, I realized that it was past curfew (which was 11pm) and my eyelids were at their limit. They were drooping quickly that I hardly could keep myself awake for a little bit longer. A housemate of mine noticed this and decided to walk me home. Before I left, I scanned around with relief as the number of book piles began to decrease. After a ten minutes walk back to our house, I saw the plate of food that I had left four hours ago on the same spot. I decided to eat the cakes for breakfast the next day. But as I lifted up the overturned bowl, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Instead of its beautiful, pink, spongy texture, the Swiss rolls were conquered by a small army of brown ants. The miniscule yet mischievous creatures were crowding over my poor pastry. Damn it! There goes my eight bucks! I took a couple of minutes to calm myself down before dumping it into the thrash can. And that was when the idea hit me. I remembered reading the suggestions of community service in the form I received in class, and the word “church” was written near one of the bullets. The four-hours of helping out that night could be counted as community service!

I thought that there was no way I could find something for six hours of community service, but it turned out that I was wrong. The next day, a serving-one, Su Min, called me by phone to ask me for help, “Would you like to help us dry the books in the new church? We won’t be moving them back until all of the books are dry.”  I agreed since I wouldn’t mind helping the church again. That afternoon, Su Min drove me and a friend who was also a sister named Chieng Bing to the newly-built church. It was about twenty minutes from the city. If I could briefly recall, the new church was located near a farmland which was an ideal setting for a peaceful church. And yes, it was an independent building with its very own parking lot. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite remember the details outside of the church because of the scorching sun that I couldn’t stand under for five whole minutes. Su Min led us through a large main door and into a white-walled hall. A wooden stage overtook the front with a glass podium on the left. It was completely varnished like gold’s sheen. But what captured me the most was a gigantic sheet of books that were all over the newly-mopped square-tile floor. The opened books reminded me of a crowded Californian beach where people went sunbathing for hours. Five volunteers were in different spots of the room, fanning soaked pages with rectangular lids cut out from boxes. It was a pity that the electronic ceiling fans above couldn’t do all the magic of turning the books back their previous untouched states. Anyway, the three of us spent two hours going around the hall, fanning the publications. I had to be honest, this traditional way to drying the books was one of the most boring things I had ever done in my life, but it was for the sake of fulfilling another two hours of volunteer work.

            I was pretty sure that Satan was behind all this. He tried to ruin God's speaking by ruining the precious works from our fellow brothers, but he was missing something. God was there to help us. He never gave up on saving the books by encouraging us to transfer the books to the a safe place. Ha! Take that, Satan! We even learnt the power of teamwork. That afternoon, after we had done most of the drying, Su Min decided to take Chieng Bing and I back to the city. She also signed my form under the name of the church and wished me luck on finding the remaining four hours of volunteering with a smile that shone among her pale skin. Chieng Bing also cheered me on with a chubby smile, “I wish I can do community service like you do. You’re getting the benefit of helping people out, and that’s something valuable in life.” I have to admit, I guess I did.

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">Behind The Rain is a Light of God ( Memoir chapter assignment 2014) </span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="http://thetruemichelehii.blogspot.ca/2014/01/behind-rain-is-light-of-god-memoir.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Michele Hii</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.

Friday 17 January 2014

Unexpectedly, A Perfection from Jason Chen

Back in my secondary school days, the song that stuck in my head was Crush by David Archuleta.
David Archuleta's "Crush" music video. Thumbs up if you still remember and love this song. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1-eYBbspA
And then came Youtube artist David Choi with "Underneath Your Love" and "Thinking About You".
David Choi's "Thinking About You" music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJoi-xf7rjs
David Choi's "Underneath Your Love" audio video (hope that he'll release a music video of this someday):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InwjkHygYXg

And now, I would like to share with you my current favourite song. And it's not a popular dubstep beat or an overrated R&B from major stars like Rihanna. I'm talking about this wonderful Youtube artist name Jason Chen. Yeap, I hear that you would say, "Jason who?" Jason Chen is one of the Asian American singers and musicians who posts sweet, innocent, beautiful music videos from his one-of-a-kind original songs. He did covers too, but honestly I prefer his originals. I recommend you to go and check out his Youtube channel (just type Jason Chen Music) because he has a golden voice and the lyrics in his songs are relatable to the average people like me. So my favourite song from him (and I'll never remove it away from my top song list) is "Unexpectedly". This song is basically about having a crush on a person and wanting to get attention from him/ her till that person reveals the same feeling.
Check out his lyric video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbeE6xDJR5I
I also would recommend you to watch his official music video to this amazing original right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_68euz30w
Every time I listen to "Unexpectedly" my heart would just melt and I always imagine myself being flirted by a secret admirer (you know, like a love story or a romantic movie). The piano chords and the background music is just soothing. The lyrics are just as expected as a true R&B artist should have, and everything that pull together into this final product is just perfect. Don't believe me? Listen to the song and you'll know why it brings me to an illusion of finding love. Help this Youtuber out by liking, commenting, and sharing his Unexpectedly music video to anyone you know that they'll love it too. I'm certain that one day this video will reach a million views.

This song is used in a new short film by Jubilee Project called "What's Inside" and to sum the story up, it's about a guy who finds the girl of his dreams as well as using a hint of luck to get the girl's attention. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkJB9SR0Tp4

So I hope you'll like this song as much as I do after you go through this post. I went through a silent tough time with my first brokenhearted moment last year, but thanks to this song, I'll never stop dreaming about finding my first love. Single ladies, you're not alone. We'll find that guy someday. I know we will. My best friend once told me that "he'll be sitting right in front of you". There's no wrong of sitting back and let the cupid do his magic of shooting arrows; one at you and one at that lucky person. =)

Jason Chen's Unexpectedly with one million views! I hope I can see that soon!

Sunday 12 January 2014

Kudos to Lizzie Velasquez!

I wonder if you guys have heard of Lizzie Velasquez? She was once called the World's Ugliest Woman due to a very rare disease since birth, but she is now saluted by many people because of her courage to stand before haters. I am inspired by her jovial and hopeful personality. Through these two Youtube videos (which I've posted the links below), she shares the audience in TED talks about her life of being bullied and how she overcame the obstacles she faced throughout her childhood.

Lizzie Velasquez's Youtube videos of her motivational speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohGDfNQV7M
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c62Aqdlzvqk

I agree with her a lot. Physical appearance is not to be judged too heavily; inner beauty (personality, attitude, will, dreams...) is more important. Face it! If a guy dates a woman who eats his heart by her physical beauty but secretly disgusts him due to her rudeness or any negative attitudes, then what's the big deal of hanging out with her?

I'm proud of what she has achieved so far. She really has made her dreams come true, like graduating from university and publishing her inspirational books about real definition of beauty. I'm thinking of buying one of her books someday. I love reading creative non-fiction as well as inspirational stories from people, so I'm looking forward of going to the nearest bookstore, maneuvering for books that interest me in getting to know more of interesting lives of various people. (But that doesn't mean I've lost my obsession in girly fairy magic and Disney fantasy because I still have my novel series waiting for me to finish.)

Lizzie and I are on the same boat; we both have experienced the pain of being bullied. And I'm happy that she ignore the negative comments from the haters because that's what a strong person would do, like Demi Lovato who proudly shows her motto "Stay Strong" on her tattooed wrist. I'm also glad that I'm alive as well, because without the love and support from my family and friends (especially the ones back home in Malaysia), I wouldn't be here in Canada chasing my dreams of becoming a writer. And yes, I'm still concerning of what would I be and journalism is still floating in a lake, waiting to be raised up by my hope-to-be-aroused confidence, but I have this desire in listening and writing about other people's personal stories about significant events they treasure. If only I can be a journalist, I would like to meet Lizzie and to write about her amazing contributions to public.

What I also like about Lizzie is that she has self confidence in her body. Yes, she is unable to gain weight but I'm jealous of her for eating delicious sugary food. And believe me I wish I can lose at least a few pounds and gain my skinny body back (back to when I was an elementary student). I don't know why but I wish I can be skinny once again. However, I guess I can't fulfill this dark desire because of my stressful late-night studying and craving for sugar. I even wish that there's a surgical way to remove all the unnecessary fat. I'm even disappointed in myself for not working harder in losing weight even though I do pilates and cardio workouts with Cassey Ho in her Blogilates Youtube channel every day. What is wrong with me? Maybe I don't have confidence in my physical flesh because I look fatter than my slim sisters. Lizzie stood up and advised her fans to love yourself, stay healthy, and be happy. I guess she's right, I shouldn't complain about my physical look but focus on what I want to do in the only life I live.

Lizzie Velasquez, if you're reading this, I just want to say thanks so much for inspiring me and the rest of your followers (probably the whole world) for not giving up in life. You are right that words from haters  are not to describe you, but to motivate you to blossom into a beautiful flower under the sunlight. You are indeed a beautiful lady inside and outside. Keep doing what you're doing. =)

Btw, check out her interview with Dr.Drew here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202512/Worlds-ugliest-woman-Lizzie-Velasquez-gives-courageous-interview.html

Saturday 4 January 2014

Disney's FROZEN: Everybody Needs A Touch of Winter Magic And Love

WARNING: This post contains spoilers of the movie. If you haven't watch this fantastic film, then I suggest you to watch it (hurry up! do it before the theaters erase it off their showtime menu!) before you read this post.

If you or your child cannot get the song "Let It Go" off their heads, it means you or your child makes the right choice of watching this film, even for ten times! Congratulations to this theme song for being nominated for best original song (even though I believe that this should won the award) and for winning as best animated feature film (Golden Globe Awards)!



So obviously "Let It Go" is my favourite song in this film. Reasons?
1. Idina Menzel is an amazing Broadway singer, and her voice fits Elsa (my favourite character) so perfectly!
2. The lyrics describes Elsa's situation clearly, and when she sings it, her movements and facial expressions matches the lyrics like a flowing waterfall.
3. The song matches Elsa's feelings of trying hard to control her snow and ice powers.
4. Hello??? It's Disney! Disney makes the best original songs in the entire history of mankind!
My favourite part of the "Let It Go" scene is when Elsa transforms herself into a lonely but free queen in a sparkling ice-blue dress, a snowflake cape that flows behind her, and her side braid down on her left shoulder. Seriously, this is one epic transformation since magical girl anime series are born (Cardcaptor Sakura and Heartcatch Pretty Cure for example)!
Here's the link to watch this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk
While watching this clip, observe as Elsa moves gracefully to the rhythm of the music. You'll never regret on how wonderful Elsa acts here.

Another song that gets me is "Do You Want To Build A Snowman", and this is sung when Anna knocks on Elsa's song throughout her childhood because she wants Elsa to play with her. Before this happens, Anna and Elsa were close sisters @ best buddies. Anna was fascinated by Elsa's powers that she had fun playing in her "winter wonderland". Suddenly, when Anna jumped on mountains of snow that grew bigger every time Elsa summoned, she accidentally slipped on the icy floor and shot a wave of sharp ice at Anna's right eye. It froze Anna unconsciously, causing a streak of her brown hair to turn white. And after a concerning conversation with her parents and the king of a pack of trolls, Elsa was forced to control her powers by locking herself up away from anyone else, including Anna. When little Anna sings this, she is begging and pleading desperately for Elsa to come out and play with her. However, as time passes, Elsa is still not convinced by Anna because she is bottled up by her worries of seeing her powers getting stronger than before. And in the second half of the song, viewers grab their tissue boxes and cry silently as they watch the parents of the two girls killed in a overturned ship which is caused by an extreme turbulence of the ocean and a rainstorm. Then, there's the funeral of the king and queen (16-years-old Anna is the only one who attends). The song ends with Anna in black knocks on Elsa's door, convincing her for one last time to open the door:                                      "Please I know you're in there,
                                    People are asking where have you been.
                                   They say have courage, and I'm trying to
                                    I'm right here for you, just let me in.
                                   We only have each other, just you and me.
                                   What are we gonna do, do you want to be build a snowman?"
Anna's voice (voiced by Kristen Bell, btw)  nearly shatters when she sings the last line, and I was in tears..like really bad. If you don't cry in this scene, then that means you don't have a heart. Anna faces such a heartbreaking situation, and she really pours her feelings into this song.

Okay, enough with the songs. Now let's talk about the story. As expected from Disney, the story line is just amazing. It just flows smoothly and each scene is shown in consistent timing. One of my favourite scenes is when Anna and the gang meets Olaf, an alive snowman who is built by Elsa. Yup, an alive snowman. He's just so, so, SOOO adorable that I want to hug him lots and take him home with me! And Josh Gad is the perfect Olaf because his voice and laugh matches the snowman's awesome klutzy behaviour and cheesy humour. Anyway, in this scene, Olaf at first scares the hell out of Anna that his face is kicked off and rugby-caught together with Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) , an ice worker. Kristoff has his steadfast, loyal reindeer named Sven, and he definitely looks funny in white ice chains that tangled round his antlers. I also love Olaf's scattered body. His head, small chest, and big bottom would make a perfect backup for a losing football match (I'm just kidding XD). But the way his body separates off like puzzle always got me laughing. And oh! You wouldn't want to miss him singing "In Summer" because this is seriously the cutest song ever! You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFatVn1hP3o
A snowman can dream of impossible things, can't he? =D And his dream of experiencing summer comes true. But it happens bit by bit. First, he sees heat for the first time when he lights up the fireplace in the Anna freezing scene. And then, he has his personal flurry in the ending as well as his first sneezing after sniffing his first sight of flowers. So, this is a good pace of time telling the viewers on how Olaf gets to make his dream come true.
Another scene that I love is the climax, that is when all of the main characters are in this frozen sea (where the ships are). Viewers definitely have a mixture of emotions: tension, sadness, horror, and joy. It's impressive that the characters are all in the same setting, and there's just so much going on, yet the film show each little scene well. The most intensive part is when Anna freezes into a statue while protecting Elsa from being killed by Hans. Honestly, I find Hans' sword being crashed and shattered by Anna's frozen hand is extraordinary. Anna's love for Elsa pushes Hans the surprising antagonist away. And I absolutely love the twist of the quote "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart". It doesn't have to be a true love's kiss! And it doesn't have to be from a guy! True love can be family love, just like Anna who sacrifices herself for her beloved sister! Now that's what I call a twist! Way to go, Disney! So sister love breaks the spell from Anna successfully, and this gives an answer for Elsa to thaw the frozen kingdom of Arendelle. The twist helps the protagonist to solve the problem. That's epic as well!
Okay, this the last scene that I love, and that is the kiss between Anna and Kristoff. Cutest. Couple. Ever. Hehe... yup I'm a fan of final kisses =P.

The graphics are amazing too. Kuddos to this film, viewers go ooh and ahh as they gaze at the wonderfully, computer-animated, scenery. It's like as if the snowy mountains and ice caverns bring viewers to Norway for real! And the ice tower Elsa builds? Oh! Don't get me started! Because I can go on and on AND ON about how I wish I can live in it! The blue ice gleams in the sunlight and the structure is just gorgeous! And who would ever refuse to stand on the balcony of the ice castle???? It's like Simba who goes up Pride Rock! See the comparison??? Stepping onto a structure with pride and dignity!!!
As one of the critics says: "Disney's best since The Lion King".

I wish I can talk more about this film, but time tells me to stop here. I might write a second part of this review..maybe..we'll see. Overall, I would definitely rate this film five stars and describe this in one word, phenomenal.
By the way check out my drawing of Elsa and Olaf, two of my favourite characters in the movie. =)




<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">Disney's FROZEN: Everybody Needs A Touch of Winter Magic And Love</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="http://thetruemichelehii.blogspot.ca/2014/01/disneys-frozen-everybody-needs-touch-of.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Michele Hii</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.

Friday 3 January 2014

Heart The Vancouver Lights (First poem in 2014!)

The tiny fairies retreat from the bushes,
activating their wands.
They shower waves of dust
that paints the fading evening pink canvas
into an obsidian sheet.
Remains of their magic form into twinkling stars
that makes the sky a masterpiece. 

Vancouver, the city
suddenly transforms into an alive atmosphere. 
Lamposts lit up their bulbs;
their rays overlap the streets.
Fluorescents and chandeliers from indoors
permeate through glass windows
that are welcomed by rows of string lights above the roads,
saying "Come and join the party!" 

Downtown,
glowing with bursts of colors.
Neon signboards illuminate in front of buildings
that summon red, blue, green, and gold ribbons 
around the busy streets. 
Oh! How I just love the atmosphere!
Nighters pace here and there;
their stomachs growling for the melting pot of cuisines
that are just a stone's throw from their parking spots.
Or their souls begging for entertainment,
the DJs blast their best beats that echo from clubs.
Boutiques may be closed,
but the eateries ain't stop celebrating
another birth of a clear night. 

Toot! Toot! TOOOOOOOT!
Did you hear that?
The steam clock in Gastown has rang the final hour.
But I wouldn't want to leave
this vibrant world.
I am not drunk, but I am energized
by the glorious lights that calls the city
home.