Life Village

Monther's Day Gift(2)

2008-05-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

We had a nice Mother's Day in Japan. A group of people went out to a local confectionary factory (お菓子の香梅西原工場) to learn how to make Japanese style sweets. The sweets were ones that looked like fish, or flowers, or birds. We each were shown how to make two types of flowers, and a bird. It was nice of them to do the instructions on mother's day since it looked like the plant was actually closed for the day, but four of the worker's come in to do a demonstration for us.

陣太鼓(jintaiko) is famous Japanese Okashi maker.

Starts with two different color of sweets doug.

Make it to the fish shape.

Use bamboo to curve it.

寒天（かんてん）is brushed on at the end to made it shinny and firm.

Art fish is made.

We learned how to make Peach flower.

and botan(牡丹) flower

and a bird.

We made all the flowers and birds.

May 13th -- Earthquake in Sichuan

2008-05-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Today's News from Yahoo.

The toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China's worst earthquake in three decades.
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The official Xinhua News Agency said the death toll exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, and 18,645 were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter of Monday's massive, 7.9-magnitude quake.

The Sichuan Daily newspaper reported on its Web site that more than 26,000 people were injured in Mianyang.

The numbers of casualties was expected to rise due to the remoteness of the areas affected by the quake and difficulty in finding buried victims.

There was little prospect that many survivors would be found under the rubble. Only 58 people were extricated from demolished buildings across the quake area so far, China Seismological Bureau spokesman Zhang Hongwei told Xinhua. In one county, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed.

Rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a rescue mission to the epicenter due to heavy storms, Xinhua reported.

More than two dozen British and American tourists who were thought to be panda-watching in the area also remained missing.

Officials urged the public not to abandon hope.

"Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it's not time to give up," Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief division director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told reporters in Beijing.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed to the area to oversee rescue efforts, said a push was on to clear roads and restore electricity as soon as possible. His visit to the disaster scene was prominently featured on state TV, a gesture meant to reassure people that the ruling party was doing all it could.

"We will save the people," Wen said through a bullhorn to survivors as he toured the disaster scene, in footage shown on CCTV. "As long as the people are there, factories can be built into even better ones, and so can the towns and counties."

State media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county — where the number of casualties was still unknown. The quake was centered just north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu in central China, tearing into urban areas and mountain villages.

Earthquake rescue experts in orange jumpsuits extricated bloody survivors on stretchers from demolished buildings.

Some 20,000 soldiers and police arrived in the disaster area with 30,000 more on the way by plane, train, trucks and even on foot, the Defense Ministry told Xinhua.

Aftershocks rattled the region for a second day, sending people running into the streets in Chengdu. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the shocks between magnitude 4 and 6, some of the strongest since Monday's quake.

Zhou Chun, a 70-year-old retired mechanic, was leaving Dujiangyan with a soiled light blue blanket draped over his shoulders.

"My wife died in the quake. My house was destroyed," he said. "I am going to Chengdu, but I don't know where I'll live."

Zhou and other survivors were pulling luggage and clutching plastic bags of food amid a steady drizzle and the constant wall of ambulances.

Just east of the epicenter, 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing at a collapsed high school in Beichuan county — a six-story building reduced to a pile of rubble about two yards high, according to Xinhua. Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan alone.

At another leveled school in Dujiangyan, 900 students were feared dead. As bodies of teenagers were carried out on doors used as makeshift stretchers, relatives lit incense and candles and also set off fireworks to ward away evil spirits.

Elsewhere in Gansu province, a 40-car freight train derailed in the quake that included 13 gasoline tankers was still burning Tuesday, Xinhua said.

Gasoline lines grew in Chengdu and grocery stores shelves were almost empty. The Ministry of Health issued an appeal for blood donations to help the quake victims.

Fifteen missing British tourists were believed to have been in the area at the time of the quake and were "out of reach," Xinhua reported.

They were likely visiting the Wolong Nature Reserve, home to more than 100 giant pandas, whose fate also was not known, Xinhua said, adding that 60 pandas at another breeding center in Chengdu were safe.

Another group of 12 Americans also on panda-watching tour sponsored by the U.S. office of the World Wildlife Fund remained out of contact Tuesday, said Tan Rui, WWF communications officer in China.

Two Chinese-Americans and a Thai tourist also were missing in Sichuan province, the agency said, citing tourism officials.

Expressions of sympathy and offers of help poured in from the United States, Japan and the European Union, among others.

The Dalai Lama, who has been vilified by Chinese authorities who blame him for recent unrest in Tibet, offered prayers for the victims. The epicenter is just south of some Tibetan mountain areas that saw anti-government protests earlier this year.

Beijing Games organizers said the Olympic torch relay will continue as planned through the quake-affected area next month.

The Chinese government said it would welcome outside aid, and Russia was sending a plane with rescuers and supplies, the country's Interfax news agency reported.

But Wang, the disaster relief official, said international aid workers would not be allowed to travel to the affected area.

"We welcome funds and supplies; we can't accommodate personnel at this point," he said.

China's Ministry of Finance said it had allocated $123 million in aid for quake-hit areas.

The quake was China's deadliest since 1976, when 240,000 people were killed in the city of Tangshan, near Beijing in 1976. Financial analysts said the quake would have only a limited impact on the country's booming economy.

May 12th -- Earthquake in Sichuan

2008-05-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

May 12th, 7.8-magnitude earthquake happened at 14:28 in China's south-western Sichuan province.

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 10,000 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county.

Many more have been killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims.

Search teams were sent to the area but struggled to get through because routes were blocked.

Mother's Day Gift(1)

2008-05-11T01:02:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was going downstairs to prepare breakfast as usual. When I open the kitchen's door, I was so surprised there were a big house with all cute animals made by balloons. "Happy Mother's Day -- 今日は仕事しなくでもいいよ！（Today you don't need to do work)” from my son. He spent more than one hour to make them!!! I quickly brought camera took many pictures out of the art balloon.
My daughter made swans with pins for me. It is very thoughtful and cute.

In the afternoon, I had a special wonderful music concert performed by my kids. They played “Lovely Spring(春よ恋)”, ”Fall Leaves(紅葉)”, ”Home Town(故郷)” and others by Ocarinas and violins.

I had a wonderful mother's day. I felt that I had another birthday! Hope all of you enjoyed too.

Golden Week and Kids Day

2008-05-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Golden week is the longest holiday in Japan, usually starts from end of Apirl to begining of May. It includes Showa day 昭和の日（from last year), Constitution Day(憲法記念日), みどりの日(day of green) and Children's Day(子供の日).

Today is Children's Day, we went to Zoo and Botanical Garden, it is a beautiful day and enter is free for the kids. A lot of families brought the kids to play. We spent 3 hours there, however only had less than 30 minutes to actually see animals and plants. The kids went to play all the carnival rides and really enjoyed the kids day.

Tea-cup ride.

Disco-ride

Farris wheel.

Whale's adventure

Chain Tower.

Garden green.

Kangaroos.

Kids Fun Day

2008-05-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Since it is golden week, we arranged a kids’ fun day for our friends, who has kids. In the earlier morning today, our kids started to help me to prepare food, decorated the house and cleaning the room.
Around 2pm, everyone came. The kids are playing WII games, playing balloon and the adults are cheating. We had a nice Gyo-za(餃子) party with a lot of delicious sweets.

After eating, we had a violin concert from kids. The did great jobs.

My son and daughter made the play day sign.

A lots of balloons for the little kids to play.

Swords are for the boys.

Home made Gyoza

A lot of desserts

Chya-han

Kids Violin Concert

2008-04-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

A violin concert is held every year around April for the students.
Today, we went to see the kids violin performance at down town Kumamoto, It was very crowded since the Kumamoto Castle is celebrated its 400 years history and “Honmarugoten (本丸御殿)” – a part of Kumamoto Castle opens to public on the same day in April 20th.

The concert is held in a small room, a lot of parents and their grandparents came to watch the show, all the kids did their best to show their great achievement druing the year.

After the event, it was too late to go see the “Jyouka-Matsuri (城下まつり)”, however we had a very joyful day with the kids.

About two weeks ago, The "音Raku" violin concert was held at Kumamoto Wonmen Center, which included some of the kids teachers.

Kumamoto Wonmen Center

Balloom Animals

2008-04-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my son made many of the balloom animals. It was at early Sunday morning and I was sleeping late.

After I saw all the animals, the first I did was taking the pictures to share with every one on my blog.

A walking dog.

A giraffe.

A rat.

A rabbit

A swan.

Japan Largest Ston Starcase(2)

2008-04-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Before school starts, we challeged the Ston Starcase again. This time the kids went to the top of moutain before we did.

The second time was so much easier than the first time. We spent some time to view the wonderful screen and also visited Syaka-in that was built 1200 years ago.

Going to See Cherry Blossoms（Hanami 2）

2008-03-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Going to see cherry blossoms had a lot of other fun. Many people with families brought Obento(お弁当) seat under cherry blossoms trees, enjoy the food. Also many people brought their pets walking around and more are playing around. I want to mention that many older people are playing traditional Japanese tops, which added a lot of joyment to us.

He is doing juggle with 5 oranges.

Playing traditional Japanese tops.

A decroated car selling baked sweet potatos.

Going to See Cherry Blossoms（Hanami 1）

2008-03-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

Over 10 years ago, in a Japanese listening class, a cherry blossoms conversion held at a park was showing from the video. I didn't understand most of coversations, However, "How wonderful..." spoke by a Japanese woman wearing the tradition Japan dress (着物）left a deep impression to me.

I was wondering why Japanese really like cherry blossoms so much.

The first time went to Hanami(花見) was at Sumida River park in Tokyo. It was beautiful. The second time went just two weeks later, the cherry flowers dropped like snowing. The third time is all gone, left a inch flowers on the ground. The beautity of the cherry blossoms and the shortness of the cherry blossoms caught the heart of the Japanese, I think.

Today we went to Hanami. The Kumamoto castle surrounded by the cherry blossoms is
more splendid than Hanami just in a park.

Kumamoto is earliest cherry blooming city in Japan this year. The weather is wonderful and we had a pleasant day.

Friends Transcontinental Duo

2008-03-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to friends transcontineetal duo concert. The main music were from Russin and Gypsies. It was very warm and great concert. We enjoyed it very much.

The programe is written in Japanese, English and Russin.

Handmade vase from a friend.

Japan's Largest Ston Staircase

2008-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is the largest stone staircase in

Japan

. There are 3333 steps which run continuously up a hillside in Misato-machi - leading to a Shaka-In （釈迦院）temple at the top, which has over 1200 years history. From top, there is a great views of the surrounding countryside.

The staircase is located at Kumamoto prefecture Shimomashiki-Gun central town Izumi-Mura, Misato-machi. The altitude is a little over 2km, it was finished in 1988. All the stones were provided world wide, starting from

Japan

, then

China

Korea

India

Brazil

. The altitude is about 2km.

Many people and companies donated for building the ston staircase.

03/20/2008 is the day of the vernal equinox(春分の日). It is a holiday in

Japan

. We the whole family went for the challenge.

You can climb the steps anytime, but in mid November a special festival is held. Participants have to estimate their arrival time at the summit (watches not allowed!) - and there are some great prizes on offer for the best guesses - return tickets to Osaka and Kyoto etc. The fun starts at 8.30am - and lasts until 2pm. Fancy dress is encouraged.

Paper Cutting

2008-03-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today, the school project for hand craft （図工）was paper cutting. I saw a lot of paper cutting pictures online, however when I actually have it on hands, specially from my son who is only a elementary school kid. I really is amazed.

In Japan, the hand craft cause is one of the subjects for all kids from 1st grade to 6th grade. It includes drawing, making things, neating, sewing, paper cutting, paper folding and so on. The students use their imagination to create a lot of cool things that even the adults may not be able to. I think this is one of the strong points in Japanese education system.

Skyhouse -- A refreshing example of a house which seems to float above its two small supporting hills.

Have to find out what this is?

Water gate -- A proposal for a house to control the flow of a river. It was designed by the French architect Ledoux(1736-1806), and demostrated a very progressive idea, even though it occurred during the reign of Louis 16.

University of Tokyo Clock Tower

The White Day

2008-03-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

March 14 is the day the men return the chocolate to the women, one month after Valentine's Day. In Japan we called "The White Day".

I am working at the development which the men are 10 times more than girls. However, with the company many-year traditions, we bought chocolate to all the men on Valentine's Day. In return, we received a big amount high quality chocolate in White Day.

Happy White Day to all!

GODIVA -- very popular and high quality chocolate.

Very testy white chocolate cookies.

White Day 2008, sweet candies.

Hinamatsuri in Japanese Families

2008-03-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

The doll festival has been a Japanese tradition for more than 1000 years. Families who have girls display hina-dolls around March 3rd, and will put all the dolls back to the boxes usually not later than March 10th.

During the Hinamatsuri, my friend had chance to visit a Japanese family, who has 3 girls. The family was displaying a big set of Hina-dolls in their Tatami(畳) room to wish their daughters health and happiness (Seven Tier of Steps).

The dolls are not the everyday play dolls, a heritage of the household, handed down, many of them, from generation to generation. The grand parents love to buy new sets of dolls for a grand girl baby born as a gift.

A set of Hina-dolls usually consists of at least 15 dolls, all in the ancient costumes. The dolls most highly valued are the Dairi-sama, which represent the Emperor and Empress in resplendent court costumes of silk. They are attended by their two ministers, three kanjo (court ladies), and five court musicians. All are displayed on a tier of steps(usually five) from 3 to 6 ft. long and covered with bright red cloth.

A Balloom Giraff

2008-03-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

A big and long diraff made by my son. Compare to the rat, it is much taller.

Chinese Water Art "Four Seasons"

2008-03-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

My mom has many telnet on handicraft and art. Here, I introduce her last year Chinese Watercolor Art "Four Seasons". She never had special training on paintings, however her hand painting all are our family's precious. She had the four pieces done during her illness days, because she wanted to give me as 2007 new year's gift at the time I went back to visit her. The painting was done by my mom and the writing was done by my dad.

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Visiting Mountain Aso in Winter (阿蘇山）

2008-03-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

Mount Aso (阿蘇山 Aso-san), located in Kyushu's Kumamoto prefecture, is the largest volcano in Japan.　However, this time, I am going to introduce the fun of snow playing in Aso mountian in winter.

Every year February is the best time to go snow playing. Last year we went at the right time, but this year we went in beginning of March, which you can see the snow is melting. However, it always have so much fun to make the snowman.

The right picture and two below were taken last year. As you can see it was the snow world! the whole mountain was covered by snow.

The kids enjoyed making snowballs and made a cute and tiny baby snowman.

This year there weren't lot snow to directly make a snowman, kids had to collect snow from other places near by to make it. However we made a much bigger size one and even gave him clothes and a hat.

This year mountain was so attractive because there were a lot of fog floating around it. It makes you feel that you are watching a movie.

Senri grass (草千里) is the place in the north of Aso mountain crater, the grassy plain of the diameter approximately 1km which spreads to the north base of the official post peak. The ceremony marks a double crater, grazing will be held and developed an idyllic landscape. Above picture was taken during our trip.

Sunday March 23rd, 2008 Easter

2008-03-08T23:18:00.000-08:00

Easter 2006, Sunday 16th April
Easter 2007, Sunday 8th April
Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008

As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early(95　years old or above!). 　And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here are the facts: The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!). The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

See Easter Date from 1875 to 2124
See Easter pictures

Happy Easter.

The Chinese Face-Painting Art

2008-03-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

Over 10 years ago, a couple gave this beautiful and precious face-painting art piece to our family as a Christmas gift. They bought it in Hong Kong during The Second World War. Today, I would love to share the art to you.

The Chinese face-paintin art was developed from the mask painting art which was initiated by Lang-Ling Hwang in the Pei-Gee dynasty and by Wu-Hsiang Dee in the Song dynasty. The painted masks were originally used in the fields of battle to make dreadful figures to frighten the enemy. Later on the masks were employed in the stage to show.

Social standing and disposition of characters. Owing to difficulty and inconvenience of manufacturing and wearing masks, the colors were directly painted on the faces, afterwards. Generally speaking, the face without painting represents faithful and nice fellows, the multi-colored face represents wicked people, the red face represents loyal and straight characters, the black face represent bravery and preseverance. The buffoons are painted with coloured spots. Up to now, there are many types of face-painting. The Tien-Kong Arts Association is the now painting various faces of Chinese historical figures for the purpose of popular enjoyment.

Drawing Made By A 16 Years Old Girl

2008-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

The drawings here were from a 16 year-old girl, who never had special trainings on drawing. However, she used her sense to tell us what is beauty.

Black and blue only design brought the elegant to me.

A simple red dress on a model, express "simple is pretty".

A space for thinking.

A different style of beauty.

March 3rd Hinamatsuri

2008-03-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

In Japan, every year March 3　is to pray girl’s growth; it is called Hinamatsuri (The Japanese poultry celebration).　From the traditional doll decoration on the right, you can see the man poult and the woman poult are in the center called "Imperial Palace poult", decorated with flower of the peach. The paragraph phrase celebration with whit liquor is enjoyed. In addition there are many service dolls that are offering and accompanying to the "Imperial Palace poult" is also decorated.

Around March 3rd, almost all the stores sell Hina decorations. My Japanese friend gave me a package of Hina special rice ball things, it is very common treads and very delicious.

Yesterday we went to a electronic store and saw the decorations there. We took the picture with the electronics.

March 6th, we went to the restaurant "Chef no Maekake". A becautiful Hira-kazari in front of the restaurant. I was allowed to take the picture. Please enjoy it.

Fuwa - Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots

2008-02-27T22:58:00.000-08:00

Chinese word "Fuwa" means "Good-luck dolls". In the early design time, the Mascots were named as "Friendlies" . However, in the later discussions, use Chinese word "Fuwa" was elected by Chinese.

Fuwa will serve as the official Mascots during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying pace and love from China to all children over the world.
The Fuwa includes 5 members, they are the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow, and the Olympic Flame. Each character has a traditional Chinese two-syllable name, Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. The Fuwa's name together is "北京欢迎你 - Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni "-Welcome to Beijing.

Five Fuwa members have their colors to match the Five Olympic Rings and also represent 5 natural elements. Beibei is blue, represents the see; Jingjing is black, represents the forest; Huanhuan is red, represents the fire; Yingying is yellow, represents the Earth; Nini is green, represents the sky.

Mascots "Fuwa" was announced by the National Society of Chinese Classic Literatures Studies on November 11, 2005 on the event making the 1000th day before the opening of the games.

Also a 100-episodes Olympic-themed cartoon series featuring the Fuwa was release in China on August 8th, 2007.

Bejing Olympic Games(08/08/2008)

2008-02-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

Three years ago, we visited Beijing. This picture was taken at National Chinese Museum Next to Tiananmen Square. A big countdown calendar showed the countdown days was 1039 days, 09 hours, 10 minutes and 39 seconds. The Bejing Olympic Games will be held on August 08, 2008 (第29届奥林匹克运动会.)

Today, there are only 165 days left, less than half year!!!

Bejing Olympic Games has been a dream for many generations of the Chinese. Now China is in full force preparing it.

May be not a lot of people ever thought about why choose August 8 to start Bejing 2008 Olympic games. In China, number 6, 8, 9 are the lucky numbers and people often like to choose them for their phone numbers, addresses, license plates, marriage date or even the baby's birthdate. The number 6 (liu) sounds like smoothly, The number 9 (jiu) has the meaning of "forever" and the number 8 (Fa, Ba) has the meaning of "making a lot of money".

Bejing is the host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics; there are another six cities co-host the games. Qingdao will host the Olympic Sailing Regatta, Hong Kong will host the equestrian events, The football games will take plance in the constructed Qinhuangdao Olympic Center Stadium, The Shanghai Stadium, Shenyang's Wulihe Stadium and Tianjin Olympic Stadium.

Let's have the best wishes to Bejing 2008 Olympic Games!!!

Pearl Heart Beading Necklace

2008-02-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Beading is one of my hobbies. I designed and made the pearl heart necklace a month ago, friend of mine took the pictures and encouraged I share with others.

For most of beads design, I like something simple but elegant. This beaded heart shape only used seed beads and one 4mm round "Cultured Freshwater Pearl" beads. The heart shape is not perfectly symmetric, as you can see on the narrow side, the space just fits the 4mm round bead and another side is slightly bigger.

I had the sliver chain before, but it will be a little boring if I just put the pearl heart on it. So, I specially separated the pieces and beaded 3 of 4mm round beads in between to make it fit the heart design.

I use it very often for the casual cases. Hope you like it.

Green Tea Shurb

2008-02-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

Many People like to drink tea, specially in the East. Have you even had chance to see the tea plants?

These pictures were taken in Japan. It is most likely a type of green tea. Around this shurb, the plant is changing based on the seasons, however the shurb never was removed. Once a while, people will go between the shurb and cut them.

At the time I took the picture, the plant infront
was just removed. You can see beautiful tea
shurb is laying perfectly and the gaps between
the rows are just right space for people go through.

"Peace and Love" - A Beautiful Quilt

2008-02-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

This beautiful quilted King Size blanket was handmade by my mother-in-law. She loves making quilts and gives to relatives and friends as a gift. I really think each piece of her quilts are a piece of art. Each of her quilts has a theme, this one is "Peace and Love".

In Japan it seems that quilting (パッチワーク) becomes so popular
among women recently. Many museum display the wonderful pieces for more people to know and enjoy.

日本ではパチワックが好きになった女性達が最近増えているようです。よく博物館で展示されています。

The right side picture is the back of blanket.

Vallentine's Day Cards

2008-02-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

In West, sending a "Happy Valentine's Day" card is very common. We receive the cards from relatives every year. The picture on the right is a Valentine's Day US postage stamp, which was published in 2007.

Just like other greeting cards, there
are various Valentine's Day cards. People
can choose their favorite colors
and words.

A Cute Balloon Rat

2008-02-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

One day I bought a bag of balloons for my son to play, then I realized one bag was not enough. He quickly ran to the internet to learn how to make animals, sword and flowers.
This cute and lovely balloon rat is one of his works.

可爱的小老鼠是儿子的一个作品.
可愛いネズミは息子の作品の一つです。

You could imagine how many balloons we bought since he likes it so much.

买了一大批气球，会有很多期待啦。。。

沢山のバルーンを買いましたよ。これからも楽しい作品をお待ち下さい。

Paper Folding Art

2008-02-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

One of my hobbies is paper folding. I have many years of experience making animals, flowers, plants and more. I continue to have a lot of fun teaching others about Origami.

Recently, I started to put folded pieces together making a beautiful piece for hanging on the wall. This design can be found in the book, " 絵を書くように楽しい花暦". The butterflies are a custom addition. Instead of using "Washi-paper", I used paper with a floral pattern for more realistic flowers.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day is a great chance for men to give their loved women gifts (chocolates and flowers) in Western countries. However, in Japan, on Valentine’s Day it is only the women who give chocolates to the men. In return the men will send chocolates back to the women on “White Day”March 14^th.
Women giving chocolates to their loved ones is called “Honmei-choko” (本命チョコ), otherwise chocolate given to others is called “Giri-choko” (義理チョコ). In recent years, “Ziko-choko” (自己チョコ) is gaining popularity, which means buy chocolates for oneself. This is very popular among young girls.

In China, Valentine’s Day used to be called “七夕节(qi xi jie)”, but now is more comonly said as“情人节(qing ren jie)”, means only for the true lovers or married couples. Similar to the West, the men buy gifts to their loved women or invite her for a romantic dinner. This year, many city halls in China announced to refuse requests by divorcing couples on Valentine’s Day.

I am sure the adults who want to send presents on Valentine’s Day most likely will choose to buy those gifts. However, last weekend, I had my first experience helping a group of elementary school girls to make their own chocolates for their teachers and friends. It is impressive that they spent almost the whole day preparing materials, cooking and wrapping the chocolate with cute stickers and ribbons.

China Lunar New Year (春节)

2008-02-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

Since the 1980’s, the China Central Television (CCTV) holds a special gala broadcast live on Lunar New Year’s Eve to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival. The program includes dances, songs and short comedies performed by popular artists.

For a decade, this program was the only exciting and popular show appearing on New Year’s Eve. Most Chinese people enjoyed watching it. Now there are so many interesting dramas, movies and other kinds of New Year’s programs on local TV dividing people’s attention. So the gala may not be as popular as it used to be. However, it still has more than half of the Chinese every year watching the show on New Year’s Eve, even though some of the parts have became less attractive or boring.

No doubt, watching the gala has become a tradition, and it is a symbol of the Chinese New Year.

Every year the program has a theme: "Harmony, Prosperity, Unity and Progress“ (和谐盛世，团结奋进) is this year’s theme.

According to the news, this year’s gala is the most popular one in the last 8 years.

2008 February 6^th was Lunar New Year’s Eve, after which started the year of the “Rat”. You can watch the gala (中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会) online. Please enjoy it.