THIS WEEK:

1. I'm loving 'The Cyclist's Empire print' by Thomas Yang. Such an amazing combination of New York City's bike culture mixed together with an iconic NYC building. Using 7 different types of bicycle tires, Yang rolled ink into paper to produce the Empire State Building's recognizable shape. Wow!

2. Still related to New York, I love this cupcake atm!

3. And because I'm only little (5 ft) ^^, I love this cup :)

4. I stumbled upon this video on youtube. How funny! :D

5. I love watching Disney movies and I'm loving all these memorable Disney quotes/pictures from @disneydiaris (instagram account).

6. I love Tim Siedell's twitter account @badbanana. He makes me rolling on the floor laughing :D

Other tweets of him which I love:

"Hip! Hip! Hooray!" -  Guy who really likes hips.

Let us in, hard shell tacos. Let us in.

Special K is for showoffs. An ordinary bowl of K is good enough for me.

Million dollar idea: collect dollar bills until you have about a million of them.

Feeling pretty good about my chances of sneaking through this life without ever bungee jumping.

I prefer crushed ice. Hard to enjoy a cool drink when your ice has hopes and dreams.

I don't want to die doing something I love. I want to die doing something I hate. That way I don't have to finish it.

7. I love this commitment comic! :D

8. I love these life advices from @LifeCheates:

- If you have a tough decision: Flip a coin -- Not to decide for you, but you'll realize what you really want when it's in the air.

- Never base life decisions on advice from people who don't have to deal with the results of your decisions.

- Don't want to be embarrassed when buying something? Buy a birthday card along with it.

- Easy way to wake up: Play a game on your phone! It will stimulate your mind.

- SMILE AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP, YOU'LL BE IN A GOOD MOOD FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

9. I saw not one, but two feel-good movies this week. One is 'Beautiful Lies', a charming French romantic comedy about a hairdresser (Audrey Tatou) who copies and forwards an anonymous letter that she previously received from her handyman to her single mother to motivate and cheer her up. Things get complicated along the way and the whole thing becomes really funny :) I've always loved movies starring Audrey Tatou and this one is no exception. I just love watching her act :)

The other movie that I saw is 'Kopps', a hilarious Swedish comedy hit. 'Kopps' is set in a small peaceful Swedish town where a group of cops face a crisis: their station is scheduled to be closed because there is no crime. Their solution is to stir up crimes so that they can keep their jobs! Oh dear! :D

I love both movies. So often I'd prefer to watch deep, thoughtful (and often depressing) arthouse dramas so it's good to watch something light and a bit silly once in a while! These 2 movies make me smile, has funny & brilliant twists in the plots and amazingly acted (I especially love the rather nervous receptionist working at Audrey Tatou's salon in 'Beautiful Lies'.

10. I'm loving all these quotes: 

"Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time, to figure out whether you like it or not."
Virgil Garnett Thomson

"Give me 6 hours to chop a tree, I will spend the first 4 sharpening my axe."
Abraham Lincoln

"Treat the Earth Well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children."

Kenyan Proverb

Happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have.

"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook."
William James

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
Satchel Paige

Picture Sources:
1. http://mymodernmet.tumblr.com
2. @katespadeny (instagram account)
3. www.etsy.com
5. @disneydiaris (instagram account)
6. Tim Siedell @badbanana twitter account
7. buttersafe.com
8. @LifeCheates (twitter account)

UNTIL NEXT TIME! HEHE HOPEFULLY SOONER RATHER THAN LATER ;) X

My not so weekly 'weekly diary'

I can't believe that I haven't updated my weekly blog for weeks! There goes my new year resolutions :(

Well, what's done is done, hopefully it won't happen again :p

The last few weeks have been awesome, I saw 'Empire' at The Entertainment Quarter which is a mix of circus, comedy, vaudeville and burlesque and that show is amazing. What a sexy, exciting, at times funny, daring show.

)

I also read 'Wild Swans' by Jung Chang which I wrote on my last post

http://www.lovelittleapple.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/wild-swans-by-jung-chang.html#links

I saw a Swedish movie 'Pure', which I love. Although I don't think 'Pure' is the movie is for everyone, I personally really love it as I can feel the main character's fragile and sad emotion which is acted brilliantly by Alicia Vikander. The movie tells a story of Katarina, a young woman who loves Mozart, in which she can find a bit of peace in the midst of her troubled home life. By accident, Katarina is offered a job as a receptionist at a concert hall where she begins an affair with a married conductor. I love the beautiful classical music background throughout this film and some lovely words and phrases which often mentioned, including a quote by Kierkegaard -  'Courage is life's only measure' that ultimately shapes the storyline of this movie. This movie is a bit dark and tragic, yet shows a pure, fragile and strong, beautiful human spirit.

)

I love this video! This Beijing Circus act is absolutely mind blowing. WOWWWWW!

)

I've also been watching a few documentaries :

Secrets of South America : Extreme Beauty Queens.

This mini documentary is about the beauty queen industry in Venezuela. Billie JD Porter goes inside Miss Venezuela boot camp where plastic surgery and crazy diets transform ordinary young girls into rich and famous beauty queens. To succeed, the girls must impress Venezuela's king of beauty, Osmel Sousa, who is a ruthless perfectionist. The program follows a few girls, one of them is 18 year old Meyer as she progresses to the final stages of the contest. Her brother and cousin were both shot dead and she sees success in the competition as a way out of the slums where she and her family live. Her family work seven days a week to earn enough money to pay for her dresses and cosmetic surgery she has been told she needs to get ahead in the contest. So far she has had breast implants, a nose job, her teeth corrected and a mesh fitted to her tongue which makes it too painful to eat solids, and therefore easier for her to lose weight. She's hoping to do well in the contest (which she does at the end, become one of the 5 finalist) as it can transform her life and help her transform her family's life.

)

The Real White Queen and her rivals, part 1. The lives of these women are so fascinating.

The Real White Queen and her rivals, part 2.

)

I'm so amazed with those era and history so much that I ended up watching the ten parts British television drama series 'The White Queen' which is based on Philippa Gregory's historical novel series The Cousins' War (The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker's Daughter). I love the the lush setting, the beautiful costumes, the engrossing storyline, and all the great acting, everything!

)

The amazing cast!

I love these 2 quotes:

- Haters will see you walking on water and say it's because you can't swim.

- Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.

Whenever I have a boyfriend, I love making him a mix-cd, so I love this 'How To make The Perfect Mix' instruction :))

Ohhhh this 'Shiatsu Self Massage' really works! Try it :)

"I would hate to be a person that only looked forward to the weekend, what a waste of 5 days."
- Vanessa Prosser

If you aren’t amazed most of the time you aren’t paying attention.”

—	Michael Lipsey

Until next Saturday xx

Picture sources:
(the perfect mix) http://www.thebeautyofwordsblog.com

(self massage) http://cupofteaandspirit.tumblr.com/post/25655146475/massage
(the white queen cast) http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-white-queen-bbc/images/32636680/title/white-queen-cast-photo

WILD SWANS by JUNG CHANG

Wild Swans is such an exceptional book. The story of three generations in twentieth century China which shows extraordinary courage, perseverance, love and spirit of its people is so heartbreaking, moving -- and ultimately uplifting. Reading this makes me feel quite emotional, a mixture feeling of admiration and despair. It is also a bit personal, as my racial background is Chinese. But even if you don't care anything about the Chinese history, this is still a very well-written, easy to read and fascinating book.

From the end of Imperial China, through to the Japanese occupation, the Civil war and the Communist takeover, to the Mao's Great Leap Forward (which starves many millions people to death), the Cultural Revolution, and to Mao's death, the author describes the amazing and unusual lives of her family members, which includes her grandmother, a warlord's concubine and her parents, who are members of the Communist elite who had to go through sufferings, torture and work punishments during the Cultural Revolution.

Reading this book makes you feel so grateful that you live in a peaceful and free country and that your loved one are not endangered to torture. I am so inspired afterwards, I feel now that I shouldn't be afraid of anything in life because some of these people, adults and children are so fearless. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to read an important, life-changing book.

Some of the stuffs from the book that I want to remember:

From page 345:

On the way to the museum, our car overtook an open truck with some boys and girls from my school in it. They were obviously going to the 'class-education' mansion as well. One of teachers was standing on the back. She smiled at me, and I shrank down in my seat with embarrassment at the difference between our chauffeur-driven car and the open truck on the bumpy road in the cold early spring air. My father was sitting in front with my youngest brother on his lap. He recognized my teacher and smiled back at her. When he turned around to attract my attention, he saw that I had completely disappeared. He beamed with pleasure. My embarrassment showed my good qualities, he said; it was good that I felt ashamed of privilege rather than flaunting it.

From page 419:

I was perhaps the least athletic of us six. Previously, whenever I had had to climb into a train through the window, one of my friends had always lifted me from the platform while others pulled me from inside. This time, although I was being helped by about four people from inside, I could not hoist my body high enough to get my head and elbows in. I was sweating like mad, even though it was freezing cold. At this point, the train started to pull away. Panicking, I looked around to see if there was anyone who could help. My eyes fell on the thin, dark face of a boy who had sidled up beside me. But his intention was not to lend me a hand.

I had a purse in a pocket of my jacket, and because of my climbing position it was quite visible. With two fingers, the boy picked it out. He had presumably chosen the moment of departure to snatch it. I burst out crying. The boy paused. He looked at me, hesitated, and put the purse back. Then he took hold of my right leg and hoisted me up. I landed on the table as the train was beginning to pick up speed.

Because of this incident, I developed a soft spot for adolescent pickpockets. In the coming years of the Cultural Revolution, when the economy was in a shambles, theft was widespread, and I once lost a whole year's food coupons. But whenever I heard that policemen or other custodians of 'law and order' had beaten a pickpocket, I always felt a pang. Perhaps the boy on that winter platform had shown more humanity than the hypocritical pillars of society.

From page 439:

Then they pulled out his books and threw them into huge jute sacks they had brought with them. When all the bags were full, they carried them downstairs, telling my father they were going to burn them on the grounds of the department the next day after a denunciation meeting against him. They ordered him to watch the bonfire 'to be taught a lesson.' In the meantime, they said, he must burn the rest of his collection.

When I came home that afternoon, I found my father in the kitchen. He had lit a fire in the big cement sink, and was hurling his books into the flames.

This was the first time in my life I had seen him weeping. It was agonized, broken, and wild, the weeping of a man who was not used to shedding tears. Every now and then, in fits of violent sobs, he stamped his feet on the floor and banged his head against the wall.

I was so frightened that for some time I did not dare to do anything to comfort him. Eventually I put my arms around him and held him from the back, but I did not know what to say. He did not utter a word either. My father had spent every spare penny on his books. They were his life. After the bonfire, I could tell that something had happened to his mind.

From page 466:

This young man had a severe squint - and a very pretty girlfriend who stayed overnight with him, which was almost unheard of in those days. They did not seem to mind us knowing. Of course, capitalist-roaders were in no position to tell tales. When I bumped into them in the mornings, they always gave me a very kind smile which told me they were happy. I realised then that when people are happy they become kind.

From page 483:

Our devotion to our parents was increased by our empathy for their suffering, our admiration for their integrity and courage, and our loathing for their tormentors. We came to feel a new degree of respect and love, for our parents.
We grew up fast. We had no rivals, no squabbles, and no resentment of each other, none of the usual problems - or pleasures - of teenagers. The Cultural Revolution destroyed normal adolescence, with all its pitfalls, and threw us straight into sensible adulthood in our early teens.
At the age of fourteen, my love for my parents had an intensity that could not have existed under normal circumstances. My life revolved entirely around them. Whenever they were briefly at home, I would watch their moods, trying to provide amusing company. When they were in detention, I would repeatedly go to the disdainful-looking Rebels and demand a visit. Sometimes I would be allowed a few minutes to sit and talk with one of my parents, in the company of a guard. I would tell them how much I loved them.

From page 580-581:

My first sight of my father after over a year was harrowing. He was trotting into the courtyard carrying two baskets full of bricks on a shoulder pole. His old blue jacket hung loose on him, and his rolled-up trouser legs revealed a pair of very thin legs with prominent sinews. His sun-beaten face was wrinkled, and his hair was almost gray. Then he saw me. He put down his load with a fumbling movement, the result of overexcitement, as I rushed over to him. Because the Chinese tradition permitted little physical contact between fathers and daughters, he told me how happy he was through his eyes. They were so full of love and tenderness. In them, I also saw traces of the ordeal he had been going through. His youthful energy and spark had given way to an air of aged confusion with a hint of quiet determination. Yet he was still in his prime, only forty-eight years old. A lump rose in my throat. I searched his eyes for signs of my worst fear, the return of his insanity. But he looked all right. A heavy load lifted from my heart.

Also page 546 (about her kind friend, Bing) and page 590-591 (when her father talked about death).

Please share with me a book that change your life :) x