sunset at West Lake

Isn’t it splendid view? That was a couple of weeks ago, a wonderful autumn time. Unfortunately it passed, at least today… it’s rainy and grey – beautiful too!

依然跨时代

Hitlist #508
November 29th, 2010
1. 1 (6) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU), 跨时代 (Kua Shidai)
2. 2 (7) JAMIROQUAI, Blue Skies
3. 5 (8) KENT, Ismael
4. 3 (6) KULA SHAKER, All Dressed Up (And Ready To Fall In Love)
5. 4 (5) GORILLAZ, Doncamatic
6. 13 (9) JAMES BLUNT, Stay The Night
7. 6 (5) PET SHOP BOYS, Together
8. 8 (4) TAKE THAT, The Flood
9. 11 (6) SHERYL CROW, Sign Your Name
10. 7 (12) JAMIROQUAI, White Knuckle Ride
11. 14 (3) KLAXONS, Twin Flames
12. 9 (5) HURTS, Stay
13. 20 (2) JOHN LEGEND & THE ROOTS, Hard Times
14. – (1) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 你不知道的事 (Ni Bu Zhidao De Shi)
15. 16 (4) SADE, The Moon And The Sky
16. – (1) 浪花兄弟 (THE DRIFTERS), 说好的幸福呢 (Shuo Hao De Xingfu Ne)
17. 10 (8) MAROON 5, Give A Little More
18. 15 (2) SUSAN BOYLE, Perfect Day
19. – (1) BADLY DRAWN BOY, Too Many Miracles
20. 12 (9) LINKIN PARK, Waiting For The End

holiday time

I’m still in Thailand, but already left Bangkok. Now I’m staying in Pattaya, south of Bangkok. I love beach holiday!

I must say that I had some moments of doubts. After landing at the airport I needed to get a visa. I guess everybody needs a visa to get to Thailand, but I was lucky enough to do it on arrival. Yeah, lucky… I forgot about return ticket, which was necessary to get a permission to enter Thailand. So even though I could see a big banner saying “Welcome to Thailand!”, I almost couldn’t do anything! I had to find my airline’s counter, where they would print out my return ticket – of course I had it, just forgot to take it. I went there, but it turned out that nobody was there. Was it already off work? I felt desperate: I’m so near the destination and can’t get in! I asked for help a girl at the information desk – I could hardly understand what she said. I went to another airline’s counter (China Southern, I flew with China Eastern)… Finally they found someone who could help me. I got the return ticket and got a visa after one and a half hours waiting. My god, I was so nervous!

Bangkok is very interesting but too crowded. The city has a terrible problem with traffic – the streets are packed with cars almost all the time! Luckily there is a convenient subway – or maybe I should say sky train, because it runs above the streets, not below. There are many temples in Bangkok, you can see many monks, people selling some weird stuff… Oh, it’s very hot too! The temperatures exceed 30 degrees everyday!

And now, I’m here – spending a wonderful time in Pattaya. I just had an oil massage, yesterday I had a foot massage. Walking, sight-seeing, taking pictures! Ah, what a marvellous cabaret – a famous “Tiffany’s Show” – a transvestites’ and ladyboys’ performance… And it’s only a pity that the holiday is going to be over soon. Well, I won’t waste time by complaining, it’s so much better to enjoy the relax!

Jay!

Hitlist #507
November 22nd, 2010
Bangkok

1. 1 (5) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU), 跨时代 (Kua Shidai)
2. 2 (6) JAMIROQUAI, Blue Skies
3. 3 (5) KULA SHAKER, All Dressed Up (And Ready To Fall In Love)
4. 6 (4) GORILLAZ, Doncamatic
5. 4 (7) KENT, Ismael
6. 8 (4) PET SHOP BOYS, Together
7. 5 (11) JAMIROQUAI, White Knuckle Ride
8. 16 (3) TAKE THAT, The Flood
9. 11 (4) HURTS, Stay
10. 9 (7) MAROON 5, Give A Little More
11. 10 (5) SHERYL CROW, Sign Your Name
12. 7 (8) LINKIN PARK, Waiting For The End
13. 12 (8) JAMES BLUNT, Stay The Night
14. 18 (2) KLAXONS, Twin Flames
15. – (1) SUSAN BOYLE, Perfect Day
16. 19 (3) SADE, The Moon And The Sky
17. – (1) SKUNK ANANSIE, Over The Love
18. 13 (15) KULA SHAKER, Peter Pan R.I.P.
19. 17 (12) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 杜 U ♥ Me (Do U Love Me)
20. – (1) JOHN LEGEND & THE ROOTS, Hard Times

Thailand

Today is my birthday. It’s always a happy day, isn’t it? It’s my last 20th… next year I’m going to celebrate my first 30th birthday. Wow, time flies so fast.

This year I’m celebrating it in Thailand. I arrived at Bangkok on Monday evening, I spent two days in the capital – and yesterday evening I arrived at the beach in Pattaya city. It’s so hot! It’s so colourful! It’s exciting! What a great birthday gift!

when life seems to be over

You get a really bad news and then you may think that your life seems to be over. What are these situations?
– when a close person dies
– when you find out about a serious disease (you’re diagnosed with a disease)
– when your company goes bankrupt
– when you lose everything in a fire
– when your pet dies
– when your child tells you they are gay
– when you find out that you can’t have children
– when you reach a certain age when you think you’re old
– when you divorce / break up
– when you commit a crime and have to go to jail
– when you lose everything in gambling
– when you catch your partner cheating you
– when your computer crashes and you lose all your files
– when you have no expectations
– when you are paralyzed

Move on! Get over it! Life still can be beautiful and surprising. It’s not the end of the world.

Reactions to problems:
– depression
– no passion for life
– no energy
– digestive problems – eat too much or can’t eat at all
– cry
– curse, swear

Don’t give up! There is always a solution. The worst you can do, is to commit a suicide. That never solves anything – it causes even more problems to those who love you, care about you.

Who can help if you have serious problems?
– friends
– psychologists, psychotherapist
– family
– you can write a diary
– some people drink alcohol
– some take drugs

Sense of humour can really help to keep the distance and have a look at the problems from another angle. Try to find happy moments everyday – they do happen, but maybe we expect too much and overlook the small ones.
Create an art! A poem! A song! Find a hobby, develop your interests to make your life interesting and… worth living.

跨时代

Jay! Jay Chou! 周杰伦! The one and only – I saw him again last Saturday, when he came to Hangzhou and had a concert here. Fantastic and mind blowing. I feel ecstatic! Can’t listen to anyone else but him!

Hitlist #505
November 15th, 2010
1. 3 (4) 周杰伦, 跨时代
2. 1 (5) JAMIROQUAI, Blue Skies
3. 2 (4) KULA SHAKER, All Dressed Up (And Ready To Fall In Love)
4. 5 (6) KENT, Ismael
5. 4 (10) JAMIROQUAI, White Knuckle Ride
6. 9 (3) GORILLAZ, Doncamatic
7. 6 (7) LINKIN PARK, Waiting For The End
8. 10 (3) PET SHOP BOYS, Together
9. 8 (6) MAROON 5, Give A Little More
10. 12 (4) SHERYL CROW, Sign Your Name
11. 13 (3) HURTS, Stay
12. 20 (7) JAMES BLUNT, Stay The Night
13. 11 (14) KULA SHAKER, Peter Pan R.I.P.
14. 16 (5) CHRISTINA AGUILERA, You Lost Me
15. 7 (12) LINKIN PARK, The Catalyst
16. 19 (2) TAKE THAT, The Flood
17. 14 (11) 王力宏, 杜 U ♥ Me
18. – (1) KLAXONS, Twin Flames
19. 18 (2) SADE, The Moon And The Sky
20. 15 (11) KYLIE MINOGUE, Get Outta My Way

difficulties

For the last couple of days I haven’t been able to access my blog. Even now I can’t do it – I’m using a special proxy website to write this post. Text only, I can’t upload any pictures here.
It makes me feel very disappointed. I guess that Chinese government blocked all blogs from WordPress (however the main WordPress page is accessible!), the same as Blogspot and many other websites. Facebook? No way. YouTube? For almost 1,5 years – no. What can I do… Set up the blog somewhere else? But how can I be sure that it won’t be blocked as well?

Listening to:
Maria Callas! What a surprise! I watched “Philadelphia” two days ago – do you remember the scene where Tom Hanks (acting as Andrew Beckett) is listening to one of Callas’s arias? For me it’s one the most moving scenes ever. So dramatic and so powerful. I had tears in my eyes while watching it – and immediately after the movie had finished, I downloaded some of her music. My god, what a voice.

all dressed up

“Have you seen my lady
She’s the queen of all this town
Ohhhhh… Have you seen my lady
She’s the queen of all this town
She’s all dressed up and ready
All dressed up and ready
All dressed up and ready
To fall in love
She’s all dressed up and ready…”
[Kula Shaker, All Dressed Up (And Ready To Fall In Love), Pilgrim’s Progress]

Hitlist #505
November 8th, 2010
1. 1 (4) JAMIROQUAI, Blue Skies
2. 6 (3) KULA SHAKER, All Dressed Up (And Ready To Fall In Love)
3. 5 (3) 周杰伦, 跨时代
4. 2 (9) JAMIROQUAI, White Knuckle Ride
5. 4 (5) KENT, Ismael
6. 7 (6) LINKIN PARK, Waiting For The End
7. 3 (11) LINKIN PARK, The Catalyst
8. 9 (5) MAROON 5, Give A Little More
9. 11 (2) GORILLAZ, Doncamatic
10. 15 (2) PET SHOP BOYS, Together
11. 8 (13) KULA SHAKER, Peter Pan R.I.P.
12. 16 (3) SHERYL CROW, Sign Your Name
13. 20 (2) HURTS, Stay
14. 14 (10) 王力宏, 杜 U ♥ Me
15. 10 (10) KYLIE MINOGUE, Get Outta My Way
16. 12 (4) CHRISTINA AGUILERA, You Lost Me
17. 13 (9) NEGATIVE, End Of The Line
18. – (1) SADE, The Moon And The Sky
19. – (1) TAKE THAT, The Flood
20. 19 (6) JAMES BLUNT, Stay The Night

Halloween

Last week we celebrated Halloween. It’s actually not my holiday, but still – in many Western countries people enjoy it. My school organized a party… I bought a scary mask with a long, white hair. And some others too!

It was an interesting experience, good fun!