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I love to travel, especially to points in Asia.  I have a mental list of places in Asia that I intend to visit somehow, sometime in my life.  Japan and points within is high on that list.

I feel like I can always count on episodes of Lost that are centered on Jin and Sun to bring tears to my eyes. There’s a subtle, consistent thread that exists about these two; they are figures of traditional tragedy, especially tonight.

Okie, that’s all I’ll say plot-wise, because I know some of you may have DVR’d it. I’ll try to express this without giving it away.

The story of Jin and Sun has an inherent overtone of tragedy. Sun’s secrets have always made the story quite tense and Jin’s undying devotion to his wife just makes it all the worse. It’s sad to see them struggle with their lives and relationship.

Because 01/18/08 can’t come soon enough…Tonight’s bachelor movie was straight out of Korea. It’s a mutant monster movie by the name of _The Host._It started off promising – with a really fun attack scene on the banks of the Han River in Seoul. Plenty of mayhem and crowd panic scenes. Obviously most of the budget was spent on that sequence because the remaining 1 hour and 40 minutes of the film didn’t do much for me. It tries to be a drama/horror/comedy but ends up failing almost all of those. Instead, it runs around with no set goal, except maybe to paint the U.S. as a bioterrorist. I can hardly wait for the U.S. remake. Thank goodness that’s not what J.J. Abrams is cooking up… I’m very much looking forward to that one.

Interview with Ang Lee – CNN.com

Here’s an interesting interview with one of my favorite directors. There’s not a lot of new information in there, but you at least get a sense of his character.

A mall in Beijing has installed a technological wonder. It’s basically the ceiling of a covered walkway. The difference is that the walkway is covered with 5 LCD screens working together to provide a video experience unlike anything you’ll ever see. Currently, it’s running animations that simulate an aquarium. In this video, it’s as though you’re a scuba diver caught in a flock of sharks, looking up into the glowing heavens.

PChome個人新聞台-唐蔬宋廚米麒麟

Incredible!

Flickrfy » Blog Archive » Shanghai Nights

Absolutely gorgeous. I hope that one day I can visit there.

Please note that the Asia Albums site URL has changed. If you’re getting RSS from there, please check your links.

You can get to the new album here.

Taipei Times – archives

National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall

President Chen Sui Bian continues his assault on Taiwan’s history as Chaing Kai Shek Memorial Hall is renamed to the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

Not only does it dishonor the history (those who forget history are doomed to repeat it) – I’d imagine the new name will further the flames with mainland China since it contains the word “Democracy.” Maybe not – I often find myself misunderstanding much of this issue, as many Americans do.

Today my sister-in-law called us to say hi as usual. She spoke to her sister for a while, then my wife turned to me and informed me that Chaing Kai Shek’s summer home on Yang Ming Mountain was burned to the ground last night.

Taiwan’s president Chen Shui Bian has been engaged in a campaign to erase an important piece of Taiwan’s history from modern day life. I do not dare to try to educate anyone on any of this, except to say that Chaing Kai Shek is pretty much the founder of the Taiwan we have today. I find it odd that the president chooses to ignore his importance by erasing his name from monuments, buildings and anything else that carries his name. They have talked about removing the wall from CKS Memorial Hall as well.