Bruce Lee

November  27 was Bruce Lee’s birthday, if he didn’t pass away he would be 72 years old this year.

Bruce Lee, an international super star, a method actor, a master of martial art, a film maker, a writer, a teacher, a philosopher, even a Cha Cha dance champion. 

Time Magazine named Lee one of the most influential person of the 20th century, somewhere in between Einstein and Gandhi. He was an mixture of poise, charisma and intellect and he can surely kick some asses. Bruce Lee had a concern for the oriental poor, knowing martial arts as one way to restore the dignity, maybe because Bruce lee studied philosophy, therefore he always used his film to expressed his “emotional point of view”. His film was more than just kung fu movie but a demonstration on how “Chinese” should fight back, but his philosophy wasn’t only for Chinese but a universal one. 

I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.  

In movies such as “The Big Boss” or “Enter The Dragon", he tried to use many symbols to show us what kind of world we are living in and how we should be united and fight back. Bruce Lee wants us to challenge ourselves, he wants us to know we are living in one world and we all can learn from each other and help and respect each other. He was a fighter not just on film, he was a fighter for life and the one who was against the system and believed we are all creative individuals.  

Ni Kuang is probably the most famous chinese sci-fiction writer, he was also a screen writer for couple of Bruce's movie such as Fist of Fury and Chinese Connection. In his interview he said Bruce loved his work very much and was always talking about his films, he could talk for hours and he is also just a normal human being. There was one time at the Premiere of Chinese Connection, when Bruce arrived at the cinema, there was more than thousand of fans waiting for him, they called his name and waved to him, Bruce was nervous and didn't know what to do, he grabbed Ni Kuang's hand and asked "What should i do?", Kuang said "Just wave, what else you can do?! ". So Bruce did and the whole place went off hook and Bruce was excited and happy. Years of struggles has finally paid off.

Bruce was a very kind person, he had a child's heart and he dreamt big dreams and no matter what was the hard time threw at him, he did his best to defeat it, he was not just a martial artist but an artist of life and that is something that made him the legend.

Maybe no one knows a real reason for his death, but we all know what he has done when he was alive. 


10 Bruce's lee Quotes

1. “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”
2. “Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”
3. “Don’t fear failure.  Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”
4. “Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
5. “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
6. “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
7. “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”
8. “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
9. “What is” is more important than ‘what should be.’ Too many people are looking at ‘what is’ from a position of thinking ‘what should be’.”
10. “When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.”

                      “The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering “  - Bruce Lee

Barcelona - Casa Fuster

One of my many reasons to fall in love with the magical Barcelona is because of Casa Fuster. But I like Casa Fuster not because Woody Allen stayed here while filming Vicki Christina Barcelona or plays the old Dixieland tune with his clarinet in the stylish and elegant Jazz lounge.

This incredibly beautiful and charming hotel is in the city center on Passeig de Gràcia, is the work of a remarkable modernist architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1849-1923), he also designed the famous Palau de la Musica Catalan. Hospital de Sant Pau and a mail box of Casa de l'Ardiaca.  

 It was a pleasure to be able to look around Casa Fuster for her restoration, it is a cross over between the new and old, like a conservation with the past. Talking about the past, the history of this hotel also has an interest story: A gentleman name Mariano Fuster ,a wealthy man from Mallorcan high society, fell in love with Barcelona, also fell in love with the daughter of a Barcelona marquis. After they got married, Fuster wants to build a house, not only to her but also dedicated to Barcelona. The house became the city's most expensive house because of the quality of the materials used.

Between 40’s to the 50’s Casa Fuster ‘s lobby banquet hall was a popular  meeting place for the rich and famous. Around the mid 50’s Fuster’s business failed , he had to give up his business and the building and on his deathbed he said he was sorry to his family but he wasn’t sorry to Barcelona because of the building. 

In 1962 the electric company bought the building and was going to demolish it to build a skyscraper, but the whole city rejected this so the electric company had to give up the idea and back down, in 2005 this building became the Hotel Casa Fuster.

In now a days. there are many modern hotels around the world. Sure they all look good and comfortable to stay but one thing they are lacking is a story. Many people said, usually there will be a ghost in an old building because they don’t want to leave.
I have not see Fuster’s Ghost but I am sure he must be somewhere here , listen to Woody Allen playing and slipping a glass of Cava, and think to himself, I am not sorry Barcelona and I will never leave this beautiful house because it is Casa Fuster.

Life is short, hotel like this might not exist for long, I hope someday you can spend sometime here to be part of the romantic history and you might meet someone here  and never want to leave, after all we all have our own Casa to build for love.

Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock

 

In his 60, Hitchcock forced to gamble his Bel-Air home to make “Psycho", a film which he believed in and willing to take a risk . A film that the studio excecutive and his agent in that time called “ A cheap horror movie” but his wife Alma, supported him all the way. If you are going to see the new film “ Hitchcock” then you will know about this story.

Alfred Hitchcock. One of the greatest film director. Every film fan will agreed with it. He pioneered many film making techniques – the dolly zoom – you can see this camera movement in a a few classic Hitchcock movies like Vertigo and many Steven Spielberg's and Brian de Palma’s films. He also been called the master of suspense, he was a talented director of psychological thriller genres. If you are Hitchcock fan then you will know about his interview with François Truffaut, and you will know his  obession for blondes and his film is almost always about an innocent person gets involved with trouble. There are so many things I want to write about Him and because I want  to make a thriller, so I am trying to understand what drove him, what is his visions and how he works with actors?  Hitchcock once said:

I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.

When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'

There are many actors out there, they think they are good actors, I have no doubt about it.  But I think the best actors are the actors who can do what ever the director need, they can cry and laugh or be angry or sad or all at the same time and let the director to choose the one expression he wants. 

Actors are like emotion supermarket and the best actor is the one that accepted by the audience. Being film director is a difficult  job,  one must deal with everything about the film and also has to worry about his own sanity. Will the audience like my movie? what to do to stay on the budget ? how to make a cheap horror movie into a classic thriller? I think we should go back to watch all Hitchcock movies, either you are the actors or the directors, we should learn a thing or two. To me the best thing that Hitchcock really did well is his timing, when it should be slow he made it slow and intimate, when it needed to be exciting he edited the film tight enough to captured all your attention. Unlike most movie these days, the director always thinks quick editing means excitement but audience saw nothing but flash. I think we should blame it on Music Video. 

Hitchcock: If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.

If you like a Hitchcock movie, you will also fall in love with "The Third man".
The director is Carol Reed, shot in 1949 - and this is a must see for Black and white lover, the photography staggered light and shadow , influenced the history of cinema, and the director also boldly used only one  musical instrumentent  "Zither" for the entire film. 

Director needs to be bold and Actor needs to listen to directors and beleive in him  and  most importantly we all need a family like Alma.

Hainanese chicken rice

My best friend loves it when ever I make my version of Hainanese chicken rice, since he never tasted the famous “Real” Hainanese chicken rice from Singapore, so my version to him will be the “original “.

Once upon a time far far away in Singapore, there were many people working as Coolies from Hainan and to save money they put money together to buy a chicken, cooked and chopped up into pieces, cooked rice into a sushi like rice wrap, so they can all share a good meal.

Many years later some of them have became hawkers and then became shops. Of course, the way they prepare also has improved and became more delicate. Until today this rice dish is the representative of Singapore national food.

There are a couple of famous chicken rice shop in Singapore such as: Wee Nam Kee and Tian Tian. I know I can never compared to them but let’s try my recipe to see if you like it.

Hainanese chicken rice

    Ingredients: 

    2kg whole chicken or 6 to 10 pieces of boneless chicken legs, take more if you like

    Salt

    Water

    Ginger, get a few of them if you love ginger

    Cucumber, sliced

    Light soy sauce

    Sesame oil

    Coriander

    Chicken Stock

    For the rice

    Minced garlic

    Chicken fat and stock

    2 pandan leaves

To make the chicken

Rub chicken inside with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Heat up a large pot of water with chicken stock - big enough to put a whole chicken in or -

I like to use boneless chicken leg, put in as many pieces as you want, but if you use chicken leg then you will need a Colander to allow liquid to drain through. 

Add a spoonful of salt in the water and a piece of ginger when it boiled; how much salt depends on how big is the pot and your taste, you can adjust yourself, just remember you want it tasty but not salty.

Now when the water is boiled, put the chicken into the boiled water for 20 seconds and pick it up and put the chicken into ice water for another 10 seconds then put it back into the boiled water again, repeat this process for 5 times .

Check the skin and see if its tighten, if so then boil the water again, put the chicken back in, close the lid and turn the heat to low for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the chicken stay in the pot for at least 40 minutes to an hour. This steps is to cook the chicken with the heat in the pot but not boiling the chicken. If you are using chicken leg do this step for 25mins. Again its really depends on your experience and the size of the chicken.

After this step you can take the chicken out [to make sure the chicken is cooked poke a chopstick into the chicken and if it went thru and no blood coming out then it should be ok].

Finally take the cooked chicken out, rub some sesame oil around the chicken skin, let it air dry for about 3 mins, then put it back in the cold water for other 5 mins, take it out again and air dry. This way is to make the skin taste better. Some people put the chicken in the fridge but I feel this way will ruin the taste and the texture of the chicken. Chop up the chicken into pieces and serve. 

For the rice

Now you take out the layer of chicken fat on the stock surface with a spoon . Don’t worry if some chicken stock is with it. Fry rice ingredient together with rice and chicken fat, until you smell the fragrance of the rice then put more chicken stock and put the fried rice into a rice cooker .. or pot and let the rice cook.

For the soup

Put cabbage and preserved vegetables cooked together with chicken stock.

For the ginger sauce

3 tsp chicken fat from the stock,  5 tsp of thinly sliced spring onions, 4 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 3 tsp vegetable oil - never use olive oil,  soy sauce – optional

Sweet Chilli Sauce

3 tsp chopped red birds-eye chillies , 5 tsp of grated ginger and garlic, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp white vinegar, ½ tsp sea salt , half lime juice,  3 tsp Fish sauce

[The measurement is just a guide, taste it yourself - everyone is different]

ABC’s Dark sweet soy sauce.

Serve rice with tomatoes and cucumbers.

Like the Vietnamese pho, every family cooks it differently, they all taste a little different. So if anyone follows my recipe, please remember my version is just a guide, even though I try to get it as close as the “real” stuff. Anyway, just let it be and enjoy it. Cooking is a numbers game  the first time doesn’t work, do not worry. Try it a few times, then you will master it.

Barcelona - Sagrada Família

If possible, everyone should pay a visit to Sagrada Familia, at least once in a life time. This is not just a building or a church but it represents our dream and to make it come true and yes, even if it has to take 100 years.

If you have a chance to come, you will be amazed with Gaudi’s imagination and vision. No matter he was crazy or not. He was a man ahead of our time. He was living outside the square and dare to challenge the limitation of human mind .

Gaudi's designed the Lanterns and lamps in Plaza Reial, Passeig de Gràcia and some part of Las Ramblas , he also designed the fountains and gates for Cuitadella Park, "the garden of Barcelona" and don’t forget “ La Pedrera” - Casa Mila. Many of his works has became a part of Barcelona and also changed how this city looks. Some of them were funded by his friend Guell, included the famous Parc Guell. His style is unique and easy to recognized, such as the blue lizard. I always think the Catalan people are more cultural and romantic than the Spainish because of Gaudi.

Ok , I don’t want to write a report about Gaudi and I am sure everyone can google it. What I want to say is what if I invite him for dinner. What will he want to eat? seafood? Since he was a Catalan…Seafood paella? Imagine having dinner with him and listen to him to talk about his work? Do you think he will ever work in the movie as a set designer? Did he talked about women? But I am sure that he had no interest in fashion and I will not mention Tram to him.

Gaudi set in front of me and looking at the glass of wine I poured for him

Gaudi: You should know that I do not drink.  

Me: I am sorry I can’t believe everything that Google said about you , Do you like your paella?

Gaudi: The seafood in my day tasted much better and this muscles reminds me of my design..

Me: I know this sounds a bit strange but do you know the color of the taxi in Barcelona is black and yellow because they are grieving for you?

Gaudi: If they are grieving, then why there weren’t any taxi stop for me still?  

I looked at his old clothes and think he must wearing the same thing since 1926.

If you visited Palau Guell, you must noticed that Gaudi loves details, everything from a door handle to a rooftop.

Me: Can you design my new home? I know you did it for Guell, I don’t need anything fancy just a few touch of you and I will be very happy.

Gaudi: Jajaj, ok , just let me finish Sagarda Familia first, then I will help you to do yours.