Monkey King and the Ox

We went to see "Kung Fu Panda 3" and realized that Kai is the antagonist. Interestingly, in "Journey to the West", Monkey King and Ox were used to be sworn brothers before the Ox became Bull Demon King. Below are the pictures of Kai, Bull Demon King's statue near Flaming Mountains (火焰山) near Turpan (we passed the mountains during our silk road trip), and a classical decorated painting in the Summer Palace in Beijing.

西遊記(Journey to the West) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Monkey King (Sun Wukong) is the main character in the novel who, after rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, accompanies a monk on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from Central Asia and India. He is a skilled fighter capable of fighting all goblins, demons and monsters away on the road (read lyrics below). Below is an interesting video mix: "The year of Monkey from White House."

To watch longer video (11:45 min), Please click here.
Above, the first song 通天大道寬又闊(Avenue of Babel, wide and broad) is an opening music from Chinese classic television series “journey to the west” sequel (2000). Click to see the Opening Theme of original TV series (I used some clips in my New Year video shown below). Below is the beginning lyrics with translation of the song.

剛擒住了幾個妖，Captured a few goblins

又降住了幾個魔。Subdued a few demons

魑魅魍魎怎麼就這麼多！Why there are so many monsters

（白：先吃俺老孫一棒！）Mind my cudgel

殺你個魂也丟來魄也落。You monsters are scared out of your wits

神也發抖，鬼也哆嗦，Deities tremble, ghosts quiver

打得那狼蟲虎豹無處躲！All kinds of evil spirits run for their lives

剛擒住了幾個妖，Captured a few goblins

又降住了幾個魔。Subdued a few demons

魑魅魍魎怎麼就這麼多！Why there are so many monsters

（白：先吃俺老孫一棒！）Mind my cudgel

殺你個魂也丟來魄也落。You monsters are scared out of your wits

神也發抖，鬼也哆嗦，Deities tremble, ghosts quiver

打得那狼蟲虎豹無處躲！All kinds of evil spirits run for their lives

The Year of Monkey 2016 猴年快樂! + Kung Fu Panda 3

The year of monkey is almost here (Feb. 8). I made a greeting video which includes animated and real monkeys and Sun Wukong. It is uploaded in Vimeo because it is blocked in Youtube. The music in the video was composed and played by a friend.
剛好有一位校友做了這個音樂，我就用來做猴年祝賀視頻。此曲曾被美國的一家品酒網站 "引用"。Youtube仍然封鎖, 請在Vimeo看:

Why Cat is not in the zodiac
An ancient story tells that Cat and Rat were the worst swimmers in animal kingdom. They had to cross a river to reach the other shore. The years on the calendar would be named for each animal in the order they arrived. Cat and Rat decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of Ox. Midway across the river, Rat pushed Cat into the water. Then as Ox neared the other side, Rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first. So he claimed first place in the competition and the zodiac. Ox was named the 2nd animal in the zodiac. From that day on, Cat hates Rat and chases it all the time.

Kung Fu Panda 3 movie was released on Jan. 29. When Po's long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!
3D動畫片《功夫熊貓3》的評論和票房都不錯，有機會帶你的孩子或者孫去影院看吧! 不好意思，是我兒子在夢工廠 (DreamWorks) 做的。

美麗湖 Lake Merritt before Chinese New Year 2016

In winter time,many birds migrate to Lake Merritt. They are mostly in east side of the lake. I only went to west and south sides today.
美麗湖附近, 最近大興土木，想買房快點來買。從美麗湖入海口處, 斥資15億美元商業和3100住宅計劃, 已經動工了。

A construction site for new housing development is viewed from 3 directions. The connection of the lake to the bay is under construction now. At the outlet at the bay, there is a big $1.5 billion development. Please see 美麗湖將成為美麗海.

Lake Merritt is paradise for wild birds. Please see 潮落潮起美麗湖. Below is a group of crazy flying birds. The music in the video was composed and played by a friend.


It only takes 10 minutes to walk to Chinatown to have some good food. Below is actually a high-end restaurant.
從美麗湖步行10分鐘到中國城, 可以吃些又便宜又好吃的食物。