Splashes: Kung Fu Panda 3 and Fun with Pictionary

About "Splashes":  Every now and then, I have random discoveries and learnings but they are too short for a blogpost or too unrelated to put together, thus, I never get around writing about them.   "Splashes" are a compilation of my random discoveries and learnings.  :)

1.  Kung Fu Panda 3.  Before there was Kung Fu Panda, the most adorable cartoon character for me was Shrek.  But with Kung Fu Panda, Po has overtaken Shrek on my list. He's equally adorable, kind-hearted and funny.

I watched the latest installment, Kung Fu Panda 3, the other week and I think it's even funnier than the first 2 movies.   One of the most hilarious scenes for me was the meeting of Po and Li (Po's biological dad).

Below is the dialogue and it's a very dramatic scene:

Po: Who are you?
Li: I'm Li Shang. I'm looking for my son.
<Everybody gasps>
Po: You lost your son?
Li: Yes. Many years ago.
Po: I lost my father.
Li: I'm very sorry.
Po: Thank you. <pause>
Li: Well, good luck to you.
Po: You too. I hope you find your son.
Li: And I hope you find your father.
<They both walk off, everyone facepalms>

Wahahaha....

There are also a lot of memorable quotable quotes throughout the movie. Here are my favorites:

Shifu: If you only do what you can do, you will never be better than what you are.

Po: Your real strength comes from being your best you.

Mr. Ping (Po's adoptive father who is a goose as he talks to Po's biological father): Having you in his life doesn't mean less for me. It means more for him.

What a beautiful lesson for 2 parents fighting over a child's attention.  :)

Here's one that is so funny but you can also apply it in other areas of your life other than eating.

Po (upon realizing that his biological dad could eat more dumplings than him): I always felt I wasn’t eating up to my full potential.

Love it!  Wahaha....

Anyway, if you haven't watched any of the Kung Fu Panda movies, try watching one.  Great cardio workout.  Hahaha...

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2.  Fun with Pictionary.   My youngest nieces are already in their tweens and in a couple of years, they'll be teenagers already (which means they'll soon prefer spending time with friends or going online).  So in the rare times when they want to play board games (which I've introduced to them since they were kids), I give in even if I'm tired or sleepy.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, we played Pictionary and I don't know if it's a generation gap (or if I am just so bad at drawing) but sometimes, when I draw, they couldn't guess my drawings!  Like I was drawing a bottle of glue and their guesses were - castle, tower, princess.... Wahahaha...

But when they are the ones drawing, they could guess each other's drawings and I couldn't!

Here are some of their drawings.  Can you try guessing what they are?

Here were my guesses:
Upper left - toaster
Upper right - torch
Lower left - tree
Lower right - pizza

So I got one correct - the toaster drawing.  But do you know what the rest are?
Upper right - sword
Lower left - hands
Lower right - watermelon

So ok, I lost.  I wonder - is it generation gap or is there something wrong with my drawing skills and perceptive abilities?!  Wahaha...

Splashes: Mind over Medicine and The Martian

About "Splashes":  Every now and then, I have random discoveries and learnings but they are too short for a blogpost or too unrelated to put together, thus, I never get around writing about them.   "Splashes" are a compilation of my random discoveries and learnings.  :)

1.  Mind over Medicine.  A friend was diagnosed with a Stage 4 Lung Cancer in April.  He had a mass in his lungs measuring over 4cm in diameter.    He isn't a smoker nor is he exposed to second-hand smoke.  But to cut the story short, in July, a miracle happened.  The mass disappeared.   His CT Scan was all clear.   

He attributes his healing to several things - on top of his list is his faith in God.  The others - making right with others, daily meditation on God's words, eating healthy, freeing your mind from stress, laughter, and prayers from loved ones.  

Last week, we met up and he was bringing the book I gave him when he was sick.  "Mind over Medicine:  Scientific Proof that You can Heal Yourself" by Dr. Lissa Rankin.  He said that he lent the book to someone who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer too. 

He told me that the book helped him develop the right mindset as he was coping with  cancer. 

I haven't actually read the book yet but what made me buy it was after reading the book's description and browsing through some pages, the book shows scientific proof of how people, even those at terminal stages or expected to die, got healed.  Some case studies cited in the book even include instant healing like the cases of paralytics being able to suddenly walk in Lourdes. 

Whether you're a believer or not, it's hard to argue with scientific proof, so I thought the book would be a good read for someone undergoing some health issues. 

Since I haven't read the book yet, I can't share anything more but I found this article online which would give you a richer context of the book just in case you know someone who may benefit from reading the book - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2421772/Mind-Over-Medicine-Dr-Lissa-Rankins-book-shows-incredible-influence-mind-body.html

2.  The Martian.  I love this movie even if I don't really understand most of the scientific stuff.  Haha... But the reason I like it is it was just amazing how the protagonist, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), coped with his hopeless situation.  

He was left in Mars (and no one knows he is alive), he didn't have any way to communicate with NASA, he had limited food supply and the next batch of astronauts who will come to Mars is still in 3 years' time! Waaa....  

Source

To make it even worse, when the next mission lands in Mars in 3 years, it will be in a spot that is far away from Watney's station. It would take approximately 50 days to travel by rover but his rover's battery could only run for a few hours.  How hopeless can his situation get?!

If you were in Watney's position, what would you have done? Get angry that your team left you behind? Sulk? Just live until the food supplies last?

Not Watney.  After going through his emotions, he made a conscious decision that he wanted to live. He won't give up.  What did he do?  He systematically counted his food supply to determine how long it would last - approximately 1 year's worth.  Then, he started figuring out a way to grow food while in Mars so he can produce 2 more years' worth of food to keep himself alive until the next mission arrives in Mars.

But staying alive isn't enough if he can't get to the spot where the mission would land in 3 years so he also started figuring out a way on how to modify his rover so that he could cover more distance every day.  

Day in and day out, he methodically did what he needed to do.    And even when problems continued cropping up, Watney just kept on methodically solving them one step at a time - all alone in Mars.  Amazing life lessons we could apply right here on Earth! 

So the next time you have a problem, think and just do it like Watney. :)

Realizations from UP the movie

I’ve been meaning to write about the movie UP but I always forget.  I’m not even sure if it’s still showing by this time.

Anyway, if it still is, hope you can catch it.  For me, it’s one of the best cartoon movies.  Though Shrek has been my all-time favorite animated movie, UP tops my list as the most moving (but equally entertaining) cartoon movie.

Russel and Carl

The first 20 minutes of the movie is just Whoa.  As one of the reviews I read said - no dry eyes inside the cinema in the first 20 minutes.  It shows the life of Carl (the old man in the movie trailer) and his wife as kids, later on as young adults, dreaming of big things like traveling and exploring the world. 

The young Carl and his wife talking about their dreams

They grow up, get married and end up working in a theme park – Carl selling balloons and his wife selling popcorn if I remember it right (OMG, I can’t even recall anymore! Haha…).   

During their married life, they hold on to their dreams and save up for a travel fund, but every now and then, the funds get spent on unforeseen household expenses. 

Carl and his wife during their prime years

They never have kids, they grow old, the wife gets sick .... they never get the chance to travel. The wife passes away, leaving Carl alone. Sob…

Carl on his own

A lifetime in a span of 20 minutes with scenes that could be any one’s life. 

When I was talking to my friends about UP, there were varied reactions. My friends who are married with kids said that they have to start revisiting the dreams they’ve set aside since they got married. My friends who are married with no kids said that they have to have kids soon. For us single peeps, we realized that we’ve been able to tick off a lot from our bucket lists already except that we aren’t married yet! Haha… Talk about life’s trade-offs! 

Getting married is actually in my bucket list except that I don’t really go out. How can I and my “the one” possibly meet if I’m always home and he’s probably home too? Haha…

Hope you can still catch UP.  If not, make sure to watch it when the DVD is out.:)

The Hocruxes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Two weekends ago, I watched Harry Potter's Half-Blood Prince with friends.  Though I read all books, I barely remember the details anymore.  For Half-Blooad Prince, I did remember the cave scene, how Dumbledore was killed, and Harry and friends figuring out that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince (but shown in the movie as Snape revealing the secret).  

While I was browsing through my old blogsite in multiply looking for something, I came across my cheat sheet for the last book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - which I wrote so I won't forget details like what happened in the first 6 Harry Potter books (or any book for that matter!  Haha...).   Sharing with you the cheat sheet I wrote last August 15, 2007:

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Early reviews about the book were right – it didn’t disappoint. It’s one twist after another and another. But here’s a spoiler alert before you continue reading - please don’t read this if you haven’t read the book…unless you don’t intend to read it and you’re dying to know what happened.:)

Anyway, in the prophecy revealed in the Order of the Phoenix, either Harry Potter or Voldermort has to die in order for the other to live.

In book 7, Voldermort’s quest to kill Harry intensifies because when Harry turns 17, the protective charm placed upon Harry by her mom will end. So while Voldermort and the Death Eaters are busy tracking Harry, Harry, together with Ron and Hermione are pursuing the mission left to them by Dumbledore to destroy the Hocruxes (the entities where Voldermort stored a piece of his soul) in order to kill Voldermort.

In the previous books, two Hocruxes have already been destroyed – Tom Riddle’s diary and Marvolo’s ring (the ring that burned Dumbledore’s hand). There are still 5 remaining Hocruxes which they had to figure out by themselves. And these are Regulus Black’s locket (the one found in the cave), the Hufflepuff cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, Nagini (Voldermort’s snake) and guess what’s the last Hocrux (which Voldermort doesn’t even know!)? Harry Potter himself!!! Apparently, the night when Voldermort’s killing spell to Harry bounced back to him, a piece of his soul entered Harry (that’s why they share a connection). If Harry is a Hocrux, then you know what it means – he has to die for Voldermort to die! This makes the prophecy wrong then.

Anyway, upon discovering that Harry himself is a Hocrux, he voluntarily gave himself up for Voldermort to kill. So the Hocrux in Harry got destroyed but guess what? He survived the killing spell (again!). Because in one of the past books (I can’t remember which one), Voldermort took some of Harry’s blood and made it his own so in short, a part of Harry lives in Voldermort. After recovering consciousness from the spell, Harry pretended to be dead until he found an opportunity to battle with Voldermort. (So ok, the prophecy is right after all.)

In the final battle, Voldermort used the so-called Death Wand (one of the 3 deathly hallows which when all 3 are in your possession, will make you the master of death). There’s also a twist about the deathly hallows but I won’t fill you in anymore so there’s still something left to your imagination.:)

But it’s really an exciting read. And personally, I think there’s a big chance for JK Rowling to write another series. One of the deathly hallows was left in the Forbidden Forest (which I’m sure she did on purpose) and once someone stumbles upon it, it’s going to be a whole new saga.

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P.S. Here's a funny thing -  the twist that I was talking about in the 2nd to the last paragraph (sentence in bold and italics), I couldn't remember anymore!!!  Not an effective cheat sheet after all.  The lesson is - nothing should be left to the imagination of someone who's forgetful.  Haha...