A Perfect Weekend

We were warned that there will have a scorching hot weather in the Bay Area today. That doesn’t happen. It turns out the whole weekend has been pleasant – warm enough for me to wear a tank top and cool enough to enjoy the outdoor activities. Just right. The annual Mid-Autumn Festival Street Fair was held in Chinatown in this perfect weather. Although it’s mostly a commercial event with vendors spreading around the closed streets, the festival continues to bring the community together and to celebrate the Chinese heritage. Yesterday, after my gym routine, I went to Chinatown to check out the festival. There were tons of people. I was amused to see a guy singing Karaoke on stage passionately as if the huge crowd around him had disappeared. On another stage, a Chinese guy was wearing a cowboy hat and singing country music. I have to admit that street fairs like this do encourage people to buy more stuff they might otherwise not purchase. I ran into Eric with his parents and they bought three big boxes of raman. Why? I bought two dinner plates myself, even though I have enough plates in my cabinet to serve an army. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf That must be the festival spirit, I guess. Shanghai now even has a Shopping Festival. Shopping needs a festival? After picking up a few DVDs from the library, I came home and opened my refrigerator to see what I should cook for dinner. I saw that big bag of organic baby green. It was given to me by a farm boy at the farmer’s market downstairs from my office. I think the boys from Happy Boy Farm didn’t want to take the leftovers back to the farm. They picked me as the lucky one to have a bag. I will eat plenty baby greens the next few days. I also saw some spareribs, so I made a salt and pepper spareribs. I also cooked some tempura with eggplant and broccoli for the first time. It wasn’t as successful as I would have hoped, probably because I normally don’t deep fry food. Nevertheless, it was a delicious dinner to finish the day, and I really loved the color, shape, taste, and texture of the eggplant. Well, that meal wasn’t the end of the day. After dinner, I headed to Ballpark for San Francisco Opera’s Il Trovatore. A little bit dramatic, but a great opera. How can a day be more lovelier? I said it before, and I am saying it again: I love San Francisco. Last Sunday I didn’t go hiking in Marin Headlands due to Wayne’s visit. There is no way I am going to miss it again this week. This morning, I headed to the beach. I got wet a few times by sudden high waves, because I was collecting colorful rocks on the beach. The waves toy with me by giving me a huge splash once a while. It was very playful, even at one point, my shoes are completely wet. No worries, they dried out a moment later under the warm sun and gentle ocean breeze. And, I collected a sink full of rocks! Now I can have my zen moments without have to buy them in a store. Just get them directly from the beach! What’s next? Cooking dinner of course! I am hungry! I made salmon, a baby green salad, stir-fried broccoli, and brown rice. What a perfect weekend! I am sure I can repeat it again next week. I am hearing a heat warning on Tuesday, whatever… It’s time to finish another film review before next week’s screenings. Jennifer’s Body Wouldn’t it be great to see Juno (pregnant or not) making smart alec remarks while running for life from a vampire? That is perhaps everyone’s expectation from Academy Award winner Diablo Cody‘s new script for a horror flick "Jennifer’s Body" (USA 2009 | 102 min.). However, as if a ghost has put a curse on her Oscar win, the teenagers in this film can hardly say anything even remotely as funny as those high schoolers in "Juno." Director Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight") crafts a few girly fights even a girly kiss in the movie. However, these acts only show how desperately the film seeks for attention. The film still looks lifeless as if a vampire sucks out of its flesh and blood, and definitely all of its funny bones. Needy (Amanda Seyfried) is a nerdy teenager. Although she might not be a popular one at school, she not only gets herself a mellow boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons), she also has the most popular girl Jennifer (Megan Fox) as her "best friend forever." After a night out in a local pub goes bad, Needy realizes that Jennifer is "actually evil, not high school evil." Needy goes to the the shabbiest and direst places to have a cat fight with Jennifer. There will be blood. Despite a few sickening scenes, the film lacks the excitement and extremity other fun gore flicks have. That makes this horror film less campy nor scary. The film’s title might suggest that Jennifer’s body is a main attraction. However, the most revealing part is just Jennifer’s plumber’s crack. Finally, when the film is only mildly amusing, there is really not much left to see in "Jennifer’s Body," even when Jennifer is not hungry. "Jennifer’s Body" opens on Friday, September 18, at Bay Area theaters.