One Week to GO!

Shanghai, I'm back!!

It's only two-month short stay but I'm still very excited. At the thought of delicate food, amazing shopping season, warmer weather and of course my lovely family and friends, I just can't wait. The schedule in the first months is fully arranged. This checklist will remind me of everything I need to do to make these two months the most efficient.

Already Did:
*called my stylist to arrange my terrible hair, which hasn't been cut for a long long time;
*found trustful tailor to make my favorite coat narrower;
*asked my mother to buy me the swimming card so I can go swimming with her every morning;
*appointments with potential clients, team members and website designer.
*found printing company

Need to be arranged later:
*buy a pre-paid card
*go to see my traditional Chinese medicine therapist the 2nd day I arrive to check my back pain;
*book tickets to Changchun and Beijing.
*settle down the accommodation and study courses in Beijing
*Anime model search
*buy lots of books
*repair my laptop -.-
*buy ipod earphone
*Go to the suburb and have a picnic~~ or have something nice in a restaurant....
*lots of meals with family and friends!!! :D

And tons of print photos from street photo booth!!! *^^*

A Rough Start

Because of the random inspiration I got from a creative choreography I am working with, I made my mind to start my own career when I go back to Shanghai. I will try to have a studio to do event design and planning. After the crazy brainstorming stage, more actual things need to be carried into execution from this month. First thing has to be settled down is the logo design. I guess it's better to leave it to professionals but I also want to see how much I can do. This strong motivation drove me to install the Photoshop Software and started to learn with my great working Enthusiasm. Very soon I realized that it was really impossible to design my desirable logo with my crappy PS skill. I know it's just easy to stop and find a graphic designer to do that. But I'm just not resigned to defeat. After a splendid sleep, I figured out something and here are my latest sample work!!!

logo and slogan:

Basically the inspiration comes from ancient Chinese calligraphy. I really love the feeling which the ink and washing drawing bring. In Chinese, the "round" or "circle" means something propitious. That's why most of Chinese family use round table instead of square one. It's a symbol of reunion. I decide to make the logo looks like a round seal, which quite match the business of studio -- design and plan tailor-made wedding/cocktail reception/Anniversary banquet,etc.

The process of naming is quite painful. I feel very relieved when it's settled down. The Chinese character "锦" originally means luxuriant brocade, as an adjective, it also means beautiful and splendid. "思" means think, consider, used as noun, it means concept and inspiration as well. These two characters are beautiful together, both in writing and pronunciation. They look amazingly gorgeous in Chinese cursive script calligraphy. I only hope it won't sound weird in some of Chinese accents.

The letter paper


The name of the fishes on the logo is red fancy carp. In China, it's a great mascot in Chinese ancient art of placement--Fengshui. (Chinese geomantic omen). Given the name of "锦鲤", fancy carp is a symbol of fortune and luck. When I decide to add some decoration on the logo, it just came to my mind so naturally. I followed the feeling and actually it looks really nice.

OK for now. What's the opinion you can give then? :)

Kitchen Confidential

I was a very terrible cook. The worst thing is everyone knows that except me. When I started my study life in Amsterdam, I made sandwich every morning for breakfast and different kinds of pasta for lunch and dinner. I was so proud of myself. However, most of my Chinese friends here thought I was pathetic. Because they think Chinese people should be able to cook fantastic dishes, which are served with rice. I didn't really care about that. Until one day, when I noticed a slight frown on one of my friends' face when he had my "well-cooked" creamy broccoli, I made my mind to be a good cook.

I collected ordinary recipes online and went to some cooking forums to dig some secret homemade recipe. I combined some ingredients to create my own cuisine. As usual, I take pictures of these dishes to show my parents and friends the progress I've made.

Starter--Salad with avocado and shrimp ..Yummy~


Temaki Sushi


Sichuan Spicy Fish


Homemade Korean Kimchi (pickled vegetables)


See, I'm kind of pro at cooking. And I actually teach others how to cook and some cooking tips now. I wanna show my parents this impressive change this time when I'm back to Shanghai. Isn't that exciting ? :D