tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40755202024-10-07T13:20:46.296+08:00Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.comBlogger566125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-8278148298365565902017-08-14T23:59:00.000+08:002017-10-01T18:50:38.330+08:00

The final stop of our Benelux trip was the Peace Palace, where we found that Andrew Carnegie donated 1.5 million to found the construction of the building. The Hague is the political center of Netherlands. Countries around the world also set up their embassies at the city. We went to Delft by tram in the morning. Nieuwe Church is where the Dutch royal families had their remains buried in the

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-64907459514887601772017-08-13T23:59:00.000+08:002017-10-01T18:29:38.112+08:00

UNESCO World Heritage Kinderdijk is the main attraction of Rotterdam. It's a half-hour ride on Waterbus. Unlike Zaandijk, Kinderdijk is less commercialized with views on windmills. There are also museums showing how these windmills worked. Back to Rotterdam, we visited Markthal, an indoor marketplace opened in 2014, with supermarkets, shops, restaurants and small eateries. Right next to

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-9304474065933740712017-08-11T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-18T22:04:56.008+08:00

St. Petersburg's Cave is definitely the highlight of the trip to Maastricht. Its underground tunnels are more than 200km long, extending all the way to Belgium. There was once two boys got lost inside and could not find their way out. Our tour guide is a local who roamed the tunnels as his childhood playground. That's why he is so familiar with the place.

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-42221735804554167922017-08-09T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-18T21:24:26.044+08:00

Luxembourg City is built on top of underground fortress. Hills and valleys making the city with spectacular 3D views. Casemates du Bock is an underground maze with circular stairs bringing you up and down. Chemin de la Corniche, also known as “the most beautiful balcony of Europe”, is where to get an excellent view on the UNESCO site.

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-18755252146973255132017-08-08T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-18T20:52:14.326+08:00

We visited two historical towns, Gent and Brugge, in a rainy day. Gent is a smaller one, but it also feels less commercialized. On the contrary, Brugge has busy and modern shopping streets, that do not fit in well with its historical atmosphere. But it does has superior view of canals; alas, the weather prevented us from enjoying a boat trip in the canals because the boats there do not seem to

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-81433781063185994862017-08-07T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-16T17:41:53.547+08:00

After three hours, we finally reached Brussels. It was already half-past twelve. We bought two rail passes, checked in to the hotel and rushed to Leuven. Alas, it had long passed 14:30, the final lunch time of student's restaurant. Instead, we had our lunch at Le Royale, a restaurant right in front of the Leuven train station. Afterwards, we started to explore this university city: the Library

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-73195496592631280672017-08-06T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-16T14:11:52.123+08:00

2017 marked the 100th anniversary of De Stijl movement. At Utrecht, Rietveld Schröder House, designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld, is one of the major representations of the artistic movement. Even though Rieveld himself did not start the movement, he was deeply inspired and created many significant works. Dick Bruna, creator of the famous character, Miffy, was also influenced by the

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-44575835973592927142017-08-05T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-15T22:56:50.445+08:00

Annual Pride Canal Parade is held on the first Saturday in August, which happened to fit into our itinerary perfectly. We spotted several boats heading to the starting point and preparing for the parade, when we took free ferry to EYE Film Museum. Once again, we found our lunch at a local Lindengrachtmarkt, before heading to Prinsengracht, where the boats were parading. The parade was well

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-1321096660709584982017-08-04T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-15T19:55:43.693+08:00

The Alkmaar Cheese Market, opened on selected Fridays during summer, has become one of the major tourist attractions. As time goes by, the cheese laid out on the market square is gradually carried out by cheese bearers to weighing place next to the square. We passed by a large truck that transported the cheese here to be the main character of the show. Museumkaart allowed us to enter the

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-8493115228281176882017-08-02T23:59:00.000+08:002017-09-15T19:53:41.741+08:00

After dodging two typhoons, we flew to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), entertained by KLM's onboard entertainment system, making the 13-hour trip much more bearable. We figured out how to use the OV-chipcard by taking train and subway to an Airbnb location, where we stayed for the following six nights. The Albert Cuyp Market, our first stop after settled down our luggage, was also the

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-89684796511213324232014-09-27T23:59:00.000+08:002014-10-19T11:28:03.855+08:00

My senior high school classmates gathered this evening at the apartment of Chun-Ting's parents. We sat in the living room silently listening to the conversation between our teacher and Chun-Ting's father. Chun-Ting's father picked up some documents from the desk and started to explain to our teacher that this is his son's last publication: A Unique Set of Centrosome Proteins

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-7105034852196736252013-05-04T14:21:00.000+08:002013-05-04T14:21:27.596+08:00

If there is only one person in the world who would believe what I said, I want it to be you. - Evania

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-4247071219549751652012-11-14T23:59:00.000+08:002012-12-20T09:04:37.247+08:00

Kuma (2012) Kuma in Turkish literally means "second wife". Although it is not a common phenomenon, taking a second wife is how the film unfolds -- in disguise: what appears to be a son's wedding later turns into a father's wedding. Fatma, the first wife who was diagnosed of cancer is the master mind behind this fake wedding. She needs a "successor" to look after her family in case she was

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-71413554848602036812012-11-11T23:59:00.000+08:002012-12-04T09:12:31.788+08:00

Cold War Highly touted as Hong Kong's best cop film in ten years, Cold War by first-time directors Lok Man Leung and Kim-ching Luk is an action-packed film with a fresh perspective from high-ranking officers in Hong Kong's police force. Cold War in the film is the code name for a rescue operation of a missing police van along with five police officers. One of them is the son of the Deputy

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-79851176133824575752012-11-10T23:59:00.000+08:002012-11-22T11:51:52.287+08:00

Pieta by Ki-duk Kim Winner of Golden Lion for Best Film in the 69th Venice International Film Festival, Pieta by Ki-duk Kim is also the first Korean film to win the top prize at one of the three major international film festivals. The film was announced as a special screening at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (therefore was not included in the official programme booklet). It sold out so

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-84080397821892728612012-11-09T23:59:00.000+08:002012-11-12T15:05:03.855+08:00

The Suicide Shop We were attracted immediately to the synopsis of the film when we surveyed the programme to determine which ones we would like to see in this year's Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. The Suicide Shop by Patrice Leconte looked like a promising black comedy, but we did not anticipate that it is also a musical with many many songs in French. Normally, I would not

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-25829008992573199492012-10-27T23:59:00.000+08:002012-10-29T14:52:06.938+08:00

Our selection from 2012 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival: The Suicide Shop Pieta Cold War Kuma Love is all you need Barfi! The Parade Gattu

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-90837492103948618852012-10-21T23:59:00.000+08:002012-11-09T16:13:08.414+08:00

Starting from August 26th and up until October 21st, Evania and I worked with several interior designers on defining what our future home should look like. The department that we live now is more than 30 years old without any major renovation in between. After living here for more than three years, we have started a wish list for a better home. For example, we want to have an additional bathroom

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-76923183798149427532012-07-15T23:59:00.000+08:002012-10-12T12:01:37.781+08:00

Helter Skelter by Mika Ninagawa Photographer turned film director, Mika Ninagawa, tonight attended Taiwan's premier of her second feature film, Helter Skelter, which just made its debut in Japan one day earlier. The director brought a great news with her: its first-day box office had beat Hollywood heavyweight, The Amazing Spider-Man. Helter Skelter is based on a manga with the same name

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-8420889805291112042012-07-09T23:59:00.000+08:002012-08-18T00:47:16.660+08:00

Play by Ruben Östlund Based on actual crime cases happened at Gothenburg, Swedish director Ruben Östlund explores the interactions between a gang of five black teenage boys and three well-to-do teenagers, two white and one Asian at his latest feature film, Play. This group of black boys, aged 12 to 14, robbed other children on about 40 occasions between 2006 and 2008. They

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-52688704941956494012012-07-08T23:59:00.000+08:002012-08-15T12:09:18.111+08:00

Monsieur Lazhar (2011) Nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, Monsieur Lazhar is not an ordinary story in school classroom. Bashir Lazhar, whose name means "bearer of good news" and "lucky", is hired to replace a beloved teacher who committed suicide in classroom. Mr. Lazhar's challenge is not only from teaching the traumatized students, but also

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-91869156908245465662012-07-07T23:59:00.000+08:002012-08-02T19:00:09.850+08:00

Pure (2009) The second film in my selection of 2012 Taipei Film Festival is a powerful one. Pure by Lisa Langseth, the director's debut film, is about the struggle of a young lady, Katarina, who is infatuated by classical music, and decides to abandon her old self in a pursuit of a new one. As encouraged by a conductor who quoted Kierkegaard "Courage is life's only measure",

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-13963190395783162882012-07-04T23:59:00.000+08:002012-08-18T01:51:57.171+08:00

Glück von Doris Dörrie This is my third film directed by Doris Dörrie, after Naked (2002) and Cherry Blossoms - Hanami (2008). Based on one of the 11 short stories from Crime: Stories by Ferdinand von Schirach, the film is about an illegal immigrant Irina and a homeless punk Kalle. Through them, the director shows us love in its simplest form. Yet when their life is about to be shattered by a

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-66112783486919869192012-06-03T23:59:00.000+08:002012-08-02T17:24:29.051+08:00

Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn't it also great when friends visit from distant places? If one remains not annoyed when he is not understood by people around him, isn't he a sage? Chapter 1, The Analects It was truly a great pleasure to be the tour guide for Tadashi, a Japanese classmate at graduate school. We had not met since graduation and he did not

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075520.post-28770355804684864762012-06-02T02:00:00.000+08:002012-06-08T15:06:28.262+08:00

Evania and I have selected the following films in 2012 Taipei Film Festival. Making reservations on these films was an effort including more than one hour's waiting at a local Kingstone store. It was worth the wait though because we successfully booked Helter Skelter, one of the three earliest sold-out films at this year's festival. Bliss by Doris Dörrie Pure by Lisa Langseth Monsieur Lazhar by

Allen Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742374251488336768noreply@blogger.com0