Music

One of the Most Famous Composer in the World  

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in January 27th 1756 in Salzburg. He soon found his ability of the music and started to learn cembalo at age of 3 and composed the first music when he was 5 years old. His father, who was also a musician, took him to perform in front of nobles. In September 1762, Mozart and his older sister had a chance to perform for Maria Theresia, the queen of Austria and the mother of Marie Antoinette. After successful performance, he slipped on a polished floor and burst into tears. He was caught and comforted by seven years old Marie Antoinette. Mozart than stated "You are nice. I will marry you someday" to the future queen of France.  

I have been playing the piano for almost fourteen years, and when I was little I did not like to play Mozart's music because I though his music was too simple.  The music had a particular pattern called "Sonata" and I personally did not like it in Mozart's pieces. I also had not listened to his music very carefully. As I got older my piano teacher wanted me to learn piano more professionally to not only play the piece how I want to play, but also I had to actually learn the pieces. I also had to learn the intention of he composer. My teacher and parents basically forced me to learn Mozart. However, once I listened to his music very carefully, I actually liked it. I love to think about the personal color of the composers, and For me Mozart's music is pink. Other famous composers color for me is dark blue for Beethoven and yellow for Chopin. I played one of Mozart's pieces when I was in elementary school, and I still play it even thought there is no one to force me to play Mozart's music. 

Music-Hip-Hop

Hip Hop

       Hip hop music was from the American black people community in 1970s. It doesn’t have a long history but it has become a significant genre of current music. The Hip-Hop culture consists music, dancing, rapping, DJ, fashions and tattoos. This culture is a kind of street culture and it is a life attitude toward freedom. Usually, there is no limitation toward any sensitive social issues in Hip-Hop. For instance, artists always mention drugs and racial problems in Hip-Hop.

       Nowadays, Hip-Hop music is still a very popular genre of music all over the world because of its special attraction which are tones and fashion. There are hundred thousand of fans in US because of the extraordinary black culture here. American Hip-Hop has been considered as a style which is cool and popular. As a result, this culture has spread to many other countries. Europeans make electrical music, which is similar to Hip-Hop but doesn’t have that many lyrics because it is replaced by strong rhythm and instruments. However, the tones are similar. Also, K-Pop is considered as the Asian Version Hip-Hop because the only difference will be the language. K-pop has become one of the most popular music genre in the world because its similarity to Hip-Hop and also the perfect look of artists. They wear the fanciest clothes in their shows.

      For me, Hip-Hop culture attract me because its cool characteristic and the attitude of freedom it represents. The attitude fits me very well because I love freedom and have no fear. Also, my dressing style is significantly affected by Hip-Hop culture because I watched lots of videos and I imitated those stars’ fashion style.

       Furthermore, my favorite song is EVERYDAY by ASAP ROCKY because of its lyrics and the rhythm it has. This song shows me lots of peoples live and the struggles they are facing. They drink and smoke, however, their love toward people makes them alive and help them to maintain their lives. The changes of tones in this song attracts me the most. It makes me think about my life, past and future.

Restaurant: Ding Tai Fung

Restaurant: Ding Tai Fung

Ding Tai Fung is a well-known restaurant not only in the U.S. but also in many places of the world including Korea, China, and Taiwan. Its top-quality dumplings and noodles soup has attracted many fans like me who are willing to wait for hours just to dine there. Today, for the sake of the time, I woke up early and got to the restaurant in Bellevue downtown before it even opened. When I got there, I saw in the window glass that there were already chiefs squeezing the dumpling wrappers and putting different stuffings inside the wrappers. They looked focused and were not distracted by me or other customers who were busily observing what they were doing. I stood there idly, watching the dumplings cheifs and waiting for the restaurant to open.

11 o’clock. The restaurant finally opened. I, as well as other people, formed a line that went all the way outside of the restaurant, waiting to be seated. When it was our turn, the server led us to our table, which was at the far end of the restaurant where we could see the city’s view. The server’s professional attitude, the overall atmosphere, and the neat view outside of the windows created a wonderful scene for dining. We ordered Taiwanese beef noodle hot soup, shrimp and pork dumplings, Taiwanese cabbage, pork fried rice, and two appetizers including sweet and sour short ribs and cucumbers.

The one on the left is the cucumber salad and the one on the right is the sweet and sour short ribs. These two are a perfect match with other as  appetizers, because the slight spiciness of the cucumber salad goes along with the sweetness of the short ribs very well and makes us eat more.

The next food that we got was steaming shrimp and port dumpling called shu mai. Shu mai is one of my favorite dumplings and you will be able to taste more of shrimp flavor than the pork. Once you tear the dumpling open, you will see the juice of the pork and you can choose to have the juice first or with the dumpling. I like to drink the juice first and then dip the dumpling to the soy sauce and eat the whole piece.

We also ordered shrimp and port wontons with spicy sauce. This dish comes with the wontons on top of spicy sauce and you have to mix them together on the table. I didn’t really like them first, not only because I don’t really like eating spicy food, but also because the unfamiliar taste of spicy sauce made me reluctant to eat. However, this spicy sauce is very addictive and makes me want to have more and more.

The Taiwanese cabbage is fried with ginger and garlic. Every piece of the cabbage, despite of being fried, remains crunchy and does not taste overcooked. The dish, like salad in the Western culture, was not as flavorful as other dishes. But, It is an essential part of the meal to prevent us from getting weary of the greasiness of other food.

The Taiwanese beef noodle hot soup is a variance of regular Taiwanese beef noodle. It has more taste than other noodle soup because of the spices. Some people say that the soup tastes like ancient Asian medicine, but I think it is a complex and blended taste of beef, tomato, and other unknown spices. When I took a sip of the soup, I felt my body warm up, and my stomach felt settled and eventually prepared to eat the noodles. The noodles are especially thin and easy to chew, which does not disturb the tranquility. However, the beef slices are not chopped small enough and therefore make it difficult to chew.

Lastly, the shredded pork fried rice is a dish that I always get when I go to Din Tai Fung. Even though I chose to have white rice, you can choose between the white and brown when you order. I like to order fried rice in Din Tai Fung, because it is the most basic food that would fit to everyone’s taste. The fried rice contains eggs, your pick of meat and rice, and green onions. There are also other types of fried rices such as, shrimp fried rice, chicken fried rice, vegetarian fried rice, and pork chop fried rice.

In the end, we couldn’t finish all the food and decided to take it home. Din Tai Fung has a great service with clean and fresh environment. Even though this place is not cheap as other restaurants, I think it is worth trying and spend great time with your family and friends.

Just for a reminder, Din Tai Fung generally has a lot of people waiting, therefore, if you have time to go earlier and put your name on the list, it will save your time!

Location: Bellevue Collection, 700 Bellevue Way NE #280, Bellevue, WA 98004

                                             Games That Affected the World

When talk about electronic equipment, people generally start thinking about social media or coding or communicating or word processing long essays. However, most people forget the category that a huge amount of users are in love with: Games. Here Boyan will introduce you to a list of different types of games that have taken over the world. Let us learn about which game is famous and try it if you want! 

No.1 MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) GAMES

Representatives: League of Legends, DOTA, Hero of Storms.

Among all different types of games, MOBA games are well known by the way the game work and the overall competitions around the world. According to the BBC, the final of League of Legend S5 final achieved half a billion people watching one single game. Since there are so many players for the MOBA games and huge prize for the best players, it should definitely be the top of the list.  

No. 2 FPS (First Person Shooter) Games

Representatives: Over Watch, Cross Fire, CS-GO

After the MOBA games, comes the FPS games which contains millions of player’s memories. How many of you played CS with your friends when you were young? Since time had passed, old style gun shooting games all changed into high tech-weapons. But the love of First Person Shooter Game will never be erased by time.    

  

No. 3 Card Games

Representatives: Hearth Stone, Poker or Board Game, Yu-Gi-Oh!

Did I make your eyes tired after trying all those different MOBA and FPS games? It is time to take a rest and play some board games that might only work online! With the help of different equipment, card games had also upgraded them with technologies. Some of the games might never become real board game since they have so many different calculating systems. Also old style poker or board games are able online if you cannot find enough players to use with real card. It is always nice to drink a cup of coffee while playing a round of chess or other card games.

  

           It is believed by Scientist that playing most games relaxes people’s brain. In China, there is a quote that can be translated into: “Hard-working and relaxation must be balanced.” People should both work and relax in order to maintain in good forms. I hope that this Blog can help you with finding something to do!

The Origin of Computer Games

Computer games are a symbol of the development of computers.

The reason that I feel that way is because computer games are always the first benefiters from the development of the computers. Many new technologies were and will be used on the Computer games to make them more entertaining.

Back in the 1970s, gamers can only paid games by typing code into their computer. There was still no developer like Blizzard, Ubisoft, 2K, etc. Hobbyists from different places came together and made their own games. For sure, their graphics, system, and methods are not as sophistic computer games nowadays.

             (On the left, this is how the games in 1970s look like. Simple and easy)

            Nintendo and others game consoles soon brings the pc games to a peak of that time (16-bit era). Their resolution is 640 * 400 which surpassed all their former computers. This also allowed people to make some better game designed than 1970s.

            In 1990s, Hovertank 3D was first published by id software and this was the very game that influenced whole genre. This game is a landmark in the

3^rd person shooter games. Comparing to this game,

Many games that was designed at the same era was not

as fast as this one does. Also, the fight mechanism is

better than other games.

            However, the games came to a stop at the end of

1990s due to the limitation of DOS system. For different

Games, one may need to modify the top CPU usage for

That specific game alongside with other configuration.

And this is when Windows came into people’s sight.

            Windows systems give designers a lot more choices than DOS time. The Physics Machine System, 3D acceleration graphics, and advances memory cards allow people to have some real coooooooooooooooool games such as Call of Duty, Halo, WOW, Destiny etc.

             Take two of them as examples: WOW, the short name for World of              

Warcraft creates a legend of MMORPG history. It was well known for Giant map and openness as a MMO Game. Halo, in another hand, brings people another viewpoint about games. It shadowcased a lot of real world politics withing the game.                                                

                                                                                                                     

The Legion of Boom: Seahawks

            NFL, as known as The National Football League, is a professional American football league formed in 1920. It is divided into two conference, NFC and AFC, consisting of 32 teams. It is one of the four major professional sports league in the North America, and also the highest professional level of American football in the world. NFL has 17 weeks of regular season; each team will have to play 16 games. The conclusion of the regular season will advance six teams from each conference to playoff, which is also call the Super Bowl. In game, two teams can send 11 people to the field. Every team  has a defense team and offense team.

            The Seattle Seahawks is one of the teams in NFL as a member of the league’s NFC West division based in Seattle. They joined the NFL in 1976, and have nine division titles, three conference championships, and one Super Bowl championship. Their current head coach is Pete Carroll, and there are about sixty people in the team. Some of the star players in Seahawks are Doug Baldwin, Earl Thomas, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, and Russell Wilson. The logo of the team is a head of a sea hawk in the color of college navy, action green and wolf grey. The home field of Seahawks is in Century Link Field.

            Almost all Seattle people are crazy about Seahawks. You could often hear people yelling “Seahawks” and cheering for them with jerseys on the road. Obviously, Super Ball is a big event in Seattle, if Seahawks win the play off. Two years ago, I went to a domestic friend’s home to support Seahawks for the championship game of Super Bowl. Almost every single person in Seattle was watching the game either in the field or live on TV. Everyone got crazy when they won the championship, and that is the first time I have chance to get a sense of the relationship between local sports team and people.

Birthstones

                                                               Birthstones

A birthstone is a gemstone that represents the month of a person's birthday. The birthstone for each month kept changing through out history and they are also diverse in different cultures, such as American, British and even Hindu. The birthstones I am going to introduce are from the U.S culture in contemporary time.

January: Garnet
A garnet is a hard and shiny stone. It is found in many colors including red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, and colorless, with reddish shades most common.

February: Amethyst
Amethyst occurs in colors from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. It may also exhibit one or both secondary colors, red and blue. The color is often laid out in stripes parallel to the final faces of the crystal.

March: Aquamarine
An aquamarine is a blue variety of Beryl, appearing the color of pale blue. Its color fades to white when exposed to sunlight or is subjected to heat treatment, though the color returns with irradiation.

April: Diamond
A diamond is a transparent crystal. The most notable physical characteristics are its extreme hardness and thermal conductivity.

May: Emerald
Emerald is also a variety of Beryl, having the color of green. Their toughness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor.

June: Pearl
The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes occur. They can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster.

July: Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone. The brightest and most valuable "red" called blood-red or "pigeon blood."

August: Peridot
Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color, an olive-green. The color of individual peridot gems can vary from yellow to olive to brownish-green and the most valued color is a dark olive-green.

September: Sapphire
Whilst typically associated with the color blue, natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors. Sapphire also has a remarkable hardness.

October: Opal
Opal is the national gemstone of Australia. The internal structure of precious opal makes it diffract light, making the color varies in a wild range. Of these hues, the black opals are the most rare.

November: Topaz
Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue brown.

December: Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue.

References:

 Kunz, George F. (1913). The curious lore of precious stones. Lippincott. pp. 275–306.

 Grande, Lance; Augustyn, Allison (2009). Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World. University of Chicago Press. p. 335. 

 Knuth, Bruce G. (2007). Gems in Myth, Legend and Lore (Revised edition). Parachute: Jewelers Press. p. 294.