Travel around the World with MapCrunch

👉Note: Some of you have responded that there are some problems with my images in the last article, but when I open it on Chrome, the pictures are displayed successfully. Thus, I suggest that you can make Chrome your default browser to have a higher reading quality. 

Are you tired of preparing for the linguistic midterm exam? Do you want to travel abroad but have no budget? Click here and have fun.

MapCrunch is a fantastic website connecting to Google Street View, and you can click the green "Go!" button to enjoy the random street view in different countries. But it seems kind of boring to simply have the sights of these street view. Therefore, I'm going to show you how to play this game.

🚩Preface: Imagine that some day you wake up, you notice that you are in a unfamiliar place. You are confused, startled and scared. Where am I? How to go back to my house?

🚩Goal of game: Find an airport to fly back to Taiwan.

🚩Operation: Click the "Option" button above and click the " Map" button on the top of the list, and then you will see where you are on the map. But this way, it will become less interesting. So, if you want to challenge yourself and have some surprise, you can check the "stealth" and the location will be hided. The rest of the controls in MapCrunch are all the same as GoogleMap. 

After the description of the game, let's click the Go! button and explore the world!

A temple in Korea

The moment when you wake up on the boat

A very white place

I have to say this game is really difficult, though. Even though you start in an urban place, finding an airport is still a demanding task. However, as I see it, the main point of MapCrunch is to enjoy the local scenery, and it's always good to find out what the local residents are doing in their daily life. If you are weary of your regular life, how about take a glimpse of the somewhere on the earth?   

This Manga Is Amazing! : 2017

The manga topped the male readers list this year.

"This Manga Is Amazing!",which is a book list released every year, will announce its top manga series for male readers and female readers, and both of which have a ranking from 1 to 20. The list is usually made by a group of people who survey the preference of manga critics, the clerks from book shop, the editors of manga, and the general manga readers. Though the manga on the list might not have a good publicity just like Naruto or One Piece, most of them have a brilliant story and are different from the majority of Japanese manga. And this time, I want to share some marvelous works in 2017.

Fire Punch (炎拳)

The main feature of Fire Punch is that the author arranges the storyboard(分鏡) in a moviesque manner. Because of this special arrangement, the story will progress smoothly as if you were watching a movie. There are some examples below:




Besides its unique storyboard, the story is also refreshing and unpredictable. Compared with other Japanese manga, Fire Punch has a really hardcore story. It's common to see dead body without arms or corpses without head. In my opinion, what makes Fire Punch so distinctive is that the author is completely a movie geek, and he uses lots of elements referring to movies. If you are a moviegoer or you want something special, try Fire Punch~!

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
(我可以被擁抱嗎？因為太過寂寞而叫了蕾絲邊應召)


The story is totally based on the author's experience. The author shares about how she suffered from her mental illness and the stress from her parent, and how she confronted with these problems afterwards. The description of her anorexia, bulimia and depression is so real that you won't think that she's lying. Her difficulty in communicating with people is also relatable because nowadays there are more and more people have the same problem like her.
And since her work somehow arouses empathy from people who have the same pain, this manga goes viral rapidly not only in Japan but also in Taiwan. It reflects on the social issue currently as well.
As I see it, My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is really a touching manga, and it speaks out some people's deep-down feeling.

There are other excellent manga on the list, e.g. Watashi no Shonen and Dungeon Meshi, and if you have your own book list, I'm all ears to hear about it😁😁

Come Have Some Turtle Soup

I'm not talking about a ethnic food or some delicious soup here; I'm talking about a logical reasoning game called turtle soup. But what is turtle soup? Turtle soup, the situation puzzles, is referred to as lateral thinking game. Turtle soup is usually played in a group of people, with one person hosting the puzzle and the others asking yes or no question. The host can only answer yes, no, or not important. The game ends when one of the players narrates the initial scenario which the host has in mind. 

Since the puzzles are inexact, and some of which have more than one possible fitting answers, the players have to narrow the possibility of the answers by asking precise questions. In addition to asking critical questions, the players' imagination is also important because the answers sometimes are beyond belief. I think simply explain the rule of turtle soup is not enough, so I will show some of puzzles below.

📍Triplets

Q: There are triplets in a family. The eldest brother is dead. The youngest brother is very sad. But afterwards the youngest brother is satisfied and glad.

And the question-and-answer segment might go something like this:
1. Question: Is the second eldest brother dead, too? 
    Answer: Yes.
2. Question: Is the eldest brother killed by the second eldest brother?
    Answer: No.
3. Question: Is there some bad experience between the second eldest and the youngest?
    Answer: No.
4. Question: Is the second eldest brother killed by the someone? 
    Answer: Yes.

Eventually the questions lead up the conclusion that after the oldest brother's death, the youngest one is too sad that he kills his second brother and cuts his corpse in half; both of which is stuck to a mirror, so that there seems to be 3 triplets again, which makes the youngest brother satisfied. 

I think this one is very frightening and impressive. So, after you understand more about turtle soup by the example above, maybe you wanna solve more puzzles with your friends. See more puzzles below~

📍2 Dwarfs in a Circus

Q: There are 2 dwarfs in a circus, and the shorter one is a blind. Now because of some financial problems, one of the dwarfs should leave the circus, and the boss decides to fire the higher one. After the decision is made, the shorter dwarf kills himself in his own house, with lots of sawdust around him. Why?


(Please reverse out the answer)

A: After the higher dwarf hearing of the decision, he go to the shorter dwarf's house and saws all of his furniture into a shorter size. Next day, when the shorter dwarf wakes up, he assumes that he grows taller by finding out that all the furniture become shorter, so that kills himself.

📍Passenger

Q: A passenger once travels to a place he's never been and stay in a residents' house for one night. When he entering the house, he's shocked. And on the next day, the passenger sees something which makes him freak out. Why? 

A: The residents' family has a child who is born to lose one of his legs. Worrying about their child may feel insecure and sad about his lost leg, his parent chop one of their legs off before the kid grows up to make the kid believe that all people are born to have only one leg. So, once the passenger walks into the house, he's startled by seeing that this family all have only one leg. Fearing that the child would notice that this passenger has 2 legs, the parent anesthetize the passenger when he's sleeping and cut one of his legs off, too. On the next day, finding out his leg was slashed, the passenger loses his mind.

I hope you guys could have fun in solving these puzzles. If you are very interested in turtle soup, you can google it, and there are many puzzles online. Maybe next time we can play turtle soup together😀😀😀

Some Awesome Board Games: Kakerlaken Poker

You do have the experience like this: go to a restaurant and eat out with friends, but you guys don't talk much and just phub each others. This is so awkward, right? But if you go to a board game restaurant, you can play games, talk about the games, and also enjoy the meal. It's a perfect way to avoid awkward situation. So, this time I'm about to introduce some awesome board games in case you don't know what to play next time.

🌠My Recommendation🌠

Kakerlaken Poker (Chinese translation: 德國蟑螂)

The main reason why I recommend this game is that the rules is easy to understand. Compared with other complicated games such as Inception or The Princes of Florrence, Kakerlaken Poker makes player more easily to concentrate on the game instead of wasting lots of time on understanding the rules. Besides, this game won't take too much time in one round. If you just wanna relax but don't have much time, Kakerlaken Poker will be your best choice!        

📌Material: 64 cards, 8 kinds of card which are bat, fly, cockroach, rat, toad, spider, stink bug and scorpion. Each kind has 8 cards.

📌How many people: 2~6 (I recommend with 4~6 people)

📌Preparing to play: Shuffle the deck and divide the cards equally to all players, if the cards con't be divided equally, then put the rest of cards away. 

📌How to play: On one turn, the starter(just choose one of the players) need to take one card from his/her hands, lay it face down on the table, declare a type of critters, e.g., "This is a spider.", and slide it to another player. The player receiving the card either:

A. Accepts the card, guesses it's "true" or "false", and reveals the card. If the player's right, the starter will keep the card. If the player's wrong, then he/she have to keep the card. The accepted card should be placed face up on the table in front of the starter or the player.   

B. Peeks at the card, and passes it face down to another player, either saying the original type or saying a new type. The new player again has the choice of accepting the card or passing it. If the card has been seen by all other players, the last player must take the first option.





The game ends when a player has no cards to pass on his/her turn or when a player has 4 cards of the same type on the table in front of him/her. In either case, this player loses and the others win.

Kakerlaken Poker is a very simple game but with lots of fun. You will see your friends who seems trustworthy lying to you. You will find out your buddies' slippery face while they are come up with some cunning strategy. You will be surprised that how difficult it is to make a choice between only 2 simple options! Next time you want to test your ability of lying and bluffing, try Kakerlaken Poker~!  

Amazing Production Design: Ghost in the Shell

Yeahhhh I've been waiting for Ghost in the Shell for months because I'm so obsessed with the original animation movie.The original one is just a masterpiece, which is both brilliant and unique. Therefore, after I hear of that Ghost in the Shell will be adapted by Hollywood, I almost go insane~! However, the new version of it is so awkward and disappoint me~~~😭😭

But it still deserves praise for its production design.

The art design and some of the shots are magnificent. Besides, the scenes refer to the animation movie are quite close to the original one, which makes me on the verge of tears. Thanks to the advanced CGI technology and impressive special effects of Hollywood, the classic scenes from animation movie can reappear as if it came true in our reality.

Despite the great production design, the plot and the character are both confusing. In terms of the plot, it is just another corny story which is overused in Hollywood and sometimes it doesn't make sense. And because of the bugs in this movie, the audience may not understand the story. When it comes to the character, the major, Mira(Scarlett Johansson), is the only vivid character here. It seems that the director simply want to focus on Mira and neglect the other supporting role. Even the protagonist, Batou, looks like a Joe Blow.



Even though there are some shortcomings in new Ghost in the Shell, the audience can feast their eyes on the striking visual effects if they ignore the plot. But, anyway, it's just my personal opinion. Don't take it way too serious if you do like the plot. I'm just expressing my disappointment😢

The Best Crime Drama of All Time: Breaking Bad

 

Breaking Bad has been released for 4 years until now; however, comparing with other recent series, Breaking Bad is still an incredible show. Though there are still some flaws in it, the imperfections doesn't change the fact that how brilliant the show it is. Now I want to introduce this amazing TV series to you guys, and the following may contain spoilers.

🔖 Story

The story is about a high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, who is diagnosed with lung cancer. With his former student, Jesse Pinkman, Walter White turns to be a drug dealer to leave some money for his family before he dies.

🔖Main Characters 

The left is Walter White. Personally, I think he is the vividest character in the whole story. In the beginning, he is just a plain, ordinary man facing a midlife crisis and craves making some changes in the rest of his life. But with the plot progressing, White become arrogant, bossy, and extremely self-centered. Actually, I don't really like this character because of his ego and his selfishness, which disgust me a lot. In spite of that, it's undoubted that White is a very realistic character and that's why I hate him as hate a real person.
  



The right side is Jesse Pinkman. He is a junkie, a brat, and screws things up all the time. Even though he seems too emotional and naive sometimes, he has a pure and innocent heart. And in the latter part of the series, just like Walter White, he gradually loses his purity, which makes me sympathetic about.

🔖 Review

When it comes to American series, some people may say that the more seasons a TV series has, the worse it will be.
However, this won't gonna happen in Breaking Bad because it just becomes better and better, and the plot is always unpredictable and won't let you down. Besides, the actor's performance is so impressive that you will believe that they are people existing in real life. I think it's not only a TV series, but a very long and outstanding movie. Breaking Bad, 10/10!


 

A Contemporary Western: Hell or High Water

Hell or High water(2016) has been nominated for 4 Oscars and stars Chris Pine(Star Trek), Ben Foster(Inferno), and Jeff Bridges(True Grit). The story is about a divorced father and his ex-convict brother commit a series of bank robberies to save their family's ranch.

The characters in this film is very recognizable, and the lines make lots of hilarious moments in it. The right is Toby, the divorced man, also the one who comes up with the whole robbery scheme. The left is Tanner, Toby's older brother, and he has the boldness and experience to control the situation while carrying out the robberies.




These two are Texas Rangers who chase after the brothers. Though
 Hamilton(the left one) often jokes on his partner's Indian identity, they still care about each other, and the jokes is just a part of their daily life. The audience won't feel uncomfortable about the "racist jokes" in this movie since the lines are well-designed, and without these conversations the movie will not complete.   



In this movie, by the virtue of the director's brilliant cinematography, you can enjoy the magnificent view of American country side. The plain, the farm, and the picturesque gloaming is captured perfectly just like you watch the whole scene in the West Texas. Besides, the score is so amazing and adds lots of western feel in this film. I'd like to buy the soundtrack after watching this film.

Personally, I think Hell or High Water is one of the best movies in 2016, and the actors' performance are splendid, too(I'm glad to see that Chris Pine try to be a good actor here). Don't miss it!