#Asia Life

[chroniclesofnadia111]

Aesthetic photo dump mash up #4 ❤️

Some Dancehall/Dennery Segment performances From Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts festival last night. 🔥🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨

[lionofchaeronea]

Still Life: Salmon Slices and Sardines, Tsuchida Bakusen, 1924

[classic-asian-art]

Bear In Snow, 1940 (colour woodblock print) by Takeuchi Seiho

[city-cost]

Day time among the watering holes of Shimbashi, Tokyo.

[drenched-in-sunlight]

Huh, you know, Miquella divesting Trina reminds me of this discussion when the base game came out that Radagon was trying to undermine Marika & take over completely (his portraits & statues depict him in heroic and in control pose, while Marika was crucified with eyes downcast).

Now with the DLC proving that it’s Marika who is the emotions, the part that is heavy with love and rage and sorrow, I wonder if she knew had Radagon succeeded, the current rotten Order would persist, so better to drag him to death with her too, right now. Shatter it all.

Her smashing the Elden ring turns out to be motivated by so many legit reasons, after all. The realization that she had become just like the oppressors who stuff her people into jars, the death of Godwyn, her separation from Messmer, Death was back, Radagon was trying to cast her away to maintain the current status quo… wow.

also this explains why the base game goes out of its way to show that Miquella was once close to Radagon… (those Rings of Light spells) not Marika … 💀💀💀💀 all the signs are there…

[angeldoll04]

[hussyknee]

SOUTH ASIANS ASSEMBLE

E.g: Best Bollywood movie of all time!

[nameinconcept-blog]

Soviet Armenia. 1980s.

From the book "Армения" published by "Planeta". 1982

[reasonsforhope]

"Proving that change is possible if the will to create it is present, Chinese megacities like Beijing that were once famous for their apocalyptic grey skies are enjoying the lowest levels of air pollution they’ve experienced in the 21st century.

Falling 42% from an average high in 2013 when Chinese air pollution was higher than 50 particles per cubic centimeters of city air, the change has increased the lifespan of Chinese urbanites by 2.2 years.

The news comes from a report published by the University of Chicago called the Air Quality Life Index which listed some of the actions taken by the Chinese government to reduce air pollution, described by the CCP as a “war on pollution.”

This has included reducing the presence of heavy industry like steel production in city centers, as well as restricting coal power plants from being built inside cities while shuttering those that were already there.

Some cities like Beijing have reduced the number of cars allowed on the roads during peak hours, similar to London’s congestion charge. Lastly, China’s mass urban tree-planting campaigns have been well documented.

While the life expectancy has risen on average 2.2 years, some cities have seen far more drastic increases. Citizens living under the new “Beijing Blue,” are predicted to live 4 additional years, while those 11 million in the north-central city of Baoding are predicted to gain 6.

“At the foundation of those actions were common elements: political will and resources, both human and financial, that reinforced each other,” the report said. “When the public and policymakers have these tools, action becomes much more likely.”

In fact, the decline in China’s pollution levels has been so drastic that it lowered the world average, which the report says would have increased if not for the Middle Kingdom’s war on pollution.

Although Chinese city air is still several times higher than the WHO’s recommended minimum, it shows what’s accomplishable with political and civic effort—particularly to its neighbors in South Asia where the report warns air quality is worsening."

-via Good News Network, September 1, 2023

[gabbyp09]

Re zero S3 ep 2 - second and third loop 💀

[welcometogrouchland]

Also I am. Constantly forgetting how fucking funny Hunter is. We never give him enough credit for how funny he is because his life is so fucked up but I swear 90% of his lines are just bit after bit after bit. He's not even trying either. Anytime he actively tries to make a joke it falls flat but if you just put him in a Scenario he'll find a way to be so over invested and yet out of touch/at odds with whatever's going on. He's so autistic

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Chinese Desserts

There's quite a large variety of treats and desserts in China (more than you can imagine), so here are some of the most common ones!

Almond jelly/tofu - 杏仁豆腐 - xìngréndòufu Despite the name, almond jelly doesn't actually have almonds in it. Almond jelly is made from gelatin and almond milk, although some recepies use dairy milk instead.

Glutinous rice balls - 汤圆 - tāngyuán These rice balls are made from glutinous rice balls with a sweet filling, such as red bean paste (a pretty popular filling in desserts, I've been fooled more than once when purchasing what I assumed to be a chocolate filled pastry).

Red bean buns - 豆沙包 - dòushābāo One of my favorite desserts so far. These are steamed buns with a sweet red bean paste filling that I'd definitely recommend.

Egg custard bun - 流沙包 - liúshābāo A sweet and savory bun, with a lava-like egg yolk filling. A pretty interesting dessert, as it's both sweet and savory.

Pumpkin cake - 南瓜饼 - nánguābǐng I haven't tried this yet, but it definitely looks good. A fried and crunchy cake with a sweet filling such as red bean paste.

Eight treasure rice pudding - 八宝饭 -bābǎofàn This is a pretty popular dessert, especially during the Lunar New Year. It gets this name becase of the toppings, which are eight or more different types of dried fruits and nuts arranged on top of the sweet rice, with (once again) red bean paste.

Hawthorn stick/ Candied Haws/ Sugar coated haws/ Bingtanghulu - 冰糖葫芦 - bīngtánghúlu This treat has quite a few translations and you may have probably already seen it. This is basically candied fruit covered with a sweet, crunchy and sugary syrup. Traditionally, Hawthorn is used but other fruits such as grapes, strawberries and oranges are also popular options.

Sachima - 沙琪玛 - shāqímǎ I haven't tried this snack yet, but it looks quite fascinating. Sachima is made from fried batter stuck together with a sugary syrup, with an interesting texture.

Sesame balls - 芝麻球 - zhīmaqiú Similar to the rice glutinous balls, this treat is also made from glutinous rice flour with varying fillings including lotus seeds, mung bean and red beans, and sesame seeds.

Water chestnut cake A sweet pan-fried cake made from chinese water chestnut, with a unique semi-transparent appearance.

Wintermelon puff/ Wife cake/ Sweetheartcake - 老婆餅 - lǎopóbǐng This cake has many names, mainly because it has several different origin stories, each more fascinating than the next. This dessert is a flaky pastry with wintermelon, almond (not red bean this time!) paste and sesame filling.

Fortune cake - 发糕 - fāgāo Not a fortune cookie! This is a spongy steamed cupcake cake commonly made for the New Lunar Year celebrations and occasionally other events. They're usually a white-ish or brown-ish color, but they're often dyed bright colors to add extra festivity.

Mooncake - 月饼 - yuèbǐng This is a pretty well-known dessert, commonly prepared for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are smallish steamd/fried (depends on the region) cakes with a sweet filling that can also sometimes have an egg yolk inside.

Osmanthus cake - 桂花糕 - guìhuāgāo This is a unique traditional pastry made from glutinous rice flour, honey and osmanthus. This cake has a really interesting texture, as it's quite dense but also airy in a way? I'd definitely recommend trying it, as it's not super sweet and goes really well with tea.

[aero-sense]

After gaining a little more information about Omashu from the games, I'd like to go into the South Asian/SEA references of the city.

The common headdress for men in Omashu are turbans. They wear it the same style of the Cabbage Man which @atlaculture has matched it to a Khăn Vấn, a vietnamese turban:

The turban does have a similar shape, but depending the style, the Khăn Vấn can be wrapped like a headband that shows hair in the back, unlike the Omashu turbans that wrap completely around the head. Turbans have a long history that spans many cultures and religions, so here are some other turbans I thought looked similar:

These are the Sikh turbans, also referred as a Dastār. This particular style shown in the example is called the modern Dumalla. I thought the wrapped style was similar to the turban design in the game.

Another kind are the Islamic turbans found in South and South East Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. The turban can come in different colors and patterns (I found only white ones for the examples, but I've seen green, yellow, and checkered before).

The women in Omashu also wear head coverings and this one in particular reminded me of the hijab style I've seen Indonesians wear.

Another cultural reference @atlaculture covered is how King Bumi's rock candy he encased Sokka and Katara with is like the rock sugar used in Asia. The method of developing rock sugar, or Misri, was invented in India and is the oldest refined form of sugar. It's used as candy or a sweetener for milk and tea. In Karnataka, it's served with water for guests in the summer.

Lastly, Bumi's name has ties to South and South East Asia. @cyndaquillt has already done a wonderful post going into Bumi's name from a South Asian view:

Bhumi (भूमि, pronounced bhoo-mi) is a Sanskrit word that means ground. The root of the word is Bhu (भू) which means earth.

There's also @ririsasy additions, that Bumi is the Indonesian word for Earth. In Indonesia, Bumi is a name usually given to males, while Bhumi is a name commonly given to Indian women, and is the name of the goddess of Earth in Hinduism.

There's many overlaps between these cultures and more, but overall Omashu leans towards a more South Asian/SEA setting than East Asian compared to the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Any additions or corrections are welcome!

[city-cost]

It’s amazing how quickly you can switch from the booming scale of the buildings and businesses immediately out front of Shinagawa station to the local intimacy of the streets around the Kitahon district.

[the-crow-in-the-blooming-tree]

Botanical Garden (Almaty, Kazakhstan)

[aka-nyontaros]