Advantages: excellent hang-out place
Disadvantages: none

...Pai is a beautiful little village way up in the mountains. It is accessable by bus from Chiang Mai or Mae Hong Son, but even though its less than 100 miles from Chiang Mai it takes about 3 1/2 hours due to the winding mountain roads. The Mae Hong Son road is even worse. Try to sit at the back so you can't see the road ahead...it's pretty hair-raising. Pai has no traffic, good roads, and lots of little places to eat and stay. Just past the school there are a cluster of guest houses on the river that will rent you a bungalow for about 200 baht a night. The food has a definite hippie influence, so you can eat hummus and nutburgers to your heart's content. Essential travel items are also quite cheap here. There are many elephant trekking companies out here, but many of them are poorly run. Check them out before you book... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very nice story
Disadvantages: A bit short, could have had expansions in many areas

...This anime is also known as 'Sazan Eyes', this is a story about Yakumo Fujii, who was just like any other 16-year-old Japanese high school student. Well, his father did disappear in Tibet four years ago while searching for a legendary race of three-eyed beings, and Yakumo was forced to take a job as a "waitress" in a gay bar to support himself. But that was nothing compared to the strange girl Yakumo literally ran into one day on the way to work. She called herself Pai, and she carried a letter that Yakumo's father wrote just before he died. The note claimed that Pai was the last of the three-eyed race Prof. Fujii had spent his life searching for, a race with the power of eternal youth, the Sanjiyan Unkara. Of course, Yakumo did not believe in monsters, and Pai certainly didn't look like a supernatural creature. In fact, she was kind... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Emotive, engaging, Brilliant
Disadvantages: none

...Whale Rider, Te Kaieke Tohora (in Maori). * The film* Rated PG 13+ A thought provoking, magical and emotive film adapted from the book by Witi Ihimaera. Screenplay by Niki Caro. The film quickly grips the viewer’s interest with a heart-rending opening scene. The coinciding narrative of Keisha Castle-Hughes enlightens us to the long awaited cultural event that is taking place. Paikea "Pai" Apirana is an 11 year old Maori girl, a member of the Ngati Porou tribe living with her traditionally bound grandparents. Cultural foundations depict a patriarchal community; one in which Pai has to fight to fulfil her destiny. We are taken through the film with haunting music and in parts, the narrative of Keisha Castle-Hughes explaining to us the legend of Paikea. Paikea is the mythic ancestor of the Ngati Porou tribe... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Bargins, Bargins, and more Bargins
Disadvantages: Dont always get what you are expecting

...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Strong and moving storyline, great performances
Disadvantages: You can only see it for the first time once.

...only child, Pai, in the care of Koro. Unfortunately for Koro, Pai is a girl. She loves her grandfather and simply wants to make him proud of her. This she does by trying to train in the Maori ways, in order that she would be a suitable chief. This has the opposite effect on Koro though, who is so firmly entrenched in the idea of male dominance that he sees Pai’s behaviour as disrespect. He concentrates his efforts on training the young males in the village who all prove to be unsuitable for the task. As the community comes across difficult times, Pai takes a dramatic opportunity to prove her love for her grandfather and that she is chief material. This is a beautifully shot film with great cinematography and a storyline that maintains your interest throughout and never crosses the line into over-sentimentality. The star of this film...