Movie: The ugly truth

Synopsis:
Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a morning show producer desperately seeking her Mr Right. To boost the ratings for her show, she is paired up with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), who knows how men and women tick.

Review:
Funny at times but being in a different society from theirs, it is difficult to believe them. Plot aside, the chemistry between the leads is not worth mentioning. Well, the truth is ugly.

Rating:
3/5

Movie: Fame

Synopsis:
A remake, with new casts, on the lives of the students as they struggle through high school.

Review:
Too many characters with too little layers devoted to them. The only character I could remember was the Jennifer Hudson lookalike. Expecting more energy and action akin to the High School Musical series, I was disappointed. The trailer was more exciting than the movie itself.

Rating:
2.5/5

Movie: 9

Synopsis:
9 puppets are borne out of the soul of the scientist who created the machine that destroyed the human race. Sacrifices have to be made to end what one has started.

Review:
Intriguing. Refreshing. Cute. No doubt the topic of human against machines is repeated too many times. However, against creators of Up, the movie has to try harder.

Rating:
3.5/5

Cousins gathering

What a surprise! Went New York New York for dinner, followed by movie and then supper. Super full, super fun. Great!

Movie: Gamer (M18)

Synopsis:
Nanotechnology that takes over the brain cells and gives other people full control of the body, Gamer sees Kable (Gerald Butler) trying to break out of the system.

Review:
From the Sims to Second life, it seems that humans enjoy controlling other people to satisfy the unachieveables in real life. A novel concept that is greatly trashed by the nauseously dizzy lights that alienates the viewers completely. It's difficult to relate any emotions to anything.

Rating:
1.5/5

Police and thieves

With your twisted view of justice,
so what if you are a police
Who is going to side with you,
When you make those deranged accusations.
So what if you like your little black book,
You can't escape and live the present.
The thieves will run away.

Bday celebration with family

090909

On this day,
The ninth of the ninth of the ninth,
And at nine oh nine oh nine,
It seems so magical to have forever.
Happy Bday to me!

Bday celebration with DSTA

Much laughter and a gathering with close friends = a great birthday celebration!

Bday celebration with Racoons

It's been quite a while since we met up and what's a better occasion than to celebrate my birthday. Having celebrated birthdays for this long, a good company is the best present. Still, I'm thankful for the present and the lovely treats. Thank you all!

1 more month to go

Only a month to go before flying back to London. Somewhat excited, somewhat scared. Time really flies... Recently, I was asked if I will miss Singapore. Seriously, I really don't know. My family, best friends, food are here. Well, I will be back after nine months. To me, it's akin to taking a train ride there and back. Nothing amiss.

Aaron's Hall-warming

Finally it's Aaron's turn in Uni and how else to prepare him for the tough road ahead other than the Muggers' Welfare Pack that consisted four well thought out gifts.

The recipient's joy

Gambatte!

Movie: District 9 (M18)

Synopsis:
Unable to return to their planet, the aliens have been living in district 9 for twenty years. Facing the discontent of the general public, they were forced to evict to a new district.

Review:
Expecting the usual science fiction genre, I was very surprised and disturbed to be exposed to the intensity and depth of the show. From the start, we were forced to stand the side of the humans, disapproving the behaviour of the aliens. By the end of the show, I realised the immaturity and ignorance of such a view. It's really thought provoking debating on 'human' rights, scientific ethics and the role of arms. Do we, as fellow humans, have the rights to judge? A show that is clearly not meant for the weak stomach, director Neill Blomkamp has done an extraordinary job in this show.

Rating:
4.5/5

Movie: The proposal

Synopsis:
Sandra Bullocks return to the bid screen as Margaret, an oppresive and disliked editor. Facing being sent back to Canada, she forced her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her.

Review:
It's great to see Sandra Bullocks on screen again and her chemistry with Ryan Reynolds shows. Although quite predictable, the script brought about much laughter and perhaps more depth in character development than other romantic comedy. Kudos to the grandma for her antics.

Rating:
3.5/5

JK's bday

Happy bday, JK

Teochew city seafood restaurant

For JK's birthday, we went to this Teochew restaurant located in Orchard Centrepoint. Had the 1 for 1 premium set priced at $68++.

Smoked duck meat with scallop

Braised baby superior shark's fin with crab meat

Abalone & fish maw with prawn paste

Braised slice garoupa with prawn paste & winter melon

La mian goreng

Yam paste with gingko nut & pumpkin

The first few dishes were wonderful. The smoked duck was quite a surprise. The shark's fin thick and crab meat plentiful. The abalone combination was appetising and would have been better if the abalone was less tough. The slice garoupa's quite average. By then I was rather full. The la mian was pretty okay, with plenty of seafood. Last but not least, the yam paste dessert. Even risking overeating, I had to finish the tasteful sweet traditional teochew treat.

For the promotion, the meal's worth it, especially for a celebration.

DSTA outing

Last year was prawning. This year was at mind cafe (It's so crowded). The group has gotten so big and it was rather difficult to organise. Went for Selegie's beancurd (It's very smooth!) and ended with murderer in SMU. Fun fun and got to know some juniors.

Movie: Bruno (R21)

Synopsis:
Vassup! Bruno (Sacha Baron Cohen) from Austria is in America and he is trying to become super famous. From interviews to the Army, these infiltrations carved his way to 'stardom'.

Review:
Bold and daring, Sacha persevered in his character as a gay Austrian. I wouldn't think otherwise while he engaged in the different homosexual behaviours. It's amazing how he managed to infiltrate into the system and especially, invited Paula Abdul for his interview. The latter was pretty hilarious. However, the plot does not sit well with me as it was mostly silly.

Rating:
3/5

Happy Birthday, Singapore

Watching the National Day parade from home,
It's really heartwarming to look at the performance.
To see the unity of the people and their determination to make the celebration a success and the audience soaking up the atmosphere.
To look back and think how far we have come...

Happy 44th, Singapore!

Movie: Up

Synopsis:
Pixar's latest offering sees Carl trying to fulfil his wife's wishes to explore South America. Unbeknownst to him, Russell from the Wilderness Explorer was in the house when Carl flew his house with balloons.

Review:
Pixar never stops to touch me with their film. I can't even find a part of the show that I do not like. Whether is it this film or any earlier ones, they always manage to touch on current issues. In Up, we watched Carl, an old man who has forgotten about his purpose in life until the intrusion of Russell. It's simply wonderful.

Rating:
5/5

Movie: G.I. Joe: The rise of Cobra

Synopsis:
Hasbro's Joes finally made it to the screen. With the destructive nano-mites being stolen, the Joes (Channing Tatum and his gang) are called into action to save the world from the Baroness (Sienna Miller), Storm Shadow (Lee Byung Hun) ,Destro and the Cobra commander.

Review:
I'm definitely awed by the advanced technology and weaponry, which are more spectacular than those from Iron Man. However, the lack of a substantial plot was akin to watching Transformers: a combination of firearms and beautiful actress targeting the male audiences. Perhaps it offered an escape into my childhood fantasy of soldiers saving the world.

Rating:
3.5/5

Movie: The Hangover (NC16)

Synopsis:
For his bachelor party, the groom and his three groomsmen (a thrill-seeking school teacher, a henpecked dentist and a weird brother-in-law) went to Las Vegas. After a very drunk night, the groom was missing, the room was a mess and the marriage was looming near. Will they be able to make it in time?

Review:
What happens in Vegas should remain in Vegas, but luckily this movie made the grade. Those who have watched Superbad would find this more crude, crass, discriminating and vulgar. Yet, the combination brought plenty of laughter.

Rating:
4/5

Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage is the newest attraction in Singapore. Not that it has much to offer, but it is definitely a place to relax, chill and hang out with friends.

Movie: Public enemies

Synopsis:
In 1933, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was America's most wanted criminal as he robbed banks and humiliated the police. As a result, FBI Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) swore to take him down. Eventually, even Dillinger could not escape from the law.

Review:
Although there were plenty of shooting scenes, I was not thoroughly entertained. I must admit that Johnny Depp is a great actor and overshadowed Christian Bale as a result, but somehow there was something missing.

Rating:
3.5/5

Marble Slab Creamery

Marble Slab Creamery, the newest ice-cream outlet in town, was located at Iluma. Curious about the selling point behind 'the freshest ice cream on earth', I travelled there to try it out. Turns out that it is pretty novel.

In addition to the common flavours available, the creamery offers exotic ones such as apple & spice. However, the best part would be the wide variety of 'mixins' to be mixed with the ice cream. With your choice of ice cream and 'mixins', they are mixed thoroughly on a marble slab before being served on a made-on-the-spot waffle cone. Pretty amazing indeed. Having a new creation to tie in with each week's movie premiere is awesome too.

Even though it's a novel idea, the price tag might deter most. The service was friendly but inefficient. But, it is definitely worth a try.

Peach ice-cream with 'mixins'

Results

Yay! After a long wait, the results are out and I've got my first class! Perhaps the old me would have been interested in comparing the results of my peers, but I guess that is just too tiring... No point making yourself feel sad...

Movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Synopsis:
The sixth instalment of Harry Potter sees the trio facing more danger as the Deatheaters grow stronger in strength. Will Dumbledore be able to prepare Harry for the fight against Voldemort or will evil win?

Review:
At 2hrs 35 mins, the movie was barely enough to cover the crux of the story. However, the director did it and it was impressive. Top marks for the on-screen romance and effects. Also, the ideas that Rowling tried to express in her books were much clearer in the movie. If only the fight scene was longer... Now, I'm waiting impatiently for the last two movies.

Rating:
4/5

Movie: Sunshine cleaning (NC16)

Synopsis:
Fed-up with being a maid, single mom Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) took up a job as a biohazard crime scene cleaner. Together with her sister Nora (Emily Blunt), they set to clean up the messes left behind and to seek closure of their own.

Review:
Good acting was unable to save the choppy transistions and weak plot and after a while, it started to bore the audiences. It may be a Sundance hit, but it didn't work on me.

Rating:
2.5/5

Movie: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Synopsis:

With Ellie giving birth soon, the rest of the pack felt that its time they live their lives on their own. When Sid dropped through the ice cracks, he stumbled across three dinosaur eggs and took them with him. As a result, the angry mother dinosaur kidnapped Sid to the prehistoric world beneath the ice. To save Sid, the rest of the pack travelled to the unknown world.

Review:

A simple plot but quite nicely done (if you ignore the logic of a world beneath the ice). Mimicking fighter aircrafts, the aerial chase scene was pretty exciting. The 3-d effect was rather interesting, though I felt a little dizzy after that. In all, it sure made me laugh, so, it's not bad at all.

Rating:

3.5/5

Class bbq

Had a fantastic class gathering at east coast park. About half the class turned up for the bbq, which is quite amazing. The food was not bad (took quite a long time to prepare the night before)
Luckily we decided to have makeshift pits instead of renting as it rained heavily ... But it was not all that depressing as it was very fun to huddle together over our makeshift pits like a korean-style bbq, while the rain was blowing hard at us. Really happy that our class still have gatherings even though we left school so long ago

Honesty

In any relationship, honesty is the key for it to succeed.
Nobody likes a liar.
However, not everyone can handle the truth.
If being honest destroys the bond, then what is the point of being truthful?
Wouldn't it be better to keep silent?

Argh

Argh, can't upload my photos!

Back!

Glad to be back,
To the familiarity of family and friends.
To the place where I'm used to.
To all the good food.