#1

Got gold award for IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) twice, on 20th January and 15th September this year. Lol, and no, my body is not as scary looking as the one above. Those are the first golds in terms of physical fitness in my life! I’m at my fittest stage of my life now. =)

#2

Started learning Korean.

#3

Got myself my first guitar (which, unfortunately, is a second-hand guitar… but it’s really cheap!). Started learning how to play guitar.

#4

Broke up. Cried. Recovered. Moved on. =)

#5

Donated blood. (I have mentioned this before eh?)

#6

Decided to combat my acne and scar problems seriously so I went to see the dermatologist and at the same time got myself a The Face Shop membership. *gasp* Bought shitloads of products from them ever since. Oh my I’m becoming more and more vain!

#7

Designed a magazine, some posters and videos in my unit. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to keep in touch with design despite being in a military organisation. XD

#8

Received the Best Soldier Award in May. =)

#9

Ran 21km in Army Half Marathon for 2hrs 5minutes.

#10

Sang and danced Got involved in a self-initiated music video production with my campmates. -_-

#11

Went to see the Da Vinci - The Genius Exhibition.

#12

Spent my first Chinese New Year eve and Day 1 not with my family, but with campmates who were also performing duty in camp.

#13

Appeared on a Chinese CG magazine. Hmm I don’t know if we can find this magazine in Singapore. Hello China!

#14

Walked from Thomson to my home at Yishun with a friend. It was roughly 17km, probably the longest distance towards home that I have walked.

#15

Met up with my primary school classmates after almost 10 years of not seeing each other. It’s quite amazing my ex-classmate and I can still understand each other’s jokes telepathically just by winking or smiling. The long time spent apart hasn’t corroded our chemistry a single bit.

#16

Saw double rainbows for the first time in my life. I was so excited about it that I immediately notified my friends and sat there watching it until it disappeared 50 minutes later.

#17

Bought a netbook. Funny how a lot of people always misheard it as ‘Macbook’. I admit they sound really similar, haha. Ultra portable computer GET!

#18

Watched a total of 53 movies in the theatres. On average, that’s like 1 movie per week!

#19

Met many new friends. Looking forward to more food tasting trips and random funny discussions with them!

#20

ONE FULL YEAR OF SERVING THE NATION. This is the only ‘year’ of my life where I am fully in National Service.

This week, on 12 Oct, I officially turn 21.

I wonder what will my list of 21 things be?

- - -

Movie Reviews!

500 Days of Summer

I watched this movie just a few hours after I caught ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’. While the latter has a fairytale-like feel in its story, 500 Days of Summer is painfully raw but also refreshingly realistic. It is totally unlike the usual romantic comedies that seem to overuse the winning template/formula to death, where happily-ever-after happens. Instead it gives you a ride back and forth throughout the 500 days of Tom’s (the boy) life with and without Summer (the girl), just like how we revisit good and bad memories of our past, usually in non-chronological (more like random) order.

How many times in life do you feel ‘right’ about being with someone, a potential soulmate? What if you are wrong about ‘The One’? Will you find ‘Another One’ or stubbornly stick to your instincts telling you what is meant to be? You feel something towards this person, but does that person feel the same?

It’s a rather simple movie that makes you think about all those questions above, which I believe most people must have encountered countless times in relationships over the years. I can’t help but feel sorry for the boy in the movie because of all those shit he had to go through, where expectations and realities are unfortunately two different things.

As the credits rolled up when the movie ended, I was like “huh? that’s fast.” Good moments in life come and go quickly, so do the bad ones. Or maybe they tend to linger a little longer. If there’s anything that I feel the movie is trying to tell those broken-hearted souls out there, it is ‘Move On’.

8.5 / 10

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

I was warned not to watch this movie on an empty stomach and luckily I didn’t. Filled with colourful visuals, every single frame of this animation oozes maximum delightfulness, fun and FOOD. I like the quirky characters and the engaging subplots touching on father-son relationship (the part about the technologically-handicap dad is totally classic and so familiar) and the sweetness of boy-girl first love. This is the kind of movie that you can expect yourself to feel good walking out of the cinema after watching.

8.5 / 10

Accident

The movie started off very promising with a super well-planned “accident” (more like an assasination) by a team of assasins. As we enter Brain’s (Louis Koo) world of mistrust and paranoia, we learn more about his team’s intelligent process of thorough planning and seemingly perfect executions of murder that appear to the public as “accidents”. However, a minor negligence can also turn into a fatal encounter (another accident) for the team. Even though the story didn’t turn out to be what I expected (something exciting and brilliant throughout), it serve as a nice reminder of how thinking too much in life can sometimes lead to disastrous consequences. Sometimes you just gotta trust people a bit.

7 / 10

Crows Zero II

Fighting. Shouting. Men. That pretty much sums up what this show is about. In some parts where there’s no fight and only talk going on, you start wondering when the next fight is going to begin. While it’s pretty fun to observe the exciting action sequences, when the movie ends you probably end up feeling quite empty thanks to the paper thin plot. It’s quite like rollercoaster ride. Like, “What? I just spent $10 on this?”

5.5 / 10

As this was my first time in about 7 years seeing a dentist, I wasn’t really familiar with the surroundings and the practices.

I laid down, opened my mouth and tssszzzzkkkkkkkk ….. it began.

I’ve only slept for 3 hours before the visit so I was rather sleepy and eventually I relaxed and closed my eyes (partly because sometimes it hurts, the light bulb was also kinda bright).

After some time the dentist said,

“Oben wide..” (sounded like “open yo’ eye”, since she was wearing a mask so I couldn’t hear properly)

So I opened my left eye.

“Oben wide..” she gently reminded again.

I opened my right eye.

The tssssszzzzzkkkkkk-ing stopped.

“I was refering to your mouth.” she finally said clearly.

Inglourious Basterds

You might be surprised that Brad Pitt’s screentime probably didn’t take up more than 50% of the movie, and that most of the time the characters spoke French and German. However, the 154 minute movie didn’t feel lengthy at all, thanks to the brilliant direction and an entertaining, crazy  and sometimes violent story to follow. If you liked the Kill Bill movies, you will most likely love this too.

8/10

Bandslam

When I saw the poster it looked strangely familiar and cheap. I somehow expected this movie to be of High School Musical style but in the end I found out it’s actually more like School of Rock. Shows with characters forming a band to perform usually works well as they don’t entertain the audience with only story, but also songs (think of Nodame Cantabile, Swing Girls, School of Rock). So yea, this cute movie entertains and has a decent story with some hilarious moments. It’s not bad!

7.5/10

Where Got Ghost

What looked like a potentially funny comedy has turned into a highly disappointing movie in this latest production by Jack Neo. It started off looking really promising, with jokes making fun of supernatural beliefs and practices. However, as the movie drags along, one can’t help but wonder when it is going to end as the movie viewing gets tiring and too predictable, to the extent that you forget it’s a comedy in the first place. Despite the director’s efforts to forcefully inject each story with an in-your-face moral message, the only lesson you learn the moment you step out of the cinema is this — Sometimes in life you make mistakes and this is one of them. Learn to move on.

2/10

Mum: Whoa.. Don’t push yourself too hard! If you feel any pain, stop immediately!

Me: Relax.. I’ve had progressive trainings for the past few weeks already. It’s not like I’m running 21km all of a sudden.

Mum: Yea yea.. But look at how many people died taking part all these marathons nowadays. Don’t run if you can’t take it, okay?

Me: Okay I will listen to my body.

Mum: If you feel giddy.. don’t force yourself okay?

Me: Okay.

Mum: If you.. .. . .

(It’s funny how the first responses I got from her were not something like “Do your best! Gambatte!”)

(Well imagine how happy some students would be if the same mindset was applied to studies..

Mum: Son, you don’t have to do too well for exams okay? If you feel too stressed, stop studying and play some games.

Son: But!

Mum: No ‘buts’. Can’t you see how many students committed suicide or ended up with depression when they got too stressed for trying to be perfect? )

***

Recently I visited a Topman store in town to look for a free copy of Catalog magazine.

After searching everywhere (behind the counters, the floor, etc), I couldn’t find it.

Just as I was about to leave and try somewhere else, someone approached me.

Topman Salesgirl: May I help you?

(I didn’t want to show that I was a cheapskate who entered the shop just to grab a freebie)

Me: Oh I’m fine, just looking for stuff.

Topman Salesgirl: I’m the staff.

***

Movie Reviews!

District 9

This movie is super SICK. But at the same time, it oozes lots of human emotions, originality and science fiction goodness.

Shot in documentary style, this social commentary is a wildly entertaining. What sets this movie apart from many other alien movies is that they don’t portray aliens as one-dimensional ugly creatures who only know how to kill and conquer planets. Instead, what we have here are peace loving beings who are unfortunately captured as refugees by the fearful but selfish humans.

It sets you thinking about love, morals and life. And if you can’t be bothered to think, just sit back and soak your eyes with the mind-blasting visuals and action. If you are only going to watch two movies this month, this is one of it.

9 /10

- - -

Up

Already watched this movie twice (in both 3D and non-3D formats), I totally love this movie! To call it ‘amazing’ is an understatement.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and then you’ll laugh and cry at the same time. Up is an emotional simple story that is all about adventure, love and passion in life. Must watch!

9.5 / 10

- - -

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This is standard Hollywood action flick. Slow-motion, check. Hot chicks, check. Explosions, check. Out-of-this-world gadgets, check. Throw in some humour, military extras, and a bit of a story, what is served on the big screen is another summer blockbuster that reminds you of Transformers, only slightly better.

6.5 / 10

- - -

Overheard

Information is king. This movie shows how the possession of it can potentially turn into a matter of life and death, friendship and hatred, rich and poor.

A well-crafted story unfolds quickly, keeps you highly engaged and guessing  the outcome, this is one movie that you never expect the ending to be predictable. Highly recommended.

9 / 10

- - -

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Each movie just gets darker and darker. The latest instalment currently deals with more teenage romance and life-threatening events.

Despite the unimpressive climax, I would say I enjoyed the movie thanks to the humour and decent plot.

However, the magical feeling (which I had when I watched the first 3 movies) is no longer present, now it just looks like another teenage fantasy movie.

Oh by the way, Dumbledore’s look just kept reminding me of Gandulf. Haha.

7 / 10

- - -

Public Enemies

If you are looking for a super action-packed experience, this gangster flick is not it. Even with charismatic performances by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, one can’t help but feel that this movie seems to be lacking something after the credits roll up.

Contains some realistic high definition gun fighting, bank robberies, fleeing and prison escapes, it’s a pretty enjoyable ride.

7 / 10

I guess that’s part of how being a designer is like. Or rather, a designer who never turns off the design in himself.

Super dehydrated too. So thirsty even a dark brown curly dried leaf on the concrete pavement looked like a teabag to me.

Recently, my family outings are happening more frequently than ever (from monthly to fortnightly to.. almost weekly) because I want to get to know my parents better and spend more time with them.

The only thing we love as a family is eating. My dad would always go on and on telling us about good food places around Singapore, and my mum would always accuse him for not taking us along to try them. Great dining places that I have been to with my friends, I sometimes introduce them to my parents too.

On the last last Sunday, we went out together. It was raining heavily, and the 3 of us (yes, my family size is that small) were in our family’s beige Mitsubishi van on our way to Jurong East for its “Best Curry in Singapore”.

I like that feeling. The feeling that my whole family is inside this little vehicle travelling around. A deadly car accident on the slippery road could easily wipe us out. We were vulnerable. With powerful wind and heavy raindrops splattering against the windscreen, it felt like we were all against something together.

At that moment, I felt bliss. =)

*****

Movie Reviews!

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Just before watching Ice Age 3, my friend turned to ask me if I remember what the story of Ice Age 2 is about. Holy shit, I realised I don’t remember much. But it doesn’t really matter, because everything in this movie establishes itself nicely in the first few minutes and the rest is just a series of cause-and-effect kind of adventure tale (complete with the standard Scrat’s comic moments).

The story is very kids-friendly, and focuses on the feeling of being left alone when your mates are attached/married, as well as parenting. I think this is the funniest Ice Age movie I’ve seen, as Scrat is now not the only one contributing to the laughs.

Light-hearted humour blends with light-hearted action (dinosaurs included) in this movie, and here we have an entertaining movie that both adults and kids will enjoy.

7.5/10

***

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

There can only be two reasons why any other blokes like me will want to watch the movie: 1, Megan Fox. 2, Act-xplo-tions (ok.. very bad attempt to combine action and explosions. -_-).

If you are a sucker for explosions that happen in large scale, with debris flying all over the place in slow-motion, this is for you. If you are a sucker for wet and hot babes running for her life in slow-motion, this is for you.

Seems like Michael Bay had a lot of fun blowing up everything. In Armageddon he blew up New York and Paris, In Pearl Harbor, he blew up, well, Pearl Harbor. In this movie, he was granted permission to blow up Egypt.

Watching this 150 minutes show is like seeing a compilation of Armageddon (part where fireballs from the atmosphere fly and hit buildings), Pearl Harbor (part where the fleet gets bombed), Night at the Museum (they visited the Smithsonian), Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of Crystal Skull (once again Shia LaBeouf runs great distances for his life. he’s never tired), various car advertisements and US army capabilities’ show-off.

Ultimately, I believe I paid to watch pyrotechnic displays and CG animations. There were so many things moving and exploding that it felt numb and monotonous after awhile. Thankfully there were some funny moments in the movie to keep you awake/alive, and I appreciate that.

6/10

***

I Love You, Man

This is the funniest comedy I’ve watched this year. It is full of witty lines, hilarious scenarios and performances from experienced comedians. What I can relate to in this show is the guy who seem to be able to connect with ladies better (and thus have more lady friends), finding it difficult to get a best male friend in life.

At the end of the day, the movie concludes that it all boils down to fate and chemistry when friendship is what you’re talking about.

The story may be nothing new (in fact, quite predictable) but who cares when you laugh non-stop? I trained my abs, so should you!

8.5/10

***

Land of the Lost

While the movie I reviewed before this makes you laugh with brilliant humour, this movie does the exact opposite. It’s as nonsensical and ridiculous as you can expect (especially when you have Will Ferrell in it).

For some reason the viewing experience reminds me of Journey to the Center of the Earth, only this is slightly funnier. Throw in lots of sexual and drug references and some not-that-great-cheesy-looking visual effects, we have a movie called ‘Land of the Lost’.

You can try this but don’t expect too much.

6/10

***

Blood: The Last Vampire

(By the time I review this I think this movie is no longer shown in cinemas. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss out anything important.)

Initially I was quite turned off by the cheesy effects seen in the trailer of this show. I would very much prefer to see Gianna Jun as a sassy girlfriend who whacks his boyfriend than to see her holding a sword slicing demons’ heads off.

And yes, all the demons die very easily. Just one slash and they are dead. I wish there were more spectacular/better fighting scenes though.

The story largely revolves around vengence and violence. Fortunately there’s some nice visuals and art direction to look at, since the screenplay isn’t something memorable.

6/10

So far we’ve got the music video playing non-stop on screen and huge visual reminders (like the one above) pasted on doors and above priority seats.

However, I  think this campaign has a great potential and can be used in several other areas so that Happy Journeys not only start ‘like that’, they start earlier and ‘like this’ too.

First things first.

I hate it when commuters try to tap their ez link cards without taking them out and unsuccessfully doing so. They just stand there, block the path and keep trying for a few precious seconds, slowly building a frustrated/impatient queue behind.

It’s just… Argh!

So I suggest..

1. Check Before You Tap

A HUGE reminder to tell commuters to tap and enter properly. Who knows? Maybe your ez-link card has no cash in it, maybe it’s not in your wallet, maybe it’s not in your bag, maybe you’re tapping with your ATM card, or maybe you’re looking for a toilet.

After you enter the station, you need to take an escalator to the platform right?

I hate it when commuters block both sides of the escalator route, especially when you are trying to run up/down to catch the train. Yes, there is already a small reminder near every escalator to encourage everyone to keep to their left.

No, that is not enough.

2. Please Keep To Your Left

Here’s where our national favourite character comes in. It’s not hard to keep left, right?

And for those who unfortunately failed to catch their train, please don’t get too upset or depressed. There’s always the next train.

During the time (up to 6 minutes) while you wait for the next one, I hope you don’t find the idea of jumping down the track appealing.. just because you missed the previous train (where missing that trip probably led to losing your job/being kicked out of school/failure to catch a movie on time).

Don’t even make it an option!!

3. Wait! Don’t Jump!

Drag Me To Hell

I usually don’t watch horror movies because I’m scared of being frightened. I’m totally cool with gory images, but sudden loud sounds and scary shit popping up out of no where definitely make me want to pee in my pants.

I think it’s stupid to pay to scare yourself. What’s so enjoyable about scaring yourself? Who in the right mind does that?

Once in a while, I do stupid things like agreeing to watch a horror movie, like Drag Me To Hell. But I agreed because this movie is directed by the director (Sam Raimi) of my favourite movies (Spider-man), and it has received many positive reviews everywhere.

And yes, it is scary shit. The intense anticipation of horrifying creatures never stop haunting you, and the story just makes you go on guessing what happens next. A very detailed observation of the opening credits actually sort of prepares you of what happens throughout the movie.

I’ve never seen an old lady so violently terrifying, until this show. Go watch and scare yourself. Thankfully you won’t feel the fear after the show ends.

8 / 10

***

Terminator: Salvation

I kind of liked this show. It surprised me with some depth, and really ouch fighting. Definitely a very satisfying experience if you are looking for cool and believable action.

I like how the main character John creates his own strategy and his reasoning behind all those. I like how the director tried to portray the very bleak future humans have. It’s all very manly and you can almost smell the smoke from the explosions in the theatre.

Unfortunately they forgot to include some humour, so the end result is a movie that is dead serious (but still good) and leaving you to ponder a little about humanity and their technology.

This is unlike your regular fight-and-kill-but-not-sure-for-what-reason show.

8 / 10

***

Monsters VS Aliens

Quite  an okay show I would say. There was no real laugh out loud moments, only a few chuckles here and there and that’s it.

I watched the movie in 3D and didn’t find the experience that great. Probably because the screen wasn’t big enough (it’s not good when a 3D object pops out to you and suddenly gets cut of by the corner of the screen).

I thought the concept of 50s B-grade monsters fighting against aliens from outer space was rather promising, but this movie is bogged down by all the spoofs (something Dreamworks almost never want to stop doing) and lame jokes.

At the end of the day this is an ‘okay’ movie for everyone, but I can’t help but feel that they could have done sooo much better than this.

6.5 / 10

***

Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Um.. I can feel that this movie is trying too hard and overdoing it. What was originally very fun and refreshing from 3 years ago is now continued by a sequel no one really expected to see nor looking forward to see.

This time they’ve made it even bigger, with more characters (many of them who are actually annoying rather than likeable or funny) and stronger visual effects. But it’s actually nearly the same thing as the first movie.

More isn’t always better and I definitely prefer the first movie to this one.

6 / 10

Every time I enter a shopping mall in Singapore the first thing that greets me (or in this case, my nose) is a fresh chilling flood of fragrance unique to the place itself that is instantly recognisable. There’s the Esplanade scent, Marina Square scent, Raffles City Shopping Centre scent, etc. Can you tell them apart?

A recent trip down to The Asylum at 22 Ann Siang Road has exposed me to the Real Art of fragrance.

These perfumes, created by Christopher Brosius, contain no alcohol and are what I’ve always been looking for ­— favourite scents and experiences stored in a bottle. It was as if I have finally found a like-minded soul mate who has achieved what I’ve dreamt of for years.

These scents are not merely fragrances that make you go ‘Ah! This smells exactly like what the label say!’, but they also tell stories — stories of people, places, objects, relationships or just a day of someone’s life.

I have never felt so intimate with bottles of perfumes before.

I didn’t know this is possible until I smelled them myself. And Smelling is Believing.

Here’s an excerpt from the CB I Hate Perfume website:

We live because we breathe and with each breath, we smell. This is inevitable. The Sense of Smell is our first and most immediate link to the world around us. It reminds us of what (and who) we love. Smell is perhaps the most complex sense we possess and possibly this is why it is the least understood and most often taken for granted… Scent is the record of your own special life – it’s your experience. My mission is to capture that experience. I bottle it so you can have it, use it and love it whenever you wish. I can give you scent experiences you never dreamed possible. I create perfumes as unique & individual as those who wear them. And I use a great many scents never before thought of as “perfume”. But I know these are just the scents that really hit us where we live – they’re the ones we remember and love. These scents are life.

I highly recommend you to give your nose a treat at The Asylum. (I’m not so sure if other places in Singapore have these perfumes for sale.. =/)

Some of my favourites are Winter, In The Library and I am a Dandelion.

Come to think of it, maybe I should begin a similar project to bottle my own experiences too.

.

Introducing bottled Desmond’s Gas.

Star Trek

I enjoyed this movie.

Mind you, I have never watched any of the Star Trek movies or TV series and I knew nothing about Star Trek prior to catching this movie, not even the trailer. The closest sci-fi movie that I’ve watched and highly enjoyed is the spoof comedy Galaxy Quest (which was released nearly 10 years ago).

A tragic scene in the earlier part of the movie of a doomed crew member made me tear a bit, and I must applaud Michael Giacchino’s efforts for composing such an emotional soundtrack that brings out the sense of wonder, optimism and adventure of Star Trek.

I like how they captured the lens flares, giving the movie a very polished and positive look throughout.

Combining strong story, decent humour, out-of-this-world action and stunning visuals, if you declined to watch this movie just because it’s sci-fi, you’ve missed out a lot.

9 / 10

***

Angels & Demons

The previous movie, Da Vinci Code, was so forgettable I can’t remember what the story was about. Perhaps the production team has learnt their lessons and decided to try another movie with Tom Hanks coming back as Robert Langdon in Angels & Demons.

I can’t review this movie properly because I didn’t really watch the whole thing — I fell asleep a few times (due to sleepiness).

What puzzles me is, if an assassin wants to kill a few people, why does he have to deliberately follow a pattern and leave behind clues for a professor to solve? Is he hoping to get caught?

5 / 10

• Many people around me are turning 21 (and no, we don’t magically ‘turn’ into adults like that), and 21st birthday celebrations become an almost weekly affair
• A lot of local and foreign artistes around my age have ‘made it’ and are already idols of millions of fans everywhere
• Nearly half of my friends already know how to drive and it’s gonna take some time for me to get used to, instead of being half-horrified when they offer a ride =O
• Many of my friends have proper ‘grown-up’ jobs
• I’m expected to be treated as an adult (I didn’t ask for it) and supposed to behave and think like a mature person
• My parents are slowly starting to exchange duties with me (I will start paying more bills.. Take care of them.. Bring them around..)

Soon, everyone will be working more than they realise. Some of us might be working towards a dream/goal, while some of us are probably just trying to earn enough money to feed ourselves so that we can make more money.

Friends will start marrying and wedding dinners can be a great excuse for class gatherings. Then we all start having babies and become parents ourselves. Ex-classmates who used to get scolded by our ex-teachers start to scold their own kids in exactly the same manner.

Years later, eventually some of us might lose contact, and only meeting up during some of our parents’ funerals (I know death is a topic we all tend to avoid, but it’s inevitable isn’t it?).

During that time, how many of us would have achieved what we want in life? And how many of us would have reached the destination we’ve been trying to get to for a whole lifetime and discover we don’t really want to be there? (quote from Mike Gayle)

Even more years later, when we grow very old, I wonder how it feels to see each and every one of my friends departing forever. Old friends, who used to talk to me a lot and went shopping with me, lie motionless in coffins they didn’t buy from their shopping trips. Will I regret for not spending enough time with them? Will I find myself wanting to tell them things I should have said decades ago?

What if I die before everyone else?

It’s quite interesting (a little scary too) to discover how my whole life can be briefly summarised into those short paragraphs above. But life is short. Obviously I have left out many other fun and juicy parts about life but my point is… I really treasure my close friends around me a lot. I feel like I can do anything (*in desperate situations where ‘anything’ is absolutely necessary) for them.

Every now and then when I am given off days from work, I cherish the free time to bits. Nothing beats sitting down on a bench with a close friend to do people-watching in town and talk about nothing in particular, while the rest of the world around you is busy rushing through time to meet deadlines and make money. It feels good to slow down, think and listen to your inner voice.

I hope I don’t forget to ask myself this question once in a while: Now.. Is this what I want?

Movie Reviews!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The sight of Gambit (looks like Johnny Depp in the poster) in the movie trailer got me really excited about it, because I’ve always wondered how he will look in a live action movie. Oh wait, this is the Wolverine movie we’re talking about.

It’s quite a disappointment because the filmmakers’ efforts in trying to tell us how the character Wolverine came about just didn’t work for me. It was overflowing with cheesiness. It’s the same old revenge formula and good-guy-will-always-be-good-guy-no-matter-what theory. Some of the visual effects looked so out-of-place and fake they distracted me.

Fortunately there were some decent fighting scenes and nice explosion sequences, as shown in the movie trailer. The humour helped save the show from mediocrity too.

6.5 / 10

***

17 Again

This is a decent comedy about love and life. It tries to remind you that you should not give up on your dreams so that you won’t regret about it later in life and hope to be 17 again.

The concept of the movie is really nothing new, and Zac Efron playing basketball is nothing new too. It looks like an excuse for his fans to watch him on screen again. The funniest bits, however, did not come from this eye-candy, but from his co-star Thomas Lennon, who totally stole the show with his hilarious performance with Melora Hardin.

6.5 / 10

***

Handsome Suit

Everyone should have known that physical appearance isn’t everything and that inner beauty is what truly matters at the end of the day. So what if we need a reminder that lasts 2 hours? Here comes trying-to-be-funny Handsome Suit.

This is like Japan’s answer to Korea’s 200 Pounds Beauty 2 years ago. What this movie tries to sell is the song ‘My Revolution’ and all the exaggerated visual humour scattered every corner.

As I follow the main character’s double life along the story, I can’t help but symphathise with him. Sometimes, when we try too hard to become someone we are not, are we slowly losing ourselves and making our lives difficult? This might be light-hearted entertainment, but it has managed to make me reflect a little and ask myself questions during the show. “Will I do the same if I were him?” “Will I be happy like this?”

7.5 / 10

***

Taken

Action-packed from the beginning til the end, this show will definitely keep you at the edge of your seat.

This movie is about a man who runs around France trying to save his daughter, and woot.. this man can really fight! Even though the plot is pretty simple and thin, I quickly forgot about it because every scene presented a new challenge to the man and I always couldn’t wait to see how he overcame them using either his brain or body.

Directed by the director of District 13, people who liked that show will probably like this one too. Get ready for action and nothing else!

8 / 10

***

School Days with a Pig

Filmed in documentary style, this movie entertains very little but provokes you to think about killing animals for food.

When you raise a pig and establish a bond with it for many months, will you be able to kill it for dinner at the end of a year, while it’s still young and tender? Is it a bad thing to kill for our own needs to survive? Why do people feel that by killing and consuming an animal fully, they are respecting and being grateful for the animal that died?

Moral questions and more moral questions. The movie doesn’t try to provide nor judge an answer (even though it still did) but tries to offer various perspectives on an issue. Not a very ‘movie’ movie, but still quite worth watching, if you care about animals.

8 / 10

1. Max Brenner’s Melting Marshmallow Crêpe

I’ve always liked desserts that involve fusion of the hot and cold (eg: Dark Devotion from TCC, which combines hot chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream). Fusions like that are what I call heavenly fusion, because they are so orgasmically satisfying that they send you to both the highest and lowest temperatures at the same time!

Here we have a thin crêpe filled with nearly overflowing warm melted marshmallow, top that with the cooling vanilla ice-cream, sweet chocolate sauce, crunchy chocolate bits, fresh slightly sour strawberries and *bonus!!* chewy gummy bears!

I would call this heavenly fusion plus, or mega heavenly fusion. All the different well-balanced ingredients complement each other in terms of taste and it’s never too chocolatey.

This is your admission ticket to paradise.

$10 + 17% service charge and gst.

Max Brenner
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-06/08

2. Ambush’s Japanese Baby Scallops with Cream Fish Roe Sauce Pasta

So how is this another mode of transport to heaven? Here’s 3 reasons:

i) Generous amount of fresh bouncy baby scallops. Chewing these with your eyes closed sends you straight into the Sea of Japan, where the gentle waves nudge and massage you in all directions. You instantly forget that you have to go back to work/school on Monday.

ii) White creamy gravy, which tastes good and isn’t too thick like those that make you sick after awhile. You might want to lick the bowl if you see any leftover.

iii) Pop pop pop! The very tiny fish roe burstin’ your mouth upon biting make the chewing experience even more exciting!

I wasn’t a fan of cream-based pasta until I met this.

Now I’m not only a fan, I’m a convert. *bows*

$11 + no extra charges

Ambush
391A Orchard Road
#B2-04 Ngee Ann City Tower A

3. Aloy Thai’s Fresh Mango with Sticky Rice & Coconut Cream

Here we have 2 types of sweetness: The lusciousness and refreshingness of the mango, and the subtleness and fragrance of the sticky rice & coconut cream.

Chewing the mango slices feels like biting cucumber slices. Every single chew unleashes the strong delicious flavour of the juicy mango, which is the very hydration you need when you have it with the coconut cream flavoured sticky glutinous rice.

Eat both together and you have the best of both worlds.

$3 + no extra charges

Aloy Thai
100 Beach Road
#01-39/40 Shaw Tower
(closed on Public Holidays, Sunday and last Saturday of the month)

4. Aloy Thai’s Traditional Thai Iced Milk Tea

This is the milk tea that will put all local coffeeshops’ iced milk tea to shame. It is so rich (but not extremely sweet) in Thai flavour that even the large amount of ice cannot dilute and kill it. Even after all the ice have melted the sweetness remains with no noticeable drop in quality.

Every sip of the tea delivers 100% condensed milk filled sweetness with a hint of the authentic Cha Yen after taste.

Savour this milk tea with your eyes closed and you are in Thailand.

$1.30 + no extra charges

Aloy Thai
100 Beach Road
#01-39/40 Shaw Tower
(closed on Public Holidays, Sunday and last Saturday of the month)

5. N&B Snack’s Beancurd and Rice Dumplings

The goodness of rice dumplings thrown into warm beancurd oozing with strong soya bean flavour is like a dream come true to me.

Every piece of beancurd is soft, silky and smooth, and they dissolve/melt with warmth in your mouth, without those powdery residue which some low quality beancurd often leave behind.

Stirring the wonderful dessert further and you might be surprised to find not only 3… not 4 but 5 generous balls of rice dumplings with peanut fillings!

It’s so soft and good you’ll probably hate yourself.

$3 + no extra charges

N & B Snacks Fresh Soya Bean Puffs Pies
Blk 267  Serangoon Ave 3 #01-37

(find other outlet addresses here)

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I honestly think it was my mistake to watch this movie. =(

With an ordinary story (girl goes shopping, girl learns that too much shopping is bad, girl meets guy, happy ending) and hardly any humour, I wondered what’s the purpose of watching it.

There are definitely better chick flicks than this.

3 / 10

***

Departures

The movie is not as serious as the poster looks, and is quite a funny movie for the first half portion with well meaning humour (not slapstick). It turns into a powerful drama towards the end of the show.

This movie nearly made me want to be a professional embalmer/casketer for a few minutes. It’s one of the professions that people often frown upon and no one really wants to take up. Departures has made me look at these impressive people in a different light, and with greater respect.

Impressive performances by Masahiro Motoki and Ryoko Hirosue, an entertaining and meaningful story about life and death, as well as excellent cello dominated soundtrack totally made the movie ticket price I paid for worth it.

9 / 10

***

Detroit Metal City

An extremely crazy show from start to finish, this show is so unbelievably wacky you’ll laugh.

This movie is about pursuing your dreams and about masks we all wear. Nice light hearted show.

7 / 10

***

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

This movie is filled with slapstick and offensive jokes (which are not very funny actually) in an attempt to distract you from the cliche story.

But a cliche story is a cliche story.

All in all, it’s another turn-your-brain-off movie that nearly manages to entertain, but ends up burning your 2 hours away.

5 / 10

It took us 20 years to have our first karaoke session together as a family with just the three of us on last Sunday. It felt strange at first but that feeling evaporated quickly. This karaoke outing is the part of my Dad’s-Birthday-Celebration Package™, as well as my Family Bonding Project™ since we spend a lot less time with each other nowadays due to our jobs and work.

I was pleasantly surprised by K Box’s amazingly huge database of songs, which include songs old enough to be my uncle or even granduncle if they are humans. I’m also very pleased with my knowledge of those oldies from my dad’s time. Heh. =P

Some songs are so old they seemed to lag the system heavily and produced jittery images and sound when they were being played. I half expected the machine to burst into flames but of course it didn’t.

You know sometimes in life there are certain moments that you will never forget for the rest of your life? These brief moments probably last for a few seconds but they form strong building blocks of precious memories that define your life.

The Moment of yesterday? It’s definitely the time when the three of us sang 东方之珠 (Dong Fang Zhi Zhu, which means Pearl of the East.) together. It’s one of my favourite songs when I was very small.