Dear is back - Happy!
Completed RT- IPPT today, slightly improved on my running time - Happy!
Whole body aching after IPPT - SHAG!!
Had a nice dinner, bah chor mee + satay + rojak - Fulfillment!! Guilty at the same time!!
Managed to clear all my emails yesterday - Happy!!
Just realised while I cleared my work yesterday, I actually missed a wedding dinner of someone impt to me - super super sad and guilty!!
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 160 days left
Lost 4kg and used 50 days
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
A night before returning to my real world
Having spend almost a week here, i've learnt..... a lot really.. first and foremost i have to say this wasnt what i expected. I had expected much more work to be done, laborious stuff that should be done on missionary trips. But no, this was a family visit in an unfamiliar place. We were well taken care of and we had lots of play time with the nieces.
While we spent most of our time within the house compound and garden, it was easy to realise that we are not in our element. It would have been difficult for us to survive here. The people here don't look like the usually indons we are used to, they were aborigines. They looked more african than asian, and like seeing any race for the first time. They all looked the same!!! It was tough to tell one from the other. We dare not try to talk to anyone either, they had this fierce look in their eyes.
There seemed to be some familiar type of indon faces as well, but those were not the majority. There were also a few chinese. While the general feel is that the place is full of people who are poor and made living of simple crafts and small crops. There also seems to be people are are very rich, huge house on hilltops, large 4-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles.
There are no mega malls here, as far as shopping centres, the largest was one at Jayapura, the main city of the province. It consists of a pizza hut, KFC and a supermarket. Supermarkets always make me feel at home, no matter what country i'm in. Seeing a supermarket always makes me feel i can survive in that place. Much like the same feeling i had when I saw walmart for the first time in US. SHIOK...
Most of the time spent here was within the house, the house was huge by singapore standards but really quite cheap. I had a lot of time reliving my childhood with the kids. Playdoh, make-believe, lego, watching cartoons. The rest of the time I was indulging in my storybook. 900pages of it, and i've just finished it in less than 6 days!! That felt like running through 25 episodes of CSI or something and I just wanna get home and start on my next book. That would have to wait.
Back home, i know what awaits. Work and more work. RT as well. I hope I have rested enough over this trip to be recharged for the final dash of the year. This is supposed to be a lull period for the public sector, but i do have a few need-to-dos on my list.
While we spent most of our time within the house compound and garden, it was easy to realise that we are not in our element. It would have been difficult for us to survive here. The people here don't look like the usually indons we are used to, they were aborigines. They looked more african than asian, and like seeing any race for the first time. They all looked the same!!! It was tough to tell one from the other. We dare not try to talk to anyone either, they had this fierce look in their eyes.
There seemed to be some familiar type of indon faces as well, but those were not the majority. There were also a few chinese. While the general feel is that the place is full of people who are poor and made living of simple crafts and small crops. There also seems to be people are are very rich, huge house on hilltops, large 4-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles.
There are no mega malls here, as far as shopping centres, the largest was one at Jayapura, the main city of the province. It consists of a pizza hut, KFC and a supermarket. Supermarkets always make me feel at home, no matter what country i'm in. Seeing a supermarket always makes me feel i can survive in that place. Much like the same feeling i had when I saw walmart for the first time in US. SHIOK...
Most of the time spent here was within the house, the house was huge by singapore standards but really quite cheap. I had a lot of time reliving my childhood with the kids. Playdoh, make-believe, lego, watching cartoons. The rest of the time I was indulging in my storybook. 900pages of it, and i've just finished it in less than 6 days!! That felt like running through 25 episodes of CSI or something and I just wanna get home and start on my next book. That would have to wait.
Back home, i know what awaits. Work and more work. RT as well. I hope I have rested enough over this trip to be recharged for the final dash of the year. This is supposed to be a lull period for the public sector, but i do have a few need-to-dos on my list.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
In Unfamiliar Land
Arrived in West Pupua/Irian Jaya today. It's a different place to me in. culture shock is the word. I have no idea how to communicate with them. It's going to be a tough week ahead if we are to try to explore around here. Our main purpose here is to visit yanli's nieces. They are super excited to see us, even more excited when they see all the new books and gifts they are getting. The stuff we have to lug over is super heavy, but we somehow managed. Phew.
Thanks to the attacks on the cyber world recently. This blog had actually disappeared for a short while. That kindda got me lost for a while. I have not saved the blogs for this year and it would be super sad if I had lost all those records. This is where I record part of my memories and I would very much like to have them available. So it's time to back up again!! :)
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 172 days left
Lost 4kg and used 38 days
Thanks to the attacks on the cyber world recently. This blog had actually disappeared for a short while. That kindda got me lost for a while. I have not saved the blogs for this year and it would be super sad if I had lost all those records. This is where I record part of my memories and I would very much like to have them available. So it's time to back up again!! :)
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 172 days left
Lost 4kg and used 38 days
Monday, November 29, 2010
Changing Times
Last week had been another one of those busy weeks. But bonus has been announced, it's good, but mine will still be pro-rated. Quite sore about that but it's still better than nothing. That also meant that i'll getting my first bonus ever since starting work. sound cool.. looking forward to it.
Results for HDB balloting was out.. and the results sucks!! my application was beyond the 300% mark for the queue number, thus it was deemed as an unsuccessful application. That really sucked when they kept sending letters in november informing that my results would be out in november. I really liked that place!! AARRGGHH!!! Now we just have to wait again for a suitable BTO to appear or hope that there are leftover flats offered for this location soon...
Watched a few movies this week, cos it's been awhile since I catch up with the movies. I'm still lagging behind. there are still movies i've not watch but at least i'm trying to catch up with the popular ones. Watched "Harry Potter" and "Easy A" over the week. I like this Harry Potter, it's dark and somewhat gloomy and much more adult minded then the earlier versions. After reading the final book, I already knew that this last installment is more about death than anything else. I think that part of the book was very well done in the movie. Super looking forward to the final movie and perhaps a movie marathon just before the end.
Easy A is a well done movie. Funny, lame but really sweet in the end. Well recommended too.
My Remedial Training has begun for this year. Met guoping at the training session. I was quite surprised he has to do RT too.. But at least now there's someone I know to go training with me. We did 1 good thing today, we change our RT schedule to Sunday mornings with Tues evening. That schedule make some of my upcoming events easy to manage, so i'm actually happy about that!! :)
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 184 days left
Lost 3kg and used 26 days
Results for HDB balloting was out.. and the results sucks!! my application was beyond the 300% mark for the queue number, thus it was deemed as an unsuccessful application. That really sucked when they kept sending letters in november informing that my results would be out in november. I really liked that place!! AARRGGHH!!! Now we just have to wait again for a suitable BTO to appear or hope that there are leftover flats offered for this location soon...
Watched a few movies this week, cos it's been awhile since I catch up with the movies. I'm still lagging behind. there are still movies i've not watch but at least i'm trying to catch up with the popular ones. Watched "Harry Potter" and "Easy A" over the week. I like this Harry Potter, it's dark and somewhat gloomy and much more adult minded then the earlier versions. After reading the final book, I already knew that this last installment is more about death than anything else. I think that part of the book was very well done in the movie. Super looking forward to the final movie and perhaps a movie marathon just before the end.
Easy A is a well done movie. Funny, lame but really sweet in the end. Well recommended too.
My Remedial Training has begun for this year. Met guoping at the training session. I was quite surprised he has to do RT too.. But at least now there's someone I know to go training with me. We did 1 good thing today, we change our RT schedule to Sunday mornings with Tues evening. That schedule make some of my upcoming events easy to manage, so i'm actually happy about that!! :)
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 184 days left
Lost 3kg and used 26 days
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Kaboom!!!
I finally managed to begin washing by bicycle. I made good progress and the bike wash pretty much cleaned. All I needed to do was to fill the tyres and I use it to get back onto the road again. But...
人算不如天算，命运永远不是掌握在自己手中。乐极生悲，喜极成泣。。。
my tyre "pong chiek"!! super depressed.... yet it was not unexpected, cos i believe the rubber tubing inside could have already harden by now. so now i'm going to look for spare tubings.. and also some spray paint.. time for extreme makeover.. muahaha!!
自强不息！！:P
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 193 days left
Lost 3kg and used 17 days
人算不如天算，命运永远不是掌握在自己手中。乐极生悲，喜极成泣。。。
my tyre "pong chiek"!! super depressed.... yet it was not unexpected, cos i believe the rubber tubing inside could have already harden by now. so now i'm going to look for spare tubings.. and also some spray paint.. time for extreme makeover.. muahaha!!
自强不息！！:P
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 193 days left
Lost 3kg and used 17 days
Friday, November 19, 2010
Home Hoping
Closing date for application was last week. I've been waiting anxiously for a positive answer since a few weeks back. It's nail biting i tell you. aarrgghhh.. the best part is that they can still send me letters informing me about having to prepare my supporting documents when i get my balloting queue in Nov last week... it's already Nov!! This week they send me another letter telling me i'm in the first applicants group and results of the ballot will be out in Nov! How many times do they have to tell me that results will be out in Nov?? Especially when it's already Nov!! DuhzZ!!
It has been a busy week, somehow my issues seems to be involving higher level people. That's really stressful, and the multi-layer clearance needed to get to that level make my message so distorted by the time it reaches up there. It weird actually. Everyone does things based on a standard, this standard is supposed to be the same standard but yet everyone can have a different understanding and perception of the standard and that leads to very different results. It like the chinese saying "一种米养百种人“. I believe some people can't understand my analogies but that's how i feel.
My goal for weight loss seems to be hitting a blockade. No volleyball this week. No dosage of exercise. Only maintaining my carbo during lunch only diet. Even though I did take come potato and bee hoon for dinner recently. But the weight is still maintaining. I'll be cleaning up my bike tml. Next week it's time to start using it. Muahahaa.
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 194 days left
Lost 3kg and used 16 days
It has been a busy week, somehow my issues seems to be involving higher level people. That's really stressful, and the multi-layer clearance needed to get to that level make my message so distorted by the time it reaches up there. It weird actually. Everyone does things based on a standard, this standard is supposed to be the same standard but yet everyone can have a different understanding and perception of the standard and that leads to very different results. It like the chinese saying "一种米养百种人“. I believe some people can't understand my analogies but that's how i feel.
My goal for weight loss seems to be hitting a blockade. No volleyball this week. No dosage of exercise. Only maintaining my carbo during lunch only diet. Even though I did take come potato and bee hoon for dinner recently. But the weight is still maintaining. I'll be cleaning up my bike tml. Next week it's time to start using it. Muahahaa.
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 194 days left
Lost 3kg and used 16 days
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My other Prongs of Actions
I'm going to wash and clean up my bike soon. Then i'll be able to cycle to work early in the morning and get some workout done. It might not be a everyday thing to start with, cos I think i'll be drained after doing it the first time. It has been ages since I cycled to somewhere.
The 1 meal carbo per day thing seems to be okay, sustainable for now. However its really hard to find stuff to eat for dinner without carbo.
Today I shocked my office vball mates with my enormous amounts of perspiration. Hah!! I always get that when I start wringing my t-shirt. hahaa.
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 202 days left
Lost 4kg and used 8 days
The 1 meal carbo per day thing seems to be okay, sustainable for now. However its really hard to find stuff to eat for dinner without carbo.
Today I shocked my office vball mates with my enormous amounts of perspiration. Hah!! I always get that when I start wringing my t-shirt. hahaa.
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 202 days left
Lost 4kg and used 8 days
Monday, November 08, 2010
Busy week again
"Busy" seems to be the word popping up most often in my blog recently. There just seems to be too much work going on. Somehow i'm not able to clear the backlog every time i get back into office. It may be normal to have stuff piled up in my line of work. But I cant stand it!!! I want it gone!! I want the backlog cleared!!!! Aarrgghh...
I must find some ways to do things faster, analyse faster and more accurately, reply effectively. THINK FASTER!!!
Perhaps it's being busy at work that some of my weight just suddenly disappeared!! I have no idea how it left but i hope it stays away. haha..
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 203 days left
Lost 3kg and used 7 days
I must find some ways to do things faster, analyse faster and more accurately, reply effectively. THINK FASTER!!!
Perhaps it's being busy at work that some of my weight just suddenly disappeared!! I have no idea how it left but i hope it stays away. haha..
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 203 days left
Lost 3kg and used 7 days
Monday, November 01, 2010
A new Beginning....
I have a huge backlog of movie which I should write a review about. But I think i'm going to skip them. From now on, i'll only review movies that are really bad or good and really compel me to do it. Instead i'll be trying to embark on a project on myself to lose weight. I'll also try to update my blog regularly to document this journey i'm embarking on. It's going to be pretty tough. It's going to take a lot of discipline. I'll do good with lots of encouragement along the way.
So i'm soliciting encouragements during this project of mine.
So i'm soliciting encouragements during this project of mine.
My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 109kg with 210 days left
Lost 0kg and used 0 days
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Busy Busy!!
I'm so busy recently, i'm always so tired when i get back home. So many things I want to blog about yet no energy to do so. This weekend, i'll try to catch up as much as I can!!!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Movie Weekend!! Resident Evil - Afterlife (3D) & Grown Ups
I've been waiting for Resident Evil - Afterlife ever since I watched the last installment. I was totally looking forward to an enormous clone war brought forth by the army of Alice clones. Especially if they release their super powers all at once!! The start of the movie was promising as at was like I expected, an army of Alices going up against the Umbrella Corp, somehow the clones are easier to kill compared to the original Alice. They got eliminated. Damn Sad!! Double Sad when Alice lost her powers too. :(
The rest of the movie were more or less typical Resident Evil action minus super powers. There's also a huge hint for a sequel, i hope it gets on screen soon before Milla Jovovich gets old for this. The 3D effects were, not bad but it's also a case of having 3D for the sake of having it only. They don't need to be there.
______________________
I've trying to catch Grown Ups for the past few weeks and for 1 reason or another I kept missing the chance to watch it. Well finally I caught it and I liked it alot! It's Adam Sandler style comedy at it's best. Really funny and apt jokes, although some are just lame and sick. It's really enjoyable and really relaxing movie to watch. And like always there's always a moral of the story included. This time it's simple enough. Just see the quotes below.
Stressed out Singaporeans out there!! Watch it!!
Spikefire ratings:
Resident Evil - Afterlife (3D)
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Resident Evil - Afterlife
This movie is never about the lines.... hahaaa.
Grown Ups
Coach: Today's game, all of you played your best. Play exactly the way we wanted to and when the buzzer sounded, we were champions. Now, I want you all to live your life like how you played the game today. So when that final buzzer of life sounds.. you have no regrets.
________
Salma Hayek: How did you miss that last shot? You never miss that shot.
Adam Sandler: Sometimes Lennys have to learn to lose while others learn to win.
_______
watch the movie for the jokes.
Resident Evil Official Website
Grown ups Official Website
Pictures
The rest of the movie were more or less typical Resident Evil action minus super powers. There's also a huge hint for a sequel, i hope it gets on screen soon before Milla Jovovich gets old for this. The 3D effects were, not bad but it's also a case of having 3D for the sake of having it only. They don't need to be there.
______________________
I've trying to catch Grown Ups for the past few weeks and for 1 reason or another I kept missing the chance to watch it. Well finally I caught it and I liked it alot! It's Adam Sandler style comedy at it's best. Really funny and apt jokes, although some are just lame and sick. It's really enjoyable and really relaxing movie to watch. And like always there's always a moral of the story included. This time it's simple enough. Just see the quotes below.
Stressed out Singaporeans out there!! Watch it!!
Spikefire ratings:
Resident Evil - Afterlife (3D)
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Grown Ups
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Resident Evil - Afterlife
This movie is never about the lines.... hahaaa.
Grown Ups
Coach: Today's game, all of you played your best. Play exactly the way we wanted to and when the buzzer sounded, we were champions. Now, I want you all to live your life like how you played the game today. So when that final buzzer of life sounds.. you have no regrets.
________
Salma Hayek: How did you miss that last shot? You never miss that shot.
Adam Sandler: Sometimes Lennys have to learn to lose while others learn to win.
_______
watch the movie for the jokes.
Resident Evil Official Website
Grown ups Official Website
Pictures
Thursday, September 09, 2010
4 Months In
It's been 4 months since i started here. Daily processes are not much of a problem any more, but it seems most of the things i'm getting everyday falls outside the norm and there's also this void in knowledge i need to fill. I'd like to work with all the information and knowledge already present in my head. Yet sometimes I feel my head is filled up with so much information, it takes me forever to dig out the information i wanna use at critical moments. I think that makes me look kindda dum sometimes.
I personally feel there are flaws in the way some things works, most others have gotten used to it. But here's the question, do i get use to it? or should I shake things up a little?
How do you differentiate if you are over loaded or being slow in work?? Depends on output ya?? I think I'm producing output all the time, but somehow things are still piling up. I don't think i'm overloaded, but i do think i need more time.
But in a nutshell, I think I'm very tired!!
This weekend I'm going RELAX!!!!!!!
I personally feel there are flaws in the way some things works, most others have gotten used to it. But here's the question, do i get use to it? or should I shake things up a little?
How do you differentiate if you are over loaded or being slow in work?? Depends on output ya?? I think I'm producing output all the time, but somehow things are still piling up. I don't think i'm overloaded, but i do think i need more time.
But in a nutshell, I think I'm very tired!!
This weekend I'm going RELAX!!!!!!!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Drained
Been so busy at work, have so little time to rest. So many things to do at home as well. Small things that need to be taken care of daily are just taking up so much time!!
I've watched a few movies since the last post and I still have no time to post about them. BUSY BUSY!!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Inception
Watched @ Eng Wah Suntec City
It's about dreams. It's actually like matrix. It's like a bridge that makes matrix seems much more realistic and possibly achievable. It's scary and yet so worth looking forward to. Paradox is apparent thru-out the movie. But it's a good show to watch. Make your brains think and think. Even though it's a movie that has a beginning and an end, somehow there's so many part of the movie which allows for speculation. So much areas left for imagination and interpretation.
Just think about it. Look at every detail of the movie from a different angle and you can find that the movie could have been telling a totally different story. I think that's what makes it magnificent!!! You know what's the best part? I only thought about this point NOW!!! almost 6hrs after watching the movie. How interesting is that!?
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Cobb: What is the most resilient parasite in the world? An idea. Once an idea gets into your head, you can never get rid of it. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all rules.
Official Website
Pictures
It's about dreams. It's actually like matrix. It's like a bridge that makes matrix seems much more realistic and possibly achievable. It's scary and yet so worth looking forward to. Paradox is apparent thru-out the movie. But it's a good show to watch. Make your brains think and think. Even though it's a movie that has a beginning and an end, somehow there's so many part of the movie which allows for speculation. So much areas left for imagination and interpretation.
Just think about it. Look at every detail of the movie from a different angle and you can find that the movie could have been telling a totally different story. I think that's what makes it magnificent!!! You know what's the best part? I only thought about this point NOW!!! almost 6hrs after watching the movie. How interesting is that!?
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Cobb: What is the most resilient parasite in the world? An idea. Once an idea gets into your head, you can never get rid of it. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all rules.
Official Website
Pictures
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Chloe
Watched @ The Cathay
It started off at a straight forward movie where wife thinks husband is cheating on her. So she turns to a social escort to get her to test her husband out. Somehow the results turn out unexpected. Interesting twist to the story. Not a mainstream movie for sure. But i'll watch it just for Amanda Seyfried at least. :P
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Catherine Stewart: Did you find that waitress sexy?
David Stewart: Which one?
Catherine Stewart: The one you were flirting with.
David Stewart: Oh come on, I was being friendly.
Pictures
It started off at a straight forward movie where wife thinks husband is cheating on her. So she turns to a social escort to get her to test her husband out. Somehow the results turn out unexpected. Interesting twist to the story. Not a mainstream movie for sure. But i'll watch it just for Amanda Seyfried at least. :P
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Catherine Stewart: Did you find that waitress sexy?
David Stewart: Which one?
Catherine Stewart: The one you were flirting with.
David Stewart: Oh come on, I was being friendly.
Pictures
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Watched @ GVmax
3rd installment of the twilight saga. The problem about these sagas and trilogies or what not. It makes watching the movie feel like watch an episode of a serial. It just feels wrong!! I want a start, build up, climax, and conclusions.. but when in comes like this. There's no end to look forward to, cos we know it doesnt end here and u have to look forward to the next episode. AARRGGGhhh!!! We are being led on!! oh well.... that's life...
anyway, the movie's not bad.. met the usual expectations. it's as it was before, jus like a another episode of the series. But I wanna add, I like ALICE more than bella! hahaa..
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie Swan: What's going on?
Jacob Black: [pause] I kissed Bella.
[pause]
Jacob Black: And she broke her hand.
[pause]
Jacob Black: Punching my face.
[pause]
Jacob Black: It was a complete misunderstanding.
Official Website
Pictures
3rd installment of the twilight saga. The problem about these sagas and trilogies or what not. It makes watching the movie feel like watch an episode of a serial. It just feels wrong!! I want a start, build up, climax, and conclusions.. but when in comes like this. There's no end to look forward to, cos we know it doesnt end here and u have to look forward to the next episode. AARRGGGhhh!!! We are being led on!! oh well.... that's life...
anyway, the movie's not bad.. met the usual expectations. it's as it was before, jus like a another episode of the series. But I wanna add, I like ALICE more than bella! hahaa..
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie Swan: What's going on?
Jacob Black: [pause] I kissed Bella.
[pause]
Jacob Black: And she broke her hand.
[pause]
Jacob Black: Punching my face.
[pause]
Jacob Black: It was a complete misunderstanding.
Official Website
Pictures
Knight and Day
Watched @ Cathay Downtown East
Comedic action thriller which will leave you very lost for the most of the movie. BUT!! this is not the kind of movie you watch for the story line. Watch it for the comedy, watch it to be disgusted how cool tom cruise can still act like. Oh not to mention the camera angles which have to be constantly adjusted to make him look like he's taller than Diaz. Put aside the vague plot and pointless twists, it's actually entertaining!! Muahahaa...
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Milner: [from trailer] Some people are gonna come looking for you now.
June Havens: Why?
Milner: They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing.
June Havens: I'm already convinced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June Havens: [from trailer] The pilots are dead!
Milner: Yeah, they've been shot.
June Havens: By who?
Milner: By me. No, actually, I shot the first pilot then he accidentally shot the second pilot. It's just one of those things.
Official Website
Pictures
Comedic action thriller which will leave you very lost for the most of the movie. BUT!! this is not the kind of movie you watch for the story line. Watch it for the comedy, watch it to be disgusted how cool tom cruise can still act like. Oh not to mention the camera angles which have to be constantly adjusted to make him look like he's taller than Diaz. Put aside the vague plot and pointless twists, it's actually entertaining!! Muahahaa...
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Milner: [from trailer] Some people are gonna come looking for you now.
June Havens: Why?
Milner: They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing.
June Havens: I'm already convinced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June Havens: [from trailer] The pilots are dead!
Milner: Yeah, they've been shot.
June Havens: By who?
Milner: By me. No, actually, I shot the first pilot then he accidentally shot the second pilot. It's just one of those things.
Official Website
Pictures
Monday, June 21, 2010
Blending In
It's been more than a month since I last said something here about me. Work has been busy after the 1st 2 weeks. I think i'm working with a great bunch of people who are very experienced with their work and I'm learning loads from them everyday. I try as much as i could to ask and learn, listen and absorb, but I wonder how long I can last before I get sick of it. Well, at least for now I think i'm doing okay.
I'm still trying to get use to having less time to myself. With work taking up the bulk of time everyday, there's really not much time left to do my own stuff and also keep time to rest. This lack of rest might be slowly building up in me, as everyday i feel a little more tired than the previous.
So far I believe i still made the right choice to be a traffic engineer. I'm putting to use what i've learn in school. That is actually something i'm very happy about. Many people do not use the knowledge they acquired in uni and start everything anew with a different and unrelated job. I'm glad where I am and happy to be able to understand my job better than a usual civil engineer.
I'm still trying to get use to having less time to myself. With work taking up the bulk of time everyday, there's really not much time left to do my own stuff and also keep time to rest. This lack of rest might be slowly building up in me, as everyday i feel a little more tired than the previous.
So far I believe i still made the right choice to be a traffic engineer. I'm putting to use what i've learn in school. That is actually something i'm very happy about. Many people do not use the knowledge they acquired in uni and start everything anew with a different and unrelated job. I'm glad where I am and happy to be able to understand my job better than a usual civil engineer.
Karate Kid
Watched @ The Cathay
Re-make of the old Karate Kid but with many twists. White kids becomes black, karate becomes kung fu, Japan becomes China. Well that just show how much world perception has changed. Japan used to be the up and coming nation with all the high tech stuff and super efficient economy, but my china is the new dragon, everything is about china.
There's quite a bit of chinese propaganda in the movie. The movies seems to put the country in a pretty good light. It's nice to know that US movies are trying to change the image of china being backward and old.
The action sequences in the show are pretty tight. Perhaps that's Jackie Chan's credit. His trade mark funny actions are still there but much less intensity. Age played a pretty big part, his character ages too.
This is a good movie to watch. Entertaining and Yu Rong Guang is always good at being the villian. haha.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Dre Parker: You don't know the rules?
Mr. Han: Simple. You hit him, don't let him hit you.
Official Website
Pictures
Re-make of the old Karate Kid but with many twists. White kids becomes black, karate becomes kung fu, Japan becomes China. Well that just show how much world perception has changed. Japan used to be the up and coming nation with all the high tech stuff and super efficient economy, but my china is the new dragon, everything is about china.
There's quite a bit of chinese propaganda in the movie. The movies seems to put the country in a pretty good light. It's nice to know that US movies are trying to change the image of china being backward and old.
The action sequences in the show are pretty tight. Perhaps that's Jackie Chan's credit. His trade mark funny actions are still there but much less intensity. Age played a pretty big part, his character ages too.
This is a good movie to watch. Entertaining and Yu Rong Guang is always good at being the villian. haha.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Dre Parker: You don't know the rules?
Mr. Han: Simple. You hit him, don't let him hit you.
Official Website
Pictures
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time
Watched @ Cathay Downtown East
This movie is adapted from a very popular video game. A classic video games makes it to the big screen once again. I loved the parkour like jumping actions thru-out the movie, those are exactly the type of actions players of the prince of persia games hopes to achieve. Super cool.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
This movie is adapted from a very popular video game. A classic video games makes it to the big screen once again. I loved the parkour like jumping actions thru-out the movie, those are exactly the type of actions players of the prince of persia games hopes to achieve. Super cool.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Backup Plan
Watched @ GV Marina
Romantic comedy starring J Lo, it's been awhile since seeing her on the big screen. It's good entertainment. Plot is nice and catchy with good laughs thru out the show. highly recommended for a good time.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Romantic comedy starring J Lo, it's been awhile since seeing her on the big screen. It's good entertainment. Plot is nice and catchy with good laughs thru out the show. highly recommended for a good time.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Iron Man 2
Sequel to the 1st Ironman movie, not much link between the 2 other than the characters. Plot wise it's quite simple. But it's the high tech gizmos and gadgets that's most captivating. Just the suitcase size ironman suit? Super cool!!
Watch it for the action, nothing more could be asked abt the acting. it's not an arts film, it's action!!
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Ivan Vanko: If you could make God bleed, people will cease to believe in Him. There will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come.
[looks at Stark]
Ivan Vanko: All I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you...
Official Website
Pictures
Watch it for the action, nothing more could be asked abt the acting. it's not an arts film, it's action!!
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Ivan Vanko: If you could make God bleed, people will cease to believe in Him. There will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come.
[looks at Stark]
Ivan Vanko: All I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you...
Tony Stark: I'm not saying I'm responsible for this country's longest run of uninterrupted peace in 35 years! I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified! I'm not saying Uncle Sam can kick back on a long chair, sipping on an ice tea, because I haven't come across anyone man enough to face me on my best day!
Official Website
Pictures
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
1st week over
After one week of working life, i think i've found some sort of rhythm. It's not that scary as compared to the first day. I'm learning to absorb information with more relevance, able to make more sense out of them. But i'm still slightly cautious when taking in information, fearing that I might miss out something important or forget something really soon. I feel this is going to be a good experience.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Day 1 in Kingdom of Sg Roads
First day jitters are still hanging around even though i think i had a pretty decent first day. 1st half of the day was some not-so-useful induction program, which i struggled to stay awake for.
When I reported to my department i realise many were on leave due to mayday off-in-lieu. That included my supervisor which left me kindda like a headless fly, but the good thing was i was among a bunch of friendly and funny people. Especially my buddy, total joker. Totally made me less stressed up, much more relax.
It was tough surviving the first day when there was basically nothing for me to do except to clean up my table & cubicle. Tough to act busy when there's really nothing for me to act on. All that was cos my manager not around to boss me around, hope it will be better on my 2nd day when he's back.
Gimme work!! :P
But as my buddy would say, enjoy your holiday while u can.... hahaha...
When I reported to my department i realise many were on leave due to mayday off-in-lieu. That included my supervisor which left me kindda like a headless fly, but the good thing was i was among a bunch of friendly and funny people. Especially my buddy, total joker. Totally made me less stressed up, much more relax.
It was tough surviving the first day when there was basically nothing for me to do except to clean up my table & cubicle. Tough to act busy when there's really nothing for me to act on. All that was cos my manager not around to boss me around, hope it will be better on my 2nd day when he's back.
Gimme work!! :P
But as my buddy would say, enjoy your holiday while u can.... hahaha...
Monday, May 03, 2010
Butterflies
i'll be starting my 1st real job in a few hours. I'm feeling so so so nervous, excited, anxious, frightened, terrified... so many different feelings of horror all in my chest now.. I feel like pressure on my chest is so strong, it's constricting me to death, yet at the same time I feel like my lungs and other internal organs are going to expand and blow up! worst still, I feel so much gas in my stomach, I've been burping out gas for the past hour or so. That must be the work of the butterflies in my stomach, and perhaps the work of the butterflies in their stomachs too!!
I'm really looking forward to a new stability in my life, one with a good regular income so that I can start looking at plans for the future. Yet i'm afraid that the requirements and expectations to fulfill at such a position is beyond my capabilities. Suddenly i've lost confidence in all i've learnt in uni. Seriously, what Have I learnt in uni? I would be at lost if you asked me that qn.
Breathe!!
One Step at a time!!
Eventually, you walk out of the fog and see the world in a clearer picture....
Breathe!!
I'm really looking forward to a new stability in my life, one with a good regular income so that I can start looking at plans for the future. Yet i'm afraid that the requirements and expectations to fulfill at such a position is beyond my capabilities. Suddenly i've lost confidence in all i've learnt in uni. Seriously, what Have I learnt in uni? I would be at lost if you asked me that qn.
Breathe!!
One Step at a time!!
Eventually, you walk out of the fog and see the world in a clearer picture....
Breathe!!
Ip Man 2
Watched @ GV Marina Sq
Usually I don't watch chinese movies at the cinema, cos they are always out in stores or online within a few weeks. But this is an outing movie with friends so i watched. I have to say, i'm not disappointed with what I was watching.
I think the greatest credit has to go to the script and the director, they manage to make a movie about a man who was known to be unassuming, and made him into a cult hero. Impressive. Perhaps even more credit had to go to the guy who played the villain in the movie, he really managed to make everyone in the cinema hate him so much, that everyone cheered with the supporters in the movie when he was finally beaten. That is a great reaction indicating a great movie.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
洪震南：为了生活，我可以忍。但侮辱中华武术，我不能忍！
————————————————————————————
梁：师父，如果真的有10个人带上家伙来打你，怎么办？
叶问：跑！
Official Website
Pictures
Usually I don't watch chinese movies at the cinema, cos they are always out in stores or online within a few weeks. But this is an outing movie with friends so i watched. I have to say, i'm not disappointed with what I was watching.
I think the greatest credit has to go to the script and the director, they manage to make a movie about a man who was known to be unassuming, and made him into a cult hero. Impressive. Perhaps even more credit had to go to the guy who played the villain in the movie, he really managed to make everyone in the cinema hate him so much, that everyone cheered with the supporters in the movie when he was finally beaten. That is a great reaction indicating a great movie.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
洪震南：为了生活，我可以忍。但侮辱中华武术，我不能忍！
————————————————————————————
梁：师父，如果真的有10个人带上家伙来打你，怎么办？
叶问：跑！
Official Website
Pictures
Bounty Hunter
Watched @ The Cathay
Another Gerard Butler movie that comes of the assembly line. His movie are coming out so fast, there's hardly time to forget his previous one. The problem with this one is that it totally reminds me of the ugly truth, not totally the same, but there's essence of the previous show in it. That is a bad thing.
The other bad thing is that the plot is quite filled with loopholes. the opening and finale are just lousy. Not plots that are well thought off, just plots that are trying to give gerard butler a movie, so that they can squeeze as much $$ as they can out of him while he is still the popular man. disappointing. Notice how far he has fallen in movie standard ever since 300? tsk tsk tsk
There nothing much to say abt jennifer aniston, she is in her typical role. boring cos it's the same her, but than again, that's the her I wanna see. :P
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 4 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Nicole Hurley: Life is making mistakes.
Milo Boyd: And death is wishing you had made more.
Official Website
Pictures
Another Gerard Butler movie that comes of the assembly line. His movie are coming out so fast, there's hardly time to forget his previous one. The problem with this one is that it totally reminds me of the ugly truth, not totally the same, but there's essence of the previous show in it. That is a bad thing.
The other bad thing is that the plot is quite filled with loopholes. the opening and finale are just lousy. Not plots that are well thought off, just plots that are trying to give gerard butler a movie, so that they can squeeze as much $$ as they can out of him while he is still the popular man. disappointing. Notice how far he has fallen in movie standard ever since 300? tsk tsk tsk
There nothing much to say abt jennifer aniston, she is in her typical role. boring cos it's the same her, but than again, that's the her I wanna see. :P
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 4 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Nicole Hurley: Life is making mistakes.
Milo Boyd: And death is wishing you had made more.
Official Website
Pictures
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Date Night
Watched @ GV Vivo
Hilarious comedy, the plot is NOT out of this world, just a series of unfortunate events. Nothing very memorable, but being memorable is not the point for comedies. The laugh is all that counts, and laughs I've really had quite a few.
I think Steve Carrell has been typecast, his roles are more or less the same, goofy, underachieving guy who whacks out a good thing or two at the end of the movie. Tina Fey, i think it's the first time i've ever seen her a a lead. She's been around for ages and got famous for mimicking Sarah Palin. Great performance by the leading duo, good chemistry. They really did take my on a good comedic ride.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Hilarious comedy, the plot is NOT out of this world, just a series of unfortunate events. Nothing very memorable, but being memorable is not the point for comedies. The laugh is all that counts, and laughs I've really had quite a few.
I think Steve Carrell has been typecast, his roles are more or less the same, goofy, underachieving guy who whacks out a good thing or two at the end of the movie. Tina Fey, i think it's the first time i've ever seen her a a lead. She's been around for ages and got famous for mimicking Sarah Palin. Great performance by the leading duo, good chemistry. They really did take my on a good comedic ride.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Monday, April 19, 2010
Bangkok Aftermath
Back from bangkok for more than 2 weeks already, but have yet to post anything about it yet. Finally I've found some time to do it. Been pretty much occupied with this new game called three kingdoms, kindda regret starting it, cos it's really time consuming. WTH!! there are so many players who seem to be online 24/7, crazy!!
Anyway abt Bangkok, my trip there was pretty much disrupted by the red shirt protesters, cos they were right smack congregating at the place where I wanna shop!! I seriously have a very strong urge to just use "weapons of mass destruction" on them. But then again, there were too many of them, seriously scary, now that i'm looking back at it.
First day that we were there, the congregation were only beginning to gather, so it did not felt that tense yet, just seriously traffic jams. We checked into our hotel, wanted to start shopping when we realised the shopping centres were forces to close, only then we sense the situation is tensing. Best part was we even tried to go check out central world, which was actually a bad idea, cos the headquarters is pretty much just outside the place and density of red shirts were much higher there. The atmosphere was so dense, it was almost suffocating. Both of us basically freaked out when they start chanting and yelling their slogans, we just had to act calm and move as far as quickly as we could. Oh yah, turning back was no longer an option.
Saving grace of the day was that the Spa was still quite a distance away from the mess and it remains open. It was actually quite crowded there. Tourists mostly, I sense that most of them had no where better to go then there. We reached the Spa abt 4plus, and there was no vacancy till 6pm, we were just contented to stay there. Anywhere away from the reds is better. Suan Lum night market was our plan for that night, luckily that too remained open, few days later the Spa and Suan Lum area would have been messy too. I even managed to catch the Man U vs Chelsea game there.
Bulk of second day was spent at Chatuchak, good thing this place is really far from the tourist central. It's business as usual, as it nothing is happening at all. bought some stuff, walked alot, ate alot, pretty much accomplished all the required tasked at Chatuchak, but on a much longer time frame. Brought dear to this bear shirt shop, sells cool bear shirts, i seriously did not know how I was walking in that market. If you have been there you would know how complicated that place was. And yet I somehow found the place like a homing missile with GPS guidance, i just thought of the place and walked turned when I felt like turning and "TADAH"!!
We managed to squeeze some time to visit platinum and do some shopping there, it was OPEN!! or so we thought. As we shopped for a while and was thinking if we could get dinner at the japanese restaurant, all the stalls began frantically clearing and packing and within minutes most of the stalls have they shutters down and the operators are moving out of the building, we took that as our que to leave as well.
We found a nice cosy restaurant near our hotel for dinner. it's a western restaurant, but we ordered thai food. not bad, and best of all it offers free wifi!! :P and more Spa to end off the day, traditional thai massage, not as acrobatic as we thought. We were served by 2 aunties were who talking non-stop among themselves, quite hilarious cos they talk as if we couldnt understand a single word they say. True, we could not understand a single word, but I could roughly tell they were talking abt US!!
Final day, we decided to venture around our hotel, pratunam area, and it had to be done early. The red shirts are not that active early in the morning, so we had to move early, cos judging from the trends in the past few days, most stall would close once the protestors gather in large numbers and start holding up traffic. We even manage to catch lunch at the japanese restaurant at platinum, that's was before things started looking rowdy all over again. thankfully we were headed to the airport soon after.
This trip gave me a new view of thailand, the one that's in political turmoil for many decades. And judging from the sights that we see in bangkok. This is no where near the end, even if this episode ends, the political situation is no where near being stable. it's too volatile. Some people are just too politically sensitive and totally not viewing the government objectively. It's like "if the government is not red it sucks"!! And yet on the other hand, you can also see people, who can go on with their day to day matters like nothing ever happened. I believe that is usually the case for the majority, they dun really care who's in power, as long as they are able to survive. Yet the minority that's voicing our their complains and whatsoever, thinks they are the majority and everyone wants to be like them. They need to learn that just because no one is saying "yes this government is good" doesnt mean that everyone thinks "this government sucks". Things are still going to get ugly.
I wonder when will be the next time thailand would be safe to visit once again.
Anyway abt Bangkok, my trip there was pretty much disrupted by the red shirt protesters, cos they were right smack congregating at the place where I wanna shop!! I seriously have a very strong urge to just use "weapons of mass destruction" on them. But then again, there were too many of them, seriously scary, now that i'm looking back at it.
First day that we were there, the congregation were only beginning to gather, so it did not felt that tense yet, just seriously traffic jams. We checked into our hotel, wanted to start shopping when we realised the shopping centres were forces to close, only then we sense the situation is tensing. Best part was we even tried to go check out central world, which was actually a bad idea, cos the headquarters is pretty much just outside the place and density of red shirts were much higher there. The atmosphere was so dense, it was almost suffocating. Both of us basically freaked out when they start chanting and yelling their slogans, we just had to act calm and move as far as quickly as we could. Oh yah, turning back was no longer an option.
Saving grace of the day was that the Spa was still quite a distance away from the mess and it remains open. It was actually quite crowded there. Tourists mostly, I sense that most of them had no where better to go then there. We reached the Spa abt 4plus, and there was no vacancy till 6pm, we were just contented to stay there. Anywhere away from the reds is better. Suan Lum night market was our plan for that night, luckily that too remained open, few days later the Spa and Suan Lum area would have been messy too. I even managed to catch the Man U vs Chelsea game there.
Bulk of second day was spent at Chatuchak, good thing this place is really far from the tourist central. It's business as usual, as it nothing is happening at all. bought some stuff, walked alot, ate alot, pretty much accomplished all the required tasked at Chatuchak, but on a much longer time frame. Brought dear to this bear shirt shop, sells cool bear shirts, i seriously did not know how I was walking in that market. If you have been there you would know how complicated that place was. And yet I somehow found the place like a homing missile with GPS guidance, i just thought of the place and walked turned when I felt like turning and "TADAH"!!
We managed to squeeze some time to visit platinum and do some shopping there, it was OPEN!! or so we thought. As we shopped for a while and was thinking if we could get dinner at the japanese restaurant, all the stalls began frantically clearing and packing and within minutes most of the stalls have they shutters down and the operators are moving out of the building, we took that as our que to leave as well.
We found a nice cosy restaurant near our hotel for dinner. it's a western restaurant, but we ordered thai food. not bad, and best of all it offers free wifi!! :P and more Spa to end off the day, traditional thai massage, not as acrobatic as we thought. We were served by 2 aunties were who talking non-stop among themselves, quite hilarious cos they talk as if we couldnt understand a single word they say. True, we could not understand a single word, but I could roughly tell they were talking abt US!!
Final day, we decided to venture around our hotel, pratunam area, and it had to be done early. The red shirts are not that active early in the morning, so we had to move early, cos judging from the trends in the past few days, most stall would close once the protestors gather in large numbers and start holding up traffic. We even manage to catch lunch at the japanese restaurant at platinum, that's was before things started looking rowdy all over again. thankfully we were headed to the airport soon after.
This trip gave me a new view of thailand, the one that's in political turmoil for many decades. And judging from the sights that we see in bangkok. This is no where near the end, even if this episode ends, the political situation is no where near being stable. it's too volatile. Some people are just too politically sensitive and totally not viewing the government objectively. It's like "if the government is not red it sucks"!! And yet on the other hand, you can also see people, who can go on with their day to day matters like nothing ever happened. I believe that is usually the case for the majority, they dun really care who's in power, as long as they are able to survive. Yet the minority that's voicing our their complains and whatsoever, thinks they are the majority and everyone wants to be like them. They need to learn that just because no one is saying "yes this government is good" doesnt mean that everyone thinks "this government sucks". Things are still going to get ugly.
I wonder when will be the next time thailand would be safe to visit once again.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Clash of the Titans (non-3D)
Watched @ Cineleisure lvl 9
So much hype had been brewing around this movie, I personally feel it has not delivered much. At least it has not done enough to out-do it's predecessor. I've watched the old classic, monochrome version before when i was a kid, and i briefly remembered the movie to captivate me much more than this version did. Oh!! I remembered the owl, though I have no recollection of it's usage. I only remembered it used to move.
Acting wise in this movie, it's hard to judge, liam neeson as zeus, feels alittle feeble. And sam worthington as perseus, felt like terminator 4 all over again. well, I think the biggest problem lies in the plot. This is supposed to be an epic movie, but after watching it, it felt like a summary.
It's like the whole original story was summarized into under 2hrs so that we could watch it in 1 showing. actually, I would be happier if they made it into a 4hr long epic movie. Much like the "10 commandments" sort of way. The whole grandeur of the movie would be lifted. Unlike this haphazardly compiled version.
Also the fact that it was converted to 3D as a sales gimmick is really desperate. They are so desperate to ride the 3D wave phenomenon, that they totally flopped in it. Well that was the comments i had gathered, so i watched the non-3D version instead. Indeed there are several scenes in the movies that would do well with 3D effects. But the effects are just the same when you do it in post-production instead of pre-production.
What could have been a hell of a ride became just a walk in the park.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 6 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
So much hype had been brewing around this movie, I personally feel it has not delivered much. At least it has not done enough to out-do it's predecessor. I've watched the old classic, monochrome version before when i was a kid, and i briefly remembered the movie to captivate me much more than this version did. Oh!! I remembered the owl, though I have no recollection of it's usage. I only remembered it used to move.
Acting wise in this movie, it's hard to judge, liam neeson as zeus, feels alittle feeble. And sam worthington as perseus, felt like terminator 4 all over again. well, I think the biggest problem lies in the plot. This is supposed to be an epic movie, but after watching it, it felt like a summary.
It's like the whole original story was summarized into under 2hrs so that we could watch it in 1 showing. actually, I would be happier if they made it into a 4hr long epic movie. Much like the "10 commandments" sort of way. The whole grandeur of the movie would be lifted. Unlike this haphazardly compiled version.
Also the fact that it was converted to 3D as a sales gimmick is really desperate. They are so desperate to ride the 3D wave phenomenon, that they totally flopped in it. Well that was the comments i had gathered, so i watched the non-3D version instead. Indeed there are several scenes in the movies that would do well with 3D effects. But the effects are just the same when you do it in post-production instead of pre-production.
What could have been a hell of a ride became just a walk in the park.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 6 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Bangkok Here I come... AGAIN!!
In a few hrs, i'll be flying off to bangkok again. I believe it's my third time in the past 12 mths. This is a last min trip, dear and I decided to take cos i might be starting work soon and we both have no idea when our next free period will be. So this might be a good opportunity to bring her to bangkok and go to the places I went the last time with silie & russel. This will be a tightly packed weekend, many places to cover in this short period of time. I intend to be photo whoring this time around, I realised i have been taking very few pictures in my past few overseas trips.
Oh yah, in the past 2 days I ate stuff I really like once again! I'm treating my stomach really well recently.
Thurs nite went to eat Korean food at Manna (Telok Ayer). I been there a few times and the food there hasnt disappoint. Really yummy bbq meats, the real korean style. How do I know it's real? cos most of the customers and the employees are korean, oh and the boss too!! However it's not cheap, quite ex actually. Therefore it's a place I would come only when i'm feeling rich or i'm eating with my family.
Friday morning, after going to Bright Hill to pay respects to my grandma, we went to Toa Payoh's Fortunate Restaurant for dim sum. I've been hearing abt the place for years, but never had the chance to try it. It's really crowded, huge queue outside when we arrived but the queue clear up quite fast, so it was good. Service was very prompt. Service is hongkong style, where all the food comes in aluminium steamer trolleys and you will pick out what you wanna eat from there. It's good, well most of it. I really recommend the "xia jiao" (prawn dumplings) and egg tarts. I would come back just for these 2 items, but the rest were quite good too. Oh there's peking duck too, but we din manage to try it, cos they served it when we were done with dessert. Really full and satisfied.
And now it's time to head to BKK for another round of enjoyment... :)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
I got it!
I've gotten the answer I wanted. I've been accepted. I'm going to be a traffic engineer. I've not been given the salary I wanted, but that's expected and i'm glad it's within my expectation of how much they are willing to offer.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Aftermath of Interview part 2
Ever since my 2nd interview on friday, i've been having pretty good food for dinner. Hog's breath on friday and Senki earlier today!! I enjoyed a lot!!
I've been stressing about the interview for the past week, and it's been getting on my nerves every now and then. Good thing my mum has not bug me about it much. That's a relieve. The bigger relieve is that it's over, and I think I did not screw up too badly. I was told to wait for answer which will come by the end of the coming week. *fingers crossed*
Hog's breath on friday evening was heavenly!! Ordered a mega 400gm prime rib to share with dear companied with a finger food platter. It's the best steak I've had in ages. It really hit the spot (as the saying goes, even though I have no idea where the spot is. it's one of those places where you will know when it happens!!)
Senki, japanese food buffet, loads of salmon and swordfish sashimi. Did not overfill myself, stopped after 1 huge round of everything I wanted and 3 round of sashimi. It's not easy to tell yourself to stop during a buffet. Buffet goers will know what I mean, especially asians. We always wanna get the best value of what we paid for.
The best part, after all that food, I'm not feeling too guilty about it, cos it's about time to go for a long walk!! 3 time in the past 7 days.. not bad I would say....
I've been stressing about the interview for the past week, and it's been getting on my nerves every now and then. Good thing my mum has not bug me about it much. That's a relieve. The bigger relieve is that it's over, and I think I did not screw up too badly. I was told to wait for answer which will come by the end of the coming week. *fingers crossed*
Hog's breath on friday evening was heavenly!! Ordered a mega 400gm prime rib to share with dear companied with a finger food platter. It's the best steak I've had in ages. It really hit the spot (as the saying goes, even though I have no idea where the spot is. it's one of those places where you will know when it happens!!)
Senki, japanese food buffet, loads of salmon and swordfish sashimi. Did not overfill myself, stopped after 1 huge round of everything I wanted and 3 round of sashimi. It's not easy to tell yourself to stop during a buffet. Buffet goers will know what I mean, especially asians. We always wanna get the best value of what we paid for.
The best part, after all that food, I'm not feeling too guilty about it, cos it's about time to go for a long walk!! 3 time in the past 7 days.. not bad I would say....
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Xin Wang HK Cafe
simple fare done well is always something that fits my palate well.At Xin Wang, they serve the usual overpriced "cha chan ting" food, but the plus point here is that the food is done well. Even though there's the occasional microwaved stuff like the "bo luo bao", there's a lot of good stuff here. For the past year or so i've been going to this cafe quite often and yesterday I found a gem on the menu!! Yes, a gem.
Special Pork Rib Beehoon, it's basically the taste of the canned pork ribs infused into beehoon. When done well, it can be the most appetising beehoon you have ever eaten. The version I had yesterday was really well done, every strand of beehoon was filled with the fragrant & fatty taste of canned pork ribs. Sinful, I know. Yummy, you will know after first taste.
Special Pork Rib Beehoon, it's basically the taste of the canned pork ribs infused into beehoon. When done well, it can be the most appetising beehoon you have ever eaten. The version I had yesterday was really well done, every strand of beehoon was filled with the fragrant & fatty taste of canned pork ribs. Sinful, I know. Yummy, you will know after first taste.
Disaster movie day, Category 7: End of the World versus Haeundae
Watched @ Funshion
I dun mean to be lazy and have 1 post for 2 movies, but cos I watched these 2 disaster movies one after the other. I cant help myself but to compare them, and the result is rather shocking. Here's the background to the 2 movies and my views on them.
Category 7, a 4hr mini-series originally aired on CBS in 2005. it's a very detailed and well thought thru plot which follows directly after Category 6, another mini series in 2004. It's basically about these killer tornadoes that are blowing out of proportion due to global warming and intense heat output of the metropolitans of the world. The pace of the movie is good, even though I watched 4 hrs straight, it's actually gripping enough to keep me in my seat and watch on.
Haeundae, a 2008 disaster film from korea. The basic plot revolves around the possibility of a mega tsunami hitting korea from the coastal town of Haeundae. Although the movie is only 2hrs long, I was really quite irritated by it, mainly by the vagueness of its genre. It's supposed to be a disaster movie, yet i is loaded with pointless drama and korea slapstick comedy!! 2 hrs of the movie, only the last 20mins consisted of the tsunami and its impact. I'm disappointed, really disappointed. Special effects in this movie is rather laughable as well, they did a tremendous job making the impact and onset of the disaster feel very heavy, very devastating. But yet somehow, buildings, bridges, people, survive the impact. Oh, and the director seems to like to kill off the characters in twisted ways!! Survive one turmoil only to get killed at the next turn. Too much korean comedy here. I'm just glad I fought off the urge to watch this movie when it was in the theatres here last year. Phew...
Spikefire ratings: (Category 7)
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Spikefire ratings: (Haeundae)
Story & Plot: 5 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 5.5 out of 10
Pictures
I dun mean to be lazy and have 1 post for 2 movies, but cos I watched these 2 disaster movies one after the other. I cant help myself but to compare them, and the result is rather shocking. Here's the background to the 2 movies and my views on them.
Category 7, a 4hr mini-series originally aired on CBS in 2005. it's a very detailed and well thought thru plot which follows directly after Category 6, another mini series in 2004. It's basically about these killer tornadoes that are blowing out of proportion due to global warming and intense heat output of the metropolitans of the world. The pace of the movie is good, even though I watched 4 hrs straight, it's actually gripping enough to keep me in my seat and watch on.
Haeundae, a 2008 disaster film from korea. The basic plot revolves around the possibility of a mega tsunami hitting korea from the coastal town of Haeundae. Although the movie is only 2hrs long, I was really quite irritated by it, mainly by the vagueness of its genre. It's supposed to be a disaster movie, yet i is loaded with pointless drama and korea slapstick comedy!! 2 hrs of the movie, only the last 20mins consisted of the tsunami and its impact. I'm disappointed, really disappointed. Special effects in this movie is rather laughable as well, they did a tremendous job making the impact and onset of the disaster feel very heavy, very devastating. But yet somehow, buildings, bridges, people, survive the impact. Oh, and the director seems to like to kill off the characters in twisted ways!! Survive one turmoil only to get killed at the next turn. Too much korean comedy here. I'm just glad I fought off the urge to watch this movie when it was in the theatres here last year. Phew...
Spikefire ratings: (Category 7)
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Spikefire ratings: (Haeundae)
Story & Plot: 5 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: 5.5 out of 10
Pictures
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Lovely Bones
Watched @ Funshion
This movie revolves around the death of 14 yr old gal, little susie. shot in first person view where she views life unfolding after her death. it's nicely shot in a way we follow little susie on a journey of self-realisation, even though it's after death; to see how her family reacts, how her killer reacts.
it's an interesting story to follow.
the main character susie is a relatively new actress, but she had put in a good performance. She's also supported by great actors around her.
But this is not a movie to watch if you are tired. it's kindda slow, so if you dun have the energy, you'll probably fall asleep.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6.5 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7.5 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
This movie revolves around the death of 14 yr old gal, little susie. shot in first person view where she views life unfolding after her death. it's nicely shot in a way we follow little susie on a journey of self-realisation, even though it's after death; to see how her family reacts, how her killer reacts.
it's an interesting story to follow.
the main character susie is a relatively new actress, but she had put in a good performance. She's also supported by great actors around her.
But this is not a movie to watch if you are tired. it's kindda slow, so if you dun have the energy, you'll probably fall asleep.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6.5 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7.5 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Interview #1 - part 2
I have the 2nd interview. It's next friday, in a way i'm glad to get it, and yet i'm totally nervous wreck having to face it. Arggh!
The Rebound
Watched @ PPStream
A love story about a woman with 2 children who just got divorced and a younger man who just got jilted. It's a simple and straight forward love story. No huge bad guys in this story, it's all sweet and inspiring for the most of it.
Simply nice and entertaining.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Pictures
A love story about a woman with 2 children who just got divorced and a younger man who just got jilted. It's a simple and straight forward love story. No huge bad guys in this story, it's all sweet and inspiring for the most of it.
Simply nice and entertaining.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Pictures
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Interview #1
Just came back from my first interview. Butterflies are flying in the butterflies in my stomach!! The interview proceedings was informal, so I felt less anxious compared to the initial butterflies in butterflies in butterflies. Even though less anxious, I think I still did badly, I wasnt able to answer simple questions like "what have you done so far?" or "what was your favourite project?". I really hope they do call me back for a 2nd interview. I think I would like the job very much....
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Life aint the same without a working phone
Ever since my phone went cuckoo, i've been using my handphone with the earpiece. Without the earpiece, I could not hear anything. So basically I've been walking around today with a earpiece in my ear all the time, and with newpaper while waiting for dear. I feel so much like some uncle!! But that aint the main issue, the lost of sound from the speakers is so bad, that I would not know the phone is ringing unless I happen to stare at the screen of the phone. This totally keeps me on a nerve-wrecking stage all the time. Cos i'm concern that calls would be coming in to ask me to go for interview and such, and i might miss it.
The cool thing today, I got a call to go for an interview next week, I think it's fate that i happened to look at the phone screen when it rang. phew...
Oh yah, I wanted to get a Samsung UltraTouch, but somehow that phone is totally not availbale at and Singtel, M1, Starhub shop that I scourge thru yesterday. That sucks!! Spent most of the day look for it, IT show, Suntec, Funan, Vivo... even geylang.. NONE!! End of the day, it seems fate is making fun of me, cos in the end I found the phone on singtelshop.com. It's coming tml!!!
The cool thing today, I got a call to go for an interview next week, I think it's fate that i happened to look at the phone screen when it rang. phew...
Oh yah, I wanted to get a Samsung UltraTouch, but somehow that phone is totally not availbale at and Singtel, M1, Starhub shop that I scourge thru yesterday. That sucks!! Spent most of the day look for it, IT show, Suntec, Funan, Vivo... even geylang.. NONE!! End of the day, it seems fate is making fun of me, cos in the end I found the phone on singtelshop.com. It's coming tml!!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bye Bye L760
Have been using my current phone for a long time, have always been pondering when to get a new phone. But that decision has been made for me today. My phone is spoilt!! No sound from it suddenly, it seems that the connection to the speaker is somehow broken. Sms still works and conversations can still be made if I used the headset.
But that's only temporary, the solution will be IT SHOW!! yeah!! hahaa...
But that's only temporary, the solution will be IT SHOW!! yeah!! hahaa...
Being Human
Watched @ GV Marina
The plot is simple, employee (Mark Lee) of a slimming company got fired. He got angry and wants to take revenge, he did so by setting up his own slimming centre and went to ridiculous lengths to outdo his former employers. And while he was doing his deeds, he often is face with his inner conscious, who magnifest himself as NoNo, rationale of the inner conscious looking different from the person? Ugly thoughts make the inner conscious look ugly.
Slapstick comedy, funny spurts here and there, overall it's still acceptable. The biggest no no lies in the ending, lame lame lame!!! this is wat happens when people run out of ideas. Oh the camera effects, very amateurish!!!
So watch it if you enjoy Jack Neo's comedic sense, but you can also watch it if you wanna see who his mistress. The character's Mark Lee's sister-in-law.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 5 out of 10
Overall: 5.5 out of 10
The plot is simple, employee (Mark Lee) of a slimming company got fired. He got angry and wants to take revenge, he did so by setting up his own slimming centre and went to ridiculous lengths to outdo his former employers. And while he was doing his deeds, he often is face with his inner conscious, who magnifest himself as NoNo, rationale of the inner conscious looking different from the person? Ugly thoughts make the inner conscious look ugly.
Slapstick comedy, funny spurts here and there, overall it's still acceptable. The biggest no no lies in the ending, lame lame lame!!! this is wat happens when people run out of ideas. Oh the camera effects, very amateurish!!!
So watch it if you enjoy Jack Neo's comedic sense, but you can also watch it if you wanna see who his mistress. The character's Mark Lee's sister-in-law.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 5 out of 10
Overall: 5.5 out of 10
Pictures
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Daybreakers
Watched @ Funshion
This is not the usual vampire story, vampires are immortals, but killable. They are still afraid of daylight and still feeds on human blood. The story begins in the future where most of the world's population are vampires and are facing a shortage of human blood to feed the vampires. Although the producers are the same ones as Matrix, I think the plot is kindda poor in that sense or maybe vampires are just not as smart as i thought.
Humans are captured and bleed dry for their blood, and when dried, they dispose the human. HOW DUMB IS THAT!!?? Even the Matrix from that long ago has the common sense to keep the humans alive for the extended shelf life. And the vampires in this movie simply used humans like disposables, dumb vamps!! It's probably cos the script was written so so long ago, perhaps way before the matrix and perhaps way before they heard of cloning.
Those are the worst loopholes that have left me utterly disappointed with the plot, otherwise it could have been a much better movie. oh yah, i think the producers also tried very hard to stereotype their vampires, in this movie, they are weak, they just dun age, but they can be killed quite easily.
However, I do like the twist in the vampire legends, vampires can turn back into humans, and man can return a plague of their own back onto the vampires. I liked that part.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
This is not the usual vampire story, vampires are immortals, but killable. They are still afraid of daylight and still feeds on human blood. The story begins in the future where most of the world's population are vampires and are facing a shortage of human blood to feed the vampires. Although the producers are the same ones as Matrix, I think the plot is kindda poor in that sense or maybe vampires are just not as smart as i thought.
Humans are captured and bleed dry for their blood, and when dried, they dispose the human. HOW DUMB IS THAT!!?? Even the Matrix from that long ago has the common sense to keep the humans alive for the extended shelf life. And the vampires in this movie simply used humans like disposables, dumb vamps!! It's probably cos the script was written so so long ago, perhaps way before the matrix and perhaps way before they heard of cloning.
Those are the worst loopholes that have left me utterly disappointed with the plot, otherwise it could have been a much better movie. oh yah, i think the producers also tried very hard to stereotype their vampires, in this movie, they are weak, they just dun age, but they can be killed quite easily.
However, I do like the twist in the vampire legends, vampires can turn back into humans, and man can return a plague of their own back onto the vampires. I liked that part.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Pandorum
Watched @ Funshion
2 crew of a ship wakes up from deep sleep to find themselves more or less isolated on a spaceship which mission they cant remember due to extended period in deep sleep. It's another "end of the world and we are the one survivors" story, this mission was to send them to a distant planet which is much like earth and supposedly able to support life.
Pandorum is actually a mental disorder which is described in the movie as something you get while being in space and isolation for too long. But the whole screwed up ship started off with 1 guy getting pandorum and started acting like god.
It's not a bad movie, except for the question about howdoes the guy who saves the rest of the passengers wake up?? If the crazy guy could control the ship that well, why let this guy wake up?? hmmm... let's just leave it to fate for movie's sake... Oh I like the happy ending, bad guys die, good and innocent people live on...
However it would probably be better to watch it under better conditions which I had. Blu-ray would be nice...
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: out of 10
Official Website
2 crew of a ship wakes up from deep sleep to find themselves more or less isolated on a spaceship which mission they cant remember due to extended period in deep sleep. It's another "end of the world and we are the one survivors" story, this mission was to send them to a distant planet which is much like earth and supposedly able to support life.
Pandorum is actually a mental disorder which is described in the movie as something you get while being in space and isolation for too long. But the whole screwed up ship started off with 1 guy getting pandorum and started acting like god.
It's not a bad movie, except for the question about howdoes the guy who saves the rest of the passengers wake up?? If the crazy guy could control the ship that well, why let this guy wake up?? hmmm... let's just leave it to fate for movie's sake... Oh I like the happy ending, bad guys die, good and innocent people live on...
However it would probably be better to watch it under better conditions which I had. Blu-ray would be nice...
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 6 out of 10
Overall: out of 10
Official Website
Pictures
Up in The Air
Watched @ Funshion
The story is basically about Ryan (George Clooney), a guy that flies about more than staying put; a guy who flies about just to fire people the company management are too chicken to. To me it's an interesting plot to begin with, hell I never knew you can have a job out of firing someone. Anyway, it's an interesting plot, Ryan is a loner, who is trying to deceive himself that he is alright being alone, and he even sidelines by going around teaching people how it is alright to be alone.
Natalie (Anna Kendrick), the understudy to Ryan, trying to learn the real meaning of firing someone while she tries to organise the whole process into some clockwork procedure. Ryan has a theory that firing someone is not just "firing" someone, it encompasses much more, and it's something very personal and have to be handled with care. Ain't that an irony with his "it's alright to be alone" attitude, once again, it's interesting.
A-list actors provided A-list acting, it's very believable at the end of the day. That's what makes movies good.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Ryan Bingham: [on getting through airport security] Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love 'em.
Natalie Keener: That's racist.
Ryan Bingham: I'm like my mother, I stereotype. It's faster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex Goran: What a weasly prick.
Natalie Keener: Yeah, but what does that make me? Someone who falls for a prick.
Alex Goran: We all fall for the prick. Pricks are spontaneous, they're unpredictable and they're fun. And then we're surprised when they turn out to be pricks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Bingham: You know why kids love athletes?
Bob: Because they screw lingerie models.
Ryan Bingham: No, that's why we love athletes. Kids love them because they follow their dreams.
Official Website
Picture
The story is basically about Ryan (George Clooney), a guy that flies about more than staying put; a guy who flies about just to fire people the company management are too chicken to. To me it's an interesting plot to begin with, hell I never knew you can have a job out of firing someone. Anyway, it's an interesting plot, Ryan is a loner, who is trying to deceive himself that he is alright being alone, and he even sidelines by going around teaching people how it is alright to be alone.
Natalie (Anna Kendrick), the understudy to Ryan, trying to learn the real meaning of firing someone while she tries to organise the whole process into some clockwork procedure. Ryan has a theory that firing someone is not just "firing" someone, it encompasses much more, and it's something very personal and have to be handled with care. Ain't that an irony with his "it's alright to be alone" attitude, once again, it's interesting.
A-list actors provided A-list acting, it's very believable at the end of the day. That's what makes movies good.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Ryan Bingham: [on getting through airport security] Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love 'em.
Natalie Keener: That's racist.
Ryan Bingham: I'm like my mother, I stereotype. It's faster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex Goran: What a weasly prick.
Natalie Keener: Yeah, but what does that make me? Someone who falls for a prick.
Alex Goran: We all fall for the prick. Pricks are spontaneous, they're unpredictable and they're fun. And then we're surprised when they turn out to be pricks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Bingham: You know why kids love athletes?
Bob: Because they screw lingerie models.
Ryan Bingham: No, that's why we love athletes. Kids love them because they follow their dreams.
Official Website
Picture
Monday, March 08, 2010
Job Application Bombardment
It's now exactly 2 months since my job application for LTA & Surbana. They probably found someone else, cos the job vacancies are no longer there. So I have embarked on a bombardment journey today. Here are the list of jobs I've applied for!! hehe..
- Urban Planner (Development Control)
- Urban Planner (Physical Planning)
- Engineers Programme Planning (Civil)
- Engineering Officers (Civil) Marina Coastal Expressway (I just realise this is a diploma position, I wonder if they will love me for applying.. haha..)
- Assistant Director, Emergency Preparedness
- Cadet Pilot
- Assistant Manager, Airline Development
- Manager, Corporate Strategy
- Manager, Airport Operations
Friday, March 05, 2010
Invictus
Watched @ Funshion
Based on a true historical event, and how tru is it that great stories arise from the toughest of times. The story revolves around Nelson Mandela, the first elected president of South Africa after the fall of apartheid, and how he used rugby to unite his racially torned nation.
Acting is great, no questions. Matt Damon & Morgan Freeman put it a hell of a show for me. Despite Morgan Freeman looking much taller than Nelson Mandela, he really did a wonderful portrayal of the man. They have to work the expression and accent, it's one thing to act a character, it's another to totally mimick and be the character.
The story plot is not entirely true, cause I just found out that the Invictus poem was never used in truth. Nelson Mandela gave the Springboks captain a passage from Theodore Roosevelt to inspire him instead of the Invictus poem depicted by the movie. But that's just detail, I can overlook that, I can live with the Invictus.
This movie is very strong emotionally, it's a great era, great feelings. One can only wonder what the 2 men felt during those days. Just for interest sake, this is the Invictus poem
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
And the passage that Nelson Mandela gave to the Springboks Captain, I find it just as inspiring.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 9 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman):
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brenda Mazibuko (President's Aide): You're risking your political capital, you're risking your position in the party, you're risking your future as our leader.
Nelson Mandela: The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nelson Mandela: I was thinking about a little wager.
New Zealand PM: How about, all your gold for all our sheep?
Nelson Mandela: I was thinking about a case of wine.
Official Website
Pictures
Based on a true historical event, and how tru is it that great stories arise from the toughest of times. The story revolves around Nelson Mandela, the first elected president of South Africa after the fall of apartheid, and how he used rugby to unite his racially torned nation.
Acting is great, no questions. Matt Damon & Morgan Freeman put it a hell of a show for me. Despite Morgan Freeman looking much taller than Nelson Mandela, he really did a wonderful portrayal of the man. They have to work the expression and accent, it's one thing to act a character, it's another to totally mimick and be the character.
The story plot is not entirely true, cause I just found out that the Invictus poem was never used in truth. Nelson Mandela gave the Springboks captain a passage from Theodore Roosevelt to inspire him instead of the Invictus poem depicted by the movie. But that's just detail, I can overlook that, I can live with the Invictus.
This movie is very strong emotionally, it's a great era, great feelings. One can only wonder what the 2 men felt during those days. Just for interest sake, this is the Invictus poem
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
And the passage that Nelson Mandela gave to the Springboks Captain, I find it just as inspiring.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 9 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.5 out of 10
Favourite Lines:
Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman):
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brenda Mazibuko (President's Aide): You're risking your political capital, you're risking your position in the party, you're risking your future as our leader.
Nelson Mandela: The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nelson Mandela: I was thinking about a little wager.
New Zealand PM: How about, all your gold for all our sheep?
Nelson Mandela: I was thinking about a case of wine.
Official Website
Pictures
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