Bye Gong Gong & Po Po

About a week ago, I was told my grandfather was admitted to the hospital. He years of smoking in his early life has finally done him in. 


However it still does not change the fact how drastically his health deteriorated from when I met him just a few weeks back. I brought mooncake back for him and also my maternal grandparents. It was the first time I bought mooncake for my grandparents with money I've earned. That was a moment which I felt really proud of myself. 


Looking back now, I suddenly realized how much older everyone around me has become. Suddenly, I'm no longer the kid I was 10yrs back. We are so gradually thrown into new surroundings and adapt to them. That's growing up, but we won't notice it. There's simply no time to take a break and have a good look around us. 


Now grandfather has passed, and I'm at the funeral for the night again. There's time for me to quietly look around me. Look at those relatives I have. Look at all things that have happened in the past. There's no definitely right or wrong in all those past actions and the stories I've been told. It's all a matter of perspective. What's right to one can be very wrong to another. We have to learn to accept our differences. Not condone them, but accept that we are all different. And from a different pair of eyes, the world is a very different place and everyone also appears different to each individual.


I'm fortunate to have spent some part of my life living with him and my grandmother. And now, I want to write down some of the memories I have of them. So that 1 day, I may look back at it again if I forget. 


To me, my grandmother was plump old lady who likes to hug me whenever I arrive or leave for my Yishun home. She cooks and is also a full-time couch potato. She likes to watch TV, sometimes it does seem she doesn't really get the storyline but at least the shows were entertaining back then. Remember those days when SBC was actually entertaining rather than propagating? 


She usually sits at the 3-seat sofa in front of the TV, she would have a pillow behind her back so that she could lean back onto the arm rest and watch TV. She would very often watch TV until she fell asleep. Sometimes I feel she's needs the TV to get asleep. 


She's always concerned about is having enough food, food is always plenty when we are there. During CNY, there's always Shark's Fin Soup. Come to think about it, it's been 10 yrs since I last had it from her. I miss the table full of food during CNY. 


Those were the days when MRT had just begun, she had fears about taking the train, it just seemed too alien for her and she didn't want to walk to the stations. I remember she would sometimes come stay with me at the Yishun house during holidays, she would take a cab. Costed less than $10 to get from Commonwealth to Yishun then. 


Grandfather was a quiet man, thin guy. He doesn't talk much, grandma usually does most of the talking it seems. He was a cook at a hotel, I don't really remember if I've ate anything which he has cooked cos the chef at home is usually grandma. He's a tough man healthy most of his life, smoking and alcohol seems to be his simple pleasures after work. He doesn't talk much and my memories of him are little. I do remember that he always sits in the single seater chair next to the alter, facing the TV.

He seems to like shopping at cold storage, I remember he once brought me to Queenstown, which was pretty much like the town centre back then. We ate something there, can't remember what, but I do remember he bought some frozen fried stuff back. Most probably fish fingers or scallops. Those were among my favourites.

Hearing some of the old stories some of my uncles talk about their time with grandma and grandpa gave me new insights and new perspectives into their personalities. My memories of them are bits and pieces, we see things at face value, not really knowing why they did certain things in particular ways. These stories for others make the image of them as a person, slightly more complete.

In his final days I visited him at the hospital quite often. I was there the night before he left, I felt proud to be the grandson who could still communicate with him in hainanese but it was difficult to find the right thing to say. Each night before I left I told him, "I'm getting married next year, you need to get well because I want you to be at my wedding."  The 1st night I went, he could not respond, I was not even sure if he could see me. On the last night, his eyes were bright and wide and I was very sure he could see me clearly. He responded to us and nodded when I told him he needs to get better to attend my wedding.

I was happy when I left that night, but sadly he left the next morning. I knew he tried to stay.

Midway Oct 2011

2 weeks into October and i'm feeling swarmed. Work is there as always. Somehow there's so many other things on my mind I just cant focus.

No matter how much we can multi-task. We can still only focus at 1 task at one time.

When September Ends

There's this song in the CD which is playing all the time in my car which has this line "when september ends". I seriously can't remember the title suddenly. But that's not important.

It time to look back at the past 30 days and ponder what had been done, what had not and what will be up next!!

F1 is over, I had a fun experience being involved. Perhaps more than I should be, but I always enjoyed being more involved in whatever I get involved in. There were some cockups and I've found a description for JOC (Joint Olways Cockup). Many would agree with me on that.

Much of the month had been spending doing last time preparation and amendments to the plan for F1. In the end, you may wonder why bother cos it will not fail. It will just happen and be over. Well, if we did not scamper around with our tiny modifications and improvements here and there. It may be over for good. Not trying to get big headed, but i think it's true.

Just as I thought there would be time for me to relax after F1, realization came that I'm still being bogged down by daily work. I would like to share with everyone that the daily work load here is HEAVY!! The only way you can clear everything is to give haphazard answers and do a half-F*** job. I try not to do that, which is why my home is now my 2nd home. :P

IPT has begun, had my 1st session on Wednesday. Super lethargic, can't feel my shins for the past 2 days. Let IPT be the beginning of my wonderous task of losing 35kg by June 2012. So lunch khakis, please watch my diet. Friday supper buddies, let's just drink tea. Hahahaa.

Hello October!!!

Fleeting August

I don't want this post to be another one of my "time passes so quickly" posts, but I can't help it!!!

Too little time too much stuff to do. I'm getting myself entangled in a quicksand of work. I need a long break, like weeks long. Unfortunately I can't afford it, cos gotta save up the leave for next year!!

Highlights of August.

1. I stayed late in office for several nights during 7th month, felt nothing, saw nothing.

2. Very disappointed TCB did not win PE.

3. Pre-F1 preparation 90% done.

4. Got a good lesson on expectations of grassroots. They are a very unique breed.

5. Settled on Wedding Bands!!

6. Found a not bad massage near my place

7. Weekends are getting filled with activities!! Paintball/Badminton/Volleyball!!

End July

More than a month have past once again.

Time just seems so insufficient when I start working. I've been working for more than a year it seems. I still feel i'm quite new to the job. There's still passion in me to improve the things around. I still feel there's contribution to be made, efforts to be put in.

It's been so busy the past few weeks, I've probably lack time breathing. Somehow I feel it's just going to get even busier. Prioritizing is really something I need to do more.

LIDO & IMAX

Lido has just completed it's renovation. The whole place went under a huge facelift, but unfortunately the new design simply does not appeal to me. Gone are all the Mac, KFC, Pastamania, LJS, Subway. In their place is a shick white wall laden with Samsung TVs as posters and a box office 3 times it's original size. Now Lido is just a cinema, it's no longer a place to hangout. That was really really sad, considering all the closing speech i've heard on the final day that they are a management who treasures tradition and will want to preserve as much as they can. I think they lost the focus.

HOWEVER

IMAX 3D is a revelation, even Pirates of the Caribbean looked awesome under those screens. It was an overwhelming experience. The screen was humongous and the 3D effects are all "jumping at you" type. This movie experience is really $$ worth spending. It was really an "immerse in the movie" experience. Try it and you'll love it. Choose seats wisely, middle seats will be awesome side seats will make you feel a little distant from the fun, but not much less awed.

Conclusion: LIDO, come for IMAX because there's nothing else left worth coming for. :P

Life after Life

Major changes in my life and the life in Singapore.

I'm engaged and the opposition now controls a GRC! And people who are giving feedback are getting even more aggressive and unreasonable. The authority doesn't owe you a living, you know!!?? And yes we pay just as much taxes as you do. We are not your servants!!

Work is getting more hectic and more cramped, 24hrs is no longer enough for a day.

Loads of work and quite a few projects on hand. I don't feel totally overloaded, but I can't focus for long without getting distracted by something else. Just look at how long it took me to blog about all that I've just said and about to say. hahaa.

Will be needing more breaks, but all the more I cannot afford more breaks.. Conflicting irony. WTH!

The painstakingly long project to convert attach to engaged (Egomaniac Me)

Planning began as early as Dec 2010. It took me a long time to run through my mind what are the processes, who to get involve, where to do it, when to do it, how to do it. It's basically a one man operation to begin with, which ended up as the biggest affair conjured in all my 29 years.

Feb 2011, I started roping in her clique and slowly her sisters get involved as well, then I got her colleagues to be in cahoots with me as well. For a good 3 months, she was living under a huge cover-up which was largely unknown to her. Being able to be the mastermind behind this operation really showed me how much i've known her over the years. Every single little reaction of hers was within calculation in the end. I'm sinisterly glad how good i am at that.

Getting in touch with various cinema providers and blazing through my mind for the movie to play and the meaning behind everything was a gargantuan task. There had to be a meaning behind every detail, from the the movie title, to the proposal clip, to the background music even the certification date on the proposal ring. One would think that ridiculous amount of planning had to go into this. Yes, alot of planning went in, but not everything was planned, many things just simply fell into place. I had to have quite a bit of faith and luck. Fate and chance had a large part to play in many parts. In the end I believe fate has decided we are meant to be together, so don't even think about otherwise. Muahahaa.

12 May 2011, Cineleisure Orchard. There was a movie titled "Surprise" to be shown. Under the disguise of a surprise movie screening, that was how this project was to be executed. In order to camouflage the familiar faces from her, there had to be many others who had to play the part of the smoke screen. Thanks to the help of many of my colleagues, the place was well filled and the setup up to the moment was fantastic.

Honestly, it's painfully difficult to be so exciting about the whole thing for so long and yet withhold all that excitement when I see her everyday. The final moments were the toughest, many times I smiled sheepishly at her. She was always expecting something, but i've already laid a decoy long ago so that she would suspect something else. Although she said she expected a proposal at the end, I don't think so. :P

Thanks to the help of everyone involved, my entire plan was able to play out as well as it did. Although it was not perfect, but I believe the imperfections in the pursuit of perfections will leave just as deep an impression in her, myself and everyone else who has turned up to share this wonderful moment with us.

THANK YOU ALL!!

GE 2011

This year is the first General Election where most Singaporeans are given the opportunity to vote for the party which we feel should be forming the government. For the first time in our 40 odd year history did the opposition parties seriously rise up to give a challenge to the ruling party.

I'm not sure if I've been so indoctrinated by the policies as i grew up or i simply have a very very neutral mind to tell that some opposition candidates are plain jokers. Not to say that I support all the new candidates from the ruling party, there are a few who do not seem to be the best fit for the job.

But I do understand one thing, the flaw in democracy is democracy itself. It makes the assumption that the citizens know best and will choose for the best outcome. The truth is, all the citizens know the end goal, they want a good life, good everything. But not everyone know how to get to the end goal and the government has to be the one leading the citizens in this pursuit.

More difficult here is a "good life and a good everything else" may vary from one to the other. If only we can gather everyone with the same goals and put them in one country. That would make the job of all governments in this world have a much easier time. The down side, peace within countries, but like chaos among countries.

Anyway, back to GE. Results this year is also a turning point in our political history. And from my layman understanding of the results. This is what I see.

Generally Singaporeans are now more educated, voters especially. Before this election, there is a sense that the country is run in a "everything the government says is right" way. Because the government is always right, no one said otherwise until this year, there had been so much opposition voices coming forward. So much so that it brings out all the little unhappiness everyone has about the government and amplifies them. I'm skeptical that singaporeans hate the ruling  party as much as the results shows. But some opposition party did do well to really amplify all those tiny unhappiness and amplify them so big that they mattered.

All in all I still think the government had done a wonderful job bringing us to where we are, and perhaps this change is something we need to bring us even further into the future. Nothing is perfect, development of a government/country especially, don't expect this small in the political scene to make everything perfect miraculously.

*being a civil servant or public servant will never be what it used to be*

Mind Overloaded - Off-loading Time

I've not updated my blog in quite along while. and there has been so many things in my mind which I've been wanting to share. So in order not to have a super long post, which sometimes makes reading tough. I'll be posting a series of short posts to try to cover everything I wanted to share.

What type of person is susceptible to what type of stress?

Why does a person becomes stressed? Or why do I feel stressed?

Well, stressed up is a feeling i get when something matters to me. Stressed up abt work, abt each project, abt each consultation and every feedback I get. I get the feeling from the moment I get a job to until the final instant that the job is closed. Why so stressed? Cos it's my job, to feel stressed about it is to have ownership to it. But sometimes, just too many people asking too many thing at one go, just doesn't help. I'm not avoiding the issue, I just need a refreshed and opened mind to restart the whole thought process.

Well, I get stressed easily, cos there are many things happening other than just work. And nowadays work seems to be getting the bulk of the attention. Several other things like personal life and volleyball have taken a back seat. It's time to balance everything again.

Not to mention election. Although I've already made my decision on it, it's still stressful.

Like I said before, if it matters, it stresses you up. The only way to be stress-free is to not care.

Here i am thinking abt this and that. Jamming my head with this and that.

I learnt another lesson from my storybook again. (Terry Goodkind - The Sword of Truth Series) You can care about everything, one just have to decide when to care about which one. It's a good read, i'm only 2/3 thru the whole series of 12 books. Lots of life lessons to be learnt from this book.

1 year of working

It's probably an irony to be staying home on the day that marks my 1st year into working life. I've been kept awake the entire night!! Not sure why, probably just stressed and pressure. I was in my favourite sleeping position and yet I couldn't fall asleep. And when I think I've fallen asleep (I was no longer aware of my surroundings) I started having a nightmare of sorts. I realised my surroundings when my aircon went off at 6am as it does everyday. It's just super disturbing and irritating. Like I have not slept at all.

It gave me a terrible headache when it's time to go to work. I washed up and ironed my clothes, I was ready to change. I decided otherwise, I just had an indication that my brain is totally going to be switched off today. So I took the day off and rested the day away.

And I'm feeling much better now, still kindda traumatised by the dream though. :P

How not to start a week

Felt giddy on Saturday, skipped paintball :(
Blocked nose and headache on Sunday, screwed up volleyball :(
All the above plus cough on Monday, messed up work schedule :(

Slightly better on Tuesday, managed to survive half alive. :)

Please let Wednesday be better!! :)

The Beginning of a Long Weekend

For the first time I enter a weekend with more than 100 emails still unread in my inbox. uurrggghhh!! That's just besides the point.

Long weekend is here, lots of things to do over the weekend. Watched SOURCE CODE just now. It's a good movie with an interesting plot. It's somewhat like matrix, inception but yet another totally different concept of its own. Nice. Good Watch.

Competitive Volleyball

Have not played at such an intensity for a long long time. My whole body is now aching like hell. I missed the days which I played with a regular team of players week in week out. I wonder if I still have it in me to sustain high intensity training.

Shortest Work Week EVER!!!

I'm so looking forward to this week. Monday to Wednesday on course. Thursday back at work. Friday is GOOD FRIDAY!! Muahahaa!!!

Time for a break

Stayed till super late today, cos i'll be on leave tml and on cse from mon to wed next week. Have so much stuff to clear. I can't believe the amount of issues I had to respond to after dealing with the urgent issue. Then again, after that urgent issue, I just kept getting 1 urgent after another. Not to forget meetings after meetings. Seriously!!   I think there's something wrong with our workflow. Nothing much I can do abt it, not at this stage at least.

I'm so happy there's someone waiting for me with dinner when I work late. Thank you! :)

April's Fool??

While many ppl are happily collecting their bumper bonuses, there are few lucky ones like me who have only to look in envy at the bulge of others' wallets. oh well, facts of life, you don't always get rewarded for what you have worked for. here's a another fact, you can't stop trying harder either.

The next few months is going to be a trial for myself. Taking up the numerous tasks and projects. I'm testing myself, stretching my time. Will I be able to pull them all off? Or will I end up burnt at both ends, only time will tell. I just hope i'll get better with each task and wiser with each hurdle.

Simple goals, arduous journey...

Multitude March

Ever since coming back from Hanoi, March had been pretty eventful. Ups and downs, disappointments and hope. It's this kind of time when it seems nothing seems to be going well, yet it seems there's hope that things will take a turn for the better. Lot's of new things happening around me too.

Got my first bunch of credit cards. Citibank. It's so easy to get them, instant issuance at vivocity branch. Quite cool actually, and I got 3 cards at one go. Aside from the M1 card which I know I'm going to use it to pay bills, I'm still confused when to use the rewards card and when to use the dividend card. Anyone with advice?

I got a new TO this week. There had been quite a few staff who came in after me, but this time I feel like I've been in TM for a while. Perhaps cos he'll be working with me, and suddenly I feel like a senior. Hahaha. Not really sure who to distribute the workload around in future. For now, its me and my buddy going through almost everything together, but 3 guys going thru the same thing together seems redundant. That means i'll need to find a new way to redistribute the workload once his honeymoon period is over.

I believe we had a roadkill today while doing our site check. It was an unfortunate incident involving a very reckless animal. I wanted to go back to take a look, but my buddy avoid the route. I just hope this is not a bad omen, the last time I saw a road kill, I flunk my O'lvls.

Sapa Twist & DBS vs UOB

After spending 8 hours on the train, I've arrived at Sapa. It's nice and cool, the weather is just wonderful.Totally reminds me of the weather back in yellowstone. Cold, foggy, snow-like raindrops. The hotel i'm staying at also reminds me of the hotels in yellowstone. Very wooden but not as classy.

An unfortunate event occur today during the first part of my hike into the native villages. My wallet was stolen, the side pocket where I kept my wallet was open when I was trying to get money to pay for lunch. I was really annoyed with myself then. However I tried to convince myself that it was probably left at the hotel and there was still chance of finding it. Nope!! no such luck, it was not there and the wallet was gone. Luckily this was my holiday wallet, only 2 card and some money inside. Good thing I still have some spare USD to spend, so things were not too bad.

What I really want to comment about was the difference in service level for DBS and UOB. So yah those were the 2 cards that went missing along with the wallet.

First I called DBS, after verifying my IC number, the  service person agreed that the card would be suspended immediately. When she asked me if I wanted to be given a replacement, I said yes. It was a new card, just issued not long ago. She went on to ask several other questions to verify my identity, most of which I couldnt remember at hand. She asked for things like if my account was a salary payable acc, wat were the details of my last transaction, acc no. and even i had any giro arrangements for this acc. But WTH!! I just lost my card, I want a replacement sent to my home address, how much security do you need for that?? The bank records have my address, i'm not going to tell them to send to some 3rd party location.. simply duhzZ.. I told the person I was overseas so I did not have access to all tha tinformation she needs. So I had to solve the situation myself by telling her that i'll call DBS again when I get back to Sg to get a replacement card. The best part was that checked with her if any transaction was made in the past few hrs. She told me she could not reveal anything. she still doesnt believe that i'm who I am! wth!!

In contrast, UOB had much better customer service and verification were so much easier. Just full IC number, credit limit, and when I answered my limit slightly off, she followed abt asking my current employer, which i answered correctly. That was it and they suspended the card and asked me if I needed a card couriered to where I am. How nice? They even informed me that my card has been unused in the past 24hrs so that i could have a piece of mind. The level of service is so very different.

I'm so disappointed with our local homegrown DBS. It's time to relook into useless and pointless procedures.  Thanks to the customer service of DBS, I have struck off 1 bank from my choice of credit card banks to look at for my application.

Still in Hanoi

I'm still here in Hanoi. I'm enjoying it. I'm staying in a hotel with impeccable service. They are so proactive, i felt scared. It's too much for a singaporean. The westerners simply loved it. The amazing thing is that they seem to provide the same level of service even though we are asians who are often known for not being able to reciprocate the same sort gratefulness the westerners are able to provide.

Hanoi is fast-paced, yet there's a zen feeling about it. You can feel that sense when you cross the roads here. Traffic lights basically have no meaning for the people and the motorists here. no one cares cos no one needs them. people cross wherever they want and whenever they want. Here's the zen magic, the pedestrians never ever turn to look at the traffic, and the vehicles will always seem to weave around the pedestrian without even losing a beat. How amazing is that? You will not know the feeling until you try it. There is order in chaos. I have not see any accident between the vehicle and the pedestrian over the past few days and the roads are super super packed.

The food here is great. Lots of veges, lots of mint and basil in everything. That's probably the reason why I don't see any rounded bodies around me. Probably also the fact that the average annual wage is 7-800USD. I'm sure there's also an elite rich class here. It's just that i'm not in the right city to see them, not that I care to see them. The pho (noodles) and the banh xeo (rice paper wraps) are some of the stuff that we liked here. Yummy Yummy.. Food is quite cheap here, but I believe it's still inflated due to the tourist attraction.

Loads of places have internet access, and i'm typing on a hotel provided IBM thinkpad right now!! Another fantastic service from the hotel. hahaa. But somehow, facebook is being blocked here. No way I could load the page. interesting.

I'll be off to another part of Vietnam tml evening. Sapa valley, a place where we are going to meet up with the local tribes and probably live among them for a while. Looking forward to it. :)

Not Enough Rest

It's been a month since my last post. There's been so many instances that I wanted to blog about something so many times there are things happening that i wanna just record down before I forget about it. But you know what? I'm always so tired when I get home, I fall asleep soon after I turn on the com. And I've also forgotten about what I wanted to blog abt.

Few hours ago, I was thinking abt something, I wanted to blog abt it. But by now, it's out of my mind already!!!

Amnesia + Parkinsons + Dementia + Alzheimer

Aargghh!! WTH!!

2011 - A New Beginning

It's been 2 weeks into the new year and things are happening at quite a fast pace. I have experienced for the first time the change in work pace at the turn of the year. Immediately as the holidays ends my inbox gets filled in a pace pumped with steroids. It's quite scary actually, i was getting used to the 2nd gear speed of daily work for the past few months. Suddenly things are happening so much faster.

Luckily I have this knack of getting used to new things/environment quite easily. I think I'm quite up to speed already, but the thing is my schedule is simply packed. Having enrichment courses going on at the same time doesn't really help the situation. Those days while i'm gone, I can only hope that people realize i'm not around and relent a little in their bombardment. Alas, it doesn't work that way.

New year, new experiences. I've have several things on my agenda which i'm trying to push for. I hope I can achieve them and make some good improvements in my area. I'll have to be determine to follow through with what i've started and make progress. I just hope i'm not killing myself by juggling the multiple locations i'm trying to handle. Time to psycho myself. All is WELL!! hahaa

Tried a new dim sum restaurant friday night at location where I used to have my sichuan food. Operated by the same chain, the taste of the sichuan food has changed slightly. I wonder if I could get them to do it the way they used to if I requested. Anyway, the dim sum was not bad. It's a breath of fresh air from the usual place we always hangout on friday nights. The menu had many interesting items as well. Most exciting of all was Durian Muah Chee. The durian was really rich, the skin was relatively thin, so it basically bursts in your mouth. Quite shiok.

Also tried paintball for the first time today. It really felt good pulling the trigger and seeing the pellets fly. But as a first timer, there are many lessons I learnt today. Painful lessons. It was an exhilarating experience. time passes very fast in the few games that we played. The location has pretty good facilities and the equipment were quite well maintained. Definitely would be something I would return for. Down side is simply the price. It's not a cheap past time.

Open mind, Open heart, the year will be good ahead. :)

Mixed Feelings

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

My Short Term Targets:

To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011

Currently 109kg with 210 days left

Lost 0kg and used 0 days

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!!! 

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

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

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!!!!!!! 

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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... 

---

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

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. 

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...

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!!

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

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

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

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.

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

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... :)