Catching Up! Part 1

I have lots to catch up on. Since I've been a little bit lazy with the updates. First things first, I would like to catch up on the movies I've watched.

In just 2 weeks, I have watched 6 movies. Seriously, I broke my own record of one movie per week (it was back in Summer 2010 - my reason to justify it is that well, it's summer: that's when all the movies premiered).

Movies watched in the past 2 weeks (in chronological order):

1. What Women Wants starring Andy Lau, Gong Li. 

• To be honest, it was a bit of a... bore - there, I said it! From the trailer, I expected it to be at least decent - come on, there are tons of things you could do with the idea of "hearing the inner thoughts of the opposite sex", are there not?
• But, in the end, it was a bit too rushed - like, "Oh ok, I forgive you for plagiarizing my ideas and for listening to my inner thoughts. Yay! Hugs and kisses". =.= No explanation whatsoever on how the heck the female lead got her job back. 
• I hate to say this, but What Women Wants deserves a BOO! 
2. I Love Hong Kong

• I can't believe I'm saying this, but I Love Hong Kong beats What Women Wants hands down! I totally wouldn't have expected this, but it's the truth. 
• I love the whole silliness of the movie, the LOL moments (which I kind of pity the cinema because my family occupies two rows - and if you know me, you should know how loud my family laughs!)
• Sandra Ng rocks my socks! She's mega awesome especially in her ghost scene and the scene where she was wrapped up! 
3. No Strings Attached starring Ashton Kutcher (MEGA HOTNESS!!!) and Natalie Portman

• With Ashton Kutcher in it (READ: MEGA HOTNESS), it's already a plus for me. And then the storyline makes another plus. 
• It is kind of refreshing to see that the guy is being the one who wants the relationship and that girl is the one who's afraid of committing/settling down. 
• Conclusion, I love this movie! 
4. True Grit 

• This is an OK movie. I'm just not really into it. Maybe it's because I watched it at 11.30pm, so I'm a little tired. Or maybe it's because I missed around 15 minutes of the movie. But, overall, it's OK, if you're into this genre. 
5. Sanctum by James Cameron

• I have to say, after Avatar - this movie seems so-so. I mean, without the predecessor, it could've been an awesome movie. But after all the hype of Avatar!!! Sanctum just seem to fail expectation. 
• Forgetting Avatar for a moment, Sanctum is the typical survival movie - where you sort of knew from the start that only one will make it in the end. And like the typical "grab on for your life" movie, the deaths are just... urgh. Some are touching (eg: Luko and George), some are plain disgusting (eg: Victoria) and some are just heartbreaking and tear-inducing (eg:Frank *sobs*).  
• Overall, the movie is worth the movie ticket. Though warning: you might feel a little tired watching them because it's just sooooooo stressful. 
6. Black Swan

• Er, interesting movie, I guess? It's a little confusing and I still don't quite get the meaning. I get the gist of it, but not 100% sure. 
• But, I do feel awed of Natalie Portman because she was really good in this movie. Her portrayal of two completely opposite characters is overwhelming, especially at the final scene. 
• Bravo! A must watch! 

Movie Review: The Green Hornet

The main reasons that I want to watch this movie are: 

1. The trailer made it seemed like it would be a fun movie to watch. 

2. I wanna laugh at Jay Chou's English (sorry Yion). 

Based on that two reasons, I have to say that this movie is a success because it is fun to watch because it's really funny and I really got to laugh at Jay Chou's English! 

Without the humor, I think the movie is quite er... lame. Storyline is as typical as it could get and it doesn't make much sense. 

Love the villian - Chod-nod-sky

Love Seth Rogen. 

I even love Jay Chou's English. To be honest, I only laughed at his English for the first 15 minutes of his screen time. After that, I'm kind of admired him for his bravery in attempting to actually act in a film in a language that he's definitely not very good at. Bravo at your effort, Mr. J. 

All in all, it's a good movie to watch if you're looking for a fun-filled way to spend your time (and money). 

Favorite lines: 

Kato (Jay Chou): I was born in Shanghai. You know Shanghai?

Brit (Seth Rogen): Of course! I love Japan! 

Total LOL! 

Chodnofsky: Be it the blood or my mask, but the last color you'll see before you die is the color red. I'm gonna say that before I kill someone. Get it? 

Total LOL too. But you need to watch the movie to get this one. 

Movie Review: Shaolin

There's a few choice of words that I could use to describe this movie: brutal, gory, predictable, cheesy (as in the lines), funny, tear-inducing. 

Yep, basically that sums it all up. 

Just ten minutes in to the movie, Andy Lau started to kill mercilessly. Like, SHOOT, BAM, DIE, Hahaha and walked away - those type of killing. 

Like the saying, karma comes back to bite you in the ass, he got his payback - getting assassinated (attempt) (very brutal and gory) and watching his daughter die right before his eyes (I swear, so tear-inducing!!!)

The storyline then got really predictable - man felt remorse over his past actions, repents, turns a new leaf. Instead of killing people, he now protects people. Very typical - complete with very cheesy lines - you know those that were overused and makes you kind of wanna go urgh, again?!

While I normally couldn't stand Jackie Chan (some of his roles are always the same kind, no?), but I kind of liked his role in Shaolin. He's the funny guy here. He made this movie goes lighter than its original plot. 

Other than that, it's all tear-inducing. Trust me, when a person chooses to die in the most brutal way (being slashed by twin blades and finally having those blades struck through his body and through the door he was standing against) because he's trying to buy time for his companion to run away, how could you not cry (while cringing in disgust at the brutal killing). 

Or, when a guy is still trying to make the person who betray him to see reason and repent for his mistakes even when he was dying... ohmygod, really. My eyes are like the waterworks that night. 

All in all, Shaolin is not a very good movie to watch during the Chinese New Year. Brutality and sadness aside, the movie is so-so - the message is quite clear, story so-so. 

But, Nicholas Tze is a PLUS! He's so HOT! :D 

Early Birthday Gift

Remember the thing I said I wanted for my birthday? You know, the thingy that can play songs from a pendrive in a car or a modulator - or at least that's what Daniel told me.

In case any one of you decided to buy that for my birthday (hint it's coming soon hint), you need to find something else to get me because my beloved Mommy got me one!

Behold, my modulator Mouldy! :D

Playing all my favorite songs, Mouldy! 

Yay!

Death Notification

Imagine this: 

Your country had just established a law, it's called the "Prosperity Law". According to this law, every children will be injected upon entering Standard 1. Among these injections, there are one in a hundred (approximation) contains a capsule, in which it will burst in your heart, causing you to die (imagine Death Note style). The purpose of this law is to ensure that the citizens will live their lives to the fullest because they might not know when they will be died. This law had successfully decreased suicide rate and increased the nation's production rate.

Every day, a man/woman in black suit will visit a home to deliver a ikigami - final letter or Death Notification - so that whoever who will die in honor of the nation will get to spend their last 24 hours with their beloved.

Ikigami - Death Notification

Isn't that just the saddest thing ever? I just watch that movie and in that 1 hour plus, I have cried so many times.

One of the heartbreaking scene:

Seiryuu Banzai!

A personal opinion of mine really. I think that one of the many catches of watching anime is to appreciate the ability of the voice actors (seiryuu) to bring out the characters. 

It is true that how the artist draw the character plays a part in determining whether the character is well-liked or not, but I think that it's the voice that matters. You know something like "the eyes are the windows to one's soul", but in anime character's case, it's the voice!

Inspired by Eddie's status on FB about his favorite voice actors, I decided to share my list of my favorite seiryuus.

Miyano Mamoru - he has this smooth voice that will make me swoon every time I listen to him. I'm serious. I don't know whether it's fate or not, but almost every character that he voiced over are the ones that I'm crazy over. Here's a few of his roles that I really love!

Suou Tamaki - Ouran High School Host Club

Yagami Light - Death Note

Kiryuu Zero - Vampire Knight

Lin Yao - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Romi Paku (she's a Korean actually, so it's Romi Park) - even though she's a female, but most of the roles that she plays were guys, because she has this rough voice. There's just something in her voice that makes me go ga-ga whenever I hear it. Her roles are:

Hyuuga Natsume - Gakuen Alice

Edward Elric - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Kosuke Ueki - Law of Ueki

Irino Miyu - had the same birthday as me! And also a good friend of Miyano Mamoru! Like his good friend, Irino Miyu has this soft and gentle voice that makes you fall in love with him (and the roles he play) almost immediately.

Niwa Daisuke - D.N. Angel

Syaoran - Tsubasa Chronicles

Yamaguchi Kappei - there's just something in his voice that makes you remember him (at least in my case) and I like how he can switched from playfully cute to so amazingly handsome in seconds. :D 

Kaito Kuroba (Kaitou Kid) - Detective Conan

Shinichi Kudo - Detective Conan

L Lawliet - Death Note

Sakuma Ryuichi - Gravitation

So, there you have it, my top 4 most favorited Seiryuus of all time! Really, when you're watching anime,  instead of focussing fully on how the characters looked and the storyline, please appreciate the voice actors too. They mega awesome!

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp

or better known as the reason why I got into Jess's blacklist.

Long story short: The five of us (Chee Wei, Shaun, Nicholas, Jess and I) went to Times Square on Wednesday - supposedly to shop for the guys' CNY clothes. But suddenly, this babi Chee Wei wanted to watch this movie:

Even from the picture, you can kind of guess what type of reaction Jess would have right? 

The movie was so-so, to be honest. The tricks they use to kill people off seemed like it was taken from various movies of the same genre and put into one. Not very creative. 

Storyline, so-so also. A bit predictable. 

The one plus for this movie is the cute guys in it. :D There are two of them in it, but I couldn't find out about their names (wiki- Boo!). 

Oh, and the ending is lame too! Boo! 

What do you want for your birthday?

Normally, when presented with this question, my mind was flooded with all the things that I really want.

An iPod Touch would make a perfect present, wouldn't it?

I won't be greedy, just the 8GB one would be enough

Or perhaps, a copy Jonas Brothers first album "It's About Time" from the United States?

Surely, it wouldn't be too much? I am a fan! 

or, a new set of speakers for my Nikki? Preferably white. :D 

or, a  huge photo album (empty or filled a little) - the one where it's adhesive instead of the pocket ones. 

or, the thingy which enable me to play songs in a pendrive that I can put in my car. 

or, a digital camera, that would be nice. :D 

Basically, when the question "What do you want?" came up, there's tons of things I want. I mean, who would turn down the opportunity? People are going to give it to me for free, I'm certainly not complaining. Bring on the gifts, I'll say. 

But then, when I thought more about it, I realized I don't really need any of those things. 

The iPod Touch? Yes, it would be really cool if I can have it (the games I could play!), but realistically, I already have an iPod Nano (Izzy), so... I don't exactly need the iPod Touch. Goodbye, my Ivy (yes, I already named it)

The Jonas Brothers album? Once again, it would be super awesome if I actually have the hard copy of the album, but I won't die if I didn't have it either. I mean, I muat turun-ed the songs already anyway. 

The speakers? Again, not a necessity. Even though there's a bit of a problem with my current speakers here and there, they are still working well. It's not like my room's a freaking cinema that needs awesome sound system, kan?

The photo album? Though it might be nice to be able to flip through the pages of picture, but to think about it in a deeper level, it's not exactly economically wise to print out the pictures, isn't it? Oh well, that's for me to worry about. 

Next, the thingy that plays songs from pendrive in my car. OK, maybe this could be considered as a potential present guys! :D 

A digital camera? Again, it would be awesome to be able to own my personal camera. But then again, I don't need it. Really, what will its function be? For me to camwhore? Well, I have my Nikki and Notty for that, I don't need Cammie (yes, I named it again!). 

This entry might come off as a post that is hinting at what to get for my birthday (when I re-read what I've written), but it really isn't. I just want to share what I thought about this matter. Maybe I've grown up a little bit, or maybe it's the aftereffect of the talk with my brother (another story altogether), but I realize all of those are nothing compared to a happy and contented life. 

Instead of wasting money on what I want and not need, perhaps I could just spend more time with my mom, family and friends. Be a good daughter and not worry my mom. I think that's the best present I could give myself. (Aww, sappy. Alright, none of this in the future, I promise)

When My Friends Thought I Might Be Sold...

or what I would like to call: my working experience as a alcohol server at the GAB event.

Before your imaginations went wild at what entails in my job scope, I assure you that it was nothing of that sort. No skimpy outfits, no perverted uncles. Nada.

But, truthfully it was a little of a culture shock for me because I have never worked for an alcohol-related job before. My usual 12-9 promoter job is so different than this. For one, I don't have to go all the way to Wisma Genting for training (training on how to pour drinks?). Also, the working hours is short and the pay is equivalent to my 12-9 job. So, you can see why I was tempted in the first place.

Anyhow, the working experience is good, I suppose. I'm experiencing something new. I learned how to pour the beer so that there'll be no bubbles/foam? and also, I know what is "cham". :D

I think it's obvious that I'm inexperience at this because one of the uncle asked me "You're part time right?" because at first I have no idea at all on how to pour.

The supervisors are great too. All in all, it was good. But, I wouldn't wanna work for a project like this in the near future because well, my legs felt like they're gonna fall off anytime. Imagine standing in heels for 4-5 hours. Absolute torture! 

天天好天

Just watched this movie on Thursday night with my Mommy, Grandma, cousins (Chei and Chin) and my brother. 

The message of this movie, from my interpretation, is the value of family. The ultimate message: No matter how hectic or successful your life is, it should not stop you from caring and keep in touch with your family members. 

Since last year's "Tiger Woohoo", I'm really impressed with local production. Despite the cast being radio announcers, news anchors and singing talents (whom only selected few had at least some talent in acting), the movie came out perfect, with the distinctive Malaysian flavor. 

The same could be said about "Great Day". Though the plot seems a bit rushed in the middle (the part about the grandfather and granddaughter bonding), it tells of story that can be relate to by every Malaysian: the maid spending more time with the kids instead of the parents, marriage problem, taking care of ill parents, etc. 

I personally relate to the experience of the man called "kong hu cha" and his "son". When the man said, "My father is already dead" - and from that point of the movie, we assumed that he was saying that because he hated his father's way of living and would not want to have anything to do with his old man. 

I reflected on that. Am I behaving in the same way as the man? Well, maybe not to the same extreme, but... I just couldn't help but keeping a grudge against him for his mistakes. Is it wrong? 

Anyway, "Great Day" is a movie that will touch your heart with its witty jokes/remarks, amusing casts (some with great potential) and touching storyline. 

Be sure to watch it if you haven't. You will not regret it. 

Bad Day

This is Me

This sums up everything.

Down the Memory Lane

Almost 3 years after the results were released, I had finally gone back to my high school (SMK Convent Klang) to collect my SPM certificate.

There are tons of changes in Convent, though there are some that remains the same. 

The cafeteria was upgraded - tables arranged neatly complete with tablecloths, but the Uncles there still recognized me. :D The Chinese uncle who used to give me a free packet of fruit asked me, "Have you got married?" LOL! I don't look that old, do I? Or maybe he hadn't really recognized me. 

The office was upgraded too. There clerks now seated behind a wooden counter, sort of gave the office a whole sophisticated feeling. But, the clerks remained the same. 

The toilets were the same too, just a little bit cleaner and there's no writings on the doors. And the door is PINK! (No comment)

When I was walked past the "studio radio" door, I remembered those times when I used to be the prefect in charge of the sound system for daily assembly or sometimes when I was the PIC and was saying into the microphone "Para pelajar diminta masuk ke gelanggang tenis sekarang" and of course, Puan Lee's tapping on the mic before speaking into it. :D 

The good ol' days. How I wish I could just go back, at least for a day. 

The Tourist

Watched The Tourist with Shaun, Victor and Chee Wei today.

Apart from the two major stars as the main cast (Johnny Depp!!! and Angelina Jolie) and a plot twist at the end, the movie was only so-so. 

There aren't enough action scenes. Some scenes doesn't make much sense. A few lame attempts at humor. That's about it. 

Maybe I had put too much expectation on the movie that by the time the credits start rolling, I was like "Huh," 

I can't understand why some people *hint* Chee Wei *hint* can watch this movie for three times. Perhaps it has something to do with the hotness of Angelina Jolie? 

I still don't get how is she hot, but oh-well. 

"Frank? That's a terrible name," LOL! 

Overall, I don't feel this movie.

Fayette House Retreat: Sepang Gold Coast

After a one-year term in office, Fayette House 2009-2010 decided to reward ourselves with a relaxing camping treat to the Sepang Gold Coast, Bagan Lalang. We were joined on the trip with two Fayette officers for the upcoming term (and a "spouse").

It'll be too long to write everything, so here's a series of photographs that would help me narrate our adventure.

The Happy Campers 

We're all posing for a photo taken by our awesome advisor - Mr. Francis. I'm not doing a stretch or having a stroke, I'm just trying not to block the lovely faces behind me (Not2: I'm not talking about Shaun!)

From left: JoJo, Yion, me and Staci
My Tent Mates 

We did not sleep through the night because 1. Mosquito bites (Ultimate victim - JoJo) 2. Full bladder (Again, JoJo) - the washroom are closed from 12-8am. But oh well, our tent rocks! 

It was a very relaxing trip (for me, at least) because all we ever do is take picture and eat. I'm serious. 

Activity time - we're divided into a few groups during this actually. Some walk around with a fan (MINE), some looking hard to catch some hermit crab, some playing soccer - trying to see who can kick the furthest across the water, some taking pictures while I...

blew bubbles and watching them fly into the air and then went "pop". It was really fun.

Shoo, off you go! 

Where's my crab?

The Cook of the day: Mr Francis
Shaun Alan Goonting did nothing.

The REAL chef assistant - Danny

The Pregnant Man - Petra who gave birth to our dessert!

Bok's reaction when we said we're not gonna help preparing dinner :D

Ms. Jackie Black - a cat (of many more) that keep coming to our campsite

The Emo guys looking at the sea

Entertainers of the night (from left) : Rachel and Shaun

Rachel serenaded us with her beautiful voice while Shaun... well, Shaun just attempted to serenade us. :D But he did put in an awesome show at night during dinner time - pole dancing, stripping, etc. I'm not kidding.

The trip really is a good one and I think that everyone enjoyed it. 

Movie Review: Season of the Witch

The first movie that I watched for the year 2011: Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch

What I can say about this movie is, its story is predictable yet, shocking at the same time. While I got the story - characters/motives/gist of the story - right throughout the movie, the revelation at the end is kind of shocking in the end. What you think you know, might not turn out the way you think is what I will use to describe this movie.

Apart from the storyline, I would like to share about several characters in the movie. 

I am absolutely in love with the bromance between the Nicholas Cage and and Ron Perlman's characters. Behmen (Cage) and Felson (Perlman) are two knights from the Crusades that became escapees when they realize the error in the church's way. "I serve God, not the church," 

Bromance in the Air

Next, the supposed witch - better known as The Girl - is hot. Really beautiful with a pair of piercing eyes. Claire Foy is a sexy woman, there's no doubt about that.

Look at those eyes. Beautiful. 

Let's just say that there's this scene right at the end that most guys would love to see. *hint hint*

Last, but not least, the very eye-catching, new actor (at least for me because I haven't seen him before) - Robert Sheehan.

Doesn't he look a little bit like Orlando Bloom?

Anyhow, judge for yourself from this trailer to decide whether or not to watch this movie. :D