< If You're Happy >

Tumblr

2011-01-31T15:31:00.000+08:00

I created a Tumblr!

I don't know why but I think Tumblr is just awesome!

Do visit my Tumblr! http://wching.tumblr.com

I'm doing a picture a day thing. I'm not much good at photography, but do check out the Tumblr!

Happy Holidays people!

:D

Tron: Legacy (2010)

2011-01-02T22:05:00.006+08:00

Finally, I got to watch Tron: Legacy last Thursday! I have been excitingly anticipating this movie ever since they released the trailer! The visuals, graphics & Olivia Wilde (is a fan of her Thirteen from House MD) caught my eye and of course I have to admit I got to know Tron from Kingdom Hearts 2 as well. :D

And it was really what I expected to see, the stunning & dazzling visuals, the light cycles, the light trails, the awesome Grid, the vehicle, the disc wars, the race on the Grid, the device that turns into any vehicle like the light cycle (motorbike) & the plane and of course, a smokin' hot Olivia Wilde, and the awesome music soundtrack by Daft Punk.

The Lightcycle.

I totally enjoyed Tron: Legacy, it was purely entertaining & I was definitely thrilled by it (though some might disagree, but WTF cares). I couldn't stop thinking about it after watching it! Everything in the movie is so COOL! Total nerdgasm/geekgasm.

The only problem is the plot though, to be honest, there is too many holes and a little bit shallow. But the awesome visuals all overshadowed and covered up for it.

The disc where everything a programme/user does or know is inside.

And i totally LOVE Olivia Wilde's character Quorra. She's like an innocent, hot, cute ninja. Her eyes, her piercing blue eyes especially.

How cool is their outfit. It really does light up with a battery pack.

A cute & adorable ninja warrior - Quorra.

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-01T11:40:00.001+08:00

Goodbye 2010.

Hello 2011!

May we all have an inspirational year! Lots more of eating, lots more of sleeping, lots more of drinking, lots more of playing, lots more of letting go of ourselves and going crazy, and lots more of studying, lots more of working, and lots more of growing up.

Lose yourself and have fun!

Happy New Year everybody!

Black Swan (2010)

2010-12-28T20:59:00.004+08:00

Black Swan.

Certainly one of the top films in 2010.

Before I enthusiastically recommend this movie, be warned that Black Swan isn't really a mainstream movie and the genre of this film is not acceptable for everyone mainly because of the shocking, disturbing, raw and real moments presented unless you are a fan of psychological thrillers or a fan of the director Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem Of A Dream, Pi, The Fountain, and The Wrestler), or maybe you are adventurous enough or you simply love Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis.

I was at lost for words and simply shocked the first time watching, and for the second time, I had a better grasp of it since the whole flow of the story is already in my head. And it was awesome! Now, where do I start?

Nina Sayers (played to perfection by Natalie Portman) is an innocent, beautiful, virginal ballerina whose sole purpose or motivation in life revolves only around ballet, ballet is everything she knows and nothing else. Her mind is fragile, weak, and pure just like a child but she is dedicated and strives for perfection in every dance move she makes. Nina doesn't have a single true friend, and being in the cut-throat business of the ballet world, all there is are rivals each vying to be the female lead one day in a play. She is supposedly raised single-handedly by her mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) and lives in seclusion in their apartment. Her room is like a cage with zero privacy and her mother, a failed ballerina constantly prying and fussing over her like an eagle/jailer, out of pure love but a suffocating one. Nina's room is also childlike, the walls painted in pink surrounded by stuffed toys and there is even a music box (with a ballerina figure) that plays her to sleep with the tune of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. This somehow indicates that Nina has a prolonged childhood and a repressed sexuality, a symbolism of lack of adulthood and maturity.

Nina is then picked by her ballet director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) to be the Swan Queen in his new "stripped down" and "visceral" version of Swan Lake. The Swan Queen however, requires the performer to embody a dual role, one the White Swan, the other the Black Swan. Nina exudes the obsessively perfect and weakly innocent White Swan gracefully because she is exactly like the White Swan but the Black Swan is invisible in her. She is continually stressed by Thomas that she cannot embody the provocative & sensual Black Swan because she is always frigid, uptight and not being able to letting go of herself.

This is when Nina starts to struggle to control and release her inner Black Swan, her world starts to shatter and fall apart bit by bit with bizzare delusions and she starts to develop a rash on her left shoulder. All things start to go haywire with weird delusions and it is also attacking her already fragile mind. Accompanying on this dark and twisted journey of her metamorphosis into the Black Swan are hallucinations, seeing faces/images of her herself everywhere, self-mutilation (peeling off the skin from her finger like it was a banana peel, cutting off her nails, scratching herself), discovering her sexuality (self-pleasuring & sexual fantasies), she bottles up the stress and finally bursting, all of it leading to a psychotic break and an ambiguous ending, a happy one/a sad one. Happy because she is finally able to free herself from all the constraints in her life and sad because she lost control of herself over the Black Swan. The ending is entirely up to the audience to decipher, you can choose to believe it or simply not, just like the ending in Inception.

Yes. Up till this point, Nina is suspected to be suffering from a certain mental health disorder. However, IMO, it is not entirely because of her high stress levels to wanting to succeed in portraying the Black Swan but it is also the influence of several key supporting characters in the movie.

For example, the mother, simply because of her domineering character (she always wear black clothes) towards Nina, and even the mother has signs of being mentally unstable, she has suppressed Nina's sexuality and even prolonged her childhood therefore Nina essentially stops growing up. It is showed that her mother still tucks her into bed, winds up her music box and even undresses her and all of these actions are downright odd and weird, especially when Nina is definitely capable of taking care of herself. Their mother daughter relationship is evidently an unhealthy one. However, it is also the mother that first realizes that the stress has taken its toll on Nina and recognizes the penchant for Nina's self-destructiveness and even tries to stop her from performing the Swan Queen even though it is what she truly desires for herself which she channels her ambition through Nina.

Hot much? It gets even hotter afterwards.

And then there is the sexually aggressive ballet director, Thomas, who serves to tempt Nina by seducing her with the intentions of bringing out her inner dark side, without realizing that it would eventually lead to Nina's downfall.

Last but not least, Nina's personality breakdown is further complicated by Mila Kunis's character Lily, who is the most important factor in releasing the Black Swan out from Nina. Lily is the exact opposite of Nina, she is relaxed, carefree, outgoing, fun and happy, and more importantly she leads a normal life unlike Nina who is more socially awkward. Lily is able to personify the Black Swan perfectly, something which Nina isn't able to imitate, therefore she becomes jealous of Lily and subconsciously wants to become like her. Nina begins to have delusions about Lily, a sexual encounter specifically (no nudity involved and it is actually her having "fun" all by herself) and is convinced that Lily is after her lead role. But it is somewhat her transition into the Black Swan, a coming-of-age process, when she starts defying her mother, embracing her darker side but also being on the verge of a psychotic break as her hallucinations become wilder even becoming self-destructive. The line between reality and hallucinations become fuzzier and fuzzier. Lily becomes the overwhelming force to drive Nina into discovering her darker counterpart, driving her into the edge of insanity where everything is never as it seems.

All of the 3 characters seem to contribute to Nina's own increasing paranoia and also of her ailing mental health, ultimately leading to her downfall.

The film is gorgeously shot. The story is arresting and constantly engaging. It uses numerous close-ups of the characters exposing every small, intricate details on their faces, a twitch in the mouth, a simple glance of the eye, and also the beautifully choreographed ballet dance sequences. Close-ups are especially more focused on Natalie Portman's Nina, where her expressions of suffering, repression or simply being not comfortable in her own skin is all clearly etched in her facial features. Also, there are various symbolisms used in the movie, like, for example, duality, some shots in the scene show black & white and in the first half Nina always wears white but changes to black after that. I love how Nina is literally turned into a swan, the red eyes, her webbed feet, goosebumps or rather feathers coming out from her hands, and Nina pulling a feather out from her rash on her shoulder. It was certainly crazy, but awesome.

Black Swan is a beautiful disturbing masterpiece. It is intriguing, dark, intense, one that is so filled of suspense it leaves tight-gripping marks on your arms/hands, and it has a little bit of horror too. There are several shocking, distressing moments in the film that literally makes your jaw drop to the floor and feeling frightened for Nina instead of being frightened of her.

It is one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride, slowly building up pace and toying with your feelings all leading to the unexpected climax, where Nina is able to portray the Black Swan so perfectly but at the same time sacrificing her sanity/life for art, in which it ended with her saying, "I felt it. I felt perfect. I was perfect." Finally she reached her goal of perfection and we saw a changed expression of Nina, so relaxed, passionate and sensual, happy for the first time and enjoying her moments on stage.

Nevertheless, without all the superb acting, this film would be practically pointless. Natalie Portman has to be praised of course, for her outstanding performance as Nina in a role she has never taken before. The innocence and fragility of Nina is captured so well, the way she speaks, moves, or when she tilts her head and smiles with embarrassment by a simple question "Do you have a boyfriend?" posed by Thomas. The look of uncertainty in her face and when her mental health went spiraling downwards, her fear is just enough to make you fear for her. When she finally gets rid of her innocence, pureness and transformed into the Black Swan, it would definitely take your breathe away, that performance of hers dancing the Black Swan routine and turning in the swan. It was just very thrilling to watch.

I certainly have the utmost respect for both Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis for the gruelling months they had to train for the ballet scenes and massively losing weight and injuring themselves, especially Portman where she dislocated her ribs and even had a concussion as she knocked her head. I mean, both of them have such small & thin frames, they got even smaller in the movie, especially for Portman.

Speaking of Mila Kunis, this is a breakthrough adult role for her, (loved her in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the voice of Meg in Family Guy), and honestly she is very hot especially in the making out scene with Natalie Portman, it's wicked. She is just able to pull off the sexy, sensual, hot and outgoing Lily without being overshadowed by Portman's brilliant performance, though there is not much depth in her character compared to Nina.

Also, both Barbara Hershey & Vincent Cassel played perfectly as the mother and the controlling ballet director. The mother was really creepy and eerie and overbearing. Winona Ryder also made an appearance as Beth, the forced to retire veteran ballet dancer, and her character is somewhat of how Nina would turn out to be in the future.

One more thing to mention is the sound and music effects. I could not help but notice the emphasis of the music and sounds in the movie! It adds to the suspense and thrill of the film! The music background is mainly from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and it is hauntingly beautiful. It takes you swirling along with the ups and downs of the story, and also the added laughter sounds and whispers, even the toe cracking, gasping and heavy breathing makes the whole film even more exciting.

Black Swan sucks you into its world from the very beginning of the ballet scene, it feeds your imagination, overwhelming your sense, the movie is not to say without flaws, but it is so wonderful that it covers the mistakes, and it indeeds leave you feeling exhilarated and mind-blowing.

Europe :: Switzerland & Germany :: Day 2 (06/09/2010)

2010-12-16T23:42:00.002+08:00

Feeling fresh and excited after a good night's sleep in the comfortable hotel room of ours, we woke up early in the morning rejuvenated. We then took a walk after breakfast to a beautiful lake just opposite of our hotel where the lake's backdrop was a huge mountain. It was definitely picturesque. The weather in Lucerne, Switzerland was chilly and much colder compared to the other countries we went later on, and the surrounding environment was definitely much more breathtaking and beautiful in Switzerland.

The hotel we stayed in for a night - Hotel Europe.

This is the lake.

Because of their good weather, you can see stunning flowers everywhere!

There was a beautiful garden with various types of colourful flowers.

After Lucerne, Switzerland, we headed to the famous Rhinefalls, the largest plain waterfalls in Europe. Initially, I thought the waterfall would be tall, with strong waters gushing out from a cliff, but Rhinefalls is actually a really broad-looking waterfall! It is somewhat like a mini Niagara Falls.

It was very sunny, and i couldn't really get the shot i want because as you can see, the right side of the waterfall seems overexposed simply because there were mists coming from the strong waters.

The Worth Castle.

After Switzerland, we continued our journey to Germany, where we were heading to the countryside of Black Forest into a town called Titisee which is renowned for its cuckoo clocks.

The countryside of Switzerland. It was such an amazing view comprising of green pastures and farmhouses.

We finally arrived at Titisee, this is the restaurant we had our lunch at.

and our lunch was?

Pork knuckles and German sausages. The pork knuckles tasted fairly alright, it was a little bit hard, but the sausages were delicious but i love the French fries!

The dessert was of course a piece of Black Forest cake with some rum added. There was a sampling of iced wine as well! and it became my favourite wine afterwards.

This is the shop where they sell their famous cuckoo clocks and old-timer clocks.

There were numerous types of cuckoo clocks, each with its own unique design.

This is Lake Titisee.

Part of the town of Titisee.

Bought these chocolates when we stopped at a petrol station.

I forgot to mention about the public toilets in Europe along the highways or in petrol stations. You actually need to pay to use the toilet (just need to slot the coins into a machine) and the resit can be used to buy drinks/foods in the shop! Somehow it's like a rebate/coupon. :D

We only stayed a short while in Titisee, as we needed to travel to Heidelberg, another part of Germany. Heidelberg is somewhat like a dreamy fairy tale city and it's a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape's character including the Heidelberg Castle and the Baroque style Old Town.

Look at all the fabulous cottage-like houses!

These 2 little adorable mice is located just next to the monkey's statue and it is said to be the creator's signature.

The bridge monkey just next to the Old Bridge.

It is said if you touch the monkey's head it will bring you wisdom and intelligence.

This is a sign just next to the monkey saying, "Why are you looking at me? There are plenty more of monkeys in Heidelberg."

This is the Heidelberg Castle.

This is the fort at the end of the Old Bridge.

River Neckar.

The streets at the Old Town.

Hotel Ritter.

The chocolates in Heidelberg. As I said, Heidelberg is known to be a romantic place as last time students used to buy chocolates for each other to profess their love.

The Chinese restaurant we had our dinner at.

Interesting sign, but i don't know what it means! :D

Next day: Germany & Holland Day 3

Europe :: Germany & Holland :: Day 3 (07/09/2010)

2010-12-03T21:49:00.000+08:00

After a good night rest in a hotel in Heidelberg, Germany, we made our way to Cologne, Germany's fourth largest city to visit the Cologne Cathedral and we had our lunch around there as well.

It was unfortunately raining in Cologne when we arrived there, and it was very windy and very cold! Nevertheless, I still braved the strong wind and the chilly weather and managed to take a full picture of the Cologne Cathedral. A full picture I said, why? Because the cathedral is so tall, you cannot take the cathedral from top to toe! It is around 157m tall, also a World Heritage Site, one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and also one of the world's largest churches and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe.

A Roman Catholic Gothic church.

I took 3 pictures of the Cologne Cathedral and stitched/combined them together to get the full picture of the cathedral!

It was so cold and windy but we still had to take some pictures right! :D

These are beer mugs! Sorry for the blur -ness, took it in a shop and wasn't sure if I was allowed to do so.

This picture I had to go the opposite street to take, and you still can't see the ground.

After finally having our lunch in a Chinese restaurant, we made our way to Amsterdam, Holland. Holland is pretty much a free country, where drug use and prostitution is allowed, but their crime rate is very low. Naturally, the country is famous for their red light district. Just like they have one in Shinjuku, Japan.

So, we went to the red light district.

Do not misunderstand the word pub/cafe in the red light district and think they sell beer/drinks, but the truth is that they are selling recreational drugs/pills/shisha, so yeah, you can basically see youngsters inside there getting high.

Basically, at the red light district, you would be able to see rows and rows of glass windows where women wearing only bikinis/undergarments can be seen standing inside. So, you get the picture right.

And all of these shops are everywhere, and it's nothing compared to what you see in the I Love You shop in Malaysia. LOL. I even saw a shop with different types/designs of condoms, it was so funny!

Next day: Holland & Belgium Day 4

Europe :: Holland & Belgium :: Day 4 (08/09/2010)

2010-11-28T20:52:00.003+08:00

It was destined to be a rainy day when we left our hotel, where we stayed for a night in Amsterdam, Holland as we took off for a boat ride for a cruise along the canals in Amsterdam. It rained the whole time while we were in Amsterdam!

Even after the boat ride it was still raining! Which was such a pity because we visited a lovely Open Air Village called Zaanse Schans, where you get to see a model farm, windmills, cheese and clog shoes making demonstrations. Therefore, we had to walk under the umbrella, and i couldn't really take any pictures! I had to make sure that the rain water didn't go inside my camera!

Leaving the hotel, where it started to rain!

Waiting for the boat. We missed our first boat, fortunately, there was still another boat that was going to depart.

In the boat.

It was still raining outside!

I still managed to sneak and take a few pictures, albeit the drizzling rain and wind.

Holland is famous for their boat houses! In every canal, you can just see a row of boat houses. There are still some residents in the boat houses, while others are made into museums, restaurants for people to visit.

You can just recognize Holland by their very characteristic long, thin houses, with large windows but with a very small main door (a single door!) simple because their government charge taxes base on the size of their doors. Therefore, to compensate, they have large windows.

Clog boat.

Notice how the houses have a hook up there, that is to attach pulleys/ropes to carry furnitures/whatsoever into their house through the windows! Because their door is too small to fit through those things.

That is the smallest/thinnest house in Amsterdam! See how narrow the house is they have to have a balcony as an extension.

Holland is a country where approximately 40% of their land is flooded by the rising sea water. Therefore, most of their houses are beginning to sink or slant towards one side because of the water.

After the boat ride, we went to a village outside of Amsterdam called Zaanse Schans, where they had a clog making factory/demonstration.

The clogs have come a far way through history.

After that, we went for the cheese-making demonstration. The above is sausage cheese, it tastes and smells like sausage!

They have all sorts of cheese.

It was still raining, but we still went outside to see the windmills.

After that, we went to this Dutch village called Volendam to have our lunch. We had fish and chips! Well, not exactly french fries, but we had Holland potatoes. The fish was great!

Finally, it stopped raining, and we were free to roam about the village without the umbrella. LOL.

After a spending a day in Holland, we made our way to Brussels, Belgium.

The streets of Belgium.

Shopping street!

While on the way walking to the site of Manneken Pis.

Manneken Pis.

So what is Belgium known for? For their Belgian chocolates of course! Godiva chocolate!

Manneken Pis shisha.

Chocolate!

Mickey Mouse chocolate.

This is the chocolate street, where you can see the Godiva shop just at the end. So, if you ever get a chance to visit Belgium, remember to buy chocolates, especially Godiva, because it is extremely cheap compared to the Godiva chocolates sold here in Malaysia! It is the best chocolate ever! Their truffles are heavenly! Seriously regretted not buying more now! :D

Next day: Belgium & Paris Day 5

Europe :: Belgium & Paris :: Day 5 (09/09/2010)

2010-11-26T18:05:00.000+08:00

Previously I had stopped at day 6th of my "adventures" in Europe, and before we went to Paris, we were in Belgium (Belgian chocolates!), in Brussels (the capital of Belgium) and Brugge. Belgium does not have a language of their own, therefore, their population mainly speaks French, Dutch and German.

Early in the morning, our tour leader had arranged a local tour guide to take us around the city, and the first stop was to visit Manneken Pis. The boy who had saved the entire village by putting out the fire with his urine! The day before the child statue was stark naked, and today, he was dressed, usually according to festival seasons, so basically he has hundreds of other types of clothes.

Manneken Pis the child hero.

After visiting the site of Manneken Pis, we went to the Grand Place - the central square of Brussels.

This is the Guildhalls on the Grand Place.

the Brussels Town Hall.

The Maison du Roi (King's House).

If you touch the statue's right hand, you will have 1 year of happiness it seems. You would have babies touching the angel.

the streets of Brussel.

The Delirirum Pub - where they have over 2000 types of beers and they have the best beers in the whole world.

After the Grand Place, we took the bus and came to the Atomium - a monument built for the Expo '58, at the 1958 Brussel World's Fair.

9 steel spheres are connected to each other so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal.

This structure just seems awesome to me!

But we didn't get to go up to the spheres there though, need tickets!

After leaving the Atomium, we stopped at Brugge, in the Flemish region of Belgium to have our lunch.

This is the Provinciaal Hof. in the Markt.

The Belfry in the Markt as well.

After having our lunch in a Chinese restaurant in the Markt, Brugge, we headed off to Paris, where the journey was around 4 - 6 hours long! We were in the bus for so long I was so bored, and upon reaching Paris, it was jam packed because it was around 6 something in the evening.

This interesting clock statue caught my eye.

The streets of Paris.

We were free to roam around for about 30 minutes after we had our dinner, but almost all the shops were closed anyway.

Chocolate Eiffel Tower.

Albert Einstein - Love is the answer.

LOL.

Next day: Paris Day 6

Singing In The Rain/Umbrella :: Glee ft. Gwyneth Paltrow

2010-11-18T14:06:00.003+08:00

Just when i thought Glee couldn't get any HOTTER after Toxic, there comes Singing In The Rain/Umbrella mash-up. How amazing is that performance dancing and splashing on the flooded floor of the stage with umbrellas (DUH!) featuring Gwyneth Paltrow! Matthew Morrison, Harry Shum Jr. and Heather Morris are like awesome! And I LOVE how the song came out, it just grows on you.

I have seen Gene Kelly's Singin' In The Rain, it was awesome, and nobody can top his amazing footwork. His legs are like "WAO". Man, i have always love old, classic, musical movies where they incorporate crazy leg dancing, and tap dancing in the song. :D

The Substitute is just my favourite episode in Glee so far! I totally didn't expect Gwyneth Paltrow to be that fun and hilarious! She is like the best special guest star on Glee ever! This is how Glee should be like! Fun! Spontaneous! Impulsive! Don't make perfect sense but still awesome! :D Hope Holly Holiday would be back for one more!

Now i should get back to studying........

Taylor Swift :: Back To December Piano Cover

2010-11-13T17:12:00.000+08:00

Taylor Swift's Back To December piano cover by me.

Sorry for a few flaws here and there!

Enjoy!

Europe :: Paris :: Day 6 (10/09/2010)

2010-10-28T18:08:00.058+08:00

We started our Paris city tour on the 6th day. Initially the tour guide had arranged for us to have a boat ride cruising along the River Seine, but unfortunately the boat service does not open that early! (She wanted us to get on the boat at 8.00 a.m.!) and it only opens at 10 a.m.! Made us wake up so early for nothing. Our tour guide is really absolutely in a blur sometimes.

So, we had to change our plans, and went to Lafayette Galleries, as Paris is renowned to be a shopping haven, especially for big brand handbags, a slot for shopping is definitely a must. But, TBH, i am not a fan of shopping, and i don't buy bags like LV, Chanel, Prada, Longchamp, whatever you can think of, everything is in Lafayette. The luxurious shopping complex is actually 7 floors high ranging from bags, clothes, shoes, watches to accessories and souvenirs.

We arrived too early, Lafayette opens at 9.30 a.m., so we had to wait at the entrance. After several minutes, other Asian tours (comprising mainly girls) arrived, and believe me, once the doors opened, the Asian (Taiwanese/China) girls rushed in like crazy people, screaming and shrieking their heads off and ran as fast as they could to ---- LV.

It was just too horrifying for us Malaysians, and embarrassed because we were among them (we were not running and squeaking like idiots obviously). I could just see a few mat sallehs who worked there sniggering and laughing. My Gawd! It's crazy!

Furthermore, because of the one-to-one policy, where a salesgirl is only allowed to entertain one customer, everybody had to queue up to get into the LV shop. And because of the crowd of people on that day, one person is only entitled to purchase one LV bag. I mean, even if you have the money, they won't even sell it to you!

But if you do ever have the chance to visit Paris, do purchase a bag from there, because it is known to be quite affordable and cheap compared to the price in Malaysia, after the tax refund and everything. I mean, why waste the opportunity right! :D

So mainly, the pictures here are you would get to see several different Eiffel tower shots. And most of the pictures are taken in the bus! :D

On the way to boat ride in the morning.

Academic Nationale De Musique

this is inside the Lafayette shopping gallery!

Jimmy Choo.

After shopping and lunch, we had our Paris city tour and our first destination was to visit the Eiffel Tower!

the Eiffel Tower is just awesome! It would be even more beautiful at night though.

We went up to around the 2nd/3rd level of the tower.

definitely an awesome view of Paris.

i totally love the windows structure and a little balcony full with plants and flowers.

After Eiffel Tower, we got on to the bus again for the city tour (in the bus). Which was really a pity, because i wanted to walk around Paris! Who wouldn't? :D

So yeah, all the pictures are taken from the bus!

the streets of Paris. I love their cars as well!

Stands selling magazines and books.

this is the Notre Dame de Paris.

this is an old small lane they used to have in olden Paris.

still part of the Notre Dame.

i love how European countries have sculptures, carvings, statues in the middle of the road!

this is the Louvre.

the Pyramid and the Louvre. Remember The Da Vinci Code? (:

I must definitely visit it one day!

the famous Concorde Square. this is the fountain of River Commerce and Navigation.

Concorde Square again. The Obelisk of Luxor. this tall monument has ancient Egyptian carvings on it.

the biggest LV shop. You can see people queuing outside the shop!

Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon’s monument to the armies of France and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Then we stopped at a place and took pictures of the Eiffel Tower.

After that, we had our boat cruise along the River Seine, where you would be able to view all the historical sights and the various landmarks of Paris.

the Mat Sallehs are really fond of boat rides, simply because they live their life in a leisurely pace and they like to get out in the sun!

After the 1 hour cruise, we went to a lovely restaurant for dinner.

We had escargots! They are seriously delicious! As i am writing this, i am actually salivating. =.="

You just need to dig out the meat, eat it, and then dip the bread with the green sauce, yummy!

Me and my brother had beef!

while my parents had salmon.

and they even have lamb meat as well!

My brother and the good-looking bus driver. It's great how their bus drivers are always dressed up nicely even with a tie, unlike our Malaysian bus drivers. =.=

And if you do notice what my brother is wearing, he is wearing the Netherlands jersey he bought in Holland for 55 euros! = RM220! So expensive! @.@ But i am not a fan of Netherlands after their barbaric, obnoxious playing against the good mannered Spain. LOL!

I seriously LOVE Paris! (:

Would definitely come back to visit again!

Next day: London Day 7

Aftershock :: 唐山大地震 (2010)

2010-10-20T20:33:00.011+08:00

I have never written a review about movies from China/Hong Kong simply because I have never taken/watched them seriously. Except for a few rare outstanding ones (which I happened to come across on TV), where it scarily reflects the realism, morality, and aspects of our society in this generation, very believable, very raw and they deeply echo the voices in our heart, our conscience and values.

Compared to Hollywood production, where everything always seems so glamorous and characters seemingly achieving what they desire easily, which, unfortunately, does not happen in the real world. Regarding Hong Kong movies, they have the knack of making it close to reality, human actions with consequences, choices to make, so surreal, so relatable.

Aftershock - 唐山大地震 - probably regarded as the epic Chinese blockbuster of the year is one of the rare gems I have come to watch and love.

Aftershock puts the audience in 1976 Tangshan, China, where strange events had been occuring - signs before leading up to a disastrous earthquake. Even though the CGI effects for the earthquake pales (just a little bit) in comparison with Hollywood's blockbusters, it is still amazing to see the remake of Tangshan's tragedy, as Mother Nature unleashes her wrath from within, breaking grounds, buildings falling, all hopes of escape are futile as the grounds sink and residents of Tangshan falling to their deaths, shattering countless of lives and families. All of these happening in just 23 seconds! Where 242,000 people died, and 164,000 people were seriously injured. It is indeed very heartbreaking, as the director cleverly portrays the emotional aspects of this scene, making it difficult to watch, feeling for them, as they get pulverized in the disaster.

The movie is not focused entirely on the disaster itself, but very much more on the aftermath of the earthquake, therefore, the title "Aftershock".

The story truly unfolds when the mother, Yuan Ni (李元妮) played brilliantly by actress Xu Fan (徐帆), is forced to choose between her twins, son Fang Da (方达) and daughter Fang Deng (方登), where what separates them is only a beam. Saving either will result in killing the other. She opts to save both but as time ticks, the children struggling to breath, she finally made the heart-wrenching decision to save her son (this is when tradition and culture intervenes, especially with the death of her husband) sadly, this is overheard by her daughter.

As both children are taken out from the rubble, Fang Deng (assumed dead) is left with her dead father. But a miracle ensues, as Fang Deng emerges from her unconscious state, wandering aimlessly around the dead bodies, her fragile, broken heart damaged, confused, saddened with her mother's decision - resulting her in being dumb and not able to speak for a period of time.

Yes. The pain is unbearable and very unthinkable. Imagine hearing your beloved mother choosing your siblings' life over you. It cannot even be imagined! The pain not only pierces directly into your heart, but your soul, sucking your life out, and you feel as if everything around you collapses.

As the plot evolves throughout the next 32 years, the narrative breaks into 2, showing the trials and tribulations of the 2 children growing up, interspersed with shots of the growing Tangshan, and the development of China's economy.

The mother, still unable to forgive herself, having feelings of guilt and remorse that has never diminished from the start. She refuses to move out from Tangshan (even with her filial son begging her to do so) to a better environment, afraid that her husband/daughter's soul would not be able to find their way home. Initially, she was reluctant to even move out from a tent to a better structured house in Tangshan, and every year while praying, burning incense, papers for her husband/daughter, she would repeat her house address - for 32 years.

Fang Da, played by Lee Chen (李晨), although lost his limb (the whole hand) from the disaster, went on to become a successful businessman with a traveling agency. He might be the only one who seems to have moved on after the tragedy, even if his mother is still entrapped in pangs of guilt and misery, but it is still forever etched in him, as he once said, "there's no worry if it's a small quake, and if there's a big one there will be no escape anyway."

The daughter, Fang Deng, played by Zhang Jingchu (张静初), grows up as Wang Deng - as she was rescued and adopted by an army couple (PLA soldiers) - both played excellently by Chen Dao Ming (陈道明) - the father and Chen Jin (陈瑾) - the mother - and with their nurturing care and love, managed to overcome her talking problem. However, she is still deeply haunted and traumatized by the whole ordeal , still angry and bitter, pretended to forget the whole incident and refuses to seek for her blood relatives although insisted by her adoptive parents. She pursued medicine (only to be interrupted by a teenage romance that resulted in her being pregnant) but moved to Canada and married a mat salleh.

Both children and mother continued on with their lives, and not until the 2008 Sichuan, China earthquake, by fate and destiny, that finally got both brother and sister reunited, as they became volunteers in the disaster.

The climax of Aftershock arrives, as Fang Da brings Fang Deng back to Tangshan, to their mother. As she enters her mother's home, right on the table below the portraits of herself and her dead father, is a plate full of persimmons. Her mother tells her she still remembers to buy the persimmons she has promised her. Even after so many years, the mother is still unable to make peace with herself, and this is when tears start to flow.

The act of forgiveness and reconciliation between the mother and daughter was definitely a stellar performance, it just tugs at your heartstrings, feeling terrible and painful for the mother for her tough choice, and the daughter, who after 32 years, did not make her presence and life known to her mother. It is very hard not to feel emotional at this powerful scene, unless you have the heart of a rock.

However, it is still unsure of Fang Deng if she truly forgives her mother, not until the very end, the finale, when she is brought to the graves of her father and herself. That she finally realized that her mother never had given up on her, never had once forgot about her, when she is showed that her mother had been buying 2 sets of everything, 1 for her brother, and 1 for her.

At this crucial point, she had come to a realisation of the emotional agony, remorse and guilt that her mother had harboured all this while, and she finally forgives her mother, as Fang Deng also feels guilty of all the accumulated feelings of bitterness and hatred towards her mother and brother all these years.

Aftershock is a poignant, emotional, heart-wrenching movie. What is even more heart-breaking is that all these events really do happen, and when Mother Nature strikes, there is really nothing we can do. The film deals with humans' fragility, vulnerability, dealing with the loss of loved ones, and forgiveness. In the span of 2 hours and 10 minutes, there is definitely not a minute that lacks emotion, the whole movie is emotion! The presentation of the people involved might be simple, but the human emotions so raw, so real, you just feel for the characters. The script and plot (adapted from a novel) is beautifully and cleverly written, not exaggerating, not flowery, but just simple words that targets directly to your heart. For example, a memorable quote from the mother, "没了，才知道什么叫没了." "you would only know the feeling of losing everything after going through it." Indeed, it is terrifyingly true. And of course, the excellent directing from director Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚).

Last but not least, the top-notch performances from all of the actors, including the child actors, especially the little girl who played Fang Deng.

I was very very much impressed by Xu Fan's acting as the mother. Her portrayal of the mother was just brilliant beyond words! You can just see through her eyes, so cold, so dead, and remorseful, it is so real, you just feel the need to try to be in her shoes, and sympathize with the ordeal she is going through. Her character just bravely tries to live her life, but just cannot let go her actions for not saving her daughter. Her crying scenes were all so beautifully done, especially when she reconciles with her daughter, that scene was just so powerful, it's crazy! Really hope that she would bag the Best Actress award in the Taiwan's Golden Horse awards this year.

I can't help but admit the main reason I was attracted to the movie (besides the rave reviews) was because of this wonderful actress - Zhang Jingchu. I have been on the alert radar for Zhang especially after watching glimpses of her in Protege (门徒) as a drug addict and in Night and Fog (天水圍的夜與霧) as a woman abused by her husband and later killed. And also in The Beast Stalker (证人), being the only female lead surrounded by all male actors, and still being able to stand her ground and channel her character well and not being overshadowed. Note: the movies mentioned above are all Hong Kong made. All of her characters had really made a strong impression on me! There's just something special and unique about her because she has the ability and charisma to make her character so believable and so human! Zhang Jingchu is just an extraordinary actress!

Some might feel that the way she portrays Fang Deng is a little bit lacking of emotion, but what I truly feel is she might have some suppressed and oppressed feelings, simply because of the ordeal she has gone through! Like not wanting to feel anything anymore, to protect herself from getting hurt too deeply again. Her breakdown scenes were perfectly done, especially the scene where she tells her adopted father about what happened in the earthquake, and she said, "我不是不记得，我是忘不掉." "it's not that i cannot remember, it's just that i cannot forget." So sad! And the last scene with her mother was just so touching as well.

The talented, super, cast and director of Aftershock.

If you like something as powerful as this that makes you want to shed a couple of tears, with awesome acting, this is a film that must not be missed! Even if you don't understand Mandarin, do give this movie a try that will shake your heart.

Europe :: London :: Day 7 (11/09/2010)

2010-10-16T19:54:00.057+08:00

After a 2-night stay in Paris, we took the Eurostar train and arrived at London in a 2-hour journey ride. Trust me, if you ever sit the Eurostar train, have a go at their cheeseburger on board in the cafeteria, because it is so delicious, 4.50 Euros for one!

London's weather was fantastic! Very cooling and breezy!

Here, at the Paris train station.

Eurostar.

in the train.

at the train's cafeteria.

the scrumptious cheeseburger.

2 hours later, we arrived at the London train station.

We went straight to London's Chinatown for lunch - dim sum, the food was quite good!

The streets of Chinatown.

Four Seasons - they have the best duck rice! Unfortunately, didn't get to try it.

I must really watch a musical play someday.

A classic London bus.

The classic London taxi.

After lunch was the London city tour by a local guide with a sexy British accent, though he's a bald guy.

LOL!

This is a war memorial, but can't remember which one.

We made a stop at the Buckingham Palace!

We visited Westminster Abbey, where you can see the Big Ben and London Eye as well.

Big Ben.

London Eye.

the Westminster Abbey church.

the classic London telephone booth!

this is where the British Prime Minister, David Cameron lives, 10 Downing street.

the Royal Court of Justice.

This is St. Paul's Cathedral.

There was a wedding going on when we were there!

This is also the place where Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana got married.

This picture is 2 shots combined together! If not i couldn't really get the whole church.

We saw this pink limousine, they have limousines everywhere in London.

The famous Tower Bridge, or London Bridge.

While we were about to drive through the Tower bridge, the road of the bridge went up because there was a ship passing through! so we waited for the bridge to go down.

this is the bank.

Next day: London Day 8 - a visit to Madame Tussauds.

Back To December - Taylor Swift

2010-10-13T00:04:00.003+08:00

A new song from Taylor Swift - Back To December.

I LOVE the words, especially this,

"So this is me swallowing my pride,
Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night,
And I go back to December all the time.
Turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you,
Wishing that I realized what I had when you were mine.
I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right.
I go back to December all the time."

and this,

"I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right,
And how you held me in your arms that September night,
The first time you ever saw me cry.
Maybe this is wishful thinking,
Probably mindless dreaming
If we loved again I swear I'd love you right."

Sometimes I would just look and think back, of all the experiences I had, that had helped me to grow stronger and for the better. Of all the wrongdoings sometimes i wish i could take it all back, correct it, and all the lovely memories i wish to relive.

It was not easy letting it go, coming out from the pain. All the nasty things i had in mind, i realized now, it was all words of anger, misery, and childish. If I could go back, and start all over, i will, i would, to make everything happier.

I have already walked out of this for years, so today, i am just letting my feelings flow out.

Look towards the future, and be grateful for the people around you that loves you, and that you love as well.

Ching-Ching & Sen Kiat's Wedding :: 01/10/2010

2010-10-04T00:26:00.085+08:00

1st October, 2010 was the day my dear cousin sister and her husband (aka my cousin brother-in-law) read their vows to each other and became husband and wife forever and always in a church in Petaling Jaya.

It was a really nice, simple, sweet and cute wedding because both of them were smiling and laughing so sweetly! Such an adorable couple!

And i was very much honoured to become one of her bridesmaid for the very first time! She had in a total 6 bridesmaid and 1 maid of honor!

Half of the pictures were taken by my brother, while the others were taken by yours truly.

Preparing for the big day!

The pretty bride.

Her brother, who also got married this year July.

The wedding bouquet! Tied together by her mother/my aunty!

Me and my pretty cousin sister. (: Both of us were bridesmaid, as you can see!

Bridesmaid and Groomsmen briefing. LOL!

Rehearsing.

The groom!

Me and my mother. (:

My aunties and cousin sister and mother.

The inside of the church.

My cousins, uncle and brother.

And then finally the bride arrived and here we all started walking down towards the aisle, i was the first!

Sadly, thanks to my brother, he only got this miserable ugly picture of me! WTH? T.T

The bridesmaid and groomsmen!

The maid of honor!

And here comes the bride with her father!

Her wedding dress was made by her mother! (:

Reading the "I'll take you as my wife, I'll take you to be my husband." HEHE!

Exchanging rings! (:

then comes the sweet kiss!

Look at them both so sweet together!

After everything, comes the wedding march accompanied by the piano playing where the song was the themesong from Pixar's Up!

Happiness! (:

Their wedding car!

Their wedding photos! All of the photos were so unique and special! Cousin sister made all of her dresses, and they just went to several locations and their friends helped them to take the pictures, so awesome!

and believe me, the pictures were taken on film, and not digital.

On the 2nd of October, 2010, was their wedding dinner at Bangi. Their wedding dinner was definitely one of a kind! It was just great, hilarious and sweet! Unlike any other typical boring dinner!

First of all, when the couple came in, they requested everybody to sway like trees and not to applaud, and everybody did! The couple came in swaying as well! So funny!

Then the bridegroom's speech was just so funny as well!

and then the most hilarious thing was their DIY video of how they met and fell in love! OMG. It was just very very funny! Here's the video! It was da bomb man!

my big family.

our adorable nephew!

The wedding pops! Inside is cake coated by white chocolate, homemade! (:

Then, they had this sorta "photobooth" while it was actually using a MacBook and an instant printer!

Their tokens of appreciation! I think they carved the words by themselves!

It was really 2 special days! and may both of them be blessed by an abundance of laughter, joy, happiness and love!

(:

Europe :: London :: Madame Tussauds :: Day 8 (12/09/2010)

2010-09-22T21:27:00.053+08:00

We spent our last day of our tour in London again as our flight was scheduled during the evening, so we had one free and easy day in London. Therefore, we decided to visit the original Madame Tussauds Wax Museum on Baker Street.

If you are planning on going to Madame Tussauds, it would be best to purchase the tickets online a day before, as it would be cheaper than purchased on the day. and the ticket price? 25.80 pounds! And you would not have the hassle of queuing up, (the lines can be very long) because they have a special lane.

the Marks & Spencers' chocolate lollipop sweet! i don't know why but i just can't find these in Malaysia these few years.

the view outside of our hotel we stayed.

There's just a tube station near our hotel, so we took the tube to Madame Tussauds.

On the tube

There was abit of confusion while buying the tickets for the tube from a machine, because they have zones and off peak seasons, but we managed to get it done nonetheless! HAHA!

But unfortunately, because it was a Sunday, part of the tubes' railways were being serviced, and the route we were supposed to take to Madame Tussauds was disrupted. We almost couldn't make it in time for the time slot we chose because we didn't really know which alternate route to take, but were lucky enough as we had assistance from one of the passengers we met on the tube. Phew!

Taking the subway was such a good experience though, at least we got the feeling of being a "London-er". LOL!

So yeah, we made it to Madame Tussauds!

Now for the pictures!

First up is the A-Listers.

Robert Pattinson

Patrick Stewart

Nicole Kidman

Johnny Depp! *screams*

Leonardo Dicaprio

Morgan Freeman

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

Zac Efron

Daniel Radcliffe

David Beckham & Victoria Beckham

George Clooney

Tom Cruise

Keira Knightly & Orlando Bloom

Mel Gibson & Will Smith

Justin Timberlake

John Travolta

And then comes the Movie Premiers!

Whoopi Goldberg & Robin Williams

Robert Downey Jr. (as Sherlock Holmes!) *screams*

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Shrek and the Gingerbread Man

Jim Carrey

Arnold Schwarznegger as Terminator

Audrey Hepburn

Marilyn Monroe with her signature flying dress

James Dean

Then the Sports Section!

David Beckham

Christiano Ronaldo

Muhammad Ali

Tiger Woods

After that is the Royal Appointment.

Princess Diana

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip

Prince William

Prince Harry

Prince Charles & Camilla

Then this would be the Culture Zone.

Issac Newton

Albert Einstein & Charles Darwin

Stephen Hawking

Vincent VanGogh

Pablo Picasso

William Shakespear

Charles Dickens

and then the Music Megastars!

The Beatles

Michael Jackson

Robbie Williams

Elvis Presley

Beyonce

Leona Lewis

Amy Winehouse

Britney Spears

Next, the World Leaders!

Gandhi & Nelson Mandela & Dalai Lama

George Bush

Martin Luther King Jr.

Barack Obama

David Cameron, British PM at 10 Downing Street

Winston Churchill

Tony Blair

the late Benazir Bhutto

Adolf Hitler & Saddam Hussein. Two of the controversial wax figures in the museum.

This is the Chamber of Horrors and Scream. It is a live action, actor led scare maze where the actors perform as scary ghosts/zombies/criminals in a high maximum security setting/asylum. Be prepared to scream and freak out. They just jump out in front of you or just growl/scream/breath at your neck.

Madame Tussauds. This would be the history of Madame Tussauds, how she founded this Museum, and how they make the wax figures. After this section, would be a ride called "Spirit of London Ride", where it is somewhat like a Disney ride attraction, where you go through the times of London, how it evolved till now.

After the London cabby ride, comes the Marvel Superheroes 4D show, and trust me, it was very very nice and super cool!

Spiderman. You can actually have your picture taken upside down, like you're hanging together with Spiderman.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Wolverine's claw

The Incredible Hulk (He's like 3 floors tall!)

Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman from Fantastic Four

Iron Man!

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

flying like Superman!

It took about 1 and a half hours to complete the whole tour in the museum, then we had our lunch in some random restaurant/cafe.

the cheeseburger i ordered. Not bad.

the fish & chips my brother ordered.

the exterior of Madame Tussauds.

Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street. (where Madame Tussauds is located as well)

We had some time left, so we took the subway again to Oxford Street, the shopping haven.

the inside of the train is quite small compared to the LRT in Malaysia, but the train is very long!

London subway.

Oxford street! Seriously full of people! You just see people everywhere! They have everything there, from Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Marks & Spencers', to a shopping gallery called Selfridges & Co. where they have all the branded goods like LV, Chanel, Prada, etc. etc.

Ah, London, one of the places i have come to love.

Hope to be in London again!

2010-09-17T14:16:00.000+08:00

It's the time again to fill my blog with pictures!

After all, i just came back from Europe!

and it was AWESOME!

Churros

2010-08-29T21:14:00.003+08:00

This is the scrumptious, delicious churros i have been craving, like forever!

I just can't forget the taste in my mouth!

They are sold in a small shop called Lava in 1 Utama and they come with different side flavours.

This one comes with a chocolate dip!

and the chocolate is awesome!

and they have ones with fillings inside the churros.

~Yummy!

Off to eat some now~

(:

Stewie Griffin

2010-08-29T12:56:00.004+08:00

I've only watched a few episodes of Family Guy, but I've come to know Stewie Griffin with his famous acts in which he bugs his mother, Lois. Which was very awesome -ly hilarious!

In the first few seasons, we see him as an evil, violent, 1 year old talking (with a British accent), intelligent, hilarious, baby who is always trying to kill his mother.

But after awhile, his matricidal and world domination side was a little bit suppressed later in the seasons, and he became just a mildly evil awesome adorable baby, still intelligent and funny.

He is the best baby ever created in the cartoon world!

Even with his evil side, he is still a baby, like he talks to his teddy bear Rupert, he gets excited when he goes to Disneyland, he thinks that his father Peter really vanishes when he plays Peek-a-boo!

and a salute to Seth McFarlane for his awesome voice as Stewie.

and i absolutely love his interaction with Brian Griffin, which might be his best friend, and the family's talking dog.

Ah! I just LOVE Stewie.

XD

2010-08-22T23:03:00.002+08:00

Semester 4 STARTS tomorrow!

I can just cry, moan, whine, shout and scream but nothing is going to bring back my holidays! GREAT!

Time seems to whiz by but i still feel i have learned nothing at all.

i am in a blur.

Lectures are fine, but i just don't like the hassle of Clinical Skills and discussions.

Firstly, you get all freaked out during Clinical Skills, the reason i don't even know why, probably those fierce looking lecturers and lack of preparation.

and discussions? do people really listen to what i am talking or the others? or they just daydream?

but then it's good to get something to do, rather then face the laptop all day.

i just need to have some confidence.

P.S. looking forward to my family trip! YES!

What Did I Do?

2010-08-13T14:16:00.023+08:00

Practically, i did nothing for my holidays, so unproductive, i know!

Except going to the hospital for my medical electives and writing the report. Watched several awesome, mind-boggling movies, and several crazy, laugh your ass off comedy. Those really made my day and i am definitely very interested in filmography.

My cousin brother's wedding which was very productive, taking pictures definitely is my ecstasy, all the adrenaline rush, even if it was running with heels under the hot sun. i LOVE it.

and Then i managed to catch up with my very dear best friend, Ei-Jean who came back from London for her summer vacation. both of us met up with our dear friend Yi Qing (whom i haven't seen for a very long time!), and on the way bumped into Yee Hong, Tien Kwan, and our primary school friend, Kar Mern.

Yi Qing, me, Yee Hong

Tien Kwan and Yi Qing

Yee Hong and Tien Kwan

all primary schoolmates

Kar Mern, Yi Qing, Ei-Jean, me

We went to Sushi Zanmai for dinner! After watching Inception!

Beef Rice

Chicken Katsu Rice

Candid shot!

Ei-Jean decided to react the above picture, with Yi Qing "wth?" HAHA!

the delicious plate of raw seafood - tuna, salmon, scallops, yellow beard and shrimps

sushi roll! this is really good!

Yi Qing and me

Ei-Jean and me

the three of us

(:

After the Sunway Pyramid outing, I went out with Ei-Jean again to 1 Utama to catch Despicable Me and we ate some really delicious, finger-licking churros (sorry, no picture!).

This was at Delicious. This is Duck Spaghetti.

This is Chilli Crab Spaghetti.

my very best friend, Ei-Jean

then I tried to take pictures using the mirror!

half face

this is quite an epic fail. LOL!

the guy is definitely thinking, "two gila girls". LOL!

I NEED to get out again!

Hopefully our Broga hill trip could come true during September!

Plants VS Zombies

2010-08-01T16:16:00.005+08:00

I am a little late,

but

i LOVE this game!

HAHAHAHA!

Too Awesome!

"There's a zombie on your lawn. There's a zombie on your lawn. There's a zombie on your lawn. We don't want zombies on the lawn." - Sunflower

Agnes from Despicable Me

2010-07-23T12:25:00.006+08:00

I haven't watch Despicable Me yet!

and i want to!

Simply because the little girl Agnes is SO CUTE!

She starts with, "Does this count as annoying?" and she adorably slaps her face "tok tok tok tok tok tok" with her cheeks bouncing up and down, and Gru says, "Very annoying."

She adores Unicorns. So she says "It's so fluffy, i'm gonna die!" and when she gets the Unicorn, she says in a little more aggressive tone, "It's so fluffly!", as she shakes the Unicorn.

and one more scene, Agnes says (about Gru), "I like him, he's nice..." while Edith adds, "but scary..." and what does Agnes say? She says, "Like Santa!".

OHGWAD!

i just want to tell her

"You're so cute, i'm gonna die!"

Inception (2010)

2010-07-20T13:00:00.006+08:00

Inception

Dreams within a dream.

Reality with dreams.

Dreams without reality.

Inception – the movie my good friend has been talking about it since the beginning of the year.

Really, so what is so extraordinary and special about this movie?

Inception is definitely one mind-blowing masterpiece movie. It is a thriller action cum fantasy cum science fiction and a tragic love story all weaved and blended into an amazing movie that will take your breath away.

I have always been amazed by the movie Batman: The Dark Knight (other Batman movies can’t be compared to this epic Batman movie) by director Christopher Nolan, and although I have never watch his previous works, I somehow knew this would be a great movie, but never thought it would have exceeded 10 times my expectations.

The plot revolves around Dom Cobb (played by the brilliant Leonardo Dicaprio), an “extractor” who enters the dreams of others to steal valuable information that is inaccessible in the waking state. A new client, Saito (Ken Watanabe) which he was supposed to steal from, makes a deal with him, and wants him to plant an idea into the subconscious mind/dream of a rich businessman’s son – a process called “inception” which is difficult and complicated.

Cobb then assembles a team comprising of the Point Man – Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the Architect – Ariadne (Ellen Page), the Forger – Eames (Tom Hardy), the Chemist – Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and the Tourist – Saito. And their target or The Mark is Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy).

Now, the planning begins as they need to study the target’s waking life, gather every bit of information about him in order to maneuver their way into the subconscious mind – creating a place, a memory and people – for the ultimate plan. Not only creating just one dream, but 3 dreams! YES, 3 layer of dreams! Dreams within a dream, tunneling deeper and deeper into the person’s mind.

When they successfully infiltrated Fischer’s mind/dreams – that is where all the excitement starts. Throughout the whole movie, you just can’t afford to let your mind wander away because it just brings you deeper and deeper until you’re not sure what is what anymore. Or put simply, you just do not want to miss out all the action. You would be definitely sitting at the edge of your sit, watching intensely as the twisted plots and dreams unfold and all you could feel is how brilliant this movie is. This is a movie that requires you to open your mind and think out of the box, being creative and imaginative.

the totem that every dream extractor carries. it would spin indefinitely in a dream. every person carries a different one.

The concept of Inception is regarding our subconscious mind or the unconscious mind. It suggests that everything that defines us like ideas, memories, secrets, originate in the murky depths of our minds. Anything is possible in a dream. We are more real, and exposed in our dreams – therefore we are more prone to exposing our secrets in dreams. You can create or recreate any place/building/person/situation any way you want to – you can even defy gravity. Like a dream, nothing is real here, and everything can change in a blink of an eye. You can be in a dream forever – till you become old in the dream (called the limbo state) – like how the character Cobb and his wife, Mal experienced it, escaping reality and living in a world they created.

But is this really enough? Living in a dream and not facing up to reality?

The film is complicated to explain in words but it would be clear if you watch the movie, unless you have a slow mind.

So, what wakes you up from a dream? It is called a “kick”. Free falling or just falling would wake you up from a dream, isn’t that how you wake up from a dream sometimes? Dying in a dream would wake you up as well, but the pain would be as real as reality. And can you remember the beginning of your dream? No, I don’t think so.

The movie ends with a question mark. It leaves the choice to the audience – is it a dream or is it reality?

The cast should be applauded for their very fine and superb performances. Leonardo Dicaprio is outstanding as the troubled Cobb, a man haunted by his past who cannot let go of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). Ken Watanabe as Saito is simply great, though I have never watched his films before, but he shared good chemistry with the casts. I have always been a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page, and was quite thrilled to see them in a major mainstream movie (they are always off doing indie movies)! And they definitely did a great job! Marion Cotillard as the haunting Mal, her acting chops was very good and convincing and I was quite afraid of her character. Cillian Murphy, whom I remembered from the thriller Red Eye together with Rachel McAdams, his baby blue cold-staring eyes, also brought depth to his otherwise typical character.

And how can I forget the awesome director Christopher Nolan for his awesome writing and directing. The cinematography and editing were all brilliantly and beautifully done. It would be an amazing breakthrough for mankind if we can ever infiltrate into other people’s dreams. But at the same time, it is a dangerous thing after all.

I have read that the dream sequences in the film uses minimal CGI effect (it was mainly used to polish and enhance the effects during post production), and all the places seen in the movie were shot in real places, it includes the snow falling area. Even the defying gravity, zero gravity hallway fight by Joseph Gordon-Levitt was real, a rotating hallway was specifically built for that scene (which I love), no blue/green screen whatsoever. All the dream sequences were really an eye-popper, everything just felt so surreal.

Inception – the movie that MUST NOT be missed this year!

Go watch it PRONTO!

So, do you want to dream forever or be in reality?

Jon-tzen and Ling's Wedding :: 10/07/2010

2010-07-12T12:37:00.075+08:00

The 10th of July, Saturday was my cousin brother's wedding ceremony!

It was definitely a day filled with joy, blessings, laughter and happiness. There were two parts, in the morning was the wedding ceremony at the poolside, while during the night, it was the wedding dinner.

(:

of course i managed to get some good pictures!

but for more pictures, please go to my Facebook photos!

.cupcakes made by my 2nd aunty (the bridegroom's mother), there were 100 of them, all hand-made (icing) and hand-baked. (:

Tomo!

.they look good and taste good as well!.

.the cake.

.the icing on the cake!. .made by my 2nd aunty.

my brother. this picture is caught naturally, seriously, no posing. :P

.my cousin brother aka the bridegroom.

.me and my brother. (:

.my cousin sister and us.

.my cousin brother.

.my father.

.our cute nephew!.

.my father and the son and the nephews.

.the bride. .pretty right?. (:

.at the poolside.

.that is my uncle there as the pastor. (:

.reading their vows to each other.

.happy sangat.

.beautiful couple.

.this is a dreamy picture. XD

.wahaha! the confetti. .they were throwing at each other.

.so happy ^^.

.my cousin sisters.

.my 3rd and 4th aunty.

.looking cool.

.my grandmother and her sister.

.getting ready to throw the flowers.

.credits to my brother for taking this shot. (:

.my cousin sister managed to get the bouquet of flowers!.

.my cousin sister.

.our nephew.

.my cousin sister.

.this is during the tea ceremony. .our very adorable and CUTE nephew.

.both pictures are a must post! because he was so cute!.

.look at his face!. XD

.all smiles and laughter.

.all the uncles and aunties.

.one happy family!.

.coming home with the bride.

.taking the bride home.

.i like this picture ^^.

.Just Married. (:

.wahahaha! my brother and me.

.grandmother. (:

.my mother and me.

.my brother and cousins.

.cousins.

.my pretty cousin sisters. (:

.the bridegroom's parents and our grandmother.

.happy sangat.

.wahaha! the couple were asked to kiss while everybody were saying "yam seng" for as long as we can.

.my parents and my uncles and aunties.

.flower for his girlfriend. .haha!.

.my pretty cousin sister with her leng-chai fiance. .wedding coming soon!.

.the boys were definitely high that night.

.all laughters when their pictures were taken.

.the 5 handsome boys. .can form boy band already.

.wahahaha.

.this is definitely an awesome jumping shot.

.style -lo boys.

Most pictures were taken by the Canon Lens EF 50mm f1.8 II. There were a few photographers with professional kits! I was the tiniest one there! HAHAHA! but still, i was satisfied by the pictures that I've taken!

Cheers!

(:

Hello Semester 4

2010-07-11T11:47:00.001+08:00

I PASSED MY BLOODY End-Of-Semester 3 Examination!

Phew!

*strides off to edit the wedding pictures*

(:

2010-07-01T17:31:00.002+08:00

After 4 days of torture, my exam has finally come to an end.

In this 4 days, i had palpitations all the time, even during my sleep and might have developed hypertension.

It was like a roller coaster ride.

not a normal roller coaster, but a killer, monstrous, one.

1 week to enjoy before my results come out.

i just want to pass.

):

Toy Story 3

2010-06-18T10:39:00.013+08:00

The Great Escape.

YES! The toys are back! After 2 successful movies, Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999) respectively, our beloved TOYS are here in 2010 with the 3rd installment - after a long wait of 11 years - *drum roll please* - Disney Pixar's Toy Story 3!

Despite the exams, I made a firm decision to watch Toy Story 3 on its premier day with my mother and brother. I love Pixar. Basically, we were surrounded by majority kids, but IMO, kids, might not be able to capture the message and beauty of Pixar's work but of course they would enjoy the fun, scary, touching moments in the movie.

and the big question?

How was the movie?

AMAZING!

one word. said it all.

Pixar just never cease to amaze us with their wonderful, definitely colourful, stunning visuals, their beautiful, original storyline interluded with hilarious, touching, sad, scary moments. and the massive improvement of graphics from the 1st movie - the toys look more realistic, definitely like real toy. The movie has really lived up to our expectations or even more and i believe it would garner a 5th consecutive nomination and win at the Academy Awards just like the previous films for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up.

Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and Bullseye, Mr. Mrs. Potato Head, Rex the dinosaur, Slinky dog, Hamm the piggy bank (a.k.a Evil Dr. Pork Chops), the 3 aliens from Pizza Planet and Barbie are all back, but with some of the main toys missing (Wheezy, RC the racing car, Etch, and Bo-Peep) - either donated or sold along the way as several years had passed.

But don't fret, as several new characters are brought to this movie, and it is even more adorable!

The movie starts with an awesome opening sequence - the toys role playing as a young Andy plays with them - a video recording of Andy's childhood - and we are back to reality, as Andy is now heading off to college but with the intention of keeping his toys in the attic with the exception, he's bringing Woody to college.

But sadly, his mother mistakenly donates them to Sunnyside Day Care centre, and this is where all the FUN begins. At first, it looks like heaven, they are welcomed by Lots-O'-Huggin Bear - a stuffed animal with a strawberry smell (Lotso), Ken (Yes, Barbie's Ken), Big Baby, Sparks, Chunk, Stretch, and Twitch. and of course new children to play with the toys.

The story takes a twist as Sunnyside has a dark side (oh! the irony), which turns Toy Story 3 into an emotionally intense and rather scary tale - it was definitely prison break!

As Woody desperately begs Buzz and the other toys to go home to Andy - because "we are always going to be there for Andy no matter what" - but to no avail. Woody escapes by himself with his awesome climbing (i really thought of Prince Of Persia) and paragliding skills, only to be disrupted by the wind and is incidentally picked up by Bonnie, an adorable little girl who loves her toys very much and takes care of them well.

Bonnie's toys are just "Oh! So Cute!" - like Mr. Pricklepants (porcupine), Buttercup (unicorn), Dolly (doll), Trixie (dinosaur), Peas in a Pod and OMG! Totoro! - he doesn't speak, he just smiles!

In the meantime - at Sunnyside - it turns out Lotso is an evil bear who leaves new toys to be 'tortured' by the younger kids (i really mean torture - throwing, biting, licking, banging, painting) and prevents them from escaping Sunnyside with night patrols by cars/trucks and his subordinates looking over Sunnyside's surroundings like guards and a monkey (with freaky eyes and 2 cymbals) who's job is to look at the CCTV! PRISON!

Woody learns about Sunnyside's horrible side from Chuckles the clown and sets off to rescue his friends!

Now, this is where all the excitement begins! The toys great escape! It is time for prison break! Unfortunately, while Buzz was scooping around in Lotso's area, he was caught and was turned over to the 'dark side', becoming a 'prison guard', preventing his friends from escaping! and after attempts to turn him back to normal by Woody and friends - he was accidentally transformed into Spanish mode, which was witty, superbly funny, you just cannot stop laughing looking at his Spanish antics, expression (eyebrows especially), movements and even the way he speaks Spanish just tickles you to the bone. The most hilarious scene was when he was serenading Jessie with Spanish dance moves! OMG! You go Buzz! XD

Throughout the whole escape, you would just sit, gripping at the edge of your seat, biting your nails, watching intensely as the toys escape one by one with an AWESOME plan! You have to WATCH IT! One thing to mention was Mr. Potato Head's awesome disguise as a tortilla wrap. Yes! This scene was just indescribable funny - the way he walked in a tortilla fashion - all soft and round. OMG! Crazily funny. and then his fight with a pigeon "Hey, what you're looking at!?!" and then he was tore to pieces and became - Cucumber Mr. Potato Head - all thin and tall! LOL! as for Mrs. Potato Head, she left one of her eyes - strategically placed in Andy's room, and she could see what's happening in Andy's house - like a vision. Whoa. =.="

Making their way towards the garbage hole (that was the only way of escape!) - they finally got caught by Lotso and his gang. A series of fights and struggles, Woody was pulled by Lotso into the garbage bin - picked up by the garbage truck, and the toys with their "we are always going to be together no matter what" got into the garbage truck and were sent off to the garbage dump - where the horror begins.

The climax! Really beautifully done, as the toys try to escape the wrath of the garbage eliminator with sharp crushing jaws and finally the incinerator! The toys could do nothing at all and they just gave up and held each other hands (we are all going to die together kinda thing) - oh! the sadness - and this is where i couldn't believe my eyes, i seriously wanted to cry, i thought they were going to be burned! But seriously, Disney movie, they ain't cruel.

And just as all hopes were lost, the 3 aliens save them with "The Claw" (remember, Pizza Planet?) HAHA! OMG! What a sight of relief! Seriously! The intensity of that scene, awesome shit.

The toys then frantically goes back to Andy's house through a garbage truck before he leaves for college. and as for Lotso? He was saved by Woody initially in the garbage machine but was heartless enough to escape on his own by not pressing the stop button for the incinerator, and was picked up by a garbage collector who stuck him at the front of his truck! HAH!

At Andy's house, the toys quickly scrambled into the attic box and while Woody into the college box. Woody then realizes he couldn't just leave his friends and wrote a note to Andy - telling Andy he should donate the toys to --- Bonnie!

The ending scene - the most touching one ever, seriously, it makes you want to shed a few tears (buckets, maybe). Andy giving his toys to Bonnie, patiently explaining to her about his awesome toys and asking Bonnie to take really really good care of it. Finally, we all see Woody is in the box as well, Andy was shocked to see him there and was reluctant to let Woody go and said, "Woody was always by my side no matter what.", but realizes he should finally let Bonnie have Woody. It was just so sad, really.

After that, the scene Andy playing with his toys together with Bonnie for the very last time, granting the toys' wish for "Operation Playtime" in the beginning of the movie was just so touching and sweet. The lovable toys finally found a new owner, they belonged to Bonnie now (but will always be with Andy at heart), and the cycle starts all over again! How AWESOME is that!

The movie is IMO, not a sequel, but a standalone spectacular movie of the toys' amazing adventure together. It is in my opinion, the best Toy Story franchise ever, where the previous 2 were already a stellar. It is just awesome. Throughout the whole movie, you just laugh, cry, squeal, gasp, and cringe together with the toys. The story plot is authentic, characters are believable and most importantly - relatable, it gives you a sense of familiarity. Thinking back all the scenes in the movie, it doesn't just put a smile on your face, it makes you laugh and chuckle out loud.

The theme of the movie? The sense of loss and belonging mixed with friendships, family relationships. It makes you fall in love all over again with the toys and breaks your heart to see the movie ending - the toys that have added colours and brightened up your childhood has finally moved on - just as we have all grown - and well, moved on.

All in all, TOY STORY 3 IS FANTASTIC!

and it even leaves you wanting for more!

As for Sunnyside, it has all become Sunny again! The toys doing it all together - and there was even a cameo from Emperor Zurg.

=.="

The Big Baby - which is in fact creepy! It's even creepier than that Baby Spider in the first movie! and the baby sounds he makes is just not compatible with how scary he is. =.=" and there was one scene where it turns its head 360 degrees so fast. gwad.

and as for Woody, Buzz and their friends? They are now happily living with Bonnie, playing, and Buzz still have his Spanish touch inside! HAHAHA!

I really really hope to see the lovable toys once again in the future!

It was just a magical movie.

The Best and Most Favourite movie of the year 2010.

Watch it now!