Animation Nation 2008

GY sent us this sms once about some anime fest going on and asking us to register for a free screening of an animated film yesterday. Venue: Fusionpolis (?!!?!?!!)

We went to Holland V for dinner and I recommended the place that my colleague brought us to for a team dinner. Essential Brews's the name. It's a tea-themed diner with tea-infused foods gracing the menu (Earl Grey Ribeye Steak, anyone?) We kinda enjoyed the food there except for GY who was not really satisfied with his Matcha Catch (Dory with Green Tea). Pics of our main courses below. (GY's one wasn't worth taking... LOL)

My Blackened Salmon (Grilled Salmon with Mexican spices and Herb Butter)

Law's Earl Grey Ribeye Steak (Looks and tastes good!)

We caught a cab and headed down to Fusionpolis. Looks pretty futuristic and excellent breath-taking architecture. Pity we were in a rush and I din get to take many photos of the exterior, probably go there again next time. Show started a bit late past 7 and the theatre was really freezing....Brrr....

It's a animated film (not anime) based on a new game from Electronic Arts called Dead Space and it's about the massacre of a crew on a ship that's transporting some mysterious artifact to Earth. Apparently the artifact's attracting the aliens and people can go hysterical because of the artifact... Wasn't really fantastic but it's free, so who's complaining?

After that, we had our cuppa coffee at Starbucks @ Fusionpolis and decided to go to Pitstop where we played till the wee hours of the morning~ Some random photos I took below

Sound proof theatre

Fullerton Hotel from Boat Quay


Chilling out at Starbucks @ Fusionpolis

Official Poster of Animation Nation 2008

Supper near Pitstop

Get ready to fill the thunder!

Even though, my sis watched this show before I did and told me it was just 'OK', I still decided to give it a try, dragging GY and Law along for the ride as well. Best thing about it is you dun even know what's the movie about.

Golden rule of mine: NEVER, EVER read or trust reviews cos they're subjective...

Could guess it's a comedy (Ben Stiller, Jack Black) but Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr making an appearance as well as a black? Woo.... In a nutshell, actors trying to act out a war movie but director senses there's no realism at all so he throws them in the middle of the jungle in Vietnam and "attempts" to film a "real war movie". Actors fending for their lives = Laughter.

Look out for a special guy who also acts in the movie and does a corny dance and some people could only recognize him when the credits were reeling~

If you want a good luff, here's the right movie for ya!

Hell Yeah!

Chelsea 0 - Liverpool 1!

HELL YEAH!

*grinz*

2 more movies!

Yes, it's ture. According to a new friend of mine, i'm a movie fan~ Hah! Caught the 2 movies over the weekend. 20th Century Boys is like watching a manga (Japanese comic) brought to life. Was pretty amused by it and pretty liked the time when the main characters were children. Brought back fond memories for me when I was young too. It's the winning script for a nationwide manga script competition and it's only the 1st of a trilogy. Can't wait for the next 2 to come!

Max Payne was a show that wowed us when we were watching the trailer but the actual show kinda sucked. Pointless storyline, not much of the bullet time that was the main attraction of the computer game. Coupled with Mark Wahlberg's expressionless face, it just bores the hell outta you. Fortunately the CG effects and the whoop-ass sound system in the Grand Cathay saved it...

Some random personailty test I took and the results are pretty true actually....

Your view on yourself:
Other people find you very interesting, but you are really hiding your true self. Your friends love you because you are a good listener. They'll probably still love you if you learn to be yourself with them.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education:
You may not like to study but you have many practical ideas. You listen to your own instincts and tend to follow your heart, so you will probably end up with an unusual job.

The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:
You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.

What are you most afraid of:
You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Try it by clicking here!

Hort Park

Decided to use the holiday on last Wednesday to visit Hort Park. Haven't been to it since it opened and was praying that it didn't rain as well. GY tagged along with his camera too and me with my trusty Nikon.

Reached Vivo at about 3+, got the tickets to Eagle Eye before making our way by bus to Hort Park. For people interested to go, you can board any of these buses (61, 93, 100, 166, 963) from the Vivo bustop and alight after you pass by the bridge below near Hyderabad Road.



Can't upload them all here cos the pics are about 2MB in size. I'll just include a couple of my fav. pics here and leave it up to you to enjoy the rest of my album at Webshots. ;)

Album


by janzer81

We left the park about 5.30 and went to Vivo to meet Ivan for dinner at Modestos! One of my favourite Italian restaurants in town. That would explain why the last 3 pictures in the album didn't look like they're from Hort Park cos they're from Modestos instead.. Hah~

Caught Eagle Eye at Vivo at GV Max and we were lucky to get decent seats. The show's pretty good, considering it was produced by good ol' Steven Spielberg. Story and action scenes are great and it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as the story unfolds.

Recommending to catch it on the big screen if you can!

My modest weekend

Haven't been blogging for a while cos getting kinda lazy but get my butt down to type some random stuff in here now and then.

Went to SL's fren's place for board games on Saturday and ended up spending almost the whole day there but it was fun considering we played 4-5 games and had a whale of a time. Plus caught the F1 show at her place as well.

Almost had tickets to watch the qualifying race but my other cousin took it from my uncle instead. Drats.... All I can say that the drivers must be cursing Singapore for the make-shift circuit and tricky bends to make Monaco look like a walk in the park...Was hoping for Felipe Massa to win but looks like Hamiliton and Alonso are in the lead with Massa's pitstop boo-boo...

Today was great. Woke up feeling a bit better then Wow-ed a bit to get my warlock to reach level 69 (1 more level to go!) Then went playing pool with Law and GY (after some time of pool inactivity) Got off to a rough start but managed to win most of my games today! Headed to Bugis Junction to tuck into Swensens' for the 1 for 1 Sundae promotion. Thanks to Kogi for forwarding the voucher to me! And all of us agreed that the sweet Malay girl serving us was quite pretty. Ha.

Planning to visit HortPark on Wed if weather goes well and I'm going to use my D60 in an attempt to take a few good shots. Saw the Nikon D90 ad on TV and winced. Should have waited...

HK!

Finally back from my whirlwind trip to HK. Just happened to decide to go there on the fly to visit a few friends and to do some sightseeing~

A quick summary of my itinerary for the past 4 days~

Day 1:

Arrived at abt 2pm and made my way (the wrong, long way) to the hotel. Ended up paying a bit more extra but took in more sights instead. Not too bad actually. My hotel's (Stanford Hong Kong) located smack right in the middle of Mongkok 旺角 and it's close to Ladies' Street!

After checking out the room and washing up a bit, walked all the way from Mongkok to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) which took me close to 2 hours considering my leisurely pace. Finally arrived at the Avenue of Stars and busy taking snapshots of the pavements with the stars' handprints and signatures.

Finally the Symphony of Lights came on slightly after 8 where the many buildings along Victoria Harbour participated in the multimedia light display which was actually kinda disappointing....

Sat down for a cuppa ice coffee before making my way back to my hotel by MTR. Walked along Ladies Market to check out the stuff before buying them on the last day and tucked into a nice bowl of noodles for supper before heading back. Mmm!

Things to note:

1) Plan your journey carefully to reduce cost when switching from Airport Express to MTR.
2) Get an Octopus Card as soon as you touch down. It can be used on all modes of transport in HK (except taxis) and for purchases at 7-11! Cool!
3) HKers keep to the right on the escalator unlike us here in Singapore. I got "tsk"ed so many times until I realised it. Ouch~

Day 2:

Alice, my lovely colleague from the HK office came to pick me up at my hotel in the morning! Brought me for some v nice and cheap dim sum nearby. It was pretty interesting to see Alice washing the teacups and chopsticks with the hot tea / water before we ate. I took it for granted and almost digged in before she stopped me. Took the MTR to Central then a bus to Stanley Market for sightseeing and shopping. Journey took about 30 mins or so by bus and she had to take some sweets to prevent herself from being carsick.

Finally arrived and took a short walk before stopping for a break at Macdonalds for a rest. It was super hot that day (33 degrees!) I din buy anything in the end and we headed back to Central for the tram up to Victoria Peak.

Passed by my bank's office building and Alice told me about how to enter the building when i come visiting the next day. It's so talllllllll as you can see in my photos...

Got the combo which included the tram ride 2 ways, Madame Tussad's Wax Museum entry and entrance to the Sky Terrace (great for photo taking, it was free the last time I went!) All in all, about 34 bucks per person which wasn't too bad. Tram ride was not bad as I took it before when I visited HK 11 years ago (yes that's a long long long time ago)

First time to Madame Tussad's for me! Alice's first time there as well! We were lucky that we went on a weekday so there weren't many people around and we didn't have to queue to take photos with the wax mannequins. Best time to hug celebrities who you might never get to meet the rest of your life (Ayumi, Angelina Jolie, Charlene Choi, Kelly Chen) and for the gals (Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, Brad Pitt, Bae Yong Jun) After that we finally went onto the Sky Terrace where it was packed to the brim. People were jostling for a spot near the edge to get a good shot of the night view. >_<

We left before 8 cos people were waiting for the disappointing symphony of lights and we din want to squeeze in with the rest on the way down the peak. Alice had reserved a table for us at a nice restaurant at Beijing No. 1 building (北京道一号) called Chao Inn（潮楼) at TST. We took a ferry from Central Pier to TST Pier which was quite cheap and fun! The restuarant looked very classy and very expensive... Tried some interesting food there and got a great view of Victoria Harbour as well. In the end, the dinner came to about 30+ per person which was quite reaonsable! Thanks Alice! After a fun filled day, it was back to my hotel for zzz...

Things to note:

4) Best time to go for dim sum is about 10 before the aunties finish their morning marketing.
5) Always wash your teacups and chopsticks before you eat. That's why they provide a pot of hot water for you... (Nah, not really...)
6) When visiting Victoria Peak, go in the evening when you can get great views befoer and after turns dark.
7) If you have a tripod for your camera, bring it. NO matter how heavy it is. Cos there's nothing worse than taking night shots with your trembling unsteady hands. I only managed to take 3 pics which were barely passable...>_<

Day 3:

Off to Wan Chai by MTR to go to the HK Convention Centre to visit the Golden Bauhinia (金紫荆) Square and the Reunification Monument. It was a foggy and hot day and had to walk like 4 blocks down from the MTR to the monuments... then took one of those ancient trams to Cheung Kong Center where my bank's located at.

Popped by to visit my colleagues who I usually contact but never really knew how they looked like! Haha~ View's from the office really super nice and I only took a couple of pics because I didn't want to look like an idiot in the office. Caught up with my other colleagues and they brought me to a nice dim sum place called King of the Kings (皇上皇) nearby. Thanks Ken for the treat!

Headed to Tung Chung by MTR for a cable car ride to Lantau Island to visit the Big Buddha (天坛大佛). Cable Car's pretty nice but a bit expensive (about $18 Sing) but view's all worth it. Arrived at Ngong Ping village, an ancient Chinese themed village with many shops littered along the streets. They have Starbucks there as well.. >_< Passed on the "Walking with Buddha" and "Monkey Tales" shows and headed straight for the Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha. It was scorching that day and walking up the 15 flights of stairs to the Buddha Statue was a feat for me. I need to work out more.... The view from the top was exhilarating! (and the Pocari Sweat sold up there was more expensive than the ones down the stairs, evil buggers...) Back to Kowloon by Cable Car and train and went to Causeway Bay to have a look around. Walked along Times Sqaure and Causeway Plaza 1 and 2 before stopping for a quick dinner in one of the small diners. Don't be afraid about the food cos you'll never know how delicious the food can be until you try it!

Back to hotel at about 12.30am for sleep.

Things to note:

8) While visting the Golden Bauhinia Square and Reunification monument, be sure to find out where the covered walkway is from the MTR. I only found that on my RETURN trip... But i did manage to walk through the Arts centre and the museum along the way.
9) Do try out the other types of transportation in HK other than the MTR like the trams and ferries. Route maps are available at every tram stop and ferry's pretty straight forward.
10) Dim Sum restaurants only accept reservations at lunch time, if not too bad... Book early to avoid disappointment
11) When you're in HK, do try out the local cuisine at small diners instead of eating at Mac, Western joints. The staff understand Mandarin and can speak a little English to get by.

Day 4:

Had a bit of time before my flight, so I went to Admiralty for some last minute shopping and food before back to hotel. Anyone tried you tiao wrapped with chee cheong fun?

Reached the airport pretty early and had a quick meal before some last minute shopping and back to Singapore!

Things to note:

12) You can check in at major stations or do the Self-check in at the airport, saving you lotsa time at the airport!

Now for the pics (about 500+) Enjoy!


by janzer81

Flyer!

Date: 5th September 2008

Not just a usual day but it's my first day of leave for the whole year! YES! Since 2007! *ROAR*

Planned to go ride on the Singapore Flyer with SL and praying it doesn't rain on that day! Considering it has been raining every day last week...

All was well! Bright and sunny! So we made our way down *the lnog way* by walking from Esplanade to the Flyer. For people going in future, there's a free shuttle service from the Bus stop between The Adelphi and St. Andrew's Cathedral every 30 mins. Please use that instead..

Pretty excited but I was only armed with my Ixus 50. Had planned to get my DSLR before that but wouldn't want to risk bringing a better camera and not really knowing how to get the best out of it. Hah!

Note to others: don't bother paying twice the price for express boarding cos you'll get to go onto the cabin first but still share it with others who paid for normal. Unless there's a looooooong queue for normal and you've got the urge to ride it before everyone else. Else, just stick to the queue alright?

Almost everybody went snap-happy once we were on board, including yours truly as well! My album below tells it all~

The ride's just fine. It moves so slowly that you won't realise when you're at the top till they announce "You're now at a height of blah-blah metres..." Ride takes approx 30 mins so you get to enjoy the view around. Too bad my discounted ticket is only available for use from 830am to 6pm. Best time to go would be actually slightly after 6 as the evening sun shouldn't be that distracting anymore. Well at least better than getting cooked at 3pm in there...

Went for Baikohken Ramen after that and YY joined us as well. My no. 4 favourite! but i guess YY din really like his ramen, he ordered the half size one without the char siew... poor carnivore...

Pitstop! Met up with GY and Ivan for a night of fun and games! Pompeii, No thanks and Imaginiff were those we played! LOL. =)

Wish every Friday could be like that~

Singapore Flyer

I'm a Japanese Food Fan and you can't stop me!

It's been a long while since I blogged about my days. So what's coming up is a series of short posts for the past week all blogged in one day. It's basically 3 Japanese eateries in 3 weeks~


7th August, Kuriya:

A few of us met up for dinner at Raffles City and headed down to Kuriya cos Val was craving for some japanese charcoal BBQ food (we din get any of that sort though...)

But we did manage to get a sumptous dinner! Drool on ahead~



Sushi Moriawase.


Fried Pork Belly with Spring Onion and Radish (Yummy!)


Part of my Yasai Tempura Soba


Most popular dish that night, Kamo Seiro Soba (Chilled Soba with Duck Broth)


Grabbed some dessert at Aerin's, with a wonderful view.


15th August, Shimbashi Soba:

Had dinner with Agnes and her friends after work and decided to introduce them to Shimbashi Soba, basement 1, Paragon. Friday night's the usual and we had to wait for abotu 15-20 mins before getting seats but it was all worth it (according to them)!


Chikara Soba (soba with vegetables and rice cakes)


Paragon Soba (Hot and Chilled Soba)


Sansai Soba (Wild Vegetables and Mushrooms Soba)



My Tokusen Wazen (5 side dishes + Soba)

From top left clockwise: Salmon and Swordfish Sashimi, Fried Salmon with Agedashi Tofu, Grilled Mackarel with Egg Omelette, Assorted Tempura

There was a side dish of 2 maki and 1 beancurd skin Sushi but couldn't take a pic of them all. This meal set me back by 40 bucks! O.0


Teriyaki Chicken Don and Soba. The teriyaki chicken looked so delicious...

14th August, MOF @ My Izakaya:

Had a team dinner at MOF @ Marina Square and it's my 3rd time back to this place. I usually go there for desserts only cos they look good and taste good, but my first for trying their main dishes, which didn't disappoint me...


My Tan-tan Ramen! (The spicy sesame soup was absolutely fantastic and had me finishing up the whole bowl!)


Bz's Sesame Zenzai Dessert. Black Sesame Gelato with Read Bean paste and mochi.


Anika's Fruity Sundae (forgot the name...)


My Macha Imo (Vanilla Soft serve with Fried Hokkaido sweet potato in centre) and 1 dollop of Black Sesame Gelato. =)

22nd August, MOF again

Had a last-minute-decided dinner with Shilei after work on Friday and found ourselves at MOF again but at the Bugis Junction branch this time. Nicer decor and ambience (it's newer actually)


Salmon Cutlet Maki (must try!)


Yasai Tempura Udon with Salmon Cutlet Maki making a cameo in the background.


Shilei's Tonkotsu Ramen


Black Sesame Gelato Sundae


Mmm!


Me with my Mango Imo (The Macha Imo still tastes better!)

Next week planning a trip to Miharu Ramen once more!

Mummy!

It's a habit now, the 4 of us (Law, GY, Ivan and me) catching a movie together over the weekend in town. Hah~

This time we chose the Mummy cos there weren't any other shows that we were interested in anyway. We had dinner at this noodle place at the basement of the Cathay. Forgot what's the name but the noodles and the sliced pork with buns were simply delicious! Gotta go back some day and eat again.

Before the show, I stopped by the adidas store to take a look at some watches there and there was one that caught my eye! At 115 and it looked really nice.... But thinking about my HK trip in Sep soon... =(

Finally caught the show at about 10 and 5th row from the front at the Grand Cathay isn't that bad. Show's typical, easily amused, easily forgettable... Dun think i'll be catching the next installment if there's any... Ha!

Why So Serious?

It's finally here! And I went to watch with my usual kakis (GY, Law, Ivan) at the usual place (PS) last Saturday. The show is a bit long but it was quite entertaining.

The story's dark as Batman examines himself and finds the will to carry on fighting evil as the Dark Knight. The show also introduces another villain into the future story but I shan't spoil it here. Fans will definitely know who Harvey Dent is...

But the one that truly shines here is the Joker... Played by the late Heath Ledger, he brings the character very much into life. If he creeps you out in the show, he's done the job good. Can't wait for the next instalment of the show! The Dark Knight (only show with no "Batman" in the title) gets 4 stars out of 5 from me!

Feeling like a wreck...

Went to see the doctor this morning cos I wasn't able to recover in time... Hoping that there won't be a long queue at the clinic but then again, it's Monday morning.

2 mothers with their entourage of 5 children in total were making hella of noise in there. The mothers were talking really loudly about their children's tuition and stuff like that as if it was at the market and the children were screaming and jumping even though they were supposed to be ill...

3 of the children were particularly spoilt and whiny who went "Mi.... (mother)" whenever they get into a fight or quarrel and were running around, disturbing the other patients. Glares from other patients at the clinic didn't help. And all that the mom could do was to keep on reading her magazine and throw out a few words like "stop playing", "keep quiet" and the children would talk back at her and carry on clamouring...

During my time, I would have received a tight slap or a beating from my parents for behaving like that in public. Children these days...

Finally got to see the doc after 45 mins and i'm still on MC for today and tomorrow.. Feeling aching all over. On and off fever... Dry throat... Restlessness.. Lethargy.. It's almost like a living hell....

=(

Call me a****** one more time...

This post came very late as I caught the movie with GY, Law and Ivan last Sunday. Managed to get tickets real late on Sunday at Marina Square. Had dinner at Kyo-nichi Ramen which was shiok~ It's my number 7 on my list. Hah~ No pictures though, too hungry to take any.

And before the movie, we were wandering around the cinema (waiting for GY) and I chanced upon a figurine shop which I've never entered in before and I got this!

Suspicious look and shocked! look

L Nendroid! Comes with 2 bodies (squatting or standing) and 4 faces! With Leather armchair as well! Sold out at most places I've been to and I'm lucky to have found it~

Movies's not too bad. Average but mildly entertaining. Doesn't actually live up to the hype and the ending was abit crappy. But nonetheless, something decent to catch these days.

Anyway, I've been real sick these past few days and had to stay in the office cos my other colleague was out with stomach flu as well (Hope you're better already!) and the fact that I'm blogging right now at 11:44am is that I'm on medical leave and had a good night's rest last night!

Hopefully I've recovered in time over the weekend and back at work next Monday!

On another note, I had dinner on Tuesday with a new friend of mine whom I've met at the Japanese meetup. Ramen lovers, both of us. We went to Central to tuck into a bowl of Aka-Ramen at Marutama Ramen! My number 3! Not bad as a Ramen fix for me. I have to have ramen at least once a week somewhere, you see... After that we had some Hokkaido Ice cream from Azabu Sabo to round up the dinner. Strange new flavours I sampled were tofu and pumpkin! Tofu tasted... like tofu and pumpkin was amazingly sweet~

Off to rest now and catch you all soon!

Get Wanted!

Once again, 2 shows in one weekend. *Looks at smothering hole in wallet* But it was worth it! 2 great shows, 1 is pure slapstick comedy, other is full of adrenalin and action!

Both shows are quite similar actually. Male lead is a cannot-make-it, bully-target, low-life guys. The gals on the other hand, are smart, clever and so so gorgeous. Va-va-voom~ Both shows showcase some very nifty gadgets, especially the one Angelina Jolie used in the supermarket. Think SAF is kinda using it now but not as skillful as her..

Unfortunately, i watched both shows during the late night so my viewing experience was really at the max. At times I was struggling to keep to the story / laugh at the jokes.

Brain: Hey, it's funny! Laugh!

Body: Can't... Too shag already...

But do catch these shows before they're gone!

On Sunday, I went to the Science Centre (not the Omnimax or Snow City) with Princess. She happened to have 3 tickets with her and her bro and sis weren't interested. She asked me at like 2pm and we were there at 4. Hah~

It's been a while since I went to the Science Centre itself. And it was nice for Princess to show me around. She worked there before at the shop. So cool right?

Dinosaurs were the main exhibit and we spent some time taking photos of them. LOL~

Look Ma! No Body!

*ROAR*

Princess with some Brontosaurus lookalike...

Shall we eat her?

Me and Princess~

We went to a water exhibit which was quite interesting and had dinner at the Mac there as well. Had a nice chat over dinner as well. =)

But anyway, thanks to Princess for the tickets! Wish every weekend was like that~