The International what?

My weekly dosage of movies this week. Too much hype but fizzled at the very end... Didn't offer much action as I have expected (I am an action movie fan..) and Clive Owen + Naomi Watts didn't really live up to my expectation as artistes.. My verdict: Do not catch this unless you are looking for something to while your time away or you really want to watch Naomi or Clive (in that order)

After the show, we went for supper at Macdonalds at Northpoint and something interesting happened. A group of juveniles were having some fun outside and 1 of them went to use the washroom. 1 other guy then promptly slotted the mop outside between the handles to lock the twin doors, trapping his friend and everybody else in it. Fortunately nobody else was going out or coming into Mac. The guy finally relented and let his friend out.

What we didn't count on happening was that once his friend was out, he put the mop back in between the doors. Nobody really noticed until Law and I looked at the only exit later. Seemed like the staff didn't realise it until I told them about it. In the end, they forced the door open and got a bent mop in return. To those inconsiderate idiots, if you think that you were trying to impress the girls in your group or you were trying to be funny, you did not. And what you did was downright childish...

Quiet Sunday for me as well.. Pretty much stayed at home to relax cos my week before was long and tiring. Typically stayed back late in office to finish up work everyday, leaving me feeling burnt out. Just played my PS3 and played cards with my sis and my bro-in-law and dinner with parents and all.

Short note here, congrats to Lawrence on being a uncle to his nephew just born on Saturday! =)

Really lazy...

Hi all, it's been ages since I last blogged about something. You know the type of feeling / mood you get into when you just don't feel like doing anything and you just want to laze around.

Well that mood's been on and off in me these days. Been troubled by some stuff happening lately, so diverting my energy to sort them out. Well here's some updates so far...

• Flew and came back from Japan a couple of weeks ago and STILL sorting through the photos. Promise to put them up on Webshots or Flickr when I finally get my a** down to do it. Great trip with 2 of my bros with me as the tour guide / translator / entertainer, etc.. And my D60 did produce some great shots compared to my previous Japan trips (at the cost of lugging the camera bag and tripod ard with me most of the time)
  
  
• Bought Dynasty Warriors 6 for PS3 and it's a great game. Very different from what I've played for the other DW series. Visuals are great (It's on PS3, you know...) and the gameplay is more difficult than ever. You can get sneezed to death by peons if you're not careful...
  
  
• Watched a couple of movies recently, namely Knowing and The Sniper. Both shows dun live up to the hype. The ending for Knowing is seriously disappointing and the story in the Sniper doesn't really make any sense...
  
  
• Been hooked on Left 4 Dead recently, be it playing at home or at the LAN shops. The thing that separates it from the other First Person Shooter (FPS) games is that you are forced to work together to win the game unlike other games where you can effectively win the game alone if you're REALLY good. Interesting fact, girls are also playing this FPS although you can hear screams in the shop when their characters get swamped by the zombies in the game. Hah!
  
  
• Have not been touching WOW for some time although I've been paying the subscription. Tried to log on this morning and I have to download and install a 740MB patch (currently at 24%). Seriously having doubts to carry on playing this game cos the amount of facts and info to play this game is massive and I simply dun have the time and energy to devote to this game.

That's all for now. It's almost 1 and I gotta grab my lunch soon before I starve to death. Peace ppl!

Thinking of someone in Phuket right now,

Jaron

Ho Sua!

Sibei ho chio!

Movies, movies, movies...

It's no secret that I'm a movie fan. Even my colleague who sits behind me asks me about the movie I'm going to catch each weekend. Ha~

I caught Push last week but only managed to blog about it today. It piqued my interest as it was about normal people with extraordinary abilities. It revolves around this guy who is a "Mover" who can move things with his mind or with gestures, something like telekinesis and he's supposed to save this girl from some corporation called Division. Turns out that Division is the one that injects people with these special powers and trains them as agents and the girl also has a special ability. She's called a "Pusher" who can manipulate people by feeding thoughts into their minds. Kinda scary as the show shows how people can be manipulated... There are also other types of special people in the show as well, like Bleeders (supersonic scream), Watchers (see the future), Sniffers (track people with smell from their belongings), Shadow (prevents people from being sniffed and watched to a certain extent) and many more. It's not bad as a show overall.

Supposed to meet Trina for a show but she had a gathering with her colleagues on Friday. Haven't seen her for a while and I really missed her a lot.. Crazy enough, Law, GY and I caught 2 movies last night. Dragonball evolution and Watchmen. The former, a total waste of money and the latter, the real deal!

I shall keep my review of Dragonball Evolution to the minimal. Basically, rapidly moving storyline, trying to compress the whole story into a 1h45m show is pretty bad, and Goku shouldn't be a Caucasian. Coupled with bad CG, bad jokes and normal fighting scenes spells out DISASTER.

Now sparing you the agony, let's move on to Watchmen. Wanted to catch this show ever since I saw the trailer, not that I read the comic before but the trailer just looks damn good and it touches not on the superheroes but about human nature. It also shows that superheroes aren't really that powerful as they struggle with their own personal lives.... Now i'm so game for the comic!

3's a crowd

3 good things that happened this weekend which has made a tough week seem less unbearable.

1) Finally made my way to CYC. the Custom shop to use the privilege that Aunt Jay gave to me. Free custom shirt with a pair of complimentary cufflinks to go! Even added my own initials to it!

Didn't know that there were so many things to get a custom shirt done. Like the type of collar (5 types!), cuff type, tapered back / sides, even the buttons and button labels as well~ Will take a pic of the shirt when it's ready in 2 weeks time!

2) After CYC, GY and I went to Robertson Quay for Ichibantei for some good ramen. Ichibantei's my number 2, rivalling all but Miharu at Gallery Hotel. Supposed to bring Trina on a ramen tour in Singapore starting from my number 10 and GY has kinda tried all my top 5 ramen joints already. Haha! Will have a exclusive post of all top 10 joints (in my humble opinion) with pictures soon!


Entrance


My Mapo Gohan

Chashu Men


GY's Chukasoba

3) Finally bought a PS3 and Street Fighter 4 for myself ! Woo-Hoo! Thanks to Law for accompanying me on his off day to get it from AMK Hub. Which reminds me that I could count about 20+ plus at ATMs yesterday. Must be the GST Offset package...It's a real monster if you ask me, in terms of weight and performance.... Have been busy playing SF4 since ytd evening till just now and managed to unlock quite a few characters, including my favourite Akuma! *Satsui No Hado!*

Meeting Trina for dinner at Melt - The World Cafe next week and looking forward to it! See you! =)

=)

Super wonderful evening!

Had dinner with Trina last evening at Pete's Place at Hyatt Regency. The last time I went there was with my aunt and uncle and Ivan many many years ago, it has pretty changed much by now but the cosy feeling is still there~

Dinner was great. Loved the sundried tomato butter with the complimentary bread ala Cafe Cartel. Had 2 soups and 2 pastas. My lasagna was great but Trina's gnocchi was a tad too cheesy for my liking. Fortunately the soups saved the day. Her carrot soup was creamy enough but not too overwhleming and my potato and leek soup contained chockfuls of the potato which made it a treat to have. =)

Went over to Paragon to check out Cova, a cafe recommended by my Japanese sensei but it was closed by the time we reached there. Settled for Coffee Bean in the end, with my Iced Latte and her Sunrise~ =)

Headed back to Lido and caught the midnight show, Slumdog Millionaire. Thought our row was fully occupied when we bought the tickets but turned out that it was almost empty throughout the whole show. The movie's definitely worth the weekend ticket price. It touches on how the protangonist was transformed from a slumdog (leaving in slums, working as a tea-boy) to a millionaire. You can try to guess how he became rich by looking closely at the poster above. (Reminds you of a television game show?) =)

Happy Valentine's Day, Trina~

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to you! =)

Chain-girl-ling

Caught Changeling with Trina at GV Plaza the other day. It was funny when I collected my tickets from the counter when the staff said to me "2 tickets, 1150pm, Chain-girl-ling". I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud but it's true that nowadays movie titles get confusing and we might even pronounce the movie titles incorrectly ourselves!

It's a pretty good show with 2 thumbs up for me! And a long one as well, about 2 1/2 hours! Directed by Clint Eastwood and compelling storyline that keeps the audience on the edge of the seats. Makes you empathise with Angelina's character as well.

Do catch it soon as the movie's run is going to end soon based on the number of cinemas showing it and the odd movie times!

Went for supper at Crown Plaza 's Swensen's for Apple Crumble and Fries! Ended up going back late by cab but it was all worth it! ;)

Happy 牛 Year!

Really thankful for the long weekend! Didn't get to rest much but sure had lotsa fun visiting relatives and gambling!

Am busy uploading the pictures now but here are some sample pics (brought my Nikon around this year!)

My reunion lunch!

My dad and Uncle Henrik

My aunt's much-craved-after Lingzi Duck!

Start of Reunion dinner

Me with my sis, bro-in-law and my cousins


Lou Hei!

More of the album here!~

by janzer81

I also caught Love Matters with Trina and her friends at Cineleisure yesterday at 1150pm! Haha~ Kinda last minute but gladly met up at Orchard at ard midnight knowing well I had to go to work tomorrow. All becuase of you~

Love Matters revolves around a family in KL with issues like love, happiness, while exploring issues of the heart all rolled into one comedy. Kudos to Yeo Yann Yann who plays the mother with a rather too convincing Malaysian accent (no offence to my Malaysian friends!)

A pity I couldn't join Trina and friends for supper / drinks and had to hop onto a cab home to grab some sleep before heading to the office. Sorry! Will make it up to you next time k? =)

Inkheart~

Caught Inkheart last last night with Trina at AMK Hub. We kinda decided to catch a show together like 3 hours before. Kinda like a surprise but starting to enjoy these random, sudden meetups. Looks set to be like a standard Brendan Fraser movie a.k.a The Mummy Returns and the rest of the sorry sequels after that, but out of the movies available at that timing, Inkheart seemed the most sane choice.

We entered the cinema a little late but din missed too much, I guessed it kinda talked about Mortimer Folchart's (Brendan Fraser) ability to bring stories to life. Show's not too bad, a bit of dry humour here and there, Brendan's ever-emotionless-or-blur look and the baddie din get a chance to showcase his acting talent fully. The scenery from the movie however was fascinating like Brendan's (sister's or aunt's) place and where the baddie has his castle was truly breathtaking~

I did think about the story which I would want to bring to life if I was a Silvertongue like what Brendan Fraser's Character is... Tuesdays with Morrie? Da Vinci Code? LOL

Overall it's not bad, sets u up for an adventure but ending is a little disappointing. After that we had a walk-around and I was amazed to find that NTUC Fairprice Extra was actually open at 1.30am! With people still doing their CNY / grocery shopping! Not sure whether it was because of the festive period or they REALLY open till that late.... WOW~

Had a chance to hop on a short ride on Trina's Coke Van which was kinda cool if you asked me! =) Maybe it's the CNY weekend but feeling really happy for the first time this year so far~

Seven Pounds and Red Cliff II

Seven Pounds is a touching story about how Will Smith sets out to help 7 strangers in difficult circumstances out of his way. Shall not reveal the reason behind doing so cos that's the part that really matters...

Always like catching his shows because the scripts he chooses are not just for block-busters, eye candy but that there are usually stories that captures the human soul and makes audiences realise that there's more to life than it really is. Do catch it while you can!

Also caught Red Cliff II (Sorry Val!) with GY and Ivan at the Cathay. Cathay's been one of my fav places to catch partly because they have great seats and there's my fav adidas store as well. The staff there kinda know me by now because of my frequent visits. Heh~

Red Cliff II's a great finisher to the first part which I'm sure left people wanting their money back after seeing "To be continued..." at the end. This is where all the action comes in, with generals pitting their wits against each other. (The bet between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu is quite interesting). Putting the warping of the original story aside, the plot's decent for a newbie to The Three Kingdom Classics, but now i'm sure these classics have certainly gained more fans than before, till they find out that the movie's different from the actual story!

Alas.. 2009...

This is going to be a long post. Dun say I din warn you first.. If you need, please visit the washroom, do other stuff before grabbing a cuppa coffee and read this post...

Basically it's all about 2 events in one post namely Xmas, NYE

Xmas Party

25th Dec 2008

Home

0830h

Just woke up feeling woozy cos I got back home about 3am the morning of Xmas from Ivan's friend's place and caught like 4-5 hrs of sleep before waking up and preparing for the party at home. Basically invited my buddies and some colleagues over to my place and I'm cookin'!

0920h

Headed over to Cold Storage about 930 to grab some chicken, pork knuckle and some ribs (Law's fav) then had breakfast at Mac's (it's been a while since I last had Mac bfast!) before heading home and prepared the food.

1130h

Thanks to GY and Law for coming over early to help me with the preparation! (Law cutting up the BBQ-ed food, GY for cutting up mushrooms,etc) Haven't really cooked for some time but glad it turned out fine!

1330h

Other buds arrived at 130+ and played PS3 (thanks Law!) and Wii before tucking in. Food's great and as usual, way too much!

1830h

GY had to leave and the rest hung around to play Betrayal at House on the Hill. It's an engaging game to play and has kept me hooked for some time! SL later popped by to join in as well. =)

2300h

Party's over and Thanks to Nez and Phin for helping to wash the dishes while I entertain the rest of the ppl!

Photos are on the way (Webshots) and link will appear here soon!

by janzer81

New Year's Eve (NYE) Party

31st Dec 2008

Ash's place

1300h

Took half a day off and headed home. Thought of catching some sleep but found myself bumming around, packing up my Wii and other board games and by the time I took a shower, it was almost time to head down to Ash's place!

1630h

Arrived at Ash's place and wasn't surprised to see Yiliang there cos he stays a stone's throw away. Zhexian also arrived about the same time as well. Been hearing that he'll be bringing some salmon to cook and got me real excited.

Helped to carry the tables, chairs, BBQ pit, set up the tables, helped carry the food out before finally taking a quick rest and freshen up before the rest of the guests arrive.

1800h

This was when the majority of the guests started streaming in. Mostly YCK ppl and some of Ash's frens whom I have met before for CNY last year.

Food was absolutely great esp Zhexian's salmon and Ash's mom's tiramisu (Can I have more please, Auntie?) And Samuel, the fried rice was quite nice, honestly speaking. We joked that it sucked, alright? ;)

Some ppl asked me what I brought (it was a potluck) and when I said Wii, people started turning their eyes up... and later caught them having a great time playing the Wii... LOL

Had Bingo later! Everybody had to pay a buck to buy a card and winner takes all! I was the MC at Ash's request and it was quite fun! Congrats to Ash's friend and Dingren for winning!

More of Wii later and some of the people left early to go for Night Cycling before the countdown. So did many couples as well. Such's the usual stuff. In the end, there were only a handful of us for the actual countdown and we all watched the TV and countdown-ed with Gurmit and Gang.

Shortly after, we had a gift exchange but some of the people who brought presents had left early but we still managed to get it sorted out in the end. Only Zhexian, Yiliang and me and Weihao were the only survivors till about 3am when Ash gave me and Yiliang a ride home. Thanks Ash dear!

Pics of the party (some cos I was busy eating) to be uploaded soon so stay tuned!

by janzer81

Wishing all a happy 2009!

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me!

No. of birthday SMSes received so far: 14

No. of presents / treats received so far: 5

No. of birthday wishes on Facebook received so far: 7

Amy, Helen and YH celebrated my birthday yesterday at Sun and Moon dining @ Central yest night and the food was good! Pics to come soon~

My team and other colleagues (Thanks ya'll!) in my office had a mini celebration today in the office for me as well and I'm still waiting for the photos from Simon... Where are they?!?!?!?!

And i just came back from another celebration, this time with my YCK friends, organised by Ashlyn! A big thank you! We queued up at Marche @ VIVO for an hour before deciding to go to Modestos instead~ A sample of some pics below.... Rest are on Facebook or in the album below!

by janzer81

Feeling blessed~

Klaatu barada nikto

It's a famous phrase in the science fiction world apparently... and it's used as a "safe-word" by the protagonist (Keanu Reeves) to prevent the human race from being eradicated, Just caught this with Ivan and GY. It's not an action packed movie but it's rather thought provoking. The storyline's like protect-the-earth-else-aliens-will-come-to-destroy-us, which are similar to other movies that I've watched before... But Jennifer Connelly is HOT! :)


As promised, here's a quick update on what I was able to accomplish during my leave period.

• Catching up with friends before NYE
  - All 4 people postponed the appts...


• Doing up that MG Unicorn Gundam!
  - Not yet, maybe soon


• Getting back into shape by jogging
  - Customized my adidas shoes today!


• Sign up (and actually attend) a photography course
  - Signed up! Course starting on Sunday!


• Clean up my room
  - Done! Almost... I think..


• Staying over at my cousin's place and visiting the dogs
  - No chance, I missed the dogs...


• Sit back and enjoy a novel
  - Did go to the library at Northpoint but no novel that caught my eye...


• Catch up on World Of Warcraft
  - Giving my level 71 Blood Elf Warlock a break and playing a Orc Death Knight! Busy with Red Alert 3 instead..


• Travel around Singapore to take photos (and improve my SLR skill)
  - Did travel around a bit but did not bring my SLR with me...


• Plan for my much-awaited Japan trip next year with my buddies
  - Law leaving for Hainan Island in 5 hours time and GY might be searching online for place s he wanna visit...


• Re-arranging my complete figurines in my display cabinet right now.
  - Not yet...maybe soon


• Prepare to send Xmas, New Year cards (Yes I still do that... but to a select few who actually bother to return)
  - Am not going to send this year actually and see how many people actually send them to me. Hehe...

And something I just ordered! It's Itoshiki Nozomu from Goodbye Mr Despair! Damn cute!
Click here to catch it on crunchyroll.com! It's Season 2 though. Am sure you can find Season 1 from there...

Finally on a break!

I'm off for the rest of the week! And it's a great opportunity to do some stuff that I have procrastinated. Here's just a quick list that I've drawn up so far...

• Catching up with friends before NYE
• Doing up that MG Unicorn Gundam!
• Getting back into shape by jogging
• Sign up (and actually attend) a photography course
• Clean up my room
• Staying over at my cousin's place and visiting the dogs
• Sit back and enjoy a novel
• Catch up on World Of Warcraft (I'm only level 71 now...)
• Travel around Singapore to take photos (and improve my SLR skill)
• Plan for my much-awaited Japan trip next year with my buddies
• Re-arranging my complete figurines in my display cabinet right now
• Prepare to send Xmas, New Year cards (Yes I still do that... but to a select few who actually bother to return)

And that's just the first few things I've sent out. I'll prob update on how many of these things I've actually accomplished!

Tata~

AFA'08

This was kinda like last weekend but only updating it now cos I had a pretty rough week... Better late than never as they say. 100+ photos for you to enjoy. Cheers!


by janzer81

I like to Move It!

This week was pretty OK for me! Attended training at Marina Mandarin Hotel on Monday and Tuesday and I gotta say that the training was good, fellow trainees were great and the food was marvelicious! And I think I kinda put on a bit of weight during those 2 days. Morning Tea + Buffet Lunch + Afternoon Tea = Not good for body....

Was helping Law to fix his com sound problem on Thursday and Friday. Apparently, nVidia GeForce 8800 does not sit well with Creative X-Fi Sound cards.. nVidia blames Creative, Creative blames nVidia... (Just look at the forums!) and Law's contemplating a change of sound card if we can't fix it. But he bought a PS3 yesterday for Fallout 3! O_O

I've only played Fallout 1 which is a pretty good IMHO. But Fallout 3 looks great from the pics and gameplay trailer! Prob going over to his place tomorrow to take a look and marvel at the beast they call PS3... Lugging around the PS3 last night, we went to Bugis to catch Madagascar 2.

Not as funny as the previous one but I'm just there for the penguins! Who cares about Alex (the lion), Marty (the zebra), Melman (the giraffe) and Gloria (the hippo)! Penguins are way funny and devilishly evil (keep your eyes peeled for the Dreamworks SKG part at the start of the movie!)

I'm giving it 3 out of 5 in general cos some parts just kept me laughing! And I haven't caught Bond yet despite the reviews from friends!

Nanjya Monjya

As Monday was a holiday, my Japanese classmates and I decided to head down to Nanjya Monjya for dinner. This came a bit late cos I was way too tired to blog after a week of work in the office....

Monjyayaki is a type of Japanese food where you have the ingredients mixed and pour them out on a hot plate to stif today and make the pancake. 1st time round, we (actually just me) made a whole mess out of the table and had to call in the waiter to show us how to make monjyayaki properly. Then we ordered another one and I had a second go which kinda turned out ok! =)

Anyway, the food was great and it helps that there was a promotion at that time. 50% discount for monjyayaki!

People who are interested, they're located at the Waterfront Plaza beside Grand Copthorne Hotel at Havelock Road. Take bus 16 or 175 from Orchard Boulevard and alight after 5 stops.

Choice pics below. Enjoy!

Entrance

The ingredients!

The "correct" monjyayaki

Jaron-yaki!

Adrian, Andrew Au and Andrew Yeo

Tonkotsu Suigyoka. Umai!

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!