Top Priority

As someone says, for me, Batman supercedes everything in this blog. Dang, I do agree with that :D

Anyway, I have to interrupt my recollection of my Middle East trip with my Dark Knight ramblings! Hahaha.. I just have to write my thoughts out on this movie. I do really feel like a geek when seeing the first sequence of the show. I was like "Oh my gawd, this could just be a dream! I'm here watching a Batman sequel! How can it beeee?" Well about a month ago I dreamt I was watching "The Dark Knight" and it totally sucked! Hahaha. Okay, the first sequence of the show didn't really appear like a Batman movie, and has a film noir feeling to it, which now I thought was really appropriate considering how Christopher Nolan would be taking us through the complexities of the world of Gothan City for the next 150 mins.

Joker appeared at about 5 mins into the show, and Batman at about 10 mins. Yes, I am a huge fan of Christian Bale, but I got to say that the Joker really steals the show. Oh man, his mannerism is so freaky and psycho, with non-stop mad giggling which either you'll find it frightening or sadistically amusing (which happened to me a few times). Heath Ledger's performance was truly a masterpiece. I do agree that, like what the cast said, that this movie is really a celebration of Heath's talent.

Considering how much spoilers I had seen for this movie (from the paparazzi and official behind-the-scene shots and the viral publicity campaign), I am really surprised at how Christopher Nolan still managed to keep everyone guessing on how the movie would progress. Based on the spoilers, some of my guess on the plot were right, but most of them were wrong! I was already amazed by the stuntwork while watching the official behind-the-scene shots (IMAX featurette for the Joker-Harvey chase scene), but now when I was watching that scene in the show, it made more sense, and I was left even more amazement. The best stunt work was arguably the flipping truck. Yes I had watched that scene a couple of times in the trailer, but seeing that on the full cinema screen, I just went "Whoa!"

Maybe you are surprised by why I haven't talked much about Christian Bale. Well, he looked consistently good in the show! :D So there wasn't really an "A-HA" moment where I thought "Oh mann he looks soo goooood!" (unlike the airplane scene in the Batman Begins.. or the memorable push-up scene hehehe).

I'm giving this movie a 5 stars out of 5. Which is the first time I have ever given to a movie. I am hoping to catch the movie again, so that I can digest the story more properly.. and feast my eyes more on Christian Bale :D Hopefully, after the 2nd watching, the 5 stars rating will remain! :) I really do hope that Chris Nolan will do at least one more Batman film!

P.S. Judging from what I read in Empire, Watchmen is likely to turn out as bloody as 300. Hmm, can't wait ;) *desire to read the graphic novel increases*

Shalom!

I am back in the Asian continent! Well, okay, I have been in the Asian continent for the last 9 days. 11 days ago, I was on the African continent, since part of the country of Egypt was located on the edge of the African continent, and next to the Asian continent. It was a tiring, whirlwind 11 days trip to the Middle East, but it was really eventful and worth it. You are warned that this entry might be an extremely loooooong one.

Let me start with how this whole trip started. First of all, this trip was never planned for this year. NEVER. My mother and I know that we will visit Israel eventually. Yes, eventually. But we never thought it would be this year! The real plan was to do a pilgrimage to Lourdes for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions and Fatima (in Portugal). But the plan didn't work out, with airplane tickets being fully booked all over the place, and mother getting stressed all over the small things. Thus, I prayed to the Lord that what will be, will be. If Plan A doesn't work, maybe He already has Plan B unbeknownst to us. And He did! Somehow, the trip to the Holy Land would perfectly fit into my family's schedule. And also, since the trip wouldn't really cause any major administrative glitches (eg visas), we decided to go for the trip... after much pushing from my part (and in turn from my mom too). I realised that pushing people can really be a mentally draining process when the person you pushes refused to budge. Thankfully, for this case, the outcome was really rewarding :)

My trip started in Egypt... and what a way to start the trip. We arrived at Egypt at 3 am in the morning O_O, got 2 hours of sleep, and started the Cairo city tour at 8 am. I am amazed that I survived that day, considering how much sleep I usually require per day. Anyway, the first place we visited is the Giza pyramids (hello Giza in Japan!), which is surprisingly located very close to a developed area (the Giza district, in Cairo duh). The Sphinx was located near the Giza pyramids area as well, and sadly, the Sphinx was not as big as I had imagined it to be!

Giza pyramids with a road in Giza district at the foreground.

Sphinx on the left, with pyramids on the background.

Besides the pyramids, in Cairo, some of the places that I visited included the Nile River and the Egyptian museum, which is filled with Egyptian artefacts, including mummies and the Tutankhamun tomb (which is, to this day, the only intact Pharaoh's tomb ever found. No photos were allowed to be taken in the Cairo museum, so here is a picture of the Tutankhamun mask from Wikipedia.

Tutankhamun mask

A Cairo Street

The view from a ferry of Cairo, with Nile River on the foreground.

I was really surprised over how Cairo seems to be dated, with its old architecture and cars. I felt like I was in the 1970s or something O_O Time seemed to in this place.

Cairo's Taxi (meter system is not used)

The Volkswagen Van is a popular public transport mode. (Look out for the next Little Miss Sunshines! :D)

Something that I found really interesting in Cairo was the housing. Generally, the housing looks like this:

Up close

From afar

Yes, most of the houses are squarish, made of bricks, unplastered and unfinished at the top. Here is the explanation: since in Egypt the man is allowed to have a few wives, when a man has a new wife, he will add another floor to the house, which explains the steel frames being left on the roof of the houses. If the house is plastered, it may add complication to the addition of the new storeys. Alas, the unplastered look.

Egyptians seems to have the culture of hanging out, with cafes often being seen by the streets, and the traffic jam still being bad at like 10 pm O_O The travel guide told us that most people went out with their family or their friends after work, which explained the traffic jam at such late hours.

I noticed that majority of the women in Cairo covered themselves fully up, albeit mostly in modern ways. Of course the belly dancers don't cover themselves fully up. I learnt that to be a professional belly dancer in Egypt, you must take a test with the Egyptian government, and earn a license to work.

Okay I shall end this entry here (or else it's never gonna end!). Next up: St Catherine in Egypt.. and Israel.

Cheers.

Finally It Shall Be Revealed

Since it's bound to happen tomorrow (unless something weird happens today), I'm happy to finally reveal this secret of mine (okie, only 2 people already have the privilege of knowing it beforehand). It is that...

I am....
going to MIDDLE EAST tomorrow! :D
Egypt - Israel - Jordan
For 11 days!

I really hope that the trip will go out smoothly (and that my family and I will be able to overcome the extreme heat of those 3 countries)... and that I won't get tanned! :D

And, yup, Batman will have to wait! Hahaha.

Bad Idea

Yesterday, for the first time of my life, I watched 3 movies at a go! With a friend of mine, Tomatoe, in the National Museum. The movies are of parts of Michelangelo Antonioni's Retropective, which had been going on for 3 weeks, and yesterday was the last day. I chose to watch those 3 movies, because they were part of an unofficial trilogy done by the Italian director on the alienation of human beings towards the society. So in the end, did I enjoy the 3 movies? The answer.. is no, which is sad. I think part of the reason is mainly because I still haven't reached the age where I can appreciate his movies fully. Sometimes I feel some scenes of his movies are really pretentious, with lots of lingering around and long takes. Okay, his movies are really visual treats, with lots of attention to details and composition (the movies are all black and white!), but that doesn't help to prevent my boredom as well.

The 3 movies that I saw were L'Avventura, La Notte and L'Eclisse. The first one is considered to be one of the director's best works. But I don't really like any of the 3 shows O_O Sometimes, there are movies where you can find ways to fall in love with them, but these 3 are just not the case. I fell asleep in the middle of the 2nd movie, and my friend also fell asleep here and there. The endings of the 3 movies leave me feel unsatisfied. I guess I don't really enjoy an ending that is too open. Some movies make perfect sense with the open endings, but the endings of these movies are way too open. Then again, it may be because my brain has always been set by the schools from young age to accept a story only when it has a beginning, climax and conclusion. Seriously, if a student writes the type of stories that Antonioni wrote in school, he or she will surely be regarded as a horrible writer by a teacher. I don't know, I guess I have not gone to the ability of appreciating the extremes of art films.

Lol, this somewhat reminds me of my hate towards Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorscese films. I had given them one to two tries, but just could not bear with watching any more shows directed by them (just yet). Maybe the time will come where I'll watch them again, and hopefully by then I can enjoy it to the extent that these directors hope to achieve in their audience.

I hope to eventually research more on the Italian director. Sometimes, one needs to learn more on how a person's mind works to more appreciate his actions and works.

July Has Arrived

I find it really interesting of how this year has been, despite my low expectation of it at the end of last year. I can't believe it's July already. That means 182 days of the year 2008 have gone O_O It is quite amazing that, despite the lack of major events happening this year thus far, I had learnt a number of lessons, of small and big sizes.

I got to learn more about myself. I got to learn more about my family.
I made a few new friends. I met a few weird people.
I saw a master practicing his craft. I saw a master succumbing to his sly self.
I'm finding myself maturing bit by bit. I'm finding my naive self more and more.
I learn to respect the underdogs. I learn to not always trust those high in power.
I learn the importance of humbleness. I learn the downfall of arrogance.
I learn to push myself to the limits. I learn to push others towards their goals.
I lose my faith on some people. I hope for the best for some people.
I learn it's okay to have dreams. I learn some dreams may not meant to be achieved.
I learn to see the direction life is pointing. I learn to trust my instincts.
... And I learn people need to be crazy from time to time :)

July means a few things. Firstly, BATMANNNNN! Finally, after 3 years wait O_O Sighhh, can't wait to drool and drool and drool (over the sight of Christian Bale) :D Secondly, there are only about 10 days more before I visit some interesting places (that I've never been before). I hope it will go as planned, because everything associated with it depends on external factors. Meaning, it is out of the control of my family, and the tour planner haha. Wish me luck on this! :)

Only 1 1/2 month more to school! I can't believe that I am looking forward to school. It's been too much of a holiday :( I'm quite looking forward to the orientation programmes (except for the overnight camps, which I'm rather worried about haha).

Make full use of your remaining holiday people! I'm telling you, or else you'll regret it!