Hey ninja..

Sometimes

2009-02-21T22:59:00.003+08:00

My one-week break is finally here.. and I am one day away from my birthday. The week leading up to my birthday has been a long, arduous one, with some assignments that seem never to be completed, and mid-terms which I didn't have proper time to prepare for. Not forgetting the community service project, whose section this week I had to plan and purchase items for. I thought that my week 2 (which was 5 weeks ago) was difficult enough. I was wrong! This one was much worse. Anyway I hope I do not have to experience another torturous week, though I know if another of such week appears, I will be ready to pull my sleeves up and face it.

Sometimes I think I want to do too many things in too little time. I have to learn to be more realistic. Sometimes I think I pushes myself too hard, fearing that such precious opportunities will never re-appear once they are lost. I am still not sure if such zeal is a good or bad thing. But I know when the limit comes I will have to stop. This point touches on my involvement in two things for the upcoming break, which will leave me only with a 1 1/2 full day of break? I hope I can steal times here and there. Anyway, so the first one was on Drama production by my school's broadcasting CCA I have to admit, I will never do wardrobe again. Maybe not during school time. With this week being absolutely packed, I am left with little time to meet the cast I am responsible for and talked to them about their clothes. I do not really have control over the clothes they have, and I am not really a resourceful person. So I do not know how I am going to properly handle it. I have learnt that for productions I would rather stick to doing camera work or photography stills. Full stop. No more art departments.

The second thing was the Indonesian Community's playi n DBS Auditorium next week. I am supposed to be promoting this play, but over the past 3-4 weeks, my faith on it have gone down steeply. I was at first in the documentation team, before being moved to marketing. I feel nowhere here and there. Yes my loss of faith put me into thinking. Half of me would not want be involved in the production myself, but the other half of me wants to prove others wrong. That Indonesians can do good production! But I guess I will not be able to do that alone. I will see how.. and use my intituition to guide me along.

20... I don't know I am okay with my birthday this year. Not really really excited.. but still happy. I guess being 20 does not make me feel old. I still feel young :D It still amuses me when I tell people I am 19, and people will go you're so younggg! (okay this group of people are usually.. 25-30 year olds hahaha). So I guess that is one factor. Secondly, I know for sure mentally I have lost my teenhood last year. It is at the point when my friend said, "welcome to adulthood". The timing makes perfect sense.. annd also the circumstances lol. I know I can be treated as an adult without trying hard :) It's all in the minds. Meanwhile I can still amuse people with my real age :)

Anyway, can't wait for Oscars on Monday!

New Year

2009-01-26T21:40:00.004+08:00

Hello everyone. I have not written for ages.. so it is time to update you on my life!

The past week has been the most torturous, tiring week I have experienced ever in my life. I survived the whole week sleeping 4-5 hours for about 5 consecutive days. Thankfully there wasn't any particular moment when I turned into a zombie (aka brain jam)... and that there is royal jelly lol. I think if not for taking royal jelly pills for that whole week, I would be having flu now. Everyone is having flu now. Though the weather is better, last week the winds were full blast. Singapore had never been as chilly before.

I had my first gym class last week, taking it with one of my friends. It is "Cardiodance" lol. I guess you can sort of tell what it is from the name. It is basically dance lessons that aim to mainly exercise your core muscles haha. I have not really exercised for ages, and joining this course is my excuse to exercising. Or else I do not think I would never ever bothered with setting time aside to exercise (but this may change. My mom has just relocated my exercise shoes, which means I can go jogging again! haha). The cardiodance class was one-hour long... and the first lesson was torturing in a good way. We danced to Britney Spears' Womanizer lol. The next day, my abs were aching madly. Waking up from the bed was painful.. and most annoyingly sneezing was rather painful as well. But it was all for the good cause of having fitter body!

I had also been going to theatre classes. It started two weeks ago, and takes place every Thursday evening. So far, I am enjoying the classes! It always helps to forget all the stress from schoolwork. Prior to joining, I was in dilemma of whether to sign up for it. I signed up eventually, and went to what I thought is an interview, which freaked me out! It turned out that I think it was more of a get-to-know session, not an interview haha. I hope this workshop will help me decide to ever pursue acting. But if I don't pursue acting, I guess it will be helpful in teaching me skills to be able to communicate with actors when directing films in the future.

This semester's classes are less fun than the previous semester. Analytical Skills and Creative Thinking was tremendous fun, and I understood Financial Accounting and Business Government Society classes. This semester, I still need to fully grasp Business Law. Technology and World Change can be seem meaningless. I feel that I haven't contributed enough for Leadership and Team Building. And Academic Writing can be a pain in the ass. Management Science is the only one that has been okay (thanks to the lecturer who used to like to say "you know", but now he likes to say "okay"). I hope to be able to catch up eventually, so that I won't have to panic when near exams.

I need to start reviewing movies I saw this year! So that at the end of the year, I will be easier for me to tell which movies I like :)

Vicky Christina Barcelona (7.5 out of 10 stars)
Everytime I think of this movie, I will think of the distinctive opening song. It is so catchy! Anyway, the movie was a great one for relaxing and having fun. Scarlett Johansson's character becomes more annoying as the movie progresses, and I feel that the friendship between her and Rebecca Hall's characters could be strengthened (there is not really a chemistry between them?). Javier Bardem looks sleep for half of the movie. However, Penelope Cruz really steals the show, as the cursing, cynical ex-wife of Javier Bardem's character. The storyline may be cliche, but the film manages to give a fresh perspective towards the subject. And of course, Spain serves as a wonderful, beautiful backdrop to the story. So, if you are looking for a movie to enjoy with your gal pals, consider this movie!

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (8.5 out of 10 stars)
You may be wondering what type of weird movie has such title. Well, it is a Japanese cartoon :) This is Ponyo... She is suppoed to be a goldfish-cum-mermaid.

Anyway, when watching Ponyo, I realised I do really miss 2D cartoons (well, long after watching "Perspolis" lol). The drawings are beautiful, and the music really lifts up the atmosphere of each scene. Ponyo managed to make me forget all of my life's stress (I watched it while bogged down by assignments) and made me laugh like crazy. Of course, being a movie targeted by kids, some parts do not make sense. While watching this movie, do not think too far, release your inner innocent, child inhibition and just accept the facts presented by the movie! Sometimes you should not take life so seriously, and watching this movie is one of those times. And.. remember to sing along to the theme song at the end lol.

The Visitor (7.0 out of 10 stars)
I went to see this film for the reason of it to be called one of the most underrated movie for 2008 in many reviews. Richard Jenkins gave a delicate, restrained performance as the title character which experiences a life-changing event which forces him to re-examine his attitude towards life and others. The movie started well, but sadly towards the end it got too melodramatic. Thankfully, the movie manages to give a poetic last scene. This movie is not a must watch, but if you do watch it, just enjoy it :)

Happy-Go-Lucky (7.5 out of 10 stars)
I had this movie's wallpaper as my laptop's background for some time, and when the lead actress won Golden Globes, I was really motivated to see the movie! I can somewhat relate to the protagonist in this show. Sometimes, it can be challenging when you are the only optimistic person in a group. Life poses problems that challenges your optimistic view towards life. A line said by the protagonist to her best friends sums everything up in the movie: "You keep on rowing, and I'll keep on smiling." The protagonist can be a difficult character to play, since giving her too much zest in life will make her character two dimensional. Sally Hawkins presented a splendid performance, and her character is real (and could exist in the real life). This movie is filled with some funny moments that challenge her optimism. Though I feel the ending is a bit rushed (like late introduction of her 'boyfriend'?), I think the last scene speaks a lot.

That's all for now. I will update again soon :)

To Be in HK

2008-12-22T15:48:00.002+08:00

I just ate Cha Soba from Sakae Sushi in Changi Airport, and it is the most horrible Cha Soba I have ever eaten. It is too stiff and cold! Conclusion: never ate anything from Sakae Sushi in Changi Airport. I still love Sakae Sushi though :D

Off to Hong Kong in about 20 minutes time. The construction under Terminal 1 is sending vibration to my feet haha. I hope that everything that I am planning to do in Hong Kong will be realised (and not be spoiled by him).

Cheers.

Tales

2008-12-18T16:16:00.002+08:00

Today is my third day being back in Singapore. It has been quite busy, with the increasing activities involving SMU Film<3Fest. Marketing has been our prime focus now, and in the past two days I finished doing our website (on Wordpress, which sadly doesn't allow free CSS customising) and Facebook group. I am happy with the results thus far (albeit feeling helpless on wanting to increase the wordpress' page font size).

Today I went for an interview for the Office of University Events. I was already expecting kind of a corporate stuff, but still felt uneased when left waiting in the meeting room alone, with its long table and two rows of chairs. The interviewer didn't give me chance to even say "Good Morning", and forgot to introduce himself. Yes I know his name, but I think it would be nicer if he could say his name again? It turns out that if the job title goes by the name of event assistant, it means helpers-cum-ambassadors for events, and most probably no involvement in the event organising stage. It is all about execution! The pay would be S$8.18 per hour if you do the event, and the guy told me that one event roughly takes 4 hours. I could not help being amused when seeing my CV, he went we don't do arty farty stuff. Inside me I went, "Yes sir, I know your office only deals with corporate stuff."

The interview was okay, but could be better. I don't know what questions to ask him, since there was a lack of information before the interview, and that through his briefing he had kinda answered the questions that I had beforehand.

To make matters bad, I met a person whom I absolutely hate on my way out of the floor. Sigh, why do I have to see her?

Anyway, after that I went to the National Library. I managed to have a proper read of the Moulin Rouge moviebook. I was surprised to find the inspiration of the story (which is of greek myths) and that the elephant set took about 2 months to build, 2 days of shooting and 2 minutes of destroying the set hahaha.

The most interesting I read in the library was the Grimm brothers fairy tales. It was amazing that reading fairy tales as an adult you may see the stories in different manners. The version I read was original and annointed, so some explanations were included on certain parts of stories. I was amused that in the original frog price story, the frog got thrown against the wall by the princess when he requested to sleep on her bed. And then the frog turned into a prince hahaha. The version that most of us had known got the princess kissing the frog before him turning into a prince haha.

I read Little Red Riding Hood, and found it quite stupid that she didn't recognise the wolf pretending to be grandmother haha. And then the part where the hunter stab open the wolf's stomach to rescue Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother and then sewing it back... that is sooo like C-Section hahahaa. Guess what, in a different version of little red riding hood, little red riding hood was supposed to do striptease to the wolf O_O Hahahahaha. Yes, there are actually some sexual connotations to fairy tales, and of course we would not be aware of them when we are young. Some scholars (yes there are folklore scholars) deemed the pricess' relationship with the frog in the frog story as a metaphor as a young girl being disgusted by male genitals (represented by the frog), and then when the frog asked her to do some stuff like put him on the dining table and eat dinner him, it is like the evolution of domestic relationship. His request to get to her bed supposedly refers to marriage. So his transformation to prince represents the princess being comfortable with marriage (does that make sense?)

Till the next entry.

A Quote

2008-12-06T15:10:00.002+08:00

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle,
Then I realised God doesn't work that way,
So I stole one and prayed for forgiveness

-Emo Philips

My Head Wonders Far

2008-12-06T14:30:00.002+08:00

Holiday is here! After the 15 weeks journey of school, I think this holiday is a really well-deserved one :) I am currently in Jakarta... and will be so for about 2-3 weeks. Before I left for Jakarta, I managed to borrow 2 scriptbooks: Little Miss Sunshine and the Truman Show, and a book on acting. I considered borrowing the scriptbook of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but decided not to, since it had only been a short time since I last saw it! Sadly, I could not find the scriptbook to Lost in Translation, or else I would have borrowed it!

My first plan to do in Indo was actually to finish taking up my business course. Sadly, I found out the ongoing round was finishing! So now I am left to spend of my days here at home... which I am not really complaining haha. I have started reading the acting book... and it has allowed me to learn more the craft of acting, which can be tedious and arduous. I do still want to act a bit here and there, but I know my acting kinda sucks in some ways haha. But still, I will try! But most importantly, learning more about acting will help me next time when I start directing movies. I think that, since actors take up most of the screen time in movies, it would be extremely important to be able to communicate with them and to motivate them to perform to the best of their ability!

This somewhat reminds me of the scriptwriting class that I want to take up. It will be happening in March 2009 in Singapore. But, yesterday when I checked the price, I realise it could be way more expensive than the 2-day film school, which is crazy! O_O The price for Singapore course had not been released, but the student price for the Manila course, when converted to Singapore Dollar, was almost S$700! Tina Fey had attended this scriptwriting course before... and had read its book before! So since this book cannot be found in the National Library, I am thinking of purchasing the book from Kinokuniya first. When I checked online yesterday, it cost only S$29! Hahaha. I guess S$29 would be a better investment for now? I am also afraid that what had been taught in the 2 day film school will contradict with what was taught in the scriptwriting course. We will see...

I had a strange dream last night. I dreamt I was helping out in a film production and Christian Bale starred in it. The film was about him and a group of soldiers fighting an annaconda lookalike O_O Then at the end of the day shoot, I met him with the production head... then the production head told me that I will have to send Christian heated unagi rice on a banana leaf for the next day production O_O I don't know why heated unagi rice on a banana leaf haha. Anyway, I recalled thinking he looks good when I was in the dream hahaha.

Until the next entry.

My Brain.. My Brain.

2008-11-29T15:13:00.006+08:00

My brain simply loves Ryan Gosling too much. I watched "Quantum of Solace" yesterday, and was beyond happy to see Daniel Craig in suits and getting dirty.

And then my brain gave me a Ryan Gosling dream last night. I dreamt that we were in some game where we have to take care some traditional Japanese house, and avoid ourselves getting killed by the Japanese Samurais in armour O_O And then there were some parts where he introduced some book on flowers to me! Hahahaha. But then again, unfortunately I didn't really get to experience lucid dreaming. When I told myself, "Kiss him!" I sort of woke myself up. Hahahaha.

I guess my brain had dedicated itself to Ryan Gosling a long time ago.

By the way, Quantum of Solace was simply brilliant. More action-packed and fast-paced than the first story. Whether you would like it more than the first one depends on whether you are looking for more action from Bond, or for more in-depth story of personality from Bond. After the great origin story from "Casino Royale", I was expecting more action-packed Bond. Like my friend, Steph, said, they covered water, air and foot chase. Hahaha. The front sequence sort of reminds me of Bourne: the car chase in the tunnel, then the foot chase on the roof. I love especially the opera sequence, was not expecting something like that in an action-packed show. Anyway, as I said, you will either like or hate this movie :)

I simply have no current movies to watch left haha. It seems more interesting movies will come out the beginning of next year, which I am fine with. Maybe it is time for me to catch up with my DVD watching again hahaha.

Voom... Doubleness.

2008-11-27T22:17:00.003+08:00

Though it could have ended on a better note, examinations are still over! OVER! Yay. Now, with the holiday, I am looking forward to doing things outside schoolwork! I had the privilege of sharing this with Zita today... since we went to the National Museum to visit the two ongoing photo exhibitions, which are part of Season of Photography. The first exhibition was Voom Potraits by Robert Wilson, while the second one was Doubleness by Chang Chien-Chi. These two exhibitions are rather contrasting, but they are appealing in their own unique way.

Robert Wilson is an artists whose works are mainly on the fine arts and operas. His Voom Potraits works contain videos that represents portraits. The subjects of videos include personalities like Dita Von Tesse and Princess Caroline of Monaco, and actors such as Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr, Brad Pitt and Steve Buscemi. In each video, the subject was very still, or performed little actions. Somehow, these little actions broke the barriers between the flat dimension of a still potrait and a life action potrait. When the subject is still, it only seems that you are staring at a potrait. But when the subject begins to perform his or her action, you realise that there is something more to the potraits. Another thing that I find intriguing was what was the cutoff point of these videos? These videos seem to loop seamlessly and endlessly. I don't know where is the beginning and ending point of the potrait. Was the person supposed to move at all? Was there more story to the potrait that I don't know of? These interesting questions kept coming into my mind.

From the fine art side, we move on to documentary style of photography. Chang Chien-chi's potraits are intimate and truthful works. In this exhibition, he covered three themes. The first was on the illegal migration of Fuzhou's villagers to work in New York City. The story was really heartbreaking and surreal in some manners. Yes, these men living in New York City are living their American dreams of earning more money, but because they are smuggled into the country, they have no way back to Fujian to see their families. I found the most depressing part was when I saw the video and photos on these men relying on porno and sex doll to satisfy themselves. Masturbation is not funny at all in this sense.

The second part was on a temple-cum-mental-institute in Taiwan, where each insane person was chained to another person considered less sane. The pair would do their routines chained together for the whole day, except for when they sleep. It is believed that this method would help to cure these mentally-ill people. From some of the pictures, you can tell which ones are of the less sane. Somehow I get a sense that these people have been used to being chained to another person. But at what point would one consider both of these people to be cured? And what do the saner think of less sane, and vice versa? Do they get chained willingly everyday?

The last part of the exhibition was on the wedding match practice in Asia. The part where I found most intriguing was when each of the couple pose in front of a mock bouquet with mock champagne... to create a mock celebration of their wedding. Another set shows the couples reading the legal requirements. The relationship between the couple was obvious in some. Some were more intimate while others are more distant (with obviously no connection yet). When I was in this part of the exhibition, I do realise that this practice was only prevalent in Asia. It's not really prevalent in Western countries. There's this one photo where the women are sitting down in groups, and I somewhat felt these women are commoditised in this practice!

As you can probably tell, I found Chang's works really inspiring.

It reminds me of what I hope to accomplish if I become an artist. I want to bring into light issues that the society is not aware of. Through this, if there is the need, change could implemented for the better.

Strangest Thoughts and Happy Moments

2008-11-23T22:36:00.003+08:00

I am on the brink of another start of an examination! Every time the examination preparation arrives, I somewhat keep thinking of those days where I would eat koko krunch milk supper while watching channel 5's late night movies at like 2 or 3 am during my O level examination 1-month study break. I do still study until about 1-2 am, but now I don't really have the energy to watch the late night movies on tv... or maybe now I feel contented taking a break by surfing the net... since most of my studies now are done on my laptop. I do miss turning to traditional forms of entertainment! TV and magazines! Mindless Internet surfing could really just let time pass by. I still prefer those studying on textbook days, since there is a clear distinction between study and play time. Now since the distinction is more muddled up, I have to discpline myself more... and not be tempted by Internet while studying on the laptop haha. So far thankfully it has been working :)

I had a very strange dream yesterday. I dreamt that Sir Alex Ferguson died of heart attack, and I saw him collapsed. Then Arsene Wenger and another guy immediately went to look after him and called for ambulance.

I don't know how on earth my brain works.

The second part of the dream was me going for a fortune teller session... and being told some coming year my life will be bad O_O and then the most outrageous part comes when Virgin Mary comes in the form of someone wearing a Virgin Mary paper costume. You know like Disney characters in Disneyland, but the costumes are made of a mix of cotton and papers. Then she kept asking me why could I not stay behind and look after the kids at the tuition centre, which is where the fortune teller works. And I kept saying I could not since I have exams to prepare. She was quite reluctant to let me go, but I managed to slip away when one of the kids approached her.

I don't know how on earth my brains works. I don't know what on earth it is trying to say.

Okie, I'm going back to study for a while...

Season of Mugging

2008-11-20T22:34:00.009+08:00

Mugging season is back... and it took some time for me to catch the mugging bug. Only when I planned out what I had to study did I realise that I have such a short time to prepare for my exam. So I guess for these upcoming days, my 8-10 hours of studying mode will be back O_O albeit temporarily thankfully.

Today I realised how much my life depended on Ed's Fish Soup. I could eat Ed's Fish Soup 4 times a week when I lived in Leonie Hill. Well, it's healthy and cheap.... and most importantly tasty! All of the fish soups in my new home area tasted bland :( Some of you may argue that I could just take the Great World shuttle bus to town... but considering how much time school requires from me, it is not really possible for most of the time!

I caught two movies this week. One was Tropic Thunder, and the other was Cape No. 7, a Taiwanese movie. Watching Tropic Thunder was a spontaneous decision, since I was scrolling through the Cathay movie timings on its website, and found Tropic Thunder's timing to be perfect. Well, I found the movie okay. Some parts are funny, while others are way too lame. Ben Stiller was the sanest out of the lot (until the last part), Jack Black the lousiest and Robert Downey Jr. was the most ridiculous... but he stole the show! How on earth did he inhibit the character? O_O It's amazing. Anyway, since I watched Tropic Thunder alone, I kinda regret not watching Blindness instead, as I think it will be a more suitable movie to watch alone. But since I paid only S$6 for Tropic Thunder, I won't complain :)

This picture says everything:

Anyway, let me talk about Cape No. 7. I had read that it is a huge box office hit in Taiwan (and that has not happened for like ages). So when I found out I could go for its preview for free, I seized the chance! It was a great movie! The movie kinda reminds me of Japan, most probably because of some of the sceneries in the movies and the movie's colour palette. Giving a different potrayal from the normally bustling side of Taiwan, the movie showcases a laidback life in a less known city (when compared to Taipei), the northern seaside town Heng-Chun. I really love the dialogues of this films. They come naturally funny and witty. The humour doesn't come out forced. The development of the characters were really superficial, and the movie kinda loses its plot midway and gets cliche, but I was not expecting this movie to be the serious sort! Just let your hair down when you watch this movie, and enjoy it!

I shall go back to mugging. Take care people... and good luck to those having or will be having exams too!

I Smell Tokyo!

2008-11-11T23:28:00.002+08:00

Finally, I went to see a movie today (with a fellow random mate, Zita)! We went to see "Tokyo!" "Tokyo!" made us happy, confused, sad, touched.. and scared! "Tokyo!" comprises of 3 short films based in Tokyo: one by Michel Gondry (yay!), one by Leon Carax (not sure about his works) and finally one by Bong Joon-ho (the Host director). Out of the three, I found the Michel Gondry one the most enjoyable! First of all, Michel Gondry's short film was titled "Interior Design", and it told a story of a couple who was moving into Tokyo.. and was temporarily staying in their friend's one room house. One was unemployed, one was a (pathetic) filmmaker. Anyway, I found the storyline the most touching and logic out of the lot (though in first place you must overcome your logic to appreciate this short film). Michel used a very fitting metaphorism to describe how the girl feels and what she wants to be. Some people may find it very random, but once you see past that, you will be touched by this short film :) It's more of dramatic Gondry, not a whimsical Gondry sort.

The second short film was by Leon Carax, titled "Mendre", which turned out to be the name of the protagonist of this short film. The protagonist is a psycho and he lives in Tokyo's sewers, and likes to come out of his sewers to terrorise Tokyo habitants. It is quite funny how some of the props reminds me or represents to me something else, like the leprechaun coat that the psycho wore represents how the people in general don't notice him at first.. and when he starts to do the weird things and terrorise people he becomes more visible to the people in general! Towards the end, the story gets draggier.. and scarier somewhat haha. This is my least favourite shorts out of the 3, because I felt the story should be more precise.

The final short film was by Bong Joon-ho, titled "Shaking Tokyo", which is on the hikikomori phenomenon, where people choose to seclude themselves from the society and confine themselves in their homes. I can somewhat relate to "Shaking Tokyo", on how the world becomes more and more individualist and gradually loses its idealism, and only when major events take place (ie the earthquakes in the movie) then these people connect with the world they live in again, albeit temporarily. The short film was beautifully shot, and I found the washed out scene as the protagonist emerges from his home particularly beautiful! And I really really am fascinated with the empty Shibuya crossroad scenes. How much did they pay to stop the traffic? That scene was really really mystifying.. and terrifying in some ways.

It is really interesting how different directors are inspired in different ways by a city. Except for Michel Gondry's short, this movie doesn't really make me so eager with visiting Tokyo as much as Lost in Translation. But, that is not the point right? :)

Missing the Cinema Atmosphere

2008-11-09T22:37:00.002+08:00

It really worries me that the last movie I watched was 2nd round of "The Dark Knight". What the heck what the heck what the heck. I know that 1 or 2 months after Batman, I felt I didn't miss anything, since none of the movies being shown in the cinemas interested me. But then, the past 1 month or so had been quite a different situation. Several movies that I wanted to catch were released, and due to my deprived social life in SMU, I missed a couple of them! And now, more has been released, but most probably I am going to miss some more of them :( I am desperate to go to the cinema and soak in the atmosphere. It has been way too long! Why am I missing the cinema atmosphere now? I guess it is because I am feeling more free with schoolwork now (with most projects over, and less homework).

Lol, where are the movie people in school? O_O

Dos

2008-11-04T00:27:00.002+08:00

This is part two of my October recount.

I had two interesting encounters that were related to films. Firstly, and I still can't believe this, I had gone to Hollywood Film Institute's 2 Day Film School! Looool. It is really amazing to think that Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan had gone to the same class... and from there started their careers! In short, the 2 Day Film School (by Dov Simens) condensed the nitty gritty of making a film of 4 year film school education to 2 days! After the course, I did feel like I can putting on a parachute, having a free fall and releasing open my parachute (in a literal sense)... until I came back to reality and realised I still need to finish my school properly first -.- Nevertheless, the course motivates me more than ever to make a film. I feel fortunate of being able to attend the class (and at such an early age! Majority of the class participants were working adults, and only 2 other people are of my age). I am motivated to write a proper script during the upcoming December holiday. I don't know why after the class I felt tears in my eyes. Maybe I just didn't want to the class to end? Maybe I just felt so inspired by Dov? When I thanked him after the class and told him I hoped to do filmmaking in the future, he said that I would be able to make it as long as the script is right. It still gives me chills to think of those words of his.

The second film-related encounter is more weird (and, I realised later, profound). Helping out in organising my school's film fest reunited me with Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) Festival Director. I never thought that this would eventually led to me having a more thought-provoking and in-depth conversations with him. Yes, he did ask me some critical questions during Film Festival, but not as critically as this time around. It all started with him recommending this film titled "The Art of Flirting" by Kan Lume as the Gala Night movie. I watched it, and thought that it would not really be appropriate for the opening night, though I liked the movie. The problem was, the movie was driven by dialogues, and it took a mighty amount of patience to see such types of movies (eg. Before Sunset). Most people are more visually stimulated than audially stimulated when watching films, as such I felt this movie may not provide enough hook as an opening night. I told him that the movie somewhat reminded me of the opening film of SIFF opening film, Princess of Nebraska, which was an unconventional choice. That same evening, he smsed me, saying on the line, "So the question is, should we have opened SIFF with princess?" That was the first time I was placed in a really awkward position of having to be honest but respectful at the same time. I had a lot of respect for him and his works, and was really afraid what I would say would offend him. But I decided I should just be honest (with "No offence intended" line added on the 5 sms reply, which took me half an hour to figure). Waiting for his reply was quite daunting. The reply came next morning, with a new question,

"So if Princess was that inaccessible, why did Golden Village ask him to come back and do restropective on him?"
I replied, "Princess may be a more experimental work of his. I have not seen the rest of his films so I cannot say much. But probably his other works are more accessible to the mainstream compared to Princess."

Another day wait, then comes the first cryptic message. It goes "'i've never seen a child who didn't want to build something out of blocks, or learn something new... And the only reason why adults aren't like that is... they've been sent to school n other oppressive instituions which have driven that out of them.' the lsson is that the arts need to be innocence. In your case u perhaps need to rediscover the "baby" in you." I didn't reply.

The next day comes the second cryptic, and last, message of this story. It goes "we social scientists would do well to hold back our eagerness to control that world which we so imperfectly understand. The fact of our imperfect understanding should not be allowed to feed out anxiety and so increase the need to control. Rather our studies could be inspired by a more ancient motive: a curiosity about the world of which we are part. The rewards of such work are not power but beauty." by Gregory Bateson.

What I derive from the last two messages was that sometimes it does take more effort to appreciate art. Or less effort, depending of how you see it. Now I kind of realised that having no expectations when watching films ('innocent mind') allows you to taking a stride as you watch a movie. So far I have tried this method once and it works. Somehow when I read the first quote, the first thing I thought of is the Michelangelo Antonioni's restropective, whose films I found hard to comprehend. I do think that one has to expose more to films of the same genre and era to be able to understand those films completely. I am willing to give Antonioni's movies another try a few years down the road. Yes the first time I saw it I had the conformed idea of how movies should work (mainly from school's teaching of story writing and current movies). I have to have a clean slate of mind when I watch those movies again in the future. The second quote reminds me of how scary the world is getting with humans trying to make everything they and the nature does perfect. It is this drive of making everything perfect that creates new problems, and kills our appreciation for flaws. I strongly believe that these flaws are the things that make us human, and these flaws are reminders of the good things that exist among us. Without these flaws, everything will be good, and then it will get tough to appreciate something. There are some films that one may perceived as flawed, but then again another person may perceive these flaws as beauty. With regards to film, I relate this quote as being as much as possible open minded towards films that are from different genres and eras.

The episode somewhat increases my respect for the Festival Director. I am thankful for him putting me in such a thought-provoking position (I think it was a more thought-provoking position than any of Margaret Chan's Creative Thinking class lol). Yes, the first time I got the messages I was kinda freaked out. But now thinking back, I see those messages of his way of advicing me on how to curate SMU film fest, and beyond that, how to perceive films of unfamiliar grounds.

2:30 AM

2008-10-29T02:12:00.002+08:00

I don't know how to describe October in one word. Too many chains of events took place. Interesting, wreckful and strange events. And October is finishing. In 2 days.

Since I last wrote, I have moved house. I am no longer living in the little serene Leonie Hill road. I have moved downhill to Kellock Road. Moving out was a tumultous process, with my flat being a battleground for my Mom and Dad. I kept wanting to sit on the fence, and live in my own little happy bubble. But then either I keep getting forced to join one of the sides or one of them keeps bursting my bubble. Home did no longer feel like home, and the playground downstairs felt much more peaceful and calm. It is tragic that the last few days in Leonie Hill was spent in such a horrendous way, but at least I do have the little memories to keep (in my head and in the photos I took). I do miss how I could conveniently take 90% of the bus home. I do miss how it takes only 7 minutes to walk to Takashimaya. I do miss window shopping on my way home (though when I was still living in Leonie Hill, being in SMU did not really allow me time to do this as much as when I was in secondary school and JC).

I went to Orchard Road for the first time in 2 weeks or so on Saturday, and I experienced multitude of shockness. First, when I was in Wheelock Place, I found out Sakae Sushi has moved (to 2-3 unit awat from its origin), New Urban Male and BYSI has just opened a branch there. Second, I went to Takashimaya, and saw the branded sale was being held. Oh man.. I felt so deprived of Orchard Road. I kind of realised how SMU has kinda taken my social life away. I still don't really have SMU friends to go out with until now :(

I am contented living with my new home, though my room is still rather messy. I believe IKEA will eventually solve it. My mother still complains occasionally, but the rate has decreased exponentially from the moving out days. I do hope my father won't be here when we moved out again next year. I want a calm, peaceful moving out, not a frenetic type of moving out.

I do realise that I have to start getting more patient with my Mom. I don't know why, but I do get irritated when she repeats her question within short period of time... or when she seems to ask a stupid question when she really does not know the answer. Either I am getting impatient from stress and deprived social life, or my mom is getting forgetful. I have to start seeing my mom less as an authoritative figure who knows answers to everything and how to make decisions for home. I have to start seeing her on the eye level of me. The full cycle of life is taking place I supposed, when a child has to take care of his / her old parents. I will not want my children to be impatient or rude with me when I grow old too. At least I will be concerned with my Mom. For my Dad, that would be another consideration.

Speaking of which, a palmreader set up a booth in my school's bazaar last week, and I went to see him. He charged $90 outside, and only $20 in school, and had done consultations for celebs. After queuing for about 30 minutes, it was my turn.

The first thing he said interestingly was, I am aggressive. AGGRESSIVE. Huh? I am aggressive?
Then he said I am a tough cookie. Okie that may be true.
Then he said, because of this agressiveness, I tend to drive people close to me away, like my family and friends. In my opinion, family maybe, friends no.
Then he said that one of my parents would die early and that I am not closed to one of them. LOL, I so know which is which.
Then he said I am most likely to marry a foreigner. Singaporean counted as foreigner? O.O
Then he said I can work with foreigners well. So I should work in MNCs. Hmm.
Then he said I will most likely to travel a lot. Which is true.
Then he said I am detail-oriented. Which is true.
Then he said I can be flirtatious and fall in and out of love very fast. INTERESTING.
Then he said I may have problems conceiving a child. So, horny does not mean fertile? O.O
Then he said I may drive away my husband because of my agressive nature. Hmm.
Then he said I should marry when I am 29 or older. OKIES.
Then he said I should invest in stock exchange or real estate. OKIES.
Then he said 2011 will be a success or a bust for me. OH NO.

One important conclusion: somehow I must tone down my aggressive nature! Patience is the key.

I want to write some more, but I guess this is long enough for an entry. My October recount is not finished yet.

Worst Thus Far

2008-10-03T17:11:00.003+08:00

Today I did something that had been the worst thus far in my academic life. Lol it may not be as bad as you think it is, but.. I was late for my mid term exam for 30 minutes! I thought that it would start at 230 pm.. and when I arrived about 5 mins earlier I wondered how come everyone was already doing the paper. Then I asked the prof what time the exam started, and he said "200 pm". Crikey. My mind was of course in disarray for the first 3 mins, but after that I managed to calm myself down.. and I feel that I will be able to at least pass the paper. But passing is not what I aim for for Statistics T-T Sighhhh. Why do I feel so bad about this exam? It's because it'll take up 30% of my final grade.

This event makes me hate the GPA and grading system. Getting A is so much harder now in Uni. One has to score a bloody 83 to get an A. Like what the heck? From 70 to 83? O_O Maybe this is somewhat God trying to teach me that I have to see pass the grades in university (but that does not mean I have to screw my university academic aspect!). Why can't university be less stressful?

I know I'll have to calm down eventually, since I have to prepare for my second exam tmrw, which will be the last one for now. I am editing photo to calm myself down.

Somehow I'm starting to enjoy more imagining my life after university O_O

October

2008-10-02T16:58:00.004+08:00

Wow, week 7 is already here.. and it's already ending! My recess week will be next week, just a one-week holiday. However, it won't really be a holiday for me! My days living in Grangeford Apartment is really numbered, because I'll be moving out of the house to another apartment in River Vallery area in about 7 days time :( :( :( Why must my house be en-bloc-ed? So my family will be renting the new apartment for the next coming year, and hopefully by then we'll be able to purchase the new house *cross fingers that my father doesn't become stupid and waste or got cheated off the money*

Yes I am hating my father here. He thinks that he can help me and my mom move house. Oh please, him being here makes us more stressful. He thinks that he knows how to pack. He never asks my mom about her stuff and just throw away her stuff. That's why I have started to lock up my room whenever I am out. I don't even really want to talk to him.

There are some CCA activities next week that I want to go for, but with moving house and the high probability of Biennale commitments, I don't think I'll be able to go for some of them. Hmm, I guess the Biennale commitments kind of take up a lot of my time now too (10 hours per week), but I really hope of using it to clear 80 compulsory hours of community service, so that I can write my community service report based on that stint alone (which would mean less confusion compared to writing a report for stints in more than one organisation). This means I would have to do more hours during the holiday, which I don't really mind actually haha.

I want to go see movies! Mama Mia, Vicky Christina Barcelona and Burn After Reading! But so far, I don't really have time, sigh :(

Hopefully my next entry will be a more upbeat one. Haha.

Week 4

2008-09-10T22:44:00.002+08:00

It's already Week 4 of school, which means that I have been studying in SMU for 1 month! Thankfully I am already starting to get used to school life (after the major disoriented feeling of confusion for the past month). On the academic side, I am getting used to the piles of homework and readings. I have to admit that I am not the type who likes to finish things once I start with them, and being done with for once and for all! Sadly, that cannot really be applied to my SMU study life -.- Because for most weeks, the prof will already set aside the list of homework or readings that must be done before class, which means I can never be done with the subjects for once and for all! (Well, at least until the term ends, and the lessons officially close themselves). It does really take some time to get used to the new system (one month!), but oh well, now I realise for every free hours, I must try to do as much homework and readings as possible! So that I can relax with the rest of the time. But then again, sometimes I just need to chill first (like now ;) ) before I can start mugging again haha.

On the social aspect side, I am starting to get to know people better (it's still a slow rate, but at least it's improving :) ). I have to admit I do intentionally decide to involve myself in CCAs and school events, since I know that only through these means (until it's not proven such as the case) that I will be able to "properly" make friends. At least through CCAs you will have shared interest to start with! However, I am constantly aware that I might be joining too much CCAs! Hahaha. Yes, all of them are ad-hoc basis, which is good, but I really want to narrow down the list of CCAs.. or else it will be perpetually impossible to be more committed to the CCAs. Quality is much more important that quantity! I really really hope that I'll be able to start whittling down the list.

Currently, I am involved in the planning of SMU Arts Fest 2009. I am part of the film curating team, along with some other girls! (no boys! haha) Besides SMU Arts Fest, I am planning to involve myself in the Indonesian Community's major event near year, GAYA 2009. I auditioned for acting last Friday, and it was great experience. Firstly, I was damn shocked when I have to sing during the audition, since I purposely chose a role that will not need singing or dancing (or at least be required in the minimum level). The second shock came when I found out while on the waiting room that one of the judges would be a very famous Indonesian veteran actress (Titi Puspa!). And I thought, "Oh shucks!" Hahaha. Anyway, the audition had a few parts. The first part was singing, second was situational improvisation (mine was to sell vegetables in English, which I found totally amusing -.-) and the third part was scene enactment. The feedback was okay (thankfully! Phew!). It wasn't as horrifying as I thought it would be! Haha.

I can't wait for this Friday, since it will be my first day volunteering for Singapore Biennale 2008! Yeeha. Well, the Biennale preview was held on last Sunday. From now on, I kinda decided to avoid previews if possible. My main reason to this will be, since some of the artworks would not be ready by the preview (duh), I feel that seeing the artwork in its unfinished state will be unjust to the artists, since they would have wanted the audience to see the artworks in the manner the artists want to present them. Another related reason to this will be I feel that only by seeing the completed artworks that our curiosity will be completely piqued as to why the artists chose to present the artwork that way. Seeing the completed artworks will allow us to pick up the smallest details and decipher how much efforts the artists work for. If you already know HOW the artist construct the works, then most probably you have already known the little details that he puts in into his artwork even before you see the finished product! The magic would have been gone! I guess one of the greatest pleasures of art is to be able to observe and be amused by the littlest details, and to have those "aha" moments when you finally realised what the artist really want to say through his artwork.

So, if you are going to Singapore Biennale in the months of September or October, come on Tuesday or Friday! On Tuesday afternoon, I will be working as ticketing officer (selling tickets), and on Friday evenings, I will be serving you if you need my help (as a customer relations officer). To where I will be dispatched on those days I will know on the day itself, so if you are going, give me a ring!

The last thing I want to talk about at this post is Wall-E. Yes, Wall-E. I went to see it last Friday after school, and thought I have heard of the wonderful reviews that it has earned, I didn't really expect the movie to be good in different way. This is probably because for the past movies, Pixar has always created great animations for kids that adults happened to enjoy, not the other way round! In my opinion, for Wall E, most probably the adult would enjoy watching it more! It doesn't really have a lot of funny moments (though this is compensated by the short film "Presto!" which was shown before Wall E), and it really touches on the ongoing social issues of human complacency over environmental destruction and of how technologies may really rule the world over. Okay, the first issue was really obvious, with the poor state of Earth in the future being shown in the movie. The second issue takes more time to be noted (and digest). The humans in the film are literally the couch potatoes of today! They don't do exercises, they constantly eat and drink (soda perhaps) and they are very individualistic. This is how our real world is starting to shape up, which is a really frightening case. The movie kinda have this message that sometimes we humans do need a major jolt (most probably an event of a seismic magnitude that affects the whole word) to be able to appreciate what we have, and to realise the bad things that are going on within ourselves, our community and the world. In an increasingly individualistic world (sometimes I am frightened to think that to me SMU had been an individualistic community thus far), it's very hard for us not to be complacent. That is why I think it would really be important for all of us to keep in touch with the reality, and help one another with the best ability we have. The key phrase would be "down-to-earth".

Yes I am rambling already -.- I should stop here. Oh, I am participating in Canon Photo Marathon, which will be on 18 Oct! It will be great experience I hope, since 3 years ago when I joined it, it was a really fun, enriching experience. Okie, I shall stop. I shall end with something I said today when somebody asked me why I would like to work in film industry. It was quite a spontaneous response.

"I find that film is a great medium to express ideas..."

Thinking back now, I would like to add the words "and explore" before ideas :)

I Will Never Like Clubbing

2008-08-29T00:40:00.003+08:00

I have just come back from the SMU's Freshmen Bash in Zouk. OMG, seriously it is the worst party that I have been to! The pageant took forever to finish (and it was super boring), and the dance floor was only at 1130. Still, the dance floor was really packed! I could not even dance.. and the music they were playing were horrible -.- What kind of lousy pop songs!

Anyway, yes, I don't think I will ever like clubbing. I prefer socialising in pubs or lounges (with chillout songs!). I am quite sick of seeing wannabes in my school (people who tries to be hip). Okay there are a lot of wannabes in my school, which is saddening :( Sometimes, I do feel quite sad that there is a side of me which is maturer (in some ways).. and thankfully there is still my youthful, idealist side of me as well.

I somewhat like my youthful idealist side a lot! This year, I really learnt that the world can never be as perfect as how I have perceived it when I am young. But then I guess this idealist side will help me to strive to achive the best for myself.. and the societies that I live and will live in :)

I Do Feel This Way

2008-08-26T22:51:00.003+08:00

Loneliness is such a horrible thing.

University Life Is Here

2008-08-25T21:57:00.002+08:00

Helloz! Sorry that I have not updated this blog for a month.. since I've been concentrating a lot in a recently created photoblog of mine in Wordpress (http://itshallberemembered.wordpress.com). For now, all of the photos there are from my recent trip to the Middle East, but I really hope to diversify my pictures once I get through my Middle East photo batch! The blog will be constantly updated, and will sort of take over from my DeviantArt photo gallery account (which will still exist... but it will be of less priority). I felt that, after 4 years in DeviantArt, I thought I really needed to move more to something outside of it... and also to do things more properly. The DeviantArt gallery look can be quite all over the place, so I really like how the Wordpress photoblog is very simple, yet functional :) And now I am quite lazy to continue my Middle East tale in this blog -.- I prefer to use the pictures to tell the stories in the Wordpress blog! So, I hope you'll check that blog out!

Anyway, so how has my life been? University life has finally started (after the 8 month holiday which began to feel agonising)... and I am still adjusting to it! Before university starts, I attended 3 camps: the Business Faculty camp, the Catholic community camp and the compulsory Freshmen Teambuilding Camp (FTB). Well, Business Faculty camp... since I was having flu then, I was not able to enjoy it to the maximum. And I don't really like the dirty, mindless games we were forced to play! :( Catholic community camp... I got sunburnt in Sentosa the 2nd day! :( I guess I didn't put enough sunblock. Well I forgot to tell you that the Catholic community camp and FTB were back to back. I am still glad that I completed those 2 camps still intact! Albeit with lots of bruises for FTB camp haha. However, despite this, I felt that FTB camp was the most fun out of the 3.

There were about 400-500 participants, and it was run 4! We stayed in tents in OBS East Coast. Having heard how bad the camp could be, I really had low expectation of it. But, in the end, I found out that things were not as bad as it seemed to be! Like the shower room (which was perfectly standard type, with no hot water.. which is fine with me! though no cloth hanger -.-), the food (which surprisingly had fruits! haha), and the debriefs (which some of my friends told me were bound to be horrible). Well, I guess I was really lucky to get a good facilitator, who was able to make debriefs interesting and meaningful ones! My group was one of the smallest in the run (we started with 9, and ended with 6 people -.-), and yet I felt it is because of this small size that we bonded really well. The games in FTB (which are supposed to be called activities) provoke a lot of creative thinking and group discussion. In FTB, we also did tunneling (which is torturous but okay) and rafting (which is fun!). The last day of FTB was the most tiring one. The activity was called the Last Station, and it contained 12 game stations. So each group has to race as fast as they could to complete the 12 games, and there were lots of running and physically tiring games! So, even though FTB was the most tiring camp out of the 3, I felt that it was the most satisfying and fun out of the 3 camps!

First week of school had passed! I am taking 4 course units this semester (I dropped one.. since the class was 95% Year 2 students, and the rest, which were freshmen, were in a clique). Last week was quite horrible with all the textbooks buying! I bought a textbook of a wrong publisher in Clementi bookstore, and had to waste time going back there (and being nagged by the auntie). It was tiring also because I had to cram my readings in the library, since at that point of time I had not bought my textbooks yet. With the purchase of all the books, I felt that this week would be much better than last week! YAY haha.

One thing that I am still struggling with in school is the difficulty to make close friends in school. I have many hi-bye friends now.. though I would prefer quality to quantity. I have also yet to find arty farty people in school (don't need really indie type one!). I joined a few art group CCAs, and hope that through these CCAs, I would be able to find people who appreciates art! The main passions that people I talked to have are outdoor and business-oriented O_O This is my personal opinion, but at my age, I do not think we should talk so much about business.. since in the future we will be talking about business a lot! I really feel that university life will be the last chance of exploring passions that you may have outside your workplace in the future! I do not want my life to centre around work O_O

In the Business Government Society class last Friday, my lecturer(-cum-tutor) showed us a portion of a documentary "The Corporation". It somewhat turns me off corporate life even more O_O I find this quite ironic, since if what I hoped to do in arts don't work out, I will have to work in corporates! Well the documentary concludes that the behavior of corporations can really be as similar to that of a psychopath, which I can agree. But then again, it is really irony that despite this, people still have to rely on corporation for consumer goods, and for employment to earn money :(

This entry is getting long.. so I shall stop here.

Cheers.

Top Priority

2008-07-26T22:53:00.004+08:00

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!

2008-07-24T19:23:00.012+08:00

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

2008-07-12T11:58:00.005+08:00

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

2008-07-07T18:56:00.004+08:00

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

2008-07-01T20:36:00.003+08:00

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!

Har Har

2008-06-25T00:02:00.002+08:00

Mr Tumnus (the faun) makes me laugh :)

....for all the wrong reasons!

From Mr Tumnus to Wesley Gibson (of Wanted).. what a transformation!

I Have No Reason To Fear

2008-06-21T20:05:00.002+08:00

I always have the thought that with this 8 freaking month long of holiday that I will be able to travel to a place or places that I won't normally go to. I'm kind of sick of my father's empty promises.

This year actually would be a special year to visit a certain place. Yes my Mom keeps emphasising the annivesary celebration associated to the place. Emphasised it like thousand of times. But yesterday I realised that, oh well, it's just a number. If she and I are not meant to visit that place this year, then I would accept the fact. The place will always be there regardless of the number. It doesn't matter if we add 1 or 2 or 3 to that number.

Two weeks ago, I really wanted to go to that place and the surrounding areas. I hoped so hard that it will turn out smoothly. But my inner being secretly knows that things don't always go as planned. So interestingly, instead of praying that that trip will happen, I prayed that the right path will be shown to my family and me, because I felt what my mom and I wanted may not be the best for the moment. Somewhat, two weeks later, which is now, I just felt somewhat calmer and more peaceful with myself. I had put in so much effort in planning out for the trip, with the endless researching and the continuous attempts to ignore a very unappreciative person. Yes I've accepted the fact that this trip is dead, for now. It's kinda of doomed from the start. I hate how my father comes out with random travel plan and how he never planned out the year, so that we can have early reservations of tickets and hotels.

When an alternative route was served, I thought that the direction of where my family is supposed to go has been shown. The direction is OBVIOUS. It is being pointed to. We are supposed to go down that alternative route! Yes now I'm kinda angry that that person who failed me endlessly wants to fail me again. Let's just hope my mother has enough strength and will power to overcome all this and make the best decision for us and, most importantly, for herself. Because I strongly think that whatever will happen, she would be the key.

I hate empty promises. I guess I have said that for the umpteeth time.

L'enfant Terrible

2008-06-09T19:32:00.005+08:00

I am a horrible person when it comes to hiding emotions. When I'm happy, I'll smile. When I'm sad, I'll frown. When I disagree, I'll complain. But with the Internet, I could just hide behind the screen, and conceal the real emotions that I was feeling at that point of time. Well, I try to. But, at some points of time, when I couldn't bear to conceal the emotions, I would need to get away from the computer, and take a walk or drink a cup of water or two, before my emotions calm down. But then again, sometimes this doesn't work either.

When someone angers me, yes, I do feel like retaliating, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Confrontations should always be avoided when possible. I wouldn't want someone else to feel hurt, when I myself am already hurt.

Just hearing you say "sorry" will be more than enough for my anger and depression to subside. But you never did.

The Thief Has Stolen My Magpie!

2008-05-29T20:06:00.003+08:00

Hmm, quite a number of things to write in this entry :)

I was terribly worried that the 5 weeks that I would be spending in Indonesia will be a bore (well, the first 2 days here kind of proved that point). So, I asked my dad on whether he could get me a place in his friend's office. An unpaid one, just for learning experience. So his friend got me a place and I found myself in the Asset Management department. Today was only my 2nd days, and the 2 days had been filled with reading of tons of materials on Asset Management (since I have zero knowledge of it). Well okay, more of 1 and 1/2 day. The other 1/2 day I spent stoning, and boring myself to death at the office. The head of the department left early to meet her client, and so after reading the materials, I didn't have anything to do! So I spent 2 hours rotting on my table, doodling and drawing (old-style entertainment, since I don't have a computer of my own).

This leaves me to the first conclusion of this article: if you are a high school student, and looking for an employment during the holiday, it would be highly recommended that you do not go for office jobs! Because.. most office jobs will require some special skills (technical skills that university education will usually impart). Instead, go for jobs that are more service-oriented. This way, you can build more on your people skill. As some of you would have known, an employee would need good people and working skills to be a good employee. I guess service-oriented jobs will force you more to talk with your customers. It is extremely important to build on your customer service skills to build a good business of your own. But again, this opinion of mine might lack other perspectives that will give a truer picture.

Oh and I realised something. I can actually use this work experience thingy as an excuse to volunteer in Jakarta International Film Festival (if they open volunteer spots) in December. Well, my father said why do I work for free for Singapore Film Fest? So why is he willing to let me be in his friend's office and work for free? Contradictions?

I saw the weirdest movie I have ever seen in my entire life. It's called "Mulholland Drive" by David Lynch. This movie is CRAZY. It takes a lot of time for me to digest it.. and fully understand it. How on earth does Mr. Lynch's brain work? Anyway, the first act of the movie, which was 2 hours long, makes complete sense. It's only in the 2nd act of the movie that the show get weirder and weirder. Actually I kinda like how 1st act breaks into 2nd act. The last scene of the 1st act, in my opinion, is the most chilling scene in the movie and kinda sums up the description of Mulholland Drive. The scene took place in this night show theatre called "Silencio", in which the MC of the show keeps saying do not believe what you are seeing on stage since everything there was an illusion. Somehow, when an opera singer emerged on the stage and (seems to) started singing a song soooo well, I was enthralled by her singing (goosebumps!) and believed that she was singing that song.... until that woman fainted on the stage.. and the sound recording kept playing across the theatre! Oh man, that scene freaks me out more than another scary scene of the show (which I shall not mention).

I love how the movie works, forcing the audience to make sense of the interspersed details of the scenes (some scenes at first don't make sense at all). And the cinematography is vividly parallel to the storyline. The movie also showed some film techniques which I have never seen in any other movies (I guess only David Lynch do such things), like the muted colour pallette and tons of usage of surrealism. I recalled seeing a movie recently with which I also would associate "surreal", but oh well, it's nothing compared to Mulholland Drive! I would not mind watching Mulholland Drive again in the near future (not so soon!) I have a feeling this movie might turn a lot of people off.. haha. So if you have little patience for movies to unravel their stories, don't watch this film! Cos all the important things only happen after the 2nd hour.

2nd conclusion: David Lynch's brain is nuts. It will take a lot of thinking from me on whether I should watch his other works. It is said that Mulholland Drive is his most accessible work to date haha. Oh no.

The Office (Japanese Version)

2008-05-22T23:41:00.002+08:00

Hasta La Vista!

2008-05-19T22:47:00.003+08:00

Hasta La Vista indeed! I have just uninstalled Windows Vista system and install Windows XP. Yayy.. this means my printer will finally be working again, after being dormant for at least a month now. Anyway, I would like to warn anyone off upgrading their Windows XP system to Vista. First of all, there are a lot of compatiblity issues with Vista, whether it is hardware or software issues. Secondly, I think Vista has quite a number of redundant features! So, if you're the type who cannot be bothered with installing/uninstalling softwares, do not upgrade to Vista. I repeat, do not upgrade to Vista. Or else.. prepare for an onslaught of headaches! (which I had kinda experienced haha).

I might be going back to Indo at the end of this week. I'm worried that I will be extremely bored there. I hope to do some stuff there, like Executive course at John Robert Powers, and driving lessons! I don't think I'll do Advanced Photography class hmm. Not that I mind looking out for cute guys! Haha. Looking at the curriculum of the course, I don't think the lessons are useful to what I hope to do as photographer (like photography on automobiles, food products and still life etc.)

If I can work at any magazine as a photographer,
I'll choose National Geographic or TIME.

If I can work at any magazine as a reporter,
I'll choose Empire (fat hope!)

If I can work at any film festival,
I'll choose Cannes or Venice or Sundance (that's a lot)

If I can work at any music festival,
I'll choose Glastonbury!

If I can be a music video assistant director,
I'd love to work with Michel Gondry.

Sigh, dreams dreams dreams. But there is nothing wrong with dreams right?

Boohaha

2008-05-15T00:42:00.003+08:00

Hola! It's been ages since I blogged haha. I went to Hong Kong and Vietnam recently. It was the first time visiting Vietnam and I went to 2 of its cities, Hue City and Ha Long Bay. Overall, It was an interesting place to visit. I noticed that its culture kinda overlapped with China's, and it's still obvious that it shares the same political ideology as China, seeing the blatant display of Communist symbols (the hammer and sickle one) on the banners along the roads of Hue City. On some junctions, posters of Ho Chi Minh are up too. Anyway, while Hue City is more of an old, historic city, Ha Long Bay projects itself more as a tourist destination, especially with its picturesque view (which I think I had failed to appreciate fully, since I have seen a lot of such views from China. The word 'typical Chinese view' came out of my mind. Sorry!)

The cruise experience which I had to Vietnam was made really interesting by the room that my brother and I got. While my mom and dad got a room with nice balcony, my brother and I thought that we could live without a window for 4 days, so we opted for a non-windowed room. Well, we saved up about HK$6000 (about S$1000), which is a lot! Anyway, the room we got was funny, since in replacement of the window, a HUGE painting of a ship reaching the land was put up hahaa (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it! but my brother took one haha thank goodness). So yeah, me and my brother was perpetually within the reach of the land (even though in reality we're stuck in the mass of blue sea) and perpetually in the darkness too. A sense of time was completely lost, and 12 noon felt like 4 am! Thank goodness that the two rooms was side-by-side, so when my brother and I felt lacking of Vitamin D (aka sunlight), we would evacuate to my parents' room. Interestingly, my mom gets excited by the sunrise and sunset easily. I remembered on the 2nd day, she knocked on our door in the morning to wake us for the tour, and said, "Come to our room to see the beautiful sunrise!" What a way to start the morning! :)

So it's been almost a week here in Singapore. I'm happy that the Red Devils had retained their title! Woot. My days here had mostly been filled with meeting up friends, reading old TIME, Cinemags and Seventeen Magazines and tearing out articles from them to save and the rest to throw... and chatting up online. I watched Iron Man 3 days ago, and though it was good, it didn't meet up my expectation which I came to realise was of too high a point! Therefore, I shall start lowering my expectation on the Dark Knight (aka Batman sequel) to avoid the utter disappointment that will be inevitable if I maintain the level of expectation I had of it at this point. Check the new batman trailer and see whether you would be excited for it as well :)

Anyway, so 1 comic book hero down, 3 more to go! The Incredible Hulk, Wanted.. and Batman. It is still hard to believe that I have been waiting for the Batman sequel for 3 years O_O Impossible! I still remember my Bale craze day 3 years ago, watching his batman interviews, which in the end I came to be bored of, since he looked the same all over the place for the batman press promotion! I am extremely thankful that thus far my fascination with Mr. Bale had not ruined my O-level and A-level grades. Or else it would have been very confusing for me on whether to hate or like him. Yes, I do still rue my chance of meeting him in person last year when Batman was shooting in Hong Kong. It was a really close call! I still remember preparing for A-level, and then on the day they started shooting in Hong Kong, I automatically went to tune in to Channel 5's news (which I rarely does) and waited for Batman news... and then there he was, very handsome-looking (and clean-shaven!), in the press conference. Arghh. He was only 3 hours flight away from Singapore :(

I don't know if this is only me or what, but sometimes there are things that I just have to associate with my O level and A level preparation. Well, mostly it's not serious stuff that I remember. It's the funny, non-sensical stuff. I remembered eating Koko Crunch with milk in a mug and watching Late Night Movies at like 1 or 2 am on Channel 5. Two of the movies I remembered being played were the Truman Show and Election (the Reese Witherspoon one). Yes I didn't feel guilty eating at like 1 or 2 am. It was my early morning supper haha. For A level preparation, since it was a recent one, the cramming experience is still fresh in my mind. Nevertheless, I'll forever associate the preparation period with my Bale gagaism haha. Umph, I just realised that I didn't eat as much supper for the A-level preparation! I'd like to ask you, does a bowl of cereal make a good supper for you? Apparently not for the cruise crew. They didn't include cereal, or even milk, for supper! :(

This is turning into a long post. I shall stop here :) Thanks for reading. Hope to update soon again.

Open Up Your Eyes

2008-04-27T00:46:00.001+08:00

Don't ever brag in front of me if you don't know what you're bragging about. Somebody p**sed me off today in this matter.

And..

2008-04-25T00:40:00.001+08:00

Speaking of computer, I've decided to get Apple Notebook for my uni :) Cos Apple is more likely to have film editing programme.

Yay for Apple.

Hope I can work my way thru the OS and PC systems haha.

Globalisation Has Finally Brushed Me

2008-04-25T00:12:00.003+08:00

Everybody, please learn from this experience of mine!

This morning I called the Dell technical support to ask some questions about my problematic speaker and the decision to change window vista system to window xp system. I had been calling Dell a few times for the past few days (because I keep missing out important details of the problems), and somehow the people who picked up the phone always had thick Chinese accent of English O_O Well, today, after clarifying about the vista to xp problem, I started rambling about the speaker problem to the person. The person was double-checking the place I was staying at, and she asked near which area I do stay. When I said "Orchard Boulevard", she said, "Can you spell Orchard for me?" In my head, I went, "What the heckkk?" So after the call, the person emailed me on the vista to xp problem, and guess what I found out from the email? The person is from Dell Inc. (China). Yes, CHINA. What the heckkk... so the supporting hotline links from Singapore to China??? Suddenly I thought of the booming call centre service in India. But I think India would have better service since they have accent naturalisation. The person I talked to for Dell when I called yesterday had such a THICK chinese accent that I was asking her to repeat her sentences like 5x. My goshhh...

One other thing if you have a Dell CPU, and you need to find the service tag for technical support, please do not be misled by the diagram of the service tag shown in Dell website, which has a barcode, or by the telephone message going "the service tag can be find at the side or back of the CPU". Hellooo.. first of all, the service tag on my CPU is grey colour.. and it doesn't have barcode. I keep thinking it has barcode.. so I just looked over the grey sticker with the service tag on it O_O Secondly, the service tag is on TOP of the CPU.. not at the back or at the side. Sighhhh....

Enough of Dell rambling. Hope you'll never have to go through the Dell terrible experience.

Oh No It's Over :(

2008-04-16T01:17:00.003+08:00

Yeah, the film festival ended yesterday. I don't know if I should feel happy, since I'll finally be able to relax more (for once in a period of time), or I should feel sad, because of the memories and the friends I had made in this festival. The festival has been rewarding way more than I expected it would be in the beginning of my volunteer stint. Obviously, being able to watch all of the festival movies for free is a great privilege. Meeting "Clark Kent" (again) was a great experience! (and less awkward than the previous and first meeting).

Let me recount my meetings with "Clark Kent" (hahahaha this is making me smile like xiao). The first meeting we had in the festival is sooooo weird. I ran out of staple bullets while stapling pieces of paper in the office corridor, so I went to the office to get more bullets. Just when I was about to leave the office, I was stunned to see someone standing at the office entrance. It's HIM, looking at me (with a blank look) hahahahaha. I was sooooo shocked that my brain stopped functioning and my heart stopped (really stopped). I think I kinda blushed (hahaha), but I just left the office and continue stapling (since my heart and brain cannot function properly liao hahah). That happened on the 4th day of festival (I think).

The 2nd time I meet him was the morning of jury meeting to decide Silver Screen Awards which was the 8th day of festival. I first saw Philip, the festival director, from afar as I walked towards the building. Then while he was asking me to get some drinks for the jury members, "Clark Kent" saw us and came by hahahahaha. It's interesting how my brain managed to stay functional at that time... and I even said "Hi" to him hahaha (and he said "Hi" back). That same day I was supposed to have jury lunch (with him included!), but in the end he didn't turn up since he had to prepare for interview :( Oh well, at least I met him again on the same night, in a Star TV (which is the festival sponsor) party haha. I forced the festival publicity manager to introduce me to him (which she did!), and he actually remembered me from the morning hahaha. We took picture together (hahahahaha).. but the picture came a bit blur :( Oh well.

The last time we met was during Silver Screen Awards, which was 2 nights ago. This is the funniest part... this time the festival manager introduced me to him (again) hahahahaha. Then he said, "Eh, we already got introduced to each other!" when we shook hands hahahaha. This time, I managed to talk to him moreeee (about watching 2 of his movies), but he kept teasing me that I've watched all of his shows hahaha (honestly, I've only seen 2), then I mentioned his appearance in "the Photograph" as an aqua hahahah (that one damn funny!). Then (I've got thank the publicity manager for this!), before he left the award, the fest publicity manager kinda signalled me to take picture with him (again) hahahahah... and this time around the picture come out clear! Yayyy! I have a feeling it's because of me putting that pic as a facebook profile pic which makes me still think about him hahaha.

Okay enough of "Clark Kent" already. I spent most of the volunteer stint helping out in the office (other than the first week, which is mainly errands outside the office). And.. without the funny, wonderful staff and volunteers of the film festival, the experience will certainly not be as deep and memorable. It's really amusing how they are able to keep tension off such a smaaalllll (minute) office in such weird, entertaining ways. I really do hope of keeping in touch with them :) Sigh.. after spending so much time with them over the 3 weeks, not seeing them everyday will take some times getting used to.

I'll miss Tao Huey (from the red stall). Sigh, that Tao Huey that melts in your mouth (somebody called the experience like having orgasm in your mouth ahhaah). If only one could breathe in Tao Huey. Tao Huey, Tao Huey!

Last but not least, much thank you to Nathania for the help. Without you, I wouldn't have this opportunity in first place :)

PS. the reason I blogged a lot about "Clark Kent" is because.. the moments I had with him are too funny to be forgotten :) :)

A Little Poem

2008-04-14T01:20:00.003+08:00

Fly you may,
But an angel you are not,
The closest will be
an angel of dirty secrets
and, of course, desires.
Curious still I am,
on why you stared at me
with such a piercing glance
that could break anyone's heart.
Fear may you have instilled
inside my innocent heart,
But my curiousity overbears my conscience,
And patiently will I wait for your return.

No, this poem is not for a person. It's for a big fat bird that appeared in my house yesterday. I took pictures of it... but I wish now that I could have taken pictures of it haha.

Yes. A big FAT bird.

I Want An Answer

2008-04-12T01:38:00.002+08:00

Can somebody answer this question from me:

Does the process of becoming best friends always have to involve a period of time where you hate the person? Well this happened to me last year (in a good way.. we become best friends in the end! :) :)... and now somebody is really getting on my nerve (more and more each day). I wonder what this means...

Torture. Torture. Torture.

Quotations

2008-04-10T00:42:00.003+08:00

"I don't fly all the way here to watch movies on tv screens (at the screener room)!"

"My short films got selected to various festivals, and I was invited to the festivals, giving me chances to travel around the world. This eventually encourages me to pursue film making full time."

"I shake the hand that shake J Lo's hand!"

Quotes of 3 different people. Hmm how interesting.

200

2008-04-08T23:11:00.004+08:00

I have been doing lots of thinking lately.. especially of things that are ongoing in my life.

Despite having volunteered for at least 3 weeks now, I still haven't really got used to the working system. I kept wondering of how I'll adress the people that I am working with after the whole festival is over. What do I call them? Former colleagues or bosses? I will most probably treasure most the memories I have working with these people, but whether or not I will really maintain close contact with them after the festival remains doubtful. I am really thankful that age discrimination is not existent in the job, but in the end I still find it hard to have good, proper conversations with the adults. It's quite interesting that surely when I'm eventually a working adult in the future, this situation will apply to the teenagers/students doing part times jobs at the office too.

This is something that I realised this week. Never, never do things for fame. If fame comes with the things you do, then so be it. But... your ultimate goal should never, never be fame.

I still haven't really forgiven my father... he called me stupid for volunteering for the film festival, saying that I get fooled by these Singaporeans to work for free. My first reaction after the convo was "What the f**k?". Because of what he said, I unintentionally put my anger on my mom when he passed back the phone. After the phonecall, don't know whether of sadness or anger, I cried like mad.... Now I see this event more as a motivation to succeed in whatever areas I'd love to work with in the future. I will SOOO prove him wrong.. and make him feel stupid in the process. Seriously if it has not been my faith, I would have lost complete respect for him long time ago. I guess he still did not realise that. He is sooo not going to treat me like my brother.

Oh well, I guess in life everything happens for some reasons.

Short Road

2008-03-27T18:12:00.007+08:00

Helloz. So, 2 days ago was the Maroon 5 concert. Though it was fantastic, but for the amount I paid for the tickets ($187), I really expected moree. The show was rather short (75 minutes) and the band didn't really move much in their concert :( And so for most of the pictures I took of them, I have the same expressions ahhaaha. I'm grateful that before the concert, I made a last minute decision to buy a 55-250 mm lens (which can shoot a longer distance compared to standard lens). I wasn't sure until then whether I should wait for my Mom to buy it (though I have begun researching for the lens price in Sim Lim and Funan). Now I'm so grateful that I made the right decision :) Well we sat close, but not close enough for a nice shot using a standard lens. I brought 2 cameras to the concert, one my old camera (with videos) and the other one my DSLR. Thankfully the security was not that strict about cameras. Phew. Anyway, Adam Levine looks exactly like how he looks like in photos hahaha. Thankfully the band wasn't wearing tuxedos and Adam didn't have that irritating hairstyle of his hahaha. 80% of the close up pictures are of Adam O_O lol cos he was the only one to move the most! The close up photos have been marked to avoid some random people taking off for their own use without my permission (and these pictures' quality has been saved at a lower quality for the blog purpose). If you would like a copy of the clean version of the pictures, please email me :)

The set before the concert

Maroon 5

Adam Levine and James Valentine

Maroon 5 at the end of the concert
( I like this picture the most.. but it's sadly overexposed :( )

Well for most of the other days, I'm mostly busy volunteering for Singapore International Film Festival. OMG the job as a courrier can be a killer at times.. I'm physically tired (and the weather doesn't help at all). Now.. all thanks to horrible weather yesterday I'm having running nose sigh. Thank goodness it happens after the concert. Can't wait to see the movies I've bought the tixs for to see... especially I'm Not There (Christian Bale!!) :D :D

Tonight I'll Forget Everything

2008-03-20T23:16:00.003+08:00

Today was interesting. I went to the Church of the Risen Christ for the first time, since it had the earliest Holy Thursday mass, with my Mom. Oh my gosh... it's the most high tech church I've ever been to O_O Nobody was given mass and hymn books. Everyone just watched the slides on several walls of the church.. and read the words from the slides haha so cool! Somehow it reminds me of AC chapel hahaah is that a bad thing?

Then in the evening I went to Tisch Asia for open house. So fuuuuun! We get to see some of the rooms (eg soundstage, projection room), though most of the areas are still a work in progress. Before visiting the school, I was really considering joining the summer class on directing that will be organised by the school from May. But after visiting the school and learning more about the summer class, I figured that I will more likely join the next year programme. Some of the facilities are not ready yet! And.. if I take the directing course, I'll also have to take the writing and directing part 2 course to get a certificate of filmmaking (if I take the part 1 only, I'll only get a certificate of completion). So, in the long run, I have to add in the writing and directing part 2 course to the total cost. Sighhh. The part 1 course already cost about USD $5000. Yes. Go figure the total cost!

So the past 3 weeks in Singapore has gone quite fast surprisingly. I have been volunteering (for 3 days thus far.. more to come next week)... and slacking hahaha. I really hope that when I cancel my student pass eventually the immigration will at least issue 2 months of social pass for me haha. Sigh at least I can hope!

I so need to begin memorising Maroon 5 songs O_O

Quicksand

2008-03-20T23:13:00.005+08:00

I hate that sinking into the sand feeling.. like I just want to hide from this surface of the earth. I can sort of imagine myself sitting on top of the dense metal chair, being suck into the sand.

Have not felt that way for quite a long time. It's a feeling that I want to keep myself from.

Wow.. 3 Months

2008-03-04T13:07:00.003+08:00

It's been agesss since I last updated this blog haha. Oh well, I'm spending my last few days of my Hong Kong trip now.. since Friday is the 'A' Level results day! *shrieks in horror* Well, I guess the results are rather overdue, when compared to the trend of the last few years. Better to get it over and done with. I'm actually looking forward to meeting some people who I haven't seen for ages on Friday hahaha.

Well, my life of late has been okay. As I may have said previously, my life in Indo was getting pretty mundane (especially when that thing called love turns out to be elusive haha). Most of my last few days there were filled with playing of Final Fantasy X, which sadly I didn't manage to complete haha (I'll be back to finish it!).

Hmm I'm hoping to get a job in Singapore for March and April, or at least do some volunteer work haha. Or else spending most of March and April alone in Singapore may become a drag hahaha. I've gone to several websites to look for job vacations hahah (at least of the places where I will want to work at). Kinokuniya is out.. since it's like 6 months commitment. HMV... no job vacation at the moment :( :( Starbucks... it seems prospectful.. though not sure of the commitment period. Golden Village, Gramophone and Borders... same cases. I saw a vacation for Fashion Stylist of Topshop hahahah... no I'll suck at that. So far those are the ones that I have seen... I'm hoping to look out for more.

I soo want to see some of the movies out now in theatres haha. I want to see Diving Bell, No Country and Away From Her. I want to see No Country the most haha. I still from time to time think about There Will Be Blood... because it's a show that far exceeds my expectation haha. "I drink your milkshake!" *slurps* hahaah sorry thinking about that line always makes me giggle.

Last night I had this random thought about my photography instructor going, "Since for most of our lessons we shoot women, why don't u try taking pictures of topless men?" I can't remember my reaction back then, but last night I thought I'd much prefer men in suits lol. Hey, if Michel Gondry says women can look sexier in T-shirt than naked, why couldn't I say men can look sexier in suits than topless/naked? Hahaha.

Autumn Almanac

2008-02-10T23:17:00.000+08:00

Today I went photo hunting with my Photography school to a Holland cemetery in Jakarta hehe (Emma, u must bring me to Japanese cemetery when I get back haha).. and it was extremely interesting and fun! Well the theme is pre-wedding... and so we're supposed to be shooting a 'going-to-be-married couple' (who isn't a real couple.. they are just models haha) to take a upclose shot. Though the weather was quite terrible (cloudy and gloomy), we managed to stay upbeat, and I must say that I'm really happy with some of the photos I took. Actually the Photography session made me realise that I sooo need to start investing in lenses hahaha. As my lens is a standard type, I really needed to be quite close to the couple to take a upclose shot. So I shall invest on a telephoto lens.. and I'd love to get a fisheye lens toooooooo :D (I'm more excited for the fisheye lens haha).

Well okay there's actually another thing that makes me happy during the photoshoot. Which I shall not write here hahahahaha.

There'll be another photog lesson tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be interesting (content-wise and ____-wise) haha.

B'day Wishlist Version 4

2008-02-10T23:12:00.000+08:00

Version 4

This list will be constantly updated. Don't worry, I'll use a new post each time there's an update. NOTE: The ones in red and struck have been reserved. So please choose another present :) Thanks! If u want to reserve any presents (at least 2 per person), tell me okay! :)

~~1. Music Album- Sigur Ros "Takk"~~
2. Music Album- The White Stripes "Icky Thump"
3. Music Album- The Kinks "The Ultimate Collection"
~~4. Atonement soundtrack~~
5. Atonement novel (best with the movie poster cover)
6. The Time Traveler's Wife novel
7. Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack
~~*new*8. Children Storybook - Olivia and the Missing Toy (part of the Olivia the Pig series)*new*~~
9. Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue
10. Music Album- Radiohead "In Rainbows" (I really want this CD!!)
11. Empire March 2008 (Hellboy cover)
12. *NEW* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind DVD

If you're getting anything not in this list, use your common sense.

End of version 4

B'day Wishlist Version 3

2008-02-09T01:17:00.001+08:00

Version 3

This list will be constantly updated. Don't worry, I'll use a new post each time there's an update. NOTE: The ones in red and struck have been reserved. So please choose another present :) Thanks! If u want to reserve any presents (at least 2 per person), tell me okay! :)

~~1. Music Album- Sigur Ros "Takk"~~
2. Music Album- The White Stripes "Icky Thump"
3. Music Album- The Kinks "The Ultimate Collection"
~~4. Atonement soundtrack~~
5. Atonement novel (best with the movie poster cover)
6. The Time Traveler's Wife novel
7. Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack
8. Children Storybook - Olivia and the Missing Toy (part of the Olivia the Pig series)
9. *NEW* Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue
10. *NEW* Music Album- Radiohead "In Rainbows" (I really want this CD!!)
11. *NEW* Empire March 2008 (Hellboy cover)

If you're getting anything not in this list, use your common sense.

End of version 3

2008-02-08T00:21:00.000+08:00

Version 2.

This list will be constantly updated. Don't worry, I'll use a new post each time there's an update. NOTE: The ones in red and struck have been reserved. So please choose another present :) Thanks!

~~1. Music Album- Sigur Ros "Takk"~~
2. Music Album- The White Stripes "Icky Thump"
3. Music Album- The Kinks "The Ultimate Collection"
~~4. Atonement soundtrack~~
5. Atonement novel (best with the movie poster cover)
6. The Time Traveler's Wife novel
7. Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack
8. Children Storybook - Olivia and the Missing Toy (part of the Olivia the Pig series)
9. *NEW* Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue
10. *NEW* Music Album- Radiohead "In Rainbows" (I really want this CD!!)

If you're getting anything not in this list, use your common sense.

End of version 2

Kupo!

2008-02-07T01:57:00.000+08:00

Yes, I've become obsessed again with Final Fantasy -.- I am currently playing FF III in Nintendo DS and FF X in PS 2. I kinda missed those final fantasy playing days... so I guessed that's one reason I'm playing those two (by the way, I've never played those 2 games previously). Beside.. moogles are soooo cute.

Anyway, today I made a wish. It's quite a lame wish. I want to ride a motorcycle!! Hahahaha. Mainly because I realised today when riding motorcycle.. you really experience the crowded feeling, which would be a different kind experience from riding a car and having some spaces around you. So yeah I am kinda curious about riding motorcycle.

It's been raining like madd in Indo.. which means flood all over the place lol. The adventurous side of me kinda want to experience going through floods in car hahahah.. but my heart knows that that will be a tremendously painful experience hahaha.

Interestingly, in the photography classes, a lot of nude photographs have been shown lately. Well, I'm okay with nude photographs, as along as they are done tastefully. I totally agree with what the photographers said about how nude photography is all about playing light. Front light is a no no for nude photography... and "Open your legs!" would be a really really bad command to say hahah. I wonder how differently guys see pornography and erotic art hahaha. And I also wonder the feelings when a male photographer is taking pictures of a naked model. Hmmm. Actually the instructor today answered the 2nd question. He said that one's decision on doing nude photography depends on whether the person's brain and heart thinks purely alike.

Wishing everyone who celebrate a Happy Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

B'day Wishlist Version 1

2008-02-03T22:25:00.000+08:00

Version 1.

This list will be constantly updated. Don't worry, I'll use a new post each time there's an update. NOTE: The ones in red and struck have been reserved. So please choose another present :) Thanks!

~~1. Music Album- Sigur Ros "Takk"~~
2. Music Album- The White Stripes "Icky Thump"
3. Music Album- The Kinks "The Ultimate Collection"
~~4. Atonement soundtrack~~
5. Atonement novel (best with the movie poster cover)
6. The Time Traveler's Wife novel
7. Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack
8. Children Storybook - Olivia and the Missing Toy (part of the Olivia the Pig series)

If you're getting anything not in this list, use your common sense.

End of version 1

March to Aida

2008-02-03T21:54:00.000+08:00

My life has been really sedentary of late.. and filled with a few firsts. The last 10 days were the first time I'm ever alone with my maid and helper at home. And today, for the first time, I travelled out of my house by myself using Bajaj hahahaa (Bajaj is some old-fashioned, unique.. but FUN mode of transportation).. since my driver didn't come today.. and my brother is soo unreliable haha. Well actually it was only to church.. which is about 5 mins ride. Still, it's a first haha. Another first is taking care of my brother's shop alone haha. It was much more bearable than I expected it would be haha. I thought I'll be rotting in the shop or something.. and I managed to sell a few shirts with my beginner marketing expertise hahaha (if there is even any).

I watched a few interesting films in the past few days, namely Brokeback Mountain, Fracture, Last King of Scotland, Mean Girls and L4yer Cake haha. Okie, out of the movies in the list, Brokeback Mountain would have caught your attention haha. Well, it's not as gay as I expected it would be.. I dunno I'm actually fine with the kissing scenes. Other than the kissing scenes, there is nothing really explicit. Actually the story is more of a tragic romance than gay love show. I don't know, I feel sad watching the ending. The ending is short and sweet. Both actors acted really well. Well, in short, Brokeback Mountain was way better than I expected haha.

Fracture + Last King of Scotland = Happiness overdose. Ryan Gosling and James Mcavoy.. hmm.. (though Mcavoy's hair is horrible haha).

I really wanted to change my blog skin.. but I can't find any high resolution pictures thus far. I'll get back to it when I've un-lazied myself haha.

Time flies and it's already February. So fastttt. Some interesting events in February I guess:
1. A level results
2. SAT results
3. Oscars (if it's still held)
4. My Birthday!! *cough cough cough*
5. Last Photography lesson (and last chance to ________________ =D only someone knows this)
6. Chinese New Year (hong pao!)

Hopefully some more interesting events develop hehe.

Hmm I somewhat have a feeling that I will never ever totally get along with my brother's girlfriend. I found their relationship too one-sided.

Future

2008-01-27T00:34:00.000+08:00

Being kept busy today finally makes me feel far better today after feeling very disoriented from knowing of Heath Ledger's death yesterday and on the day itself. Since I often frequented movie websites, most of the news for the past 2 days surrounded his death and remembrance, which made it harder to overcome the grief just like that.

I got the news the first thing in the morning of the first day after the John Robert Powers examination. The news was just surreal, too hard to believe. How could such a young, fine, talented actor just die? He is one of those actors who really have BRIGHT prospective ahead of him. A friend of mine and I were just discussing 2 days before his death of how great his performance seems to be for The Dark Knight judging from the trailers so far.

There's one period of time when there were so many deaths of old actors, producers and directors. In that period, I was like wondering how I would react if an actor of my generation of a fine caliber died. And this tragic death brought me back to the question. Well, the answer was I was sad. Strangely, because I don't even know him personally. I guess it is more of the sadness over the fact that I will not see Heath displaying his full acting potential and reaching the peak of his career. I had a strong feeling that his popularity will skyrocket after the Dark Knight. But now we'll never know whether that will happen.

This also led me to another question. So, if one of my handsomes dies tomorrow (touch wood), how will I react? Will I be overcome with soooo much grief that I would not be able to function properly for at least a day? Will I shed tears? Again I don't even know them personally, and yet these are the reactions that I could think of if they die.

It was really fortunate that Heath's short career has been wonderful of late. At least with that, many people will remember him in the best way possible.

A closure.

2008-01-23T13:12:00.000+08:00

R.I.P Heath Ledger

1979-2008

Happily Merrily Go Round

2008-01-22T22:05:00.000+08:00

Finally, I've finished my grooming class! Today was the practical and theory tests. The practical was obviously the more frightening part, but it wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be. I was the last one to go up. Honestly, going up last is worst that going up first, because going up last means more pressure to do well is on you, since you can learn mistakes from the previous candidates. Anywho, I managed to keep my breathing grounded... and not be too scared.. and said some prayers haha. The results will come out in 3 days time. Hope it will turn out well.

So I'm now left with photography course, which will run to the end of February. Not that I mind! :) Yesterday's lesson though was rather strange in some ways. Firstly, the lesson taught yesterday was on beauty shot. Oh my gosh... after going to the lesson yesterday, I kinda vowed of never doing beauty shot in my life ever. Do you know why? It is because in yesterday's lesson, I saw the extreme end of digital image editing. Well, first of all, I've seen some Hollywood magazines before and after image editing process (with slimmer hands, bigger boobs, smaller thighs for women etc.). But yesterday, I realised sometimes they may employ a model, only to change the model's eyes in the computer. To me that's like not respecting the model's body parts. Like helloo you can't just go around pasting other people's eyes or lips on a model. I think it doesn't do the model justice seriously. I guess beauty photography is not an area I want to work as a photographer. I just don't really support some of its ideas.

Actually there's another reason why I find yesterday's lesson interesting. But I'm not really that willing to say why just yet :)

Something that I wrote yesterday in my Punk book:
That faint smell of smoke off him. The constant clicking of the pen which he borrowed from me. The blue pen with faded writings in his hand. I tried to smell any scent of him off the pen, only for my sense of smell to be overcome by my soap perfume. This entry I wrote with that pen that was in his hand.

Somebody Please...

2008-01-19T19:37:00.000+08:00

Hmm I guess in life it's good to have somebody (or more) to pull you down back to Earth whenever needed. Because sometimes in life when you are experiencing too much good things, you begin to take your life for granted... and get too 'high'. This is where the role of that body comes in.. he or she will pull you back down to earth... to stop you for getting to high and crashing back to earth hard when the good things stop coming and bad things start coming in.

If you don't have anyone to pull you down occasionally back to earth at the moment, better find a good one soon. You'll never know when you need him or her. Only he or she will know that you're in need of him or her.

Something Rather True

2008-01-17T23:25:00.000+08:00

Actually, etiquette is equal to acting.

Because etiquette is all about projecting a good image of yourself to others.

Something interesting that I learnt this week.

My Brain and My Heart

2008-01-13T23:51:00.000+08:00

I don't know what is wrong with my brain seriously. It has been dreaming of Johnny Depp the past two days.. hello I'm not even into him haha. This is soooo weird. Today I dreamt that I was talking to him about a movie I was going to direct, then he agreed to be a part of it! Hahaha.. what the heck. Then he even called some producer.. and asked what credit card the producer has. I don't know why in the dream we only accept the Red card by Citibank (which I don't think even exist in real life lol). Okay lah, at least it's Johnny Depp, not somebody bad haha. By the way, Johnny is going to star a film with Christian Bale. How exciting!!!!

Anyway, my days in Indo has been filled with Photography courses at Darwis Triadi School of Photography, grooming lessons at John Robert Powers, self-SAT preparation haha and Sims 2 in PS2. The classes at JRP had been the most stressful one.. because I forgot to bring some items, such as clothing and make-up, from Singapore O_O Nevertheless, it was quite an eye-opening experience.. and interesting too. 7 more days of JRP to go. For photography, it's been quite okay. Maybe it's because I've still not known everyone in the class, and so I still can't enjoy the classes to the fullest. Nevertheless, the first two lessons on studio lighting were interesting. 13 more lessons of photography.. which I'm sure will quickly pass by haha, compared to JRP classes heh.

SAT preparation has been quite stressful.. mainly because of the tight schedule I have with the two classes. JRP lessons are everyday (Mon-Fri, with next Tuesday being theory and practical evaluation, the last day), and photography classes take place on Monday and Thursday night at 7.00 pm. Thankfully I've been quite able to juggle well thus far. I'm using SAT official book.. and am now in the Maths section haha. I need to start doing the Right Word soon hahahahaha.

So no golden globes tomorrow. Hopefully Oscars will still be held.

No time to see movies thus far. Hope I can start watching movies once JRP lessons are over.

Let it not be Mr. Depp in my dream tonight.

2007

2008-01-07T00:33:00.000+08:00

Best Movies of 2007 (in ranking order)

Atonement
Half Nelson
Persepolis
300
Hot Fuzz
28 Weeks Later
Transformers
Lars and the Real Girl
Eastern Promises
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

Best experience of 2007 (in a rather chronological order)

Muse concert
First midnight movie outing (Babel) + watching it slightly underaged
Creating Science Symposium promotional video
Chingay night outing (having a stretch of Grange Road to ourselves hahaha)
GYLC experience + New York
First ever freelance photography job
Phantom of the Opera
Buying SLR camera
Winning Simpsons contest
Having a hug in my dream for the first time
Dreaming of Ryan Gosling several times
Writing in my punk book

Worst experience of 2007 (in a rather chronological order)

Going for first ever detention in my life
One of the birthday presents
Being stalked by a guy O_O
C for PW
Being irritated by a guy in New York
Forcing Geography studies into my head
Missing the chance of seeing Christian Bale in person :( :(
A Level
Christmas and New Year outing at China
Wasting HK$1000 in gambling in Macau
Having a strange dream of 3 letter word

Songs associated with 2007

“1,2,3,4” by Feist
“Misread” by Kings of Convenience
“When You Were Young” by The Killers
Da Ba Da Ba song by Gym Class Heroes
The Gatsby song haha.

Things broken in 2007

2 Charles and Keith Sandal
1 U.R.S. sandal
1 computer screen
1 ipod mini
1 brown bag

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-04T14:27:00.000+08:00

So 2008 is finally here. 2007, which is the year of pig, was rather okay. Ups and downs as usual. Kind of balanced. Though there are much good and bad things to remember for 2007. Lessons that I learnt, and also the various experience which shape me as a person as I continue to grow. I managed to observe human behaviour more, and how some characteristics in me are somewhat related to my parents. 2007 taught me to really treasure the friends that I have. 2007 also taught me to be thankful of the parents that I had, regardless how annoying they can be and different they can think.

2007 taught me to never let go of my dreams, regardless of how impossible sometimes they can be.

Even though 2007 kinda ended in a bad shape, at least overall it was okay. The year of pig didn't treat me as badly as I thought it would. A snake and a pig don't go well supposedly. Well this year it will be the year of mouse. May it be a good year (for you and your family). Even if it's a bad year, at least there will always be things that I can learn around from the experience.

Next post: 2007 listings.

Just Now...

2007-12-23T01:11:00.000+08:00

.. I choked when I saw Wentworth Miller in Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" on MTV. Ahaha when I saw the video long long time ago, when I still didn't recognise him, I think he looks ugly and Mariah Carey shouldn't go for him! Haha. I still hold that opinion now.

Here's the proof :P

Things I Learnt in the Past 2 Weeks

2007-12-22T18:02:00.000+08:00

1. Hmm finding a truth doesn't equate to the fact that you should tell the person affected by the truth immediately. Because sometimes there's just no point to doing this, and the truth may destroy the relationship between that person and another person which at the moment is good. Ugh I hate my father for this. I hope this won't affect me directly.

2. I get easily irritated when somebody interrupts me when I speak or shifts their attention to something / someone else lol.

3. Everyone has their idiot days. That's why in life you have to forgive people when they are having their idiot days, because I'm sure you would like to be as much forgiven when you are experiencing your idiot days.

4. There is no point pushing someone to do something when the person doesn't like it. Again, this is related to my father. On the other end, if someone likes what he/she is doing, nobody has to push him/her to do the thing.

5. From time to time, I may disagree to Empire Magazine's opinion. Bourne Ultimatum number 1 movie of 2007? Come onnnn.

6. My brain is getting weirdly active with all the disturbing dreams O_O This is somewhat changing my perspective towards the 3 letters, in a morally better way by the way.

7. The movie "4 days, 3 weeks and 2 days". Jamie Lynn's pregnancy. Both are related to pre-marital sex. So what's your take on pre-marital sex? I'm somewhat more and more against it (at least I try to).

On a lighter note...

8. Christian Bale is such a shy person in real life lol... which sort of makes him more endearing :D

9. Mango and Topshop sale already!! Arghhh I want to SHOPPPPPPP. :( :( :(

Falling Slowly...

2007-12-20T12:48:00.000+08:00

Arghhh a tune from a little movie (as Steven Spielberg calls it) "Once" has been stuck in my head for the past few days :( :( well it's a nice tune. At least it's not as annoying as Feist's "1,2,3,4" when it's stuck in your head haha. I wonder, since Broken Social Scene will be heading to Singapore next March, if Feist will be part of the tour teehee.

Anyways, I'm so excited that Maroon 5 is coming to Singapore!! Yayyy!! So if anyone interested, please tell me asap! Thinking of getting the $185. The more the number of people going to the concert, the better! :D Never mind that all the tickets are for sitting. Why no standing? Standing more fun....

So for the past 2 weeks, my life's cycle is internet, playstation, E! entertainment, movies and more movies.. except for the last weekend where I took intensive basic photography course in Darwis Triadi School of Photography. I thought the basic photography course was quite useless... since I've known 3/4 of the things beforehand. But I found the last section, which is on basic understanding of lighting, very useful. I want to join the intermediate course!! :D So exciting!

Speaking of movies, I've watched quite a few recently. Let me try to name the movies I've seen recently.. Hot Fuzz, Once (duh!), American Beauty, Fight Club, Waitress and Superbad (not forgetting Rescue Dawn as previously mentioned). Firstly, let me say I find Superbad superbad.... I hate it! I don't find it funny. Hmm for your information, I didn't find Knocked Up that funny either. So does that mean I won't ever really like Judd Apatow's comedy? Maybe. I'm still willing to see 40-year-old Virgin though. If that's really bad, then I will never going to see Apatow's other comedies hehe. Some of the jokes are gross, and I don't find the policemen storyline interesting at all.

Hot Fuzz and Waitress are funny. Fight Club and American Beauty are thought-provoking. Once, which is sort of a modern day musical, is simple yet enjoyable. So overall, no really bad movies so far other than Superbad haha.

I watched American Beauty with its scriptbook on my hand. Well, at first, I was hoping to study the movie with its script, so that I can see how a director imagines how he will shoot the movie as he reads the script. And I want to see how actors improvised too. Turns out that the script version in the script book is likely to be already adjusted to the movie.. and so it's not in its original state :( My first reaction was what the heckkk. Talking about original scripts, the Simpsons DVD somehow includes scripts of several of its episodes in their original state. I somehow enjoy reading them.. because of some of the comments and adjustments made to the original script I was able to see how a script is developed into a feature length.

I first glimpsed American Beauty on Channel 5. Guess what? After watching the American Beauty DVD, I was really disturbed over how much Channel 5 has edited the show. There is at least one important scenes edited out in Channel 5 (there is one which may be edited out due to nudity). Oh my gosh... I'm so never going to see m18 and r21 movies in Channel 5 ever. I still feel disappointed over how Channel 5 butchered Old School lol. Maybe I'll complain if Channel 5 does the heavy censoring thing again. I mean, since they have to censor lots of things, they might as well show PG movies. There should be a lot of good PG movies around.

I'm planning to catch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind today.. I remember the last time I saw it, I felt really contented haha (maybe it's the Michel Gondry effect).

I love the new Dark Knight (aka Batman) trailer! Ahhhh. And I'm hoping to change the skin of this blog... if I have the time.

Until next time.

Interlude

2007-12-10T21:07:00.000+08:00

I'm currently in Indonesia right now... and have been excited about Jakarta International Film Festival '08 (or JIFFest for short). Quite a number of artistic films will be shown... including several potential Oscars 2008 contenders. The movies that I want to see are:

1. 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (a Romanian film)
2. Atonement
3. Persepolis
4. No Country For Old Men
5. La Vie En Rose

JIFFest will even show 881 of Singapore hahaha. The tickets to the festival are considerably cheap compared to normal cinema tickets. The tickets are Rp 20,000 each (approx. S$4), compared to Rp 40,000 or 50,000 of normal cinema tickets. No. 2 and 4 will open in Singapore. If I don't catch Atonement in Singapore, I'll still be able to see it in Hong Kong. Hong Kong will show Persepolis, not sure for Singapore. No Country For Old Men will only open in Singapore in March, which is a long way to go! So I'm hoping to catch it now. La Vie En Rose is already out on DVD, so if I don't see it now, I'll still be able to see it on DVD.

You may be wondering why I have not talked about 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Well, it's because I've seen it hahaha. It won top prize in 2007 Cannes Festival and the reviews for it have been positive all over the place. I have a feeling the movie will never make it to Singapore. So I went to see it with high expectations.. with my brother and his girlfriend haha. Guess what I react to the film? I was extremely disappointed.. :( :( I think the aftermath of the movie screening is comparable to the aftermath of seeing Happy Feet, where I complained non-stop for like an hour or so hahaha. Firstly, the sypnosis in the JIFFest guide kind of give me a wrong idea of the story. Throughout the movie, I was like wanting the storyline to move on... because the film was really going sooo slowly, and I wanted the movie to move on to the next scene (which I thought may be more exciting.. like a climax). Instead... the movie ended abruptly. And my first reaction along with my brother was "What the heckkkk....?". In my opinion, the movie doesn't even have a climax hahaha. One of the s***tiest movie I have seen to be honest. I guess my appreciation for indie movies does not go to such a high level O_O Maybe I'll have to see this movie again when I'm older.. in order for me to appreciate it. Sorry but I have to give this movie 4.0/10. A waste of 120 mins.

The other movie that I had watched in these few days is "Rescue Dawn"... starring Christian Bale hahahaha. Christian Bale wasn't hot and attractive in this movie sadly. Anyway, this movie is brilliant, especially its cinematography. Most of the movie's scenes are filled with greeneries, which makes it more remarkable over the fact that the cinematography of this movie wasn't boring at all. It's beautiful! Well, I really like this movie, because it manages to portray a grim scenario with some sense of humour. I love how the story really promotes hope. As always, cough, Christian Bale's acting was brilliant. I kind of cringed when he bit a snake... hahahaha. I'll give this movie 7.5/10.

That's all for now. I'll update again soon.

Expected

2007-12-04T17:52:00.000+08:00

I forgot to write I watched "Half Nelson" again 3 days ago. Yes it revived my obsession with Ryan Gosling again. He's hot in that show okayyy. Anyway, I love this show now more than when I watched it for the first time. I saw more things, like the characters' mannerisms and how some parts of the story run parallel to each other. This movie is definitely going into my study book like sooooon :) :) (which means watching the movie again). For this movie, 8.0/10.

Life Isn't That Simple

2007-12-04T17:36:00.000+08:00

Helloz. So I'm currently in Singapore, and will be heading back to Indo on Friday. I have been doing some stuff here for the past week. I have been helping out with my friend and her friend for some filming, and the last day for filming will be on Thursday. 2 days.. and I've already learnt a lot from the process (and in some ways about myself too). Can't wait to learn more things :)

I saw a movie yesterday and today. Yesterday I saw "Talk to Her", which is by the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and today I saw "Elephant", by the director who did Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant. Hmm, I must say I like the latter more, though the latter took some time for its story to unfold. "Talk to Her" is mainly about these 2 guys who each had a woman that he love that is in coma. I will not really call those women whom the guys love their partners, because well the women are not really their partners as the story unfolded. There are some beautiful, delicate scene. I kind of like the scene where one of the guys was changing one of the 2 women's clothes. The way he treated her body was really delicate. At times the story was quite a drag, but at least the ending ties every thing up and makes perfect sense. So I'll give it 7.0/10.

I watched the first half-hour of Elephant in Hong Kong... before stop watching it for some reason. So today I went to watch the whole thing, and the movie makes better sense. You must be really patient when you watched this film. I seriously think some people will find this show stupid. The story takes a lot of patience to see it unfold, and as the story progresses towards climax, you understand more what is going on. I like how some of the scenes are repeated, and the transitions from one character to another. In the end, you'll realise that this movie only revolves around a few key scenes, before we reaches the climax of the story. I really like this narrative style of the story. Well, let me just say the ending was tragic. Some beautiful shots here and there too. And oh yes, thanks to this movie, "Moonlight Sonata" is currently stuck in my head. 7.5/10 for this movie.

I'm going to catch an Indonesian show "Opera Jawa" tonight in the national museum. It won Singapore International Film Festival award earlier this year. Hopefully I'll like it :)

I forgot to write...

2007-11-26T20:00:00.001+08:00

... that I have won a consolation prize for the Simpsons Sound-A-Like contest!! :D

The prizes are:
1. The Simpsons complete Season 1-3 DVD Collectors set,
2. a Ipod sleeve,
3. a adult T-shirt,
4. a home movie kit, and
5. a towel.

As Homer will say, "Woohoo!".

I immitated Marge's voice (which is supposed to be high pitched and coarse).. and have to read a line that goes something like "watch the Simpson movie at Shaw cinemas".

I hope I don't become as stupid as Homer after watching Season 1-3.... Hahaha.

The Buildings Are Changing Into Coconut Trees

2007-11-26T19:36:00.000+08:00

Soo my trip in Hong Kong is coming to an end. I'll be going back to Xin Jia Po tomorrow, then about a week later or so I'll be heading to Indonesia.

For the past 4 days I've had guests lol. My primary school friends, her sister and their parents (my mom knows her mom). Well, it was fun to have them at home haha (though my Mom can't help complaining sometimes). We went to the Peak, some beaches, Mongkok etc in Hong Kong. We also briefly went to Macao, Zhu Hai and Shenzhen (with more complaints from my Mom). Overall it was okay, though I didn't shop much cause winter season is soo not the time to shop! :( This time around, in terms of fashion, I only got bangles from H & M. HAHAHAHA. There's simply nothing else that I want to buy! LOL. Hmm the Roberto Cavalli collection for H & M is totally sold out everywhere, except for some faux fur coat which costs HK$2000 (=S$400 O_O) and some leotard print jeans lol, which I am so not interested on hahahaha. I shall use the money for some other time :)

Ahhhh I hate it. My mom has been complaining a lot lately. My father and I had noticed the increasing pattern of this. I don't know how to explain it. Hmm, let me just say sometimes, because of her complaints, it made my Mom seem to be ungrateful and pessimistic :( Example: Argument 1: She always says my father is an impatient man. Truth 1: Since they've been married for about 28 years, I kind of salute my father for being able to stand my Mom's nonsense. Argument 2: She makes it seem that I don't love her. Truth 2: Halllllloooooo, like what the heckkkk. Have I not loved her, I would not have been able to manage my anger and hold my words... and would have just said the AWFUL truth to her. I guess the point is... nobody is perfect on this earth. For every person with negative traits, there are always the positive sides. Well sometimes it's hard to see the positive sides, obviously. SIGH. Shall stop ranting. I shall borrow some books on anger management soon for myself..

This brings me to an interesting question that my GP teacher asked my class once:

Do you think, provided with a gun, that you're the type of the person who would kill someone?

Do not get the wrong idea. I will never do harm to my Mom... because that will be an awful mistake and sin.

HA HA... HA HA

2007-11-20T21:35:00.000+08:00

So.. yesterday I finally saw Eastern Promises and Lust, Caution. Back to back! Hahaha... thankfully it wasn't a draining, mentally exhaustive experience.

So let me start with Eastern Promises, which is one of the best reviewed movies this year. I kind of had a high expectation over it... and am so glad that it succeeds in fulfilling its expectation! The pace of the movie is just right, and there are a lot of enjoyable, tense moments to enjoy in the film. I love how the movie kind of hooked me. Though the ending could have been better (longer duration for the movie), the movie still ties up okay. Something that I really really love in this movie is Viggo Mortensen's character and his acting. Superb superb. I somewhat hate and love the character haha. But there are just some scenes where I wanna hug him or something lol. Hmm, be warned that there are some scenes which are really really violent and disturbing. I have a feeling in Singapore they cut the bathroom scene, and this will really really disappoint someone lol. If there are opportunities to see the movie uncut, please do see it. This movie is going to my favourite list! 8.5/10

Psst.. Viggo has a good bod for someone in his 40s haha.

Next is Lust, Caution. It's going to close soon in Hong Kong.. and yet so many people still watching it! Anyway, the movie is good. But it could have been better. Great acting by both lead actors. I wonder sometimes how actors manage to convey so much things through their faces, without speaking much. Of course speaking of this movie, I'll have to talk the much-hyped scenes of 3 letter word. Yes I do agree that it's an integral part to the movie. Because it speaks a lot of things about the relationship between the two characters. There are passion, love between the two and also a sense of confusion and pain for the female lead. I somewhat was disappointed by the ending, but how else could they end it? At least the ending somewhat manages to portray Tony Leung's character in the movie (he can be such a sadist, menacing, cold man in the show). I'll give this show 7.0/10.

It Still Hurts..

2007-11-18T21:06:00.000+08:00

Grrrr.... today I went to Central.. on my way to Stanley Market (which is rather disappointing), and I still feel saaaddddd about missing Batman shooting last week :( :( I guess it's hard to understand the feelings (my mom can't understand it)... and it'll take some time to overcome it. Ahhhh.. so close yet so far :( :( I almost brought my Batman Begins DVD along to Hong Kong. I guess now I'm sort of thankful I didn't bring it.. because if I did, I think I will be wallowing in my sorrow even more lol.

Anyway, I didn't do much things today. I went to the new mall next to my house, Elements. It's dammmnnnn biggg O_O Got Zara, H & M, HMV, the designer boutiques and some good restaurants (according to my Mom). It has a cinema too haha. I bought lots of things from HMV last night. HK$600s O_O I was shocked to see the total amount too.. but then 6 DVDs I bought were all worth buying (since they're more of rare DVDs, not commercial kind of film haha). I'm so happy that I've finally got Science of Sleep and Works of Director Michel Gondry DVDs :D :D (the latter costs HK$200ish hahaha).

I watched Science of Sleep yesterday... and yes I was totally mesmerised by Gael Garcia Bernal (and his hotness). There are just some scenes in which I wanna hug him, lol! Okay besides the Gael factor, there are other things that make this film enjoyable. There are several very creative scenes (all by the crazy mind of Michel Gondry) and funny scenes too (especially the Stephane TV shows hahaha). I love how actually the love between Gael and the main female character is very sweet, and rather innocent haha. Gael's character is more of a boy trapped in a man's body haha. I think I'll watch this movie again (when I feel like doing so). I'll give it 7.5/10.

I'm hoping to watch Lust Caution and Eastern Promises tomorrow! Hahaha just now Lust Caution only left front seats, so I didn't want to watch it lol.

I want to watch the new Cloverfield trailer!!! But the public com i'm using now doesn't have any speakers lol.

Okie, till the next entry. Take care people :)

Yo! What's Up?

2007-11-16T23:45:00.000+08:00

Helloooooo. I'm back! :D Yes, A level is officially over :) :) I'm sooo happy! It ended with Chem H1 MCQ today haha. A bit anti-climax after human geography paper yesterday, but oh well, it's still over *smiles like mad*

So, I'll be off to Hong Kong. That's the first thing in my to-do list in the upcoming 6 months holiday :) There is a list of things that I want to do, such as:

1. Learn how to drive a car!
2. Take an etiquette lesson.
3. Take a make-up lesson!
4. Take a photography lesson.
5. Take a film directing course.
6. SAT! SAT! :(
7. Learn how to cook
8. Watch lots of movies (and study some of them)
9. Read books (to add to my imagination coffin)
~~8. Meet Christian Bale~~

Well number 8 is obviously impossible. I still can't get over the fact that I could have met him last week :( :( 4 hours away from Singapore. Halloooooo. I want to see in person whether he looks as good... in the video of the HK press conference he looks damn fine and yummy! (ehem) Oh well, I've tried to comfort myself by thinking that he'll most likely to come back to Hong Kong in the future Batman installment haha. I think this is most likely, and I do hope it will be :)

Can't wait to buy some DVDs... err I'm gonna get Science of Sleep!! I want to ogle at Gael Garcial Bernal! (yummm) It's quite a sad thing that he's as tall as me haha *cough*

I saw "Lars and His Real Girl" today. It's not a typical love story. Yet it is really really sweet and thoughtful. There are moments in the movie where I was laughing how absurd some scenes can be, but at the end of it, there are just some scenes which I couldn't help going "aww" or wanting to cry. Some scenes are sooo touching to the extent that you forget how absurd the scene may be haha. I'll give it 7.5/10 :)

I'll write again soon once I have something to write. Oh I dreamt of Ryan Gosling last week haha.. and I hugged him in the dream :D :D heh. He was sooo damn hot in the dream lol.

Anyway, until the next post. To all the people who still have their A level, jia you! You're going to end soon! Don't give up!

Cheers and tons of love, Olivia

P.S. I'm so excited of getting Alice in Wonderland tomorrow!!! :D Loving Q magazine's free CD too :)

9 More Days.. Shrieks in horror

2007-10-23T16:38:00.000+08:00

This is it... 9 more days.. 2 years worth of hard work and efforts. I'm scared, yet at the same time excited for life after JC (especially the 6 months holiday). Hmm I really do hope that whatever happens to my A level results my future will be okay. Somewhat sometimes I do feel that A level is like the key to my future and if I flunk it I don't know what I will do. Well at least I found some comfort reading some education articles for GP (what the heck?), surprisingly.

I keep telling myself to stop talking about the back of A level exam. I have to tackle it from the front, not the back haha. Sigh, these two years I've been telling myself if I can complete my JC education, I can do anything in life! And yes, I'm still sticking to those words of mine :)

I found last week in my wallet a note which I wrote ages ago (I think secondary 1 or 2). I somewhat totally forgot about it, and it got dug into the deep mantle of my wallet. Well it's mainly about perseverance and appreciation of life. If I remember correctly, I think I wrote that when I was really annoyed with a friend of mine in Secondary school, and wrote it just in case I feel sad about it or some other things in life. Haha what an interesting reminder it brought to me. Somehow it makes me smile.

To people who are in the midst of mugging for As, jia you okay! Last lap already.. we must give our best shots :)

Cheers and best regards, Olivia.

Days of Our Lives

2007-10-05T17:42:00.000+08:00

Whoa.. 5 days more to graduation O_O JC life is sooo fast and short. So stressful too. Yet I keep telling myself, if I can handle the stress from JC life, I can do anything in life man! I think that statement will be true :D (or at least I hope haha)

Yes, last year during the J2s baccalaurate, I was like wondering the real significance of it. I guess at that time I haven't really been able to treasure the friendships I've had from ACJC. It's only this year during GYLC that I realised something important about friendships. Friendships take efforts to build and time to appreciate! I'm glad I'll see the graduation ceremony in a different light haha.

I have so many things I want to achieve in life. But sometimes I do have the fear that there'll be a point in time of my life where I'll run out of things to go after... and that my suicidal tendency will appear lol. This year I also realised that there is secretly a violent side of me.. hmm I'm thankful nothing have come out of it so far.. but I'm hoping to learn more of self-control as life progresses...

I need to nap. I have been sleeping for about 5.5 hours lately.. and been taking naps! haha.

Hmm the song below "Playground Love" by Air really defines lust in my opinion. It's from the Virgin Suicides OST, and now they keep playing it in Chivas Regal ads lol. Sometimes listening to it makes me shudder...

I'm a high school lover, and you're my favorite flavor
Love is all, all my soul
You're my playground love

Yet my hands are shaking
I feel my body reeling
Time's no matter, I'm on fire
On the playground love

You're the piece of gold
That flashes on my soul
Extra time, on the ground
You're my playground love

Anytime, anywhere,
You're my playground love.

Say Something!

2007-09-11T23:09:00.000+08:00

I shall write something here to show that this blog is ALIVE haha.

Anyway, yep prelims are totally over (2 weeks ago lol). I'll be getting the papers back this Friday.. what the heck that's fast. So today I found the first hint of the prelim result.. well at least for Maths haha. At least I passed lol. Anyway, wish me luck for the result people (I'm so screwed for Physical Geog.. sigh gotta live with it for 2 more months.. I must start "pretending" to love Geog).

So, I went to Hong Kong and Bangkok during the Sept Holiday. Made a nice discovery in Hong Kong of a new place to shop!! As usual, majority of the stuff are for small sized people, but at least I still found some stuff haha (self-denial here). Hmm people, if you go Hong Kong, visit Argyle Centre! It's in Mongkok. It somewhat reminds me of this wholesale clothing place in Hong Kong, except for the fact in Argyle Centre you can buy stuff per piece, and the price is relatively cheap :) Hmm I also visited H & M in Hong Kong. Didn't get anything haha there's this dress that I like, but it's S$60... and I don't think it's worth that price lol.

So I spent 4 days in Hong Kong (it's sooo not enough, with Macau trip especially). Sadly, luck kinda deserted me this time around in Macau. I lost HK$400 gambling hahahahaha (by slot machine lol), and my dad seemed to lose his touch with Roullette lol. The Venetian, which is the newest Macao casino, is damn huge. Hmm scratch that. It's damn HUGE, GIGANTIC. You have little chance of finding your friends or family members if you get separated in the Casino, cause there's little division of sections in Casino, and you have to walk a lot of distance across the casino. And I really mean a lot. The first time I saw it I thought the phrase "Coast to Coast" haha Westlife ahhh.

Then I went to Bangkok. I bought quite a lot of T-shirts lol (thanks to my brother). There are some funny ones, like a picture of Mona Lisa with markings on her face of where to carry out plastic surgery (botox, lifting, breast augmentation haha). Again, people who wear small size clothes will find tons of clothes in the places (I sometimes do envy those people hahaha.. though I still love my body :P). Oh yeah speaking of body (sorry being random here), I read a book today that says, while women thinks that good body is one criteria guys look in girls, it's actually not really a top criteria. The top criteria, according to the book, is personality. Remember that, girls! :P

I've been writing a lot of things in a book, which is filled with my thoughts, especially in creativity areas. Strangely, I've been noticing more things about human behaviours for the past weeks lol. And usually, after observing them, I'd just have these random questions (some quite thought provoking) which will appear in my mind. I realised over the holiday, yep sometimes my family can be really screwed up lol. But there's an important point I realised. It's that I'm dependent on each of my family member, regardless of how irritating they can be and also their flaws. When I had a problem with one member, I'll turn to another one etc. Conclusion: Family makes life interesting + Having only one child when I grow up is a no no no no (yes, I found another reason to support this over the holiday haha)

On the Comex Fair 2007, I bought a new camera! Hooray! It's my first ever SLR camera.. which is sort of more on the professional side (lens can be changed and detached). I had fun getting to know it over the holiday haha (thankfully I brought it). I managed to familiarise myself with it with the help of the manual book lol. But the problem now is.. there's supposed this Canon software to help download the pictures to the com... but I can't find it everywhere (in the CDs or in the camera)... and the manual says it's in the CD lol. So for the moment, I have to use Photoshop to get around this problem lol. I so want to solve this problem. And yes, my PC monitor is deteriorating. FAST. Hahaha. It started deteriorating since I came from GYLC lol. Soo.... I think I'll be getting new PCs soon. But I don't know how soon lol. I'll most probably get DELL haha. I kinda regret not buying it during Comex. Oh I also bought DVD recorder in Comex haha. Yes my VCR broke down.. so I needed replacement lol. So far I'm loving my new DVD recorder :D :D I have a lot of broken things this year :( Ipod has released its next generation of Ipod yippee. I'll get that one too haha since my ipod mini battery spoilt already haha (it's struggling). But I'll wait for a while.. in case there are any bugs in the new ipod for a while. So yeah.. I do feel guilty for spending lots of money this year.. especially for gadgets haha.

Anyway, yes A Level is about 50 days away. Yes people, it's coming!!

I'll write again soon :)

p.s. iron man trailer has been released.. at least it got lots more footage compared to Batman's which is... quite appalling to be honest haha. Somebody must be smiling about Iron Man.

Hmm what do you get when you integrate Batman? Answer: Bruce Wayne hahahahahaha. Original state whattt.

New York

2007-08-19T18:11:00.000+08:00

What the heck... I dreamt of going to New York last night O_O well by the end of the dream I haven't made it to New York, but was going to lol. There are some stuff in the dream which I think will never happen in real life. First of all, I asked my mom in the dream how on earth did she get a US visa. And she said that the embassy official just approved it. Hmm.. in real life, visa application will be soo much more complicated for my family than in the dream O_O long story!

You know seriously until now I still can't believe that I actually went to US (and New York!!) last month. Sometimes I just had the feeling that it was all a dream, then I realised it can't be a dream simply because of the friends I've made during the last trip (real life friends, not imaginary friends lol). There's one part in the dream which is quite amusing. Because in the dream the month before I had just gone to New York, and then I was going to New York again. So I was trying to find my New York travel guide. And found out I have THREE such guides in my house lol. In realy life I only have one (the one I got from New York hotel).

I've promised myself that eventually I'll visit New York again (and again until don't know how many times haha). There's still that feeling of unfinished business there (photo-wise, shopping-wise, sight-seeing-wise, all thanks to time shortage.. and that irritating guy). I wouldn't even mind residing there.. but I sure know that at one point I still want to go back to Jakarta and reside there eventually. It's just that feeling of.. regardless of how pathetic your hometown can be (well at least compared to Singapore), you still love your own hometown lol (regardless of the pollution and the traffic jam). I feel that during the last New York trip, I failed to capture the essence of New York in my photos (terribly!). Most of the pics are like tourist pictures haha. I guess I can be pretty adventurous, and so I tend to like capturing more of un-conventional pictures haha.

Yes I shall stop rambling about New York. Because I'll never stop rambling about it if I don't stop myself. It sure is a special city to me :)

I..

2007-08-15T21:46:00.000+08:00

hate exams (don't everyone?)

and.. regret taking Geog :( Tons of memorising. The ultimate example of a school subject with lots of memorising :( And, in my opinion, in the end, only human geog will be useful. Most probably not physical geog. Maybe MOE could chop the two up...

Anyway, my friend told me the strangest dream I've ever heard about me. Yes, she dreamt of me. Well 2 weeks ago, I dreamt of her. And we were eating sandwich in some sandwich shop haha. I don't know why I dreamt of her, I only see her in Econs class lol. Apparently, her dream.. is soo less innocent than what I have of her. She dreamt that I was getting married (HAHA) and apparently it was some arranged marriage (LOL) and she didn't see my husband (fortunately.. or unfortunately haha). The funniest part is the next part. She said in the dream she asked me... "I asked you how was it doing it for the first time?" and I supposedly answer "erhm, it's painful". HAHAHA. No she's not one of the people who usually share that kind of convo my other friends and I have sometimes during our recesses. I didn't know she can have such a WILD imagination too (of course another conclusion can made from the dream lol! :D)

Speaking of a dream, I dreamt of meeting Adam Levine of Maroon 5 on Saturday lol. It was.. quite hilarious. He was the concierge of a hotel I was staying over at, then when I was checking out, he happened to be checking out and recognised me, saying "you again!" haha. Then we walked around. Somehow in the middle of the dream he needed to go somewhere to check out something and though we promised to meet again later in the day, obviously we never did lol. Sigh if only I had known the technique of lucid dream earlier lol. (Lucid dream is the kind of dream where you know you're dreaming, and you can sort of take control of yourself in the dream). Please don't get the wrong idea! :P

Apparently the next day I googled him. And the first headline in Google news is

"Levine says: 'let's talk about sex'"

What the heckkkk?!! haha he was like saying people should be more open talking about sex.. and should have more sex O_O errrr.

The next article it talks about Levine and his currently girlfriend. And it says: "We had sex the first night we met." Errrrrrrrrrr that's way too much information.

Thankfully I didn't dream of him again that same night O_O I think it'll be quite weird and nightmarish.

Ya.. Yason Bourne

2007-08-05T21:06:00.000+08:00

I have just immersed myself the whole of today studying Transnational Companies for Human Geog O_O compared to the rest of the globalisation chapter, it's such a bore... well at least until the last part which is about Sony Electronics haha which is quite interesting :)

So, only 9 more days to Prelims. Like WhAt ThE HecK? Haha. I hope to cover as much as possible this week, especially with the National Day holidays. Wish me luck for the exams please! :D

In a sad news, my apartment has officially gone en bloc :( :( :( :( It got a headline in Friday's Straits Times, saying "Jackie Chan apartment went on sale" haha. I didn't know Jackie Chan own a unit in my apartment O_O So next time can I say, "you know what, Jackie Chan was my neighbour"? Haha. Obviously I won't say that :P

Watch this parody of Bourne Ultimatum trailer. It's very very hilarious :D

Undead

2007-07-23T17:51:00.000+08:00

Hello. My life has not been that interesting. That's why I've not really blogged lol.

My days are now packed with revision plans :( Well at least I try to revise. But sometimes the plan went awry and I got distracted lol.

I watched The Fabulous Life of Amelie Poulain again last week. I still found it beautiful. This time around, I got more of their jokes. Maybe it's because I'm older now (some of the jokes are adult jokes). I watched it about 3-4 years ago I think. I realised a few days ago that prior to watching Lost of Translation this year, the last time I watched it was Sec 2 (with Leona) which is like 3 years ago lol. Oh the joy of re-discovering of the beauty of those movies which you loved, but just couldn't remember why you love it in first place. Next movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!

I've got so many plans for after prelims.. which is bad :(
1. Buy DSLR camera (COMEX fair is coming!!)
2. Watch Lost and Ugly Betty
3. Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. Watch Amelie and Lost in Translation again (maybe)

Oh ya, my brother is selling t-shirts online. The website is http://vig81.multiply.com for girls shirt, and http://vintage81.multiply.com for guys shirts. As you can see, the t-shirts are the vintage kind. Very affordable. About S$18 to S$25. Go and check it out! :) If you want anything just email me okay? Actually I got some shirts with me now.. the ones in my bro websites will take some time to come if you order them. I hope that I can open a LIME flea market stall in September. We'll see how it goes :) (it costs only $20 to set up!)

Cheers.

08/07/07

2007-07-08T20:20:00.000+08:00

Oops. 2 weeks and 2 days since GYLC, 2 weeks since my last (very short) blog entry, and Live Earth had just ended haha.

So let met tell you first about GYLC briefly. I learnt a lot of interesting about other cultures *cough cough* and surprisingly about myself as well. Well, it's the first time of me traveling overseas without my parents or family members. It's a very eye-opening experience haha. Since I'm the adventurous type, I wasn't scared at all (unlike that guy who is someone says is supposedly "my favourite person" ewww). Anyway, thankfully I didn't feel homesick (though I missed Chinese food really badly.. the Chinese food there is quite horrible). My friend in GYLC from my country group, South Africa (who also shared room with me in Washington) and I frequently go to pizza and pasta shops for meals (she suggests it! haha), so that explains why I was really sick of pizza and pastas at the end of GYLC. I really learn the fact that sometimes, you can't just compromise with some people! Because, if you keep compromising with some types of person, you'll totally lose out haha. Hmm I'm not the kind who can just leave person for another friend. I'm not that mean okay! Haha. Because I don't want that same thing to happen to me. Hmm let me talk about the good sides of GYLC. GYLC taught me more to be more outspoken and more of a confident speaker. We had to do a lot of talkings there, so I guess that makes you more comfortable speaking to a group of people (about 24 people in one country group). During the trip, I was thinking I must speak up more, if not I wouldn't make full use of the conference. I had to continuously challenge myself. So, on the trip to United Nations, when a person from my country group got the honour of asking a question to the speaker in United Nations, I volunteered myself, and I got selected! Haha. Yup. So at first I wasn't really sure what to ask, and so I just generated some possible questions for the actual day. I came up with a list of questions, and in the end I asked, "What kind of programmes do UN have to engage the greater involvement of youth in Developing Countries?". Interestingly, in addition to answering that question, the speaker also somewhat answered the other questions which I had on the list :)

Hmm, GYLC made me realise how hard it is to really make good friends within such a short period of time! (12 days to be exact). First of all, you have to find someone whom you share several similar interests (so that at least you can talk about it). Secondly, I appreciate the fact that it's soo much easier to relate things and talk things with people of similar culture. Sometimes I just don't know what more to ask from people of other countries. This is especially bad for people who are quiet, and doesn't really talk unless you talk to them haha. I guess I treasure my friends more now :)

Of course, as those people whom I've talked to know, the most shocking thing happened on the last day of GYLC during the dinner cruise. It's totally culture shock man! O_O

Here's my country group picture, South Africa. It's the only picture in which every member was in it. My faculty advisor Philip was in that picture too.

Do you see any cute guy? Haha. In my opinion there are at least two :) (some of my friends says one person looks like Prince William haha. Spot him!)

Well after GYLC, because my flight was only available the next morning (United Airlines service totally sucks), so me and 2 other people extended our stay. Well, I'm sick of repeating myself over the accidents. So I'll just say "my favourite person" ruined the day.

So what have I been up to recently? Well, people from US came back for holiday! Hahaha. It's really fun catching up with you all.. and seeing you all being amazed by the massive transformation of Singapore haha. I also caught some movies. Transformers and Death Proof. I'll review it on the next entry teehee. Other than that... I soo need to really study! I haven't really mugged :(

Well Live Earth had just ended. Before yesterday I somewhat thought maybe it'll have the impact of Live 8 concerts. But after watching it for a few hours yesterday and doing more research on it, hmm I think that it may not have the similar kind of impact. Lack of proper goals? Agreed. Too little famous artists lined up? Agreed. Private jets for artists contributing to pollution? Agreed. But then again, as one artist argued, the price paid for the concert may bring greater benefits and exceeds its cost. Which may be right. Well, I'll just wait for the outcomes first.

Tomorrow's Monday. Sigh school again :(

._.

2007-06-24T20:47:00.000+08:00

I'm back in Singapore...

:D

:( :(

Last Time Before I Say Goodbye..

2007-06-09T16:08:00.001+08:00

Hello! Let me start reviewing some movies first :D

Zodiac (7.5 stars out of 10)
This movie is brilliant. It's well above my expectation. Knowing how the original case turns out, i thought that the movie would have a horrible ending. In the end, the directors pulls of the ending with a great style. I love the cinematography of this picture too. It creates a very bleak and tense atmosphere. It's a great thing that I'll be able to catch this movie once again in my flight to US. Can't wait to study it properly this time :) Oh on the last note, I thought Mark Ruffalo's acting is damn good (better than my handsome even haha). There's one scene particularly in which he successfully make me pity him haha. Jake is hot (of course, especially as the movie progresses towards the ending), but nothing beats Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey's acting, who is able to potray casualness and seriousness at the same time in his character and makes him look endearing despite his beards and old look *cough cough to someone*. Great movie.

Shrek 3 (6.0 stars out of 10)
Another three-quel. Though this is not as bad as Pirates (maybe it's because of it's shorter duration. 2 Shrek watchings= 1 Pirates watching). Some of the jokes are funny. But there is generally a lack of funny jokes in the movie. Most of the jokes are plain, or not funny at all. The only scene which really cracks me up is related to Snow White, because it reminds me of a friend of mine who told me that she is very disturbed by Snow White's singing in the original cartoon. Haha. The story really lacks ingredient. They should have come up with a more elaborate, creative storyline! I really hope that this will be the last Shrek installment. If there is another one, I won't be watching it.

Oceans 13 (8.0 stars out of 10)
I can't stop laughing when watching this show. It is so much better than I expected (especially after watching Oceans 12, which is a total letdown). I love the Oprah joke, though I think the 2nd part of the joke is funnier. George Clooney is charming as usual. And great cast chemistry in this movie. Al Pacino's character is kind of limited. But who cares? Prior to watching this movie, I read about reviews lauding this movie's cinematography, and I certainly have to agree with that. There are some unconventional ways of shooting. I'm going to watch this movie again to study it. This is the best summer movies for 2007 so far and the best three-quel so far (we shall see if Bourne Ultimatum can beat this). Go and catch it if you haven't :)

This is my last entry before heading to Washington tomorrow. 715 am flight tomorrow morning bleh. Though it's later than the other group hahaha. I hope everything works out well, and that I'll enjoy myself in US. I'll only be back on 23 June. So yeah.

Until the next entry :) Take good care of yourself (and don't forget to study, since I won't have much opportunity to revise there). Let me warn you, if anyone said "I don't have time to study during the holiday" when the school reopens and when the person has 4 week holiday, well I don't know what I'll do haha. I've warned you.

So take good care of yourself :)

Cheers and best regards, Olivia

Batam: 1

2007-06-02T00:12:00.000+08:00

I love how sometimes we don't have to see people's expression to know roughly how they're feeling :)

Darth Vader + Statue of Liberty

2007-05-29T20:05:00.000+08:00

Hahaha, this is what you would get if you mixed Darth Vader with Statue of Liberty. This sculpture is part of the Vader project art exhibit, which involves influential underground artists making their own intepretation of the famous Vader helmet. The exhibition is being held in Los Angeles.

You can read an article on the exhibition here

More pictures of Darth Vader (in different reincarnations) here

Photo taken from here

Come to the dark side....

Transformer Newest Trailer - Looks VERY exciting

2007-05-27T23:14:00.000+08:00

This trailer looks very exciting! I never expected myself to be quite interested in Transformers movie haha. Be prepared to be transformed :) Enjoy the trailer.

Forgot to say..

2007-05-27T22:55:00.000+08:00

Forever 21 Sale is SOOO disappointing. So little things for sooo much publicity :(

Can't wait for Mango and Zara Sale haha. Though I think Mango sale will be more exciting and crazy (if you've never been to Mango first day sale, you don't know the experience of real sale, people!)

Cheers.

It Won't Be Soon Before Long

2007-05-27T22:16:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone. Let me update you on some movies that I've caught the past 2 weeks.

28 Weeks Later
This is really beyond my expectation. I watched the first one (28 Days Later), and didn't really fancy it. So, when the good reviews started appearing for this movie, I was curious about it. So I decided to watch it (not forgetting to pull someone along haha). Anyway, let me warn you the movie started brilliantly, I think it's the best way that the movie could be started. The movie really keeps you on the edge of the seat most of the time. My heart felt weird after watching the show haha :S Hmm, London looks damn freaky without people! I think the Rage virus (which is the zombie virus) is the worst way for the world to end :( The only annoyance to this movie is about the father (highlight to see spoiler) Although he had become a zombie, he kept following his children, which doesn't make sense (end of spoiler). Anyway, 7.5 stars out of 10 for this movie.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley
The wind may shake the barley. But it fails to shake my heart! :( This movie is very disappointing for me. I found it too monotonous. I have really high expectation going to this movie screening, because it won last year's Cannes Festival. The story is quite predictable, and I found it too heavy for me. I dozed off in the middle of it for about 15 minutes haha. It doesn't help that Picturehouse doesn't allow food inside, so yeah. So, 4 stars out of 10 for this movie.

Pirates of the Carribean: At the World's End
Looking at the trailer of the movie a month ago, I had really low expectation on this movie. And then the bad reviews started pouring in. But oh well, it's a blockbuster movie, which is the kind of movie you just have to see haha (unless you really don't want to see it). So anyway, the movie as I expected turned out so so. Thankfully I didn't fall asleep. It was 2 1/2 hours long O_O The ending is very lame and stupid. Some scenes are very draggy. The characters have too many agendas of their own. I hope they would just stop at Pirates no. 3, and not make no. 4. Cause I think it'll be disastrous! So, 6 stars out of 10 for thie movie.

4 more days to Batam, 13 more days to US :)

Oi!

2007-05-18T23:03:00.000+08:00

Topshop sale up to 50% nowww. Haha. I went to check it out today, but the sale section was too jumbled up, so I decided to come back again tomorrow. Sadly, the top which I've been wanting to buy is not on sale :( However, there are some other interesting tops which I saw to them, and their price have really gone down O_O

I went to check out Kate Moss Topshop line too. It's very disappointing so far. The dresses which I like are not in yet I guess. I guess I will have to wait for some time.

I saw this very nice shirt dress today in Gap haha. It's white colour. Ehmm.. about $120 something. Haha. I was thinking of waiting until my US trip. Fingers crossed I'll have the chance to do some shopping there haha.

Hmm today I realised two things:
1. Window shopping makes me happy
2. If Mango goes on sale tomorrow, I'll go bankrupt haha. So many nice things!

I'm going to sleep early today. Hopefully my flu will get cured by Monday :D Can't wait to be fully fit once again.

This year has been quite tough compared to other years. And I know it'll be tougher after the June holiday, after my 'honeymoon period'. I can't stop cursing already.

Cheers, Olivia.

P.S. I'm not going for Christina Aguilera's concert.

Inspiration

2007-05-14T21:50:00.000+08:00

Some random pictures from Vanity Fair's 2006: the Year in Photos portfolio which I really like. Do check out the rest of the pictures at
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2006/12/yearinphotos_portfolio200612

The next pictures are taken from Vanity Fair's First Impressions: Fifteen Years of Vanities Discoveries at http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2006/12/van_retro_slide0612.

I especially love the Keira Knightley picture (I seriously think it looks so much better from the Vogue's Wizard of Oz spread! :D). Enjoy the pictures!

Error Avoided

2007-05-14T21:36:00.000+08:00

There's something wrong with my "Create Post" page in my blogger home. The font, text, picture buttons etc are all over the place. Thankfully I found a handy solution from the Blogger Help Group haha.

So anyway, my US visa application has been granted :D So.. here I come GYLC! Haha. Well it's not that easy. You see, the SQ flight to New York is fully booked :( So I've booked United Airlines just in case my waiting list for SQ doesn't get confirmed.

I watched Spiderman over the weekend. Well, what do I think of it? "It's like that lorrr." Hahaha how badly do I feel like saying that. It's satisfactory. No wow factors that will make you want to watch it again. And the ending is tooooo drama. There are too many characters, which makes it hard for the movie to develop the back stories of the new characters. For example, the movie could have just done without Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn actually. Their characters are very minor in this movie. One last thing that bothers me is that... there is so little Venom! Like what the heck. So much hype over Venom, and he only appeared for like 15 minutes :( Overall, I'll give the movie 6.5 stars out of 10. Spiderman 3 could have been a sooo much better sequel.

Hmm Tobey Maguire somewhat reminds me Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes. You know, Peter? :D Peter Petrelli is so hot *sighsss*. But NOT Nathan Petrelli. Whom I found very very very very very very very very very ugly.

I'll most probably be watching 28 Weeks Later and The Wind That Shakes Barley this week. You may ask why would I want to watch 28 Weeks Later. Well the ratings have been surprisingly good, and it's written that it's so much better than the first one (28 Days Later) which I found so-so. So, of course I want to watch it (no, I'm not going to watch it because of Cilian Murphy).

Can't wait for weekend (though it's only monday). Sigh :) Did anyone check out last Thursday's Urban? What a coincidence really.

Olivia

Fashion Rip Off

2007-05-04T23:17:00.000+08:00

I've got nothing to do, so I should post you some interesting fashion news. Take a look at the fashion copies. It's quite interesting.

Hmm now Diane Von Furstenberg is suing Forever 21 for copying the former's Cerisier Shift Dress. Here's the side by side comparison.

The left side is Diane's dress, while the right side is Forever 21's. Very closed eh? So high street fashion, is it a blessing or a curse?

Source of pictures:
http://www.invademycloset.com/shopblog/2007/03/21_burning_ques.html
http://shesabetty.typepad.com/shes_a_betty_single_girl_/2007/04/diane_von_furst.html

Gone For A While

2007-05-04T21:23:00.000+08:00

Hellow. Sorry for the lack of updates! Life has been pretty stressful unfortunately. First it's the Batam trip thing (which is torturous to handle as the deadline approaches) and then there's some problem with my family going on (which is a sudden thing). Sometimes the pain was just unbearable that, yup, I have to shed some tears (well so far it's been 2-3 times this year) at home. I guess it's good to let go off the pain, rather than having it welling up inside you.

So let me talk of some good things now. I've finally received my paycheck for the freelance photography job I had. $300! Ka-Ching! Hahaha. So happy! It's my first paycheck. Hope many more will come in the future. And 2 weeks ago I've finally got the booklet for GYLC preparation. Now I have to apply for my visa. Wish me luck :)

I watched Phantom of the Opera two days ago, and it was quite brilliant. Except for the singing whose words you cannot decipher occasionally haha, especially 1-2 of the female leads. Other than that, brilliant. The set is amazing.... jaw-droppingly good. The costumes are well-designed and intricate as well. I must say that watching the theatre version of the play is so much more interesting and engaging than watching the movie haha. After watching Opera, I'm more motivated to go and watch Sir Ian McKellen's performance which will happen in July. Now that I got a nice view of how the theatre hall looks like, I kind of know better which seats will be good to get for the performance.

After watching Phantom of the Opera, Stephanie and I went to Glutton's Bay besides the Esplanade. Since I only ate a small Chicken Pao for dinner that night (due to time constraint), I was ravenous after the performance. So I ate Mee Soto, which is good! Seriously good, not good because of my hunger. Then I ate Kaya Fondue, which is fantastic fantastic and fantastic idea for dessert! It's very good. If you have the chance, please go and try it!

Another of my Charles and Keith sandals has retired :( That's 3 pairs of broken sandals this year, which is a record.

I passed my NAPFA today! Yay! Hmm in my school we have to get at least Silver to be considered passed. I almost got bronze, which is not good, because of Standing Broad Jump. I hate Standing Broad Jump because you feel a lot of pressure casted by the watching eyes of your friends, and because there is a high tendency of falling, which happened to me on my first attempt (I'm nursing blue black on both of my knees). Nevertheless, the main thing is that I passed! :D No more NAPFA test in my life muahaha.

I haven't watched Spiderman. But I heard it's not that good. I think I'll only watch it in 2 weeks time. Well better late than never.

Okie, that's all for now :)

P.S. I still can't believe Edward Norton is going to be Hulk. At least Liv Tyler as the love interest will be a good choice. Another thing, for Time Traveler's Wife, it's been confirmed that the couple will be played by Rachel Mcadams... and Eric Bana O_O What an awkward pairing. I never imagined Eric Bana as Henry. I have always imagined Henry as geeky sweet haha.

P.P.S. Zara's dresses and shoes are soooooooooooo adorable! Too bad I can't afford all of them. Shall wait for sale.. and shall start saving up.

This Year's Such a Rollercoaster Ride.

2007-04-14T21:54:00.000+08:00

:( :( :( I got C for PW. Like what the heck :( :( :( I put in so much effort into it... and I'm rewarded with C. I'm guess I was really unlucky to get that supervising tutor of mine. Totally useless.. and the person makes you think as if you're doing fine... when actually the person doesn't know what the person was doing. Even though the person tend to write more comments on my works compared to others', I realised now that they were still pretty useless too.

Anyway, I must overcome this sadness and move on with my life! Well, I gorged myself with Ben and Jerry's yesterday. I'm pretty sad that my weight now is 67 kg :( normally it's 65 kg. Soooo... I shall start doing my routine night exercise again (which includes a lot of crunches). Eh I read somewhere that actually it's more effective to exercise at nights, which is rather coincidental haha. Interesting huh.

My freelance photography job is coming to an end. I just have to send them an invoice and high resolution pictures. I'll write how much I'll get soon :) Anyway, I'd really want to save up this money for GYLC. Since I still have the feeling that I won't get much sponsorship (though I haven't started writing sponsorship appeal letter for GYLC ^^'). Speaking of sponsorship, the sponsorship appeal letters for the Batam Trip had been sent to some places, and two had got back to us. One says no (in a nice way), the other's answer was rather vague. "We had started processing your request". Hmm.... hopefully that means good.

This year is such a bipolar year. When it's good... it's really good. When it's bad... it's really horrendous. My Mom told me that a person born with Snake horoscope face lots of obstacles in the year of Pig. Haaaaaaa. I guess that explains some of the things that have happened so far. There are a few points this year where I just felt like crying like crazy. Whether it's about school stress or about friendships, well it happens sometimes. I guess it's good to let off the emotions if you can't take it anymore.

Last weekend, I finally watched Lost In Translation (again). Contrary to someone's belief, I fell in love with it all over again. It's sooooo beautiful and such a creative film! I noted a lot of technical and actors' expression now that I watched it again. I'm happy that I've chosen the correct movie to start with my movie studies :) One thing that really amazes me about this film is how the director can convey intimacy between Bill Murray's and Scarlett Johansson's characters, who really have a platonic friendship between them. This is especially conveyed in this scene, which is one of my favourite:

Notice that Scarlett's leaning her feet against Bill Murray, while Bill Murray is touching her feet, showing some sense of closeness and friendship between them.

I watched "The Namesake" on Thursday. It was fine until the last 3/4 of the show, where it became very very very very very draggy (until 4 people left the theatre halfway). It's like, "Oh the movie is gonna end." And it doesn't. Then again, "Oh the movie is gonna end." And it doesn't again. This goes on until I gave up wishing the movie is ending haha. One question that left me pondering too is what's the moral of the story? I mean yes, it's mainly about the understanding of the choice of the name of one of the characters. But is that all? Anyway, other than that, the movie is extremely visually appealing. Maybe I shall revisit the movie to study its technical aspects. However, my favourite scene of the movie is when the lady puts herself into the shoes of a prospective bride, who lives in America. I think that scene really speaks volume, despite not having any word uttered. Without the draggy ending, this movie would've been a fantastic one. 6.5 stars out of 10.

I'll write again soon :)

Olivia's Secret Window

2007-04-09T18:34:00.000+08:00

Crisis Over..

2007-03-31T01:26:00.000+08:00

Ha! I thought this week of mine is gonna be filled with troubles and problems and so will be tight.

No 1. The crisis on Tuesday has been solved. I've talked to the person.. and at least hinted to the person about it haha.

No 2. No more Drama commitments! I did sewing on Tuesday and Wednesday till 9.30 pm and 6.30 pm respectively. Helped to go and buy some of the stuff too.

No 3. I thought I'll be miss a part of Topshop fashion show today, since it commenced at 5 and I finished school at 4.30 pm. Fortunately, it started late (at 5.45 to be precisely) haha. It's my first time attending fashion show. I thought the materials for the clothes are rather plain. Not much pattern :( After the show, we went to the party at Topshop Wisma. I didn't know what to get to spend my S$10. In the end, I bought this nice butterfly ring for $16 ($6 minus the voucher). Thankfully I didn't really spend much in Topshop, because later when I went to Forever 21, there are some tops which I really like :) I'm still deciding which one to get... One is blue colour with flower pattern, the other is this dress which really reminds me of one of Topshop clothes O__O Haha.

Going to sleep now. Sigh, why must someone rent out Lost In Translation when I want it? :(

At last I've paid for GYLC tuition fees! Yayyy. Waiting for acceptance and application letter for visa application haha.

Cheers :)

P.S. I think my iPod's battery has spoiled.

Explained.

2007-03-27T22:28:00.000+08:00

Oh my gawd. I've just received a sms that almost make me want to throw my phone against the wall. I guess I'm reaching my limit.

=( I'm feeling sad.

=(

2007-03-27T22:21:00.000+08:00

Close we used to be,
But you drifted away from me.
Could not be as close as before,
The awkward silence when it's just two of us now.

I want to say that
I don't know you now,
But part of me still wants to hold on
and revive this friendship
Make it everlasting I'll try...

You may call me selfish,
For wanting you for myself,
But I never wanted you for myself,
Now you keep ignoring me.

Don't you know it bother me
To see you ignoring me
What's with the everlasting promise
We made a year ago.

Please tell me you're not aware of the pain
you're causing me
Cause if you do I'll be so hurt
Too hard to forgive you
I've learnt from someone in the past,
I promise I wouldn't let you feel lonely,
even if you keep ignoring me.

Brokebag

2007-03-25T20:54:00.000+08:00

My brown bag broke today :(

What's with the list of broken things this year?

7 Days to April.

2007-03-24T22:25:00.000+08:00

Let's have a proper blog entry. So.. my terms are over! :D Which means I can afford to shake legs for a while haha, well at least study-wise. Drama costume is starting on Monday. Though the girl in charge said she'll allow us to bring the clothes home to sew on other days besides Tuesdays or Wednesday, it remains to be seen if she sticks with her words (cause well, for drama sometimes things doesn't go as what you heard of them). Anyway, I think my upcoming week will be supremely packed. I need to start shooting proper abstract shots! Shall start tomorrow (cross my fingers that the weather will be good). I'm going to start catching up on my Maths too haha.

Anyway, on Thursday after my final paper, me and a group of friends went town and watched Music and Lyrics. Hahaha, the show is surprisingly very amusing! Never expected it to be that funny. The movie's theme song is sooo brainwashing ("But 'PoP!' goes my heart..."). Even though the ending is predictable, I thoroughly enjoy the show. Well, it's good to watch such feel good movies from time to time :) The chemistry between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymoore is great, and the movie is filled with witty lines and jokes haha. Drew Barrymoore is so pretty in the show. Wouldn't mind watching it again on DVD. 7.5 out of 10 stars.

Oh ya, I found out that Children of Men DVD had been released!! Yayyy!

Huh, there's something wrong with my Windows Media Player. It would no longer play torrent for no clear reason. So now I'm using DivX to watch torrent. If there's no torrent, I'll feel quite sad cause then I can't do Heroes or Ugly Betty or Desperate Housewives marathon :(

Oh ya, I broke my 2nd sandal in a month today. Oh my gawd. You know after I broke a Charles and Keith sandal, my Mom said, "Haha, URS sandal is more durable I guess." And today it broke haha. Though I've worn the URS sandals for 1 years now, while I bought Charles and Keith sandal on November. I so need to find a new pair of flat sandals :( My search in Charles and Keith and URS just now yielded no result, instead there's a pair of shoes in Charles and Keith which I'm thinking of getting. Meanwhile, I have to find a new pair of flat sandals! So, today was the first ever time I walk around Orchard Road with slippers haha. Thanks Steph, without that pair of slippers I'd have been walking Orchard Road barefoot.

Later.

Supposedly

2007-03-23T23:09:00.000+08:00

I'm supposed to be watching "Lost in Translation" now. I've been wanting to watch it again for quite some time....

Sadly, the DVD can't work. Ha. Ha. Haaaaa. Whyyyy?

So much for kidnapping it from my brother's DVD collection haha.

I want to start filling up my sketchbook...

That's The Way It Is...

2007-03-18T13:19:00.000+08:00

Hullo. Oh no, the terms are coming! :( It's coming fast! (It's starting tomorrow). Preparation for Terms has been quite okay surprisingly haha. Hopefully I can maximise my time for Econs and the remaining Geog preparation. I haven't really prepared for Econs...

The NUS quiz was okay haha. My school sent 3 teams, and 2 teams, including mine, didn't pass through the preliminary round (only 4 groups out of 70-ish group can make it to the final). Thankfully, one of my school teams got through haha.. and they went on to win the quiz!

Yesterday I had a very strange encounter. Okay, it's more of freaky. I was waiting for my bus in Grange Road, when this man approaches the bus stop, and sat near me. He asked, "May I know what time is it?", and I told him the time.

Then he started introducing himself, and then he started asking me question. Like my age, school... and even my relationship status O_O I was really starting to freak out by then. But I don't want to offend him by moving to another seat, since there's only two of us in the bus stop. He was saying that usually when he talked to random people, people would ignore him blah blah.. and somewhat inside me thought maybe he shouldn't ask personal questions to them. He asked me, "What bus are you taking?", and I mentioned 2 buses. Then he replied, "Oh same bus". Only later then I realised that he could only take one of the buses, because he's going to Alexandra Road. Sadly, the bus he could take came first, and I reluctantly boarded the bus. Thankfully my mind was still kind of working, and I decided to sit near the driver cubicle, for fear anything wrong would happen. And he decided to beside me. Argh. I was really sitting on the edge of my seat, cause I don't know for what apparent reason he decided to put his hand over my chair for a while, and then I think he realised my discomfort. Then he started asking me, "Are you okay?". At first I said yeah. He was quite close when he spoke to me, which really bothered me. Finally I asked him, "Are you stalking me?" He said, "No. Am I making you uncomfortable?" And I said yes. Then I asked him, "If you're not stalking me, then where do you work?" And he said, "Alexandra. I can give you my work place's telephone number..." But I refused. Finally, 1 stop before his bus stop he was like saying "hope we are now friends, and that you won't remember me." I think he meant won't forget me. By then I just wanted him to go off the bus. And he did in Alexandra Road. Oh my gawd..................... my heart was beating awkwardly throughout the whole ordeal. I think I am so not going to take that bus number for quite a long time. Thankfully I don't usually take that bus to go home or school. And, he offered to shake hand with me like several times, and so by the end of whole ordeal, I was really disgusted with my right hand and can't wait to go and wash it.

Hmm, somewhat I thought why did the encounter happen to me? Does it have some message? Somewhat thinking back, I have very very little of sympathy for the man. Is he a lonely man or something? Still he really freaks me out. It's strange how you somewhat can find sympathy amongst paranoia.

Another interesting things that I learnt from the quiz.. learn to give more to others, and never under appreciate other people's hard work. I learnt the latter from the teachers :( who did the opposite stuff. The other 2 groups doesn't seem to exist under their eyes... which is sad. There's one girl I know who actually really really want to make it through the finals. I guess both of us are kind of doomed from the start due to the circumstances.

On the last note, 300 was fantastic. It is one of the movies which I won't mind watching again! Even though it may be historically inaccurate, it is shot in such a beautiful and original manner. Well, majority of the film is shot in front of blue or green screen, with effects added after the shooting. I love the brownish tone of the movie overall...... now I know that actually red can really stand out in brown. Hmm, though the movie is about 2 hours long, I was never bored for one second. This movie is very action-packed. Oh by the way, I didn't drool over the guys' abs. I think they're too... squarish O_O Some of you may disagree. Haha anyway, I guess this is one movie where both girls and boys will enjoy. Lastly, Rodrigo Santoro (from Love Actually) looks feminine and comical hahaha. If you're watching this movie because of him, haha be prepared to be disappointed and embarrassed =D 7.5 stars out of 10.

Cheers.

Movie Reviews

2007-03-11T21:40:00.000+08:00

Time to catch up with movie reviews!

1. Sin City
2. Dreamgirls
3. The Lives of Others

Sin City (6.5 out of 10 stars)
Prior to watching this movie, I read a number of good reviews about it. I heard it was really loyal to the original comic book as well. So, as you would have guessed, I thought I would have liked the movie a lot. Well, the opposite is more true after I've watched the movie. Some parts of the movie is really boring, and kind of silly in some sense haha. I dozed off in the middle of "A Dame To Kill For", the part which has Clive Owen in it. You see, even Clive Owen can sustain my interest in some parts of the movie! Haha (though his red sneakers caught my fancy). Haha, anyway at least I learn some things about cinematography. The way they shot it kinda gives me some inspiration for photography. However, those photography ideas I'll only be able to carry out if I've managed to scrap enough money to buy professional lighting haha. In conclusion, this movie is not everyone's cup of tea. I guess the Sin City comic lovers would love it. That somewhat reminds me of something I read about 300.......

Dreamgirls (6.8 out of 10 stars)
First of all, do I think that this movie is overhyped? Well kind of, though not to the extent of Pan's Labyrinth in my honest opinion. Anyway, I still enjoy this movie! I thought the casting was perfect! You see after watching the movie, I thought Jennifer Hudson is a much much better singer than Beyonce Knowles. But.. come to think of it, Beyonce has more star power than Jennifer (well, at least at the moment). The costumes are nice too! I must salute the Dreamgirls for learning so much dance steps and songs O_O There are some parts of the show where I just wonder how on earth do they remember so many dance steps haha. However, there are some parts which I found quite boring, though at least I managed to get by it haha. Of course I thought of Jake Gyllenhaal when the song he sang in Saturday Night Live was sung (properly) by Jennifer Hudson (I've attached the Jake video below). At the end of the show, you'll realise that there are neither bad guys or good guys in the show actually haha.

The Lives of Others (7.5 out of 10 stars)

I never expected this movie to be really really good. I guess it really deserves the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Anyway, this is a German movie about a guy from the East Germany secret police who are tapping a couple consisting of a theatre actress and a playwriter. As the story progresses, he becomes more and more obsessed with their lives. Hence, the title of this movie. I love how the intricacy of the movie and how the different moods are conveyed in the movie. The story was kinda delicate, and though I found the ending was kinda draggy at first, the last scene of the movie kinda ties up the whole movie. Beware though you may have some questions left in you after the show. But the questions aren't that important, and are better left as mysteries in my opinion. Go and see this show if you like art films! (or even if you don't like art films, give it a shot! haha)

I'm going to watch 300 tomorrow... yippee!