Two bad movies.. in a row!
Before you even think about watching these two movies, please read the following and save yourself some time.
The first one I watched last Wednesday was 'The Lake House' starring Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock. Reason being, it's Keanu & Sandra reunited after
Speed! Gosh, little did I know that it was an adaptation (or copy) of the Korean movie,
Il Mare. Hollywood remakes of Korean movies just doesn't do it... because if it was a Korean movie, you'd be more forgiving as it is often predictable - overdramatized, crying sobbing actors to the details of their mucus flowing out, lovey-dovey sugar-coated love stories etc. Put Keanu & Sandra in the picture and it just doesn't seem right. Nothing makes sense and was it even a romantic movie??? Doesn't help that they are living 2 years apart (however that happens) and 90% of the time are not shown together on scene anyway. Don't watch it!
So anyway, I thought that was bad, till M. Night Shymalan's 'Lady in the Water'. Watched it at midnight, thinking it was a scary movie.... and like one critic wrote
"The most frightening part of the movie was how bad it was" LOL!!! Thumbs up for the sarcasm. The movie is nothing but a extremely try-hard to jive mythical bedtime story with modern day living - only problem is nothing jives. And I just don't get why he has to appear in all his movies - this one's really pushing it! I don't see great directors like Steven Spielberg appearing in his movies and yet he is famous. Love the movie critics' reviews below:
"There is something bizarrely compelling about the movie. It's slower than watching a train wreck but invokes that same level of disbelief." Los Angeles Times"Crazy as this might sound, it turns out that self-indulgent ramblings designed to put your children to sleep are pretty much the opposite of art." The Globe & Mail (Toronto)"Has the strengths and weaknesses of a one-man show."
San Franscisco Chronicle"You won't see anything else like it this summer, and you'd be really glad about that" One Man's Opinion"None of this is fun to report from a critic's perspective. I'm a Shyamalan fan who greatly admires what he's trying to do, but Shyamalan's desperate desire to be the next Steven Spielberg has grown painful to witness." The Seattle timesNuff said. You decide.
Le Fried Chicken..
I finally realized what is going on.... I'm becoming a fried chicken... in other terms.... burnt out! Was reading this article on the symptoms of burning out, and it's freaky when you start to relate!
Loss of motivation, demoralized, dread getting to work everyday, trapped in an unwinnable situation, doing the bare minimum yet coming home feeling drained, feeling antisocial.... hmmm, bad bad signs. Was driving at 60km/h 10 mins to 9am, hoping for a massive jam or you know, those 'truck overturning at peak hours' or 'some stupid car breaking down in the middle of the road' or 'silly police convoys' incidents that must happen during peak hour traffic.. but none of that happened!
But all in all, I still have to get
out of it. I am my own worst enemy... and sometimes the danger is you don't even have time to take a breather, to take a step back but I'm glad this weekend, I do have some to spare, hopefully it will help. Gotta get out!!
10 reasons why it is impossible to keep fit in Malaysia
I've been trying to go on a diet for 1 week and a half but failing miserably. I have succumbed to list down 10 reasons on how difficult it is to keep fit in Malaysia!!
1. There's food everywhere!!! You'd never go hungry here, thanks to the 24 hour mamaks & hawker centers
2. My parents show their love via food, food and more food... you can never go hungry in my house
3. Everytime you want to diet, there's some buffet invitation (today), project dinner (this week!), project lunch (2 weeks time), wedding dinner (last Sat & again in 2 weeks time) or BBQ party around the corner (weekend)... which I can't escape because of commitments etc...
4. Salads are expensive, not readily available & not fresh!
5. I spend most of my time at work, sitting in front of my laptop. My only exercise/breather is walking to the toilet for toilet breaks
6. Going to the gym is too much effort
(ok, ok.. excuses here) :P
7. There's a massive food fund for my project snacks & they are stored in my drawer next to me
8. Malaysians only eat, shop, eat, shop, sleep and eat some more.. there's nothing else we do on weekends (or weekdays!).. (as testified by Jason, my Aussie friend who visited for 2 weeks)
9. I love eating too much and exercising too little!
10. The drinks guy never understands what I mean when I say "
Kopi, kurang manis" --
*watches in disbelief as kopi man puts 4 tablespoons of condensed milk into cup* Alright, I will try harderrrr.. I promise! :)
Forza Azzuri!!! World Cup's over :(
This early morning marks the end of the World Cup & back to normal life routine for most people. It's amazing how a game such as football can get all nations together to speak the same language. It's also amazing how I got interested to actually watch the football matches in the World Cup... as my friend reminded me just now, of how I was so disappointed at the guys who ditched the jazz bar for the England-Paraguay match at the beginning of the World Cup fever. I told them..
"Is it really that important that you have to watch the match?? What's so nice about 11 guys running after a ball?"To satisfy my curiosity and being fed up of being ditched for football, I decided to watch a match. I think the first was England vs ... can't remember! England's match is sooo boring. Then, I started watching Italy vs Aussie... Brazil v Ghana.... England v Portugal... and on & on.... and realized how exciting the match actually is! When you watch it live, you never know what's going to happen next, and every minute counts - team dynamics can change, the scores can turn around and never underestimate the power of a good coach in controlling the game! :) So, it's not just bout chasing the ball huh..
Yes, I got
hooked! Started to get wake up calls to watch the Semis... and then the Finals this morning. Man, I am sooooo tired now with only 2 hours of sleep. Soooo happy for the little blue Italian men! Everyone said that they were just pretty boys, well some of them really are, but at least they showed that they can play too! That's a double whammy! It was a dramatic match, very sad that Zidane had to mark the end of his career with a headbutt.. nevertheless, shit happens.
It was a moment of unsung heroes... like Grosso who took the last penalty shootout. All the highly proclaimed heroes, Thierry Henry, Zidane & Totti did not shine through. Much credit is to be given to Buffon as well, who just won the Best Goalkeeper award! (
Woohoo!) And of course to Marcello Lippi who strategized it all. Never underestimate the power of teamwork , which I think the Italians did very well & improved over time.
Forza Azzurri!!
Picture from Fifa World Cup website
Well, for the France fans, at least Zidane won the Golden Ball award - so that's a real redemption to mark the end of his career. He truly deserves it.. I mean, everyone makes mistakes. Cheers to a rather unusual World Cup (i.e. Brazil and Argentina got knocked out!) & I wonder if I'd still be so crazy about football. Highly unlikely, ask me in 4 years time! :P And yea, this is the first time I got my face painted...it's FUN, I should be in Germany!!
BUM-med out, BUM-mer, Love BUM!
Last weekend was ze weekend that we've all been toiling with sweat and blood for - the weekend of BUM - my company's annual trip that everyone looks forward to each year. Being in the organizing committee made this year's event even more memorable, seeing that everyone had a great time, and all our planning was finally executed! Themed CoPa BUM, in view of the World Cup, everything was cleverly centered according to the World Cup - all games to do with balls. From a non-football fan, because of organizing this event, I am suddenly interested in football... ok, the footballers are cute too, but there are other interesting aspects!! ;)
I had withdrawal symptoms the whole of last week, with the lack of meetings and emails on BUM, since April, my mailbox has been flooded with emails, I've been making advertisements, videos, u name it - everything about BUM. And it's all over!! So quickly!
The weekend at the beach was great... sun, sand , sea & free booze! Met some really great people that I didn't know before this, and it's always awesome to have young, like-minded colleagues! I got dunked in the sea this time!! AND the pool... luckily it was only twice, some people got dunked repeatedly ... and did I mention time & again, I can't swim!! It's inevitable though to be dunked in the pool during BUM. Had a fantastic time with the Committee, planning & chilling, though sometimes tiring... but all in all, it was awesome. Could have been crazier, if not for the Quarter final matches taking up 2 whole nights there!!
Geez! Wish it was longerrr... and had more time to just relax at the beautiful beach... Oh well!
Viva La CoPa !!* Still recuperating..*
Mesmerized by Chocolate...
So, after a long hunt for a new mobile phone... seeing that I've still not had the luxury of seeing colors on my mobile, or the joy of hearing polyphonic /mp3 ringtones or snapping irritating candid photos of people using the mobile (considering I'm such a photo freak), I finally found it.
Mesmerized by its sleek, slim and sexy black coat with a shiny silver square, lighting up only when you slide it.. the red glowy touchpads come to live, along with the screen, illuminating with a matching red wallpaper. Not to mention, the sound effects that come with it, the soft tingle as you slide it up and down. If you don't know already, I'm talking about the LG Chocolate phone. I swear it is targeted at women like me, fully mesmerized by its aesthetics, not thinking too much about functionality.
However, I must say that for such a small & slim gadget with the innovative touchpad, it does have quite a full pack of functions that come with it - mp3 player, camera, video camera, my much loved organizer (yes, with multiple alarms... those who know me, know that this is an absolute must), Net browsing, bluetooth etc. Not like I use most of these functions anyway.
The whole phone is made to charm & mesmerize, all carefully thought of by the designers I presume, so that anyone who uses it, will forget about some of its shortcomings. No memory card slot? But it slides beautifully! 1.3 megapixel camera? What do you expect.. it's so slim & sexy, you forget... oh at least, there's flash! Haha... Definitely not a phone for the techie! And I do know some techie guys who also fell hopelessly in love with it.
Well, being the guinea pig of this new gadget, for those who are thinking of getting the phone, there are of course, as with all phones, a few shortcomings which annoy me. The USB slot to charge ur phone / plug in USB port / headset is covered by a flimsy little plastic thingy which is very hard
not to break. Well the designers had to think of a way to make everything slim & concealed, so there you go. The touchpad is a wee bit sensitive & takes some time to get used to but once u do, it's a beautttyyy.... and yes, there's so much the phone can offer, but may not have enough memory in the long term! ;)
Nevertheless... I love my Chocolate.
Yummm...
Pictures from GSMArena
