I titled my blog using an iconic quotation from a Shakespearean Play "Hamlet" because it is profoundly based on what everyone has been trying, struggling or dying to be - their true selves. I am still searching for the answer to that question myself and amidst all the faint glimpses of truth and doubts, trudging through the labyrinth of daily life, maybe my blogging will help me unravel my destiny in time to come...
Let me have...
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
the strength to do the necessary,
the love to give to the deserving,
the wisdom to perceive such differences.
Birthday Breakfast Celebrations at White Coffee Cafe at Toa Payoh:
Siew Ching invited me for a early birthday treat at a cafe that I would not have found myself in Toa Payoh Central, near Sizzler restaurant. We ordered two breakfast sets and spent the morning there eating, talking and amusing ourselves with the clumsy waiters there who would misplace our food on the wrong tables, place the bill before the meal started and confused about the billing again. Hahaha. Oh well, all those did not matter that much since I had my treat satisfied. Burp. My Western Food set - the sausages were to my liking but the egg yolk was broken. It was filling at least since I had to make my way early down to the Toa Payoh Central whilst still yawning. A couple of photographs taken after we had our breakfast, talking about photographs, cameras and why some pictures are worth the taking. We parted ways around 11.45pm because Siew Ching still had another appointment while I had another family celebration in the afternoon before going to work.
Birthday Cake Celebrations in the afternoon at home:
My parents always remembered my birthday and bought a delicious chocolate cake, red eggs and juice drinks for a simple family celebration. It's a tradition that has never been broken for all my life and I loved such simple gatherings, with the cake in my mouth and the thoughts of contentment in my mind.
To show my appreciation, I bought a huge packet of cereal prawns for dinner since it's their favorite food as well as mine. My thanks to all my Facebook friends who remembered and gave their timely well-wishes on my wall too!
This movie is probably best compared with Avatar because if the latter is considered the pinnacle of graphics excellence, the former is considered to be the pinnacle of acting for Hongkong movies for 2009. Boasting a formidable array of actors and actresses, the movie storyline is about how a group of ordinary (well, some of them do possess extraordinary martial arts skills) people do their utmost to protect Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary leader who is on an hour's trip to organize some revolutions in Hongkong.
The problem is that The Chinese government of the Qing Dynasty has ordered imperial assassins to kill Dr. Sun in the British controlled colony of Hongkong and both sides clashed valiantly in their respective attempts to fulfill their mission objectives. I am not going to spoil the movie by revealing too much here but you can get a glimpse from the general description of the main characters here:
A Hongkong policeman who is a gambling and a secret mercenary for crime.
A street beggar who punished himself after falling for his mother and watching her die.
A rickshaw puller who is a loyal servant to a generous merchant.
A merchant who lives a secret life as a revolutionary but refuses his son to participate.
A merchant's son who believes that a revolution is more important than carrying on the bloodline.
A concubine who did not wish to see the death of her husband.
An escaped Shaolin monk who wishes to regain his honor to return back to the temple.
A Hongkong police chief who is squashed between British interests and Chinese revolutionaries.
A newspaper editor who is prepared to die everyday in order to print revolutionary news.
A daughter of an exiled Chinese general who wants to repay her father by living his dream.
An imperial assassin who believes that western imperialism has given nothing to the Chinese.
Now...watch the movie to see how their lives, beliefs, fears and honour are all intertwined to clash into a climax along the busy streets of Hongkong for a deadly 60 minutes visit by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
Photos from Memorable Moments in 2009: The Hokkaido chocolate ice-cream dessert from Ministry of Food for me. My lunch outing with Sushi Rabbit consists of a salmon set which tasted quite delicious but the salmon is a little over-fried till it charred on the underside. The Ministry of Food at Bugis Junction can be quite expensive so be prepared to fork out at least $50+ for a decent meal for two. Some Hokkaido green tea ice-cream dessert for Sushi Rabbit, one of my VIP friends who is always flying around the world. Sushi Rabbit ordered some egg-like soup with chicken in it. The portion was so big that she insisted that I helped her finish the food. As mischievous as I was that afternoon, I re-insisted her to finish up all the food before we leave. Hahaha. The spaghetti with sausage was just passable because the sausages were way undersized compared to the picture on the menu and there was little ingredients besides to really make the dish as flavorful as I would have wanted. Still, after a 4 hour KTV session, I am too hungry to care that much that night. The KTV.sg Club people decided to have dinner after the four hour session and we headed out to this Japanese foodcourt somewhere behind The Cathay. I did not know such a place existed so the outing yielded another location for me. This was taken during my first outing with the KTV.sg Club people on an undisclosed date and location. I was most intrigued by the efforts of such an interest club, which is exceedingly rare in Singapore, and it turned out to be a memorable experience because there were really incredibly skilful members who could easily belt out difficult songs and it really livened up the outing. This was the dinner at Marche at VivoCity when I met Da Niu and his wife after so many years apart. Da Niu is doing well with his own company and we had a jolly good evening talking and reminiscing about the old times during our secondary school years. The map of Ferelden in Dragon Age: Origins. It sure looks plain but during my gameplay, I remembered crossing the game continent no less than twenty times and almost every trip entailed some random encounters which was both fun to watch and overcome. Imagine an encounter where wolves actually laid hunter traps for my adventuring party members?? This is a screenshot that I took from the game Dragon Age: Origins. I think this was about the quest to try and resolve some armed/clawed conflict between the werewolves and the elves in the forest. Eventually, I managed to persuade the leaders of both sides to commit suicide to end the conflict since neither of them wished to forgive the other whilst trying to avoid implicating their peoples/beasts to more bloodshed. This was my last lunch for 2009 - Chicken Chop. It's been quite some time since I ate authentic Western food and I wanted to give myself a nice treat before the year ends. 2009 had been a terrible year in so many aspects.
Sesame Street - Yip Yip Martians and the telephone:
This is how I learnt about telephones when I was young. Education on television, especially with Sesame Street and Electric City, was so fun and entertaining, right? Yip...yip...yip...yip...yip...yip.
Channel U is showing a new telemovie called The Promise 《 向日葵的约定》 on 27 Dec 2009 at 9.30pm and I am hoping to encourage more readers to view the movie because I thought it will be a good showcase of acting and songs. The story is about how two young lovers are trying to realize a romance of innocence and purity (the girl is suffering from a aliment which renders her to be child-like whilst the boy is quite lost with his own directions in life). How will all these work out in the end? Stay tuned tonight.
I came to know of it when XiaoHan started advertising her song composition of 《受保護》 on Facebook and wanted the readers to write in to collect the song from Funkie Monkies Productions instead of ripping the song off from the Internet directly.
For those who are interested in the song, here's the youtube video preview (it's not the complete song version) and if you are further interested in the song, please either click on XiaoHan's blog or within the youtube video itself and follow the instructions there to write in to get the song.
I have already gotten my copy of the complete song version from Funkie Monkies through email but I refuse to upload the entire song up here because I think they are collating data for those appreciative of the song and I don't want to spoil their deliberate efforts here. I also want to support the song because the song is completed locally by a local singer and a local songwriter. Long live music by Singaporeans! ^__^
Without further ado, let's hear the shortened version before you decide whether to apply to grab the song from the original producers.
Song Recommendation for Dec 2009 龔芝怡（芝麻）作曲、演唱，並參於編曲的《受保護》 小寒作词
Merry Christmas to all my blog readers out there. I didn't really celebrate this year's Christmas because I wasn't in any mood to do so in any elaborate manner.
It seems the predominant mood amongst most of my circle of friends. Perhaps New Year Eve will be different. Meanwhile, I am just slacking away at home, gaming, napping and treating my parents to a small dinner. Hope all of you are spending the time the best way you deem appropriate. ^__^ Movie Review: Avatar (2009)
This is indeed the one movie you should be watching because the graphics are superbly done and the storyline is riveting, particularly so because of its theme of materialistic greed versus the genuine connection of humanity to nature.
The story revolves around how a US Marine soldier, Jack Sully, who was crippled from waist downwards took over a special assignment from his deceased brother - to enter a new world of Pandora using a state-of-the-art avatar (a genetically modified being created from both the genes of his brother and a native species of Pandora). Although the soldier made a double pact with both the scientific faction as well as the military faction of the entire Pandora expeditionary team, he began to realize how the native species, Na'vi, were incredulously human-like, but with a much deeper appreciation and connection to the natural world of Pandora.
Pulled in so many different directions, and with the time ticking on an all-out battle between the bow-wielding Na'vi and the machine-gun-toting ex-Marines mercenaries from the expeditionary team, Jack must choose his side and be prepared to lay his life down to determine the future of Pandora.
As the viewer, be prepared to be awed by the bewildering variety of flora and fauna on Pandora and be shell-shocked by the stunning battle scenes as both groups clashed fiercely and heroically over the fate of the entire planet. I would not hesitate to give this movie a 5 stars out of a possible 5 because it's been so long since so much effort is being put into weaving graphics, action, acting together and pace them into a heart-pounding and yet heart-rending movie. Don't miss it.
Tycoons: A Business Simulation Facebook Application
I am spending quite some time online playing a new facebook application game called Tycoons. It's another of those business simulation games but I thought it has been able to capture my attention for quite a few days so far because there is actually a good deal of realism within the game. It's highly recommended for any blog reader who is hoping for a feel of what business trading is all about and how business people plan for their investments and returns over commodities such as power, aluminium, oil, clothings, cars, housing and many more.
I am only a few days into the game and am still struggling with trying to hit the level necessary for the building for a national bank and a nuclear power plant. The learning curve is high but with careful use of the game reward points, I think it will be providing a nice platform for some learning on financial management for those trying to develop some business acumen.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Movie Review: Storm Warriors (2009)
Well, the main actors still look so handsome and charismatic but I really hated the storyline of this movie - too much was left unsaid and it could leave viewers pretty confused about why such and such happened. There was too little acting and too much display of computer enhanced graphics that I was a little disappointed because in the original comic book series, the battle between Wind and Cloud was a lot better and much more emotional than the movie could depict.
The story revolves around how Godless, a Japanese warlord, who "somehow" captured the Chinese Emperor and was trying to force the latter to reveal the location of the Dragon Tomb (where the first Emperor of China was buried) to find a relic (which was actually a spine) to gain invincible hold over the entire of China. Wind and Cloud, despite their initial efforts, could not defeat Godless and had to escape while many Chinese pugilists sacrificed their lives to cover their retreat.
Nameless, a supposedly great master, was so seriously injured that he decided to teach Cloud more skills to help to defeat Godless, which eventually laid the foundations of Cloud's mighty swordplay "Ba". On the other hand, Wind decided to take a shortcut by learning the Demonic skills from another great master. This had a terrible price though as Wind could end up as a demon so the former forced Cloud to promise to kill him if he could not recover from his demon state before he entered the training.
Upon accomplishing their skills, both Wind and Cloud went to the Dragon Tomb and managed to defeat Godless in a spectacular display of combat prowess but Wind became more maniacal and actually took the relic and headed off on his own. The Chinese Emperor pleaded with Cloud to recover the relic as Cloud was the only one capable of stopping Wind.
The final scene was how Wind and Cloud slugged it out and eventually, Cloud managed to slice Wind on the source of his demonic madness (an opening on his forehead) and as both of them, along with Dream (Wind's longtime penpal and lover-to-be), plunged from an extremely high mountain cliff, Cloud pushed the other two up while he plummeted even faster into the abyss. The movie ended abruptly there and I thought the ending could have been much better.
All in all, if you are watching for a storyline that made sense, don't watch this movie. If you are already a fan of the comic book series and are looking for the improvements made in making the kungfu display, go ahead and indulge in the fighting scenes, especially the one where Cloud intelligently used his new swordplay to trap the overly-arrogant Godless at the Dragon Tomb.
I would give the movie a mere 2.5 out of 5 as after so much trouble in getting the two main leads to act together again, I would expect a better story development. The fight scenes were over-emphasized at a huge cost to plot layout. I hope Bodyguards and Assassins and Avatar will be much better movies.
Game Review: Dragon Age Origins (2009)
After one week of playing, I finally completed the game and I must say it really provided quite some entertainment in role-playing and satisfaction in making good decisions which led to good outcomes. Of course, I made some bad decisions too which resulted in lost companions, incomplete quests and missing out on items which could have made my gameplay life a little bit better.
Oh well, at least I had fun watching how my Human Noble Warrior fared as he ventured through so many different quest areas to explore, solve quests, move the main storyline and tried his best at shopping for the ideal items to send gifts to his companions. The right gifts would even open up personal quests, which would affect the approval ratings of the companions about the main character one is role-playing in. For myself, I used Alistair (a Templar Warrior), Leliana (a Bardic Rogue), and Morrigan (a Shapeshifter Mage).
The other thing I loved about this game is that the very dialogue options you choose can really determine how the game turns out to be. Answer curtly and you may well have a huge fight ahead of you immediately. Answer intelligently and you may be able to pick the characters and vendors for more information that could lead to better rewards and even new areas of explorations.
It also pays well to read up on those scraps of paper, books and scrolls that the main character and his party of three other companions pick up during their travels. Some will open up new quests, some will provide history on the background of the game universe (which will also earn valuable experience points), while others may provide clues to unhidden quests and procedures in the game. This is one game which will surely penalize those players who only know how to kill anything that moves without doing their reading up on those books and scrolls (all conveniently located inside the journal that the main character carries).
My recommendations for those who intend to start up on this 5-star role-playing game are:
1) Buy the PC version - it allows one to pause in the middle of the chaotic battles to issue specific commands to individual companions, especially when to drink health poultices.
2) Complete the tombstones quest to get the full set of Juggernaut armor, which gives high resistances to various elemental attacks. This set of armor prevented my main warrior character from dying a single time throughout the entire game.
3) Develop a love for cold spells because almost everything in the game has a lower resistance to cold and freezing the enemy monsters give valuable time to reorganize your adventuring party, especially when they are caught out in the open.
4) Be nice to your companions - buy them appropriate gifts and don't be stingy in giving them out to develop their approval ratings for your main character. The personal quests that can be unlocked out of each of the companions are worth the trouble and some major plot developments hinge on whether they will actually comply with your decisions or walk right out from your party - forever.
5) Save your game often - sometimes, you may accidentally click on something that you will regret, be it a dialogue option, a vial of glass, or a door, especially when your adventuring party are not ready to face the consequences.
That's all for the blog post now. Sorry to keep my readers waiting. I wish I could update more about music and artistes for those enthusiastic about news as such, but there simply isn't much happening right now to garner a blog post. I will try my best to look for these meanwhile.
My Western Food set - the sausages were to my liking but the egg yolk was broken. It was filling at least since I had to make my way early down to the Toa Payoh Central whilst still yawning.
A couple of photographs taken after we had our breakfast, talking about photographs, cameras and why some pictures are worth the taking.
We parted ways around 11.45pm because Siew Ching still had another appointment while I had another family celebration in the afternoon before going to work.
