An explosion in a museum leads Lady Kara Kensington, curator Safia al-Maaz, Sigma Forces's secret agent Painter Crowe & his partner Coral, adventurer Omaha Dunn & his brother Danny to a research which brings them to the Arabian desert. The journey proves to be a dangerous one as they need to face The Guild (a secret organization which supports terrorists acts) and the devastating sandstorm. Would they be able to uncover the secrets of a lost city that lays buried in the sand?

Interesting story with an interesting concept but somehow not exciting enough. It's hard to visualise the story with the writer's lengthy and complicated explaination. After Map Of Bones, I have not read any other James Rollin's book that can hook my attention as well.

I give Sandstorm 6 upon 10.

Labels: Book Reviews

Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor in a leading role in The 80th Academy Awards...AGRHHHHH!!!!! I expected it but when I got the news, I still couldn't help but to feel extemely dissapointed for Johnny Depp. It's a rare chance he gets nominated for a strong role but he missed it. Sigh...

Anyway, Johnny Depp brought his wife along and this is what they wore:


Don't like his moustache, messy hair and over-sized specs but he always appears like that:


Daniel Day-Lewis deserves the award. Well, just Johnny Depp's luck to be competing with such a strong competitor.

Labels: Miscellaneous

Ran out of ideas on where to bring Belle for her weekend outing. We wanted to do something interesting, cheap and enriching. Again, it was Thomas who came up with a brilliant idea - Haw Par Villa. I forgotten how long I have not been there. In fact, I can't even recall whether I have ever been there before.

Ok, enough of all the talking. Pictures first...

The entrance




Trying to be funny...


Quite surprised to see the statue of liberty at Haw Par Villa, I always thought they only display statues of Chinese legendary figures


The sumos


Stopping the fight


Attacked


Blending into the background




HELP!!!


Scissors, paper, stone


Impressive


Hold on


This photo is quite scary, agree?


Heroine to the rescue




It was a very hot day and after strolling around for 1 hour plus, we were quite tired already. Proceeded to Vivo City for a meal. Belle & Thomas had so much fun paddling in the water.


Taken outside Xin Tian Di


I had headache that night, ya I know, I'm lousy. Quite an enjoyable day though I made a fuss out of Belle's school work.

Labels: Outings

Young Eisenheim and Sophie are deeply in love but they are torn apart by Sophie's parents because of their social status differences. Eisenheim focuses on his career as a magician and eventually becomes a famous one. During one of his performance, he sees Sophie and finds out later on that she is engaged to the crown prince. But Sohpie doesn't love the cruel prince and Eisenheim plans a plot to elope with Sophie.

This movie is actually a love story but its not the usual cheesy stuff. Stylish, charming, beautiful and mysterious. The magic displayed may be too fanciful to be true but I could dismiss this flaw because of the person executing them. Edward Norton (starring as Eisenheim) is a natural charmer who is bound to attract your full attention like magic. There is a twist towards the end of the film, one which I anticipated only when approaching the last 15 minutes.

A good movie which I will give 8 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Last Sunday I ate some overnight food. 1 hour later, I started feeling unwell so I vomitted. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I vomitted every 10 minutes or so. Then diarrhoea followed. I puked till I had no food in my stomach so what came out was huge amount of yellowish liquid, which I suspect was my stomach acid. What freaked me out was that the yellowish liquid was so much that I could probably fill one full cup! This continuous torture went on for around 1 to 2 hours, till I had no strength, I need Thomas to help hold on to a plastic bag for me to vomit into while I was still lying on my bed. My stomach was churning and I had fever.

Initially, I thought I wasn't going to make it because I never had such a bad case of food poisoning. But after much suffering, I felt slightly better at night.

The next day, I went to see doctor and she gave me 2 days MC without me asking. Today, I'm back to work but still feeling weak.

I swear I would not eat overnight food again!

Labels: Miscellaneous

Jon Arbuckle, the owner of Garfield and Odie, travels to London to look for his girlfriend. His 2 pets secretly follows him there. When Jon finds out, he asks them to be obedient and stay in the hotel room. But Garfield doesn't obey, he sneaks out and is mistaken for a missing royal cat which looks very much like him. The royal cat, on the other hand, is mistaken by Jon as his Garfield. Garfield recieves royal treatment but his life is threaten by Lord Dargis (if the royal cat dies, Lord Dargis gets to inherit the castle). After a few days, the royal cat finds its way back to the castle and he together with Garfield and the other animals cooperate to bring the evil Lord Dargis down.

Garfield is sooooo FAT & CUTEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Without Garfield, this movie isn't really worth watching but with the furball's presence, I am so amused that I laugh every now and then.

I love animals and I am giving Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties 6 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Undercover cop Malcom Turner needs to find inside information to expose the hacker of government top secret files. In order to do so, he dresses up as Big Momma and gets himself a job as nanny of the suspect's household. In the proccess, he becomes good friend with the Fuller family and in the end, finds out that Tom Fuller is innocent. How is he going to wash Tom Fuller's name? Watch Big Momma's House 2 to find out.

Family movie and full of nonsense but not boring. That's my comments about this show *FULL STOP*

I give Big Momma's House Two 4 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

John Rambo, a Vietnam Veteran after being awarded a Medal of Honor, leads an aimless life wandering around the country. One day, he is force to leave a small town which he just step into. When Rambo refuses to go away, the local sheriff arrests him. In the lockup, a policeman abuses him and this causes Rambo to have flashbacks of his unpleasent past experiences. He attacks the policemen and escapes to a nearby forest. In order to protect himself, Rambo needs to use his fighting and survival skills. However, when things start to get out of hand, Rambo's ex-commander arrives at the site to work things out.

I ended up hating policemen after watching this movie, they were potrayed as a bunch of sadistic cowards in First Blood. All of them were like that, except for a young chap. I really pity Rambo, he is so lost and being a good man, he isn't rewarded. Instead, he needs to face nightmares of his shady past. There is one scene of him talking about his friend being blown up by a shoe shining boy, he talks and talks and finally breaks down. He exclaims in the end: "There's pieces of him all over me and I'm trying to pull him off, you know, my friend that's all over me! I've got blood and everything and I'm trying to hold him together, the guy's fucking insides keep coming out!" Quite pitiful but that conversation was abit comical. The action rocks and Rambo rocks. But other than that, this movie is quite normal.

I give Rambo: First Blood 6.5 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

My beloved Thomas dear dear (*shivers*), today is a special day which I want to say once again, that I LOVE U. There might be no celebration today but I don't need one because everyday is Valentines Day to us. So long as we are happy together, loving forever, that is the greatest gift I wish for. Lately, I find that you are less patient and less loving towards me. Maybe I'm being over sensitive or maybe you are in bad mood. I just hope that it's not because your love for me has diminished gradually. Whatever it is, Happy Valentines Day!!!

Labels: Love Affairs

Andrea's wish is to become a journalist but instead she gets a job in a top fashion magazine (Runway) as the chief editor (Miranda)'s assistant. Andrea has to learn to cope with the tedious job and her demanding boss. Being a simple and innocent girl, she finds it hard to adapt to the complicated working environment. But with a never say die spirit and the help of her colleague (Nigel), Andrea starts to excel. In order to do her job well, she needs to sacrifice time with her close ones. Will Andrea lose herself and her relationship? And will she continue in her current job, which she is successful in but drifting away from her dream?

A have to watch movie for all working adults out there. We may not be facing the exact same difficulties as Andreas but while watching, lessons can be learnt. Superb performance by Meryl Streep; I grew to hate, understand, pity and eventually admire her character as Miranda. She is the top reason you should watch the movie, I'M DEAD SERIOUS. Derwin, you should watch it, or maybe you already did.

I give The Devil Wears Prada 7.5 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Based on the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille - a group of American young men who volunteered as pilots to fight in World War 1. Everyday, they risked their lives to fight and protect. In return, they were branded heros and their names remembered forever.

According to some critics and reviews, the movie is loaded with historical errors but since I am not a Grade A History student, this doesn't affect me too much. There is reasonable amount of fighting, romance and touching scenes. Apart from the main character Blaine Rawlings, I am especially concern about the black pilot. Rasicm condemns he and his family and I remember clearly in one scene whereby he was asked about his father's occupation, his answer: "My father was a slave". It just makes me wonder why you can hate and condemn another race so much just because of the color of his skin. Not right at all. Not much WOW factors but still an entertaining movie with the flying scenes and the ever so handsome James Franco.

I give Flyboys 6 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Tom Baker and Kate Baker are parents of 12 children. They arrange a vacation to improve their relationship with their children. Tom meets his competitive friend - Jimmy Murtaugh with his new wife and 8 children during the trip. The gathering turns out to be a continuous competition between the 2 men.

A typical movie that you can watch with your family, for amusement and for fun. Similar to another movie that I had watched before - Runaway Vacation, but Robin Williams is funnier and more likable compared to Steve Martin. Frankly speaking, I have nothing much to comment about Cheaper By The Dozen. All I can say is, watch it if you have nothing else to watch or if you just want to laugh without thinking too much.

I give Cheaper By The Dozen 4.5 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Today is what we Chinese call "Chu Xi", a special day we have renuion dinner with our family.

After my half day work, I went back home to have a quick nap and shower. At night, I proceeded to my mum's place. After my father, brother & his gf reached home, we walked to the restaurant together.

The dinner wasn't fantastic but it's a rare chance to have a gathering with my family. Just too bad Thomas, sis, Melissa & Ben were not around.

What we had:

Yu Shen. A must have dish for renuion dinner, supposingly to signify prosperity.


Leng Pan. I always had this theory on using the Leng Pan and desert to judge whether the dishes in between are good or not.


Herbal Prawns. The best dish for the night.


Braised Beancurd. This isn't part of the package, my mum ordered it specially for my brother.


Abalone with Broccoli.


Shark Fin Soup.


Yam Duck. This dish is abit too oily to my liking.


Scallop.


Red Bean Soup. There was another dish before this, beehoon, but we were too full to eat anymore so we packed it back.


Family photo


Had renuion dinner at home with Thomas & family as well. Didn't take much photos but just to show what we had:

Labels: Family Affairs

The disappearance of all the inhabitants in an Eskimo village... The explosion in Prudhoe Bay... The Russian & American Governments.... All of these are link to the hidden secrets of Ice Station Grendel in The Arctic. Abandoned for more than 70 years, the Omega researchers and some daredevil civilians seek the mysterious experiments hidden within. What awaits them are the dangerous creatures lurking within but more shockingly, the truth behind Ice Station Grendel... Are they able to bear the consequences of their discovery?

My comments: over-exaggerated story. Although this book is fiction, the contents should be at least realistic because of the nature of the story. Ice hunt is my least enjoyed James Rollins book (so far). I would classify this book as Sci-Fi Horror, not really my cup of tea. Trying to be fast paced and exciting but to me, it's still not there yet. However, the romance and relationship between 2 of the main characters is indeed touching. Certain facts stated in the book are interesting to know. Controversial topics about the US government are brought up in the book - a common and hot topic often used as story plots, so much so that I am getting bored of it. I wouldn't specially recommend this book to anyone but I must stress that James Rollins is a good writer, maybe he just happen to run out of idea for this particular book.

I give Ice Hunt 5.8 upon 10.

Labels: Book Reviews

Yes, it's about work again!

Today everyone went out, leaving me alone in the office.

Just when I thought that I can have some peace and freedom, Sam called and said in a reprimanding tone: "Today's delivery has no clamp included, cannot don't have clamp. You go and find spare clamps for them." I asked him somemore questions but he seemed like he didn't want to talk to me anymore.

Walao! It's not my fault there's no clamp. It's our head office, they never pack the clamps in the box, why Sam sound like so angry with me?! Maybe I'm being sensitive...

Then later he called again, asking me to rush a delivery for him in the afternoon. Always like that, giving last minute notice and no THANK YOU. So I need to coordinate with our delivery guy whom gave me nonsense also. He kept complaining about our jobs to him.

Great! Always the case, stuck in between everyone. Forever doing the "dirty jobs". My boss wants to please everyone so he throws all the shit to me. Act like a dog infront of our headoffice colleagues but act like big shot in office. I need to work like crazy just to get daily operations run smoothly and yet my boss thinks my job is easy. He often compare my job to his, COME ON, he is paid much more so obviously he need to go through more stress. In fact, he is seriously overpaid, shall not go into details about this since its confidential. Everyday, he is busy creating dispute between employees. Badmouthed others infront of me, and badmouthed me infront of others. The few managers in my office do whatever they can to exploit the company's resources and still have the guts to complain about other colleagues. I know, its common. Really don't like! CNY approaching and this is what I get, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Labels: Work Affairs

Kimberly Corman and her friends are on an outing when she sees images of a fatal accident that is about to take place on the road. After coming to her senses, she gets off the car and alerts a police (Officer Thomas Burke) that happens to be in the traffic as well. Kimberly's vision comes true and she saves the passengers in the cars behind her's. Later on, she realizes that the survivors are in danger as one cannot cheat death. After locating the sole survivor (Clear Rivers) of a similar incident that happened before, Kimberly seeks Clear Rivers's help in escaping death. Will they suceed?

It's funny, the way I watch Final Destinaton series, it's from Part 3 to Part 2. I have not watched part 1 so I shall do a comparison between 2 & 3 only. Similar creative death methods, not gross as well because I watched the shows on my cable TV which happen to be censored till you don't see anything. In my opinion, Part 3 isn't very good but better then Part 2. However, there is a twist towards the end of Part 2 but I find it quite expected because somehow, I feel that Death would not be so kind to them. Watch it and you'll understand what I mean. Actually, I think they should stop shooting anymore sequel but if I'm not wrong, there will be a Part 4 *groans*.

I give Final Destination Two 5.5 upon 10.

Labels: Movie Reviews

Benjamin Barker leads a peaceful life with his wife and daughter until one day, he is sent to prison by Judge Turpin whom takes a fancy for his wife. After many years, Barker returns with a new identity - Sweeney Todd. He opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop. Together, they work towards Todd's plan for revenge and hopes to be reunited with his daughter, Johanna, who is now Judge Turpin's ward.

This is the 6th film Johnny Depp and Tim Burton worked together but the first musical collaboration. Johnny Depp, surprisingly, sings quite well. All the other casts sing very well too but the music seems to be abit repititive and dull. That should have been looked into as the music is supposed to be the most important part. Gothic visuals to potray the darkness of the story and that's my favourite aspect of the movie. Well done in the costumes and make up which sum up to stunning visuals. Wonderful performance by Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin) and Timothy Spall (Beadle Bamford). I must also mention the young actor playing Toby, his name is Ed Sanders and he is a very gifted & talented child actor. Directing by Tim Burton is great too! For viewers who want to watch this film for its gore, you might be disappointed. The movie is filmed in such a way that it is not meant to be stomach churning. The way the victims' throats were slashed with blood splurting out like tomato ketcup isn't really that scary or disturbing. You may find it extremely unreal but I guess it is supposed to be like that because of the nature of the film. Certain scenes are quite funny, like the part with Todd singing to his razors or the scenes of Mrs. Lovett dreaming about her future with Todd and etc...

To summarise: an entertaining movie with awesome visuals, strong story, powerful casts and crews plus a touch of humour. Weak point is mainly due to the not-so-great music, singing scenes tend to be kind of awkward.

I give Sweeney Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 8 upon 10.

Trivial: Just fyi, 3 of the main casts Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall acted in Harry Potter as well.
To Thomas: Just in case you didn't realize, the actor playing as Signor Adolfo Pirelli is Sacha Baron Cohen (better known as Ali G).

Labels: Movie Reviews

My manager arranged for a fire prevention talk at our company today but ended up, he did not attend as he was busy working on month end reports.

The guy who gave the talk was quite irritating cos at the end of the whole thing, he kept forcing us to order the fire prevention equipments from him on the spot. We said that we need to check with our family and his reply: "Once I leave this office, you cannot place your order with me anymore and you cannot purchase directly from the company as well. 1 estinguisher is only $85, if you think your family is worth $85 then you should buy straight away. If you think they are not worth it then I cannot help you also." Kaoz... at first we were quite interested in his products but upon hearing what he said, we decided if we want to buy, we will buy elsewhere.
However, the knowledge he shared with us is worth learning and remembering. I will go through what I learned here.

For example, if you stay in a point block on the 10th floor and the 5th floor is on fire, do you:

1. Run up to the fire exit on the top of the building?


2. Run downstairs?


3. Stay in the flat and wait for rescue without doing anything?

Answer: You shouldn't do any of the above.

Why?

Firstly, you shouldn't run up to the fire exit on the top of the building because most of the time, the door would be locked.

Secondly, you shouldn't run downstairs because you would be running towards the smoke, which is the number 1 reason of death during fire.

Thirdly, you shouldn't stay in your flat and do nothing because every minute you breathed in the smoke will cause devastating effects. The speaker shared a story about a man caught in a fire hiding in a corner of his flat until the firemen came. He thought that he was lucky to escape death but later at night, he died due to over-inhalation of smoke.

According to the speaker, upon inhaling the smoke for 1 minute, your vocal cords will be burned. After 2 minutes, you will suffer from throat problem for the rest of your life. After 3 minutes, you risk suffocation which can result in death and even if you don't die, you might have a high chance of getting lung cancer in future.

So, what should be done?

You should stay in the flat and close all the doors and windows.

Shove wet tower in the openings underneath the doors.

Call 995 and ask for help (if you are from other countries outside Singapore, the number might be different).

Wet your whole body with water so that your temperature won't go up too high.

Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration.

If you have a proper fire prevention mask, use it (P.S. ordinary masks won't do much help). This can prevent you from inhaling smoke for up to 20 minutes. If not, use a wet tower and cover your nose however this can only prevent inhalation of smoke for up to a few minutes only.

Lie low on the floor so as to minimise inhalation of smoke.

Wait for the firemen to arrive and usually they will come within 15 minutes.

(P.S. The above is only if you stay in a point block. If the corridoor is long, you can still run AWAY from the fire and make your way down the block.)


Other fire prevention knowledge:

• When you are using the fire extinguisher to fight a fire, make sure you are standing away from the wind (if there is one). Do not stand towards the wind as it might blow the flames towards you.


• Do not use water to fight a circuit fire (fire caused by electrical appliances) as it might result in explosion.


• If you were to use a blanket to extinguish a fire, make sure its a heavy and thick blanket. Do not use comforter or thin blankets as these will catch fire easily. The speaker shared another story about a father using a comforter to put out a fire on his daughter's body. It was initially a rather small fire but when he did that, the comforter burst into flames. So he pulled the comforter away and when he did that, his daughter's skin was peeled off as well. He threw the flaming comforter into the living room which later was filled with fire too. Finally, the father resorted to desperate measures, he hugged his daughter...another wrong move as their skins sticked together and this caused great pain for him and his daughter. The reason how this fire started will bring you to my next point.


• To continue from my previous point, the reason of the fire was due to overheating in a fan. Apparently the ventillation holes at the back of the fan were filled with dust and thus resulted in overheating. So make sure you do your household chores well.


• Do not overload electrical outlets with too many extensions.


• Different kind of methods are require to put out different kinds of fires. As mentioned above, do not use water to put out a circuit fire. Powder extinguisher is the best as it can put out all kinds of fires. But its neccessary you know about other kinds of extinguisher as you may not always have a powder extinguisher on hand. The speaker did not go so in depth to this so if you want to find out more, pls click here.

The products the speaker introduced consisted of a fire alarm (when there's a fire while you are in a deep sleep, this might be useful to wake you up), a mask (to minimise inhalation of smoke) and a fire extinguisher (powder form). These are the basic fire fighting equipments you should own. But owning isn't enough, proper knowledge of fire fighting skills and the way to use your fire fighting equipment is important as well. So read up the fire prevention tips provided in the link I listed above:)

Labels: Miscellaneous