Revolving stars

My friends and I were excited about this movie since it's made by Pixar but our verdict is: Quite disappointing. I expected so much out of this movie. The plot was relatively simple, which was unsurprising, but what's with the stormy weather that repeats itself again and again? It got a bit boring after a while, and it felt like we went into an alternate universe where everything is illogical. There were a few scenes which were funny though, but not enough for me to want to rewatch it again. Watch only if you have kids in your company!

I have been busy gaining weight over the past few weekends. First was to eat Mookata with PL at Charcoal Thai at 321 Clementi. It was our first time for mookata so we didn't know what to expect. We put the pork lard on top and it was a pathetic one piece on hind sight. We were doing it steamboat style without realising it. All in all, it was the most expensive out of the 3 that I tried and that was inclusive of the 20% that we got even though it was a weekend dinner meal. The cost was around 40 bucks inclusive of a drink. (PL and I shared a thai milk tea) Will definitely not recommend there. Last thursday, I tried the mookata at golden mile below the thai supermarket. The meat was very well marinated and the portion was decent. From what I heard, the chili is really awesome but I don't take spicy food. The variety is quite okay. The price came up to around 20 bucks per pax. (with 2 thai milk tea) Not sure of the individual prices as it was not stated on the menu. Rank...

In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the carnival, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live. All Mallory knows of The City is that her father—and every other witch there—fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable.While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. Ther...

I love Saboten! It's one of the recent food that was recommended by my colleagues (yes, I know I'm very outdated) and it's really damn awesome to the extent that I dragged PL to have it together with me for dinner. There are 2 huge differences between the Somerset 313 outlet and IMM outlet. They are the price factor and availability of refill. IMM's outlet does not offer refill, thus the price is cheaper. Note: I ate at Somerset 313 on a weekday afternoon (lunch) and weekend dinner for the IMM outlet. The service for 313 is very good and it was very quiet; really good for catchups as there are not much distractions. They are also very prompt in serving the meals so we did not have to wait long for the food - a plus point when we have to rush back for work after that. I ordered the Katsu curry set. The Katsu was just so freaking awesome. I can taste the tenderness of the meat and the crispiness of the batter with every single bite, and leaves me craving for more. I...

I took a half day off to have high tea buffet with PL. It's one of the rare times we actually went for a buffet since we don't eat much. I am going to gush about it and say that it's awesome! The food was just slightly average but the service is so good! I never expected the service to be so good since we were paying the promo prices but they are so attentive towards our needs! Kudos to them for a job well done. The buffet consists of oysters, cold prawns, rojak, crepes, mee goreng, ba ku teh, clear chicken soup, bread, salads, smoked salmon, ice-creams, cakes and other small desserts as well as some Asian dishes. First, there was a short queue at the front counter as everyone waited to be seated at 3pm. Then, we were being led to our seats, with the waiters asking for our drink orders. They were quick to fill up our drinks when they noticed that it was half empty. For the food, they were quick to clear our empty plates too, without being intrusive. I will strongl...

I went into the movie hall expecting nothing. I only knew that it was a Marvel character and PL was gushing all about it. The movie was quite awesome. Notice the "quite"as I was a little bored in the middle of the movie where it got a little draggy and monotonous. There are a fair bit of action scenes but not so overwhelming. I think it's a nice touch of comedy and action in it, of course with the usual bit of hollywood romance. Overall, the effects are quite good. They managed to make a good plot out of it where the good defeats the bad. The comedic moments made the show a joy to watch but watch out for a lot of those references that leave you hanging, especially if you are like me, who is not very into American stuff. I would recommend it if you are a marvel fan or you have a bit of spare time. It's quite a good stress reliever. ;)

The picture that states 'Everyone says love hurts, but that's not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Everyone confuse these things with love, but in reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes us feel wonderful again.' But think about it. It's because of the existence of love that people will get lonely,  get rejected. If you do not know love, then there is no way to compare and contrast, because you will never know something if you have no experience of. Isn't it? I feel that people think that love is great because love have been too romanticised by the various media. You see it everywhere; movies, dramas, books etc. But these all have the mainstream definition of love. People define love differently, and I don't think that you can just classify love into one category and dump all the examples together. I know I'm adopting the socratic method here but I feel irritated when people make s...

1. The Oathbreaker's shadow by Amy McColloch F ifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the desert. Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. No one knows where it came from, and which promise of his it symbolises, but he barely thinks about it at all—not since becoming the most promising young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin. Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed. I love the way the world unfolds as you read the book. I know I'm a suck for alternate world universe. I wish there is more of a history behind the story, like the Hunger Games series, because there were lots of description at the first part...

I got my Hailun HL125 piano in black! It's now sitting in my living room. It's brand new and I paid 3.6k for it (excluding the extra $40 for moving up the piano) with 10 years of warranty and 3 free tunings. Super thanks to Jiahao who drove me down and accompany to choose the piano. We also saw a used one at the Pianomaster but it was 2.8k with only 1 year warranty and 1 free tuning. I felt that the new Hailun is a better deal. The touch of the new piano is slightly heavier than the display set in Piano master. And it has a new smell that permeated my living room for the past few days. I have started on 2/3 of the first piece and maybe 1/8 of the second piece? And I'm feeling the split brain syndromes. U know how sometimes you get inspired to do something? This is one of those times. Ahh... Jiayou!

The first thing I heard before I even saw the movie was that the female lead was in heels for the whole entire movie so I was fixated on her legs. And it's true. Triple-dated for this movie. I thought that I was going to fall asleep in the movie since I was dead tired on a Friday night, but the movie has enough suspense to keep me going. The plot was well paced, with a lot of horrifying scenes. I especially loved the scene where Owen said that humans, like dinosaurs, has to eat, hunt and mate. The boys are also very quick on their feet and thinking. When they managed to escape the dinosaur, they found the old Jurassic park, all with the stuff and cars intact. They managed to restart one of the cars to escape back to the current park, where they were attacked by flying bird-like dinosaurs. Even though the older boy was ogling at other girls and being very distant to his younger brother, the brotherly love they had for each other showed through when they had to work together an...

Progressed much since the start. Scales learnt: C major, G major, D major, A major, F major, C major contrary motion (1 octave). Currently on: A harmonic and melodic minor, C major broken chords, 22nd piece on the A book. As I just got my bonus, I will be shopping for my piano =D Am looking at either 2nd hand Kawai or 1st hand Hailun HL125. Budget around 3-4k. Hopefully I can get a good one!

I have officially started on my grade 2 theory. Am currently using Theory of music made easy - Grade 2 by Lina Ng. Contrary to the book title, the theory is not easy at all! Esp the ledger lines and time signatures. They are just OMG. Also, as I am not having class this Thursday, I'm supposed to learn 5 new pieces as well as the 2 graded scales - C major and G major.

For some odd reason, I bonded very well with my teacher and I stayed way past the official lesson time to talk about stuff as well as to hear her play on the piano and the harp. I'm officially starting on Grade 1 theory stuff next lesson. And since I'm skipping straight to Grade 2 for the exams next year apparently. I honestly think she's having a high expectation of me since most people I know takes around 2 years to reach that level @@ Another 3 pieces before Sunday as usual.

I thought I couldn't manage the three pieces that I was given on Thursday but I managed to scrape through it- just barely though. I have a bad feeling that she would make me play for her again on Thursday. The three new pieces that I have this lesson for homework is... Crunchy Flakes, Swinging along and Tick-Tack-Toe. Tick-Tack-Toe sounds weird. There's a lot of accidentals and they kind of clash with each other when being played. Advice from the teacher => Should practise more with the metronome so that I will be familiar with the counts as I tend to shorten the minims. I'm almost finishing the My third theory book. I think I will need to have a new book soon.

I got new books! John W. Schaum Piano Course A- The Red Book My Third Theory book by Lina Ng I honestly think I'm moving through the theory much faster than the practical >.< Teacher started on the 1st 3 pieces - The woodchuck, Snug as a bug in a rug and Hannah from Montana. I'm supposed to practise them and play it to her on Sunday. Obviously I can't play as well and they sound...incorrect. I shall sleep on them now.

Was looking through some other people's blogs and figured that I should blog down my lessons too~ It's probably a better motivation to make myself practise harder =P My teacher is super young - around 17 years old studying in NAFA and playing the harp! 1st lesson was good. She didn't buy the books yet but she prepared a notebook for me which I'm supposed to bring every lesson. - Got introduced to time signatures, Middle C, the 4 different music periods, dynamics (whether it's ff or pp etc), C, G, D, A Majors and F, Bb, Eb Minors. - Have to practise two hands playing up the scale? (not sure what it's called exactly) I thought that the lesson was quite short so I upped it to twice a week. So now it's Thur and Sun :) Quite excited actually but I shouldn't neglect my Japanese too since the exam is coming (again T.T)

Thank you for spending time with me when I'm all alone at home. "I wanted to go home and skyrim but I don't want to leave you alone" said the spouse. "It's okay. I still have to fix up the puzzle and continue mugging." I told him, shooing him back home. In the end, he brought all his sleeping stuff over and hugged me to sleep when he has to work today. *warm fuzzy feeling* It was really a good Labour Day.

The other day, I popped by Fitness First marketing booth to check out the prices since they don't provide the information online and expects you to make an appointment with them so that they can try to hardsell you the package. Prices that they quoted me - 145+ monthly for a commitment of one year (Corporate package) 139+ monthly for a commitment of two years (public) 149+ monthly for a commitment of one year (public) Information that you should note - Each year, they may increase your fees up to 3% and it is written in the contract that you will be signing. I'm not sure what others are paying for their packages but when I signed up in 2014 (last year), i paid 133+ monthly under the corporate plan. They can always justify that they have more clubs in Singapore, which is why you need to pay a premium of that price but looking at the crowds in Fitness First nowadays, I think it is not a worthwhile investment. Of course, that's my opinion and you are free to make y...

I'm back from Japan!!! Places that I have covered this time: Osaka, Kinosaki Onsen, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Himeji, Iga Ueno. Let the pictures do the talking~~ L4D2 in arcade mode!!! Cheese Hamburger indeed =D  Kuromon Market Huge Tuna!! Maguro Kurokke! The most awesome onion rings goes to~~ LOTTERIA! Kurazushi in the suburbs of Namba~ Using high-tech conveyor belt system At Kinosaki Onsen, choosing my yukata Lotsa yukata!!! The owner of the inn helped me to tie this Ready for a stroll in the streets Shopping~ The fav pastime of females Everyone strolling around in traditional wear Morizuya's indoor bath The place to shower BEFORE jumping into the hot bath Their outdoor bath~ Kids playing in the playroom in Morizuya~ Chanced upon spa eggs while walking aroung Kinosaki Onsen Kissing under the mistletoes  Tori Someone tried to devour the sakuras Tried spo...

I guessed after today, we can't exactly be termed as newlyweds anymore. The ironic thing is, we have not even officially moved in together. (Blame the BTO for that) This one year of marriage really opened up my eyes; I never knew that I have so much emotions bottled inside me, or that I could turn hysterical. I would have never believed that of myself to do such things. It makes me unsure of myself; of what I can do. There were definitely laughter and joy, and there were all the fights, tears and long nights where I tried to make sense of everything. Every mind works differently; ours included. I got to admit that if the issues are brought up now, I will still be upset about them. There were also many issues that were addressed, like how we managed to overcome our lack of privacy in our own houses by making a trip to JB monthly to spend time together, or to stay over at each other's houses once in a while. Granted, it wasn't the easiest of times, especially when both...

And here we are, on 28th feb again. A year ago I promised you my commitment to stay with you for life, As you did back to me. What a year it have been I'll say, As we grew together, and learnt more about each other every single day. Its been quite a change of environment-from one where we were just dating to one where we're married together. I've learnt more about what makes you smile or not, As you've did too about me. More about what touches your heart, or drives you to tears. And what would make your eyes brighten up in an instant, or make you pout in a heartbeat. As well as how the same simple gestures done to both of us can have well...different resultsXD... In this one year, I'll dare to say is when we laughed the most, pranked the most, fought the most, feared the most, screamed the most and most importantly learned and cared the most about each other (than the other two years combined.) It really has been a great good and important year I feel when...

I admit it; the movie was a flop. This is despite me begging PL to watch the movie with me months before it came out. I was and still am intrigued by the BDSM portions of the movie. Yes, really. Quoting PL:" I will recommend it to my enemies." and "I think guys only watch it because their wives or girlfriends drag them to it." The movie was too mainstream for my taste and the chemistry between the two leads are not there at all. The sex scenes are so fake that I cringed every time they are "having sex". The porn actors and actresses are probably faking much better than the both of them. I now understand why Singapore agrees to have the uncut version; the scenes are too tame. Jaw-droppingly tame. I mean, spanking your partner on the butt is quite usual right? It's hot ;D As the film rolls, I spotted a lot of flaws in the plot. Why didn't Ana run the hell away from Christian when he showed her the playroom? Who in their correct mind would agree...

I'm sure most people are using the OCBC Frank Card and other OCBC Cards for their rebates and such. This is my experience with their customer service with regards to my late charge waiver request. 1st time: Called the customer service hotline and asked for the late charge waiver. It was rejected via sms on 5 Feb 2015. (Btw, this is only the 2nd time I have a late charge with the bank) 2nd time (5 Feb 2015): Called the hotline again and requested to speak with the customer service officer. She claimed that I have to arrange for GIRO payment with the bank in order for the late charge to be waived. But since I have no idea where my ATM card is, she helped me request for a PIN so that I can go to the ATM to do a PIN Change to log into my internet banking. 3rd time(12 Feb 2015): Called the customer service again since I did not get the PIN via mail. (So how can I do the GIRO arrangement?) Requested for them to send the PIN so that I can do the GIRO arrangement. I told them AGAIN...

It is the dreaded time of the year again where we have to go around to pay visits to relatives that we do not contact for the rest of the year. I honestly do not know why we bother, except that it is an obligation for both our sides. So, for reference's sake, we did a Jurong-Bedok-Tradehub21 for the first day of CNY, and Teban Garden-Tanglin Halt (3 families) for the second day. Those two days were so tiring that I sulked and flared my temper at PL at the end of the day. I hate entertaining people whom I don't even know for long periods of time and during the second day, we only ended the visiting at around 8.30pm even though we started the visits at around 11am. Note to self and PL: No more of such long visits per day for two days straight.

Unbroken is about this guy, Louie Zamperini, who was one of the Olympic runners before the WWII and how he managed to survive though the war. I would say this upfront; The film is quite bias against the Japanese since it is a biography of his time through the world war. The flashback to Louie's childhood was quite unexpected as there was no warning given, but it gave us the information of how he became an Olympic runner. The battle scenes in the movie was not as gory as I thought it would be for a war movie; instead it was more of "Life of Pi" scenes when Louie and his army comrades were stranded out at sea. I think it failed the horrors of war was not captured properly in the movie, and there are random shots when the actors look really healthy even though they were supposed to be malnourished. Only snippets of his life was captured and the ending was too abrupt for my liking; they didn't mention about the girl that he had married until the end of the film, and m...

I had wanted to watch Kingsman: The Secret Service ever since I caught the trailer. The high tech scenes caught my attention even though I am not an action movie person(I hate Jackie Chan's movies) but this movie did not disappoint (maybe except for the ending). It is captivating because what happened in the movie might just very well happen in real life. The realism is there, when freebies are given to us. Are we supposed to doubt when there are freebies given to us? Will there be any hidden devices that we do not know about in the freebies? Paranoia is at the peak since we have turned anti-Islamic. I like the parts where Eggsy and the gang are training to become a Kingsman. Very psychological-based. The action scenes were not really emphasized on though, so people who like action shows may not enjoy it as much. The twist in the movie was quite unexpected and the explanation for it is not enough as usual but it didn't spoil the plot. I was disappointed with the ending ...

The Wedding Ringer is a romantic comedy where the male lead, Doug, has to find 7 best man for his upcoming wedding within 10 days. He was recommended a Best Man Inc, where they provide specialised service to grooms who need best man and the comedy started from there. Even though there is a light beat to the movie, it invokes the theme of friendship (or the lack of it). With our busy lifestyle, who can claim to be a friend who is close enough to be your best man or bridesmaid? Another food for thought is that couples should be able to share their hopes and secrets with each other; not to keep secrets. At the end of the film, the marriage did not take place because the groom found out that he was just a tool, and love was never in the equation. These themes were wrapped among the hilarious scenes where our two lovely comedians danced together and the whole bunch of them did crazy stuff in order to make up stories for the wedding. Even if you did not manage to catch the heavier to...

Had a slight unhappiness due to the untimely clothes washing on Friday but it was all gone after PL brought me to see the crabs at Sheng Shiong. Slept over at his place before we headed out on Valentine's day. We were supposed to head out at 9.30am but due to me lazing around, we only managed to head out at almost 11am and rejected his mum's request to send her down to Ave 2 (which was just a 5 mins walk away!) We had a cheap and simple lunch (wanton mee and roasted pork) at the coffeeshop across KSL. It was mediocre at best. I wanted my char kway tiao but the stall wasn't opened. After that, we went to buy our movie tickets (The Kingsman and The Wedding Ringer).The Wedding Ringer was awesomely funny and even though I was watching it for the second time, I didn't feel tired of the movie. Then it was off to the Dim Sum stall diagonally behind the closed Shell Station at Taman Sri Tebrau where we had 5 types of Dim Sum (average) before watching The Kingsman. MBO scr...

Hubby and I got the warehouse club membership in December, thinking that we would be able to save money by buying groceries there. How wrong we were. Basically, there are no point system for the members at Warehouse Club and the prices there are supposedly cheaper, but when we compared them to Sheng Shiong, Giant and NTUC, we realised that most are actually more expensive or similar pricing! We would have been better of buying from the usual stores that we frequent. Items that I noticed are cheaper: Meiji Milk - $8.95 for 2 (costs $5.95 for 1 in NTUC) 5kg of potatoes - $4.95 (costs $6 in Sheng Shiong) packet drinks - $8 (costs $8.50 in Sheng Shiong) There's a promo for green tea ($7.88) till 2 Feb though. Items that are more expensive: 12 bottles of Itoen Green Tea - $28.95 (costs $2 for a 900ml one in Daiso) hotdog bun -$2+? (costs $1 in Ikea)

What have I accomplished? - ROMed in Feb - Went for Taiwan Photoshoot - First trip to Bangkok, Thailand - First trip to Guang Zhou, China - Endless quarrels with PL (I have never felt as frustrated and betrayed before) - Started riding lessons - Cleared out all my old clothes - Ended my first year of work on a good note 2014 ended with me being unsure of myself; not knowing how and where I should head towards. Somehow it feels that caring for someone and loving someone are different things. The future that I was looking forward to seems to be different from the stark reality that I'm facing. In all these turmoil and chaos, I feel that I'm losing myself; changing into someone that I don't even know, and probably wouldn't like. I started second-guessing myself; started to doubt my self-worth. Maybe, I'm just thinking too much. #Whenrealitystartsbeingtoomuchofareality To PL: (in case you are still rigorously stalking my blog) I'm sure we will stil...

Didn't have much time to blog recently. >.< Christmas eve, we went to JB for a last min staycation due to family pressure. (no $$ for guessing who) In the end, it was a blessing in disguise because my colleague gave me the doraemon exhibition tickets ;) The exhibition was good! Seriously, doraemon fans will love it to nuts =P We also went for a 3 movie marathon over the 1 and 1/2 day while we were there - The pyramid, the hobbits and night at the museum. Reviews will follow later. Christmas dinner was spent running around the Satay Club and trying to find seats for 11 people with the two of us (seriously? Who in their fucking right mind would let us chope so many seats?) Pardon my language but I was damned frustrated with the whole dinner. To cut the long story short, Christmas dinner with his HK relatives was a total flop. 27th Dec - his sister's wedding. Fast forward to New Year eve, where we spent time walking in Ikea trying to find our future bed. Then we ...