In The Valley of Elah

Met up with Edwin and Derrick to watch In The Valley of Elah at The Cathay on Saturday.

Based of actual events, In The Valley of Elah is a movie about a father looking for his son who has gone AWOL (absence without official leave) after returning from Iraq. The father, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), is a retired military personnel who searches for clues to find his missing son through the help of his military friends and the contacts in his handphone.

This movie is not for the regular movie-goer as it deals much with the themes of death, war, responsibility and the irreparable post-war syndromes of the soldiers. In other words, it is a subtle and quietly devastating outlook at the impact that US soldiers had experienced during the Iraq war. The pace of the movie is slow-going and it allows us to fully absorb the emotional upheaval that Hank and his wife experience throughout the search and the final realization of the tragic truth.

Tommy Lee Jones is stoic but staggeringly strong in his character as the father and Charlize Theron gives a good performance as the unwavering police detective.

This movie is essentially an anti-war movie and it does a very good job in promoting that message. The final scene of the American flag is etched deeply in my heart and i do feel that all US citizens should see the movie.

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I Am Legend

Met up with Fuli, Bernard and Weiming for ktv and dinner on thursday.

Watched I Am Legend with Stephen on friday.

I Am Legend is a movie set in the near future which depicts the scenario of a supposedly cancer treating drug gone wrong by mutating humans into zombies. Robert is the sole survivor in New York city with immunity against the virus along with his faithful german shepherd. Thankfully, the zombies are susceptible in sunlight and Robert gets to play golf on top of warplanes, play hunting games with freely roaming deers, and drive around the city at breakneck speeds during the day. He also conducts experiments in his lab to find a cure for the virus.

This movie is engaging and entertaining with the screen presence and charisma of Will Smith alone. He portrays his character very well and nails the role of an exuberant man but tinged with sadness and regret from prolonged loneliness as well as the failed cancer treating drug.

The movie also has some intensely frightening sequences when Robert was searching for his dog inside a pitch black building. The ending is a little melodramatic although i wished that there would be a sequel to this movie. All in all, this movie has rather spectacular special effects, thrilling action sequences, as well as the great acting. If only they would extend the first half of the movie to make it more poignant and reflective, this movie would have been brilliant instead of just great.

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Fine Dining

Met up with Dz, Aaron and Qy on wed for lunch at Corduroy & Finch along Bukit Timah road. It was rather hard to find a parking lot during lunchtime there.

cote du boeuf (flame-grilled with nomu beef rub, potato wedges & roasted bell pepper sauce)

chicken ballontine (braised mushroom, root vegetables & red wine sauce)

tuna loin (charred-grilled with herbs, tomato confit, basil-smashed potatoes)

bouillabaisse (lobster, mussels, prawn, cod fish & calamari braised in saffron broth, garlic rouille & saffron potatoes)

Took a photo of each dish as they were expensive! The ambience in the restaurant is great and the service is good. However, the food is just above average for me. Definitely overpriced in my opinion and i am sure i could find better food at a better price elsewhere.

We headed to Island Creamery at Serene Centre for ice cream next. The putut hitam ice cream is really nice, and the teh tarik ice cream is unique as well.

Headed back after our desserts and got my flu vaccination to reduce chances of falling ill during my exchange.

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Christmas Eve

Went out with Janan, Sam, Calvin, and Cy for a ktv session at Cine from 11 am to 3.30 pm. Had lunch with Sam after that as the rest of them had other programs.

Headed back home and went out at night to meet my jc friends to celebrate Derrick's birthday. We met at Serangoon Gardens for dinner and headed to a pub called Booze Room for Derrick's favourite beverage, beer.

We had our countdown there and it was quite crazy with all the spray cans spewing foam. The pub owners were very nice to give us free glow sticks and we were meddling with them until Clarence broke one which resulted in the glowing fluid to leak. We didn't drink a lot except for the birthday boy and Edwin who got a bit tipsy.

Booze Room

Before the countdown

The spraying of foam everywhere

Foam is everywhere

Beer, tidbits, empty spray cans

We stayed until around 2 am and headed back home after sending Derrick back.

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Chek Jawa

Went to Chek Jawa in Pulau Ubin on Sunday to help Ks with the transect for his UROPS project. I was helping to record video of the measurement lines as well as helping to record the salinity of the sea water at different locations.

Chek Jawa in low tide



A snake i spotted



Mussel Beds with white seaweed



A sea star



Dark clouds looming



The impending rain

We were at Chek Jawa from 1.45 pm to 6 pm doing the transects and Ks and i were caught in the sudden downpour towards the end of the transect. We were drenched in rain water and headed back to the nearest shelter.

Had a full dinner with the rest of the people at Changi Village after heading back to mainland. It was a tiring day as i haven't exercised for a very long time. Also got sunburnt as the sun was rather hot in midday.

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National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Went out with my jc friends on Saturday for dinner and movie. We watched National Treasure: Book of Secrets and went to Chijmes to chill out next.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is a typical Hollywood movie and I'm seriously considering not watching any more Nicholas Cage movies in the future. They are all about formula and it is so banal to have the typical scenario rehashed in front of our eyes.

Anyway, the story is about a treasure hunter, Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage), who sets off on a mission to recover the lost City of Gold which the native Americans left behind. He is closely followed by an arch nemesis who follows him and tracks his clues down in order to discover the lost treasures first.

They traverse through the streets of Paris, London and South Dakota to find clues and search for the hidden treasure. Kudos to the scriptwriters for thinking of the absolutely preposterous storyline and trying their best to make it sound believable by infusing facts and pieces of American history. The cast try their best to make the story work and the action and chasing scenes serve as momentarily relief to the absurdist plot.

The movie is mildly entertaining and it serves no additional merit after watching the movie. Perhaps we can just refresh our memories of the numerous clichés and formula that it used.

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Overcome with emotions

It was my last day of work and i had a farewell lunch with my repair team at Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe in Pasir Ris. My supervisor treated all of us and i am really appreciative of it.

It was nice of people whom i do not know so well before and they took the chance to wish their good lucks and goodbyes to me before i leave. I will miss my colleagues who were closer to me during my 5 months attachment dearly.

Joan i really enjoy your hearty jokes and will miss you a lot, Joyce i will always know what a wonderful person you are, Weifu i will miss your gossip and jokes, Hui Peng i will remember you as the feisty mamma who is so friendly and outgoing.

Sigh.... I was so unwilling to leave the office at the last moment. How i wish that i could spend more time with my colleagues who treated me so well during my attachment. How i wish that i could get to know better some of my colleagues who are not as close to me in my department.

Truth be told, i was counting down the days 2 weeks before my final day in my company. I wish that i wouldn't have to wake up so early everyday and trudge through the boring work everyday.

As the days crept closer and closer, the more i cherish their company and i felt more and more 'she3 bu1 de2" to leave the company.

My journey back home was full of emotions and i'm glad to know each and everyone of them in my department.

Feeling a little lost right now. Wondering what i should do during the 1 month before i go to Holland. So to all my friends, just call me up anytime before i go on exchange!

Life goes on.... I am proceeding to another stage of my life.

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Effort

I spent the whole of yesterday doing all these. I wrapped the mini food hampers myself! They are cute right? Glad they appreciated it. Written each of them Christmas cards as well.

Thankfully, my mum helped to wrapped the presents or else i would have slept really late yesterday.

Mini food hamper

Presents!

I'm like Santa Claus today. 25 people, that's the most i've given in a day.

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More songs

These are some of the songs that i enjoy listening to lately...

Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift

Rule The World by Take That

Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

When Will I See Your Face Again by Jamie Scott & The Town

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Department Christmas Dinner

We had a department Christmas dinner at Noble House Restaurant in UIC building on Monday after work. Each of us had bought a christmas gift for exchange as well.

Christmas gifts exchange

After arrival at the place, some of us were pleasantly surprised that it is a big private room with ktv system available.

Our wonderful manager

Singing ktv while having dinner

After our full dinner, we listened to the songs sang by my colleagues and we had a good time there. There was a surprise birthday celebration for Zoanne and Kl as well.

Celebrating birthday

Department photo

They presented me with a farewell gift as well and i was pleasantly surprised. This week is my last working week.

My farewell gift

My lovely colleagues

My jovial colleagues

It had been fun working with the whole bunch of them and i enjoy their company. It had been a good experience and i had learnt quite a lot.

Friday will be my last day of work and i have prepared farewell gifts for everyone in my department.

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Colleague's Wedding

Headed over to my colleague's wedding at an Indian temple in Katong area on Sunday night. It was my first time attending an indian wedding as well as many of my colleagues' first time.

Indian Temple

Some of my colleagues were decked out in indian costumes

Groom walking towards the stage for the matrimonial ceremony

Bride and groom on stage sitting on the throne

The ceremony lasted quite long and many of us headed downstairs for food in the midst of it. They were doing some rituals or traditional things on stage and we could not really see what they were doing.

Having dinner in the eating area

After having our dinner buffet style, we headed back up to the multi purpose hall for the ceremony and soon, it was time to give the newly weds our ang baos or wedding gifts.

We left soon next and it was an interesting experience indeed to attend an indian wedding.

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Vietnam Day 8: Ha Long Bay to Hanoi

It was raining cats and dogs the night before and luckily the weather was fine on that day. We had packed our bags and were waiting for the bus to take us to the jetty.

Hotel Room before leaving

The morning view

At the jetty

Misty Ha Long Bay

On the boat

Nice Scenery

Rain starts again

Clouds clearing

Name of the junk boat carrying us back to Haiphong

Wet and waiting for the bus to take us to Hanoi

Flooding (luckily we were in the bus)

Stopover at Haiphong for lunch

Power lines

After the 4 hour journey, we were back at Hanoi and it was still pouring. We braved the rain and ran along the back alley back to our hostel. We were completely drenched and headed up to our rooms to wash up.

While waiting for the rain to stop, we watched tv for around an hour or two in our rooms. We headed back outside about evening time for dinner and some shopping.

Vietnamese women selling fruits

Dinner

We had some shopping after dinner and went to a bar for some cocktails.

Bustling night life

End of Day 8 (7.30 am to 11 pm)

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