Researching and Planning

Ok... Doing research on Europe made me interested in some of the cities that I had never heard previously. One of them is Kraków. It is the 'cultural capital' of Poland and there seems to be full of interesting architecture and beautiful sights in the city. Auschwitz is located about 60 km away from Kraków and the World War 2 concentration camp is well known for the heinous crimes committed there.

Wieliczka Salt Mine is another tourist attraction near Kraków and one of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The underground mine features a 3.5-km. tourist route (less than 1% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes statues of historic and mythic figures, all sculpted by miners out of the rock salt. Also featured are beautifully carved chambers, chapels, an underground lake, and exhibits on the history of salt mining.

Interesting indeed, I have to go Kraków to see it for myself.

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Lars and the Real Girl

Watched Lars and the Real Girl yesterday with Derrick. Lars and the Real Girl is about a recluse, Lars, who seldom speaks to anyone, not even his brother, Gus, and his sister-in-law, Karin. He enjoys spending time alone and keeps to himself in a small garage house within a quiet town. One day, he decides to get a human-sized doll and he treats it as his girlfriend, bringing it to the clinic, church and even a party. He lovingly calls it Bianca and treats it with respect and lots of love.

A delusion is what a psychiatrist calls the condition and Gus and Karin are worried of Lars's mental condition. They play along with the idea that the doll is a human as they do not want to worsen his condition. The townsfolk decides to help him get over his ordeal and they help Lars by moving Bianca in its wheelchair, talks to her like a friend, and taking care of Bianca when Lars is busy.

The show showcases a stellar performance from Ryan Gosling as the delusional Lars, an exceedingly shy guy who is uncomfortable around people, yet incredibly sensitive, kind, and even talkative towards his doll girlfriend. The supporting cast is incredible as well which includes the stoic yet caring psychiatrist (Patricia Clarkson), the genuinely concerned sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) and the dorky colleague who likes Lars (Kelli Garner).

This drama achieves much humour through the reactions ranging from horrified to surprise of the people who see Lars and Bianca as a couple. It is a sensitive and sweet show about the people around Lars who helped him get over the crisis. Kudos to director Craig Gillespie for handling such a bizarre storyline and making the show a humourous, tender, and even touching one.

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Greetings from Manchester

Just received a package from Jim in Manchester and he just sent me 14 postcards for each of our jc friends. The postage costs around S$4.50 and that's a good way to save postage fees since i'm helping to distribute.

Thanks Jim! Will be passing the postcards to the rest when i have the chance to.


I will be planning a trip to Edinburgh for my exchange next sem too!

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Busy Sat

Went back to NTU in the morning for discussion on accommodation and other admin stuff with the others going for exchange to TU-Delft next semester. I should be heading over to Netherlands from 24 Jan to around 31 July next year. 3 more months to go!

Met up with Ks in the afternoon for a 4 hour ktv session at Partyworld Orchard. Headed to Serangoon Garden for dinner with Mh next at Liquid Kitchen. Had more food at Chomp Chomp after our dinner and headed over to The Cathay for a midnight show with Derrick, Gs and Mb.

We watched Superbad, a high school comedy about 3 pubescent teens who have desires of getting laid at a party before getting into college next year. It should be retitled Supercrude as the dirty jokes are in your face and in every aspect crude. Vulgarities are spattered all over the place and the jokes most of the time will make a prude turn red-faced again and again.

I have to reiterate that the 3 nerdy high school kids are the leads of the show and they indeed do a great job of uttering nonsense while maintaining a straight face. They are a riotous bunch with their energy, nonsense and jokes. The hilarity derives best from their awkwardness in handling any form of tension. The show's saving grace is the strong friendship between Seth and Evan and they will evidently be missing their crazy high school events for a long time.

After the show, "someone" accidentally bumped the car against a protruding wall in the carpark and we were all helping the person to think of reasons of explanation to reduce the damage. The dent was rather large and I guess the person would steer clear of The Cathay carpark for a long time.

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A380 Touch Down

After work on Wednesday, most people in my department went to the rooftop of our company to view the A380 arriving at Singapore. The expected time of arrival was 6 pm and we waited until 6.45 pm before seeing the jumbo aircraft.

Flat buildings

Airport buildings

A hint of sunset

A brightly lit aircraft with flashing lights

It is the A380 indeed

Fat and short were mainly the adjectives used to describe it

The whole thing was over in 1 minute and we were a little disappointed that it was over so fast after waiting for 45 minutes.

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Alpha Dog

Watched Alpha Dog with Derrick at night at The Cathay. Alpha Dog is a real life story of a 15 year old boy, Zack, who is kidnapped while he escapes from his own house after being caught with a weed (marijuana) pipe by his parents.

The culprits had fallen out with a friend, Jake, who owes them money. The situation gets worse after Jake wrecks the house of the group leader, Johnny. They chanced upon Jake's brother, Zack, along the streets and decided to use him as a pawn chip so that Jake will return Johnny his money.

Alpha Dog is a hip and young movie depicting Johnny's group of friends and their lifestyle. There are frequent partying, plenty of booze and alcohol, as well as smoking weed and other decadent activities.

The consequences of kidnapping starts to frighten them as they did not want to go to jail over this matter. They resorted in the most callous fashion by snuffing the boy.

There are quite a number of characters in the movie and some of them are one-dimensional like Johnny, Jake and Elvis. Justin Timberlake does not do too badly as an actor fortunately and he portrays his role as the hedonistic and testosterone-fueled Frankie rather well. Anton Yelchin is endearing and likable as the innocent Zack who enjoyed his time hanging out with Frankie and his friends before his unfortunate demise.

The most heartbreaking scene is when the reel life mother of Nicholas Markowitz (portrayed as Zack in the movie) is being interviewed towards the end of the show. It is incredibly sorrowful and heartwrenching for a mother who raised her son for 15 years.

If only they concentrated more on the human drama instead of the booze, weed and sex, this show would be tops.

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Shoot 'Em Up

Just watched Shoot 'Em Up at Cine with Daryl. Shoot 'Em Up is purely an action film with a ludicrous storyline. However, this movie is original in its action sequences and cinematography.

I'm a little lazy to write so many movie reviews so i'll just copy the storyline from RT.

"For an action film, boasting a body count higher than its IQ isn't always a bad thing. In director and screenwriter Michael Davis's stylish Shoot 'Em Up, inventive set pieces, and tongue-in-cheek humor make for fun, fast entertainment. Clive Owen plays Smith, a man who is minding his own business and chomping on carrots when he is forced to try to save a pregnant woman in trouble. After she is killed, he takes charge, keeping her newborn child safe from a snarling villain. Aided by a prostitute (Monica Belluci), Smith shoots his way through the big city as he cradles the baby in his arms.

Davis pays homage to action classics and peppers the film with playful dialogue and set pieces. With Shoot 'Em Up, Davis has crafted a movie full of jaw-dropping action sequences sure to please fans of high-energy films."

Shoot 'Em Up is a totally entertaining film with the stylish gunfights; Clive Owen redefines coolness in his role as the unwilling hero that dispatches bullets faster than the blink of an eye, while Monica Belluci is sensual yet comedic in her role as the loving caretaker of the baby.

The pacing of the movie is very fast but the movie duration is a tad too short at a length of 87 mins. I wish there was more action although my eyes had already feasted on loads.

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Lust, Caution

Watched Lust, Caution with Janan after work at The Cathay. The movie is an espionage drama set in World War II when the Japanese had occupied China. A number of university students had formed a patriotic group that renounces the Chinese people who work for the Japanese. A particular big shot who cracks down the Chinese resistance force is on their death list and they plan to have a mole to slowly weave into the life of Mr Yee.

Over the span of 4 years, there have been numerous setbacks to their mission and the location shifts from Hong Kong to Shanghai in this quietly devastating masterpiece on love, sacrifice and patriotism and friendship. Tang Wei is absolutely brilliant and incredibly talented for a newcomer to act as a character with such depth and subtle emotions. The movie has never once fallen into melodrama and we are presented with the raw and subdued emotions that creeps into Mrs Mak and Mr Yee. Tony Leung is also brilliant as the deplorable Mr Yee with moments of human conscious exuding through his love for Mrs Mak.

Lee Ang is a wonderful storyteller and never rushes through the movie, slowly telling of an engaging tale between 2 star-crossed lovers who were never meant to be. The backdrop of the nostalgic Japanese occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong cityscape in the 1940s adds on to the allegory of Mrs Mak's heart under siege.

The superb acting has made the movie shine at its finest and the censored cuts has definitely dampened the emotional impact of the movie. Why does the distributor Buena Vista want to release the NC-16 version here? To make more money of course, as releasing the R-21 uncut version would have reduced their revenue significantly.

The cuts have not wrecked the movie but it has made a significant decision by Mrs Mak less to our understanding. The elimination of most of the intimate scenes have deprived the audiences of our understanding of their romantic progression and we cannot feel as strongly for the crucial decision that Mrs Mak made. They definitely should have released the uncut version here. To reiterate what local director Royston Tan said regarding the cuts, he said "Lust, Caution is like char quey tiao without cockles".

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Kelong Trip Day 2

I was woken up by Meishi at 6.45 am as I told her to wake me up if she is waking up early to see the sunrise. Although i had only around 3 hours of sleep, i wasn't feeling very tired. Walked around the kelong to take shots of different angles and locations.

Sunrise

Lifting of the fishing net

Mist + Sticks

Moon + Sticks

House + Sticks

Sticks + Sunrise

Boats + Sun

Sun + Sticks

Sticks + Sun + Flag

After the scenery photo shoot, we had another 2 more rounds of blockus initiated by me again as i really enjoy playing the game. Next, all of us proceeded to take several group photos together.

Group photo

Group Photo 2

View from the window at the resting area

Photo before leaving

2nd photo before leaving

We got our stuff and proceeded to the bumboat at around 9.30 am.

Seagulls on sticks

A Passing Yacht

Buoy among the distant ships

Seawall

Singapore Police Coast Guard

During the boat trip back to Singapore, our bumboat was stopped by the Police Coast Guard as a random spot check. Our names and ic numbers were taken to verify with the list in the boat.

We reached Singapore at 11 am and headed back home tired. It was an enjoyable trip though.

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Kelong Trip Day 1 (Part 2)

We were watching the fishermen catch the fishes for our dinner and the fishes were very strong. They splashed water all over the wooden planks as they struggled violently to prevent being caught in the net.

Watching the catching process

A dog who caught a dying fish from the water nets

A photo of the place where we can sleep

As i don't fish and have no interest in fishing, i settled down with 3 other colleagues to play Blockus.

Blockus

We played for about 4 games and went to see some people fishing next.

Lowering a plastic bottle with bait inside

The first catch of the day

Approaching dusk

Perfect weather

We had our dinner soon after and there are cereal prawns, noodles, steamed fish and steamboat.

The spread of food shared among 10 people in our table

Some of us cut our dinner short as we wanted to see the sunset. Unfortunately, the sunset is hidden by clouds in the distant.

Disappointing sunset

After our meal, we went outside to feel the sea breeze. Some of us played Pepsi Cola 1 2 3 and it was fun as most of us haven't played this game since many years ago. My long legs helped me gain an advantage over other people as i could reach further and step on the feet of other people.

Card games were next and we played Heart Attack.

Heart Attack!

I really enjoyed playing Blockus

We then headed outside the house and they played the sticks game that requires the player to go under the lowered height. It was funny watching some of them go under the wooden stick.

Games!

Barbecue was next and some of us helped the fishermen to barbecue the food meant for us. We ate the stingray, satay, chicken wings and hotdogs while chilling out by the sea.

Barbecue

Some of us sang karaoke inside the house at the same time. The karaoke discs were mostly outdated and their underside had numerous scratches as well.

Some of them had too much to drink and were talking nonsensical and some crude stuff. Soon after their banter, the "high" people fell asleep. The toilets in the kelong have holes which lead into the sea and we took a shower soon after.

I was itching to play Blockus again and found 3 more people interested to play the boardgame. We played until 3 am and were the last few people to sleep that day.

End of Part 2 (4.15 pm to 3 am)

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