Clarence Birthday

We went to Oasis Restaurant at Toa Payah to celebrate Clarence's 25th birthday. We had quite a lot of food and luckily Jim arrived late or else some of us would have gotten parking fines (as he spotted the parking attendant at the carpark).

Group photo

This year's Chinese New Year felt rather short and i felt that there were fewer angbaos given to me although the overall cash amount received had increased. Have to save up more for the grad trip.

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Booked!

I booked my grad trip tickets to Europe! Ha... People must be wondering why after 6 months of exchange in Europe, i still wanna go Europe. Firstly, the air ticket is damn cheap. I bought return air tickets on Lufthansa from Singapore to Munich for just $878 inclusive of all surcharges and taxes. Shockingly cheap indeed (it is even cheaper than AirAsia return flight from KL to London). Secondly, there are still many parts of Europe that i haven't been to (esp Eastern Europe). Thirdly, I just love the culture, the atmosphere and some of the scenery in Europe.

This trip will be strictly budget because i will be there for 4 weeks. I will utilize my full power of scrimp and saving throughout the entire trip. I think it's a tad too long but anyway, we won't be able to travel so many days when we start work. Now, it's down to the planning stages.

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Reunion Dinner

Happy Chinese New Year to all Chinese people and happy holidays to all non-Chinese people!

I had my reunion dinner at a vegetarian restaurant at Jalan Besar with my family, some of my relatives and my grandmother.

Lao Yu Sheng

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The Reader

Watched The Reader with Derrick, Edwin and Shiqi at vivo today. The synopsis and review are as follows.

Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. The Reader is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another.

I must say that i am very impressed with Kate Winslet and David Kross acting chops. Their performances definitely deserve more than two thumbs up for me. The affair is torrid, passionate and definitely engrossing with the gaping differences in their personalities as well as the huge difference in their age. The story is immensely engaging with the strong character developments and the fluid movie progression.

There is even on-site location shooting of the Auschwitz and Birkenau Camps in Poland. This movie tells audiences of a man whose life is changed forever due to his meeting with Hanna. It is richly layered, full of subtle emotions, subdued passion and longing. The impressive performances, the engrossing storyline, the lovely score, and the assured direction explain why this movie is nominated for Best Picture in the Academy Awards this year.

****

We had a fervent discussion after the movie and we cleared most of the doubts that we had over some of the actions taken by the actors and actresses in the movie.

Trailer for The Reader

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81st Academy Award Nominees

Best Picture

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director

* David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Stephen Daldry – The Reader
* Gus Van Sant – Milk
* Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
* Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon

Best Actor

* Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
* Sean Penn – Milk
* Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
* Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Actress

* Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie – Changeling
* Melissa Leo – Frozen River
* Meryl Streep – Doubt
* Kate Winslet – The Reader

Best Supporting Actor

* Josh Brolin – Milk
* Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
* Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
* Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
* Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumous)

Best Supporting Actress

* Amy Adams – Doubt
* Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
* Viola Davis – Doubt
* Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay

* WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
* Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
* Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
* In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
* Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Best Adapted Screenplay

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
* The Reader - David Hare
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
* Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

Best Animated Feature

* Bolt
* Kung Fu Panda
* WALL-E

Best Foreign Language Film

* Revanche – Austria
* The Class – France
* The Baader Meinhof Complex – Germany
* Departures – Japan
* Waltz With Bashir – Israel

Best Animated Short

* La Maison En Petits Cubes
* Lavatory - Lovestory
* Oktapodi
* Presto
* This Way Up

Best Art Direction

* Changeling
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* The Duchess
* Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography

* Changeling
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Costume Design

* Australia
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Duchess
* Milk
* Revolutionary Road

Best Documentary Feature

* Nerakhoon (Nerakhoon)
* Encounters at the End of the World
* The Garden
* Man on Wire
* Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short

* The Conscience of Nhem En
* The Final Inch
* Smile Pinki
* The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Film Editing

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Live Action Short

* On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
* Manon On the Asphalt
* New Boy
* The Pig
* Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Best Makeup

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Original Score

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
* Defiance – James Newton Howard
* Milk – Danny Elfman
* Slumdog Millionaire – A.R. Rahman
* WALL-E – Thomas Newman

Best Original Song

* "Down to Earth" from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman (music), Peter Gabriel (lyrics)
* "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)
* "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best Sound Editing

* The Dark Knight
* Iron Man
* Slumdog Millionaire
* WALL-E
* Wanted

Best Sound Mixing

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Slumdog Millionaire
* WALL-E
* Wanted

Best Visual Effects

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Iron Man

Films with multiple nominations

* 13 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* 10 Slumdog Millionaire
* 8 The Dark Knight, Milk
* 6 WALL-E
* 5 Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader
* 3 Changeling, Revolutionary Road
* 2 The Duchess, Frozen River, Wanted, The Wrestler, Iron Man

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Sze Fei's Birthday

Met up with some of my coursemates to celebrate Sze Fei's 24th birthday. We went to a chinese restaurant along Farrer Road for dinner. The cou rou bao was quite good.

After eating our dinner

We then proceeded to Dempsey area for some desserts and went to Ben and Jerry's.

Outside Ben and Jerry's

Another group photo

Birthday boy invited on stage for a song

We had a good time there with the band singing many nice songs. The ambience was nice and it was a nice break from the academic work.

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Italy + Brussels Trip Day 3 (28 Apr 08) (Part 3)

Arriving back at Venice from Lido...

Many tourists in Venice

The bridge behind Doge's Palace

Nice weather, lamppost and island

Boys playing with pigeons

We decided to queue up to enter St Mark's Basilica as we did not have many places left to go in Venice. Unfortunately, taking photos were not allowed inside the Basilica.

One of the entrances

Gold plated ceiling?

Large number of tourists in St Mark's Square

We then headed to Ferrari Store as Kian Shing needed to buy something.

Mau and i in Ferrari Store

The exterior of the shop

Nice souvenir display at another shop

Last few photos before leaving Piazza San Marco

Love the weather when we were in Venice

Venetian masks for sale

On the water bus back to the bus station (Anthony should smile more)

On the bus back to our hostel

Regione del Veneto

We then took the bus back to our hostel in Mestre and picked up our luggage to go to Treviso. As we were carrying our backpacks and we got the 24 hr transportation ticket that includes all bus and water bus in the Venice area, we decided to take a bus to Mestre train station. I thought a certain bus takes us to Mestre train station but i was mistaken by the sign on the bus and we were heading to some unknown place. We decided to return back to the hostel area by taking the same bus on the opposite side of the road. I was quite pissed with myself for my own error.

We finally reached Mestre train station and took a short train ride to Treviso train station. As our hostel in Treviso is quite far away from the train station, we took a bus and i was standing by the side of the bus driver constantly so that he can instruct me where to get off. Taking 8 people on a trip is quite stressful if something goes wrong.

We reached our hostel without a hitch after walking along the quiet streets in Treviso. We unloaded our luggages and headed outside for dinner. My original plan was to check out Treviso but due to the unforeseen circumstances, my timing was pushed back by 1-2 hrs and we decided to give the touring of Treviso a miss.

Our nice house in Treviso

Traditional pizza making

Taking photo with the chef

Having our dinner in the hostel corridor

Enjoying the pizza, i think mine was a bit too salty though

Nice room!

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Italy + Brussels Trip Day 3 (28 Apr 08) (Part 2)

Continuing the tour of Lido...

This modern structure greeted us before we saw the beach

View of the sea from this elevated platform

Modern white structure

Group photo

Another group photo

With the dome like structures

View of the beach

Anthony taking this artistic shot

Gy and Wj in the sea

The sand is quite coarse and there were some litter

Daryl and i

Another picture

Some of the seashells Gy collected

After the short tour of Lido beach, we proceeded to have our lunch at one of the eateries that we passed by just now along the way to the beach.

The gelato is good!

We headed back to Venice by the water bus after lunch next.

On the water bus back to Venice

Caught sleeping!

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Edwin's 25th Birthday Celebration

We had a surprise birthday celebration for Edwin and had dinner at Coastes along Siloso Beach at Sentosa.

Eating dinner

Some food we ordered

We went to have some desserts next and had the cake cutting session.

Happy Birthday to Edwin!

Songs of the Sea was playing nearby and i took photos of the fireworks display

We then headed over to Quality Hotel in Balestier for the supper buffet that costs $10.40 nett. I think the food was very average (which explains for the low price).

Having our supper

We then went next door to the bar and had some drinks before heading back. The live band was quite experienced and the singer had quite good vocals.

In the bar with the live band

Chilling out

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