My sis gave birth today on 31/03/09. Got a nephew now and I am now 'promoted' to the status of uncle. Ha....
Tiny baby Donovan in the crib
A closer view of DonovanCelebrated Mum's 53th birthday on saturday.
Family photo with my dog!
and my relatives
Cutting the cakeWatched Departures at with Sf, Sam and Calvin at JP just now. The review and synopsis are as follows.
Daigo Kobayashi's life takes a turn when the orchestra he played in is disbanded. Left with no job, Daigo, a cellist decides to move back to his hometown. At his hometown, he gets a job working as an funeral professional, where he sees himself as the gatekeeper between the living and the dead. Through his job, he discovers the meaning of life and what it is all about.
Departures is a dignified and respectful film that showcases the traditional Japanese ritual of sending the deceased off. The show starts off as a comedy of sorts, entertaining audiences with a hilarious tv recording and Daigo's first task which involved much puking. The show gradually moves from comedy to sombre mood with the emotional sending off everytime when someone passes. Everyone will be affected by the immense grief that the relatives go through including the undertakers. No one will be spared from the onslaught of sorrow that audiences will be able to relate to.
Asian conservative values that despise the people who earn money from the dead are discussed as well, bringing forth conflicts within Daigo's family. The cast does quite a good job with the decent character development of the main characters. Departures is an intimate study of death, life, redemption and forgiveness and it is richly layered with emotions.
****
Went to the Adidas Sale at Singapore Expo just now with Daryl and bought 2 pairs of shoes. I think many of the popular shoes are already sold out and i just grabbed the remaining decent ones that are left.
Sports Shoes
SneakersWent for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Concert just now in NTU with some of my coursemates. It was free admission and the concert was quite worth the watch.
SSO in Nanyang Auditorium
A closer look of the orchestra players
End of concertWatched Race to Witch Mountain in the evening just now with Ys and Qy. The synopsis and review are as follows.
Disney restarts their beloved Witch Mountain franchise with this family-friendly adventure. Dwayne Johnson stars as a taxi driver who gets more than get bargained for when he picks up two teen runaways (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig). Not only does the pair possess supernatural powers, but they're also trying desperately to escape people who have made them their targets.
Race to Witch Mountain is a rather entertaining and exciting show that tries to cover up the nutty story by using lots of action and some special effects. Unfortunately, I was not able to get past the stigma of watching a show with a storyline that is quite preposterous. Fortunately, there is quite a lot of action, albeit tamer and less violent, to offer with the numerous chase scenes.
Also, the cast is quite likable with Dwayne Johnson and the two affable kids who sometimes tend to sputter out technical gibberish. This Disney live action show about alien invasion is not just kiddy crap as it is quite heartwarming at times but it is strictly family film fare.
For its kid-geared genre, the movie does quite a decent job but myself as an adult audience, I seek more than just safe, heartwarming, family friendly stuff.
***
Went for my regular tennis session on fri night and we celebrated Yew Hua's birthday at Chomp Chomp after that.
Group photoWent to IT Show and watched Watchmen with Qy and Ys after school today. The synopsis and review are as follows.
In a gritty and alternate 1985 America, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. However, after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation is initiated. The retired superheroes reunite and set out to prevent their own destruction with an extra mission to watch over humanity. In the course of doing so, they unwittingly discover a deeper and far more diabolical plot.
Watchmen is undoubtedly one of the most stylish and the darkest superhero film that I have ever watched. The superheroes are far from perfect; some of them commit crimes, make errors in judgement, fight amongst themselves, and even exact justice to the wrongdoers themselves. They however stand united on saving humanity due to the impending nuclear disaster.
Zack Synder has done a brilliant job in transferring the vision of Watchmen successfully onto the big screen. The cinematography is outstanding, the visual effects are simply awesome and the action sequences are stunning. The running time of the movie stands at approximately 2 hrs 45 min but i was enraptured by the enthralling world of darkness and fear that i didn't really felt its length. The story is definitely engaging and multilayered with themes of vengeance, romance and ultimately optimism for the human race.
This movie also presents a very interesting question to audiences. Will you sacrifice ten people to save a thousand people?
***1/2
Been quite busy lately. Busy with FYP, busy with preparing and going for interviews/tests, busy with job applications, busy with booking train tickets for grad trip, busy with everything.
Will only be free in May. Argg.... Hope to be able to secure a job by then.
Been rushing to finish my FYP experiments since last week and will be rushing the report for the next 2 months. My weekends will now be dedicated to FYP and projects. Mr LYS who has more than 80 pages in his report keeps rubbin' it in by saying that he is slack and needs to improve his report. Going to scream at him the next time he says something like that. Seriously irritating. Ha...
My grad trip is finalized. Will be going to Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Rothenburg, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Vienna, Budapest. Can't wait to go for holidays again.
A simple bus journey from Milan train station to Bergamo airport created a friendship between Janan and Heinz, and myself, Janan and Derrick stayed at his house in a neighbourhood near Heidelberg in Germany for a night last year while touring Europe.
Heinz and his wife had a day of stopover in Singapore yesterday and Janan and I brought them to some nice places in Singapore. They were quite jetlagged and climate affected due to the time zone difference and the sudden jump in temperature from around 0 degrees celcius to a hot 30 degrees celcius here. I can understand their temperature woes coz i was complaining how hot Singapore is for 1 whole week after i got back here from Europe.
Anyway, Janan had planned their 1 day itinerary and i was the driver of the day. We fetched them from the airport and unloaded their luggages at my house where they were going to stay for the night. Their first stop was Bukit Timah nature reserve.
Hindhede Quarry
View of the quarry in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Janan and Heinz at Sri Veeramakaliamman temple
Intricate and colourful statues on the temple roof
Heinz and I in front of the main door
A closer look at the door with many bells
Walking around in the older parts of Singapore
Dinner
Outside Esplanade
Heinz loved this shot I took (and some others below) :)
Esplanade, Singapore Flyer and Singapore River
With Merlion and the skyline of Singapore
Merlion in closer view
Parliament House
St Andrew's Cathedral
Farewell group photoInflexibility breeds frustration
Frustration breeds anger
Some people can be very stubborn and fixated in their 'morals' when they can just be more understanding about others and not be so focused on what is wrong and what is right. All people are imperfect, no one is perfect and instead of focusing on the negative sides of people, be more tolerant and not let anger take control of the emotions.
Overconfidence breeds errors in judgement
Yes, some people can are indeed clever. But clever people can also make mistakes. Sometimes, a bit of humility can help them by thinking that they are not always right.
