Transformers

Transformers rocks! The special effects are more than spectacular! The action sequences never seem to end. The robots are way too cool. This movie gives much more action and special effects than your typical Hollywood blockbuster, eg. Fantastic 4.

The story starts with a teenager trying to sell his grandfather's old junk. Turns out that he needs money for his first car and his father obliges his wish. Concurrently, there had been an attack on a US military facility in Qatar. The followers of Megatron had invaded Earth and they seek a cube which is powerful enough to destroy the whole of mankind. Luckily, there is another species of robots which has come to protect Earth. Battle wages between the two robotic species and military weaponry of every kind gets unleashed.

Sounds cliché? Yes, it is but the action and special effects are way too spectacular. The characters in the movie too are overshadowed by the super awesome robotic transformers. Also, they are often overwhelmed in the action frenzy and we, the audiences, too are sometimes overwhelmed with the continuous onslaught of action. Still, Michael Bay does another brilliant job with the exhilarating action after the intelligent The Island and delivers what the audiences want.

I left the theatre feeling a little dazed after all the jimbam, kazuk, bishbang, and bingbong. Loved the movie nonetheless.

****

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Vietnam Day 2: Hanoi (Part 1)

25/6/07

We woke up at around 8.30 in the morning and left the hostel to find some place to have our breakfast. We got the Hanoi map from our friendly hostel owner and we navigated around our hostel to find a cafe.

Street peddlers on Yen Thai Street

We settled on a cafe nearby to have our breakfast.

Cafe near our hostel

Next, we decided to go to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and took a cab there. By the way, we cannot squat in the premises of the Mausoleum as the guards would ask us to stand up.

The huge patch of grass in front of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Another shot in closer view

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and 2 guards stationed at the entrance

We wanted to go inside but it was closed on Mondays and we decided to go somewhere else. The weather was hot and humid and we were perspiring a lot.

Heroes Memorial

Hanoi Flag Tower

Statue of Stalin or Lenin (i think)

After checking out the historical sites around the vicinity, we took a cab to near the riverfront as there are some museums over there as well.

Hanoi Opera House

The opera house looks like it had been plucked out from Paris and planted in Hanoi. For people who do not know, Vietnam was once a French colony and some of the street designs and building architecture look parisian.

Also, the museums and other tourist sites were closed on Monday as well and we were rather bummed out that we cannot enter any of the places we visited. Also, the tourist sites are normally closed for an hour and a half during lunchtime. We decided to give the tourist sites a go another day instead.

Next, we proceeded to the riverside to check out the scenery. We crossed over major roads and went into several small alleys in the direction of the river.

At one of the small alleys with graffiti on the walls

To be continued...

End of Part 1 (9 am to 1 pm)

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Vietnam Day 1: Singapore to Hanoi

24/06/07

Me, Edwin, Gs and Terence met up at the Budget Terminal at 2.45 pm to go to Hanoi. The queue was really long and we spent about half an hour waiting. There was a lucky spin for all the travelers and i won a towel! Ed and Terence were not so lucky as they did not win anything.

Lucky spin at Budget Terminal

Gs in the far left, Terence, Edwin and I on TR308 to Hanoi

The flight was supposed to be at 4.15 pm but it took off about half an hour later than the timing.

At Nội Bài International Airport

I had been liaising with my hostel and there was a car to pick up the four of us.

Many motorcycles in Hanoi

After leaving our backpacks in our hostel, North Hotel 2, we proceeded to Hang Gai Street for some food as all of us were hungry after the flight. There isn't a lot of restaurants on the street and we went to a nice looking restaurant for food. Ha... The price is affordable and rather similar to food court prices here.

Enjoying the food and drinks in the restaurant

We walked over to a night market indicated by the friendly hostel owner but the stalls were mostly closed by the time we reached there. Headed back to our hostel for some rest as Ed, Gs and I had a slight headache after the flight.

End of Day 1 (2.45 to 11.30 pm)

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Time

Ok.... Finally finished blogging about my LONG DUE Hong Kong trip and now i shall proceed with my Vietnam trip.

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Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 7

It is the last day of our Hong Kong trip and we didn't have much plans for the day as the flight is in the evening and we will need to leave for the airport at around 5 pm. We went to Dao Xiang Restaurant for dim sum breakfast as all of us felt that the price is affordable and the food is good. After the full breakfast, Jim, Gs and I decided to go to the Hong Kong Science Centre at Tsim Sha Tsui, while Edwin and Shiqi went shopping around Mongkok area.

The entrance fee to the science centre is quite cheap as we produced student identifications.

Rockets

Sitting on a rotating gyroscope

Pinhole Camera projection

Spacesuit

After spending about an hour in the science centre, we proceeded to Avenue of the Stars to take several photos before leaving for Mongkok to buy some local delicacies.

A band performing at the waterfront

Avenue of Stars

Jackie Chan handprints on the ground

Bruce Lee

We took the MTR back to Mongkok and bought "Lau Po Bing" and some other "bing" at the famous 恒香 bakery store.

Outside the store

After we bade farewell to the hostel people, we took our baggages and waited for the bus to the airport.

Along the busy Hong Kong Street

The sun was setting along the journey and i being the resident photo shooter, didn't sleep on the bus journey while most of the rest were taking the chance to grab some sleep.

Sunset on a bridge

Sunset behind airport lighting towers

Sunset behind Hong Kong International Airport aka Chek Lap Kok Airport

To conclude the Hong Kong trip, it is definitely jam-packed with activities everyday and it was quite a good trip as we covered most of the Hong Kong attractions plus Macau and Shenzhen. The highlight was definitely the fireworks and Hong Kong people do know the right buttons to push when it comes to tourism. STB should learn more from them.

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Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 6 (Part 2)

We proceeded to Hollywood Road as it was indicted in "Hong Kong: A Traveller's Guide" as a theme shopping street.

A Neo-Renaissance looking Hong Kong Police building along the way

However, the shopping street was not what we had expected as there are many shops selling antique furniture, antiques, and expensive souvenirs. We decided to cut the tour and detour to Sheung Wan MTR station.

Inside Sheung Wan MTR Station

We proceeded to Causeway Bay (铜锣湾）via MTR for some shopping instead. Once we stepped out of the station, throngs of people 'greeted' us and it was worse than Orchard Road on a public holiday. As we are all not shopping addicts, we browsed through the shops rather fast and avoided places with too many people.

At the heart of Causeway Bay

All of us didn't buy anything (as i remember) although there are so many shopping centres there. Perhaps the massive crowd put us off and we decided to "siam" the crowd and leave the place after about an hour or so.

We took the MTR back to Central and walked over to Star Ferry Pier to take the Star Ferry for the last time in our trip.

Walking from Central MTR Station to Star Ferry Pier

There were many people taking the Star Ferry with us as it was around 6 pm when the working people go back home.

The cityscape in sunset

Panoramic view of Hong Kong Island in sunset

The sunset was lovely as we viewed it from the ferry. We reached Tsim Sha Tsui at around 6.30 pm and proceeded to take some night shots of the brightly lit harbour there. As the Symphony of Lights begins at 8 pm, we decided to grab a bite first before catching the fireworks extravaganza.

We walking along Nathan Road and all we found were expensive restaurants serving really expensive Christmas dinners. Man, we wish we were in Mongkok at that time but we settled at a hotpot Chinese restaurant. The prices were quite steep and we opted for only a few dishes to satisfy our stomaches for a while.

We proceeded to Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade at around 7.45 pm and it was very very crowded.

The iconic symbol for Avenue of Stars (星光大道）

(A Symphony of Lights is displayed on both sides of the Victoria Harbour every night with good weather at 8pm Hong Kong time. The show is an orchestration of music, decoration lights, laser light displays, and pyrotechnic fireworks. The multimedia light and sound show lasts for about 14 minutes.) Extracted from Wikipedia. This laser show is a must watch for every tourist in Hong Kong.

Below are the numerous photos taken during the display

It was a really nice and entertaining display of lights, colours and sounds and we all enjoyed 'A Symphony of Lights'. We walked along the densely crowded Nathan Road towards Jordan MTR Station and there are many shops along the way. We were headed to the various street markets and Bowring Street Market was our first stop. Jim, Edwin and I bought some Hong Kong tees at a price of around S$6 which is quite cheap.

We then proceeded to Temple Street Night Market where there are many 'interesting' things sold there. Those who had been there will know what i'm talking about. I bought 2 kinetic powered torchlights for only 2 dollars each.

We walked and walked and walked over to Ladies Market which is very near our hostel. They don't just sell ladies goods but also some clothes for men as well. We had walked the length of 3 MTR stops and it was a little tiring. Luckily, there were many shops and stalls for us to see.

Me and Jim @ Ladies' Market

The 5 of us had a very late dinner at a food court near Mongkok MTR and we proceeded back to our hostel to rest. The next day is our last day in Hong Kong!

End of Part 2 (3 pm to 10.30 pm)

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Back in Singapore

I'm back in Singapore after a 3+ hour flight from Hanoi. Enjoyed the trip and the tiring aspects of it. Will describe in detail in later posts. Took around one thousand six hundred pictures and several videos.

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Back to Hanoi

Just came back from the 3 day 2 night tour of Ha Long Bay and the place is one of the most beautiful places i've ever visited.

It's raining cats and dogs here in Hanoi the moment we went back to Hanoi. So now we are waiting for the rain to stop before we go shopping! The bags here are rather cheap and all of us plan to buy at least one.

It's been a tiring trip but a rather fruitful one.

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