with my grandparents

i went to watch 881 again with my grandma and grandpa at GV tamp today! i think my grandma got a little teary at the end. oh well.. it's really quite a sad show. well, it was the first time ever for me, watching a movie and had all different seatings! check out the ticket.. we three were all seperated. bit weird, but actually okay lah. not that bad.

going to work tomorrow.. damn sian. but i shouldn't complain too much lah. compared to others.. i considered very lucky already. but it's just.. i don't really enkoy my job. so dread it a bit. and finally.. i think i've grown tired of 8 Days. after so many years since primary school, i had no longer the urge to buy it the moment i pass a mag stand, read every article in the mag, and jason hanh has ceased to be as amusing as he was last time. like yihao said, quite sad. but things change.

women, beware

"What a wonderful invention, ships! Of course, I am told they are bound to disappear for 'market reasons', because they no longer pay. This is how our world works, and so we deprive ourselves of one more pleasure. In the end we shall even get rid of women! Inventions of God! Of course, we shall do without them the day we find a way to make children more cheaply in test tubes without waiting nine months, the day we find there is no 'market' for love, and men can stick their willies in a machine electronically programmed to satisfy all desires with no risks of diseases - a machine that will ask nothing for itself, except money."

- Tiziano Terzani A Fortune-teller Told Me

brown rice

today my grandmother asked me, "which comes first? the chicken or the egg?" and i told her, "there's no answer."

boxer had his first doggy bowl of brown rice today!! haha. we bought a pack for him, 2.5kg for 4 bucks. and for the first time ever, he took, by his standards, a very long time to finish it! he actually ate, walked away twice, and then go back to eating.. i was amazed. for a dog that eats anything, brown rice must taste damn bad for him to not really like it. i think i'll buy some mutton for him the next time.. add a bit more flavour haha. he's spoilt.

and he had his usual walk and we saw this guy who has 3 jack russells! omg. they looked like 3 boxers! all pulling so hard at the leash and whining. so scary! haha imagine yihao's place 3x the mess everyday lol. can faint and get high blood pressure.. but boxer's so cute! i think he's the cutest jack russell i've seen! heh.

and we saw this lady with her jack russell. we can actually see her kitchen from yihao's place.. so when she first bought him, boxer was already a little bigger. so we used to look over and he's so cute!! but now he bigger not nice looking already. lose to boxer hahaha! and we saw her downstairs today then she damn zhuai. pretend never see us.. she got no dog owner etiquette leh.

rule number one: always smile at the other dog owner when your dogs meet.

like that also dunno. tsk tsk.

amy green

"A moment on the lips, forever on the hips."
- Amy Green (on Joey's obsession with pizzas)

websites

hey guys, please pass it on.

if you guys know anyone who has a business that need a simple website that customers can refer to for latest updates, please recommend me! they can visit my blog and click on the banner on the right. best are small or personal businesses that sell things online, like clothes or hand-made stuff. design won't be too complex, simple and stylish with easy navigation.

i can also help take photos of the products they are selling, or digitally edit them to make them look better. datelines will be met promptly, and of course as promised, the prices are reasonable and definitely affordable. cheers!

a fortune-teller once told me

a travel book (no matter what he calls it), by tiziano terzani

this book was born from an event in 1976. back then, tiziano was told by a fortune-teller in hong kong, not to fly in the year 1993. the start of the book sees him in a inner conflict - whether or not to believe in what westerners call superstition. and he decided he needed a change in his hectic lifestyle (he is a journalist), so in 1993, tiziano travelled by land and sea through eleven asian countries. turns out, a UN helicopter crashed in cambodia that very year, full of journalists. "Among them was the German colleague who had taken (his) place."

along the way, he continues his new-found fascination with this alternate form of believes. what promises to be a journey of spirituality and insight into the asian way of life is marred by tiziano's love for his own words. he sees it as a neccesity to end each paragraph with a beautifully written sentence that, i can only suppose, intended to lead the reader into a new level of realisation. in the first chapter, it is pretty impressive. but after that, you just want to ask him to stop. the man takes himself way to seriously, coming up with sentences like,

"What an ugly invention is tourism! One of the most baleful of all industries! It has reduced the world to a vast playground, a Disneyland without borders. Soon thousands of these new invaders, soldiers of the empire of consumerism, will land, and with their insatiable cameras and camcorders they will scrape away the last of that natural magic which is still everywhere in this country."

seriously, does he even read his own books? his love for the untouched, places spared from modernisation can be understood, and even applauded. while the masses are conforming to the ever-changing west, we need our own identification. but his constant whining in the book is irritating and laughable. he is not only in love with his words, he is in love with his ideals and is determined to make sure we readers can memorise it.

and his affection for asia, obviously does not extend to the people that make up this part of the world. chinese, according to him are the ones responsible for the peoples' need to modernise. chinese, immigrated for money. chinese, monopolised thailand and made it what it is today. he also states his discontempt for the way women are dressed in malaysia. he speaks of the kampucheans like they are of a mystic past, and not the warm, friendly people they are.

such sweeping statements, and from a journalist too. many of his so-called quotes come from only one person, and he uses that to justify as if it spoke for the majority. the last straw for me came when he reached singapore. he does not bother to hide his disgust for our country. he openly criticises out government, and our father MM Lee Kuan Yew. he writes of things that i can only name them as 'conspiracy theories". it is utterly revolting and disgusting to read, coming from someone who isn't even singaporean. He says,

"What happens to a society that grows up like this, without the learning to make distinctions, with only the computer's logic of 'yes' and 'no'? What happens in the heads of children who grow up with the impression that every problem has a solution, and that everything is at most a question of software?"

this part made me so indignant that i dog-eared the page. and i never do that to books. but he exceeds himself when he gave snide remarks about our racial harmony, saying it cannot possibly exist, and that chinese are the dominating race. our taxi drivers, are irritating and we like in a air-con city.

there will always be this debate of urbanisation vs. our origins. even tiziano himself agrees that when given a choice, people (who live in less developed places) will opt for urbanisation. and why? because of the convenience and comfort it brings. while i too enjoy the occasional escape, it is unfair to impose upon others what you think as beautiful and untouched. is it right then, hindering people to move on? is it fair that because you think something should be left alone, that the people living in it should also be denied the chance of sleeping in an air-con room and a comfortable bed?

tiziano may have good knowledge about asia. but in a book written so fluffy and with that little credibility, i say skip it.

quality time

today i spent some great time with my grandparents. had breakfast at Hans (tampines) then walked around for a while. my grandfather bought 4D heh, and my grandma went to the bank. after that we took the free shuttle bus to IKEA! and GIANT. it was so fun! there weren't many people today.. and the place was generally quite quiet. we shopped for fruits and a cushion for my aunt. i really enjoyed it.

and today, after 21 years, i finally found out exactly why, my grandma has two names! and all my life, my grandma's only occupation is a nurse. something she is very proud of, something everyone knows her by. when she goes back to whompoa. everyone calls her "MIssy ah!" which in hokkien means, "nurse ah!". apparently, before she began her career as a nurse, she had a stint in a factoy which produced paper bags. and she was a also a... JEWELRY sales girl at the age at 18!

oh the irony of it! my grandma is never one for the riches and beauty that came with it. my grandmother is a down-to-earth, no nonsense kind of person. she has a heart of gold, and she and my grandfather brought me up.

and why, is my grandmother's name Tan Ah Sam @ Tan Mei Chin? see? my grandmother's hip okay. she had an email address way earlier than me. my grandmother's born in malaysia and at that time, her name was written in arabic on her birth cert. and the nurse at the hospital apparently didn't really know arabic.

so since birth, everyone assumed she's Tan Mei Chin. all the way till when she's 18, when she dropped out of school in Form 4 (secondary 4 in our time). it was till then, when she wanted to come over to singapore (we were still with Malaysia that time) that a clerk told her that no, your name isn't Tan Mei Chin!

can you believe it? what a slap in your face. imagine everyone calling you robert when your name's actually dick. but maybe if you're called dick, you wouldn't want people to find out anyway.

so my grandmother had to go to court and swear about something (i didn't really get that part), and now her I/C states, Tan Ah Sam@Tan Mei Chin.

cool right? and she's going to start cell group soon. my grandma goes to Trinity Church.. and they already found her a cell. and she wants to be water baptised soon. i'm so proud of her.

i love my grandparents so much!

881 (by royston tan)

it's a bit like a heritage journey. makes you proud.It's nothing like his previous works 4.30 and 15. 881 is a celebration of local getai with a plus. The show is a feast for the eyes.. bursting with colours, and the cast breaking into songs throughout the show. It is spontaneous, fun and the waterworks come naturally. Costumes are elaborate and grand. The duo, Yeo Yann Yann and Mindee Ong are Big Papaya and Small Papaya respectively. Together they are the Papaya Sisters. And are they.. to the very last glitter on their dresses. On stage, they are captivating to watch.. It's almost like like you were transported back more than 10 years back, only better singing and less sleazy.

Qi Yuwu gets biggest billing. He gives a convincing act as Aunty Ling's son who can't speak. He emotes quiet anger, despair, joy that is painful to watch. The cast have great chemistry and even May and Choy (who obviously can't speak chinese), fit in perfectly. Even better are the getai verterans. They are loud and as clourful as the show. Watch out for Karen who's like this big sister of the trade.

Royston does well. This feels like an epic, comparable to the likes of Moulin Rouge. A local Moulin Rouge if you may. Royston is definitely a new director to look out for. Jack Neo's best was Homerun but his recent productions have been disappointing. 881 is a tribute to our local, dying getai scene, and has a little something for every Singaporean who lived through those times.

our generation

"fireworks are a few minutes of joy... why do you burn this (when) you can build a community club? that's my generation. it's hard-earned money. but this is what they (the new generation) want. they want the excitement."

- MM Lee Kuan Yew

family fun

had some fun with my mum and sister while watching the national day parade.. the biggest ballon's mine. the smallest my mum's. lol!

and here's a picture of boxer sitting down beside me.

loss

i promise not to take anything for granted anymore. i have, for the second time, felt what it could have been without. and it would've been very sad, if it was to be forever.

in desperation and lost

it's a scary feeling.

today i experienced the long 2 hours of my life.. it was disorientating and painful. but i also experienced closeness, which i haven't felt in some time after.

china wine

i know.. pastor's wife right? from church right? got kid right?

so what? guys give her a break lah.

she has chart topping dance singles in the UK and the US. we have got to open up a little, see the bigger picture. what she's doing is amazing, bringing asian music to a whole new level. we're talking about wyclef jean here okay. the one who told us that 'hips don't lie' and brought shakira to a new level of hotness. she's done things that most can only dream about, and here we are being all whiny about how she's selling out.

seeing what people comment on the video just makes me wanna laugh. why bring in all the personal insults? typical singaporeans lah. talk about her clothes and always always the church. all the minor, petty things and missing the whole big picture in the end. that she is doing something so huge. people, loosen up a little man.

tomorrow's national day and i say she's doing singapore proud!

we are singaporeans!

all in good spirits, for it's national day tomorrow!!

while we may complain at the hike in transport fares, or the 2 years compulsory national service, or how we don't have democracy, or how we have all sorts of campaigns or that you have to stand in a yellow box to smoke... or the many other things that been oversaid. if i may, over-complained.

but it's national day tomorrow and let's be thankful that we are the citizens of a beautiful and ever advancing nation. a nation where people of races can live together in harmony, where there are no natural disasters, where our government is one of the least corupt in the world. we, whom from a nation torned apart in war, became what we are today. a secure place in the new world.

let's not forget how we are almost safe to walk alone in the streets at night, and how our army is ever-ready 24/7 for a battle when the need occurs. and also medical and fire services at your beck and call in 9 minutes, no matter where you are.

so fellow singaporeans, i urge you to think hard about what we have and not just concentrate on the negetive. there can never be a perfect government or system. but what we have now, is already better than most.

disturbia

every killer lives next door to someone
Kyle (Shia LaBeouf) is placed under house arrest after punching his Spanish teacher. His mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss), terminates his accounts with iTunes and XBox. Bored out of his wits, Kyle takes to spying on his neighbours as a alternate form of entertainment. Enter next-door hottie, Ashley (Sarah Roemer) whom Kyle soon forms an obsession with.

He soon sees a pattern in his neighbours' everyday life. And he gets more than what he bargained for when he soon realises he could be living just opposite a wanted serial killer, Mr. Turner (David Morse). Things gets dangerous after Julie pays Mr. Turner a visit.

While the plot isn't the best and most original, the cast makes up for that. Watching Shia LaBeouf take lead in this movie, makes us forget his humble (and cringe-worthy) beginnings in shows like Even Stevens. In a show like Disturbia, the build-up and parts leading up to the climax of the movie focuses a lot of the characters. He is intriguing to watch and holds the movie perfectly together.

Sarah Roemer plays Ashley, whom Kyle has a crush on. Not much from her though. Not exactly bad, but some how I felt that her take on the character wasn't how I expected it to be. Her portrayal of Ashley came across as a little too reserved, to the point of being a little distant, even when more than halfway through the show. Maybe it was her way of playing hard-to-get and sexy, but it just didn't work too well for me.


The adults brings stability to the show. David Morse as Mr. Turner is subtle and creepy. He appears out of nowhere, and talks so calmly it is unnerving. Yet, you sense this dread and fear, this power he radiates. He makes sure this movie isn't a scream fest. Julie, Kyles mother, played by Carrie-Anne Moss is the on-screen troubled single parent to the last scowl and frown. She doesn't really know how to handle Kyle, yet tries to meddle in his affairs, often making things worse.


In all, the producers managed to esembe a strong cast and perfectly casted roles. The only one scene that made me a little disappointed was the car scene between Mr. Turner and Ashley. While Mr. Turner was chilling to the bone, Ashley just looked like a damsel in distress. What could've been a great scene only turned out to be okay.

Hmong Lao in Laos

they are "the forgotten refugees of southeast asia and the world beyond".


while we live in the comfort of our homes, the luxury of many things we take for granted, just take 15 minutes to know what else is going on in the world. even if this is just one of the many atrocities happening in our time, at least you did something.

Refugees SG

please carry on this post on your blog.

knocked up

skip it, unless you're pregnant after a one night stand

when 8days, my favourite magazine gave this one 4 out of 5 stars, i tagged it mentally as a must-watch. When IMDb users combined, gave it a 8 out og 10 rating, I told myself I can't miss this one. And when i finally decided to watch The Simpsons first, before this one, I was having an internal heated arguement in my head while watching the adverts and trailers, wondering if I made the right choice.

Turns out, I absolutely did. Knocked Up didn't work for me at all. While the characters are funny and amusing to read on print, on screen they just don't deliever. Katherine Heigl as Alison Scott plays it much too serious as the pregnant woman, reducing the laughs by half. Seth Rogen as Ben Stone is like Jack Black in Nacho Libre. Not afaid to flaunt what other don't want to see. Performance wise, he is a little bland and does not have a great commanding screen presence. And was it absolutely necessary to show them having sex cos people in the audience were going like "eww..". AND, if you're the squirmish sort, watch out during the delivery. I had to close my eyes, a first, when watching a comedy.



And his friends are a weird bunch that smoke weed and do nothing with their lives. Could have been much funnier and more fun. But they come across more of creepy than funny. And the Asian girlfriend just made me cringe. The only pleasant surprise is Paul Rudd, Phoebe's boyfriend-turned husband from f.r.i.e.n.d.s. Not that he was fantastic, but he was good enough.



Reason why I'm so bitter is, I was expecting a comedy. A crude, laugh out loud comedy that I paid $7 for. Not a semi-comedy embedded with a couple's ardous 9 month journey, filled with nuggests of advice. Really, it doesn't concern me. So unless you're pregnant after a one night stand, don't watch it. The 2 hours is almost as tiring as getting the baby out.

when?

when will i ever:

1) get a perfect shot. the very one photograph that will define me at this moment.

2) pass my traffic police. (i'm hoping this 10th of August)

3) learn that nothing lasts forever

4) learn to let go

5) get to go on a holiday again

I know what's wrong in my life, but the changes are coming too slow.


a picture of boxer who can't wait to get a bite of that lamb pizza.