the hobbit: an unexpected journey

After dinner on Thursday, I met Zhiqi and we went to attend my company’s Members’ Appreciation Nite, where we screened The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to members who had previously purchased tickets at $10 a pair. We were in the last row, with some of my colleagues and their friends and family.

caught on camera

‘I never watch them. I can’t stand my voice. I cannot change the channel quick enough’

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer on her own movies

The Straits Times, Life!, 16 August 2012, page C8

This quote reminded me of my Chinese classes in Secondary 2. My teacher, 陈老师, divided the class into fixed groups right from the first few lessons and often got each group to act out various parts of various 课文 in the textbooks, which usually resulted in the rest of the class exploding in mirth.

Sometimes we would go to the Cyber Learning Centre, where our Oscar-winning performances would be recorded on video. Later, she would screen the video recordings for our viewing pleasure. Whenever I saw myself onscreen, I had to hide my face, because my acting was completely cringeworthy and my voice, super shrill. Haha.

I think 陈老师 was one of the best teachers I ever had. :)

brilliant and obscene

After my short shopping sojourn, MRTed down to VivoCity and met Zhiqi to watch Ted.

white ramen and green tea

On Friday evening (24 August), Daphne and I decided to go get dinner at Raffles City after work. We walked around the eateries located in the basement a couple of times, but couldn’t decide on what to eat. Finally, we decided to try this newly opened restaurant on the first floor, Menya Musashi (named after legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi), which specializes in ramen.

We joined a rather long queue outside the restaurant. To reduce waiting time, they had a staff go down the line to pass menus out and take orders.

As there were only two of us, we were lucky enough to get a table after waiting less than 15 minutes, ahead of other larger groups!

day at the museum

On Thursday, I took leave from work to visit the Harry Potter: The Exhibition and Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal exhibitions at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands with Ahgong. To see both exhibitions, we bought all-access passes, which were $24 each for Singapore residents.

We decided to see the Harry Potter exhibition first, and were made to join a queue just outside the entrance to the exhibition. Staff draped Hogwarts scarves on us (only Gryffindor and Slytherin colours available so we both chose the Gryffindor ones), and snapped a photo of us standing in front of a green screen. Finally we were allowed in!

A staff member in robes appeared and performed a sorting ceremony. Volunteers were requested to sit on a stool, and the staff member held the Sorting Hat above their heads, and a voice boomed out which house they were sorted into. Three excited children volunteered. Before they were sorted, each was asked which their favourite house was, and all of them got into their favourite houses (as if it could be any other way!). None of them mentioned Hufflepuff, and Ahgong commented that nobody wanted to be hardworking and loyal. :P

eating our way through a saturday

Made a new friend yesterday!

Had arranged to meet Joanne at Marutama Ramen at the Central at 2.30 pm, and she would be bringing her friend Serena. In the end I was half an hour late, and by the time I reached the restaurant, Joanne and Serena were finishing their ramen and extra order of cha shu.

So I quickly ordered a bowl of their the eponymous Marutama ramen!

viva mexico

Went out with a newfound friend G (pseudo-date? :P) on Friday after work. First we went to watch All’s Well Ends Well 2012 at Cineleisure. It’s a romantic comedy with a (naturally!) happy ending, and nothing too thought provoking. The most notable thing about the movie is that Donnie Yen proved that he can do comedy really well!

After the movie, we walked down Orchard Road and went to Viva Mexico in Cuppage Terrace for a late dinner/supper! Apparently, G had wanted to try this place, which does Mexican cuisine (obviously! :P),  for some time. This is the first time I had Mexican food, not counting the one time I had Taco Bell during secondary school.

There was a heavy stone bowl on each table and I wondered what it was for.

slip of the eye

‘I was 27 years old, I went 100 days over schedule, massively overbudget and I was roasted by the studios, who called me an irresponsible young film-maker. It was a debacle. Who could have guessed the public would embrace Jaws the way they did?’

Steven Spielberg on the popularity of his 1975 shark movie

The Straits Times, Life!, 12 October 2011, page C8

I was glancing through the quotes in the ‘Go ahead quote me’ column when I thought I read ‘Who would have guessed the public would embrace Jews the way they did?’, and immediately did a double take.

harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 2

My designer CX said that they had an extra ticket for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 preview on Wednesday night, but she couldn’t make it, so would I like to go instead? I said yes, and MRTed down to Lido to meet her colleague JW.

harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 1

Went to watch HP by myself yesterday afternoon. Watching movies alone can be extremely cathartic.

le petit nicolas

Had an interview somewhere in Dhoby Ghaut this morning, and was done in less than half an hour. So I walked to Cathay, had lunch (a somewhat disappointing New York Pizza) and decided to go watch a movie. Wanted to watch Life As We Know It, but eventually settled on a French movie, Little Nicholas (originally titled Le Petit Nicolas).

licence to kill

Just finished watching the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. I’ve actually watched six Bond movies – the four starring Pierce Brosnan and the two starring Daniel Craig – in the past two months or so. (Not sure if I’ll go on to watch the older ones, though – not a fan of old movies! :P)

going to bukit gombak

So HL and I decided to go hang out at MZ’s house on Monday afternoon. He lives in Bukit Gombak, which I’ve heard much about, but have never gone there before.

So after nearly an hour on the train, I got off at Bukit Gombak only to find myself in outer space. Just kidding. :P The station is surrounded by blocks and blocks of flats and seems like a really sleepy little place.

Managed to find MZ’s place without much difficulty, thanks to his expert directions. So I was telling them that this was the first time I’ve been to Bukit Gombak, and HL said, ‘When I told my mum I’m going to Bukit Gombak, she was like, where is that place?!’

I know Little Guilin’s somewhere around, so I asked them where it is, and they said it’s behind the nearby stadium. Still can’t wrap my mind around that fact: the stadium, then immediately behind it a deep ravine?!

MZ kept trying to make us watch this really old Russian comedy film which was in black and white, but every time he played it, his laptop began to lag, so that put paid to his attempts. So we watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid instead, which was quite amusing. MZ was appalled that we enjoy such movies. :P

After that HL left, but I stayed for dinner (bee hoon and fried chicken wings!) and watched Hot Tub Time Machine, which was really ridiculous but still quite funny.

Before I left, I borrowed not one or two but FOUR books from MZ’s shelves, much to his immense chagrin. :D

a royal time

Went to Pamela’s house for lunch on Sunday.  Pottered around in the kitchen awaiting Koh Ni’s arrival. Actually I think the only thing I did was to vaguely cube Pamela’s deformed hard boiled eggs.

When KN arrived sometime after 2, it was finally lunchtime!!! YAY!!!

KN presiding demurely over the proceedings:

The lunch menu:

- salad (lettuce, capsicum and bits of boiled egg, with low-fat Miracle Whip which I quite liked)
- tomyam soup with chicken and prawns
- wasabi tuna potato croquettes
- flavoured Japanese rice with bamboo shoots
- KN’s mocktail (sparkling grape juice, cranberry juice and pineapple cubes mixed together)

I loved the croquettes argh I’m a sucker for anything potato-related……!!!

First we watched The Cat Returns, which I found a little too short. KN’s right, once you watch Spirited Away, all of Hayao Miyazaki’s works simply pale in comparison. :P

Then we watched Spring Snow, which was a Japanese period movie about the forbidden love between this 斯文败类 from a nouveau riche family and a girl from a declining aristocratic one. The ending was so tragic that both KN and I protested vehemently (probably to Pamela’s great amusement). I only like happy movies, real life is bad enough!!!

After that, tea time!

My Victorian sponge cake made its debut! Nice!!!

We also had homemade red rubies dessert – well they were supposed to be green emeralds instead, but most of the green colouring I’d brought had leaked out of the plastic container, so the resulting jewels were a really faint green. :P

After that we practised tying obis in various ways, and photographed them for posterity.

twentysecond

Was prepared to spend my birthday traipsing through bead shops alone when ma cherie smsed me to say that she had the all clear to go gallivanting around town. So YAY!

So we went to VivoCity to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was opening day so tickets were $8.50 (!!!). It was a tiny theatre with only 9 rows, and we were seated in the fourth row from the front.

Anyway, the movie. The CGI was spectacular, especially the opening sequence where the Dementors caused the Millennium Bridge collapse. It was quite funny too, yes it did feel like a romantic comedy most of the time. Loved the hospital scene where Ron was unconscious and muttered Hermione’s name, to Lavender’s utter chagrin. And the three old fogeys Slughorn, Snape and Dumbledore were standing there in amazement, and Dumbledore went, ‘Oh, to be young and to feel love’s keen sting!’

Hermione kept throwing ridiculous tantrums for ridiculous reasons; one felt like shaking some sense into her sometimes.  AND they minused MANY important scenes!!! Especially the last one where there was supposed to be an epic battle between the Death Eaters and the Hogwarts students. But there WASN’T!!! We just see Bellatrix Lestrange destroying furniture in the Great Hall and then all the Death Eaters just leave like that! BOO.

After that we went to Sakae to eat cheap Japanese buffet!!! We ate about 18 plates in total. The other time when I went alone, I ate about 14 plates! Ma cherie claims it was because I was depressed then. NOT TRUE OKAY. :P

After that we didn’t go shopping but hid in Page One looking at pictorial books instead.

When we were walking down to the MRT, we passed by a bridal exhibition. I saw the prettiest dress in the world: a short dress which consisting of a pleated black bustier top and sparkly puffy white tulle skirt. It looked totally me!!! Anyway one of the salon assistants said it’s an ROM dress (but would be more suitable for younger brides, I would think), and since it’s new, it’d cost $400 to rent and $700 to buy! But it’s a really pretty dress anyway! :D

Quite a good way to spend one’s birthday, really.