One of my all time fave commercials… The thais are really good at this!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I haven’t done a movie review in ages! That’s because none of the movies has left such a big impact on me, giving me the pressing desire to express my emotions in words.

But this is one movie that has me really thinking about the fragility of life and the struggles to remain morally upright amidst external pressure.

“The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is a movie based on a novel of the same name. Setting is of Germany during the World War II. 8 year-old Bruno is the son of a German Comandante who has been sent to Auschwitz to oversee the gas chambers. Staying in a house very near to the concentration camp, Bruno wondered over to it one day and made friends with a 8 year-old jewish boy called Schmuel. (Pronounced as Sch-moo) Although separated by an electric fence, friendship between the 2 boys flourished.

I won’t regurgitate the whole movie out scene by scene… you have wikipedia for that… Just want to share my thoughts…

Although knowing the background of the Holocaust and all, I can’t help but to think, how can someone treat another human being as a lesser person? And that exterminating a whole clan of people is for a greater good…

When put in that position, can I and will I stand up to defend what I think is right? Or will I hesitate, look away or blatantly ignore what is obviously a immoral and inhumane act for self-preservation?

There were tear-jerking moments but the one scene that is singularly stuck in my mind is that final poignant scene, where the camera initially focused on the door to the gas chamber and it slowly zoomed out to reveal rows of striped pyjamas haphazardly strewn around the place.

No gruesome images of men dying from the poisonous gas… But it will leave no doubt in your mind that many had died. And they died a meaningless death, not known by names but by numbers. Not known by the great lives that they would have led by being doctors, watchmakers, bakers… but by the same striped pyjamas.

2 words: Watch it!

I’ve never been to Night Safari before. And I got laughed at by my colleagues… (Never go before very suaku meh??? But my school didn’t bring us mah! Bleah!)

So the perfect opportunity arose when I heard that Night Safari is having special Halloween themed activities on Fridays and Saturdays in October. Decided to jio my colleagues! (yes, those that laughed at me… I’m nice!)

On 23 October 2009, we left for Night Safari with much anticipation.

Before we step on our journey to Neverland...

The entire park was transformed! I was pretty impressed – even the park attendants were dressed up like skeletons, ghouls, etc…

怕怕!

We started by queuing for the train of terror. This is one of the rare times that I was actually not irritated to have to wait for up to 30 minutes. That’s because we had entertainment literally popping up here and there…

You will never queue alone!

When we were finally on the tram, couldn’t resist taking more photos. Agnes claims that 星星 and Choon Ming looks alike. The more I see this photo, the more convinced I am. I guess it’s the tanned skin, bright smile, tiny eyes and generally the boyish look…

And we are off!

(L-R) 星星, Misa, Agnes & her bf Choon Ming

Not Fairy Tales, It's Scary Tales!

And they lived happily NEVER after...

Tortured Souls... Gruesome

Creatures of the Neverland

Werewolf baring his teeth at us!

The train of terror really lives up to its name. We saw Mermaid having her tail chopped up by a sinister-looking character. Her blood-curdling screams chilled me to the bone. There were Beauty and the Beast popping out of coffins. And a whole lot of other creatures…

But I guess some of the others were a lil bit disappointed. Due to the length of the tram, sitting at the middle or back is a big disadvantage. You would be able to tell all the surprises and where the characters are hiding. Since people paid this much money, they would expect to be scared. Well, I dunno about them, but I was scared! Then again, it doesn’t take much to scare me!!! LOL

Cinderella killed by her own glass slipper and Alladin with his dead genie

人头叉烧包

We had a Bloody good time indeed!

Weeee… In the end, we decided to go ahead and plan a trip to Hong Kong!

13-16 Nov 09.

I’ve been up till 2am for the past two nights, researching on the places of interest to visit, shopping places, food…

Talking about food! *drools*

I think I spent about 80% of my time checking out the must-go eating places.

- Roast goose
- Dim Sum
- Cha Chan Teng (Hong Kong Cafe) with 鸳鸯，奶茶，土司，蛋挞，牛肉面，macaroni soup
- Burger chains (not found in singapore) there’s one chain that sells wagyu beef burger *gulps*
- Hot Pot

and the list goes on… I’ve barely touched on all the best food that Hong Kong has to offer!

More late nights to come! And I’m actually looking forward to them!

Once in awhile, when life starts to get monotonous…

Monday – Work
Tuesday – Work
Wednesday – Work
Thursday – Work
Friday – Work + Salsa@Night
Saturday – Play “Rock Band” or “Trauma Centre” on Wii
Sunday – Play “Rock Band” or “Trauma Centre” on Wii

Following week – Repeat as above

You start to think about the idyllic coconut trees swaying in a lazy manner… snoozing in a beach chair, admiring the boundless ocean…

Well, you get the idea.

So, I started to cajole 星星 to plan a quick getaway. Suggestions came in a flurry but we were also quick to eliminate them as an option.

Genting, KL, Malacca, Bangkok, Hongkong…

We didn’t want to go on our own, just the 2 of us but it’s so difficult to get friends to join. Need to match schedules, make sure that you can get along with one another during the travels, have the same destination in mind, rooming arrangements… *ROAR*

It’s close to impossible to plan a trip.

Ideally, I would like to go to Japan… but that’s not possible given 星星’s schedule. So, I could settle for Hong Kong.

Mosie suggested Cambodia but I guess I’m over the 3rd world country phase. I pooh-poohed his initial suggestion of Koh Samui. But after doing some research, the best period to go is between December and March. It’s supposed to be after the monsoon season and is relatively cooling.

I wouldn’t have minded Bintan but 星星 didn’t seem very keen on it due to the price.

We can always join his colleagues to Bangkok… Hmm, but I have doubts about whether they will make good travelling partners. (Well, I guess they would be having the same doubts abt me as well!)

If only I can persuade Kok to agree to the trip… we might just be able to make a trip with her and Mosie. But haiz… very hard la. What with her new beau and all.

This is so frustrating! I feel like giving up on the idea of the quick getaway. *GHHARRR*

This is one of the most hilarious youtube videos I’ve seen in quite awhile. Hope you enjoy it as much I did!!!

Lesson 1: Genitalia

Lesson 2: Sex and all things wonderful

Our first baby…
We’ve finally decided to jointly invest in a game console that will provide infinite hours of fun.

According to 星星’s rationale:

Typical day of dating
Transport by MRT – $10
Lunch/Dinner – $60
Movie – $20
Drinks/Snacks – $10
Total = $100

8 weekends of that and we can save up enough to get Wii and Rock Band 2!!! In the long run, we’ll save lotsa $$$. Of course, there’s the entertainment value too.

After one morning of research (in which 星星 tirelessly searched for the best deal), we settled on getting the Wii set and Rock Band 2 set from a shop called Qisahn. We were initially told that there was only 1 set of Rock Band 2 left and that was reserved. But eventually, they decided to release the reserved set for us since the fellow who initially reserved it didn’t collect it for a long time. 

星星 was so excited… he couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t even eat lunch in peace! He was asking me the same question at least 5 times!!!

“你吃好了吗?”

“你吃好了吗?”

“你吃好了吗?”

“你吃好了吗?”

“你吃好了吗?”

I swear, he would have flown down to the shop if he had wings.

Being the bestest gf any guy can have, I was drinking my chin chow drink at the most infuriatingly slow pace. You should have seen the expression on his face!

Even though I took my time at lunch, we still managed to be at the shop within 2 hours of receiving the good news. And ta-da… we are now proud parents of our big baby…

Wii!!!

Rock Band 2!!!

Shall provide some more updates on our progress as a fledgling band! Akan Datang!

Yup… No pets for me for a very very long time…

Box Box has once again outdone himself!

The story began when 星星 was tasked to look after Box Box when his parents went back to Malaysia for the long weekend (Hari Raya).

That was our long weekend…. very long indeed!

Went salsa-ing and returned home late on Friday night… didnt get much zzz becos we were woken up early Sat morning by Box Box pawing on the door and alot of whining. When I say early, trust me… it’s damn early! Freaking 4.30am! Barely slept for 2 hours. And he woke us again at 7.30am. We were feeling pretty murderous by then.

Went for a BBQ on Sat night and went home late again… This time, we were woken up at 6am!  (All the pawing and whining again) Didn’t really sleep much after that.

On Monday, we went for lunch in town and came back home to this…

The Mess!

Escaping the crime scene with his favourite accomplice

Culprit looking pleased at his masterpiece

If you were wondering why he’s wearing the “Cone of Shame”, that’s because he’s been biting/chewing on his fur and he’s literally eating himself raw!

Anyways, if this doesn’t put you off having a pet, I dunno what will!

LOL!

Congrats to 星星 for his much-deserved good grades for his Masters!!

To 星星: You’ve really done well! Your efforts have paid off!!! Really happy for you… I guess happiness is contagious!

Thinking back to those days when he was preparing for the exams… Haiz… Those were tough days manz! Both for him and for myself.

Why do I say that?

Let me start from the blog entry that didn’t materialise:

为你我受冷风吹

It all began on the first day of 星星’s study break. He had taken 1 week of study leave from work to stay home and revise for his exams. It’s been quite awhile, details are abit hazy. But I remember that I didn’t hear from him for 3 days straight. (or was it 2, LOL) It seemed like eternity because we were only a few months old. (I mean the relationship was a few months old) We had spent the previous few months with our hips stuck together, figuratively speaking of course.

The sudden cut off in communications threw me off. I was expecting to at least see him on gmail chat/MSN, or talk on the phone for 10 min. But there was NOTHING! Zilch! Naught! Zero! It was like he literally dropped off from the face of earth. The sense of abandonment was acute.

I tried calling, but no response… SMS also no reply…

I was soooo used to having 星星 around that I suddenly found myself having alot of free time on my hand. And that’s not good at all! Cos I knew that my imagination would go into overdrive. (He doesn’t love me anymore. He finds me too “sticky”. He’s bored with me.)

My usual way of handling this sort of situation would be to occupy my free time and make sure that I don’t have so much time to think too much. But the whole situation happened so fast that I didn’t have time to jio friends/organise activities during this period. But luckily, I happened to see Russell-my foul-mouthed friend on MSN and confided in him. We went for tea and it was such a relief to be able to air my “grievances”. (Thanks yo! You’re the man, Russell)

Eventually, 星星 did manage to meet me for dinner that weekend. But I didn’t reveal my frustrations to him since I didn’t want him to lose focus. That was the first time I was seriously pissed at him… It was not easy to keep my emotions in check but luckily there was no outburst.

As 星星’s girlfriend, I felt bad that I couldn’t do anything to help relieve his stress or to help him in his revision. So I decided to give him a surprise “Exam Goodie Bag”. I bought chicken essence, 洋参, nuts, snacks… Brain food and comfort food. Things that I think he’ll appreciate during his long revision hours.

The plan was to travel down to his place at Jurong West and pass it to him personally. In my mind, the same romantic scene kept replaying. I would surprise him with the gift, he will be ecstatic beyond words and we will both live happily ever after.

But alas, fantasy rarely comes true in reality.

The fact was that, I went there, he didn’t pick up the phone. I waited for 30 minutes. He still didn’t respond. In the end, I gave up and went home. How I came up with the title was because there was a slight drizzle and I was standing in the rain flagging a cab. Felt so pathetic…

The feeling was really hard to bear. You know that you’ve worked so hard to plan this surprise and yet, it didn’t come into fruition. And it had to freaking rain!! Things just couldn’t get worse! Hence the title -  为你我受冷风吹…

Well, to be fair, it wasn’t his fault that the surprise didn’t come through. I could have called his home, I could have walked up to his door and knocked. But I guess I’m just a wimp… Don’t ask me why… I’m just easily paiseh…

I guess the lesson here would be, if you are planning surprises, don’t be disheartened even if it doesn’t succeed. That’s the risk that comes with springing surprises on people. And I’m still willing to take this risk… just to see that priceless expression on their faces!

Post exams, we did manage to revisit the “communication crisis”. And I’m glad to report that we were able to solve the problem minus the emotional outbursts. Staying angry doesn’t help the issue and it creates a wall between the 2 parties. All this could be avoided by managing each other’s expectations.

I expected to still have some form of contact with 星星  during his study week. Be it phone, MSN, gmail chat…

And 星星 expected to be able to study without disturbances, esp at night since he’s most productive then.

I dare say that the next round of exams will not see such drama!

Model Agent?

Suddenly received this friend request out of the blue.

只有一个字可以形容 – 那就是 爽！

Although the proposition seems quite dubious, it’s still a big ego boost!