Last post of the decade

Would just like to mark the end of 2010 by recording that i met one of my oldest friend/primary school classmate/neighbour twice today!! First was in the morning when i was waiting for my colleague at TBP bus stop for a lift to ECP for the office event. There he was walking towards me with his wife.

Second time was in the evening at my fav place of the moment (i.e. Parco). i was on the way to the toilet and there he was again!! haha. It was really a most pleasant surprise! :) i've not seen my friend for a very long time and yet i bump into him twice today! :p

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

i confess the reason i watched this is cos of Hugh Grant. A slightly below average film with a predictable plot. And i think the supporting cast have more chemistry than the odd combination of Hugh Grant and SJP.

Nodame Cantabile Finale

i still do not understand why there's a need to split the movie into two parts. Anyway, the movies are not as nice as the dorama. But whenever i watch Nodame, i just have an urge to learn the piano! And i do think that Ueno Juri plays her very well! :)

ダーリンは外国人《My Darling is a Foreigner》

The reason i picked this from rental was cos i had the book! And that's perhaps the only watchable reason. A complete waste of time. i rather spend my time looking up my 辞書 haa....

Tron: Legacy

Not exactly my cup of tea. Kind of slow paced for a "high tech" show. The storyline seems impressive for an 80s film but a bit dated in today's context.

Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town 79CE

Last exhibition for the year.

Pompeii, which was buried in a volcanic eruption, was stopped in time and many of the items are very well preserved. It was such a coincidence that keppel nights have a discount code for it this weekend. Yay! And it was a bigger coincidence that I received my nafa student pass just few days before. And students (as long as you produce a valid student pass) goes it free!! Double yay!! And so I didn't need to pay and got half price for YZ (my museum kaki). Money saved but well spent cos we spent almost the whole day at the museum. Well, not including the 2hours lunch. Hehe.

Exhibition runs till 23 Jan. And it's not crowded even on a weekend. But maybe the crowds are doing their Xmas shopping. Hehe. Go for the free 1hr guided tours to familiarize with the exhibits then go a more thorough look on your own after. You can make your own gladiator helmet at the end too! :p

All's well afterall!

And so, exactly one week after it all started, my anxeity ended. And i'm alright! :) The cardiologist saw my ECG results and said i have a normal healthy YOUNG heart!! :p Nothing's wrong with me. The reason why i fainted was most probably due to the shock and pain of the muscle cramp i experienced just before i blanked out. x_x That said, i'll be taking extra precaution to stretch lots, stop when i feel pain and last of all, make sure i lie on the floor, duck, bend or whatever i can to make sure my head is lower than my heart the next time i feel faint. So that the blood can flow to the head, of course!

Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale

I like! This is so hilarious! Go watch! And I also want a cute chameleon.

the day it came back full circle

And so the saga continued from the previous episodes...

i went to see the company doctor that i visited before. He also thinks that there should be nothing wrong with me from the ECG report and was quite furious with the GP for causing the saga. BUT! Being on the safe side, he says he will refer me to a cardiologist so that the specialist can tell me that i'm ok!! In the meantime, he won't write me a letter to defer my PT. He won't tell me when should i stop working out. And i'm none the wiser a second time. All i know that i've exhausted all the 3 options and i'm back to being a private patient at a public hospital once again.

To be continued...

The day i found out i have a marathoner's pulse rate

And so the saga continues...

Went to the polyclinic early morning to do the tests as referred by the doc, including

• the much dreaded blood test (needles! yikes! but lucky it was not that bad. The nurse was quite skillful and i'm very amazed that she can draw blood from infants' foot and they don't give a d*mn!)
• ECG (this is quite cool. They just stick some pads onto your lower chest/upper tummy area and its done in less than a minute!)
• Chest X-ray (killed alot of my cells)

After collecting all the reports an hour later, i went back to the doc who declared that i had an irregular heartbeat and told me to get a referral to a cardiologist. OMG! Another blow to me. He gave me a few options. i could either 1) get referral from him 2) get referral from polyclinic or 3) get referral from company doctor.

For the cheaper alternative, i chose the polyclinic route. So i went back to the polyclinic and consulted the doctor there. Surprise surprise!! The polyclinic doc declared that my irregular heartbeat is normal and i do not need to see a cardiologist!!?? HUH!?!? He even mentioned that i had a relatively low pulse rate and asked if i do marathons. Double HUH!! And for the first time in my life, he told me i had low blood pressure. HUH HUH HUH!?!?!? So in the end, i was sent home without any referral letter and lots of question marks on my head.

Reported the poly doc's remarks to my GP and the GP just said to ask the company doctor's opinion.

What the!!

And so the saga continues... And i'm none the wiser... :(

The day I blacked out

The scariest day of my life! I thought i was a goner! Was at the gym training with my trainer as usual. Doing the same machines and drills that she has for me when i suddenly felt a cramp in my left butt muscle. It came as a shock cos i never had muscle cramps while exercising and certainly never at the butt! So i was trying to relieve the great pain by trying to stretch it out when i suddenly lost it. Vision blurred. Voices became distant. Body went limp. I just became so weak it scared the h*ll out of me.

My trainer thought my sugar level was low so she ran and got a piece of chocolate for me. How sweet of her. But i was still very weak and i can't hang around the machines to rest. So when i felt strong enough, i made my way down the stairs to rest on the sofa.

i was perspiring profusely but i tried to calm myself down. More chocolates and a hot cereal drink after, i was well enough to go home. Went straight to the doc. i was quite ok already, nonetheless, he prescribed a chest X-ray, blood test and ECG to be done the next day...

The Holiday

i like this feel good rom-com of two ladies who were troubled in love, did a house exchange and find love unexpectedly (of course we had expected that to happen especially when you have 4 big leads in the show!)

Anyway did I mention before that i simply love the British accent?! I might as well say it again! i love the English accent! :) and Jude Law is just so charming. Well, all the characters are so lovable. Hehe.

When Harry Met Sally...

I can't believe I've not seen this movie in the past 21 years!

Can men and women be friends? I think so. Though it might be tough.

The bad 80s hair aside, I can't believe this film is made in the 80s. It has such a bold, frank and timeless take of the relationship between men and women.

Cinderel-LAH!

This is my first Christmas musical pantomine. i enjoyed it VERY MUCH!! It's so funny, the evil stepsisters are so bad they are so good! My first performance where it's so interactive and participative. The audience helps warn Cindy when the stepmother and stepsisters appear on stage by going, "CHANG CHANG CHANG"!!! hehe...

i think all the cast put in a splendid performance. Darius Tan and Chua Enlai are pretty good as the stepsisters in drag. Gurmit Singh, Neo Swee Lin, and of course Emma Yong (who is appearing everywhere in the theatres) and Sebastian Tan. And i find it so funny and apt that Cindy goes to the Fish Ball on the train that goes, "The train is coming" sang in part by Emma Yong as the Dim Sum sisters.

Cinderl-LAH! runs till 11 Dec. Die die must watch lah! :p

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Nowhere is safe.

Oh no! It's all coming to an end! :(

The greatly anticipated last installment of the Harry Potter series. But wait, the end is delayed for another 8 months. i thought Part 1 is much better than the forgettable HP6, though some parts do not follow the book. Nonetheless, it's a must-watch for the grown up threesome!

Batam!

This is the FIRST time after almost a decade that we finally ALL manage to go on a trip together! YAY!!

Who? 6 girls

Where? Holiday Inn Batam

When? 2d1n

What? massage and shopping getaway 

How? 1 room (of course we not so stingy to squeeze all into one small room. This is a 3-bedroom suite!)

Time flies during the weekend. Especially when you are having fun.

And it feels so nice to have a personal photographer! Thanks ms tay! :)

Detective Dee

It was a last minute impulsive decision to watch a movie. So settled for the one and only most suitable movie for our timing. The show was not too bad. Just a little long cos the middle parts get a little confusing and boring. It has been a long long time since i last watch a movie at Shaw Bugis. The seats are quite oddly designed. The head rest pushes the head too front. The screen is too high or rather the seats are on too gentle a gradient. And some people just won't stop talking even after being asked to! Tsk tsk!

Life As We Know It

Ok, this isn't the best romance around but when GV is giving out free tickets, i simply have to grab it! Woohoo!!

This show is enjoyable enough, even though i can't really sense the romantic chemistry between the 2 leads. And Josh Duhamel is really cute. :p

Dozo

The girls' belated birthday treat for me and early birthday celebration for LF.

The concept is similar to Tao restaurant. But just more expensive. Portions are smaller cos it's meant to be degustation menu.

Some of the items i like.

Mushroom soup with truffle. You are supposed to eat the truffle (yep, it's that tiny little black thing on the spoon) first by letting it sit in your mouth for 10 seconds before slowly chew on it to enjoy it to the fullest. Then followed by the soup. First time eating truffle. You can really taste the rich mushroomy smell but i dom't understand all the fuss over it though... Give me normal cheapie mushroom for my fungi kick any time!

Beef tenderloin on some leaf and hot stone. The beef is hidden under the noodle brush. You are supposed to cook the beef on the leaf on the hot stone. The beef is really tender.

The warm chocolate cake with ice cream is recommended! The cake oozes with rich flowy chocolate. Yum!

Tavolo @ Parco Marina Bay

This little Italian gem of a restaurant is a must-try! It's sandwiched between Saboten (my current fav restaurant) and that ramen shop which i've yet to try at itadakimasu Level 3 Parco Marina. Thanks to SL for the recommendation and so coincidental, she was queuing up at Saboten this evening too.

The crowd, or rather, lack of, does not do this restaurant any justice. But i do like quiet dining places. No queues! :)

Top up $5 for dessert and tea, which is a steal cos the desserts are more than $5 a piece on the regular menu.

Bread with vinegar and olive oil

Their Mushroom soup is really yummy! i like that the soup is grainy so you can taste the mushrooms with every sip. Crunch crunch! And the cheese shaves that melts in the soup. Heavenly combination! drools... :p

Calamari with asparagus. i thought it would be more like calamari rings. There's a nice grill taste to the asparagus but the calamari is average.

Seafood calamari ink pasta. This really surprised us! It's so much like claypot seafood yee mee. hehe. Quite nice.

The tiramisu is nice and very rummy!

Retrolicious!

It was a long tiring night cos i was nursing a stomach flu from yesterday. We went to Fort Canning Park promptly at 6pm as the ticket advised. Alas, the gates were not open yet. Had to wait about half an hour before we were finally admitted! But lucky to have found a sufficiently big space near the stage for me and my 2 friends to squeeze in. :) And so we waited.

It was nearly 8pm when the countdown from 1980 finally began. There was a very long but interesting recap of every 80s year from 1980 to 1989. Well, it's quite interesting at first. But when you get to 1985 and the show's still not starting, that's when it's testing your patience.

The whole park is PACKED! And i only found out after the concert how packed it was! No wonder it was so hot! We early birds started off with sitting on the ground aka picnic in the park. It was only after the Class95 presenters commented that it's not picnic in the park, it's concert in the park that we all started standing and rushing even more to the front! hehe. :)

i think the crowd was quite responsive tonight. First act, Johnny Hates Jazz. Sorry guys, but this is the first time i've heard of you. So i couldn't get down to singing along with the rest of the people around me.

Second stop: Debbie Gibson! She's the main reason i bought my tickets to the concert. And she's a real sexy lady at 40! i wish i could be like that when i'm 40! She sang all the crowd favourites. Notably, Lost in Your Eyes was a huge karaoke in the park. But i thought her voice sounded different now.

Well, they saved the best for last! Rick Astley!!! From the moment he stepped on stage to sing Forever Together, all the cameras and iPhone in front of me were wipped out, it's just amazing. And Rick's just so charming even at 44. And we thought even more so at 44! He's so funny and charismatic, he practically had everyone lapping up his charms. And best of all, he still sound the same as the 80s! And isn't that British accent just so sexy? Don't you just love that English accent! :) Even though he sang quite a number of newer and unknown songs, when he got to his Never Ganna Give You Up, it was major karaoke town again! YAY!! :)

i'm so glad i rallied my friends to watch this with me. Even if i had to endure gastric and backaches after the concert. i didn't had much food or water from 6pm to 12mn! i just wasn't ganna give it up! :p

Eat Pray Love

Julia Roberts is the only draw for this movie. The Italy part is still quite ok, then it goes downhill slightly in India and lost it in Bali. Think the book is better, though i've not read the book yet. Just gotten the book from YZ.

Voyage de la Vie

2nd visit to RWS and both times I only spent 2hours or less there. Well, this time, LF's friend got free tickets to Voyage de la Vie and LF was very nice to ask me along. :)

The theatre was right at the entrance where the bus stopped. Lucky we didn't try to take the monorail in as we were running late. Our seats were quite near the front, though they were more to the side. The acrobatic performance was quite good, even though you could anticipate all the moves. The plot was very weak, together with the singing. We couldn't hear what that guy was singing at all. As for the storyline... well... lets just say I would treat this as a colourful acrobatic performance.

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Tickets were relatively cheap in Genting (RM$12) so decided to watch this since i don't wanna watch the other shows (Resident Evil and a penguin cartoon...)

The theatre was quite cold cos it was air-con even though the outside temperature was only 15 degC. Anyways, the pop corn was relatively cheap too; RM$3.50 for a big takeaway bowl. We finished it before the show started though... haa... Show started on time and there wasn't any advertisements, only one trailer.

And the movie started. First time watching a show in cantonese. Lucky for the subtitles. hehe... But anyways, think Donnie Yen acted in way too many gongfu movies. i think i have gongfu movie fatigue. This show doesn't seem much different from the IP Man vehicle. Story is about the same. Plot is about the same. Fighting scenes are about the same. So, i think that this show is passable unless you are really a gongfu/Donnie Yen fan.

10 Promises to My Dog

Couldn't sleep on the night coach to Genting so decided to watch this on the nearly 20 movie-selection they had. Had always wanted to watch this so it's good that i can save on movie rentals. :)

It's such a typical Japanese movie. Nice melodrama with laughter and tears. Maybe slightly more tears for me. :p

Barcook Bakery

My colleague cum new gym kaki introduced this super yummy bread on Monday to me. Raisin cream cheese bread! The bread is filled with really cheesesy cream cheese. The bread is sprinkled very generously with raisins which compliment the cream cheese perfectly! Must-try!

OMG! i had eaten 5 in the past 6 days alone! And i just bought another batch home! There goes my 4 days of workout this week! hee... (^^,)

i always wanted to try the other breads but they are always sold out. And there's always a loooooong queue.

Boeing Boeing

It's hard not to like this highly entertaining and hilarious comedy. It's harder to sit still and try not to fall off the seat laughing at the antics of Adrian Pang who has to juggle 3 fiancees. There were only 6 characters in this play and all of them were really good in their roles. Adrian Pang was really expressive but i think the ladies stole the limelight here.Wendy Kweh was convincing in her Hong Kong accent while Emma Yong perfected her Japanese accent and mannerisms. Chermaine Ang as the materialistic SQ girl features slightly lesser but still great performance. Not forgetting the domestic helper Roza played by Siti Khalijah who is just so cute. It's not easy helping her boss manage the timetable. Hehe. There's also the long-lost friend Robert played by Daniel York. You could see that he's really put alot of energy in the play cos i can see his perspiration from my first class seat. Either that or he is really hot under the spotlight.

Great performance though i would have preferred a more exciting ending. And of course nothing beats having first class seats i.e. front row, centre seats! :p

Not Exactly Paradise

The sound was very soft in the theatre tonight. The set was quite colourful and make full use of technology for a 70s background musical. But alot of the performers really mumbled their songs through. And having sat at the first row for the last few performances, my 7th row seat was so far i was straining my eyes the whole time. :(

Everything Happens For a Reason!

Today was my usual gym day. So i made my way to gym as usual. At one of the usual turning, there was a person giving out a bag of something. "Free sample", he said. Since he was in my direct path, and being a typical Singaporean, i took one of the last pack from him. And thanked him for it. On the way to the gym, i opened the plastic bag, it was a small pack of food - rojak. Great! Just nice for me to eat after my workout!

So, after the gym, as i was walking to the station, i decided to stop somewhere to eat the rojak. It had turned soggy. Anyway, as it was a little spicy, i couldn't finish it. But anyways, i had stopped outside a CD shop to eat and was looking at the displays. i had known all along that this store was here and stepped in once before. After scrutinising the window, i realised that they don't just display the newest arrivals but also oldies.

i decided to go in to take a look. And since my mind is on retrolicious this month, i decided to try my luck. And look what i found! (^^,)v

What a gem of a find! This is the exact album that i had in pri school! Just that it was in cassette then. OMG! So i simply had to grab it even though it is more expensive than the usual cd. YAY! i was searching through my old items the other day and found that i had thrown away most of my antique cassette tapes with the exception of my Little Tigers collection. hee... Oh i also bought a Little Tigers dvd from the store... hope the quality is not too horrible cos its made from you-know-where.

Ok, so the moral of the story is, Princess Sotong is getting old and nostalgic? Perhaps. No!

The moral of the story is how everything is so intertwined. Everything happens for a reason. So, if i hadn't taken the freebie rojak, i wouldn't go to a corner to eat it. If i didn't go to that corner, i wouldn't have looked at the display window. If i didn't look, i wouldn't have entered the shop. If i didn't go in, i wouldn't try my luck to look for Debbie Gibson's cd. If i didn't try, i wouldn't have found it! If i didn't find it and bought it, i wouldn't write this post! As simple as that! :p

Aftershock 唐山大地震

A heart wrenching performance. You just can't help crying. You can really sense the great agony in the howls of the mother. :(

Gosh... what an intense day... Eye swollen from all the crying the whole day from December Rains to this... =_=" 

December Rains 雨季

Maybe cos of the good productions that i've seen previously, so i had relatively high expectations for this musical. Especially with Kit Chan and George Chan in the main cast. i think "If there're seasons" is better... December Rains turned out slightly below expectations... Or maybe it was cos of the really quiet audience today. This is the first time that no one clapped when a character sang well. Still, there were some scenes that were wow-ing. i especially like the scene in which Jeffrey Low was singing solo about his internal struggle.

[Sidenote] Was quite some time since i last watched a musical at Esplanade Theatre. Was really pleasantly surprised when i realised that my row F seat turned out to be the first row!! :p It was really a very good seat. No heads blocking my view. :)

December Rains closes on 15 Aug.

Space @ My Humble House

First visit to this Esplanade restaurant before the performance.

The overpriced chicken rice here is not bad. The chicken is very smooth and tender. The rice would be nicer if it is a little oiler. The set comes with a soup.

The sugar comes in a very interesting form! i didn't drink it though...

Music and Lyrics

i like this show! Nice songs. i've always liked Hugh Grant and i think he has great chemistry with Drew Barrymore here. And of course the cheesy 80s song helps a great lot! PoP! :p

2012

i don't like disaster movies so i'm probably the last person (ok maybe just among my friends) to watch this. i'll probably list it as a can-watch cos the plot is quite predictable. The good guys would survive. And some melodrama (i.e. some would sacrifice) to sustain it. But i can imagine the bulk of the cost goes towards the mega CGI for this film.

Revolutionary Road

Do you have the courage to live the way you want? Or do you just compromise and live a day by a day?  

PS Cafe

First visit to Dempsey Hill as this place is really out of the way. There's a nice vibe to the place which i like.

The cakes at the counter look really nice but i had to give that a miss in the end cos really could not stuff in anymore food... Prices are not cheap but portions are huge too!

Portobello mushroom soup - i nearly dropped my jaw when i saw the size of the bowl! This would be best shared between 2-3 people but i downed it all by myself! The taste is average as i prefer my mushrooms to be more grainy.

Chicken rossa penne - not bad but nothing really wow to shout about too...

Shared a sticky date cake with toffee sauce and ice cream which is really yum! :p It's too sweet to be finished by itself so share!

Salt

Entertaining, fast packed action... i like! :)

The Back-up Plan

Start off the long weekend with the home all to myself and with the back-up plan. Well, the rental is Plan B. Plan A was to pack my bags to some short getaway but guess i'm too late for that now.

Turns out my back-up plan was not exactly memorable... predictable plot and i think J.Lo isn't exactly known as an actress.

Au Revoir Taipei

other than for the sights of Taipei... i can't find any other reason to watch this show... i miss Taiwan!

it's such a coincidence that i'm watching this show on the birthday of my best friend in Taiwan. Happy Birthday JL! :)

Fireworks!

By chance, saw the fireworks at a very good location. Wanted to upload the very short clip i took but it hanged my cranky pc... :(

Anyways, the night sky is really nice. :)

Walk in walk out

The course was brighten up when they started filming a show, entitled "Walk in walk out" (literal translation) as informed by the production assistant, adjacent to our function room. :) Some of the course people were really walking in and out the whole afternoon. lol.

The scene was about Tay Ping Hui's wedding. And some of us actually thought that it was his real wedding when we saw the photo outside the banquet. hehe. Till we saw the rest of the crew and artistes. It was quite interesting looking at them film (during our tea break! :p) He's quite friendly and quite accomodating to my course mate's request to take a photo of him. And he even suggest that we take together with him. :)

Wild Honey

Came here where they serve breakfast all day for supper after the movie. :)

Of the dishes, i like the BLT which taste like angmoh bak kwa sandwich! Really sinful. Lots of bacon and cheese.

Despicable Me

Oh oh! The trailer of the inflatable pyramid is for this show!! That seemed to be from a long time ago. hehe.  

Cute! i like Agnes and the minions! SO CUTE!! :p

Happy Lemon (again)

It's calorie overload as i got a drink before and after the hair appointment! But today's drinks are quite disappointing even though i tried their star products... i drank the lemon juice and topped up with kanten. The store forgot my kanten and i had to go back for it. Even so, they gave me jelly instead. :(

Then i drank the green tea with sea salt and cheese - their super star product. But alas, it doesn't have the wow factor as the cocoa that YZ drank the other day. And the green tea (more jasmine than green tea) is really bitter.

i think i'll stick to the blueberry drink i had the last time... or try the non-star products... haiz...

Inception

The front bits is a bit slow... but... interesting! So is it a dream or reality?! What a teaser!

[Sidenote] Discovered the CHEAPEST weekday movie tickets for blockbuster show! $6 only for Nets users at Cathay! UOB charges $6.50. blah!

Night Festival: New World 2010

This year's Night Festival seems better. Well, maybe cos i spent most of the time in the museums, rather than waiting along the road for some weird uncomprehensible performance. The outdoor night performance at midnight was really... -_-" i guess its too high brow for me to understand it. But since when art (or so what is called art) is easily understood??

Anyway, i was the happiest in 8Q SAM. Maybe cos it's Children's season! Titled Art Garden, it really is a colourful and whimsical interpretation of garden. Nice! :)

Reflections at National Museum

My fav wolf at the Head On exhibition at National Museum. Isn't he sweet? :p

The World's slowest SMS billboard at SAM

The bunnies at 8Q SAM

i coloured the butterfly! :)

Happy Lemon

Discovered this drink kiosk at Ion Orchard basement 4 when it was their closing time. Was drawn to this store by their kawaii cup. hehe. Looks like a typical bubble tea store but NO! Prices are not cheap but they have lots of interesting drinks! Had a hard time deciding what to drink. Anyway, i tried the Blueberry with Kanten and Agar. And had a few sips of the Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese. Cool combinations! Really a happy end to an otherwise boring day. :p

i shall try some other drinks if i pass by again. hehe. :)

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

It's not an easy task to squeeze 500+ pages of the book into a 2-hour long movie. One word sums up this film.... boring. Too many of the Bella + Edward roms in the field or bedroom. And why are they mumbling their words? i can't hear what Bella and Edward are saying most of the time. And why does Jacob, who get the best lines and most wolf whistles, feature so little in Eclipse?

Heard that Breaking Dawn will be split into 2 parts... i can't imagine what it would turn out to be...

[Sidenote] Discovered the CHEAPEST weekend movie tickets! $7 only for Passion card holders at Cathay! And a free tiny pop corn with every 2 tickets. And i mean really tiny! But better than nothing! :)

Saboten (again)

Had wanted to try out Nandos as i thought i could be done by 5pm and maybe there might not be a queue. But The Full Monty ended at around 6:15pm and i might be wrong about the queue anyway cos there was a queue even at 2:45pm! So, after looking at the options we have at iluma and bugis, we went back to our fav place in recent weeks, Parco Marina! :p

i had the mini size tenderloin variety set, a big bowl of cabbage, 3 bowls of miso soup, a bowl of rice and a green tea ice cream. Yummy! And very satisfying! :)

The Full Monty

What a great production by Pangdemonium! Great sets, great acting, great singing and of course, great seats! Can you imagine sitting in the first row in The Full Monty! Cool! The only minus point was probably that most of the time, the actors would be looking at the horizon and not down at us. But they get really close and that's awesome! :p

The opening "dance" by George Chan (who was just a supporting cast here) was really an opener. But the finale really tops it all. hehe. i didn't think you could do this kind of stuff in theatre. i'm amazed at how "open" it is. It really stretches the limits of the classification i guess! 挑战尺度极限！i wonder is there a rating classification for theatre??

In the finale, during the full monty performance, i would have expected them to throw their clothes at the audience. But they didn't. hee... But i ducked when "Malcom" almost threw his boxers at me. So i didn't take "Horse" boxers when he offered it to me. Aww... i should have grabbed it. That's the privilege of sitting in the first row! x_x

Oh! Adrian Pang's sons alternate playing his son in the show. i think we got Xander on our show. He's really cute. :p
The Full Monty closes 4 Jul. But tickets are all sold-out.

The Twilight Saga

Finally finished reading the whole saga: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Actually, the whole saga is just one long romance. The plot in Breaking Dawn is a bit far fetched. Perhaps Stephenie Meyer wants a happy ending for all. i prefer Harry Potter. JK Rowling writes better i think.

Letters to Juliet

This movie is so predictable but i enjoyed it quite a lot.

i especially like the letter that Sophie wrote to Claire which i thought is very touching. Especially the "What if?..." part. Here's part of the extract.

"What" and "if", two words as non-threatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: "What if?..."

I don't know how your story ended. But I know that if what you felt then was love - true love - then it's never too late. If it was true love then, why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart...

I don't know what a love like that feels like... a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for... but I'd like to believe if I ever felt it, I'd have the courage to seize it. I hope you had the courage to seize it, Claire. And if you didn't, I hope one day that you will.

 

Keisuke Ebi Ramen

The newspaper clippings outside this ramen restaurant at itadakimasu @ Parco Marina says the ramen here is different. Indeed, the stock here is made of prawns not the usual pork. So our interest was intrigued and in we went! We were greeted with a prawnish smell the moment we stepped into the restaurant.

We wanted to try the crab stock ramen as it was season limited. But the photo for this special ramen is so yucky, we decided against it. i think even i could have taken a nicer photo! So, we ordered the Ebi Ramen Special each instead.

Why is it called Special? Cos it has all the toppings in this bowl of ramen. And the toppings are really not your typical ramen toppings. There's chicken, prawn wanton, ajitsuke tamago and a greenish bamboo-looking vegetable. On top of that, there's orange peel (the orangey thingy that's on top the wanton) and some fine red thread-like thing. 

The orange peel is really interesting. i've not eaten orange peel with ramen before. It adds a tangy twist to the prawn stock. The soup is not bad but a tad too salty.

The day Sumiko Tan announced she is getting married

To say that Sumiko Tan is my fav columnist is an understatement. i mean, i had been reading her columns in the Sunday Times since N years ago that it has become a habit.

Maybe it was we shared a particular alma mater. Or i really like her writing style. Maybe it was because she was always writing about things that i could relate easily to, such as, family, life, love and most importantly, singlehood. Ah, that state of life for most part of mine.

i remembered when i went for a pre-lasik assessment about a year ago, i chatted with another lady who was there for the same purpose. She mentioned that she had finally plucked up the courage to go for the assessment after reading Sumiko's experience in one of her columns. Yes, i had read that column too. To a certain extent, she had impacted and influenced some of her readers that we feel that she could be a BFF.

When i read the news that she is going to marry her Hurricane, it seems like a fairy tale come true. Imagine getting reunited with your JC crush after so many years, that is the kind of "happily ever after" ending that you would wish for her. So, although i would miss having another "comrade in arms", i'm really happy for her and wish her all the best.

Lets hope i'll meet a long lost crush too! :P

Melt The World Cafe

There're no free lunch.... But there're free dinners! :)

LF got coke and beer spilled on her during a wedding dinner. The hotel offered to give her and her friends a treat. And she brought us along! :)

We thought that since the buffet is complimentary, we can get some drinks to go with. The two alcoholics in the group (not me!) decided to get a bottle of economical rose wine to share. i had one small glass... hee... When we wanted to pay, the manager informed us that the check (wine including) had been settled! Yippie! Kudos to the hotel for the service and meal! And also LF for sharing the treat with us! (^^,)v

The Blind Side

Quite a watchable feel-good, do-good movie! One of the best performance by Sandra Bullock.

SATC2

This is quite entertaining if you are a female and love to indulge in decadence (abeit once in a while). Just don't bring your brains to the cinema. :p

Saboten (revisited)

Brought LF and YZ to this cheap and good find i found 2 weeks earlier. Highly recommend anyone who likes tonkatsu. :)

Even on a pre-PH night, there isn't much crowd. Service is as good as the previous visit. We all love the miso soup here. LF had 4 (or was it 5) bowls! LOL! Me and YZ just had 2 each. :p

The tenderloin is nicer than the loin! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside! The loin can get a little tough cos the meat is super lean except for the layer of fat on one side.

i ordered the curry rice to have the best of both worlds again. :p The curry is decent but nothing really wow-ing. i'll stick to plain tenderloin on my next visit. :)

Peony Jade Restaurant

Recommend the Dim sum buffet here! It is one of the better dim sum buffets i've had in a long while. (not that i've been to many). Must try is the Custard bun. According to the manager, it is their award-winning dish. Yum! Only con is that you must have a vehicle to go to this restaurant at Keppel Club. Or walk the winding road in!

Saboten

This is yum! :)

The morning appointment ran quite late so was nearly 4pm when i reached Parco Marina Bay. Was making my choice between this or one of the ramen stores. i chose this cos i like the bright and clean decor and the free flow of cabbage and rice and miso soup and i'm really hungry! :p

Anyways, i ordered the grated radish loin katsu set. Loin is the meat with fat. Tenderloin is meat without fat. i was kinda deciding between the fat or no fat when i saw this grated radish set. Well, this is the normal tonkatsu but with grated radish on top. The waitress was very nice in suggesting to separate the radish with the fried pork cutlet. And she offered to give me the normal tonkatsu sauce as well cos the grated radish set usually comes with yuzu sauce only. i'm sold! How else could you get the best of both worlds?? :)

The cabbage was served first. When it came, i was like "!!!!" OMG! The cabbage was HUGE! i mean they gave me the same portion as for two people! Erms... still, i managed to eat half of it before the main course arrived cos i was trying out the 2 sauces for the cabbage. There's a yuzu and a goma sauce. As always i like the goma one! But the yuzu is not bad too.

The tonkatsu is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside! There's about 1cm thick layer of fat though... It doesn't taste fatty but maybe next time i should order the tenderloin instead... hee... Oh and the set comes with yummilicious green tea ice cream and free flow of hot/cold green tea.

See the big portion of cabbage? This pic shows the half finished bowl of cabbage when the tonkatsu arrived. I managed to finish every single dish of this set plus additional bowl of miso soup! hehe! :P