Sunday, August 30, 2009

District 9

District 9 started off documentary-style. Handy cam footages, archive news videos, and interview snippets were used to explain how aliens finally made contact with Earth. However rather than the more superior race, more advanced tech, or war-on-earth stuff we'd been fed with from all the alien films out there, these aliens were malnourished and unable to leave as their mother ship appeared to have broken down. Instead of us fearing for our lives or bowing to them, we had to evacuate them from their ship and provide a refugee-like camp for them in what came to be known as District 9.

Fast forward 30 yrs to present day, us human beings being selfish lots decided we'd had enough of them and now wanted them to move out, to go back to wherever they came from because they were now invading our space and our land. As such MNU, an agency tasked with controlling the alien containment, decided to relocate them to a new refugee camp, 240km away from town. A team was sent in to serve out eviction notices and we followed them around the slums of District 9 - hand-held camera style. But of course, there was always a hidden agenda. And things went wrong..terribly wrong.

Because there will be those who wanted power, who wanted great stuff for themselves at the expense of others. Those who would go to any extend to get what they want and at whatever cost, even if it meant having to dissect one of our own. (Well, he might not had been fully one of our own by then but he was still very much so in heart, in mind and perhaps 90% in body.)

District 9 is one thought provoking film that knows how to stir up our emotions; disbelief, horror, humor, fear, pity, even shame. And it creatively breaks away from the Hollywood-led alien genre where usually major cities are targeted - think New York or Washington D.C. Also the visuals were great. That alien mother ship hovering in the city backdrop looked and felt remarkably real that it kinda scared me. It was so, well so alien. And the aliens themselves were scary too but at the same time it was a lil' funny to see how 'humanized' some of their behaviors were.

Sadly toward the end of the film, the documentary framework had to be discarded because it no longer made sense. You couldn't have a cameraman following a wanted man, could you?

Oh, and the next time these prawns come back and declare war on us, we only have ourselves to blame really. Till then, we can only live on with the image of one of them crafting a flower out of metal...


My Rating:

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Banana & Strawberry Smoothie


What You Need:
(Serves 2)

  • 1 banana, sliced
  • 85g strawberries, hulled
  • 150g low-fat natural yogurt
What To Do:
  1. Put the banana, strawberries and yogurt into blender and process for a few seconds until smooth.
  2. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.
Easy piecey *winks

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Cheese & Banana Toasties

"Wholemeal toast topped with soft cheese and sliced banana makes the perfect breakfast/brunch and is especially delicious when drizzled with honey. It's quick and easy to make, and provides a delicious start to any day" ...just like it did mine this morning :)

What You Need:
(Serves 4)
  • 4 thick slices of wholemeal bread
  • Soft white cheese / Plain cheese spread
  • 4 small bananas, peeled
  • 4tsp clear honey
What To Do:
  1. Place the slices of bread on a toaster and toast until one side is golden brown.
  2. Spread the untoasted side of each slice with cheese spread.
  3. Slice the bananas and arrange the slices on top of the cheese, then drizzle each slice with 1tsp of the clear honey.
  4. Toast again for a few more minutes. Serve immediately.

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Little Nyonya

I have heard of the famous Singapore drama The Little Nyonya which came out in 2008 but I never actually thought of watching it. Not until Astro decided to screen it with replays at 12am week nights! I started following but to sleep at 1am on working days was a huge sacrifice. Not anymore when I discovered a friend's DVD box set. I chased the entire drama and completed it in less than a week LOL. Astro is still just half-way through by the way :P


Anyway yup, I have to agree it's an interesting drama which revolves around the Baba Nyonya culture during the 1930s. To be honest, I have never followed Spore drama or series but only the occasional comedy ala Money Not Enough and PCK Pte Ltd genres. So kudos for a drama that finally caught my attention. The cast were pretty convincing in their actings and I must say I really hated the guts of the villains.

However it is also a little frustrating to see the not so Happily Ever After ending. And some of the actions and thoughts are pretty mind-boggling. I'll be like o_O "Oh, come on"..Do the people in that era really have such naive thinkings and such filial piety, I wonder? Not to say filial piety is not good but too one-sided either way is not the way to go I would say. Oh, and women in Baba culture led pretty sad and dull lives unless you became the matriarch of the house. Then you had all the say. Plus I notice some loopholes in the storyline and fyi, they are also listed on wikipedia LOL

Anyway, again I must say the ending isn't what I would have hoped for. Worse they came out with an extended episode which many thought was supposed to be the alternate ending. Instead, they went on to emphasize the original ending. Kinda lame-ler. There are speculations of a possible sequel that will twist the existing ending to create even more drama. To me, it's just an excuse to prolong the story, garner more viewers and ultimately higher ratings. Though if it's really out, I guess I would watch it anyway :P

Lastly I must touch on the themes. All 3 songs featured are pretty nice and I like the 2nd subtheme the most. A sad song and when played during the sad scenes, it up the sadness a notch further. Sang by JS, it's called Xu Yao (Need). I particularly like the 2 lines in the chorus:

Ai shi yi zhong xu yao, que bu ying ding yao de dao
Love is a type of need, it's not a must to get it

Zhi yao ni jue de kuai le jiu hao
It's good as long as you feel happy



需要 - JS

如果把你的眼神默背好
ru guo ba ni de yan shen muo bei hao
就可以无视寂寞的悬崖
jiu ke yi wu shi ji muo de xuan ya
我想,我不会像现在这么糟
wo xiang, wo bu hui xiang xian zai zhe me zao

如果把走过的路都记牢
ru guo ba zou guo de lu dou ji lao
就可以面对断线的依靠
jiu ke yi mian dui duan xian de yi kao
至少,孤单不用如此的骄傲
zhi shao, gu dan bu yong ru ci de jiao ao

不止热雨的微笑
bu zhi re yu de wei xiao
增加跟脑海的湿掉
zeng jia gen nao hai de shi diao
抓不紧,也放不掉
zua bu jin ye fang bu diao
未来的某个街角是否转身就找得到
wei lai de mo ge jie jiao shi fou zhuan shen jiu zhao de dao

爱是一种需要,却不一定要得到
ai shi yi zhong xu yao, que bu yi ding yao de dao
只要你觉得快乐就好
zhi yao ni jue de kuai le jiu hao
梦会温热眼角,让回忆像水草般缠绕
meng hui wen re yan jiao, rang hui yi xiang shu jao ban chen rao
却总能让人勇敢不笑
que zong neng rang ren yong gan bu xiao

爱是一种需要,聚散却没办法预料
ai shi yi zhong xu yao, ju san que mei ban fa yu liao
只能在心里做个记号
zhi neng zai xin li zuo ge ji hao
直到哪天遇到,还会是同样的味道
zhi dao na tian yu dao, hai hui shi tong yang de wei dao
下雨也好驱风也好 心想着就能不会难熬
xia yu ye hao qu feng ye hao xin xiang zhe jiu neng bu hui nan ao

My Rating:

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Tongue Exercises

Read an article in Yahoo! about some of the hardest Tongue Twisters around and I tot them kinda interesting - some are downright tongues twisting indeed! Try them out yourselves (but beware of 'pa si kat') :P

I learned this back in skool and it has been in the back of my mind ever since:
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck,
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Just as much as a woodchuck would,
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

These two are pretty famous which I've seen or heard of the most:
Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a pack of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers,
where's the pack of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?


She sells sea shells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

I kinda like the ring to this one:
I thought a thought.
But the thought I thought wasn't the thought
I thought I thought.

Tongues warmed up yet? Here's a long one:
Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."


So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter

bought a bit of better butter.

And the ultimate tongue twister... (I am still untwisting my twisted tongue)
Three Swedish switched witches
watch three Swiss Swatch watches switches.
Which Swedish switched witch watch
which Swiss Swatch watch switch?




For more, jst google them out..happy tongue-twisting! *winks

Friday, August 07, 2009

Enough

A killer headache
A want-to-vomit-feeling
A long, long traffic-jam drive home

Exhaustion has finally begun its protest march.

*Auto-hibernate mode, pleaaassseeee take over..

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Change II

Change is coming - again.

This time to the one above me.
And there will be light at the end of the tunnel...

...one way or the other.