Twenty-Five Years Ago Today

Won this from LibraryThing's Member Giveaways about a month or two back and it was an e-book. Honestly, I hardly read e-books as I prefer the old conventional of holding on to a paperback or hardcover and flipping the pages. Don't even get me started on the joy of getting lost in bookstores..

Anyway, I realize e-book has its advantages too. Now I can read during lunch breaks without the hassle of bringing a book around. Thanks to smartphone apps, I can even save and read it on the go if the storyline ever gets too good to put down. And there you go, finished the book in no time ☺

In Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, an unsolved murder case caught Kris Langley's attention and she felt the need to investigate due to some past guilt of her own. The plot is interesting, the characters believable and the settings realistic. And creatively, Stacy Juba manage to weave Greek myths into the story which was a suprise when I came to it. A pleasant one nonetheless seeing that I am a fan of Greek mythology myself. I like how she relate the discovery of the murderer in the end to the myth. I'm not too fond of the romance part though as it felt too sudden but no major harm done. An enjoyable read throughout.

My Rating:

"Edward Sebenarnya Pontianak"

Stumbled on the article a week ago and I immediately laughed out loud at that sentence. Apparently, Edward-the-sparkly-vampire novels had been translated into the Malay language. Senjakala; that's Twilight for you (New Moon is Cinta Baru.)

In case you don't know, pontianak means a female vampire. In Malay lore, pontianak is a woman who died during childbirth and all the Malay horror movies portray a pontianak as a pretty woman in a kebaya during the day and a creature with long black hair in a long white dress with a hideous face by night.

Bella did not fare any better. Her reference to the Indian reservation was translated as "penempatan masyarakat Red Indian." Sounds so lame, don't you think?

These remind me of the Malay title translations or subtitles for non-Malay movies in the cinema. Some of the title translations are downright hilarious! Sometimes I wonder if they put the text into some translation software and just reuse the results without even a second look. Imagine if you were to hear a handsome character confessing his love to the female protagonist; "I love you with all my heart" being translated into "Saya cinta kamu dengan sepenuh jantungku" ! True , heart literally means jantung but most of the time hati is used to represent the heart (Though this brings us to a similar case of translating from Malay to English - hati means LIVER in English!)

According to the article, Harry Potter series too have been translated into Malay. However at least instead of coming up with some word that did not make sense, a new word was added. An example given was centaur (English) and sentora (Malay).

Ever encounter such funny translations? Share them ;)

Stalked

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride knows his partner Maggie Bei is in trouble when she reports a deadly crime on a bitter winter night.
Maggie's obviously hiding a terrible secret, but she isn't the only one. A seductive young woman has disappeared, leaving behind a trail of lurid fantasies and a cryptic message.

With his lover Serena Dial - a homicide cop turned private investigator - Stride uncovers a sordid web of violence and voyeurism that someone is willing to kill to keep hidden.

But as they hunt for a killer, a predator with a vicious past is hunting them. Now every step they take brings them closer to a showdown amid howling winds and blinding snow. Where survival is measured in seconds. Where crimes can be buried for ever.

Finished reading the book over the long weekend and it did take quite a chunk of time off from my series chasing. When I bought the book, I didn't know it was the 3rd book in his series of Jonathan Stride but good thing was you can read the book like a standalone without knowing the history. A fast-pace page turner. Found myself covering more chapters in a seating than intended.

Overall interesting plot and twists but not so much character development. I didn't find myself attached to the characters perhaps because I did not start from book1. Reading it somehow made me thought of The Lovely Bones - it involves a similar crime. The people you know could be wearing masks and you're horrified when the unthinkable happens.

Kids, be aware of strangers. But when you're an adult, who should you be wary of?

My Ratings:

Ice Kacang Puppy Love

I watched Ice Kacang Puppy Love last Wednesday. It's probably my first time ever watching a locally produced movie in the cinema. And honestly it didn't do badly at all.

When I first heard of the movie, it was the cast that caught my attention. The cast was sorta made up of the Who's Who of Malaysian Chinese Entertainment Royalty. If you are familiar with them, we have Lee Sinje (famous actress for The Eye horror film), Victor Wong (one half of the once oh-so-famous Michael&Victor duo), Fish Leong (Taiwan-based Malaysian singer famous for her love songs), Gary Chaw Ge (also a Taiwan-based Malaysian singer who had an infamous brawl with Justin, a HK singer), Nicholas Teo (another Taiwan-based M'sia singer) and Penny Tai (yes, yet another Taiwan-based M'sia singer) [We sure do have a lot of talents based overseas huh] Not to mention the movie was a directorial debut for Ah Niu, a M'sia singer-songwriter. I was intrigued that he managed to bring together so many artistes for the film, what more when most of them are actually noted for their singing not their acting. And when the film began showing in cinemas, I started hearing whispers of how good the movie was. That was when I decided to give it a go :)

The sypnosis:-

“Ice Kacang Puppy Love” is loosely based on Malaysian Ah Niu's own growing up in Penang. In this directorial debut, he also stars as the boy who is a little shy. It’s love at first sight when a girl moves to his forsaken village and he grows up with her through primary and secondary school. However, she’s a bit of a tomboy who can fight off bullies while he’s so timid that he can’t even make coffee at his father’s shop.

Set in the late 80s-early 90s where there are no such things as mobile phones, computers, PSPs, or high-tech electronic gadgets. Where children run around in the villages, playing guli (marble), challenging each other with their pet fighting fishes, and where villagers spend their mornings/afternoons/evenings at the main coffee shop chit-chatting and gossiping away. It does rekindles the childhood memories especially for those who grew up exactly in such a setting (I was one of them!)

And seeing those scenes kinda gives you a feel-good feeling. The Indian bread seller on his motorcycle, retro fans, radio-cassette player, the Indian barber that mothers usually take their little boys to to shave their heads, the pre-war shophouses, the traditional way of making coffee, and a kid drinking coffee from the saucer.... Ahh it breathes a certain air of peacefulness and nostalgia. The film even brings us to Penang specifically to the Chew Jetty; even closer to home :)

I like the overall plot and had quite a many good laughs watching some of the antics. Certain scenes were pretty touching while the ending manages to hit a point on the reality when it comes to love. I love how they captured some of the scenes and translated them into paintings. Nice. Not to forget also the score and theme song of the movie. It's a lovely remake of an 80s song by Ah Niu. I prefer the new version for its slower tempo and rhythm. And the lyrics are meaningful too. It talks about a cherished memory of a puppy love that once was...

Listen to it while enjoying a bowl of ice kacang (no kacang for me) and you might just love it *winks

My Rating:

Revamp.Enter

Had such fun revamping my blog these past 2 days that I just wanna blog about it. There are so, so, so many awesome tutorials out there and it's really satisfying when you try them out and you see your ideas materializing. On the other hand, it can be pretty frustrating when you thought you'd done everything right but nothing would appear as expected. If only it is as easy as hitting a revamp key.

Until I get in the revamping mood again, it's time to sit back and enjoy the rest of my Sunday :)

It's the little things that keep you going

If you think waking up with a stiff neck wasn't bad enough, try working 12hours straight with that neck.

You don't have to remember to keep your head as still as possible nor to not make sudden/fast movements (such as walking) that could cause the slightest jerk in your neck. Because the pain will make sure of that for you.

And only leaving after everyone had all but left.

With 20mins drive ahead, thank you for the existence of radio. Better still, thank you for having free CD-SMS contest at just the right time.

Because yes I WON!!

Hahahah my day was changed in a mere 200m stretch of road maybe; at one traffic light I managed to touch the send button "red[space]boyzone" and just the next traffic light I got THE call. I thought it was my mum but the number on screen was outstation and turns out it was Jeremy of RedFM *grins [I had to sing "Words" on live radio too but I only managed 2 lines before giggling out loud LOL Ironically, Words would not be able to describe my suprise winning]

Yup, won myself a Boyzone latest album "Brother" which by the way is named in memory of Stephen Gately. Makes the album extra special...

It's really the little things that keep ME going :)
[Oh and Thank You for RedFM & Thank you Jeremy for picking my number *winks]

"I will learn to live before I die."

Confessions of a "slacking" Bookworm

I felt the urge to read tonight.
I stared at the books lined up on the shelves. Which one should I pick?

I.had.no.idea.

Somehow it felt good staring at them books..my fingers running through the titles - some still in their plastic wrappings.

Must be the effect of reading about the book by Susan Hill; Howards End Is On The Landing: A Year of Reading From Home.

"Susan Hill had been looking for her copy of Howard's End and as she struggled to locate it she realised that amongst the books on the landing there were at least a dozen that she had never read; this made her re-evaluate how she read and she decided to spend a year reading only books that were on her shelves.." - Allan Gordon

"..to explore her collection and find new books to read in it, to re-discover lost gems and re-read favourites.." - Annabel Gaskell

I kinda am in the same situation. I have books unread, books long forgotten, books that might never see the light of day again..guess I have a lot of catching up to do huh.

Well, I certainly wouldn't mind having the luxury to take a year off to read tho! But I'll have to continue adding to my book collection; I Need that tax rebate ;)

Good Morning

It's 9am and I'm up. That can't be. I am not programmed to wake up at 9 on weekends... :/



Yeah, I'm in that accidental mode again..

Probably gotta start learning this *Om, Om, Om

A little awareness might go a long way

March 27th 2010. Earth Hour. I supported.

Peace be on Earth :)

One morning in Rome

I woke up to specks of white raining down from the sky and it actually did not register in my mind immediately (blame it on lack of sleep maybe). A few seconds later, it dawned on me;

"It's snowing! It's Snowing! It's S-N-O-W-I-N-G!!"

Yes, I'd never seen snow before and I had not expected it to come so suddenly. Pretty heavy snow too in fact. The evening news was all about it. Apparently it was extremely unusual for snow to fall in Rome - in fact, the last time the capital saw any significant snowfall was back in 1986! - livinginrome

Was I lucky or what?

Mind you, it was freakingly COLD that day. But we had no time to waste as it was our last day in the capital with a lot to cover still; Path of Illuminati being the mission.

So with our teeth clenched, we bravely ventured onward...

P/S: Oh and you cannot believe how umbrella sellers just popped up everywhere. A small umbrella could cost you €5! That's when your bargaining skills is put to test and you might just get it for €3. Not much difference it seems but multiply that by 5 and you'll see the significance.

The Time Traveler's Wife - A Novel

It took me almost 3 mths to complete The Time Traveler's Wife - the novel. I watched the movie in Dec '09 and I knew how I said I'd moved the book up the queue to be read first. I even brought the book to work as my lunch read (my colleagues should be able to vouch for that) but I guessed things such as climbing up the Geo Challenge ladder (I'm still on top, right?) and the season-continuation of my oh-so-awesome-tv-series got in the way..

Or could it be for the first time a book failed to capture my attention?

I must admit progress was slow and a few times the corner of my eye even caught other books on the bookshelves beckoning me to pick them up and read them instead. Sadly I did strayed as well.

Perhaps my expectations had been set a little too high after watching the movie. Somehow the way the book went on and on being narrated by Henry and Clare alternately felt kinda draggy toward mid-span. The reason I finally finished the book was only because I purposely brought the book with me to Europe so it was the only reading material to pass the time in-flight/on-train.

And I so could not believe what happened between Clare and Gomez! Thank you for removing those scenes from the movie.

Oh btw Mindy, the ending in the book was interesting and creative but yeah, the one in the movie felt more romantic :P

-------------------------------------Spoiler alert!-------------------------------------------

The one major detail in the book that I felt surpassed the movie was the extend of Henry's injury that confined him to a wheelchair. To not be able to walk because you couldn't feel your legs can never be worse than losing the ability to walk because your feet were amputated! Such was how the book made it to be..shockingly horrible.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, the book was enjoyable at the beginning but became less so toward the middle, and didn't quite went out with the big bang that I might had been anticipating.

My Rating:

Of Mornings Gone, Afternoon-Rots & Late Nites

Digested an entire 16-ep Korean series this week among others. Korean series/films have never been a favorite actually. Come to think of it maybe it was because there were no sources previously. Provide them and I'll most likely watch every series there is out there..

My Girl turned out to be quite nice although at the start, the girl seemed annoying. The guy was the cool type common in love dramas from Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Then there was this other girl and that other guy. The love triangle/square. But the chemistry between the main 2 casts was there making it an enjoyable series overall. Ooh, I'll love to experience snowy winters someday :)

The hermit crab in me finally crawled out of her shell this afternoon. Made use of the replacement holiday to take care of banking matters and as usual bill payments. I wonder why they don't make it a linked system at chim-bank. Imagine if you wanna cancel your credit card and activate another, they will need to call the KL HQ and have them do it for you. Or you can always call them yourselves. So it's kinda irrelevant to setup customer service counters, don't you think? Well guess what, there was no one at the end of line today.

Next, brunch @ Edo Ichi. Rainbow roll was nice. Complimentary scoop of green tea ice-cream too. Last day for the offer tho, the waiter informed. "Tomorrow they will be charged."

Lastly, or rather 2nd lastly, Fettes Residence is not your next upscale address for nothing. The units are HUGE (min 2k sqft). From the huge double main door right up to the 4+1 bedrooms and walk-in-wardrobe, impressive's the word. Equally impressive was the price. Starting at 875k with an additional 5k per floor, 35 floors in total. But unobstructed sea view only begins from 18th storey onwards. Surprisingly they have studio units too. 1 bedroom, 1k sqft. No surprise those units were all sold out.

Lastly, Gunners got thrashed by MU this morning. Oh yes, We are back! *grins

East Meets West

One fine Sat morning @ Pavilion, east sat beside west...

... nibbling scones and sipping tea...

...while soothing flute tunes filled the air...

...and danced around the trees.

My TV Dinner

Spicy Olio Pasta [though it ain't spicy]

Inhale

2009 was the year

• storms came and went. When it felt like darkness was descending, the skies cleared and light was seen at the end of the tunnel.
  
  
• I watched movies that touched me, tickled me, teared me, thrilled me. Not to mention the countless series that literally got me eating out of the palm of their hands
• that kicked off the smoothie craze and the breakfast-brunch project.
• I saw 2 football matches - live! Though the intended person I was so looking forward to watch ended up just warming the bench.
  
  
• I fell in love with Paris and Rome (and all place Europe). And spent a lot in the process too.
  
• I felt more thankful than ever for being blessed with sights in order to be able to see the world & all her perfections and imperfections.
• that I could cross out Ipoh from my places-to-visit list. Plus Penang truly has it all *winks
• I paused and took a walk down memory lane via the emails in my Yahoo! inbox. And I realized life is a bunch of crossroads and we are different after each of them.
• I had a taste of life on the business class
  
• I had the opportunity to experience autumn in the States :)
  
  


• I drove on the left side for the first time, messed up the wipers and the signal light switches along the way, but still survived going places without GPS
  
• I met some great people that helped made life's journey a more pleasurable one
• I spent Xmas night enjoying a cuppa @ Pavilion KL
  
  
• I sorta made my 1st resolution ever ie to read all the books in queue. I managed only 10.
  
• I played Guesstures with a bunch of friends right into 2010!

2010 is the year where there will be new discoveries, new experiences and perhaps even a few surprises in store. So let's put on our seat-belts and hold on tight as the show continues.

HaPpY NeW YeAR 2010!!

It's a CAKE christmas!

I've had log cake, fruit cake, Chicago cheesecake, Tiramisu, "almost" blueberry cheese cake (which got overruled) ...

Merry Christmas, everybody!