Hurricane Gustav

Read the news about Hurricane Gustav closing in on New Orleans. Felt abit sad for the people there. They are just recovering from Hurricane Katrina and now they have to face another hurricane. I went there in March and I still could see some of the damage done to the areas although most places have been restored. I hope this one will not be as bad as Katrina. God bless them.

In love with robots

Its funny that I end up watching two movies yesterday both about robots in love. The first one I watched is Cyborg She. A japanese movie about a guy who has no luck with girls suddenly finding himself a cyborg girlfriend who is not only gorgeous but will risk everything including her own life to save him. The movie is hilarious and touching at the same time. It takes a while to understand what is going on because of the side plot involving time travelling. Overall its a very entertaining movie and the climatic Tokyo earthquake scenes at the end was quite realistic. Its almost like hollywood standards. I love the soundtrack too...went to HMV to buy it straight after the movie.

Few hours after catching Cyborg she, went to watch Wall E. I remembered when I first saw the trailer of Wall-E a year ago, with Wall E staring up at the sky and say the now signature "WAAALL -E" I was thinking..oh gosh, could this be Pixar first flop after the near flop "CARS"? I mean, movies about robots arent really that interesting...whats more its about a lonely robot. But I was completely wrong. Pixar delivered something so amazing that even without any dialogue in the first half of the show, the movie is still very engaging. Wall E is so cute, innocent and funny and they even managed to make a cockroach seems loveable. The theme of the movie is great and the stories about two robots in love laid out like this is ingenious. Bravo to Pixar once again! Proves that we dont always need animals tat talk non stop and act silly to have a great animated film.

Found a nice place to watch fireworks.

Its been a long time since I last went for a swim. So when Gabriel jio me to go swimming at Fitness First I thought...why not?! Being the ever so cheapo me, I can go see see look look at Fitness First facilities. We went to the branch at One George Street. I was surprised by the cool pool they have. Its so nice to swim with a great view. From the pool I get a great view of the cityhall area and marina bay. It will be a fantastic place to view and take photos of the national day fireworks away from the crowd. The best thing is you can go up even if you are not a fitness first member lolToo bad it was raining if not the view could be better. The gym is quite small to my surprise considering the amount my fren is paying - 130 a month!! But its a nice experience swimming there..thanks gabriel!

Beijing Olympics 2008

After 17 days of competition, Beijing Olympics is coming to an end tonite. 7 years of preparation and its over in 17 days. Looking forward to tonite olympics closing ceremony. I hope it will be as good as the opening ceremony.

More than 900 medals were given out..expectedly China won the most gold this time round. 50 ...i last checked. However, the total number of medals still trails the USA. But in the olympics, its the gold that matters isnt it? Apparently the Americans loves to win so much they decided to put themselves on the number 1 ranking based on total number of medals won. Such arrogance.

Anyway this olympics has a number of high and lows moments and here are some of them which left an impression on me.

Highs

The opening ceremony was truly spectacular. China totally won me over with an amazing show that night







After 48 years, Singapore finally won a medal and its another silver medal! A new star is born - Feng Tian Wei, and I think she got much more potential than Li Jiawei to win an olympic medal at the London games. Not to forget Tao Li gave us hope early when she qualified for the finals of the 100m butterfly with the fourth best time!

All time Olympian Michael Phelps fulfilled his promise of winning 8 gold medals and he did it record style.
Quite happy that a number of swimming gold were won by asian this time slowly breaking the dominance of the Americans and Australians. Japan's Kosuke Kitajima kept his throne and 18 year old Park Tae Hwan of Korea won 400m freestyle gold.

Was it sheer coincidence that Singapore and Malaysia win their much awaited medal (both silver) on the same night? Though Lee Chong Wei lost to the formidable Lin Dan, his win is still a much celebrated affair.


Lows

Top seed Roger Federer crashed out of the tennis singles early paving the way for Rafael Nadal to win the gold medal and handing over the No. 1 rank to him as well. Must be a terrible year for Federer ...first wimbledon now the olympics. At least he won gold in the mens double.
After 4 years of anticipation, countless endorsement deals and enormous hope for another gold medal from Liu Xiang...he left millions chinese shocked and disappointed when he dropped out without a fight. The look on his face and the thousands of fans out there watching him limped out of the stadium was unforgettable. Whether or not he is faking it, the truth is he has crumpled under immense pressure. We can only hope that he will show everyone that he still has it 4 years later.

In the end, it was still not meant to be. Li Jiawei lost her chance at a individual medal for the second time at the olympics. When I know she was up against the chinese, I know the chances were slim but we all hope for a miracle. But there was none. She was shut out again in 4th place just like in Athens 2004. The only difference is at least she has a silver medal this time.

Hungarian weightlifter stunned the world ...not in a good way when he dislocated his elbow during his attempt to lift 148kg. It was not a sight for the faint hearted but it was broadcast for millions.

Did she or did she not? Yes she did. She said Fuck on national tv. LOL Jade seah while hosting "Today in Beijing" utter the F word on live television. A silly mistake you say but it was not as bad as watching her host the show every night. She cant host for nuts in my opinion and I wonder why Mediacorp put her on that show. Sex appeal? Well now they have it...FUCK.

Just two pics...

Caught a nice sunset at Lumut....the open field...the moon...the beautiful clouds...

Seems like going back in time when you are at the small towns in malaysia. Everything is so 1970s...so different from Singapore.

Attack of the flies!!! Yucks!

This was the scene when I had dinner at Bidor...an ulu ulu place in Malaysia. We were on our way to Lumut and had to stop over for dinner. The dinner was an unforgettable experience. We shared our food with lots and lots of flies...not 10..not 20...maybe 30 plus!!

The owner of the coffeeshop dont give a shit about us ...watching us trying to eat and fend off the flies with newspapers and our hands at the same time. After a while i kinda lost my appetite already.

Spot the flies!

Look at those little pesky flies on the coke can alone..its ridiculous.

Before we left...the shopkeeper came over to clear the tables...and he said "wah...how come so many flies"....I was thinking..."you ask me? I ask who...dun act la"

Gunning for gold

17th August 2008 is an extraordinary day for the Americans and will be an extraordinary day for Singaporeans and our neighbour Malaysia. Michael Phelps realised his aim of getting 8 golds when he clinched his 8th this morning in yet another record time...I love watching him swim..its so inspiring. He always manage to come up from the back and beat the competition at the last 50m. Both Singapore and Malaysia are aiming to get our very first olympic gold. Sadly, I think Singapore has reached the end of the road after losing to China in two straight sets. But a silver is still not too bad. Hopefully we dont have to wait another 48 years for the next one...gosh I will be 76 years old by then...probably dead already. The badminton match where Lee Chong Wei will square off with Lin Dan has just started. Hopefully, they can get a gold.

Short trip to Sarawak

Went on a short trip to Bintulu and Miri at Sarawak last week. For those who dont know where Bintulu and Miri are...here's what I found on wikipedia:

Bintulu is a coastal town, and the capital of Bintulu District (7,220.4 square kilometers) in the Bintulu Division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is about 650 kilometers from Kuching and about 215 kilometers from either Sibu or Miri.

I didnt manage to get any shots of Bintulu as it was kinda rushed...but I got a picture of Miri from the hotel. Miri seems like a small city...going anywhere is within 15mins. Below are some shots I took from the hotel.

Gatherings....

I am beginning to love my company. lol. I feel its getting younger and younger...and sadly I am getting older and older. There was a time when I was the youngest in the company and people call me ah boy...now somebody else is ah boy and there are tons of people younger than me!!! Hahaha. Anyway, the younger the group the better...office is more lively nowadays.

This was a week back...we had dinner at Fish and Co at Jurong Point...its a farewell for our two beautiful secretaries...Sally and Shuqun. We had such a great time. I think I never laugh that much in such a short period of time. At the same time it was kinda sad that two frens were leaving us but still we wished them all the best!

Me and Sally and the incoming secretary Erica.

This was another gathering we had...the first of its kind for us I think. We went clubbing at Double O. The nite turned out to be a disappointment for me cos its bloody Retro Nite....wth..the music all i never hear before one..lol

Here we are on a "smelly" couch. The girls says the couch smelled of vomit...but I didnt smell anything...weird. lol I even tried sniffing hard but I still didnt smell anything.

I think there are tons of photos lurking around but I didnt get them so cant post all. Hey guys where are the photos taken when we were playing pool!!

Fooling around....

Havent let my hair down for a long time...and on National Day ...I did. Nelson brought me to this ulu place called Hajit Lane which is near bugis junction for shopping. Sadly quite alot of shops are closed for the holiday. But it did seem like a good place for some unique clothes and furnitures especially for ladies. The shops there are different from the typical ones you find in departmental stores which is really cool. Its kinda of nice to immerse yourself in the old shophouses of Singapore again.

Caught a group of teenagers filming...I was trying to walk behind them hoping to become the "kalefe" of their film...lol

I like the shophouses here...looks old...and most importantly..original. Unlike those that have been revamped at Chinatown and Boatquay.

Its a quiet place with a few cafes...quite a nice place to chill out if you are trying to get away from the crowd during the weekend.

Since there were not many people around and the old shophouses provided such a nice backdrop for photos....who can resist acting like a model...lol

again....

I like this building alot but this is first time I actually got so near to it. I always thought it stands out from the other buildings in the area...like a loner..the architectural style reminds me of something I would see in Gotham City.

Posing again...once you start..you cant stop..haha :P

Panned at home, Fann's movie wows US film fest

I remember back in May I watched the movie "Dance of the Dragon" and I proclaimed it as the worst movie of the year...
http://mind-field.blogspot.com/2008/05/worst-movie-of-year-dance-of-dragon.html

Apparently, the taste of the western people are so different from me and also our local critics and many other people in Singapore who watched this atrocious movie.

Taken from the straits times "CELEBRITY Fann Wong, 37, won her first Hollywood award for Best Actress for her role in Dance of The Dragon at the inaugural West Hollywood International Film Festival (WHIFF), but was unfortunately also sick at the same time.

The MediaCorp actress was 'pleasantly surprised' when she heard news of her win, but jokingly lamented that she was 'celebrating in bed with dosages of medicine instead of champagne'.

Local film critics were surprised as well, but for different reasons as most of them had panned the romantic movie that was directed by Australian John Radel.

Despite being a flop at the local box-office in Singapore, Dance of The Dragon took 10 awards at WHIFF, including Best Festival Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

About 140 films from 20 countries around the world took part in the film festival, but most were little-known independent titles, documentaries and short films.

Singapore-based Easternlight Film Productions, which produced Dance of The Dragon, said in a statement that the film will also compete at the 12th Annual Rhode Island International Film Festival, the 5th Rome International Film Festival, the 14th Annual Temecula Valley International Film Festival and the 9th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival."

Whats next? Best foreign movie at the oscars? LOL.

Hello Kitty!

I love cats...I am not sure why...ever since I had a few kittens during my army days...I fell in love with cats...lol. They are so cute and cool and silly sometimes.. Went to Andrew's place to see his cat...not really his cat...actually its his landlord's sister's cat.

Ooo dont you find that really adorable...the look reminds me of Puss in boots in Shrek 2...those innocent big eyes..lol...I love the fur..looks abit like the cat on the "FRISKIES" cat food packaging.

The silly cat is looking at the feather I am trying to lure her with...

Thats me..tickling her with the feathers...

She was kinda afraid of me...cos I am a stranger to her...so it took me alot of time to get a close shot of her..look at those wary eyes...

Yeah...thats me again ..with the feathers ..trying to make her look at the camera....but she totally cant be bothered with me...:(

I wish I can have a cat one day....my birthday coming! *Hint Hint*

Its National Day Again!

Its National Day again....and every year I will make it a point to go down to watch the fireworks. Today, I met up with Andrew and we had a hard time waiting for the fireworks. It was super crowded as expected ... It was like blangadeshi, chinese and singaporeans unleashed!! Surprisingly, there were more blangadeshi than Singaporeans...but the rain was certainly unexpected. As far as I can remember, there hasnt been one National Day where it was raining...but today it did. Luckily it was just drizzle and it didnt last long. Anyway the show was quite nice ...even though it was quite repetitive...every year...you get the marching contingent..the "MM Lee " clip segment and then the song and dance and the fireworks...but I thought the light show at the stage was quite nicely done this year with the fountain thingy...


Ooo I got a chance to test out my new camera...finally! Quite satisfied with the photos I took today...

The parachutist...I was kinda worried for them. I thought the show will be cancelled due to the bad weather but it wasnt...Atlas..they managed to complete the routine! Bravo!

A sight at Mandarin Hotel...Tot she was going to jump...lol. I tot all hotel windows are sealed?

I love this ...it was really impressive. I like the aero display...its the most exciting part of the parade

The view of the stage from my place...

And of cos...all the fire works shots...I took about a 100 shots but only a few can make it...still working on it...lol...Oh...thx Andrew for keeping me company for 4 hours...lol. I know you must be damn bored ...I can see it from your face..haha ..isit becos you are not Singaporean? :P ..Anyway really appreciate it...you get to feel the wonderful spirit of Singaporeans ..didnt u? lol

Oh..Just sidetrack abit...when we were going back...the crowd management was quite horrible...and it was like mass orgy..then at a traffic junction...I heard someone shouting...turned out it was a guy on wheelchair...and he was shouting for pple to make way for him. Then one uncle told him off saying that its not that we dont want to make way for him but its just too crowded and we cant move either...from afar I heard that guy shouted some stuff like " I want to go blah blah"...I was thinking....wheelchair big fuck? Sorry to those disabled people..I mean just becos you are on a wheelchair doesnt give you the right to behave like people owe you a living. I have nothing against disabled people and I think we should treat them nicely but that guy attitude was just appalling. Later as he was pushing his wheelchair through the crowd...he was shouting "HELLO!! HELLO!! " ...a simple "excuse me " would be better, dont you think?