...had one of my other-worldly rendezvous again last night..!!
again, a big party. wah liao, it seems like it's party all the time there huh..so many people, both dead and alive..looked like a disco party and dad was taking centre stage this time, strutting like travolta..
then it appeared that we were all stuck inside a cave, just like the wild dancing scene in matrix revolutions..and then all of a sudden, everyone was running to get out of the cave, like an escape to somewhere...a light coming through a small opening in the far wall, big enough to squeeze through. but as we appeared one by one into the light, i could see that those who were not of the "flesh" just erupted spontaneously into flames and ashes flew & drifted into the light...then i woke up in the middle of the night sweating like a naked pig in a freezing room...so i decided to sleep with the light on thereafter..and woke up this morning feeling totally exhausted..
all this has to mean something..why is it always a gathering of some sort? always like a party..and always, a mixture of people, dead & alive..but nobody talks..why? what's the message?? why the similar scene again and again..
on a more fun note..i just traded-in my satria neo for a kia picanto..hehehehe. silly hor..but that cute little car is gonna be wonderfully thrift to zip around town in..hehe
yep..went to see The Tourist yesterday. was kinda hesitant after reading the not so great review about the movie in the star the day before..
..but..i went anyway, and boy, was i surprised ?!! wow..never seen angelina jolie so sexy in all her movies. so classy, so elegant, so so aristocratic looking..well, i suppose the movie was all very much about her, that i agree, but it was part & parcel of her character, and she played the role so effortlessly, so beautifully, and johnny depp was naturally delightful & funny too.....
to that stupid person who wrote that bad review, please lah, if you wanted all those actions and explosions, you were looking at a different genre. this one exudes european charm, silliness and idiosyncrasies..luckily i did not pay too much attention to your review, otherwise i would have missed my sunday evening with her..!! sometimes i wonder where the press get all these people to write reviews..pffft..!!
you see, intelligent reviewers write like the one below... ____________________________________________________________________
Johnny + Angie = some good old fashioned star power, 13 December 2010 Author: ben_horror from Ireland
Sometimes with the vast amount of special effects extravaganzas, monsters movies and super hero vehicles going around, you can't help but get a bit bored with them after a while. They have a numbing effect the brain and they can get very tedious. As viewers we need a break occasionally. That's why it's always nice just to sit back, relax and watch a straightforward story where good actors do what they're trained for: act. Without a CG creature in sight… And that's exactly what we get here: two good actors having a great time with a slight, though still extremely entertaining and watchable story.
Johnny plays a lonely guy called Frank who, while on holiday in Europe, is approached on a train by a mysterious and beautiful woman called Elise (Angie – who else). Little does he know, however, he's actually being used by her as a decoy to shift police attention from her lover - a financial 'whizz-kid' who ripped off a scummy criminal and now owes the British government over 700 million euros in taxable funds. In a case of mistaken identity, the angry criminals assume Frank to be her thieving lover and he ends up being plunged into a whole web of intrigue, pursued by both the cops and the robbers. At the same time, he's trying to battle his own increasing infatuation with the enigmatic Elise, who keeps ditching him at every turn, but who - in the grand tradition of romps such as this - keeps ending up being thrown into dire situations with him, despite her best efforts.
This is a rather sophisticated and old-fashioned movie and its all the better for it. It would be easy to imagine this being made in 60s with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn starring in the lead roles. As Frank, Johnny Depp - who really does look about ten years younger than his actual age - once again shows us why he's one of the best out there. It's easy to imagine George Clooney – surely the aforementioned Grant's heir - playing this role, but Depp is more effective and brings a more earthy quality, able to play both plain and debonair at the drop of a hat.
Similarly, Angelina Jolie is convincing as the conflicted mystery woman Elise, and puts in a nice understated performance while at the same time never looking better. The chemistry between them flows off the screen. In fact the interplay between them for the first 40 minutes is absolutely brilliant. You know something is good when simply the sight of two people conversing is keeping you entertained.
It's a jet setter of a story, mixing a bit of James Bond with a dozen mistaken identity movies. It's lightly Hitchcockian, but in a good way, though it probably wouldn't have been as effective had it had been set completely in the United States. As with the Bourne movies, the European locales prevent it from being just another run-of-the-mill thriller while adding something romantic and unique to it. The photography is gorgeous and the film itself ends up being a good advert for European tourism as all the locations come off looking magnificent.
The story moves along fast and there's plenty of engaging action sequences, the stand out being one involving boats. The supporting cast is good, though Paul Bettany has a somewhat thankless role that requires him to do little more than be grumpy while at the same time barking down a microphone at every available occasion. But it is good to see Timothy Dalton (the best Bond bar none) in an acting role again. Even if it only ranks as an extended cameo, he dominates the screen whenever he's on. Somewhat appropriately, he's even in the position his boss 'M' was in his own Bond movies - a guy who sits behind a desk handing out the missions and giving all the orders rather than taking them. It's almost like James Bond has been promoted to top dog!
There's also another Bond connection (are all these intentional?) in another supporting player Steven Berkoff, who played a slimy Russian general in 1983's Octopussy. Here he plays a similarly depraved and ruthless criminal who's actually British, but surrounds himself with a pack of Russian heavies. He also has the most sadistic scene in a movie that can't really be classed as being overly violent.
Even if it's not the kind of dark Euro thriller you might be expecting, this is still a very entertaining movie that will keep you hooked all the way. It's got everything: action, suspense, comedy and romance. And even if that's not enough for you, certainly the interplay between Depp and Jolie will be. They're really effective in this and display the kind of chemistry we haven't seen since the heyday of the movies, the most recent example probably being Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Based on this, hopefully they'll work together again sometime in the near future.
Yes, it's all very old-fashioned stuff and you will feel like you're caught in a time warp to the 60s. It's also a bit lightweight and fluffy, but you know what? When you have a cast this good, just go with it. I enjoyed very minute of it. And if you give it a chance, you will too.
the choice of the venue was given to one of my staff, who like me, also get quite easily conned by beautiful food pictures displayed in advertisements..haha
she chose..the manhattan fish market..
not bad actually except the signature dish for the season didn't quite come out as expected..
this fella seemed to enjoy setting fire to our dish ---------------------------------->
as advertised
and what we got.. the crab claws somehow lost their taste as they journeyed from alaska to our table & i could have sworn we got only half the claws compared to what's shown..hmmm., in any case they were totally flat, and at rm85.90 for that platter, was rather over-priced for flat-tasting crab claws .. so maybe ratings about 2/5 (for those claws)
my quad platter. nothing exceptionally unusual. tasted like fried stuffs..ratings 3/5 (the garlic butter sauce used to be richer i remember..hmmm, maybe they ran out and had to add water to it.. :OP)
this was probably the most tasteful dish of the lot. The shrimp spaghetti olio/pasta whatever ...nice..very nice..
i would give it 5/5
and of course their "chiew-phai" standard. the ever reliable fish & chips.. this one about 4/5
and finally, my appetiser that came last..hmm. i thought appetisers should come first one..anyway, this one was supposed to be country fried mushrooms. they used to use whole button mushrooms, but now they are cut up in bits and pieces and then fried in batter. times are bad i guess..this one got 2/5
so, in conclusion, the food was more or less expected, with the exception of the shrimp pasta which i thought was extraordinarily nice. i was however somewhat disappointed with the sauce accompaniments. tasted to me like watered-down versions of the original mfm sauces..especially, the garlic butter sauce..
it looked like i ate enough fried stuffs to last me the whole year. next year, it's gonna be steam-boat !! wheeeeeeeeee...... :O)
total bill came to about rm200 for 6 persons..hmm, wonder what food we would have gotten elsewhere for that money..
..i'm at a junction, quite uncertain whether i should turn..left, right, or forge right ahead?..
..it's been really great the past few months but like they always say..all good things must come to an end..
or must they?
why does it always have to end up like this? why cant it feel eternally wonderful all the way..?
..maybe it's just a roller coaster ride..and i'm just having a blast going through the ups and downs and the twists and the turns..maybe this train will still reach its destination after all ... or maybe i'm just headed for the ....
.."mixed breed" pussy cat available for adoption. name's mr momo. he's a 2 year old kitty cat, very handsome, toilet trained on most days, entertains himself most of the time (you know what i mean..?? wink2 :OP) .. anyone interested, pls let me know.. hehe
..no, i'm not talking about the shell V-power petrol here..nor am i talking about anything remotely naughty for that matter..hehe
it's just my recipe for a most delicious Yum Yum creamy tomyum shrimp noodles, a most ingenious concoction that will take you to tingling taste-buds heaven in 3 minutes !!
so..this is how u do it..(pls follow steps very2 closely, one misstep and disaster awaits you !!)
1) first, take a nice deep porcelain bowl, break an egg into it, do not stir 2) then add about 350ml of hot boiling water gently 3) then add the seasoning that comes with the pack 4) put the whole ensemble into a microwave oven and cook on high heat for 90 seconds 5) now, take out bubbling hot tom-yum soup and add the noodles, plus throw in a half teaspoon of crispy prawn chilli. take a second to smell its distinct aroma, then.. 6) put the bowl back into microwave and cook on high for another 90 seconds 7) take out the almost finished product and add a bit of fried shallots for extra ooomph..
and now, it's ready to give you unspeakable gastronomic delights...woot3 !! (now..if only i had 3 huge prawns to cook with..)
so simple, yet so fabulously delicious... i always wonder why the Thais are so good at making their instant noodles. our local brands just pale so much in comparison..haih..
