Temptation Island

I've been staring at this page for too long now...

5 days/5 nights Phuket trip to start off my leave. I'm sooo tempted to go but I feel like I should save money for ... err... this. What say'est you, dear friends? I'm desperate for some tender, hard-loving opinions here!

500 Days of Summer (Part 2)

Reasons why I love this movie - after watching it:
(kinda makes you wonder when do I have the time to watch it since the last entry. *wink*)

1. The voice-over

Oh yes... it deserves a second mention just because I can. Seriously though. Wouldn't it be awesome if I have that voice inside of my head, trying to talk rational sense into my (mostly) irrational puny little brain? I know I'd definitely listen to it a lot more than the current (annoying) voice in my head.

2. Non-linear storyline

It's not something new, but at least it's not something of the norm either. And when you have 500 Days of Summer to go through, there is just sooo much to filter through. I really like how they just skip back and forth as they please (which kinda reminds me of a movie but I can't remember which one... ). Sometimes, there's a connection between the scenes. Sometimes it's just something random. But despite the jumping around, you do get the progression of the movie - because at the end of the day, you're watching it in Tom's POV (that's Joseph Gordon Levitt to you) and he's just filtering through his memories to find the bright spots... or the bad ones as well.

Because that's just how our memories works - everything is just a jumble of scenes and people and conversations and things and events, meshed together through a sieve, and randomly conjuring at any given point of time.

3. Music

Awesome! Need. To. Go. Find. The. OST.

I love movies where music plays a big part of it. Some of my best finds normally crops up from movies, and I'd google the band online and voila! This one is of no exception although... looking at the tracklist, I have absolutely no clue of who they are (for the exceptions of Simon & Garfunkel, and Wolfmother) - which is a good thing! Cuz only You-Know-Who knows how tired I am of my playlist.

I'll try and dig-up some Youtube clips of a few songs once I have the time.

4. Joseph Gordon Levitt & Zooey Deschanel

By right, both of these names should have their very own bulleted point, but I wanna save the last one for something else.

I love Zooey simply because she's quirky and pretty and I adore the combination of black hair-blue eyes. She's such a sweetheart, and she's been quite consistent with the type of characters she's good at playing at. But it doesn makes me wonder though.. if she's capable of playing other than that quirky, out-of-this-world kinda girl.

Gordon is adorable, and it's a pity I haven't seen him since Brick. He plays the bumbling, nerdy, half-loser/half-nerd persona that is Tom like the brother I've never had. You can easily sympathise with him, with those doeey eyes and downturn mouth, yet also feel like bashing him in the head for being so naive and optimistic. It's a love-hate relationship that you can cherish.

... ONE Reason Why I Dont.

5. "This is not a love story."

I should've taken the voice seriously when he opened the movie with that line. I assumed that it was 'a-love-story-that-is-not-a-love-story'.... but in reality... it actually is 'not-a-love-story'. Watch the movie and you'll know what I mean. All I can say is, I'm not a big fan of the ending but I'm sure there's a valuable lesson in there somewhere that is so totally lost on me on the grounds that I can't relate.     

500 Days of Summer

Reasons why I love this movie - even without watching it yet:

1. Ok. Watch this trailer first and stop at 0:38.

Do you get it? Dude! It has awesome voice-over! The best I've heard this year! (shove over Up!) It makes even the most cliche opening ("This is the story of boy meets girl.") sounds awesome! In fact, that same voice is telling me to write this list in the first place! That same voice is what made me sit-up and pay attention in class. Don't you ever wish you had a lecturer with this sort of voice? I'd ace that class for sure.

2. Ok. Now rewind and watch the trailer again, and this time stop at 0:32.

Did your heart leapt to your throat at the very same moment the Boy (most probably) does to? - or was that just me? Now that is what I call 'A Moment'. And I'm pretty sure every single person who has ever been in love has had such moment(s) before. I know I do. Now doesn't that makes you want to root for the Boy to get the Girl?

3. "You should know up front that this is not a love story."

Yes. The voice is speaking to me again. But doesn't that line catch your attention enough to be curious? Plus, I'm a sucker for a 'love-story-that-is-not-a-love-story'. 2009 have been ridden with bad (on the verge of crappy) love story - be it romcom or drama. Let's have a change of pace for once!

4. It is Sundance approved.

Not that it matters much anyway, but hey! If the cynical critics would have a go at this, I'd say "Why not?"

5. It's like an Arthouse Movie.... but not really.

We get a lot of that nowadays - big budget movies made in such a way to make it look 'artsy' or 'indie'. It get's confusing but I still like to pretend like I am one of those movie snobs who only watches Casablanca, old black-n-white movies, foreign films and indie production - just so that I could wear all fitting black clothes and smoke with a long filter and talk with a French accent.

Eh... no? I thought that's what most theatre people do?

But for real though.. it does have that 'artsy' quality to it and the narrative of the storyline reminds me of 'The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' - which happens to be the 'love-story-that-is-not-a-love-story' in my list. Hmm.. I wonder if this movie that top that?

Ok. I definitely have a date with Zooey and Joseph this weekend! If you're interested to join me, do drop me a line. But if not, it is currently on limited (and exclusive) viewing @ TGV KLCC till 28th October 2009.

New addition to the family!

I've set-up a new blog! This is what you would refer to as a classic case of 'itchy-fingers'.

Random day-to-day entries will still be posted here, but I'm thinking that I need an entire space to vent to ... ehem... a certain future event. Do read up all about it @

Of Apples & Lemons

Bangkok: Condoms and err... where's the Cabbages?

On the 5th day of the month of Syawal, I packed my (relatively) empty bag (yes... singular) and headed out to Bangkok for the long weekend with a few friends from office. And our purpose of this trip is for one thing and one thing only: SHOPPING!! (Are you surprised?)

It's not hard to narrow down places of interests once we've set out our agenda for this trip. And even then, 3.5 days is still not enough! Sure... we covered Suan Lum Market... Chatuchak Market... Siam Square... MBK... and walked till our feet swells and turned purple and blue and violently protested every alternate step we took and till our purse begged(!) to be put down. But we still didn't get to a chance to go through the wholesale area of Pratunam or stroll down the streets of Chinatown or just soak up the atmosphere of Khao San Road. And this is already my 3rd trip here. Even if given a week, I don't think I'd be able to fully experience Bangkok.

Anyways....

I  managed to get hold of Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok (after a few recommendations) and it is heaven-sent! Full of colourful crayon doodles of the streets and river and shopping malls and markets and restaurants (etc... etc...) of Bangkok, it also includes useful tips of note-worthy places to go. I find it especially useful when trying to decide places to eat.

My friends and I went to the legendary Cabbages & Condoms on our first night...

 It was such a great place for a dinner - tables lined up in the gardens, overlooked by shady trees twinkled with fairy lights...

Rice served square...

Of course, it aint a complete meal without a serving of tomyam. This one was quite good, although not the best I've had in Bangkok.

Deep-fried fish which was fresh and not overly cooked, topped with mango salad...

Lukewarm red rubies was not the highlight of the night.

Oh look! They gave us mint with our receipts!

What? You're telling me this is not edible??

They named it 'Cabbages & Condoms' for a reason...

... although I'm still not sure about the Cabbages. Hmm...

Spied this picture in the halls on our way out. It's too cute not to be given a mention.

And of course, a night here will not be complete without a presence with the infamous Captain Condom!

(yes... he is wearing nothing but condoms and pills)

Well... it is an educational restaurant after all. So we took a moment to do some self-learning.

(notice that the pictures includes girl-boy, boy-boy & girl-girl examples)

Hang on there. More of Bangkok coming soon!

Hare-brained

Okay. You know what? Call me crazy but I swear there's a hare-brained scheme hopping around in my head, making a dent in my rational (rational!) skull. And now I can't think straight. I need help!

Here's the deal: I've a study leave due this November for 5 weeks - 2 weeks of studying + 2 weeks for exams + 1 week of free & easy. Now, my hare-brain of a scheme is suggesting that I take the first week of studying elsewhere. And I'm talking about just spending 7 days in a Quiet-Place-that-is-not-KL and actually study. Ok. I was thinking of doing both studying and a teeny-bit of travelling. But I'm serious when I say that I want to study! Only 'You-know-who' knows how much I need it.

My criteria for the place in mind must be quiet. It must not be that interesting of a place that would make me feel compel to travel the entire time I am there. And the cost of living must be cheap - including airfare - because I'm setting a budget here.

The few places that came to mind happens to be beachtown areas, which includes....

1. Krabi, Thailand

2. Phuket, Thailand

3. Bali, Indonesia

4. Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia (just keeping my options open)

And I've looked up AA and the air tickets for these places are quite reasonable. Trying to look up some homestays/hostels that would be reasonably cheap and comfy enough for me stay in for a week. But... I dunno... do you think I should go ahead with this?