The weekend weekend weekend...

This weekend has been good, like really good. And full of things I don't usually do. Like watching movies. Going to the temple. Eat some chocolate. You know things that people normally do.

Anyway yesterday I went to Pavilion with Ching Wen, Laetitia and Yati. We ate some heinously bad food at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng. It's basically fashioned as this semi hip hangout for young (Chinese) kids to eat Hong Kong style street food. All of us ordered like hot plate meals and the meat was horribly tough and the sauce was also very subpar. The drinks were good though. So our conclusion? Eat noodles when in a Hong Kong style eatery. And actual street food type dishes.

I went to MANGO and also picked up this super cute sweater. Will post picture below:


Ching Wen picked it out. I'm convinced that boys are good at shopping for women's clothes because they tend to gravitate towards the simplest thing. Also because they kind of don't care at all they tend to be a bit objective.


Then we watched Robin Hood. Which was bad. Seriously. Basically here's what was wrong.

1. It was not Gladiator
2. The dialogue
3. The editing
4. It was not Gladiator
5. Too many characters
6. Very bad scene flow
7. Very overdone story with Robin Longstride's father
8. It was not Gladiator

It had some things going for it though. And that thing was Russell Crowe.

I mean seriously that man could not get more charismatic if he tried. Also he's TOTALLY not a fatty anymore, he is buff and looking good.

But the thing is I just felt that the whole movie was just not what it could have been. Obviously I had to compare it with Gladiator because hell it's the same lead and the same director. The verdict? The casting was fantastic, the set and costumes were amazing and even the premise was fine. But the whole story was just so hokey and the editing almost felt so rushed and just bad.

What's happening to movies nowadays? Why can't they live up to the movies of the past, or even recent past like Gladiator? Like A Beautiful Mind? Like even Independence Day? Movies just don't have that quality and just feel unfinished nowadays. It makes me sad and afraid because one of the best things about our society is movies and storytelling and now that its become such crap, what do we have left? Global warming, wars and consumerism? I don't even know.

Anyway that's me on my soapbox.

Apart from that I ate THE BEST chocolate croissant from The Loaf (it has custard in it1) and then went home.

Today my mum and I actually went to the Geeta Ashram in PJ. The Geeta Ashram is basically this center, almost like a temple for devotees of people who follow this Guru who propagates the reading of the Geeta, our holy book, as basically the best way to live life/be Hindus, etc. We went there because basically it's getting to a point where my family is just so insular that we need more connections in life. My mum is North Indian and I think she's just so disconnected from that here that its important for us to reach out. Anyway it was actually really nice. The people were really nice and while I didn't really understand all of the sermon what really resonated with me was their argument that how can someone be spiritual without having any knowledge of the scriptures? And also how can you be devoted without understanding pedagogy. So that really got to me. I think we're planning on going back next week which is cool.

Nothing else really for the rest of today, I just handwashed a ton of my clothes and now I'm writing this. I'm going to go workout and get things sorted for next week - It should be CRAZY BUSY because its the first week of classes!

Le Weekend

Passed by quick enough... THANK GOD. Actually it wasn't that bad. Yesterday started off bad - brothers in a bad mood, mum overloaded with work as usual. But then after we went out for lunch at the Coconut Flower Seafood Restaurant in Klang, everyone kind of got a little better. And dinner at home with cake from RT, the best bakery ever, and Cadbury's Creamy Vanilla ice-cream was surprisingly fun. I think my family works best when there are other people in the mix. Ie. Friends, extended family, etc.

Oh yeah, and I wanted to say I think that one of the dudes that I was set up with, by that set-up thing since I'm incompetent at finding a man, was totally at the restaurant. Thankfully I completely didn't acknowledge him or tell anyone about it so it didn't become a thing.

Other than that I watched a bit of Top Model today and watched trailers on Apple. I really want to watch The Kids Are All Right and I was completely repulsed/slightly morbidly interested in The Human Centipede. But I doubt I'm going to watch that shit. And when I mean shit...

I think I'm also going to start doing make-up reviews on this blog, not that that's really the point of this blog but more like because I want to and I also think sometimes when a person is looking for reviews of a product and they search for it and its not on their fav beauty blogs then I could fill that niche. Maybe. Probably not.

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 12 & 13

Again I FAILED at documenting the past two days of quarantine, Monday and Tuesday. I guess since it was my last two days of being quarantined, I pretty much lost all my resolve and had to stop doing it.

I have to tell you what I did was THRILLING. It consisted of re-reading a damn book, watching some damn movie and some other TV shows.

So for the past two days I (in no particular order):

1. Watched Coco Before Chanel/Coco Avant Chanel. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I think that Audrey Tautou just kind of plays this character that we expect of her, this Amelie-esque person but in this she was lovely. And her eyes were just haunting which was really what they tried to convey so it worked. It was kind of an indulgent movie given that is it about Chanel but then again I suppose it's like I couldn't expect any less of a movie about her.


2. I started watching the latest season of America's Next Top Model and it is FIERCE! I'm really behind this girl, Raina, because she is old school Brooke Shield's stunning.

3. Bought my brother a t-shirt for his birthday. Also bought myself some underwear and picked up my new contacts. My power keeps going up and up.

Man I did not do much over the last couple of days. I guess I just ran out of steam.

Anyway I'm actually back to work and I couldn't be more happy - I love silly students asking me silly questions they're so lovely. I will try to post and be more regular about that but for now - buh-BYE!

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 10

Again, could not bring myself to do my blog post last night. Good thing that today should officially be my last day in quarantine. So what did I do yesterday...

1. Started scrapbooking, but then I realized that I needed a couple of things before I could go there and also that I have like two rolls of film from my time at McGill that I haven't developed. So I'm going to take those in to get developed. I have no idea what I'm going to find on there. Hopefully no stumbling drunk pictures. Then again I doubt it, I was never a very enthusiastic picture taker.

2. I watched Did You Hear About the Morgans. It was so meh I can't even justify any sort of review so I wont.

3. Did some typing work for my mom.

4. Watched some random TV, I honestly can't even remember what was on.

5. Watched the first episode/installment of The Pacific. It was fairly compelling only HBO in Malaysia censors everything which includes the swearing and violence which really ended up taking away from the effectiveness of the miniseries. I couldn't get much out of the first hour, I think I'll watch the rest later.

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 9

Today was ok, slow again, I think that I'll try to have a burst of activity tomorrow and the day after but today I just couldn't seem to face doing much. I pretty much...

1. Googled make-up blogs and celeb gossip websites.

2. Started re-reading The Blue Sword, my favorite book of all time. I first read it when I was twelve and at SFS. I love it still.

3. I watched Brothers, which was only so-so. I was saying to my mother that I feel like movies have lost their ability to connect with people because they're just not trying to anymore. They're just sort of formulaic and just don't seem to elicit any visceral response. Which is what I thought of Brothers. It could have been really good but it was just kind of flat.

4. Just watched A Perfect Getaway with my brother. It was really fun, very far fetched but just good old fashioned mindless fun.

So hopefully tomorrow I'll actually DO something :)

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 8

So again, I did not get this post done on the day but instead the day after. I jut haven't been sleeping that well so I kind of just thought if I went to sleep like at 10, 10:30 I would be able to get a good night's sleep. Not so. I woke up every hour to pee even though I hadn't actually drunk that much water. As a result I'm out of it and mildly cranky and just feeling sorry for myself... good stuff, I know... :)

So yesterday I:

1. Read the last Traveling Pants book, Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood. I'm really glad I don't have to read them anymore, I think I've just gotten so sick of reading them simply because I HAD TO finish them. Which led to me kind of speeding through the last book. Maybe next time I'll read it first. Or not all at once or whatever.

2. I watched Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself which was, I'm sad to say, TERRIBLE. It was so bad. And I'm a really forgiving movie critic. Taraji P. Henson was undoubtedly very good given how wooden and predictable the script was. And although the story was standard Tyler Perry fare, I really felt like it was no excuse for how disjointed the editing was and basically how one scene just didn't flow to another. There were such huge gaps in the story telling that it really detracted from the whole movie. Adam Rodriguez looked smokin' hot but as an actor he is very limited and did nothing much to save the movie. Overall it was pretty bad, but I guess watchable if you do so without thinking about it too much.



3. Did some objective marking for my mum's class.

4. Wrote recommendation letters for my bosses so that they can change it for me. It's for grad school, I'm applying to do a Masters in Marketing which should be interesting...

5. Found out that I am now 55 kgs! I've lost 2 kgs so far! I can buy make-up! Woooooooo!!!!!

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 6

Man, I was way too tired last night to do my daily update so I left it for this morning. Okay let's see, what did I do yesterday.

1. Read The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, it was great, but I'm definitely feeling the pressure of having to finish the whole damn series now. Which I have to, since I did start it...

2. I burned a couple of movies for Dad and bro.

3. Cleaned my room somemore, it's pretty much done so I think I'm going to go ahead and start sorting out stuff for my scrapbooking today. I don't have any movie I want to watch today so I should be able to do a whole day of "work."


4. I watched Broken Embraces/Los Abrazos Rotos. I thought that it was alright. For some reason it wasn't as effective as his older movies and not nearly as visually stunning as his last one, Volver. It could be the fact that the movie was literally interrupted like 10 times by phone calls and other stuff but I just couldn't get into it. What I did like about it was Penelope Cruz. Her performance in it is remarkable in ways that her English speaking performances never are. Also what I liked is how sort of stylized and clumsy the embraces in the movie are. It's a mixture of Old Hollywood and just like biting and gnashing. It's not realistic but it stays with you.

5. Watched a REALLY bad episode of The Ghost Whisperer with my brother. J. Love Hewitt, I'm sorry to say, is a lot bigger than shed used to be. By no means is she a fatty bom-bom but she's like got an ass you can grab onto.

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 5

Man, so I saw the doctor today, she told me to stay home for another FIVE days. Basically the whole week. It's tragic. And yet not. Because I can actually get some stuff done. I was initially dreading it because things have been a bit chaotic in a bad way at home but today was better so I'm thinking that it might be good.

So since I've been banished from the dinner table early today (presumably so I don't give everyone THE POX), I am here doing my daily blogging a little early. I figure its a good idea since I think I'm going to turn in early today. Since I did wake up at 6:30am to see my doctor.

Ok so what have I been up to today:

1. Went to the doctah lady - as I said.

2. Read Ann Brashares Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the first book to be exact. I remember the first time I read these books I was staying in Katie's house for her annual Thanksgiving inviting that she did. I would be in the basement and read it before going to bed. Man, those were good times. That reminds me, I have to send a card to her mum. Anyway, it had the same effect today as it always does. I got teary eyed and very emo. Good books, I think I'll go through the whole series in the next couple days.

3. I watched An Education. So my thoughts on this movie are that I really enjoyed it. I think that Peter Sarsgaard was a little awkward, Alfred Molina was pitch perfect but the whole movie was, let's face it, entirely about Carey Mulligan. And I mean that in the sense that it was completely from her character's point of view and also because she totally owned and charmed the audience from the second we see her onscreen. She is luminous in this movie. In an entirely different way that Amanda Seyfried was in Mamma Mia!. Mulligan is like Audrey Hepburn, heartbreaking, naive, fresh and yet so poised for greatness - kind of luminous. She completely lives up the hype surrounding her and I'm so happy about that because it means that she's going to be around for a while.


4. I cleaned my room! Swear to goodness, it's looks way better than it did before. I think it might be able to do a complete overhaul by the time the week is over.

Right now I'm contemplating watching an episode of The Vampire Diaries, but I think I'll leave it for tomorrow. Trashy TV and some hanging out with the bro beckons me.

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 3 & 4

Yeah, so, blogging on Saturday didn't quite happen so I'm making it a joint update for the past two days. I actually accomplished some stuff I was supposed to do, I've made this huge list of things to do while I'm quarantined - so let's get started on what I got started on:

1. I read Lisa Jewell's The Truth About Melody Browne. My mum and dad bought it for me since I'm stuck at home. It was actually very good, very poignant and different from most chick lit. But then again most of Lisa Jewell's books are like that. I was reminded of why I like her books so much, except I don't think it's going to get reread as much as the Shopaholic books or like a pure fluff love story simply because it actually has more depth.

2. Did more typing of mum's quizzes and tests. Again, I'm just glad that I can be of help, you know?

3. Furiously websurfed through all my favorite beauty blogs, I think my fav of the moment is Make Up and Beauty Blog. The blogger, Karen, is truly a woman after my own heart in every way. Her humor, her writing style and of course the fact that she actually wears a variety of make-up - not just like nude lips and nude eyes.

4. Watched Max Payne last night on TV. It was quite entertaining, kind of ridiculous but hey, Mark Wahlberg looked good. Actually a little too good for a dude who's still pining his dead wife but... you know, whatever.

5. I read InStyle's April Color Issue this morning and it was Fabu! I completely take back what I said about Ariel Foxman because it is an awesome issue, on par with the fantastic last year's Color Issue with Salma Hayek on the cover. This issue has Gwen Stefani on the cover and she looks AMAZING, outside and in the mag as well.


6. I watched the Ugly Betty episodes of "Fire and Nice", "All the World's A Stage" and "Million Dollar Smile". I had forgotten how lovely and lighthearted the show is and also how much I like it. Justin kissed a boy which is awesome and about time! Plus Austin is a seriously cute kid. I'm also very glad that Betty's braces are off, I know that you know she's getting way too hot/isn't the point of the show that she's ugly? But you know what? I'm happy that she's finally getting made over because it's ABOUT TIME.

7. Majorly revamped my filing system for expenses, banking, job information, tax information, etc. etc. It looks fabu and I'm very proud of myself - that I actually had the patience to do it basically.

That's about it - I'm going to go to bed now and go see the doc tomorrow morning and see what she says about my pox situation. Wish me luck!

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 2

So today, I didn't really do all the fun stuff I was supposed to do but it turned out to be kind of a productive day. Sort of.

Today I:

1. Started reading Marian Keyes' Last Chance Saloon, almost done, I'll finish it right before I go to bed. It's probably my second favorite book by her. Love the whole Katherine/Joe storyline, like their chemistry just flies off the pages at you.

2. Typed up a quiz for my mum's work. I'm so happy I could help because of two reasons; one because I am a WAY faster typist and two because I can actually feel useful for a change.

3. Tried to watch the first episode of the 10th season of Dancing With The Stars. I wanted to do it because I find that I have an inexplicable fascination with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. Since she's going to be on it... well... I had to try to watch it. Alas, it was such utter crap that I just couldn't. I fast forwarded through the whole damn thing and frankly its just not worth wasting my life to watch her dance for two minutes. I'll just go download the Beep video and watch it again. Speaking of...



4. I just watched The Mist, this mildly terrible and yet strangely compelling horror/monster flick. Thomas Jane is the hero and basically everyone is stuck in this hardware store while a mysterious AND deadly mist falls over this small town. It's extremely ridiculous but there are some legitimate actors in this movie like Mr Jane, like I mentioned before, and Marcia Gay Harden and the prettiest woman EVER, Alexa Davalos.



That's about it for today. I'm super worried about my uncle in the States who seems to be getting sicker and also over some other family stuff which I won't air on the internet. So I'm pray-pray-praying and would really appreciate it if you could send good vibes my family's way.

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 1

So it had been a fairly lovely day so far but I screwed it up in the past ten minutes by being an ungrateful ingrate to my lovely mum who basically got me being rude to her because she A. Bought the wrong kuih (see picture)and B. Got me coconut water for the second day in a row because it's supposed to be good for pox riddled me. And why am I being such an idiot? Because the kuih is not what I like and the coconut water is just way too much and basically I'm just taking it out on her that I'm already tired of being holed up in my room. Without actually being sick. Apart from the pox. And I think I might be running out of shampoo. And also I've read all my books. And I just feel so bloody useless. As you can see, I'm not in great form.

Ok so right, things I did today.
1. Read Marian Keyes' Sushi For Beginners for the millionth time. I really like that book, I think it's pretty much my favorite book of hers. I've read almost everything she's written. Maybe I should buy the rest...

2. Watched The September Issue and you know what, I didn't think it was that good. Yeah sure I got some insight into Vogue and Anna Wintour, but it just confirmed for me that I actually don't like the stuff that is in the magazine, even if I am unknowingly wearing trends that she propagated. Anyway the whole thing seemed a little too staged. It was seamless though, which I did appreciate.

3. I watched the Glee episode Ballad. I pulled my chair from inside my room and sat on it so that I wouldn't transfer "my sickness" to anyone. Great episode, Rachel was in top form as usual and Finn confirmed that I have a secret attraction for awkward overly tall, white men. Or maybe just to him. Could Cory Monteith be dating Taylor Swift? If he is my crush will be over since she actually seems, as Preetha so eloquently puts it, like someone with the personality of a toothbrush.

4. Made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and heated up Campbell's tomato soup. Remembered Katie and our times eating grilled cheese at her place on Sherbrooke. Oh those were the days... Anyway that was probably the highlight of the day.

I'm going to apologize to my mother for being a jerk. I must after all abide by the words of Gilda, remember that your mother is like a rubber band, each time you're mean to her she stretches. One day she might snap. She will always love you but she will never feel the same about you again. Gilda was my therapist at McGill. Awesome lady - totally changed my life. I'll write all about it one day.

Itchin' the night away...

So. I have the chickenpox. Like actually, actually. It is ridiculous because firstly, I never actually thought I could get it since I dodged the bullet once when I roomed with Vicky on a trip to Greece and Turkey and she got chicken pox immediately after and I was fine. Mostly because I had had the chicken pox vaccine when I was around 11. Turns out that damn vaccine is temporary. So here I am 23, with chickenpox. So far its on my back and chest. Hopefully it will stay confined there, I'm guessing any new pocks are going to be cropping up in these next few days.

My doctor told me that it was like a compulsory holiday. Which would be fine if I was not confined to my room and compulsively washing my hands every few minutes. Which I am. I'm guessing I'm going to be out of commission for about two weeks which is what my doctor predicts. I'm not actually that sick, I'm mostly just nauseous and have a mild fever. Man. I guess it could be worse. Nothing that major is going on at work and I guess I needed a holiday so I should be happy I guess.

I've decided that I need a bit of a plan for the next couple of days to keep myself from gouging my eyes out so here it is:

To do list:
Watch An Education
Watch The September Issue
Watch Broken Embraces
Watch Brothers
Start doing some scrapbooking
Clean obscenely messy room
Figure out a good, new filing system for documents
Don't scratch pox
Find a new series to watch - just got done with Secret Diary of a Call Girl Season 3
E-mail people
Do my budget
Figure out what summer make-up will be worth treating myself with
Blog daily

Since I'm basically forced to stay in my room with no entertainment other than that of the internet and my laptop I might as well blog. About stuff. Like maybe what I'm up to for the day. Or ooh, maybe I could do a daily recap like, "Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 1". K good idea. I am a genius! Well not really it took me about 3 days to figure out that I had the chickenpox even though my colleague sitting behind me has been home sick with it for two weeks. Good one.

I'm back. I swear.

So updates. The last time I wrote I was lonely at my new job and had no one to eat with. Now, a mere month later, I now boast a regular lunch mate. Who was as lonely as me. So we aren't exactly on the same wavelength, what with her being a whole 12 years older to me and having two kids but it's nice having someone to eat with. Even if she does ask me inane questions sometimes. All the time.

What else is new? Deepavali or Diwali as they say in North India, is coming up so it's all systems GO! in my house, especially in terms of cleaning. So far I've oiled our leather sofas and I'm waiting for more directives from my mother. I also cannot fit into any of my Indian clothes which bring me to the next thing I've been up to.

Recently, because I had to do a physical for my new job I found out I weighed like 58kg. I'm only 4'11". That is rather overweight. Still I'm one of those fortunate people who packs on the pounds everywhere as opposed to in my ass so I guess I should be grateful. I've decided to be proactive about the whole situation and join a gym. The gym of my choice? The hip-tastic Celebrity Fitness. I know, it's not exactly me and it's seriously flourescent, shiny and silver and everyone walks around in these ridonkulous purple outfits. But it's really close to home and the parking lot is relatively safe so whatever. The day I went there to sign up the marketing lady/girl/whatever was like, you're overweight, you should weigh like 46kg. I was like NO, I will not EVER weigh 46kg because the only time I did I was anorexic. And then she gave me this patronizing smile and was like No dear, you don't understand you'll be all toned up and you'll see. I was maybe about to smash her face. But I didn't so no worries. In any case the trainer during free personal training sessions was more realistic and said I should weigh about 50-52kg. I will report back soon or as and when I lose weight.

I'm making full use of my workplace's library. So far I've read Austen's Emma and Trisha Ashley's The Urge to Jump. Emma was actually really annoying because I think that Emma is an extremely annoying character, she's just really sure of herself and self-righteous when she's WRONG. And The Urge to Jump is alright, a little hard to relate to because I'm not an almost forty, 6 foot tall, fantasy author lady woman but it was cute. Lae also lent me The Lovely Bones, which was really good actually. I can't wait for Peter Jackson's adaptation and I definitely think that Saoirse Ronan's an amazingly good choice for who should play Susie. But my verdict is definitely out on Mark Wahlberg playing her dad. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

HONG KONG!

Last week I visited Hong Kong and my university roommate Priscilla. It was a good time that involved walking, shopping and eating. Actually that pretty much sums up the entire visit.

The vacation itself was a little present to myself before I started my new job - yes I have a job! It's at a college here in Malaysia, don't think I can write the name here but I'm super excited because not only do I have a job, it's in education!

So for my first night, Priscilla's parents took me to Czarina where I ate half of my pepper steak serving. And then ate the rest two hours later Cilla's house...

For the second day Priscilla took me walking on authentic HK street, I also had pantyhose tea with my lunch, went to a monastery and ate at Northpoint at a place that was featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations". Oh I also bought a dress at Zara because I got really sweaty and then I got really shy and basically needed new clothes.


On my third day, we watched UP in the morning and then I basically shopped. I bought a compact mirror (didn't have one), a loose vest thing which I think will be useful for work and a gorgeous gold skirt from Club Monaco. I'd never even walked into that store before and I'm super excited to own my new skirt. I also had dinner with Preetha's friend Yvonne, whom I met a couple of years ago during a visit to London. We ate at Crystal Jade which is amazingly tasty.

On my last day, we went over to Kowloon where I bought presents for family and friends and a really flattering top for myself from Muji. We also had dinner at an Argentinean Steak House where we ate sausages, it was great :)

My 3 favorite things about Hong Kong have got to be:
1. IFC Mall - seriously, it's super convenient, has awesome shopping and everyone looks super good in their office wear during lunch time
2. HK's Transportation system - fantastically efficient
3. Egg tart - Priscilla took me for this amazing egg tart thing that I still can't get out of my head - I want!


I'm really happy I went and since it was after June '09 it also meant that I kept to my promise to myself that I wasn't going to get on a plane for a year. Wonder when and where I'll be visiting next...?

Lady of Leisure

I've been home for the past... 12 days, since I'm no longer working. Don't worry, it was something that happened on a voluntary basis, I am not a victim of the world's rapidly deteriorating economy. Not that that fact is comforting to me in my unemployed state. But, I'll figure something out, when I get enough of being at home and sleeping. Which will be...

In any case I've been doing a couple of things over these past few days. The first thing would be;

1. Sleeping. Because I can.

2. Watching way too much television and some movies. So far the movies I've watched include Doomsday, Race to Witch Mountain, Fast & Furious while the TV shows I've been watching include, Denise Richards: It's Complicated, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, MTV's Made, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, and other such gems.

3. Getting sick - apparently stress - like what I was experiencing at my job, was keeping me well. In essence, I was so intent to be on point for work that my body prevented me from being sick. Right.

4. Cleaning my room. I'm lying. I moved around the dirt around a little and then I just stopped.

5. Applying for jobs. This is true. I have signed up on Jobstreet, updated my profile, looked furiously for jobs and then realized that me not being able to speak Malay well is actually a problem and also that I'm now wondering, d'you think I could maybe write for a living. Like for a magazine? Your thoughts?

I'm feeling kind of useless. Which was a little hard especially right after my last day because I think that I was so used to doing things every moment of the day that it felt strange to not feel obligated to be doing something. But now I'm kinda getting into the groove of being free. I might actually get around to doing things I want to do, like scrapbooking and finally making my room look just right. But for now, I'm happy to just kick back and watch the world pass me by.

And I'm in love with Chris Pine

...which is something I thought I would never say after watching the bomb he starred in with Lindsay Lohan, Just My Luck, but 30 minutes into Star Trek and I was so there.

But let me backtrack. This post isn't another rant about how I think someone is hot. No. It's about how totally kickass Star Trek is. The newly revamped Star Trek hit cinemas, I think, worldwide yesterday 8 May 2009. I watched it this afternoon at Pavilion KL.


Basically it's a classic. It's got a cocky antagonist, two main characters who hate each other/will eventually become best friends, lots of comical sidekicks, a bad guy who's all tattooed, a little bit of lovin' and a helluva lot of action.

The story is centered on James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), their issues with each other, their issues with their parents and their issues with themselves. They've got a crew - Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Hikaru Sulu (John Cho), Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Bones (Karl Urban) - who are mostly just funny, except for Uhura who's kinda hot. The bad guy is Nero (Eric Bana) who's all pissed at future Spock for doing something and so he has to go ahead and kill a lot of people.

What I think makes this movie such a triumph is basically how updated it is. In this day and age, consumers are increasingly younger and as a result youth sells. This cast is young, sexy and very current. They take Star Trek, something I could not have cared less about a month ago, and make it relatable to someone like me.

Which brings me back to my newfound love for Chris Pine. This Star Trek is going to make him a superstar. Which is amazing considering how he was basically relegated to being the love interest in B-grade chick flicks prior to this movie. He is incredibly charismatic and really makes this role his own. I rooted for him so hard in the movie that I flinched every time someone hit him. Which, believe me, was a lot. It's nice to see that his talent won't be wasted and that we will probably get to see it in the sequels that cast is already excited about.

I'm back from the dead!

I know that y'all had given up on me for good. I'm sorry - work is hard, my brain is mush and I'm exhausted. But I think I'm gonna try and do the whol: forget about work when I'm out of the office spiel. So... what else is new in my life?

...
Okay no wait, there must be something, I bought these snazzy Salvatore Ferragamo eyeglasses which might be the most high fashion thing I own. They're quite cool, they've got these little crystals on the side. The funny thing is after I actually got the lenses put in and I tried them on I was a bit like... are they actually flattering or not...? Do I look a bit like a cross eyed superhero? But now I've realized I just have to dress up a bit when I wear them. So I don't shame them.

Ching Wen, Laetitia and I went to The Curve last weekend, watched Ip Man (the third time for me), ate dinner at Marche and then at 9pm went romping around Ikea. It was fabulous.

I'm bumming right now, trying to figure out what to do, I think I'm going to go take a nap or read Jane Eyre for the 5th time.

So will write when I get a life, until then - BONJOUR!!!

Flavor of the Week: Donnie Yen

Now I know, this is a little out a character for me because this dude isn 't particularly hot, he isn't particularly young and he clearly isn't particularly that famous. In Hollywood. But apparently he is in Hong Kong. Or with Chinese boys. I really don't know.

Anyway, yesterday my siblings and I watched Ip Man at 1U. It is about Yip Man who was a martial artist who practiced and taught Wing Chun. Bruce Lee was one of his students. In any case, the movie traces Yip Man's life in Fo Shan, China and the Japanese occupation of China. Needless to say there is a lot of ass kicking in this movie and the choreography is probably the best I've ever seen. Now, I have never properly watched a Bruce Lee movie so I can't be comparing stuff. But Donnie Yen, who stars as Yip Man, is amazing.

DONNIE YEN

So for this week, Donnie Yen is my flavor of the week. All average looks, old man, super crazy talented martial artist that he is. The movie has its flaws but the fight scenes are just beautiful. Anyway I would recommend everyone, unless you're really not into ass-kicking-but I mean that's crazy because everyone is, to go watch this movie when you can. It's really quite inspirational. I mean after the movie I was all like - yeah I'm going to go-learn some crazy shit and whoop some ass! And I'm sure you'll feel the same.

But it's European!

This past weekend CWC, Lae and I went to One Utama (a mall) for lunch and bowling. When we got there, we decided to check out the movie theater and see what was playing. Apparently the EU Film something-or-the-other had come to Malaysia. The three of us all excited that we were going to see one of those subversive European films about life and living it realistically, or whatever these crazy European films are all about.

So then we decided to see the only European movie playing at a suitable time, 9 1/2 Dates (9 1/2 Randi). We got to the counter and the dude was like, "It's free." Accordingly we patted ourselves on the back for being so smart as to want to see a European film and even smarter to get a free ticket.

So we rushed and at Chilli's (I know, I know, we ALWAYS eat at Chilli's, but it was hella yummy actually) and after we got all comfy in the theater, ready to enjoy the movie. Suddenly the screen became more projector-y and this like advertisement for how amazing the EU is rolled onscreen. The two girls next to me seemed to have been to another European movie in this festival or whatever since they seemed to know what it was about. They were whispering the following:

Girl 1: Oh my god not this again.
Girl 2: Do they show this before all the movies?
Girl 1: Propaganda.

Which was actually kinda funny.

Then after that was done, the projector told us they were loading the DVD of the movie. I know! The BLOODY DVD! And then they couldn't figure out how to press play for the longest time so we kept hearing this asinine Euro pop song playing and looking at the menu we totally couldn't understand. The movie started and there were NO SUBTITLES. By this time we had figured out it was Hungarian (because it was produced by "Budapest Productions") but we couldn't understand a bloody thing. The two girls next to me were like NO!!! and one of them went out to fix it. She came back and explained the theater people seemed confused and unaware of the subtitle function.

Hell no.

Her friend then went out and proceeded to get something done. At this point Lae and I were making up dialogue for the movie which we had surmised was a romantic comedy, you know of the Made of Honor variety. Basically it was bad-very bad.

15 minutes in the subtitles came on - thanks to the effort of the girls next to me. It just got worse after that. I mean look at the poster of the movie pictured to the left. You know it's going to be bad.

So we sat through it - the funniest part being when the theater employees put their hand over the projector during the sex scene.

Once it was done, Lae summed up all of our thoughts with, "Thank goodness it was free, otherwise I would have asked for my money back."