Hi…I’m dropping by to announce that today marks 13th anniversary of my blog here! Happy 13th birthday to my so-called ‘online journal’! My blog has stepped into the teenage years! My ‘child’ is growing up well! Haha…
Coincidentally, this is my blog’s 2300th post…a nice figure that deserves a special mention too. I couldn’t believe that I have written a whopping 2300 posts for the past 13 years. Compile them together and I think I get not only one but a series of novel (with me as the proud sole author!…haha). The amount of hard work and effort I put on it is indescribable. I will be treating myself a nice dinner after my work today as a little celebration in conjunction with this anniversary and achievement!
Two more days to go before we bid goodbye to another month and enters into the last quarter of the year. Hope everyone is doing good so far for the week.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
Daily Covid-19 cases here in Singapore have risen sharply in recent days. It was a record-breaking 1650 cases yesterday and more restrictions will kick back in beginning next Monday to try to stabilize the spread of the virus among the community. Dining in at all places will then be limited to 2 pax and working from home is becoming the default again.
Although the cases are in very high figures now, but the main picture should be on the number of people getting seriously ill from the infection as we slowly adapt to live with the virus and treat it as an endemic. Fortunately, the statistic through that perspective is still not too alarming. It is safe to go out as long as we play our part by practicing good personal hygiene (wear masks all the time and sanitize hands frequently) and proper social distancing all the time.
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning earlier today and I headed to Jewel @ Changi Airport with my friend for a leisurely stroll. The main objective of this visit is actually to check out the displays of the new iPhone 13 series which was just released yesterday at the Apple store in Jewel. We were disappointed as we were denied entry to the store because visit to the store just to browse their products for this weekend is not allowed (unless we buy something). Hey…your website mentioned that walk-in will be accepted! That is not cool.
Fortunately, we still managed to check out the new iPhone 13 displays at the Challenger store in Jewel too although the variety of the phones in display are limited. Didn’t expect that the new models will be available for viewing and purchase from other resellers this soon. There is not much of an upgrade from 13 series to the 12 series (slight improvement in processing chip, battery life and camera). Well…you can’t be expecting major upgrade in their new release every single year.
A visit to the Jewel is never complete without some shots of the indoor waterfall with its surrounding landscape which is the centerpiece of the mall. The surrounding trees are decorated with variety of lanterns in conjunction with the recent Mid-Autumn Festival. I think it would be more beautiful to see them in the evening with the lights on.
That’s all for my post today. Have a great weekend, everyone! I think I will just binge-watch the ‘Squid Game’ for the rest of my weekend. It is a Korean TV series released on Netflix recently that gained huge acclaim and popularity until it is shared by a lot of people online and even by some news platform worldwide. And yup…they got me interested to watch it now. Have you watched it?
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all who are celebrating it! The festival falls on the coming Tuesday this year. Similarly to last year, this will be yet another Mid-Autumn Festival for me away from home as we are still currently in the pandemic and I could not return to enjoy the celebration together with my family back at home in Malaysia. No family reunion again…
Mid-Autumn Festival is considered as one of the most important Chinese festivals (probably the second most important after the Lunar New Year). It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month in Chinese calendar with a full moon at night. On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn season. Feasting on mooncakes and playing lanterns are closely associated to this festival.
I have always been wondering that since it is the second most important Chinese festivals, it should be granted a public holiday at least over here in Singapore where majority of the population is Chinese. But no! Why? Because Singapore is too hardworking. That is why the country is always ranked among the top 3 most stressful or overworked city/country every year.
What’s my favourite thing to do in this festival? Eating mooncakes of course. I love mooncakes, especially the traditional lotus seed with egg yolk ones. What’s your favourite mooncake flavours? (there are a lot of varieties available now from various brands). I also love durian mooncakes (actually anything as long as it is associated with durian). I even bought not one, but three boxes of Mao Shan Wang snowskin mooncakes to treat myself this year. I can slowly enjoy it for at least two months without the feeling of anxiety of finishing them too soon. Yes…buying mooncakes are super expensive nowadays but it’s just once a year, so that’s fine.
I also joined a special religious event in a church with Mid-Autumn Festival theme yesterday at the invitation of my friend who will be performing in the event itself. I’m not a Christian but I don’t mind attending to join in the fun and to watch my friend performed. The event features some games, a sketch, a talk by pastor, and some singing (all done with safe Covid-19 measures in place). It was quite a fresh and nice experience.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival once again!
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
Hi all! How’s the week so far? Just stay on for three more days and you get another weekend break. I just realized there isn’t a single public holiday at all for this month as well as next month. How unfortunate…Anyway, even without holidays, there are still quite a couple of important occasions to celebrate for the remainder of this month. It will be the Mid-Autumn Festival next Tuesday, and then there is my blog’s 13th anniversary the following week.
The first film I’m reviewing today is for the movie ‘Escape Room: Tournament of Champions’. It is a sequel to the 2019’s ‘Escape Room’ and it continues with the two survivors from the first film who now trapped into a new series deadly escape rooms along with the others who had survived the games previously too. I enjoyed this sequel as much as the first one too. The escape rooms were very cool and creative while the playthrough by the characters were intense and exhilarating. The movie manages to deliver some surprises (plot twists) along the way too. I had so much fun watching this and I would rate it a 8.2 out of 10.
The next film to review is for the movie ‘Malignant’. It is a horror film by acclaimed director, James Wan and it revolves around a woman who begins to have visions of people getting murdered, only to realize the events are happening in real life and are connected to her forgotten backstory. The movie isn’t particularly scary but the craft and the outrageously weird plot revelation at the last quarter of the film made it commendable. James Wan (who had directed ‘Saw’, ‘The Conjuring’, etc) still has it when it comes to delivering solid horror flick. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Malignant’ a total of 7.8.
Now, let’s move to a TVB drama that I have recently watched. It’s called ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ and it revolves on a group of sisters who do not get along with one another at first in search for their remaining stepsisters after the death of their father. They eventually get along in the process and all the seven sisters (as per the drama’s title) got reunited in the end. The 26-episode series starred Priscilla Wong, Samantha Ko, Rosina Lin, Kaman Kong, Judy Kwong, Moon Lau, Jeannie Chan, Timothy Cheng, Billy Luk, Tsui Wing, Gilbert Lam, Karl Ting, Helen Ma, etc.
As this female-centred series has too many leading female roles, there isn’t any one that truly shines. Priscilla is the eldest sister here. I can see her improvement but I could not stand the hoarse voice she used heavily for her serious scenes (which takes up most of her performance here) which felt very much forced and sounded weird. Rosina had also improved especially in her emotional scenes as compared to her work in ‘Sinister Beings’ early this year but there is still long way for her to push her acting limit. Samantha is okay but there is nothing special for her character.
The series has an abrupt ending too. It has a very steady plot development and out of a sudden, the final episode came. It felt that there is so much more that can be worked out and explained to some of the story arcs. Open ending to most of the relationships and some things are not resolved. It’s like the director is rushing to finish it off. The series would be better if it has 30 episodes to iron out those things. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ a total of 7.4. Quite an interesting series with huge potential but as usual, TVB limit themselves.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
On this exact day 20 years ago, the world was stunned by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda on the United States that caused the deaths of 2977 people and the collapse of the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. When it happened, it was already evening over here in Malaysia and I only learnt of the news the next morning when my dad who went out for work called my mom (me and my mom at home) to turn on the TV for some sort of a breaking news that appeared throughout almost all channels.
I was only 10 years old back then but I remembered it very clearly. I watched in horror as images and clips of the planes crashing to the towers and their subsequent collapse are played. They are unforgettable. It is still so heart-wrenching to listen to the released audio recordings years later from those people trapped in the hijacked planes or the twin towers before their final moments. Seeing videos zooming in onto the people who stood right by the broken windows for fresh air and to call for help on the upper floors of the twin towers are truly distressing. And some of them jumping out of the building to their deaths. How can people be this evil and do this to them?
Four commercial airliners were hijacked. Two crashed onto the World Trade Center, one crashed onto the Pentagon at Washington DC and another one crashed onto a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania due to the passengers’ attempt to regain control and foil the terrorist’s aim to crash the plane into either White House or US Capitol at Washington DC. It was a day of terror and darkness for America and the 911 attacks remain the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.
20 years have passed on but the memory of that fateful day remains. National September 11 Memorial and Museum is built over the former site of the World Trade Center. Two giant sunken pools with man-made waterfalls sit at the footprint of the former twin towers. The memorial symbolizes the loss of life and the physical void left by the attacks. The waterfalls are intended to mute the sounds of the city, making the site a contemplative sanctuary. The names of 2983 victims (including 6 that were killed in 1993 World Trade Center bombing) are inscribed on bronze parapets at the perimeter of the 2 pools.
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A museum is also built nearby as part of the memorial and it houses over 14 000 artifacts, 40 000 images, over 3 500 oral recordings and 500 hours of video. The most striking redevelopment of the Ground Zero is the new One World Trade Center building. Completed in 2014, the tower is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex and soars to the height of 541 metres (1776 feet high which is a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed). 1WTC is currently the tallest building in the US.
A moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the 911 attacks. We all shall move forward, much stronger and united against terrorism.
‘No day shall erase you from the memory of time.’
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
It has been quite some time since I last wrote a movie review. This time, I will not be just writing one, but two in one go as I had watched two new movies for the past week. Finally, I began to see more new movie releases recently as many big blockbuster movies originally slated for release early this year or last year have been postponed all the way to second half of this year.
First movie I’m reviewing today is ‘Don’t Breathe 2’. The first film released back in 2016 was so impressive that its whole gripping content is still fresh in my mind 5 years later. The second film continues with the blind man who now saves his adopted daughter from a group of gangster led by the daughter’s biological father with a similar house invasion theme and setting. Although this sequel is not as suspenseful as its predecessor, but its intensity is still at a very satisfying distinction.
The hide-and-seek scenes are the most thrilling part of the movie that got me glued to the screen. The near-impossible quick reflex and actions from the blind man in response to the attacks by the kidnappers is unbelievable yet add so much excitement to the movie. The movie also didn’t disappoint in terms of gore that spices up the horror element of the film (the scene near the end involving eyes of the kidnapper is so realistic and terrifying to watch). The movie although not as good as the first one still delivers and met my expectation. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Don’t Breathe 2’ a total of 7.9.
The next movie I’m reviewing is the latest Marvel superhero film ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’. It is the 25th film in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and is the first with an Asian lead. Finally…an Asian superhero film by Marvel! In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into his father’s Ten Rings organization. The film starred Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Meng’er, Ben Kingsley, etc.
Everything about this movie is so good! The action scenes, the humor, the visuals, the performances by the cast, the crucial representation, etc; they are marvelous. The action choreography is splendid and I particularly liked the fight scenes at the bus and at the external facade of a building under construction. They are exhilarating. Awkwafina is like at her usual self in her recent works but she add up a lot of hilarious moments in the movie.
The character that shined the most is Wenwu (the main antagonist) portrayed by award-winning Hong Kong actor, Tony Leung. This is not a typical one-dimensional pure evil villain role as the character has a deep background with many layers that you can actually felt for him and the reasons of his actions. Tony nailed the role with his solid acting. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings’ a total of 8.3. Go watch the movie if you haven’t. It is yet another beautiful masterpiece by Marvel.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
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