A wretched sinner's life made extraordinary only ever by His grace...
Monday, March 07, 2011
I am Number Four
Had another great night out at the movies recently, watching a free preview of Dreamworks' latest I Am Number Four (once again thanks to Contagious Network). Blessed with extraordinary powers, John is a fugitive on the run. With the first three of his tribe murdered, him being Number Four is the next in line of the hunt. With stunning visuals and a nicely-packaged action-packed plot (with a lil romance thrown in), this film should do the trick in appealing to both genders (perhaps something the guys can suggest as a movie date instead of getting dragged by the girlfriend to sit through another 2 hours of chick flick?). Still not convinced? Check out the trailer below!
Thanks to Contagious Network, I recently had the opportunity to catch a free exclusive preview of local-made Wasted On The Young with dear Klement. Set in a private high school, this film cleverly focuses on the issues of teenage angst in coping with peer pressure, life's regrets and even the use of modern technology in executing revenge; all barely featuring any adults at all. Both Klem and I agreed that this can be a very dark movie to watch as we sometimes wonder what teenagers today are potentially capable of doing. If this kind of movie genre sounds like something up your alley, check out the trailer below and go catch it in the theatres!
What do you get when you put two J's (Jane and Jin) together? Double Jeopardy!!
Ever since Jin and I first became "friends" (I say "friends", with apostrophes, for we can sometimes be the worst "rivals"!) in Primary 1, life in school was never a dull moment. We would compete to see who received the better grade, sometimes to the embarrassing extent of begging the teacher for just that one extra mark. Each of us would smirk as we casually slipped our grade reports to the other's desk with the thought, "Look who's got more brains!".
And such rivalry is not merely confined to the bounds of academia.
Whenever the teacher announced a contest, we would always be the first two students to volunteer ourselves. Sometimes, we would even compete to see who ended up volunteering first - how kiasu of us eh? Oh, in case you're not familiar with the jargon, kiasu is a Chinese slang meaning "fearful of losing". Or in other words, just plain competitive. From the amateurish story-telling contests in primary school to the more prolific debates and elocution contests in high school, both of us would proudly represent our classes respectively and aimed to defeat the other in a bid to represent our school and earn bragging rights for the year.
I can still clearly remember a time in 2003 when we were seniors in high school. The school was forming a team to compete in an inter-school Scrabble tournament. And like those "mini climaxes" you view in Oscar-worthy movies (cue: *dramatic soundtrack music plays in background*), only one spot was left in the team.
And the contenders left to clinch that final spot? The double J's.
Jin demonstrated his air of confidence as he told me to give it up. Great Scrabblers have always been males and the XX chromosome species never really stood much of a chance. Real-life evidence? The other two spots in the team were both filled by guys.
But I wasn't ready to give up just like that. Jin has clearly forgotten that the female species can be very determined and strong-willed at times (or stubborn, as some may call it). We fought it all out on one final Scrabble match. As we tallied the scores along the way, we could see that it was a neck-to-neck competition. As the tiles in the bag began to run out, Jin exclaimed during his turn, "You're dead this time, Jane."
Much to my horror, Jin tilted his tile rack and all seven tiles came toppling over onto the board. This could only mean one thing: Jin was aiming for a bingo. In Scrabble, a bingo happens when a player uses all seven tiles on his rack in a single play. Not only does the player earn a bonus 50 points and an uplifting ego boost, it is a psychologically crippling moment for the opponent who, ironically, senses a sudden moment of paralysis. And I felt my limbs go stiff as Jin began to form a word on the board.
BEATLES
I stared in disbelief! Beatles?! That's not even a valid word in the Scrabble dictionary!! Somehow, I managed a calm composure and my expression gave nothing away. I must have felt really generous that day as I told Jin that "Beatles" isn't a valid word and suggested if he wanted to remove his tiles and have another go.
Indignantly, he replied, "Of course Beatles is a valid word! It's an insect, you idiot! You're just jealous coz I've scored a bingo!!"
Clearly Jin forgot who won the spelling bee contest in primary school.
"Err, Jin, you're sure that's how you spell 'beetles'?"
"Of course, I'm sure! You can challenge it if you want!"
And so, challenge it I did. The marshal checked up the word and told Jin that he lost his turn for an invalid word. It was then his turn to look horrified as I reminded him that The Beatles is the name of an English band featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, while "beetles" would be the right spelling for the insect.
The game was then downhill for Jin from that moment on. Scarred with the thought of his mistake, Jin could not focus on the game properly. And knowing what tiles he had, I figured the possible words he would play and strategically blocked him by placing my words down first. Needless to say, I became the only girl in the school team and we competed all the way to national finals where all those "mini climaxes" summed up into "one huge final climax": one teammate has won his match while the other has lost his and the game I played would decide which team would walk away with the glorious title of national champions that year. Playing as calmly as I could in a stiffer match than the one I played with Jin, we eventually won the title and became headliners. Smiling continuously for more than 10 minutes for the media was one delightfully "painful" highlight I would never forget.
And Jin never forgave himself for the "Beatles/beetles" mistake he made.
Perhaps such a turn of events was only fair enough to compensate for a most unfortunate incident we both encountered in Primary 6. Our mutual friends decided to play a prank by leaving me a love letter that was supposedly composed by Jin. Though I initially suspected that it was our friends' doing, those young actresses could really put up quite a show and feign their innocence. And so I confronted Jin who was busily singing away on some Disney love ballads (it was a habit of his and I've lost count of the number of times he sang A Whole New World). Jin grabbed the note and proceeded to walk away with it as he finished, denying that he wrote it.
Not knowing why I did so at that time, I asked him to return the note. When he didn't, I began to give chase (up till today, I don't know why I even bothered). Soon, it became a game of catch-me-if-you-can but such childish humour quickly evaporated into more serious business when we bumped into the vice principal and the note that Jin clutched in his palm soon came sailing down onto the ground.
Only to be picked up and read by the vice principal.
It was most excruciating trying to explain to the vice principal what has happened. This is perhaps one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. Here we were, in the vice principal's office, getting ourselves into trouble, while the monsters of our two friends got away scot-free (though they did eventually get a nice long lecture from both Jin and I later on). I never ceased to blame Jin - if only he had returned the note when I asked him to.
I could go on and on to share more stories but it may well be wise to stop here. As we both grew up, we have come to tolerate each other's antics. Our lives are made more "enriched" by such experiences and tales that we would never grow sick of retelling. And though we still try to outdo each other these days as young adults, our competitions take on a more "mature" approach as we learn humility and begin to prioritize God and other more important matters in our Christian walk. For instance, I recently backpacked across Australia alone while he backpacked across Europe. It was hard to argue who really "won" so we both shook on it, agreeing that our days of Double J's for Double Jeopardy have turned into days of Double Joy.
Speaking of all this classic boy vs girl rivalry, Disney (I could almost imagine Jin crooning away on A Whole New World once again, lol!) has recently released Tangled (Australian release date: 6th January, 2011). It's the talk of the town: the fairytale of Rapunzel spun into an animated 3D musical comedy. Will it be a case of Double Jeopardy for Rapunzel and Flynn or will things turn out happily ever after into Double Joy?
Well, go catch it in theatre if you want to find out! Judging from all the great reviews, this is perhaps Disney at its best so far. Here's a trailer for you to start straightening out those to-watch-or-not-to-watch tangled emotions:
If you're anything like me, you will not be sitting still till you've watched Tangled. And watch I will come later this evening. Less than 12 hours to go before a cinema date with some friends - can't wait!!
And if you're like Jin who loves everything Disney (me too, actually, hehe), check out this cool local official website for Disney:
Ok, here's me signing off for the night (day?) - time for me to catch some sleep (gosh, it's past 5AM!!) and reserve some energy for Tangled later... ;)
Ps. Happy birthday, dearest mummy! Thanks for making me your princess... and buying me my very first Disney collection: a colour-illustrated Disney's Aladdin storybook with an accompanying story and song audio cassette (yes, this was way before the time CD's and mp3's became popular)...
When I first watched the trailer of The Loved Ones, I figured this film was just another typical "crazy stalker" prom horror that crossed paths with the "zombies" genre. Man was I wrong when I attended the exclusive free preview screening of TLO (thanks to Contagious Network)...
Winner of Midnight Madness Cadillac People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TLO proves its claim to take the conventions of horror and run them off the rails. The plot centres around Brent (Xavier Samuel) who is haunted by the guilt of causing his father's death in a car crash. He finds solace in his girlfriend, Holly (Victoria Thaine), whom he has promised to take to the school dance. His plans, however, are thwarted when a girl he has rejected, Lola (Robin McLeavy), exacts a revenge so truly demented it is beyond plain simple evil.
Gore-wise, the movie does an average job (the med student inside of me couldn't help but kept analyzing how impossible some "situations" portrayed in the movie are in real life, hehe). That said, the film compensates by delivering a double thumbs-up performance in the "comic psycho" aspect - pure sick and twisted perversion.
Due for release in Australia on 4th November, 2010, here's a trailer you can dance your way into getting psychotically thrilled...
A rumour that begins innocently enough can easily spin way out of control, especially when the setting is your typical American high school. And that's precisely what Olive faces when she faked losing her virginity to help a gay classmate gain acceptance from his peers. Other male schoolmates soon heard about Olive's "kindness" and begin soliciting her assistance that they too may gain popularity. It isn't long before Olive gets labelled as the school whore and adulterer. What happens next is... well, I shouldn't be spoiling it for you, should I?
Thanks to Contagious Network, I caught the preview screening of Easy A with Evelyn. A light-hearted comedy, Easy A takes on a slightly different plot from your usual romcoms with the added bonus of a popular cast line-up. Just a note though that the supposed "Christian" students portrayed in the movie aren't exactly that "Christian" as they portray the "holier than thou" personality (a common misconstrued stereotype) - Christians, of all people, should understand that they are just as sinful as anyone else and the only way they are supposedly "holier" is solely based on Christ's saving grace which sets them apart for God (the word "holy" simply means "set apart" and not necessarily "being goodie-goodie"). I just pray that the non-Christian viewers wouldn't leave with a negative impression and that those who are Christian will learn to apply from His Wisdom not to act or behave like the "Christian" students in the movie...
Overall, I'll give Easy A a 7/10. Here's the trailer to "seduce" you to an "affair" at the theatres... ;)
Thanks to Contagious Network, I've had the privilege to watch an exclusive preview screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World recently with Xin Hui. We had a lovely Spanish tapas dinner complete with full-bodied sangria and churros dessert to make it a fun night out. The movie itself was great fun in terms of the cool video games effect - that aside, both Xin and I rated the movie as average, though adding a little more depth to the movie might have made it better. If you have a free night and just want to catch a movie that doesn't cause you to rack your brains out too much like Inception, then SPVTW might just be the one for you if you're into comedies directed by the same director of Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead. Curious? Here's a trailer as a sneak preview:
Acclaimed as the first 3D dance movie in the world, Streetdance 3D was a film that I very much anticipated to watch. And watch I did in a special preview screening several weeks ago before it opened in theatre recently. While the storyline is predictable (as most movies are today) except for perhaps a minor twist (minor coz some may not even regard that as a twist), that was not my main focus (though a movie's plot usually is for me) - I was there to see what difference 3D can make to a dance movie. Sadly, not much. But for a few added realistic effects, 3D or no 3D - it does not matter as much. 3D still works better for action and fantasy genres - 2D alone is sufficient for the dance genre. That said, Streetdance 3D still hosts some pretty well choreographed dances and boasts a cast who know what they're doing, slash that, dancing - featuring stars from Britain's Got Talent. The final verdict? Still a movie worth watching - if not for the plot or 3D effects, at least for the dance moves itself. I'm giving it a 7/10 overall...
She's Out Of My League (Review) + Vote for Jane to win $9000 private party!
Thanks to Contagious Network, I had the privilege of watching a free preview screening of She's Out Of My League at Event Cinemas, George St last Thursday with Evelyn. This romantic comedy tells the story of airport security officer Kirk who meets "the perfect 10" Molly (who falls for Kirk) but lacks confidence in pursuing the relationship further as his friends pointed out that he is only "an average 5". I shall not post any spoilers here but it suffices to say that the entire cinema was constantly in stitches, laughing away. Apart from your usual dose of American cinematic vulgarity and several scenes that could have had better script written, I give this movie a thumbs up for solid effort and award it 6.5 stars...
Ok, I'll be a little more generous and round the figure up: 7 stars.
Still unsure if this movie is your cup of tea? Here's a video clip of the official trailer:
Also, do vote for me (JANE) at http://www.shesoutofmyleague.com/getyourrating.com.au/?dl=6ade4fd7969af1f506549e0c12bdf817 (my profile should be listed as the featured user if you follow the given link - click on my photo and vote by clicking "digg", thanks) so I stand the chance of winning an awesome private party valued at more than $9000 and invite you along to it! I'm currently ranked 2nd but I need to be top-ranked to win the party - no prizes for 2nd place... You can vote once per computer per day so do vote for me daily ya?
On another note, I'm looking forward to church camp this coming Easter weekend - my next blog post will probably be all about camp when I come back... Stay tuned! ;)
Hehe, this post is long overdue but nonetheless one that deserves its own blog post... Thanks to the awesome slogan competition organized by Darling Harbour, I won the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring along 3 other friends to share dessert with last year's Australian Idol winner, Stan Walker, on Australia Day itself! What a great way to celebrate my very first OZ Day seeing this is the first time I stayed back for summer hols...
In case you're curious, I was supposed to tell in 25 words or less why I love Lindt chocolate (the dessert with Stan was of course held at none other than the world-famous Lindt Cafe itself! ) . My entry was:
Fine chocolate of royal gold, Like Stan's music, Lindt's food for my soul, Smooth perfection that melts worries away, Truly ataahua in every way!
"Ataahua" means "beautiful" in Maori language and is also the word tattooed on Stan's neck, in case you didn't already know... Anyway, here are a few shots from the night:
Stan and I posing in front of the golden engraved sign inside Lindt Cafe
Stan drizzling hot liquid chocolate over my white choc ice cream waffle - Lindt Cafe manager was kind enough to let me keep the choc pot that Stan used as a personal momento! *grin*
Stan and I with our reverse peace signs and juju lips... To the lady in pink behind: Yes, your boyfriend's right, it's Stan Walker in the house! (Lol, couldn't help overhearing her boyfriend's not-so-soft whispers!)
A group shot with Stan and my 3 new awesome friends from Stan's State Fan Forum (SSFF) - L-R: Linda, yours truly, Stan, Renee, Simo
A shot with sweet Mikey (Stan's brother + guitarist) - he came too (as well as Stan's backup singer, Ashley, and manager/agent)...
No doubt this was one Australia Day that I'll forever cherish - what more can one ask for when there's such great company and good food? All of us had a good time chatting that night (way too many details to list them all here) and if not for the manager/agent who kept pushing Stan, Mikey and Ashley to leave (thanks to the growing number of restless fans who spotted Stan), we would have had more time to spend with these wonderful down-to-earth artistes (neither of them wanted to leave either!)...
For a video of Stan serenading us with Smash Into You (ignore the fireworks going on in the background), check out this video:
Here's the very last installation of the tassie trip. Oh, before I proceed further, on the night of Day 5, we drove up Mt Wellington and the view was magnificent! Seeing the entire city lit up and the perfect round moon reflected onto the waters of the lake - stunning! I borrowed Ash's cam as Pete's was left elsewhere and he has yet to pass me the photos, so, sorry can't share the wonderful view with you readers... Maybe someday when he does pass them to me, I may upload it here... But dare I say that despite it being summer, the temperature up the mountain (12km drive from base to peak, slightly more than 1km high) was below freezing point and silly me who left my Kathmandu jacket at our accommodation had to bear the chilly winds on the pinnacle with just 2 layers: a sleeveless tee inside and my thin-fabric Adidas Core Power hoodie top outside... Brr... My ears did hurt later, standing exposed for more than 10 minutes... You may wonder why I left my jacket - well, before we came out for dinner (which was Mures Seafood by the way), I checked my exam results online and the jubilant email from med fac telling me I've passed ICE and can now proceed onto Phase 3 kept me grinning and distracted that night, so there...
Anyway, back to Day 6. We went to Sorell Fruit Farm to pick fresh fruits. For $10, you get a medium-sized container: fruits in season at the time we went were strawberries, cherries, raspberries and tayberries. Of course we busied ourselves with tasting the delectable fruits as we picked them, so in other words, $10 = a container full of fruits + whatever you choose to put into your mouth before you leave. Mind you, I felt like I gobbled more than a container of fruits along the way...
Sara posing at the entrance of the cafe / gift shop
Look guys, Ash is gonna be our tour guide... Oh wait! There's a "directory" here!
Richard and I at the cherries section
Pete's container of mixed berries
Could have taken more photos but Pete's cam "crashed", which was surprising since it was only recently bought. Thank goodness he could get it to work again after a few tweaks here and there and need not pin the blame on yours truly who had been snapping away with it for the past week. Well, what can I say? After all, he did chuck his cam at me every morning as we hit the road and told me to "go nuts" - literally quoting him here! In case you're wondering, the cam is Olympus Mju Tough 6010 - it's supposedly waterproof, shockproof, snowproof, shakeproof and nightproof but I guess it's not "crashproof"? Not so tough, eh? I suppose that's why they went on to develop the 8000 model instead (claimed to be the strongest digicam in the world)... But I do admit that aside from this "crash" incident and the relatively long waiting time between taking photos (compared to other digicams), the 6010 is quite a good model, especially with the Panaroma mode...
Ok, let's not get carried away with the rantings on digicams; back to the trip. After fruit-picking, we went shopping at Hobart and before we knew it, it was time to return our hired car (still can't believe we got the massive Hyundai iMax!) and checked in at the airport for our flight back to Sydney.
Unloading the luggages
6 days around Tasmania, clockwise (south-west-north-east-south), from Hobart back to Hobart? It was one amazing picturesque trip.
Sigh, can't believe it's more than a month since the trip and exactly a month since moving into my new place (15/12/2009-14/1/2010) - time flies! And while I'm all excited to start my Surgery term at Prince of Wales Hospital, I find it hard to bid adieu to summer break...
Such freakishly hot weather here in Sydney - how I yearned for the cooler summer that I had while on holiday in Tassie... Here are the shots from Day 5!
A model of the architectural layout of Port Arthur
Getting ready to board for the cruise
Group shot while cruising
Richard posing while we were at the gallery
We were each given a Lottery of Life card for the Convict Trail - here I was, finally matching my Queen of Diamonds...
Here's my Queen of Diamonds convict: Charles Hogan, a barber/pickpocket from Essex who was sentenced to life at Port Arthur to mend his drunken ways - his good behaviour promoted him to be a leech-gatherer for the hospital... I know it's a lil too far-fetched but hey, he's also in the medical profession indirectly, eh? :p
Let me outta here!! I promise I'll be a good, good gal...
Interesting displays at the museum including the classic magpie convict's uniform
You can also try to trace an ancestor using the database/journals available - a form is provided for you to record the details
Hard to believe that a penal settlement should have such beautiful scenery...
Yet another view...
Remains of some of the ruins
Ended the Port Arthur trip with a visit to the souvenir shop - bought myself a commemorative coin and also a most dazzling cubic zirconia cross necklace... Happy happy... Will post up the final day sometime soon... ;)
This tiny fur ball of a possum was found just right under the steps as we proceeded to leave our chalet in the morning
Man, there were so many roadkills - Pete and Ash were already starting to play the "Roadkill" game (kinda similar to the one Ted and Marshall played whenever they saw dogs during their roadtrip in How I Met Your Mother)...
Despite it being summer, the mornings can be pretty chilly as evidenced by the frozen dews like the ones on this plant
First destination of the day: Woolmers Historic Estate and National Rose Garden
We were so hungry when we arrived that we had to do lunch first, hehe... Here's me posing with a mini Christmas tree while waiting for my meal...
My delicious tuna mornay and salad
Some of the guys had the lamb shank - they would go on and on for days (maybe even up till today), saying how this was their best meal ever, unsurpassed by anything!
The charming sight that greets us as we entered the gardens... Too many roses to display them individually... One of the most memorable quotes of the trip happened here when Richard asked a rose, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" - apparently that rose was named "Moulin Rouge", hence why it prompted him to sing that phrase - well, let's hope that certainly was the case and not Richard turning into a dendrophiliac of some sort...
Another view of the garden
The guys were walking down the aisle, hehe
It isn't just roses - they've got lavenders too, yay!!
Next stop: Tamar Valley for wine-tasting... Velo Wines are awesome!!
Did you know that this guy who runs the place used to represent Australia in the Olympics cycling event?
Group shot at another winery
Next stop: Low Head Lighthouse overlooking Bass Straits
The awesomeness of the view there, hehe
Dinner @ Jailhouse Grill, Launceston - I had their famous salted, pre-fried bbq ribs; something different from the usual ribs we get over here in Hurricanes or Tony Roma...
Rest of the evening was spent chilling away at our cool accommodation (we had the whole 4-bedroom house to ourselves!) with wine and cheese - spectacular!!
This was probably the longest and most tiring day of all, since we drove quite a number of hours from Derwent Bridge all the way to Launceston... But heck, it was one great trip!! More photos from Day 4 will be uploaded soon... ;)
Whoa, still can't believe it's already the first day of the year 2010!! How did you usher in the new year? Well, Pete, Janet and I drove up to Gladesville Bridge (one of the vantage points) to view the fireworks display at Sydney Harbour Bridge. Oh yeah, nothing like viewing the fireworks at a bridge from another bridge eh? ;)
The colours were magnificent, the patterns were astounding, and the accompanying soundtrack music was splendiferous - matched well with the tempo and rhythm of the fireworks itself. Missed out on this great event? Fret not, here's the complete 12-minute plus video of the new year fireworks at Sydney Harbour Bridge:
May all of you have a wonderful 2010 blessed with joy, happiness, and good health! ^_^
Ps. If you notice carefully, I've purposely selected to blog this post at 01/01/10 (signifying the wonderful start of the new year) at 12.31PM (analogous to December 31st - farewelling but not forgetting to cherish the wonderful memories that 2009 brought us)... ;)
