Wifey's Birthday 2011

Dear wif my flowers

Went to Yuki Yaki buffet @MS for 1st tme,
for wifey's bd celebration last week.
Wanna try the D.I.Y ice-cream too.

Yuki Yaki buffet 

The available meats are well-marinated.
No complain on tat,
however, the available sushi we tried not as fresh as others.

'fried' it up!

Our 1st D.I.Y ice-cream

The buffet there can try,
but after we went home,
we got the 'after-meal-thirsty-effect'

Ice-cream making is a chore,
as it can get messy,
and some hard scraping required.
I just want an ice-cream!

Guess one try is enuff,
since u've to add few dollars for the ice-cream making.

倩女幽魂

A Chinese Ghost Story

Cast:

Liu YiFei, Louis Koo, Yu Shao Qun

The original tale, written by 17th century 

Chinese author Pu Song Ling, 

is a love story between Ning Cai Chen 

and a beautiful spirit Nie Xiao Qian.

Many would remember it made stars out of 

Joey Wong & Leslie Cheung in 1980s.

2011, Wilson introduced his version, stressing it's not a remake,

just a selection of a famous story,

make into a romantic love story instead of a ghost story.

Just how romantic can he get?

Love is blossoming...

Story:


The story starts with love story between
demon hunter Louis Koo (Yan Chixia)
& spirit Liu Yifei (Nie Xiaoqian).
Instead of killing Yifei, Louis erased the memory in her brain,
hoping to put an end to their impossible romance
between a human & spirit.

Yrs later, a govt official Yu Shao Qun (Ning Caichen)
goes on a trip to the mountain,
where he meets beautiful Yifei and falls in love with her.

At the same time, a tree demon, captured in a tree for yrs,
regains her prowess,
and seeks revenge for her lost years.

How will this complicated love story
& the monstrous fight unfold?

Louis unable to believe why a cheapo sweet can win a heart?

How I feel:

Despite an impossible love story between human & spirit,
the director worsens it
by creating a love rival for Ning Caichen.
Of all person- the demon hunter Yan Chixia.

Such complexity & deviation tat
it got me worried at some point-
will the tree demon turns out a lesbian instead?

 Louis Koo & Liu Yifei deciding where to go for dinner

I'll touch on the deviation in my conclusion.

Before tat, the flow is still smooth & simple,
considering they have to talk abt two romance.

The romance between the two china actors
Yifei and Shao Qun is sufficient,
just enuff to break a tear in the end perhaps.

But for the earlier one between Yifei & Louis,
is quite brief and unromantic
for us to touch a nerve when things turn sour.

Thought the director wants this to be a 'lovey affair'?

 sorry TL, u still need to photoshop leh!

Shao Qun+ Lui Yifei

Action-wise not much complain,
since he has the 'IP man' experience.

However, fast-forward-type-of-action
reigns on the big screen yet again.

The final battle between human & demon
is laden with special effects,
turning into a hairy-fight.

trapped by threads & coins

Cast-wise, Lui Yifei as the chinese ghost
is simply beautiful and innocent enough.
No complain on tat, although
Louis as her 1st lover seems more to me like a brotherly love.

It adds sparks from the inclusion of Louis,
humor plus a proven audience-drawer.

The worst repel comes frm the main cast-Shao Qun.
Not a familiar face at least locally yet,
he certainly does not have the suave or eye-catching look,
to take on a role already illuminated by late Leslie Cheung.

Personally would prefer one who can be more compatible 
and can be an eye-candy for the romance.

"It's ok, call 'mum' next tme instead of '姥姥'"

My Review:

TWO OUT OF FIVE

To me, the director wants to hit the jackpot
by trying to concoct a new mixture~
A teary three legged korean love drama
from a classical love story,
hopefully with some actions involved.


His new deviation turns out
to be a korean drama,
dresses in anicent chinese clothings,
in an ancient setting,
trying to playing ghost.

Unknown to him,
the mixture can gets sticky if not formulated well.

Making turns instead of going 

a good straight road once accessible,

does not always bring u to paradise.

I am sure to forget his love story soon.

The old classical love story still immutable & indelible in my mind.

Would still prefer him to continue making IP Man, 

or perhaps remaking Iron Man if he desire that change.

Jap phones in Spore

Good news for lovers of Jap phone.

Cool lighted display

Straits Times ran an article on an increasing number
of locals having Jap phone (keitai) a few yrs back.

Jap phones are SIM-locked can can only work in Japan.
For yrs, the local usage of such phone is through
a clip known as 'hypersim'-
a thin electronic chip board placed
together with local SIM card
to enable it to tap on our 3G GSM network.

Compared to other smartphones like iphone, android etc,
carrying Jap phones is more towards the cool design,
since it cannot surf net and at times
signal can go out in poor reception areas (MRT!),
requiring restarting of the phone manually,
or worst, remove the SIM card and inserting it into a local phone to get the GSM network,
and re-inserting back to the Jap phone for it to work.

Tat's an extremely painful and troublesome task,
since u'll have to carry two phones,
and run the risk of being unreachable without u knowing.

Now, Japanese phone maker Docomo has announced
tat phones available after 1st Apr 2010,
(yes, u'r right. It's NOW)
will be SIM unlocked,
thus able to use in countries other than Japan.

The implication?- NO more hypersim card required.
Take ur SIM card, insert, and there u go.
With more stable signal,
I guess the signal OUT issue would be lessen,
if not resolved.

Despite the unlocked,
they are still unable to surf net.
(except for minority models)

Based on my research, the upcoming summer models,
if without delay from production (disaster),
would be available locally end May.

So... what's the benefits
other than the cool factor
for the upcoming/ current model?

Sit tight! Here I go...

 Docomo F01C

Take a model for example,
Docomo F01c as shown, released in Jap on Dec 2010.

The phone's flip can be turned 360 degree in either directions.
The screen spots high resolution, with touch screen capability.

What's impressive is the 13.2 MP camera,
with their state-of-art technology,
spots a better engine and lens (CMOS),
producing crisp+extremely clear photos.

Camera wise, Jap phones still wins other's by a mile.
Trust me on tat. 
My older model, more than 2 yrs old,
already spotting 10.1 MP,
the quality of the photo is comparable to my Sony camera.

F01C

I can't imagine a 13.2 MP.
(even better ones r 14-18MP)

 Plus ability to produce blur effects like SLR camera,
& an infinite burst mode tat captures moving object.
Video capturing is also in HD.

Furthermore, it's waterproof!

Use it while bathing,
the next time u see your phone with fingerprints,
u can wash it under a running tap.
Yes, running tap.

Or when u'r outdoor, u will not fear when it rains.
For those whose phone have a tendency to fall into the toilet bowl,
just fish it up and wash away the brown residue.

 She replaced yellow duckie with a phone

 Ris Low would be pleased with the leopard prints

If u'r bored with everyone using the same phone, here's the best distinction.
And it's coming in a mth's time.

Having said much, sorry to disappoint,
our telcoms will not be bringin them in.

Btw, in Japan,
u can only own one by signing a telecom contract.
Somehow, there'r still people who can circumvent & ship them in.

Google them and get them in forums.
If still can't find, PM me.

Sat, 16 Apr 2011

《单身男女》

 Don't go breaking my heart

Cast:

Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Gao Yuanyuan

Story:

Cheng Zixin (Gao Yuanyuan) break up wif her bf of 7 yrs,

run into a raggedly alcoholic Fang Qihong (Daniel Wu).

Despondent Qihong is motivated by Zixin to go back to his architect work, 

and falls in love wif her during the process.

Meanwhile, Cheung Shen-ran (Louis Koo) works opposite her, 

and the pair start a remote friendship signalling to each other 

through their windows overlooking each other.

Between Shen-ran, a playboy, 

& Qihong, a devoted guy,

who will she choose?

How I feel:

It's a show on two wealthy guys 

trying all their means to impress & woo a gal.

Louis Koo has lots of creative+interesting+idyllic

tricks to impress her.

Be it magic, 

or plain sticking of 小黄 (post-a-note)

on the glass to exhibit smiley face or heart-shaped.

I believe gals watching these would be mesmerized.

How not to fall in love wif such guy?

But then, he's a playboy,

adage 男人不坏，女人不爱 comes ringing again.

smiley 小黄

Daniel Wu, upon knowing Yuanyuan is impressed by Louis's magic,

did one of his own, which is equally impressive.

One lament is the story. 

All of a sudden strangers can get together so well.

LOVE can come so easily and strongly.

I was disappointed wif the 女主角,

for being so fickle-minded.

Falls in love wif Louis, yet another moment falls in love wif Daniel.

Well, for her final choice I'll leave it to u to hit the cinema.

 "Do I love him?"

I like the part when Daniel's colourful toad got crashed.

Poor thing, Mr Toadie.

 Face-off

 showing concern for Louis

"Will you marry me?"

Mr Cool

Here's Mr Toad

Thumbs up for the idea and for choosing the right male actors.
Louis & Daniel certainly can draw crowds.

I was mesmerized as well during the two hours,
and equally amused & entertained by the jokes.

The audience was clearly entertained,
as laughter seemed contagious @some point.

My Review:

TWO & A HALF OUT OF FIVE

It's a movie that appeals well to the ladies.
Wat r u waiting for? Ladies

Although a romantic flick,

at least for a while, 

laughter generated frm HK movie 

has never been so spontaneous.

Full House

I wanna intro a good makan.

满家乐

Tat day while @Full House (满家乐),
I got my order wrong, wanted to order Maggi Mee
but came this bowl of rice,
wif some cabbage, soy egg,
bean curb, pork floss,
plus some minced meat
coated wif brown sauce.

I took another look @the menu-
"HongKong Happy Bowl".

Wat a silly name.
Rice wif some cheapo food costing $4 plus.

Anyhow eat lah. Can makan full can liao.
So me+Wifey took our spoon & dug in.

Hong Kong Happy Bowl

Our first taste, we got a shock.

We had expected something worst,

or rather, mediocre @best.

The taste quite familiar & instantly it came to my mind.

It's dumpling taste!

Set my palate racing.

There's this special black sauce ingredient,

tat makes the mince meat taste so superb.

Appearance can be deceiving.

We started to drown in everything in the bowl.

Our next bowl ends up just few days later.

Try it next tme u'r ther!

清明节。感动

那天去拜祖宗，搭德士回家，
和德士司机聊了起来，
聊起清明节，扫墓，年轻人。。。

他说那天载到一位老伯，
瘦瘦老老的，八九十岁。
拿了两个大大祭拜纸箱，
是要去拜去世的老婆。

德士司机问起为何一人去，
原来孩子们不愿去，
都换信仰了。
（换了信仰就不能陪伴去吗？）


老伯抱怨将来当他走了，
没有人会拜祭他。
至少他的老伴还有他来拜祭，
每年，风雨不改的去拜祭。
将来自己不懂死后有没有得吃。

德士司机好奇问为何买两个纸箱拜？

答案连我也好奇。。。

老伯下车后，见他的背影，
缓慢地，手里拿着纸箱， 
摇摇晃晃地走向目的地
也留下了答案。。。


一个是烧给老伴的，
另一个是预先烧给自己，
希望他的老伴， 能帮他收好。


这个故事， 有感动你吗？