Avatar: Review

caught the movie in 3D on Wednesday. when buying the tickets, we were told to buy our own 3D glasses @ $1 per pair. we get to keep it and use it on future movies. seems like thats the way the movie industry is going, which will be awesome, a way to stamp out piracy and to tempt people away from waiting for the DVD release and watch it on the big screen.

advertisements suggested that Shrek and Alice in the Wonderland are some of the movies to have the 3D effect in 2010.

Avatar, what a great movie. 5 stars out of 5. From start till end. Every detail of the movie, be it the introduction of the characters or the storyline, short and sweet, understandable, concise yet not draggy.

3D effects are required in this movie to bring out the wonders of what James Cameron have in mind for the beautiful forest, from the luminous plants to the rock formations to the effects of small flying insects.

Storyline wise. Good thinking. It combines the world of internet which we are all crazy about (almost everyone of us faces a computer everyday and push the power button first thing when we get back home to check our emails etc.), the power and greed of some in the world, the military thinking (which relates to the war at the moment) and also the environmental side, saving the natural species and the world as a whole.

Action. Awesome non-stop action when the war breaks out between the 2 parties. Sophisticated yet not over-exaggerating machines from the modern world. tactical, power of sticking together and the use of nature (e.g animals) from the traditional bows and arrows tribes. Good guys always win in movies but the message i got from the movie is: strength comes from unity, not from power.

Emotional wise, there are some scenes which are pretty touching. I, particularly like how the animals, "horses" and "flying dragons" connect to humans. fantastic illustration of the connection between humans and animals. as every animal lover knows, if you have a connection with a certain animal, both will know it and a relationship is struck there and then. I like how the director uses the help of animals to defeat the army when all the resources are dried up.

overall, very very good movie. never felt like the show was too long even though it was 2.5 hours long. every minute tells a story and every minute makes you want more. catch it if you have not. Highly recommended.

Somethings Bothering..

had dinner @ Taste of Thai along Belmore Road, Randwick. Have been visiting there ever since I came over here 5 years ago. To Denise and I, that's still the best Thai restaurant we've been, food, service and cost wise.
The prices over the past years have been increasing but by not much and we are more than willing to pay for the quality. Tonight, we went there, surprised to see that the menu has changed. more variety and of course a steep increase in the price. Food quality still stays about the same although Denise's Pad Kee Mao was abit too salty and wet today.
I can say for sure we will still go back there for Thai food, but somethings bothering me when I saw the new improved menu which spark a conversation with Denise.

over the last 5 years, I've realised there are a lot of changes in Sydney. Not too sure about other cities or states. Public transport fees are increasing, the services are not, what we get is more people on the bus, less comfy, more delays and higher costs. Why?
Traffic jams on the Harbour Bridge are getting longer to clear. There isnt back to back vehicles on a regular weekday 6.30pm few years back. At the moment, I can't see the problem easing anytime soon with the increase in population.

Today's shopping experience was another shock. Queues to get into the car park which has more than 2000 spaces. Queues to grab a table for lunch/dinner. Queues to pay @ the cashier. Somethings bothering me with all the influx of ppl. Is it time to get out and as denise says:

is it time for us to move forward in a quicker way. time doesnt wait for anyone. we need to move faster to achieve our goals quicker.

somethings bothering me the way I operate. the way i'm functioning. it isnt right and fast enough. ppl get what they want. i want to get what i want as well. sometimes, appreciation aint that good anymore. worse, you dont even get that nowadays.

End Of Year 2009

last year around this time, Denise and I made quite a few resolutions, wrote it on a piece of A3 paper, put it into a plastic sleeve and stick it on the wall. Felt that was only a while ago.

a while = another year.

what does a new year signifies. some say its just another day, another week, another year. nothing is going to change. I would think otherwise. Even though it is really just another day, a new year is a milestone for us to reflect what have we done, what we have accomplished, what have happened and what's planned for the future.

highlights for the year 2009 included:

- Better savings plan

- Active in personal goals

- Nominated as best professional in my company

- Completed toastmasters

- Travel plans with Denise --> Phuket, Thredbo

- Cherry Picking @ Young with Mum

- Moving into Randwick

- Us supporting each other

Plans for the year 2010 ahead:

- continue the savings plans

- achieved some of our personal goals

- participate actively @ work, improve client relationship. Game On.

- seek to improve constantly including networking skills

- seek to motivate others and provide answers, not looking for answers from others

- travel plans including Western Australia, Tasmania, Cairns and New Zealand

- Us supporting each other

this will keep me on track for 2010 and let this list be the starting point of a great 2010

"is never too late unless you worked on it now"

Memorable Day of The Year

started off pretty well on Monday with Denise and Letty. went to The Little Snail for a taste of french cuisine.

the food was fantastic at that point of time, but at this moment, I can't even bring myself to type out what I've eaten. went to have a golf try-out at moore park driving range after. again, started off well until I sprained my back.. wooOO.. painful.

once we got home, here comes the great experience. vomit + diarrhoea. not only me. but Denise as well. ended up getting 2 days of MC each. that 2 days being 22nd and 23rd of December. yes. lotsa of surprises for these 2 days which included, thai massage, imax avatar and a nice seafood buffet. GONE. spend that 2 days lying in pain with Denise who is suffering the same fate as me. Nevertheless, I appreciate what you have planned for me. and as we always say, everything happens for a reason.

luckily, i was on annual leave already as my office has closed for the year. Poor denise who is still part of working force that is driving the economy over this festive season. can't eat much over this holidays due to a recovering stomach. had soup based food or porridge. not too bad I must say. hehe

presents time. in between spending our time in bed and ermm, vomitting, we decided to pump up the mood, just a lil bit, bring xmas forward, and exchanging presents. I got a BBQ GRILL from Denise, which I always wanted for my grill salmon and chicken chop and try my skills on an aussie barbie with caramelised onions and sausages, with a touch of singaporean style, bbq chilli sting ray, sotong and prawns!! hahaa. I got a watch from Letty from Fossil! time to keep track of myself! thanks Letty!

Denise got a Garnier gift set from Letty and a Twilight Box Set from ME!! add to that, I got her a wedding planner which she says is showing a big commitment. WoooOO!!

Letty got a Smiggle USB wristband from me and a meaningful pendent from Denise.

All in all, i hope everyone likes their pressie this year.

For all those that remembered 23rd of December. Thanks to all the wishes on facebook and smses. As years goes by, I expect friends to drop off wishing me Happy Birthday. I'm kinda of surprised by the number of ppl who send me their wishes. appreciate you guys. i also gotta mention that I'm also surprised by some who forgot about it.

to all u lovely ppl out there. have a merry xmas and and a wonderful 2010!

stay healthy, eat well (hehe), be careful on the roads and look forward to seeing you guys!

Avatar - The Movie

looking forward to catch Avatar - The Movie

Any comments from those who already watched? looks good, mixing real life acting and animation, action with romance. dragons with air force. enjoy the trailer meanwhile

Xmas Lunch 2009

had our annual xmas lunch last thursday. nice meal and at small tapas restaurant by the name of firefly @ walsh bay. like the place, near the waters, good weather and most importantly, the food are pretty up to standard. went to opera bar after to have more than a couple of beer before leaving city late at night. always favoured that place for some "chilling" time.

last working day of the year on friday. "coincidently", there was a bus strike and the weather didnt make it better, which meant, traffic was very worse for Randwick residents who depend on buses as there are no train stations within close vicinity. traffic was chockers and i took 2 hrs to get to office. went to Greengate for end of year drinks before heading back.

All in all, working year has been good. ups and downs with various projects with staff leaving and additions to our team. more is expected in 2010. until then, to all my collegues and workmates, have a merry xmas and a great 2010.

top 5 songs on my playlist

1. Empire - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
2. Russian Roulette - Rihanna
3. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
4. Fireflies - Owl City(No.1 for Denise)
5. Art of Love - Guy Sebastian and Jordin Sparks

mum's here

kinda had a long break from blogging.
too many things happening over the past few weeks and when you stop blogging, you start to drift away, especially when you've been typing reports at work.

mum's here for 3 weeks over a period from november to december. always wonderful to have mum around, menu for the for the weeks have been mum's cooking for majority of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

went to hunter valley and met up with bobz and magz. went to Young for cherry picking and also visited the big merino in goulburn. nice long drive there and we also visited canberra where we stayed overnight.

no matter what you are, or where you are, mum will always be there with unconditional love, cook up some nice meals regardless how difficult it is to find ingredients.

love those chats when we talked about what happened last time, when both mum and son were young. =) and all the good and bad memories. had a good laugh about that.

btw, my mum made me realised I nearly died when I was young if not for my parents' quick thinking. All "thanks" to the scardy cat doctor @ Whampoa who rejected me to his clinic.

thanks mum for the 3 weeks.

and im still amazed how you managed to travel with more than 30kg of luggage.

i want to blog.
but pretty lazy
things will get better

mum is touching down in Singapore soon...hooray! with heavy luggage of nuts