Twenty-1 Reasons Why...

Moving My Blog... Farewell Blogger...

2007-03-31T19:51:00.000+10:00

Hey people... I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be moving my blog to a new location and no longer be updating this blog... You can access my new blog at http://wantse.wordpress.com... Why am I moving? Well I've gotten quite tired or blogger frankly... and I think WP is slightly more user friendly... but I could be wrong... Anyway I really thought it was time... hehehe... :p See you at my new blog...

Black-Out In North Melbourne

2007-03-24T02:23:00.000+11:00

Okay so we were having a delicious dinner that Jun made and all of a sudden... OUT went the power... "Oh no! My computer!" was the first thing that came to mind... although it did not really stop me from enjoying the delicious meal... Thankfully the building had its emergency lights and so we were still able to see without candles... After dinner... some of us decided to go check if anyone was stuck in the lift as suggested by Fiona our ingenious ex-resident... and the of course we headed to Jun's room... for a little game of "cheat" and some other random stuff like the no saying yes or no game... When it got too hot to stay in the room we decided to head downstairs where we ended up doing some musical stuff with Jun playing his guitar... and then some body drumming... and then some humming... and then me killing amazing grace... and then more people joined us and we ended up just doing random stuff... until about maybe quarter to 2 or so... "ta dah" the electricity came back on... to everyone's delight especially those who were dying to watch the cricket world cup... bah... Anyway... even though we started off really hating the blackout... we did have some fun... kinda like the good ol' days when "the gang" were still here...

Moomba Water Festival 2007

2007-03-16T13:23:00.000+11:00

After a year of absense due to the Commonwealth Games... the Melbourne Moomba Water Festival made it's appearance again this year... The festival or fair was just as big as I remembered it from 2005... and the fireworks were pretty good too... uncomparable to Disney World's fireworks but still good... As usual I didn't get on any of the rides nor try my luck on any of the games... Yes I am so unadventureous... Whatever... At least this year it was way more fun going with the O'Connell people...

Stranger Than Fiction

2007-02-24T23:59:00.000+11:00

Harold Crick is an IRS agent who's life is calculated to the dot everyday... Everyday he wakes up at the same time... brushes his teeth the same way... takes the same amount of steps to the bus stop... goes to bed at the same time... That was until one day when strangely enough he hears his life being narrated... and he finds out he was about to die some time soon... but of course he is the only one who hears it... for a moment he thought he was going crazy as no one would believe him but after going to a therapist... he was refered to a literature expert... they figured that if his life was being narrated... his life must be like a book and if they could figure out what kind of story it was... they could figure out how he was going to die... As the movie goes on... Karen Eiffel... is introduced as the author who was writing Harold's life... she's having writer's block and is trying to figure out how to kill him off... Meanwhile Harold comes to term that his life was about to end and decides to do everything he always wanted to but never got to... like play the guitar... and get the girl he loves... Then he finds out that Karen was the one who was "narrating" his life and seeks her out... to try and convince her not to kill him...

I was pleasantly surprised with this one... it turned out to be much better than I thought and I really loved it... funny... with a good bit of drama... but the best bit as Jun put's it... was the cinematography...

Babel

2007-02-24T23:36:00.000+11:00

4 stories... intertwined... In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out--detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couple’s frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. Separated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, each of these four disparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling towards a shared destiny of isolation and grief. In the course of just a few days, they will each face the dizzying sensation of becoming profoundly lost--lost in the desert, lost to the world, lost to themselves--as they are pushed to the farthest edges of confusion and fear as well as to the very depths of connection and love... (From Yahoo! Movies)...

I loved this movie... it was great... powerful... very stirring... Could very well win the Oscar...

Rotaract Carlton Recruitment 2007

2007-02-23T22:53:00.000+11:00

Well... the new semester is about to start... which means I have to start taking responsibility for being the vice-president of the Rotaract Club... man I knew I shouldn't have taken the job... The first task is to recruit people and man it's more difficult than I thought... It seems like there aren't many people out there who knows about Rotaract... and then they are not interested in doing community service... and I'll totally spaced out as to what the hell we are supposed to do... man I wish someone could tell us exactly what to do... I feel so useless... anyway if you are between the age of 18-30 and you live in Melbourne or the suburbs around and you are interested in community service... e-mail us at rotaract_unimelb@yahoo.com.au

The Holiday

2007-02-10T22:17:00.000+11:00

Iris (Kate Winslet) is a journalist who lives in a little town in England... she is absolutely in love with Jasper... a colleague and ex-flame... when he annouces his engagement out of the blue... she suffers an anxiety attack... Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a movie trailer maker who lives in Los Angeles, California... She has trouble committing to a relationship and finds out her current boyfriend is cheating on her... Both are desperate to get away from their current situations... Amanda finds an add for a house exchange program where two people can switch houses and cars for an agreed period of time... When Amanda arrives in England... she meets Iris's brother Graham (Jude Law) and is immediately attracted to him... In LA... Iris is tries to heal her broken heart... she meets Arthur Abbott a retired and widowed screenwriter who is lonely and becomes friends with him... She also meets Miles (Jack Black) a kind-hearted movie score composer... As they spend time away from their lives... they learn to right the wrongs in their lives and find love on the way...

A great light-hearted romantic comedy... the review is coming a little late though... I think everyone has already seen it... but I enjoyed it... although I think Iris's story is more interesting that Amanda's...

Australian Open Results

2007-01-30T14:40:00.000+11:00

I totally forgot about the results but I'm not very happy about it... Anyway...

Men's singles: Roger Federer (1) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (10); 7-6(7-2), 6-4, 6-4

Women's singles: Maria Sharapova (1) vs. Serena Williams; 1-6, 2-6

Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan (1) vs. Jonas Bjorkman &amp; Max Mirnyi (2); 7-5, 7-5

Women's doubles: Cara Black & Liezel Huber (3) vs. Yung-Jan Chan &amp; Chia-Jung Chuang; 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 6-1

Anyway no shock in the men's singles... Federer YET again... snorefest!! I mean I don't deny that he's the best but it's totally getting old... and the commentators just go on and on about how great he is... well tell us something we don't know... Anyway I thought Gonzalez did very well to give Federer a hard time and if he keeps working hard and develope his thinking game... coz he already has the shots he just has to put them together and know when to use each one... he could really become something... Well done Gonzalez...

Well I just couldn't believe Sharapova got past Clijsters in her current form... not her best... and therefore I pretty much knew Serena would win it... not too big of a shock...

Bryan and Bryan... well what can I say... I was hoping they would win but tough fight from Bjorkman and Mirnyi...

As for the women's doubles well I don't follow it... Haha... Cheers...

The Pursuit Of Happyness

2007-01-23T16:52:00.000+11:00

A wonderful movie based on the real rags to riches story of Chris Gardner a portable medical machinery salesman who is having trouble selling the machines... played by Will Smith... Despite having a very hard life he has a great never-say-die attitude... However his wife is very unhappy and decides to leave... Chris having been abadoned by his father when he was young swore to himself to never do the same to his children if he ever had any... and so he looks after his 5-year-old son Christopher played by Will Smith's real life son Jaden Smith (who is soooo cute!!) while he works... After a chance encounter with a stock-broker... he decides to apply for an internship program with one of the top brokerage firms in San Fransisco... and wins them over with his dedication and wit... in the mean time he went broke as a result of not paying his taxes in time and most of his money was taken by the government... he is subjected to lead a double life... an intern at the brokerage firm where no one knows his true state of life... and the single father who is broke and is subjected to fight for place in a shelter for homeless people and even sleeping in a toilet at the subway... Nevertheless after all the hardship... his hard work pays off and finally is offered a job at the brokerage firm...

A really amazing story and very touching... it makes you think how tough some people have it and they complain less than those people who have it easy... and also much happier... I do like the fact that the mention how happiness is something that is pursued... it doesn't just land on your doorstep and can be a neverending pursuit... But like Oprah, Will Smith and Chris Gardner all agreed upon... this story could have only happened in America and no where else... that is the American dream...

Back Track...

2007-01-23T16:20:00.000+11:00

Ok so the last time I blogged was like what two weeks ago?! Well I just got my internet hooked up... FINALLY... yesterday... and anyway I've been back in Melbourne for like 3 weeks now and doing summer course in uni... still staying in the same place... O'Connell... might as well since it's just so difficult moving again... erm what else... went bowling twice with Sonja and Kris... did pretty well the second time scored 121 and 123 which is pretty much my "usual" score... what else... oh yes Australian Open tennis is on!!! Oh yeah!!! There's been some amazing tennis... and I'm totally hooked on it... Looking at the draw now it's Serena Williams vs. Nicole Vaidisova and the other one is Maria Sharapova/Anna Chakvetadze vs. Kim Clijsters/Martina Hingis for women singles semis... probably Kim Clijsters vs. Serena Williams for finals I reckon... Clijsters is really playing some amazing tennis and is her final Aussie Open so probably wants it the most... As for the men singles semis... Roger Federer/Tommy Robredo vs. Marty Fish/Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas/Nikolay Davydenko vs. Fernando Gonzalez/Rafael Nadal... Andy is playing right now is looking very likely to get through... so I would like Andy to get past Federer as well but it'll be very tough... but it's looking to be a Federer vs. Nadal final... although Gonzalez is really playing well as well... Hmmm tough... It'll be interesting to see what happens...

Eragon

2007-01-05T16:05:00.000+11:00

Based on the first book of Christopher Paolini's trilogy... In the land of Alagaesia the once mighty reign of the dragon riders is now taken over by Galbatorix a dragon rider who turned against his own... and is now the only dragon rider remaining... or so he thinks... A group of rebels called the Varden and their allies have long carried with them the egg of the dragon Saphira and to make sure it doesn't get into the hands of Galbatorix and his men... Arya one of the rebels sends it away and the egg finds itself in the hands of a teenage farmboy, Eragon... Not long after the egg hatces... Eragon then hears of the lost days of the dragon riders through an old man, Brom, and is intrigued... the dragon Saphira grows at a phenomenal rate and soon turns into a fully grown dragon... Saphira and Eragon are bonded and can read each other' thoughts... he is her dragon rider... Galbatorix sends his men to kill Eragon but he manages to escape with the help of Brom who turns out to be a dragon rider himself... Eragon learns quickly of his destiny and what he needs to do... They rescue Arya from the clutches of Durza, an evil wizard possessed by evil spirits who works for Galbatorix and they meet Murtagh who gives them a helping hand as well... When they reach the Varden they find themselves having to face Durza and Galbatorix's army...

Ok I know what you are thinking... oh no not another Harry Potter/LOTR movie... but I have to say that I think even though some parts of the movie were a little cliched and that the magical language in Eragon isn't as good as LOTR or HP but the movie was pretty well done... and is in fact quite good... I enjoyed it...

Night At The Museum

2007-01-05T15:54:00.000+11:00

Larry Daley is a divorced father and is struggling to settle down... This is causing problems for him and his relationship with his son... His last chance is to take up a job as the night watch at the Museum Of Natural History... How he finds that his job isn't a usual one when all the displays start to come to life at night and more than causes trouble for him... As a man who has always given up easily he finds that it is his time to step up when the museum is robbed and its magical Egyptian tablet that bring the museum to life is about to be taken away forever...

This movie is so funny... it's an excellent feel good movie to watch over the holidays...

The Chronicles Of My Orlando Trip: I've Got Sunshine

2006-12-29T01:59:00.000+11:00

I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time mostly because I haven't been to Orlando in a long long time... 7 years... and I really wanted to go on the new rides as well as refresh my memories of those I have been on... For those who don't know... Orlando, Florida is what I deem as the fun capital of USA and it's always been one of my favourite places to go on holiday...

But before any fun begins let me just mention the amount of trouble you have to go through if you want to go there on holiday from this part of the world... firstly it's a gruelling 24 hour flight well technically we took a 21 hour flight from KL to Stockholm to Newark which then spend the night and then took a 2 hour 15 minutes flight from Newark to Orlando... remember security in the US is tight... they are in code orange and require all items like toothpaste and lotion to be placed in a small zip bag, no liquids from before the security check point to be brought on the plane and they even require you to take off your shoes for scanning now... but I believe it's worth it!!

The stop in Newark was a rather dissapointing one for me because New York was right there but I could only see it through the little window in the plane... in both cases of flight to and from Orlando...

The Sheraton Airport Hotel we stayed the night in Newark

Day 1
We arrived in Orlando in the afternoon of 10 December and with some very bad navigating skills from my part but also partly because the instructions given to be were unclear we arrive at the World Quest Resort which would be our home for the two weeks we stayed in Orlando... They it was off to the Orange County Tourist Information Centre to collect of Disney World passes and then to Walmart to get supplies... Later we picked up my elder sister who flew in from London to join us on the vacation...

At the World Quest Resort

Day 2
Predicting that we were still jetlagged from flying and would not last very long in the day, my dad decided that we should visit the Disney-MGM Studios first as it has probably the least thing to do amongst all the other theme parks, even though I thought Animal Kingdom had less stuff to do... Let me remind you that we were travelling with kids the ages of 4 and 5 so naturally we had to head towards the less harmful attractions...

Rides & Attractions: The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours
Shows: Playhouse Disney Live On Stage, Voyage Of The Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision 3-D, The Magic Of Disney Animation, Disney Stars & Motor Cars Parade, Beauty & The Beast Live On Stage

Things we missed: Twilightzone Tower Of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" Movie Set Adventure, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Lights Motor Action Extreme Stunt Show, ATAS Hall Of Fame Plaza, Journey Into Narnia: Creating The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe, Sounds Dangerous starring Drew Carey, The American Film Institute Showcase, Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, Fantasmic

My recommended attractions: The Great Movie Ride, Twilightzone Tower Of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, Fantasmic

And to my dad's prediction we did not last very long through the day and had to bypass a lot of stuff... but no worries because we bought 7 days (1 park-1day) no expiry tickets...

Day 3
After much pestering from my youngest sister... we were off to the Magic Kingdom... The one thing I LOVE about the Magic Kingdom is that you can never visit everything in one day so it keeps you on your toes...

Rides & Attractions: "It's A Small World", Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Mickey's Country House, Minnie's Country House, Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Stitch's Great Escape, The Barnstormer At Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Tree House, The Haunted Mansion, Walt Disney's Carousel Of Progress
Shows: Mickey's PhilharMagic, Disney Dreams Come True Parade, Wishes Nighttime Spectacular

Things we missed: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Country Bear Jamboree, Donald's Boat, Dumbo The Flying Elephant, Fantasyland Play Area, The Enchanted Tiki Room, The Magic Carpets Of Aladdin, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Astro Orbiter, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Fronteirland Shootin' Arcade, Cinderella Castle, Liberty Square River Boat, Main Street Vehicles, The Hall Of Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island, Walt Disney World Railroad

My recommended attractions: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Walt Disney's Carousel Of Progress, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Pirates Of The Caribbean... the ride that inspired the movie NOT the other way round... has been updated with Captain Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones and Captain Barbossa...

Day 4
We thought that 3 days straight of Disney World might be a little too much so we decided to go to Universal Studios instead... And to our much much surprise there was practically no one there... but then again schools in the US were not out yet which might explain why... but anyway... it was good news for us...

Rides & Attrations: Shrek 4-D, Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, Men In Black Alien Attack, Back To The Future The Ride, Jaws, Earthquake, E.T. Adventure, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Fievel's Playground
Shows: Animal Actors On Location, A Day In The Park With Barney, Macy's Holiday Parade

Things we missed: Twister... Ride It Out, The Blues Brothers, Terminator 2: 3-D, Universal Horror Make-up Show, Lucy - A Tribute, Fear Factor Live, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue, Curious George Goes To Town, Revenge Of The Mummy The Ride

My recommended attractions: Shrek 4-D, Men In Black Alien Attack, Back To The Future The Ride, Jaws, Earthquake, E.T. Adventure, Revenge Of The Mummy The Ride

Men In Black is awesome... it's an interactive thrill ride where you pick up a gun and battle aliens as you go spinning around the city of New York...

Day 5
We returned to Universal again but this time to the Islands Of Adventure... home of the best thrill ride in the world... or at least that's what the critics say... The Amazing Adventures Of Spider-Man...

Rides & Attractions: The Amazing Adventures Of Spider-Man, Dudley Do-Right's Ripshaw Falls, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Cat In The Hat, Caro-Seuss-el, The High In The Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride

Things we missed: Incredible Hulk Coaster, Dr. Doom's Fearfall, Me Ship The Olive, NBC's iVillage Live, Jurassic Park Discovery Center, Duelling Dragon's, The Eighth Voyage Of Sinbad, Poseidon's Fury, The Flying Unicorn, The Mystic Fountain, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, If I Ran The Zoo

My recommended attractions: The Amazing Adventures Of Spider-Man, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Cat In The Hat, Incredible Hulk Coaster, Duelling Dragons

Spider-Man is not only a thrill ride but also uses 3-D and visual effects that makes you feel like you are in the middle of a real Spider-Man adventure...

After we were done at Islands Of Adventure we went back to Universal Studios as my youngest siblings were itching to go on some of the rides there which meant that we could trry our luck with the Revenge Of The Mummy The Ride which was suffering technical problems the day before... and let me tell you... oh boy... I wouldn't want to be stuck in there when the ride breaks down... it's dark and scary and there's loads of fire... but it was awesome...

Day 6
After two days of no Disney... my youngest sister was getting a little annoyed as well as annoying so we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom Park... the newest park in Disney World... besides we woke up rather late... The plan was to finish early then go back have some rest and take a shower then go to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party...

Rides & Attractions: Expedition Everest - Legend Of The Forbidden Mountain, TriceraTop Spin, It's Tough To Be A Bug, Kilimanjaro Safaris, The Tree Of Life
Shows: Finding Nemo - The Musical, Festival Of The Lion King, Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade

Things we missed: Affection Section, Conservation Station, Discovery Island Trails, Habitat Habit, Maharaja Jungle Trek, Pagani Forest Exploration Trail, The Oasis Exhibits, Dinosaur, Dino-Sue, Fossil Fun Games, Kids Disovery Club, The Boneyard, Wildlife Express Train, Kali River Rapids, Primeval Whirl, Cretaceous Trail, Flights Of Wonder, Pocahontas & Her Forest Friends

My recommended attractions: Expedition Everest, It's Tough To Be A Bug, Finding Nemo - The Musical, Festival Of The Lion King, Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, The Tree Of Life

Expedition Everest is the newest attraction in Animal Kingdom and it is way awesome... it is a roller coaster ride that takes you into the mountain for an encounter with the yeti and this roller coaster unlike the ones before not only takes you forward but backwards as well... so make sure you hang on tight...

And the guess what... as we were leaving it started raining... and it did not stop the whole night... which meant we couldn't go for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party which cost us and extra US$39 each...

Day 7 & 8
As part of our weekend avoid the crowd plan... we decided to go to SeaWorld where most of the attractions are just shows and then to spend the rest of the time shopping...

Rides & Attractions: Penguin Enounter, Dolphin Cove, Shamu's Happy Harbour, Hospitality Center
Shows: Believe, Blue Horizons, Clyde & Seamore

Things we missed: Kraken, Journey To Atlantis, Wild Artic, Odyssea, Pet Ahoy, Fusion, Manatee Rescue, Pacific Point Preserve, Shark Encounter, Dolphin Nursery, Stingray Lagoon, Turtle Point, Clydesdale Hamlet, The Oyster's Secret, The Waterfront, Game Room, Key West At SeaWorld, Sky Tower

My recommended attractions: Believe, Blue Horizons, Clyde & Seamore, Kraken, Journey To Atlantis, Wild Arctic, Dolphin Nursery

After that it was pretty much shopping for the rest of the weekend...

Day 9
Last of the Disney World parks but not the least... Epcot! I do enjoy Epcot very much... I always never manage to go on everything I want to though... Oh and the most important thing is that this is where we got replacement tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party...

Rides & Attractions: Mission:Space, Test Track, The Seas With Nemo & Friends, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, "Honey, I Shrunk The Audience", Body Wars, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Innovations: The Road To Tomorrow, Cranium Command
Pavillions: Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, The Land, USA, Wonders Of Life

Things we missed: Soarin', Kidcot Fun Stops, Spaceship Earth, The Living Seas, Maelstrom, United Kingdom Pavillion, Circle Of Life, EL Rio Del Tiempo, ImageWorks - The Kodak "What If" Labs, Impressions de France, Living With The Land, Mission: Space Advane Training Lab, O' Canada!, Reflections Of China, The American Adventure, The Making Of Me, Leave A Legacy

My recommended attractions: Mission: Space, Test Track, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Innovations, Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom, the World Pavillion

Mission:Space the newest attraction in Epcot simulates a flight from Earth to Mars for a space mission... there are two queues in this ride the green lane for those who do not deal well with a lot of motion... and the orange lane where the ride spins to recreate the effects of G-force that makes you feel like you are on an actual rocket... As for Test Track... this is a ride where you are the crash test dummy and you are put through a series of tests like the ones they to do test real cars...

Day 10
Shopping!

Day 11
We all woke up early to make sure we had enough time at Busch Gardens in Tampa which was about an hour's drive away and get back in time for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party...

Rides & Attractions: Congo River Rapids, Cheetah Chase, Serengeti Railway, Skyride, Rhino Rally

Things we missed: SheiKra, Gwazi, Kumbu, Montu, Scorpion, Stanley Falls, Tanganyika Tidal Wave, American Beat, Friends Forever, KaTonga, Mirage Canteen, Mystic Sheiks Of Morocco, Pirates 4-D, King Tut's Tomb, Land Of Dragons, Bird Gardens, Birds Of Prey, Edge Of Africa, Lory Landing, Serengeti Plain, Myombe Reserve, Clydesdale Hamlet

My recommended attractions: Congo River Rapids, Cheetah Chase, Rhino Rally, SheiKra, Montu, Tanganyika Tidal wave, Gwazi

Actually I don't even know why on earth we went to Busch Gardens... but it does have some good roller coasters... I would say it's more for those above 9... and remember to bring your poncho for the water rides unless you don't mind getting wet...

Later that night Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party was basically about the Christmas Parade and the fireworks spetacular...

Day 12
We initially wanted to go back to Universal Studios but realiased that our 7-day ticket had expired by one day... so we went back to SeaWorld to see the shows again... we just needed something to fill in the time before we sent my elder sister to the airport... This time around we managed to go on the Wild Arctic as well...

Day 13
My dad decided we should go back to Disney-MGM Studios as we didn't really get to explore it the first time around... This time we manage to catch Twilightzone Tower Of Terror, Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" Movie Set Adventure as well... However when we were waiting to watch Fantasmic it started to pour like crazy and because it was an outdoor stadium and it was a water show... it was cancelled... to our much dissapointment because we really wanted to see it...

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World Quest Resort
Website: World Quest Resort
At the moment it is very very new... but for a family like mine aka large... it's more convenient as well as cheaper to stay in a plae like this that offers serviced apartments of 3 bedrooms and a very large living room space... The location of this resort it very strategic and they also include a continental breakfast everyday as well as snack during tea time and supper... However things are still rather new and their system is a little unsettled but not too much of an inconvinience... and the place is just a little difficult to find at first because it's kind of hidden but there are landmarks to help you out...

Shopping
Shopping in Orlando is GREAT!! Firstly there are A LOT of outlet stores around which means that you can get branded stuff at a reasonable price... secondly there are shops everywhere that sell everything... and thirdly lets just say the have American sizes... We spent most of our time shopping at the Florida Mall, the Premium Outlets, the Lake Buena Vista Outlets, and the Prime Outlets...

Getting Around
Be warned if you are a stranger to American roads... Roads signs are not a frequent as some other countries which makes it difficult to find your exits because exit warnings are placed very closed to the exits themselves... and they are small...

Food
If you are ever in Orlando and you are dying for some really good spicy food try Thai Thani... It's a really authentic Thai restaurant that lets you choose how spicy you want the food and let me tell you... you can get it REALLY spicy... and it's really really good... try the green curry and phad thai... Also there are these few selected McDonalds restaurants that are the larger branches that serve a wide choice of breakfast... if you don't want to cook you own breakfast and your hotel does not provide it... go to one of these McDs... you can get anything from the usual Egg McMuffin with hash brown to Eggs Benedict Panini to pancakes to Belgian waffles to enchiladas...

Some Photos From Orlando, Florida

2006-12-26T15:07:00.000+11:00

Disney-MGM Studios

Entrance of MGM Studios

MGM Studios' Christmas Tree

MGM Kodak Centre

Hollywood Blv in MGM Studios

The new Mickey icon

Waiting in line to get Minnie's photo for our little siblings

The Great Movie Ride

The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror

The fountain outside the Muppet Vision 3-D

Magic Kingdom

Walt Disney World Railroad Station

The opening greeting

Magic Kingdom's Christmas Tree

Cinderella's Castle (with some work being done)

The Enchanted Tiki Room

Jungle Cruise

Pirates Of The Caribbean

Swiss Family Treehouse

Decorations at the Crystal Palace

Universal Studios & Islands Of Adventure

Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios

The Universal globe at the entrance

Islands Of Adventure entrance

Jurassic Park in Islands Of Adventure

The Lost Continent in Islands Of Adventure

Seuss Landing in Islands Of Adventure

Disney's Animal Kingdom Park

Animal Kingdom's Christmas tree

Floats from the parade

Seaworld & Busch Gardens

On the Rhino Rally ride in Busch Gardens

Seaworld's Christmas tree

Flushed Away

2006-12-08T01:26:00.000+11:00

Flushed Away is set mostly in the sewers of London in the perspective of mice and other sewer dwelling creatures... Roddy is a house pet mouse... when his family leaves for a vacation and leaves him alone... he thought that he would enjoy life doing what he wanted around the house... However an uninvited guest, Sid, shows up and flushes him down the toilet... There he was told that if he wanted to find his way back he was to find the Jammy Dodger, whose captain turned out to be Rita an enterprising scavenger who was being chased after by The Toad because she stole his precious ruby... Roddy's trip home turned out to be more than he bargained for after becoming a target of The Toad himself... They later found out that The Toad is planning to destroy the whole "underground" and Roddy and Rita have to stop him...

The animation might look a little boring but it is funny and I rather enjoyed it...

Open Season

2006-12-08T01:09:00.000+11:00

Boog is a grizzly who was raised by a human, Beth, and knows nothing about the wild and is in fact very friendly and gentle... Everything changed one day when he decides to save a mule deer, Elliot, who turned into a pain in the butt for him... After a very unfortunately misunderstood incident... Beth decided that it was best for Boog to go back to the wild... When Boog woke up in the mountain forrest, he panics and tries to find his way back but ended up going round and round in circles... so he accepts help from Elliot... However when they found out that Open Season was approaching fast and all the animals in the forrest was in danger Boog rallies all the animals together to fight back giving the hunters a taste of their own medicine... and Boog realises he is home after all...

A pretty good animation... funny and enjoyable...

Happy Feet

2006-11-29T20:42:00.002+11:00

Yes another penguin flick... Since hatching Mumble has had a tough life... unlike other penguins Mumble has "happy feet" aka he is tap happy... he loves to tap dance... while other penguins sing their heart song... also he was quite a late developer... and it turns out that he is a really bad singer... His happy feet made him an outcast when the elders blame him for the scarcity of fish that year... Mumble knows that there's something out there which is causing it something he calls aliens (but is atually us humans who are doing mass fishing in Antartica)... so he goes off to find out what happened to all the fish and to stop it...

Pretty good animation... the "latino" penguins are hilarious...

D.O.A.

2006-11-29T20:42:00.001+11:00

Based on the video game Dead Or Alive... DOA is a private fighter competition hosted by some rich guy for the best of the best of each fighting "style"... This time around there is a host who is planning to create a high tech fighting companion by downloading the moves of the best fighters into a pair of glasses which helps the fighter wearing the glasses figure out what moves to make... In the mean time... two of the fighters intend on stealing the money for the competition... one fighter is there to find her brother who dissapeared after the previous year's competition... and as everyone is up to their own agendas the competition gets really heated up...

The movie itself was rather lame but it was entertaining...

Casino Royale

2006-11-29T20:16:00.000+11:00

The new bond film... yes what can I say... this installment of the 007 series is actually the beginning of James Bond's life as an MI6 agent... But some things are rather off for one thing 'M' was already in charge in Casino Royale but in Goldeneye she was supposed to be the new head but Goldeneye would have happened after Casino Royale... so I don't know what the deal was... But who cares... also the Bond in this movie was very different from all his predecessors not wearing much of the suit until he was forced to... doesn't drink his usual "vodka martini. shaken, not stirred"... doesn't introduce himself as "Bond. James Bond" until the very end which I guess is supposed to be a statement... and wasn't given and high tech gadgets which I guess is because Q hasn't come into the picture yet... Also this James Bond seemed more impatient and agressive than usual maybe because he is still "young". But nonetheless the opening chase was excellent... much of the credit given to the African prisoner guy that Bond was after... that guy can jump like a tick... Anyway Bond's adventure this time cconsists of stopping a group of terrorist bombers and the people who fund them... and part of it was to compete in a poker tournament... not much cars chasing or blowing up stuff this tme around...

Overall the movie was still good... gives insight onto who James Bond is but is rather confusing considering we've gotten to know Bond as this really charismatic, suave, classy kind of man... I still however do not agree with the choice for the new bond... Daniel Craig just doesn't have the look and charisma... even if he can do the action...

The Prestige

2006-11-29T20:04:00.000+11:00

Two illusionists Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) start of as partners and friends... but when one of their trick went wrong which caused Angier's wife to die... the two became enemies for life... and from there their goal was to prove that the one was better than the other... and in doing so they were willing to sacrifice anything and anyone... however the tricks became more and more dangerous which caused both harm, as well as those around them...also the plot thickens when it seemed that Angier's last trick was to frame Borden for his death...

Excellent movie... it gets more and more complicated as the movie progresses and more and more secrets are revealed... towards the end you won't know who was the guilty one... Watch it... You'll enjoy it...

Accepted

2006-11-29T19:49:00.000+11:00

When Bartleby Gaines realized he was not accepted into any of the colleges he applied to... his father's dissapointed drove him to desperation where he decides to -fake- a college while he worked on getting into a real one... However when the website that his friend designed for his fake college accepted everyone who applied for it... he decides to revolutionise learning by letting the students decide what the want to learn of which includes courses like: walking around and thinking about stuff, blowing things up with your mind, bullshitting, and bumper stickers... also the students are also the teachers...

His idea is quite interesting I have to say and if such a college existed I would so love to go there... a pretty entertaining movie... but mind you it's a teen flick...

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-11-29T19:10:00.000+11:00

The movie revolves around the Hoover family who are a little disfuntional: the grandpa is a rude loud-mouth old man who got kicked out of retirement home, the dad is a struggling motivational speaker who is trying to get his book published, the mom might be the only normal one, the son has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming a jet pilot, the daughter is happy-go-lucky and dreams of winning pageants, and the uncle who had tried to kill himself after a string of misfortunes in life... When the family got news that the little girl was to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California... the decide to drive there together as no one in the family was to be left alone... and during their journey from Albuquerque... the family comes to face the harsh realities of life but also know that they could always count on eah other for support...

The movie itself was pretty good... it's one of those indie kind of movies... sometimes it could get a little boring but I enjoyed it nonetheless...

Home... Home On The Range...

2006-11-19T02:05:00.000+11:00

Not exactly on the range... And another semester has just ended and I am home... I wish I could have stayed longer in Melbourne but sadly couldn't... Oh well... and so the holiday begins... Hmmmm...

Little Manhattan

2006-10-30T11:14:00.000+11:00

It's a movie about first love... mind you it is not a kids movie... it's more like a family movie kinda thing... About a ten-year-old boy who has just "discovered"girls... or rather one girl... whom he had known since kindergarten... they started hanging out after they both join the same Karate class and he ended up being her sparing partner... She was the first in class to get her yellow belt and he was impressed... she offers to practice with him and he was in love... But being only ten what does he really know about love anyway... As he tries to comprehend the world of love... he finds that things don't last forever and experiences the ups and downs of it...

This movie is just so sweet and cute... like I think it will be something really cute for like couples... relates to anyone who has ever had a first love I reckon... or a crush when they were young... and what I liked about the movie was that it was believable... probably just something to watch when you've got the time...

Express Movie Reviews II

2006-10-24T14:55:00.000+10:00

It's been a long time since I reviewed any movies... it's about time I gave some retrospect...

The Illusionist: Eisenheim is a stage magician who amazes the audiences of turn-of-the-century Vienna, drawing the attention of Crown Prince Leopold. When the Prince's intended, Sophie von Teschen, assists the magician onstage, Eisenheim and Sophie recognize each other from their childhoods -- and a dormant love affair is rekindled. As the clandestine romance continues, Chief Inspector Uhl is charged by Leopold to expose Eisenheim, and Eisenheim prepares to execute his greatest illusion yet.
Rating: thumbs up

Barnyard - The Original Party Animals: Down on the farm, the farmer thinks he's in charge, keeping all the animals safe and sound. But when the farmer is out of sight, the lookout sheep shouts "Clear!" and all of the barnyard animals spring up on two legs, walk, talk, watch TV, and orchestrate practical jokes. For Otis the cow that last one is the most important. He and his best friends--Pip the mouse, Freddy the ferret, Peck the rooster, and Pig the pig--are world-class pranksters and always in the mood for a laugh. Otis is in the state of arrested development and quite happy that way. Otis's dad, Ben, is the cow who makes sure the farm is running on all cylinders. Each morning, Ben leads a meeting to take care of farm business and to issue warnings about their common enemy, the coyotes. (It's a position that Ben takes seriously: "As long as I'm still kickin'," he says, "no animal will be harmed inside that fence!") Ben wants Otis to grow up and take responsibility. Much to Ben's chagrin, Otis's main project comes to life every evening. As soon as the Farmer hits lights out, the barn is transformed into Party Central. On this night, there's even a pretty new cow, Daisy--Otis hams it up for her, and she can't help but be attracted to his fun-loving personality. That world is not for Ben. He's outside, guarding the fence and protecting the farm from the coyotes. When Otis explains to Ben that being on watch isn't "his thing." Ben responds: "Otis, a strong man stands up for himself, a stronger man stands up for others." When Ben is no longer able to lead, Otis tries to keep order but the role of leader does not come as naturally for him. Without Ben to keep everyone in line, absolute mayhem breaks loose and it isn't long before the farmer begins to get to the bottom of the animals' secret--and the scheming coyotes begin to think that the farm could be theirs for the taking.
Rating: thumbs up

Beerfest: When American brothers Todd and Jan Wolfhouse travel to Germany to spread their grandfather's ashes at Oktoberfest, they stumble upon a super-secret, centuries old, underground beer games competition--"Beerfest," the secret Olympics of beer drinking. The brothers receive a less than warm welcome from their German cousins, the Von Wolfhausens, who humiliate Todd and Jan, slander their relatives, and finally cast them out of the event. Vowing to return in a year to defend their country and their family's honor, the Wolfhouse boys assemble a ragtag dream team of beer drinkers and gamers: Barry Badrinath, the consummate skills player with a dark past; Phil Krundle (aka Landfill), a one-man chugging machine; and Charlie "Fink" Finklestein, the lab tech with a PhD in 'All Things Beer'. This Magnificent Five train relentlessly, using their hearts, minds and livers to drink faster, smarter and harder than they ever have before. But first they must battle their own demons--as well as a bunch of big, blond, German jerks who want to destroy the team before they can even make it back to Munich.
Rating: so-so

John Tucker Must Die: When three popular girls from different cliques discover they've all been dating the school stud, they band together to seek revenge. Despite the jerk's charm and ever-growing popularity, the girls cleverly scheme with the help of the inconspicuous new girl in town, to soil his reputation and break his heart.
Rating: so-so

Cars: Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters--including Sally, a snazzy 2002 Porsche, Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, and Mater, a rusty but trusty tow truck, who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.
Rating: thumbs up

Step Up: Everyone deserves a chance to follow their dreams, but some people only get one shot. Tyler Gage is a rebel from the wrong side of Baltimore's tracks--and the only thing that stands between him and an unfulfilled life are his dreams of one day making it out of there. Nora is a privileged ballet dancer attending Baltimore's ultra-elite Maryland School of the Arts--and the only thing standing in the way of her obviously brilliant future is finding a great dance partner for her senior showcase. When trouble with the law lands Tyler with a community service gig at Maryland School of the Arts, he arrives as an angry outsider, until his skills as a gifted street dancer draw Nora's attention. Now, as sparks fly between them, both on and off stage, Tyler realizes he has just one performance to prove that he can step up to a life far larger than he ever imagined.
Rating: thumbs up

My Super Ex-Girlfriend: Everyone's had a painful parting of the ways with a romantic partner. We pick up the pieces and move on. But for one New York guy, it's not going to be so easy. When he breaks up with his girlfriend, he discovers his ex is actually the reluctant superhero, G-Girl. A scorned woman, she unleashes her super powers to humiliate and torment him.
Rating: thumbs down

A Prairie Home Companion: After 32 years, Garrison Keillor's radio variety show is coming to an end. Set on a rainy Saturday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, fans file into the Fitzgerald Theater to see "A Prairie Home Companion," a staple of radio station WLT, not knowing that WLT has been sold to a Texas conglomerate and that tonight's show will be the last. Backstage cast and crew assemble for one last hurrah. They include: The Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda, a country duet act that has survived the county-fair circuit; Lola, who gets her big chance to sing on the show and then forgets the words; Guy Noir, a private eye down on his luck who works as a backstage doorkeeper; and Dusty and Lefty, the Old Trailhands, a singing cowboy act.
Rating: two thumbs up

Click: A workaholic architect, who has been overlooking his family in favor of his career, comes across a universal remote that allows him to perform TiVo-like functions on his life, such as pausing events or fast-forwarding over them. When the remote begins creating its own memory and choosing what to fast-forward over, the man sees how much of his personal life has passed him by and realizes the importance of spending more time with his family.
Rating: thumbs up

Scoop: The prominent--and recently belated--U.K. journalist Joe Strombel is being mourned by his fellow colleagues. Meanwhile, even as he's frustratedly stuck in limbo, Joe remains committed to pursuing a hot tip, from beyond, on the identity of "the Tarot Card Killer," who's still at-large in London. But how can his legwork get done now that he's dead--the answer is simple: via the very much alive Sondra Pransky. An American journalism student, Sondra is visiting friends in London. While watching a stage performance by another American, magician Sid Waterman (a.k.a. Splendini), Sondra is shocked to find herself able to see and hear the belated journalist. From beyond, Joe gives her the scoop of a lifetime and urges her to pursue it. Sondra immediately starts chasing the big story, enlisting the aid of a very reluctant Sid. Her chase leads right to a handsome British aristocrat, Peter Lyman, with whom she falls head over heels. Soon, Sondra finds that the romance of her lifetime may very well be the dangerous scoop for which she is in hot pursuit.
Rating: thumbs up

Garfield - A Tail Of Two Kitties: When Garfield follows his owner, Jon Arbuckle, to England, the U.K. may never recover, as Garfield is mistaken for a look-alike, regal cat who has inherited a castle. Garfield savors the royal treatment afforded by his loyal four-legged subjects, but his reign is in jeopardy. The nefarious Lord Dargis is determined to do away with Garfield, so he can turn the castle into a resort. Garfield's bigger, better, more purr-fect world is soon turned upside down.
Rating: so-so

Zoom: A former superhero is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into new heroes at a private academy.
Rating: thumbs down

Thank You For Smoking: Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV talk shows and enlisting a Hollywood super-agent to promote smoking in movies. Nick's newfound notoriety attracts the attention of both tobacco's head honcho and an investigative reporter for an influential Washington daily. Nick says he is just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage, but the increased scrutiny of his son and a very real death threat may force him to think differently.
Rating: two thumbs up

Over The Hedge: Just whose backyard is it, anyway? Spring has sprung, and Verne and his woodland friends awaken from their long winter's nap to discover that a large, green hedge has cropped up right through the middle of their once-natural habitat. Enter RJ, an opportunistic raccoon who explains that the world beyond the hedge is "the gateway to the good life" where peculiar creatures called humans live to eat, rather than eat to live. "For humans," RJ proclaims, "enough is never enough." Suspicious and even a little jealous of the charismatic smooth-talking RJ, the ever cautious Verne wants to keep his blended family safely on their side of the hedge. But, proving the adage that one man's garbage is another man's--or, rather, animal's--treasure, the manipulative RJ has his own reasons for convincing the woodland band that there is little to fear and everything to gain from their over-indulgent new neighbors. Eventually, RJ and Verne form an unlikely friendship as they and their furry friends learn to coexist with--and even exploit--this strange new world called suburbia.
Rating: thumbs up

Nacho Libre: Nacho is a man without skills. After growing up in a Mexican monastery, he is now a grown man and the monastery's cook, but doesn't seem to fit in. Nacho cares deeply for the orphans he feeds, but his food is terrible--mostly, if you ask him, a result of his terrible ingredients. He realizes he must hatch a plan to make money to buy better food for "the young orphans, who have nothing" (and if in doing so Nacho can impress the lovely Sister Encarnacion, that would be a big plus). When Nacho is struck by the idea to earn money as a Lucha Libre wrestler, he finds that he has a natural, raw talent for wrestling. As he teams with his rail-thin, unconventional partner, Esqueleto (the Skeleton), Nacho feels for the first time in his life that he has something to fight for and a place where he belongs. As Lucha is strictly forbidden by the church elders at the monastery, Nacho is forced to lead a double life. Disguised by a sky blue mask, Nacho conceals his true identity as he takes on Mexico's most famous wrestlers and takes on a hilarious quest to make life a little sweeter at the orphanage.
Rating: so-so

The Break-Up: Pushed to the breaking-point after their latest, "why can't you do this one little thing for me?" argument, art dealer Brooke calls it quits with her boyfriend, Gary, who hosts bus tours of Chicago. What follows is a series of remedies, war tactics, overtures and underminings suggested by the former couple's friends, confidantes and the occasional total stranger. When neither ex is willing to move out of the condo they used to share, the only solution is to continue living as hostile roommates until somebody caves. But somewhere between protesting the pool table in the living room, the dirty clothes stacked in the kitchen cupboards and the sports played at sleep-killing volume in the middle of the night, Brooke begins to realize that what she may be really fighting for isn't so much the place but the person.
Rating: so-so

RV: An overworked Bob Munro, his wife Jaime, their 15-year-old daughter Cassie and 12-year-old son Carl are in desperate need of some quality time together. After promising to take them on a family vacation in Hawaii, Bob abruptly changes plans without telling them. Instead of a week in a tropical paradise, they're going on a road trip to Colorado in a recreational vehicle. Dragging his wife and kids kicking and screaming into the RV, Bob's togetherness plan (which is partly a ruse to keep him from losing his job) almost immediately hits a major speed bump. Everything that can go wrong, does. Bob's lame attempts to navigate the unwieldy, oversized vehicle are met with silence and scorn from his resentful family. The RV life is a far cry from their comfortable life in Los Angeles, and every attempt Bob makes to get them into the spirit of the vacation threatens to tear them further apart. At an RV camp, the Munro family is befriended by the Gornicke family--an irritatingly endearing happy-go-lucky clan of full-time RVers. The more they try to elude the Gornickes, the more their paths seem destined to cross. But adversity has a way of uniting even the most dysfunctional family members and each setback the Munros experience inadvertently helps them become a true family again.
Rating: thumbs up

Friends With Money: Tale of four west coast, life-long friends, who have achieved a level of comfort in their lives and have now settled into a life of designer clothes, charity events, and caring for the men (and offspring) in their lives. But as they approach 'a certain age,' unsettling things are starting to throw their comfortable lives off balance.
Rating: thumbs up

Art School Confidential: Talented young artist Jerome Platz escapes from high school to a tiny East Coast art school. Here the boyish freshman's ambition is to become the world's greatest artist, like his hero Picasso. Unfortunately, the beauty and craft of Jerome's portraiture are not appreciated in an anything-goes art class that he finds bewildering and bogus. Neither his harsh judgments of his classmates' efforts or his later attempts to create pseudo-art of his own win him any admirers. But Jerome does attract the attentions of his dream girl--the stunning and sophisticated Audrey--an artist's model and daughter of a celebrated artist. Rejecting the affectations of the local art scene, Audrey is drawn to Jerome's sincerity. When Audrey shifts her attentions to Jonah, a hunky painter who becomes the school's latest art star, Jerome is heartbroken. Desperate, he concocts a risky plan to make a name for himself and win her back.
Rating: so-so

Poseidon: When a rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler Dylan Johns ignores captain's orders to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others, as Dylan is followed by a desperate father searching for his daughter and her fiancee--a young couple who hours before couldn't summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges. Along the way they are joined by a single mother and her wise-beyond-his-years son, an anxious stowaway and a despondent fellow passenger who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn't want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn't even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.
Rating: thumbs up

Goal! The Dream Begins: How far would you go to live your dreams? When Santiago Munez is given the chance of a lifetime, he must leave his family, his life in Los Angeles and everything that he knows to travel halfway around the globe to England and into a completely foreign world--the exciting, fast-paced and glamorous world of international soccer. As an underprivileged Mexican-American immigrant growing up in the poor section of Los Angeles, Santiago seemed destined to follow his father's path in life: laboring at menial jobs to earn just enough money to support his family. Naturally gifted, his amazing talent on the soccer field was wasted in recreation league games while he could only dream of playing on the world stage of professional soccer. But when a British scout discovers his talent and gets him a tryout with one of England's premier soccer clubs, Newcastle United, Santiago must choose between his father's fate and his own destiny. Now alone in a world where soccer is a religion and players are gods, this underdog must prove that he's got the talent and determination to make it amongst the best in the world.
Rating: so-so

Induction - I'm A Rotaractor!

2006-10-23T22:04:00.000+10:00

I was finally inducted into the Rotaract Club last Friday... I am now an ofiicial member... sweet... Anyway the induction dinner was at Medici in New Quay, Docklands... the food wasn't bad... it was $35.00 per head for entree, main, and dessert... it was fun... Yan Ting and Shaza were just crazy!! But it was hilarious... it's too bad Ash missed it... oh well next year!!

Crazy Crazy... Tired Oh So Tired...

2006-10-12T22:28:00.000+10:00

Fiona's Cake (Black Forrest)

Oliver, Johan, Julia, Lili, Taz, and Me

Fiona

Taz, Anna, Kris, Julia, Fiona, Johan, Jun, Jo, Oliver, Me, and Lili

Anna, Taz, and Lili

Kris, Lili, Julia, Johan, and Oliver

Lili, Julia, and Jun

Julia's Cake (Choc Mud Cake)

Julia

Kris and Faisal

This entry has been delayed for soooo long... Ok collectively it's both Fiona and Julia's birthday but we went out to celerate Fiona's birthday on 7th October, Saturday which was her actual birthday... it started at home when we surprised her... okay well not really surprised because she kinda walked in without us knowing and totally spoiled it... but we were preparing for her to cut her cake... After dinner we went to 3 degrees in QV for drinks but it closes pretty early so we headed off to flinders lane where we wanted to go to 6 links but they were closed as well... so we just stopped by some random club which was really really small and had loads of really weird people... then we decided to head off to Seven... amazingly... Seven was TOTALLY empty when we got there... which is really weird because it is usually quite packed... and I have to say I was rather dissapointed because the DJ sucked... it wasn't long before we went back home... we got back at around 3 something... And because I had volunteered to help out the Melbourne Marathon with the Rotaract Club and we had to be there by 7 but I had to meet my group members at 6.30... I decided I might as well stay awake because if I slept I wouldn't be able to get up... So I stayed awake...

Sunday was a torture... we were made road marshallss which meant we were each stationed at certain junctions in the road to redirect traffic... which meant we had to deal with angry motorists... and what was worst was that we had to stand there from 7am to 1pm and it was really windy especially since I was stationed in the middle of an alley... the wind was extra strong and it was freezing... It was just all bad...

Anyway... we went out o the 10th, Tuesday to celebrate Julia's birthday which was on the 11th... Had dinner on Lygon and then went back home to cut the cake... I'm so broke now... spending so much money on this two occasions...

Leonardo Da Vinci's Inventions & Innovations Exhibition

2006-10-04T03:26:00.000+10:00

Parachute

Tank

Extendable ladder

Can't remeber what this one is but I think it crushes other ships

Basically a killing machine

Trebuchet

Fi & I

Last Saturday, Fiona, Jun & I went to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at Docklands... I've been wanting to go for it for a long time and finally there were people who wanted to go as well... So anyway yeah it was basicallt reconstruction of his inventions and innovations based on his notes... It was pretty interesting... he really is a smart man... and there were some inventions that started as an experiment but turned out to be pretty useful... It's pretty awesome... And yeah it's a pretty nice picture of the blue blue sky with us wearing blue shirts... Jun took the picture because he thought it would turn out cool... and it's pretty cool indeed... Sunday October 1st was the last day of the exhibition...

Evermore Rocks!!!

2006-09-30T18:08:00.000+10:00

Ever heard of Evermore? No?! Well you are totally missing out... They are BLOODY AWESOME!!! Evermore are Jon, Peter and Dann Hume from New Zealand, Jon was born in Australia though and are now based in Sydney, Australia. Their first album was Dreams which as pretty good but I love Love LOVE their new album Real Life... First single from the album is Running, and second single is Light Surrounding You which I'm just obsessed with now... and I've attached the videos at the bottom... I went for their live show yesterday night... AWESOME!!! They are soooo good... oh man... they are sooooo good live... great songs... great musicians... great showmanship!! I love them even more now... More info at their official website: http://www.evermoreband.com or their myspace account: http://www.myspace.com/evermore

Badminton = Sore

2006-09-25T00:34:00.000+10:00

I'm so sore now... my legs are in pain and my back is just well aching like crazy... probably didn't help that I went out clubbing the night before and then only had like 5 hours of sleep and then walked in the rain... mind you it was NOT JUST rain but also it was freezing and my arms were exposed to the rain because I never wear anything with long sleeves... which means my arms were pretty much in pins and needles when I got to the court... good thing I had a little time to rest as I decided to sit out the training session... But I have to say I had loads of fun... definitely want to go again... It's totally better then going to the gym which is soooooo boring... So anyone game?

Unproductive... So Unproductive...

2006-09-21T22:27:00.000+10:00

Okay so I've planned my holidays before they started but now that they are here... my plans are pretty much no where near what I planned... which was supposed to be mostly studying and starting/completing my assignments but no... After that after-party "disaster"... well my biological clock has pretty much went all WRONG... and I've been waking up really really late... oh wait I forgot to mention that after I came back from the after-party... I ended up staying awake to talk to Lili, Zoe, and Kris... and we just ended up talking till it was like 5 something in the morning... and I only went to bed at like 8 am... so yeah... totally screwed... yeah so I'm yet to start on anything... oh but I have done a little OB... since I'm such an OB buff...

I-Ball After-Party

2006-09-19T06:28:00.000+10:00

The International Commerce Students Society and International Engineering Students Society had their I-Ball yesterday and being the not so enthusiastic person that I am... I only went for the after-party... mainly because I haven't been out for soooo long... and hey I have to support my friends... whom make up most of the board... Anyway yeah the after-party was held in Velour in Flinders Lane between Russell and Exhibition Street... the place was actually pretty small but nice... drinks were pretty normally priced which means expensive... but it was just good to be out after such a long time... would have been better if the people I knew weren't all over the place though... oh well...

Seoul Restaurant

2006-09-17T02:51:00.000+10:00

This week on our saturday outing we decided to try some Korean food... and so Lili told us that her Korean friend said that Seoul Restaurant on 369 Little Bourke Street was good... so we decided to go there... I had the spicy pork bulgolgi which is spicy pork cook on a hot plate aka Korean BBQ... And of course it came with rice and a bunch of side dishes which one included kimchi which for those of you who don't know is slightly spicy preserved fermented vegetables... a must for all Korean meals... I loved my meal... it was good... the pork was really tender... only thing was the price for the food was a little pricy... but we do get a rather large proportion... so it's pretty much a trade off... And when we were there it seemed like most of the customers were Koreans so the food must be really authentic... So I recommend the place...

Italian Pastry... Oh So Good!!

2006-09-10T20:50:00.000+10:00

Okay so Julia, Lili and I went on another one of our Saturday outings... I love 'em... and we went to Crown for lunch... nothing big just ate at the food court... what we actually wanted to get from Crown was some delicious Italian pastry and Julia wanted to go to Prada to look at the bags... After we had lunch we headed to Cafe Greco which is also in Crown and let me just tell you... all the pastry are displayed at the entrance and when you walk through it's just like woooahhh... It took me like 10 minutes just to decide what I wanted to get... ended up getting chocolate tiramisu... Oh so good man!!! Oh so good... seriously if you wanted to get Italian pastries go to afe Greco... Brunetti's is good but Greco is better!! Well unless you have a sweet sweet tooth... because Brunetti's stuff are much sweeter... So yeah go try it...

A Deadly Week...

2006-09-08T15:44:00.000+10:00

First it was Steve Irwin aka the crocodile hunter... and now Peter Brock the Australian motorracing legend has died but to an accident during a WA race... It was definitely a big big shock for everyone to hear that Steve Irwin was dead... when I first heard I was initially quite confused as to who was Steve Irwin and then it hit me... the croc guy!! "Crikey"!! It's just not a good week for anyone to be going dangerous stuff... so people lay off sky diving or hang-gliding or anything like that for awhile...

Refugee Luncheon/Dinner

2006-09-02T00:03:00.000+10:00

The Rotaract Club of Carlton has a weekly community service project of collecting bread from a bakery and delivering it to a nearby church every Thursday... the bread will be distributed the next day to refugees who go to the church for legal advice etc as well as just to mingle with other people... So anyway today the held a special luncheon/dinner to say goodbye to the founder of the mission who was leaving to teach English in Malaysia... so we helped out by making some food for them... We made sweet and sour chicken and stir-fried vegetables...It was fun making the food... I have to say it turned out pretty well... the chicken smelt sooo good... however I think we made too much food...

And Then There Were Eight...

2006-09-01T01:28:00.000+10:00

Okay so you know how we've always been told that there are 9 planets in our solar system... Well now it's not so true anymore... There are now 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and 3 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Xena (large enough to be round, but which have not "cleared their neighbourhood" of other potential planets)... I think it's great that they made these new discoveries... but I mean how confusing are these "dwarf planets"... Oi... Anway all "planets" in order of distance from the sun... Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Xena... Anyway it's a whole long stroy how they decided to set it up that way...

Winter Sleepout 2006

2006-08-27T08:23:00.000+10:00

The winter sleepout is basically a charity event held to raise funds for Melbourne Citmission to help the homeless and to raise awareness of homelessness... The sleepout I went for is held by the Rotaract Club of Carlton (University of Melbourne)... Ok first I should explain that we didn't actually sleep outdoors... just in like a hall... I was quite shattered when I realised we would be sleeping outside... but I guess it's the logical thing to do in Melbourne especially in the winter... Anyway so we gathered at a hall in College Square last night... had a feast... played some games... one of which was dog and the bone... which is basically a game where you have to run and grab a item placed in the centre of the room and get it back to your group and for some reason the girl kept calling my number so I had to keep running around... It was so painful especially since I was running barefooted on wooden floor... ouch... then we watched two movies and finally went to sleep... We started off with maybe about 20 or so people and as the night went on... There were less and less people around because everyone had assignments due soon and by the time I woke up the next morning... there were only 6 of us left... well 7 if you count Ash who woke up at 6 and went back to her room... she lives in College Square... but she came back down to help clean up... My neck is kinda aching right now... Man sleeping on the ground is just so bad for the back... I had to keep rotating positions to lessen the pain... But all-in-all it was fun... for a good cause... enjoyed the company... had a good time...

I Need A Break...

2006-08-24T00:41:00.001+10:00

I've been working hard on assignments and even tutorial work so far... and I have to say... I'm sooo tired... It's mad... I've got loads of assignments this semester because I don't have any tests and also tutorials are assessed... I really need a break but spring break is not in another month... Oi!!! Who here is overworked raise your hand...

Guys & Dolls

2006-08-20T00:57:00.000+10:00

So I went to see the musical Guys & Dolls by the Whitley Annual Residential Theatrical Society... The production is basically at the level of my high school English Literary & Debating Society's annual Literary Night production except that well we were an all-girls school... And well... Lit Nite was way better... was... it ended the year after mine... and also... the people who played two of the main characters Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown were terrible... well Sky was still rather tolerable... but the girl... man oh man she couldn't sing at all... note a single note... But overall it was at least funny... and the guy who played Nathan Detroit was good... At least I got to see some version of it...

Cena Española

2006-08-06T01:02:00.000+10:00

Julia checking on the rice

Me making sure everything is ok

Taz & I

Me & Julia

Lili, Me, Julia & Taz (The Cooking Club)

Tortilla de huevos de la patata

Pollo de carnes asadas del estragón

Vehículos de las carnes asadas

Arroz Español

Placa de cena

The idea of having a themed dinner came from Julia I think but Lili and I were definitely along with the plan and Taz joined in later... and our first theme was Spanish... At first the idea was to have a three course meal but we decided to start out small so we went with 3 dish meal instead... We had Spanish rice, Tarragon roast chicken and vegetables, and potato omelette... I have to say it turned out fantastic... but then again it wasn't that difficult really... and it was fun... everyone enjoyed it... Next up... Roll your own sushi...

Planting... I Hope The Plants Survive...

2006-07-31T01:06:00.000+10:00

Okay so I wasn't sure that I would actually enjoy it but I have to say that it was quite fun planting shrubberies and grass in Burnley Park today... All thanks to Ash who had decided to join the local Rotaract Club and has invited me to join her... and I think I will indeed... I forgot how much fun it was to do these weird community service things... It was really easy stuff... just had to get the little plants out of their plastic cases and plant them... the holes were already dug so it was a piece of cake... took us less than an our to finish... But of course it wasn't just us there were like some other random people... in total maybe about 30 or so... including little kids... After that I just pretty much studied... My eyes are so freaking tired now... I do hope that the plants survived... I mean they were rather flimsy and some of the plants were already dying... should be fine though... Hope there are much more project to come...

Picasso At The NGV

2006-07-31T00:34:00.000+10:00

Entering

Exiting

The National Gallery of Victoria is currently showcasing a Picasso collection "Picasso: Love & War (135-1945) which basically explores the personal and artistic relationship between Pablo Picasso and hislover of those years, Dora Maar... Over 300 works from both Picasso and Maar are being displayed from 30 June - 8 October 2006... I for one have never been a Picasso fan mainly because I'm not a fan of abstract-ish art... but I have to say... it was good... interesting... the art was very intense in a sense that it was basically as emotionally disturbed as the war that was breaking out at the time, which he was caught in... Admissions are $20 adult, $16 concession, and there are other events going on as well...

There is also a really great exhibition of Rembrandt's prints and drawings... now this collection I LOVE!!! I absolutely love Rembrandt, even though he has recently been claimed to be narcissistic by critics... he's so brilliant... The exhibition will go through till 24 September 2006... admission is free...

A Change...

2006-07-26T23:31:00.000+10:00

Well it's half past the first week of semester two... I'm actually really happy to be back in uni... I don't know how to describe it but I can feel something very different about myself... And as for those who don't already know... I have discontinued my double degree in engineering (civil)/commerce and I'm just doing commerce now... Okay if you are shocked and you think that I have always like civil and like it more than commerce... it seems not... Anyway I know that I'm making the right decision because I'm very happy... so don't worry... and besides I really couldn't handle doing both together... It's all good... I just have to decide now whether to do Introductory Econometrics or Quantitative Methods II... That is why I'm going to tomorrow's QM2 lecture to find out what it's like... Wish me luck...

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

2006-07-20T01:35:00.000+10:00

After Captain Jack Sparrow escaped from the grasp of the the British Navy... he is off to find another "treasure" which begins with finding a key... On the other hand Will and Elizabeth are charged with helping a wanted man (Jack) escape and are to be sentenced to death... However Lord Beckett (the new human bad guy) strikes a deal with Will for him to get something that he wants from Captain Sparrow in exchange for their pardon... So Will goes off to find Jack... when he does he finds himself lured into Jack's new misadventure and is captured by the crew of Davy Jones... Meanwhile Elizabeth manages to strike a new deal with Lord Beckett and goes off to find Will... She then finds herself in Tortuga where she meets up with her ex-fiancee the ex-Commador, Mr. Norrington, and they both join up with Jack Sparrow... On Davy Jone's ship Will is rejoined with his father who had traded his life to serve Davy Jones... Together they manage to find the key that Jack was looking for and Will escapes... Jack and crew sail to find the Dead Man's Chest which the key opens... They all are reunited there but all have different agendas and they start battling for the chest... In the end by some trickery Mr. Norrington manages to escape with it... Davy Jones manages to get his revenge on Jack Sparrow... and Will, Elizabeth and what's left of Jack's crew decide to sail to "the end of the earth and beyond" to save Jack with the help of someone from the past...

Loved the second instalment as well and I just can't wait for the third... characters from the first and second will come back and Chow Yun Fatt will come into the story as a pirate Captain...

HCS: Battle At Chibi

2006-07-18T17:56:00.000+10:00

Continued...

On the Yangtze River (Changjiang), Cao Cao's fleets of fightingboats were tied together with iron chains into a big steady square formation. Flags were flying proudly. On the highest flag in the middle of the square was the big character: "Commander-in-Chief". Cao Cao was treating his generals to a big banquet on his flagship. It was the 15th day of the 11th lunar month of AD208. The moon shone brightly on the tranquil river. Cao Cao was proud about his mighty army, which was ready for battle. He felt even happier when he recalled how easily he had obtained Jingzhou and that this region known as the land of rice and fish was soon to fall into his hand with the help of Huang Gai, the general who had secretly defected to his side. On the other side of the river, Huang Gai had prepared 10 boats filled with dry firewood and fuel. His soldier sprinkled sulphur and oil on the stuff, which was the covered with cloth. A smaller boat was tied behind each fuel-carrier boat for the soldiers to escape once they had lighted the fire. It was midwinter. The sharp north-west wind blew from the Cao camp to the Wu camp. Thinking that the plan mighgt fail, Zhou Yu coughed up blood and fainted. The next day, Zhuge Liang visited Zhou Yu and passed him a note which said: "Fire is the best weapon to destroy Cao Cao. Everything is ready except the east wind." Taken aback, Zhou Yu asked for help. Zhuge Liang told him that was the time when the weather changed frequently because the cold air currents often met the warm. That was why people dubbed this time of the year "a second spring". Zhuge Liang also said a warm current, accompanied by south-east wind, was to ome that midnight. Zhou Yu jumped from his sick bed and ordered his soldiers to get ready to fight. At midnight, there blew a strong south-west wind, bringing Huang Gai's 10 boats to the camp. Cao Cao was standing on his flagship and saw under the bright moonlight the flag with haraters "Vanguard Huang Gai" waving against the wind. His soldiers shouted: "Huang Gai is crossing over to your side!" Cao Cao laughed and said: "Thank goodness. That's wonderful!" Cao Cao's soldiersall came out of their camps to watch what was happening. They were shocked when Huang Gai's boats suddenly burst into fire about 1km away from Cao Cao's fleets. The burning boats slammed into the Cao fleets and camp. In a moment, all of Cao Cao's boats were swallowed in fire. Even the camps on the north bank of the river were burnt. Amid the big fire and smoke same the cries and screams of the soldiers. Soldiers and horses were either burnt to death or drowned. In a moment, more than 100 000 people had died. Cao Cao, unable to control the situation, fled in a hurry while Zhou Yu's army charged against those who were left behind. This battle led the the emergence of the Three Kingdoms.

HCS: "All's Fair In Love & War"

2006-07-17T16:27:00.000+10:00

As revenge for what Zhuge Liang did to Cao Cao, someone suggested to him that he should send two officers disguised as defectors to Zhou Yu. To make the defection more believable, they should bring 500 soldiers with them. "In was, nothing is too deeitful." As a man who knew by heart The Art of War, written by the famous war strategist Sun Zi, Cao Cao was certainly very good at using tricks. Zhou Yu, however, was not easily taken in. He kept the "defectors" in his camp and ordered that they be closely watched. He wanted to use them to send back false information. Meanwhile, in his own camp, Cao Cao was confronted with some serious trouble. Most of his soldiers were northerners who by the great waves of the Yangtze River and the soldiers vomited so violently that they became sick one after another. Cao Cao was very worried. Then someone offered him another suggestion: Why not tie the boats together with iron chains so that they would be steady? Cao Cao thought the idea was very good and took immediate action. When an old general of Wu, Huang Gai, saw that all of Cao Cao's boats were tied together, he at once offered a strategy to Zhou Yuto beat Cao Cao - burn the Cao camp. But in order for the plan to work they needed someone to infiltrate the camp. Huang Gai wrote a letter to Cao Cao and pretended that he wanted to defect to the Wei camp. He wrote: "I want to join you and will fight in the vanguard for you when the battle begins. I'll be your agent. In this way, you'll surely win the battle." Zhou Yu and Huang Gai were still not sure if Cao Cao would believe this letter, so they arranged a show. First of all, Huang Gai critised Zhou Yu's war plans at the military conference and openly argued for surrender. Zhou Yu, pretending to be furious, shouted: "Drag him down and give him 100 strokes of cane!" Those who were at the meeting all pleaded for Huang Gai. Zhou Yu kicked the table over and said: "All right. Save 50 strokes till I beat Cao Cao!" The generals pulled Huang Gai up, for he had fainted. He had been stripped of his clothes and was bleeding all over. Cao Cao's two officers immediately sent this information back. Soon afterwards, Cao Cao received the letter from Huang Gai. But in the letter, there was no mention of the humiliating scene. Cao Cao thought: "My army is 10 times stronger than the united army of Wu and Shu. It is only natural that some of them should give up resisting." So he did not have the least doubt about the truth of Huang's defection. Then came the eve of the great battle...

To be continued...

HCS: Zhuge Liang's Ingenious Strategy

2006-07-17T00:19:00.000+10:00

Since I have nothing to blog about... I have decided to include some random stories from Chinese history... *HCS: Historical Chinese Story

General Zhou Yu, also known as Zhou Gongjin, was 1.8m tall, handsome and elegant. His wife, Xiao Qiao, was the younger of the two Qiao sisters, who were well known for their beauty. The couple - an intellegent man and a beautiful woman - were regarded as the model of perfet marriage. When Zhou Yu was 34 in Ad208, he was enraged to hear Zhuge Liang, special envoy from the kingdom of Shu, suggest that he should hand over his beloved wife to Cao Cao, the chief of the Wei kingdom. Zhou Yu was jealous of Zhuge Liang, who was seven years younger but who was so intellegent and well informed that he seemed to know everything. He seized this opportunity to try and get rid of him.

"I will fight against Cao Cao, who claims to be acting under the orders of the emperor. He is also most powerful now as he has recently gained Jingzhou. What weapons should we use against Cao Cao on the great Yangtze River, sir?" Zhou Yu asked.

"As we are going to fight on boats, I think bows and arrows are the best weapons."

Zhou Yu was secretly pleased when he heard that remark. Then he said: "That's right. I think so, too. Unfortunately, we don't have enough arrows. Could you please see to the matter, Sir? I hope you won't refuse."

"How many arrows do you need, general? And when?"

"Will 10 days be enough to make a hundred thousand arrows?" Zhou Yu asked.

"Cao Cao's army is approaching rapidly and will soon be here. I'm afraid we cannot wait that long."

"Then how many days do you suggest?" Zhou Yu asked, feeling even more pleased.

"Three days," Zhuge Liang said.

"Are you joking? If you can't hand over the arrows in three days, there will be severe punishment for you. You'll be beheaded," Zhou Yu said.

Surprisingly, Zhuge Liang did not seem to care. He said: "Sure, sure. Please send 500 soldiers to the river side three days from now to fetch the arrows."

Zhou Yu thought: "This is not my fault. It is you who seek death for yourself."

He immediately ordered brush and ink and wrote the contract. Both sides of the boats were tied sheaves and sheaves of straw which were overed by cloth. The boats were manned by 20 good sailors.

The third day came when Zhuge Liang was due to hand over the arrows. There was a thick fog that morning. At four o'clock, Zhuge Liang ordered that the boats be paddled across the river to the opposite side of Cao Cao's army camp. Then he ordered the soldiers to beat the drums and raised a loud battle cry at the enemy.

Cao Cao woke up with a start. The sky was still dark. There was heavy fog on the river. He was afraid that there might be an ambush, so he did not dare approach the invading boats. Instead, he ordered 10 000 soldiers to shoot arrows at them.

In a while, the sheaves of straw on one side of the boats were covered with arrows. Zhuge Liang then told the sailors to turn the boats around so that the arrow-overed sides faced their own camp. The other side was soon covered with arrows too.

Day broke. Zhuge Liang gave the orders and the soldiers on the 20 boats shouted together: "Thank you for your arrows, Prime Minister Cao!" Then they hurried back to their own camp. The 500 soldiers sent by Zhou Yu took down the arrows and put them in the storehouse. There were more than a hundred thousand of them. In fact, Zhuge Liang had predicted three days earlier that there would be heavy fog that morning. This made Zhou Yu admire him all the more but it also made him even more jealous. Meanwhile, Cao Cao was very depressed at having lost the arrows. He felt he had been fooled. Someone suggested a plan for revenge...

To be continued...

Superman Returns

2006-07-15T23:38:00.000+10:00

I totally forgot to write one for this... Anyway it's the long awaited return of the world's most popular superhero... Superman... So anyway what happens is that Superman returns from isolation to the suprise of everyone... and Clark returns to work where no one thinks it's odd that he returns at the same time as Superman... Anyway he finds out that Lois is engaged Richard nephew of Perry White the editor of The Daily Planet and she also has a son Jason, who takes after her... Meanwhile Lex Luthor has devised a plan to defeat Superman for good... However being gone for six years, everyone in Metropolis has learned to live without Superman, including Lois... Never the less when it came to Lois and Jason being kidnapped by Lex, Superman comes to the rescue... it seems that being out of action for six years has caused Superman to become quite rusty... and has a hard time defeating Lex... But as we all know Superman always triumphs...

New comer Brandon Routh does quite a good job as Superman... but Kate Bosworth was not very convincing as Lois... or maybe after Superman left Lois was never the same... Overall it's a good comeback for Superman...

World Cup 2006: The Awards

2006-07-11T13:58:00.000+10:00

adidas Golden Ball
(Given to the tournament's most outstanding player, voted by journalists at the world cup)

Golden Ball: ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA)

Silver Ball: CANNAVARO Fabio (ITA)

Bronze Ball: PIRLO Andrea (ITA)

adidas Golden Shoe
(Given to the top scorer in the world cup)
KLOSE Miroslav (GER) - 5 goals

Lev Yashin Award
(Given to the best goalkeeper in the world cup)
BUFFON Gianluigi (ITA) - conceeded 2 goals

Gillette Best Young Player
(Given to the young player, 21 years or younger, who made the biggest impact in the world cup)
PODOLSKI Lukas (GER)

FIFA Fair Play Award
(Given to the team with the best record of Fair Play, sportsmanship and good conduct both on and off the pitch, according to a points system and criteria established by the FIFA Committee for Ethics and Fair Play, teams must pass the group stage)
Brasil and España

The Most Entertaining Team presented by Yahoo!
(Decided by fans on the website)
Portugal

Mastercard All Star Team
(23 most impressive players in the world cup)

Goalkeepers: BUFFON Gianluigi (ITA), LEHMANN Jens (GER), RICARDO (POR)

Defenders: AYALA Roberto (ARG), TERRY John (ENG), THURAM Lilian (FRA), LAHM Philipp (GER), CANNAVARO Fabio (ITA), ZAMBROTTA Gianluca (ITA), RICARDO CARVALHO (POR)

Midfielders: ZE ROBERTO (BRA), VIERA Patrick (FRA), ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA), BALLACK Michael (GER), PIRLO Andrea (ITA), GATTUSO Gennaro (ITA), TOTTI Francesco (ITA), LUIS FIGO (POR), MANICHE (POR)

Forwards: CRESPO Hernan (ARG), HENRY Thierry (FRA), KLOSE Miroslav (GER), TONI Luca (ITA)

World Cup 2006: Final - L'Italia è Campioni

2006-07-10T22:05:00.000+10:00

Italia 1:1 France (a.e.t.) (5:3 PSO)
ITA: MATERAZZI Marco (19')
FRA: ZIDANE Zinedine (7' p)

Penalty Shoot-Out
PIRLO Andrea (ITA, goal, 1:0), WILTORD Sylvain (FRA, goal, 1:1), MATERAZZI Marco (ITA, goal, 2:1), TREZEGUET David (FRA, crossbar, 2:1), DE ROSSI Daniele (ITA, goal, 3:1), ABIDAL Eric (FRA, goal, 3:2), DEL PIERO Alessandro (ITA, goal, 4:2), SAGNOL Willy (FRA, goal, 4:3), GROSSO Fabio (ITA, goal, 5:3)

Italia (ITA)
[1] BUFFON Gianluigi (GK)
[3] GROSSO Fabio
[5] CANNAVARO Fabio (C)
[8] GATTUSO Gennaro
[9] TONI Luca
[10] TOTTI Francesco (-61')
[16] CAMORANESI Mauro (-86')
[19] ZAMBROTTA Gianluca
[20] PERROTTA Simone (-61')
[21] PIRLO Andrea
[23] MATERAZZI Marco
[4] DE ROSSI Daniele (+61')
[7] DEL PIERO Alessandro (+86')
[15] IAQUINTA Vincenzo (+61')
Coach: LIPPI Marcello

France (FRA)
[16] BARTHEZ Fabien (GK)
[3] ABIDAL Eric
[4] VIERA Patrick (-56')
[5] GALLAS William
[6] MAKELELE Claude
[7] MALOUDA Florent
[10] ZIDANE Zinedine (C)
[12] HENRY Thierry (-107')
[15] THURAM Lilian
[19] SAGNOL Willy
[22] RIBERY Frank (-100')
[11] WILTORD Sylvain (+107')
[18] DIARRA Alou (+56')
[20] TREZEGUET David (+100')
Coach: DOMENECH Raymond

Cautions
ZAMBROTTA Gianluca (ITA) 5', SAGNOL Willy (FRA) 12', MAKELELE Claude (FRA) 76', MALOUDA Florent (FRA) 111'

Expulsions
ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA) 110'

World Cup 2006: Third Place Playoff

2006-07-09T13:41:00.000+10:00

Deutschland 3:1 Portugal
GER: SHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (56', 78'), PETIT (60' og)
POR: NUNO GOMES (88')

Deutschland (GER)
[12] KAHN Oliver (GK) (C)
[2] JANSEN Marcell
[5] KEHL Sebastian
[6] NOWOTNY Jens
[7] SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (-79')
[8] FRINGS Torsten
[11] KLOSE Miroslav (-65')
[16] LAHM Philipp
[19] SCHNEIDER Bernd
[20] PODOLSKI Lukas (-71')
[21] METZELDER Christoph
[9] HANKE Mike (+71')
[10] NEUVILLE Oliver (+65')
[15] HITZLSPERGER Thomas (+79')
Coach: KLINSMANN Juergen

Portugal (POR)
[1] RICARDO
[2] PAULO FERREIRA
[4] RICARDO COSTA
[5] FERNANDO MEIRA
[6] COSTINHA (-46')
[9] PAULETA (C) (-77')
[11] SIMAO SABROSA
[14] NUNO VALENTE (-69')
[17] CRISTIANO RONALDO
[18] MANICHE
[20] DEO
[7] LUIS FIGO (+77')
[8] PETIT (+46')
[21] NUNO GOMES (+69')
Coach: SCOLARI Luiz Felipe

Cautions
FRINGS Torsten (GER) 7', RICARDO COSTA (POR) 24', COSTINHA (POR) 33', PAULO FERREIRA (POR) 60', SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (GER) 78'

The Devil Wears Prada

2006-07-09T03:59:00.000+10:00

Book: I L-O-V-E LOOOOOOVVEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Movie: Good... I enjoyed...

So anyway The Devil Wears Prada if you don't already know... is about a young journalist, Andrea aka Andy, who just graduated and is looking for a job in the bustling city of New York... however because she had no experience... the newspapers did not want to hire her so she decides to apply for an assistant job in the most popular fashion magazine ever "Runway"... by some miracle she ends up getting the job as Miranda Priestly's second personal assistant aka the job a million girls would die for... however it turns out that Miranda is a psycho bitch who only cares about her own needs and since everyone worships her she can in fact do whatever she wants... At first Andy finds it hard to cope with the crazy demands of her boss and nearly gives up... but she realises that by working for Miranda for a year... she can get a job in any publication she wants... so she sticks it out and actually begins to be really good at her job... However she slowly becomes obssessed with her job so much that she starts to neglect her boyfriend, friends and family... But in the end when Miranda points out that she sees a lot of herself in Andy... Andy realises how awful she's been and quits... From then she actually manages to get the job that she wants... and even though the fashion industry aka Miranda does not want to admit it... it has obviously been very much impressed and moved by the oddball that is Andrea... Starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep...

Read the book... Watch the movie and then read the book again... At first I thought Meryl Streep was a rather odd person to play Miranda but she was absolutely fabulous!!!! I didn't imagine Anne Hathaway as Andy either but she did a good job as well... It's good... trust me... go watch it... but most importantly read the book... written by Lauren Weisberger... she also has a second book out Everyone Worth Knowing which is quite good as well...

My World Cup Team

2006-07-06T19:42:00.000+10:00

Starting 11

Substitutes

Formation: 3-4D-3

[1] BUFFON Gianluigi (ITA): Undoubtedly the best goalkeeper at the moment. Reliable and has impeccable reflexes.

Date of birth: 28 January 1978

Height: 190 cm

Weight: 83 kg

Position: Goalkeeper

Current Club: Juventus (ITA)

Int'l Caps: 66 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Russia v. Italy (29-Oct-1997)

[2] THURAM Lilian (FRA): A formidable character in any team. Experienced and has given rock-solid performances throughout his career. Despite his age, he is still quick on his feet.

Date of birth: 1 January 1972

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 80 kg

Position: Defender

Current Club: Juventus (ITA)

Int'l Goals: 2 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 120 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: France v. Czech Republic (17-Aug-1994)

[3] CANNAVARO Fabio (ITA): In excellent form throughout the tournament. Rarely makes mistakes and has great power.

Date of birth: 13 September 1973

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 72 kg

Position: Defender

Current Club: Juventus (ITA)

Int'l Goals: 1 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 99 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Italy v. Northern Ireland (22-Jan-1997)

[4] LAHM Philipp (GER): What he lacks in height, he makes up in speed. Loves to move forward through the left flank to set up opportunities for the forwards.

Date of birth: 11 November 1983

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Position: Defender

Current Club: Bayern Munich (GER)

Int'l Goals: 2 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 24 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Croatia v. Germany (18-Feb-2004)

[5] GERRARD Steven (ENG): The hardest working player you can find. Plays in defensive midfield and helps the defence out when needed, with excellent tackling skills. Has a relatively good long-range shot and good passing skills.

Date of birth: 30 May 1980

Height: 188 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: Liverpool (ENG)

Int'l Goals: 9 (as of 1-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 47 (as of 1-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: England v Ukraine (31-May-2000)

[6] RIBERY Frank (FRA): Fast, tricky and talented. Has built quite a reputation during the tournament.

Date of birth: 7 April 1983

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 72 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: Marseille (FRA)

Int'l Goals: 1 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 9 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: France v. Mexico (27-May-2006)

[7] ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA): Has been inspirational throught the tournament even at his age. Works wonders with the ball. My choice for captain.

Date of birth: 23 June 1972

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: Real Madrid (ESP)

Int'l Goals: 30 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 107 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: France v. Czech Republic (17-Aug-1994)

[8] KAKA (BRA): Has excellent ball skills and good stamina. An aggressive attacking midfielder who strikes the ball well.

Date of birth: 22 April 1982

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 73 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: AC Milan (ITA)

Int'l Goals: 14 (as of 1-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 43 (as of 1-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Brazil v. Bolivia (31-Jan-2002)

[9] KLOSE Miroslav (GER): In the running for the golden shoe in this world cup. This quiet striker has good aerial ability and is not too proud to pass the ball. Often creates chances for other players to score. A true team player.

Date of birth: 9 June 1978

Height: 182 cm

Weight: 74 kg

Position: Forward

Current Club: Werder Bremen (GER)

Int'l Goals: 29 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 61 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Germany v. Albania (24-Mar-2001)

[10] PODOLSKI Lukas (GER): Young and talented. Has good vision, great speed and never too tired to chase the ball.

Date of birth: 4 June 1985

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 81 kg

Position: Forward

Current Club: FC Cologne (GER)

Int'l Goals: 15 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 31 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Germany v. Hungary (6-Jun-2004)

[11] VILLA David (ESP): Has good work ethic often drifting back to midfield to help the flow of the game and creates chances. Passes the ball well but also has the speed to run the flanks.

Date of birth: 3 December 1981

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Position: Forward

Current Club: Valencia (ESP)

Int'l Goals: 5 (as of 27-Jun-2006)

Int'l Caps: 12 (as of 27-Jun-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Spain v. San Marino (9-Feb-2005)

[12] CASILLAS Iker (ESP): Has good reflexes and agility. He is focused, fearless and cool under pressure especially in one-on-one situations.

Date of birth: 20 May 1981

Height: 184 cm

Weight: 80 kg

Position: Goalkeeper

Current Club: Real Madrid (ESP)

Int'l Caps: 61 (as of 27-Jun-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Sweden v. Spain (3-Jun-2000)

[13] FRIEDRICH Arne (GER): A very quiet player but is a dedicated defender. Every team has a surprise inclusion, this is mine.

Date of birth: 29 May 1979

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Position: Defender

Current Club: Hertha Berlin (GER)

Int'l Caps: 42 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Bulgaria v. Germany (21-Aug-2002)

[14] GROSSO Fabio (ITA): Lacks a bit of speed but has great strength and good instincts. Doubles as a midfielder he knows how to work the ball well.

Date of birth: 28 November 1977

Height: 190 cm

Weight: 82 kg

Position: Defender

Current Club: Palermo (ITA)

Int'l Goals: 2 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 22 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Switzerland v. Italy (30-Apr-2003)

[15] PIRLO Andrea (ITA): Passes the ball with accuracy but also comfortable in a defensive role. Works the midfield well.

Date of birth: 19 May 1979

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 65 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: AC Milan (ITA)

Int'l Goals: 5 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 30 (as of 4-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Azerbaijan v. Italy (7-Sep-2002)

[16] KALLSTROM Kim (SWE): A fast and mobile midfielder with good tactical awareness. A playmaker who has the ability to impose great influence on a match when required.

Date of birth: 24 August 1982

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 79 kg

Position: Midfielder

Current Club: Rennes (FRA)

Int'l Goals: 4 (as of 24-Jun-2006)

Int'l Caps: 38 (as of 24-Jun-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Sweden v. Finland (1-Feb-2001)

[17] HENRY Thierry (FRA): One of the most talented strikers in the world. However his spell in this world cup could have been better.

Date of birth: 17 August 1977

Height: 188 cm

Weight: 83 kg

Position: Forward

Current Club: Arsenal (ENG)

Int'l Goals: 36 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

Int'l Caps: 84 (as of 5-Jul-2006)

First Int'l Cap: France v. South Africa (11-Oct-1997)

[18] TORRES Fernando (ESP): Has the quality of a star in the making. Has great speed, controls the ball well and has an eye for the goal. A modern striker who chases the ball.

Date of birth: 20 March 1984

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Position: Forward

Current Club: Atletico Madrid (ESP)

Int'l Goals: 13 (as of 27-Jun-2006)

Int'l Caps: 34 (as of 27-Jun-2006)

First Int'l Cap: Portugal v. Spain (6-Sep-2003)

Coach of the Tournament: KLINSMANN Juergen (GER) - I think what he has done for the German team is truely remarkable. German football is now much more entertaining.

Young player of the Tournament: PODOLSKI Lukas (GER) - Has been in great form for the German team, scoring 3 goals in the tournament. Not only is he talent but he has a great work ethic. We will see great things from him.

Player of the Tournament: ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA) - Led the French past a rather unconvincing second placement in the group stage to the final. Has been in inspirational form even at the age of 34.

Favourite Team of the Tournament: Deutschland (GER) - Even though the did not make it to the final, they definitely did not disappoint their fans. They faught hard till the very end. Good work Deutschland!

Least Favourite Team of the Tournament: Portugal (POR) - Undoubtedly with the worst discipline in the tournament after the match against Nederland (NED). Never without some feeble attempt to get a freekick or penalty by diving. They should be ashamed.

World Cup 2006: Semi-Final Two

2006-07-06T19:30:00.000+10:00

Portugal 0:1 France
FRA: ZIDANE Zinedine (33' p)

Portugal (POR)
[1] RICARDO (GK)
[5] FERNANDO MEIRA
[6] COSTINHA (-75')
[7] LUIS FIGO (C)
[9] PAULETA (-68')
[13] MIGUEL (-62)
[14] NUNO VALENTE
[16] RICARDO CARVALHO
[17] CRISTIANO RONALDO
[18] MANICHE
[20] DECO
[2] PAULO FERREIRA (+62')
[11] SIMAO SABROSA (+68')
[23] HELDER POSTIGA (+75')
Coach: SCOLARI Luiz Felipe

France (FRA)
[16] BARTHEZ Fabien (GK)
[3] ABIDAL Eric
[4] VIERA Patrick
[5] GALLAS William
[6] MAKELELE Claude
[7] MALOUDA Florent (-69')
[10] ZIDANE Zinedine (C)
[12] HENRY Thierry (-85')
[15] THURAM Lilian
[19] SAGNOL Willy
[22] RIBERY Frank (-72')
[9] GOVOU Sidney (+72')
[11] WILTORD Sylvain (+69')
[14]SAHA Louis (+85')
Coach: DOMENECH Raymond

Cautions
RICARDO CARVALHO (POR) 83', SAHA Louis (FRA) 87'

World Cup 2006: Semi-Final One

2006-07-06T00:39:00.000+10:00

Deutschland 0:2 Italia (a.e.t.)
ITA: GROSSO Fabio (119'), DEL PIERO Alessandro (121')

Deutschland (GER)
[1] LEHMANN Jens (GK)
[3] FRIEDRICH Arne
[5] KEHL Sebastian
[11] KLOSE Miroslav (-111')
[13] BALLACK Michael (C)
[16] LAHM Philipp
[17] MERTESACKER Per
[18] BOROWSKI Tim (-73')
[19] SCHNEIDER Bernd (-83')
[20] PODOLSKI Lukas
[21] METZELDER Christoph
[7] SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (+73')
[10] NEUVILLE Oliver (+111')
[22] ODONKOR David (+83')
Coach: KLINSMANN Juergen

Italia (ITA)
[1] BUFFON Gianluigi (GK)
[3] GROSSO Fabio
[5] CANNAVARO Fabio (C)
[8] GATTUSO Gennaro
[9] TONI Luca (-74')
[10] TOTTI Francesco
[16] CAMORANESI Mauro (-91')
[19] ZAMBROTTA Gianluca
[20] PERROTTA Simone (-104')
[21] PIRLO Andrea
[23] MATERAZZI Marco
[7] DEL PIERO Alessandro (+104')
[11] GILARDINO Alberto (+74')
[15] IAQUINTA Vincenzo (+91')
Coach: LIPPI Marcello

Cautions
BOROWSKI Tim (GER) 40', METZELDER Christoph (GER) 56', CAMORANESI Mauro (ITA) 90'

Yum Cha: A Chinese Legacy

2006-07-04T19:00:00.000+10:00

I feel like some dim sums right now... It's been like half a year since I had myself some decent dim sums (点心) which led me to "yum cha"... for those of you who don't know... yum cha literally means "drink tea" but can also be used in context referring to the traditional Chinese culture of drinking tea while having dim sums together with friends and family... it's the Chinese equivalent of tapas... Well there are 4 basic components which makes up the yum cha experience... No. 1: The Tea... Tea is to the Chinese what wine is to the Europeans... it is drank with every meal and is believed to have a cleansing property... mind you that Chinese tea tastes rather different from what I like to refer to as English tea... those drank by westerners... Chinese tea has a richer, deeper taste and is taken without sugar or milk... My personal favourites are Po Li and Tie Guan Yin... No. 2: The Tea House... these days people usually go to restaurants to yum cha but there are still some tea houses around which are basically shops that do yum cha only... It's all part of the experience because the atmosphere gives the yum cha experience that something extra... it's crowded and everyone is practically shouting... if you manage to find a very traditional tea house you might even find some people bring their pet birds along with them and all the cages are hung together and the customers yum cha to the sound of birds singing... No. 3: Dim Sums... dim sums mean "touch the heart" which I'm not sure why they atually call it that but probably because dim sums really hit the spot when you are craving something delicious and they warm the soul... dim sums are traditionally little tid-bits usually steamed served in little bamboo baskets but these days it ranges anything from "siew mai" to "har gao" to "char siew pao" to "lo mai gai" to "cheong fun" to congee to egg tarts to mango pudding... there are loads to choose from to suit anyone's liking... Just thinking about it is making me drool... I'm so hungry now... and last but not least No. 4: The Company... The yum cha experience is, for me, never meant to be had alone... It's a time for friends and family to get together and enjoy each other's company... if done right yum cha could take up half a day... Probably that's why the older generation love it and the younger generation have no time for it... When asked "How would it affect you if yum cha no longer existed", over 60% of Chinese under 25 years said that it doesn't matter because there are so many other things to eat... However majority also believe that it would never happen due to the relatively high demand... Personally I L-O-V-E, LOVE, to yum cha!!! A shame it's so expensive though... I think that's partly the problem... there are cheap ones but they are no good... the good ones are just too expensive to have a a regular basis in Malaysia and as for Melbourne it's all expensive... In addition I think the yum cha culture is one of the better Chinese traditions that I really would like to see it live on and for the younger generation to embrace it... It's an absolute delight... It's suh a shame that people don't even appreciate a good cup of tea anymore... It's just like water to them... but I personally think it's so much more... a good cup of tea is to be enjoyed and savoured... But then again... it's a luxury that not everyone can afford and a legacy that we rarely have time for these days...

World Cup 2006: Quarter-Finals Two

2006-07-02T13:07:00.000+10:00

England 0:0 Portugal (a.e.t) (1:3 PSO)

Penalty Shoot-Out
SIMAO SABROSA (POR, goal 0:1), LAMPARD Frank (ENG, saved, 0:1), HUGO VIANA (POR, post, 0:1), HARGREAVES Owen (ENG, goal, 1:1), PETIT (POR, missed 1:1), GERRARD Steven (ENG, saved, 1:1), HELDER POSTIGA (POR, goal, 1:2), CARRAGHER Jamie (ENG, saved, 1:2), CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR, goal, 1:3)

England (ENG)
[1] ROBINSON Paul (GK)
[2] NEVILLE Gary
[3] COLE Ashley
[4] GERRARD Steven
[5] FERDINAND Rio
[6] TERRY John
[7] BECKHAM David (C) (-52')
[8] LAMPARD Frank
[9] ROONEY Wayne
[11] COLE Joe (-65')
[16] HARGREAVES Owen
[15] CARRAGHER Jamie (+119')
[19] LENNON Aaron (+52') (-119')
[21] CROUCH Peter (+65')
Coach: ERIKSSON Sven Goran

Portugal (POR)
[1] RICARDO (GK)
[5] FERNANDO MEIRA
[7] LUIS FIGO (C) (-86')
[8] PETIT
[9] PAULETA (-63')
[13] MIGUEL
[14] NUNO VALENTE
[16] RICARDO CARVALHO
[17] CRISTIANO RONALDO
[18] MANICHE
[19] TIAGO (-74')
[10] HUGO VIANA (+74')
[11] SIMAO SABROSA (+63')
[23] HELDER POSTIGA (+86')
Coach: SCOLARI Luiz Felipe

Cautions
TERRY John (ENG) 30', PETIT (POR) 44', HARGREAVES Owen (ENG) 107', RICARDO CARVALHO (POR) 111'

Expulsions
ROONEY Wayne (ENG) 62'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brasil 0:1 France
FRA: HENRY Thierry (57')

Brasil (BRA)
[1] DIDA (GK)
[2] CAFU (C) (-76')
[3] LUIO
[4] JUAN
[6] ROBERTO CARLOS
[8] KAKA (-79')
[9] RONALDO
[10] RONALDINHO
[11] ZE ROBERTO
[17] GILBERTO SILVA
[19] JUNINHO PERNAMBUCANO (-63')
[7] ADRIANO (+63')
[13] CICINHO (+76')
[23] ROBINHO (+79')
Coach: PARREIRA Carlos Alberto

France (FRA)
[16] BARTHEZ Fabien (GK)
[3] ABIDAL Eric
[4] VIERA Patrick
[5] GALLAS William
[6] MAKELELE Claude
[7] MALOUDA Florent (-81')
[10] ZIDANE Zinedine (C)
[12] HENRY Thierry (-86')
[15] THURAM Lilian
[19] SAGNOL Willy
[22] RIBERY Frank (-77')
[9] GOVOU Sidney (+77')
[11] WILTORD Sylvain (+81')
[14] SAHA Louis (+86')
Coach: DOMENECH Raymond

Cautions
CAFU (BRA) 25', JUAN (BRA) 45', RONALDO (BRA) 47'+, SAGNOL Willy (FRA) 74', LUCIO (BRA) 75', SAHA Louis (FRA) 87', THURAM Lilian (FRA) 88'

Displacement: Globalisation - Why Complain?!

2006-07-01T21:03:00.000+10:00

Kuala Lumpur... supposedly the fashion capital of asia... maybe... maybe not but whatever it is... there is no doubt that fashion is a booming industry here... However it seems that it's also popular for firms to hire foreign models from eastern europe rather than our local, home-grown models... and the models are complaining of being displaced... Now lets think about this for a moment... True that the industry should have a responsibility of helping its local talents... Which of course leads to the talent itself... do our models have what it takes? It seems that some of our models are not having any problems finding jobs and are even finding some overseas fame... Now then what is the problem exactly?! Well it's clear what is going on isn't it?! Competition... it's all part of globalisation... having to compete with foreigners is all part of the norm in business these days... Personally I don't think that there is much bias... it maybe because of money or it maybe because of comsumer target or it ould be for any other reason... definitely not because they are local... If you have the talent... you will find a job... Some people are obviously mindlessly complaining about not getting a job but also in the mean time not understanding how the business world works... Think about it... a Hungarian model is taking up a job here while at the same time a Malaysian is probably taking up a job in some other part of the world... It's how the world works these days baby... get on the train or get out of the queue... don't hold up the line... There's also been talk about the governments restriction on using foreign faces in advertisements in Malaysia... some recent car ad with Brad Pitt in it was banned because it could have showcased a Malaysian face instead... Something to do with how using too many foreign faces will cause some kind of inferior complex... More like some people are lacking in confidence... The minister in charge was quoted saying something along the lines of "Why not use Malaysian faces. Are we not handsome enough?"... I think we should leave that question unanswered... Actually I really think it's more than looks... please... if it was just about looks it would have been cheaper for the company to hire some random good-looking guy to promote their car... It's all about the marketing... using Brad Pitt... he's a worldwide recognisable face... with the exception of people who have been living under a rock... Plus with his "connection" to Angelina Jolie these days... he's probably as popular as ever... "ka-ching" $$$$$$... This is just so brainless... However I have to say that if the government play their cards right on this one... it could be good for the local industry... and still maintain a healthy flow of western culture into the country... Personally I like the fact that Malaysians are not as ignorant as some Americans are...

World Cup 2006: Quarter-Finals One

2006-07-01T14:00:00.000+10:00

Deutschland 1:1 Argentina (a.e.t.) (4:2 PSO)
GER: KLOSE Miroslav (80')
ARG: AYALA Roberto (49')

Penalty Shoot-Out
NEUVILLE Oliver (GER, goal, 1:0), CRUZ Julio (ARG, goal, 1:1), BALLACK Michael (GER, goal, 2:1), AYALA Roberto (ARG, saved, 2:1), PODOLSKI Lukas (GER, goal, 3:1), RODRIGUEZ Maxi (ARG, goal, 3:2), BOROWSKI Tim (GER, goal, 4:2), CAMBIASSO Esteban (ARG, saved, 4:2)

Deutschland (GER)
[1] LEHMANN Jens (GK)
[3] FRIEDRICH Arne
[7] SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (-74')
[8] FRINGS Torsten
[11] KLOSE Miroslav (-86')
[13] BALLACK Michael (C)
[16] LAHM Philipp
[17] MERTESACKER Per
[19] SCHNEIDER Bernd (-62')
[20] PODOLSKI Lukas
[21] METZELDER Christoph
[10] NEUVILLE Oliver (+86')
[18] BOROWSKI Tim (+74')
[22] ODONKOR David (+62')
Coach: KLINSMANN Juergen

Argentina (ARG)
[1] ABBONDANZIERI Roberto (GK) (-71')
[2] AYALA Roberto
[3] SORIN Juan (C)
[4] COLOCCINI Fabricio
[6] HEINZE Gabriel
[8] MASCHERANO Javier
[9] CRESPO Hernan (-79')
[10] RIQUELME Juan (-72')
[11] TEVEZ arlos
[18] RODRIGUEZ Maxi
[22] GONZALEZ Luis
[12] FRANCO Leonardo (GK) (+71')
[5] CAMBIASSO Esteban (+72')
[20] CRUZ Julio (+79')
Coach: PEKERMAN Jose

Cautions
PODOLSKI Lukas (GER) 3', SORIN Juan (ARG) 46', MASCHERANO Javier (ARG) 60', RODRIGUEZ Maxi (ARG) 88', ODONKOR David (GER) 94', CRUZ Julio (ARG) 95', FRIEDRICH Arne (GER) 114'

Expulsions
CUFRE Leandro (ARG) 120'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italia 3:0 Ukrajina
ITA: ZAMBROTTA Gianluca (6'), TONI Luca (59', 69')

Italia (ITA)
[1] BUFFON Gianluigi (GK)
[3] GROSSO Fabio
[5] CANNAVARO Fabio (C)
[6] BARZAGLI Andrea
[8] BATTUSO Gennaro (-77')
[9] TONI Luca
[10] TOTTI Francesco
[16] CAMORANESI Mauro (-68')
[19] ZAMBROTTA Gianlua
[20] PERROTTA Simone
[21] PIRLO Andrea (-68')
[2] ZACCARDO Cristian (+77')
[17] BARONE Simone (+68')
[22] ODDO Massimo (+68')
Coach: LIPPI Marcello

Ukrajina (UKR)
[1] SHOVKOVSKYI Oleksandr (GK)
[2] NESMACHNYI Andriy
[4] TYMOSCHUK Anatoliy
[6] RUSOL Andriy (-47'+)
[7] SHEVCHENKO Andriy (C)
[8] SHELAYEV Oleg
[9] GUSEV Oleg
[14] GUSIN Andriy
[15] MILEVSKIY Artem (-72')
[19] KALINICHENKO Maksym
[22] SVIDERSKYI Vyaccheslav (-20')
[16] VOROBEY Andriy (+20')
[17] VASHCHUK Vladyslav (+47'+)
[20] BELIK Oleksiy (+72')
Coach: BLOKHIN Oleg

Cautions
SVIDERSKYI Vyacheslav (UKR) 16', KALINICHENKO Maksym (UKR) 21', MILEVSKIY Artem (UKR) 67'

Banoffee Pie!

2006-06-30T20:16:00.000+10:00

So I went for dinner with Maria, her boyrfriend (sorry I don't know how to spell his name, is it with a v?), and Veno at Bangsar Village... it's basically pretty new... few years... never heard or seen till yesterday... and we had dinner at "Delicious" by Mrs. Reid... I had the curry laksa and it was not bad... could have been more spicy... Then it came time for dessert... Maria had her eye on the banoffee pie and was pretty sure there was one left... however when we ordered... the waiter told us that some one had already taken the last one... It was hysterical... Maria asked if the chef could make another one but they said it was made in the other restaurant in One Utama... so we made a decision... I'm not too sure who's idea it was but I was definitely the one who encouraged it... we cancelled our orders for dessert... paid the bill and drove to the restaurant in OU... when we got there Maria sent her boyfriend to go straight to get the banoffee pie while we parked the car... it took quite some time due to some stupid Taxi drivers getting in the way but we got there... and it was a lucky thing she sent him ahead because her banoffee pie was the last one... yes the very last one... man oh man... that girl loves her banoffee pies... I have to say it was definitely a fun dinner... loads of laughter... Next the mango-thingi in SS2!!!

Adios Espana...

2006-06-28T22:02:00.000+10:00

Well Spain's out of the World Cup... As I watched my boys taking a humiliating defeat from the French... my heart broke... I was really hoping they could finally break their losing streak against the French... For those of you who didn't know... The Spaniards have never beaten the French in any World Cup finals... And I'm pretty sure my first choice... ENGLAND... will be out soon... Well the ould still win against Portugal but the English boys are just so inconsistant and with the way they've been playing these days it's hard to tell where they are going... And my alternative... DEUTSCHLAND... are facing Argentina... my least favourite team... no offence... I don't hate them... just not a fan... Anyway... GO DEUTSCHLAND (for Helen)... But can anyone stop the mighty mighty Brazilians?!?!?! I mean... sure I love to watch them play... who doesn't... but it's just like Michael Schumacher winning all the time... boring... we need something exciting and out of the blue... you know... like how Korea made it to the semis the last world cup... the only underdog left is probably Ukraine... a shame Shevchenko hasn't been at his absolute best... all my favourite players are getting old... But yeah... we want to see a shocker!!! Or at least I do...

World Cup 2006: Knockout Stage Day Four

2006-06-28T16:23:00.000+10:00

Brasil 3:0 Ghana
BRA: RONALDO (5'), ADRIANO (44'), ZE ROBERTO (84')

Brasil (BRA)
[1] DIDA (GK)
[2] CAFU (C)
[3] LUIO
[4] JUAN
[5] EMERSON (-46')
[6] ROBERTO CARLOS
[7] ADRIANO (-61')
[8] KAKA (-83')
[9] RONALDO
[10] RONALDINHO
[11] ZE ROBERTO
[17] GILBERTO SILVA (+46')
[19] JUNINHO PERNAMBUCANO (+61')
[20] RICARDINHO (+83')
Coach: PARREIRA Carlos Alberto

Ghana (GHA)
[22] KINGSON Rihard (GK)
[3] GYAN Asamoah
[5] MENSAH John
[6] PAPPOE Emmanuel
[7] SHILLA Illiasu
[10] APPIAH Stephen (C)
[11] MUNTARI Sulley
[14] AMOAH Matthew (-70')
[15] PANTSIL John
[18] ADDO Eric (-60')
[23] DRAMAN Haminu
[9] BOATENG Derek (+60')
[12] TACHIE-MENSAH Alex (+70')
Coach: DUJKOVIC Ratomir

Cautions
APPIAH Stephen (GHA) 7', MUNTARI Sulley (GHA) 11', ADRIANO (BRA) 13', PANTSIL John (GHA) 29', ADDO Eric (GHA) 38', JUAN (BRA) 44', GYAN Asamoah (GHA) 48', GYAN Asamoah (GHA) 81'

Expulsions
GYAN Asamoah (GHA) 81' 2Y
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
España 1:3 France
ESP: VILLA David (28' p)
FRA: RIBERY Frank (41'), VIERA Patrick (83'), ZIDANE Zinedine (92+')

España (ESP)
[1] CASILLAS Iker (GK)
[3] PERNA Mariano
[5] PUYOL Carlos
[7] RAUL (C) (-54')
[8] XAVI (-72')
[9] TORRES Fernando
[14] XABI ALONSO
[15] RAMOS Sergio
[18] FABREGAS Cesc
[21] VILLA David (-54')
[22] PABLO
[11] GARCIA Luis (+54')
[16] MARCOS SeNNA (+72')
[17] JOAQUIN (+54')
Coach: ARAGONES Luis

France (FRA)
[16] BARTHEZ Fabien (GK)
[3] ABIDAL Eric
[4] VIEIRA Patrick
[5] GALLAS William
[6] MAKELELE Claude
[7] MALOUDA Florent (-74')
[10] ZIDANE Zinedine (C)
[12] HENRY Thierry (-88')
[15] THURAM Lilian
[19] SAGNOL Willy
[22] RIBERY Frank
[9] GOVOU Sidney (+74')
[11] WILTORD Sylvain (+88')
Coach: DOMENECH Raymond

Cautions
VIEIRA Patrick (FRA) 68', PUYOL Carlos (ESP) 82', RIBERY Frank (FRA) 87', ZIDANE Zinedine (FRA) 91'

World Cup 2006: Knockout Stage Day Three

2006-06-27T14:13:00.000+10:00

Italia 1:0 Australia
ITA: TOTTI Francesco (95' p)

Italia (ITA)
[1] BUFFON Gianluigi (GK)
[3] GROSSO Fabio
[5] CANNAVARO Fabio (C)
[7] DEL PIERO Alessandro (-75')
[8] GATTUSO Gennaro
[9] TONI Luca (-56')
[11] GILARDINO Alberto (-46')
[19] ZAMBROTTA Gianluca
[20] PERROTTA Simone
[21] PIRLO Andrea
[23] MATERAZZI Marco
[6] BARZAGLI Andrea (+56')
[10] TOTTI Francesco (+75')
[15] IAQUINTA Vincenzo (+46')
Coach: LIPPI Marcello

Australia (AUS)
[1] SCHWARZER Mark (GK)
[2] NEILL Lucas
[3] MOORE Craig
[4] CAHILL Tim
[5] CULINA Jason
[9] VIDUKA Mark (C)
[13] GRELLA Vince
[14] HIPPERFIELD Scott
[20] WILKSHIRE Luke
[21] STERJOVSKI Mile (-81')
[23] BRESCIANO Marco
[15] ALOISI John (+81')
Coach: HIDDINK Guus

Cautions
GRELLA Vince (AUS) 23', GROSSO Fabio (ITA) 29', CAHILL Tim (AUS) 49', WILKSHIRE Luke (AUS) 61', GATTUSO Gennaro (ITA) 89', ZAMBROTTA Gianluca (ITA) 91'

Expulsions
MATERAZZI Marco (ITA) 50'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schweiz 0:0 Ukrajina (a.e.t.) (0:3 PSO)

Penalty Shoot-Out
SHEVCHENKO Andriy (UKR, saved, 0:0), STRELLER Marco (SUI, saved, 0:0), MILEVSKIY artem (UKR, goal, 0:1), BARNETTA Tranquillo (SUI, crossbar, 0:1), REBROV Serhiy (UKR, goal, 0:2), CABANAS Ricardo (SUI, saved, 0:2), GUSEV Oleg (UKR, goal, 0:3)

Schweiz (SUI)
[1] ZUBERBUEHLER Pascal (GK)
[2] DJOUROU Johan (-34')
[3] MAGNIN Ludovic
[6] VOGEL JOhann (C)
[7] CABANAS Ricardo
[8] WICKY Raphael
[9] FREI Alexander (-117')
[16] BARNETTA Tranquillo
[20] MUELLER Patrick
[22] YAKIN Hakan (-64')
[23] DEGEN Philipp
[11] STRELLER Marco (+64')
[13] GRICHTING Stephane (+34')
[18] LUSTRINELLI Mauro (+117')
Coach: KUHN Koebi

Ukrajina (UKR)
[1] SHOVKOVSKYI Oleksandr (GK)
[2] NESMAHNYI Andriy
[4] TYMOSCHUK Anatoliy
[7] SHEVCHENKO Andriy (C)
[8] SHELAYEV Oleg
[9] GUSEV Oleg
[10] VORONIN Andriy (-111')
[14] GUSIN Andriy
[16] VOROBEY Andriy (-94')
[17] VASHCHUK Vladyslav
[19] KALINICHENKO Maksym (-75')
[11] REBROV Serhiy (+94')
[15] MILEVSKIY Artem (+111')
[21] ROTAN Ruslan (+75')
Coach: BLOKHIN Oleg

Cautions
BARNETTA Tranquillo (SUI) 59'

World Cup 2006: Knockout Stage Day Two

2006-06-26T12:15:00.000+10:00

England 1:0 Ecuador
ENG: BECKHAM David (60')

England (ENG)
[1] ROBINSON Paul (GK)
[3] COLE Ashely
[4] GERRARD Steven (-92')
[5] FERDINAND Rio
[6] TERRY John
[7] BECKHAM David (C) (-87')
[8] LAMPARD Frank
[9] ROONEY Wayne
[11] COLE Joe (-77')
[16] HARGREAVES Owen
[18] CARRICK Michael
[15] CARRACHER Jamie (+77')
[19] LENNON Aaron (+87')
[20] DOWNING Stewart (+92')
Coach: ERIKSSON Sven Goran

Ecuador (ECU)
[12] MORA Cristian (GK)
[3] HURTADO Ivan (C)
[4] DE LA CRUZ Ulises
[8] MENDEZ Edison
[11] DELGADO Agustin
[14] CASTILLO Segundo
[16] VALENCIA Luis
[17] ESPINOZA Giovanny
[18] REASCO Neicer
[20] TENORIO Edwin (-69')
[21] TENORIO Carlos (-72')
[7] LARA Christian (+69')
[10] KAVIEDES Ivan (+72')
Coach: SUAREZ Luis

Cautions
TERRY John (ENG) 18', VALENCIA Luis (ECU) 24', TENORIO Carlos (ECU) 37', DE LA CRUZ Ulises (ECU) 67', ROBINSON Paul (ENG) 78', CARRAGHER Jamie (ENG) 82'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portugal 1:0 Nederland
POR: MANICHE (23')

Portugal (POR)
[1] RICARDO (GK)
[5] FERNANDO MEIRA
[6] COSTINHA
[7] LUIS FIGO (C) (-84')
[9] PAULETA (-46')
[13] MIGUEL
[14] NUNNO VALENTE
[16] RICARDO CARVALHO
[17] CRISTIANO RONALDO (-34')
[18] MANICHE
[20] DECO
[8] PETIT (+46')
[11] SIMAO SABROSA (+34')
[19] TIAGO (+84')
Coach: SCOLARI Luiz Felipe

NEDERLAND (NED)
[1] VAN DER SAR Edwin (GK) (C)
[3] BOULAHROUZ Khalid
[4] MATHIJSEN Joris (-56')
[5] VAN BRONKHORST Giovanni
[7] KUYT Dirk
[8] COCU Phillip (-84')
[11] ROBBEN Arjen
[13] OOIJEY Andre
[17] VAN PERSIE Robin
[18] VAN BOMMEL Mark (-67')
[20] SNEIJDER Welsey
[10] VAN DER VAART Rafael (+56')
[14] HEITINGA John (+67')
Coach: VAN BASTEN Marco

Cautions
VAN BOMMEL Mark (NED) 2', BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 7', MANICHE (POR) 20', COSTINHA (POR) 31', COSTINHA (POR) 46'+, PETIT (POR) 50', VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 59', LUIS FIGO (POR) 60', BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 63', DECO (POR) 73', SNEIJDER Wesley (NED) 73', VAN DER VAART Rafael (NED) 74', RICARDO (POR) 76', NUNO VALENTE (POR) 76', DECO (POR) 78', VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 95'

Expulsions
COSTINHA (POR) 46'+ 2Y, BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 63' 2Y, DECO (POR) 78' 2Y, VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 95' 2Y

Relativity Of Time

2006-06-25T12:58:00.000+10:00

You know Einstein's theory of relativity?! Well... even though it has never been proven... I'm pretty sure all of us have felt it... So I've been back home for 4 days now... it still feels kinda weird probably due to me not being here for all the changes... but you know it's even weirder because when I was in Melbourne it felt like time passed extremely quickly and the whole semester happened in the blink of an eye... however after coming back home... time seems to past quickly as well but it feels like I've been away for a long long time... all relative how much I enjoy spending the time... Haven't had much to do sine I got back besides watch the World Cup, watch some Korean series and updating my blog... which is now basically a World Cup report blog rather than my usual movie review blog... It's been a long time since I wrote something interesting... I've really got to start thinking about something interesting to talk about... any suggestions?? Leave a message in the shoutbox... Bis später...

World Cup 2006: Knockout Stage Day One

2006-06-25T09:55:00.000+10:00

Deutschland 2:0 Sverige
GER: PODOLSKI Lukas (4', 12')

Deutschland (GER)
[1] LEHMANN Jens (GK)
[3] FRIEDRICH Arne
[7] SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian (-72')
[8] FRINGS Torsten (-85')
[11] KLOSE Miroslav
[13] BALLACK Michael (C)
[16] LAHM Philipp
[17] MERTESACKER Per
[19] SCHNEIDER Bernd
[20] PODOLSKI Lukas (-74')
[21] METZELDER Christoph
[5] KEHL Sebastian (+85')
[10] NEUVILLE Oliver (+74')
[18] BOROWSKI Tim (+72')
Coach: KLINSMANN Juergen

Sverige (SWE)
[1] ISAKSSON Andreas (GK)
[3] MELLBERG Olof (C)
[4] LUCIC Teddy
[5] EDMAN Erik
[6] LINDEROTH Tobias
[7] ALEXANDERSSON Niclas
[9] LJUNGBERG Fredrik
[10] IBRAHIMOVIC Zlatan (-72')
[11] LARSSON Henrik
[16] KALLSTROM Kim (-39')
[18] JONSON Mattias (-52')
[13] HANSSON Petter (+39')
[20] ALLBAK Marcus (+72')
[21] WILHELMSSON Christian (+52')
Coach: LAGERBACK Lars

Cautions
FRINGS Torsten (GER) 27', LUCIC Teddy (SWE) 28', LUCIC Teddy (SWE) 35', JONSON Mattias (SWE) 48', ALLBACK Marcus (SWE) 78'

Expulsions
LUCIC Teddy (SWE) 35' 2Y
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argentina 2:1 Mexico (a.e.t.)
ARG: CRESPO Hernan (10'), RODRIGUEZ Maxi (98')
MEX: MARQUEZ Rafael (6')

Argentina (ARG)
[1] ABBONDANZIERI Roberto (GK)
[2] AYALA Roberto
[3] SORIN Juan (C)
[5] CAMBIASSO Esteban (-76')
[6] HEINZE Gabriel
[7] SAVIOLA Javier (-84')
[8] MASCHERANO Javier
[9] CRESPO Hernan (-75')
[10] RIQUELME Juan
[13] SCALONI Lionel
[18] RODRIGUEZ Maxi
[11] TEVEZ Carlos (+75')
[16] AIMAR Pablo (+76')
[19] MESSI Lionel (+84')
Coach: PEKERMAN Jose

Mexico (MEX)
[1] SANCHEZ Oswaldo (GK)
[3] SALCIDO Carlos
[4] MARQUEZ Rafael (C)
[5] OSORIO Riardo
[8] PARDO Pavel (-38')
[9] BORGETTI Jared
[11] MORALES Ramon (-74')
[15] CASTRO Jose Antonio
[16] MENDEZ Mario
[17] FONSECA Jose
[18] GUARDADO Andres (-66')
[6] TORRADO Gerardo (+38')
[7] ZINHA (+74')
[14] PINEDA Gonzalo (+66')
Coach: LA VOLPE Ricardo

Cautions
HEINZE Gabriel (ARG) 46'+, MARQUEZ Rafael (MEX) 70', CASTRO Jose Antonio (MEX) 82', SORIN Juan (ARG) 112', TORRADO Gerardo (MEX) 118', FONSECA Jose (MEX) 119'

World Cup 2006: Knockout Stage Set Up

2006-06-24T13:21:00.000+10:00

World Cup 2006: Group Stage Round Three

2006-06-24T10:56:00.000+10:00

Group A
Ecuador 0:3 Deutschland
GER: KLOSE Miroslav (2), PODOLSKI Lucas

Costa Rica 1:2 Polska
CRC: GOMEZ Ronald
POL: BOSACKI Bartosz(2)

Group B
Sverige 2:2 England
SWE: ALLBACK Marcus, LARSSON Henrik
ENG: COLE Joe, GERRARD Steven

Paraguay 2:0 Trinidad & Tobago
PAR: CUEVAS Nelson, SANCHO Brent (og)

Group C
Nederland 0:0 Argentina

Côte d’Ivoire 3:2 Serbia & Montenegro
CIV: DINDANE Aruna (p,2), KALOU Bonaventure (p)
SCG: ZIGIC Nikola, ILIC Sasa

Group D
Portugal 2:1 Mexico
POR: Maniche, SIMAO SABROSA
MEX: FONSECA Jose

Iran 1:1 Angola
IRN: BAKHTIARIZADEH Sohrab
ANG: FLAVIO

Group E
Czech Republic 0:2 Italia
ITA: MATERAZZI Marco, INZAGHI Filippo

Ghana 2:1 USA
GHA: DRAMAN Haminu, APPIAH Stephen (p)
USA: DEMPSEY Clint

Group F
Nippon 1:4 Brasil
JPN: TAMADA Keiji
BRA: Ronaldo (2), JUNINHO PERNAMBUCANO, GILBERTO

Croatia 2:2 Australia
CRO: SRNA Darijo, KOVAC Niko
AUS: MOORE Craig (p), KEWELL Harry

Group G
Togo 0:2 France
FRA: VIERA Patrick, HENRY Thierry

Schweiz 2:0 Korea Republic
SUI: SENDEROS Philippe, FREI Alexander

Group H
Al Arabiya as Saudiyah 0:1 España
ESP: JUANITO

Ukrajina 1:0 Tunisia
UKR: SHEVHENKO Andriy (p)

Back In Malaysia... Again...

2006-06-22T02:15:00.000+10:00

So since I'm done with exams... I'm now back home in Malaysia... just got back a few hours ago after a very boring flight... I miss Melbourne already!! The gang are going to the RMIT End Of Semesta Fiesta... I'm soooooo jealous... I wanna go... sob sob... I hate the way my plans always turn out like this... and I won't get to see Helen off or do the tourist things with her... so sad... I miss everyone... hehe... Home is so boring...

World Cup 2006: Group Stage Round Two

2006-06-21T19:22:00.000+10:00

Group A
Deutschland 1:0 Polska
GER: NEUVILLE Oliver

Ecuador 3:0 Costa Rica
ECU: TENORIO Carlos, DELGADO Agustin, KAVIEDES Ivan

Group B
England 2:0 Trinidad & Tobago
ENG: CROUCH Peter, GERRARD Steven

Sverige 1:0 Paraguay
SWE: LJUNGBERG Freddie

Group C
Argentina 6:0 Serbia & Montenegro
ARG: RODRIGUEZ Maxi (2), CAMBIASSO Esteban, CRESPO Hernan, TEVEZ Carlos, MESSI Lionel

Nederland 2:1 Côte d’Ivoire
NED: VAN PERSIE Robin, VAN NISTELROOIJ Ruud
CIV: KONE Bakary

Group D
Mexico 0:0 Angola

Portugal 2:0 Iran
POR: DECO, CRISTIANO RONALDO (p)

Group E
Italia 1:1 USA
ITA: GILARDINO Alberto
USA: ZACCARDO Cristian (og)

Czech Republic 0:2 Ghana
GHA: GYAN Asamoah, MUNTARI Sulley

Group F
Brasil 2:0 Australia
BRA: ADRIANO, FRED

Nippon 0:0 Croatia

Group G
France 1:1 Korea Republic
FRA: HENRY Thierry
KOR: PARK Ji Sung

Togo 0:2 Schweiz
SUI: FREI Alexander, BARNETTA Tranquillo

Group H
España 3:1 Tunisia
ESP: RAUL, TORRES Fernando (2)
TUN: MNARI Jaouhar

Al Arabiya as Saudiyah 0:4 Ukrajina
UKR: RUSOL Andriy, REBROV Serhiy, SHEVCHENKO Andriy, KALINICHENKO Maksym

Mecca Bah

2006-06-19T23:23:00.000+10:00

Ole ole ole ole!!!! Exams are finally over... all in all... not too bad I think... could've been worse... fingers crossed!! Well anyway so to celebrate the end of exams (or the soon to be ending for some of us)... my beloved housemates and I went out for a nice dinner in Docklands in a restaurant called Mecca Bah... It was actually because I'm leaving soon for Malaysia and the Europeans will be heading back to their respective countries before I return from Malaysia and so we just wanted to have a "last supper"... The restaurant wasn't bad... Middle Eastern food... I had the Garlic chicken kebab, mjaddarah, yoghurt sauce & tabouleh... It was good, I loved the rice and chicken... but they ruined it with the weird tomato salad they had with it... tried some of my friends' desserts... the chocolate ice-cream was good and the Pistachio Maamoul was good too... thumbs up for the Spicy lamb & pine nut Boureks; Mussel with harissa, tomatoes & preserved lemon; Flathead fillets wrapped in vine leaves & chargrilled, parsley & artichoke salad; Middle Eastern spiced swordfish kebab, spicy couscous salad; Spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac... from everyone else... so pretty much good reviews for the restaurant...

World Cup 2006: Group Stage Round One

2006-06-15T09:55:00.000+10:00

The first round of group stage in Germany 2006 has finally passed... here are the summary...

Group A
Deutschland 4:2 Costa Rica
GER: LAHM Phillipp, KLOSE Miroslav (2), FRINGS Torsten
CRC: WANCHOPE Paulo (2)

Polska 0:2 Ecuador
ECU: TENORIO Carlos, DELGADO Agustin

Group B
England 1:0 Paraguay
ENG: GAMARRA Carlos (og)

Trinidad & Tobago 0:0 Sverige

Group C
Argentina 2:1 Côte d’Ivoire
ARG: CRESPO Hernan, SAVIOLA Javier
CIV: DROGBA Didier

Serbia & Montenegro 0:1 Nederland
NED: ROBBEN Arjen

Group D
Mexico 3:1 Iran
MEX: BRAVO Omar (2), ZINHA
IRN: GOLMOHAMMADI Yahya

Angola 0:1 Portugal
POR: PAULETA

Group E
Italia 2:0 Ghana
ITA: PIRLO Andrea, IAQUINTA Vincenzo

USA 0:3 Czech Republic
CZE: KOLLER Jan, ROSICKY Tomas (2)

Group F
Brasil 1:0 Croatia
BRA: KAKA

Australia 3:1 Nippon
AUS: CAHILL Tim (2), ALOISI John
JAP: NAKAMURA Shunsuke

Group G
France 0:0 Schweiz

Korea Republic 2:1 Togo
KOR: LEE Chun Soo, AHN Jung Hwan
TOG: MOHAMED KADER

Group H
España 4:0 Ukrajina
ESP: XABI ALONSO, VILLA David (2), TORRES Fernando

Tunisie 2:2 Al Arabiya as Saudiyah
TUN: JAZIRI Zied, JAIDI Radhi
KSA: AL KAHTANI Yasser, AL JABER Sami

X-Men: The Last Stand

2006-06-08T15:19:00.000+10:00

A little overdue... but anyway... as you all might have know already... the 3rd and last installment of X-Men basically has the return of Jean Grey and the concluding fight between the human-loving and human-hating mutants... Some doctor found a way to suppress the mutated gene in mutants forever aka "the cure" and is making it available for any mutant who wants it... Magneto is using this fact as ammo to get more angry mutants on his side... The X-Men on the other hand have more things to worry about like Jean Grey's return and the fact that her altre-ego, Pheonix, is taking over... One thing led to another... Jean became Pheonix when she killed the professor... After that Magneto forms an army of mutants to help capture the source of the "the cure" and Storm the new leader of the X-Men brings her group of 6 fighters to stop Magneto... in the end almost everyone important died or lost their powers... For the good of humanity and mutanity... Wolverine had to kill Pheonix...

I was so upset that Jean died... but it was a good movie... I loved it... So go see it if you haven't... Cheers...

Australia vs. Greece

2006-05-26T00:01:00.000+10:00

I wanted to go watch since like long time before but no one wanted to go and when today finally came... everyone wanted to go... arggghhh!!!! Anyway... we went to Federation Square to watch it with the rest of the soccer fans in Melbourne who weren't at the MCG... I was routing for the Aussies... mostly because the Greeks around me were smoking and annoying me... so I went for Australia... and yay they won... 1-0... Was a pretty boring watch though... I mean seriously... at first it was exciting and then they scored and then all down hill... That's pretty much all there is...

Mission: Impossible III

2006-05-20T06:09:00.000+10:00

One word... bad... the action and everything was fine... and hey it has Jonathan Rhys Meyers... who cares about Tom Cruise...?!?!?! But I thought the plot was rather weak whereby there wasn't an actual bad guy... We want a proper villain!!! And basically it was just rather lame... back to old tricks... It's probably better to sit this one out...

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-20T05:55:00.000+10:00

The much awaited big screen adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling "fictional" novel "The Da Vinci Code" has finally arrived... And thanks to Julia's planning ahead we were able to get tickets to see the movie on it's official release date...

Here's one of the trailers:

If you don't know what on earth The Da Vinci Code is all about... well either you do not wish to know or you have been banned from having anything to do with it... which in much likelyhood would mean that you will not be seeing the movie either...

For those of you who have read the book... I can safely say that the critics were wrong about the movie being below par... I thought Ron Howard managed to capture the essance of the book having to cramp in a whole load of facts into 2 and a half hours... do not be surprised if somethings seem a little odd... yes they changed it a little...

For those who have not read the book but are planning on seeing the movie... I am confident that you will be intrigued... who knows you might even enjoy it...

All in all... we all know that movies can never match up to it's book... because when we read our minds can interpret it the way we like... whereas in the movie it's all laid out in a platter for you and you either like it or not... But I do say this... it's one hell of a good mystery... Cheers...

Express Movie Reviews

2006-05-05T03:00:00.000+10:00

Ok so I have been slaking on my movie reviews... so I'm just going to use the synopsis from Yahoo! Movies and give a thumbs up, down or so-so... Here goes...

Fearless (2006): Master Huo Yuan Jia was a supreme Martial Arts champion, founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. "Fearless" tells his tale. Featuring Jet Li, it is his last action movie.
Rating: thumbs up

Ice Age: The Meltdown: The Ice Age is coming to an end, and the animals are delighting in the melting paradise that is their new world. Manny, Sid, and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: a huge glacial dam is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So the three heroes, along with a mammoth named Ellie and her two "brothers" -- possums Crash and Eddie -- embark on a mission across an increasingly dangerous landscape towards their salvation.
Rating: thumbs up

She's The Man: Viola Johnson (Amanda Bynes) had her own good reasons for disguising herself as her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) and enrolling in his place at his new boarding school, Illyria Prep. She was counting on Sebastian being AWOL from school as he tried to break into the music scene in London. What she didn't count on was falling in love with her hot roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum), who in turn only has eyes for the beautiful Olivia (Laura Ramsey). Making matters worse, Olivia is starting to fall for Sebastian, who--for reasons Olivia couldn¿t begin to guess--appears to be the sensitive type of guy she'd always dreamed of meeting. If things weren't complicated enough, the real Sebastian has come back from London two days earlier than expected and arrives on campus having no clue that he's been replaced...by his own twin sister.
Rating: thumbs up

Scary Movie 4: The Scary Movie gang is back with send-ups of "War of the Worlds," "The Grudge," "The Village," "Saw" and "Saw II," "Million Dollar Baby" and much more. Legendary comedy director David Zucker ("Airplane!," the "Naked Gun" franchise, "Scary Movie 3," and "Ruthless People") and producer Bob Weiss reunite to take aim at some of the best fright films, the latest box office hits, music, current events, pop culture, and your favorite celebrities. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back as the loveable, dim-witted Cindy Campbell and her self-serving, sex-crazed pal, Brenda, respectively - joined this time around by Craig Bierko ("Cinderella Man"), as the cute-but-utterly clueless Tom Ryan. Together, they battle to save the world from a ruthless alien invasion. And the outrageous celebrity cameos include: Carmen Electra, Shaquille O'Neal, Dr. Phil, Bill Pullman, Chris Elliott, Molly Shannon, Michael Madsen, rappers Chingy and Lil' John, Leslie Nielsen returning as our fearless Commander in Chief, plus many, many more surprises.
Rating: thumbs down

Yours, Mine & Ours (2005): When Frank Beardsley, a widower with eight children, runs into his high school sweetheart, Helen North, it's as if thirty years never passed! Helen, also a widow with ten kids of her own that include the six she and her husband adopted, feels the attraction as well. It's no wonder they rush into marriage without telling their kids. True love can conquer all--right? Unfortunately for Frank and Helen, the families don't mesh quite as easily as the newlyweds had hoped. They probably should have seen the culture clash coming: the disciplined Beardsleys run things by the book; for the energetic and vivacious Norths, there is no book. Helen's kids aren't pleased about moving and sharing rooms with a bunch of uptight strangers. Frank's children have nothing in common with the unruly Norths. Since both sets of kids aren't happy, they devise a plan to undermine the marriage and team up to plot the breakup. East meets west as the two families find a way to work together--in order to separate! Just when it appears that the kids have succeeded, they realize they like each other despite their differences--they don't want their families to split up! Can they save Frank and Helen's marriage after they so brilliantly split them up? It's up to Frank and Helen.
Rating: thumbs up

Take The Lead: Pierre Dulaine is a Manhattan ballroom teacher and competitor who volunteers his time to teach ballroom dancing to a group of New York inner city high school kids. Initially forced to participate as a form of detention, the kids reject Mr. Dulaine's efforts until his unwavering commitment and dedication finally inspires them to embrace the program, infusing it with their own unique hip-hop style while subconsciously learning valuable life lessons about pride, respect, self-esteem and honor.
Rating: so-so

The Constant Gardener: In a remote area of Northern Kenya, the region's most dedicated activist, the brilliant and passionate Tessa Quayle, has been found brutally murdered. Tessa's traveling companion, a local doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Sandy Woodrow, Sir Bernard Pellegrin, and the other members of the British High Commission assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to their discretion. They could not be more wrong. This career diplomat's equilibrium has been exploded by the loss of the woman he was deeply devoted to. They were opposites whose attraction sustained a marriage, the memories of which now spur Justin to take decisive action for the first time in his life and diplomatic career. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his wife's infidelities, Justin surprises himself by plunging headlong into a dangerous odyssey. Determined to clear his wife's name and "finish what she started," Justin embarks on a crash course to learn about the pharmaceutical industry, whose crimes Tessa was on the verge of uncovering, and journeys across two continents in search of the truth. His eyes are soon opened to a vast conspiracy at once deadly and commonplace, one that has claimed innocent lives--and is about to put his own at risk.
Rating: so-so (It just wasn't for me...)

Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction: After re-locating from San Francisco to London, best-selling crime novelist Catherine Trammell once again finds herself on the wrong side of the law. Dr. Michael Glass, a respected London criminal psychiatrist, is brought in by Scotland Yard detective Roy Washburn to perform a psychiatrist profile and evaluation of Tramell following the mysterious death of a top sports star. Physically drawn to Tramell and mentally intrigued by her, Glass, against the advice of his mentor, Dr. Milena Gardosh, is quickly sucked into her web of lies and seduction. The professional boundaries between Glass and Tramell are obliterated when she uncovers his basic instincts. A deadly battle of wits ensues, climaxing as Glass faces a choice that will change both their lives forever.
Rating: thumbs down

Capote: In November, 1959, Truman Capote, the author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and a favorite figure in what is soon to be known as the Jet Set, reads an article on a back page of the New York Times. It tells of the murders of four members of a well-known farm family--the Clutters--in Holcomb, Kansas. Similar stories appear in newspapers almost every day, but something about this one catches Capote's eye. It presents an opportunity, he believes, to test hislong-held theory that, in the hands of the right writer, non-fiction can be as compelling as fiction. What impact have the murders had on that tiny town on the wind-swept plains? With that as his subject--for his purpose, it does notmatter if the murderers are never caught--he convinces The New Yorker magazine to give him an assignment and he sets out for Kansas. Accompanying him is a friend from his Alabama childhood: Harper Lee, who within a few months will win a Pulitzer Prize and achieve fame of her own as the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Rating: thumbs up

Crash (2005): A Brentwood housewife and her D.A. husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. An African-American television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple. They all live in Los Angeles. And during the next 36 hours, they will all collide.
Rating: two thumbs up

Munich: Set in the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the story follows a secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and kill the 11 Palestinians suspected to have planned the Munich attack--and the personal toll this mission of revenge takes on the team and the man who led it.
Rating: so-so (Not for me)

Syriana: From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for 'Traffic,' comes 'Syriana,' a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power. As a career CIA operative (George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker (Matt Damon) faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince (Alexander Siddig). A corporate lawyer (Jeffrey Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager (Mazhar Munir) falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric. Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world.
Rating: so-so (Too heavy for me)

V For Vendetta: Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V urges his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself--and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.
Rating: two thumbs up

Fun With Dick And Jane (2005): Dick and Jane are in love and living the American dream--until one day it becomes an American nightmare. When the company Dick works for becomes involved in an Enron-like scandal and he takes the rap, Dick and Jane are forced with the prospect of losing everything. After playing by the rules and getting burned, Dick has an idea: If stealing was good enough for his boss, then it's good enough for him. Using his newfound skills, he and Jane decide to exact hilarious revenge and teach big business a lesson.
Rating: so-so

Prime: In colorful, bustling modern-day Manhattan, Rafi, a 37-year-old photography producer reeling from a recent divorce, meets David, a 23-year-old painter recently out of college. Rafi's therapist, Dr. Lisa Metzger, who is working to help Rafi overcome her fears of intimacy, finds out that Rafi's new lover is--unfortunately for Lisa--her only son, David. Both David and Rafi must contend with their 14-year age gap, vastly different backgrounds and the demands of David's traditional mother. Despite their intense attraction, the charmed couple soon realizes that vastly different ages and backgrounds create much conflict. A Jewish hip-hop lover and closet painter who still lives with his grandparents, David has little in common with Rafi--a non-practicing Catholic from a wealthy, broken family who travels in the sophisticated, high-end world of fashion.
Rating: so-so

The Producers (2005): A shady Broadway producer and his nerdy accountant concoct a scheme to overfinance a huge flop and pocket the excess budget, but the show unexpectedly becomes a smash.
Rating: thumbs up

American Dreamz: On the morning of his re-election, the President decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's personal fave), the weekly talent show American Dreamz. America can't seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed, ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally, a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend, and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz -- where the President will be judging along with Tweed -- the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget.
Rating: so-so

The Wild: In this computer-animated comedy-adventure, an assortment of animals from the New York Zoo - including a lion, a giraffe, an anaconda, a koala, and a squirrel - discover what a jungle the city can be when one of their own is mistakenly shipped to the wild and they embark on a dangerous mission to rescue him. The film has a vocal ensemble - Kiefer Sutherland (as the respected lion leader, Samson), Greg Cipes (as Samson's son, Ryan), Jim Belushi (as Benny, the street savvy squirrel and Samson's best friend), Janeane Garofalo (as a quick-witted giraffe), Richard Kind (as a dim-witted anaconda), William Shatner (as a wicked wildebeest), and Eddie Izzard (as Nigel, an acerbic koala).
Rating: so-so (Kinda like a copy of Madagascar, but not as good)

Inside Man: Four people dressed in painters' outfits march into the busy lobby of Manhattan Trust, a cornerstone Wall Street Branch of a worldwide financial institution. Within seconds, the costumed robbers place the bank under a surgically planned siege, and the 50 patrons and staff become unwitting pawns in an airtight heist. NYPD hostage negotiators Detectives Keith Frazier and Bill Mitchell are dispatched to the scene with orders to establish contact with the heist's ringleader, Dalton Russell, and ensure safe release of the hostages. Working alongside Emergency Services Unit (ESU) Captain John Darius, all are hopeful that the situation can be peacefully diffused and that control of the bank and release of those inside can be secured in short order. But Russell proves an unexpectedly canny opponent--clever, calm and totally in command--a puppet master with a meticulous plan to disorient and confuse not only the hostages, but also the authorities. Outside, the crowd of New Yorkers grows as the situation becomes increasingly intense tense, with Frazier's superiors becoming more concerned about his ability to keep the standoff from spiraling out of control. The robbers appear to consistently be one step ahead of the police, outwitting Frazier and Mitchell at every turn. Frazier's suspicions that more is at work than anyone perceives are justified with the entry of Madeline White, a power player with shadowy objectives, who requests a private meeting with Russell. The chairman of the bank's board of directors, controlling entrepreneur Arthur Case, is also uniquely interested in the moment-to-moment happenings inside the branch. But just what are the robbers after? Why has nothing worked to alleviate the standoff, which stretches on hour after hour? Frazier is convinced that invisible strings are being pulled and secret negotiations are taking place as the powder keg situation grows more unstable by the moment.
Rating: thumbs up (Good but not as smart as Oceans Eleven... and I figured out their plan)

Failure To Launch: A thirtysomething man who still lives with his parents falls in love with the woman of his dreams and begins to suspect she has been hired by his parents as a way to get him out of the house.
Rating: thumbs down

The Shaggy Dog (2006): Tim Allen transforms from family dad to family dog and back again in this update of the Disney comedy. It all begins when workaholic Deputy D.A. Dave Douglas (Allen) takes on a case involving an animal laboratory -- one that will take him away yet again from his wife (Kristin Davis) and kids (Zena Grey and Spencer Breslin), who already yearn for his all-too-distracted attention. But when Dave is accidentally infected with a top-secret, genetic-mutation serum, everything he thought he knew about being himself and his family changes. Yet with his newly perked-up ears, and his front-row seat on the household carpet, Dave is able to gain a whole new perspective into his family's secrets and dreams. Now, he wants nothing more than to stop fetching and return to fathering -- only first he'll have to stop the evil forces behind the serum.
Rating: thumbs down

Curious George: The adventures of Curious George, the inquisitive little guy with an insatiable taste for adventure. George's spunky and fun-loving nature endears him to new friends, but also lands him in a series of (mis-)adventures.
Rating: thumbs down

Pink Panther (2006): A world-famous soccer coach has been murdered and his priceless, legendary ring has been stolen--a ring set with the stunning diamond known as the "Pink Panther." The French government needs a master detective to solve the crime and recover the gem--but he's not available, so they recruit none other than Inspector Jacques Clouseau. A stunning pop star, a soccer player, a Chinese assassin circles--but who committed the crime? And can anyone solve the case? Clouseau and his partner, Ponton, must unmask the murderer and keep their boss, Dreyfus, from taking credit for the victory, all without bringing the French legal system to a screeching halt.
Rating: so-so

Walking... walking... walk---

2006-05-05T02:51:00.000+10:00

Ok... so my darling housemates aka Ange, Helen and Taz have been going on these late night walks... and they have been bringing me along with them... Ok so I do enjoy the walks most parts except the fact that they walk sooooooooo freaking fast...!!! Ok no I would like to correct that... except the fact that I can't walk as fast as they do... seriously... if it wasn't for me they would probably be able to walk further and faster... I love these ladies, I do... but they are really going to kill me soon... I don't mind the walking at all... I mean we can walk all the way to China... just at my pace... but then again if I don't walk fast then it wouldn't do any good would it... Ah well... I'm just so freaking exhausted!!! Phew...

Lawrence Leung: The Marvellous Misadventures of Puzzle Boy

2006-05-01T01:18:00.000+10:00

Those of you who are in Melbourne should know that for the past... maybe two weeks... the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has been going on and if you don't know you then... you know now and you should really go see at least one... If you can afford it go for the more well known ones they are bound to be good but you should support the local comedians especially... Me and my housemates went to see Lawrence Leung... and here's the info of the show...

Under his bed, Lawrence has a locked briefcase of full of love letters he was too afraid to send. It has not been opened since 1996...He was a boy who liked puzzles. She was the principal's daughter. To win her heart, he boasted he could solve her Rubik's Cube in less than five minutes. He had to resort to taking the stickers off. Over the next fifteen years he would keep bumping into her, transforming his obsession with puzzles to how he would solve the riddle of unrequited love.Part human wildlife documentary, part good old-fashioned storytelling, Lawrence finally opens his Pandora's Briefcase. These puzzling pursuits are a marblebag of bittersweet delights.

Venue: Portland Hotel, 115 Russell St (Cnr Lt Collins), Melbourne
Prices: Full $22, Conc $17, Group (6 or more) $17, Preview $15, Laugh Pack $17, Tightarse Tuesday $17
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 & at the door
When: 13th Apr - 7th May
Duration: 60 minutes
Times: Tue-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 7.15pm, No show Sun 30 Apr or Tue 2 May, Easter Previews 13 & 14 April

The show was very friendly, funny, touching, and the best thing was that you can somewhat relate to it... Even though it was not one of those laugh hard kind of comedy... I still absolutely loved it... Good for the younger crowds...

20th Birthday... A Day To Remember...

2006-04-09T22:40:00.000+10:00

Chris, Arne, Doug, Fiona & Julia

Pre-Party

The Couple (Ange & Arne)

Me, Julia, Doug & Fiona

Tim, Me & Julia

My birthday celebration pretty much kicked off at about 9.00pm the night before (8th April)... My friends at the O'Connell Residence had long decided that we were to go out "clubbing", with the only problem of not knowing where to go and that we had an underaged person with us... but at 9.00pm the "pre-party" started at home... I didn't have any drinks but there were some people who were doing "Jeigermeister" shots... it was crazy... by the time we left it was about 11.00pm or so... We kinda decided to go check out GPO L2 but when we got there the line was just too long so we decided to go somewhere else... that was pretty much when the excitement started... two people in the group started some innocent back scrathing and hand fiddling which was just the build up for what was to come... Anyway so then we decided to do to Ding Dong... no idea who thought of that... so then we walked... and amazingly everyone got in... then we found out there was going to be a live band performance by some indi band called bootleg... They started at about 12 something... and went for about an hour... then later we danced for a little while until about 2 which was when we left... and throughout the whole time... the two people who were fiddling started some real hot "action"... and when we left they went off on their own... the rest of us went to Hungry Jacks for a snack and stopped by Strike where the guys had a game of pool and air-hockey... After that we went straight home... by then it was maybe close to 3am... When we got home... some really crazy drama happened which I think I should not include but it was bad... Then the girls went up to Fiona's room to just sit and talk... by the time we all got to sleep... it was about 6am... When I finally woke up it was maybe 12pm... went down made lunch and just basically at around talking... then later at night we had a girls-only dinner at La Prochetta which was 2 rounds away... And that was basically it... Doesn't sound like much but only if you were there... or maybe not... It was certainly the most eventful birthday I've since my birth (Haha)... Hence I've left behind the teen years now... Cheers...

Race Day: Melbourne F1 Grand Prix 2006

2006-04-04T22:27:00.000+10:00

Me, Julia, Helen & Stefan waiting for the gate to be opened...

Stefan & Julia catch up on sleep while waiting for Fizzi

Bianca joined us after we pitched the tent

Kimi in the Drivers Parade

The public

Flags flown proudly

The Colombians in full force

The aftermath

The start/finish line

Jenson's car before it blew up

Ok so basically the day pretty much started the night before... we stayed up pretty late playing poker and me making sandwiches for race day... Then we stayed up talking and what not... and because the day had an extra hour because daylight savings came to an end and so after tinkering with the laptop for sometime I finally went to sleep at about 3am... and woke up 2.5 hours later... to shower and get ready because we planned to leave at 7... after everyone was ready we hopped on the tram and headed for Albert Park, home of the Australian F1 Grand Prix... we were not the first ones there but we were pretty early... we were so early that the gate to the autograph section wasn't opened yet... and we waited for about an hour... and when it was finally opened we have to queue in line for about another hour Giancarlo Fisichella's autograph on to find out one second before he was due that he was sick and had to go visit his doctor... damn... we were so dissapointed... but hey we got some free stationary... maybe about $30 worth... and Stefan and Julia manage to rest a bit... especially with Stefan having no sleep at all the night before because we went for Paul Van Dyk, this famous European DJ's concert thingi which started at 3 am and ended at 6 am... and anyway so we rushed to get our seats at a place that Helen has scouted for us on Friday... it was at a corner and there was a large screen there... plus the tiolets were hear and everything... good place... we managed to squeeze our way to the front and made a little spot for myself, Helen, Julia and Bianca whom joined us later... Stefan had Grand Stand tickets so he went off on his own... there was still about 2-3 hours left before the race which was basically filled with air shows and other minor races... there was one which was a celebrity race... with was quite entertaining actually because they were driving these little mercedes suv's and the drivers were pretty aggressive not hesitating to smash the other cars... Then finally the race started... awesome awesome race I have to say... seriously... with all the drama... and that incident at the finish line where Jenson's car blew up... oh man... that was heartbreaking... he was doing so well... we then climbed onto the tracks and followed the crowd to the podium but by the time we got there they were done... but Alonso was still there celebrating his win... Personally it was the best race I had been to... awesome!!! Definitely a must next year... ;p Cheers...

Texas Hold'em... Oh Yeah!

2006-03-28T23:28:00.000+11:00

Just completed my first ever poker game and I won... oh yeah! Hahaha... two pairs and everyone was all in... sweet!! Anyway so yeah the Commonwealth Games have finally ended and it's actually kinda sad because like it was fun just watching the tv and cheering with everyone else shouting at the tv as well... Plus it didn't feel as boring especially with the extra activities going on in the city and the extra people in town... Pretty awesome... so it's now like twice that I've been in the city that hosted the Commonwealth Games... would be cool if it was the Olympics... that would've been awesome... And like it's just been an awesome week... but now it's back to work and back to reality... until Sunday of course... totally looking forward to the F1 GP in Melbourne... I'm going... yay!!! Report back then... cheers...

Let The Games Begin

2006-03-17T23:17:00.000+11:00

Ok I know technically this entry is a little late but it's because I've been busy... Anyway... on Tuesday we heard that there was going to be a street party and we weren't actually sure what time it started or would end so we just decided to go when everyone was done with dinner... We were all so hyped up but when we got there the people were already cleaning up... We were so dissapointed... So we just ended up walking around and talking... the only partially interesting thing we saw was the people doing the Urban Dream which is this 4 people who are locked in the display glass in front of the Myers Store until the end of the Commonwealth Games... to live and sleep in there... pretty cool... Then on Wednesday... we all had planned to go to watch the opening ceremony at Federation Square... initially we all wanted to go early so we would get a good view but ened up everyone got ready quite late... and when we got there... most of Melbourne was already there... But still we managed to get a spot with a good view of the giant screen... After a long while of waiting for the ceremony to start... we then only decided to head to the Yarra to watch the water show and fireworks... but our plan backfired and we were left in a huge crowd of people who were all blocking our view... so we just walked back and forth trying our best to find a good spot watch and then we just got so tired of trying to watch on toes... be decided to go back to the giant screen... but the guys got restless after a while and decided to go to a bar to watch it instead so they can have a drink as well... so we went to 6 Links... a pretty nice bar... to watch the rest of the ceremony... pretty crazy night... but fun... Man the people in O'Connell Residence are crazy... but I'm loving it... Oh and hope everyone enjoyed St. Patrick's Day... Cheers...

The New World

2006-03-08T14:56:00.000+11:00

This is the story of Pocahontas... starting from when John Smith and the crew arrived at the "new world"... until she arrives in England married to John Rolfe with their son... there she is reunited with John Smith and part ways forever...

The movie was pretty boring but it had some good cinematography... That's the only credit I can give it... Oh and Christian Bale is in it...

Random Stabbings... Crazy

2006-03-08T14:50:00.000+11:00

There's been a recent streak of random stabbings in the western suburbs and one on Swanston Street in Melbourne... Over the past 4 days, 8 people have been killed and some others injured... it was not even like they were small people... some were like those huge bikers with loads of tattoos... It's crazy... it's totally random AND it was all during daylight... I really feel paranoid these few days walking to uni... I keep looking behind me because some of these people were stabbed in the back...!!!! So Melbournians be careful... Especially with all the extra people coming for the Commonwealth Games... who knows what kind of people are roaming the streets...

Date Movie

2006-03-08T14:22:00.000+11:00

A ridiculous movie about an obese girl who is desperate to find love... she enlists the help of a matchmaker, loses tonnes of weight and meets the man of her dreams... Everything goes well until she is introduced to her fiance's best man who isn't actually a man but his ex-fiance who broke up with him because she was not ready to commit but now she is and she schemes to break the happy couple up... Being obese for many years has made her insecure and she breaks off the engagement but the guy apologises and basically tells her how much he loves her and they end up happily ever after... That is the plot of the movie but it uses schemes from different movies and change them a little to be ridiculously stupid... including "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", "Meet The Parents & Fockers", "Hitch", "Princess Diaries", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Lord of The Rings", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days", "The Wedding Planner", "Pretty Woman", "Kill Bill", "My Best Friend's Wedding"...

It was hilarious at times but mostly just stupid... Really not worth the watch...

Transamerica

2006-03-07T14:51:00.000+11:00

Starring Felicity Huffman from Desperate Housewives... this movie is about a pre-operative male-to-female transgender going by the name of bree who is just a week away from completing her gender change forever when she suddenly gets a phone call out of the blue telling her that she was the "father" of a boy, Toby, who is currently in need of her to bail him out of jail... Before she gets her operation... Bree is now required by her psychiatrist to resolve her relationship with her son... So she flies from Los Angeles to New York to pick up her son... without revealing her true identity... but it turned out that he did not want to go back... instead decides to follow Bree to Los Angeles... Bree schemes to drive across the United States and drop him off back home on the way... However things take a turn when she finds out that his mother had died and his step-father was abusing him... so she lets him travel with her... Things seemed to be going fine until Toby found out she was actually a he... he gets angry and picks up a hitchhiker to annoy Bree... and things got worst when the hitchhiker stole their car and left them stranded with no money... They then hitchhike to Bree's parents house in hope of her getting some money to fly back to Los Angeles because she was to get her operation the next day... Things heat up when Bree's mother refuses to accept that her only son was turning himself into a woman and finally when things just got out of control... Bree confesses to Toby about their true relationship... Toby could not accept the fact as well and runs away... Bree flies back to LA for her operation... Sometime later Toby arrives at Bree's place to see how she was doing...

An emotional yet funny journey with Bree who was very well portrayed by Felicity Huffman... It was draggy and monotonous at times but over all it was a good movie... But I reckon this movie is not for everyone as it can be quite a heavy load of frustration going around...

Dodging Bullets

2006-03-05T14:43:00.000+11:00

Well okay my friends were at the bar and one of the guys tried to get "fresh" (or at least that is what my friend calls it) with one of the girls and she totally freaked out so... she gave him the first excuse she could think of... and that is... "I'm a lesbian"... Yeah when she told us... we went histerical... her friends said why didn't she just tell him she just had a boyfriend... and now she's like totally freaked about whether he does think she's gay or what... And we were like telling her that he was just tipsy and he probably didn't remember it anyway because he's like totally normal around her... But seriously it hilarious what people say to dodge bullets... and the funny thing is... she totally into this other guy who the guy who hit on her knows... and she keeps sking him about that guy... man... this is so skrewed...

Joyful Joyful!!!

2006-02-28T08:06:00.000+11:00

I finally got my results back... and I'm happy to announce that I PASSED!!!!!! Even better I passed with the highest grade I got so far H2A only narrowly missing on a H1!!! Yeah baby!!! I'm so relieved now... I can continue doing my usual subjects...!!! Phew...

Moment Of Truth...

2006-02-27T02:32:00.000+11:00

I really can't seem to find anything to talk ab0ut these days... But luckily for me no one really reads it anyway and so I can pretty much ramble any rubbish and it wouldn't matter would it... "Blogs are for people who can't get published"... I can't remember which movie it came from but I disagree with it... Personally I think that blogs are for people who want to complain and put out their thoughts but no one wants to listen and only hope that someone would be bored enough to read it... Or at least that's me anyway... When was the last time someone did something really sweet for you... Hahaha don't get the wrong idea... You know the place where I live... we have this cleaner who's really nice and cheery but today she actually brought homemade muffins for us... isn't that just so sweet... I mean would your cleaner do that?!?! So classes start tomorrow or rather later today and I'm quite excited really... because I will also find out how I did for my summer course... fingers cross... I'm soooooo nervous... I was pretty happy with how the paper went but things don't always turn out like you think it would and I really need this... so dear God please help me out here... Cheers...

Rent The Movie

2006-02-27T01:57:00.000+11:00

The movie adaptation of Rent the musical... It's revolves around a group of friends who are basically "Bohemians"... struggling artists who are striving for the sake of the arts... It talks about aids, homosexulity, drugs, love, life, and friendship... Most importantly... it has great songs...

I love love loved the movie... I really want to watch the musical now because the original is always better so it must be a great musical... I would say that it's one of the best modern musicals... Great cast as well... Give it a go if you get the chance... seriously... Cheers...

The Pink Panther (2006)

2006-02-24T14:55:00.000+11:00

When the famous French soccer (football) coach is murdered and the infamous Pink Panther diamond is stolen, Chief Inspector Greyfus appoints Inspector Jacques Clouseau, a goofy police officer who is totally clueless to investigate so that he can step in as the hero when Clouseau crash and burns in his investigation... But it turns out that Clouseau is just so lucky that he stumbles on all the right places and gets all the right help... And manages to even solve the mystery...

One of those rubbish movies meant to be hilarious but it just turns out to be stupid... But some parts are pretty funny...

Cheaper By The Dozen 2

2006-02-23T16:55:00.000+11:00

Nora the eldest is now married and pregnant... and Lorraine is graduating from high school... Tom and Kate Baker feel like their children are all growing up and leaving them... Tom decides to bring the family together by having a family vacation... When the arrive at their vacation spot, they meet the Murtaughs... old friends as well as rivals... They become competitive when Tom is insulted for his bad parenting skills whihc led his children to become undisciplined... But being the Bakers they always manage to forget their differences and pull through...

A crappy movie like the first one... I reckon this one was even worst... not very entertaining either...

On Set...

2006-02-23T00:54:00.000+11:00

First I have to apologise for my terrible night mode camera skills... I can never keep my hand steady enough for a clear shot... Anyway... something rather interesting happened in front of my place, O'Connell Residence, tonight... There was a low budget movie filming along O'Connell Street... which is where I'm living right now... and the film people are parked across the street right outside my room... I was watching them film... I reckon it won't be a very good movie... Probably about drug lords or something... But hey still rather exciting... Went to the Victoria Market "Night Market" again today... I think I will try the food next week... it looks pretty good in spite of what Tim says... Tim is this guy who lives in O'Connell Residence as well... I tried the ice-cream/sorbet last week... the mango was pretty good but the passionfruit was really sour... This week I bought fudge... marble fudge... tastes really good... I reckon I'll get summore next week as well... good stuff... Those in Melbourne should drop by and have a look... Night Market is held on Wednesday nights from 5.30pm - 10.30pm I think... with food from around they world... dessert... clothing... jewellery and junk... and live music... I think it ends sometime in mid March... so don't miss out... Cheers...

Mrs. Henderson Presents

2006-02-20T16:35:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure if this is based on a real story but I remember hearing it is about how Mrs. Henderson revolutionised the theatre by have fully nude actresses on stage... Laura Henderson buys an old theatre, the Windmill, after the death of her husband and reopens it with the help of Vivian Van Damm a genius of the arts... when their feature turns out to be a hit... other theatres started copying them... in order to upstage the rest... Mrs. Henderson goes all out to enable fully nude actresses to be on stage for the very first time... The Windmill becomes legendary and remains open during the war when all others close...

A great movie... fantastic... usually I find this sort of movies boring but Mrs. Henderson presents is just so witty and charming... Judi Dench is superb as always... and Bob Hoskins gives that extra something to the whole story... Love it!!!

Memoirs Of A Geisha

2006-02-20T16:07:00.000+11:00

Based on the novel with the same title... this story tells of how young girl who was sold to be a slave at 9 years old rises to be a Geisha... It's a pretty long story but to make it short... after being sold to be a slave to she was sent to Geisha school while working for her owner who is the mentor of the most successful Geishas... however she often gets into trouble by attempting to run away to find her sister which got her pulled out from Geisha school and so was forced to be a slave forever... one day however she meets a man, "the Chairman", and this time really aspires to be a Geisha so that one day she could meet him again... Years later when she turned 15... her prayers were answered... she was given the chance to be a Geisha again... she is given the name Sayuri and she trains with Mameha who is determined to make her the best so that she will succeed Hatsumomo and Pumpkin (who trains under Hatsumomo)... then she meets the Chairman again... but when she tries to get close to him... Mameha asks her to do something else which only seems to stir her away... Then the battle between the Geishas start... they use all kinds of tactics to try to outsmart and outplay each other... but then chaos starts when war strikes... Sayuri flees from the city but when opportunity arrives for her to become a Geisha once again she accepts... However things seem to have change now that Americans have arrived such that Geishas are treated like prostitutes and commodities rather than artists... But somehow after all is said and done... the Chairman and Sayuri finally learn the truth about each other's feelings...

I haven't read the book... but I reckon that even though the movie itself is good but the storyline is a little patchy... because they only take buts and pieces of the whole story... A lot of controversy had been surrounding this movie... about the lead actress not ebing Japanese... about how the story depicts Geisha life inaccurately... and all that... So just remember when you are watching the movie... the story even though is called memoirs... it is fictional and the author is not even Japanese...

Underworld: Evolution

2006-02-20T15:42:00.000+11:00

The story picks up right where it was previously left off... A quick recap... Celine is a vampire who have been loyal to her leaders for many years until she found out that her mentor and trusted father-figure, Victor, was the one who killed her whole family and has been lying to her all these years... Now that she had killed Victor, she is on the run from the rest of the vampires with only one ally left, Michael, the human decendant of Corvinus who is now a hybrid of vampire and lycan (werewolf)... Trouble stirs when the first vampire Marcus Corvinus awakens and is determined to free his lycan twin brother, William, a vicious killer who has been locked up for centuries so that they can rule the world together... Celine and Michael while on the run, crosses paths with Marcus as Celine is the only one who knows the location of William... Now Celine and Michael turn their attention to stopping Marcus... and they ended up face to face with Alexandre Cornvinus, the eldest and first immortal... He was the only one who could stop Marcus but he could not bring himself to do it because no matter what Marcus is still his son... but after Marcus arrives to kill him... Alexandre passes his legacy to Celine by giving her his blood... Together Celine and Michael defeat Marcus and William... making them the future of the immortals...

The first movie was still better but the thing I liked about this one is that it an immediate continuation of the previous one... and the story developes really quickly... Less action this time though... the first one had a lot a lot of killing... but this one was pretty brutal at some parts... I enjoyed it... I always like a good vampire story... Cheers...

Just Friends

2006-02-17T00:22:00.000+11:00

A movie about this guy who used to be fat, Chris, who is best friends with the hottest girl in high school, Jamie, and he was in love with her but she only thought of him as his friend... or so she thought... After a humiliating incident during his high school graduation party... he left town and made something of himself... plus he lost weight... By chance he ends up in his hometown and bumps into Jamie... He decides to give her a taste of how he used to feel but she in fact fell in love with him and so he just ended up looking like a jerk and losses his best friend... But realising he was wrong he goes back to apologise and confessed that he had always loved Jamie... and yes they ended up together...

A rather crap movie don't bother... Good for filling up spare time when you're bored though...

Casanova

2006-02-16T23:17:00.000+11:00

Many of us know the name Casanova as the name of a man who seduces women but never falls in love with any of them... a player in modern terms... In the movie... Casanova finally meets his match... When he was young Casanova's mother left him but promised she would be back for him one day and aske him to stay in Venice until then... While waiting... Casanova occupies his time by courting women... Time and time again he was caught but never charged because he had the support of the Prince of Venice... But Casanova had pushed it a little too far when seduced a virgin who was supposed to marry a very powerful man... The Prince tells Casanova to find himself a respectable bride to change his reputation... He sets his sights on the famous Venice Virgin, Victoria, but a shy young man Giovanni Bruni has been in love with her for a long time and when he finds out she is engaged to Casanova, he challenges Casanova to a duel but Casanova gave him a different name, Lupo... However being a gentle man... he gets his much more talented sister, Francesca Bruni, to duel for him in secret... When Casanova, realises he was duelling with Francesca he continues to hide his identity because he was starting to fell in love with her... Things get nasty when Casanova finds out Francesca is writing as Guardi, a man who critises the small-mindedness of men in that era... and that she was also engaged to Paprizzio... He then pretends to be Prapizzio and uses all his efforts to win her heart... In the mean time, an inquisition has been made on Casanova and Guardi... During a ball everything reveals itself... Casanova confesses his love for Francesca... she finds out he is Casanova and that he knows she is Guardi... Casanova is caught and then he confesses to being Guardi as well and was charged... But Francesca was in too deep and in fact was in love with Casanova... she confessed to be the real Guardi and they were both charged and sentenced to hang to death... But then out of nowhere Casanova's mother and her partner came in disguise to save Casanova and Francesca but was foiled... Now they are on the run and with the help of everyone they know they sailed away from Venice with Giovanni Bruni stayed behind to marry Victoria, and took over the legend of Casanova... Casanova and Francesca ended up happily every after...

The movie was pretty good compared to how badly it's been doing in the box office... It's funny, witty and charming... I like the fact that in the end the legend of Casanova lives on through someone else rather than the real one... Yeah I enjoyed it... Cheers...