Next read

Suspense is all i can say about this book. I finally finished reading it after putting it on hold during my assessment battle. I like the second book [The Girl Who Played With Fire] better because it had a balance of everything. The first and this one was quite draggy i must say. Written by Stieg Larsson, which is unfortunate he died before he could see the success of his books, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final book by him which uncovers all the truth of Lisbeth's (main character) past and future. I would like to meet Lisbeth herself, if she exist that is, because she's such an interesting character.

Hollywood is making a movie out of the trilogy and i'm hoping and praying that they wouldn't ruin the magic Larsson had put into the story. And please, oh please pick the right cast to play the characters. Two weeks ago, i saw an alternate book cover for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and hoping i am wrong about this, showed the people playing Lisbeth and Mikael (also another main character). The female's fine. But the male ruins the, or at least my imagination of how Mikael is suppose to look like.
(click on the book titles to read its summary - i wouldn't want to write a summary here because i don't want to be responsible for being a spoiler which i am prone to ruining it)


As sad as it is, it cannot compare to the current book i'm reading - Angela's Ashes. It's just so heartbreaking and at times, i felt like jumping into the book and help or punch the characters. Unlike Larsson's book, Angela's Ashes is a non-fiction and it's actually a memoir of the author himself - Frank McCourt. Also deceased, he tells a story of his miserable and sad childhood during the 1930s.

Right: My "walrus moustache". xD

Have yet to reach the end and see what happen to young McCourt; i am currently taking it slow with this one because of the frustration i have with Malachy, good-for-nothing drunken bastard / father, every single time which always leaves me wanting to bash him up myself.

Oh! There's a movie on this book too, back in 1999.

I have 2 other books i want to read, The Kite Runner and Remarkable Creatures. I saw it during my visits to the book store and i feel like killing myself now for not remembering what is it about or why i even wanted to read it.

A few people have asked me, how do i choose what books to read. Well, honestly, i'm not sure really... I guess, it's up to the book itself to capture my attention. With a little flip to the summary and if interesting enough, i read the last page of the book (it's a habit), and then decide whether to take it to the counter or not.


Anyway, do you have any recommendation of what books i should read next? Let me know... :)

Grandpa Oscar?

The Oscars just ended. I woke up exactly at 8.30am to catch the live show. Now, i'm suffering from a migraine. I don't know what got me so excited with this year's Academy Awards. I watch it almost every year but never (ever) betray my sleep for it. For me, the whole 3 hours award show was okay... Most of the wins were kinda no brainer. Best movie was of course - The King's Speech. Colin Firth and Natalie Portman won the best actor and best actress respectively. The host did an okay job as well. Anne Hathaway can really sing!

It struck me when i was watching the red carpet arrival and saw these dresses. They look a little bit inspired by Chinese "cheongsam" isn't it? The sleeves, the open-leg slid, and the high neck. Not all of it looks great except Amy Adams which i think looks stunning in blue sparkles. But my favourite dresses for this year's Oscars were worn by Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry, and Hailee Steinfeld.

Reese looks like an Oscar Barbie with that cute ponytail. Halle is... it's Halle Berry! She looks good in anything. Hailee's so cute in that princess-y dress with (my personal favorite accessory) a headband.

I know the whole award season is over, but i think a good movie marathon would be great. Right now, i'm up for Gone With The Wind and Breakfast at Tiffany's.  ( :


P.S.: Pictures credited to Socialite Life.

Legend of the Guardians

Currently replaying this song in my head.

"...as you brace the wind and, take to the sky..." [Lyrics here]

If you don't know, this song is the official soundtrack for Warner Bros. new animated movie, Legend of the Guardians. I had the opportunity to watch the movie premiered today, in 3D. Thanks to Ellyse, my ex-supervisor, who gave me and my sis media invites.

Come to think of it, being a journalist really gives you these kind of privileges. The popcorn and drinks were free too. Woot woot!

Back when i was interning as a journalist, i got to attend fancy press launches / events and get free gifts. Not forgetting the food (hotel food and it-will-burn-a-hole-in-my-wallet-if-i-ever-eat-there-restaurant food)! That was one of the best part of my internship experience.

I'm just being a typical Malaysian who loves FREE stuff. *winks*

Back to the movie. Surprisingly, the movie is quite good. Although predictable from the beginning, it still had me at the edge of my seat. The graphic is spectacular. Amazing attention to details i must say. Storyline wise, could be better.

Basically, it's about owls. One in particular (Soren is his name), who strongly believes in his father's tale of brave owl warriors. One day, he and his brother (Kludd) were kidnapped by a group of strong but evil owls. Both were lead to be soldiers for the evil Metal Beak. Due to brotherly jealousy, Kludd became bad and Soren stayed true to what he believes in. He escapes and together with his new found friends, was determined to find the legendary owl warriors, Guardians of Ga'Hoole.

Basically, you know who's good, who's bad in this picture.

And the story gets predictable here. The good and evil fought. Good wins. Evil mastermind dies. Some survived (And i predict there will be a part 2, considering some faithful Metal Beak followers..... like Kludd survived). Peace restored. Main character becomes hero. (dot)(dot)(dot)

Anyhow, i don't regret waking up at 6 a.m. today.

Lady Gaga at the VMA 2010

If you watched the VMA (MTV Video Music Awards) lately, you'll know what Lady Gaga wore to the show. Or even if you did not watch, you bound to see and read about it somewhere.

I watched it, twice to be exact, and i honestly think Chelsea Handler is not all that funny. She's a talk show host and a comedian in real-life. She hosted the VMA this year and i personally don't think she is funny at all. Her jokes are mostly build on sarcasm and insults. The audience seem to not mind her jokes and laugh along with it but i think deep down, they think she's nuts. Well, i think she's nuts.

Anyway, i'm not here to talk about how bad Chelsea Handler suck at the award show, i am here to talk "Gaga Fashion".

She had 3 outfit changes this time around. Less than the year before which was 6 (Or was it 5? I loss count).

I don't hate or dislike Lady Gaga. I have a very neutral feeling towards her. I think her music is good. Her videos are sometimes a little crazy and over-the-top. And her fashion sense is a work of art. She's like a walking artpiece from MET Museum. What i like most about her is that she is very unpredictable. You never know what she's going to do next. That's why i sometimes love watching her perform. It's different every time.

So what did she wear?

Behold Alexander McQueen.

This is a totally artsy dress. As you can see, she is wearing head-to-toe Alexander McQueen. And that's the "claw" shoe i talked about in my previous post here. The dress is from Alexander McQueen's last collection. So i guess it was nice of her to honour him by wearing his designs. A very bold dress - that's all i can say. I do love the blue highlights on her hair.


Next, was Armani.

I actually think this outfit is cool. She looks like the darker version of Statue of Liberty, with pointy boobs. If you watch her accepting the Best Pop video award, you can tell she had difficultly walking in that dress. She even admitted it herself for walking slow and that her dress was heavy. L.O.L!


Last but not least, Franc Fernandez.

Never heard of the designer. But from what she's wearing, he must be one hack of a, erm... another eccentric designer. That my friends, is RAW MEAT. Besides the diamonds, she is wearing head to toe meat. Eeewww... all the way. I can't imagine the amount of perfume she put on to get rid of the odour. And i won't want to sit next to her. It actually looks like a functional dress but the "materials" used is a little bit, erm, i don't know, crazy maybe? People said the dress traveled to the award show in a freezer. Hahahaha. That just made me laugh. Never in the history anyone had pulled something like that off. Oh, looks like a piece dropped off from her butt.


I wonder what's next for her.

The Vamps are BACK!

From top left to right; Stefan (Paul Wesley), Elena/Katherine (Nina Dobrev), Damon (Ian Somerhalder),
Bonnie (Katerina Graham), Season 2 Promo Poster, Caroline (Candice Accola),
Jeremy (Steven McQueen), Matt (Zach Roerig), Jenna (Sara Canning)

My daily dose of Vampire Diaries is finally back! It's been 4 months since the first season ended. Now it is back with the second one, taking off where it was left in the final episode. Based on all the trailers and promos, the whole first episode was built entirely around Katherine - the evil and strong vampire who turned both Damon and Stefan. They are of course the main characters in the show together with Elena, who is in fact a human that looks exactly like Katherine. If you have yet to know, the story evolves around these characters.

It seems like i just describe every main character in the show. I won't take it any further cuz if i do, this blog post will defeat its purpose. :)

Just go watch it if you haven't... Be warn, the content below contain SPOILERS. So, if you are a fan and haven't watch it, scroll away now.

Katherine

Anyway, the comeback episode was predictable yet exciting. I knew that Katherine will try to tear the brothers apart (Damon and Stefan are brothers and yes, they are vampires too. One good and the other evil.)  and i knew Elena was going to be a part of that fuse. What i didn't predict was, Katherine saying that she didn't love Damon one bit and that she loves Stefan. Personally, i think she said that because she wanted Damon to hate Stefan, besides, i don't think she is even capable of loving someone. If Damon hates Stefan, you know one will kill another. They are in fact vampires. What occurs to me is, why? Why does she want to tear those brothers apart so badly? Is there another reason for her return?

Elena & Stefan. (Katherine has curly hair, Elena has straight)

Damon & Stefan

It was a great disappointment that they didn't cover the part of Tyler having the whole scary eyes thing in Season 1. I was hoping to know why and how come but i guess that will be covered in the later part of the series. The least they could do was drop ONE hint, right?

Tyler & Uncle Mason

The last scene was definitely a shocker and it made everything more blurry for Katherine's return. She killed Elena's friend, Caroline. I hope she's not gone for good. Caroline was a love-to-hate character and it will be sad if she's gone just like that.

I just can't wait to see what happen in the next episode.

500 Days in 95 Minutes

When it comes to movies, i am an epic failure. It takes me years and years till i watch a movie or until it shows on Astro (my country's local satellite TV). Or else, i will never watch it even though i so wanted to watch it when it first came out. Don't believe me? Well, i think i am the only breathing human being that hasn't watch Avatar. The movie that has blue people in it? Yes, the very same, my friends.

What did i tell you, i'm a failure when it comes to movies.

Just a day ago, i watched this movie called (500) Days of Summer. This movie is making it to my top list of favourite movies. Why? Because it is awesome.

It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. I must say they make a very cute couple. Really.

If you follow my Tumblr account, you would know i posted a picture of Mr.Gordon-Levitt. I fell for him in the movie Inception. But lets put that aside. This blog doesn't need another of my "oh-my-gawd-he-is-so-hot" post.

This movie is a romantic comedy. Melodrama to be specific. So for the males, you'll call it a chick flick. Long story short, it is basically about a guy who believes in true love and a girl who doesn't. He falls for her. She wants nothing but a casual relationship. They ended after a while. Guy still loves her but finds out she got married with another dude. A shocker for someone who doesn't believe in true love isn't it? That's what i thought too.

For the whole movie, i really thought it would be like another 50 First Dates kinda movie. I thought that they would separate but he will somehow win her back. Yes, predictable. But that's normally how a romantic comedy end isn't it? I was wrong... Boo me.

He didn't of course. But that's okay. The whole movie had really funny witty jokes. Cute witty jokes. And it breaks through for those who doesn't believe in true love.

Image from fanpop, credited to paperedglory.

Two thumbs up for this movie. Oh, by the way... this movie was out in 2009 and was shown on Astro couple of times but i missed it. So, double boo me.

*Sigh*

One of my favourite scene in the movie is the Ikea scene. Tom, who plays the main character, and Summer who, well, Tom likes, was shopping in Ikea and they treated it like their home. And in one scene Tom and Summer laid on one of the display-beds and Tom said...

"Darling, I don't know how to tell you this, but there's a Chinese family in our bathroom".

L.O.L. And true enough, there was a Chinese family staring at both of them on the bed.

At the end of the movie, you'll probably say, "Hmm... what's faith and true love?".

I believe in it... Do you?

On play...

Guitar strumming. Musically my favourite. I can't play the guitar but somehow i wish i did. Imagine a chick on guitar! Hell awesome! That's why i love Orianthi. Her fingers are literally flying across the chords. *Drolls*

I'm currently listening to Punk Goes Acoustic 2. It is a compilation album of various artist performing their songs acoustically.

Some artists that are in the album are, All American Rejects, Mayday Parade, and Relient K.

These are the kinda songs that i listen to most of the time. Acoustic rock or pop. So i honestly love this album,  although half of the bands featured in the album is unknown to me.

If you love the sound of guitar, you'll love this album. This album is not for those people who are particular with singing voices. Most of these bands' lead vocalist doesn't have out-of-this-world voices. So be warn. Oh, and if you have sensitivity to shouting, skip the song Apology. :)

Acoustic rocks my world!

Pictures obtained from deviantART.com

Dinner @ Geylang-Lor9 SS2

To many people, eating this particular animal is weird. I remember eating this little fellas twice in a week. So, i when home, and Googled, "Is frogs high cholesterol?" And the search result was, well... "weird". But those who have tried, it's actually quite nice. Right? Here's some pics.

"Tim Kai Choke" = Frog porridge

Spring Onion and Lemon Grass Frog

Looks can be deceiving. Yes, it's the leg...

So-called "appetizer". It arrived the last. So, dessert maybe?

Mixed Veg & Minced Chicken Meat in a Spring Roll.

Geylang Lor9. Situated at SS2, Petaling Jaya.

Overall, nice food, nice atmosphere. But a little pricey.

I can't read Chinese. Someone translated it to me.

RM 12 is for ONE frog.

RM 24 is for TWO frogs.

RM 33 is for THREE frogs.

Did i get it wrong? Let me know if i did.

:)

Toy Story 3

I remember being only 5 or 6 years old when the movie first came out in 1995. And now it's back - for the third installment. It's great that they decided to make a third one. I grew up watching both Toy Story 1 and 2 (1999). For the 3rd movie, i actually was super excited about it. Hearing from people about how great it is, i had to catch the movie myself. Paying RM8 (with student card), it was worthed all my money.

I'm not going to go through the whole movie here because i think that would be plain spoiler. I hate having someone pop my bubble, so i don't appreciate popping other people's. Okok, walk away now since i'm not giving you any details. But trust me, it's for your own good. I watched all the trailers, web clips, fan made videos of Toy Story 3 movie and when i was actually watching the movie, i felt like i knew what was going to happen, which wasn't smart at all.  So, i think for those who still has not watch it and like me, grew up watching Toy Story, GO WATCH IT!

The movie was hilariously funny, emotionally sad, and heart-racing exciting all at once.

Though, i have to say, i expected more from the movie. It's great but i wanted more from it. Ok, maybe i am a bit greedy. There were a few missing toys as well. Remember the female toy with all her lambs? Supposingly to be Woody's girlfriend? Bo Peep was her name and yes, she is missing from the movie. There's also Lenny and Wheezy that are missing. Lenny is the binoculars from the first movie and Wheezy is the singing penguin from the second movie.

Lenny (Top), Wheezy (Left), Bo Peep (Right)

For these 2 characters, i understand their disappearance because both toys are voiced by the same actor named Joe Ranft and he passed away in year 2005. He was a frequent voice appearance for Disney Pixar movies such as The Lion King, The Bug's Life, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and even Corpse Bride.

Missing toys doesn't mean no toys. There are still a few main ones that we all love, Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Hamm the Piggiebank, Jessie, and Bullseye. And new toys. Lots-O'-Huggin Bear (Lotso for short), Ken, Big Baby, and a few more others. I liked Lotso the bear at first but after i watched the movie, i think he is pure evil..................

After watching the movie, be prepared to feel guilty - for your old toys. I did. I kept thinking about my old pink teddy bear, the black and white panda, and the doggy plushie i had when i was young. Man, i miss them. Hopefully they are having a blast with a new owner (I did not throw them out, i donated them to charity - I think there are children out there that needs those toys more than i do). Yes, i learned that from the movie.

So, set a date and go watch the movie. Or wait till the DVD to come on. And no, i don't mean the RM10 DVD. You know what i mean.


Cheers~

Cupcake Date With Besties

I was considered lucky today because i got to sleep a little longer than usual. Instead of the usual 6.10am, i woke up at 9am. A total of 9 hours of sleep. YEH!

Before i forget again, here are a few pictures i took during a cupcake date with Mun and Lava. Yes, i admit. I forgot about the pictures until i read Mun's blog. Sorry...

Looking at them reminded my about 2 things:-

First!

The CUPCAKES of course.

Second!

The lomography camera (lomo cam) they sell! If i remember correctly, they are selling at RM427. A little more pricier than i thought. If you have yet to find out, i'm a lomo freak! I love lomography effect. Lomography is an old-skool kind of snapshot that has over-saturated colours (This part, i Google-d it) with a some dark edges at the side.

Actually i can simply create lomo effect onto any ordinary picture just by using Photoshop but i feel it's not as natural as the real thing.

Here's some example that i did:

Lomo effect

Original picture

You can Google the techniques. It's really simply, even for no experience Photoshop users. :)

Ok, i got a little carried away with my darling lomo talk. Here are the snapshots of the lovely cupcakes...

Don't be silly, i didn't have all 6 of the cupcakes.

Cheers~