K: “Why?”

S: “Facebook is down. I can’t log in.”

K: “Oh is it?” turning my head to check it out on his laptop and saw the “error loading” page.

“Oh ya… ha ha ha!”

S: “Hai…” shaking his head.

K: “So …  are you going into depression now?”

S: — — —

I was befuddled. Why? I asked him.

He laughed heartily, and said, “Because she ‘eng eng bo dai ji’ ma!”

I immediately understood, and laughed so hard tears almost rolled down my cheeks.

Did you get it now?

“Eng Eng Bo Dai Ji” is Hokkien, that means “Too free with nothing to do”!

Happy National Day holiday dear friends

Yearning for some real relaxation, I did the unusual and succumbed to the tempting ‘brainless, pure entertainment’ movie genre when I sauntered happily to watch the Japanese film Handsome Suit.

I had expected at most an hour-and-a-half of brainless comedy, but I was sorely disappointed. Running for 115 minutes, the film has its laughing moments. But it is far from a brainless and purely entertaining production. It actually seeks to delve deeper into the human mind and find out what is more important – looks, or character.

>> Click to continue reading…

Gosh, violence has all but taken over this planet. Now, even for the supposedly happiest and most beautiful occasion in our lives (at least so for girls!) has failed to duck the attacks and ambushes in the likes of secretive sabotages and outright competition to see who is the best bride of the day.

With full knowledge of every wimp and fancy, likes and dislikes, secret histories and dreamy futures of each other, Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) make use of every singe ounce of secrets they knew about each other since childhood days to their own advantage when a turn of events causes the unthinkable to happen – their wedding fall on the same date, same place and same time.

It should have been a happy occasion still, in Chinese we like to say it is “double happiness”, except for a little problem – both of them have sworn to be each other’s maid-of-honour. Now they can’t, not when they are brides at the same time!

This Catch-22 situation may be a catastrophe for others, but it should see a harmonious and peaceful resolution between two childhood friends who have been through thick and thin, good and bad and who are probably closer than real sisters are.

Click here to continue reading what I like about this movie Bride Wars…

Yay! I love Christmas! It has been my favourite holiday since I was a kid, and it still is. Yes, I love Christmas much, much more than Chinese New Year.

And I always look forward to those yearly Christmas Hollywood movie as I can feel the white Christmas ambience and those warm stuffed turkey dinner on screen. It’s as if I’m part of the lively family in front of the fireplace tearing away the wrappers to reveal their presents!

This year, there isn’t one family that I can peek into, but a total of four. Well, as the adage goes “Too many cooks spoil the soup”, the more Christmases one celebrates in a day may be more trouble than good, as we find out in this movie.

Click here to read my review of this movie…

If robots falling in love is something new and slightly unbelievable to you, so will be the state of the trash-filled Earth shown in this movie, WALL.E.

Robots showing human emotions and displaying camaraderie are what you can expect in this lastest animation film from Disney. WALL.E (which aptly stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), is the robot left alone, save for his only friend, a cockroach, in Earth to clear up the mess (by the sizes of skyscrapers built with trash) left by humans after they have taken up to live in space within the confines of a mega-spaceship Axiom. In there, humans continued to patronise the corporation Buy N Large which was responsible for the Earth’s incredible trash built-up, and their reason for evacuation from the place where they should belong.

They sit on chairs that move them around, and eat from cups. Yeah, they sip their meals via a straw, and they “interact” with everyone via video and TV. They grow so fat and become so dependent on robots powered by Buy N Large that they can’t even stand on their own. No, they can’t walk even though they have legs.

EVE, the babe that catches WALL.E’s attention and subsequently, his heart, comes from Axiom. EVE (short for Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) has the mission to look for, that’s right, vegetation. Once signs of life is found on Earth, then it signals the time for the humans to return.

With a stroke of luck, a burgeoning plant is found by WALL.E on one of his usual rubbish sorting, compressing and allocating days. This plant is to be the critical link between the humans revolving in space and their eventual return to Earth. Some adventures ensue as the autopilot robot prevent the Captain from directing the spaceship to Earth.

WALL.E and EVE make friends along the way. Like the ever-dutiful-and-most-responsible-ever cleaner that I have ever encountered in my life, the M-O (Microbe Obliterator). He is the cleaner robot, and boy, does he clean! Any particles that doesn’t originate from Axiom, like dust on Earth, is classified as a Foreign Contaminant, and it has to go! M-O cleans dirt unceasingly with his roller. Obviously, WALL.E does give him the biggest headache, as he has lived among the trash for a good ole’ 700 years. Oh btw, that’s the number of years humans have been surviving in Axiom.

Disney has successfully make robots, which are supposed to be cold, rigid and stiff cute and endearing. I love M-O, really! Oh, WALL.E is very sweet too, especially when he refuses to give up on EVE when she de-activates herself, meaning she’s totally unresponsive, while waiting for her mother spaceship to pick her up.

And can I add that WALL.E’s pet, that cockroach, is the only subject in the movie that doesn’t thrill me one bit? I was only waiting for it to die, and I wondered why it survive two times when WALL.E accidentally rolls over it. Gosh! Don’t they have a long life?

This film teaches us to be more concerned about our environment in a light-hearted and entertaining way. And, when even robots can fall in love and develop feelings for each other, what is there to complain?

Go watch WALL.E!

Everybody was kung-fu fighting (HOOH! HAAH!)
Those cats were fast as lightning (HOOH! HAAH!)
In fact it was a little bit frightning (HOOH! HAAH!)
But they fought with expert timing (HOOH! HAAH!)
Wo oh oh oh…..

Yeah, this was the song that was in the background for the Kung Fu Panda trailer. It instantly put me in the feet-tapping, head-nodding mode as I laughed and huffed, with popcorn in my mouth. That was a month ago I guess.

One month later, I was in the cinema, again with popcorn in my mouth, watching the fat panda getting into real action – kung fu.

Well, Po the panda is cute, though I would have preferred it to be smaller in size. If we go by the mantra that anything small is cute, hence if Po were smaller, then he would be cuter, right? In this sense, Master Shifu is really cute! Small and furry, yet agile and has a character of his own. Brilliant!

See, isn’t he real cute?

(All photos taken from the movie site www.imbd.com)

So, I don’t find Po cute. But I find him, well, at least he is furry. So what kind of fighting style can a six-foot-two-inch 260 pound panda has to impress the highly-reverred Master Wugui so much to confer the highly-acclaimed Dragon Warrior to him?

There is only one reason – destiny has it that every one has his or her own role to play in this Universe. And Po’s destiny is to become the Dragon Warrior to fight Tai Lung, the deposed disciple of Master Shifu, also the most-loved of all by him.

I learned some good lessons from this movie, and I’d like to share them here with you.

1. Belief

The power of belief. Master Wugui believed in Po when nobody does, even when Po doesn’t even believe in himself. Thus, because Master Shifu has an unshakable faith in Master Wugui, he adopted this belief in Po too.

Before Master Wugui ascended in Heaven (well it sure looks like in the movie!), the last words he told Master Shifu were “You must believe.” The power of belief is so strong that the hows, whats and whys of becoming the Dragon Warrior is of secondary importance. Only when you believe, you will achieve.

2. Flexibility

All roads lead to Rome. Similarly, there’s a Chinese old saying that means one kind of rice can breed one hundred different types of people.

There is no good or bad way of teaching Kung Fu. Whatever works for the individual is a good way. What is thought to be Po’s weaknesses turn around to be his strengths, and the exact ones that work to defeat an opponent like Tai Lung.

When Master Shifu notices this distinctive trait in Po, he quickly utilises it and trains him using a completely different method as he did with the Furious Five. What works for the Furious Five doesn’t work for Po, and vice-versa.

Flexibility is the essence in Kung Fu, so it is in the real world. How many times have we heard of failures of individuals and companies simply because they refused to adopt flexibility in their ways and policies and hence became prisoners of their own doing?

3. A heart of gold

Why didn’t Master Wugui appoint Tai Lung as the Dragon Warrior when Master Shifu also thought he was the right one 20 years ago, given his superior Kung Fu skills that surpassed all the disciples?

Because he doesn’t have a heart of gold. As much as excellent skills are necessary to be a good leader, equally or even more important is the heart of this person. Is he empathetic, compassionate, patient and inspiring? Does he set good examples by walking the talk, or does he only gives off commands from his office? In short, does he has a kind heart to be a benevolent leader?  

Take a doctor for example. What makes a good doctor good? Is it only his skills or is it a combination of this and his good patient handling methods? I’m sure many of you will agree with me that a doctor with a heart of gold will make it to the list, versus one who is technically rich but emotionally poor.

Hence Po, with a kind heart, undying perseverance to turn his dream to reality and a strong belief that he is who he makes himself to be, is the true Dragon Warrior in all sense of things.

Except, maybe, only one.

Erm, can somebody buy this panda a new pair of shorts, please?

P.S Want to know what personality type are you and who should you train under? Take the short quiz here and find out! Btw, I should train with Master Monkey haha

Be wowed.

Get your eyes prepared to indulge in a feast of sinfully extravagance, splendour and glamour.  Four ladies sizzle on screen with to-die-for dresses, killer stiletto heels, bigger than big accessories and oh-my-goodness gorgeous wedding gowns are what you can get from the movie Sex and the City.

Besides Carrie Bradshow’s (Sarah Jessic Parker) wedding, Charlotte York’s (Kristin Davis) magical pregnancy, Miranda Hobbes’ (Cynthia Nixon) departure from marriage and Samantha Jones’ (Kim Cattrall) struggle to stay in her relationship without cheating, this movie attempts to dive into something deeper in everybody’s lives than just the two things that girls flock to New York for – labels and love, as what Carrie’s voice-over right in the beginning of the movie says.

As I said attempt to, it means the effect isn’t completely achieved, but awareness has certainly been brought to the audience. What are the other things that matter besides label and love, oh and of course, sex? They are forgiveness, true friendship and happiness. One more – about marriage.

I am impressed and touched by the girls’ friendship. Guess it is most evident when they all appear to help Carrie pack to move. 20 years of belongings plus an extremely huge closet is not that easy to clear, really. It’s easy to stick through good times as people always say. So when all of them threw their work aside (seriously, besides Miranda who seemed genuinely busy, all the girls look like they only have themselves and occasionally, their men to please to while their time away) and fly to Mexico to help a heart-shattered Carrie get back on her legs, or rather her dresses so she can get back on her life.

There are some betrayals, and thence comes the forgiveness part. Maybe in life, we just need somebody to kick us in the ass and tell it to our face. Otherwise, we will always get stuck in the victim mode and cling on to those nasty feelings, bemoan and do nothing about it. Forgiveness means the willingness to face our emotions towards the party who have caused us hurt squarely, and to recognise that that hurts but we can still choose to proceed on by letting it go and focus on rebuilding something else for our future. Something positive.

Like how Mr. Big initially caves into his fear of getting married but finally conquers it as he realises that Carrie is still the love of his life. It lets into a man’s inner world of fears about commitment, especially for those who have been through failed marriages.

It is interesting to see how men and women view weddings and marriages so differently. Mr Big is a typical case here. While he is more than happy to just walk into City Hall (the equivalent of ROM here) and just announce his marriage vows, sign the paper and walk away a happy married man, Carrie is all consumed by the fairy-tale wedding come true with champagne, close friends and not-so-close friends and that perfect wedding gown of every woman’s dream. Even a 40 year old dreams about the wedding gown, trust me.

Don’t believe? Check this out…

Maybe to women, wedding is no different from our marriage. It is a beginning, and how we like the beginnings to start off ever so beautifully and lovingly. It is as if when the wedding is a successful one, then the marriage will be better too. But men just treat that as, well, another event. Wedding and marriage are completely different affairs!

He only wants her, period. With or without the dress doesn’t matter. What does she want then? Him, obviously, but not only him! It has to come with a grand wedding! I’ve learnt some lessons from this segment, and I guess that’s what make this movie enjoyable, because it reflects some issues and teaches us some lessons on love and marriage, dating and relationships that are very true in reality. (Because of all the labels in it, it somehow makes one feel surreal throughout the movie!)

This entire movie looks just like an extended episode, with the exception that they bring closures to all the main issues that the four women are grappling with. And it seems like this is what the movie is for – to bring closures.

At this point, I need to confess. I have not seen the Sex and the City TV drama yet. If my memory didn’t fail me too badly, I vaguely recalled that I’ve watched between 1-2 episodes. One was purely acidental as I was waiting to use the shower room and sat at the sofa in a holiday chalet in Hong Kong when this show was playing. I found it pretty entertaining then, but I didn’t take note of when it was aired to catch it regularly.

But if I were to guess it correctly, the essense of the show is to highlight the struggles that modern women have when it comes to work, love, relationships, marriage and sex. And it feels that ultimately the girls have got their answer towards the million dollar question: Is marriage good, or not?

Well, if out of the four, only one is left single with no wish to marry or even have a fully-committed relationship, then I guess the answer is pretty obvious, right?

Enjoy the movie with your favourite snacks, and I’m sure the 145 minutes will fly by without you noticing it. Who can have enough of those fabulous clothes, right?

I was attracted to watch this movie because of Cameron Diaz. But I wasn’t prepared at all for what hapens in Vegas, and even more, what happens after Vegas.

My entourage consisted of my hubby and sister. It was an hour-more long of fits of laughter that broke through us and the rest of the movie goers as we could hear the cinema filled with roars and guffaws.

The story is about a couple who just faced two failures in their personal lives heading to Las Vegas for a wild short vacation that is unprecedented, especially for Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz), who always “plan to make plans” and has never been impressed with the sin city.

She is about to be proven wrong, as it only takes the first night to unleash all the fun cells in her that throws all inhibitions she used to have out of the bar. In fact, she found herself married to Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) the next day morning after the night of debauchery with him. 

When love is not present in a marriage it looks like a clear cut case on how to move on isn’t it? Technically speaking, yes when money isn’t involved. But when thick wads of cash is in the picture, to be specific, USD 3 million, then, things do get complicated.

Jack wins the jackpot, using Joy’s quarter. While Jack won’t hit the jackpot without the quarter, Joy won’t get the windfall without someone hitting the jackpot, and that person is her one-night husband whom she can’t wait to divorce!

Now there’s a compelling reason to stay together, watch how this couple resorts to all ways and means to make the other party walk away from the marriage. What they didn’t know is, sometimes the more you want to get out, the more you will stay in.

Through their sabotages and mishaps, arguments and wanting to get into each other’s skin, they are behaving like real couples, except that they aren’t aware until the marriage counsellor points out to them. You see, what is so real about this movie is it highlights a point that a lot of people tend to overlook, or have a misconception about. That when a couple gets married, it’s the beginning to good, happy and rosy times ahead.

What newly-married couples didn’t know is that there is so much work to do in order to keep a marriage lasting, and with passion. Many times we bring our own issues into a relationship, and if our partners happen to possess traits that just about counter off our own weaknesses, then technically speaking this is a perfect match!

But how often do we get such matches? Many people still don’t get it that they can find such partners who can complement them, because they haven’t been doing the right things right. Well, this movie surely is a reference that we can all use to check on our relationships, in the name of having a good time relaxing our minds.

I totally enjoyed this movie – the chemistry between Joy and Jack plus their two buddies (cannot not mention them, really!), the punch lines and those hilarious moments which will make you laugh so hard that you’ll wonder when was the last time you laughed like this, as I did.

It’s time to get lucky.

Happy weekend friends! :)  

If there are only three chances in life to make love happen, I’m pretty sure Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) would have thought he had blown all his off when he got the letter of divorce from his wife and mother of his only 10 year old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin).

An unexpected sex education in Maya’s school created furore among the students. Curiosity of the little ones shot to the highest level, and Maya was no exception. She quizzed Will on her birth, and that inevitably led to ultimate and most feared question – what happened between her dad and her mom? And to explain a matter as complicated as love to even a wise kid like Maya, it meant a trip down memory lane where Will relived all his three relationships one more time.

The story began in 1992 when Will had to temporarily part with his college lover Emily (Elizabeth Banks) to hit New York for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. At the same time that he dabbled with and learnt the ins and outs of politics for his career, he met two more girls – April (Isler Fisher), the free-spirited and apolitical confidante and Summer (Rachel Weisz), the ambitious and extremely attractive journalist.

As Will recounted his love tales with each of the ladies, Maya’s job was to guess which one of them eventually gave birth to her. This task of identifying her mom was made more challenging with Will changing the women’s names. Did this little wise one scored her bingo?

Nostalgia had a strange way of making one’s emotions more vulnerable and exposed. And it did just that as Will discovered that he could, potentially, have another shot.

Plot wise, I found it adequately acceptable without any major twists and neither turns nor anything totally unpredictable. Acting wise, the cast put up a generally good performance, though one would expect slightly more from ex-Little Miss Sunshine Abigail.

The attempts at humour met with success as the seeds sowed harvested scores of laughter from the audience in the cinema at the designated moments. Though not exactly die-hard romantic, Definitely, Maybe definitely passed the love test with pretty good screen chemistry between Will and his three girlfriends.

It is not hard to detect the similarity in the directorial style of this movie with Love Actually, as they both came from the same hands, though love can be felt more intensely in that movie, actually.

If I were to rate, Definitely, Maybe would get 6.5 out of 10 points. Definitely worth watching, no maybe about it.