Off to Rio in 2016

For the past 2 weeks, I've been actively following the London Olympics while searching for jobs. As a result, my biological clock as gone wonky due to the 8 hours difference. Anyways, this Olympic Games sure is an interesting one - world records broken, scandals involving doping & match fixing, etc. Eighteen badminton players were disqualified for match fixing & was reportedly suspended from the sport for 2 years.

Despite all that, athletes like Michael Phelps made history by being the most decorated Olympian with 22 medals in which 18 are of gold medals. Usain Bolt, nicknamed "Lightning Bolt" became the first athlete in track & field to win gold medals in 100m & 200m for two consecutive Olympics. My favourite & one of the most beautiful sport, rhythmic gymnastics has its fair share of success story. Evgeniya Kanaeva representing Russian Federation is the first gymnast to defend the title of individual all-around Olympic champion. Watching her performing routine & scoring mostly 29 in 4 apparatus was absolutely amazing. Just look at her physique & beautiful posture~

 

Our Malaysian athletes managed to garner 2 medals - silver & bronze medal for Datuk Lee Chong Wei & Pandelela Rinong respectively. Datuk Lee did put up a good fight with his nemesis, Lin Dan to try clinch the gold medal but however still could not defeat the unbeatable, defending Olympic champion. Still, a silver medal is better than no medal; Datuk Lee made the country proud. Pandelela's bronze medal in the women's 10m platform diving event was a surprise win as competition was stiff. She made every Malaysian proud of her & crafted her name in history by being the nation's first female athlete to win a medal at the Olympics. Congratulations to the both of them for all their efforts to leave an impression in the world arena!

Nevertheless, all good things do come to an end. The 17-day event closed big bang finale which as quoted in Yahoo! Sports - the "symphony" of local flavours. Pyrotechnic firework displays lit up the London sky during the closing ceremony featuring several British stars - old & new. Just to name a few of them who performed include One Direction, Annie Lennox, George Michael, Jessie J, Taio Cruz, Spice Girls & more. Even supermodels Kate Moss & Naomi Campbell made an appearance strutting their stuff on the stage at the centre of the stadium.

The next Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. As part of the formality of each closing ceremony, a brief performance is showcased as a sneak preview to what to expect in the next 4 years. It sure is gonna be an exciting summer Olympics after catching a glimpse of the renowned samba dance by the Brazilian counterpart. I'm definitely looking forward to it~

 

Pics courtesy of Yahoo! Sports & Wikipedia

Total Recall

Total Recall is the remake of 1990 film of the same name loosely adapted from the 1966 short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale penned by Philip K. Dick. Whilst the 1990 version starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 2012 edition features Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale & Jessica Biel.

The story starts of at the end of 21st century in which Earth is divided into 2 territories - United Federation of Britain (UFB) & the Colony (Australia) after a chemical warfare caused colossal damage to other parts of the planet. A gravity elevator called "The Fall" was built to connect both territories, ferrying residents from the Colony to work in factories in UFB.

Factory worker, Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) who's married to Lori (Kate Beckinsale) is frustrated with his recurring dream of him as a secret agent struggling to escape with his female partner from being captured. Out of curiosity, he paid a visit to Rekall, a company which implants artificial memories; hoping to find out more about the dream. Things take a turn for the worse when Rekall employees were shot by SWAT team. Following that incident, his wife attempted to murder him & a start of a dog-cat chase in the entire movie.

The whole plot became more complicated when Douglas was actually an agent working for UFB Chancellor, Vilos Cohaagen but eventually defected to the Resistance movement. I shall not elaborate further as the plot had thicken & created much confusion. I did enjoy for the fact that it's still an action movie but however, the story just didn't stuck by my head; feeling rather dazed as soon as I left the cinema hall.

It wouldn't be fair for me to compare this movie with the 1990's version & make a judgement as I haven't watched the latter. Personally, watching the 2012's release is mind-boggling enough - what more doing a comparison? I'd have to rate this movie as so-so. I don't know where went wrong. Just didn't know...


Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

The Amazing Spider-man

Am I the only one who's not embarrassed to admit that I just watched The Amazing Spider-Man movie yesterday? Don't ask why it took me so long & it can be depressing just thinking about it. Now that I've FINALLY watched it before it leaves the cinema for good, here's my take on the movie.

This version is a reboot from the previous Spider-Man franchise directed by Sam Raimi with slight deviation to the plot. It is a tale of teenage Peter Parker - focusing on his family issues, relationship & how he became the wall-climbing superhero. So how did this movie starring Andrew Garfield fare against Tobey Maguire's portrayal of Peter Parker? Both did a great job in projecting the character in different age group effectively, I supposed as envisioned by the each director. Maguire & Garfield are both nerdy, which is good, just that the former seems to be more convincing at it because he's a natural dork (looks wise). Nevertheless, Garfield was fabulous being a shy & dorky but genius teenager despite his age at 27.

I have no issues with the castings as they are all generally well suited for their role. The problem here is how the story unfolds. The movie tends to drag on unnecessarily in certain scenes especially on how Peter is fumbling in his words when being around his first high school sweetheart, Gwen. While it did make sense to capture those emotions which happen during teenage years, I found it rather tacky & unsophisticated to be related to teens nowadays. Correct me if I'm wrong...or maybe I'm too old for the teen crushes & what not. To begin with, why place emphasis on teen angst & the idea of growing up? The movie somehow became too emotional & dark which is not the essence of Spider-Man.

I'm on the fence for this movie - it's kinda weak but still worth your time watching for its fair bit of entertainment value. Forgot to mention that the new suit looks awesome. Thumbs up for the costume designer! At least I've got  a new eye candy to look out for. Andrew Garfield's cuteness does grow into you as you watch on. *smiles*

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Freedom

Alas, I smelled freedom! Seriously, I couldn't comprehend a mere 2 months could make me feel like a caged animal finally breaking free. In case you have no idea, I left my job 3 days ago. A move I felt was much needed to break away from the agony I was experiencing.

No matter how I explained the reason why I left, there's always opposing opinions about my decision. It's a pity to quit too soon. But I supposed no one knows how I'm feeling unless they're in my shoes. I'm done with explaining because it's a tiring process. Enduring the work environment in my job was already exhausting.

One great lesson learned from the short stint at this company is the working relationship with any superior, in which all this while wasn't a major concern in my career. I never had any issues working with my previous bosses although we may have conflict of interest on an occasional basis. But it wasn't anything major like feeling fear for my superior & not wanting to go to work for fear of seeing her.

Unfortunately, I find my boss less approachable & the type of species who tells you something but says another thing the next day. And to find her in defensive mode when you kinda gently remind her about the previous discussion with her snapping loudly at you. Things go wrong & she indirectly puts the blame on you. Her working style or rather her attitude is definitely not helping me in the transition of familiarising with the company's complex operational process. Either I quit or not, I'm meeting my doom.

Hence, I quit to end all the suffering. Most people thought that I was being too rash or exaggerating my reaction (ie sleepless nights), but then again, as I've emphasised from the beginning; my reasons were never meant to gain any sympathy or criticism from people who never try to understand. Some people might be able to withstand my boss' style but sad to say, I lack such tolerance. Let's just say we didn't have chemistry working together & umm...I don't feel sorry about it.

London 2012

Four years ago, I blogged about the Olympic Games held in Beijing with its spectacular fireworks display & showmanship that was like no other. Now in 2012, London set forth to bring us another grand sporting event. Only not as colossal as Beijing. Despite the looming economic gloom, London still managed to pull off quite a feat.

The different time zone made it rather difficult to catch the live telecast but thank God for repeats, I had the chance to watch the highlights of the ceremony. For a surprise, the ceremony featured Daniel Craig as James Bond & Queen Elizabeth "parachuting" out of the helicopter above the stadium. Don't be too surprised, they're only stunt doubles =P

Artistic direction was led by Danny Boyle with the theme "Isle of Wonder" taking centre stage, celebrating how British contributed to the world from industrial to digital revolution. Picture here below shows children dancing in the British rural meadow scene.

One segment of the ceremony shows how the giant rings joined together to form the Olympic rings with fireworks raining down was quite a visual display. But the dancers dressed in costumes of the Industrial Age moving their arms up & down in a robotic style looked a little disturbing. *shrugs*

Alas, the most important part of the ceremony was the lighting up of the Olympic cauldron. The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which consist of 204 copper petals representing each competing nations attached to a long pipe. Seven young & upcoming athletes selected by the British Olympians lit the petals with torches, thus spreading the flame from one petal to the next. The petals slowly rise upwards to form the cauldron.

Quite a brilliant idea to light up the cauldron~ But I still prefer how Li Ning sprint mid-air holding the torch to light up the cauldron high up in the stadium back in Beijing 2008. Like I mentioned earlier, no nations would be able to match China's enormous scale but albeit all that, London 2012 is still an interesting watch. I mean, which Olympic Games wouldn't be exciting to watch? It's the shortest sporting festival where you can witness so many events in action for 2 weeks. Let the Games begin!

Pic credits to www.london2012.com & The Telegraph

7 days with Galaxy SIII

My good 'ol iPhone decided to die on me & I was left with no access to "civilisation". Umm, not literally. But you know the withdrawal symptoms that surrounds you when you're away with your smartphone for far too long. Yeah, you get the idea. I do have a spare phone, a Nokia 6100 that uses a standard size SIM card which my micro SIM stands no chance in fitting snugly into the compartment.

Whilst my phone was sent to the shop for repair, my cousin bro's gf was kind enough to lend me her brand new Samsung Galaxy SIII for a week. Yes, you read it right! A week~ I was cautious enough from leaving any smudge on the gorgeous large screen because the phone was barely...2 weeks old?

How did it felt being an Android user for a week? It's a breath of fresh air, if you ask me. A huge change from the rather rigid iOS that it does get a little dull after 2 years of usage. Not if you had your iPhone jailbreaked. Anyways, the functionality & flexibility on the Android or specifically the Galaxy SIII is vast that it does take quite a bit of time getting used to. The screen is pretty sensitive & half the time my fingers accidentally brushed on the soft keys, unwillingly activating some menu or functions. It does get pretty annoying after several days.

The huge 4.8" screen is gorgeous & my iPhone looks inferior next to it. The Koreans have outdid themselves by designing a phone with beautiful lines incorporating a large screen without compromising the thickness. I was really tempted to get the SIII myself but didn't because that would cost me RM2,199 at retail. Besides, the repair fees for my iPhone was only RM300 so I chose to be more prudent instead.

When it was time to return the SIII to its rightful owner, I couldn't bear to part with this baby. Can you imagine that? It did grew on me pretty quickly. Since I won't be able to hold it anymore, I took a picture of it & sharing it here. SIII, you have served me well. One day when my humble iPhone reaches its final journey, you'll know what phone I'll be looking for.

Snow White & The Huntsman

For the first time, there are 2 movies with Snow White-themed movies being released in the same year. One of it is a comedy while the other tells a darker version of the childhood fairytale. I ended up watching the latter called Snow White & The Huntsman.

This movie is not your typical princess meets Prince Charming, who later falls in love with each other & an evil queen who threaten to murder Snow White with the poison apple. The story is about the evil Queen Ravenna (played by Charlize Theron) taking control over the kingdom after killing King Magnus. During the commotion, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) failed to escape & was locked up in the tower for several years. When she managed to escape, Queen Ravenna hired a huntsman to assassinate her. This is because the magic mirror revealed that Snow White is now the fairest of them all & will soon rise to fight the Queen for the kingdom.

The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) obviously oblivious to the Queen's intention when he is hired because all he cared was the monetary reward that entails. As soon as he discovered who the victim is, he changed his mind & decided to help Snow White instead. While the movie maintains the main elements of the fairytale - poison apple, the 7 dwarves - the twist is that Snow White actually learns how to fight & lead a group of army to the battleground.

What I found strange & awkward about this movie? The on-screen chemistry between Kristen Stewart & Chris Hemsworth just didn't work out. Hemsworth is undoubtedly attractive & effective as the rugged Huntsman but Stewart as Snow White may be beautiful but her acting skills play against her. I hate to say this...she always seem to look constipated albeit trying to portray a painful, emotional expression. Not to mention, she lacks expression most of the time in the movie. On the other hand, Charlize is ravishingly beautiful & very, very evil. She's probably the reason why I bought the tickets in the first place.

The verdict? It's still fine to watch for its entertainment but don't expect it to be great. I just couldn't imagine having a sequel though. I mean, how else can the story extend from this movie since I felt it's ended for good. *shrugs*

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Overwhelmed

Just barely 2 weeks in my new company & I'm already loaded with work. As in loaded to the brim~ =( I've never joined any company - this is probably my first - that I was expected to get settled down on the job fast. I broke down into tears as everything was becoming overwhelming. I hardly had time to breathe.

Everyone is given a laptop to work which can eventually cultivate a bad habit. Weekends are starting to become another work day & it's an unhealthy activity. What's more, I even stayed up late just to work on a weekend. I thought weekends was supposed to be lazy days or reserved for my own chores at home, as a way to unwind from all the work stress.

For the past 2 weeks, I started to doubt my choice to be so eager to join this company. No doubt getting an interview was tough to begin with. Surviving was another issue altogether. The only good thing I'm motivated is the income I get for slogging every day & the workload is more than enough to keep me occupied from unnecessary distractions ie office politics & gossips. Thank God for that! At least I have one less thing to worry.

First baking class

I've always thought that cooking/baking classes are costly & one wonder how much you can gain within a 3 hour class. Since Groupon featured a promo for baking class specifically on mille crepe (location a pull factor too), I jumped at the opportunity.

Upon arrival at the location, it was actually a small group class conducted in a house kitchen. The chef organising the class is Nicholas Pillai. His name doesn't ring a bell? Nicholas is a food writer, recipe contributor & food stylist on various local publications. We were divided into 4 groups to work on the mille crepe based on the recipe given.

As a matter of fact, making mille crepe cake is a tedious task even though baking is not required. The chef has advised us to split the preparation into 2 days - getting the crepes ready on the 1st day & chilled overnight, then making the cream the next morning. Mille crepes are best done in the morning because the cream melts easily considering our hot Malaysian climate.

I shall not elaborate further on the recipe as it'll take too much to explain here & I don't have a lot of pictures to accompany each step. I'm willing to share some of the tips that may be useful for other recipes that you plan to experiment. During class, we all learnt how to brown butter which is then mix together with other ingredients to form the crepe batter. The chef recommended us to use Amul butter (shown in pic) for it's the purest of butter - made from pure milk fat. It's fragrant due to its pure milk fat content & slightly salted to give a savoury flavour to your food.

I do agree that Amul butter is fragrant but it's a tad too oily for my liking. We can replace with alternative brands as we please to suit our taste buds, just have to take note the outcome might taste a little different. When browning butter, the pot has to be on low fire to avoid butter from burning. The pot has to be constantly shaken gently to ensure that the butter is properly browned. There are 3 stages of bubbles to look out for during this process. Once there are signs brown colour at the sides, the butter is ready & needs to be removed from the fire.

Stage 1- The butter has melted & starts to boil & bubble up

Stage 2 - More bigger size bubbles can be seen

Stage 3 - The bubbles become foamy

Final stage - The browned butter should have a nice caramel colour.

Picture shown above is slightly burned.

When it's time to cook the crepes, the process is exhausting because we need to pour the batter to cook layer by layer. We did it in groups of 3 or 4, hence it's a breeze to complete the task. I can now imagine how tedious to accomplish this step alone. In addition, it takes practice to make the crepe perfect - thin & light but just nice to hold the cream later.

Another tip I've learnt to keep the cream as cold as possible in case my kitchen's ventilation turns nasty warm is to put the cream in an ice bath. I didn't expect it to be so easy =D

After 3 hours, our final product is ready for tasting. The chef taught us how to caramelise the top by sprinkling some brown sugar & torching it until it turns brown. I preferred to have left the mille crepe as it is because the caramel layer looks rather messy.

My group's mille crepe looks aesthetically pleasing once sliced. But our crepe was too thick so it didn't tasted as good as we hoped. Oh never mind, practice makes perfect & I'm sure I'll be able to make a better one next round.

Overall, it was a fruitful class. I'm looking forward to attending more cooking or baking classes in the near future because it sure is so much fun. =)

Men in Black 3

It felt good to watch both Tommy Lee Jones & Will Smith make a comeback for the final installment of the Men in Black (MIB) franchise after a 10-year break. MIB was not known for its strong storytelling, imho with its predictable save-the-world theme. Despite that, I found the simple plot light-hearted & entertaining even for this 3rd movie.

In this 3rd & final sequel (hopefully), the focus is on Agent J (Smith) going back in time to rescue his partner Agent K (Jones) from alien invasion & the risk of being erased from existence. Josh Brolin takes the role of the young Agent K, which is an almost perfect impersonation of Jones' character. Plus point! Dialogues are witty which is what I love about MIB from the beginning. However, I did notice some audiences showed lukewarm responses - either their English proficiency ain't strong enough & the subtitles didn't do justice to the jokes or the dialogues were plain lame. That I wouldn't know. *shrugs*

What's new about travelling about back in time to save the world? Gah. I'd have to admit this movie wasn't as good as the 1st movie (as always) but I was glad the nonsensical scenes were kept to minimal compared to the 2nd movie. I'm praying that this will be the last movie to end the franchise - some things are best to be left alone, but then again, you know how Hollywood filmmakers will produce the weirdest storyline in order to rake in big bucks. *sighs*

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Just a scratch

Yesterday was my first time getting involved in a car accident. It happened when I was rushing to fetch WL from work in his car cuz he waited an hour for me. As I was turning right from Jalan Kemajuan into Jalan Semangat - ensuring that I stay put to my own lane, a Proton Wira suddenly swerved in front of me trying to cut into my lane.

That vehicle was already too near & yet the driver didn't seem to notice me at all. By the time I saw the vehicle right in front of me, it was already too late. The right back bumper glided across WL's car on the bottom left bumper, leaving two scratches which measured approx 10cm long. I honked so loudly & then only the driver in front realised his car had been hit.

The culprit parked the car at the road side while I drove near; took a good look at the man behind the wheels & memorised his car plate number before zooming off to pick up WL. You must be wondering why on earth I left the scene without taking the culprit's phone number. Deep inside, I feared the worst that the male driver (who looked like some drug addict) would harm me in any possible way if I ever got down from the car. Furthermore, I was already late & dreaded to see WL in an uber grumpy face.

Well, the rest was history. WL & I argued for a while but in the end, everything was back to normal. He was worried for my safety too...so even though he was upset that his car is no longer aesthetically perfect, he was very glad that I was safe & sound. Perhaps at the back of his head, he was relieved that I didn't leave the car to speak to the culprit. It's no longer safe for females who are driving alone to deal with whoever that hit her car.

Ear wax

Last Friday, I was scheduled to do a pre-employment medical checkup for my new job. One of the tests included audiometric test to assess my hearing capabilities. Apparently, I failed the test & it seemed that I had lots of ear wax clogging up both of my ears thus impairing my hearing.

The doctor administered some ear drops for my usage over the weekend to help soften & ease the removal of the ear wax. As soon as I came back from Genting, I headed over to the clinic & had the ear wax cleared out. Oh boy, the process was quite discomforting because I literally had gushes of warm water flushing into & out of my ears. I felt like I was more deaf than ever before. =(

What's more, my ear wax was so hard that it required several rounds of ear syringing that lasted more than 30 mins. When the lumpy ear wax became more visible at the outer ear, the doctor removed it with forceps. The ears hurt a little as she pulled out a large clump of dark & hardened ear wax that had clogged my ear canals for years - surprisingly not causing any pain or infection.

All of a sudden, my auditory ability had improved tremendously. I could hear so many sounds; loud & crystal clear. But it takes some time adjusting to as sounds from the environment seemed amplified & too loud. Well, ultimately I've passed the test. I guess the loud, amplified sound is probably like a blessing in disguise to encourage me to reduce the audio volume or risk impaired hearing in the long run.

Assembled!

The much anticipated movie is finally here! With all the stellar casts portraying our beloved Marvel superheroes, what could go wrong? The plot is something you would have expected anyway but I felt it was nicely written. Basically, the superheroes are called to assemble & save the world from alien domination.

Director Joss Whedon is known for assembling popular casts & bringing out the best of each character in his works without any particular one sticking out like a sore thumb, overshadowing the rest who ought to shine. Every character in The Avengers had its fair share of exposure & wit, though I must admit that Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark aka Iron Man) always got the best wit of them all.

In this movie, you have two delicious looking Chris' namely Hemsworth & Evans reprising their character as Thor & Captain America respectively. Gah, I just couldn't stop staring at their beautiful faces...oohhh, just look at those biceps~ *drools* Enough said.

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk was like a breath of fresh air. He played his character well as Dr. Bruce Banner & convincingly =). Honestly, I'd have to say that it was the best portrayal compared to Eric Bana & Edward Norton. Nevertheless, if I have to make a choice between the two - Eric Bana would still be my top choice because somehow he looks more believable as the green giant. Edward Norton just seemed too sly & bad boy to be able to showcase the good guy who has hidden anger management issues.

Jeremy Renner & Scarlett Johansson were awesome, uber cool & sexy. Frankly, I couldn't imagine anyone else fitting into Hawkeye & Black Widow so perfectly. They may not possess godly powers or extraordinary strength (apart from Iron Man's suit), their skills at tactical espionage is unparalleled.

My only complain about the movie is that towards the end, it got a little draggy & tiring. You know how much the superheroes are capable of - battling an army of aliens from outer space. Some of them may have godly powers but there is a limit. Might as well keep the movie slightly shorter & end it with a big bang (well, it did anyway). That aside, it was indeed the most enjoyable movie of the year for now.

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home 2012

I have been waiting anxiously to get a Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home (5MDH) for my DSLR but the Crumpler stores ran out of stock & this means waiting for a couple of weeks to be restocked. When the new batch arrived, I ended up buying the 5 Million Dollar Home 2012 Edition! Ta-daa~

There are a total of 3 colours to choose from & I selected the black/gunmetal version, it being the best looking one compared to the rest. The bag is designed to outlast its lifetime guarantee (as claimed by Crumpler's website), features a super strength water resistant 900D outer with flamed polypropylene webbing & triple strength S-Bend webbing attachment. It also has injection moulded velcro & bonded nylon thread with bar tack stitching on all stress point. Phew~ What a mouthful of technical jargons. My take on this is the bag is built tough to withstand all your outdoor adventures - rain or shine.

Upon grabbing hold of the bag, it felt incredibly light as a feather. In addition, lifting up the bag with the padded carry handle provided the best comfort I have ever experienced before. According to Crumpler, the carry handle is cushioned with neoprene & ergonomically designed to match the natural contours of the hand & fingers. So that explains why the handle feels firm but not rough that it would cut the skin of my palm.

There's a back compartment which is noticeable with its striking red zipper. This compartment is great for keeping your personal belongings close to you ie your phone, wallet or car keys. However, it's pretty tight therefore I wouldn't recommend stuffing in thick wallets or small but bulky items.

Inside the bag where the main compartment is, two padded nylon dividers with fold down flaps can be removed & re-attached; allowing greater flexibility in terms of configuring the space as you like. I'd have to admit that the space ain't that big but Crumpler claims it's sufficient to fit in one main body, 2 small/medium size lenses & an external flash unit.

To better illustrate what this 5MDH is capable of, I have packed in my Nikon D5100 body with 18-55mm & a 350ml stainless steel water bottle as replica of a secondary lens. The empty space on the left side does look pretty tight but I'm pretty sure it can still fit in a 35mm or 50mm prime lens quite snugly. I kinda doubt squeezing in the external flash unit as an extra item is even possible. Anyways, never try never know as I don't have a Speedlite to test & give a better judgement on this.

The front compartment with mesh pockets is very useful to store other camera essentials - extra battery, memory cards, lens cap etc - you name it.

Many existing 5MDH users complained that the velcro fastener produces very loud sounds each time the bag is opened, which can be irritating. The velcro silencer design didn't seem to function well in this case. In this new edition, the velcro silencer design has improved with just a simple flap to cover the velcro fastener in place. Opening & closing the bag with the clasp & compression strap is easy-peasy. If you prefer greater security of your gear, you can always insert the flap back into the small slit hidden behind the velcro fastener.

Lastly, the wide 50mm shoulder strap distributes the weight for the gear quite evenly & provides good balance on the shoulders. This means that petite people like me would not find carrying a camera bag with heavy gear a daunting task anymore. Price retails at RM340 at Crumpler stores in Malaysia & it sure carries a hefty price tag. But which heavily padded bags ain't pricey?

My major complaint for paying such expensive price is the lack of after-sales support in the event issues may arise. Crumpler distributor for Malaysia & Singapore only guarantees a 3-month warranty with full exchange for manufacturing defect. To enjoy the lifetime warranty, product defects exceeding the 3-month period will have to be referred to Crumpler Australia. This means sending your bag to them for QC & verification that it is indeed their manufacturing fault. Can you imagine the cost of delivery to Australia just for Crumpler team to diagnose your defective bag?

I'm generally satisfied with what I've bought. Totally love how the bag has different colour tones to add more excitement & quirk to the design. This 5MDH size is just right for aspiring amateurs like me who's starting out with very few gears, only needing a strong yet lightweight bag for my travel adventures. Really can't wait to take this new baby along with me to Bali in 2 months time! =D

Dimensions: 24.5cm (W) x 22cm (H) x 15.5cm (D)

Volume: 5L

Empty weight: 0.6kg

Info taken from Crumpler Australia

Jobless no more

I've got great news to share. I was offered a job this morning & I couldn't express how thrilled I am! I thought I'll be jobless for a couple of months because not many people are leaving the workforce during this period as they might be staying on to enjoy their yearly bonus.

The position offered to me is quite a big leap from my previous job. In fact, I'm starting to doubt my capabilities to carry such huge responsibility. Anyhow, I took up the challenge & I'd have to deal with it no matter what. Crossing my fingers & praying hard that everything will turn out smoothly. Wish me luck, peeps~

Battleship

 

When I first read the news about the upcoming movie Battleship featuring Rihanna as part of the cast, I was skeptical & didn't feel like paying for a ticket to watch in the cinema. Since WL was eager to watch it, I decided to give it a try.

Thank goodness it was a good decision made. I actually enjoyed the movie a lot for its entertainment value. The plot is straightforward - battling aliens & saving the world. Not new. Visual effects were impressive & it kinda bear resemblance to the Transformers franchise. Well, this movie was produced by Hasbro Studios so it's not surprising that the style is Michael Bay-ish.

Not to forget the hottie, Taylor Kitsch. Just so hot with those pair of mysterious eyes. If you couldn't recall who he is, Kitsch last appeared in the self-titled film, John Carter & X-Men Origins: Wolverine taking the role of Gambit. I see that you remember him now, ah-ha. He usually has his long tresses whereas in Battleship, his hair is real short & still looked great on him. Seems like the hair trend among Hollywood hotties are medium, long wavy hair. Yum!

As for Rihanna, I'd have to give credits for her acting skills. She's a decent actress - not that she acts poorly - she does her job well here but I wouldn't say it was great either. She can certainly improve but nevertheless, the experience will definitely help her in her future movie projects.

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Jobless soon

For the first time in my career, I actually tendered resignation before securing a new job. Why so sudden, you'd ask? If it wasn't due to desperation, I wouldn't have resort to such rash decision. Let's just say that politics killed us all.

It shouldn't be that bad, ain't it? Well, it is. Getting worse, in fact. Because I'm soon to be the one & only one left in the department. Being the last one standing, I was expected to handle upcoming big projects on my own. This is not the time to be heroic & noble because teamwork is of utmost importance.

Since the management refused to hear my pleas, I made a move to end the agony once & for all. The management "seemed" to be suffering from the consequences but I'm not feeling the least bit merciful. Serves them right for treating us poorly. Now I'm more concerned about getting a job. Hopefully I'll be hired soon, fingers crossed.

The Hunger Games

You've probably read the trilogy with a movie blockbuster released recently. I haven't read the book yet but I found the title rather interesting & the fact that there's an eye candy - Liam Hemsworth in the movie which have drawn me to watch it. Reading rave reviews about Jennifer Lawrence's previous performance in movies such as Winter's Bone & seeing her depicting the character, Mystique in X-Men: First Class gave me further assurance that the movie shouldn't bore me to death.

Indeed the 2 hour movie was a bit too lengthy but the movie was awesome in its own way. Jennifer Lawrence did a great job portraying the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Gale Hawthorne, played by Liam Hemsworth plays a small role in this movie & apparently will have more screen time in the next 2 sequels. Nevertheless, the plot is engaging because it touches on politics & feminism - topics that we can strongly relate to today.

I won't give out any hint on the movie because you really should go watch it. Fret not about not having read the book before watching the movie as the plot is pretty straight forward. For me, I'm not rushing out to grab the books but I'm certainly looking forward to the sequel, Catching Fire which is reportedly scheduled for release in November 2013. =)

Pic courtesy of MoviePosterDB.com

Conflict of interest

For the first time in 10 months working with my immediate superior, I had a pretty huge argument on a project we're working on. She yelled at me, seemingly thought that I didn't understand nor realised that our agency's account director was picking on us.

I got pissed but instead of arguing back, I remained silent & put on a sour face for 2 days. What even annoyed me more is that she's asking around for help if there's any job recommendation. And the job should meet her requirements - not too distant from her house, managerial position in Marcom department & no long working hours. Gosh, how picky she can be! Though I'd have to salute her for being so courageous to tender resignation without securing the next job. Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore. God bless her & good luck to her, man! *shrugs*

I haz turn 26

I just turned 26 yesterday. WL took me out for dinner as a simple celebration because we were equally occupied with work & my birthday happened to fall on a Monday. At the start of day, WL surprised me with his cheeky but sweet gesture - a bouquet of roses sent to my office. =)

Finally, we were heading to Ben's Publika after several rounds of missed chances to dine at the restaurant.

The restaurant bears a resemblance of Bistro42 at Bangsar Village II with its signature dark painted walls & fancy yellow chairs; only difference is the rustic wooden table used in Ben's. The menu is slightly different from The Big Group's other restaurants in order to portray its own unique image & identity.

WL got a little a greedy & ordered two bowls of soup - Roasted Tomato Soup & Chunky Mushroom Soup. The latter tasted a little bland but still tolerable.

Then, each of us ordered Traditional Fish & Chips & Char-grilled Chicken Breast as our main course.

Erm...the Char-grilled Chicken Breast does a look a little wrong. -.-"

WL & I both agreed that the main course tasted pretty good. Since it was a mini celebration, WL was generous (imho, greedy) enough to order another dish for our indulgence. An Aglio Olio Spaghettini.

We were disappointed with the pasta because it was bland & lacked the oomph due to absence of chilli powder. Even after adding a generous amount of chilli powder, it still failed to bring out the aroma. WIP's aglio olio is still my all-time favourite.

The bill turned out to be a little pricey (in WL's opinion) & not worth the next visit. I beg to differ - the overall dining experience was quite fun due to the atmosphere but the food wasn't as good as I've expected. I didn't have any cake for my birthday but it didn't matter. I have him to celebrate with me is all that matters... =) Thanks babe!

Address:

Lot 37A & 37B, Level G2
Publika, Solaris Dutamas

Jalan Dutamas 1

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Contact:

03-6205 2768

Opening Hours:

Sundays to Thursdays, 11:00am - 11:00pm

Fridays to Saturdays & Eve of Public Holidays, 11:00am - 12:00am

icook Italian Gastronomia, 3 Two Square

It had been a couple of months since I last met with my ex-college mate & we thought it would be great to catch up somewhere at PJ. We decided to grab lunch at Sinfully Chocolate at 3 Two Square but apparently this shop had closed down. We circled around the square for a while until we chance upon this spanking new restaurant called, icook Italian Gastronomia.

We scanned for a crowd as this would signal good business & hopefully good food. There was a crowd but not fully occupied, hence we took a chance. The interior is pretty cosy & has a contemporary style that we quite like. =) Both of us weren't that hungry & decided order a few plates to share.

Handmade Pasta

Salmon Tagliatelle

 

Peach Cake

The handmade pasta wrap was good but the portion was a little small. Same goes for the Salmon Tagliatelle. And we thought the salmon emitted the fishy smell a tad too soon; perhaps seafood dishes do smell fishy when it get cold. The peach cake was awesome too...it's a pity that we couldn't finish it because we were already too stuffed.

Price is slightly high - an average of RM20 per dish considering the small portion. I'm not too sure if I would patronise the restaurant the next round even though it's just in the neighbourhood. Do give it a try & you be the judge.

Address:
B-06-01, Block B
3 Two Square
Jalan 19/1
46300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor

Contact:
03-7960 1691

Opening Hours:
Mondays to Fridays, 8:00am - 9:30pm
Saturdays, 12:00pm - 10:30pm

*edit - I found out recently that this restaurant has closed down. I don't know the true reason behind the closure but hearsay led me to believe that business ain't going too well due to lack of crowd during weekends.

Double Valentines

This year on Valentine's Day had been quite special because we celebrated TWICE. Haha, that's right. There wasn't a particular reason for doing so - pure spontaneity I would say. We were supposed to dine at Ben's Publika last Saturday but due to my busy schedule, I totally forgot to made reservation. My bad =(

So, we ended up eating at Windmill Restaurant at Subang Jaya just opposite Grand Dorsett. Although it was established for quite a while, it was my first time dining there. Just by looking at the decor & furniture shows you clearly how old the restaurant is.

We picked our choice of dishes & as soon as it arrived, the dishes looked appetising & promising.

However, we were disappointed because the ingredients weren't fresh & the taste was so-so. According to WL, the standard has deteriorated from the last time he dined several years ago. Sad =(

On 14 February, my office was in a lovey-dovey mood when one of our creative agencies sent out heart-shaped balloons to all the ladies as part of publicity act to promote their new ground activation service.

We decided to try our luck again by calling Ben's Publika but to no avail because they were fully booked again. Since I was eager to eat desserts for our Valentine's celebration, we headed to Food Foundry. We ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu, Aglio Olio Pasta, Duck Confit with Crepe & an appetiser that I couldn't remember the name. It turned out we had to wait for more than 30 mins to be served & the worse had yet to come.

The food tasted awful - pasta was too soggy & wet, the duck confit was dry & too small a portion. The appetiser turned soggy & rancid too quickly. WL's Chicken Cordon Bleu was rough & stiff, not even as tender as we expected.

To complete our dinner, we ordered a slice of Vanilla Mille Crepe that everyone was raving about at Food Foundry. Thankfully, the cream is light & the sweetness is just nice...but the texture is rather dry. I'd have to admit that the dessert is only the possibly edible food out of their whole menu.

Okay, maybe I'm biased as I haven't tried most of the offerings. But c'mon, just a few dishes already gave such bad impression. How do you expect that we would even consider returning for the next round? Seems like this year's celebration is full of bad food & poor service. And despite not showering each other with Valentine's gifts, me & WL still enjoyed each other's company. I think that's most important, other things do not matter anymore...

Love you babe! Happy Valentine's Day~ XOXO

'Kodak moments' no more

Soon after Kodak Inc announced that the firm had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, this article written by a former banker & economist was published in StarBizWeek dated 11 February 2012.

I read the article with great interest & wonder how soon the company I work for will fall victim to similar predicament due to complacency & pure stubbornness. Worse still, we were not known for any breakthrough inventions/innovations which would result in creative destruction.

No wonder we're known to be the follower, slowly falling behind & being crushed by rival brands. We may be lucky to be still standing "kinda" strong for now, sure bet that we'll be cannibalised in 5 years time. Pure disappointment...

Credits: The Star, Saturday 11 February 2012

Year of the Water Dragon

This year CNY fell on Jan 23 which meant it's slightly less than a month away from Christmas. Was it a nightmare shopping for clothes? Oh yes, it certainly was. Immediately after Christmas week, retail shops in malls scrambled to display CNY-themed clothing in anticipation of the mad rush shopping weekends.

For individuals whose families ain't particular, they already opted to shop during Christmas sans the CNY shopping crowd. People like me who still live with a traditional family have no choice but to shop for all things new - clothes, shoes, inner wear. I was so occupied on a tight timeline project until I didn't have time at all to shop on a weekday. And I kinda wasted 2 weekends allocated for shopping due to complicated matters which I vow to not mention again.

Hence, I was left with the final 2 weekends to grab whatever I needed. I couldn't get a single thing cuz the clothes looked bad & there was no suitable size even though I've found something I fancied. Tough luck! With 1 more week left, I went out shopping every day after work with the slightest hope that I will buy something. By Saturday, I managed to get a few items though not everything in my shopping list. Still better than nothing right? Phew~

All these years, I wasn't very fond of CNY celebration except the fact that you receive red packets (if you're still single) & reuniting with old friends from abroad. Meeting up with relatives once a year is kinda fun but they can be rather pesky with "questions" & topics, thus conversations with them turn dull, repetitive & dated.

Anyways, it's still the festive season now & I should be merrier; not complaining like an old lady. Let's hope for prosperity & health in this Water Dragon year. To sign off this post, here's a pic from our CNY eve reunion dinner just to show off how good my D5100 is. =P