Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End

They've truly made the whole theme ride for the big screen.  And what a ride it was too … with a full blown fantastical storyline and special effects to go with it, it was just like a ride at a theme park – FUN 🙂

So in a nutshell, if you haven't seen it on the big screen … don't bother, unless like Jules and I you are Johnny Depp fan.

As always he doesn't disappoint, funny, just tad silly and completely natural .. he is Jack Sparrow.  So did he die at the end of the sequel?  Since we know there wouldn't be a third without him, he was definitely alive, well and jumping around.  So yah, the storyline can be a tad unreal but it was fun.  Oh so fun 🙂

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And Singapore gets a mention too.  Some are getting excited about the mention, thinking about the worldwide recognition it'll bring to our tiny island … … and all I'm thinking in my head is that the next time I try market Singapore to people who have no idea where we are, they're going to think Singapore has pirates, we live on houses standing on stilts and we row boats along the Singapore River. 

Anyway, back to the movie.  I have to say the first one was my favourite (just like The Matrix) where the special effects were used to create breathtaking impact and was pivotal to the storyline.  Part 3, like I said already was just one theme park ride – expensive to make, fun to be on and quite pointless.

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The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

It was 1999 when I read, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.  It's a simple true story about a man who had everything and woke up one day with the locked-in syndrome.  That basically means he couldn't move ANY part of his body except his eyelids … yes, all he could control was his eyes blinking.  With that, between him and his communication therapist, they developed a  system which is how he wrote the book … of course, with the help of an assistant who typed it all out.  I remember his sense of humour in the book, his very positive outlook despite having everything taken away from him in one swoop, who would have thought it was possible.

Thankfully the film maintained the essence of who he was.  I was curious how they were going to visually explore the very personal way he learnt to re-communicate.  So with POV angles and VOs, the audience is led into the a world where we can only imagine the fear and frustration.  And that was where the film was a little flawed for me. 

It seemed to gloss over what could possibly be the scariest moment of anyone's life.  And when he was learning to communicate with blinks, his frustrations were very reasonable … maybe that was what really happened.  Still, it felt a little unreal.

On the whole, it was one of those films that made you think a little about life.  It's all about perspective.  My dear friend, Cherry spent the afternoon at the zoo today.  She was volunteering to bring kids with Down Syndrome around.  Yeah, she has a sweet heart :)  And after that we were talking, it's so easy to be contented once everything is put in perspective. 

Which brings me to another story, the Dalai Lama was in Perth recently and my parents went to hear him speak; and the Dalai Lama had a simple advice … just four simple words – Contentment, Compassion, Love and Forgiveness.  It's not easy but with things put in perspective, we can always try.  So I'm working on being content and today I'm feeling pretty good about it 🙂

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Paranoid Park

The real perk of my job – getting to watch screenings that may not come to Singapore :P  I got to watch Gus Van Sant's latest Paranoid Park which is about a teenager trying to reconcile his emotions when he accidentally kills a security guard.

I quite enjoyed it and not only because I'm a Gus Van Sant fan.  I still remember being blown away by My Own Private Idaho and To Die For.  My least favourite has to be Good Will Hunting.

This film cast with unknowns who did a very decent job.  Or shall I say Gus Van Sant did well as a director because the actors on the red carpet seem to have the exact personalities they portrayed on screen 🙂

I guess the key is to pick the right people to play the characters you want on screen.  Kinda like what he did with Keanu in My Own Private Idaho.


I thought it was more accessible than Elephant but there were others I spoke to who thought otherwise.  The story told in a non linear manner could throw some people off but I like how Gus Van Sant dealt with the range of emotions by inter-cutting skateboarding scenes shot in Super8 with the non-skateboarding stuff shot on 35mm.  Anyone who faltered as a youth would be able to relate to them. Some moments you think you're going to keel over with guilt, at other times you think all you have to do is tell the truth and other times you actually distract yourself into forgetting about the whole thing … even if it is for just a while.

That was why I thought the the lead was pretty good and quite convincing.  Through his sometimes pensive and other times very carefree protrayal, you were led to believe that his struggle with killing someone albeit by accident, a very real one.  And one can never underestimate because he could be the next Keanu Reeves :P  Anywho, if he becomes a big star in the future, don't forgot who thought he was going to be one :)  After all if the very hot Keanu can be an A-list actor despite having no acting range, the possibilities for the rest of us seem quite hopeful yet, much less the latest lead of Gus Van Sant's 2007 film.

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Happy 60th Birthday, Cannes Film Festival

After London, we flew out on a glorious day to Cannes where the annual film festival had already opened and the weather was even more glorious.

First check out the apartment, Michelle and I stayed in.  I've been to Cannes numerous times and this is definitely the nicest apartment I've stayed in.

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After settling in, Michelle and I headed to registration and on to the Palais floor … we were after all there for work … so as much as I wanted to throw on my bikini and hang out on the beach, I found myself manning a booth taking questions about Singapore film.  Thank goodness the company was good 🙂

There were a couple of celebrity sightings like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie … just realised, how you see them in the magazines are how they look like real life at the festival 🙂

The thing I like about coming to Cannes is the quaint little eateries, like this tea place where the service was good which is very unusual in France 😛

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Lovely ice mint tea and fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese … yummmmmmmilicious and of course, we went to the great wood-fire oven place too.  We had a little dinner party at the pretty apartment, it was all really quite lovely.  The only thing was that I wished I was on a holiday … … the Italian guy who was making our pizza was so nice and even took a picture of us by the oven 🙂

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Jules and I were entertaining ourselves taking pictures while we were waiting for the pizza to be made.  All in all, the 60th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival was rather quiet.  We were busy enough for work and made enough time for hanging out with friends.  With Jules moving to Japan, it's likely to be the last official trip we make together … coz never say never, I say :)  Maybe one day, we'll both be there because the film we made was chosen to be screened there!!  And maybe, just maybe one day they'll ask us to be part of the publicity too 🙂

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3days in London …

… not exactly since most of it was spent in meetings and crazy traffic so it's more like 1 day in London 😛 … I'm slowly learning that all modern cities have insane crazy traffic which makes me grateful for the traffic in Singapore, even at it's worst it's not as crazy as some of these cities I've had to visit.  That's my favourite part of going away – coming home but I digress this post is suppose to be about London.

After the wedding, unlike most brides, I didn't go on a honeymoon but a work trip.  Two days after the wedding to be exact.  Yes, A. is a pretty cool guy 🙂

So after a 12hour flight on a pretty empty place, we arrive in Heathrow on May16, at like 6am in the morning and although, I haven't been back in London for quite a while, the dreary weather was still the same.

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Still there is something about London that is quite intriguing, I'm not sure is it because of my love for the authors who wrote about England from Enid Blyton, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, William Blake to Dylan Thomas … hang on I don't think Thomans is from England per se but going through the streets of London brought out an intense need to write.  Wonder why being home doesn't do quite the same thing to me?

Just when I thought the dreary rain was going to kill my inspiration, I saw London like I never have before.

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Blue beautiful skies, warm weather and smiling faces looking up while they're walking about doing their thing.  Ideas were rushing through my head as I sat through meetings trying my best to look interested but really, all I wanted to do was sit in a park and write.

So in London I finished a beat for an animation short.  The idea has been brewing in my head for a while and I've only written a scene here or there.  Now I have to finish the script and next stop getting it done … hmmm somehow I think that's going to take a lot more than a trip away.

Keeping my fingers cross that I'll find my way back to London again and hopefully with a little more time so that I get to see little Saffy and her Mummy, Nat whom I didn't get a chance to even say hi to.  So, Saff dearie if you're reading this till my next trip to London, HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY, Ahoy Matey 🙂 *parrot flies off my shoulder in the direction of London*

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Overdue: The Wedding

Not as late as the Hong Kong posts but it has been about 3 and a half weeks since I officially became A Wife :P  Still not use to it but I'm so very grateful to my parents for letting me have the wedding I wanted to have.  Yep, I was never the little girl who imagined a GRAND wedding, in my head it was a lot simpler too but I have to say the whole event went better than I could have imagined it.  A homely ceremony with my dearest family and friends there to share it – warm, loving, fun and very very special.  Thank you, Daddy and Mummy for being the cool, fantastic and young (that's what all my friends said) parents who made it all possible.

*psst don't tell anyone, but it's my sister who keeps my parents cool and fantastic (the young bit … they do that very well by themselves) so kudos goes out to my Charlie too!!!*

And thank you my dear dear friends who woke up early on a Saturday morning, answered silly questions, ate cupcakes, drank Snapple and most of all fill the day with so much love.  Thank you.

And for those who weren't there, this was the song my Dad and I walked down the aisle with.  Technically, A. and I don't have a song … does that make it our song now?  Anyway, we chose it mostly because it was one of the first few songs we both like and it was a song A. has serenaded to me once … yeah, he gets a little silly sometimes and when the mood hits him, he'll sing :)  He's done musicals before so I don't know why I'm surprised every time he sings.

Unknown to A. though, I actually watched Moulin Rouge in Banff when I first met him.  I thought it was a real kick ass romantic movie and it was the same trip, I told myself that I'll return to Banff for my honeymoon too.  So maybe some things are meant to be 🙂

P/S: Still waiting for the professional pictures so will update as soon as I get them 😉

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Overdue: Hong Kong day03 …

… ok these last few posts are VERY OVERDUE postings and I'm not in Hong Kong at the moment, just thought I clarify that coz I confused a friend into thinking I'm in Hong Kong at the moment 😛

So for here's the last retrospective post about the last day in Hong Kong where Jules and I checked out of our hotels early in the morning, met for breakfast before hitting the stores 🙂 and then to the airport for our flight home.

It was such a fun girlfriend day, chit chatting, giving/receiving the necessary second opinion when shopping and just having plain fun because no straight guy friend would understand walking into every store of a mall just to check things out 😛

So yes, I'll miss you, Jules but can't wait to read about your expeditions from Japan 🙂

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Overdue: Hong Kong day02 …

… the Filmart was pretty quiet and I think it's because we got there on the 3rd day … so not sure if we'll be coming again next year.  Besides the ferry, this trip was a real treat for me coz A. (then boyfriend and now husband) decided to come to Hong Kong for a short break too. 

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It was a real treat because when we go away, it's usually back to Canada to visit his family or to Australia to visit mine.  So we completely lapped up the whole experience … we're not sure if we'll be back to Hong Kong any time soon though … shopping and desserts aside, the pollution made the whole experience very very undesirable except when I was on the ferry (yeah, I really liked it)

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Overdue: Hong Kong Day01 post …

… ok, this is really late but it's been a while since I was last back in Hong Kong so here's the update from the city after we left Seoul.

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March 21, 2007
So after waking up overly early in Seoul, got on the plane, we were in Hong Kong before mid day.  Needless to say our hotel room at the Marco Polo wasn't ready so I had to change out of my travel plane clothes into my presentable work clothes in the handicap washroom of the lobby … asked my boss for 15mins … felt like Superman  and I was ready to hit the Hong Kong Filmart in what I think was about 15.8mins.

Marco Polo Hotel is on the Kowloon side and the Filmart was on the Hong Kong Island side.  Left to my own devices I would have trekked my way on the MTR and found my way across through the tunnel.  Thankfully I had my boss with me who lived in Hong Kong before and showed me a real treat in Hong Kong.

I've been to Hong Kong a couple of times and I've never had to take a ferry ride, so I was pleasantly surprisedSure, the ferries looked like something from circa 1930s, but they came quickly, was a really cheap ride (worked out to be some ridiculous sum like SGD0.14) and a really swift ride to get to either side.  I reckon it's the only place in Hong Kong you feel like you're not an ant running around chasing the same trail.  Also there's something about water that calms me, the bobbing up and down in the ferry that somewhat comforting and adventurous at the same time.

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