Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Iron Man 3 + Auntie Kim @ Upper Thomson

Today is B's birthday and B wanted to watch Iron Man 3. So, we went to AMK Hub to watch Iron Man 3 as all other places were fully booked especially in town areas. We have no choice but to watch at AMK.

Well, I enjoyed watching this superhero film. It is an entertaining action film with a dose of humour. In my opinion, it's a good film where every parts fit together nicely. Even though the action is lesser in this series, the plot will keep you engaged throughout the film. And do stay till the end, after the credits, for additional scenes!

Introduction
Iron Man 3 is a 2013 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and the seventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being the first major release in the franchise since the crossover film The Avengers. Shane Black directed a screenplay he co-wrote with Drew Pearce, which is based on the "Extremis" story arc by Warren Ellis. Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films, serves as executive producer, along with Kevin Feige. Robert Downey, Jr. reprises his role as the title character, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Favreau reprising their roles as Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, and Happy Hogan, respectively. Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, and Ben Kingsley round out the film's principal cast.

Story
Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
After the movie, we walked around AMK Hub in search for a place to dine for our dinner. However, almost all the eateries have long queues due to lesser choices available (many renovations work) recently. In the end, we decided to drive to Upper Thomson Road to have some Korean Food at Auntie Kim Korean Restaurant.

Auntie Kim is one of the restaurants that serve authentic Korean Food in Singapore. It has been a long time since I last dine at Auntie Kim. In fact, this was actually my second time patronizing them after a long time while B dine there several times already. During my first visit several years ago, there was lesser customers but now the restaurant is quite packed. We were lucky that there are seats for us when we arrived.

The Menu

Anyway during this visit, we ordered Spring Chicken Stew, Seafood Pancake and Pork Shoulder to share. We requested for our pork shoulder to be cooked for us in the kitchen instead of us cooking ourselves because we don't want to get ourselves smelly. Haha.

Spring Chicken Stew

Seafood Pancake

Pork Shoulder

The pork shoulder that we ordered comes with 6 small side dishes. I feel that the Kimchi is very nice, I ate almost all of it!

Pork Shoulder with 6 Sides

After we had our main, we each ordered a cinnamon dessert. The dessert is refreshing, sweet and slightly spicy.

Cinnamon Dessert

We are unable to finish all the food so we packed half of the seafood pancake back. On the whole, I feel that all the food are nice. Particularly, I like the pork shoulder because the flavor is just right and the meat is tender and juicy, not over cooked. Yums!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Haagen Dazs @ Bishan + Judgment Day

B and I went Bishan for movie. Before our movie, we went Haagen Dazs to have some ice cream. Believe it or not, this was actually the first time I ate at Haagen Dazs. Well, it's never too late to try, yeah? ^_^


I felt so excited and happy when I know that I am finally going to get to eat at Haagen Dazs. I felt the greed to try everything in the menu but apparently it is not possible. I had a hard time deciding as I couldn't made up my mind on which to eat and finally, we decided to order Paradise and Iced Cafe Latte to share.

Iced Cafe Latte

Paradise

Paradise consists of Caramel Biscuit & Cream, Macadamia Nut, Belgian Chocolate and Tiramisu ice cream, plus Raspberry and Mango Sorbet, layered with crispy waffles, perfected with drizzles of chocolate and strawberry sauces.

In my opinion, paradise tasted good and nice, and I especially like the raspberry and mango sorbet. On the whole, I think that all the ice cream together with the crispy waffles and the sauces makes it the perfect combination. Well, I love ice cream, yums!

After having our ice cream, it is time for our movie. Initially, we wanted to watch Iron Man 3 but it was too fully booked. So, we watched Judgment Day instead.

I enjoyed watching this show and I feel that it was quite funny. In my opinion, I feel that this show is entertaining enough and the cast perform quite well. The cinematography is nicely done and I thought it is a great breakthrough in local films.


Introduction
Judgment Day (世界末日) is a 2013 Singaporean comedy-drama film written directed by Ong Kuo Sin and produced by Mark Lee. Starring an ensemble cast, the film follows various characters from different backgrounds confessing to their wrong doings and revealing their biggest secrets just 72 hours from what is believed to be "Judgement Day". It was released on April 18, 2013 in Singaporean box offices. Judgment Day marks Ah Nan's final feature film role before his death on January 21, 2013.

Story
Four days ago, a sudden collision in outer space caused a meteorite to divert its course and head towards planet Earth. Its impact is calculated to annihilate the whole mankind. The time ticking towards mass extinction is so short that any apology from the government is deemed irrelevant. Therefore, go ahead and do whatever you want within the next 3 days. Leave behind no regrets.

The movie talks about 4 different stories featuring extreme decisions people make during extreme situations. And if the world did not end, how are they going to clear the extreme mess?

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Goodbye Cutie Little Goldfish, Fishie

Fishie was my favourite, it had been living in the tank for many many years and it was the oldest goldfish in the tank. Fishie looks really cute and it never fail to make me smile whenever I look at it. It always look so lively and it was not easy to capture a clear picture of it.

The day when friend of greedy goldfish passed away, Fishie was still swimming around and eating fine. However, the next day it's tail start to turn a little black but it was still eating and swimming as usual. I have no idea why it's tail become blackish. Hence, I put some salt into the water to treat it.

As the day passed, it's tail turn blacker and blacker. This week I am rather busy so, I did not have the time to monitor it.

On Tuesday night, it stop eating and when I reached home on Wednesday night, it loses control and it look really weak with very weak breathing. When I look at it late at night before I went to sleep, it's eyes move and look at me. It only have eyes movement but little/no breathing movement. I am not sure if Fishie was saying good-bye to me because it was the last time I saw it.

When I woke up, it's already gone. Fishie passed away on 25 April morning. Good-bye Fishie, I will miss you.

Fishie

Now, the tank is very empty. There are no more big goldfishes in the tank, only left with the small little goldfish that doesn't grow big aka Dwarfie. It is now the lonely little goldfish in the tank.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Lime Restaurant @ Park Royal Pickering

Today was a pre-birthday celebration for B with his family. We had lunch buffet at Lime restaurant, Park Royal Pickering.

Lime restaurant and bar have a friendly and welcoming ambience - it provides a vibrant setting for us to enjoy a range of culinary delights. The interior of the hotel and restaurant is very beautifully done. In my opinion, I find that it is a great place for photo taking and a good place for relaxing. You are able to just sit at the lobby while viewing the outdoor scenery and you will feel relaxed after that.

Nice and Relaxing Outdoor View

The variety of the food at Lime restaurant is not a lot but in my point of view, they have the right amount as I feel that even if they have a wide variety, it is not possible for one to try everything. Even though they doesn't have a wide variety of food, I find that the quality of the food is actually not bad. Well, it's not the quantity but the quality that counts, right? :)

Enough talking, let me show you the pictures of the food that we ate!

Foods

Foods

Foods

Foods

Foods

Foods

Pasta

Prawn Noodle

Prawns

Prawns

Desserts

Desserts

On the whole, their food are good and I like their ham, sushi, potato, dim sum, pasta, prawns and their desserts. I find that their prawns are fresh and I love their desserts. Yummy!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Good-bye Friend of Greedy Little Goldfish

The friend of greedy little goldfish was added to the tank with greedy little goldfish and another friend aka Dwarfie to accompany the lonely little goldfish aka Fishie. The family of four live happily in the tank for such a long long time till recently.

About few months ago, the friend of greedy little goldfish was sick. It seems like it lose control of itself. I can easily touch it but it doesn't seems to have any reaction when I touch it. Therefore, I tried to give it a salt treatment to see if I can save it's live.

Yes indeed, I had managed to save it and it started to swim around the tank the next day. After it's live was saved, I saw the wound on one side of it's body was still a little reddish. The reddish mark on it's body doesn't seems to disappear but it seems good as it was swimming around the tank quite all right.

However when the day greedy little goldfish passed away, it started to lose control of itself again. So, I quickly change 2 bucket of water and added salt to treat it.

However, this time, the salt treatment doesn't help. The next day, I saw it floating around with very little movement. I know that this time I might not be able to save it because it seems very weak with very little movement and very weak breathing.

Maybe it felt really sad that it's friend passed away or maybe it fell sick again, I don't know the reason. But I continue to treat it with salt hoping that it will recover.

However, in the early afternoon of the next day, 20 April 2013, which was two days after greedy little fish passed away, the friend of greedy little goldfish passed away too. I will remember you, friend of greedy little goldfish. I will remember that you survived once and live for quite awhile before you now left, Good-bye.

Friend of Greedy Little Goldfish

It was really sad to see both of them go, one after the next and now, the happy family of four was only left with two. I hope you two (Fishie and Dwarfie) will stay happily in the tank for a long time to come.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Dian Xiao Er @ Tampines One

B and I went Tampines today and we decided to have our dinner at Dian Xiao Er, Tampines One.

Dian Xiao Er is a traditional Chinese restaurant that served typical Chinese food. The interior of Dian Xiao Er will make you feel like you are dining in a traditional Chinese inn, similar to that of those in dramas/shows. There are several Dian Xiao Er outlets around Singapore and this was actually the second time we dine in this outlet. In my opinion, I find that this outlet have nice viewing scenery and it is much spacious as compared to the outlet that was used to be at AMK Hub.

Dian Xiao Er, well known for their herbal roast ducks, is one of the dining place that we frequent. The reason being, we love their duck. I find that their duck is tender and juicy, and it taste really good. Whenever we patronize Dian Xiao Er, we will never fail to order their duck. Other than the duck, most of their side dishes that we have tried before taste very nice as well.

Most of the time, we will order the set meal for 2 because the price for set meal is much more cheaper as compared to a-la-carte. Today, we were early birds hence, we were entitled to 10% discount. However, the 10% discount does not include set meal. In other words, if we ordered set meal, we will not be able to use the 10% early bird discount. So, after consideration, we decided to order a-la-carte instead of set meal today because we decided to make use of the 10% discount to try those dishes that we have not tried before.

Well, it is always a routine for peanuts to be served once we were seated. However, you are able to let them know that you do not want the peanuts and they will take it away. But this time, the peanuts served was different so we did not make the request to take it away and below is the picture of the peanuts served today.

Peanuts

The dishes that we ordered today were Ginseng Duck, Assorted Mushroom and Soup of the day (西洋菜排骨汤).

Ginseng Duck

Assorted Mushroom

Soup of the Day (西洋菜排骨汤)

I like the Ginseng Duck. I find that the duck is tender and juicy as usual, and the gravy taste good - it's nice especially when you mix the gravy with the white rice. The assorted mushroom was delicious and the broccoli is crispy and juicy. It taste so healthy and nice! Lastly, I find that the soup taste good but I don't really like to eat the meat. All in all, Dian Xiao Er is a restaurant that served nice typical Chinese food and they are well known for their herbal roasted duck. So, do try their duck when you dine there.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Good-bye Greedy Little Goldfish

The most greedy little goldfish used to eat very fast and a lot. Soon, it grew to become the biggest in the tank and it outgrow the biggest and oldest goldfish aka Fishie in the tank.

Sadly about a month ago, it suddenly stop eating. I have no idea why it suddenly stop eating. It was weird that greedy little fish don't eat. When I looked at it, it's stomach seems bloated and it always stayed at the bottom of the tank.

Initially, I thought maybe it was pregnant or something but later after about a week, I realised that it doesn't look right, it looked like it was ill. I saw that it's eyes began to look pop-out and it's body and face seems swollen. I began to think that it might be getting some kind of disease or illness. So, I quickly treated it with salt to see if it's illness could be healed.

Yes, I think that the salt treatment helped because few days after the salt treatment, it seems better. I saw that it began to swim a little even though it still stayed at the bottom of the tank most of the time.

However after about a week, when I thought that it was getting better, it's condition suddenly turn bad. It began to lose control of itself when it began to lay down but occasionally, it would swim and sit upright.

As the week passed, it's condition worsen as it began to lay down all day. About two days later, it looked like it was struggling to sit upright but it can't managed to. It looked weak as it was sick and have not been eating since then. Looking at it suffering and struggling everyday was such a pain.

Today morning and afternoon, I saw that greedy little goldfish still lay down the whole day. But in the evening, 18 April 2013, it passed away. I feel really sad but I think it's better to let it go sooner than suffering in it's illness.

Good-bye greedy little goldfish. You are such a strong little fish trying really hard to survive. I know you are strong and you like to eat. I will remember you forever, Good-bye.

Greedy Little Goldfish

Friday, April 12, 2013

Saving General Yang

Watched Saving General Yang today at AMK Hub with B in the evening. I enjoyed watching the action in this film particularly when there are so many handsome actors especially my favourite idol, Vic Zhou acting in this film. In my opinion, I find that the story was good, the actions were entertaining but the dialogue was sparse, especially for Vic Zhou, where he merely have a few lines of dialogue. Nevertheless, his distinguished and magnificent archery stunts in this film makes him shine in the film. All in all, I would say just watch this film to enjoy the fighting scenes and to have some eye candy!

Introduction
Saving General Yang is a 2013 Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu. The story is based on the legendary Generals of the Yang Family starring Adam Cheng as Yang Ye (General Yang), Ekin Cheng as Eldest Son, Yu Bo as Second Son, Vic Chou as Third Son, Li Chen as Forth Son, Raymond Lam as Fifth Son, Wu Chun as Sixth Son, Fu Xinbo as Youngest Son, Xu Fan as General Yang's Wife. The film was selected as part of the 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Story
Saving General Yang is based on the legendary Generals of the Yang Family. An epic tale about the renowned Song Dynasty's military defence headed by the clan of Yang against the nomadic Northern nation the Liao, sometimes also known as the Khitans in accounts of ancient Chinese history.

Head of the Yang clan is the charismatic old veteran general, Yang Ye, who is also the father of seven sons, namely Ping, Ding, Ang, Hui, De, Zhao and Si. The seven young men possess different temperaments and characters, but they have to join forces and wits when their father is taken by enemy forces.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Two is enough, Three is a crowd

When love and relationships are involved, two is always enough because three is considered too crowded and unfavourable. So, where should one draw a line between the friendship with an opposite gender so that one doesn't cross the boundaries and become a third party?

Sometimes, all it need is to start innocently with a simple text message and before one realise it, one is already chatting all day, sharing very personal and private anecdotes. Soon, one will be meeting frequently over a cup of tea and eventually over lunch or dinner. Of course, there is nothing wrong when both parties are single and available, and in fact this could be a romantic outing which might lead to boy-girl relationships. However, if either one or both of the parties are already in a serious relationship with another person, this is a clear sign of flirting and one need to bare serious consequences if the other person finds out. Well, it is very normal for everyone to have friends of the opposite gender, but when one is attached, one needs to be clear and know where to establish certain boundaries so as not to create any disaster. Often, the lines start to blur when one party makes physical advances such as touching shoulders, hands or faces. If this happens, one need to ask themselves whether they have been sending out signals that is misleading or whether they have been behaving inappropriately or whether they have unintentionally do things that attracted the attention of the other party. It might seems flattering when a third party expresses interest and makes advances towards you however, the ultimate responsibility is still on you, to make it crystal clear where you stand and how you feel about your partner.

Having said that, one should learn where to draw the line, learn to say 'No' as well as be clear of the meaning of cheating when dealing with friendship of the opposite gender so that boundaries will not be blur and disaster won't occur.

What do I mean by draw the line?
The moment one feel that their friendship is getting too close with a colleague or close friend of the opposite gender, one need to make a stand, back away and maintain an appropriate distance so as not to send out signals that misled the other party. One have to let the other party know explicitly that one is not in it for romance, but only a platonic friendship with them. Some points to take note are, one should not venture into very personal discussions, should not have inappropriate physical contact and should examine their interactions with the third party so as to avoid sending out the wrong signals to the other party. In addition, one should also avoid sharing highly emotional experiences, such as poignant personal stories so as to set a clear boundaries between friendship with an opposite gender. These are indicating signs that one is leading onto danger zone.

Honesty is the best policy when love and relationships are involved. This is because the moment one lie about their interactions with someone of the opposite gender or keeping them from ones' partner, something fishy must be happening between the two of you. Even if your partner get jealous easily and you don’t want to upset them unnecessarily, it is still not a valid reason to lie to them. An ideal way is to let your partner know about your communications with this person in advance, so that they are aware of your communication with this person and that jealousy or misunderstanding will not occur between you and your partner.

Another point is to always put your partner in mind when interacting with someone of the opposite sex. For instance, one should always think of how their partner will feel or react when their partner saw how one behave and interact with someone of the opposite sex. This way, one will be able to check whether their body language speaks correctly because body language speaks volume as well.

Needless to say, one should not entertain any idea of an "office spouse" or simply a co-worker who share an extraordinarily close relationship, even if it is something for entertaining purpose among the colleagues. The main reason is because your partner will not be amused with this idea and if you are not careful enough, boundaries will be crossed and disasters will happen.

How to learn to say 'No'?
Generally, it is not advisable to go on any one-on-one outings with someone of the opposite gender, especially if, one is aware of their romantic feelings towards oneself. One should instead limit their interaction with that person, this way, one is able to disallow any chance for that person to make advances. Although this might be harsh and hurtful to that person, this is actually the best way to solve the problem and to avoid any unwanted attention. If one is to beat around the bush and create any chances, one is actually creating more trouble instead of doing any good to both the other party and oneself. This is because the ambiguity of hinting could lead to more confusion instead of quashing the other persons' hope once and for all.

Well, rejections are always hurtful, but it should not be avoided and it does not have to be mean. What one need to do is to send a simple and clear message such as "Thank you, I am very flattered, but I love my partner a lot" or "I am in love with my partner and I am not interested in another relationship" will be good and clear enough. The moment you made yourself clear, it is up to the other party to decide if they still wants to continue to be friends.

What is the Definition of 'Cheating'?
Many men feel that when sexual relations are not involved, they are not cheating on their partners. However, strictly speaking, the final stage of cheating is actually having sexual relations. Basically, in a relationship, cheating can be emotional and physical before it gets sexual.

Emotional cheating includes, flirting with someone who is not your partner, spending a lot of time with them, always thinking about them, dressing up especially for them, approaching them for emotional support and sharing things that you don’t share with your partner. These are cheating, even if, you have not met the person as everything takes place online or over the phone.

Very often, one might not be aware that the emotions and interactions one have with the third party till it eventually result in something more than an innocent friendship because before one know it, one have already crossed the line between a platonic and romantic relationship - one might have already engaged in intimate acts such as holding hands, hugging or even kissing.

All in all, everybody need to learn where to set boundaries, learn to say 'No' as well as have a clear understanding of what is cheating when dealing with friendship of the opposite gender so that lines will not become blur and serious consequences don't have to be dealt with.

- Adapted from an interesting article that I read and found meaningful from Duet Magazine

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

B and I watched G.I. Joe: Retaliation at AMK Hub today morning. It had been such a long time since the last time we watched movie on a weekday morning. It was so long that I can't even remember when was it! Anyway, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a nice movie with lots of special effects and action. In my opinion, this film does not have deep storyline or plot, it is a film with pure non-stop actions. So, if you are a fan of action packed films, you will probably enjoy this show. But if you are looking into the storyline or plot, you might feel that this film doesn't meet your expectation. To conclude, just watch this film with expectations of being entertained action-wise!

Introduction
G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a science-fiction action film of 2013. This film is directed by Jon M. Chu, based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy, comic and media franchises. It is a sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The film was written by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. G.I. Joe: Retaliation features an ensemble cast, starring Bruce Willis as General Joseph Colton and Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock, with Channing Tatum as Duke, Arnold Vosloo as Zartan, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, Jonathan Pryce as President of the United States, and Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow reprising their roles from the first film.

Story
The G.I. Joes are framed for stealing nuclear warheads from Pakistan by Zartan who is impersonating the President of the United States. The entire team is eliminated in a military strike with Duke as one of the casualties. Roadblock, Flint (D.J. Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) are the only survivors.

Meanwhile, Storm Shadow and ex-Joe Firefly (Ray Stevenson) rescue Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) from a penitentiary in Germany. Storm Shadow is injured during the escape and retreats to a temple in the Himalayas to recover. Upon learning that he is alive, the Blind Master (RZA), leader of the Arashikage Clan, sends Snake Eyes and his apprentice Jinx (Elodie Yung), Storm Shadow's cousin, to capture Storm Shadow so he can answer for the murder of his uncle, the Hard Master.

Roadblock, Flint, and Lady Jaye return to the United States where they set up a base of operations in a rundown gym. After Zartan announces that Cobra will replace the Joes as America's main protective unit, Lady Jaye deduces that someone is impersonating the President, and Roadblock leads them to General Joseph Colton who provides them with weapons and helps them infiltrate a fundraising event that the President will be attending, where Lady Jaye steals a sample of his DNA and confirms that he is Zartan. They escape after a brief confrontation with Firefly and Zandar (Matt Gerald), the head of the Presidential Detail and a member of Cobra.

Snake Eyes and Jinx locate and capture Storm Shadow after a battle with ninjas and take him back to Japan where Storm Shadow reveals that Zartan murdered the Hard Master and he joined Cobra to avenge his uncle, embittered that the clan didn't believe in his innocence. Storm Shadow then accompanies Snake Eyes and Jinx as they join the Joes' efforts to stop Cobra.

Zartan invites the world leaders to a summit, where he blackmails them into disabling their nuclear arsenals, and reveals that he has created Project Zeus: Seven orbital kinetic bombardment weapons of mass destruction at his command. He destroys central London to prove his superiority and threatens to destroy other capitals if the countries don't submit to Cobra. However, Storm Shadow betrays Cobra Commander and kills Zartan, revealing Cobra's deception to the world leaders. While Snake Eyes, Jinx, and Flint fight Cobra's soldiers, Cobra Commander activates the remaining six weapons and instructs Firefly to protect the launch device. Firefly is killed in combat with Roadblock, who deactivates and destroys the orbital weapons. Meanwhile, Colton, and Lady Jaye rescue the President.

Cobra Commander escapes during the battle and Storm Shadow disappears after avenging his uncle. The President initiates a global massive manhunt on Cobra Commander, who is now considered to be a terrorist, and reinstates the Joes with Roadblock leading Flint, Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, and Jinx, and recruiting more soldiers to join them. Roadblock swears to avenge Duke by killing Cobra Commander.