Sherlock Holmes

Synopsis: In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous characters, "Sherlock Holmes" sends Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his stalwart partner Watson (Jude Law) on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]
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Robert Downery Jr. just gets better and better! So charming was him in this latest film that I just simply cannot wait for the release of Iron Man 2!! Full of intellect, nothing seems to be able to escape the eyes and brain of Sherlock Holmes. Faced with the new evil nemesis, everything can be explained away just by using the Holmes's 5 senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste! Be awe by the director portrayal of Holmes, the charm of Robert Downery Jr. and of course the exciting fighting scenes of Watson and Holmes.
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Rate: 7.5/10

MOF @ Marina Square

How long ago was it since I last step into MOF? Probably not in a year's time. My impression of Japanese food was expensive, bad dessert and probably their best dish would be their salmon, bento and ramen, and that depends on the chef who was preparing it. So far, only the remen from Ramen Ten have my thumbs up for it. MOF certainly fits into my description above, only this time round, I tried their toji, which was pathetic in quantity and average in quality.
Before jumping into the food review, I must say that they surprise me with this exquisite brew of green tea the Japanese way. I could appreciate it if the tea they served was a bit thicker but that was not so big of a fuss. The fatal mistake they made was squeezing us into this little room such that there was little or no space for the waiter / waitress to maneuver. So what this meant was that nobody will bother to come in to serve us unless we go out to catch hold of them! Is this the quality of service that they are taught to give? Food for thought.

For their seafood toji, please do not be fool by the picture above. It sure looks a lot right? Well, truth be told, the whole plate is only 2cm deep, so you get the picture, pathetic in quantity but average in quality. The only issue I have with the dish was their calm. Although I counted 6 shells, but I can only find 3 of the calm bodies. What happens to the rest? Looks like I just have to stick to their bento in the future.

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Rate: 5.5/10

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The year is soon coming to an end. What will the next year hold? Will I accomplish all my goals? The Christmas lighting for this year looks good. Let us just indulge in this festive mood at the moment....

Seafood Ramen @ Ajisen

A dish hailing from Hokkaido, this seafood ramen is just distinctly average. Some miso soup, add in half an egg, some crab meat (that disintegrate easily), some sotong that is hard to chew and lots of bean sprouts, this does not really justify the price to pay for this dish. Ajisen Ramen still has a long way to go before they can match their rival, Ramen Ten.

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Rate: 5/10

Bodyguards And Assassins

Synopsis: "Bodyguards And Assassins" concerns efforts by a group of martial artists to protect Dr. Sun Yat-sen who is popularly referred as the Father of Modern China, from an assassination attempt while visiting Hong Kong to raise funds at the beginning of the 20th century. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]
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I admit, the fighting scene are quite awesome to watch, but that does not mean that the audience had to endure 90 minutes of pure dialogue and boring event preparation leading to Dr Sun arrival. I almost fall asleep watching the first 90 minutes, seeing ordinary people going about their daily activities, which does not really link to the main theme of the movie. A great cast, but the direction and plot lets the whole movie down. Watch this movie if you have really nothing to do for the day.
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Rate: 6/10

The Storm Warriors

Synopsis: Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok is reprising their roles as Wind and Cloud respectively in the comic-adapted "The Storm Warriors", the sequel to the ever popular "The Storm Riders" 11 years ago. Evil Japanese warlord, Lord Godless (Simon Yam) is intent on conquering China. In an effort to succeed, he imprisons all of the Chinese martial artists and attempts to make them subjugate. Amongst the prisoners are Cloud (Aaron Kwok) and the martial arts elder statesman, Nameless (Kenny Ho). Thankfully, Wind (Ekin Cheng) comes to the rescue, but all three are badly wounded during the battle to escape. Chu Chu (Tang Yan) also shows up and takes a direct strike from Lord Godless when she jumps in to save Cloud. The remaining martial artists sacrifice their lives to save the trio as they believe they are the only hope to beat Lord Godless and save the country.
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This is a typical example where the success of the first series does not guarantee the success of its follow up. No doubt that the graphics are quite awesome, however, the movie is too fast pace such that the audience get lost while the movie zap between the scenes. The "open" ending, though I am not sure if there is an ending at all piles further negative reviews for the storm warriors. Watching this movie is highly unrecommended as there are better alternatives on the market.

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Rate: 5/10

Couples Retreat

Synopsis:Four Midwestern couples embark on a journey to a tropical island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three is sucked into the resort's couples therapy. They soon discover that participation in the resorts couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]
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Watching this movie just makes me wonder, how do we maintain the passion and love a couple have for each other years down the road? With the onslaught of commitments: houses, cars, bills, job, we may be too caught up with this materialistic world to meet all expectations that we just sometimes take the other part for granted. Pretty interesting to look at the couples on screen facing all the problems that they never want to talk about to each other, that sometimes the solution is perhaps the most basic foundation in humanity: Communication, Care and Love..

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Rate: 6.5/10

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Ps: Did I tell you that Xiaxue's BF proposed to her in the very cinema that I and *mds* were in?

Unexpected Win

Thanks Nuffnang for the movie tickets! =) Let me share with everyone my winning entry!

Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro @ Safra Yishun

Jack's Place, the once premium steak eating restaurant, has ditch its high class outfit to roll out economy affordable set lunch. From one of its branches under the brand name "Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro", perhaps this is a way to survive this ruthless working world where the strongest survives. Comparing the price now (@$9.80++), complete with a drink and a dessert, the package is indeed attractive to consumer. Went with my boss (his treat) to Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro @ Safra Yishun for lunch on 07/12/09 (Tue). Having so much feast lately, I am indeed getting fat!!
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NZ Sirloin Steak with Brown Sauce
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The first thing you see on the plate when it arrived is their fried egg plant. I guarantee you that they are indeed sweet and tasty! Freshly fried out of the oil, the egg plant is hot, hard and complete with a crispy overall. You simply cannot get enough of them! The steak, however, pale in comparison. They are just average, not to hard, not too soft, and definitely not as juicy as I remembered the last time round when they are still the high class restaurant. I guess for the price you pay, you cannot expect too much huh? =)
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For the dessert, the pumpkin pie is served. They sure let my eyes light up for the meal! They are yummy, with a crispy exterior and a not too sweet pumpkin interior. Overall, quite satisfied with the dining experience but I think there is still room for improvement for their customer service. Not too good when we have to wait for a long time and resort to constantly ask them when our dishes are arriving. =)

Happy Flight

Synopsis: Japan's feel-good maestro Shinobu Yaguchi ("Waterboys" & "Swing Girls") aims high and comes in for a safe landing with "Happy Flight," a succulently played ensembler centred on an accident-prone journey from Tokyo to Honolulu - first when the on-board computer malfunctions a couple hours into the flight, and when a typhoon threatens Tokyo after the plane turns back. The story develops in a perfect concoction of tension-comedy faced by the cabin crew and passengers. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]
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What do you get when you have air stewardess and co-pilot on their maiden flight? Well, you will have a whole lot of mistakes that will get you laughing off your seat! Besides the comedy part, the director in fact did a very good job in portraying the whole airline industry. You will get a sneak peek into their everyday job from the maintenance of the aircraft, to the air control tower, to the weather forecaster, to the backroom check-in team and even to the bird man! Have a feel of some of the stress that comes with the air stewardess and the pilot job. An OK movie to watch if you have some time to kill.
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Rate: 6.5/10

4th Year Anniversary

4 year on, time really flies. I have since graduated from NUS, found a job which thankfully was something related to my discipline. I am quite glad with the nature of my job currently, but minus the pay of course, they are seriously underpaying me! Someone has said to me before: Go where your skill is honoured in the company, and your life will be easier. Easier to be said than done, but for the work that I am doing currently, they are really not the top concern because we are not the one rolling in the $. Well, there is still greener pasture elsewhere right? Since the start of another year is just around the corner, lets have some new year resolution:

1) Land on a permanent job.
2) Hopefully I can make it for a M.Sc
3) Hopefully I can get a good number.

Some statistic:
Page Count: 35430 +5519
Year on Year increase: -5150 -48.27%

My journey with Nuffnang

When did it all started? If my memory did not fail me, I recall that some 2 years ago, I noticed some strange icon (with the word Nuffnang) started appearing on most of my friends’ blog while blogging are considered the “in” thing at that point in time. Don’t get me wrong, they are still popular now, but for my age group, the interest has kind of wane down due to our work commitments.
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Out of curiosity, I decided to click on the link to check the website out. Well, at first I was kind of skeptical regarding the mode of operation. Earn passive revenue by showing advertisements on your blogs? The more views that the advertisement has, the more revenue you will earn? Come on, most of them are closed down within 1 years and even those who are sustainable, their payout was so little that it may take years before I can receive any money at all! I can say that though this idea wasn’t fresh (USA and Europe websites has tons of them – you get paid by clicking on the advertisement links) but this is definitely a first in Singapore. In addition, the company, Nuffnang is headquartered in Singapore! Well, that kind of boost my confidence up a bit but still, can I earn enough to reach their payout of $50? Nevertheless, not wanting to condemn a company without giving it a chance to prove itself, I decided to sign up an account with it since it is FOC anyway. Even if it does fail, I won't lose anything at all, will I? =p Ever since, I must say that Nuffnang hasn't disappoint me one bit at all.

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After becoming a member for 18 days, I finally got a new campaign from an advertiser. For the details, it can be seen here. I have watched this company grow from an infant into an adult. In 2008, to further enhance its position in the market and to stuff out competition, Nuffnang roll out the Nuffnang Glitterati program. It was a good strategic move as it force bloggers to choose sides and reward them for their loyalty to the company. To further reward and increase the avenue at which their members can earn their income, Nuffnang rolls out the LR (Large Rectangle) and LB (leaderBoard) Ad units, which was in addition to the SS (SkyScraper) already available.
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With the success of the company (shown by increasing number of people signing up), more events began to come our way, some of which include free movie tickets to be won. I am proud to be able to participate and win in one of the events with the evidence in the photo below:
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Watching the premier of Chronicle of Narnia - Prince Caspian with my gf~ Thanks Nuffnang
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Though the user traffic to my blog is not always very high, but after 1 year since joining, I am able to do a cash out of $49.18! Well done Nuffnang! You really did not disappoint me~ May you continue to strive on and achieve new heights in the world!