Another week...

Another week... another busy week, well, busy... not so much, stressful, yes. Anyway before the week began last week, I went to see Iron Man 2. OK, the story is certainly less interesting or even thrilling than the last one, but the technology shown in the movie certainly is "porn for geeks"! I would definitely recommend this movie to those geeks or nerds out there. Then, on Monday, I went to another movie with some friends. The movie is Ip Man 2 (葉問2). Similar to the Iron Man 2, a lot has argued it is worse than the last one, but I must say the fighting is what matters, and it is great!


Before the Ip Man 2 movie, we went to a nice Italian restaurant at Festival Walk. It is called Amaroni's Little Italy. Let's not discuss if the food is good or not, but the proportion certainly is big, bigger than other Italian restaurants I have been before. We have ordered pizza, beef steak, etc. and they were all great! After a busy stressful week, today after went to gym I went to Jika Udon. It is located in Wood House (in TST). The food is tasty enough, but I am happier with the price cause it is not as expesive as I thought it would be. And... well, I just can't resist buying another bag...

Three movies that I have seen recently...

Time to talk a bit of movies that I have seen recently - one in Shanghai, the other two in Kuala Lumpur. "Alice in the Wonderland" is the movie that I wanted to see most out of these three, because of Tim Burton (not care so much of Johnny Depp). Special effects are impressive but not really surprising. However, I enjoy more on the story part of the movie. I must say they are pretty creative to make the movie about "return of Alice back to the Wonderland, trying to save the world". It is like a Jeanne d'Arc in the fantasy world. And, I guess as most Hollywood movies nowadays, this movie also tries to bring out one message: "We should breakthrough traditional ways to find ourselves" (or something like that). Anyway, I enjoy the movie very much!

The next movie I really want to see is "Clash of the Titans". Perhaps I have been attracted to those Greek myths since I was very young, this movie certainly appeals to me. Same reason as why God of War resonates with me so well. Sam Worthington is one of those new actors that I think have a future. Special effects, as usual, are certainly very impressive yet again not surprising. I am familiar with the story because I have known this story before. However, I still enjoy very much of this movie!

Last but not least, the third movie is "How to Train Your Dragon". Surprisingly this is the movie that I think the most entertaining out of these three. I didn't actually plan to see this movie, but somehow I heard my brother say some very good things about it. So, I decided to give it a shot, moreover it is relatively cheap to see a movie in Malaysia. The movie is wonderfully done - imagine a 3D animation that can make you want to shed some tears. This certainly is the movie of 2010 (thus far) for me!

Saturday - day off!

Have had rough couple of weeks - people from up there are not that supportive, and just making it worse, people from the same level are having the same bad time, and people from below just as clueless as I am. And, I have to conduct tons of work-related interviews, which is challenging my physiques and mental. So, I thought weekend would be a good time to relax, but actually it is a good time to sit down, think and manage some urgent work. That's my life for this month: weekdays - gym, work, home; and, weekends - gym, home, work! This Saturday (yesterday) I took a "day off". After gym, I went down to TST to have some meal with friends and well, roam around to do some window shopping. I need to buy a small luggage for business trip.


I love this new luggage. Yes, it is a bit pricey, but I just don't give a damn anymore. I need to reward myself something good. It is American Tourister, which was acquired by Astrum International, which also made Samsonite luggage. So, in other words, it is quite a branded luggage. It is four-wheel, which is what I always want. And, the size and weight are just perfect! Love it!

I went to Pho Vietnamese Restaurant (越色牛肉粉餐廳) for a Vietnamese dinner. I am not very familiar with Vietnamese meal, but this one wasn't so bad. I have had a green curry fried rice, which is very spicy in a very enjoyable way (i.e., not too spicy that you can't feel your tongue). I think I will come back to this restaurant again next time. Not a bad location. I can just troll around in TST, then catch a meal here next time. The price is reasonable - I mean you can't ask for a cheap meal in Hong Kong. After the meal, I just went straight home with my lovely luggage.

Before get back to work, I just decided to watch a movie. I wasn't expecting much from this movie, namely Little Big Soldier (大兵小将) starring Jacky Chan and Li-Hom Wong. It is not a bad movie, good acting, good scenery, great dialog, cool fighting (not those cyber futuristic fighting), and well, quite meaningful. It is about a very little pip-squeak or nobody who has a very simple dream, which was somehow destroyed by a big ambitious dream of a very important to-be-king, and they both somehow have met and need to journey together for some reasons. The ending is sad, but well-done. It certainly has brought up the message war brings sadness. I enjoyed the movie, at the very least.

So, today, just plain work, with some grocery shopping in between. Now, tomorrow, a beginning of another busy like hell week!

In retrospect - 2009 - Entertainment version

In 2009, definitely I did not see a lot movies in the cinema. So, it is not hard to remember which ones I really like: Taken showed that Liam Neeson can still kick some asses. Up told a touching pure love between an elderly and a young boy in their adventurous journey (with a dog and a big bird). X-Men Origins: Wolverine told the story of Wolverine before he joined the X-Men gang. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen showed that Optimus Prime is still the boss of all the transformers after all these years! Sherlock Holmes showed another side of Holmes and Watson, which is surprisingly fun to me. Last but not least, Avatar convinced us the 3D graphics really are the real thing!


2009 is a great year for gaming, at least for myself. For DS, I have only played Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, which I am going to say the Game of 2009 for DS. The other DS game is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. As for PSP, I have played three games, of which Dissidia: Final Fantasy is my Game of 2009 for PSP (and I am still playing it). Other than that, I seriously enjoy the fun of PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (for my PSPGo) and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce.

Ever since I have made my best purchase, I have been (and still am) playing inFAMOUS (the free open world is amazing!), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (an amazing combination of cinematic experience and gaming), and (the yet to-be-played) Valkyrie Chronicles.

Holmes can kick ass!

侦探神秘案件永远都是我喜欢的片子类型。这一次Mr ex-Madonna （i.e., Guy Richie）的新作，《Sherlock Holmes》 我肯定捧场！结果，这一套电影并没有让我失望。整套电影充满了神秘离奇事件。让我惊喜的是我们所认识的Sherlock Holmes竟然是一个武打高手，我们所认识的Dr John Watson竟然不是一个书呆子，也是一个充满运动细胞的男人。对白很有趣，适当的幽默，让我们都开怀且会心的一笑。最令我满意的是当你在看着一套片子的的时候，虽然你知道所有的谜都有一个科学的解释，但是你就是不知道是什么。而且Guy也给了一个挺满意得答案我们。期待它会有续作！


Mystery crime solving detective is still my favorite genre. This time our Mr ex-Madonna (i.e., Guy Richie) presents us his new production, namely "Sherlock Holmes". I certainly won't miss it. Fortunately, the movie didn't disappoint me a bit. The whole movie is fill with mysteries with humor. Surprisingly to me is that the Sherlock Holmes we (at least I) know is a good fighter, and the Dr. John H Watson that we know is not really a chubby nerd, he is also good in action. The dialogs are appropriately funny. But, one thing that I am very satisfied with the movie is that, even though throughout the movie we know each mystery has a hidden scientific explanation, yet we just don't know about it until the end. Guy certainly has given us a good answer! I am looking forwards to its sequel!

Night at the museum... interesting enough

OK, I didn't see the first one. And seeing the sequel, i.e., Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was actually an "accident". I guess, I haven't really seen any comedy movie for a while, and there is no harm to see this one. Well, it has Ben Stiller, let alone Robin Williams and Owen Wilson, even though they both are only supporting, but I guess this movie should be funny enough. Plus, it has special effects, i.e., all those exhibits in the museum will be "given" life.


So, was I entertained? Actually it is quite a fun movie. I mean even though it is not as explosive as Transformers 2, nor as touching as Up, it is like a dessert at the end of some nice appetizer (i.e., Up) and really tasty main course (i.e., Transformers).

Not to spoil you here. The story begins with Larry Daley (i.e., Stiller) having a very good and successful life with his own business (I assume he has quite his night guard job in the museum after the first movie). However, is he happy with his new luxurious life? Apparently not. He went back to the museum to visit his old "buddies", i.e., those exhibits in the first movie. He found out that his buddies were going to be stored in the big archive forever. And, somehow, when his buddies were in the big archive in Smithsonian, they were in trouble, and Larry came to rescue, thus the storyline.

Well, like I said before, the movie was quite entertaining, and funny. However, I have to admit though sometimes the jokes just didn't work so well (perhaps, I am just too old for that). And, it has a moral behind the whole movie -- something to do with we need to do something we love in our life to stay happy. And for Larry, money is not happiness, so... he has done something very generous at the end of the movie and took back the humble job.

Explosive Sunday

It is a great Sunday! After having lunch with a bunch of good friends in Fusion, we were seeing (finally) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Shanghai Time Square. Well, I am not going to write a review here, because I admit I already love the movie before seeing it. OK, if you want me to be honest, the storyline is just full of cliche: Long long time ago, Transformers aliens have already come to earth, and some of them have stayed till now... somehow there was a war between their ancestors in earth, and one of which who was the evil "guy", aka The Fallen somehow wanted to destroy (or own) the earth for himself. Then, the other ancestors (7 of them, the so-called Prime) stopped him and hid the energy matrix somewhere in the earth. So, this time The Fallen is back (resurrected the last-episode bad guy Megatron -- leader of the Decepticons), and wanted to find the energy matrix and destroy the earth. Who was going to stop them, of course our beloved leader of Autobot, i.e., Optimus Prime.


I am not going to spoil you by revealing the storyline. Just remember this, it is full of cliche, to the point you think, man what a BS! But, seriously, this movie was actually from a cartoon series, so what do you expect? An Oscar-winning scripted story? Having said that, I love the movie! I even got goosebump when I saw those bots transform! It reminds me of my wonderful, simple and naive childhood -- dashing home after school to catch Transformers on TV. Especially at the end of the movie (not going to spoil you), I almost wow-ed outloud, honestly. I have already wow-ed a lot throughout the whole movie. Another surprise (good surprise actually) that I got from this movie is that the parents are actually in all those fighting, explosive scenes because normally in all these Hollywood action-packed movies, the parents (if there are any) of the main characters are always the forgotten ones. Anyway, the whole movie is full of explosion, to the point my head was a bit spinning. Love it, and will see it again if a chance presents itself.

Time to terminate the Terminator

If you ask me, what is so good about this movie, Terminator Salvation (or "终结者2018"). My answer would be simple as usual to these summer blockbuster movies, "entertaining." Well, if you haven't seen the movie yet, and you don't want to be spoiled, probably you should avoid reading the rest of this blog entry.


The story continued with John Connor, and it was year 2018 (thus the Chinese title of the movie). He was married (well, I guess there was still marriage in year 2018) and expecting a child (anyone smell another sequel here?). The war was still on-going very badly between the human and Skynet.

In this episode of Terminator, we have a wide variety of machines, T800 (yeah you know this from Arnold), hunter, water machine, motorcycle machine, "farming" machine, etc. And, human, well, still human. But, there is a machine, or more probably should be called cyborg, i.e., combination of human and machine - a new type of terminator, apparently.

Oh, this episode we will see the teenage version of Kyle Reese. You know he was very critical to the whole terminator series, because he was the father of the one and only John Connor - remember? The first episode where the older version of Kyle was sent back time to save the legendary Sarah Connor, aka John's mother, and somehow conceived John during the whole saving process. So, the storyline is about saving Kyle (yeah, first one saving the mother, second one saving John himself, third one saving John's lover, and now saving John's father, i.e., the origin; and maybe next one about saving John's son - did you see that coming?).

The cyborg was a critical character in the whole movie. His name was Marcus Wright. He was a terminator with a human heart (cliche?) And he somehow had no idea what he was until the mid of the movie. Then, he had to choose where he wanted to stand (or what he wanted to be) -- terminator or human. You guess it right, he chose us, the human. When the movie was near to end, John was wounded very badly, and I thought he was going to die (because his heart was failing) and (finally) the series is going to have an end. But no no, Marcus wanted to give him his heart (another cliche?)! So, the cyborg sacrificed himself for the greater good, John Connor. Then the movie ended with the theme, "we are different from machine, because we have a human heart...".

I have to say Sam Worthington really stole the show. He played the cyborg, whereas Christian Bale (the batman who played John Connor) was so-so. Overall, the movie is (again) entertaining. Not a bad choice if you want to be entertained.

Live UP!

What would a chemistry reaction be (if there is any) if you put a retired old man who is bitter and lives alone and an Asian boy who is adventurous and lives with his (presumed) aunt (i.e., no parents around) together? And, what happened when this duo have an adventure together (somehow accidentally) in an exotic land, meeting a "talking" (note the open and close quote) dog and a presumed-extinct big bird? Well, I must say Pixar does it again, after Wall-E. The title of the movie fits the theme of the movie perfectly, "Up".


The movie starts with the background story of the old man. I bet the elderly would relate him/her-self with the movie. After the background story of the old man, here comes the enthusiastic, annoying (well, at least to the old man), yet amiable Asian boy knocking the door of the old man's house. He wants to assist. And, he is really trying hard to assist the elderly (i.e., the old man) because of a very important reason - don't want to spoil you here cause when you know the reason, you really can feel for the boy. Then, the "talking" dog (well, talking because of some reason, then no point in spoiling you here) is just too adorable to not like it. It wants the old man to be its master, and of course it gets its wish fulfilled eventually. And, the big "extinct" bird. It is the main story point of the whole movie, at least at the second half of the movie.

Anyway, I watched the movie, and am deeply touched. I used to be that boy, and I will be that old man, probably that's why. It certainly is a very good movie, with good storyline, script, "acting", and voice-acting. Pixar really delivers good movie! It certainly is a must-see summer movie! All in all, I think we should really live up!

Movies to see in 2009!

Spring is here and will be gone before we all know it. And, then summer is here. Soon, autumn, then winter. One year has past right just when we get used to it. As usual, there are always plenty of nice (i.e., entertaining, heart-touching, Hollywood-style) movies to entertain. And, I personally have my own pick that I will definitely visit the crowded and expensive cinema for, including (in the order of release date) X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Touch of the Panda, Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, Up, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Sherlock Holmes, and Avatar. It is going to be a fun year!

Pixar is fun

Even the trailer cracked me up couple of times! Seriously looking forwards to this movie. And, well, the slightly-fat kid is kinda fun and adorable.

Is it right to scream of joy of violence?!

"DAMN! He can be that kewl!?", that is what popped up in my head after I have seen this movie, Taken. Yes, I finally have some mood and time for a movie.

Liam Neeson, an Irish, who certainly has his own place in Hollywood. He is a cool actor, I think I have seen a lot of movies, which he is in but not the main actor yet he definitely could steal the show. But, I have no idea, he can be that cool. And, believe me, it is definitely not right nor humane to scream of joy because someone is shot or tortured, yet this movie does that to me! When I saw those bastxxrds got beaten up, tortured, shot and killed, I screamed of joy, really, literally. I remember a scene, when Liam went up to the bad guy who has kidnapped his daughter and said, "You don't remember me. We talked on the phone two days ago. I told you I will find you." And then beat the hell out of that guy. Man, that is so darn cool!

Maybe is because of the stress, or the exhaustion from work. I haven't been to the gym for 2 days now, and I guess this is another effective channel for me to lease some of those negativity I caught from work. Anyway, it is a great movie! Really!

I want to believe!

"Don't give up!" and "I want to believe" probably are the two themes of this movie, and certainly fit perfectly with the flow and feel. Chris Carter has done a fantastic job this time, I have to say! Five out of five for this movie. OK I admit I used to be a big fan, but certainly this time X-Files is really great. Both well-known special FBI agents Fox Mulder and Diana Scully are back in The X-Files: I want to Believe. They really show exhaustion in the course of time..., and that's what makes their acting great. In fact, I think this movie is really a good closing for the X-File series. This time, it is not about UFO, not about aliens. They are merely trying to sort out their messy lives (or as Scully put it "the darkness") at the same time helping their ex-boss aka FBI to save some agents. Probably it has too much dramas in it, but I guess as a fan, I am glad to see the ending... (don't want to spoil you). I am glad I have seen this movie. I certainly missed my teenage-hood where I looked forwards to the weekly episode of X-Files on TV.

Very dark movie, fit the theme perfectly

Finally, I have had a chance to watch this great summer movie of 2008, "The Dark Knight". Basically, I didn't expect a lot of surprises, and this movie certainly has "disappointed" me. The last movie "Batman Begins" certainly has impressed me, not because of all those fancy gadgetry, but the "old" generation actors, including Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. All these actors are great in their own time, even now. I am so glad to see them (except Liam) in this episode of Batman. To be honest, I think these stars overshadow Batman (of course, Joker played by Heath Ledger certainly has stolen the spotlight). Anyway, this episode of Batman certainly is much darker than the previous one. When the district attorney was burned half-face, I thought he was going to be the Two-Face in the (potentially) next episode (by the way, I didn't expect to see Two-Face in this episode -- a surprise to me). And, the background behind Two-Face, e.g. why he turned so crazy, was so solid! But then, he just went and die... so, this is another surprise. I wonder if they are going to make a new Batman (which I believe they will), is Poison Ivy or Mr Freeze going to be the next villians? In short, I would give this movie a 5 stars!

And here is the rest of it.

A robot that is more emotional than any human

Pixar, a name that no one knows ever since Toy Story. All the animations ever made by Pixar always left a vivid memory in all the people world wide. This time, Pixar brought us Wall-E. Honestly, when I watched the trailers, I didn't really expect anything from this movie. But, I guess since it is Pixar, I still have to watch it. I am very impressed, not by the technology (c'mon 3D movies are not really that new anymore), but by how great the script, storyline and more importantly the portrayal of non-living robots. And, these robots are so much more emotional than any human being. Frankly, the trailers didn't tell much about the story line. In fact, that is a good thing, cause I was really surprised by how the story developed, and I am not going to spoil that for you.

So, basically the story starts with a robot called Wall-E, and its task was to clean up the trash in earth. Somehow, over time (oh yes, we human beings have left the earth because it was not inhabitable anymore), all other Wall-Es somehow died off (because of power I presume), and only one left. And this one special Wall-E has somehow developed some sort of human emotion. He (I assume is a he, because the other main robot was "female") was alone, so alone and crave for some company. And, God hasn't forgotten about him, sent him Eva (a very high-tech advanced robot). So, the story started developed between these two robots, and somehow to another storyline...

I think, I really think, some people would cry at the end of the movie. Seriously, a robot could make you cry (let alone it is an animation movie). I think Pixar has done it again (not so much with Cars though). Oh, another thing, robots in the movie didn't talk human (even though they have some sort of human emotion). So, most parts of the movie were really noises from the machine, i.e., robots-language. That's how amazing the movie is, using some limited emotions on the robots faces, limited body languages, it still could move you, touch you deeply. Pixar sure knows how to play with human emotions!

And here is the rest of it.

Movies I have seen in one weekend

Last weekend, as usual, my routine - cleaning, shopping for daily stuff, and gym. But, I did see couple of summer movies, that I have wanted to see for a while. Luckily both movies didn't disappoint me at all, especially Indiana Jones.

So, after (I think) 2 years, Narnia is back and brought us a new prince, named Caspian. I have to say, if my memory serves me right, I wasn't really that into the first Chronicle of Narnia. I guess, the main reason is... not much actions, but a lot of talking (maybe I am wrong). But, after seeing the trailer of Prince Caspian in the subway, I do believe this time there will be more actions, and I am right. Yes I am a very shallow-only-crave-for-action-flicks kinda guy. I mean it is for summer movie, so it is supposed to be entertaining. Anyway, these four kids were somehow "teleported" back to the world of Narnia in the subway station (not through the wardrobe this time). And, the world of Narnia has somehow gone through hundred years of changes (even though in the real world it was only one year). Apparently, the human race somehow has ruined the "eco-system" of the world with their selfishness and egomaniac behavior, and made a lot of beings in Narnia extinct. Sounds familiar, isn't it? Very educative I have to say. So, the four kids, with the new prince were going to bring the old Narnia back by fighting the evil human race. And, of course they succeeded at the end (hey, it is a Disney movie!). I have to give it 8 out of 10 for this movie. One thing I don't very understand is that, these kids sure can fight! Is it because they had some super special power when they were in the Narnia world?

After (I guess again) 15 years from the last one, which I really love especially the interaction between Sean Connery and Harrison Ford as father and son, respectively, Henry Jones Jr. is back. And, well, he sure got old (seriously, Harrison Ford is in his 60s!). But, luckily the old Jones doesn't really ruin the movie. In fact, it has brought his more humane side into the movie. Sadly, Sean is not in the movie (oh, how much I like to see the humorous interaction between him and Harrison). Apparently, he is "dead" in the movie, which makes the whole movie somehow sad. But, then it has brought a new blood, a (*spoiler*) new Jones (which was only revealed at the end of the movie). Oh, this time it is not about diamond, not about the legendary ark, or the mythical cup, but a crystal skull. Hey, there is a big big story, of which (hint hint) what makes Steven Spielberg famous behind that skull. Not to spoil you more, but I kinda feel warm when I see the ending... I mean I always like Steven Spielberg, and he cleverly blend his famous story feature in the movie. Anyway, I will give 9 out of 10 for this movie. Oh, the sound effects such as punching a man's face, sure bring back memory of the old movies in the series. You will see what I mean when you see this movie.

Summer blockbusters

Summer is impending. I can literally feel the heat here in Shanghai. So, in United States, normally in summer there are bunch of blockbuster Hollywood movies beginning May. Now, it is mid of June. Let's see what are coming.

M. Night Shyamalan is back to bring you a horror thriller The Happening. Do you dare to know?


The bat is back in The Dark Knight, fighting against the horror clown! Beware of the Bat Automotive and Bat Gadgets.


The green huge freaky man Incredible Hulkis back without Ang Lee. Don't get him mad!


It is not going to be summer without Pixar, bringing us yet another fun 3D animation movie, Wall-E.


Want to see Jet Li playing bad again? Want to see Michelle Yeoh fighting Jet Li? Then you should see The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.


Angelina Jolie is going to make you Wanted her more! But, you'd better prepare yourself for her.

功夫熊猫

好友tee和chloe都已经介绍过这一套3D动画。我昨天就看了这一套让人开心，窝心，意义慎重的一套可爱到极点的影片。可以说是为这个即将来的夏季开了一个很不错的头！真的很喜欢里面的每一个角色。一直以来都很欣赏美国动画里的那一种幽默。这一次把中国的功夫世界运用动物完美无瑕的呈现出来-看到老虎，就想到虎形拳；看到螳螂，就想到螳螂拳，等等。令我觉得比起其他老外拍中国武术电影不错的地方是它不卖弄一些禅之类的意念，只是轻描淡写的融入其中。就如Master Oo-guay（非常有趣的将中文“乌龟”拼音带入影片里）说:"There is no accident"和"You must believe"。如果你问我喜欢里面哪一个角色，无可否认的当然是那一只中国国宝。Jack Black的配音绝对是让这一只让人又爱又厌的胖熊猫活起来！“Kungfu Panda”绝对是一套老人，青年，小孩都会爱看的。有一点觉得可悲的是，为什么华人没有办法做到呢？

Jolie is so "Wanted"

The Forbidden Kingdom

Are you as excited as I am when you see the fight between Jet Li and Jackie Chan? Well, I am! This summer in addition to Indiana Jones, this would be another must-see movie for me!