Lifehouse In Concert

Sneaky me, I collapsed my trusty 400D, and smuggled it into the venue. There are a lot of blurry photos, but, I tried my best.



So, life goal attained. Good thing they didn't sing "Everything", I wasn't ready with my wedding proposal yet. Until then. Yup, it's that big.

Scratch Two Things From My Life Goals

It's looking like 2008 is my year. It's only the seventh month, and I've already completed not one, but two of my life goals. Granted that my life goals aren't really held 'high and lofty', but the fact that I can take them out of my list is achievement already.

Attend a tennis Grand Slam. Check - you've read all about it last February. And just this weekend, I had just finished 'See one of your favorite music artists in concert'. The list of people I have to see perform live isn't exactly a long one, so the chances of completing this life task isn't as easy as you'd think.

Who made it to that list? Garbage, but since they broke up, a reunion tour wouldn't be in the works anytime soon. Daft Punk - they hold their concerts every 10 years, and I missed Alive 2007 in Sydney by only a couple of days. Last on the list, lo and behold, Lifehouse.

I had promised myself 2 years ago that if Lifehouse were to perform in SE Asia, and skip the Philippines, I would definitely pick up plane tickets to watch them, wherever that may be. Luckily, Jason Wade and the boys decided to go to Manila - and nowhere else. Someone must've pulled some major strings to have them break their North American roadshow and cross the Pacific and 12 time zones to perform here.

So, whoever did that, mucho thanks! That's one life goal completed last weekend!

Portuguese Chicken Saved My Macau

Despite my conflicting schedule, I still managed to squeeze a Macau visit. By squeeze, I mean 2 hours in Macau - 3 if you count the time I wasted queueing for immigration. If being harried so bad from trying to catch my return ferry to HK was miserable enough, it rained hard when I was in Macau. I love my quirky city walks, and believe me, it's no fun when you don't have an umbrella, or when you're galoshing through puddles.

However, all was washed away when I had lunch. I literally stumbled into a Macanese eatery (called Cidade on Rua de Sao Laurenco), and fortunately, someone knew how to speak English. The kind fellow recommended Portuguese Chicken and here's what it looks like.



It may look like curry, but it's kind of far from that taste. The sauce is a buttery concoction, plus the oven-burnt chicken skin adds a yummy smoky taste to the chicken. Apart from those delectable custard pies, now I have something to look forward to my next Macau visit. Apart from seeing the city other than the ferry terminal.

Hongkong My Love

Going back few blog posts earlier, what did I do in HK? I walked, battled 95% humidity, and had a fantastic time. Sorry Singapore, but Hongkong kicks your ass big time. Despite having terrible, terrible humidity (as if you're being slapped by a warm, damp piece of cloth as you emerge from an airconditioned room), my HK experience was definitely awesome.

Let me count the ways Hongkong trumps Singapore's bum. The battle of an amazing skyline goes hands down to where IM Pei, Norman Foster, and Pelli have laid their works. And with HK tearing down more heritage buildings as we speak (or type), expect more shiny high rises to sprout in the future.



Transport is their well-machine. The airport has a convenient check-in counter right at the heart of the city, the ferries are numerous, plus Chek Lap Kok is absolutely gorgeous. They link nearby locales such as Shenzhen, Macau and the rest of China so easily.



To be fair to Singapore, Changi is chock-full of amenities, so despite the carpeted, stuffy interior, it wins the "Most Useful Airport". Plus, the cultural diversity around the city (Little India, Arab Street, Peranakan lane) is much to be envied.

Still, HK gets my two thumbs up as my favorite SE Asian city (if it counts as SEA), trumping Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur. Manila, my love, you are exempt, of course.

A Protege in the Making

I've been in love with my DSLR since last year, but was trumped when I handed it to Sophia, a 6-year old (belated happy birthday!) prodigy. Her shots put mine to shame, and she definitely has an eye for color and placement. Well, at least I'll be one of the few to lay claim that I handed her my camera first.

The Greatest Match Of All Time

After a long-standing (7-years!) invitation to visit a place that's only 2 hours away, I finally made it to Hongkong. Yup, there may be a lot of pictures right here of other places, but the perennial Filipino favorite, HK, has not been tread by yours truly. Until now.

However, let me start with the things that I did not do:
I did not go to Disneyland.
I did not go to Ocean Park.
I did not take a side trip to Shenzhen.
I did not go shopping at the night markets.
I did not even have Cantonese food.

So, what did I actually do there? As agreed with Mida, we went on to watch tennis history. Not just a match, but HISTORY. We saw, until dawn, the Roger-Rafa Wimbledon final. Through rain, darkness, there was an electric magic through Centre Court that day. Pure genius from both ends of the court. Though the result is not what I had wanted, it was such a pity that someone had to lose that epic battle. If last year's final was hailed to be a titanic match, 2008's culminating match was for the ages.



Enough tennis for now. More on my trip. Later.

The Jump

Like I was saying before I got interrupted by Wimbledon, I jumped off a cliff, literally. Whee.

Wimbledon 2008: Gentlemen's Quarterfinals

In an upset-filled 2-weeks, and bright, bright sunshine, could it be that a British winner be the final surprise?

QF Match: Federer vs Ancic
The last man to defeat Federer on grass is back, and hopefully in full health. Attorney Ancic must've been weathered from his 8-6 win in the 5th in the previous round, but with a day of rest, we're ready to see him in full force. Federer's performance has been downplayed but make no mistake, he's still the one to beat in this competition. Even Borg has called him out, but it's definitely time to turn up the volume and claim what is rightfully his. Federer in four sets.

QF Match: Safin vs Lopez
Who would've thought that the real Marat Safin would show up and defeat, err, shame the pompous Djokovic? Throw all recent results away, because we're talking about the mercurial Russian. It's also nice to see Lopez (the only other Spanish player that thrives on grass, imho) make it this far, but I'm crossing my fingers for Safin to re-emerge as one of the titans of the game. Straight sets for Safin.

QF Match: Schuettler vs Clement
In a battle of former Aussie Open finalists (both losing to Agassi), it's pretty hard to pick which one of them will have the advantage on this surface. Just based on previous results, I would have to pick Clement to squeeze a win.

QF Match: Murray vs Nadal
Looking for a high-octane match? This one will have an electric crowd, a fiery competitor, and a tantrum throwing home favorite all for show on Centre Court. After his from-the-grave turnaround against Gasquet, Andy Murray is finally putting himself together and giving the very hard-to-please British crowd a real battle. Nadal's routine demolition of Youzhny in R16 did hit one snag - an impending injury. It's hard to let down 15,000 spectators on the bleachers (and hundreds more on Murray Mound), so I'm going to root for Murray to get past grass season's hottest pick and let the British fans rejoice for one more day.

Semis and Final
The last time Federer and Safin met at a Slam semifinal, we all knew what happened, and can we expect to see the same here? I'm still rooting for Wimby #6 and Slam #12, but I bet on Murray a long time ago to be a contender for the majors, and a final appearance has been long overdue. Safin to win it all? That should be a good story, because of all his batchmates (Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, etc), he's the only one that really threaten the players of today and the upcoming ones.

Wimbledon 2008: Ladies Quarterfinals

So, all top 4 seeds are gone, just one of them making it to the second week to actually contest the #1 spot. Then again, Wimbledon has always been a Williams affair, and this year, the show is about to continue.


QF Match: Jie vs Nicole
It was luck that saved a sloppy Ivanovic in 2R, but that wasn't enough to escape the doubles specialist Zheng in the round of 32. Steady groundstrokes make up her game, but with a revived Vaidisova, perhaps she should be ready for some heavy running. Speaking of Nicole, it's nice to see her finally string back to back wins this year. Hope she can put it together and go one past her 2007 result. The Czech in 3 sets.

QF Match: Agnieszka vs Serena
Like I said, it's one-way street here at Centre Court for the sisters, but if there was one to derail that train, it would be this teenager. Save for the drubbing in one set, she played courageous tennis attacking a tentative kuznetsova in the previous round. Which leads to calling myself out for shelving Serena; she won 3 titles on the trot, but lacked inspiration in Paris. It looks like she's back on track but here I go crossing fingers gain to root for the happy-looking Pole to eke out a 3-set win.

QF Match: Elena vs Nadia
What is a Grand Slam QF without an all-Russian match? I'm just crossing my fingers that the new and improved Dementieva comes out here to finally breakthrough on grass. Good serving an consistent baseline play will deliver Elena to the SF in straight sets.

QF Match: Venus vs Tamarine
Two asians in the QF, yey! It's a battle of 2 veterans here, one who's reached the 4th round six times already, while the other has won it four times. Though it's pretty obvious who's going on top with this one, just would like to highlight that grass seems to be Tammy's surface of choice. Remember when she defeated Hantuchova, and celebrated prematurely? That one's a classic.

Semis and Final
It's going to be a tough road for Radwanska, but she's won this one before, but she didn't face two Williams. One is wishful thinking at this stage of her young career, but two (at Wimbledon at that) might be stretching it. I'm going to play it safe and anticipate that the star of Venus will shine on final Saturday.

A Hundred Islands of No Rain

So, not to be oblivious and insensitive, but when Typhoon Frank tore apart Manila, we were busy with an impromptu adieu to summer. I've never been Pangasinan for more than 4 hours (just passing through!), and reaching one of the westernmost points of Luzon was indeed an interesting sight.



I've been meaning to return to Hanoi and take a boat at Halong Bay, but a day at Hundred Islands suited me just fine. So as a mini-review, the place was awesome not just because of the great natural wonders surrounding you; but I loved it because I felt that it was an easy thing to do. Let me explain, if I was backpacking across SE Asia, and wanted to see Hundred Islands, it's such a breeze to take a bus to Alaminos, hire a trike to Lucap (the seaside barangay), then hire a boat for the whole day. All rates are fixed and posted at the tourist center, so you don't have to worry being ripped off. Rates for the boats go lower if you stay at one of the nearby lodges. Total expenses for the 2-day trip? 2.1k, very reasonable.



There are a bunch of (developed) islands to choose from, but the pic above was where we had our packed lunch: we had it half-swimming in the water, and under this cove. It's really one of the more unique, local, and most enjoyable vacations I've had in recent memory. The summary? See below:



ps. As a parting shot, we jumped of a cliff into the water in one of the islands. Good thing a friend was sissy enough to chicken out and take the video.

Juuuump!

Wimbledon 2008

Gentlemen's Singles
Defending Champion: Roger Federer

First Quarter
It's the Federer Show Season Six! This year's ensemble (at least in this quarter) of the draw is played by returning guests (Ancic, Hewitt, Hrbaty), cast additions (Haase and Nishikori), and possible cameos (Berdych, Ferrer). We've seen a harder path before, but mowing through the draw should be very easy for Federer. I'm hoping that the slump with Berdych has already stopped, and he turns in a better performance for 2008.

QF Match: Federer vs Berdych

Second Quarter
With a triad as a rivalry platform in tennis, the excitement is built up starting from the draws. Which half would Djokovic land on this year? Federer's. But that still a far 10 days away. His game against Marat Safin beckons to be a thriller of a 2nd round match.
A lot of complains with the seedings this year, and Baghdatis is one of the few benficiaries - still his draw opens to Johansson, Karlovic, and possibly Nalbandian before putting up shop against Nole in the quarters. However, I think it's high time that the tall Karlovic benefit from the surface, and snag a quarterfinal appearance.

QF Match: Djokovic vs Karlovic

Third Quarter
Though he wasn't able to defend his Queen's Club title, Roddick's semifinal made people remember that he is still very much part of the Top10 of the ATP. We suddenly forget him, come clay season. His draw is pretty interesting, as he could meet compatriot James Blake in the R16.

Instead of adjusting his game to grass, Davydenko preferred to nurse his claycourt hangover by sweating it out in Warsaw. He's never really done well here, so I'm picking someone else.

QF Match: Roddick vs Niemenen

Fourth Quarter
The most interesting quarter so far. Nadal is ready to usurp Federer crown on the grass, and his title at Queens Club was a breakthrough for all the dirtballers of Spain. Watch out though, as my bet Ernests Gulbis might face him in the second round, and that should be a pretty good test.
There's the injured Gasquet that should be readily upset by Fish in the opening round, and a Haas-Murray clash in the third round. With on-court antics a-plenty - worm-dancing (Stepanek), head-bleeding (Youzhny) and racket-shooting (Kiefer), this quarter is the definite source of entertainment for the fortnight.

QF Match: Fish-Nadal

------

Ladies' Singles
Defending Champion: Venus Williams

Ooops, ran out of time.... so:

QF Match: Ana vs Anna
QF Match: Svetlana vs Serena
QF Match: Lindsay vs Maria
QF Match: Venus vs Jelena

Summer Mix 2008

It's a bit late, but here's what my MP3 player was playing during the past couple of months; it my Summer 2008 mix.



1. Gavin DeGraw - His sophomore, eponymous outing, sadly feels like some showpieces from American Idol, a swagger here, then a belt-out finale. Gone are his self-righteous declarations, enter an angrier, slighted singer. Yet, the album is still catchy, almost like the debut, but some riffs just sound like taken from a hillbilly roadhouse. Anyway, I like the album enough to keep it on rotation.




2. Arctic Monkeys/Favourite Worst Nightmare - Admittedly, the first one took quite a while for it to grow on me. After several repeats of Put on your dancing shoes, you dirty little swine!, it was a headbanging, awkward-dancing affair. Their second album didn't take much acclimatisation, this one caught on fast. Teddy Picker, D Is For Dangerous and Flourescent Adolescent stand out to be really listenable. Full credit to Arctic Monkeys for bringing the pop into indie; and like their swipe at Brian in Brianstorm, top marks for not even trying.



3. Scouting For Girls - This year's summer anthem is brought to you by this UK act. I'm always on the hunt for for a zippity, skippity, boppity (I'll stop now) song that defines the energy, and carefree attitude of summer. Summery. (I have got to stop inventing words.) They sound like Counting Crows, with more piano that feels like taken from a stage musical. There's even a quirky tribute to Sean, Roger, George, Timmy, Pierce and Daniel at the end of the album. The entire album is pieced with short happy tunes that you'll enjoy walking under the crisp yellow sun while listening to it.




4. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/Don't You Fake It - I don't like the emo-shouting at all. However, their slower pieces Your Guardian Angel and Cat & Mouse warrant some airplay. Probably some self-emoting in the car. But no shouting! Kids in America, tsk, tsk, tsk.




5. OneRepublic - Don't let Timbaland's popular remix of their hit Apologize throw you off. There's a lot more on offer from the band, and I am reminded of the time I used to listen to The Calling, matchbox20, and the sort. The music is way different, but alternative rock nonetheless. The falsettos aren't exactly my cup of tea, but hey, the melodies work out all right.

Overexposed!

I may have mentioned somewhere that I have had a book published. Whoops, how immodest! Screw that, that 's why I have a blog anyway.

So, I signed up for Flickr - that explains that badge of little photos moving around to your right. They have a tie up with Blurb (www.blurb.com), that lets you download a software, and create a book with your uploaded photos. It's easy as peanuts, and there are lots of photo layouts to choose from. It took me quite a while to put together my favorite photos, it's actually because my other laptop is so old, at it emits this faint hum when operational.

Plus, I had to carefully select the photos I want to include, since extra pages cost extra bucks. The end result is a coffee-book looking hardbound masterpiece that has some of the best things I've seen during my travels. Total cost is somewhere around 25 USD plus shipping. One word of advise though, Blurb ships to the Philippines, but it'll cost you around 60 USD. Best if you send it to someone in the US; shipping will be one-tenth the overseas price.

So here's my little book, doesn't the cover look familiar? (Scroll down this page, you'll see the same exact photo).



The exhibit you say? AFP Theater. Two of my photos were on display as part of my in-work Photography class. Really, no biggie, but hey, I got published and my works were on public display. Not bad at all.

Roland Garros 2008: Quarterfinal Predictions

Women's Quarterfinals
Defending Champion: Justine Henin

With former champion Serena Williams and sister Venus leaving the tournament early, and title holder and top-ranked Justine Henin surprisingly bidding the game adieu, the women's field is ready to crown a new winner on the terre battue. The game is wide open, and with minimal shockers in the first week, we're all in for a treat once the tournament reaches the final eight.

QF Match: Dinara vs Elena
Back to back all-Russian encounters ate up my evening last night. It was a truly delightful match, though I was expecting to see Maria and Vera here instead. However, I was cheeering for these two; Dinara's steady performance against the top seed was definitely a showcase of maturity - she was never ahead of Sharapova, and was ready to be swept away in straight sets. Still, that patient shot making and clever shot selection of hers pulled through. Dementieva on the other hand, has steadily worked her way into the second week. I'm likely to choose Little Sis on this account, her Tier I win in Berlin included scrapes against Justine, Serena, and yes, even Dementieva in the final. Another entertaining three sets here.

QF Match: Svetlana va Kaia
Since both matches aren't finished yet as of press time, let's keep this short - I just might jinx both of them. I'm looking for Kuzzie to reach the final 2, but another compatriot needs to be taken out before that happens. We'll see.

QF Match: Carla va Jelena
The only seed that Jelena has met was Polish teenager Aggie R, and that turned out to be a rather impressive affair for her. And with all the chips falling her way (facing an unseeded opponent), except for one - injury. Still, it's expected that she wins this match, in straight sets, but not enough to go beyond the semis.



QF Match: Patty vs Ana
Claycourt veteran and lefty Patty might give last year's runner up some trouble, but the blooming Ivanovic has the side of youth and fitness on her side. She may not have the stellar warn-up tournaments results, but her double bagel trumping prior to this round looks very ominous. Straight sets for the ravaging beauty Ivanovic.



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Men's Quarterfinals
Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal

"Oh no!" you say, not another Rafa-frustrating-Federer final! This year, there's a twist, an emerging Djokovic is ready to spoil these plans, and the quartefinal lineup is interesting enough to keep us all glued to our TV sets all week.

QF Match: Federer vs Gonzalez
Not seeing any surprises - it's Federer to show up on the last day of the tournament. Hopefully, he won't be a bridesmaid this time to Nadal's 4th crown.



QF Match: Monfils vs Ferrer
About time that the former French junior #1 perform well in slams - at his home tournament at that. I must admit that I wasn't able to follow his matches, so I can't make a good call on his battle with David Ferrer. I'm going to pick Ferrer, just because he eliminated the possibility of seeing worm-dancing on courts.

QF Match: Gulbis vs Djokovic
If I was to choose an unseeded player, I would've chosen the Latvian in the Fantasy League. In his US Open debut, he made it all the way to the 4th round, and in his 2nd RG, a QF appearance (darn, he crashed out early in Melbourne, would've had a chance to see him in person). Folks, look at a player of the future, just hoping he doesn't turn out to be a total nutcase like my last pick, Andy Murray.

Sorry, back to the game. Though Novak does have a steadier game, and hordes of experience, I wouldn't count Gulbis out - the Latvian plays a patient, composed and well-measure type of tennis, not typical of someone who is just in his 5th Grand Slam event. Him winning might be a long shot, but not impossible. I'm going on a whim here and say he's going to pull through in 4.



QF Match: Almagro vs Nadal
This matchup took forever, but here it is. The King of Clay meets the King of Smaller Claycourt Tournaments. Almagro has been long picked to breakthrough in the big stage, but always comes up short. Here he is to prove his mettle against the game's true heavyweight. Alas, this will be short-lived, 3-time winner has yet to lose a match here and most likely won't lose this one. Straight sets.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Cliches

Me, my couchsurfer, and a friend went off to see Harrison Ford reprise his role as Indiana Jones. I just couldn't resist Cate Blanchett, that's why. However, we were gravely (pun alert!) disappointed with the movie - it was an exercise of cliche counting for me and my friends. Spoilers beware, but here's the list, in random order:

1. Falling off waterfalls
2. Plastic wigs
3. Long lost son
4. Mayans
5. Aliens
6. Roswell
7. Love angles
8. Raving lunatic of an oracle
9. Groundhogs
10. A spiffy outfit (that's never wrinkled)
11. Weddings
12. Distracting accents

We're still figuring out if everything was done tongue-in-cheek but don't think so. If you've got more cliches to add, please do!

A Floating Market

One of Bangkok's touristy spots that I've never experienced yet is a visit to the floating markets. We made good on that this trip, thanks to our new super best best friend Mary. That leaves a trip to Ko Kret and Lopburi for the next Bangkok expedition.



So anyway, it was another overpriced market (save all your shopping for Chatuchak, always has been my guideline). It was a good thing that we came to the floating markets quite early, when the sun provided gentle lighting, and there weren't too many tourists running around and getting on/off the boats. It was nice to join a group tour, where you don't have to worry about connections etc. However, it gets a bit annoying if you keep going to places you don't want to go. I remember going to The Greatest Show On Earth - a cobra show. Yaiks. No, I didn't go in, I hate snakes and I loved the last remaining 200 baht in my wallet.

Back In Bangkok

While I was happily hopping around Australia last January, my best buddies bought me a ticket to Bangkok. So, for our traditional summer outing (so far we've had Baguio, EK, Anilao, Galera, Nasugbu/Iloilo-Guimaras), our 7th Annual Summer Let's-Play-Cards-Somewhere-Else Bonding event, we went international.

The Land of Smiles was, well, less smiling when we got there, but hey, with a more humid, more dank, weather, who can blame them. Oh, the traffic (as viewed from their BTS) looked more pitiful than ours.

Since it was my 3rd visit already in 4 years, I made the itinerary, and became tour guide (I was handsomely rewarded with elephant allusions and unflattering photos), we just did the touristy bit. Grand Palace! Reclining Buddha! Wat Arun!



7 out of 10 people who had cameras were using DSLR camera. Wow, they made DSLR cameras look "normal". Oh well. Everybody wants to have good photos, and with a backdrop as stunning as Bangkok, who can blame them? *raises guilty hand*



All these photos were taken from The Grand Palace++ Complex, and I was careful not to repeat a photo I took a couple of years ago. Anyway, I love the Angkor Wat replica, and having seen the real deal myself, I couldn't help but smile, and stand in awe. Here's a nice tunnel shot from that replica.



All right, that was Day One of the trip - by the end of our day, our pants were sweaty as hell that flies won't even come near.

Happy Summer!

It took a month coupled with a week-long bout with a bacterial infection for me to conjure this blog entry. Oh well. Thanks to Benj, his diagnosis was close. I'm feeling a bit better, and should be in full recovery by the weekend.

I have news -blockbuster movie season, my published book, my latest trip, a book blowout, and this summer's music mix. Lots, I know, and I promise to blog more often. But hold your horses, not just now.

Playing on my W910i: Wow by Kylie Minogue. Nice to see Kylie back in the dancefloor. This song has summer written all over it, less of the sultry stuff, more of the bobbing-your-head, and tapping-your-feet sunshine feel.

Happy Summer everyone!

An Emo Shirt

Funny I saw a shirt that featured "Emo Pickup Lines." One totally floored me. It says, "Do you blog here often?"



Well, I'm on the hunt for a Psych shirt. Paging Joey.

Hugs and Crashes

Last March 8, I went on a free hugs day together with my friends from CouchSurfing. Despite the valiant efforts of Mall Of Asia's security to shoo us away from the bayside area, we still managed to spread the love. People of all ages, shapes, gender and even nationalities volunteered to be hugged, and well so did we. The smiles on their faces were truly genuine - it's this random kindness from strangers that lifts up your spirits, when you're facing the doldrums. Free Hugs is a campaign to hug people, after all, like the Beatles said, all you need is love.



We came, we hugged and we spread the spirit. Now, can anybody suggest a nice place to spread the love next time around?



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Remember the Great Hard Drive Crash of December 2007? Not to be confused with the Crashes of January, July and August (that's how unreliable my laptop is), I had bought a backup hard drive, but it is only now I have gone to re-archive my CDs. I'm currently at 96% archived, with about some 30 more CDs to copy. I also have to recopy the audio files I burned into audio CDs back into mp3 (thank goodness I did that). I remember blogging about it some years ago (was it last year?), well, another Holy Week has arrived, and I'm doing the same thing.

I Want To Live Here

Before I move on with the rest of my life, I must blog about the wonderful experience I had in Melbourne. Contrary to the rest of the famous world cities, Melbs is not an ostentatious, in-your-face, glamorous city. But one word that I have never used to the places I've been to - it's very liveable.

It was summer, and the going was definitely easy, save for the face-painted, Aussie flag-wearing tennis hooligans that squeezed in tram ride. That's a testament to the sport-crazy home of Grand Slam tennis, F1, cricket, footy, and other sports-what-have you in the land Down Under.

I went biking, and a city that you can bike in, much less walk around with no fear of death, of rotting your lungs away sounds like a good idea to me.



They've got a shopping district that closes at 5pm. And yes, we will mock their "unsophisticated" (unlike here, it's rampant!) shopping schedules. Hahaha.



Here's the state library of Victoria. They've got a replica outside half-sunk onto the city streets.



And...the only World Heritage Site in Australia that is man-made, The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.




ps. I stand corrected - Sydney Opera House was added just last year.

An Easy Solution To Boredom and Brokedom

Don't judge me, but I incorrectly entered the PIN to my ATM card. No money, well, no nothing. So, it was time to catch up on the DVDs I wanted to watch. Academy Award winners, almost-rans, weepers, creepers and whatnot filled me over the weekend.

1. Atonement



It took me three days to watch the movie, dozing off every 15 minutes, but by Day Three, I was fully captivated by the arresting scenery and deviously tangled story of Joe Wright's movie. A much deserved Oscar win for Best Original Score, but what stands out is the chemistry of the leads. There is something that will draw you to a half-lusty, half-yearning Kiera Knightley when she breathes "Come back to me", and a shaken-from-rage James McAvoy bellowing "Honestly. I'm torn between throwing you down the stairs or breaking your neck." Not really a fan of the romance, nor war movies, nor period pieces, but this one stands out as a beautiful exception.


2. The Lookout



Equal parts heist movie and recovery-from-trauma tearball, indie favorite JGL turns in another great performance as a partially disabled janitor caught in a nasty friendship. Shades of Memento, anyone?

3. Once



Well deserved for this year's Best Song written for a Motion Picture (both Oscars and Grammys). The awesome singing-writing-acting duo not only amazed us on their singing skills, but also on the earnestness that they showed in the film.

4. The Last King Of Scotland



I am now officially a fan of Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy. Whitaker scores a homerun with a terrifying, yet magnetic portrayal of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. He starts genial, warm, yet comes out childish, then into an absolute terror. It's really an eye opener to see how leaders in Africa started out.

5. Hallam Foe



With Jamie Bell rescuing the acting disaster that was Jumper, I decided to catch up on his other films - have seen Billy Elliot before and it was a laudable movie, story- and performance-wise. Similar with this one, except that the story was a bit too muddy for me, and it felt that it meandered uselessly elsewhere. Anyway, the soundtrack is a treat too, so do check it out.

6. The Kite Runner



Is Kabul really that beautiful? It's just sad that whenever one mentions Afghanistan now, a different picture is painted. Well done movie, and while the whole ensemble is a triumph, the real tragedy is seeing a wonderful desert flower like Kabul being ransacked into a ghost town.