the one about poc
Watched Pirates of the Carribean yesterday. Yet another overated show. Draggy plot resulted in the show being too slow paced in the middle. Too much was spent tying up the knots, which was aplenty given it was the third installment of the series.
Again, trying to squeeze in too much in 1 movie, what's with these trilogies nowadays? And the final battle scene seemed only remotely exciting. I had a more vivid impression of the 2nd installment than this one. At least I could still remember some of the action sequences that took place.
I hugely believe POC's success is largely due to the stellar cast it has, but this time round, even Jack Sparrow's antics seem to have grown tired and unnecessary. All the moments of humor are far in between for this show, doing little to lift the dreary mood and pace.
I remember I dozed off in the middle of the show. I couldn't help it. 3 hours was an overkill.
It would be better if they concluded the series in the 2nd installment. I'm putting my hopes on Shrek now.
the one about nice place for dinner and some crazy ass driver
wow. what a long time seems i last blogged..lotsa things i'm busy with right now. The other day last week or so I went out to celebrate another of my friend's birthday at this quaint little restaurant called Basil Alcove. It isn't exactly a restaurant but just a eating place around the street corner at Fortune Centre.
I like it because it's a great combination of ambience, great food, good price and reasonably good service too. They sell these dishes like 'duck served with red wine as sauce', '2 nicely cooked giant sausages with nice mash potato at the side', 'pork ribs with little meat but taste good' and different types of pasta. I can't really recall the names so I'm giving you the most accurate description I've got. They are served like those high class French restaurant dishes - the main item served in rather small amounts but big on garnish and presentation.
Yeah..you get the idea. Yep, those type of dishes coupled with tables dimly lighted by candles in jars. And you more or less get this atmosphere where you can tell everyone that you love them without seeming mushy.
The concept is simple and the food great. A pleasant dining experience I would not hesitate to take my loved ones to. Well..definitely be going back there again.
On to more exciting things, I met up with this guy from the forum to fix my tail lights. He's this drifter that actually represents Singapore in those drift competitions in Malaysia..D1 Grand Prix or something. So he told me about how he got started and all and also about his competitions and so on. It was really refreshing to hear something new now and then.
Later we went for a spin in his Nissan S15. Never sat in a turbocharged car before and the way he drove was really damn scary. So fast yet keeping so close to everyone else. Sometimes I felt those andrenaline rushes that I remember I left behind at the theme parks in Taiwan. Didn't want to appear wimpy so I just kept quiet and gripped on subtly to the edges of the seat, masking any potential displays of fear with 'Wow!' or 'So exciting huh...'
Well. halfway through it wasn't that scary anymore because I had this 'I'm trapped in this pseudo-rollercoaster anyway and I can't jump out so if anything happens just suck thumb' type of thinking running through my mind. And finally I could put my mind at ease when he turned into the carpark.
Ok i think i shall stop here and probably ramble on to the next post. Cheers.
the one about studies, movie outings and a mother's day gift
I'm kinda happy I aced my first 2 modules. But that has put more pressure on me to perform well for the coming ones. There's always this stigma about me being an A level student so naturally I have to get A type of thing going on within me. Ok so that sentence sounded rather off, but you get the idea.
The course isn't difficult but I wouldn't say it's easy either. Everyone has their own schedule so it's hard to meet up and discuss stuff too. On the bright side, the pace of the course is right, the people are great, the campus is full of facilities I haven't discovered yet.
But what I'm not going to hide is that I'm aiming for As and only As. And I'm going to be disappointed if I don't get them.
Last Saturday was great. Went to Minds Cafe to celebrate one of my camp mates birthday. Many people went, including his school friends and his girlfriend's friends and so on. Haha, kinda like the atmosphere there and the games were fun too. Played mostly card games. It's really amazing how much fun can be derived from a stack of cards and an idea.
Pay a fixed price and play as many games as you want. A really fun and healthy way to pass time I would say.
After that, we went to watch Spideman at around midnight. I have no idea why there are so many pre-movie ads at Plaza Singapura's cinema..I forgot, was it GV? Yeah, anyway, Spiderman not suprisingly, was packed with great action and villians, with scenes of deep emotions and comic relief but I felt it didn't really measure up to the second installment.
Not too sure why. Probably it was because the second one was much more of an improvement over the first compared to the improvement they did for the third. But was there an improvement at all? Two new villians introduced over such a short span of time left little for character development. The action was hot but not sufficient for a finale. Some of them ended with an anti-climax. Just look at Venom. A classic, spectecular entrance but lousy send off. The screen time allocated to him was not justifiable given he's one of the major villians.
The comic relief scenes where Parker goes around playing this casanova/jerk was really unnecessary and seemed to be put in in an attempt to lighten the mood of the show. Rather corny and didn't do much to the show.
Ok enough of spidey, right now I'm rather baffled over what I should get for my mum for Mother's Day. I asked her directly just now. So unlike me. Haha. She said she wanted a bangle, those costume jewelry type. Hm. I figured since she loved the crystal necklace I gave her last year, means I've probably got the taste to pick out jewelry that she might like. Hah.
That means shopping on Sunday morning or noon. A bit last minute, but no choice cos' no time. Hope it isn't too expensive. I'm kinda tied up recently. :(
the one about rise in ERP charges and inconsiderate driving
Today's journey home was long and dreary. Traffic flow is usually bad. But today really sucked. Literally jammed all the way from Yio Chu Kang to Hougang to Eunos to Paya Lebar. And it's a stretch with many, many traffic lights.
Don't know why there were so many cars on the road today. And all traffic lights were mostly red. It was kinda terrible. Start stop start stop. And I took one and a half hours to reach home. Like I have much of a choice. The other route home would be to travel CTE then PIE all the way to Guillemard. But that would mean extra charges which would easily total up to 4 dollars. And I just passed by 2 gantries. I can't afford to do that. It's too wasteful on a daily basis.
And like it was any better. Well at least if I could travel consistently at 60kph, I wouldn't mind paying to get home earlier and if significantly less starts and stops would mean I save the cash on the fuel, then perhaps the 4 bucks would be worth it. But no, there'll still be jams.
And the government has decided to raise the charges at 5 gantries. For what you may ask? Actually I also don't know how that's going to help. If someone has to travel the highway to get to work, he would pay no matter what, so as to reach his work on time. Take the alternative route filled with traffic junctions and you'll be worse off in the jams and waiting time that people will rather give up the cash rather than the convenience.
There's always a balance to be struck between efficiency in travelling and the charges it racks up. As if drivers love to travel under gantries for the thrill in hearing the IU beep. I'm not saying the ERP system sucks. In fact, it may be even shittier without it. I'm just questioning the effectiveness of this rise in price. Like it will deter someone who takes the CTE everyday because it's simply the most convenient way to work.
Will there be a time in the near future where drivers would have to pay 10 dollars in a single trip over the CTE..? Like that I guarantee the highways would have smooth traffic flow already. Can afford good lor, cannot then sorry you can just join everyone else that would be crawling on the normal roads. I'm not exaggerating, it might just happen in this country where every problem will be met up with a solution which either involves more laws or collecting more money. Ok like duh.
Anyways, enough of the ERP business. Me shall not interfere with the measures taken to sustain an effective and non-corrupt government. Afterall, a towkay always has to live up to his words if he promises his employees a bonus. Just as long he brings in higher revenue for his buisness. :)
I hate bad drivers who wouldn't give a damn about signalling and just cut your lane. Same goes to inconsiderate bastards who wouldn't give 2 hoots about using a moblie phone while driving. Ok, guess I've ranted rather much today.
Hmm..things coming up..probably going for pool on Friday night with some vogs people, Saturday one of my friends celebrating his bday at Minds Cafe..and yay, prolly watching Spiderman that night. Oh..next week have to send car for servicing already..
