Archive for August, 2009
Snippet
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
Went to watch The Proposal again. Still enjoyed it.
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The Proposal
Friday, August 21st, 2009
I decided to go and catch The Proposal after work. I found it too much of an hassle to ask people if they want to watch it together. I just felt like watching it so I went and watch it alone. I forgot that tickets are more expensive on a Friday, but well, since I’m already at the ticket office, might as well give myself a treat.
Synopsis
Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the much hated executive editor of a book publishing company. When she found out that she was going to be deported back to Canada after her visa expired, she forced her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), to marry her so that she can continue to stay is USA. In return, she agreed to promote him and publish his manuscript. As part of the act, they had to fly to Sitka, Alaska to celebrate Andrew’s grandmother’s birthday. During the welcome home party, Andrew announced that he and Margaret are getting married. So his grandmother and mother decided to get them married while they were in Sitka. Over the next few days, Andrew and Margaret got to know each other better and Margaret decided that she could not force Andrew into a sham marriage with her, so she confessed at the altar and left with Mr Gilbertson, the immigration officer. Andrew chased after her but missed her plane. He followed her all the way back to the office and confessed his feelings for her. At the end of the movie, Andrew and Margaret went to Mr Gilbertson’s office to register their marriage again.
Thoughts
I enjoyed the movie alot. I always like Sandra Bullock in comedies and I had not seen her in one since Miss Congeniality in 2000. I guess that’s part of the reason why I was quite excited about this movie. It’s been a long 9 years wait.
Plot-wise, it’s a simple and formulaic story: boy and girl don’t like each other but for some reason have to be together and fell in love in the process. It’s not a problem for me because I still find this movie highly entertaining. It was funny from the moment Margaret Tate informed her boss that she and Andrew were going to get married and thus solved the expired visa problem. Even though poor Andrew had no idea what was going on, he tried his best to play along. Things got crazier and funnier after Andrew and Margaret arrived in Sitka. There were plenty of laughs as Margaret was thrown in one funny situation after another, be it chasing after the eagle who stole her handphone, asking it to “Take the dog!” or attending the only male strip show in Sitka. Even though Margaret was like a fish-out-of-water in the beginning, there is no doubt that she will fit into the Paxton family. Because as Grandma Annie said, their ancestor was a determined woman, much like Margaret herself and good for the husband.
While watching The Proposal, I was reminded of certain storylines and scenes in Sandra Bullock’s previous romantic comedies like While You Were Sleeping and Miss Congeniality. Like in both movies, Margaret has to pretend to be someone she is not, gets thrown into unfamiliar situations and finally reveals the truth at the end. In fact, the revealing of the truth at the altar is almost the same as While You Were Sleeping, just with a different cast. I think Sandra Bullock really shines in roles like this. She is able to make the audience root for her.
It helps that there is chemistry between the two leads despite the obvious age gap. Both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are good at comedy so they not only have romantic chemistry but also comedic chemistry. They played off each other well. Ryan Reynolds is a bit wooden at times but I still like him because he’s one of the better-looking costars of Sandra Bullock.
Would I watch it again? Most definitely. I think I’ll buy the dvd when it’s out.
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Peperoni Pizzeria
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
To celebrate Bright Eyes’ and my birthday, Mao Mao suggested going to Peperoni Pizzeria for lunch. Of course there were other options but they were all pretty accessible while Peperoni Pizzeria is quite inconvenient for people who don’t have cars. Since the whole gang will be going for lunch, it meant that we have 2 cars available so might as well make use of them. Besides, it’s a double birthday, so it should be special. We went in 2 cars to Greenwood Avenue which is a quiet area with a row of restaurants serving delicious and sometimes expensive food.
Peperoni Pizzeria is a cheery restaurant with walls filled with pictures drawn by previous customers. Each table was covered with coloured paper which as served as tablecloths. There was a cup filled with crayons so that people could draw on the paper. I liked the casual atmosphere of the restaurant. As Mao Mao had been to the restaurant before, we let her do the ordering. It was a good meal and I enjoyed myself.
Being our birthday treat, Bright Eyes and I were forbidden to see the bill. It didn’t stopped us from trying though. As the waitress was standing next to us, we would try to crane our necks to get a peep. Until the waitress realised what we were trying to do and quickly held the bill away from our reach. Later on I found out that Peperoni Pizzeria posted the menu online, completed with prices. Bless the internet.
Peperoni Pizzeria
6 Greenwood Avenue
Hillcrest Park
Tel: 64656556
More on the food after the jump
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Tags: italian food
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Fuji Apple Sparkling Juice Drink
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Brother bought some cans of Fuji apple juice home. It looked attractive so I decided to open up a can to try. There was an apple taste, whether it’s Fuji apple or not, I could not tell. As written on the can, it wasn’t just plain juice, it was sparkling juice, meaning that it was carbonated. I do not like the drink mainly because it was gassy. The carbonated juice made me felt that I was drinking a soft drink filled with artificial flavours.
Tags: drinks
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Mobile Indian temple
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Tonight a mobile Indian temple paid a visit to my area. It stopped at the opposite block for a a few minutes while believers made offerings.
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A Decade of Dreams from the Red Chamber
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
I joined KKH and her friends for a concert at Esplanade. We went to watch the City Chinese Orchestra perform songs from the famous TV drama Dream of the Red Chamber. I went not because I was liked the drama, but to support a friend is playing in the orchestra. It was fully packed and we sat at the last row of the concert hall, very far away from the stage. Yet somehow, KKH and I managed to identify the friend when he walked onto the stage. Ask KKH said, “quite distinctive”.
Besides the orchestra, there were a lead singer, a choir and someone to read out the poems. There were also 2 hosts, 1 male and 1 female. The male host would talk in English while the female host would speak in Mandarin. I thought the female host was good while the male host was quite lousy and wasn’t clear in his speech. The lead singer had a good voice but sometimes the orchestra would drown out her singing. I wondered if sitting in the last would also affect the volume of the music. I dislike the poetry recital as the guy was overly dramatic and I felt his voice wasn’t suitable. The female host, the main singer and the person reading out the poems are from China.
I didn’t watch the drama nor did I read the book so listening to the performance made less of an impact on me than other people. My neighbour, a middle-aged man, was so touched that he shed tears. I saw him wiping his eyes at towards the end of the concert. Then the composer made an appearance at the end of the concert and spoke about the drama. My neighbour kept nodding his head and mumbled, “correct” a few times.
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AquaMarine
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Mao Mao, Pooh Bear, Spider and I took half-day leave and met One Red for buffet lunch at AquaMarine inside Marina Mandarin Hotel. Spider had eaten at Aquamarine before and she immediately led us to the sashimi counter. Each of us took a plate of salmon sashimi and went back to our table and gobbled them down. Then we went back for seconds and maybe thirds. Then we started on the cooked food. All of us had a bowl of the creamy mushroom soup which was thick and good. There was also quite a variety of salad, cooked food and desserts.
We had a lot of fun trying out all the different dishes. Some dishes were quite good while others were ordinary. The cold cuts section had 3 types of mustard and Pooh Bear and I took a bit of each to try. We concluded that the mustard we liked best was the innermost bottle but we forgot the name, so clever. Mao Mao enjoyed the caesar salad and took two helpings of that. She also found the raw oysters so tasty that she ate 3 of them even though she was allergic to shellfish. We all joked that she will be full of energy tonight. Pooh Bear liked the teriyaki chicken which was tender and juicy. I liked the beef stew for the tomatoy soup and the soft meat.
We enjoyed the desserts very much, especially the chocolate mousse cake, the bread and butter pudding and the mua chee. The chocolate mousse cake was very chocolatey and and soft because it was 90% mousse and 10% cake. The bread and butter was nice and warm and I poured a lot of the vanilla cream sauce on it. Yummy! We had some fun making the mua chee, snipping away and mixing it in the peanuts at the same time. However Aquamarine failed in the ice-cream section. Ice-cream was either sweet corn, yam or the potong ice-cream sticks. Not very appetizing. There was none of the all-time favourites, vanilla or chocolate ice-cream.
We ate until 3pm and had a good time. There was a 1-for-1 promotion for UOB card so in the end we paid $30 each.
AquaMarine
6 Raffles Boulevard
4F Marina Mandarin
Tel: 68451111
Tags: buffet, chinese food, desserts, japanese food, western food
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