Gong Xi Gong Xi !

Gong Xi Fa Cai dear friends!

Wishing you a hoppity-hop Golden Bunny new year! These are pics from Pavilion taken during my last trip to KL.

Fat, round, white bunny - very prosperous!

They had these drums that you can beat to your hearts content.

This I beat the longest and loudest as did almost everyone else! :D

I loved that the skies were lit up with grand firework displays courtesy of my neighbours on CNY eve; never mind the deafening booms and such.

Good Health and Good Wealth for all!

And The Oscar Goes To ...

I had plenty of time to kill the past few weeks hence I assigned myself a little personal 'project'.

It's the awards season in Hollywood, so after watching The Golden Globes recently I thought of watching all 10 movies nominated for Best Film and perhaps some other Oscar-worthy noms.

pic : reelmovienews.com

And yesterday I completed the 'assignment' ahead of schedule. Movies like Inception, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours I've watched earlier so these are the ones in the past two weeks. The Oscar nominees for Best Film are :

127 Hours : Director - Danny Boyle

Toy Story 3 : Director - Lee Unkrich

Inception : Director - Chris Nolan

The Social Network : Director - David Fincher

The King's Speech : Director - Tom Hooper

The Black Swan : Director Darren Aronofsky

True Grit : Directors - Ethan and Joel Coen

The Kids Are All Right : Director - Lisa Cholodenko

Winter's Bone : Director - Debra Granik

The Fighter : Director - David O. Russell

In the above category, the film I enjoyed the most for its entertainment value : INCEPTION. (But they snubbed Chris Nolan in the Best Director category, wth?); film that I was pleasantly surprised with : TRUE GRIT, from the Coen brothers. THE BLACK SWAN was very good, more intense than I expected. I am biased with 127 HOURS because of James Franco so no need to ask me :-)

I think the frontrunners are : The King's Speech, The Black Swan, True Grit. I'd love for Inception to rock the boat and win this category - and, who knows, maybe The Social Network will win again? The 'weaker' ones are The Fighter, Toy Story 3 and The Kids Are All Right. The Social Network won The Golden Globes for this category, and history shows that they never give the Oscar to the same film. We'll see.

Best Director : I'd give it to either Darren Aronofsky or the Coen brothers. (David Fincher won the Globe and Tom Hooper won the DGA earlier.)

Best Actor - I pick either Jeff Bridges (True Grit) or Colin Firth (The King's Speech). Pity I have not watched Javier Bardem's Biutiful, he's a fine actor too. Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco gave fine performances too, but realistically they are long shots. Sorry JF love, your time will come.

Best Actress - Natalie Portman (The Black Swan) Loved her since The Professional!

Best Supporting Actor - first choice, Christian Bale (he's just nuts in The Fighter), second Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech).

Best Supporting Actress - I really like 14 year old Hailee Steinfield's breakout performance in True Grit. Some may say she's too young for the award, but remember, Anna Paquin was only 11 when she won for that superb acting in The Piano. I don't know why Melissa Leo got it twice now, the Globe and the SAG.

We'll just have to wait till 27th February for the results!

p.s. I watched The Town too, which starred and is directed by Ben Affleck. A very good movie, I enjoyed it.

A Grand Day Out - KLPac Open Day 2011

So I found myself in KL last weekend.

This time my Firefly ticket breaks the previous record of being the cheapest ever for a BKI-KUL return trip. Woot! Being a little bit kiasu pays sometimes :P

Having ditched earlier plans to go daytripping I decided to stay in the city and go around checking out books, running stuff and some windowshopping. I am also pleased to say that I managed to drag myself went for a run at KLCC Park for the first time on Saturday morning, followed by a walk at the Lake Gardens on Sunday morning. Most enjoyable! I think BackHome just cemented its spot as the perfect location for me to stay in KL.

Lake Gardens, 15 minutes away - nice place for a walk/run.

Earlier plans for Sunday morning got ditched, hence I had to find something to do to kill time. Fortunately I saw Reza Salleh's tweet about being at KLPac Open Day, so what could be better than to drop by there and stalk him, right? :)) After breakfast I made my way to Sentul (first time ever).

(Note : Me still cameraless, these limited pics taken with my N95)

Yes - slippers, shorts, singlet.

They hung pictures of all KLPac team members. Performances were happening everywhere throughout the day - outside at The Lawn, The Deck, Lobby, Pentas 2, Indicine, Pentas 1 as well as the four studios. As it was an Open Day, one could access all these places for free and take part in the activities and workshops.

KLPac is a favourite place on Google Earth.

Look who's manning the tee-shirt counter? Faridah Merican no less. Both were so friendly! The tees were selling like hot cakes.

When I arrived, this 'performance' was taking place at the lobby. It was titled Green & White, or maybe it was White & Green. The two girls in white were carrying ...er, cardboard chickens?? Seriously, too arty farty for me to understand.

Young KL Singers were superfantabulous! As their last song they sang the BEST EVER rendition of the 1Malaysia song I've ever heard. I had goosebumps on my arms and tears (!!) in my eyes - yupp, they were that good! I think TV should hire them to perform all our patriotic songs.

This is a vocal quartet who call themselves Caipifruta. Wonderful talents who have made it to international stage - they'll be heading to Prague in April. Oh, I fell in love with their rendition of Sting's Fields of Gold. Goosebumps!!

The Sickbay looks more like a lounge. I would not mind :P

Outside at the deck, I enjoyed this improv comedy from AI:IA group, their acting had the audience in stitches! These two guys were the FUNNIEST of the bunch. They performed again at the Lobby stage later to a packed crowd, definitely a favourite.

At The Lawn, I found who I was looking for :). Meet Reza Salleh, a very talented singer- songwriter I just saw on TV earlier in the week. I had bought Reza's album - REALIZE - the day before, and got him to autograph it. His very pretty sister had a booth at the lawn and he was helping her to man it. So, YEAY! mission accomplished! All the rest of the other fun happenings at KLPac were added bonuses. (To get to know Reza and to listen to his songs online, go to rezasalleh.net)

And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is my first Stracciatella at Lecka Lecka :) Yummylicious.

I had expected that KLPac would be a serious place for the arts - I was so wrong. It is serious FUN. Why, I am already thinking that I should be back next year!

Movie : 127 HOURS

For those who read my tweets, you'd probably know how much I look forward to watching this movie :)

It stars James Franco as Aron Ralston, the Intel engineer-turned-outdoor adventurer who got his right hand wedged by a dislodged boulder and how he (oh this is not a spoiler, by the way) had to cut it off after five days of being trapped in the canyon. His TRUE STORY, happened back in 2003 in Moab, Utah.

Aron is one crazy guy living off adrenaline. Seriously. A memorable line from his book on why he does what he does :

"..and it seemed that he was making sure I was doing them for the

right reasons - climbing not for bragging rights, or the perceived

admiration of others, but because it made me happy."

Does that resonate with you?

I read Aron's book just before Christmas, and couldn't find the movie then as it was just released in US on Nov 5.

Anyway, now that I've watched it, I can now say that this is a very good movie. Not just because of its pacing, gorgeous desert vistas, great soundtrack, bite-size flashbacks and top notch performance by Franco I thought - I enjoyed it mainly because it managed to portray the physical agony, and the tenacity of the human spirit in refusing to accept death as an option, even when it seems inevitable. (Did that sound right?) I probably can't describe it accurately.

Directed by Danny Boyle (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) and music by AR Rahman (also of the same fame), 127 Hours certainly did not disappoint.

I smell nominations galore during the awards season.

Nice and haunting track from Dido and AR Rahman.

Thumbs up. 4.5 stars from me.

p.s. The amputation scene may make you feel queasy.

p.p.s. Read the book :)

p.p.p.s If I have one complaint, I'd say they didn't manage to make Franco scruffy and dirty enough after five days of entrapment.

[Note : I am learning to 'accept' movie versions, usually if I've read the book I won't watch the movie. Maybe that's because I do not want to be disappointed and that I prefer to remember the story as told by the author, not the screenplay writer or director. Then I realised that they're really two different things, one is an interpretation of the other and it's part of the creative process for a different audience. So, yes, I accept that. Thank you :) Liberation!]

Faces and People : Syria and Jordan

Going through my albums I realised I haven't shared these pictures of the people.

I think most of the Syrians are of fairer complexion than the Jordanians. Or maybe just the ones I encountered or saw.

At Cairo Restaurant, Amman.

"Captain Jack Sparrow", Petra.

Guard at Al Khazneh, Petra.

Donkey owner and me, The Monastery, Petra.

Syrian boy, Damascus.

His sister, Syrian girl, Damascus.

Their friend, pulling a funny face and insisting I take a picture of him.

Three amigos, Damascus. Near Umayyad Mosque.

Juice vendor, Aleppo. The HUGE mug of freshly made mixed fruit juice cost only 50 SYP.

Juice vendor, near Christian Quarter, Old City Damascus.

A friend of the three amigos, inside Umayyad Mosque, Damascus.

Outside one of the churches in Aleppo.

Lost-looking boy at the park in the Christian Quarter, Damascus.

Tablecloth vendor, Aleppo Souq.

Orthodox priest, walking on the Straight Street, Damascus.

Bakery, near Martyr's Square, Damascus.

Traffic policeman, Damascus. Or maybe he was just a guard?

Traffic police, Amman. Love the hat!

Shepherd, somewhere in the desert between Damascus and Palmyra.

Shop where I bought sweets near the Old City.

Othmen, at Schereradze, Souq Al Hamediyya. We bought stuff from his shop.

Lastly, a picture of two thugs bouncers at the entrance of one of the hotels we looked at before deciding where to stay in Damascus. Suffice to say we did not check in here :)

Syria is more conservative than Jordan, though there is no issue with attire like what is usually mentioned in the guidebooks. Short sleeved tees are acceptable, though shorts and sleeveless/ tank tops are probably too much.

After a few days it was easy to identify the non-locals (from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) as they are not dressed as conservatively as the locals, especially the women.

As you can see, most of them would gladly pose for you - just remember to ask first :)

Go Ahead, Follow Your Joy!

The best way to love life and yourself :)

Eat the damn chocolate cake!

Eat Pasta Run Fasta!

Today's motivation to run comes from this :

Eat pasta, run faster!

Double knot laces.

When fatigue arrives, be proud. The race is tough, you are tougher.

Everyone feels pain the last 6 miles, suck it up!

Day 4/116.

Numbers 11 and 12, Respectively.

The week before Christmas I made a short trip to KL and managed to squeeze day trips to Seremban and Ipoh.

Remember I wanted to conquer all 14 states in Malaysia? So, a day-trippin' I went to two more states - Negri Sembilan, and Perak.

Remember also that I do not own a camera? (Still considering, that.) These limited pics were taken using my Nokia :D Sufficient-lah hor, to prove that I've stepped foot there. I felt silly trying to snap myself with my handphone so no vain, at-arm's-length self portrait here, folks! :P

Ini Stesen Keretapi Seremban. Tiket KTM Komuter dari KL Sentral berharga hanya RM6 untuk perjalanan selama 1 jam 20 minit, departs every hour. Or was it every half-hour, I can't recall.

Ini Padang Dataran Seremban (something like that), kira di tengah bandar lah. Saya berjalan kaki dari stesen keretapi, took the left. Jauh juga lah berjalan pada hari tersebut.

Ini Bangunan Dewan Undangan Negeri. Cantik-kan senibina Minangkabau? Ia terletak di atas sebuah bukit kecil, kena jalan sikit lah baru boleh nampak.

Church of the Visitation, also di tengah bandar.

Batu Peringatan untuk 'perwira2 kita yang telah gugor' during the wars. Terletak di atas bukit, tepi bulatan depan Bangunan Secretariat (gaya senibina kolonial) yang lama.

Ini dia bangunan kolonial tersebut. Sekarang apparently it's the Library. Tapi the time I went was Hari Ahad so it was closed. Not sure if it's in operations anyway since it was quite sunyi.

Berdepan dengan roundabout atas bukit itu, ini salah satu dari pintu pagar Istana Hinggap (macam istana transit lah). Surely a palace with all those gilded gates.

Masjid Negeri, letaknya kawasan bukit juga, berdepan dengan Seremban Lake Gardens.

On the way down the hill, kelihatan kuil Hindu yang kira agak besar jugalah compared to the KK ones. Ini di sebelah kompleks Seremban Parade, di mana terletaknya Parkson Grand, di mana saya telah sempat meluangkan masa rehat-rehat dan erm, membeli-belah. Sebab tengah ada sale :P

Disebabkan ada masa lagi, saya sempat menaiki bas ke pekan diraja Seri Menanti yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 45 minit dengan tambang RM3.50. Malangnya, istana dan muzium Seri Menanti terletak jauh terpelosok 7 km dari simpang jalan utama. Jadi niat saya terpaksa dibatalkan. Kira ambil gambar ini sajalah. Boleh lah kan. Menariknya perjalanan bas ini, I got to see the 'countryside' and villages. I also noted a few signboards for 'megalithic sites', where a few small obelisk-like stones can be seen (not to be compared with Asterix's). Tentunya ada archaeological value, tapi sayangnya kurang maklumat.

On another day I made the Ipoh trip :

Ini pula Stesen Keretapi Ipoh, sebuah bangunan lama. I took the ETS dengan tiket berharga RM30 sehala, untuk perjalanan 2 jam 13 minit (according to the announcement la). Keretapi ETS ini sangat selesa, bersih dan masih bau plastik. Maklumlah brand new (launched in August), and probably sebab tiket mahal sikit banyak.

Bangunan Ipoh City Hall, berdepan dengan stesen keretapi. There was a small park in between, sadly not scoring high on the maintenance.

Ipoh got its name from a tree, did you know that? I didn't (what's new). Anyway, inilah pokok Ipoh.

Sebuah Batu Peringatan for our fallen warriors during the wars. I did not expect to see these kind of monuments in Seremban and Ipoh.

This is St Michael's Institution. It looked very very grand I tell you, complete with a beautiful green padang, boleh main cricket. Or maybe even croquet (?). Apparently Dato' Michelle Yeoh went to this school.

I forgot the name of this church. Lokasinya dekat Perpustakaan. A kind contractor undertaking the upgrading works gave me pedestrian directions to go to the city centre.

Saya rasa, restoran makanan segera ini sangat cantik facade-nya. Not sure about the inside.

Bas publik(?) awam di Ipoh mengingatkan saya kepada bas PUT atau TUT atau Luen Thung di KK. Yang besar jenis lama tu.

Saya berjalan-jalan tanpa arah tujuan tapi tidaklah sesat sebab agak mudah mengikuti jalanraya utama. And I realised that Ipoh has very interesting shop signboards like the above. Masih ada lagikah orang yang menggunakan perkataan 'saudagar'?? Not since I last read our history book in school tentang Kesultanan Melaka.

What about this one? Direct to the point. (No equivalent phrase in Malay) :D Yang pasti, itulah merchandise yang dijual oleh kedai tersebut.

Saya ingin berkongsi gambar ini dengan Ms TutyFabregas. Rasanya kedai ini tidak membayar apa-apa jenis royalti kepada kelab tersebut :)

Setelah penat menapak perimeter bandar Ipoh, saya singgah di kedai Lou Wong untuk mencuba sajian ini; iaitu Ipoh Hor Fun (the chicken broth was superb unlike the one in that franchise kopitiam) dan tauge gemuk Ipoh yang terkenal itu. Tauge tersebut hanya dicelur and tossed in sesame oil and soya sauce. Kuantitinya terlalu banyak untuk satu orang, dan saya bukanlah peminat tauge, jadi saya tidak pun menghabiskannya (wasteful I know). Harga keseluruhan amat murah, mata saya terbeliak dan saya hampir terjatuh dari kerusi. Untuk dua sajian ini saya bayar RM4.50, dan untuk minuman air mata kucing ais hanya RM1.30.

Dengan dua lawatan ini, dapatlah saya menutup tirai perjalanan saya untuk tahun 2010, dengan jayanya I must say. Terima kasih kepada kawan-kawan yang memberi informasi yang membantu saya in all my travels :)

So, tinggal dua negeri lagi untuk ditawan, iaitu Kedah (technically already-lah if you count Langkawi but I want to step foot on the mainland) dan Perlis. Belum tahu lagi bila, tapi surely dalam perancangan.

You two just wait - I do you next :)

Happy New Year, lovelies! Selamat Tahun Baru!

Nota Kaki :

(i) Inspirasi untuk memblog dalam semi-BM ini datangnya dari mendengar ulasan perlawanan bola sepak semalam di TV1 (Tahniah, Harimau Muda Malaysia!). Buat pertama kalinya saya mendengar istilah 'hantaran lintang' dan 'hantaran pancang'(?) dan lain-lain. I have no idea though, I had to think for a while. Terima kasih kepada guru BM saya di sekolah, usaha cikgu tidak sia-sia jugalah sebab saya rasa saya masih boleh ambil kertas SPM dan lulus dengan distinction, paling teruk pun C3 rasanya :P

(ii) Blog ini ditulis tanpa bantuan Google Translate, okay :)