Last post for this year - Greetings

Today is 'Christmas Eve'. Therefore...

Thanks for all your help and support.
And I wish you a Merry Christmas.

and a Happy New Year.

Actually, from tomorrow onwards, I will be travelling overseas.
Therefore, I wouldn't be updating the blog(s) for a very long time.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Well then, I would see you next year.

Path to become Ironman

I went to one of the local Blood Bank to donate my blood yesterday. However to my dismay, I think I haven't been taking a lot of food that are rich in Iron, therefore I cannot make a blood donation due to the lack of iron in my blood. Therefore...

Here's a list of Iron Rich Food, that I have taken from the local Blood Bank. I hope that you would find this useful. :D

Foods	Serving	Weight (g)	Iron Content (mg)
Rice and Altematives
Rice, brown	1 bowl	200	1.0
Pasta, wholemeal	1 portion	100	1.8
Bread, wholemeal	1 slice	30	1.0
Wheatgerm	1 teaspoon	15	1.1
Wheatbran	1 tablespoon	15	1.8
Branflakes	3/4 cup	30	5.0
Cornflakes	1 cup	30	3.6
Fruits
Apricot, semi-dried	10 halves	35	1.2
Dates, black, dried	10	90	3.3
Dates, red, dried	10	90	3.0
Raisins	1 packet	42	1.5
Longan, dried	1/2 cup	65	3.5
Fig, dried	10	85	3.6
Prunes, semi-dried	10	85	2.2
Peach, fresh	one	155	1.6
Vegetables
Kale, chinese (Kai Lan)	1 cup	65	1.3
Spinach (Bayam Pasir)	1 cup	30	1.5
Kang Kong	1 cup	30	1.6
Chinese Cabbage (Bok Choy)	1/2 cup	85	0.8
Mustard Leaves, Chye Sim	1 cup	55	0.7
Seaweed, dried (Hai Tai)	1 sheet	15	3.3
Sea Moss (Fa Chai)	1 pinch	10	9.9
Meat and Alternatives
Beef, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	2.8
Pork, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	1.2
Mutton, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	2.1
Chicken, skinless	1 palm sized piece	90	0.8
Fish	1 fillet	90	1.2
Pork Liver	2 slice	30	3.1
Chicken Liver	one	50	5.1
Pig Kidney	one	230	13.8
Egg Yolk, hard boiled	one	17	0.8
Egg, whole, hard boiled	one	50	0.9
Ikan Bilis	2 toblespoon	15	0.6
Prawns, dried	1 teaspoon	5	0.7
Oyster, fresh	12	60	3.7
Sardine, canned in tomato	one fish	40	1.8
Soya beancurd, Tauhu	1 small square	85	1.9
Cashew Nut	1/2 cup	65	5.0
Pistachio	1/2 cup	65	2.5
Walnut	1/2 cup	50	1.5
Lotus Seed	1/2 cup	15	0.6
Almond	2 tablespoon	30	1.2
Sunflower Seed	1/2 cup	70	3.2
Watermelon Seed	1/2 cup	50	3.1
Soya bean, White	1/2 cup	50	3.0
Lentil	1 cup	180	14.4
Gram, Green	1 cup	250	13.8
Gram, Red	1 cup	250	10.5

I want to become a Samurai...

With all the things that I have to do, last weekend was kinda busy for me. However, no matter how busy or how tired I am, I still manage to squeeze a bit of time for the following movie.

'Rurouni Kenshin'
Originated from the infamous Japanese Comics,
'Rurouni Kenshin', comes the movie 'Rurouni Kenshin'.
Probably due to the time constraints that they have,
therefore the script of the movie and the original
story are slightly a bit different. However, the actors have
managed to portray the original comic characters nicely.
And probably due to the fact that the fighting scenes
in the Comics and the Japanese Anime were too magnificence
and too interesting, therefore it kinda make the fighting
scenes in the movie a little bit too dull. :(

* Click here to find out more about the Japanese movie 'Rurouni Kenshin'.(Japanese Website)

This isn't a pornography - 'Thermae Romae'

If an individual has been watching the same genre/type of movie continuously, it tends to become pretty boring pretty soon. Therefore, from time to time, I will try to watch various types of movie.

The above shows a picture of the movie 'Thermae Romae',
which is based on the infamous Japanese Comics.

Regarding the movie
A bathroom designer from the ancient Rome
has dropped into a whirlpool of time and
he has ended up in the modern Japan. He
managed to incorporated the designs that
he has seen in the modern Japan into the
ancient Rome. And at the same time protect
the ancient Rome?

My Opinion
Through the movie, one gets to learn about
the culture of the Japanese bathroom, the
things that they eat, etc... which makes
it pretty interesting, especially when the
script writers can blend the bathroom idea
into the movie in a pretty interesting way.

(By the way, the oldest public bath house isn't from
Japan. It seems that the earliest public bath house
was built and found in Europe.)

* Click here to find out more about the movie 'Thermae Romae'. (Japanese website)

Double Face

Do you have an interest for Hong Kong Movies? Which is your favourite Police Action Movie during the period 2000 to 2010?

As for myself, my favourite Police Action Movie during that
period of time will ought to be 'Infernal Affairs'.
Throughout the whole movie, there's lots of tensions and when you
topped it with the good acting skills by the cast, it has definitely
made it into one of the 'must watch'/favourite movie on my list.

In fact, the original movie was so good that it has managed to catch
the attention of 'Hollywood'. The 'Hollywood' movie 'The Departed' was
based on the story of 'Infernal Affairs'. Despite of the amount of
infamous actors that were involved in the movie, I don't find it
better than the original movie. (In fact I find the ending of
'The Departed' kind of silly, which once again proven that 'Hollywood'
aren't capable in making good replicates of the original movie.)

In fact, Japan TBS TV and WOWOW have collaborate with each other
and they have created this TV Special known as 'Double Face', which
is based on the original story of 'Infernal Affairs'.
The story are pretty much the same, but additional factors have been
added into the story to make it even much more interesting. Besides
for the tensions that you will be getting, the ending of the movie
was pretty interesting too. In fact, I find it as good as the
original movie. (Though I still prefer the original movie. :P)

* Click here to find out more about the Japan TBS TV Special 'Double Face'.
  (Japanese website)
^ Click here to find out more about the Japan WOWOW TV Special 'Double Face'.
  (Japanese website)

Movie: ZA

Take note, I'm not going to talk about the cosmetics brand 'ZA' over here. The topic that I'm going to touch over here would be 'Zombie Apocalypse'. Probably as we move into the future, there seems to be more and more talks on the end of the world and it seems that 'ZA' has become one of the hottest topic nowadays. (Especially when there are more and more infamous games titles based on 'ZA', and same goes for TV series, movies and even books.) Therefore, it have also led me to ...

Poster of 'Resident Evil: Retribution', taken from Cathay Cineplexes Website.

Basically, all the Resident Evil movies have a pretty straight forward
plot. The main female protagonist have to escape from a place and reach
her destination as fast as possible. As the story moves on, she will be
teaming up with different groups of people that will be fighting with all
sorts of zombies alongside with her. So what makes this sequel different?
I guess that would be the ending of the movie where you finally sees...,
and that's when you finally gets to see a possible ending to the sequel. :)
Well, if you have been following the Resident Evil sequel for the past few
years, it's a must for you to watch it. But if you haven't been following
the sequel for the past few years, you don't need to spend a lot of time
looking through the first few 'Resident Evil' movies.

* Click here to find out more about the movie.

Movie: Hope Springs

How would your marriage turns out to be when your kids have grown up and move out of the house? Do you think that your marriage is perfect? Or does your marriage ended up to be a job? And all you need to do is go home, do your own stuff, sleep in your bedrooms, etc...? Though this move has been portrayed to be a Comedy, the plot is so good that to some extent, it has turned out to be pretty meaningful. If you think that your marriage is getting more and more dull, give this movie a try and perhaps it will teach you a new trick or two. :P

Poster of 'Hope Springs', taken from Cathay Cineplexes Website.

* Click here to find out more about the movie 'Hope Springs'.

Movie: the power of a little wish - ted

Be careful of your little wish, it might ended up bringing you both good and bad memories. :P Either ways, this movie has proven the fact that teddy bears isn't just for a kid, when it have been made into a movie, it can bring an adult lots of fun too. I guess no one will ever hate a sociable bear that can brings you lots of fun in your life, but at the same time turn your simple life upside down. :P Okay anyway, though the plot of the movie was pretty straight forward, but you can hear roars of laughter throughout the movie. Sometimes it really doesn't matter how good the plot can be, it's the way you can making and expressing it. (Like the TV-series 'Mr. Bean')

Here's a poster of the movie 'ted'.

* Click here for the official website of the movie 'ted'.

Hiroki Narimiya - An actor that looks like Joker

After I watching the Japanese movie 'Nana' 7 years ago, my first impression of 'Hiroki Narimiya' would be a actor that looks like 'Joker'. Since then, he seems to be appearing in some of the TV dramas and Japanese Movies that interests me. His willingness to try out all sorts of roles and his acting skills just never stop to amaze me.

The above shows the DVD box of the movie 'Gyakuten Saiban'.
It's based on the Japanese game 'Gyakuten Saiban'.
In the movie, 'Hiroki Narimiya' was playing the role of an
inexperience lawyer that believes in justice and at the same
time passionate with what his doing. Out of nowhere, he's
getting himself involve in the murder case of his superior
and the suspect is the younger sister of the decease?
One of the interesting part of the movie would be the facial
expressions that his showing in the movie.
Either ways, with an interesting plot and a amazingly good
group of actors, this is a movie that you should be watching
whenever you are free. O.OV

* Click here to find out more about the movie 'Gyakuten Saiban'. (Japanese website)

This is related to the sound of music... I think...

If you have seen the movie 'The Sound of Music' before, you probably have heard of the song 'Do-Re-Mi' before. In the lyrics, there is this liner, 'Ray, a drop of golden sun...' and this got to do with my post today. Introducing...

	Though this isn't really a a drop of golden sun, but it's known as the 'Kinetic Rain' and it's pretty nice too. :D

Here's a video that I have taken myself.


And here's the official video of the 'Kinetic Rain'.


So where can you have a closer look of the 'Kinetic Rain'?
The 'Kinetic Rain' is located in 'Changi Airport' Terminal 1 Departure Check-in Hall. :D

Notes:

• If you are taking the MRT to 'Changi Airport', you can alight at the 'Changi Airport' station and take the exit to Terminal 2 or 3 and transfer to the Skytrain to Terminal 1.

* Click here to find out more about 'Changi Airport'.
^ Click here for the wonders that can be found in 'Changi Airport' Terminal 1.

Movie: The Silent War

From the same group of directors of 'Infernal Affairs' comes 'The Silent War'. The plot of the movie is pretty straight forward. During the 1950s in China, in order to spy on all the revolutionists in China, Headquarter 701 have been founded to spy on all the revolutionists through telegraph. Everything is going as planned until the day, where all the military channels have been replaced by useless daily news reports and weather forecast. That's where our main protagonist steps in. Being blind allows him to attain a better sense of hearing than average people and with his help, Headquarter 701 manage to recover all the military channels, but things aren't that easy after all. And through the help of Headquarter 701, he manage to recover his eyesight with a price to pay...

Image taken from Google Images.
I think that the story is pretty interesting, but for some reason,
this movie was released in Singapore less than 2 weeks ago and by
the end of this week, there are less than 5 cinemas that continues
to show this movie. Which is kinda... ==""" Seriously, the role that
Tony Leung is taking up and the ploy of the movie are pretty nice
and it's far more better than some of the Hollywood movies out there.
If time permits, please give this movie a try, the results might be
better than what you are expecting.

Movie: The Expendables 2

Once in a while, I don't mind watching all these action movies. To some extent I kinda miss all the action movies back then with all the memorable lines and scenes. Ex: Arnold Schwarzenegger's line in Terminator, Armageddon, Rambo, Rocky, etc... Anyway back to the movie, rather than having merely gun fighting and explosives going off everywhere, this time round I think that the story is much better than the previous round. In this film rather than showing a group of cold blooded killers,, it also portraits a completely the different side of the expendables. On top of that, the producers have also added a few touches of humour into the film too. :D

Here's a poster of the movie 'The Expendables 2'.
Seriously, as compared to the previous one, the looks of
'Sylvester Stallone' looks much more better in this sequal. ==

* Click here to find out more about the movie 'The Expendables 2'.

Manabu Makime - The Great Shu Ra Ra Bon

A few days ago, I finally finished reading the chinese translated version of the Novel 'The Great Shu Ra Ra Bon'. In the Novel, it has stated that the lakes in Japan have been giving selected family members of a family great powers and it can be powers like mind control and time control. Though the first few chapters can be kinda boring but as the story progress, the story will get more and more interesting. In fact, it was so good that I finished the book in 2 nights. :P Therefore, if you have the time, I would highly recommend you to give this novel a try. :D

Cover of the Novel 'The Great Shu Ra Ra Bon'

* Click here to find out more about the Novel 'The Great Shu Ra Ra Bon'. (In Japanese)

Movie: A Simple Life (桃姐)

Inspired by a true story, this is a story between the young master of a big family and his servant that has been taking care of the family for more than 4 generations. In the earlier stage of the movie, the relationship between the both of them are pretty much similar to a normal family. But things started to change when the servant gets a stroke and decides to move into an old folk's home. Taking care and visiting the servant tends to play a very big role in the young master's life...

Image taken from the official site of the movie 'A Simple Life'(桃姐)

I think that this movie is pretty touching especially when the part where the young master tend to go all out taking care of the servant, when it should be the other way round. On top of the heart-warming relationship between the both of them, you also get a taste of why some people move into a old folk's home and the life that they are leading inside. Eventually, this still shows that kindness pays. :D

* Click here for the official website of the movie 'A Simple Life'(桃姐).

My interesting neighbourhood?

How long have you been living in your neighbourhood and do you think that you know every single thing about your neighbourhood? Okay, maybe not everything but how bout most of the stuff that is happening in your neighbourhood? I thought that I'm pretty familiar with my neighbourhood until...

'Wonder Wash 24 Hours Coin Laundry'
I saw this... I was like Whao~~~~
I never knew that they have 'Coin Laundry' shops in Singapore...
Reminds me of the days, I was travelling overseas...
and I thought that I would never ever bump into 1 in Singapore...
Or perhaps I'm becoming a mountain tortoise(山龟, Suan Gu)... :P
(Now we know that we don't need to worry about the laundry on
rainy days anymore. :D)

* Click here to find out more about 'Wonder Wash Coin Laundry'.
(Perhaps, there's a brunch located near you?)

Movie: The story of a professional craftsman 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'

This isn't the normal type of movie that has a story. It's more of a documentary. The movie revolve around a 85 years old sushi craftsman, 'Jiro, Ono'. He's also the owner of the Sushi restaurant 'Sukiyabashi Jiro'. Through the movie, you can basically have a better idea of the life 'Jiro, Ono' is leading, the lifestyle of a Japanese craftsman, the making of a good Sushi... etc.

Poster of the Movie 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'

Note:

• As the movie shows a large collection of indulging Sushi images, therefore I wouldn't recommend you to watch the movie with an empty stomach.(In fact, I was drooling towards the end of the movie... And after spending an hour plus watching the movie, I suddenly have the urge of eating Sushi... =="")

* Click here to find out more about the movie 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'.
^ Click here to find out more about the restaurant 'Sukiyabashi Jiro'.

Not a Sandy Bay...

I managed to do some catching up with a friend from overseas and since I had free up my the whole afternoon, I decided to accompany her to the 'not so sandy bay' in Singapore.

Probably, just by taking a look at the photo shown in the above,
you should have a pretty good idea where I have been to.
The name of this place would be 'Marina Bay Sands'.

As for the main reason we went there would be...

The exhibitions that are on display inside the "ArtScience Museum". There are currently 2 exhibitions on display right now. And that would be 'Harry Potter' and 'Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal'. I'm not going to write about the exhibition on 'Harry Potter', since it's already a world known character. As for 'Andy Warhol' you probably wouldn't really know him, but you would probably have seen numerous pop art pieces on topics like famous actress, model and singer 'Marilyn Monroe' and Chinese Communist leader 'Mao Zedong' that was done up by him. (Go ahead, do some Googling and you will get what I mean. ;P)

Since the museum is located pretty near the 'Helix museum', we tried taking a stroll across the bridge too. Too bad, half of the bridge was seal off due to the rehearsal for the upcoming NDP 2012 (National Day Parade). Otherwise, you can grab a pretty good look of the 'Marina Bay Sands' and the Singapore River. But looking on the bright side, since there's NDP rehearsal for the next few weeks, that means you can take a good look at the fireworks for NDP for the next few weeks, which is going to be pretty nice. :D

Before moving indoors, let me show you the biggest wishing well in Singapore...?

Singapore's Biggest Wishing Well
I guess this was suppose to be some architectural design element,
but it just so so happen that the look and feel of it, is pretty
much similar to a wishing well. As we were chatting, it seems
that someone had really treat this as a wishing well, and he/she
had threw some coins into the hole in the middle... =="""

So how does things look like below the well?
It seems that there's a pond below the wishing well, but...
wait isn't that a boat????

It seems as if they have recreated a mini version of the waterways of Venice, Italy within the premises itself. Interesting. :)

Some other photos of 'Marina Bay Sands'.

From a consumer's point of view, I personally fell that this shopping mall is pretty nice. Regardless of the shops that you can find/get over there, the corridors of this shopping mall are pretty board, and you don't need to worry about bumping into an unknown person. (I hope that more friends from overseas can pay me a visit in Singapore, so that I can make more trips to 'Marina Bay Sands' to learn more about the place.)

Note:

• It seems that you can experience a complete different 'Marina Bay Sands' at night. Especially, when there is a daily ongoing light and water show, 'Wonder Full' and you can catch a good view of Singapore from the 'SkyPark Observation Deck' and at the same time not forgetting night scenery of the the 'Helix Bridge'.

* Click here to find out more about 'Marina Bay Sands'.
^ Click here to find out more about light and water show, 'Wonder Full'.
~ Click here to find out more about 'SkyPark Observation Deck'.

Movie: Not another Trilogy

Similar to the title of this post, probably when the first movie was a success, they started to move on with the second followed by the third. I think they should really put a stop to all these trilogy idea. Probably only 2 or 3 out of 10 trilogy really turns out to be pretty good. As for this recent movie, 'MIB 3', I personally felt that it isn't as good as the 1st 2 movies. Although there are parts of the movie that turns out to be pretty hilarious but I miss the serious looking guy cracking a joke or 2 kind of scenes. I kinda miss comedy movies like 'Man of the House (Tommy Lee Jones)', 'Meet the Parents (Robert De Niro)', etc... I hope that we will get more Comedy movies like those listed in the above even much more. :D

Image taken from Cathay Cineplexes Website.

Up Next: I hope its not Spidey...

* Click here for the website of 'MIB3'.

Movie: Dodge Ball - a TRUE underdog story

When you are getting exhausted, one of the best way to keep yourself going would probably be the method of watching a hilarious movie that can really brighten up your day. One of my recommendation would be 'Dodge Ball - a TRUE underdog story'. But why do I say so? Basically, Ben Stiller's role was suppose to go all out to take over everything that Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) has. But the stunts that he have made along the way was pretty stupid and lame. (As for myself, I think that Ben Stiller's disguise was so good that I couldn't recognise him.:P) Oh by the way, if you have sit through the credits, you will be getting a hidden footage that is pretty much similar to a remake MTV video. (If all the MTV are produce this way, probably...) By the way, 'Ben Stiller' and 'Vince Vaughn' will be starring in an upcoming movie 'The Watch' and I hope that it will be as hilarious as 'Dodge Ball'.

Image taken from IMDb Website.

* Click here to find more about the movie 'Dodge Ball - a TRUE underdog story'.
^ Click here to find more about the upcoming movie 'The Watch'.

Movie: The Avengers

Yeah after watching all the movies on marvel heroes, Iron Man, The incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, finally there's 'The Avengers'. Basically, I love the movie or how should I put it, if you have not watch all the movies on the Avengers yet, you probably want to watch them first before jumping into 'The Avengers'. All those movies are inter-connected to the 'The Avengers', especially if when you have stayed for the extra footage after the long and boring credits. Although this movie revolves around all these Comic based characters and it's suppose to be those serious movie watching super heroes trying to save the world, there are numerous hilarious scene that caught the whole theatre roaring with laughter. :D (By the way, based on relevant resources, there will be an upcoming Thor 2 movie, an Iron Man 3 movie, Captain America 2 movie and another X-Men: First Class 2 movie coming up in 2013 or 2014. Nice~~~ :) )

Image taken from Wikipedia Website.

* Click here to find more about the movie 'The Avengers'.

Movie: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

I finally have the time to watch the latest MI sequel. Being a MI movie, I think that the gadget are far more interesting than the plot of the movie. But I got to admit that the visual effects of this movie is pretty amazing and breath taking. Especially when you are watching the scene where Tom Cruise was climbing on Burj Khalifa tower, which is the tallest building in the world, you got to admit that it was pretty dangerous and you need a lot of courage to that. (I knew that this is like a impossible task for me, especially I have a fear of heights.)

Image taken from Yahoo Movies Website.

Movie: A group of Super Heroes come together to form ...?

* Click here to find more about the movie 'Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol'.

Connections between 2 world

I have't being to the extreme west for a very long time and there's a place that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Therefore, I guess that it's time for me to make a visit to that place...

Here comes....

An art piece with a big spiral. :P

The image in the above was the interior of ...

		The tallest Chinese pagoda in Singapore.

Here are views from the top of the Pagoda

and next to the pagoda we have...

Statues of prestigious figures of Chinese history... Can you identify some of them?

As you walk along the path moving towards the lake, you will come across a smaller pagoda near to the lake.

Continue walking along the path and cross the bridge will leads you to the...

Main entrance to this Chinese 'Park'...

continue walking...

cross the bridge and continue walking...

and more walking...

and you will come across a 'koi' pond. Chilli off a bit by taking a look at the fishes swimming...

Getting through this building will lead you to the...

The turtle museum, which is the Guinness World for
having the largest collection of turtles.

Take a short stroll back to the pagoda and you will come across a pond with...

traditional chinese looking buildings surrounding the pond...

and a big statue of Confucius.

As you walk past the pagoda, you will come across a park with...

Stone status of the 12 chinese zodiacs. So which zodiac are you belong to?

Besides for the stone statue, there's also stone
chairs with the zodiacs sitting beside it.
(Like the one that I had shown here.)

Cross another bridge and that will lead you to a completely different world.
No more chinese looking buildings and structures but now that you will be getting is...

Japanese looking structures.
What I have shown here would be the best representative of a Japanese structure.
A 'Torii Gate'.

Next to the 'Torii Gate' would be a Japanese looking Building...

Japanese Garden.
(Although I think they were trying to build a ZEN harden
but it doesn't really look like it, but it still look Japanese,
especially with the stone lanterns, etc...

Spend some time, walk around the park and you might find something that interest you.
For example:

Japanese looking bridges...

Bushes that looks like Mosses...

Interesting looking Pond... etc.

By the way, you have reached the end of this post and the actual name of the places that I had shown here would be the 'Chinese' garden and the 'Japanese' garden located next to the Singapore MRT station of 'Chinese Garden'. Mark my words, it's always a healthy thing to do strolling through a unexplored park and taking a break from the fast-paced city life.

As for myself, I love the countryside and I don't mind staying in the countryside.
Ever since I was young, my ideal home would be a house situated in the middle of
a bamboo forest. It would also be the ideal place for taking a rest from the fast-paced
busy city life of Singapore.

* Click here to find out more about the 'Turtle Museum'.
^ Click here to find your Chinese zodiac sign.