Hong Kong, August 2007 (First Day)

Life's been a pretty dull affair for me for quite some time, and I knew that I needed to inject some sort of a variety into it. So when a co-worker and friend asked me, early in July, to come along for a trip to Hong Kong at the end of August, telling me nothing beyond the fact that we'd be getting discounted prices, I signed up without thinking twice. When I heard that there would be around 18 people coming along for the trip, then I thought twice. Then I heard that the company would be having an outing around the end of August to Yogyakarta. Crap. Hard decision. But then again, I just went to Yogyakarta in July, and I haven't been to Hong Kong for awhile (the first trip was when I was 9, so I pretty much couldn't recall anything from that trip), so I decided to put my chips in Hong Kong. Yeah, I'd be traveling in a large group and that I'd be missing a great event in Yogya, but at least I'd be visiting a place I haven't been to for awhile.I pretty much let my colleague take care of the whole trip arrangements. Turned out that the price I'd be paying was not only for the plane ticket but also for accommodation. Sweet deal. Days passed, and I didn't really pay much attention or put any high hopes for this trip. Work had been eating up much of my energy and attention that while not completely forgetting the fact that I'll be leaving to Hong Kong by the end of August (wasn't really sure the exact date until a week before the trip), the event was really at the back end of the cupboard of my mind, collecting dust.

Only one week before the trip I started asking questions. How much money should I bring? What places will we be going to? Who's holding the receipt for the tickets and accommodation? (At least the company's willing to reimburse a certain amount of money for the trip, but I had to forfeit my fly-back to my sweet home country, Indonesia). I didn't even know the name of the hotel where I would be staying, a fact that got my mom a bit worried. But just a bit (I love you, mom). After knowing the essentials (except for the hotel name), I started packing only a day before we left. I even had to do a bit of laundry in the early morning on the day we were leaving for Hong Kong. Just saying that it was quite hectic, and that I wasn't really looking forward to it. But, in the end, everything was accounted for (passport, ticket, toiletries, clothes, medicines in case of sickness, books to read in case of boredom, iPod to listen to in case of boredom, communication and electronic devices, bombs...scratch that last one). You know, the bare essentials.

It was Friday, August 24th 2007. After finishing laundry (else I wouldn't have any underwear to bring) I packed everything that I needed to bring that I hadn't already packed the day before and off I went to the airport. Met the other Hong Kong goers at NAIA and waited for the boarding time. The flight was uneventful, the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that the on-board entertainment system of Cathay Pacific sucked. Maybe they didn't let us see movies because it was a short one-and-a-half-hour flight. Not enough time to see movies, I know, but it would have been great if they still let us have that option, like Singapore Airlines usually does (but we have to be ready with our own headphone, they don't provide us with one on short flights).

Immigration in Hong Kong took awhile due to the long queue, but it was still bearable because the line moved steadily. Baggage pick up was a breeze. One of the disadvantages of going in a large group is that it takes awhile to put the people together. That was why it took us some time to organize the whole group (some went to get some snacks to munch, some to exchange currency, some went to buy Krispy Kreme which I couldn't really understand why because we already had lots of those back in Manila) and decide how best to go to our hotel, but we finally rent ourselves a bus that will take us to our hotel and would, by the time we're leaving Hong Kong, pick us up at our Hotel and take us to the airport.

Leaving HKIA

It took us more than an hour to get to our hotel, not because of the traffic, but we had to drop off some other people at different places. With the fact that our group was bigger and that our hotel is nearer to the airport, it sort of ticked us off that the driver had to drop off these other people at different places that were actually farther than ours from the airport. But well, at least we get to see a glimpse of Hong Kong (and surprisingly, some Indonesian stores selling Indonesian food and consumer goods). Finally, we arrived at the hotel (whose name, I finally knew, was Marco Polo) and after taking care of some administration stuff we went out to have our belated lunch (thanks for the unplanned 'city tour' we arrived quite late at the hotel, around 4 pm). One thing that you really have to notice about Hong Kong was that the place have great food! The restaurant where we had lunch had probably one of the best pork ribs I've ever tasted. Either that or we were really, really hungry. Everyone was tired, so after lunch we head back to the hotel for a half-hour rest.

A Glimpse of Hong Kong

Another thing that really bummed me out about going to Hong Kong was the fact that even though I am Chinese, I don't speak the language (or any of its derivatives: Hokkien, Ke, Cantonese, whatever...). I haven't been able to pick up the language so far (tried to study, but the teacher was disgusted at me because I don't have a Chinese name and I, in turn, was disgusted at her because she was disgusted at me because of that, thus I quit the lessons. Cha get all that?). So, my plan during the HK trip was to trail a certain group member that is fluent in the local language they speak (Cantonese? Hokkien? I don't know for sure). First order of the evening for the group (after our half-hour rest) was to go to this place called 'The Peak'. I was not familiar with the roads, so I used my plan above (thank you so much, Angel, for being an excellent tour guide). After one subway ride and a few minutes worth of walking, we arrived at the place where we board the train that will take us up to 'The Peak'. The line was unbelievably long, so when one of my senior managers offered me to come along with him to buy the special ticket that not only made it possible for us to ride the train but also grant access to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (at a higher price of course), I didn't think twice and went along with him and his wife and daughter. The catch was that, the queue for this ticket package was a lot shorter (there were only a few people queueing up, actually), and there was a special entrance which also had a shorter queue line.

The Guy Guarding The Special Line

After getting passed the queue we finally boarded the train and up the hill we went. Looking out of the window and at the buildings, I realized that the train was going up at an angle of almost 45 degrees. It was weird and dizzying, looking at buildings outside of the window as if they were leaning forward. The ride took about 10 to 15 minutes, and when we reach 'The Peak', we went straight ahead for Madame Tussaud and took pictures with some of the wax statues in there. I must say that the wax artists did a great job in creating these imitations. They looked like the real thing! I, of course, took pictures with some of the ladies wax statues. *Sigh*, I wish they were the real things. Wistful thinking, eh?

Wistful Thinking...

*Sigh* Wistful Thinking...Again...

Aside from the wax museum, another attractive part of 'The Peak' is related closely to its namesake. Situated on top of a hill, The Peak provided its guests with a magnificent view of Hong Kong and Kowloon's skyline and buildings along with the hills and mountains surrounding them. The variety of night lights that adorned many of the buildings, roads, and harbours added a colorful spectacle to an already magnificent view. My digital camera was not adequate in capturing this view (though I tried several times), but I was fortunate enough to have found a place where I could put my digital camera on a flat surface and let it take the obligatory one second shutter time to let enough lights to come in. I found the spot by accident: while I was going to the men's restroom, I found a door that lead outside and found one of my senior managers there taking pictures (he is a pro, if you wish to see some of his work you can visit his website at http://www.hendralauw.com/). The result I took was great, to my standard at the very least.

Hong Kong's Night Light

After grabbing a bit of a bite, we went back down from The Peak (through the same snaking queue and the same train) and those who have families went back to the hotel while the others (including me) decided to take a stroll around some place which name I could not recall. All I could remember was that there was a lot of stores selling many different things and stalls selling the local delicacies (which, most of the cases, chinese food-slash-snack). Angel (the famous guide) took us to this small road-side restaurant that sells what I thought first to be pudding. It turned out that it was condensed milk. They have a lot of varieties where they put dressings on it, but I ordered the plain one. It was so fulfilling that I could not finish a small bowl.

From outside the men's toilet...

We finally concluded the day by going back to Marco Polo hotel. It was a very tiring day, and I slept soundly like a baby while my room mate snored like a pig ha ha ha.

More to come in later posts for the second, third and final day.

A Chinaman and A Niggah

Movie Review
Rush Hour 3
Directed by Brett Ratner

It's been awhile since the last Rush Hour movie, which was Rush Hour 2. In this third iteration, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker team up again for some hard-hitting (Chan's part) and fast-talking (Tucker's part) action. And seems like this time, Tucker's character can hold his own in the martial arts department (with some tutelage from Jackie Chan, most likely). The story is about the attempt to uncover a secret mafia ring. After an attempted assassination of ambassador Han when he was about to uncover the secret, Lee (Chan) and Carter (Tucker) head to Paris to finish of what the ambassador was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Those who love the franchise would find everything that they're looking for in this movie. Jackie's brand of martial arts actions and Tucker's fast talking mouth are probably the two most prominent things in this movie (that, and well, Jackie's broken English might come as a close third). It's a good thing, and not so good in a way that there's nothing much new in this movie. In fact, I must say that the actions are rather tame compared to previous iterations. In other words, I found the action part of the movie a bit lacking in fervor. Aside from that, Tucker still delivers some cackling moments, and Jackie's dead flat remarks make for some good targets for Tucker's rapid-fire jokes. In other words, Jackie's the straight guy while Tucker delivers the punch lines.

Story-wise, well, I don't go to Jackie Chan movies to really pay attention to the story. The story's there just for the sake of helping the continuation of the actions and the jokes. And there are lots of 'em. You'll be entertained with the humor and the actions in this movie (even though, just like what I've said before, the actions are a bit lacking). Possible spoiler warning beyond this point! One story element that I am really disappointed that they don't really flesh out is one of the antagonist character. I am not going to spoil much beyond saying that it's too bad that (in my opinion) that the character's development/familiarization is not really that satisying. That's it. Possible spoiler end.

Another thing to mention also is that to me it seems that the movie was trying to be a bit serious. I might be wrong, but it seems like it was trying to present some sort of edge, some tension in the storyline. But it doesn't really worked out because of lack of character developments and lots of loose ends. Then again, like I said before, I don't usually go to a Jackie Chan movie to pay attention to the story, but I just couldn't help but notice this.

All said, it was a fun movie, especially for those who are looking for the same thing as previous iterations. I can't shake the feeling of 'I've seen this before', but if that's what you are looking for, then by all means don't miss out on this. Good pop corn fun. Oh yeah, don't go out of the theater until you've seen all of the bloopers. These are signatures of Jackie Chan's movies. Must see, as always.

The Dragons of the Court of China

Book Review

Throne of Jade

Naomi Novik

The second book of the Temeraire series tells the story of Laurence and Temeraire's journey to China. It seemed that China was unhappy with the fact that the egg of a Celestial had fallen to Britain's hands ('His Majesty's Dragon', book 1 of the Temeraire series), and due to some political maneuvering by Britain and China, they were both forced to go on a voayge to China, a voyage full of intrigues and life-threatening dangers.

While in the first book Novik set down the concept of applying naval battles to aerial combats on top of dragons and how their everyday lives are integrated with the lives of humans in Britain, now Novik sets her sight on a different setting: China. She goes on to describe how dragons and their lives are integrated with the lives of ordinary humans in China.

The bulk of the book, however, still lies more on the journey from Britain to China. And another aspect of dragon combat is now described: dragon carriers. The dragon carrier ships borrow heavily from old and modern naval ships, a ship with masts but with an addition of a dragon deck on the bow of the ship. Rather different in build from modern carriers, with their runways for fighter jets, but similar in the purpose of carrying air units which in this care are dragons.

Aside from the new settings, the story itself begins with a lot of actions in the first parts of the story. However, unlike the first book, which focuses heavily on dragon combats, this book focuses more on twists and political agendas. And this is apparent in the middle and end parts of the book. I feel that there are a lot of characters left underdeveloped by the end of the book, and there are some loose ends that haven't been fully explained. Knowing that this is a series, however, I expect that there would be opportunities in tying these up and more plot developments in the coming books.

From the writing point of view, I must say that one of the things that sort of nagged me is the fact that at times, Novik did not completely flesh out conversations between 2 characters. There are many instances where she left it to the readers to figure out/imagine what has been said between 2 characters, and just provided the end result of the conversation (e.g, a character walking away in anger). I am not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing (maybe the conversations are too mundane to be described in details), but it's just one of the more prominent things I picked up during the reading of this book.

Despite the feeling of wanting more at the end of the book, the story it tells is another worthy addition to the Temeraire series. Let us hope that the subsequent book develops more of the characters found in the second and continues the great storyline the series has manage to build up until this second book.

A Compass, A Knife, and a Spyglass (read: Telescope)

Book Review
His Dark Material Omnibus

Philip Pullman

I came across this book thanks to a certain movie trailer called 'The Golden Compass'. The movie is set to be released sometimes in December 2007. 'The Golden Compass' is actually part one of a trilogy called 'His Dark Material'. The trilogy contains 3 books, and they are 'The Golden Compass', 'The Subtle Knife', and 'The Amber Spyglass'. I was lucky to have found this book that contains all three and bought it on the spot without thinking twice for the trailer of the movie looked very promising.

The story starts with the tale of a 12-year old girl named Lyra who lives in Jordan College in Oxford, England. However, Lyra's Oxford exists in a different world than ours, where a person's soul dwells not within his or her body, but lies without. It is represented in an animal form, and is usually of an opposite sex than the person. These are called daemon (yes, pronounced just like demon). A child's daemon changes shape many times, until the child reaches adulthood when the daemon will settle into a permanent form, reflecting the person's true self.

Daemons are not the only thing unique in Lyra's world, as the readers will soon find out in this trilogy. Lyra's adventure starts when she accidentally stumbled across a plot by the Master of Jordan College to poison her uncle, Lord Asriel and the sudden disappearances of children all over England. The story will take her to the North, where witches reside and talking bears in armors rule the icy land, and to an encounter with a formidable and cunning lady named Mrs. Coulter. She will come across plots involving the Church and science, not realizing that she plays a big part in a prophecy long told among the witches.

Philip Pullman has created a trilogy that in concept reminds me of a certain other movie trilogy. Involving concepts relating to Christianity such as creation/genesis, original sin and the holy trinity, at times this book doesn't seem to read like a children's book (the category in which this book is put into), eventhough if some of the main characters are children. Add to that the fact that the book also put forth scientific theory such as quantum theory and anti-matter, then you have a book whose blend of religious and scientific concepts (in my opinion) can make children literally scratch their heads. Not only those, the book's many characters and events are hard and fierce, aspects that children might not be able to relate to.

Doesn't mean that it's not brilliant, though. Pullman has created a wonderful and smart trilogy whose characters and their worlds will delight readers and are quite memorable. The plot twists are also quite interesting, at least for 'Compass' and 'Subtle Knife'. I found 'Amber' to be a bit of a let down nearing the end. It's as if the story wasn't fleshed out well enough and the writer in a hurry to end the book. When it concerns the third and last part of the trilogy, more developments are possible, in my opinion. However, the most brilliant aspect of this book aside from the story is, as mentioned before, Pullman's blend of concepts revolving around science, theology and fantasy as the underlying background of the story.

One of the aspect of this book that is worthy of mention is its reference to many aspects of Christianity. Devout Christians might find this rather disconcerting. I have my own opinion on it, and it leans toward the author's view reflected in this work of fiction. However, fiction is the key word here, and this is how the readers should view this book. A work of fiction, a science fiction to be exact, which is to be enjoyed and not to be taken too seriously.

All in all, 'His Dark Material' is a brilliant story of science fiction that should not be missed by any of the genre's fan. Not a recommended read for children, this book's audience leans more towards teenagers and adults.

My Daemon (The Golden Compass)

I'm looking forward to the release of this movie. I've almost completed reading the trilogy, and from the trailers I've seen so far, it looks quite promising. I think the movie creator added some more visual flairs when it comes to the machineries and architectures from Lyra's world. We'll see how the translation from the book to the movie fares when the movie is released this December 2007. I hope they don't screw it up so that they could release movies for the second and third book, because these are where the storyline picks up pace and shows its true brilliance.

The Golden Compass is book one of the 'His Dark Material' trilogy, written by Philip Pullman. The basic idea of the story is of paralel worlds, mixed with a bit of science and a lot of religious contexts. The story of the trilogy, in my opinion, will draw comparison to another famous movie trilogy from a couple of years back. I'm not going to spoil and say which trilogy I'm referring to. I'm making a book review as soon as I finish reading it, that's for sure.

Is It Midnight Yet?

Music Review
Minutes to Midnight
Linkin Park

I became interested to Linkin Park ever since I heard 'Crawling' a long time ago. The combination of Mike Shinoda's rapping and Chester Bennington's singing (and most of the time, wailing), along with Han's mixes is something that is highly unique and sets this band apart from others in it's genre. Hybrid Theory was a good album, and Meteora's my personal favourite. There were lots of good songs there in Meteora. It was with these things in mind that I waited for their next album, hoping that their third one will be a great success with songs like those found in both Hybrid and Meteora.

It has been sometime, and one day when I was watching MTV I saw a music video clip. The song was quite okay. However even though I was pretty sure that it was Chester Bennington singing, I was quite confused because the song doesn't sound anything like that of Linkin Park. Not until I saw the caption was I assured that it was Linkin Park. Even though the song is different than your usual Linkin Park fare, I was excited to know that they've just released a new album. Soon enough, I started looking for it.

I got their full album a while ago, but I haven't listened to it properly. This is because the first time I got it and listened to the whole album in one pass, I must say I didn't like it. Yes, I know that singers and bands evolved over time, but this one evolution I don't like. It's just not Linkin Park. They've changed everything that has made them unique in the past. Gone were the wailing of Chester Bennington, gone were the rapping of Mike Shinoda (for the most part), and gone was the hard-edge touch to their songs in this new album. This album's just too soft for Linkin Park fans (yes, that would be me as well).

I was refusing to believe that their third album sort of sucks, even though I've heard it with my own ears. However, I told myself that there are many cases where you have to listened to songs twice, three times, fourth times, to begin to really appreciate it. So, after that initial hearing and after a couple of months(!) I tried listening to their album again, giving it a second chance and tried to explore its nooks and cranies.

Well, this time around I came up with a couple of favourites aside from 'What I've Done', the song who spearheaded the coming of the album. 'Leave Out All The Rest' is quite okay and I found myself listening to it over and over. 'Bleed it Out' is the song I listen to whenever I want something fast-paced and fun, with some rap lines from Mike and some wailing from Chester (a combination that is rare to find in the album). This is also another song that will remind you of LP of the old days aside from 'What I've Done'. And, the supposedly 'hidden' track, 'No Roads Left', was quite okay.

These few discoveries, however, does not redeem the whole album from my perspective. I think the crew did not try their best in coming up with ideas for this third album. The songs sounded half-hearted. And what's most, it's just not LP. C'mon guys, I know you can do better than this! Redeem yourself in your fourth album. Please.

Los Angeles in a (Slightly Bigger) Nutshell...(US Trip Recollection, Part III)

...sucks.

Yes, really, Los Angeles for the most part was a let down. At least, Hollywood was a big let down. Just a strip of road with pavements full of stars. But still, I'm happy to say that I've been there.

I and two colleagues of mine went to Los Angeles around the end of May. A friend of mine, who lives in Orange County which was about 30 minutes from Los Angeles, agreed to let us stay over at his parents place there. They happened to have 2 spare bedrooms that we could use. So, on a bright Friday afternoon we drove to Orange County. The drive from Pleasant Hill took about 7 to 8 hours. The road are straight and quite monotonous, and as I was riding shotgun, I made sure that my friend who drove was kept awake. So, we traded stories and listened to the radio.

Los Angeles, Here We Come!

We arrived in Orange County at around 10 in the evening. My friend was waiting for us right in front of his house. We first drove to one of the mall there to have a bit of a dinner and take a look around. After taking care of our stomach, my friend took us to his parents' place. It was good to see them again after so long. After a bit of a chit chat, we went to our bedroom to rest for the night.

Yeah, Hollywood Baby

On Saturday we went to Hollywood. The first order of the day was to obtain ourselves a tour pass. The pass gave us access to some of the attractions near and around Hollywood. The first one we came to was the Wax Museum. The wax museum there was okay, it was not Madame Tussaud's though. Outside, we took pictures on the Star Walk and on the hand-and-foot prints of famous actors and actresses right in front of the Chinese Theater. We also went inside the Kodak Theater, but too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. All we get is a postcard of the inside of the theater, thank you very much. We also went on a guided tour inside a tour car, going around Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard.

Star Walk

On the whole, Hollywood was quite of a let down. Nothing much special there, except for the blings and, well, that's about it. Even the bling was only so-so. We went to Santa Monica place in the evening. There were shops lining the left and right side of the strip there, and it was there that I fell in love for the first time with Banana Republic. Bought two t-shirts there, and wore one of them straight away. No, it's not because I couldn't wait to look good in it, but because it was so damn cold and I needed another layer of clothing on me. The fabric was so nice on the skin, and that almost made up for the disappointment that was Hollywood. Almost. Aside from the stores, there were street performances as well. Dancers, singers, pantomimes, these were actually more interesting than Hollywood was.

Walking Down Santa Monica Place

Sunday was Universal Studios day. We had a Mexican breakfast with my friend, his wife, and his older sister along with her two sons before we went there. The many rides were quite fun. Shrek 4D was fun, they combined on-screen 3d effects with real-life effects like shaking seats and water sprays. Back to the Future ride felt a bit old, even the screen started to look a bit brown-ish. Terminator ride was fun, almost like Shrek 4D. The best one there was Jurassic Park boat ride. Even though the dinosaur robot animation felt rather stiff, but the atmosphere the ride created was excellent.

Universal Studio Hollywood

Because we were having so much fun that day, we didn't manage to go to a steak restaurant my friend has booked for all of us. We were much too late to make it on time. The steak was supposedly really good there. Instead, we had dinner at a nearby In-N-Out Burger (BTW, they have one of the best burger I ever tasted). Good stuff.

Well, we did manage to meet up with my friend and his wife. He then took us to the area around Disney World. We did some shopping in a Disney shop. Bought a couple of fridge magnets, just for fun. Maybe next time, we'll go there again and see how Disney World is.

The Hunny Lovers

In the morning of our last day there in LA my friend took me to a nice place called Orange Circle. I guess it's called Orange Circle because it's in Orange County, and there's a round park complete with a fountain and some sitting benches in the middle of a round-about. Turned out that it was there that they shot the scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest was sitting waiting for a bus and a feather came floating down. Took pictures there, feeling like Tom Hanks himself. Around the Circle, buildings with architecture dating back to the 50s and 60s could be found. The whole place felt like an old-fashioned town. We had breakfast at a diner. When I said diner, I really mean diner, like those you'd see in movies about the 50s and the 60s. In fact, the diner we had breakfast in was the diner featured in the movie 'That Thing You Do'.

That Thing You Diner

I came away with a white chicago hat. And yes, it looked good on me. A remembrance of my visit to Orange Circle.

That Monday we drove back to Pleasant Hill. This time, the ride wasn't as smooth. Our car was running in the fast lane, about 70 mph, when a car hit us from the right side. The car almost went out of control, but my friend managed to straighten it up and we managed to stop our car without hitting other cars. The other car, the one who hit us, went out of the road. Luckily, nobody got hurt. The cops came, took our statements (yeah, just like in the movies), a mechanic came to check on our car. The car was heavily dented on the right side (both the front and rear right doors couldn't be opened), but otherwise still operational. We finally had an uneventful drive back to Pleasant Hill after that.

Yep, on the whole, LA was okay. Hollywood was quite a let down, Universal Studio was fun (though I suspect Disneyland might have been a better choice) and Orange Circle was a nice surprise. For those who wants to visit LA, don't put Hollywood in your main list. It's just not worth it.

Paris, Je T'aime

Movie Review
Paris, Je T'aime
Various Directors

Thank God for SQ and its line of good movies in its in-flight entertainment system, I got to see another fine movie. Paris, Je T'aime is actually a collection of short movies done by various directors revolving around the theme of Paris, beauty, and well you guessed it, love. The stories range from the very normal to the very strange and the movie genres are mostly drama, comedy, some a mix of drama and comedy, some abstract, one, strangely, horror.

A dizzyingly pleasant journey of various stories, Paris Je T'aime will surely please those who are looking for movies with Indie vibes, and a lot of romance. I will not do a review for every single one of them, because to tell you the truth, I don't remember all of them. All I could say is that not every one of them is good (there are really great ones, and some downright boring), but on the whole, this montage delivers. Heck, it gave me a lasting impression. That must've count for something, right? Paris, here I come. And, well, this is where the movie succeeds: the celebration of Paris as a city of love and romance.

Not for casual movie-goers, this movie is definitely recommended for those who like indie movies, art movies, and especially those who are just plain serious movie maniacs.

Still Alright...More Than Alright, Actually

Music Review
Alright, Still
Lily Allen

Every now and then I would find out about new singers and their debut albums. It could be either from a website, or heard about it from someone. I found out about Lily Allen's Alright, Still from a website called meebo. They have a room dedicated for her fans in there. Didn't know that she was a singer until I found her album accidentally in Amazon.com. Found out that she's the daughter of an actor named Keith Allen. Till the moment I'm writing this review I don't know who the fuck Keith Allen is, but what the heck I'm writing a review of her daughter's new album so I'm just gonna let him be for now.

Now, I don't usually give music review because to me, music is a little bit hard to explain. My opinion stands that people should listen to the music to understand it, but instead of giving only a one sentence review saying that "I love it, you might too, get this damn album straightaway', I'm gonna give it a shot and write a review that is at least 2 paragraphs long.

Done, it's more than 2 paragraphs now.
Kidding.
Some of the songs in Alright, Still got a quite a bit of a reggae flavor, which give a bit of a not-serious vibe to it. The tunes are quite playful in almost all of the songs, and Allen's voice has a bit of a witty, feisty, British accent to it. Add that to the fact that the lyrics are full of British-colored humor, the listener's in for a fun, playful, adolescent/teenager-theme inspired music. The theme might not be of the sunshine, happy day variety, but Allen carried the songs in a light-hearted, un-serious, and (I'm used this word again), teenager-playful way.

Some of my personal faves in this album are: Knock 'Em Out, a song about some guy trying to get friendly (and fantastically unsuccessful in his effort); Everything's Just Wonderful, a song about not being happy with the way things are, but couldn't help going with the flow; Smile, a song about having fun while one's ex is in a bad time; and Alfie, a song about a brother who's a pod smoker and shut himself in his room most of the time.

That's it, my first music review. A good album overall, if you're into reggae-pop, some light-hearted theme, and quite a lot of British playfulness. Lily Allen, I'd say that it's still alright.

Rat in the Hat (Errr...chef's hat, that is)

Movie Review
Ratatouille
Directed by Brad Bird

Pixar has quite did it again this time. Let me get some things out of the way first: since it is made by Pixar, comparison with Pixar's previous masterpieces is inevitable. I still think that Finding Nemo is their best one so far, with The Incredibles coming in a close second. With that said, Ratatouille is still an excellent movie, an animated one of course. A worthy and excellent addition to Pixar's growing library of computer graphic animated movies.

First, let us begin with what Ratatouille is all about. Remy is a common rat, but he has one thing unique that differentiate him from other rats: he has good taste in food, and a highly sensitive nose to complement that taste. At first, his talent go to waste at the hand of his father, who uses his sensitive nose to detect whether or not a food is laced with rat poison. One day, however, due to an event (spurred on by none other than himself) that separates him and his family, he ends up in Paris and his only chance in proving that he's a great chef (next to his idol, the dearly departed Chef Gusteau, who's also the image of Remy's conscience) lies in a seemingly helpless cleaning boy named Linguini who doesn't know a thing about cooking.

When I see this movie, I thought to myself that computer graphic animation has really gone a long way. From the technical stand point, the movie really shines. Everything looks close to the real thing (they must have invest a lot of time and technical prowess in making the food looks real...and delicious, they make my stomach growl a bit during some of the cooking scenes), however Pixar still put in some touches that reminds the audience that after all, this is a computer graphic animated movie. They opt to portray the rats as close to the real thing as possible. There's almost nothing cute about them, but the saving grace of this decision is the facial animation. The facial animation is top-notch, something that is to be expected out of Pixar but still worth mentioning nonetheless. You should see the interaction between Linguini and Remy. The nods, head shakes, and shrugs that Remy does, they're just short of amazing.

The story concept itself is every bit imaginative and vintage Pixar all the way through. There's struggle, there's intrigue, there's romance (the backdrop of the movie is, after all, Paris, and what's Paris without a little romance? The end of the world, surely...), there's comedy (oh, how can we live without it!), there are revelations and realizations, and there's a story about accepting who one really is and what's he/she destined to do/become. In other words, this is one rat that's out to prove to the whole world (well, at least, Paris) that he's a great chef. And then there's always the truth. In whole, while it doesn't push Finding Nemo out of the throne of Pixar's best animated movie in terms of storyline, the story in Ratatouille still a delight to watch and follow.

The voice acting is top notch as well, with Patton Oswalt voicing Remy and Peter O'Toole giving an excellent performance as the voice of Anton Ego, the famous food critique. I must say that the chemistry between Remy and Linguini isn't as strong as what you witness between Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo, but it is still endearing to see. Once again, this is Pixar, and you can leave it to them to create wonderfully animated characters. Remy, of course, is the star of the show, with Anton Ego coming in second in my opinion.

Ah...Paris...je t'aime...(No, not the movie), and the food is excellent as well. To close this review, I would like to say that like a great chef, Pixar has once again prepared for us another great meal to enjoy, a worthy addition to the other items already in the menu.

Oh yeah, fun fact I would like to add: Ratatouille is a name of a dish from France. For real. Nice, eh?

Yippy Kay-Ay, Motherfu-!

Movie Review
Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0)
Directed by Len Wiseman

They finally came up with another Die Hard movie, after all these years. After a summer full of so-so sequel, I don't have a high expectation over this one. But I was not disappointed, since the movie turned out to be a real Die Hard movie all the way through. I heard that the rating PG-13 was much talked about, especially from fans fearing that the action would be tame. Well, the character John McClane is a little bit more reserved: he doesn't talk that much or swear that much either, for that matter (no worries, he's still got some nice taunts in him). It is to be expected however, because the guy is older and has gone through a lot. However, the action is pure Die Hard, and the character casting turns out to be an excellent blend.

This time around, the story is about cyber-terrorism. A mastermind hacker managed to hack almost everything that is connected to the internet and started creating havoc within the United States. John McClane (Bruce Willis) got dragged into the mess while he was asked to escort another hacker named Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to safety. I guess it's the story writers' intention to pit McClane against technology advancement that they chose cyber-terrorism as the theme of the movie. It also made the movie more relevant to the present time (technology and terrorism), even though in an extreme way.

Putting Willis and Long together as a hero/sidekick pair turns out to be an excellent decision. Even though Long's portrayal of a hacker isn't entirely that convincing, his role as McClane's reluctant, wide-eyed sidekick is excellent. Long's Farrell is like a counter-balance to Willis' more reserved McClane, who has a strong been-there-done-that vibe about his character. McClane provides many of the actions and some hard-hitting word-play when he was taunting, while Farrell provides many of the wacky quips and some technological updates for McClane, who's obviously haven't been keeping up with the times.

Other casting works out just fine as well. Timothy Olyphant gave an excellent performance of a villain who is not that entirely composed at times but quite cold-blooded and determined in achieving his goals. Maggie Q and Mary Elizabeth Winstead also provided some classy eye candies, with Maggie Q playing a villain whose character is reserved, well-composed yet highly desirable and Winstead as McClane's daughter, who obviously has some of her father's traits.

Enough about casting and performances. This movie is Die Hard, afterall, and Die Hard has always been about action. And regarding action, the movie delivers. A police car ramming into a helicopter, a trailer truck going against an F-22. Those are just glimpses of the action that you'll find in Die Hard 4.0. McClane's more cold-blooded and brutal this time around, with an air of effectiveness in dispatching the bad guys (been there, done that). He gets down and dirty, as always. It is also worth reminding that many of the actions are pure stunts and not computer-generated.

In the end, Die Hard 4.0 is another worthy addition to the franchise. Aside from that, it's also one of the best summer movies of this year.

"Where did you get these guys? Did you dial 1-800-Henchmen?" - John McClane -

That's POLICE OFFICER to You, Mister!

Movie Review
Hot Fuzz
Directed by Edgar Wright

It's amazing how you can discover good movies out of nowhere. To be fair, a lot of other people might have discovered this movie sooner than I did and were already talking about it. But, well, I wasn't expecting this much fun and quality when I chose this movie out of the list of in-flight movies available during my flight from Singapore to Manila last Tuesday.

At first I didn't realize it, but this movie's style brings to mind another movie that I watched quite awhile ago but I couldn't bring into mind what it was. Thanks to IMDB.com, I found out what it was. Just read the title of this review and you know which movie I'm talking about. Turns out that the director was the same. Those who are fans of the zombie genre and British comedy might have known a movie called "Shaun of the Dead" from a couple of years back. Wright's take on the zombie movie genre, with a lot of wacky and decidedly British sense of humor, was a fun and entertaining piece. The movie will either make you grin like a fool or plain burst out laughing.

Yes, I was talking about "Shaun of the Dead." However, this review is not about "Shaun", right? But you might as well talk about "Shaun" when you talk about "Hot Fuzz". The camera style is the same, the action's style is the same, the sense of humor is the same, the story...well, of course they're different but still in the same vein as "Shaun". To top it off, even the 2 main characters are played by the same actors as those who played the 2 main characters in "Shaun" (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost). And what's more, Bill Nighy made an appearance in both movies.

The story itself is about a serious cop, Nicholas Angel (Pegg), who got transferred from London to a small countryside town called Sandford for being overzealous in carrying out his duties as a cop (Angel would voice his objection, saying that it's "Police Officer" and not "cop"). Everything seems to be normal in the small town until a series of unfortunate incidents where people got killed occurred. With the help of Danny Butterman (Frost), a bumbling but sincere local police officer, Angel tries to uncover the truth behind these bizarre incidents.

Pegg and Frost are the stars of the show, with Pegg being the straight guy and Frost delivering many of the punch lines. Pegg portrays quite an interesting character, a serious cop who's serious about what he does, but has a knack of being gullible at the same time. Frost's character, meanwhile, is more or less like Ed from "Shaun". Special mention must also be made of Timothy Dalton, who plays the "obviously-the-villain-of-the-movie" character, Simon Skinner. How can he not be? With that dashing smile, thin mustache, and squinting eyes, his character screams "villain!" from a mile away.

It is clear that, while "Shaun" pokes fun at the zombie/horror genre, "Hot Fuzz" pokes fun at the cop genre, putting every element from this genre to the extreme, albeit in a humorous and entertaining way. They even put references to other well-known cop movies, some of them subtle; some blatantly obvious. The story itself is nicely paced, and the plot twists are out of the ordinary yet entertaining. You'll be guessing from start to finish, but I find that it's not about knowing who the bad guy is. This movie is all about the jokes and the many silly spin-offs they made out of the cop genre.

So, for those of you who enjoyed "Shaun", or fans of the cop action movie genre or British black comedy in general, or can appreciate all of these, then you definitely don't want to miss out on "Hot Fuzz".

Prepare for Glory!

Movie Review
300
Directed by Zack Snyder

*Expletives abound in this review*

Let me start this review by simply saying that 300 rulez!

Fuck those who said that the story sucks or that there's too much violence in this movie. This movie is about coolness. This movie is about action. This movie is about looking good in a minimum amount of attires. This movie is about a bunch of cool-looking Spartans beating the crap out of nasty-looking Persians.

Forget the story. Visual flair takes center stage this time. Every frame in this movie is especially crafted to give it a sense as if the audience is watching a moving comic book (well, it is based on a comic book after all). A treat for the eyes, and what a treat it is!

Acting wise, the actors and actresses are more than adept in displaying the characters in an epic story of an epic battle. Special mention must be made of Gerard Butler, who played King Leonidas. I can not see anyone else better to portray such fury, such determination, such elegance.

It's really nice to see Faramir, ummm, I mean David Wenham playing Dilios in this movie as well.

My only regret is that I didn't see this movie in the big screen. On computer screen, I did. In SQ's in-flight entertainment, I did. I bought the DVD as well, to make up for my sin of not seeing it in the big screen.

Yep, this is a guy movie. You won't find any "You got me at "hello"" in this movie. Go watch it and get your blood boiling. We need more of this kind of movie.

"THIS IS SPARTA!"

Lucky Seven Indeed, Potter!

Book Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling

At last, the famed Harry Potter saga comes to an end with this seventh and final book, 'The Deathly Hallows'. For those who are familiar with the series, Harry's quest in this final book is to find and destroy the rest of the Horcruxes. These are artifacts in which Voldemort, Harry's and the wizarding world's arch-nemesis, has sealed parts of his soul. With little to no clues to start with, Harry has a hard and unrelenting quest laid out in front of him. A quest that will test not only his character, bravery, strength and endurance, but also a quest that will put to the test the mettle of those who are closest to him.

It is endearing indeed, if one would look into the past books and realize how much Harry has grown, in size and in character. Sprinkled with the spices that is the wizarding world, the Potter series is not only about plot twists and unanswered questions, but also a tale of a boy's coming of age. The journeys and the wonders of the wizarding world has shaped much of who's Potter now. Rowling tells a triumphant story of an ordinary boy in extraordinary circumstances.

Revelations abound in this final chapter of the saga. Answers revealed, plot twists unraveled. I give nod to Rowling's ingenious device in leaving many important questions unanswered ever since book 4, 5 and 6. Even though it sacrificed a small amount of satisfaction in reading these previous books (by leaving questions unanswered), this helps build the tension for the final book, as Harry's final journey will reveal to him answers revolving around the true intentions of important characters within the story and also around past events going as far as book 4 (Goblet of Fire).

Indeed, in my opinion, the Potter saga's first three books helped established Rowling's wizarding world's many wondrous workings, while Rowling kicked into full gear starting book 4 in establishing the foundation stones for the preparation of the grand finale that is Deathly Hallows. In other words, Rowling is clever.

Now, enough of analysis. Visit your nearest bookstore, buy this book (haven't read the rest of the books yet? Shame on you!), and enjoy this brilliantly-paced, roller coaster of a ride.

Wish I Had A Dragon

Book Review
His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1)
Naomi Novik

Dragons are creatures of fantasy. They exist mostly in fantasy worlds in books and movies. They usually have bat-like wings, four legs, long neck, long tail, steel-like hide and if they're really special, they breathe fire. In this book, Naomi Novik has managed to create an interesting twist to dragon lore. What if dragons exist in this world? You know, as in, the world we live in right now? Novik has chosen the time of the Napoleonic War as the period where she put her dragon story to writing. And in the usual convention, dragons have only one rider. Not this time. Novik has applied the concept of naval battle to aerial battle. Instead of ships, a captain and his/her crew ride on top of a dragon. Battles are fought in the sky, with captains and crews clinging on to their dragons by means of harness and board enemy dragons just like in naval battle. But instead of plunging to the sea should they miss their jump, the crew is faced with the prospect of falling down to Earth to their death. Such is the law of gravity.

The story started with Laurence, a captain in the British Naval corps, accidentally coming across a dragon egg on a French ship he and his crew just boarded and defeated. As can be predicted, the egg hatches and the dragon chose him as her captain. This seemingly "innocent" episode turned out to be a life-changing experience for Laurence for a person who has been chosen by a dragon must abandon his or her previous life/occupation and be called into the service of British' aerial corps. Thus Laurence, reluctantly at first, must leave behind his sea-faring life and join the service of the corps and lead the kind of life he did not expect to lead.

Novik has successfully applied the concept of naval battles into aerial battles, certainly with modifications since the sky consists of a whole different substance than the sea. The results are captivating battles told in utmost detail, in the atmosphere/settings pertaining to that of the Napoleonic War. Add to that the fact that these dragons can converse in human languages, are highly intelligent, and show emotions not unlike that of humans, and you have an intriguing story on your hands.

Also of special interest to readers is Laurence relationship with his dragon, Temeraire. Readers will be fascinated as these two characters develops a bond of trust and loyalty as the story progresses. Novik has put special affection in the telling of these characters relationship with each other.

Novik has made an excellent beginning to a series that will surely be loved by many fantasy fans. I, for one, will surely be following the stories of Laurence and Temeraire in Novik's future Temeraire books.

"Look, Mom! Big robots beating the crap out of each other!"

Movie Review
Transformers
Directed by Michael Bay

"More than meets the eye." If you're a Transformer cartoon fan (like I am), you should be familiar with this line. I don't know where it came from, but for sure I hear it in the opening theme song. I've always liked the cartoon series, and was quite into the toys. Due to lack of money and lack of space, I only had a couple of 'em. Really wanted Optimus Prime toy robot back then, but never did manage to get one because it was so hard to find in Indonesia.

Time passed by, and it's been quite awhile since I last heard of Transformers. Then a few months back I heard that they're making a big screen movie out of it. This time, instead of in a cartoon format, it will be set in the real world with the help of CG (you know, computer graphics). Having known Michael Bay's style in "The Island", I was quite curious, and truth be told, really looking forward to watching this movie. With a slight reservation, nonetheless, regarding how Michael Bay will transform (pun intended, duh) the source material so that it's silver-screen-worthy.

So, the day came when I managed to go and see this movie. Aside from being such a loser for watching this movie by myself, I had a great time enjoying it. Michael Bay's specialty is action, and this is where the movie really shines. The action sequences are intense and satisfying. They're strewn all over the movie with little or no pause in between. There was never a dull moment in the movie, thanks to good pacing between the talking and the actions. When it comes to action, Michael Bay really delivers here.

I also liked the many references Michael Bay made from the original source material. They're all over the place such as in the jokes, in the conversations, and also the choice for Optimus Prime's voice casting (Peter Cullen, the voice actor for Optimus Prime in the cartoon series, was the one who also voiced Optimus Prime in this big screen rendition). It shows that Michael Bay treated the source material with respect.

The movie also shines in the CG department. The robots look real, and the interaction between the CG characters and the real characters and environment looks very believable. It's as if they've created life-sized robots for the filming of this movie. Yep, it's that good. Watching this movie made me realize how far CG technology has gone.

Story-wise and acting-wise, these are where the movie does not excel. It's a movie about robots and robots beating the crap out of other robots, so I guess it doesn't really matter. The story is fantastically unrealistic and the pacing isn't as good as the pacing for the action. The acting is also so-so, however Shia LeBeouf's character really gave a certain touch of charm to the movie. Megan Fox also provided quite a pleasing eye-candy, and her character isn't exactly your usual sit-on-her-hunches, waiting-to-be-rescued, lead lady. Without spoiling much, let's just say that her character got her hands dirty as well.

Yes, people, this movie all comes down to about robots beating other robots and whatever gets between the way of doing exactly just that. And in this matter, it does not disappoint at all. Great CGs, and great actions. Plus, it pays quite a lot of homage to its source material. That's more than you could ever hoped for out of a summer action flick, right?

And yes, there are action figures coming our way. "Transformers, more than meets the eye!"

Shall I get Optimus Prime this time? :D

The First Few Days (US Trip Recollection, Part II)

After arriving on US soil on April 26th 2007 (US time, which is at the time 15 hours behind of Manila time), I went to the client's office in Concord the next day to take a look at it (so eager was I to get things started!). The office was a spacious, 4-story building with 4 "cores" and three indoor gardens. One garden was an ordinary garden with benches strewn from one end to another. Another one was only a space with several tables complete with matching chairs and red umbrellas. The last one drew inspirations from a Japanese garden, with stone steps and minimalist-styled wooden benches and veranda.

One of the Gardens in Concord Office

There are lots of things to like from this office. For one, they brew Starbucks coffee there, and you can drink them to your heart's content. A lot of vending machines as well, and automatic ice cube makers (for those who like to drink cold water, like me). And the space, man, they really know what it means by 'personal space' and provided an abundant supply of it. Even the guest cubicles were spacious. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that the office was a little bit too quiet for my taste. Lots of old people working there, and unfortunately they don't talk too much. Add to that the fact that the distance between one cubicle to another was quite far, you have one very quiet office.

I got lost on my first day there, looking for my other team members in that office and at the same time had quite an exercise walking from one end of the office to another. Finally I saw how my other colleagues looked like, having been communicating with them through only e-mails. An okay bunch, but a bit too "tame" for my taste. But still, there are some of them who are quite nice. And one thing, they loved to joke. Granted, they weren't my kind of jokes, however a sense of humor is still better than none, right?

All in all, the office where I would be working in for the next 2 months was okay in my book.

It was quite a quick day for me at the office, that Friday. Found out where I was supposed to be sitting and set up my PC there with the softwares I need to work with. People were leaving around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I forgot what else had happened that day, remembered having a dinner with a couple of friends from Indonesia. But that's about it.

I laid my eyes on San Francisco that first weekend. My friend took me to Chinatown to have dinner. I was glad I brought my jacket, because it was a really cold day in San Francisco at that time. Truth be told, I was quite disappointed with my first impression of San Francisco. Its Chinatown was quite a gloomy and dirty neighborhood and there was no beauty to be found there at the time. I was wondering why people I knew were saying how beautiful the place was. I would found out later on how mistaken I was. But that didn't happen until 2 weeks after.

A View of San Francisco's Chinatown

In any case, the Chinese restaurant was quite okay, but not as good as those I knew back in Indonesia. After dinner, we went back to Pleasant Hill through Golden Gate, stopping at one of the vista point on the way to take some pictures. Too bad that it was already late and the sun had set. The pictures of Golden Gate bridge that I took weren't that good thanks to the lack of lighting. I would have better pictures later on, though. San Francisco would also prove that my first impression of it couldn't be more wrong.

A Graffiti in Chinatown

The last day of the first weekend was spent having a wine tour in Napa Valley, a place in California well known for the wineries. I forgot to charge my digital camera's battery so I only managed to get very few pictures of the place. Napa was beautiful, however. Indeed, one of my lasting impression of Napa Valley, and California in general (at least, the places near San Francisco) was of beautiful rolling hills and the sense of wide open space I felt there. I would come to deeply appreciate these later on, however, because that weekend my psyche was preoccupied with having one of the biggest shocks of my life. Shocks of how different the US was compared to Asian countries. Add to that a shock due to the immense feeling of loneliness I felt there (probably spurred also by how different it was there than Asian countries).

Regardless, the first few days in the US were quite an eye-opening experience for me. The days ahead proved to be more and more interesting. Having been to Asian countries only, now I understand how those kids who went to the US for education must have felt when they first arrived in the States.

More on the US trip in later posts.