Best Sh*T Quotes You'll Ever See

These are the best sh*t quotes I've ever seen. :) I like Rule#3 the most! :)

Random Quotes

Here's a short compilation of some catchy lines I received either from sms, email. Just feel like sharing them... something handy in different situations :)

When talking to a bore
A gossip is one who talks to you about other people. A bore is one who talks to you about himself. And a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself. - William King

What message to put when parting (be it your goodbye email after resigning or even break-up haha)
Dont be sad because it's over.. smile because it happened.

For the RANTfuls
Contentment is not always the fulfillment of what you want. Its the realization of how blessed you are for what you already have.

For making a friend feel special
A friend is never a coincidence in our lives. They were once a stranger, meant to come into our lives to bring us priceless lessons and funny memories.

Biblical Quotes
How to be more Beautiful
Church is like a beauty parlour which encourages its women to adorn themselves with good deeds. Women need to remember that if nature has made them plain, grace can make them beautiful. And if nature has made them beautiful, good deeds can add to their beauty. 1 Peter 3:4, 1 Tim2:9-10

How to interpret Life
The secret of life is not just to live, but to have something worth while to live for. We only live once, but if we live right, once is enough. 2 Tim1:9a

What is Love
We think about it, dream about it, lose sleep worrying about it. When we dont have it, we search for it, and when we discover it, we dont know what to do with it. We fear losing it. It is our source of pleasure and pain. But we cant predict which it will be from one moment to the next. It's a short word easy to spell, difficult to define, and impossible to live without.

GOOD READ: What to look for in your Partner
They say that whe you leave neverland, you'd grow up and meet people who'd try and make you believe..
Sometimes you'd choose the prince, he'd take you to his castle, dance with you, but lets you leave when the clock strikes twelve.
You might meet Superman, who'd swoop you down, give you a kiss then he'll vanish forever.
You might find your Peter Pan, who'd take care of you and fly with you up in the sky, but then you'd notice that his heart still belongs to Wendy.
So be like Princess Fiona. Find your Shrek - not perfect, but real and he stays with you forever.

P.S. So where is Shrek hehehe :)

Recommended Song (Chinese)

For the past few weeks, I've been having LSS with this Chinese song. I like both the melody and the lyrics. It is a very sad song. I usually find Chinese songs to be more substantial as they can squeeze in some stories into the lyrics, whereas English songs are much more shallow (that's just my opinion).

Though I dont think I have been to such heart-breaking experiences, somehow I feel I can relate to such behavior.. (hehe can't help it, I'm trapped on a rainy day, feeling blue just today, blame it on the weather) :p

街角的祝福 - 戴佩妮
多少个秋多少个冬
我几乎快要被治愈好
但还是会只因为一个重覆的话题
就无心自扰

也曾想过
若真遇见我们应该如何是好
我想我还是会站在某一个街角
不让你看到

只因为我不想打扰
只因为怕你解释不了
只因为现在你的眼睛里
她比我还重要

我只好假装我看不到
看不到你和她在对街拥抱
你的快乐我可以感受得到
这样的见面方式对谁都好

我只好假装我听不到
听不到别人口中的她好不好
再不想问也不想被通知到
反正你的世界我管不了

若不想问若不想被通知到
就把祝福留在街角



My best attempt to translate the lyrics. (The Mandarin words are much more meaningful/expressive, the converted English version might sound a bit bland/corny) :)

Happiness in the Corners
I cant remember how many autumns, how many winters
I thought I was already almost cured
But because of a single recurrence of a familiar topic
Unknowingly, I just got myself burdened again

I have also thought about it
If we do meet again, how should we be?
I believe I will still just stand at one corner
And not let you see me

Because I don't want to disturb
Because I'm lost for words to explain
Because in your eyes, I can see
That to you, she's more important than me

I can only pretend I didn't see
Didn't see you across the streets, hugging her
The happiness you have now, I can somehow feel it
This way of meeting would be the best for both of us

I can only pretend I didn't hear
Didn't hear other people's comments of how good she is
I don't want to ask, I also don't want to be notified
Since your world is something I can never get in

coda:
If I really don't want to ask, if I really don't want to be notified
then probably I just have to leave this happiness in the corners.

P.S. To be more accurate, the 'happiness' word here refers to well wishes, or congratulations/good luck. (But I just couldnt put it as 'Well Wishes in the Corners' as it sounds more confusing) Sometimes there is no direct translation for certain words. Anyway, bottomline is the girl just wanted to wish the guy to be happy, silently in one corner. :)

P.P.S. Just to add, the singer of this song is Penny Dai - known for singing Meteor Garden's Closing Song 'Ni Yao De Ai'.

'Til Death Do Us Apart

I saw this from someone's blog. I was moved. Is divorce really an answer? I admire the brilliance of the wife. Probably if I were in her situation (I hope not), I wouldnt have thought of what she did. If I love that guy that much to marry him before, probably I'd be willing to set him free, to where he will be the happiest. This is an eye-opener, at least for me. :) On the lighter side, buhat-buhat lng pla ang solusyon eh. :) Mga lalaki talga!

'Til Death do Us Apart...

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I did'nt have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions:
She didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever
morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her.

For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me. She had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute.

I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school.

I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property , the money in the bank, blah..blah.. blah. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

Random Thoughts

Blogging
I've gotten this far! :)

I didnt expect I'd blog this much. And I was sort of nahihiya when I read some of my old posts. Some were just rubbish out of nowhere, and most of all - nakakahiya kasi I was too lazy to do spelling check or grammar check. Yikes, forgive me!

I think I should look for proof-readers hehe. If the time comes, I might have this blog printed into a book, and SELL?. Ms Wong Publishing: The Story of my Life :p (haha no no no. low profile tayo, at wala rin bibili hehe) :p



Dami na naman umaalis
Another teammate is leaving. He's an Indian, we were working together in a project. I was surprised and saddened upon knowing the news. He's a fatherly figure who introduced me to this plum fruit. Tpos binibigyan ako ng plums minsan.

The country manager is also leaving. I was shocked. Singaporean cya and he leads the whole SG team. My previous Pinoy teammates gave him the codename Goma (his name is Richard kasi hehe). Few months ago I didnt know why he gave me an opportunity to work in the Australia branch, which I later on declined after weighing my priorities. Anyway, mukha naman cyang mabait.

The Pinoy officemates who left few months ago were also good to me. (or was it hindi lng mababait ang mga tao sa previous company ko? hehe) There was a time na tambak ako sa trabaho when I was still new, I couldnt understand what I should be doing. And it's the first time in my WHOLE corporate life that someone actually approached me and asked me 'kelangan mo ba ng tulong' (not lip service ha) Tinulungan talaga ako at nag-extend ng 1-2hours para tapusin.

Fast turnover. Fast-changing world. Kanya-kanyang buhay.



Christmas time
It was only last week when I realized Christmas is indeed, around the corner.

I attended a mass and they were singing 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing.. ' :(

Christmas themes in malls, Christmas items on sale..

So sad.. my first Christmas in a foreign land...

D-I-Y 101 cum Damsel in Distress

One Saturday, I discovered a terrible thing. My wardrobe cabinet collapsed, the clothes were bulging out. The hanging rod inside where the clothes are hanged, one side of the supporting clutch cracked. It is made of plastic, probably it couldnt support the weight of my clothes. I have quite a number of clothes (i guesss normal for any girl), and the cabinet is not a big one either.

I had to hang all my clothes for the mean time in a portable hanging bar outside the bedroom for several days. What a life.

First I thought of the easier solution, an adjustable rod that you usually use in the bathroom for shower curtain. I bought the shortest one. Later on I found out it was still too long that it couldnt fit, I forgot to take measurements. This is getting frustrating.

I know buying a new wardrobe cabinet would be the best solution. I'm okay to buy one.. but then I dont plan to stay long here. And where and how will I dispose the current one.. Okay, i took the challenge of fixing this cabinet.

So I stepped into a DIY store and asked the staff whether they have some metal clutch for wardrobe. One of my few times in a DIY store. Good thing they have such items, I bought those hook-like metal clutches and some screws and headed home.

I wanted to unscrew the old plastic clutch of the cabinet, but the screwdriver in the house is too small. It was a futile attempt. I again went to a hardware store to buy a screwdriver the next day.

With the new screwdriver I was able to unscrew one side, but the other side has a thicker wood due to some partition board, I had a hard time. Also, the original clutch has 3 holes arranged in a triangular shape, but the metal one I bought has only 2 holes. I realized I also need a hammer to unscrew and to drill new holes.

The next day I went back again to the hardware store to buy a hammer.

Finally I unscrewed the old screws and dug 2 new holes and put everything in place. D*mn I havent tried this pukpok thing, the painful feeling when you accidentally hit your fingers when knocking the hammer to dig holes. My hands were really soar after the carpentry work. And actually one side is still not secure (the side with a partition board), I couldnt drive the screws as deep as it should, I do hope it doesnt collapse again.

Anyway, all is well now. I finally was able to put back all my clothes inside the cabient after 5 days. Of course, I learned my lesson not to hang so many clothes. (The reason why I hanged so many is that I dont really like ironing each folded piece whenever I have to wear them, I usually iron just once a week, one time big time) I have to fold more now. :(

Later that night after fixing the cabinet, I had to do my usually weekly ironing stuffs. I dont know, maybe I was too tired after all the hammering and screwing, first time I accidentally got scorched from the tip of the iron. Geesh I now have a long red line mark in the pulse area, as if I committed suicide. It better heals fast or else.. arrrg grrhh.

Okay, so I probably wouldnt friek out in the future anymore, I fixed it alone! --- D-I-Y 101. :)

P.S. I'm able to laugh at this now. I was really stressed that time (together with other issues that I wont elaborate further), I couldnt help but to be sober, I broke out into tears when I was in MRT. Drama queen. :)

I'll Be Seeing Him Again :)

Good vibes for a headstart. :) 101st entry. :)

(Oct 29) I learned that Jay Chow will be having a concert in SG here . I couldnt believe with my own eyes because it's something I've always wanted. My heart leaped with joy. However, the first 2 weeks (Oct 23-Nov4) for booking is opened only for OCBC credit card holders. I couldnt get in even if I have all the cash in the world. I dont have a 'powerful' weapon (~OCBC credit card). The ticket booth folks told me there are no consecutive seats anymore. Then on Nov 2 I read that because all seats are almost taken, one more concert date has been added, making it Jan18-19. I thought this could raise my chance of getting a ticket, but still when I double checked, it's again almost fully-booked on both days, by the OCBC credit card holders. Damn I really dont know who has an OCBC Credit card, I've tried asking around. God knows, how badly I want to get the tickets. Public sales start Nov5, the waiting period spells agony.

On Nov 3, I couldnt stay put so I tried my luck again on the ticket booth folks. They told me the same thing, they couldnt sell without an OCBC bank code. I ask them to check seats if there are any left, they said, as of that moment, yes, but they couldnt guarantee on Monday. What the heck. Who thought of this crap of limiting the selling of tickets to such.

So finally Nov 5 public sales starts, I gave some excuse to be late in the office. I queued in the ticketing booth 30minutes before opening time of 10am. Finally the wait is over, there is one slot left for a consecutive 2-seater, good thing I was early. I have a new friend who is a jay chow fanatic as well, daughther of my mom's kumare. My, I was feeling mayaman, I booked the 3rd most expensive category. This also means katipiran in the coming weeks. Finally, I can breathe now. :)

Additional:
For those who find Jay Chow unfamiliar. He debuted in a Hollywood movie 'Curse of the Golden Flower', starring Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, directed by Zhang Zi Mou. It was shown in moviehouses sometime late Dec 2006. I just finished watching this movie this week, from a DVD i brought from Manila. My take:

--Jay Chow looks so-so, it could and should have been better! In short, mukha cyang ewan dun hehe.

--Story is pathetic! Too psycho. A king (Chow Yun Fat) wanted to poison his queen (Gong Li) by forcing her to drink medicine everyday. They have 3 sons. The youngest killed the eldest because the eldest has a love affair with the queen (not the same parents of course). The psycho king later killed the youngest by beating him to death for killing his favorite son. The second son (Jay Chow), together with the queen (his biological mom), revolted against the kingdom but lost the battle. The king will spare him under one condition, that he should take care of feeding his mother with the poisoned medicine daily. Thus, this son just draws a sword to kill himself. That's it. Everyone's dead except for the king and queen. Bitin. What a weird story!

--Setting and fight scenes are okay. Costumes are nice especially the chrysanthemum effect, except that it's quite strange to see all the women in 'extremely squeezed' costumes. :)
Open google and search under images using the title of the movie. Or you may try this link below:
http://www.indielondon.co.uk/gallery/curse-of-the-golden-flower-gallery

Food Lab: Episode 3

This is my last episode of the Food Lab. I tried almost all Chinese dishes, self-declared semi-retired state hehe. And oh, this is an entry for my 100th in blogspot, hurray. :)


Ground Pork Wrapped in Lettuce
An appetizer. Ground pork with carrots, celery, pepper bits wrapped in lettuce leaves.


Beef in Japanese Curry
Japanese curry is different from the usual curry, it has a milder taste as compared to the usual Indian curry or Thai curry. I am not a fan of curry, but I got to like this dish a lot. It was introduced by a friend to me. Quite an easy dish to prepare, throw in beef chunks, carrots and potatoes, and the Japanese curry sauce mix that is available in most of the bigger groceries here.


Paksiw na Pata
The picture doesnt look so good, but it's edible. :) Paksiw na pata, it takes a long time to make the hock tender. This comes good with banana blossoms


Nido soup
Another dish that you can prepare in minutes. Cut everything into small pieces, pork, mushroom, shrimps, veggies, crabstick, etc. There are actually instant soup broths for this. Don't forget to crack in several eggs and stir well.


Caldereta
Nothing spectacular, just the usual dish, except that I was taught by my housemate how to cut carrots into shapes of flowers. Look closely! (Naks pati aesthetic side kinareer :p)


Kiampong
I like this brown sticky rice stuff that my mom used to prepare. You can use the canned pork spareribs or pork leg, add mushrooms and veggies into the rice mixture to complement.


Chicken Taro Pie
My attempt to make a taro pie, chicken wrapped in crushed gabi.


Prawn Salad
One of the favorites in pan-to. Though mine is unique, I have nice green kiwis. :)


Crabs galore: crab vermicelli, chilli crab, buttered garlic crab
The ultimate challenge. :) I tried 3 types in one shot. (after watching Ratatouille that is hehe) For crabs, probably my favorite would still be the plain steamed crabs, but I didnt prepare it. You have to buy fresh and big live crabs to have the natural tangy taste. 'Live' meaning, I would have a hard time untangling and cutting/killing them, ayaw kong maipit sa sipit.. so didnt bother. :p

That's it, the end of Season I. :) Kakapagod na, no more picture-taking while cooking! :) Probably if I learn something spectacular (for party level), then I'll start Season II . :)

Inspiring Email about Love

A friend forwarded to me an advice email sent to him, a true-to-life story of love. It's a very inspiring email. How rare is it nowadays to find men who stand for whom he loves against all odds, who follows his heart over praticality, who remains firm and doesnt get swept off by just money. I have high respect for he who wrote this email. :)

This one is really catchy:
"So what if hindi ka naka porsche or hindi malaki ang bahay mo? will that make you less of a person?"

Here are the highlights:

...Its like a been there, done that scenario for me. Well ano ba talaga ang gusto mo? I hope you wont be offended, pero tingin ko kaya mo lang sya gusto is for the image, money, at siguro naprepressure ka kay tita.

maybe xxxxx has everything - good background, education and money, pero ang tanong ko, would you be happy in the end? dumaan din ako dyan. Kilala mo naman yung mga naging gf ko diba? when i met your ate (my wife), syempre iba sya from the past gfs ko, kaya nagpanic si mama. di mo lang alam ang away na pinagdaanan namin, both with mom and my wife.

or baka naman takot ka maghirap? i know if you went for the xxxxx girl, you'd probably be set for life. narinig ko na yung xxxxx company nila sa xxxxxxxxx. its a big company. if that happened, you'll be realizing your dreams mo of having it all. nice houses (plural), expensive cars, designer clothes, at mga rolex siguro. ang tanong ko lang siguro uli, hindi pa ba enough kung ano ang meron ka ngayon? i mean, you are far from poor, do you really have to have it all? chong, dont go overboard. baka greed na yan.

siguro ang worse case scenario is you being cut off financially if you went for the other one. would that be the end of your world? I doubt. youre educated so you can look for work anywhere. Swerte ka pa nga, kasi we both didnt work when we got married. Struggle talaga, tiyaga lang. With us naman, after really struggling for 7 yrs, confortable kami kahit papano, making ends meet, but no where close compared to my life before. Ang daming bills a, from house rent to xxxx's tuition. My car is a brand new honda jazz, far from the Porsche I wanted or the Benz I used to drive before. But trust me, I get more satisfaction driving the jazz compared to the benz kasi mas masarap kapag pinaghirapan mo. siguro nga i may have less compared to my friends, pero I could say that I am happy, contented and wouldnt change a thing if I lived that part of my life again. Teamwork lang kami ng ate mo, at yun ang importante. Siguro if naging kayo ulit nung isa, maganak nalang kayo kagad, for sure hindi yan matitiis ni tita. like xxxx, spoiled sa lola.

bsta ito lang advice ko. follow your heart. Tama na image. Tama na porma. you have nothing to prove in terms of that. dont worry about what others will think or say. they dont control your life, nor do they feed you. So what if hindi ka naka porsche or hindi malaki ang bahay mo? will that make you less of a person? Just remember, if you're happy, everything will fall into place.

All About Credit Cards

I only get to enjoy credit card installment facilities here, I havent tried buying items on installment back in Manila. Credit card can be nightmares in SG (let me recall those events below) but I would say it's a nice-to-have, close to must-have, from emergency use to impulsive purchases :)

Credit Card Misadventures

1) I applied for Citibank, got denied the first time (imagine! first time in my life haha). SG is strict with credit card issuance, in short if you are a foreigner holding an employment pass and you dont have an annual income of so-and-so, you wont be granted one. But anyway, IT is a good-paying job, so should be on the safe side. The banks conduct serious basic investigation to verify your details. My problem was they called the HR of my company and couldnt locate me there. Of course! I'm based in client office. After some clarification, finally I got the cards. Your COE (cert of employment) speaks a lot, because normally, your credit limit will be twice of your monthly salary.

2) I was excited to buy a laptop last June. Almost ALL of those I know who bought their laptops in SG, they do it the installment way, like a 6 or 12-month at 0% interest, you dont have to cash out so much if u plan to stay anyway. I was skipping the 2% increase in GST then (5% rose to 7% on July1). Everything was set, the model I fancied, the freebies, but then the manager of the store in Funan said they dont have installment facility for Citibank that time (because something gut busted etc). Imagine they have for all other credit cards, only none for Citibank that time. So right then and there, I was forced to swipe it at a one-time payment. Ouch!

3) Because I didnt find the Citibank 'powerful' enough due to my laptop incident, just last month I decided to apply for another credit card. I applied for Diners, known for being less strict. Guess what, I was denied AGAIN! This time, it's because my employment pass has only 6 months left before expiry. Companies usually issue employment pass for 1year, what can I do? Well, only have to wait till my employment pass gets renewed next March. Grrgh

4) The most recent disappointment that I had. Finally my wish is granted. Jay Chow is going to have a concert here on January! However they have this promo, only OCBC credit card holders can book for the first 2 weeks! D*mn it! I went to the ticketing booth, they told me that only a few seats are left and there are no consecutive empty seats anymore. Kulang na lng sabihin ko, 'please sell the tickets to me, I desperately want to have them' No use even if I have all the cash in the world! I have to wait for the stupid promo to end.

So that's it.

... On a positive note

I'm glad to say that I just finished my last payment for the installment of the TV. Yey almost debt-free. Thinking of the next thing to buy... hmm IT show is again approaching.. waah jk :p

Lust, Caution & Blood Brothers Review

The 2 most recent movies I watched are both 'Hollywood' Chinese movies. I have a thing for these types of movies, probably I feel that I have to patronize my own hehe. As long as story line is good and cast is popular, I would watch them.


Lust, Caution (Oct 19)
This is a very controversial movie, directed by Brokeback's Ang Lee, stars Tony Leung (an award winning HK actor) and Tang Wei (a new actress in China in the likes of Zangziyi). Set in a Japanese-occupied Shanghai, the movie revolves around the espionage plot of patriot students for the assasination of Mr Yee, a Japanese collaborator played by Tony Leung. Tang Wei acts as the seductive bait. The movie actually got a lot of media attention because of the much talked-about 'erotic love scenes'. This doesnt apply for SG though because the version shown here is the more 'conservative' version, they cut 20+minutes of the whole movie for all the love scenes, tagging it at NC16 instead of NC21 rating (NC16 means suitable for audience of age 16 years and below). Tony is again good as expected. Lee Hom's role is the typical guy I would love to hate, the good-for-nothing, confused and pahamak type. Tang Wei also delivered a fresh performance as a newcomer, she clearly manifested her internal conflicts of hatred and love at the same time for Mr Yee despite that she was 'binababoy'. It's a very deep movie, and the ending is a very DEPRESSING one. Just when everything was set for assasination, Tang Wei's heart softened when Tony gave her a diamond ring as a sign of his true feelings and trust, she was struggling and finally whispered 'run for your life' to save the life of her ultimate love-hate enemy. As an audience, it's really hard to say whether what she did was right, but you'd really emphatize with her all throughout the story. The innate emotional weakness of women, the harshness of war, a well-crafted classic. I do hope people really get to appreciate an art film in the true sense!


Brothers (Nov 4)
This is a 'reunion movie', an all-star cast of the famous HK movie in the 80's, The Five Tigers (Wu Hu Chiang). Stars Andy Lao, Miu Kiu-Wai, Felix Wong Yat-Wah, Ken Tong Chun-Yip, sans Tony Leung (too bad), plus their newcomer Eason Chan Yik-Shun. The typical HK 'cop-chases-triad' movie that makes your heart skips beat, wondering who is the traitor, who will be killed, who is the good guy, who deserves to die. (well as expected, gangster movie equals violence, and normally almost all will die in the end :p).

The story revolves around the two brothers Miu and Eason. They were separated by their triad father because of a prophecy that they would kill each other, Miu tending the business and Eason working abroad. One day the father was assasinated by co-triad, Eason went back. Several actions by Miu led to the suspicion that he is planning to kill his own brother. Cop Andy is hot about chasing these two because of the illegal triad dealings. The other two tigers do not have so much weight in the roles they portrayed. Ken is the main antagonist, his face depicts evil. Felix is the loyal protector cum bodyguard of the two brothers. In the end, it turned out Miu was just preparing Eason to be tough enough to be his successor, he is dying. Watch the movie to get the feeling. This is not a waste of money, as EVERY actor here is of veteran level.

I found this amusing review in the net. Seems like the reviewer is very much distracted by Andy's endorsement of CYMA watch in the movie.:p (By the way, Andy is also the producer of this movie)
http://lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/brothers.htm