The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge

I am not a big fan of animation or cartoon. Growing up, apart from Sesame Street, Thundercats and a few others, I don't really watch that much cartoon. I am into movies but somehow, the idea of watching animation does not seem too appealing to me. The reason being is I can't seem to convince myself that they are real. Being animation, it is not supposed to be real anyway but that is just what I think.

As a self-proclaimed movie fan, it is quite embarrassing to admit that I have not watch some of the highly acclaimed animation movie in the past decade or so. It could be a shocking discovery to some people that I have not watch animation movie like, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Monster Inc and a lot more.

On my defense, I did watch Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Ice Age trilogy and Finding Nemo. I know it is a crime to say this but I didn't like Finding Nemo. I don't understand what the fuss is all about the movie. Okay, maybe the colorful animation is quite something and the vegetarian sharks is kinda funny but other than that it is kind of forgettable to me.

So, I was quite surprised last Thursday when I found myself reading the review of the latest animation movie by Walt Disney, A Christmas Carol in New Straits Time and The Sun when suddenly I felt a tinge of curiosity and a slight excitement to watch it. I wonder why. So, when Kak Mie suddenly asked me to join her for a midnight movie at Sunway Pyramid last nite, without hesitation I suggested we watch A Christmas Carol.

Throughout the duration of this animation, my eyes was glued to the big screen. From start to the ending, the animation is beyond amazing. I know that the word amazing is loosely used nowadays but it is indeed amazing. I could not believed my eyes sometime because it looks so friggin real. The opening scene itself is worth all the praises.

I have a basic idea of the storyline but it was just in bits and pieces. I found it to be quite engaging and very thoughtful. It was after all a classique literary story so it is sort of expected to be up to that level.

The story of a supergreedy man named Ebenezer Scrooge is presented in a slightly dark and edgy mode. Too dark and too edgy for animation I think but it is not a bad thing at all. I would not want it any other way. The mood needed to be dark and hollow. There are quite a few scenes in this movie that just gives me the goose bumps. I like it when that happened.



The scene featuring the Ghosts of Christmas Present is my favorite and the scene where Ebenezer took a journey back into his past is worth the RM11 you paid to watch this movie. Please go and check it out.

The journey of self redemption has never looks so friggin cool. I like it. Wait, that is wrong. I f**king love it!! oops!! pardon me!

p/s: The voice of Mr. Scrooge is by Jim Carrey and with that thick English accent I almost didnt recognize it. Two thumbs up.

Coolness

Dang Baby!!! A brand new lay out for my blog! Im loving it.

Hope you guys love it too :)

3some

Three is a charm
Two is not the same
I don't see the harm
So are you game?


Never would've I thought that a song about threesome would make my day. Haha. Im lovin' it. I've been listening to it non stop for a few days and I still do not get tired of it. Yet. Simple (but suggestive)and repetitive lyric and very very catchy tune. Mindless fun.

Love the video too. Britney looks hot in it. Im not sure whether my taste in music is gettin more and more superficial but hey, as long as I am enjoyin it, who cares rite?? Two thumbs up Brit. Im lovin it. and yes Britney, the more is indeed the merrier. haha

Reality Check

Masa berlalu dengan sangat pantas..These past few weeks was like phew!! Looking back, I was not so sure myself what did i do? Thus..I am now in the mood to recap some of the things I have done this past few days. This is what I call "reality check".hehe

Tuesday 27th October 2009
Initially, I planned to serve my papers to KL Bar, Bar Council and AG on the 28th October 2009 but since I was free that day, I decided might as well do it now. So I texted Shikin about my plan and she agreed to be my chaperon for the day...hehehe.

Around 9.45am I fetched her from her new house..wooot wooot. As usual, I need to alas my big (cute) perut and Kin suggested we go to this one mamak at USJ3 called Sri Melur. According to Kin, TheStar Newspaper cakap this is one of the best place to go for breakfast and the roti canai is really sedap. I was like.."Eh, sedap eh?? Jom jom makan, teringin nak cuba tempat baru". Then, when we reached there I was like, laaaa ni ke restoran tue. I've been here like gazillion times already. My aunty used to stay sumwhere over there. Chiiit!!! What a bummer. I was expecting a new cool place.heheh. However, that does not stop me from gorging 2 keping roti canai anyway..hihihi.

And then..in the afternoon it was Convo Time. Not our convocation obviously but it was our dear frens' convocation. Saiful, Bary and Lovely. Owh Lord, how fun it is to be able to meet and talk to Lovely after so long. We even managed to squeeze in our mean session in between all the craziness of convocation in Uitm Shah Alam. (Those who had their convo in Uitm will agree with me on how crazy it can be)

Of course, a few hours with Lovely is not enough so we extended our time together at Delicious MidValley later that nite. Aisya, Cindy, Fido and Chaos joined too. All in all, it was a great day. I managed to served all my papers to the respective bodies and I have managed to be with my fren on their happy day. Mind you, this is the third convocation for Bary that I have attended. Rajin sungguh budak ini menuntut ilmu. heheheh.

p/s: Feel bad didnt managed to take a pic with Ros Adleen who also graduated on that day :(

Thursday 29th October 2009
I was scheduled to go to Ipoh High Court with one of the senior lawyer in ADC, JM for a matter regarding Bill of Costs. (Owh Tuhanku, I despise Bill of Costs). I fetched her from the office at 7.45am and we went straight to Ipoh. Before i tell you any further of my journey there, let me tell you a little bit about JM. She is a very loud person and she talks A LOT. A LOT. Imagine a very talkative person who talks as loud as it can get. Whoaa!!! The result is I was not sleepy at all through out the entire journey pergi balik Ipoh ok!! haha.

She shared a lot of things about life as a lawyer with me and she gave me quite few pointers on how to survive and how to make it in this field. See...this is what I love about talkin to older people. They are so wise and their perspective on life is, naturally, different from us. I love different ideas and different views. It makes me want to think or it forces me to think.

One of the things that strikes me the most is when she said something about the problem with young people.She told me that young people nowadays wasted so much time thinking but at the the end of the day, we did not get anything done. This is what she said to me;

"Sometimes in life, you just have to do it. Think about it for a while and then just do it. Do it. Execute it. If it works, bravo but if it doesnt, move on".

Haish..I wish I could do just that!

p/s: Guess who I met at Ipoh Court?? Yana!!! so syiok dapat jumpa kawan lama. she suggested us to go have our lunch at the infamous Hainan Chicken Rice in Ipoh Town. Not bad. Not bad at all.


30th October 2009
My last day at ADC. I spent my day talking to people in the office and busy answering questions on where and what I'll do next. I just basically tell them that I want to take some time off and think about it later. In actual truth, I don't even know where I will go after this.

I had a superb and fantastic time at ADC throughout my pupillage period. It was so far the best working environment that I have ever been exposed to. I admit, I don't really have much working experience but for a normally stressful job, ADC is a relax and fun working place. Too bad I didnt get retain there. Takpela, takda rezeki.


31st October 2009
I went out with Justine to refund our Beyonce tickets. I was not really dissapointed that the show was postponed as the reason I wanted to go in the first place was just to hang out with some of my fren so Beyonce, no hard feelings ok? If you nak datang next time, datang la ok? I tak halang. Maybe we can meet up for a drink or something? Ajak Jay Z sama k kalau dia free.

Justine took me to this supercoooool place called Kedai Makanana Raju dkt PJ. Ya Allah, sedap and bestnyerrrr. Why didnt I know or heard of this place before sedangkan I was in Shah Alam for almost 5 years already!!!! Why why why. I loveeee the place. The roti canai especially. (Errrr..I have yet to try anything other than the roti canai so I assume yg lain tu sedap jugak la). The roti canai is thick and crispy. Makan atas daun pisang. Banana leaf roti pisang with 3 types of kuah. Got meat curry, dalca and fish curry and the best thing is the sambal. Memang superb the sambal. The price is slightly mahal but it's worth it.

Later in the afternoon, I went out with Bary, Epul and Fido. We bought our bus ticket to Singapore. (Yeay!!! We are going to Singapore!!!!!) and we go makan at the infamous Sate Kajang Haji Samuri at PKNS, Shah Alam. Yummy.

p/s: makan je keje aku ni

1st November 2009
I reached Penang. All the issues that have been buggin' me does not seem so important anymore. P.E.N.A.N.G. never ever fail to make he happy. Gotta go have my happy pills now. First I need to have my Nasi Kandar at Line Clear and Hameediya, then I gotta go have my Roti Canai Daging at Transfer Road. Not forgetting I need to have bubur kacang at Jalan Dato' Koyah and bubur gandum behind the old Cathay Cineplex and I gotta meet Faisal and Izzah pronto!

p/s: why didnt I include Sup Hameed as well?


All in all, I had fun. Thats the most important thing. We MUST have fun. hehe

What A Lovely Co-incidence

I went out with my chambee mates last Friday. We just want to hang out and catch a movie after that. I suggested watching 500 Days of Summer as I had a feeling that it might be a good movie. All of us knew nothing about the movie and we want to keep it that way. I only know that Zooey Deschanel is in it and thats about it. Some of my friend wanted to first read the review from imdb to know whether it will be worth watching but I insisted that all of us should just take a chance and watch the movie without any expectation or any pre-conceived idea about it. I told them, if the movie is good, you will enjoy it more and if it isnt..jeng jeng jeng...matilah aku kena marah dgn diorang..hahaha. They, however give in to my suggestion. hehe.

We decided to watch the movie at a slightly later showtime so that we can really have a proper conversation with each other. Good ole way of gettin to know each other. Although we meet each other every day in the office, but due to workloads and our busy-ness, we didnt really get the chance to know each other. Hence, the dinner plan. We chose to have our dinner at San Francisco Steak House at KLCC.

There were 5 of us. Me, Sean, Hanna R, Ainaa and my "apprentice", Natalie. My my owh my, what a dinner conversation. We really talk and we really had a greaaaat dinner conversation. Remember watching one of those Woody Allen movies?? Yes, the conversation that we had was just like that. We really did talk! The topic of our conversation that night was of love and relationship (no surprises there) and it was so refreshing to hear them open up and really talk about it. All of us really did open up. We practically talked about every things that revolves around relationship.

Sean was in my opinion is emotionally mature for a 24 years old guy. His opinions and perspective about life and love is very Dr Phil like.hehehe. Too much Oprah I guess. His insight about relationship amazes me and if it does not change me, at least it makes me want to reconsider some of my own perspective and some of my own view of certain things. I cannot emphasize enough how much about relationship between guy and girl that we have explored that night. 5 people with 5 different personality and with even 5 totally different views of life shared their thoughts and a piece of mind. I must say the dinner was not only gastronomically satisfying, it was also emotionally fulfilling.




Then, we go watch the movie. I have only one word to describe the movie. *drum rolls* AMAZING!!!!! I was having so much fun. I really really really loveeeeeeee the movie. My goodness, it was fantastic. We were so glad that we watched it. 500 Days of Summer is sooo freakin good and I can't wait to watch it again rite after I step out of the cinema.

There is nothing new about the story line I must say. Boys meet girls. Girls meet boys. But the director Marc Webb managed to delve into the soul of the characters and make us root for them, understand them, care for them and most importantly, love them. We cheered for the character when they succeed and we cried when they failed. That's in my opinion is the benchmark of a good characterization in a movie. The audience need to feel for the characters potrayed and this movie excels at that.

The other thing that I really really like about this movie is the cinematography. It is so serene at times and so wonderfully "bright" in another. It implements the script very very very well and I am so glad that none of those shaky camera trick that is currently seem to be the in thing in recent movies was not in this one. Phew!!

Another great things about this movie is the soundtrack. Usually, when you watch a movie, the music and the songs used were heard but ignored. If the movie is not musical, the music was just there and thats it. It was entirely different with this one. I am loving the soundtrack so much. I can't help but wishing and thinking that I'd have to get the soundtrack cd of this movie even while I was watching it in the cinema.

I love the fact that this movie is so natural ( maybe due to the superb acting by the both leads) and it does not feel forced. You can't help but dream about certain thing (at least I do) while watching this lovely and beautiful movie.

The funny things is, or maybe the reason why me and my colleague seems to be enjoying the movie even more was that almost every single thing that we discussed during our dinner, ( yes, almost every single thing!!!) was potrayed in this movie! No kidding!!! We were basically looking at each other in the dark cinema thinking.. "Hey, we just talked about it!! " and "OMG!!! Thats exactly how you said that just now!!!" Pretty weird huh? It was as if, somebody recorded our dinner conversation and turned it into a screenplay!!! haha. What a co-incidence!! Life imitates art or art imitates life???

So, if you want to know what we talked about during our dinner, just watch this movie.hehehehe. I promise you, it will be worth it. While writing this, I promised myself that I will watch it again in the cinema. Sooooon. Mind you, it is on a limited release and you can only watch it in KLCC.

I could not stop talkin about this movie. It is the current IT movie in my mind at the moment. My housemates (Fido especially) is getting bored with my non stop rants about it. I am so sorry peeps, I just can't help it.

Above all, the number one reason why I am so in love with this movie is that I think it gives me hope. Hope of the O.N.E *wink*

*here are some of the screen caps from the movie*

The Accidental Tourist

Yesterday was one of my best friend's birthday. There was no big celebration, no party. We just went out for dinner at our favorite spot. The three of us. No fuss, no big deal. Come to think of it, it was just like any other ordinary outing of ours. But, truthfully, it was not. He is now a year older. Officially a year older.

Maybe the sentimentalist in me or what, every time important days like this came along, be it mine or someone else's, I am forced to re-evaluate my life. Most of the time, it happened unwillingly. Have I achieved enough? Have I done enough to achieve what I want out of life? The questions kept popping in my head. The questions kept coming. I am always flooded with a series of endless questions in my head. Unfortunately, I do not have any answer. None at all.

Have you ever wonder whether are you really living your life? Experience every single second, breathe in every single moment, suck the energy of life in you and live and live? It is my attempt to do this. Waking up in the morning, I remind myself this is what I have to do, this is what I should do, this is what I will do.. but there are times when I wondered, is this just way too much to ask for? I don't think so.

Like a movie I once watched, The Accidental Tourist, where the character, Macon Leary said, "Less... is invariably more". I wonder, does the same principle applies in life as well? Would we be happier in life with less things? less issues? Or is it entirely the opposite? all the things and issues that we are dealing with in a way enrich our life. Make us a better person. Keep us occupied?

In the end, I consoled myself to think that be it less or more...I'll just travel through life. Let's not be a tourist in our own life. Let's be a traveller. We may fall, we may pass through things we dislike, we may just hated something we stumbled upon but the thought of the endless possibilities of being able to find something or someone that we may just love and cherish with every single fiber in our existence thrills me to the max.

Sometime maybe less is indeed more but there will be a time when more and more is all that I want and is all that I need.

Kasih Tak Kembali

One of the saddest or probably the hardest thing in this world is to say goodbye to our loved ones. Be it your parents, lover or partner, losing someone you love is not easy. Time may heal the wound but the scar will always be there.

Imagine losing someone you loved so much. Someone special. Knowing fully aware that there is no way to get that person back in your life. Wishing you could see her face. Wishing you can talk to her even if it is just for a while...Wishing you could call her in the middle of the night just so you can share your secret thoughts with her... But then you realize that you can wish all you want, cries all you want, but the fact is.. they are no longer with you. They are now gone. How heartbreaking that must be.

I was feeling all these when I was listening to Atilia's song the other day and the pang of sadness hits me. Maybe it is because of the lyric of that song or maybe because of the melody. Both of which I must say is rather simple but they manage to hit every emotional chords of mine. I don't know why but listening to it make me feel rather sad. There is a certain sense of longing that I feel when I hear the song. Atilia's soft and gentle voice singing (or should I say mourning) for the lost love/deceased lover haunts me for days. I can't stop listening to this song even though in a way it kinda make me sad.

It is a very simple song but maybe because of that, I like it even more.There's a classique feel to it. I swear I could imagine my late grandmother listening to this song from her old dusty gramophone and lovin' it too. *sigh*

The song is called "Kasih Tak Kembali" and here is the beautiful beautiful lyric.

Menantikan dia kembali
Melamun hatiku sedih
Hati gelisah bermimpi
Memadukan kasih

Kusampaikan ratapan jiwa
Dihembusan angin lalu
Harapan ingin berjumpa
Menyampaikan hasrat rindu

Tapi hanyalah bayangan
Tak kunjungmu kembali lagi
Tetap suram pemandangan
Binasalah diri

Remuk redam rasa hati
Tak tertahan menanggung rindu
Kasih tak mungkin kembali
Musnahlah harapanku..