Taiwan pics!!

For the past couple of days, I kinda write quite a long post, so wanna take a little break now...show the photos of my Taipei trip...

The tallest building in the world

- Taipei 101

A night scene from one of the famous market
- Shilin Market

Superman Returns at IMAX

Like in the previous post I mentioned, I watched the Superman Returns on the IMAX theatre on Monday. The last time I watched any movie in the IMAX was like 10 years ago. So when I went in to watch this movie, I wasn't expecting anything as I had forgotten what type of special effects that IMAX offered.

Pros

First of all, I must say wow!!! Watching the movie on the IMAX is totally different experience than watching at normal theatres. The IMAX theatre has like an omni-dome where the movie is magnified many times. In the opening, I was feeling like I was in the universe, watching the planet Kryton exploded into million pieces. When the debris was hurled into the universe, I could feel the debris hurling towards the audience. Also, the space travel is also an exhilarating experience where I could feel like I was in the space shuttle traveling the speed of light towards Earth. When Superman flew faster than the speeding bullet, the special effects at IMAX allow me to feel how Superman flies at a high or low velocity which I could not experience it at normal theatres. Same experience felt during the airplane scene where Superman saves the airplane from crushing down. I could feel the effects of the airplane traveling and losing turbulence, rapidly descending to the ground.

Cons

It is a pity that the timing for this movie is quite disappointing. During the weekdays, there are only two screenings of the movie which starts only after 5pm. So I had to watch this movie rather late at night. During weekends, the timing is an improvement with screenings in the morning and afternoon. Also, the leg space can be definitely improved. The leg space in the seats was so narrow that it is difficult for the people to pass through to get the seats. As my seating was in the middle, I had difficulty passing through the seats. I almost accidentally stepped on the leg of an old woman. Also, there were no subtitles. To me, it didn't matter much however, I think that some of the audience had no idea that there will be no subtitles. There was no 3-D effects on the IMAX screen, so the images are not 'pop-out' towarrds the audience like I thought. It's like watching a normal movie on the big dome-shaped screen. Though you are able to feel the experience and the effects of the movie like I mentioned, you can't see 3-D images of Superman which is quite disappointing.

Review

Overall, the story content is good. I kinda like it that the story took off after Superman II instead of IV as I didn't watch the last 2 movies. Brandon Ruth, like many people agree, has a certain resemblance to the late Christopher Reeve. He certainly portrays the three characters - Clark Kent, Kal-El and Superman to a great effect. Also, like the late Christopher Reeve, Brandon Ruth brings out the desire in me to fly like Superman. Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor is a great casting role. There can't be a better actor than him for the portrayal of Lex Luthor. Also, Kate Bosworth is quite a good actress and portrayed Lois Lane well. Unlike Katie Holmes in Batman Begins, Kate manages to hold her own and does not bring down the whole casts. Her role as a single reporter mum is endearing to watch as she tries hard to ignore her feelings for Superman. Also, I liked the scene where Lois saves Superman, kind of showed that Lois at times is able to stand on her own too.

I don't like it that the director didn't focus on Superman abilities to save Mankind. In the movie, there are only two grave instances that Superman came to the rescue. The movie focuses on the emotional and romantic side of Superman which kinda put me off a little. It would be better if the director do more action sequence scenes rather than the emotional stuff...Also, there is not much scenes between Lex and Superman. I like the interaction between the two characters which unfortunately comes rather late in the movie.

Yup, that's all folks for now...™

Comic Relief

Yeah! I will be watching Superman Returns on Monday...and it's on 3-D!! Yup, I will be watching it at the IMAX theatre instead of the usual cinemas. Singapore cinema rates are slowly increasing their prices which caused a strain in my pocket. The price of a cinema ticket when you watch on weekend is almost equivalent to watching in the IMAX theatre during the weekdays. Let say you want to watch the movie on weekends at Cathay, you have to queue up very long due to crowds and have to pay $9.50. If you want to book the tickets online, you have to pay an additional $1 or $2 for service charge. Instead, why don't you watch the movie during the weekdays instead at IMAX? You only need to pay $12 and can experience the wonders magic of 3-D...

Seriously, I hope that Superman Returns live up to its hype. The last Superman movie was in 1987, nearly 20 years. I only watched Superman I and II. The last comic movie which I watched has disappointed me greatly. X-Men: The Last Stand was a sorely disappointment compared to its predecessors. I mean, what's up with killing the main characters when they don't contribute to the main plot? The storyline was good but the plot development sucks big time...why feature so many mutants when they don’t even use their powers to fight? Instead, they use their fists and punchs...lol Also, what's up with the cheesy one liners? The movie lacked character development and emotions. The movie didn't explain why some mutants choose the cure. Some of the main characters are sidelined and forgotten. Even Jean Grey aka Dark Phoenix is quite disappointing – not her powers but her storyline development...

Anyway, this is my first time watching a movie on IMAX theatre. I actually wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on IMAX but they released it later than on normal cinema theatres...I will post a review of it (hopefully it's good review) once I watched it on Mon...

Moving On

How do we move on and continue our life when we experienced a tragedy? How do we move on after we broke up our relationships with our loved ones? Or we lost our loved ones? Sometimes, it can easy to for an outsider to tell us to move on and get over it. However, unless they are in our shoes and experience the same experience, they will never truly know how we feel.

I remember going to a psychologist seeking counsel on moving on and recovering. I told her that I want to move on as quickly as possible without getting stuck in limbo mourning over the loss of my dad and my friend. I even lied to her that I am moving on after the death of my friend which happened in Apr 2005. Instead, the psychologist said that I should take time to mourn for my loss ones and slowly move on, instead of quickening the process. However, I don't want too. Why? Coz it hurts like hell. Why can't I move on with my life as quickly as possible? What am I still in the limbo mourning over my late father's death? It happened over 6 mths, get over it...MOVE ON!!

Now, every decision I made, I will be remembered of my dad. I tried to go for a holiday in Taiwan recently to forget my dad and try to move on. (I will post the pics later). Here I am in Taiwan, trying to enjoy my vacation and relaxing my time there. Instead, I can't enjoy my vacation fully with flashes of my dad's images and words going through my mind every time. Every where I go, every tourist attractions I see, my father's images and memories will come flashing through my mind like a slideshow...I will accidentally imagined him talking to me in Taiwan. Perhaps, it is because my father had his honeymoon with my mum that brought all these sub-conscious memories to full view in my mind. It seems that my father was there with me in Taiwan trying to talk to me; I tried hard to ignore him and failed.

Now after 6 mths, it is difficult for me to move on. Often, I will delude myself thinking that I am all right but then my friends will see through my masked expressions. I was kinda shocked to hear from my friend once when we were having BBQ at East Coast. He took a picture of me and remarked that it's the first time since I laughed or smiled since the tragedy. Wow, even I had not even noticed that. In Starbucks, the barristas are encouraged to smile and initiate conversations with the customers. How can I smile at them and strike a conversation?

"Hi! How are you? My father had just died and I am supposed to be smiling and talking to you…so wat's up?"

Even the smiles that I wore seem to be plastered and fake that my colleagues keep on asking me if I am all right. I swear, if anyone is going to ask me again, I will wring their necks off...I think I am slowly going over to the dark side...

I will be going to the university later. I thought of going to their orientation camps and make more friends. However, something is pulling me back. It seems that I am trying to swim away from the tornado of my depressed feelings and instead, I am slowly getting sucked into it How can I be cheerful and enthusiastic to make more friends where I still haven't resolved my dark side within me? I wanted to live in the university halls too but I can't find myself to live there since my dad passed away. Before the incident, I thought that I will attend the orientation camps and live at the halls, enjoying my university life with my friends that I make. Now, it seems that my life has drastically changed. I can't live in the hall anymore without worrying about my family back home. Perhaps, I can't even enjoy the orientation camp without worrying about my family too. My senior friend at the university keeps on asking me to join the orientation camp but I can't. I am afraid as I know that I haven't moved on since my father passed away. My feelings are bottled and I am afraid that they will explode during the camp.

Why is it that I take so long to move on? I want to move on to continue with my life but I am in limbo. Everywhere I go, even at the streets of Singapore, I will be reminded of my father who drove me there in his van in the past. Memories and flashes of his images will come into the mind which I tried to ignore them. It seems that I have problems moving on. Even in my college days, I have difficulty moving on after the girl I like had found her Mr. Right. I wanted to tell her very much how much I liked her and want to be with her but I couldn't. Instead, her Mr. Right came with his shining armour (or lacked of) and swept her feet away. Even now, I have problems letting go of her even if my friends have advised me so. Moving on seems an impossible task for me to do…I want to forget and move on with my life as quick as possible instead of dwelling and remaining in limbo. How do I move on then? Do I packed my emotions, feelings, memories and images of my father into boxes, locked them up and never opening them again in the future? Or do I acknowledge them and weep a tear everytime when flashes of my father's memories come through my mind. I wish for a day when I can no longer be reminded of my father's memories and images. Perhaps the reason I am having them is guilt; guilt that I could have saved him instead of letting him die. Guilt that I fell asleep instead of staying all night to look after him. Guilt that I dismissed my premonitions and instincts that my father is going to die that night instead of acting on them which could have saved him. Perhaps, when I let go of my guilt and learn to forgive myself, then I can move on.

2 more deaths revealed in the final book of Potter

Oh no, JK Rowling had said on the UK afternoon talk show Richard & Judy that 2 main characters will be killed in the final harry potter book. She was quoted as saying:

"The final chapter is hidden away, although it's now changed very slightly, One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die."

Let me guess...erm I guess Snape will be the one getting the reprieve. As for the characters who are going to die, I am not going to speculate at the moment but I think Rowling is going to kill Harry. Seriously if it were me, I would not want some other author to continue the stories of Harry like the Star Wars series. I would want the series to end it on my own terms rather than let some author mess up my beloved character. So kudos to her for that...

So far, I loved all the Harry Potter books especially the last one, Half Blood Prince. It kinda saddened me to see the series ending soon in the next yr. She wrote the whole series including the final chapter of the last book even before her first book is published. Imagine that! She has given lots of her time and energy into developing the characters and the storyline. I guess she deserved the title 'Greatest Living British Writer' ever which is voted by the people.

New job

Today, I started another new job instead of working at the Starbucks. Reason? I didn't get too many shifts during the week. Every time I apply for three or more shifts per week, I always get only one. I guess it is due to low business around the area...guess the new Cathay is slowly losing its business...unless more human crowd can come to the place.

Anyway for the new job, I will be working in the office job (yah!). The job is quite easy to do, just help to fax documents, fold letters into envelope and just type some stuff on the computer. The pay is reasonable too, a bit higher than working at Starbucks. However, I will be working there for only abt 1 mth plus since I will be entering the uni soon...

I guess I have found my ideal temp job...working at the office in the air-conditioned room. Also, I get to work with the office girls there too as I am the only temp guy there...one of girls is quite chio...and one of them talks like Patricia Mok! (no offense there...)

DOTA

The game which I enjoyed when I found out about it this year. I am not really a computer game expert as I sucked in my hand co-ordination in multiplayer games like counterstrike. I only like to play strategic-based games like Age of Empires where teamwork and strategy is necessary to win in these kind of games. However, DOTA is a mix between strategy-based and a little hand co-ordination which you can kill heroes.

Let me explain how the game plays...

First, you choose a character either from the Sentinel or from the Scouge. Then you build up your hero by killing creeps (little minions) which will gain you experience and money. With enough money, you can buy items to make your hero more powerful and strong so that you can kill other characters heroes. The game ends when your base is defeated or you successfully kill your opponent's base.

Simple? Yah, it is. However, there is more to this. You need to know which items to buy for each hero character so that the item you buy will not be wasted and useless. And backstabbing is part and parcel of the game…You have sometimes backstab other opponent's hero in order to kill them. However, this may not gain favour with your friends who are playing. I know of someone who hates being backstabbed and would always shout and cursed before quitting the game halfway which is a big no-no...

So I played this game about once or twice a week with my church friends. I think the price of the usage for playing computer games in lan gaming shops is quite high, so I tend to play less and only minimal...

This game helps to booster your confidence and increase your strategical skills. However, some pple take reel to be reality and constantly spoil the mood of the game. They tend to be uptight and agitated and perhaps angry when their teammates are lousy players or noobies and do not know how to play the game well...so they will vent their anger and frustrations on them... relax!! Just treat this as a game and all will be ok...