Learning From TV (#2) - Nanny

From the Nanny, caught accidentally during the channel switching - Hallmark 10 (by the way, anyone remember the sitcom Nanny with Fran Drescher with the annoying voice? used to be what I and my sister watch during the astro-less, vcd-less and dvd-less TV era!).

"Relationship is like a thigh;

It starts out smooth, then it get a little lumpy.

But you can't stand on your own without it"

- Sylvia Fine (Nanny, Fran Fine's mother)

What about being single? Not anymore?

Iraq vs Saudi Arabia? The Battled vs The Rich? The Defiant vs The Obedient?

The winning Iraqi team (Pic extracted from AFP)

I'm no football fans, as many of my friends know. However, in this particular AFC Championship, lots of hoo-ha had surrounded it, from the initial controversy sparked by the date collision between the championship and the intended friendly match between Malaysian team and MU to celebrate our nation's 50th birthday....

(by the way, why we had to succumb to such a humiliation by inviting some great team to trash us in our homeground as one of the program to celebrate our nation's 50th birthday is something really beyond my layman imagination!!!!!!. or we are listening to Stephen R. Covey preaching to WE BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND? or we think MU will play leisurely while admiring our magnificiently built stadium and listening to the ever dependable chanting of Boleh, Boleh, Boleh, Boleh, Malaysia Boleh and letting our teams scoring some goals to spare us from humiliation in respect of our birthday? ok.... back to the core issue)

..... to the surprise defeat of Australia and Japan but what intrigued me is the comparison of the two teams who made it to the final; Iraq (IR) and Saudi Arabia (SA).

1. IR is a war-torn country thanks to the world's police while SA is being protected as it's the ally of the world's police.

2. GDP : IR is not listed and SA is 25th in a 2006 World List of 183 countries.

3. SA is the world's largest oil exporter and IR, though with its huge oil reserved has to "eat his own" due to the economic sanction.

4. IR is "believed-to-be" endowed with WMD (weapon of mass destruction, such a bombastic abbrv coined by the world police) and SA is "hard-to-believe"ly crowded with ridiculously loaded Princes and Sultans (pronounced as sau-tans by the western tongue).

5. SA riches may opt to travel to Malaysia or South East Asia due to the recent phobia of Muslim travelers in US but the IR citizens have to live under the threat of their own insurgents and the "supposedly-civilian-protecting" foreign troops in their own homeland.

In the end, the comparison above draws no concrete conclusion. Like the coach of the Iraqi team said, "I have sunni. I have shii-te. I have both in my team but that's not a problem".

The unity spirit in a war-torn nation surpassed everything else. The desire to make the country proud, the pure passion and love for the sports are notably the things lacking in our Malaysian team.

You can use money to build great facilities, hire great coach (by the way, from CA's blog, I got to know that the IR coach was once Malaysian coach, how about that?) but with a fighting-spirit-lacking team, there's nothing much you can do!!!!!

And I haven't start with the hoo-ha after our embarassing run in the AFC, the resignation, the refusal to resign and stuff. Oh yeah.... why no one mention about the Malaysia vs MU match now????

I THINK FINALLY WE KNOW HOW TO UKUR BAJU DI BADAN SENDIRI or like the Chinese says, DUN HAVE BIG HEAD, DUN WEAR BIG HAT.

Is Travel Destroying the Planet? : Post Reading Rant

Quoting the concluding remark in the interesting article by John Rosenthal as mentioned in my previous posts,

It would be a shame if concern for global warming persuaded people to stop traveling. Those who visit the Grand Canyon, Iguazu Falls or Ngoro Ngoro Crater can’t help but be awed by what Mother Nature has created, and wonder at humankind’s place in it all. Nothing has inspired me to act locally more than my own first-hand experiences in the glaciers of Patagonia and the cloud forests of Costa Rica. But we do need to remember the environmental costs of travel as well as the personally enriching benefits.

Even visiting man-made treasures like the Great Wall, the Sistine Chapel or the Pyramids of Egypt reminds us that we are merely the current tenants of this planet. Humankind has made tremendous efforts to preserve these pinnacles of human achievement for future generations to witness. The planet itself deserves nothing less.

SO FELLOW TRAVELLERS, WE CAN DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT AS THE PLANET DESERVES NOTHING LESS.

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam.Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

The World's Endangered Destinations

Of all the 16 listed the following are those I visited before. Check out the link to see why it was endangered and what had been done.

VENICE

St. Mark's Square

http://travel.msn.com//Guides/greenSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=385955&imageindex=9

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM


http://travel.msn.com//Guides/greenSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=385955&imageindex=13

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

London Bridge

Tower Bridge

http://travel.msn.com//Guides/greenSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=385955&imageindex=15

Is Travel Destroying the Planet?

An interesting piece by John Rosenthal. So, for travel enthusiasts like me out there, something to ponder about. Just read it with an open-mind, not a judgemental one.

http://travel.msn.com/Guides/greenarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=387810

Do You Bowl?

Malaysia is well known for its bowling squad and we have many players who made it in the international arena and now the planning is to let them compete in professional circuit in Europe and the managed to clinch some coveted title. So do you bowl?

I remembered when I was still studying in La Salle in Form 6, one of the highlight of the boarding life is that we get weekend holiday every fortnight. Besides that, every Friday is also a heaven for us as we normally take bus, the pink-mini bus from the Rumah Pangsa to Centre Point in KK and the usual activities are either watch movie or bowling (or for the nerdy me... go to public library and window-shopping in CD stores... remember the sliding door CD store in Kg. Air anyone????).

The usual suspect who's always bowl are Cikgu W and liangmoi and of course the sound-system Lai. The others are going for movies, tingtongdiam (amusement centre) or busy paktoh.

And the old bowling alley in Sdk was recently revived its operation after the cinema next to it was reopened and it becomes a hub for some activities there. A restaurant was in operation, Le Champ? The bowling alley was called Champion Bowling or something... betul kah? The only qualm I had is the score board was not working and the scoring was done manually on a piece of paper on a clip board!!!!!!!!!!!!! How turn off it is right??? Well... we played still.....

This was the 1st time I played with liangmoi there and you can see the scores were pathetic. We were barely hitting 90 points and liangmoi even................. 2 times.............. hahha........ Sorry liangmoi for spoiling ur reputations here......

This one was the latest, dated 27th July 2007. As you can see, the score of me and liangmoi has improved but the star is definitely Cikgu W. He hasn't playing for the last 10 years and his points are consistently exceeding 100 points!!! Well, I made my record as well cox I never bowled high points like 142 that I got. I got 2 consecutive strikes though missed the chance of getting a turkey but a spare after that is not that bad huh? I'm not a skillful player so I'm very much contented with this score, which explained why I got a low 89 the 2nd game!!!! Haha.... speaking of consistency huh?

Xiao Yu - Ah Yue (小宇 - 张震岳)

Ah yue always strike me as someone who's good at ballad or touching songs. Surprised? Many will be influenced by his other noisy, loud and lyrically-offending songs but he has lots of slow tunes which melt hearts. Yup, many tend to remember his catchy 爱的初体验 （若你是我的洗发水。。。） or 分手吧 or the song tat catapulted Li, Xin-Jie back to singing, 自由 (zhi you), the offensive 放屁 (Fang Pi - Fart)，我要钱 (Wo Yao Qian - I Want Money) or Free Night or 干妹妹 (Gan Mei Mei - God Sister), or the 18-SX ones in 0204 but his real captivating songs to me are always the slow numbers. His voice sounds quite sad but not too-over-the-top kinda feel, suits me well. His early works such as 秘密 (Mi Mi - Secret), 勇气 (Yong Qi - Bravery), 在凌晨 (Zai Ling Chen - Dawn), 爱我别走 (Ai Wo Bie Zou - Love Me Dun Go), 我会想念你 (Wo Hui Xiang Nian Ni - I Will Think of You) are some of my favourites and testaments to his versatility in his music talent.

He wrote many songs for other singers as well. Most of them were well received though many didn't realize it's actually composed by him. 我给的爱 (Wo Gei De Ai - The Love I Gave) by 杨乃文 (Yang Nai Wen - Faith Yang) and Let Go by Sandy Lam 林忆莲 are my favourites.

Xiao Yu - Ah Yue (小宇 - 张震岳)

总有些惊奇的奇遇

(there's always some magical encounter)

比方说当我遇见你

(such as meeting you)

你那双温柔剔透的眼睛

(your gentle crystal clear eyes)

出现在我梦里

(keep coming in my dreams)

我的爱就像一片云

(my love is like a cloud)

在你的天空无处停

(floating without stop in your sky)

多渴望化成阵阵的小雨

(hoping to turn into drizzling rain)

滋润你心中的土地

(moisturing the land in your heart)

*不管未来会怎么样

(no matter how the future will be)

至少我们现在很开心

(at least we are happy now)

不管结局会怎么样

(no matter how the ending will be)

至少想念的人是你

(at least the one I miss is you)

我不会把它当作游戏

(I will not take it as a game)

因为我真心对你*

(because I treat you true from my heart)

总有些话是不能提

(there's always some unspoken words)

怕你会表露选择题

(afraid that you will make a choice)

我把情感自私的那一面

(I put aside my selfish side of my feeling)

隐藏在黑夜里

(hidden in the darkest night)

我的爱就像一片舟

(my love is like a small boat)

在你的心湖无处停

(floating without stop in your heart)

寻寻觅觅一个美丽的港湾

(looking for a beautiful harbour)

希望不再流浪飘荡

(hoping not to wandering ainlessly)

repeat *

我想真的跟你在一起

(I really want to be with you)

如果你还是没法相信

(if you really cannot believe this)

真的没关系

(it's really ok)

我会安静的离去

(I will leave silently though I won't leave my B)

老土的歌 (An Old Fashioned Song)

孤獨的夜哨 (Lonely at the Sentry Post)

每一天 每一夜 分分秒秒都在想著你

(every day every night every minute every second i'm thing of you)

只恨我 在外島 又是一個孤獨的夜哨

(but too bad i'm in outpost it's another lonely at the sentry post)

口袋裡 你的信 還有你那可愛的照片

(in my pocket, it's your letter and your cute photo)

夜空下 看著海 你在花蓮過的好不好

(under the night sky, looking at the sea, wondering how are you doing in hua lian?)

hua lian is actually a town in taiwan

擔心你有沒有吃飽 擔心你跟別人跑掉

(worrying if you have enough food to eat, wondering you will leave with other guy)

如果你真的要跑掉 麻煩你順便說一下

(but if you wanna leave me, please let me know)

我不要最後才知道

(don't let me be the last to know)

repeat

我不要最後才知道

(don't let me be the last to know)

我不要最後才知道

(don't let me be the last to know)

我永遠都不要知道

(I will never want to know)

You will know by now why I named the title of this post that way as you can from the lyrics of this particular song above, it's so corny and old-fashioned. Made you wanna cringe if it's spoken to you by your lover or partner or bf/gf/husband/wife.

I always stay away from songs with corny lyrics like this, if possible. Some other same examples are most of Ah-Niu's song, 小微 by 阿弟合唱团. But when Ah yue sang it, it gives another feeling and it becoming nice and smile-inducing one. It planted a smile in your face with a tinge of warmth in your heart? Did you? I did. :)

OK - 张震岳 (Zhang, Zhen Yue)

天真烂漫远了，愤世暴冲远了，彷徨迷惑远了，OK 的张震岳，就在这里。

The innocence long gone, the anger long gone, the dilemma long gone. The OK Zhang Zhen Yue, is right here.

Above is the promotional catch phrase for Ah-Yue's latest album. I heard the first song which featured one of my favourite songstress, 蔡健雅. First impression, 思念是一种病 so-so only. However I only got to listen to his whole album, thanks again to my dependable musics supplier, liangmoi. She bought the imported CD from Taiwan mind you!!! Good musics need to support the ori!!!

I played this album repeatedly during my 5.5 hours drive from Sandakan to KK and it was fantastic. The whole album is very old-skool feel (take this from liangmoi) but I guess I know what she meant by tat. It did remind me of old times schooling and free from troubling and complex matters messing our innocent mind. It's something soothing, easing and relaxing. No angry man screaming about the world's injustice, the political games or bad people roaming around hurting people but it's smooth with some tinge of melancholic feel at it. The melody of the songs are not "big-ballad-big-orchestrated-tear-jerking" type so it blends well with the slight sad lyrics. It's definitely in my 2007 Top 10 album.

1. 思念是一种病 featuring Tanya 蔡健雅 (Missing You is a Disease)

This song reminded me of "Where is the Love" from Black Eye Peas. Featuring the vocal of Fergie, the song has the same impact. Lyrics wise, it's talking about love as well. Smooth, nice and catchy. Hm... since when I kinda like rap?

当你在穿山越岭的另一边

我在孤独的路上没有尽头

时常感觉你在耳后的呼吸

却未曾感觉你在心口的鼻息

2. 你说有个女孩 (You Said There's A Girl)

Liangmoi's favourite. The smooth arrangement is very similar as his previous songs but the you can sense that the heavy sound had been toned down and replacing it is some nice vibe.


3. 路口 (Junction)

Sophia's favourite. Hmm.... tis gal had some change in taste I guess. The lyrics are nice but a surprise phrase which is vulgar to some innocent ears haha.... This is kinda a departure from his style which in his previous albums, he used to utter some profanities. The vulgar phrase he used in this song is actually not tat bad to me but maybe to other ppl. You may not notice it even cox it's embedded slickly in the lyrics.

我不想走去你妈的路口

破碎的痴梦丢到马桶让水流

本人依然没救而香烟没停过

抽到我心很痛

深陷沼泥之中没有人救我

手机上都是你曾经留的讯息

你眼神的不耐有如利刃飞过来

瞬间我终於明白

不在为你心痛

4. 孤獨的夜哨 (Lonely Night at the Sentry Post)

this is another post itself. love the song.


5. 再见 (Goodbye)

I think this is an old song but without the lyrics book with me, I can't really confirm this. The whole song has the 70's Mandarin folk song 民歌 feel with it. If I didn't listen to this is ah-yue's album, I would think that it's some songs from 锦绣二重唱 or something like that.

我会牢牢记住你的脸

我会珍惜你给的思恋

这些日子在我心中永远都不会抹去

Ah yue did another version of this song as well, the 11th track of the album which is slower and more 深情.

6. Others

Other tracks were excellent too with my preference given to the above. Of course there's a track collaborated with MC Hotdog and Hou Pei Chen 侯佩岑. Another track with some aborigines children singing as background vocal is a fresh take of his usually guitar-and-drum.

VERDICT : GOOD, VERY GOOD.

The Destination and The Journey

First destination. Tawau. 21km more. Raining. The wait will end soon.

Leaving Tawau. Kinabatangan bridge. The sky's dark and looks like the storm is on the way. Sad?

The no-nonsense military style bridge saves some hassles for thousands of people who cross the biggest river in Sabah frequently. Means that no more ferry waiting queue.

Sandakan the next destination. Hometown. Familiar faces and places.

Leaving Sandakan. Back to KK, the place I'm leaving soon too. Feeling sentimental? Telupid is the rest stop along the long journey. Destination is the final goal but the journey has to be enjoyed too. Remember to admire the nice scenery along the way. The hardship will be gone soon and the sun's gonna shine at the other end.

See... it's not that bad after all. The clouds are just the way I like it.

Even it's drizzling or raining heavily, there's some blessing along the way. Nothing can stop good things from happening. Raining? No problem, the VIVA in front still keep going to get the bride for the groom in Kundasang. Happiness still rules. God bless.

Flooding Everywhere

China is flooding again. The Three Gorges Dam has to be opened its 18 gates to release the water which reached the danger level.

Cheltenham

UK is flooded as well with area Southern London were seriously affected. The Glouchestershire area where my company's HQ's located is one of them.

Glouchestershire

Potter-mania

The final 7th book of the Potter series draw so much attention as expected. I had no interest of elaborating more on the mania-related events around the world with its launch on July 21, which I celebrate the much-awaited D-day for the fate of Potter by watching one of the spin-off franchise, the movie adaptation of the 5th instalment, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix.

My 2-cents worth of opinion:
1. Imelda Staunton is excellent as the veteran-Elle Wood in pinkish ensemble with annoying chuckles ending every sentences she said.
2. Evanna Lynch's Luna Goodwill is excellent. She's the dramatised dark version of the comedic run of Lisa Kudrow's Phoebe in Friends. Works for me. Potter should go for her instead.
3. Cho Chang is the weakest link.
4. No complaints about the movie, entertaining.
5. Didn't read the book as I stopped after the Goblet of Fire. No comparison can be drawn.
6. Ron and Hermione get lesser screen time. Good or bad? I don't mind indeed when they have to share with Imelda and Evanna or other teachers, or Neville for that matter.
7. Brits actors are skilled lot of thespians around and the British accent sounds sexy ever.
8. Emma Thompson's nearly unrecognizable character is again, less prominent.
9. I admit I kinda waiting for the 6th hehe....

Have to mention about the recent hoo-ha about the decision of the 3 main bookstores in Malaysia to draw back the final series from the shelves after Tesco and Carrefour selling the book at a whoopping RM40 LESS than the retail price of the bookstores. The hypermarkets can do that to attract shoppers cox books are definitely not the item they wanted to sell or gain profit from that, even suffering loss on the books. Marketing strategy hard to be disputed I would say. As for the consumer, of course they want cheaper price and all this hoo-ha finally made everything transparent such as how much mark-up the bookstores were imposing and one can imagine the profit generated from all this. However, one has to be fair to the bookstores as well as they organized lots of activities to go along with the final book, as I got invited to the launch Potter party as well, as a member of the bookstore chain here in KK (of course got canceled). On the other hand, consumers had been complaining about the high price of the book made the effort to inculcate reading habit getting tougher amidst all the other form of leisure activities nowadays. Just like "grandpa has grandpa's logic, grandma has grandma's reason" 公说公有理， 婆说婆有理

We Are A Secular Nation

Quoting the Alliance Memorandum to the Reid Commission on Sept 27, 1956 that said, "The religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion, and shall not imply the State is not a secular state"

My own interpretation is that we are secular nation.

Hate Mail - Pre-Internet Era

My neighbour got this hate mail 3 years ago, if my memory didn't fail me. It was delivered without stamp or need no fibre optic whatsoever but just some plain "magic color (any of you late 70-ers or early 80-ers remember that term? it's ranked higher in the hall of fame of all the coloring tools, way higher than the messy crayon and above the normal boring color pencil!!!!!)"

This piece of art above now will be called graffiti, which has been transformed from a mere act of vandalism to the highly regarded genre of art and self-expression and managed to find its place among displays in museums or as a part of the charm of a neighbourhood and testament of the freedom of self-expression.

Vital Data of the Graffiti Art Displayed Above :

Location : wall, 1st floor stairs, block %, beverly hills phase # (exact location not revealed to protect this work of art)

Style : expressionist (not abstract painting here cox it's pretty obvious the message)

Method : once glorified magic color

Artist : one of the friend of Del who got scolded by Del's mommy

So how about hate mails nowadays? It's stuffing your mail box though the nuisance is less impactful since most of the free mails nowadays offer more than 1GB storage but our ever reliable (insert Malaysia boleh and super cynical grin here) TM Net, still offer a pathetic 2MB of storage for its streamyx and tmnet users!!!!!!!!! Talk about 500 times the size? Way to go TM Net!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday Blessing

Monday used to be dreaded by me. Now it's a reminder for me of a wonderful weekend I had and also a motivator for me to look forward to the coming weekend, which in this case I am sure that it will be a fantastic one!

Great week ahead to all of you out there too!!!

Paris Je Taime

PARIS JE TA'IME

This is an ambitious project, combining effort of 18 directors around the world trying to do a 5-mins story based on different area around Paris, the City of Lights or in the premise of this film, the city of love. OK, spoilers ahead.... dun blame me for revealing each of the story line but I will keep the twist unrevealed.

1. Montmartre - Bruno Podalydes

The area reminded me of one of my favourite movie, Amelie from Montmartre. Simple story with the male lead comparing his lacklustre love life with the parking lots in Paris. It planted a smile in my lips watching how the Parisian park their cars, just as how notorious is the Italian driving.

2. Quais De Seine - Gurinder Chandha

Taking a cue from the recent "hijab" wearing controversy, the story is simple yet beautiful about a gal in hijab with a budding relationship with a local boy. The story blends in the element of tolerance and also the stereotypical look at the Muslims and their lifestyle.

3. Le Marais - Gus Van Sant

2 boys met in the artsy-fartsy area of Paris and engaged in a one-sided monologue. Feelings felt but communication failed them. Satirical look at the language-barrier but effectively captured by the famous director known for its introspective view.

4. Tuileries - Joel & Ethan Coen

Helmed by the extremely funny brothers and Steve Buscemi as the leading cast, this is one of the funniest story. No city portrayal is complete without a story in its tube (UK) or underground train and in this case Paris with its metro. Funny look at the dependence of travel guide book as well. Avoid eye-contact in the City of Love? Ironic.

5. Loin Du 16^ - Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas

Catalina Sandino Morela, Oscar nominee for Maria Full of Grace helmed this simple look at the class difference of the Parisian, touching story about a mother who left her own child at nursing care home to take care of the children of the rich-suburbia family under the direction of the Brazilian Salles.

6. Porte De Choisy - Christopher Doyle

One of the quirkiest contribution, from the reknowned 'cinanized' Aussie, a regular cinematographer for Wong Kar Wai, 杜可风. Nice color and image complimented by a stylised story telling of a Chinese neighbourhood in Paris strongly themed on self identity. Blond or black?

7. Bastille - Isabel Coixet

The most melodramatic contribution about a man who wished to dump his wife but ended up nursing her till her death after knowing her terminal illness. "By acting like a man in love, he becomes a man in love again" Sad.

8. Place Des Victoires - Nobuhiro Suwa

For me, it's the weakest and dull contribution though was perfectly saved by Juliette Binoche. About a mother who lost her son and how her grief affected her family. Binoche is as engaging as her performance in Breaking and Entering. William Dafoe cameo as the imaginary cowboy.

9. Tour Eiffel - Sylvain Chormet

One of the contribution I loved most. Cute little boy with enormous school bag talking about his parents who are mimes. Classic French feel with strong dose of Charlie Chaplin essence.

10. Parc Monceau - Alfonso Cuaron

Nice little story with twist revealed only at the end with Nick Nolte as the lead. This Mexican director captured the tense in this smart story with the casts walked all the way only to find out that the suspected scandal was not as it is, indeed it's a father-daughter and her lesbian lover. Smart.

11. Quartier Des Enfants Rouges - Olivier Assayas

My fave actress Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in this as an American actress filming in Paris and her yearning for the street gang member who provides "substance" for her. Gyllenhaal charmed as usual.

12. Place Des Fetes - Oliver Schmitz

Very touching story about a black man and his dream-date which he wanted to have a cup of coffee with. Sad ending. Funny thing is the lame dialogue/pick up line used.

man : Can I massage your feet?

gal : Why would I let you do so?

man : Because it hurt. (pause....) You were running in my dream all night. (Lame or not?)

13. Pigalle - Richard LaGravenese

No city portrayal is complete with its red light district though it's not Amsterdam that we are talking about here. Aged couple trying to spice up their love life by having a little rendezvoux in the red light district of Pigalle. Sweet ending. Nice song too...

14. Quatier De La Madeleine - Vincenzo Natali

Most "different" with the Gothic outlook with the Sin City or Gotham City feel thrown in about a backpacker (Elijah Wood) falling in love with a blood-thirsty vampire.

15. Pere-Lachaise - Wes Craven

Oscar Wilde's grave was the star in this contribution with Emily Mortimer and Rufus Sewell as the lead. Nice dialogue pondering on love. Watch out for a cameo of Alexander Payne as Wilde.

16. Faubourg Saint-Denis - Tom Tykwer

Natalie Portman is a such a joy to watch in this sweet and romantic contribution about a blind guy who reflects on his past relationship after a call from his girlfriend (Portman). Made me wanna look for Tykwer other works.

17. Quatier Latin - Frederic Auburn & Gerard Depardieu

With Gena Rowlands, it's about a meeting between a couple who's in the process of getting a divorce reminiscing their now-dead relationship and their respective current partners. Nice dialogue and Rowlands expressions are just priceless.

18. 14^ Arrondissement - Alexander Payne

Another favourite of mine about an American mail-delivery woman who saved her money and visit Paris to practise her badly-Americanised French. Ends up loving Paris and having Paris loved her too. Who won't love Paris, the City of Love? Moi for one, love Paris and B.

Another great thing I love about this movie is its theme song La Meme Histoire by French Canadian Feist. It's perfecto... ohhhh pardon my Italian.

B, Paris Je T'aime. It's where I want to be.

Kota Kinabalu in Focus

KK-Kundasang

KK-Kundasang

Pine Resort

La Sallians in Focus II : Sandakan Gang

The guardian of the Benildus House and Stella Maris hostels (standing from r : Bernard, Emily) and the prisoner of both hostel (sitting from r : Elena and CK)

All La Sallian (from L) : Kelly (few days La Sallian), Li Shoon (old La Sallian), Mavis (经典 La Sallian) and CK

Sitting (l-r) : Kent, Kent's wide, CK, Elena

Standing (l-r) : Emily, Bernard, Yee Yin, Mavis, Megan, Esther

The original casting as previous photo plus Chu Ket Ting, sitting far left.

La Sallian in Focus I : Jing Wen

Sophia and Jing Wen

As part of the searching campaign for the 2008 La Sallian Form 6 reunion, we are tracking down some of the "long lost" La Sallians. We are not the first one to meet with Jing Wen this year as Erin did that couple of times but since it's my first meeting with him after "discovering" in Merotai about 4-5 years ago, I decided to post about our meeting with him.

Sophia and me take the opportunity to meet him during our outstation trip in Tawau and we were so grateful that Jing Wen (JW) took the trouble to meet with us. He had to take a bus from his working place in Merotai and stay a night in Tawau before taking early bus to go back to his work place again. We were so paiseh as we didn't know it will take him such a hassle to meet with us.

Jing Wen and me

We had dinner in a nice place called Pumpkin Cafe (thanks B for the direction) and the place served nice porridge and yu shang @ raw fish though it's not available on that day. Had a nice conversation with JW and updated about each other's latest news. It's great to meet up with some old classmates and friends. We managed to get some contacts of previous classmates from JW so I guess there'll be other La Sallian featured soon.

Run with Mr.Run-Wit-Me

Read the post of the 2007 Sunset Charity Run account by my partner-in-crime [click here]

Die Hard 4.0

Watched this with Run-Wit-Me and Sophia, rushing after the run. Though I was tired like mad but the movie is entertaining. Very entertaining indeed. No-brainer fun watching the bombing and blasting fiesta full with cornily funny dialogues.

Sunny Sunday - A day after the "Sunsetless" Sunset Run

Sorry my friend, the sun shine so brightly today but the run is not today. Anyway, the sunset also not that nice... hope tat's a consolation for you.

Or you can admire the sunset on last year's sunset run below!!!!

taken in 2006 sutera harbour sunset run

Hmm.... would be nice to watch the sunset and KK is definitely blessed with lots of places to watch the sunset, the Tg. Aru beach, the Anjung Senja, the Bukit Padang peak. Will definitely watch it all one day B.