Country Kid

I've been to 5 major cities in Australia, enjoyed every single one of them. Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns. I think I'd like the pace of life in the smaller cities (Perth, Brisbane, Cairns). You have amazing scenery, slow lifestyle, great food, nice changing climate. Farid's over in Perth now. Should be winter there, maybe transitioning to spring later on. I wish I were on holiday. Perhaps in the future... Kathy and Elaine have said we should do a trip in time to come, perhaps Uluru eh (Ayers Rock).

Anyway, Perth. Its a nice city, the one they say dies after 5pm. Pretty true. But I suppose that gives you more time for people instead of using it for shopping and things for yourself. It strikes me as a quiet, peaceful city area. The Margaret River winding through. Oh, and Cicerello's if you're at Mandurah or Fremantle. Fresh seafood. There's something very different about the Fish & Chips you get over in Oz and the Fish & Chips you get here. One major difference is the servings. Try going to LJS here and you get a meagre thing that looks more like a fish stick than fish & chips. Haha. That adds to the charm of Australia and Perth.

Coming back from Sydney earlier this year and seeing all these travel shows to Sydney made me feel that there was soooooo much I didn't get to do and see. I would've loved to have walked across the Harbour Bridge again, climb up to the pylon open for tourists, gone to the botanical gardens, walked around the opera house more and the list continues. At least I'll know what I want to see the next time I go now that I've been there recently. The last time I went was in 1994. I mostly remember Nana's 80th birthday and the numerous birthdays in March that we celebrated in Aunty Dah's northshore home. And how can I forget Boris and Stephy, their dogs?Oh, and Uncle Bob bluffed me that there was a dinosaur in his backyard. Even as a young kid back then, I knew that they didn't exist though. Haha. I remember Aunty Tina buying me a paint set over a helicopter toy too, cause I insisted on it.

Sydney's an interesting metropolis. Next time I go there, I want to attend Hillsongs church. Hopefully I'll be able to drive and can rent a car there to get around instead of relying on public transport. Places like Glenmore Park didn't seem to have much public transport coverage. But its such a big place that you can't expect public transport to serve every single street, unlike here.I loved Sydney. I doubt I'd ever make my home there though.


The recent trip down was my first time to the rest of these cities. Brisbane was another interesting city, kinda like Perth in a way. In the sense that it is a city, but lacks that metropolis feel. Its very different to say, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. You get a busy feeling when you go to such cities (ala Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Washington DC). Brisbane probably feels like some small city in the country like Melaka or Portland maybe (never been there, but trying to find something to compare it to).

The CityCats added a nice touch to the city as well. Great way to see the city too! As they say, you haven't been to Brisbane if you haven't been on the CityCats. Excellent way of getting around. Locally, they'd be similar to our bum boats, just that the Brisbane River is way wider than the Singapore River and able to accomodate bigger boats and I think it seems to lie lower than the Singapore River does. And the Brisbane suburbs were quiet too. Not too far off from the city either.


Melbourne I loved too, maybe more so than Sydney. It seemed to have more character than Sydney did. Culturally, it seemed more vibrant than Sydney too. And it was more compact. Not in the density sense, but it wasn't as sprawling as Sydney was.

Then there's Great Ocean Road in driving distance from Melbourne too. GOR was magnificent. Truly a wonder from God.Words can't describe how awe inspiring it is. Especially when there happens to be a storm out in the sea and the huge waves come crashing against the cliff faces. I don't think you can see that and come away saying that there is no creator. Could man ever think of there being such a beautiful sight?


How can you not love Cairns? Its not really a city at all, but feels like a small town. Quiet, not much traffic or too many things going on. It was rather serene. You feel like you could walk down the middle of one of the streets without getting hit or run over and with people playing guitars or singing here and there, the atmosphere was rather welcoming. You could walk along the Promenade at night and just feel very relaxed. Land constraints here porhibit the availability of such places. Go to East Coast Park, Pasir Ris Park or West Coast Park and you're able to see the lights of freighters on their journey. Not just one, many.. Unlike Cairns where you see maybe one or two boats here and there on their way to the Great Barrier Reef and beyond.

I suppose deep down, I'm more of a country kid that loves and appreciates smaller towns over large metropolises. Why do they appeal to me? Maybe because I simply like taking things slower? Maybe because I don't like feeling as if I have to be constantly busy with something. I think it'd be nice to sometimes just lay back and stare into the sky looking at the clouds or the stars, only that its somewhat impossible here with the climate and development we have here. What is your preference? Country or Metropolis?

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Reality TV season is hitting town

Its reality TV season again. The Amazing Race Asia joins the list of reality TV shows debuting next month. 10 teams across Asia will once again compete for the prize of US$100,000. That's a heck of a lot of money to be competing for in Asia. What would you do with such a large amount? That's about S$130,000? And since you're a team of two, you get about S$65,000. You'd be taxed for that for sure, but even so, you'd still have quite a bit of money left. Personally, I'd invest some (read: save). And spend some learning how to drive.

Anyway, 1988 babies, next year (if they have another season) we're eligible to send in an audition video. Anyone who does so, let me know yeah (read: Maurice Ong! Do try sign up)? For this season, they're promoting it as the toughest race yet in the series. Looks to be a good season. This cast is somewhat like season 2's cast - rather funky. Also, they don't have as many caucasians on the cast this year. Personally, I feel that they give something more than us Asians do since they're generally more liberal with how they express themselves (not saying that you can't find Asians like that). But as this is the Amazing Race ASIA after all, you can't expect too many caucasians now can you?



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Summer of Love Cycle

I guess "Singapore's Best Dressed Cafeterian" will be hitting screens a little later after all. Meanwhile, I wonder what possessed Tyra and the producer of top model to go with this theme for the cycle's promotional and publicity materials. It looks all hippie-ish and retro. Apparently, I've heard the promo theme is "Summer of Love". It only lasts long enough for the promo period only though and is never brought into the competition so it doesn't really matter.

The Js look good in there. I'm kinda happy that this cast looks more diverse than other cycles with at least two Asians in the competition. The last Asian we had was quite a kook that didn't really have much to bring to the table. Gina if you didn't know who I was talking about. I like the red-head and the Asian girl next to Mr. Jay based on first impressions. Speaking of the theme this cycle, I find it amusing that this was found in Vogue of all magazines around. Haha.

New cycle, new girls (14 again! yay!). New fights, new challenges. Top Model is coming back soon (and so is SBDC).

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Cafeterians

Coming soon to you, the search for "Who's the top five Cafeterians". Okay, I am so just kidding. Last night the Cafe group had a meet up to celebrate some birthdays and catch up with each other. We probably had our last full meet up a year ago.


It was good to see the rest of them again and find out how everyone's doing. All the girls will now be in Uni. And us guys will be serving our nation. It's a new season for most of us now. But it'll also be a good experience for sure. Looking forward to the next stage. We had a good time during dinner and having "dessert" at the Vivo City roof top. Glad that they were happy with their presents. As one of them said, it was like Christmas. Haha.


And we decided to do a whirlwind trip around the globe. Our first stop was Pisa to visit the Leaning Tower. Looks hillarious eh?


And then we went all Egyptian in Egypt visiting the Sphynx and Pyramids.


And we ended part one of our tour in Paris by visiting the Eiffel Tower. We'll be back next time with part two of our tour to the African Savannah, Big Ben, the London Eye and Statue of Liberty among others. Had fun meeting up with you guys. Must. Meet. Another time yeah?

-LIVESTRONG!-
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WALL-E

It hasn't opened here yet but I've managed to watch the movie. Twice. It's uber cute. A must watch! It'll be here some time next month. So do go catch it if you can. All the details that they pay attention to are awesome.



This is WALL-E. His name stands for Waste-Allocator-Load-Lifter (Earth class). His duty (directive) is to clear and compact any rubbish on earth into cubes and stack them up neatly. Over the course of time though, WALL-E (pronounced Wally) has developed a sense of curiousity - even as he compacts rubbish he is fascinated by many different things. Also, WALL-E is both the last WALL-E robot and the last robot operating on earth.



This is EVE. Her name stands for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator. Her job is to see any form of plant life outside of the spaceship the Axiom. In order not to spoil too much of the story, I shall not explain what the Axiom is or why EVEs are needed. Anyway, she is the robot that one day mysteriously lands in WALL-E's terrain.



This is MO. I loved MO! His name stands for Microbe Oblirater and his duty (directive) is to clean and make sure that the Axiom and its 'bots are cleared of any 'contaminant'. MO provides a certain level of comic relief to the show. Loved his small squeeky voice. Also, MO can't move his arms individually due to his cleaning element in between them, so when he shakes hands, he needs to move both his arms which is quite funny.

Other things to look out for in the show would be the robot called BURN-E. I'm not sure what his name stands for, but he's the welding robot on the Axiom. He's a small detail, but the fact that they even developed him just shows how much attention to detail they pay.

Music-wise, the tracks kinda surprised me. Early on in the show, there's a segment which sounds like its down right out of a thriller movie. But all in all, it was done really well and I enjoyed the movie since it was so cute. WALL-E should get a 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. Actually, it does get that score.

-LIVESTRONG!-
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Cycle 11 promo

While some say that the silhouttes are fakes, this is apparently an official promo from The CW which uses the same silhouttes. Either its an elaborate hoax or its really the actual picture of the girls. That remains to be determined. We'll probably see the cast reveal next month.

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More Cycle 11 pictures

Fantastic! It looks like we have 14 new girls this cycle. Look at the shoes on the last girl to the right. Platforms? Wedges? Whatever they are, they remind me of the 10-inch heels during the judging challenge in cycle 6.


I've heard that the theme for this Cycle's promo is "Summer of Love". From the silhouttes though, it looks like they're following this year's Australia's Next Top Model 008 with the Bond girls theme. That's just by looking at the silhouttes though. The real pictures could be different. Cycle 11 is just over 2 months away. Keep your eyes peeled.

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ANTM Cycle 11

This post contains spoilers on the upcoming cycle of America's Next Top Model, so be careful what you read if you're an avid viewer of ANTM. You wanna be on top? Cycle 11, year 6 for the Top Model series where Ms. Tyra Banks gets to choose another model whose portfolio isn't as strong as her competitor's to win. Tyra, yer getting predictable... And the show too commercial. But whatever, it gives us something to look forward to and bitch about.


Your first picture of the "panel" during casting auditions. Some 30 or so girls will pass through here and they'll show a few interesting ones, some who've "gone through a lot" or "seen every hurt possible". And then some funny girl comes on and starts dancing which intiates a whole sequence where every dance is played in fast forward motion and several girls are shown dancing at once in a multi-screen fashion (last season it was Stacy-Ann). Anyway, enough sarcasm. The casting set looks fantabulous as do Ms. and Mr. Jay. In this case, they are known as the Alpha and Beta Jays. I'm still kind of muddled on who is Alpha and who is Beta though.

Tyra looks good too, in that shot. Ok, so they all look really fab, but how will the girls do? Not so good for some. There was one whom Tyra got really mad at for simply wanting to go on ANTM cause "she sees it on TV and thinks she can do it". You can bet that she's got a big chance of not making it to the next round, whatever that will be (usually top 20 round). I wonder how many girls will get to go into the house this time round. Last cycle there were 14 with the surprise place going to Dominique. Also, last cycle was the first time since cycle 4 that there were 14 in the house.


The international destination this season is *drum roll* Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Tyra wrote a note saying that the pictures you see are not to be believed and that she may be on vacation in this location. She goes on to elaborate that she will be with the Jays, Nigel and Paulina Porizkova on location to film the next cycle of America's Next Top Model. Nice cover up girl. This is apparently during an international go see.



She looks pretty modelesque doesn't she? America's Next Top Model Cycle 11 comes to you on September 3, 2008. Only on the CW and YouTube.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

I know. I'm living under a stone right? I just watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last night. Like, delay by nearly 3 years Jon? But I was blown away by it. Its just a pity that I never did watch it on the big screen. Hopefully there will be a few more movies and then I can perhaps go for the marathon that they'll have before the final movie.

Before I go into how I liked the movie, here's an update for those who don't know what's coming next. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian came out this year and I think its doing quite well in the cinemas due to the success of the first movie. A third movie will come out summer 2010, which is The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of The Dawn Trader. After that, there should be at least 2 more films - The Silver Chair and The Last Battle. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking of how epic the films will be.

Now diving into a bit of history.... The order in which the books are now labeled does NOT co-respond to the chronological publishing dates. Two lists for you.

Current book order (Narratively correct):
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. Voyage of The Dawn Trader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

Chronologically published order:
1. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. Voyage of The Dawn Trader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

I could go on on how each book was related to each other, but I'll save that for another post some time. I've digressed enough as is.

The movie really brought the story alive for me. And I appreciate how the director stayed really true to the original script - like down to Edmund's liking for Turkish Delights. And I think it was done up really well. Even the acting wasn't too bad. Perhaps the only thing that was not realistic for me was the battle scenes and the lack of gore and blood. With such epic fight scenes, one would expect Peter's sword to be a bit more blood-stained than was shown. However, I do know that this was a movie more targeted at children, hence the lack of that sense of realism.

Apart from that, the soundtrack also blew me away. It's quite chilling really. My favourite tracks would be "Only the beginning of an Adventure", "The Battle", "From western woods to Beaversdam". They're all fantastic and the composer did a fantastic job. So did the editors in using the music to make the scenes jump out more at you. Fantastic job you Narnian-make-it-come-alive people. Love the movie.

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