Undressed

Came across these from another videos from another blog. They are a series called Undressed shown on MTV. You have to pardon the old TV kinda look and the fashion sense, because it was shown in 1999.

Taken from Wikipedia.
Undressed was an anthology series that followed the relationships (both sexual and romantic) of young people, often high school or college students. The series was notable for featuring both heterosexual and homosexual characters and relationships and controversial for its frank depiction of sexuality among characters who are often under the age of 18. Each season had several recurring characters with each episode focused on two or three specific characters with plotlines presented as interleaved vignettes. Undressed ran for 6 seasons.

Of course, this being a gay blog, the episodes below are consistent with who I am.

Enjoy, folks! And yes, there are some nude scenes of the cute teens. And oh my, lookie! I just wrote a phrase of rhyming words! LOL

P/S If the guy in the first two clips looks familiar, he's the straight guy pretending to be gay in Eating Out.

On the first day of CNY ...

I am now back in Singapore. Came back yesterday evening so that I can have a day's rest before starting work on Monday.

I think my brain will need some time to defrost from the holiday mood. Heck, technically it's still the holidays as Chinese New Year is 15-day long. I heard from a friend working in Taiwan that they actually got the whole of last week declared as public holiday.

I went back to KL two Fridays ago. Took half day leave as my bus was the 2.30 p.m. one. I was expecting long queues at the immigration and expected the Singapore-KL journey to be delayed for at least two hours, but luckily I was wrong. There was practically no one at both sides of the immigration. Traffic on the highway was smooth as well.

Thus, I was arrived back in KL at half past five. Some of my friends who came back after work hours on Friday had to suffer 8-10 hours of traffic, both human and vehicular.

As soon as I reached KL, I had a craving for nasi lemak. Truth be told, there is no good nasi lemak in Singapore! I thought of Madam Kwan's in Midvalley, and thus my best friend and I were headed there.

As luck would have it, Madam Kwan's was closed. So was Oh Sushi! And so was Dragon-I. Hence we made our way to Little Penang Cafe instead.

After dinner, Nyk finally showed up and we headed to Coffee Bean for two more friends to show up.

We made some small chat and I was all over him.

The two appeared half an hour later and we sat there till the cows came home. Not really, we left about half past eleven as some of them had to work the next day.

New Year's eve was a no-no for going out. I stayed home the whole day and looked forward to the reunion dinner.

Reunion dinner dishes were a bit different to previous years. We had fish, roasted duck, some vegetables, ah chat and prawns. There wasn't soup or chicken this year.

Chu Yi (First day of CNY)
Nothing much happened. Nyk came over in the afternoon for a while to spend some time with me.

At night, went out for mamak with a friend who is flying off to Australia to fulfill his PR requirements. He is going be there for two years and his company would be missed.


Chu Erh (Second day of CNY)
Went back to my grandma's house, as is the custom for my family. We usually go back to my maternal grandma's house on the second day of CNY.

Luckily my younger cousin who is married didn't give me any ang paus (red packets with some money) this year. It so embarrassing to receive it from her when she did last year. Instead I gave some money to her children.

At night, I went out with some friends for dinner. I wasn't feeling so well; feeling hot and feverish. Went to yam cha at Wong Kok OUG. Came home and took some Milidon before falling asleep at 3 a.m.


Chu San (Third day of CNY)
Didn't go out either. YF (my ex) came to visit after FFK-ing the day before. I really wasn't in the mood to see him, but it turned out to be quite an enjoyable evening with him. He was telling me about his current boyfriend and how the boyfriend was freaking straight in all aspects. The strong silent type.

That was followed by a schoolmate dropping by and also Nyk. We took a can of beer each and went down to the pool side to chit chat. We had mandarin oranges and basically just had a good time talking till two o'clock.


Chu Shi (Fourth day of CNY)
Dinner plans at Itallianies at 9.30 p.m. But it was changed to Kuchai Lama food court instead, which was very near where I live.

As I would be starved to death at half past nine, Nyk and I had dinner at this vegetarian shop. I had been there before with another friend who is vegetarian and the food is quite good.

After that, we walked around a bit at a shopping place nearby to kill time and then proceeded to the food court. There were four others already there, Apollo and defiant, CK and his friend.

Talk, talk, talk, they went home as they had to work the next day. The two of us went to some mamak nearby to do more talking.


Chu Wu (Fifth day of CNY)
This was the most happening day for me. Went to visit my ex-babysitter at 1 p.m. Then I had to meet up with ex-colleagues in SS2. This was followed by a trip to Subang to visit the same group of ex-colleagues. Then two of them came to my house for a short visit as they drove me home.

At quarter past six, Nyk was waiting for me to go for dinner. My colleagues left at the same time. He and his wife were generous enough to give me 6 ang paus; five were for my other colleagues in Singapore.

We went to Xenri for dinner. The price is slightly on the high side but the food was good. The bill came to about a hundred and I said there and then that we should come only for the lunch buffet (forty ringgit per person).

Next stop was Bangsar Shopping Center where we watch the premier of Ah Steve.

I have never watched any of de Silva's work before and from what I heard, his works are quite good. Overall it was an enjoyable play, which was about an hour long and not 90 minutes as stated. Acting was commendable all around and Carol Wu as Ah Steve's sister was more outstanding than the rest.

I think it hit home more for Nyk than it did for me. A cocktail of Catholicism, Mother Mary, Chinese culture, transgenderism and a My Little Pony (does anyone still remember the cartoon?) and we have a heady mix of hilarious and spot on observations on the peculiarities of Malaysian culture and human behaviour.

After the show, we went to another group of school mate's house for a round of card-playing, which was followed by another mamak session.


Chu Liu (Sixth day of CNY)
Nothing eventful except for visiting a junior schoolmate's house. Time stated was 7 p.m. but I was the only one there from 7.30 till 9.

My friend's dad forced everyone who came to his house to finish a can of beer. If not, he would sit there and watch you till the guest do, no matter how long.

Scary right? LOL

Nyk came to pick me up at 10 p.m. and we spend a little us time before I go back to Singapore the next day.

And now I am back here, dreading tomorrow when tonnes of work beckons.

The Year of the Fire Pig arrives

I was flipping through the paper's yesterday and noticed that the Year of the Pig has become the Year of the Boar. All mention of pigs have become boar. The newspaper that I am specifically referring to is the Star.

I have grown up with pigs being called pigs. Boars are the wild versions of it, and this is confirmed in Wikipedia.

In addition,
The term boar is used to denote an adult male of certain species, including, confusingly, domestic pigs. In the case of wild pigs only, it is correct to say "female boar" or "infant wild boar", since boar or wild boar refers to the species itself.

Adult males of the following species are known as boars: badger, bear, guinea pig, hedgehog, panda, pig, prairie dog and raccoon. The corresponding females are called sows. Names for the young are more variable.

Maybe I am just reading too much into these little things. Or maybe I am right and that it is indeed a conscious decision by the editors of the Star.

Anyway, Petronas ads have becomes some sort of a mini story or short movie and almost synonymous with festivals. They have become a staple every time one of the major festivals come around.

Apparently, there's two ads for Chinese New Year this time

This is ad 1.

The second one is this.



Quite nice, isn't it? It has mass appeal, with a message that love can overcome anything. Even can pass off as a Valentine's Day ad.

But then, I remember seeing this ad not too long ago.



As I was looking online for this advertisements to post, I came across 2006's CNY one, which I honestly don't remember seeing last year. Most probably I missed it.



Between last year's and this year's, I think I prefer last year's.

Anyway, wanna wish all my readers a very Happy Chinese New Year! May the Year of the Pig bring lots of joy, success and prosperity into your life. All the best in your respective career and studies.

May all things good come to you. Be good, be wise, be healthy, be wealthy and be fabulous!

Cheers.

Something to warm the cockles

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and everywhere I went there were straight couples all around. And of course, there were also the ubiquitous sight of straight men holding flowers.

What's so special about a day where bloody everyone else is doing the same thing? Ain't love supposed to be between two people, something personal to be shared between two people?

Oh wait, I forgot. These are straight people. They love to conform to the majority. They like to show the world when they have a girlfriend / boyfriend through grand weddings and celebrations.

They're just suckers waiting to be milked to the max. One meal on Valentine's is equivalent to at least three meals on a normal day. Flowers cost 5 times more. Restaurants throw out the usual menu and have Valentine dinner sets.

I am not trying to be cynical or anything, but I think it's just plain silly. I am being pragmatic, that's all.

Anyway, this is something taken from Trevvy, which I think is way cool and to be consistent with the post title.

On some Saturday nights, observant patrons of Taboo – one of Singapore ’s foremost gay joints – will notice that a youthful-looking girl with a winsome smile is the last to leave the club. No, she’s not the janitor. She’s Amy Chia, and she’s waiting for her husband to finish up so that they can leave together. You heard it right: husband. Just last Tuesday, Amy registered her marriage to Deren Teo, one of Taboo’s bartenders.

What a cool queer tale. It was a star-crossed night in late 2005. Amy was bar-hopping along the Tanjong Pagar stretch, Singapore ’s gay district, something she does quite regularly. “I have many gay friends,” she explains. “And I like clubbing in gay clubs because we’re all like sisters. In straight clubs, whenever guys come up to you, more often than not they’re trying to hit on you.”

How ironic that she should be dragged to Taboo by a friend, where Deren was mixing drinks behind the counter. “I was a bit drunk then,” Amy confesses, “but I still noticed that this guy was making eyes at me!” She grabs Deren’s arms affectionately.

“I thought she was quite chio”, Deren acknowledges with a bashful smile. (Chio is the Hokkien word for “pretty”.) “So when she bought drinks, I peeked at her credit card to find out her name.”

Noticing the sparks between them, their friends tried to bring them together. Though they were physically attracted to each other – making eyes at each other in the club from across the bar – things didn’t work out that night. “You must realise that I was half-drunk!” Amy laughs.

Mutual friends saved their budding romance. As luck would have it, Amy’s friend was dating Deren’s colleague. Permission was asked by proxy for her number. This permission was freely given by Amy, who found Deren “very cute”. They arranged for their first date, which was held at – you guessed it – Taboo. After a fruitful night getting to know each other in the company of many mutual friends who functioned as “mei niang” (Mandarin for “matchmakers”), they headed back to Amy’s apartment for a few drinks.

Love was quick to blossom between the two, but Amy is quick to clarify that there were “no fireworks”. Instead, theirs is a sweet tale of familiar love, filled with such sweet treats as telephone calls till daybreak. “It was nothing phenomenal,” Amy admits, “but our lives just grew together.” Deren continues: “We’re just very comfortable with each other. I love Amy’s company.”

When quizzed about them, Addie Low, manager of Taboo, reveals that they were very discreet about their courtship. “I didn’t know till six months later!” Addie complains in a mock-offended tone. “But I’ve come to realise they’re very suited for each other.” It is with his blessings that they move into their conjugal life: for the marriage registration ceremony, Addie stayed up the entire night before to personally design the flower arrangements.

Although Deren is now a married man, he has no plans to discontinue working with Taboo. He started bartending with Taboo four years ago, when he was still a student at the National University of Singapore. “My family knows that I work in a gay bar. They’re okay with it,” says Deren. “And of course Amy is okay with it.”

“Most of our good friends know about our story,” Amy points out. “In general, many straight people can be very homophobic, or have typical conservative misconceptions about gay people. But when they say something that is extremely offensive, I will put them in check.” Deren, for his part, invites his straight pals to Taboo so that they can check out the gay scene. “Most of them are actually very interested about gay things,” says Deren, “and they leave with a good impression of gay people.”

Gay men and straight men have more in common than you think. “Sometimes girls come early, and sit at the bar. When my staff members see a girl that they like, they will suddenly become very flirty and coy,” laughs Addie. “Their coyness will override their manliness.” According to Addie, Deren’s boyish looks and guileless charms have won him scores of admirers, many of whom sit at the bar to flirt with him. But Amy won out over the rest.

Amy and Deren plan to take it slow in the coming few months. They haven’t ruled out the possibility of holding their banquet at Taboo. “But we’re completely broke!” they lament, referring to their recent purchase of a flat in Bishan. So if you see them around in Taboo, don’t hesitate to offer them a hongbao to show your support for this unconventional couple.

It’s the same old story, just with a different setting: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy marries girl. The rest, as they say, is history. And it’s good that in a gay bar, at least some of us – albeit the straights – are finding love. And if you’re alone this Valentine’s: remind yourself that if a guy and a gal can get it off in a gay bar, a guy and another guy can do it too.

No gaiety in family

The letter below is taken from the Sunday Star.

Isn't sweet that they're together for 5 years already? By most gays' standards, that would be like an eternity. My own relationships, none has lasted more than a year.

But of course, there are exceptions. There are those who have been together 20 or 30 years.

And of course, most of us would like to have someone to love and be loved for life.

Notice how the introduction go. Why must be introduce himself by saying he is straight-acting? Why no one ever says they're gay-acting?

Oh wait, the couple is still very much in the closet.

Which is why I think that Thelma's advice is very reasonable and wise. He should meet more people and expand his social network, built up more confidence so that he can learn about himself and the world better.

The two of them is so deep in the closet, judging by the letter!

Read from somewhere, if you want to stay in the closet, make sure it's comfy and don't complain it's dark. Or something to that effect.

Still, I wish the author and his boyfriend all the best. In the relationship and his studies.

To all those couples out there, may you be happy and together as long as possible. To all those singles, please do not be desperate. Good things come to those who wait.

May the Year of the Fire Piggy brings lot of love luck!

############################

I AM a very straight-looking 20-year-old guy. Many of my friends say I am good looking. Ever since I was a young boy, I've been gay. I just love older guys.

My boyfriend M, who is double my age, loves and cares for me very much and I know he is a good guy.

We met through the Internet and have known each other for five years. I even furthered my studies away from my hometown to be with him.

We are a loving couple who love the simple things in life. We do not go to pubs and keep to a small circle of friends. We do not have any gay friends and are two straight-looking men.

My biggest problem now is my family.

My siblings are dead set against our relationship, especially my eldest sister who has even threatened to harm my boyfriend. Even my mum does not want to understand me. Only one of my elder sisters is understanding and she knows I am still seeing M.

I am “grounded” and not allowed to see M or go out with him. I am forced to return all his gifts. I am brainwashed to change, to be “normal”.

They even put the whole blame on M, accusing him of influencing me to be gay. I have tried to explain to them that I was the one who started it all and wooed M.

M is a professional and I know him well. His family knows me and does not mind me seeing him.

My own family is forcing me to go straight and to date girls. I was given two months to change. Otherwise, my family will disown me!

What my family does not know is that I am still seeing M. M and I love each other very much.

We plan to migrate when I am older. When I was studying abroad, M took care of me. He has advised me to be strong and patient, and to remain faithful to my family.

Only when I am older and mature, I think, will they finally give up or understand that this is not simply another phase of my life that is forced upon me.

What I do not understand is why people are so discriminating towards gays.

Why does my family put so much pressure on me?

Why do they go so far as to threaten to disown me?

Forcing me to do things that I dislike will only make me suffer for the rest of my life.

To Be Or Not To Be


M is right. Be patient and do not put so much pressure on yourself. Understand that it is very difficult for loved ones to accept that you are different.

Know that they truly want the best for you so do not resent their interference. Accept that it will take time before they can come to terms with your sexual orientation.

Do not force yourself to date girls or try too hard to appear “normal”. You will soon hate yourself for betraying your love and feelings.

Tell your family that you would prefer to concentrate on your studies than get involved in any relationships for now. Prove that you are focused and capable of planning your career and future.

At the same time, there is no harm in building up a network of friends, female and male. You do not have to be alone if you are not with M.

Enjoying a simple life is fine. But isolating yourself from life is not the best way to live.

Do not be so bitter and angry with your family. You are still young and your family must honestly feel that you have yet to know your heart and mind.

You were only 15 when you met M. While you believe that you know what you are doing, you have grown from teenager to young adulthood under his influence.

It may be good for you to be away from him for some time so that you get to understand yourself and your needs better.

Know the world outside your tiny sphere. But be warned that you should not indulge in multi-partner sexual experiences.

Think of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Think of a wasted life trashed by empty sex without love.

You are only 20. Give yourself the chance to flex your wings and relish all that youth can offer.

There is time for love. There will always be forgiveness from loved ones. You lead your life. Do it without regrets, resentment or guilt.

Botanic Gardens run

I woke up early this morning to go for a jog. I haven't been jogging for a while, since Christmas eve. Furthermore, I signed up for my company's charity run to be held next month, so may as well train a little.

The sun was scorching hot at 8. The heat was intense as I felt it on my skin while I waited for a friend to pick me up from the bus stop.

The route that was planned was the Botanics Garden. It's really quite a nice place to run. But then, since I was running, there wasn't time to stop and smell the flowers.

There were plenty of people around. One thing which I have to give credit for is that there are many people who are health conscious here, especially the older folks. There are many senior citizens strolling, doing tai chi, having gatherings or just simply spending time with their family.

What is also interesting is that the Botanics Garden is also a place for joggers. It's pretty clever, come to think of it. Since Singapore is so small and space is scarce, whatever that can killed two birds with one stone is essential.

Since I haven't run for a while, I took the shorter route. The original route is about 7.5 kilometers. I think I only did 6 kilometers.

As not to scare the uncles and aunties around here, as after all Singapore is a conservative society as the politicians like to point out from time to time, there weren't many shirtless joggers, unlike in East Coast Park which is specifically for recreational sports like running, skating, cycling etc.

There is only one shirtless guy which was cute that I saw. Nice body, cute face, not too bulky. Just nice. Too bad I have already stopped running, if not, I would have run after him followed his route.

After the run, we went for breakfast. As it is a touristy place, the food court is also nicer. Quite posh-looking. Luckily, the prices are not overly inflated, just slightly.

Also, overheard conversation from one of the group's runners, "Have you noticed how gay men usually and almost never play contact sports? I have met people who play badminton, kayak, climb, etc but not play football or basketball."

The only girl in the group said, "But lesbians love contact sports. The more contact the better. Or maybe it's just the ones that I know."

Interesting observation really. The gay sports group here, Adlus, has a lot sports on their list, from squash, swimming, volleyball, kayaking, climbing, badminton but NO football and basketball.

Ditto with LPG. Even the Straits Games have three non-contact sports, namely bowling, volleyball and badminton.

I wonder why. Anyone can shed some light on this?

Bad news, dumb people

I dread what the country is becoming into. Day in day out, there seems to surface news and issues of what is wrong with the country.

First, politicians who don't keep promises. IPCMC anyone?

It was supposed to tackle the practice of corruption and inefficiencies of the police force.

True, there are good things about Malaysia. But it is becoming more unsafe by the day.

Taken from Lim Kit Siang's blog:
In the past three years, however, violent crime had skyrocketed by 85.8 per cent from 22,790 cases in 2003 to 42,343 cases in 2006, with rape cases registering the highest increase of 65.5 per cent – reaching an average of 6.7 women raped daily in 2006 compared to an average of four women raped daily in 2003. In 2003, an average of 1.5 persons were murdered daily; but in 2006, this has increased to an average of 1.65 persons murdered daily.

Next up, politicians' intelligence.

Courtesy of howsy

Whatever the connection is between having more wives and HIV ..... I shall not even waste my time trying to see his point of view.

If only HIV can be curbed by such simple measures ... and thinking.

Why, if the husband has the virus and he gets more wives, wouldn't it be spreading the virus instead?

To digress, why can't women have more than one husband? Oh I forgot, this is what we get when we live in patriarchal and male dominated society.

Everything, from laws and norms are usually set by the males, and males in this part of the world are much more conservative and backwards.

It so happens that I was reading this in the morning. The article is about how First Ladies are no longer in the shadows and can make or break her husbands premiership of a country. Names that come to mind are Hillary Clinton and Akie Abe.

Extracts:

Then came Hillary Clinton, with her outspoken views on public policy, and Cherie Blair, the bright lawyer who is no shrinking violet. The rules changed. Political watchers suddenly realised that, in drawing attention to themselves, these women even had the power to influence voters (so much so that Mrs Clinton is now making a run for office herself).

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The invisible spouse has become a political factor. The trend was not so obvious in Asia until the world met Akie Abe, 44.

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The wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is young, glamourous and candid. She has her own blog and has written in a magazine about her struggle with infertility, a touchy subject in Japan.

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All this might have been just a charming distraction, until political commentators noticed an unprecedented development. A series of blunders — which include planting party supporters to ask flattering questions about the premier's leadership and a verbally-incontinent cabinet colleague who called women "child-bearing machines" – have caused Mr Abe's popularity to slip to just 40 per cent. But his wife's charm has cushioned the fall.

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Newsweek estimated that the good press that Mrs Abe has been getting may have boosted her husband's ratings by as much as 20 per cent. "Akie has Japan swooning," a local daily noted.

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In other words, these women will be seen, they will be heard. They will speak their minds about controversial issues and attract both, flak and acclaim. Inevitably, their own image will influence their husbands' political standing.

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On the other hand, Ms Wu Shu-Chen, the embattled wife of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, illustrates both aspects of the tightrope that politicians' wives have to walk. In 1985, she was run over by a farm vehicle during a political tour with her husband and childhood sweetheart, Mr Chen. It left her wheelchair-bound — but her bravery eventually helped his race to the top.

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"I am not the kind of person who hides and sheds tears in the dark," she said.

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But once Mr Chen was in power, Ms Wu continued to stay involved with his political life. She has now been indicted for doctoring his national security account and threatens to drag him down.

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So, what makes a wife an asset rather than a deadweight for a politician?

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The key, said Dr Chong, would be to complement the husband's role without competing with him, or overshadowing him.

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When the Malaysian Premiership was a toss-up between Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Mr Najib Razak, the spotlight fell on their wives, too. Ms Endon Mahmood, the soft-spoken spouse of Mr Abdullah, preferred to stay in the shadows, soothing tempers her husband may have ruffled. In contrast, Ms Rosmah Mansor had a higher profile and was seen as a constant advisor to her husband.

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Political observers said that the traditionalists were more comfortable with Ms Endon and she was deeply mourned when she passed on.

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But politicians' wives like her are becoming more rare as women find their place in the sun. So, what's a modern, educated woman to do when her husband starts climbing up the political ladder? Ms Abe said that she recently discussed this with Ms Laura Bush. "She told me: 'Just keep doing what you are already doing. Just do what you've been interested in'."

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I don't believe everything I read, what more from a Singaporean publication. But just from observation, without any inside information, what was said about the wives of the PM and deputy PM seem accurate.

The Queen

The cinemas here are showing The Queen twice a day. Fearing that it won't be shown anymore, I left work at six sharp to catch the movie at 6.50 p.m. Managed to get to the cinema at Vivocity with an extra 10 minutes to spare.

The cashier was kind enough to let us know that, "There will be advertisements for 15 minutes and the show will start at 7.05." How about that?

I shall take note of this. I think almost all shows at GV has this 15 minute advertisement block, which in my book, is too long.

Anyway, The Queen is an excellent movie, with a superb performance by Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. She totally deserved the Oscar nomination - she was restraint, dignified and solemn in dealing with the death of Princess Diana. That was the way she was brought up, which was to keep emotions to herself. She has to appear strong for her people, duty first and personal second.

And the ONLY way she knows proved to be wrong.

The British public accused her of being heartless and her silence on Diana's death for 5 days was a wrong move. Tony Blair, played by Michael Sheen, helped her to regain the public's opinion andview of her (apparently, 1 in 4 wanted to abolish the monarchy) by managing to convince her to give a "tribute" to Diana, on live TV screened to the whole world.

Taken from IMDB:
It is hard to separate what is fact and what is made-up in this film. Many facts are certain because you see historical footage of the bunches of cut flowers growing in front of Buckingham Palace and the then President Clinton making a statement and many clips of Princess Diane throughout her life. But the many behind-the-scenes conversations had to be invented or recalled, so it has to be part fiction and part fact.

The monarchy is not treated kindly in this film. Prince Philip comes off as insensitive and a bearer of grudges. Prince Charles appears to be weak. Queen Elizabeth II, played brilliantly by Helen Mirren, comes off as reserved and complicated. And Tony Blair, played convincingly by Michael Sheen, trumps the royalty by being real and wise and likable.

The storytelling is compelling. Even though you know what will happen, you are intrigued by how the characters get to their ultimate positions.

In the end, Queen Elizabeth II and Tony Blair display a profound love for their country. It is really a story about public dignitaries trying to do the right thing for their country and their families.

I was especially moved by the actual footage of the mourning and grief of the British public. I still remember exactly where I was when it happened. I was at a hotel for dinner; it was a Prefectorial Board dinner at a hotel in PJ.

I went teary-eyed a few times. As was said in the movie, even though people do not know her personally, Princess Di was well-known and well-liked for her charm and her charity efforts worldwide for landmines and AIDS.

Go watch it, it is highly recommended. IMDB has a rating of 7.7 out of 10. I would rate it a 4 out of 5.

And I promise that the next post would not be another movie! ;P

Babel

I know, it's another movie post.

Since Babel won the Best Picture (Drama) Category at the recent Golden Globes, I thought I would just checked out what the fuss is all about. Furthermore, a local daily here gave it a rating of 5 out of 5. I mean, no movie is perfect, so what justification for a perfect score?

Initially, we wanted to watch The Last King of Scotland, but there weren't any good seats left.

The synopsis, taken from IMDB:
In Gen. 11:9, the name of Babel is etymologized by association with the Hebrew verb balal, 'to confuse or confound'. Babel, through a series of misunderstandings, interweaves the unfortunate circumstances of a Moroccan, an American, a Mexican and a Japanese family. A Moroccan family acquires a rifle to protect their goats. An American woman, on a bus tour with her husband, is accidentally shot, which is in turn grossly exaggerated by the press who are quick to label the incident as a "terrorist attack". The same couple's children accompany their long-time caretaker to Mexico to attend her son's wedding, where upon re-entering the United States face problems. A Japanese widower confronts difficulties in communicating with his deaf-mute teenage daughter whom simply craves human contact.

Sounds interesting, but at a little over 2 hours long, it's a bit draggy. Someone even described it as "deliberately paced low-key thriller". I tell you, it's no thriller. It's a slow paced movie with lots of panning shots, lots of scenes that tried to invoke the atmosphere and immerse you in it, but I feel it fell flat most of the time.

Half an hour into the show, you already know how three of the stories are connected, save for the Japanese one.

It's all about human relationships and how and why people do what they do. About how people in different countries are different, yet similar. We yearned for love, we want to be loved, we try to be the best husband / father / wive / mother we can be.

Out of those four, I only found the Japanese girl story. The Japanese girl is a deaf mute and she longs for affection. She is constantly rejected by boys when they find out that she's mute. She goes to desperate measures to seek affection, doing things that makes her look cheap.

The Mexican babysitter who takes care of the American couples children was I feel, an unnecessary sub-story. With only three stories, more substance and background could have been extracted from them.

The whole concept of seemingly unconnected stories is not new. In Babel, I feel that there was no overarching story. None stood out at all. It comes across more like four different short stories.

Acting was good, but like the stories itself, no one stood out, which would explain why none was nominated for the Oscars.

As to why it was nominated for Best Picture, I could only hazard a guess that this is the year for international flavours and stories. This is quite obvious when you look at the nominees for major categories like Letters from Iwo Jima and The Last King of Scotland.

Overall, I would rate it a 3.75 out of 5. IMDB has a score of 7.8 / 10 and Rottentomatoes rates it 68%.

Unseeable

Turns out that the new guy isn't gay. Or if he was, then he is very much in denial, as he has a girlfriend apparently.

Was supposed to meet Lloyd after work to go a temple. Just as I was about to leave the office, my big boss appeared and we talked for like 10 minutes! So lucky hor?

Went to the temple all the way in Boon Lay. The temple was another 15 minutes from the MRT station. Prayed a bit at the temple. By that time I was damn hungry and tired.

After temple, had dinner. Last minute watched movie. A Thai horror movie directed by Tears of the Black Tiger fame, called Unseeable.

It is an interesting movie, with at least at least a good storyline which makes sense. You know how all those Korean and Japanese ones usually don't when the story draws to an end and the story is left hanging.

The movie setting was in the 1930s, with all the essence and characteristic of that era captured. Very classic style. Even the camera angles and all have a touch of old-style movie making.

I can't reveal much of the plot without spoiling the story. But basically, it's about a pregnant woman looking for her husband and who stopped over at this big creepy wooden house with interesting and creepy characters.

The wooden house creaks and squeaks like they all do in horror movies. The movie seems to be always at night, with day time as bright as 6pm in the evening.

Malaysia is rich in scary and ghost stories, but too bad they are not being taken advantage of. Thailand is doing very well in this and they managed to produce commercial horror movies like Shutter which are memorable and can be marketed to other countries.

Overall, I would rate it a 3.75 out of 4.

I am so glad that it's the weekend again!

Mini updates

Want to update, but no idea of what to write.

KL was on holiday, while I was working. Someone from a recruitment agency called. She said she would call back, but I didn't receive any,

A new guy joined my department. Looks kinda cute. He is my age. Think he is gay, though that could just be me wishing that he was.

Went swimming after work. Had a change of pool, so we went to this pool very near to where I stay. Supposedly more cruisy. But didn't notice anyone cute. Maybe just one, or the most two. But so obvious that there are more gays over here!

Unfortunately, even though the pool is bigger, it seems older and dirtier. So we would probably go back to our usual haunt in Lavender, which is cleaner and newer.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yay! Want to watch a movie and over here, we're definitely spoilt for choice. There are so many movies shown currently, many more than in KL.

Watch Big Bang Juvenile A last Tuesday. Some find it confusing, others understood it very well.

Me? I wasn't as confused as the former was, but didn't completely understand it either. But the somewhat homoerotic scenes, where the camera focuses on bare skin, especially one of the leads ... yummy!