Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum-Moore said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum-Moore said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum-Moore recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.

Interesting observations

Quite a few of my university got or are getting married this year. And I have a few observations which I find to be interesting.

1. They are not walking down the aisle with the person whom they were dating during university days, which were only 5 years ago.

2. They were with their former boyfriends / girlfriends for quite some time, at least two or three years

3. The person they are getting married to is someone they have dated for less than two years

These led me to think, are their biological clocks ticking? What's the hurry? Also I know for sure there are no "accidents".

I really don’t know.

True, the length of time of a relationship is no guarantee that it will end in marriage. But surely, it must have meant something too.

Or could it be that their university relationships somehow have taught them one of lives greatest lessons about their preferred qualities in a partner that they applied it and found the person to marry soon after?

Anyone care to share your thoughts?

August update

I just came back from Bali on Saturday. It was a really wonderful and relaxing vacation for me. I enjoyed the beautiful culture, food and the friendly people.

There were still many Caucasians there. The bombing in Jakarta recently did not seem to deter them.

I am still in holiday mood. I will post up more about the trip soon.

Barhopping

There were a few friends who were down visiting from KL, namely DH, Alexander and JL. So I met up with them and brought them to this restaurant called Hachitei which is in the CBD area to avoid the weekend dinner crowd.

DH who doesn't drink beer, practically went orgasmic when he found out that the restaurant has this Japanese beer called Suntory. This is the only beer that he drinks. Apparently, it can't be found in KL.

We ordered 3 bottles and I have to agree that it is very nice and smooth.

DH hasn't been to the clubs here and he was quite keen to check out the scene. I haven't been clubbing for a long time and I wasn't too keen on it, but I changed my mind.

We practically did the rounds all in one night, except for Play. We were at 8 Cafe for drinks, followed by Tantric. Tantric wasn't really our thing as it was way too crowded and there were a lot Caucasians. We could barely moved in that place. And I didn't realize that there is quite a number of gay expats over here.

Next up was DYMK. The place is pretty nice and cozy for drinks. My friend was gaga over the straight Laotian waiter. All of them thought that he was quite cute but I thought he was OK. I prefer the other guy behind the bar.

We headed to Taboo next where everyone was already partying. It was only my second time there. The crowd here is mostly on the older side, as in above 20 as opposed to Play. I had an enjoyable time as I had a pretty good buzz in my head. Danced a little, but the music was not really my type. Probably should go when they have their monthly Handbag Party nights (which I learn are Kylie and Madonna kind of music, instead of techno).

The way I see it, yesterday night was more for catching up with some friends and just enjoying myself. DH and I had this mutual friend, whom we probably knew at around the same time 5 years ago. This was indeed a surprising tidbit of information. It just shows how small the gay community is.

Reached home at 4 in the morning and fell into my beauty sleep.

Singapore Science Center

I am still alive thank you very much.

Anyway, I was busy entertaining Nyk when he was around the second week of July, amidst juggling my workload. There were a few reports due during the week he was here, but it all turned out quite well.

We didn't do much outing this time so that he won't complain of walking too much till his feet hurt. We only went to the Singapore Science Center to see the Da Vinci exhibition.

The exhibition was quite interesting. They constructed many of his designs which spanned the fields of physics, mechanics, war machines, flying machines, etc.

There was also the photograph of the Mona Lisa. Apparently, by using current technology, some guy managed to reproduce the original Mona Lisa the moment Leonardo da Vinci finished painting it. They extracted the base paint, sans all the restoration paint work performed over the years.

The original looked so much more vibrant and there are really a lot of details which couldn't be seen in the current state. The current one has aged paint with a yellowish tint, which definitely pales in comparison to the original.

Oh, and da Vinci was most probably gay. He had a relationship with his young apprentice and he was always surrounded by men.

After that we went home and rest for a while before heading the airport. Unfortunately (or was it fortunately), his 7.40pm flight was delayed to midnight. We requested for the next day's flight instead. So we got to spend another night together.

And off he went the next morning.

Homowives

I came across this article. Really quite sad what gay people have to go through to keep others happy. It is a delicate balance and difficult choice between your own happiness and that of others.

All of these are taken from Yawningbread.

For most gay men and lesbians in China, revealing their sexuality to their families is unimaginable. Parents expect their sons and daughters to produce heirs, an obligation that has become even more intense in a society where single-child families are the standard.
-- New York Times, 14 June 2009, Gay festival in China pushes official boundaries

The story also told about cover-up marriages like Huang Jiankun's:
To assuage his parents, he orchestrated a fake wedding to a lesbian friend, but eventually the truth came out. “The problem is when you lie, it becomes connected to another lie and you can’t keep it up,” he said.

There is a blog, in Chinese, about the predicament of wives of gay men.

Below is the translation in English.

Caring about homowife

I attended a forum that discussed the problem of “homowife”. The so-called “Homowife” (tongqi) is the wife (qi) of a homosexual (tongzi). It has been said that China has 20 million male homosexuals, of whom 80 per cent would marry a woman. These women are the “homowives”, and there would be 16 million people.

The homowife phenomenon is a phenomenon characteristic of China, seldom witnessed in other countries. In other countries, homosexuals would remain single or live together or marry other homosexuals. Very few would contract a heterosexual marriage. This difference comes about because Chinese culture places such a great emphasis on marriage and reproduction, as to make them compulsory.

During my visit to Hungary, I found out that only 10 per cent of people of marriageable age got hitched. The rest fell into three categories: single, cohabiting (living together), LAT (lovers who live apart). In this kind of society, homosexuals do not have any need at all to enter into a heterosexual marriage. People would not gossip about them and parents do not apply pressure. Unfortunately our Chinese culture is oppressive with its dictum on men and women having to get married when they reach a certain age and naming the lack of progeny as the most serious breach of filial piety – "there are three kinds of unfilial behaviour and the greatest is have no descendant". It thus forces a community of male homosexuals to marry women to have children.

The situation of the “homowife” is extremely tragic. At the seminar, there were homowives who burst into tears as they spoke, leading all of them to hug each other for a good cry. Most days, they wash their faces with tears. I heard what I considered the most shocking testimony that from a woman who told of how she even doubted her ability to attract men -- why wouldn’t her husband even want to look at her or touch her? Am I really that unworthy as a woman? She assumed that all men would treat her like that, not knowing that this is far from the truth. She did not dream that her husband would be gay. Under the circumstances, even the most beautiful and accomplished woman would not arouse him.

Homowives have started to get organized in an effort to help themselves and help others. They have started a website and a helpline to assist fellow women who have fallen into the same predicament.

Their highest priority is to prevent women from marrying homosexuals, help those who suspect the sexual orientation of their boyfriends to analyse their situation better; and in the event that the other party is a confirmed homosexual, to persuade the woman not to proceed with the marriage.

Secondly, they would like to extend a helping hand to those women who are already married to homosexuals and who would like a divorce. This includes helping them to make up their minds, relieving the pressure on them and reduce the financial and psychological damage that comes with divorce.

Thirdly, they would like to address the problems of homowives who do not want a divorce for a variety of reasons. This would include helping them to analyse the cost of keeping such a marriage going, how to communicate with their husbands and how to get along with their children.

They proposed a slogan: “Homowife ends with me”. This slogan is full of hurt and also extends concern to those who may follow in their footsteps. The slogan gives one a feeling that it is a noble cause.

I hope the majority of male homosexuals do not enter into heterosexual marriages any more and spare a thought for the feelings of the homowife.

Life, friendships and July

Nyk was getting a bit wistful yesterday about friends lost and made. I suppose that is a fact of life that we have to accept - that friends come in and out of our lives all the time.

In different stages of life we would have different interests and activities and understandably, the people that we acquaint with would be different. Over time, we would have grown and move in divergent directions; we would have moved on to newer and other more exciting stuff.

But of course, this is not always the case. There would be that select few who would be with us for a very long time. Who would see us through the different stages in life and our ups and downs. Those that might even know us better than we know ourselves.

Even in this age of communications technology, its availability doesn't mean that it would be meaningfully utilised to keep in touch. The tools are all there and precisely because of that it is taken for granted. Everyone is just an email, phone call or text message away but sometimes we forget or are too lazy to use them.

There would also be others who would appear intermittently in our lives. They come in and out of lives. They reappear a few or many years later. But somehow we could still reconnect with them; there is still that bond of friendship. It’s like they have taken a break and came back from it.

I understand how he feels. I had that feeling a long time ago. Come to think of it, there are not many people whom I meet often. It is always the same group of people. They are the important people in my lives right now.

They may or may not be in the future but I guess the most important thing now is to treasure the friendship and not let it deteriorate.

Work and family takes up most of his time. Especially his mom. She has her mood swings and her mood significantly affects Nyk's mood.

Things are not balanced. One need to spend time with other groups of people too. The bonds of friendship can nurture and invigorate.

Perhaps all these negative energy points to something deeper. There could be something lying beneath it. Possibly feeling stuck in the rut? Midlife crisis which arrived much earlier?

Or maybe it is something as simple as the blues. Everyone gets it sometimes. Even I do. But this time it seems longer than usual.

There is only so much I can do cheer him up. Would like to just meet him now and make him feel better. I do feel powerless as I am not beside him now. This is one downside of long distance relationship which infuriates.

Hope you feel better soon dear. He is coming down in early July, so I am thinking I might have my work cut out for me if he is still not alright.

But of course, the sooner the clouds lift the better.

Community service

My company has this annual community service thing whereby staff volunteer to spend a day or more contributing back to the community. I signed up for it last month and it happened on Friday.

The expected activities were cleaning, repairing, painting, that kinda stuff. Luckily for me, there wasn't painting involved. I know painting could be fun but really, I don't like the mess produced. And painting is less fun when you have to do a decent job of it. It is another person's house after all.

The beneficiary of these activities are underprivileged kids, defined as not doing so well in school and who come from a broken or troubled family. Mine was a 11 year old girl with a single parent. She has two older brothers. We were supposed to help make their home more conducive for studying.

Anyway out job was to help clear her stuff. They live in a one bedroom HDB. Living space is already pretty cramped but it was made worse by the countless and endless boxes of stuff stacked high from wall to ceiling. They must have at least 50 boxes of stuff.

The mom had at least 5 boxes of clothing, some of which were new but never worn before. She also had at least two dozen bags and handbags wrapped in plastic. There were more than a few sets of plates, cups, saucers and other kitchenware. She had a box full of perfume for an unknown number of years.

How she got those stuff? From years of collecting and keeping the things she received from relatives, friends, neighbours. Or even good and usable stuff which she picked up from wherever.

There we were, 10 adults helping her sort through her mess for 5 hours. We had to convince her to part with her belongings. We told her all the usable equipmend would be donated to the Salvation Army. We then had to separate the things that she wants to keep from those to be discarded.

All in all, I think we managed to achieve our target. We removed at least half of her stuff and rearrange the living room. Boxes were stacked nicely and there was more floor space. We donated a study desk and computer table to them.

There were a lot of moving and carrying of boxes and bags. We had to carry the items onto a lorry which shipped them to the Salvation Army in Bishan.

In the end, the mom was visibly happy and thankful for our help. Apparently, she had tried to clean up on her own but it wasn't as productive. That was understandable as she would certainly be hesitant to discard the stuff that she had painstakingly accumulated over the years.

She thanked us profusely for making her home more spacious and cleared up the clutter.

As for me, this wasn't what I expected when I signed up for it. Clearing up stuff didn't seem to be much of a service, but judging by their gratitude, we seemed to have contributed something meaningful into their lives.

It is not much but our little service made a difference.

Male penguins raise adopted chick

Interesting news from around the world. Taken from the BBC.

Two "gay" male penguins have hatched a chick and are now rearing it as its adoptive parents, says a German zoo.

The zoo, in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, says the adult males - Z and Vielpunkt - were given an egg which was rejected by its biological parents.

It says the couple are now happily rearing the chick, said to have reached four weeks old.

The zoo made headlines in 2005 over plans to "test" the sexual orientation of penguins with homosexual traits.

Three pairs of male penguins had been seen attempting to mate with each other and trying to hatch offspring from stones.

The zoo flew in four females in a bid to get the endangered birds to reproduce - but quickly abandoned the scheme after causing outrage among gay rights activists, who accused it of interfering in the animals' behaviour.

The six "gay" penguins remain at the zoo, among them Z and Vielpunkt who are now rearing the chick together after being given the rejected egg.

"Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their 'Easter gift' and got straight down to raising it," said a zoo statement.

"Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do. The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for and feeding their adopted offspring."

Humboldt penguins are normally found in coastal Peru and Chile, but their numbers have been dwindling due to overfishing, reports the AFP news agency.

'Drive to mate'

There have been previous reports of exclusive male-to-male pairings among penguins, some of which have also included the rearing of chicks.

Homosexual behaviour is well documented in many different animals, but it is not understood in detail, says Professor Stuart West, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford.

Professor West says it has been suggested that homosexual activity could serve various purposes - for instance, it may relate to social bonding and establishment of dominance among bonobo chimps, while in some bird species, females may come together to rear young.

Other animals may simply exhibit a "drive to mate", while others may, like humans, enjoy non-procreative sexual activity.

"Homosexuality is nothing unusual among animals," Bremerhaven zoo said on Wednesday.

"Sex and coupling up in our world do not necessarily have anything to do with reproduction."

Terminator Salvation

I managed to catch Terminator Salvation on Sunday. It was better than I expected. The action scenes were great and exciting. Haven't felt this kind of adrenalin rush from a movie for quite some time.

You don't really have to know much about the earlier Terminator movies to follow the story. I would highly recommended it.

The next movie which I really want to watch is Up, Pixar's movie for this year. It's the highest rated movie I have come across on IMDB. Nine out of ten stars.

A logical voice

It's amazing that even after the AWARE EGM on 2nd May, the issue still hasn't died completely. I suppose the Christian fundamentalists really stirred up a hornet's nest when they decided to steeplejack AWARE.

I can't remember who said it, but he said something about he didn't speak up when groups of people were taken away, in the end there is no one left to speak for you when it is your turn.

And if this source is to be believed, the mother-daughter team is deeply involved in a very fundamentalist organisations based in the U.S. I would think that this warrants a more detailed look than Siew Kum Hoong - Swiss connection.

A Reply to Letter by Dr Thio Su Mien dated 18th May 2009, taken from the author's Facebook.

Dear Sir,
It is with amazement that I read Dr Thio Su Miens letter "Gay activists a key constituency of Aware", published on the 18th of May 2009. As a responsible heterosexual member of the public, I feel that it is my duty to respond to her diatribe.

I find the fact that Dr Thio believes that Aware are pushing a pro-homosexual agenda terribly disturbing. To my knowledge, the homosexual lobby in Singapore have never had any political agenda, focusing instead on their right to acceptance in society for who they are, and as noted in the recent 'Pink Dot' gathering, on their right to select their own partners. It is a matter of deep concern that so distinguished a member of our society should display such intolerance towards the sexual inclinations of others. As a law student myself, I find it equally disturbing that a former dean of our law faculty, who must in her time have taught many of our current lawyers to critically appraise what they are told as facts of evidence, should now hold such bigoted and inflexible views herself.

Also, it is deeply disconcerting to note that Dr Thio believes that homosexuality be viewed as negative in the education system. The fact that Aware took a neutral stance when dealing with the issue, is highly laudable. It is with great pride that I say that as a Singaporean, one of the key social values I was taught during my school days was that of acceptance. Education is not about skimming over what some might deem as unpleasant fact, but about giving youth information and the power to make informed decisions over the course of their lives.

I do not understand how the CSE manual's description of anal sex, conditions the minds of teenage students towards acceptance of homosexuality when this is also practised by heterosexuals in the privacy of their own homes. Is Dr Thio oblivious to this fact? To immediately equate the two with one another is a direct admission of an agenda against the homosexually inclined.

The old guard received the vociferous support they did not because it was among their aims to promote a homosexual agenda, but merely because they accepted that certain people were inclined differently. As a 'discerning Singaporean' who has also examined the evidence in print and online accounts, I have come to the conclusion that the purpose of the 'ex-new exco' was to attack a group of people whose sole intention lay in obtaining acceptance of their status as people and not as societal non-grata. If we were to accept her argument that the old guard had a homosexual agenda, then we must also accept that Dr Thio and the group she claimed to have mentored, had an agenda based solely on their religious beliefs. This is eminently borne out by their pastors statement on the pulpit calling on his congregation to support the 'ex-new exco'.

I have always been under the impression that all religions were inclusive, and not exclusive, of human frailties. Given the plural nature of Singapore's society, it is unthinkable that a group consisting of people from a single racial background pushing a single religious agenda, represent the views of our racially diverse and secular populace. We have always been an accepting and tolerant society. The outcome of the whole 'Aware Saga' fills me with hope that we will remain so.

Akesh Abhilash

Leftward or upward?

I was at Borders yesterday and saw this book called Bonk.

Looks interesting and I flipped through the pages. An interesting paragraph on the the erect penis caught my eye.

According to a Taiwanese doctor who specialises in penile implants, when the penis is erect the most common direction is to the left. This was followed by downwards, left and finally upwards. Sort of like anti-clockwise.

Indeed, this is a startling observation for me. It basically contradicts what I have observed.

From my limited *ahem* experience and the porn that I watched, I have the impression that facing north is the most common one. Thus far, I have only seen one that points left and the rest all point upward.

Anyone else care to share their empirical observations? ;p

The power of words and fear

It is very difficult to change one's mind if you have already decided beforehand that you are right and gay people are sinful and plain wrong. You will disregard all facts that are contrary to your view.

In addition, it's not enough that you think that you are right, you want the society at large to have the same thoughts and opinions as you. The weapon of choice: fear. Stoke fear that the children are being taught about homosexuality; that anal sex is a neutral word.

Those poor innocent children! Everything and anything must be done to protect them! If not, they will turn out gay!

Obviously, that presupposes that homosexuality is spread by the word of mouth. Like how you convert people other people into your way of thinking. If only it was so.

They who have use the power of words to gather support and spread paranoia are of course wary of it. But hardened minds who think that homosexuality is a choice fail to understand that it is not. Hearing and repeating the word gay doesn't make one turn gay.

Just like how if I say the word heterosexual one thousand times make me want to place my privates into a woman's down under.

But of course you want to admit that you are wrong and irrational would be a great humiliation. Never mind logic, the book says homosexuality is wrong means it is wrong. Never mind that the cold hard evidence shows otherwise.

Because when one start doubting, the whole system of belief begins to crack. The stand on homosexuality is one small part of the belief but ultimately it still is part of it. Admitting a mistake is tantamount to doubting the whole belief, which has taken years to develop and solidify in the cerebral cortex. It would crumble their confidence as no one willingly admits they are wrong.

It is just incomprehensible that someone who is smart enough to be a doctor or a lawyer could be wrong.

But didn't someone say to err is human. Oh wait, that wasn't in the book so it must be not true. So they could not be wrong.

I can understand that they have worked hard to get up on that high moral horse of theirs, surely they are very afraid to fall from it.

That is why when they are afraid of science. Science questions everything. Ideas and hypotheses are always being tested by other scientists. You said this is true, let me try to replicate it. There is a check and balance. You said this is possible, then please show it to me.

But who checks what they do? Who do they answer to when they spread fear and tell lies?

Nobody. They can get away with it because they believe that sitting on a horse gives them the right.

And they are unhappy when the people around them throw horseshit to their faces.

Ramblings, sunny hot weather

The common topic of complaint/whining for the past two weeks was the weather. I was already sweating the moment I stepped out from the shower and into my room.

Nothing much has happened over the past three weeks since I came back from KL. It was basically more work and work. Though I did manage to finish this gay novel called When You Don't See Me. It was quite good but the ending was a bit flat.

Though I quite enjoyed it, I didn't think that it was gay enough. It was mostly about Nick, a 19 year-old living in Manhattan who lost a loved from September 11. He dropped out of art school because he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. Very real people with real problems. Probably I was expecting more drama and excitement; I don't know.

I am now reading a book on cognitive dissonance. It is an interesting aspect of human behaviour whereby we always justify one idea when two opposing ideas exist. It shows that we are more governed by emotions than logic when it happens. An obvious example would be George W Bush continuing with mobilisation of more US troops to Iraq even when it was obvious that there was no WMD.

Meanwhile, the AWARE saga over here has me really riled up when I read the news about the new guard. An example of my own cognitive dissonance.

On a side note, I haven't been watching many movies recently and there are quite a few great movies now like Revolutionary Road and Taken.

There is a long weekend coming up and I really forward to it.

Handsome suit

There is a happiness which you can never have unless you're being yourself - taken from the movie Handsome Suit.

That movie was more enjoyable than I had expected. It was a friend who organised the movie outing. If it was me, I wouldn't have chosen it.

Basically it was like a Japanese version of 300 Pound Beauty, only that the protoganist is a guy instead of a girl. How an ugly guy was given the chance to try out on a suit (which looked like the Michelin Man) that could transform him into a slim and gorgeous looking guy who is popular with the ladies everywhere he goes and eventually become the hottest male model in Japan.

When Takura had to finally decide between choosing between his original self who is a great cook, loving and always cheerful and Anni, the model superstar who could have the greatest happiness surrounded by adoring fans, the audience could really sympathize with him. Being ugly means he has to put up with people making fun of him, discrimination and sometimes subjected to downright cruel treatment from the rest of society.

The truth is that sometimes beautiful people do get away with things. They seemed to live better lives. But Takuro realized that being treated nicely by people he doesn't know or adored by fans is not what makes him happy. It was his customers' satisfied smile, his friends' jokes and his assistant's infectious joy; all the little happiness in his life which he truly treasures.

It's a little reminder to wake up, look carefully and smell the roses.

Overall, a good movie with a timeless message packed with humour and comic situations. Go catch it!

Good Friday

I haven't been blogging for some time now. I have quite a bit of things to pen down but somehow they were never written.

I was back in KL for the Good Friday weekend. Got a chance to finally meet up with a friend who was back from the U.K. for holiday. It was wonderful to see him again after four long years and thus far non-existent U.K. trip. I really want to go to U.K., probably next year, as I haven't been there before.

Mostly my time was spent with my family. On both Saturday and Sunday, my dad took us out for lunch which was almost an hour's drive away. That is one hour too long for me. My dad is a foodie so this kind of things happen quite often.

We had lunch at the foot of Bukit Tinggi on Saturday, where we had fresh river fish and cheap dishes. Sunday's lunch was in Sungai Besi, this restaurant tucked away in an industrial area but was featured before on a good food television program.

Nyk came over for a swim on Sunday. Admittedly I didn't get to see much of him this time, but we did what we could. I will only be seeing him next in 6 weeks' time.

Nyk is pretty stressed at work, so here's wishing that your work goes well dear.

A week with Nyk

Nyk was here last week. It was great to have him here for a week, though I could only take 2 half days off. I think it was a little exhausting for him as we did quite a bit of walking on some of the days.

He arrived on Monday evening and we went for dinner at Eatzi. The food wasn't that great, but it was passable. The next day was a very busy day for me as it was the quarter end. So he had to spend the afternoon wandering about in Tanjong Pagar with James.

On Wednesday, we went for the Henderson Waves trail again. Think the whole trek from Harbourfront MRT to Hort Park is about 5 kilometers. Nyk was complaining that his feet ached thereafter.

Before that we had lunch at this place called Fre(n)sh which serves French food. He had a quiche and I had tartines. It was really quite good, though slightly on the expensive side. They had set meals throughout the day though and those are more worth it.

I got the chance to savour Nyk's cooking on Thursday. Even with the very limited available condiments at home, he managed to make do and came up with chicken chop, herbal soup and vegetables. It was really quite nice and satisfying to eat a meal cooked by a loved one.

On Saturday, we went to Botanic Gardens. My only time there had been two years ago. We spent the whole morning there and then proceeded to Shaw Tower for an affordable Thai meal.

His timing to visit me at the end of March couldn't be better, as it only coincided a little with my busy period. The week before was absolutely crazy as I had to stayed back for the whole week. So I believe that we did spend as much time as possible in that 5 days he was here.

It was really comforting to come back home to have Nyk waiting for me. I am sure he feels the same. It does make me yearn more for an actual home for the both of us.

I suppose the emotional and physical benefits of a relationship is more important that anything else. My god brother asked me the other day, how do you know that your partner is the one. I replied, you don't. A relationship is hard work. There has to be a lot of communication and giving. Of course the giving part is done willingly.

To me, love is supposed to make me want to become a better person. For him, for me. I think one of the qualities I have improved on is patience and to start with, I am not a very patient person by nature.

All in all, we had a very wonderful time last week. You should come down more often, dear.

Manhunt Singapore 2009

I didn't have time to blog anything this week, so I will leave you guys some pictures I took from Manhunt Singapore 2009, held in Heeren for the past three weeks. The finals was just held yesterday.

I didn't manage to take pictures of all the participants; only those that were in my view as it wasn't easy to move around the crowds surrounding the stage. The pictures are also not cropped, my apologies.

If you noticed that there is one person that appears a lot in the pictures, he is the winner for this year's Manhunt. His name is Yu Hao.

And I do have the most pictures of him. Of course it wasn't intentional and I had no idea that he would emerge the winner. I do agree that he is cute in a boyish way. He looks the most scrawny amongst the other beefier and hunkier contestants. According to reports, he has been hitting the gym to beef up and there is improvement in his body since the preliminaries.

But my personal favourite is Jason Chee, the one in the final two pictures. Those yummy abs and he has this hot tattoo his right shoulder. Drool.

Different approaches to deal breakers

Love has found its way into two persons I know. I am happy for both of them. One has been searching for some time now and the other is his first ever relationship.

Speaking of the former, she has a very different view on starting a relationship from mine. To me, the getting to know each other and dating stage is the most fun and exciting. Everything is new and fresh. We learn about each other slowly, probably starting from 20% on the first meet and progressing to a higher level of intimacy.

But after two failed relationships, she prefers to go straight to the point. No more starting from zero and progressing from there. It starts from 70% (the most embarrassing details / weakest character / most annoying traits) are shared right at the beginning. Then only they move on to the smaller details.

I was quite shocked that she would do that. But then I remember it is not that much different from those who prefer to have sex first, found out that wow sex was great, then only consider the other person for dating as steps 1-2-3. To some people, sex is the most important thing and that condition has to be satisfied first before moving on to other things.

So to start with the thing that is the deal breaker first is very practical. No point going further ahead who knows how long, possibly weeks and months ahead to find out that the deal breaker really breaks the relationship.

But to me, where is the fun in that? I know that the dating process could be long, it could get tiring if it doesn't work out and we have to start all over again.

There will always be people who don't make the cut for us but they could be perfect to someone else. Different people value different things. It may take twenty wrong guys before the right one is found, but that should not stop us from trying.

Maybe I am just a true believer in love. That even though it may hurt and the search could be long, but I believe that ultimately it is worth it.

I still remember when I first started to meet people from online. I had to repeat the same things about myself over and over to different people. It did feel tedious and pointless sometimes, but I liked the feeling of getting to know more about other people's lives, their likes and dislikes, personalities etc.

It is the journey that matters, not the destination. It is cliche and very Buddhist, but that is how I see it.

It is like shopping. The more you want something, the higher the anticipation. You talk about it, you dream about it, you crave for it very much. It is all part of the journey.

But once you buy the desired item, the feeling changes. You got it and the feeling of satisfaction can only last so long, probably a month at the most.

Of course I am not saying that things go downhill from there. I just feel that it is best to take things as they come; to go with the flow.

Still, to each his or her own. As long as it works. Thus, I sincerely wish both of my friends the best of luck and lots of happiness.

Weekends whereabouts

I usually spend one weekend days outdoors and the other indoors. I like to spend time doing my own things like reading or watching some movies I download.

However, I have not been able to have this luxury for the past 6 weeks. On Saturdays I usually go to the gym right before noon and then meet up with William for lunch followed by a movie. Although William is back in Washington now, my Saturdays are still busy with outings with friends (my birthday celebration two weekends ago) and buffet lunches (last weekend).

On Sundays, either I would have a tuina session which will take the half an afternoon followed by board games or I would be in the office.

Not that I am complaining. I feel like I am getting to this new weekend routine. Previously I was recharging my batteries by staying at home and lounging. But now I am unwinding in a different way.

Sometimes, I feel like it wasn't even a weekend at all. Or that the weekend seems to zoom past faster when I spend time out of home.

I just feel like I am constantly doing and not enough time to just slow down. To reflect and contemplate.

Anyway, I have been hitting the gym at least twice a week. There is a noticeable difference in that I feel more energetic and not as tired even after a long day's work.

I suppose that's why some people just can't get enough of gymming; this boost of energy level actually feels good and could be addictive. Hence there are people who visit the gym almost every day.