Persona by EML

Secret War Journal[9 March 2013]
Do not be deceived by the name. It is actually a concert.

Comprised of mainly electronic music, it was a performance performed by Electronic Music Lab, a club in NUS. Johnston is a member of the club and he would be performing on some of the songs in the concert. Together with Qi Xiang, Marcus and Meldon, we went down to the school's cultural centre dance studio to support Johnston. Below is a audio recording of the concert. Enjoy! :)
(Note: It is a bit soft, so you might need to turn up the volume. :O)

The Stage

I must admit, that not everyone would be able to appreciate such genre of music. Personally, I enjoyed the song that Johnston performed in (51:40). It is similar to trailer instrumental music. I like such styles, it makes you feel alive. It energies you. :)

From Left: Leroy, Qi Xiang, Meldon, Marcus, Johnston

Zero Dark Thirty

Secret War Journal[26 January 2012][Spoiler Alert]
Chinese New Year is round the corner! Most of my friends have already bought their Chinese New Year clothes but I had not finished my shopping yet. Thus, today we are gathered to get some last minute shopping. Hahas.

With me as advisers are Marcus, Keller, Qi Xiang, and Meldon to accompany me. Originally, I planned to head to Bugis to get a pair of pants for Chinese New Year. I had thought of buying a light brown pants for a very long time, since last year. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up in Ion Orchard. As I had thought about it for so long, I purchased a pair of Chino pants after trying it out immediately. Meanwhile, Marcus and Keller attempted to find clothes to buy too.

When we were finally done, we had lunch at Pepperlunch while Meldon ate out at Subway since he is vegetarian. Keller had to go after lunch for Reunion dinner. Thus, the rest of us went to play LAN without him.

---

Discrepancy

After two hours of gaming, it is time for a movie! Marcus wanted to watch Zero Six Thirty so here we are, heading into the theatre with 2 large drinks and a small-looking popcorn. Without realising we were actually late, causing us to miss out the introduction of the movie. As it turns out, it is actually quite important because the omission of the very beginning took me some time to understand when the movie actually started in.
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Review
--
At this point, I feel that I should include the synopsis of the movie or else I am afraid some people who get lost here. :P
Synopsis
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

- Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/

--
Perhaps the first thought that would come to mind when the movie finishes would be that the movie was a bit too long. Designed to be slow-paced movie to allow the audience to ponder and reflect through the process of finding Osama bin Laden to his imminent death, the lengthy film has a tendency to tire out the audience as they strain their brains for a good 157 minutes. Not very gentle for the causal moviegoers, I would say.

One of the highlights of the earlier parts of the movie would be the treatment of the confinees. Captured terrorists were held in black sites. There, they were 'tortured' and brutally interrogated. Treatments include depriving them of food and beverage, physical punishment and water torture. Tactics such as occasionally being nice to get information were also used to obtain intelligence on the extremist movements. These continued to be used in the war effort against terrorists until President Obama put an end to it due to the public uproar over it.

While it is a serious breach on human rights, let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves: Why did the Intelligence Branches have to resort to such inhumane acts? I am not supporting nor sanctioning such acts but they do have a point, which Kathryn emphasize quite brilliantly. Without the threats that they can issue to the confinees, how are they going to 'persuade' them to leak vital information that would help to prevent terrorist attacks, hence saving countless lives in the process? The principle "kill one to save many" is a cruel mandate but if one is given a choice to kill one to save many or kill many to save one, I believe the answer by most would be the former.

Meanwhile, the movie then goes on with their struggles with obtaining information without the conventional means. As terrorist attacks grow rampant, it became a race against time for the operatives to obtain useful leads to guard against future attacks. On the other hand, Maya, the main lead in the movie, with the help of her aide got hold of a terrorist who seems to be willing to sell the terrorist network out for money. On the promise of information about the elusive network, they decided to meet face to face in a camp supposedly named Camp Chapman. When the convoy comes into the camera view and a sad music plays in the background, you already know full well that the outcome is not going to be pretty. In the end, the informant turns out to be a suicide bomber (no surprise, is there?), killing Maya's aide and a task force with him.

That was a setback that almost broke Maya. However, she instead decided to turn it into a force of hatred, driving her to find the heart of the network and hunt him down, Osama. Not much progress was made until one fateful day, they found the real identity of Osama's most trusted courier. Seeking him finally led them to the whereabouts of Osama and the rest, as they say, was history.

New Year Meet-up

Secret War Journal[12 January 2013]
A new year! Always a good reason to meet up with everyone again. :) Today it is time to do some catching up with 10S101 clique after not meeting them for so long! It has been what, a year since we last met? LOL

Coming today are Debbie, Laura, Lai Yin, and Pei Shi. It was a meet-up that almost took ages to materialise. I guess it was mostly my fault due to the fact that I did not have whatsapp? That did slow down the process on confirming on a date. Compounded by the fact that my work schedule was a big question mark then, not much decision-making could be made then. Things were finally decided when my schedule for January was finalised. Thud, today is the day we decided on.

Apart from me, the rest of them are attending university. It made me feel that I am under-performing at first because everyone else seems to be learning something immediately useful to their future career. I feel so useless since I could have signed up for some class during the weekends. Hmm, on that note, I am currently thinking of taking up driving.
Come to think of it, each of us are pursuing a different degree. Debbie - Business; Laura - Law; Lai Yin - Mathematics; Pei Shi - Psychology. Myself? I am set to pursue a double degree of business and computing. Guess at least I am also pursuing a business degree as Debbie but I am taking a double degree. :(
Most of them are smarter than me but I am the only one gunning for a double degree. At times, I have second thoughts of my compatibility with my chosen course. Hmm...

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Pasta De Waraku

Without sidetracking further, we met up at GongCha first in Central. (I was not late! Yes!) Earlier that day, Debbie wanted to meet up at Outram Park first. No reason were given then but Pei Shi guessed that Debbie needed to buy something first. I could not give an accurate guess on what Debbie wanted to buy because all I know about Outram Park are a hospital and a park. As it turns out, Debbie forgot that there is a MRT station in Clarke Quay! Hahas! That could be quite embarrassing! Fortunately, that was rectified before we actually met at Outram Park or else it would be really funny then. :p

From my memory of my past visits to Central, I recalled having difficulty choosing what to eat. Today, we had quite a bit of a dilemma on which restaurant/stall to dine in. (Deja vu?) After walking around the whole shopping mall, I realised there were many more places to eat than I previously thought. Heck, I did not even know that there were so many Japanese cuisine restaurants here! Fortunately, we narrowed our choices down to non-fast food and no Korean, which helped to allow us to decide our lunch. In the end, we found ourselves seated in Pasta De Waraku, a sort of fusion cuisine I would say, of French and Japanese. All the while, they were trying to get me to treat them for lunch. (I was actually prepared to treat them, within my budget, of course. It felt like a deja vu moment where I treated them to lunch. Hmm, maybe that happened in an alternate dimension.) Anyway, they felt bad so I did not treat them. LOL?

I cannot vividly recall what each of us ordered but Laura ordered a oyster clam soup pasta, lai yin another soup pasta, Pei Shi cream pasta, Debbie seafood pasta? while I ordered Ham & Egg pasta. For myself, I find the pasta a tad too salty. However, the serving is decent (not enough for me but enough or normal people.)

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Long Walk
After our meal, we loitered around the mall, trying to decide on something to do. (We only planned to find a place to eat and catch-up, but it was a bit bad to stay in a restaurant when we all but finished our food. LOL!) Along the way, we had this crazy idea to walk to Suntec City Mall and off we went!

Walking out of the shopping mall, only to realise that the weather is kind of harsh today. Yet, we pressed on. It is quite a journey actually, being my first time walking from Clarke Quay to City Hall. I had a lot of fun coming with crazy theories about NUS Faculties with Laura.

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Mall of Old
Reaching Suntec at last, we were shocked by the amount of renovation works it is undergoing through. Ever since Carrefour left Suntec City Mall, , Giant and Cold Storage has taken residence in it. Some way or another, other places are also experiencing change. The entrance which I normally took to enter the mall is now going through revamp, causing it to be sealed. Even before entering the mall, I felt as though I do no know this Mall anymore; It feels so foreign now. Thankfully, the interior still resemble the old mall I knew. We stopped by Oldtown White Coffee since I was feeling hungry.

I was not exactly sure why but our food took quite some time to arrive. Lai Yin's came first but our food still did not arrive when she finished it. I could understand why the half-boiled eggs would take some time but toast? In any case, as there was a long delay before my food actually arrived, I could eat my toasts as dinner. (Not very healthy to eat just two toasts with kaya spread for dinner but I just lost the appetite to eat dinner after consuming them.)

Shortly after, we headed home.

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Her Iron Throat
Somehow, we should thank Pei Shi for making this gathering possible. Did you know? Pei Shi actually had a pretty bad sore throat today but still she came. She should be resting at home instead but I guess it is hard to get us to meet up so she decided to come at risk of worsening her condition. That made me feel a bit bad.

Tells you something huh? As we all advance to the next stage in entering the working society, it would only get so much harder to meet up. I can only hope I do not lose anything when I enter the working world.

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I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. "Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun." - Charles R. Swindoll

IKEA Tampines

Secret War Journal[5 January 2013]
I must admit, this is not the first time I dine at the food restaurant @ IKEA Tampines. However, I never really tasted the specialities of the restaurant until this night.

 I would therefore have to thank Sally and Marcus for suggesting IKEA to dine at, creating an opportunity for to try those out! Gahahahahas!
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Meatballs!
It is no wonder that it is everyone's favourite. This swedish recipe really sets itself apart from the meatballs that we normally consume outside. The tender meat along with the just the right amount of salt allows one to enjoy the great taste of the meatball with every bite. Coupled with the (I presume) mushroom sauce, it is already perfect. Of course, most people would spread it with jam to complement the taste. (I did not do that though, I do not like jam. XD)

Chicken Wings

This is sinfully nice. Hahas! I sort of felt guilty after eating but who cares! It is nice!

Fries, Nuggets, and Onion Rings!
This comes as a set. I like the nuggets. :)

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"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being." - Franz Kafka

Wreck it Ralph

Secret War Journal[30 December 2012][Spoiler Alert]
Our very first cousin outing! Sadly, my sister, Lera was not able to make it due to some family politics.

Paperman
A short movie flick by Disney Studios which was memorable to me because I was certainly not expecting this movie clip before the actual movie at all. For a brief moment, I really thought I entered the wrong cinema! Hahas!

Despite the initial shock, this touching and romantic clip was very effective in spite of its length.

I think it has such an impact on me because it is touching in that it demonstrates how the power of love (being Disney) can change one's life. Yes, even ruining your career, hahas!

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Ralph? Rah ha ha?
Honestly though, I wonder how Disney was able to get past all the trademarks? There was cameo from Street Fighter, and Oreo!
I really liked the part where the Oreo warriors started to chant Oreo! Oreo! Oreo! Hahas.

Plot-wise, I can empathise how Ralph felt as a villain. You cannot stay a villain too long before, being a human, you feel unwanted in life. That would really cost you a lot of your own self-esteem. Eventually, you just feel as though you lost all meaning in life. Thus, I understand why Ralph decided to jump ship. No hard feelings, Ralph.

What are your initial thoughts when you first meet Vanellope? I felt that the introduction was a bit out of the blue but they make up for it with the comic relief of the encounter between her and Ralph.

Her cloths... are defying gravity. LOL

Forgive me for being ignorant. For a moment, I thought she was the cybug that mutated into a character in Sugar Rush. How wrong was I? Oops. But hey, if she turned out to be a cybug in disguise, it would perfectly explain her glitchy characteristics. :P Just saying.

After a while, I must say Vanellope grew on me. I guess she is my favourite character in the movie. She reminds me of so many things. (Beauty of Disney eh?) She is someone with a clear vision ("Racing's in my code!") and despite all odds ("Everyone here says I'm just a mistake and that I wasn't even suppose to exist.") she does not give up. That's how we should live our life. Sometimes, social norms may stop us in our tracks, making us rethink if this is how we should live our lives. However, we should be unfazed by that and live our dreams!

"As your merciful princess, I hereby decree that everyone who was ever mean to me shall be... executed."

One of the biggest slap that Disney Studios gave me was the true identity of King Candy. I was an idiot to not totally see it coming. All the signs were there! Heck, the director, Rich Moore even threw in foreshadowing and I was still looking the wrong way. Oh my god, my inference skills need brushing up!

I think Disney Films are slowly deviating from their traditional princess films. (this sounds familiar, did I say this before? Hmm..) As you can see from this film, they separated the romance from the main character cast. (I mean, Ralph x Vanellope? No way, hahas) Instead, the romance comes from Felix Jr and Calhoun, both of which are supporting characters. I do not really like them but I must admit they are needed to reach the ending. Not to mention, the occasional comic relief from them. :P

All in all, I think it was my money to watch this movie. I certainly did not feel that I wasted my money and I would recommend you guys to watch it too. :)
--
Hasty Scribblings:

• So what really happened to that soldier from Hero's Duty that was replaced by Ralph? Still in that storeroom? Hahas!
• Why did Ralph not get Vanellope to finish the finishing line instead of evacuating her? (When he knows she cannot exit the game) That would reset the game and technically remove the 'virus', no? :O
• I wonder what would really happen if Vanellope really executed everyone who was mean to her? Hahas! That game would really be broken then.
• Seriously, a main character that can teleport in-game? We need some balance!
• Notice that their clothes never get wet or dirty? How cool is that?
• The scenery in Sugar Rush reminds me of Cadbury Chocolate land in their advertisements.
• In my opinion, the highlight of the show was Vanellope exchanging remarks with Ralph.

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Before watching the movie, my cousins and I went to have lunch at Korean BBQ at Tampines One!

As it turns out, we are not prepared for Korean BBQ. Just finishing two plates of raw meat, most of us were feeling full already. :P

Man, our appetites are too weak. Fortunately, Yuki and I managed to finish 2 or 3 more plates of Chicken Leg meat. Tze Yui, on the other hand, ate more beef. XD Finally, our man, Qi Xian went about feasting on watermelons to finish his watermelon sculpture. Hahas!

Before we knew it, it was almost time for the movie so we had to leave. :O
Time really flies when you are cooking the food yourself. Since meat takes quite a decent time to be fully cooked, you cannot help but feel that not a lot of time had passed when a lot of time had actually went by.

We were almost late for the movie, with much hilarious results. We almost gave up buying drinks though we did give up buying popcorn (also partly because we were too full. :D)

All I can say is, hallelujah for 10 minutes of advertisements before the movie officially starts. >=D

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Secret War Journal[15 December 2012]
After attending Playhouse 2012, Johnston, Qi Xiang and I decided to play LAN to kill time, since the movie starts at 8:30pm.

I am proud to inform you that, the seats this time round are well-positioned because I made the effort to go to the cinema early in the morning to buy the tickets. There was hardly anyone there then and I had a wide range of seats to choose from. :) *feels proud*

Some of you would be wondering why did I not just buy online. I mean why the hassle?! You're right. I did try to. Sadly, I do not own a debit nor a credit card. Furthermore I wanted to take advantage of certain discount when I buy the tickets over the counter. (which turned out to be a failure, by the way, the Hobbit was an exclusive movie until 16 December. As a result, there were no discount. :()

Soon, it was time for the movie. With only three of us, we decided to buy one popcorn combo and meatballs. However, I did not expect that the large size popcorn to be so small. Hahas, the irony. Like what Johnston said, the size of the large popcorn looks like the past regular size popcorn. We were contemplating whether to buy another popcorn combo since Johnston and I felt that there is a chance that we may finish the popcorn and the meatballs very fast, leaving us with nothing to eat.

Sure enough, before the movie was reaching midway, we finished our meatballs and popcorn. Hahas, we managed to survive without food for the remainder of the time in the cinema as the movie was great, in my opinion.
--
As many of you would know, the Hobbit: An unexpected journey was based on a book, prequel to the renowned trilogy - the Lord of the Rings. It was meant to be a book for children and centres on the adventures of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

In this particular arc, Gandalf the Brown decided to involve the hobbit in an adventure with a merry company of dwarves to reclaim their ancient kingdom that was taken from them from a black dragon.

Apparently, after watching the movie, the studio behind the movie decided to include tales from the Silmarillion, explaining more about the lore in Tolkien's fantasy world and hinting the coming of the nazgul, with the appearance of a witchking.

Although I did not like the introduction of the movie, I must admit that the appearance of Frodo Baggins was effective in bringing back memories from the Lord of the Rings.

Gandalf! Ah the wizard is supposedly younger since the story is set 60 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings. However, as this movie is directed 10 years after the last Lord of the Rings film, Gandalf looked noticeably older which was ironic. XD Perhaps Gandalf the Brown was not yet adept in magic to make him look youthful.

Yet he is not the only wizard in middle earth! We know that there is Saruman the White ,who appears in the movie, but are there more? It is mentioned in the movie that there are 5 wizards in middle earth, one white, 2 brown, 2 blue. While the blue wizards did not appear in the movie, I would love to see future sequels explaining the roles that the Blues play.

Speaking of which, while the source material was quite a thin book, the addition of other source materials allowed the story to be made into a trilogy. This may seem like a letdown as one is tempted to think that it is some money making gimmick.
Well, I do not know if it is really the case but I felt that the pacing of the movie was good and given the length of the movie, it is justified to split it into at least 2 films.

Finally, another aspect that the film was successful in what the candid interactions between Bilbo and Gollum. It created an opportunity for comic relief and it was well-played.

Thus, this is definitely a film to watch this month and I felt that it was better than the Lord of the Rings trilogy but it is too early to say as this is just the first of the three.

M1 Playhouse 2012

Secret War Journal[15 December 2012]
Hi guys! Today is the day many NUS Medical students had practised for, Playhouse 2012!

As I would quote from them, "Playhouse is a yearly intra-faculty drama competition of a tremendous scale. Each year, students from every batch come together to put up 5 different plays, each lasting an hour, to compete with their fellow Meddies. This serves as the finale event for the yearly Intra-Faculty Games organized in conjunction with the Sports Directorate." 

For this event to be so successful, you have to give credit to the management, the external vendors, and of course the students who invested countless hours to perform these wonderful plays. :)
--
What I would like to focus today would be the first play during Playhouse 2012, also known as a play by the Team M1.

It is also the play that my friends Johnston and Trevor played a part in. :)

Synopsis
(I hope I described it accurately, hahas! I will update it when I confirm the details. :P)
The story revolves around a lady named Anna and her 5 unique (eccentric?) neighbours. It begins with the death of a fellow neighbour named Jansen which sparks off a series of emotional reactions and events involving the tenants of the apartment.

There are a few characters in the play.
First off, would be of course Anna, the main character. She portrays herself as an rational character among the tenants. Indeed, more often than not, she is the sensible character during the interactions with the other tenants.

Next, Grey. A highly cynical (& logical) guy who likes to think rationally but is secretly afraid of losing control. Personally, I do not see how he secretly fears losing control. Maybe I did not catch his reaction that demonstrates that. (I am such a poor audience. :O) He is at odds with Patricia, mainly due to their differences. [Last among the victims to die. Killed by a random burglar breaking into the house at the exact moment he joked about he would be killed, to demonstrate how absurd Anna sounded. Talk about speaking about the devil.]

Walter. Jansen's father. He is senile, possibly because he was not able to handle the grief from losing his son. A good portion of his airing time was spent emphasizing how he still believes Jansen is still alive and insisting the tenants to call him down for dinner. He has a granddaughter. (I am not sure what's her name. Sorry.) [2nd to die, after Jansen, supposedly from natural death. Witness: His granddaughter.]

Walter's granddaughter, named Lily. A child that was badly abused by her parents in the past. As a result, she keeps a doll by her side. She interacts with people often by referring to her doll or speaks in a third person manner. She reminds me of the character Alice in Alice in Wonderland. That makes her a bit creepy in nature, no? [4th to die. From aspirin overdose, taken secretly when Luke brings a box of aspirin to the living room.]

Zoe. A girl that loves the colour pink. Anything in pink is cool to her. She is rather self-centred, or it is just me. She was not really fond of Jansen. Thus she was not greatly affected by his death. She is a party animal and loves to socialise with people. [3rd to die, from a faulty power socket resulting in a lethal electric shock. She was drunk then, causing her brains to be addled.]

Patricia. Seemingly over-paranoid about many things, she stammers when she talks and thinks the whole world is out to get her, and the tenants. It worsened with the death of Jansen where she believes that Jansen's thyroid cancer can be spread by being near his corpse. When a new tenant is expected to live in Jansen's unit and the newcomer's name is known, she associates his name, Luke with Leukaemia, proclaiming him as an agent of death. Convinced, she is opposed with the idea of allowing Luke coming into the apartment as the new tenant. She is at odds with Grey due to her supposed delusions that Luke is a murderer and is out to kill every tenant in the apartment. [5th to die. Coaxed to commit suicide by Luke.]

Luke. The new tenant in the apartment. A calm character who is unfazed by all the deaths occurring in the apartment. He is often seen offering a helping hand to Anna, hoping to offer her as much aid as he could in the difficult times in the apartment. One notable conversation that occurred between him and Anna was how she coped with the neighbours in the tenant, each with their unique personalities. Towards the end of the play, he is revealed to be the mastermind of the deaths of the tenants, claiming it was for Anna's sake, leading Anna to be in despair. In the end, he is actually a doctor treating Anna's multiple personality disorder.

NTU Dorm

Secret War Journal[1 December 2012]
Today I was given an opportunity to see how a dorm looks like in NTU!

I have to thank Shereen and Erin for the invitation, hahas! I felt like some real estate buyer viewing their rooms. :P
--
Backtracking a bit before I tell you how's the rooms like in NTU Dormitory, before meeting Shereen and Erin in NTU, I met up with Keller and Qi Xiang for some LAN gaming first. Marcus was invited but he was summoned to the office to finish some pressing issues. I did not invite Johnston as I thought he had lessons that day. (As it turned out, Johnston did not have lessons that day. Ah, I feel so bad now. :( On the bright side, he should be studying for his upcoming examinations so I should not distract him. ^^)

We really caught up a lot since it has been what? 1 or 2 months since we last met Keller? That sure felt like a long time. Hahas!
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A trip roundabout the train
After having a great time with Keller and Qi Xiang, playing DotA 2 the first time in 3 months, I headed off to NTU.

Only to realise it would take around 40 minutes to reach Boon Lay Station from Dhouby Ghaut. Oh dear, I am going to be late. Big time. Oops?

(I found out later that when they found out how long it was going to take to reach the place, Erin decided to take a nap in her room. LOL!)

To make matters worse, I did not realise that Boon Lay was not terminal station for the East-West Line. *Facepalms*
But hey! I had not reached the last stop of the train yet! I am still at least around 5 to 6 stops from Joo Koon, the last stop, according to the LED board on the train. Thus I made the realisation in time. *Beams brightly*

Unknown to me though, the LED board actually malfunctioned.

At the stop after Jurong East Interchange, the train came to a complete halt and an announcement were played, telling all passengers to alight. I was like, "what happened?"

I came out to realise I am at Joo Koon. *Facepalms*

Of all trains to have a malfunctioned LED board, I am in that one. Awesome. At this moment, I remembered laughing manically (which was kinda embarrassing) while calling Shereen to inform her that I would be even later than expected. I recalled her laughing as well when she heard the news. This was too stupid a mistake, hahas!
--
Palette

After all the trouble, I finally reached NTU. After meeting up with Shereen, we headed off to a (erm... restaurant? no,) cafe named Palette (I hope I spell correctly!)

Erin met us there, we managed to wake her up and got her to come over! Hahas! Oops, I am being mean. :P

It is a basically a cafe that serves western food while providing a place for people to study (ahem, I mean mug) though I think most prefer to just dine here and go back and study (I feel that it is less depressing and less troublesome, trust me)

As usual, I ordered chicken chop with black pepper sauce (which my father would have something to say if he finds out since I always order that when trying out new western restaurants or cafes. :P)

You would have to agree that it is a hard dish to screw up, no? Anyways...

We did quite a bit of catch up and Shereen gave me further pointers of what my Business course would entail when I enter the university. All in all, not very positive. :O
--
Bigger than expected?

The moment has come!

Entering Shereen's room made me realise that it was a lot bigger than I had expected.

Granted, I noticed later that there are actually 3 occupants in the room but it was supposed to be a room for 2. I believe it is bigger than a shoebox apartment?

I like the idea that they joined the beds together, leaving a moderate amount of space at one side. I think it is better than having that space in the middle, between the two beds instead because it makes the room appear smaller? (No to mention, the inability to lean on the wall, man that would suck! XD)

Mentioning about space, oh god the amount of books for Business course, alone! It is the first year and there is already a great number of thick books on the table for Business (plus, according to her, she is sharing textbooks with another coursemate, meaning the stack here is only half!) Oh god! (I just have to exclaim twice)

However, I felt that the room, despite the space, was still a bit confined due to the shape of the room. It gives one the feeling of stuffy, especially with the air conditioner being present in the room! (And the fact that you cannot use it! Gahh!!! Unless you pay of course, which you try not to because your school fees is just that high!)
I suppose it is not that bad when you open the windows. (Honestly, the only reason why I felt that way was because I saw the aircon in the room. Gahh! Don't get me started~!)

As I reached the University quite late, after snapping a few photos of each other and taking group photos, it is time to go.

Before that, Erin brought me to her room to see the difference between Halls. I did not spend long in her room though, just took note of the shape of the room and the size of the room (Cheryl, her roommate was sleeping. Awkward!)
Man, Erin's room is even bigger. I am going to aim for her hall! Hahahas!
--
Alright time to go home. Had a blast today!

*Nods off to dreamland in bus*

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"It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense." - Robert Green Ingersoll

Roti Prata House

Secret War Journal[9 November 2012]

What better to celebrate the end of a short outfield exercise with a eat-out together with your section mates? :)

 I would say the pratas are really crispy, as advertised. Hahas!

The price for the normal roti prata - Plain and Egg are average though their speciality pratas are really costly. I tried one, the Chicken Floss Prata and it cost $4. T.T

In fact, I find the cost not exactly justified. It is funny when my friends can buy so many more pieces yet still paid less than me. Hahas!

Still, it was a nice supper with my section mates. :)

---

"You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six." - Yogi Berra

Skyfall

Secret War Journal[10 November 2012]
This movie outing was organised quite in a rush. The original plan was to watch last week when it supposedly premièred. However, as my grandmother had been admitted to a hospital, I had to cancel the outing to visit my grandmother.

As a result, I postponed the movie outing to this Saturday. As a consequence, Marcus was not able to make it. Keller had returned to Singapore but he is busy on that day as well. (Awww....)

In addition, I just had a short field camp during the weekdays. I was not able to finalise the details until the day itself as I was close to being knocked out on Friday night.

That was evident by the fact that I missed my stop twice in the train because I fell asleep, causing me to detour twice. Finally, I blocked people from entering the bus because I was first in line and I fell asleep.

Hahas, embarrassing moments of my life. :P

---

One aspect of the movie that I really liked was the way the scriptwriter kept emphasising the theme - Skyfall. From the beginning to the end of the movie, there were many references to the theme. It serves to tell the audience why the movie was named so.

In many ways, this is truly a action-packed movie. More of explain less, more action formula, I would say. I would say the formula for this plot because the plot is not hard for the audience to understand why certain things happen in such a manner. Thus, there was no need for the characters to explain, which would make the movie quite dull indeed.
Removing the lengthy explanations, all that is left would be pure action sequences where you get to see the main character constantly running into obstacles and overcoming them.

Quite surprisingly, this movie deviated from the normal James Bond formula. I must admit that I entered the Cinema expecting a female sidekick/lover shooting with James Bond. All I got was quite different from my expectations. A brief moment with a female character with a random embrace and kiss with virtually no character development. I guess it was their way of saying, "Hey, the usual features of a James Bond movie is still present!" but I am not buying it when the female character felt like an afterthought.

The movie also paid homage to some past James Bond movies which I find was not too bad but certainly not a plot device to be used in future James Bond movie any longer since the effect would be lost.

Finally, what I liked best about the movie was their witty responses which brought smiles to the audience, if not laughter (I am sure)!

Storm of Sand

Secret War Journal[3 November 2012]
Today, I just attended a gathering with my army friends that I had made during my initial enlistment period.

 I think it had been close to 4 months since I last met some of them. I would say that apart from the length of their hair, they hardly changed. Hahas!

Even though not all of us could make it for the gathering, there was still a good number of us who managed to make it. (Cannot blame anyone since it is truly very difficult to get everyone to be present for such a big number of people. I feel your pain, organiser!)

---

St. Games

For this cohesion gathering, we came to a video game cafe named St. Games @ the Cathay.

To be frank with you guys, this is my first time coming to this Cafe. My initial thoughts when I first reached the place was that the cafe looked as though it did not have enough space. In the past, you would not had required a lot of space to set up a cafe that allows customers to play video games. You probably just need to get a decent monitor and a couch for them to sit comfortably in.

Now, times had changed. Consoles now possess motion gaming capabilities. Technologies such as Xbox Kinect and Wii means that players need more space for us to move about. Thus, we certainly need more room for console gaming.

In addition, players are no longer satisfied with normal screen size. If I were to pay to play console games outside (rather than playing at home), I would expect the screen size to be much larger to improve my gaming experience. Sadly, I found the screen sizes in the cafe quite average, nothing special. It is not small, I would say it is decent but definitely not a plus point for gamers to come play instead of playing at home with their friends.

Another point to note would be the high charges for the usage of the cafe which one of my friend pointed out that it was not really value-for-money for short periods of gameplay. I cannot disagree on that.

In its defense, I really like their free flow of a great variety of drinks. :)
--
Just Dance 4

One of the new games I played there was Just Dance 4! It is a Xbox Kinect game which support 4 players.

Comparing to Dance Central, I would say it supports more players? (I don't know about Dance Central 3 because I had not played that yet, hahas!) That is a plus point for Just Dance 4 because it is a in better footing for party games where 4 of us could play together in a dancing battle.

However, I soon realised thata lot of space is really required for a great gaming experience. For such a game, the room we were in was actually considered relatively small. (Dang, Kinect just have to need so much space!) There were moments when not all of us could be identified in the game as there was insufficient space for all of us  to stand in. Not to mention the hilarious moments when some of us swooped places in the game as they detected erroneously that the original player 2 was player 3 and vice versa. This could be a technical limitation of the Kinect though, not the game I believe.

Just Dance 4 lost in terms of its graphics. It is just too 2D (I believe it was the intention but sometimes I cannot stand it, hahas!) Dance Central's graphics are much pleasing to the eye, I would dare say.

---

"Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

---

After having fun playing in St. Games, the original plan to have dinner with them. However, I just found out that my grandmother had been admitted to a hospital. As a result, I left early to visit my grandmother.

As far as I know, she is still there but she is doing fine.

---

"Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough." - Don Marquis

Citadels & Looper

Secret War Journal[20 October 2012]
It is time to celebrate Qi Xiang's Birthday!

Together with Marcus and Meldon, we had a blast at Mindcafe near Dhouby Ghaut.

We played a match of Settlers of Catan. After that, we went on to play a round of Citadels.

Citadels

Apart from Qi Xiang, I think the rest of us never played this game before. (At least I know I never played before)

At first look, the game may look a bit complicated due to the presence of 4 different sets of cards, excluding the instructional cards. Of course, on hindsight, it certainly looks a lot less complicated than Settlers of Catan but hey, I was not comparing this board game to any game when I first saw the contents.

Basically, in this game, your goal is to accumulate as much points at the end of the game. The game ends at the end of the round when a player constructed 8 districts.

The more expensive your districts are, the more points it would contribute. Players who constructed 8 districts at the end of the game would receive bonus points and the first player to construct 8 district would receive the most bonus points. Some districts have special abilities.

Perhaps, the key element of the game is the character cards. Each round, you get to choose a class/character where no one else knows until it is revealed later phase of the round. Each character has a special ability which you can use in that round. Some abilities include destruction of a district, extra gold, make a player lose a turn.

The remaining 2 sets of cards are bonus decks which you can opt to replace the original cards in the district and character decks. In my opinion, some of the cards from the bonus decks are quite imbalanced and breaks the game but that's just me. :P

---

The Present
Before we headed off to the cinema, we side-tracked a bit to a nearby games store.

Mind you, this was all planned beforehand.

Qi Xiang had mentioned about this game for quite some time already. Since he does not yet own this game, we decided it would make quite a decent birthday present for him.

Thus, as we entered the store, we started to talk about the latest games available in various consoles. Meanwhile, Marcus went to purchase the game to present it to Qi Xiang.

Qi Xiang looked a bit shocked when he saw the present. He had an expression which said "I can't believe you guys just bought this for me!". Hahas!

Mission accomplished. Time to watch the movie. :P

---

Looper

In my opinion, it was an insightful movie. Though I won't call it a great movie but it is indeed thought-provoking. Time travel has been a concept that many had imagined. However, many considerations need to be taken when writing a script based on time travel. It is just so easy to create paradox on the fly when you are writing a story with time travel involved.

Looper is one such movie that leads one to feel that the author did not bother to tie up the loose ends in the movie, leaving the paradox unexplained. Of course, it could also be the intention of the author to leave it to the watcher's imagination. Sometimes, explaining the paradox could kill the action in the movie which I would agree in this case since this movie is seriously lacking some thrilling action. Even though I believe it was not meant to be an action movie, but hey, a little more action would not hurt right?

One aspect I really liked about the movie was how the director managed to portray the motivations of various characters in the movie. Despite the lack of screen time for the older Joe, it is not difficult to know the driving force behind his actions. Similarly for Kid Blue, his motivations are also explained in the movie.

Regarding comic relief, I believe one of the best played scene was the anti-climatic scene, much similar to the anti-climatic scene in Iron Man 2. Another well-played act was the conversation between the two Joes in the restaurant.

Comparing to other time travel pieces, I feel that Steins;Gate is still a better option. It could possibly due to the fact that it is not a movie but has many episodes to slowly build up on the time travel concept which gives Steins;Gate ample time to close the loose ends. Steins;Gate allows the audience to get mind-blown as everything makes sense, where everything fits despite the move into the next time line, preventing major paradoxes.

Finally, Looper is a movie that ensures that one would be talking about it after the movie, allowing intellectual discussions on each other's perceptions/understanding of the movie. Each and everyone has different approach to understanding the movie, allowing this movie to be a great topic to converse about in social gatherings. That is where Looper truly shines, I feel.

---

"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." - Golda Meir

Big Guts

Secret War Journal[14 September 2012]
Woah, I hardly could find time to blog nowadays. Funny how that actually sounds. I am now able to go home on Friday nights instead of Saturday morning and I still go back on Sunday nights yet time seems to move ever faster.

I guess I am really growing older. Only old people think time passes faster despite given the same amount of time.

Anyways, this is a short update on my life in army thus far.

I am failing my physical test again. One of a kind, I would say. I am not really sure the reason myself but it happened after I over-exerted my muscles on my first day there.

My strength had went downhill since then. Sometimes, I wonder if I contracted the muscles-destroying virus that one of my former section mates had then. I hope not.

I sure hope I can pass the physical test in one month. That is the time frame given to me by my superiors before I officially fail the entire leadership course. Definitely not a pretty sight. Let's see how sheer determination leads me to, huh?

I hope I can answer to you.

---

4 times denied
Just yesterday, I had a outing with Jie Sheng, Siew Yan, Bao Lin, and Cynthia. It had been a month since I last saw them. I must really emphasize - Time really flies! 

The original plan was to have some nice dim sum at Ajunied but the plan fell apart mainly due to my fault (and I was the organiser, how great is that?)

Bad things happened to me when I try to reach a place. Most specifically, it started when I want to visit my mum.

First, it all started on Friday morning. The outing was finalised on Thursday. I decided that since the venue was at Ajunied, I could go early myself on Saturday and pay my Mum a visit. I thought of that when I woke up on Friday morning early. Shortly after I decided to do it, I came down with a bad runny nose. I dare say the runny nose ruin my entire day. There were actually moments I thought I would be sick. (Meaning I would have to also cancel the outing altogether, now wouldn't that be sad?)

Second, was the moment I decided to carry out the plan anyways, since I woke up kinda early on Saturday and my nose no longer was acting up. At that moment, my family decided to use the washing machine (when I am the one who normally uses it on Saturdays), causing considerable delay to me since I had to wash my clothes after theirs. (In fact, I was so late I cannot visit my mother before the agreed time to meet the rest)

Third, my nose acted up again. I thought to myself then, it is okay. I can always visit after lunch, since it is near the place anyways. Straight after that, I sneezed and well, my nose acted up again.

Last, Siew Yan decided to change the venue, since I was so late. I guess it is fate. Funny when I sort of give up, my nose recovers. I wonder what is the intended message? I think I do not really want to know.

Why did I suffer so for something that should be my right? Must I be deprived the only few comfort I have in life?

---

Unseen
Another stupid moment occurred to me on Saturday as well.

I had a short mini heart attack when I left my house and headed for the bus stop. It was the same bus stop that I alighted from last night yet only now did I notice there were 2 bus stops on the same side of the street. I certainly felt quite mind-blown at that moment. Why didn't I see the second bus stop yesterday? I guess I was just too tired huh?

Everything went quite smoothly after this with minimal obstacles given to me. Thus, I reach the destination: Mad Jack in one piece, relatively unharmed (I guess?)

At that point, I realised how long since I last met them. Wow, I just have to say this again, it had been one month.

They had all consumed their lunch, save me. I am so late that I have to eat lunch alone while the rest of them just continued to chat. I have to thank Siew Yan and Bao Lin who ordered some dessert hence avoiding a awkward situation where everyone would stare at me eating. Hahas! I felt kinda bad though, Siew Yan should be saving money but I am indirectly causing her to spend more money. :S
--
After lunch, we proceeded to go shopping! It is time for me to resume my wardrobe renewal once again! At the same, the retail therapy would help. :P

While trying out clothes at some point of time, Siew Yan have to leave. Hmm, I did not get to bid goodbye, how not courteous of me. :O

Anyways, I bought a hoodie and a blue shirt. In the end, I did not get to buy a pair of pants. Dang! Sigh.

Life is about...

Secret War Journal[23 September 2012]

---

Change

I would be lying if I were to deny this. Things around us are always in flux.I am no different.

The first (official) week in my new camp has just ended. I cannot say I enjoyed my time there.

It is quite a culture shock there. The change is immense. The privileges that we took for granted come crashing on us as it is suddenly taken away from us.

On the bright side, the food there is much nicer. In terms of variety, at least. I hope it lasts. (So this is an example of how funding matters, huh?)

I hope I can adapt to the changes there.

(Did you know the Burger King that we all used to mug at in Raffles City Shopping Mall is no more? It is now replaced by KFC. Guess, it will be always in our memory, how we crazily studied there, having lots of laughter and fun discussing the questions and just chilling, sometimes. Hahas!)

---

Hope

What is living without hope?

Despite the harsh awakening to the changes in the environment of where I mostly sleep in now, there are still things to be happy about.

It is often through tough times that we can relate to it after the whole ideal. Perhaps we could even smile on how far we achieved from persevering.

Not to mention, my best friend, Johnston who helped me to stabilise my mentality. I think I would had gone insane (like dangerously insane, not insane in a hilarious manner) from all negative thoughts in my  head.

Meeting Qi Xiang and Meldon just to chill and unwind also helped a lot.

Shereen seems to be her normal cheerful self. Not bad! Hahas! I guess it is important to live your life to the fullest, no matter how bad the situation is. After all, we each have only just one life. Live life to our fullest and have no regrets. =)

---

Disappointment
Neither am I a stranger to this.

Seriously, who is not expecting conscription to be anything but disappointment anyway?

With hope, comes disappointment.

I had since decided I am not going to care. After all, I am inherently selfish (as do all humans). If they don't care, I would not too. 

Have fun, and adieu.

---

Irony

Yet we still hope, despite the obvious flaws it has.

Sometimes I wonder we are idiots or not.

An author once said that Friends are meant to be hurt. If you do not know this, you do not know friendship.

Most of us would be appalled by this sentence initially. But think carefully on the sentence, who can really say this is absurd? How many times had you hurt your friends? Whether intentionally or by accident?

Humans are selfish people. No matter how much people may try to deny, the fact that they have friends reveals much. Do they make friends for other's sake or their own?

My friend, I believe the answer is plain enough, I need not elaborate.

We are just hurting each other. Does that make us horrible creatures? Perhaps.

---

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." - Robert Frost

Soup Restaurant

Secret War Journal[8 September 2012]

We (Marcus, Johnston, and I) had not met up since University started. Taking full advantage of the short leave I had from my recent graduation from Foundation Term, we met up at Nex Shopping Mall to have a great dinner.
--
But before that, it is time for me to meet up with Meldon and Qi Xiang for lunch at Ajisen Ramen!

But honestly, I seem to be eating Ajisen once monthly. Heck, I just dine there with Cynthia last month?

If I knew, I would had kept the card that Ajisen Ramen kept giving me...

I just tried the White Fish ala-carte. Okay, I tried that the last time I ate at Ajisen through the recommendation of someone but hey! I ordered it this time. Ha~!

It was a lot of fun when we shared what good reads are there. It was funny when Qi Xiang got overwhelmed by two epic fantasy series: A song of Ice and Fire and the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Personally, I, too, cannot believe we spent so much time at the Library reading Foxtrot comics. Hahas!
--
Back to Soup Restaurant. :)

I am almost twenty years old and this is actually my first time trying Soup Restaurant. (Hmm, that made me sound as though I am deprived. :O)

Basically, it is a Chinese cuisine restaurant. I know a lot of Singaporean of my age generally got sick of Chinese cuisine already but I am actually the opposite. (As usual, hahas. I must be born at the wrong year)
I had been eating so many Japanese (+a bit of Thai and Korean) and Western cuisine that I actually find myself missing Chinese cuisine. I guess my heritage makes me wanting more of Chinese Cuisine. It is more likely to leave me feeling more satisfied after a meal. I am not really sure why myself, perhaps it is just ancient instincts.



Seating down, we ordered a set meant for the three of us. It includes a plate of sliced chicken with cabbage, minced meat with soy sauce, claypot tofu, vegetables and pork ribs with corn and red carrot soup. Along with these, are free flow of white chrysanthemum tea.  =)
 
Enough talk, let's eat! I have a 4 course meal + soup in front of me!!! *Readies chopsticks*

(Hahas, I was joking. I had obviously finished my meal. :P

Throughout the meal, we talked about the recent games that we had been playing and planning to play. Sims 3, Dragon Nest and D.C. Universe Online.

We went on to talk about University/Academic life thus far. I even asked Johnston for some medical advice since I suffered from some ailments since entering army, of which I had no time (or maybe just plain too lazy, hahas?) to consult a proper doctor. I had not told anyone. I guess it is appropriate that my best friend knows about it first. :) Marcus left to settle the bill then, I guess God doesn't want him to know, I accept His decision.

Marcus is now studying Psychology. I really learnt some cool stuff from him on our way home. In fact, I learnt some shocking theories. I hope I learn more of these interesting snippets of it! ^^

Sigh, how I wish I have something to share too... Everyone is learning new things...)
--
Observers (if you could be there) would realise that we all hardly talk about army life. There are many several reasons for it:

1. Things about army are generally classified, we cannot talk about it in public.
2. Not everyone goes through army and thus would feel left out. (Applies to Qi Xiang and Marcus to a certain extent; besides Johnston is now officially a civilian)
3. Army does not really warrant that much of an attention as a conversation topic. I mean really? There are more interesting things to talk about! :)

---

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis

Total Recall 2012

Secret War Journal[25 August 2012]
As humans, we all change. Some change more, some change less. Yet all change. As others progress while you are stuck in place, the feeling experienced is of sadness. The compulsion to move forward is overwhelming me, I need to take a step forward. A step towards a better future...

Review:
I understand that this 2012 film is a remake of the 1990 film. However, I did not have the fortune of watching the original film.

For this movie, I can safely label the film as an action-packed thriller. The action was indeed non-stop, a plus for movie-goers who wish for some action. Despite that, I should caution that the action is not exactly very thrilling. It felt bland, of which I am not very sure why. Perhaps, it bears resemblance to the Minority report hence making me unable to feel the adrenaline rush during the action scenes. Nevertheless, it is certainly nice to watch constant action while at the same time explaining the plot.

This movie also reminds me of closed-room mystery games where the main character forgot who he was.

The ending could had been better crafted, in my opinion. The ending presented left much to desired, as though an important component of the plot was unexplained.

---

As many would had guessed, it had been a long time since I last watched movie. For this particular outing, Jie Sheng was the one who planned it. Along with him are Bao Lin, Cynthia and Siew Yan.

Except for the guys, they are all studying in University now. Time sure pass very pass, huh?

Today was also the day I ate 90% of the sweet popcorns of the Jumpo-sized box, no thanks to Jie Sheng was got sick of the sweet popcorns all of sudden and switched to potato chips, leaving me alone to clear the remaining popcorns! Hahas! I think I have enough popcorns for the entire year already, sorry popcorn makers! :P

One hilarious event that happened today was also how Cynthia, who brought $50 to help us buy movie tickets and popcorns, went home with $51. One of the rare moments when one actually made money by a wide margin when helping people buy stuff. XD
--
After the movie, we had a chat at the rooftop. I am not sure about the rest but the scene there gave me release.

Spending so much time away from civilian life, I am finally able to do something I sort of wanted. Maybe one day, I would get to chat with close friends on a roof, on a hill, overlooking vast plains. For now, overlooking short buildings will do. Strangely enough, it gave me a sort of peace that I so rarely receive.

Tempted as I was to shout out loud then, I knew it was the right place to do it. One day, I should visit the hills to shout my lungs out. Perhaps then...
--
Before heading home, we met up with Cynthia's sister, Sharon, who was having desserts in the shopping mall too.

Then I am home, a foreign thing nowadays...

---

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." - Steve Jobs

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

Secret War Journal[30 June 2012]

I know this is a bit late but I sorta missed the opportunity to watch this in a cinema.

Thus, today, we are gathered to watch this movie at Bao Lin's house. With us today are Bao Lin, Cynthia, Jie Sheng, Siew Yan and Wei Ting. :)

Though conflicting recounts may result, I believe I am finally arriving on time once again for outings. XD
This is actually harder than it sounds, given that I have to commit a large amount of time to wash army clothes and equipments. Often enough, I had to leave the house later than planned due to me being preoccupied with washing.

Therefore, I am happy to say that I can be on time for the outing.
However, some (cynthia, for one) would disagree since I reached there on time BUT had not had lunch despite telling the rest to have lunch before arriving. Hence, I ended up eating while the rest chatted. XD
--
My views on the movie:

• Definitely action-packed!
• Comic relief was of quality
• I think the difference between the background music and the voice of the characters were a bit too great, the former too loud whilst the latter too soft. Just technical though.
• The plot was not bad but I cannot help but notice that they omitted certain gadgets / methods of completing the mission to develop the story as the writers intended.
• I like the cast for the movie. Awesome!
• One reason I like these kind of movie is the cool gadgets they get to use. Hey, I am a sucker for such "superagent" stuff. :D
• The introduction of the movie was way too long, but it pulled off.
• The ending on the whole hand was kind of disappointing though...

---

FRIES! FRENCH FRIES!

On an unrelated note, Bao Lin's sister bought a great amount of fries for a hugely discounted price at Gmarket! Today, we had the opportunity to savour some of the food she bought. :)

They taste like potato chps.

Personally, I like the spicy flavour ones more but that could be just me. ;)

However, I would dare say that people who do not like salty food would not appreciate these food. :O