tell me about it

Went to Frolick at Serangoon Gardens to eat frozen yogurt!

Because I love fro-yo!

Their walls are happy!

My natural yogurt with yummy granola! Not in focus because my cameraphone is crappy!

Licking up every bit of the yogurt!

Yummers! The boyf wants some too!

Toppings! Fresh toppings!

Also available at Holland Village next to Crystal Jade Xiaolongbao!

I heard this CD playing in a stall at Suan Lum Night Bazaar in BKK – the stall where I did the personalized leather keychains for Poophead and Puppy’s brothers. I was literally dumbstruck – I knew the song, but had never heard that version of it. I pointed at the hi-fi and gurgled, “Feist! That…th-that’s Feist!” The guy grinned at me. “Yes, you know Feist?” I beamed sunshine at him and asked to see the album cover; he didn’t have it with him but he obligingly took out the CD to show it to me.

Open Season is Feist’s nod to those who remix her original tracks in clubs. Some of them are hit-and-miss – the K-Os version of ‘Mushaboom’ is a truly awfully lazy remix; it’s essentially just the original track with some random scratching, a bass beat and some dude going “yo” – but many, like the Frisbee’d remix of ‘Lonely Lonely’ and the One Room One Hour mix of ‘Gatekeeper’, are pure delight. I’m sitting here in my room headbopping to the music and longing wistfully for a cool cocktail to twirl in my hand and sip. Ooh. I could really do with that lychee mojito from Heat Lounge.

This is an awesome CD. If you’re a Feist fan, you’ll love the new sounds as well as three new tracks (including one called ‘Lovertits’, what’s up with that!?) and the unremixed ‘Tout Doucement’. I don’t know why she bothered including an original track on the list. Shrug.

Man, I could really down that mojito.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so bubbly-confident that the Indiana Jones movie would be everything it promised to be.

It was…all right, if you’re the type who thinks mediocrity is all right, in the same way that Pepsi is only all right and will never be a good enough substitute for Coca-Cola (though still picked over A&W Root Beer or Mountain Dew, though perhaps not 7up). It’s all right, really, if you’re the kind to whom extended metaphors appeal, in which case the new Indiana Jones movie is like a bottle of Coke that you don’t realize has gone flat until you open it and take your first sip – the outside looks snazzy and chilled and in perfect packaging, but the reality just doesn’t match up. You’ll drink the flat Coke anyway, because feh, it’s…all right, you guess, but hey, it could have been so much better.

(Unless, of course, you’re like me, and flat Coke is actually rather appealing – but I write this to cater to the majority view.)

But enough with the terrible metaphor. It’s as over-extended as poor Indy is, looking worn out and haggard half the movie, with Shia LeBeouf practically churning with energy that he had to suppress in order to defer to the guy after whom the movie was actually named (though I hear soon a Mutt Williams – or maybe Mutt Jones – movie is in the making).

Spoilers ahead! (more…)

Went to Pawtobello with Ah Fu and Wire on Sunday – his new precious bundle of joy, a wire-haired Jack Russell who’s really sweet and well-behaved :) *coos* We went to the one along Mohamed Sultan Road – I’ve come a long way from visiting MS at night to coming for Sunday brunch :D

Ah Fu and Wire!

The food was actually fantastic – the enjoyment of being surrounded by lots of doggies is compounded by the very good people food. I had the lovely glazed lamb steak, which I had to pace myself eating, because I found myself wanting to gobble down mouthful after mouthful non-stop. Treated Wire to a chicken roulade which he snarfed down in about two minutes flat, pushing the bowl around the floor with his nose and looking quite dismal when it was all gone. Poor boy kept going back to sniff the bowl to see if more had magically reappeared, learning a valuable life lesson in the process – food does not spontaneously regenerate.

Me and Wire! And pretty decor!

And my pretty classic dress which I love so very much :D

Watched Prince Caspian yesterday, courtesy of Joel who won free tickets from seewhatshow.com and wasn’t free to watch :) The movie was bloody awesome and a real trip, especially since it was my childhood unraveling on screen. (I used to really really really wish I could get into Narnia and would occasionally sheepishly venture into my cupboard when no one was looking.)

What you’ll find inside the review: comparisons between the book and the movie, girlish squealings about cute characters and creature effects, and the bits that didn’t quite meet up to expectations.

(Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. Of course the spoilers won’t worry you if you’ve already read the books. Click here to read at your peril!)

(more…)

I was reading the papers the other day – an article titled something along the lines of “PM Lee Looking For His Successor”.

Joel pokes his head over my shoulder and reads the title in silence. Then, in all innocence, he inquires, “Why? He lost his son ar?”

Thanks to my trusty 8Days magazine and their beautiful food section, I’m always sharing new eating haunts with Puppy and raring to try out the less expensive ones. Recently there was coverage on Charco’s, which took over the old Botak Jones in Ang Mo Kio (which has since moved to, well, Ang Mo Kio).

After reading the rave reviews in 8Days I did a little online research of my own and came up with one amusing forum (where praisers of Charco’s were accused of being Charco spy-clones) and several mixed reviews. Being discerning diners with our own mind, Puppy and I decided to try Charco’s anyway and decide for ourselves.

Looks like Botak Jones, only with red and orange rather than blue and yellow.

The first thing I noticed was the luscious salad bar.

Photo courtesy of Darth Salacious

The salads look really good. Egg salad, potato salad, Caesar salad, Greek salad, seafood salad. They’re arrayed for your viewing pleasure right where you can see the salad boys dish ‘em out.

After all the bad reviews, I was frankly expecting Charco’s not to live up to my expectations, even though my expectations were already set very low. However, it started off very well – the counter staff girl was bright and chirpy and happy, and after working as waitstaff for a year, I can say that having a cheerful waitress makes the dining experience so much more pleasant. Even if food isn’t too good, a happy and attentive waitstaff will ease the pain considerably.

Thankfully, there wasn’t any problem with the food. Based on this blog review I chose the lamb kebabs with three salads ($6.50) while I instigated Puppy to try the Portuguese chicken, which has been the target of many an online mixed review.

Forgive crappy photo quality, I used my handphone and I don’t have Photoshop :( I’m accepting donations towards buying Adobe Creative Suite 3 for my Mac…

My lamb kebab with Greek salad, egg salad and seafood salad. The salads were amazing. The Greek salad is tart and fresh, with real feta cheese, thank God – I carted my plate back to the salad bar to request for more feta cheese as the first serving came with none. The egg salad surpassed all expectations – it’s surprisingly easy to screw up egg salad – and the egg pieces were hearty and chunky. The seafood salad looked better than it tasted; the crab stick pieces were too huge and a bit overwhelming. More prawns and maybe scallops or something would be nice. But still not too bad. The lamb kebab, however, was a surprising letdown. It tasted fine but it was a tad dry and tough. Still, I was so pleased with my salads that I hardly minded the kebab.

Puppy had the much-maligned Charco’s Portuguese chicken which came nicely charred on top and spiced up. And yunno what, it was REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I don’t know why other people said it was dry and tasteless. Maybe Charco’s has been reading their reviews online and revising their recipe? Even though Puppy and I hate breast meat, the breast meat was tender and soft and juicy and tasted absolutely divine. Botak Jones also has this ability to make breast meat taste good, but because Charco’s serves its chicken in identifiable chicken parts (BJ serves a boneless hunk of chicken fillet) my vote is gently biased towards Charco’s chicken. Not to say that BJ’s chicken isn’t good.

The fries are ho-hum. Botak Jones’ fries definitely win. Cajun spices woo! The sauces are self-dispensed – supposedly good for saving on plastic packets, but the kiasu Singaporean in me makes me take huge saucerfuls of every sauce they have, which results in a lot of…wasted sauce. Heh heh. Their BBQ sauce rocks though. Not watery in the least and nicely spiced.

Definitely going back. I think the important thing is that they’re not blatantly trying to challenge on BJ’s turf – their main selling point is their fantastic salads (though at 8pm their Caesar lettuce looked a bit wilted; shouldn’t Caesar be made fresh?) – and they definitely succeed on the meat front as well. Will be back to try other things. Plus points for their happy counter girl. I love happy staff :)

Charco’s The Flaming Chicken serves Australian fare at Blk 608 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, next to the Esso station (not association).

“You’ve got magic inside your fingertips
It’s leaking out all over my skin”

Movida at St. James Powerhouse

I must say, for a free event, Class95 was smart enough to keep the invited list small so that the queue was manageable and Movida wasn’t unduly crowded. The wait wasn’t too interminable either; we got there at 7.15, queued till 7.45, and waited till 8.20pm for the showcase to start. Not that bad. But Taya Rogers is one heck of an airhead, and Glenn Ong needs a haircut. And they need more practice in talking to crowds.

But who cares about them? Colbie!!

Colbie and her band. Sorry for the crappy photo, camera isn’t quite up to snuff.

She looks nothing like the picture on her CD cover :/ of which many, including Puppy, have opined bears a striking resemblance to Jennifer Aniston.

Puppy squinted at her on stage. “Hey! She looks nothing like Jennifer Aniston in real life!”

But she looks very country, and wholesome, and just so fresh-faced and unspoilt. I like. She wore a lovely little cotton-jersey pinstriped dress (which I coveted) and the whole look was just lovely. Enough of the overly made-up teen queens whose songs have more synth and bass than vocals. Here comes Colbie, who makes it work with a simple, unfussy acoustic set. Her drum guy played only the cajon and snapped his fingers. One guitar guy played a teeny baby guitar!

Colbie sang ‘Realize’, ‘Battle’ (which was an amazing, amazing version – how I wish she’d produced this one. Full of thumping cajon beats and smoky minor chords, *swoon*), two new songs (one was called ‘Out Of My Mind’, written for her family; the other was a cover of ‘Beast of Burden’ by the Rolling Stones, which I think absolutely nobody in the entire club recognized) ‘Bubbly’ and ‘Magic’. I have illicit recordings! Which I will not post online, because I have no intention of getting into trouble for them. Hurhur.

“I’ll never be your beast of burden
I’ve walked for miles
My feet are hurtin’”

Her beautiful alto voice is pitch-perfect. Dusky and throaty, she sings her simple tunes without much ornamentation. It seems to be a running theme – simplicity at its best, and oh, how it works for her. She seems really down-to-earth and just a regular girl, and it’s terribly endearing to her audience. She did seem to have a bit of a cough though – hope she doesn’t strain her voice.

And she plays her own guitar! And writes her own songs! What’s not to like? You can’t help swaying and smiling and singing along (quietly) to all her songs. It’s sugar and spice and everything nice. That’s her music; that’s her. Quintessentially nice. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.

I really enjoyed myself :) and terribly glad that Puppy came with me. It’s not every guy that would accompany his girlfriend for a night of sappy sweet girly music :P

I am now playing Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune!

It’s all the fault of comicker Tim I-don’t-know-what-his-last-name is, of webcomic Ctrl-Alt-Del fame (ah, poor PC users, when wilt thou see the light of day? Verily, the greatness of Jobs shines forth, kneel and accept enlightenment in your lives). Now that I have easy access to a PS3 console *beams brightly at Puppy* and since I have purchased and bribed my way into using said console with a new DualShock controller and two games, any news posts on worthy PS3 games quite quickly catch my eye.

And so when Tim posted this gushing game review about Uncharted, I promptly went and salivated on Puppy and said we have got to get this game oh please oh please oh yes *spasm* yes! And being the warm, loving gamer boyfriend that he is, he gamely (see what I did there? See the pun? The Pan!) paid for half of the game (thereby purchasing and bribing his way into attempting to beat me at said game as well. I say attempt. He may well have a different story, but surely you will dismiss his laughable claims that he’s actually better at the game than I am. Pffft. ‘Girl gamer’, my ass).

Uncharted is an amazing game. I’ve never played Tomb Raider, but I’m pretty sure Uncharted (even though it lacks abnormally distended mammaries, or perhaps because of this lack) beats it pants hands down. I’ll unwillingly admit that it took me awhile to get used to the platforming and controls but it’ll likely be instinctive for most people familiar with the console. Having played mostly Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy and Katamari Damacy on the PlayStation, I’m used to the leisure and slow pace of turn-based combat. Which meant that when I got into my first gunfight in Uncharted, I screamed a lot like a girl and died countless times shot wildly in the air for awhile before learning to breathe slowly while kicking Puppy in the leg for laughing at me. Hmph. The real-time combat is bloody addictive. After getting used to the fast pace, I’ve actually started to enjoy the adrenaline rush. How good it feels to take a pixelled enemy out with a carefully placed head shot!

The storyline is captivating – hook, line and sinker, which is the key for ensuring that I stick with a game. Nate Drake, the protagonist in the game, is also rather dashing, with a close resemblance to Harry Kewell; the girly heroine, Elena, is real kickass, and I bet Puppy wouldn’t dare call her a girl gamer to her face. Double Hmph. You only get to control Drake though. He’s a real monkey, what with ropes to climb and ledges to dangle from and vines to swing across. His snarky “You gotta be kidding me!” emerges often as wave after wave of faceless shooters swarm out to attack – it gets me every time, because I’m often screaming the same thing, exhausted after countless rounds of careful shooting are wasted at the last minute by some idiot with an Uzi.

The most fun bit so far has been an energetic car chase. Elena drives a jeep hectically through a jungle, narrowly avoiding bits of cliff along the way, while you operate a mounted turret out the backseat to bomb jeeps and bikes racing after you. The graphics are amazing – the rendered water glistens and reflects back at you, palm fronds wave in the breeze. The voice acting is spot on and realistic as hell, with everything shot with motion capture.

The only gripe I have so far is that the SixAxis controllers don’t seem to be utilized for their full value. The whole point of the SixAxis motion sensor feature is the ability to sense both rotational orientation and translational acceleration along all three dimensional axes. However (maybe due to Sony’s late announcement of the inclusion of this feature in their controllers) this isn’t really integrated into the game, except for once where you open a wheel-lock door by rotating the controller, and to maintain balance when you walk across logs. Too arbitrary, like they put those in at the last minute, trying to find places in the game they could actually use the feature, but didn’t really care too much about doing so.

Anyhoo, that’s an issue I have with Lego Star Wars too, so it’s not really a problem; just that I feel it could be integrated more into the game for a fuller experience.

For PS3 owners (aren’t we just so cool?) who might be interested, here’s the opening clip of the game (no spoilers, I assure you; however please don’t go read the Uncharted Wiki page like I accidentally did :( Much spoiler action, waily waily waily!). Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Fine. I admit it. I am a Girl Gamer. Puppy is obviously much better at the game than I am. And he also got me through some of the shoot-em-up parts that I just couldn’t bring myself to slog through for the fifth time. :D

Lions for Lambs is being panned by critics all over the place but…I actually kinda liked the movie. Sure, it was a little preachy and a little in-your-face with its preachiness, but I thought that the point of the movie wasn’t to, uh, make a point per se, but to make you think.

It made me think.

I thought about how George Bush is facing the greatest slump in approval ratings that any president in the history of the United States. I thought about how Hollywood is determined to have its say, even if their government won’t listen. I thought about how if a local filmmaker produced a film like this one, in a local context, he’d probably become the local example of why you don’t make films like these in Singapore. I thought about how if Singapore went to war, it’d be my father, my brother, my husband out there fighting and dying for the country.

(Okay, so maybe my father’s too old, and my brother would probably migrate his butt somewhere else, and I’d be begging my husband to do the same.)

But that’s the whole point of the movie. Made me realize that if there was a war, I’d be one of those cutting my losses and running, not staying behind to defend the country, or wanting my loved ones to stay and defend the country. And so I wonder – despite my inherent love of Singapore, even though I don’t think I’d ever want to settle down permanently anywhere else – why I have no desire to give up anything in its defense.

Maybe it’s just because I don’t like pain and suffering and losing my loved ones to war, and if I had the means to run, I would.