FoOie’s Haven

GilaGang just had its umpteenth gathering at La Bodega Bangsar last week - this being the first time it was held at a bar/lounge/pub..

For those who don’t know what GilaGang is, I already wrote a little about it in my first ‘guest-blogging’ article over here at Jen’s blog, while she elaborated even more about this GilaBodega session here.

The only reason we had it at La Bodega was because our initial plan to have it at Zouk’s Mambo Night didn’t materialize due to poor response. Doesn’t seem like we might actually manage to hold a GilaCubbing session anytime soon now.. haha.

Hmm, I wonder what other Gila stuff we can do together..

Anyway, here are the way overdue photos from that night. And just because I’ve never done this before, I’m gonna go about introducing each and everyone to my dear readers - which happens to be your goodselves!

Top : FoOie, Bottom L-R : Siew Keng, Meiz

Since I refer to everyone by their original Chinese names as I’ve come to know them, thus Siew Keng will always be affectionately known as Siew Keng, SK or KangKang to me (rather than Rosalind) hehe.. I’ve had plenty of fun times with this girl many years ago, and it caught me completely by surprise when she announced her plans for marriage by this year end.

What’s awesome was that I was right there with her when she first met her husband-to-be Naz. At THAT time, she was actually interested in Naz’s other friend TY *husssh*, but it was Naz who eventually managed to steal her heart. They’ve been together for almost 5 years now. Well Kangkang, I’ve got lots of interesting/compromising photos of you, including our spastic sessions in Bel’s room - which I shall reveal to the public one day when the time is right OK? hehe..

Meiz! The feisty witty carnivorous chiq who was supposed to be my ‘geisha‘ since she affectionately calls me her ‘danna‘.. This poor danna however never got any action from her though.. I was never served tea, she has never plucked at a shamisen , nor danced for me either.. so lousy right.. cis. Nevermind, this danna never buys or sponsors her training and kimonoes anyway.

L-R : Jason & FoOie

Jason aka Spinky! The biggest buaya in GilaGang - ’nuff said. Even came in with a shirt proclaiming that he “Scored Last Night”.. just too bad it didn’t quite turn out right in the above photo though haha.. Bring lar your gf to the next GilaGathering.. How can you let her miss out on your history weyyy.. We’ve got so many juicy stories to tell..

L-R : Katharina, Kok Keong, Pui Ling & FoOie

Katharina! Kok’s German friend from Perth who’s here to visit for a few days. A very friendly chatty girl, who’s studying film! Bravo for actually daring to taste that small piece of durian girl.. Kok Keong, no need introduction lar - knew this bugger when we were just kids, and now he’s ran off to hide his face in Perth. I haven’t seen him for 2 years before his trip back in July.. and now that he’s gone back to Perth, I probably won’t see him again for another 2 years..

Oh Pui Ling, one of the most sporting girls I know! Started off really skinny and somewhat tomboyish, but really blossomed into this hawt babe in recent years. Haha, unknown to most, she’s also a closet bookworm, and is the reason for my recent spat of chiq literature that I’ve been reading. Mind you, her recommendations have all been awesome.

Top : FoOie, Bottom L-R : Low Jen, Pei Pei & Faz

Low Jen! A semi-shy, yet super friendly, soft spoken adorable girl who’s just finished her CLP exams, and is gonna be a practicing lawyer very soon. Dont prei prei… and her CUTE friend Pei Pei (pun intended ), whom I didn’t get to talk to much that night (unfortunately) hahaha. Her demure, charming smile, masks one helluva husky sexy voice. Oh well, hopefully got other opportunities..

Faz.. What can I say. Every year that passes, she becomes that much cooler to hang out with. This picture doesn’t do justice to her recently shaved Mohawk crew cut. You’ll probably bump into her if you frequent local gigs as she plays a mean-ass guitar in her jazz band. Faz, you are my soul sista - cause we both have the ability to emo very well. hahahaha

And finally a groupshot minus Peix2

Sooo many more missing GilaGangers, hopefully will get to intro the rest after the next gathering. GilaBodega was quite a success!

BTW, as promised, no more pimples!

It was the only last free available weekend I have for the rest of the month, so we all made a spontaneous decision to go to Awana Kijal in Terengganu as part of Ken’s long wanted roadtrip during his stay in Malaysia.. Wouldn’t have happened if Jacq didn’t get the ‘free’ room there too!

On the way to paradise!

As we rushed to get there before the sun set, I sped most of the way (averaging at 150kph) - which was fast enough that I didn’t have to cut to the slow lane even once during my entire drive there. And guess what. Roadblock. Only for the police to wave my car across! PHEW. And then, tempting fate (what are the odds of 2 roadblocks on the same highway), I continued my pace. Only to get into another roadblock.. who were just happening to pack up. Talk about G-LUCK. Lesson learned - don’t speed to East Coast in the daytime.

Had dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant, and then drove North towards Kerteh to see the amazing petrochemical refineries along the coast. At night, the view of the structures here can be quite spectacular - like some futuristic sci-fi city of lights and fire - literally, as rows of pylons continuously spew flame into the night sky that it turns it partly reddish.

.. and a strange green patch on my chest.

Back to the room for a round of our favourite boardgame.. and then off we go down to the beach for a night walk..

with Ken’s SLR in tow..

for some ridiculous night shots.. (the things we do when its dark)

and some very interesting photos done by setting the camera to overexpose for about 30 seconds while we draw images in the dark with our lit handphones.. (Images c & d were completely unplanned - we didn’t know what the other dude was gonna draw..)

1. (Ken) HELLO, (Ui Hua) FRON (can’t spell in the dark), (FoOie) KUANTAN
2. (FoOie) Car on left colliding with, (Ken) Car on right, (Ui Hua) Guy in center Exploding.. (you can see a bit of the silhoutte!)
3. (Ui Hua) Camera pointing at, (Ken) Couple having sex, (FoOie) outside a House… hmm
4. (Ui Hua) Penis, (Ken) Dog, (FoOie) Teeth filled Jaws.. hmmmmmx2…

Getting a little too Freudian for our tastes…

As we only had two breakfast coupons, Jacq and Ken did the honors by smuggling up this amazing selection of pastries in her handbag for us!

We checked out, and headed down to the coastline for some fun and sun..

First time ATV Quad Biking - although its the smaller version of the real things, these 4-wheelers are still loads of fun!

rented a volleyball and got my forearms all swollen from some umm.. volleying, followed by some netball dunking..

and some swimming..

..and some lounging in the sun/shade..

..Before we all decided its time to headback to KL. Stopped by for dinner at Kemaman for some stuffed crab, then zoomed home (I followed the speed limit this time I swear..)

Fei Flies to Sydney

Hey Fei, if you are reading this, I’d just like to wish you ALL the best in your future undertakings over at Sydney, and may you find actuarial science a piece of cake (as you no doubt will with a sharp mind like yours).. What surprises me is that you also have a natural affinity for the arts - an observation based entirely on your flair for photography and captioning your photos (small evidence over at your blog), the beautifully expressive letters and messages you write and let’s not even get started on those tear jerking videos you are capable of directing, editing and filming. And ALL of this have rubbed off on me by showing me ways in how I should express myself more (as a typically unemotional male)..

It’s been a great few months of getting to know you - the spontaneous, fun loving, friendly and adventurous girl I’ll come to miss in the days ahead. Stay happy, stay cool and stay pretty over there! And PLEASE cut down on the caffeine!

Fei a little teary-eyed over at KLIA

A Drink with Sandie

Ah! Finally got to meet up with Sandie aka Squiikivois again for a one-on-one chat after soooOOoo longggggg.

The sweetest, cutest girl I know (I’m not exaggerating), and someone I really look up to for her decision to drop her full time job (after graduating in Finance), to pursue her lifelong passion to teach piano instead. Sandie, we really should have more drinks like this, and hopefully soon!

Movie with Yuin Yin & Friends

Went out with Yuin Yin and 2 of her friends whom I got to know off the web. Who says you can’t make new friends online nowadays?

It’s been awhile since I last saw YY since she had to go back to Russia to continue her medical studies, and THEN she had to head off to Europe for a long road trip (jeles betul).

L-R : Darrell Tan & Yuin Yin

L-R : FoOie & Li Yi

Yuin Yin maintains a blog of her own over at yuinyin.com, and we got to know each other because I was inspired by her personal tales of her fight against cancer late last year. I left an encouraging comment on her blog then, and I haven’t looked back since. Li Yi, I got to meet during the first ice-breaker with Yuin back in January - a fellow Facebooker and ex-Warbooker whom we also tease as The Legendary D Cup Girl . And of course Darrell Tan - the crazy joker whom I have Friends for Sale to thank as he kept buying me and giving me silly nicknames.

Shockingly, it seems that me and Darrell have been introduced before… possibly EIGHT years ago during an old Gilagang gathering in Sunway Pyramid, by our mutual pal Hui Mei! And here we are meeting up again in a completely different situation with different people… What a freaking small world…

Andrienne’s Farewell

My deepest condolences to Andrea and her family with the passing of Andrienne (Andrea’s elder sister) on the 21st July to cancer.

Although I never really got to know Andrienne personally, what really amazed me was how she ALWAYS remembered my name every time we met. It’s a cruel world for Andrienne to be taken away at such a tender age of 31, leaving behind her 2 young adorable sons Adam and Joshua. Having also just lost my grandfather late last year to cancer, I’ve come to realize just how fragile life really is, and how we should treasure every single moment that we have.. My heart really goes out to you Andrea..

Been having some second thoughts about putting the following photo up - it is ashamedly the only photo of Andrienne that I have, taken more than 5 years ago during Adam’s full moon party. Oh, what the heck - if it’s my only photo of her, I might as well, as this shall be my personal remembrance of her (in this blog) for the years ahead..

That’s Andrienne in pink standing in the background of this photo, and yeah, that’s Fei, Angeline and Jacq during a time when I have yet to hang out with them..

Jacq’s cousin Ken from Sydney came to Malaysia to visit for about a month, and this was just one of his many outings which I happened to be a part of.

It was Fei’s last few nights here before she flies off to Oz for her studies, so we initially aimed to hit Skybar. However, due to delays, we arrived AFTER the Twin Towers lights were switched off, and Ken was unable to take any nice pics of the KL nightline with his Nikon SLR. But we did adjourn to Hartamas Devi’s for drinks and Shisha and we subsequently went crazy with our cameras.

L-R : Ui Hua, FoOie, Fei & Ken

There’s a first time for everything haha.. Won’t be making a habit of this though..

L-R : Jacq, Ui Hua, Fei & Ken

After yum char, we were a little bored, so we decided to head down to Subang AsiaCafe for some late night pool..

Credits to Fei for this cool photo How fast do you think I was driving?

…..Teamwork…..

I still suck at this game man..

Ken the hustler!

Superfly! Despite being flicked off, pinched and thrown off, and rolled over by a pool ball, it still keeps coming back for more…

I don’t smoke Shisha, so this was the first night that I really gave it a go. It has also been awhile since I actually touched a pool que, and it brought back lots of memories too.. We took so many nice photos that I just don’t have the space to put them all up here.. but you probably wouldn’t wanna see more camwhoring photos of ourselves in the same place anyway haha..

Don’t worry, I’ve got a backlog of other photos and posts to write.. more to come!

The Dark Knight (2008)

• Where do I even begin. The movie I’ve been waiting for all year, and the amount of hype, anticipation and news regarding it left me with insanely high expectations. This also got me worried as that would make the movie really hard to live up to my standards.
• My fears were misplaced though, because after the 2.5 hours of screentime, I left with my jaw open and completely satisfied. Christopher Nolan is now firmly rooted as my favourite director of ALL time. Christian Bale, who has always been my fave actor since Equilibrium and The Prestige, secured his standing in my list as well. I don’t even need to heap anymore praise on Heath Ledger’s role as The Joker - if he doesn’t at least get an Oscar nod for best actor, I swear I’ll cry foul of the highest degree. The Dark Knight left me with goosebumps even days after the movie.

• The Joker is downright one of the most sinister villains to ever grace the big screen. If there was anything I’d regret about the movie, is that Heath Ledger will not be able to reprise his role in any subsequent Batman sequels.
• The plot was solidly written, all the actors were amazing and the action scenes were gratifying. You are constantly left at the edge of your seat, not knowing how things will end, and where the movie was gonna take you. The dark ruthless Gotham City never felt more alive as a breathing entity, filled with citizens that are accurate portrayals of our current societies, paranoid over terrorism and crime, and distrustful over anything abnormal. This movie is an epic clash between 2 memorable comic characters and their disturbing personas, while its intelligent portrayal of good vs evil and right vs wrong deserves the highest praise.
• Ironman was a kids movie compared to this. The Dark Knight is without a doubt, not only the best superhero movie ever but also a superbly crafted action crime thriller that few can compare with. Hopefully this will set the standards for ALL other comic/game/novel adaptations that follows…
• At the time of writing, The Dark Knight has an unbelievable 9.6/10 on IMDB (out of 70,000 votes), and is ranked as the NUMBER 1 movie of all time on IMDB Top 250. It also scored a whopping 94% on Rottentomatoes. Well, I’ll let the figures speak for themselves.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D (2008)

• This movie is currently being shown in only 1 hall in the whole country - Midvalley GSC Hall 4. It wasn’t easy getting tickets for it either, as most people started getting them 2 days in advance due to the limited seats.
• The only other full length 3D movie I watched before this was Polar Express @ IMAX many many years ago. Other 3D experiences was the short theme park versions in both Gold Coast and back here in Malaysia. This is my first proper full length movie purposely filmed for 3D that had real actors and actresses instead of computer animations.
• Let’s just say that the result is simply breathtaking. Not to mention the movie takes place in strange new places giving the entire movie a surreal atmosphere. Nothing beats jumping out of your seat or all the other myriad reactions you will get as things fly, splash, pop up and are thrown at your face. In 3D, this movie is truly visually arresting.
• Forget the thin unoriginal plot (I read the original Jules Verne book some time ago), or the sub-par acting, or the lame script, or the lack of any real action and how it all seemed to end so quickly. Forget all that, because this was not meant to be a serious movie to begin with. When it comes down to it - this movie is perfect to watch with friends and family just so that you can laugh about it later (or remember how you tried to duck or move your head away).
• Don’t watch this in a normal non-3D cinema. Pay the extra for 3D. It’s definitely worth it.
• P.S. 3D version has no subtitles of any sort - so if you can’t catch English very well, you’ve been warned.

Hancock (2008)

• Hancock is a guy with some amazing superpowers - strength, flight, invulnerability - but he’s got no memory of his past, and is a useless alcoholic with complete disregard for the people around him. Then he saves a nice PR guy (Jason Bateman), who then tries to change the public perception of him by encouraging him to become a better person. Hancock then unwittingly falls in love with the poor dude’s Hot wife (Charlize Theron) and following all this is a twist in the movie here I should not reveal.
• What is with Will Smith and his ability to command roles in extremely high budget yet sub-par blockbusters? The premise for all of his recent movies are always interesting - but usually lacking a great deal after a first watch through. This movie is no different (ala the disappointing I Am Legend). Plus his constantly pouty whiny face here just made me feel like smacking him throughout the movie.
• Regardless, this movie taps into the basic part of us that prefers seeing superhumans whom are still bound by ordinary human rules (just like in the Heroes series). There’s a somewhat strange exhilaration in seeing a junkie, drunk, asshole, LOSER rise above his humble beginnings to kick major ass and do the right things (kinda similar to Wanted).
• I completely disliked much of the later parts of the movie, as I felt the plot twist and explanation for it was too simplistic and convenient. I can’t elaborate more here without risk of ruining the movie for most people. Regardless, one shouldn’t take this movie too seriously and watch it with a pinch of salt. It was otherwise quite entertaining.

Wanted (2008)

• An adaptation from a comic book short series that I have not heard about - the trailers looked good, and the rating on IMDB wasn’t too bad either, which sparked my curiousity. It’s about a typical failure of a guy, whose life is changed completely when he gets tracked down by a fraternity of assassins, and is told that his ‘panic attacks’ if controlled allows him to slow time down and become a super killer (and do superhuman feats).
• Execution wise was not too bad, with lots of slow mo over the top action scenes paying tribute to movies like The Matrix and Equilibrium (which is never a bad thing). However, what I couldn’t accept was the constant use of the ‘bending the bullet’ technique - which anyone with any elementary logic in physics will know is impossible IRREGARDLESS of one’s ability to slow time down or have heightened reflexes.
• I read a bit of the comic later, and also came to realize that the movie only took the simplest of the plots to turn into a movie. The Wanted comic contained much more colorful characters and enemies ala Hellboy style. I can imagine most comic fans feeling a little cheated by this cheaper interpretation of the series.
• But all that aside, Wanted is still a lot of good clean enjoyable fun - and one movie any action fans shouldn’t miss.

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

• Based on the award winning novel from Amy Tan of the same name, this is a deep retrospective movie that looks into the lives of 4 Chinese daughter-mother pairs and their corresponding relationships.
• No English movie has ever managed to capture the difficulties, and complexities regarding the personal lifes of Asian women quite as well as this one (although there are a few good Chinese films that did). Every single actress managed to bring their tragic strong women characters to life in this highly contemplative, moving, emotional, and meaningful movie.
• The Joy Luck Club is filled with moral values, great quotes and lessons to learn. Read the book if you can, and if you can’t this movie is probably the next best thing. If this movie doesn’t tug at your heartstrings / tear glands (even if you are a guy), there must be something wrong with you.

Get Smart (2008)

• A remake and throwback to a supposedly famous spy comedy from the 80’s. Too bad I never watched the originals, and can’t draw comparisons.
• Agent 23 (Steve Carell) - formally a paper pusher analyst for CONTROL, who is given field agent status (but lacks experience and gets himself into all sorts of shitty situations) and who teams up with Agent 99 (a downright breathtaking Anne Hathaway) to try and foil the terrorist group KAOS’s plan to nuke Los Angeles.
• This is stupid comedy at its purest (utter clumsiness, wardrobe malfunctions, and embarassing & outrageous situations rules the day) , and definitely worth a few good laughs. It’s not entirely dissimilar to Leslie Nielsen’s Naked Gun series, or the more recent Johnny English.. Only if you are up for some mindless entertainment..

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

• Great effort from DreamWorks Animation. They used to only have one decent animated movie under their belt (Shrek), but with this, they can safely say that they now have two. I can soo see this movie doing exceedingly well outside of the states.
• A tribute / parody to the true blue kung fu movies of old - always about a complete underdog who ends up becoming a powerful kung fu practitioner who saves the day by defeating the truly evil villain. If you’ve seen enough of the olden day kung fu movie classics (or series) you’ll know what I mean. You name it, they did it - from all the hardship trials and training sessions, typical chopstick fights, discovering hidden powers, paralyzing nerve strikes, and corny wisdom.
• Plenty of hilarious laugh out loud moments. Master Oogway anyone? Acupuncture scene? Shifu dying? Father revealing secret to son? Oh man, some great sarcastic slapstick comedy here.
• Very nicely done animated action sequences too including an awesome jail escape scene.
• Just didn’t enjoy the ‘rushed’ ending. Po’s sudden rise to power was quite unexplained, and left me wondering if I missed anything. This movie could have done much better with an extra 30 mins in it. It’s too short as it is. However, its still definitely a worthwhile watch..

I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

• A horrible lousy movie. Our heroine gets kidnapped and tortured/maimed by a serial killer, but when she’s found alive, she insists that shes not who everyone thinks she is, and that the real victim is still in mortal danger. The plot twist was decently original, although very poorly executed - and that’s about the ONLY good thing I can say about the movie.
• Interested in watching Lindsay Lohan give some of the most awful pole dancing ever? Fully clothed at that and not even the slightest bit erotic. I guess not. And it wasn’t even integral to the plotline.
• The writing, script, screenplay, direction, acting EVERYTHING was terrible. Some scenes were so utterly unbelievable and ridiculous, you’d be daft not to laugh or at least snigger. Note that this was the movie that won 8 Razzie Awards. EIGHT of them. lol. Why the heck did I even pop this into the DVD player. Urgh.

Alvin & The Chipmunks (2007)

• A remake of a cartoon from the 50’s (goodness, thats half a century ago!).
• Dave, a struggling lyricist and musician meets 3 singing chipmunks which he will eventually grow to love, and become their manager during their rise to fame. Simple plot of course, but poorly executed.. It was more or less just an endless trudge through monotony hoping for the next brief glimpses of the cute chipmunks. Heck, if you don’t like cute stuff, I suggest you run far far away.
• Shrill high pitched singing, forgettable songs and cute covers that you don’t wanna be caught dead hearing by your friends makes up most of the music in the movie.
• I unfortunately didn’t find ANY of the acting in the movie believable, nor did any portion of the script resonate with me emotionally. It’s like the movie spends way toooo much time trying to be adorable (which it succeeds with flying colors), but completely loses out on the stuff that makes a movie ‘good’.

Rendition (2007)

• Terrorist bomb explodes in Egypt killing an American. Wrongfully suspected Egyptian engineer (Omar Metwally) married to an American wife (Reese Witherspoon) gets kidnapped by American officials and is forced to undergo torture (under the Extraordinary Rendition act that allows Americans to capture, move and imprison individuals suspected of terrorism and deny them basic constitutional rights). Multiple storyline continues - wife tries to locate missing husband, High ranking Egyptian security official interrogates to try and find culprit of the bombing while his daughter runs away with a wrong chap and an assigned CIA Agent (Jake Gyllenhall) bears witness to the torture proceedings and comes face to face with his own conscience..
• Let’s not spoil too much here, Rendition is a fantastic drama thriller with an good twist near the end. It is superbly acted by ALL of the cast. The Egyptian subplots where the actors and actresses spoke in their native tongue was refreshing to see in a Hollywood production. Cinematography and direction was steady and focused and the musical score was befitting and haunting.
• More importantly, it raises a crucial question - is it OK to torture an individual if there is the chance that it may save others in our current terrorism induced climate of fear? How far can we go before we cross the line? Despite the movie not making a much deeper impact than it should (the plot allowed for this to be much much more cerebral), Rendition is still an eye opener to me.
• Watch this if you can, and if you have, I wonder what’s your take on the whole thing too. Based on what I’ve been reading on the IMDB forums, the sheer number of people that condone torture purely for the benefit of their own security and safety, scares me.

Feast of Love (2007)

• Take a drama and slap together a plot that includes as many possible angles of love, love at first sight, loss of loved ones, lesbianism, infidelity, parenthood, sacrifice - the giving and taking and innocence of it all, and you’ll have Feast of Love on your hands.
• Too bad though that the merging of all these plots in this movie was only slightly above average at best. There were some good performances by some of the characters but the main thing that ruined this movie for me were the gratuitous nudity and sex scenes. I can understand when sex is used to help project the love between characters in a movie, but to keep using it over and over again, boob slip shots, naked discussions, etc made it all just a little bit over the top for a serious love drama. But I guess most people will want to watch this now for this reason alone haha. And you wonder why this was never screened in Malaysia.
• Some great lessons to be learnt here too.. Including a particular man to man talk where I wished I was at the receiving end of the advice given (at a weaker point in my life):