come see, come all...

So it's only one more day left till the fresh new clothes are taken off the wardrobe and quilted our skins, I know it sounds corny but~ o well. See we as a family have the old tradition and beliefs when it comes to Chinese New Year (that's most probably what influence me to believe that the new year does not start until we past CNY)

So here are the preparations that we've been getting our hands onto this past couple of days. Me and my mom have been folding the papers that are going to be burnt on the day. The papers represent money and they usually have a gold emboss in the center with a picture of the three Wise Men or some other Chinese related pictures eg. a lotus. These 'money' are usually burnt on some occasions like the CNY or during a funeral or when you are commemorating a person's death. It is believed that these money will be sent to heaven to be given the loved ones that are already gone. But you can just not fold the paper money if you want to but CNY is a special occasion so we've been folding like crazy! The shape that we usually fold it onto is those old chinese gold money thingy it's kinda hard to describe it's mostly like a boat looking money. But this year just because I'm bored, got nothing to do, and trying to do differently I decided to do a lotus. (At the moment coz the system sucked I can't show the pictures so I'll just show it next time) We made (I was helped by my mom but I was the one arranging the paper so it become a lotus ^--^ hehe) 3 full lotus and a flower. It's strange if you don't see the picture but I'll show it next time.

We also have this tradition where we usually put a table of offerings on the front of our home. It is a table full of food ranging from cakes to a whole chicken, a slice of roast pork, fish etc as offerings to the gods. And on the day of CNY we pray with 3 incenses each for our health and future well-beings. It's good coz at the end of the day we can cook the meats and eat the cakes ^--^ and they say that if you eat the food for offerings it will bring you luck too but I believe they just do that so the food won't go to waste hehehe ^--^

The night before CNY we also clean up, change bedcovers and wear new PJs as the tradition goes it is a start of a new year thus everything needs to be new to allow good luck or something or rather (maybe that was just my version of why we have to change into everything new) and it's also said that everything you wear needs to be new too but we don't go as far as changing the eating utensils etc that's just a waste. And the clothes that we wear is usually red. But we can't be bothered, as long as it's new it GREAT! hehehe ^--^

But the greatest thing about CNY is the FEAST! My mom cooks mean food! We traditionally have this food that we only eat once a year coz they are delicacies considered as luxurious food so we only eat them on CNY. But we don't normally have a feast with the whole relatives we just do it on our own terms, so it's more of a family dinner than a feast really. But the amount of food that my mom cooks seems to suggest there is going to be a feast (usually) hehehe ^--^ and anyway my brother eats a lot so I guess it won't go to waste.

And as you all know the tradition also extends to the red envelope. Yup, the most exciting thing about CNY is definitely the red envelope filled with MONEY! ^--^ On the day (which is tomorrow) of CNY we usually go around to our relatives' places, which are usually the oldest relatives which in my case is my Grandma's house where the relatives from my dad's side usually hang out and meet and then we usually visits other relatives too.

And then at the end of the day we just hang around at home. We usually don't have a lot to do during the day so we sometimes just hang out at relatives' places and then that's all that we really do. So... that's all about the Chinese New Year that we as a family do. So if I don't get a chance to say this I'll say it now, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, GONG XI FA CAI, may all your wishes come true!

Bai bai ^--^

scary scary ~

The weather here's been CrAzY~! These last few days have been raining coz I think it might've been because of monsoon seasons... maybe~ But the rain has been pouring mostly at nights and it's SCARY~ It feels like a tornado outside your home but doesn't have enough power to send the house twirling up in the air and slam it onto the ground. But the wind's been hitting on every inch of the front lawn (we got no back lawn, everything's rationed here hehehehe ^--^ kidding kidding) and whenever I'm trying to watch the TV the wind's hitting on the window so much that it silenced the TV! It's crazy I'll tell ya~! But fortunately there's no thunderstorm around here the last time I heard a thunderstorm... actually it's more of lightning and thunder than rain... was a couple o' weeks ago... twas nothing but you can see the sky cracked and it was in BROAD DAYLIGHT! tsk tsk crazy weather... the world is gonna be doomed I tell ya! DOOMED!! Huahahahahahaha... ... ... ... i have a headache~ o well

I gtg now before I become crazier than I already am~!

"they never saw it coming..."

Derailed. A movie made by a Swedish director, Mikael Håfström, it is also said that this was his first attempt at directing an English movie. Alright, I'm not going to really be against this movie just because some people are completely against this movie saying it was on a "downhill" but in terms of storyline I thought it was pretty good, but I heard this was a remake from a previous movie too... so there goes my positive comment on this movie... ooo btw...

Here's how the story goes: geez... I can't make a good storyline... anyway here's one that imdb.com has prepared for the viewers: "when two married business executives (Owen and Aniston) having an affair are blackmailed by a violent criminal, the two must turn the tables on him to save their families"

Comment: plot-wise it was good coz you don't know what's gonna happen next. But as soon as you watch it you realised how cheesy the whole movie was. But maybe that's just me. I watched this on the Gold Class seats btw... it wasn't THAT great but all in all you watch it just for the entertainment. And sometimes I do wonder if the storyline actually do make sense coz... I dunno... you just have to watch it... But I thought Vincent Cassell really do suit the part as the notorious villain, Phillipe LaRoche, he just... do the part well I guess... hehehe. But I have to say this is one of those movies where the weak becomes the hero etc etc... so yeah... I'm tired of giving comments on this movie I'll just go now...

To watch or not to watch? Hmm... tough question. My opinion is that don't watch it on the big screen just wait until you can hire it at your local video shop...

'Tis all from me~ bai bai

"i want a life that is mine!"

This time because I'm just purely bored I've decided to write a review on Memoirs of a Geisha and part of the reason also was that there are a lot of people discussing it and having some problems with the Chinese casts. I think so too though. Don't get me wrong I thought the movie is actually splendid but I thought they could've been more geographically correct by casting some unknown Jap actors than using an already known ones.

So the story rite? The story begins at a fishing village where little Chiyo and her sister Satsu were taken and brought to the city of Gion. When they arrive at Gion Chiyo and her sister were separated. The story tells of Chiyo's journey to become Sayuri the most celebrated Geisha in Gion.

Comment: The movie critics have been saying that it is one of the most highly acclaimed films been made. But obviously some viewers think otherwise. When I saw this movie I am most preplexed by the cinematography, as one viewer commented it was "gorgeous". I'm still a bit concerned by the choosing of the cast (if you know what I mean, we've been talking about it everytime we discuss this movie). As Marina has said it would do them good if only they have introduced new unknown Jap actors instead of using the "already existing" ones... But all in all I think I would love to see it on the big screen for the first and (if I REALLY REALLY want to) second time, but other than that I think I'm just going to stop watching and just read the damn novel. And... FYI I already read the novel and as many knows I boast about it a lot of the times when the movie was about to be released. A little disappointed, yes, but otherwise it's an ok movie and just watch out for the highly accentuated English though, they can be a bit of a hassle. And for the most part the Chinese actors don't even look Jap enough. OK I know I'm being completely biased against this but obviously I have turned 180 degrees from my previous exclamation of the movie... but that's just after I was left to ponder on the movie a little bit more... and for the most parts the images or scenes don't really stick in my mind too well... you know... like any great movies some scenes actually stick in your mind for the rest of your lives but this one didn't so... yeah... that's all from me...

To watch it or not to watch it? That is the question. I believe that it is completely up to you. I'm a fan of Arthur Golden's original book so I've been dreading to watch it since it came out. But on the other hand if you just want to watch it, go and watch it, it's not entirely THAT bad... there are some even worse movies than this and I have to say this is one of those pretty great ones...

Okies then~ that's all for this one~ coming up are more movie reviews ^--^

WOOHOO! we're bak online! YEAH!

ok ok first of all I've just downloaded all the pics that I got from my mob that shows the cinemas (you'll see what I mean) and now I would like to show it off

This one's the first... we went to Plaza Indonesia where all the Guccis, D&Gs, Louis Vuittons are. This mall is considered the most exquisite and the most expensive out of all the malls in JKT. When you walk into this mall you can see how high-class this place really is. Me and my aunty just went to this mall because it has an adjoining mall which is a completely different mall but you can walk to it through this mall. I think this other one is called EX an abbrev. for Entertainment X-enter or sumthin' dunno... it is also considered high-class and don't start talking that I bought anything at this mall (they're too expensive for me, a humble peasant) but my aunty treat me to the exclusive cinema. She's been boasting about it since she stepped foot onto that red carpeted hall and walk through into a big gold class seats etc etc. Apparently she got free tickets from her relatives and so she went (this is about her first time there, I wasn't there) with her kids. And since then because she's been boasting about it a lot I sorta want to go but then again I know how expensive the seats are so I let it go ^--^ hehehe... but then we went to Plaza Indonesia and she asked me if I wanna go! OF COURSE LA! But I can't exactly say that!

So we walked in and the cinema, which is called the Premiere, is actually separate from the normal cinemas (so that means Gold Class is in separate place) It's quite secluded but all in all you can pretty much see that the place is rather err... exclusive... sorta... I have no other words to say it ^--^ hehe... so we went in and it feels like you're booking a flight ticket at a Qantas office coz the woman is not behind a glass but rather sat in front a comp and there are two seats for the buyer... ok that was really vague... anyway

There was two options to the movie, it was either King Kong or Derailed. We picked Derailed (am not going to talk about the movie just yet) just because Memoirs of a Geisha's not out yet (pity... I think the next day after that the movie was on *shucks) We had a few hours still lingering by so we just walk around the mall... and when it's time... imagine... a red carpeted hall,,, a waiting room... with luxurious chairs and when we sat down THEY GAVE US A MENU! And imagine my surprise when I saw that Fried Rice was on the menu PLUS my aunty said that their fried rice is DELICIOUS~! ooo I gotta have one... and so the movie was nearly on and so we went in... ARGH!! It was soo comfortable and it's one of those chairs that have the leg attachment to it... hmm... I dunno what it's called... but anyway... IT WAS SOO COMFORTABLE! And the food was awesome too! They're delicious~!

Although the price was Rp 125.000 which is about A$16 which is relatively the same price as the regular seats but in this currency they're a hell lot expensive! I know I know compared to the Gold Class in Oz which counts for about $50 I think but I'm not sure... close enough... They're pretty cheap I guess...

Anyways... I have to give The Premiere in EX a score of 4.5 out of 5! I know... maybe I sound too generous but honestly... It was that good... especially for a first time luxurious cinematic experience!

Second, me and my aunty wanted to watch Memoirs of a Geisha soo much that we went again to another err... cinema... It's actually similar to The Premiere but... a hell lot cheaper, the seats cost only Rp 70,000. But anyways it wasn't much to talk about The Premiere is a hell lot better than this though... so I'm not gonna talk about this one just show you the images..

Hehehehe when I went to both cinemas I quickly took pics with my mobile so it wasn't as high quality.

And on both occasions there are actually only 4 people watching... us two and other two customers hehehehe.... it was pretty small though... (I meant the theater)

Anyways... here are the photos

(left, first) This one's from the waiting room inside the Premiere

(right, first) This one's the very comfortable seats inside the theater...

(left, second) The theater's not really that big though...

(right, second) This one on the other hand is from the OTHER one aka not the Premiere

(left, third) The seats are huge but they're less comfy

First thing's first

If it's not this it's the other...

My comp was finally fixed and ready to be used... the only problem the external modem seems to be down (or maybe I was technologically incapable of fixing the problem... either way...) and so I could get the comp up and running but it always read error whenever I tried the internet... oh well... and now I'm back at my uncle's place to write these stuff...

There's a lot I wanna to talk about and especially a couple of movies I watched and also the cinematic experience from gold class seats ^--^ I know! GOLD CLASS!! See the thing is my aunty had some free seats and she said the seats were magnificent! So she invited me along (unfortunately she doesn't have anymore free vouchers) and tried it whilst watching Derailed (shucks! we wanted to see Memoirs of a Geisha with this but it hasn't come out yet and speak of the devil the next day it was on on the big screen!! shucks...) anyways... as far as I know there are 3 malls that have a 'gold class' seating service...

I also took some pics but they're of low quality since it came from my phone... but it was nice and cozy (although a bit cold) I'll tell you more about it when I get back there... or when I can upload the pics onto the blog or when I can tolerate the dial-up speed uploading the pictures...

Nah dun think I can do it over here... there's too many mosquitoes than I can cope with... coz there's just too many of 'em

Anyways... I gtg... for no reason :P but I'll be back (in Arnie's tone... so not funny...)

Sayonara~

Things to come:
- reviews on movies
- reviews on cinemas
- reviews on malls

hey HEY!!

wow... it's been a while hasn't it? hmmm come to think of it I haven't been blogging nor online for aaggeeesss... that is entirely not my fault... the comp in my home's dead and today since I'm going away with my couz I decided to borrow their internet to do some err... surfing and so I did... I can't believe it... the me who is always blogging seems to take some time off and just let the whole technology be as far away from my everyday life as possible... well that whole thing is gonna change when I get the fixed comp back... actually I have no idea when it's gonna finish... coz as far as I know the comp was taken about a few days before new year soo... it might be a while... and plus if you're saying "how about going to an internet cafe?" well the answer is I can't be bothered going to an internet cafe since all they have is dial-up internet connection which is roughly the same as EVERY internet connection in this goddamn country... *oops did I just said goddamn? yeah anyway... I will post a blog when I get a chance to otherwise I'll just let time goes by unknowingly and ignore the technology for a while... hmm... there's kinda a reason though... since there's no internet here we have cable tv here which is great! but it is different back in Oz when I have no cable tv and yet we have cable internet... haha the irony of life... (sorry not so much of an irony but you get it... no maybe not... sorry it's just me nagging about life and it's unlikely phenomenons... err... that doesn't make sense at all...)

ANYWAY... I think I better go now... I've been using too much of their internet already for my own selfish needs so I think I better log off now... and when I get the chance to post something or be online I will... so don't worry I'm still alive even though I haven't been online nor responding to any kind of communication tools... i'm still alive and well...

alrighty cya when I get back (that is assuming that I will not use the internet for a long time)

until then adios~