[18.3.2013] Seriously?

Hey guys.. no posts for now.. been extremely busy driving around people the past few days and helping out for this forum. Interesting to hang out with renowned speakers from all over the world and discuss issues with them in the car...

Anyhow have to wake up at 4 tomorrow for airport duty.. I'll continue with some interesting posts after I get back and have enough sleep...

BTW.. How are you readers? Are you guys really from all of the following?

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Leave a message or something... Would really like to hear from u.

[13.3.2013] Django Unchained

Got a chance to catch Django Unchained yesterday night and I feel that I should write this up quickly to thank the people at Nuffnang for the special invite to catch this movie.

Anyhow.. to those who dont know, this movie is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Who is this guy you ask? Well hes the guy who made all the cult favourites like Pulp Fiction , Resevoir Dogs, Kill Bill and the Inglorious Basterds. So now he has made a new movie called Django Unchained. Check out the trailer

So the movie is set in the 1850's and around the wild west prior to the civil war. This bounty  hunter Dr.Schultz (played by Christoph Waltz  previously as Col. Hans Landa from Inglorious Basterds) buys and frees this slave called Django (played by Jamie Foxx) and trains him to be a badass bounty hunter to assist him to get this bounty that he has been chasing and also with a promise to help free his wife.

So from the above, it might sound like any typical movie right? But with Tarantino's magic, he manages to twist the movie into a whole lotta blood and gore and cheesy tacky music and witty satirically funny lines.

Expect performances from Leonardo Dicaprio and Samuel L. Jackson too in this movie who brings forth other wonderful performances. 

So what do I rate this movie? I think i'll give it an 8.5 out of 10.. Its extremely bloody and loud and tacky and sometimes draggy that I dont know if I want to watch again and I really dont recommend this movie for the squemish.. but overall, I think this movie played out really well and was the darkhorse of movies compared to Argo and Zero Dark Thirty when it came to the oscars. Do go and catch this movie if you are a fan of action and bloody scenes and profanity (N*gger was said more than 100 times throughout the whole movie) and just a fan of Tarantino's work. Till then!

[28.2.2012] Hanoi Day 1 Pt 2

So when we left off the other day, we had just checked in the hotel and made arrangements for the cruise on Ha Lon Bay.

So whats next for us to do? Well we decided to walk around Hanoi and see whats up.

We were given a map by the hotel and located some of the nearby attractions (involved alotttt of walking)

and decided to walk along to see the lake nearby. Along the way there are lots and lots of shops selling shirts and other  knock-off stuff.. But we just kept on walking.. I was eyeing the jackets but thought its not that bad... its cold but manageable..

The lake is called Hoan Kiem Lake and legend has it that 

"emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when his magic sword, Heaven's Will, was grabbed by a turtle who quickly disappeared into the depths. All attempts to find either the sword or the turtle failed. Lợi concluded that the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) had come to reclaim the sword that it had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. Lợi renamed the lake to commemorate this event, it was formerly known as Luc Thuy meaning "Green Water"). The Turtle Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend."

The travel mates being touristy and IN JACKETS!

So nearby the lake is the famous water puppet show. We decided to catch the show after we got back from the Ha Lon Bay cruise... The timings werent right when we were there.

Apparently Running Men from the show went there recently when they did their asian race.

Heres a picture of me. No jacket... Cool right? 

In the middle of the lake there was a temple which had some touristy things.. You have to pay to get in but I cant recall how much it was but it wasnt that much...

Hellow there...

After we visited the lake we decided to go walk around and have lunch.... The lunch was pretty 'meh'.. nothing to talk about as I didnt really feel like squatting down and having Pho and with all the halal issue I just ate something simple...

However.... After sitting down for lunch in the open air... and you sit and chat.. slowly the feeling of coldness started to creep in.. I was feeling like WHAT THE HELL ITS FREAKING COLD HERE... haha..

and being me.. I am HUGE for vietnam. hahaha finding something was difficult. So struggle struggle struggle I managed to find something for myself and despite it being totally un-planned,  I decided to go for it..

So we had decided to go visit uncle Ho Chi Min at his mausoleum.

We took a cab since it was kind of far from where we were and it dropped us across the square from where the mausoleum was.

It was closed by the time we arrived but we took some pics... 

Nearby was some of Ho Chi Minh's museum and then a single pillar pagoda was there too. The place had lots of honour guards in all their regallia and also some soldiers practising their marches.

Now i feel warm...

The museum

We didnt feel like going to a museum about a guy and just took some pics outside.. We then proceeded to the Hanoi Military Museum and decided to see what was there.

It costs about 30,000 dong (about RM 5) to enter and about another 20,000 dong (about RM 3.5) to bring in a camera.. But when we entered the guy didnt really care about the camera fees so.. I took pics but was slightly worried about it.. haha.. I dont understand the language and all...

What to expect in the museums? Well as I recalled from my Ho Chi Minh trip, there will always always always be a lot of propaganda about the war and how they won and how badly they were treated and such. So... please expect a lot of it.

Me outside of Malaysian Embassador's residence which we saw along the way. 

The citadel inside the compound of the Military Museum

After the museum stint, we decided to get some coffee before calling it quits and go back and rest. I couldnt resist having the chocalate brownies (they give you hot melted choc syrup to pour on top of it) and some of the coffee in vietnam.(You should always always always try the coffee in vietnam)

So basically thats it for the day... after we got back to the room, we went off to dreamland and slept.... later on we walked around the old quarter again and found some dinner and packed for Day 2! The Ha Lon Bay trip!

[29.1.2013] Istana Bamboo

Mom invited me to join her and her friends for lunch the other day. It was supposed to be a buffet lunch at the Istana Bamboo (Translates to be Bamboo Palace) along MRR2 and for me that sounded just fine.

When we arrived, we arrived a bit earlier than everyone else.

The place looks nice with its bamboo huts and a small paddy pond placed nearby the huts...

so since we were going for a buffet lunch, I was thinking ok lets really enjoy the food... So when we arrived all that was prepared was the Asam Pedas, Veggie, Rice and some ikan bakar. The lady said that more will come later as it just started.. This was weird to me as it was 1215 already and i thought ok.. Malaysian timing, mayb it will come later... Also available was ABC which is air batu campur and also some drinks and kuih..

I piled on my rice with the asam pedas and took the ikan bakar... and then thats it.. 

It turns out that the food wasnt really that replenished and then there was no additional food... What the lady had promised was not there but fair enough for RM9.90 who else would allow you to eat that much right? 

But about half an hour later my mom's friends arrived all 9 of them and seriously food was scarce.. and the remaining food was soo little.. It ticks me off to be lied to by some restauranters and seriously how hard is it to be honest about what you are offerring.

The asam pedas was good but seriously, I dont recommend for people to come here for lunch.. or at all for that matter. I have been here for dinner with friends and the service was LOUSY.. The food is ok.. but the service was bad.. I had finised eating and they didnt think to clear the plates.. and the thatched table is sticky and seriously apart from the ambiance and look of the place, there is nothing to be offered. 

I TOTALLY DONT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE.

Istana Bambu,

Lot 841, Jalan Hulu Kelang,

Ampang.

Tel: 4251-4717