A year gone by

So it is that time of year again. My birthday. I don't treasure birthdays a lot, last I really did was on my 21st. When I think of my birthday, I think of the previous year and it was a really memorable one.

I spent my last birthday at Poland, Poznan. God gave me a birthday present that no one could have offered. My birthday coincided with a special festival, one which involved lighting lanterns and setting them off into the sky.

It looks marvelous right? Picture a sky full of lanterns. What was really significant was getting the lanterns up into the sky. It was the process. Our AIESEC group of exchange friends came from different countries, Croatia, Azerbaijan, The Phillipines, US and more. During this festival, all our differences were put aside as we cooperated with one goal, to successfully release our lanterns into the sky.

Back then I was wearing spectacles and you can see that everyone was helping each other out with their lanterns. Think about it. A very touching scene. All differences set aside for one goal.

This year, I spent my precious lunch time with a group of friends who have become very dear to me. Don't ask us how it became the three of us. Groups of 3 just happen too often, as least for me. The cold cut trio, the cold blooded triad, both 3s!

The really smart looking guy in the photo is Latin and he's so nice and gentlemanly that he puts so many other guys to shame, including me.The lady in the photo is Catrin. Someone agree with me that she doesn't need dieting. Not that it will happen anytime soon because she's always cafe hopping and eating good food, tee hee.

I had work on my birthday. Yes it was sian but hey, responsibilities come first. If you've been through NS, you will probably understand that when duty calls, whatever the day or occasion, you go.

I spent my time with these awesome people who were really motivated. They also fed my ego like it was cookie monster. Really special people who do not live by Facebook or Instagram.

After all these years going through internships, part time jobs, NS and what not, I learn that it's not so much the work you do but it's the people who work with you. A job can be sucky and all that which happens, yet if you have a group of positive, motivated friends to work alongside you, the experience can be very much different.

Oh, now to the main point of my post. To thank each and everyone who sent their greetings to me. I am truly blessed. I received greetings from Taiwan, Croatia, The Philippines, Denmark, Japan, Poland... To know that I am remembered by so many people when I am but an insignificant person makes me really thankful. It's not about me, it's about you and what you have done.

To all the friends who have helped me, offered me your friendship, I am grateful. I remember the challenging times, when you offered to find my apartment with me in a foreign place, in the rain.  When I knew not the words to express myself and you sought to explain it for me. When I fell sick and you came to me with comfort food. When you forgave the silly mistakes I made. When you taught me or cared for me. All these experiences build me up, to become the person I am today. Not perfect. Still learning, still improving. You contributed to who I am today and for that I am thankful.

That said, I will now pass off as forever 18 because someone said I look like I am 18. Wheeee!

Movie Review of Maleficent

Disney's latest movie is Maleficent! Her name is kinda difficult to spell and pronounce on a side note. Wonder why wasn't a simpler name given. Something more catchy.

Well, the plot is totally not what we expected. We, if you have grown up listening or reading the story of Sleeping Beauty. In the original, traditional tale, she was the villain and Sleeping Beauty was woken up by the prince's kiss. Here in this version, there is a twist. This time, unlike my previous movie reviews, I won't give spoilers. Feel free to read on and make guesses.

I was very intrigued by the progression of the character, from a young girl to who she is in the present, someone evil. Not only physically but also in terms of her emotions. It shows that even villains have emotions and they are not always evil at birth. Like reality, things happen to people and it is really how we react to these situations and obstacles that come our way.

The movie ended with a quote that Maleficent was both the hero and the villain. Something of importance to me. Our actions can make us good or bad to others. It's how we are perceived. We all make mistakes, guided by emotions we may do the worst things we regret. All it takes is that one moment for us to realise that we have done wrong and need forgiveness. That life changing moment.

Oh dear, how far have I rumbled on. Ok, on to some specifics. The visuals were good, there were a lot of other mystical creatures in the land of the Moss kingdom that were pretty stunning and Aurora interacted with them in those beautiful scenes. Some of the fight scenes kinda reminded me of the fights in Narnia. In case you thought you were watching a cartoon, nope, this isn't a cartoon. There's Angelina Jolie starring as Maleficent (my friend had no idea it was her, even after the end of the movie). She made an awesome female lead that was for sure. Nothing like a woman's wrath. She was really the best person for that role.

Once again, this Disney movie was different from other normal Disney movies, with only the happily ever after ending reminding us that it's from Disney. In this movie, the relationship they emphasized on was between mother and daughter. A very useless prince role was included, to basically be there and look nice in my opinion.  If only it was between a father and son, it would have been in line with Father's Day. That said, I would rate this 4.1/5, my highest so far, because originality is off the charts man. All of us love a good Disney movie. 

Learning and more learning

So its been a month since I started my internship. I learned a lot. About me and about the world.

I am the type which; I would love to associate with Sherlock Holmes. I don’t want to know what doesn’t involve me. Extra information just doesn’t have a storage space in my brain, unless of course it has its usefulness. Like him, when I get excited, I enjoy that state of busyness and what’s food when I am in that state? I enjoy the autonomy I am given, the room to think and be creative about it. If there’s nothing to be creative about, it’s really not suitable for me.

My internship. I am given the autonomy to write articles that I am passionate about. Guess what? Movies so far. That and I actually aim to write more insightful, thoughtful pieces but that’s where I learn about the world. They can’t be bothered to read. The world has become so lazy that reading online has become a chore. Even when it is worth the read. Pictures speak a thousand words? Nah, just us being lazy.

The world is all about I, me, myself. Selfies. OOTDs. I won’t say that I am totally not doing this but at a certain point just seeing selfies can get really annoying.

To me, it’s about job satisfaction. It’s about productivity. It’s about relationships. If one writes an article that no one reads, it is quite the fail and of course it is disappointing. Being productive, on the other hand, makes me feel somewhat good. At the same time, it’s about maintaining a good relationship with colleagues, taking their advice and learning from them.

We can never learn enough and there’s always the need to adapt to new situations. Maybe due to my last intern, I can tend to be quite formal. Yet, I feel its always better to be more formal than casual. Ok lah, if scripting or what, then need to be more casual. That said, the scripting I am used to is for presentations as well as for VIP speeches, so need to adjust the style.

Along the way I made dumb mistakes too. Emailed the wrong person. Broke a plug. My affinity with electrical appliances is so not there and I can be blur at times. That said, I am thankful that my colleagues are there to help me out.

Movie Review of X-men Days of Future Past

Initially I refused to watch any trailers for this movie. I love X-men so much that I wanted to enjoy the movie without knowing much of its plot. You know how ignorance is bliss? Yea, it applies here. The fun is not knowing what happens.

So it began with X-men in the future. The introduction of the Sentinels. Truth be told, the Sentinels weren’t as we had expected in some sense. They looked really, really powerful. I guess that’s necessary otherwise they wouldn’t be able to slay so much of the X-men.

The interesting part was how Wolverine was going to stop Mystique from being captured. While watching, I was commenting that despite his attempts to change the future, while it was changed, it was still on the very same route to revealing the existence of mutants.

The twist was when Mystique decided to morph into the President. That was just daebak! We  totally didn’t see that coming.

The visual effects and all were really good! I didn’t think very highly of Blink’s role in the movie until I watched it.  It was really nice, her portals and to think that a fellow Singaporean was behind some of these effects. Good job man!

On a side note I couldn't help explaining to my friend after the movie that Quicksilver also known as Max was none other than Magneto's son and his daughter, the little girl with Max and his mum, was later the Scarlet Witch. Oh and Quicksilver was just awesome dancing with the bullets. Too cool!


Overall I was really pleased by the movie. The plot wasn’t a simple, straight forward one and every time I saw an X-men get killed, I flinched.  I would rate it 4.5/5 but don’t take my word for it. Watch it!