HSM3 & Twilight guide

The Twilight saga: The official guide High School Musical 3

First of all, the cover of the official guide for Twilight saga is beautiful. I particularly like this cover. It sticks to the theme of red, white and black from all 4 books. Unfortunately, the release date for it will be push back to 2009. No special Christmas present this year. I was so looking forward to it.

Watched High School Musical 3 with my brothers and cousins today! Went for lunch at Long John Silver. As there's still lots of time left, we were talking about a lot of stuff, though most of all was about Twilight. What else? My life has been revolving around the Twilight saga since forever. Got my cousin addicted to Twilight. I can be an ambassador for promoting the Twilight saga. Before this, I introduced it to my close friend too. I've never feel this "crazy" about a book before, not even Harry Potter, I think.

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HSM3 is as wonderful as the first 2 movies. I found the songs in HSM3 not as catchy as before, but maybe it's just because I only watched it once. I need to watch it many times, like what I did with the 1st 2 movies, to get the songs in my head and sing like a pro. Haha

Until now, the songs from HSM3 I like, are " Now or never", "Can I have this dance", "A night to remember", "High School Musical", etc.

Ahh, I wanna watch it again... Anyway, have to get HSM3 when it's release on DVD. Most probably, I won't buy it in Singapore as it's so expensive. Will have to save the money for Twilight DVD. Twilight gets the priority, need I say?

1 movie down, 1 to go.

Twilight the movie on Dec 18th!

Pain

Very busy these days, particularly this week, due to Monday's Deepavali. We have make-up lecture and tutorial for marketing from 4-6pm. I've been reaching home very late for the past 2 days.
I'm feeling rather pathetic lately. It may be due to several factors but one thing for sure is the constant ache in my left shoulder blade or scapula. It is really bothering me, sometimes the pain can be very bad.
I've been checking out more info about this and it seems it's largely due to poor posture. OK, I'm guilty of that. Furthermore, I've suffered from slight scoliosis otherwise known as spine curving. I don't know if it has anything to do with the shoulder blade ache.
But, since I have been in school for a large percentage of my time, it can't really be due to sitting in front of the computer for too long. (Yeah, the pain is extreme when I'm in front of my laptop typing this.) One of the reasons may be my hunching for long periods of time when in lectures and tutorials. Another reason can be because of the way I carry my bag which is on my right shoulder. However, I try not to put too much stuff in my bag, usually, I just carry the notes in my hands.
What to do?

New HBP trailer

New trailer for Harry Potter HBP was out! Though, I think it was leaked as the date of release is this year, which wasn't. Watched it here: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince/feature-trailer
New scenes and dialogue was inside this new trailer. Great trailer as usual and the ending scene was quite funny. Hope there's not too much humour in HBP because it is not suppose to be a comedy. HBP is a book full of angst. Have to re-read HBP soon, as I've forgotten much of the plot.
Was actually looking forward for HBP this year but due to WB's "greediness", us fans have to wait for summer 2009.
Nevertheless, there's Twilight and High School Musical 3.
Watched Pride and Prejudice and Enchanted these few days. Wonderful movies! There's Hairspray left to watch.

Twilight in First Mag

Bought First Magazine November edition yesterday. Why? Because the cover features Robert Pattinson and Kristen Steward as Edward and Bella respectively.
I only bought First Magazine twice, once was when Daniel Radcliffe was on the cover page as Harry Potter and the other time was this. I've said before, as long as that something is worth supporting for, it will have my utmost support.
Pages of interview with Robert and Kristen with some stills provided. Only did I feel that reality is slowly but surely setting in. Less than 2 months away from Twilight's release in Singapore!
Meanwhile, I'm checking www.twilightlexiconblog.com and www.twilightsingapore.wordpress.com diligently everyday for news updates. The latter is the website dedicated to Twilight fans of Singapore.

I wish they should stop comparing Twilight to Harry Potter, it's making those die-hard Harry Potter fans so angry. Twilight is completely different from Harry Potter. The whole story plot is different and the characters are different too. I don't understand why people like to lump them together.

Watching High School Musical 3 on Thursday with cousins. Not confirm yet, though. This later part of the year is filled with so much good stuff.

3rd anniversary!

Missed my blog's 3rd anniversary...
Anyway, 3 years had passed since I 1st created this blog. Many moments were captured in here and I hope to continue writing for as long as possible.
All I wanted to say is,
Cheers!
P.S: They better not shut down the site, and I need to backup the whole of my blog soon.

French

3rd day of the new semester.
Went for French tutorial today. I was the only one in my class who got into this French class but one good thing was, there are many people that are also on their own.
The French tutor was kind of alright. She started speaking to us in French and I don't understand one thing. After a while, I caught what she was saying. She would 1st introduced herself then asked for your name. You've got to reply her in French like this, Je m'appelle ( insert your name here). We also learnt to speak about our nationality and the French alphabet. It was funny to learn all the alphabets but in a different kind of pronunciation. For example B is pronounced as "bay" and X as "eeks".
I know some very basic French but I'm sure a lot of people do as well.
Quite interesting and since I was the one who chose this CDS, I had better live with it. I have always shows great interest for foreign languages like Italian and Spanish and this is a good chance for me.
Actually, I wanted to learn Italian or Spanish more as I listen to some Italian and Spanish songs and try to memorise the lyrics. I've yet to encounter something French.
Anyway, till next time

Bridesmaid's dresses

Yesterday, I went to try out bridesmaid's dresses at Marina Square as my mother's side cousin is getting married. Not many choices to choose from as it comes with the whole package.
The dress is white, with a ribbon, very simple. Not forgetting, it's also tube which means no straps.
This is my 1st time wearing a tube dress so it feels weird and I kinda wonder if it will come loose. I'm not very comfortable wearing tubes in general.
There was this other lady trying out wedding and evening gowns and every one of them was so beautiful.
After that, my mother and I were joined by my father and brothers. We went for an early dinner at Dome. The food is not very nice but so expensive. I bought a wallet at The Wallet Shop and got a jacket at Fox. My brother or rather my parents were looking for clothes for him to wear during the wedding.
That's about it.
School's starting tomorrow at 2pm. Coincidentally, my father will be leaving for Philippines that day too and coming back on Wednesday. Which means that on Tuesday, I have to wake up very early and go to school myself.

Meeting with friend

Went out with my primary school friend today. It's been such a long, long time since we saw each other.
Met up at Orchard MRT and had lunch together. It's a good thing we went out today because my holidays are coming to an end. Her promos are just over though. We exchanged news about our JC and Poly and talked about life in general.
After that, we went to Borders at Wheelock Place. It's great to be among so many books. Took time browsing and finally bought one novel, Highland Knight by Cindy Miles. I can't seem to find the other books that I want though. Thought Borders should be well-stocked with books... Maybe my expectations are just too high? Oh well, think I'll visit it again during Christmas season.
Then, we went to Far East Plaza and window-shopped. It's really tiring to just walk around. My feet were killing me and my shoulders ached from whatever stress I put on them.
We parted our ways as she was meeting another friend.
It's fun today, just meeting up with an old friend. Hoping to meet up again soon, during the December holidays.

Rumoured NM movie with my thoughts

Thought I'd give my opinion, about the rumoured New Moon movie.
Here: http://themovie-fanatic.com/exclusive_articles/film_focus/new_moon_twilightsequel/

Summit Entertainment should definitely filmed New Moon as a movie seeing as Twilight is going to be a big success. Without saying, Eclipse should definitely be included. It's my favourite book in the saga and it will be great to watch with all those emotions floating around, intimacy to a new level and not forgetting the battle at the end where enemies became allies. I'm not too sure about Breaking Dawn though. There are just too many things that will not do justice to the book. Read it and you will know what they are. If Breaking Dawn is made into a movie, there may be scenes that people will not quite accept especially those who are new or not fans of Twilight saga.

Back to the point about New Moon, it's a "hard" book to read, too much emotions. Separation does not do Bella or Edward any good. Majority of the book is about the relationship of Bella and Jacob with Edward returning near the end. New Moon is my least favourite with the exception of Bella and Edward's reunion. Every time I read the book, I will only read that part. But, there's much potential for New Moon being showed as a movie. For instance, we can see what separation does to Bella and Edward whereas in the book, we only saw Bella's point of view. The Volturi scene in Italy will be "fun" (in a weird sort of way) to watch.

However, Summit should be filming them soon or back-to-back because that's when they will be riding high on the waves of success. Also, the actors/actresses are going to get older every year. Not a good idea to wait for too long as vampires aren't supposed to age at all.
Besides, which fan wants to wait for ages to watch a sequel? Like Harry Potter HBP, Warner Bros' not wise to put off the movie to 2009 summer when it's suppose to debut on November 21st 2008.

As a Twilight fan, I, of course, have high expectations for the movie as well. I, like most fans, are protective of the world created by Stephenie Meyer and would not like to see it being made into a laughing stock or scoff at by other people. I know that movie is entirely different to a book but I can't help feeling that way. Typical people will group the saga together with the movie. If the movie is not successful, people who are new will not and may not read the books.

I don't know if I wrote it in here before, but I chanced upon Twilight in a special way. I was randomly picking books in the library back in 2006 and found it accidentally. I was attracted to the book's glossy black cover and after reading the tiny excerpt, borrowed it. From then on, I was and still am a fan of Twilight saga. During that time, Stephenie Meyer and Twilight was still relatively unknown, at least in Singapore. It's a good and bad thing about her being now a worldwide best selling author. Bad in a way that it's too publicise and that special connection with the books is lost somewhat.

To conclude, indeed, even if Twilight the movie and the movies to come are not that successful in terms of filming, I'll still watch them loyally like what I did with Harry Potter. That's right, I fall in the "typical people" category. Not proud of that fact though.

Timetable

School starts on Monday. Got my timetable and am quite pleased with it in general. Thursdays will be quite tedious though, until 7pm due to the French CDS I'm taking. But, there's a long break before the lecture starts, sooo, what am I going to do during that few hours of break?
There are 3 days in which my classes will end at 4pm, that's what I'm pleased about. However, I think there's only a short few weeks that I can fully enjoy going home early as I'm sure we'll be burdened will projects soon. The mere thought of projects makes me sigh.
Speaking of French, I'm a little apprehensive about it. It's an entirely new thing to me, of course. Then there's the whole going-to-class thing. Ok, I have to admit I have no idea where the classroom is. Even during semester 1, I would go to classes with friends, most of the time. This time though, at least that's what I think, I'll be going to French tutorial on my own. We'll see...
Going to work hard, especially for French.
Till then

Twilight Trailer 2

Have I mention how much I love Twilight's latest trailer? I've watched it for 5 times and counting and still can't enough of it.
How am I going to survive this few months before the movie is released in Singapore? Reading all those comments about the trailer makes me feel like part of this worldwide fan-group, what with most of them squealing and swooning. Besides, it's not just the girls that are all hype-up about this, even guys read, watch and love the Twilight saga.
Definitely must-watch!

HD version from myspace: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=44287812

Youtube version:


P.S: Myspace version is recommended, much clearer and everything.

Twilight Posters

Poster 1 (When you can live forever, What do you live for?)

Poster 2 (Nothing will be the same)

Poster wise, I like the 1st one better. The second poster is the newest though I do not know which they will use.
Don't comment on the guy's (Edward) face because that's what he is supposed to look like. He's a vampire.

I wanted to post this entry together with the previous entry but the pictures can't be placed there.

Twilight Trailer

Yay! Twilight latest and final trailer is out. I don't think there's much changes to it compare to the previous version. No wonder it looks the same to me, that trailer haven't change at all when I 1st post this...Sorry
Now, it's countdown to the day Twilight the movie comes to Singapore! The latest trailer is just beautiful! I'm so excited for it! December 18th 2008 just seem so far away compare to the release date (November 21st) in US.

Do check it out here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M6kcVYod4w

Twilight all the way! The most-anticipated movie of the year.

Typically, movies based on books aren't very good and they don't seem to do the books justice. One good example is Harry Potter series, it was a downward slide from book 3 onwards. I was so upset by it because PoA is my favourite.

In my opinion, I will give Twilight the movie a chance. I will definitely watch it in December but it still remains to be seen if I really like the movie. There are already scenes in it that I'm not too please about. What's with the 'spider monkey' comment anyway? And then there's the tree-scaling scene. I don't think I can bear to watch them making a fool out of a really good book. One thing to note, vampires can climb trees but that scene is not suppose to be in the movie at all. There's no such scene in the book. I'm one of the many fans who are not happy about that.

I know for a fact that there can be no exact replica from the book to a movie. Either the book is too long like Harry Potter and Twilight or some scenes in a book are just too boring for a film.

All I can hope is that not too many original scenes will be cut away and replace by "action-packed" scenarios or one of those scenes that they put in to make it "interesting". Most of the time, it will be counter-productive. Fans will not like it and people who watch just the movie may think what a joke it is and not read the books at all.

Still, movies based on books are great in general because they appeal to the masses who are "too busy" to read a book. In a book, one have to imagine the scenarios which the characters are in. Sometimes, it is really hard to do that even if you have an active imagination. That's when the movie comes in. You will then have that "Eureka!" moment.

Spirited Away by Cindy Miles is one of the many books I want to watch as a movie. I think it will be sweet and beautiful to see the whole novel comes to life.

One tip, always read the book 1st, then go watch the movie. One will know what they have been missing all these time and find out that perhaps books are greater than movies or vice versa.

Holidays & school

Added as of 11.16am : http://www.twilightthemovie.com/ecard_widget/index.html
See the latest twilight trailer here. I wanted to put the whole widget on the blog, but it don't seems to display.
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So, holidays are coming to an end.
Don’t feel to go back to school. C’mon, who does? I’m not that kind of person who loves school.
Anyway, this holiday has been great so far, but of course, I’ve been doing the things I like: reading, surfing the net, sleeping. Nothing else, is that fun or what?
My parents did not pressure me, much. I felt a little guilty too.
Here is a list of the pros and cons of a long holiday VS school:
1. Schooling gives me a sense of direction and goals whereas during the holidays, I’m just floating around like a jellyfish, going where the waves carry me.
2. I have friends to talk to at school whereas during holidays, I mostly stay at home and read, sleep and surf the net which is fine by me.
3. School makes me feel like sleepy all day long but during holidays, I can do without afternoon naps.
4. I don’t have time for anything else in school term but during holidays, I can read and use the computer extravagantly.

Come to think of it, after today, no more extravagant use of laptop because PSLEs are over and my brother can use the computer. Since the hard drive is still not fixed, he will be using my laptop.

Sure sure, I still can read albeit how minimal but I don’t like that. Reading is about savouring it in one go. Taking days to read is just not my style. So, after next week when I return the books, I’ll not be borrowing books soon. I’ll be too tired to read and furthermore, the library nearest to me is closed for renovations. Come November though, the new library will be located at NorthPoint (I can visit it anytime on my way back from school which is wonderful)

Ever since I started going to school so many years back, I’ve been complaining. Don’t be mistaken though, I may not love it but there’s a certain affection there, especially during my upper secondary years.
It seems not too long ago when we had the O levels... I really missed those days.

Problem with Hotmail

I don't know what's happening but there's something seriously wrong. All my Hotmail accounts don't work. I mean ALL!
So, yesterday, just like any other day, I logged in my Hotmail. When I clicked to view one of the e-mails, I can't do it, as in, click but nothing happens. Then I went to send an e-mail, still it didn't work. Every other function is working fine, I think. Today, the same problem still persists.
It's driving me crazy. I can't live for the fact that something important to me is not right. I'll fret about it until the problem is solved.
I used my temporary Yahoo mail account to send an e-mail to Windows Live support. Not too bad, quite efficient in their service. I tried the tips, download Windows Live Beta and all that but it's still the same. I don't know if I make the problem worst by doing all those things.
I thought maybe it's the problem with Windows Live. However, I used my father's laptop to test and everything is fine there! This means that there's something wrong with my laptop, again?! Please...Don't do this to me....
I really don't know what to do... All my e-mails are there. Of course, I can easily create another e-mail in Yahoo or some other place but "old habits are hard to change" and I don't like changes.
Hopefully, everything will be back to normal soon, or else I think I'll change my e-mail account.
Lets wait and see.

Celebration

Yesterday, to celebrate grandfather's birthday, the whole family went to VivoCity's Bosses for dinner. Bosses is great, (direct translation to English from its Chinese name is Black Society). This is the 3rd or 4th time we went to eat there. I think it was nearing 8pm before we started eating.
Actually, they wanted to go Sushi Tei but the queue was so long. There was so many people in Vivo on a Friday night. Everywhere on the roads, you can see traffic jams. Even tables in Bosses were almost occupied.
After dinner, we went Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for drinks. It was about 11+pm when we parted. Almost all the shops were closed save a few.
Till then

Wuthering Heights book review

This book is unlike other books I've read before. At least, there's a happy ending in the end with Heathcliff's death and Cathy Linton marrying her cousin Hareton Earnshaw.

I can't sympathise Heathcliff at all. He was a evil, wicked man leading a half-crazed life since Catherine's death, torturing everyone he had a grudge against, even the next generation.

To turn Hareton Earnshaw into a downtrodden, illiterate servant who has to work in his own house without pay, abused his wife, abused his sickly son (Linton) and forced him to marry his cousin, Cathy Linton whom he kidnapped to secure his hold on her estate, etc.

I'm almost glad Heathcliff died.

Of course, some people may sympathise Heathcliff because his love for Catherine was "pure" and was haunted by her since her death. He had asked to be buried next to Catherine.

Almost all characters are dead in the story : Catherine Earnshaw/Linton & Edgar Linton, Hindley Earnshaw & his wife, Isabella Linton (Heathcliff's wife), Linton Heathcliff.

This book can be recommended as it's a classic. But if one is into "happily after" stories, then maybe this book isn't suitable. There are too many moments that you will feel so unjustified for the characters who was abused by Heathcliff.

I only read this book because of references made in Eclipse and am intrigued by the plot. A good enough book for all.

Mama Mia, The Movie review

Watched Mama Mia, The Movie today. It was great and lovely!
It can be considered a musical as there were singing in the film, like Grease or High School Musical. One must go and catch it! Critics says the West End stage musical version is better, I wouldn't know though, I've never catch the stage musical before. I hope to do so in the future.
ABBA was involved in the development of the show (stage musical) from the beginning. It tells the tale of a young girl who is getting married on a Greek Island and wanted her father to walk her down the aisle. But, after reading her mother's diary, she discovered she has 3 possible fathers. She then secretly invited them to the wedding to discover which of them is her father. Not all things go according to plan though. What's result is a musical comedy everyone will love.
I'm a fan of ABBA and have listened to their songs before. I'm surprised to find some songs that I had not heard before. My favourites now includes 'Our last summer', 'Lay all your love on me', 'Slipping through my fingers' amid others.
Quite a lot of songs are played in the movie. My favourite scenes have to be the "mass dances" the actors and actresses are in. It's just so magical and beautiful when lots of people are dancing as one like 'Voulez-Vous' and 'Dancing Queen'.
I've to admit not all the singing was great as they are actors/actresses afterall. The original (ABBA) is always the best. But, after listening to 'Our last summer' from both parties, I feel that the movie version is better. The other songs are sung better by ABBA.
Ahh, I want to watch it again! You won't get tired of it. Maybe, I'll get the VCD or DVD when it's out.
Cheers

World economy plunging

The world's economy is not at all good. After US lawmakers rejected the plan to bail out the financial system, the stock markets were hit badly. Apparently, some Asian and Europe markets recovered somewhat. Bailout Plan B is needed.
It's very worrying, since Singapore and majority of the countries depend very much on US. If anything happens, we will all be hit. People will get retrenched, businesses will drop badly, the list goes on. Nobody can escape.
Many people were hopeful that the bailout would be passed and thus help pick up the market but now, everything is back to square one. Needless to say, many US citizens were not happy about the bailout. The US$ 700 billion bail is their taxed money after all. They rather the government help the people than help the banks.
It's very overwhelming to read pages and pages of analysis about the delicate situation.
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I'm halfway through Wuthering Heights. After finishing it, I'll post my remarks and book review on the blog. I won't be posting all the books I read here, of course. Only those that can be share, will be shared here.