Ratatouille

There is a saying- "Better late than never". Months after the movie, Ratatouille released locally, much to my relief and excitement, I finally able watch the Animation Movie of The Year which was still playing in the cineplex. Yeah!

Pixar did it again! After a rather generic but visually shining "Cars", my initial feeling about this movie was not very encouraging. I was thinking the story was a bit like "City rat and country mouse" or something like that after watching the 1st trailer. Not really fancy that kind of story plot. Soon i heard its developing story which turn out to be something else. Still I didnt get my hope up. When i finally watch the movie, i never expect i was thrown a curve ball by Pixar. And i love it.

Remy was no ordinary rat. He was born able to taste, smell and appreciate fine food- something that his family, brother Emile and father Djangon finds it odd. Guided by Remy's imaginary mentor, the recently deceased legendary chef, Auguste Gusteau, he aims to live a life of gourmet. But in the world where rats are considered as the much feared dirty food stealing pests, it was an impossible dream. Remy's life set to change, when he was accidentally separated from his rat colony and ends up in Gusteau's restaurant in "Paree" (Paris). And his chance came when a new garbage boy, Alfredo Linguini "cooks" up an incident that form a partnership between the rat and the hopeless as a cook boy.

Like the finest food, the movie was served with the best of both world- storyline and visual, all mixed so perfectly. Director, Brad Bird was truly a genius at storytelling combining with the great wizards at Pixar making this movie not only a visual feast but an endearing fun story for the whole family.

True to Pixar's standard, the animation in the movie was truly breathtaking. Paris was rendered in its most beautiful best on the big screen. Food so real you can almost taste and smell it. And characters animated so believable you just wanna hug them (or slap them silly depending on who). Some details were so fine you have to pause the movie to take a better look (one reason to buy the DVD).

The idea of Remy's voice narrating his story through the movie was with all the pausing effect, the talking illustration of Gusteau, the cooking training of Linguini, the rat's prepective of Paris urban life, the visualizing of taste and the trigger-happy grandma was really fun to watch. Any movie-goer whom missed this should have a rat put under his or her shirt.

Bleach: Memories Of Nobody

After waiting for almost 1/2 a year for a subbed version, I finally got my eyes on the 1st full-length Bleach movie- The Memories of Nobody. After much hoohaa in the fandom, is this movie worth the wait? Well, I 'll get on to that soon. Before that a little intro 'bout the movie.

The movie took place after the Soul Society arc of the main storyline, maybe in the middle of the filler story of the anime series ( Those whom are new to the series, better watch or read it to better understand the movie). It was the autumn holiday ( i think it was), Ichigo and Rukia were busy doing the best thing they do- slaying Hollows and giving soul burial. Suddenly they encounter a large group of strange red-headed souls- the Blanks. With communication to the Soul Society strangely cut off, Ichigo and Rukia were at wits in what to do when a female Shinigami suddenly appeared and destroy all the Blanks there. Baffled at the event, Rukia went back to Soul Society to check things out while Ichigo was ordered to look after the playfully childish shinigami, Senna. Soon things turned more grim as a dimension- The Valley of Scream, was manipulated by a group of rogue shinigami oucasts, threaten to destroy both the real world and Soul Society. And what is the connection between the event, Senna and something called the Memory Rosary?

Ok, The movie was not as great as i thought it would be. Seriously, the plot was simple and kinda predictable. It would be better if they just focus on either the storyline or the fight scene rather than crammed a lot of things into it. Some characters were pretty irrelevant to the storyline. Guess they were showed up just to please their respective fans... And as for the fight scene, well- those in the anime series are much better. Though some of the sinkais seems pretty cool to watch here.

As usual, with bigger budget brings better animation. Karakura Town was never been so populated and alive before. The beautiful background cityscape really suit the romantic like atmosphere which were aplenty in this movie (hint hint). Sword fights are more flashy but as I mentioned,unmemorable which was a real pity considering its big screen status and its target audiences. Next time hire a good martial art choreographer. As for the new characters, I really like Seena, a frail, confused girl hidden by her happy face and playfulness. Too bad she got too little fight scene. The mention of her so called lost legendary sword seems pointless. And the head villian hardly makes the impact. Pretty generic too.

Well, this movie has it all- action, comedy, friendship, sacrifice etc but it could be better. It had its touching moments though. I really like its ending song- Sen no Yoru wo Koete from Aqua Timez. And do watch till the credit ends for a little epilogue.

My 3D Animation DemoReel

This is my demo reel. Not bad huh..? It is a video montage of my various animation clips. I was trying testing the new video upload and might as well to have a demo reel online, in case I need to show it to any of my prospective employer. The background music is from Ragnarok Online 2 anime trailer. Do comment a bit. Heh.

Speed Painting For The Otaku

I found this video when i was browsing Japunit. It is a rare cool digital speed painting of a japanese anime character (not sure who is she though). Hopefully one day i may be as good as the artist of this work.
Anyway, enjoy the video along with its cute background music.

Mid Autumn Blues

Firstly- Happy Mid Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival as more commonly said. Although it's one often most celebrated chinese holiday in the calender around but still, you wont find my own household celebrating it as well as the years gone by. I just treat it as any other day amidst the mooncakes and those traditional titbits around the house. And no candle lit decos in the perimeter nor those over-commercialized lanterns. Ain't kids anymore. Maybe I dun have anyone who is joyous to celebrate with.. sigh~

Anyway, on a more happy note, I finally got myself an interview appointment across the straits in Singapore. If successful, i got myself a job as a Graphic Designer in an company dealling with educational mag and stuffs. Hopefully i dun mess up this chance. Wish me luck :)

GTO -Great Teachin' Otaku

I'm officially a teacher now... Well, not full time though but a teacher nonetheless.
I'm now teaching on a weekly basic a class of three pre-secondary students on Bahasa Melayu and English in a local tuition center.

The 1st class which was last Monday, was not easy. With my limited mastery of Mandarin, i'm having difficulty explaining the subjects to my Chinese-educated students. Not to mention one of them keep disrupting the class. Plus they are one curious bunch- on my personal stuffs... Sigh~
Anyway, i think i did well on my part. Hopefully....

On another hand, i'll keep on finding a full time job either locally or across the Johor strait. Depending on the situation i might have to quit the sensei job. Hmm. I see how things first. In the mean time, i best prepare for the next class.

Ragnarok 2 Online SEA

It's been a while i have not blog anything other than myself. Haha.
Anyway, this time i post something interesting for a change.

As, you all well aware, i'm a big fan of Ragnarok Online even though i've not play it for sometime. Still, i'm looking forward for its sequel and hoping to get my hands on it soon. Guess what, the good guys from Asiasoft (thanks god it's not gameflier) are bringing the much awaited Ragnarok 2 Online here in this region. The official website is up and running now and it features a new cinematic video (painfully low-res) and a couple of wallpapers to download. It also got a shortcut to its own official forum and a space to fill up so you'll get updates via email. Still, the website lacks some basic info about the game. Hope they update that soon.
So check it out you guys.

Edited: Here some additional news about the game in this region.

9th Month

August came and gone. And now into the month of September. Sigh~
Been almost a month and yet not much has change. No job, no money, no idea... getting lost.
Yeah, hardly any job here since it's small town after all and no one offering any despite my family network of friends. Or so they say. So now, i'm face with a dilemma- continue staying in hometown and waiting for any job offers- locally or from singapore; or go back to KL where it's more malaysian friendly....
And like all choices, there's the pros and cons of all things.

My mum wishes me to work in singapore or locally so that i can be nearer to home. And by staying at home, i dun need spend any money for anything since almost everything is provided (except pc and online). Not that i doing nothing at home, mind you. As any good son or daughter, i did my share of housework and stuffs. The bad part is that i could be waiting forever for work as time pass by wastefully and Singapore may just be too advanced for me.

If i go back to KL to find job, it might be easier but previous problems that made me leave the 1st time may crop up. 1st is the cost of living- family just dun have the money to let me spent in KL. Second, the transportation- some workplaces just inconvenient to reach, unless u own a car or live nearby. And 3rd is maybe my portfolio- just not good enough or just too unspecialize. I'm a jack of all trades but master of none.
Well, just say i not sure what to do now..

On another note, since i have all the time at home, i been working on a story or stories of my own manga. Everything still pretty rough now and not even sure if i can pull it off. Been doing a lot of concept art these days. Just too bad i dun have a decent pc of my own or else thing will be much easier. On another hand, i been working out too for some time. Yeah, i got fatter and lazier so it's wise to start exercising. Hope i can get fitter and better looking by the year end :D

August Independence.... Not

Wow, it been some time yet again since i last updated. This month onwards dun think i able to update as much as the last two months. I've moved back to my Johor home days ago as the result of my unsuccessful job search in Singapore and guess i'll be staying here quite indefinitely. Till i can comfirm a job in Singapore that is.

Being back here i hometown means i dun have a free internet access in ther comfort of my home. So posting number will drop drastically i guess. Worst, without a PC and a scanner- dun think I can upload anything new on my deviantart... sigh~ Here goes my motivation.
On another hand, since i was back on the comfort of my own home, things are more liberal. I free to to things my way without the usual nagging during my stay at Singapore. Hey, i can stay up way past 12am here without anyone tell me when to sleep. I'm Free at last..

Anyway, since i'll staying here quite a while, it's better for me to look for a temporary job lest i got fat and lazy sitting at home. And guess what, i got an interview for an art tutor tomorrow. Yeah, it's only an interview but it's better than nothing.. So wish me luck.
By the way, Malaysia and Singapore both having their National Day this month. So Happy Birthday~~

Art tutor? Me?

DeviantArt Fever

I've been busy logging on and off my deviantArt account these past few days, doing some artworks and uploading them. Apart from the endless cycle of sending resume and waiting pointlessly for the reply (sigh~), it's better to focus on something else and be a bit productive.

For those who dunno what is DeviantArt, it an online art gallery where you can have your own space to show off ur work to other budding artists. Great place to jump start if you are into this path for career like me :) And meet new like-minded friends too.

Since this blog was not really suited for an online gallery, it's better to upload my work there. Be sure to visit it, here and if you are a member, do drop some comment.

Caught By Enchanted

I caught by this movie trailer when i was at the cinema the other day and got quite enchanted and interested.

This typical Disney movie tells a story of a princess in a animated world magically transported to our real life world by her evil soon-to-be mother-in-law queen. See her singing and dancing ala like other Disney cartoon, while her new found friend looks amused and awkward around her, find her way back home. Meanwhile her love lost prince too got into this world to find her, at the same time, his mother hell-bent on killing the princess.

While the storyline seems unoriginal but the movie seems charming and hilarious enough. Just wait and see how it goes.

Rebuild of Evangelion

As a long time fan of the original anime series, I was equally exciting about the up coming movies retelling or altered the storyline of the series. Pretty soon, i caught hold of some details regarding the cult classic anime.
A series of 4 movie will be released in year and the following year. The 1st three movies will retelling an alternate story of anime series while the fourth one is an entirely differrent new ending to the original story. Hopefully this will provide a much more satisfying ending.

And due to be release in Japanese theaters this september, the 1st movie remake titled "Evangelion Shin Gekijou Ban EVA 0.1: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE".
The second one will be screened in January 2008 and the third and fourth movies will be released back to back in the summer. Cool~ hope they are released in Singapore too*grin*

And looking at the 1st movie's trailer, seems all the characters, evas and angels are given the visual upgrade. Uses of CGIs are noticeable throughout the trailer.
Seeing how things turn out, i cant wait for the movies. Now, if only i know the progress of the much anticipated live-action version. :D

Harry Potter And the Order Of The Phoenix

By this time, everyone seems to go Pottermania ever since this movie was going to be released and the soon to be available final book of Harry Potter tomorrow. As for me, I might or might not get the book. But not until I know whats going on with Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince :) Anyone might wanna lent me a copy?

So this movie was about Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts and this time things going against the young wizard. Tormented emotionally by the return of Lord Voldemort and the disbelieving Minister of Magic, Harry became darker and full of hate. Face the immediate threat of his arch-nemesis and his growing army of evil, Harry must confront his own darkness while preparing his army of his own with his circle of friends. In the sametime rebeling against the meddling ignorance of Ministry of Magic's Dolores Umbridge who replaced Dumbledore as the headmaster. Storywise, well, since it was adapted from the novel, i must say it was very well written. As for the movie, to fit the entire novel into the 2 hours screen time was impossible, so rather it focus on Harry's fight against Lord Voldemort and the rebellion of course. I never read any of the novels, so i say the plot and the pace of the movie was great and engaging to watch. Miss the Quidditch match which was actually omited in this movie.

Visually, well, I have a liking to fantasy movie due to fasinating sets, explosive magical spells and great creature designs. And all Harry Potter's films tend to be great visually. Magical world, stunning fight scenes especially at the climax of the film when Dumbledore takes on Lord Voldemort one on one. Beats any real life firework shows. And not forget the other highlight of the movie- the kissing scene between Harry and Cho which last longer than i thought it would be, much to the chagrin of any Harry female fans *snigger*
Well, compare to Cho and the new character of the movie, Luna, i prefer the later's optimistic personally anytime. As for the movie, it a great watch but doesnt warrant a second. Better spent the money on the novels, i think. Or wait for the dvd. Or boths :)

Cousin Cheong's Wedding

I wished to post this as early as possible but circumstances didnt allow it. So here is it now.

6th July 2007, Friday. Family members from the south that expected to present all had arrived in the afternoon. We spent that remaining day looking around my cousin house and having a tour to the famous landmark KLCC.
Next morning. The morning. I rushed from my brother house in PJ to Wangsa Melawati only to just missed the "Fetch the Bride" groom's group. Aye~ guess i have to stay at my cousin's house along with a few relatives (most that went are youngters and those young at heart).
An hour or so later, and they were back with the bride. And since i was the youngest male relative, i was assigned to open the car's door for the groom and bride. So we all relaxing and preparing to go to the church for the wedding ceremony later in the affternoon.
OMG, notice the black oily stain on the bride's dress.
No problem. With the combined ingenuity of experienced aunties and a product from Amway (really, but forget the name), the ugly stain was removed speck and span. Wedding embarrassment adverted :D
Moments later, the tea-serving ceremony began. Tea were served to the elders while the younger ones served the tea to the newly weds. Most, if not all wished them to be "productive" early. *snigger*
To the church then. A few minutes drive, we were ushered into a newly build commercial lots where the church located. Nice interior huh.
Let the ceremory began. Oh look- cutey flower girls from the bride's family side.
Followed by the bride and her father.
Nope, this not the groom. The couple were seated as the groom's brother, Cousin San, a pastor himself gave a well thought and witty speech about marriage. "I do" Those words were spoken by the groom and bride respectively. Not before my cousin spoke some moving words that reduced the brige to tears. Aww~
And the rings exchanged to seal the marriage. Pretty obvious izzit :P
Well, i not sure what this called for i not familiar with the Christian wedding. But i understand the to two candle represent two individuals now joined as one as the middle candle.
I pronounced you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride. Haha, the moment we all, groom included, waiting for. Photographers in frenzy.
Two families are now one. Congrats to both. :D
Straight after the wedding ceremony, we went for the wedding dinner at Chow Kit, KL (shoot, i forget the restaurant's name.) Too bad by this time, i didnt shoot more pics since my camera batteries ran low and there's food to enjoy :P
Before the dinner ended, the groom and his bro took the opportunity to sing along to a love song. Too bad there's no encore as the groom was too shy to sing again.. lol
So there was it. What an eventful day. Again, i wish the newly weds a big congratulation and live happily ever after.

Overweight and Underproductive

This few months of living without finance related food restriction has made me gain some weight. How is that? Haha, you see- back when i was living in PJ, away from home, i'll always restricted my spending on food. So i almost had plain rice or bread everyday for both lunch and dinner. Yeap, i seldom had breakfast. Even then, i was occupied with stuffs to do like doing digital art or gaming on my pc. So i was too busy to eat. Then again, there nothing to eat anyway. Even i didn't exercise much, i only gain a little weight.

So now, full plated lunch and dinner everyday and not to mention some cookies munching in the time between, i was so pampered at home. Even during my stay at Singapore, my aunt make sure i have 3 meals a day. And without some calories burning, my stomach transformed into a tyre. *sweats* Now, my problem is i dun really motivated to do some exercise. Yeah, you can say i was pretty lazy. I rather let stress fix this for me when i work, hopefully soon enough.

Transformers

Ever since i was a child, i'll always fantasized with robots, especially those robots anime from Japan. Robotech, Gundam, Voltron and even Transformers. Well, actually Transformer were originated from Japanese toys which the Americans thinks it was cool to promote it as a cartoon series during the 1980s. And i pretty much enjoyed the whole Transformer cartoon series since transforming from vehicles to robots was really cool those days and even now. Fast forward to the present day, and now there's a life-action movie based on the cartoon classic and it was even produced by my favourite director, Steven Spielberg. How cool was that.

And those who think the the Pirates of the Caribbean finale was the movie of the summer, think again. The movie really packed enough firepower to sink even the Flying Duchman. *snigger*

The movie was about 2 group of Transformers, the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons battling each other for the all powerful artifact- the All Spark which was discovered on Earth. And sure enough, thrown in a midst of this intergalactic war, a human teenagar, Sam Witwicky who holds the key to the location of the artifact.

Okay, to those whose are blown away by the visual of pirate movie or even 300's dancing of death, prepare to be blast supernova by the visual effect of this movie. When i laid eyes on the first transformation in the opening scene, my jaw totally dropped and my eyes freeze fixed on the screen. Yeah, it was that good. The robots, the transformation, the big slug fest- everything was done perfectly to applease the the types like myself. Never on any medium, i have witnessed robots laying the smack down on each other like they did on Transformers. It almost a childhood dream came true. *grin*

As for the plot and the story, well, i hoped better. The thing about this movie like any other big sci-fi movies, it emphasized more on the visual aspect of the movie. Still, it did better than other. Plot wise, it went quite well making the story engaging to the end but a bit predictable if you asked me. And there are some things in the movie that doesnt really make sense to me, especially at the end. It's a lame excuse to bring death and destruction in middle of a crowded city.

Anyway, the way i see it, the robots were the true star of the movie, not try-too-hard-to-get-a-girl and occasionally emotional Sam (Shia LaBeouf) or the body-licious Mikaela (Megan Fox). It was the trusty Bumblebee, good-old Optimus Prime and the funny riot Frenzy that will definitely get my second viewing or even a third. Get the dvd too.

4th July 2007: 26 Years Of Existence

Yow~ it's this day again.

As the years past, the day's significance has reduced to nothing but an ordinary day. Unless you are living on that particular country, there nothing to celebrate about around me.

Well, this year, this date's importance have been over-shadowed by one date, - 07.07.2007. Yeah, apart from the once in a lifetime mega event, Live Earth, there also an event much more closer to home- Cousin Cheong's official wedding day. Yup, as i mention another day, i guess i'll be going to KL to attend the wedding after all. Anyway, i'll brag about the day on another post soon.

As for me, my 26 years of life is getting more.... how i put it, uneventful. No job, no close friends around me, no one really understand me- i dun even understand myself sometimes, and no place to belong to. Strange to think about it that how my life has come to this. What's the reason of my existence?

Most of my family said that i still young. Young, ...young?! People at the age of 25 already achieved much in their life, their dream, their career, and i still struggling around for survival. Why i ended up like this? Where did i go wrong?

"Dont dream too big, better to leave your foot on the ground."

What? So that i can be like you working under someone like hell just for sake of money and survival. Please. Life is much more that that.

Is my thinking wrong? Or life is really just like that? Why can i do things i want in life instead to be governed by money?

I really adore those guys who now really sucessful just by doing the things they like- which not related to money. Steven Spielberg- filming, Rumiko Tanaka- manga drawing, J.K. Rowling- writing and many others. All these individual are rich and famous in their respective field. It not all about money. And they all started when they are younger than me now, well except for Rowling.

I really wish now for a chance to do the thing that i have passion of, that give me more to my life that just survival.

Revenge Of The Otakus

I was browsing the net this wonderful morning in search of singapore version of Akihabara (deeply miss KL's version- Sungai Wang Plaza and surroundings) when i stumble upon this post of a fellow singaporean otaku blogger.

It seems that a private anime license holding company are seriously clamping down on "illegal" download of fansub anime o.O. Well, i've heard rumours of letter of court being sent around targeting bittorret downloaders. Turns out to be true.

The company, Odex Pvt Ltd have been sending letter to an unknown number of singapore otakus who were caught using bittorret to download licensed anime such as Bleach and Naruto. Most if not all, settled the fine out of court to date.

But this matter had set a outrage among otaku nationwide online and off due to questionable privacy issues and strongarm tactics akin to blackmailing. This does no help as the company's anime products (vcds and dvds) are said to be of crude quality and even looked as if taken from the fansubbed anime as well *shock*

As i browse through the comments, the otakus are rallying for a boycott of the company's products and in midst of writing a formal letter of complain to the national newspaper regarding the matter. And on the other hand, the company seems to dismiss and downplay such incident.

As for me, i'm an otaku too but then again doesnt wish to have things get ugly especially if things turn against us. As for now, better lay low and stick to manga scanlation :P

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The 1st time i saw the movie poster in a local (Singapore) newspaper, i notice somewhat particular about the picture. At 1st i thought it resembles to Hayao Miyazaki's style. But further research on the net, the character was designed by the same guy who create Rei Ayanami and Evagelion mechas, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Wow~ Then i found out this movie won the hearts of critics and some awards in film fest from France to Germany. Ok, a must watch anime of 2006/7.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Madhouse Studio, famous for anime flicks like Death Note and NANA. It was based on a manga of a same name and apparently there's a life-action movie version had been made in 1980s. LOL

The story is about a tomboyish high school girl, Makoto Konno accidentally discover that she have the ability to time leap which, she used extravagantly to avoid being late in school and score a prefect mark in exam. Able to go back in time to redo the stuff she like and fixing past mistakes, little does she realise that in doing so may hurt the others around her. And the more she undid the time, the worst it gets.

The animation was top notch as expected from a big shot studio. The town and backdrop city was rendered beautifully with great detail and nice feel to it. Some scene really capture the impact as the main character fall and roll around. Really like the scene between time and space, and also when time freeze up in the movie.

The storyline was fantastic and may be on par with the movies from Studio Ghibli. The plot, while some scene was a bit slow, was really engaging with all the time travel around. It may sound complicated but the storyline was pretty easy to follow. Watching Mokoto's antics while she undid past was really enjoyable. There was twist and turn and heartaching moments that keep the story more interesting than other time-travel inspired animes.

Still, some of the dialogue was rather strange to accept like the Mokoto's aunt told her that, "time leap was normal among teenager her age but rare", with a nonchalant tone. Go figure. Anyway, the movie is one of the best anime i watch in recent years and worth going out and get the DVD. And do prepare urself emotionly. The scene when Mokoto cries loudly really can make you wanna reach out to console her. I did.

Late June Update

I haven't updated for a few days since i went back to my Johor home for a week due to my cousin's wedding lunch held over there on Sunday. Why a week? Well, dont feel like going back to singapore. Kinda stressful >.<" Anyway I've back again and yet again still in a middle of job hunting.. Erg, getting real tired of this. As for the wedding lunch, well, it was quite enjoyable. Then again,it's nothing out of the ordinary. I pretty much expected what type of food were served, which tasted quite ok. Maybe i can wait the official wedding dinner that will be held on 7th July at Kuala Lumpur. The bride and groom cuts the cake. Too bad i never got the taste of it later.

A photo shot of cousins, cousin in laws, niece and relative. All the younger generation.

The newly weds and us brothers- nicknamed "F4" LOL

Haha, actually for my cousin's wedding, there will be 3 wedding lunch/dinner held at 3 different places respectively, to cater the local friends and relative. First at Johor, then at Sarawak (the bride's hometown) and finally at KL which is the actual wedding date.
I still not sure i able to joint the KL dinner since i'm stuck here looking for a job. See 1st then :P

Anyway, a big congrats to Cousin Cheong and his bride and all the best :D