Tuesday 24 December 2013

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hello readers,

As you guys know, today is Christmas Eve and actual day is tomorrow. I will like to wished Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance to all my readers, in case I did not write a post tomorrow.

Since I am writing this post, I shall do a review for a non–Christmas film called, Dark Water. This film is referring to the Japanese/Original version, not the remake version which starred Jennifer Connelly. My initial thoughts towards Dark Water was it was a horror film and maybe there would be ghost popping out of nowhere from water or what-so-ever. However, this film proved me wrong. This was a film that not only appeared to be horrifying in some ways but there were scenes which portrayed out sadness. Dark Water is a film about a woman who was in a midst of divorcing had moved into a haunted apartment with her daughter. While living in the apartment, strange things occurred, especially water leaking through the ceiling.

This film does contained the feelings of thriller and excitement, though I despised how the woman left her daughter in the house all alone in certain situations. Though Dark Water was not scary as I thought, there were scenes which made me feel attached to it. A ghost girl having no mother after being abandoned and dying of an unfortunate incident in the water tower after accidentally dropped her handbag in it at aged seven. The daughter grew up without her mother after she sacrificed herself to saved her and realized that she was watching over her for many years does saddened me. In fact, we should be thankful for having a family and no matter where you are, they are always by your side. Family members support you and they are your real friends. Neither do they embarrassed you nor tell your secrets to everyone.

After watching Dark Water, I would give it a 7 out of 10. :-)

That is all from me today and again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers out there! In a meantime, here is a song from EXO's latest Christmas EP, Miracles In December called, Christmas Day. Enjoy!

Movie review: The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug [Edited]

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILER(S)

[Edited this review on December 16, 2013 after watching for the second time]

Hello readers (again),

I am back with a movie review today and I am happy as a llama. It has been a year since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in December 2012, the film series is back with the second part, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

In this film, the audience get to hear Benedict Cumberbatch lending his voice for the majestic dragon in the mountains, Smaug. Benedict has also provided the voice for The Necromancer last year. This film has gotten me hooked and I really loved the dwarves' actions. Again, Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins has kept the film alive. With the addition of the Elves, I am amazed with their fighting skills and speaking of which, I loved their language and their beautiful eyes. Although Smaug is a CGI motion capture dragon, he indeed steal the showtime with his magnificent aura.

This film not only does it have brilliant motion capture effects, it also showed many valuable qualities of individual characters. For example, Bilbo Baggins who did not give up while the rest of the Dwarves walked away and Thorin's selfishness to rescue Bilbo from Smaug inside the castle.

As a viewer, I was wanting more from this film and now I am looking forward to the next sequel, There And Back Again which unfortunately is the last film of The Hobbit series. I recommend this film, especially if you are a fan of The Hobbit or The Lord of The Rings.

Ratings: 7.5/10

P.S. The ending credits' song, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran sounds amazing and do look out for Peter Jackson's cameo. :)

Hong Kong Trip (Revised version as of December 11, 2013)

Besides posting about movie review, I decided to talk about my Hong Kong trip with Greenridge Secondary School's Chinese Orchestra. This was my first school trip and I went to Hong Kong for five days. Overall of my trip was fun, though it was tiring and I missed Singapore, my home.

Here's my five days schedule:

Day 1: Arrived at Hong Kong airport

Had lunch at restaurant in Laguna Mall

Had city tour at Repulse Bay and Victoria Peak

Had dinner at a restaurant

Checked in hotel and debriefing

Day 2: Had breakfast

Visited Carmel Pak U Secondary School and performed for their students

Had lunch at a restaurant just five minutes away

Visited Hong Kong Heritage Museum

Visited Avenue of the Stars and Tsui Sha Tsui Promenade

Had dinner at a local restaurant

Visited Mong Kok Night Market

Returned to hotel and debriefing

Day 3: Had breakfast

Spent whole day at Ocean Park Tour

Had dinner at a seafood restaurant

Visited Hong Kong Academy of Performance Art

Returned to hotel and debriefing

Day 4: Had breakfast

Spent whole day at Hong Kong Disneyland

Returned to hotel and debriefing

Day 5: Had breakfast

Checked out of hotel

Visited Lantau Island and sitted Nong Peng 360 degrees cable car

Spent an hour at Nong Peng Village

Had lunch at Imperial Restaurant located in Citygate Outlets

Free shopping in Citygate Outlets till 3.20pm

Went to Hong Kong Airport

Flight back to Singapore at 6.50pm

Photos spam!

Repulse Bay

Hong Kong Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle

~~Most of my photos are in my HTC One. I shall upload photos soon!~~

All photos are sorted out by Day 1 to 5 and I apologized for the photos' resolution.

Day 1

A selfie of myself :)

Beautiful view of Hong Kong

Day 2

Avenue of The Stars

Bruce Lee

Day 3

This is me with a raccoon (I guess), Redd

Four dudes entertaining audience before Dolphin & Seal Show

Day 4

Welcome to Disneyland!

Greenridge Secondary School's Choir performed in front of Main Street USA Train Station.

Day 5

Cable car ride! (A special thank to my friends who helped me take these photos due to my
fear of heights.)

Cable Car Station!

Ngong Ping Village after alighting from cable car!

A Tea House :)

The big Buddha!

Lunch at Imperial Restaurant

Singapore Airline!

Movie review: Frozen

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Hello readers,

I am here today to talk about Disney's latest winter animated film, Frozen. The film is based on Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen and it tells about the girl, Anna who travelled in the snow along with Kristoff (Mountain Man), Olaf (The Humourous Snowman) and Sven (Kristoff's reindeer) to find her older sister/Snow Queen, Elsa.

Frozen is a film that not only show dialogues but it is also a musical. The voice cast amazed the audience with their beautiful vocal in various songs including Elsa singing Let It Go. The film has a simple storyline which was filled in icy magic and lessons. One thing that kept the film alive was Olaf who wanted to experience summer (which unfortunately it was impossible). His cute expression, dialogues and the way he does things kept the gag alive.

Frozen is not only a film for children but also for adults and teenagers. It teaches about true love and struggles which you have to "let it go". Overall of the film was good and enjoyable. This film is definitely recommended.

Ratings: 8/10

P.S. Demi Lovato's cover of Let It Go can be heard at the ending credits.

Movie/Episode Review: The Day Of The Doctor

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS.

Hello readers,

As you can see the poster, today is the movie premiere of Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary Special, The Day Of The Doctor. I waited for this movie for five months and I kept my promise to watch this film on BBC Entertainment along with everyone around the world. This film starred Matt Smith as the usual wacky Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman (her middle name, Louise has been removed) as the "ordinary" companion, Clara. Besides the usual cast, there are also David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose (a projection sadly) and not to forget, John Hurt as War Doctor. War Doctor did appeared in last episode of Series 7, The Name Of The Doctor.

The Day Of The Doctor is a film about The Doctor's mistake back in the Time War. It also explained the Time War too. We can see how much The Doctor's character has changed after the Time War and his regeneration. I loved how the three Doctors come together and joined forces to prevent a mistake. They delivered humorous gags which can be seen while they were in the forest. This film also showed sadness The Doctor has faced for the past years since he is 1000 over years old. Nevertheless, this film has a good ending with the twelve Doctors (including John Hurt's War Doctor).

Ratings: 7.5/10

P.S. A cameo appearance of Twelfth Doctor can been seen in this special episode/film.

Movie review: The Decoy Bride

Hello readers,

I am here today to write my review about the 2011 film, The Decoy Bride. The film starred David Tennant, Kelly MacDonald and Alice Eve. The plot is about how famous actress, Lara Tyler (Alice Eve) wanted to marry writer James Arber (David Tennant). Due to nosy paparazzi(s) and media attention, the couple escaped to Scottish island of Hegg for a peaceful wedding ceremony. However, not long the reporters were able to catched up and Lara went into hiding. In desperation of the couple's publicity team, they decided to get a bride decoy, Katie, a local girl on the island and faked the wedding ceremony. Katie happened to be nursing her broken heart after she and her boyfriend broke up.

I watched this cheesy, romantic film on FX Channel and have to say that this film was great. I was captivated by Kelly MacDonald and David Tennant's acting. They looked so natural and the chemistry was there. I did not see much acting in Alice Eve since her role was not as big as them. Most of the time, I seldom watched romantic films because some were overly boring till I needed to sleep and I had to skipped out the parts but for this film, I was alert and awake the whole time. The storyline was definitely interesting and while this is a romantic film, an additional touch of comedy was good. I really loved this film: simple, enchanting and brilliant.

This film sure beats an ordinary love story. If you are truly a hopeless romantic soul or maybe David Tennant fan, I am sure you will be captivated by this cheesy film. ;-)

Ratings: 8/10

14 November

Hello readers,

I apologized for not being able to update this blog because I was busy catching up with favourite stuff such as watching Criminal Minds, looking up on indie music and of course, tweeting. Lately, I have also been busy going back to school for Chinese Orchestra and Physics remedial.

I have been going back to school for Chinese Orchestra because of an upcoming concert with Symphonic Band which is tomorrow and Hong Kong trip. I am traveling to Hong Kong on December 1, 2013 and returning back to Singapore on December 5, 2013. This will be my first time traveling with schoolmates and friends. :-) Tomorrow's concert, my CCA is going to play five songs plus a combined song with Symphonic Band called, Good Triumphs Over Evil. It is my school's original composed song which consists of Evils segment and Victory segment. During those rehearsals, I can feel stress and anxiety coming to me and while in combined session, I have a friend who kept quarreling with a Secondary One boy. They both cried angry tears but the boy managed to got hold of himself while my friend... she did not. I tried my best to talk to her and asked her what happened but she kept shutting herself.

I got to admit that I did not like it. My friend did not know that she offended the boy and kept thinking she was right. I also got to admit that she was picky and kept refusing to go McDonalds' at least once. We kept going to a food court in Bangkit and I am giving her what she wants. I do understand why some people might hate her and if she sees this, I hope she think back about the July 12 incident which was the reason why I gotten myself angry and upset. I hope she will and treasure what she has right now. Je ne sera pas versé une larme pour vous.

I really hope that tomorrow is going to turned out fine and also to stay happy! Wish me all the best! Мы победим!

P.S. Je parie que vous lisez ce message, darling. Ne blâme sur les gens, vous culpabilisez. N'OUBLIEZ PAS LE 12 JUILLET 2013! N'OUBLIEZ PAS LE GARÇON! Я знаю, что вы читаете это.

End of Secondary 2

Hello readers,

Another chapter of my lower secondary school life has come to the end and a new chapter is ahead of me. I have spent two years with my classmates from class 2/2 and it has been an honour to be in this special class. If you asked me whether have I missed my previous classmates, I would say I don't because I did not really bond well with them, unlike my current classmates of two years. I have no idea why did I thought like that, I don't know... Maybe I was not opened to my surroundings.

I first met my classmates in Secondary One Orientation in 2011. Among two Normal (Academic) classes, I was allocated to 1/2. I only started talking to my classmates properly was during class and not in camp. During my time in camp, I was too busy trying to survived for two days, one night and I admit that this was the first school camp I have ever went. I remembered treating my classmates horribly because I did not know who to trust and my primary school friends were not reliable and they changed. 2012 was the year where I experienced teenage problems that I have never faced before. People criticizing you, bullying you and backstabbing you... To me, I did not know how to faced it. I could not bear to faced reality in secondary school. I couldn't.

After many months later, I understood the life in secondary school and my classmates accepted as who I am. In return, I accepted my classmates as who they are. My classmates taught me many values and experiences in life. I am grateful to meet them and 'grow' with them as I go. Now, it's time... Time to say farewell and go separate ways. Some might take Design & Technology, Food & Nutrition, Art or Principles of Accounts. :-)

Today I spent my last day of school with my classmates in GSS Estate Management Talk, Inter-house competition, Spring-cleaning and watched Wreck-It Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph was a beautiful animated film on game industry of 30 years and showed how Ralph was not accepted by others till these people realized how important he was in the game when he did not turned up on the game which was played by a girl in the arcade. I did not managed to watch the film completely but I have to say it was a beautiful and touching.

I shall end here with a photo of my class and my fellow classmates, thank you and I love you! All the best for upcoming E-streaming and be happy with the subjects you are going to take next year. Looking forward seeing you guys soon!

1 year anniversary + NUS Museum

Hello readers,

Today is the day where I want to celebrate this one year anniversary with Devil In The Skull. Devil In The Skull was opened on October 19, 2012 and introduced further two months later. My first post for the blog was this, followed by another post regarding on why did I chose the name, Devil In The Skull as the blog URL and name. I chose to make Devil In The Skull's layout like the above one because I wanted to make the blog looked simple and stunning. :)

I would like to thanked everyone and you for reading this blog and those who have been on Devil In The Skull for one year, thank you. I hope this blog will stay alive till adulthood.

Now lets moved on to another blog post which I will merged here and I considered this as a late post. I went to National University of Singapore Museum (NUS Museum) on October 17, 2013, Thursday. I have to say that I enjoyed looking at the artifacts and potteries. Here are some photos I have picked for the post since some of the ones I have taken aren't very clear due to lighting reflection and passerby(s).