Billy Elliot

Having recently seen the West End production, I was pretty keen to watch the Billy Elliot movie on which the musical is based.  Yes, I realise the movie was released in 2000 but you know, I was busy doing whatever it was for the past 10 years and never managed to watch it, even accidentally while channel surfing.  Anyway, I can happily report that the musical is a faithful retelling of the movie, almost scene by scene!  (That's a pretty amazing feat).  It's one of my pet peeves when new incarnations differ too much from the original, especially if the differences are of no benefit.

Despite all my recent exposure to the Geordie accent, there were times in the movie when I really did not have an effing clue.  Subtitles would have helped me at some parts.  Nevertheless, it wasn't too much of a distraction.  I'm not going to bother with a synopsis, you can just wiki that.  

You could say that Billy Elliot is nothing new and summed up, it falls into the 'Chase Your Dreams and Be Yourself' genre.  If that's the case, I much prefer this cliché over many others.  There's no better lesson than to teach people to be happy and ruv themselves. *hugs myself*  However clichéd the baseline plot may be, you can't help but become involved in Billy's struggle to become a ballet dancer.

Despite knowing EXACTLY what was going to happen in the movie, I cried like girl.  (It's a good thing I am of the fairer sex as it gives me a better excuse, but men should be allowed to cry too!)  It probably didn't help that I was watching the movie at 1am and was fairly exhausted.  The strong performances of Billy and his father only made it worse.  I cried at Billy's mother's letter, I cried at Billy's Dad crossing the picket line after realising Billy's talents and then I cried again when Billy was accepted into ballet school.  I knew all of this would happen!  It's like how I cried when Marley died in Marley and Me.  I knew the dog would die!  Ok it wasn't all crying.  There were some nice one-liners and I especially liked Billy's reaction to the plot of Swan Lake - "Sounds crap."

The final scene when we see an adult Billy (now a principal ballet dancer) perform with his family in the audience is errr kinda hot.  Like wow, check out adult Billy's athletic back!  Nevermind the Swan Lake pantaloons and emo eye make-up, he's still hot.  Oh and I cried seeing Billy's father tearing up at seeing his son on stage.  (Shout out to Mama Chua!)

Anyway, I can't believe I had not watched this film earlier.  It's definitely something I would see again and in fact, it kinda makes me want to re-watch the musical when I hit London in September.

This Is It - Michael Jackson

Well I'm now on the other side of the planet having volunteered to not shower for 24 hours.

I finally got my first ride on the A380 which in cattle class didn't really feel that much bigger but I struck the lucky pot and was assigned a seat which was part of a row of four, however the row in front of us only had three seats.  In other words, I had no seat in front of me!  Yay to extra leg room!  I did cop the envious stares from the 1.80cm men surrounding me and admittedly, I don't need the extra space as much as other but hey, too bad!  Otherwise, it is a spiffy little plane and yes, it is much quieter than the 747s. 

Another perk of the Airbus is that onboard entertainment is waaaaay better with a larger range of movies and it also has touch screen control.  So much easier to pause a film!

Anyway, one of the movies I watched on board was Michael Jackson's This Is It.  I wasn't that diehard a fan to watch it in the cinema and was happy to wait for the general DVD release.  The 'movie' is essentially composed of back to back behind the scenes segments of the rehearsals for MJ's fated London concerts.  If the content revolved around anyone but Michael Jackson, it probably wouldn't be all that interesting.  But........ this is MJ and his music and the documentary had me glued to the screen, bopping along in my airplane seat. 

My first thought when seeing Michael rehearse was "He's so freaking skinny!  He so freaking frail!"  However, in spite of the osteoporotic limbs, I was so surprised to see that those bones could sure move!

Once Michael got into the dancing, he just seemed so much more healthier than what the media purported, though I don't doubt his dependence on certain drugs nor that his health wasn't 100%.  It was hard to believe this was Michael Jackson at 50 years old - it looked just like his heyday, flawlessly executing his signature moves.  He seemed to be on the ball mentally and his perfectionist tendencies and critiquing of minute details were caught on camera.  He really did have a vision as to how the concert should be performed. 

When the concerts were initially announced, I had my doubts that they would go ahead.  Not because he would DIE but rather he was well past his prime and that he would falter in the spiralling style of Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse.  But this footage really kicks that thought out the window.  The back up dancers were hailed from all parts of the world and were cream of the crop.  His hand-picked lead guitarist, Orianthi (all 25 years of her) was ridiculously talented.

Sure, there was a likelihood that some of the concerts may have been canceled anyway but if they ever did go ahead, I get the impression that it would have been awesome!  It's a true shame they never made it to stage.

For even the not-so-big fans of MJ, it is worth chucking this movie in the DVD player and letting it play in the background.  Despite all his health scares and questionable state of mind, when it comes to the crunch, this footage reaffirms that Michael Jackson was indeed the King of Pop.

Valentine's Day

It's not the first time that I've expressed my dissatisfaction over chick flicks.  Especially when they are trying too hard to be funny, have eye-gouging, cringey plots or when the two lead protagonists forced by the genre, 'fall in love' despite having zero chemistry  (The Proposal, I'm looking at you here).  

All that aside, I do have my *aww* moments when the movie is done right and in particular, I totally enjoy the bittersweetness of two leads not falling in love.   When I first saw the poster for Valentine's Day, I instantly thought "Oooh!  Americanised version of Love Actually!"  

From Day 1, I never thought that Valentine's Day would ever be able to replicate the quirky, awkward British charm of Richard Curtis' hit.  Having set my expectations low, I was more or less looking forward to a movie with several intertwined light-hearted, fluffy stories between the mega-cast. 

I'd read some not so great reviews about the movie and normally I would be one of the many who would SLAM this film but..... I really enjoyed it!  I'm not ashamed to admit it!  I think it might have something to do with me actually wanting to see a Chick Flick for once!  

Sure, there were cliched plots but none of them delved too far down the cringey angle for my liking.  Actually, my fellow movie-goer's life was paralleled in one of the plotlines.  It was a bit too freaky re-telling of recent events in her life.  Yeah, there were annoying characters (the two Taylors who were clearly included to pull in a teenage audience) but they were never on the screen for too long for me to get punching urges.  Yep, there was blatant storyline-stealing (or 'inspiration' if you want be euphemistic about it) from Love Actually but the Americans are known for remaking successful films which are lacking to the original  *ahem, The Departed*. A lot of critics lambaste the film for poor character development.  Are you serious?  This was never going to be anything Oscar worthy.  

Valentine's Day was always going to be a poor man's Love Actually and as long as you go into the film with that mindset, you'll enjoy the film for what it is - fluffy, heart-warming, light entertainment.  *awwwwwww* & *hugs* :D

The Time Traveler's Wife - Movie

Aaah so yes, I managed to finish the book in time for the release date of The Time Traveler's Wife movie.  I had no idea that a movie was being made so when I saw the poster with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana I immediately wanted to watch it.  Not that I am huge fans of either actors (Poida!) but I give 'em respect. 

Given that I have read the book, I'm not in a position to say whether the movie was confusing or not.  Lil Miss J and I watched the movie anticipating certain events whereas Mr. L ... well, we weren't sure if Mr. L found it confusing.  He told us afterwards that he didn't find it confusing but then again, he is quite the smart cookie. 

I'm one of those people who hates it when movies based on a books completely alter the plot or destroy what made the book a success in the first place.  Although that being said, some books just don't translate well to the big screen - by which, Hollywood should just leave it alone! 

I'm not a fan of mushy, stupid chick flicks either.  Sometimes I want the guy to just dump that dumbass biatch and move on!  But this movie was well, it was always going to be different as I can't recall any other similar story.  Anyway, I was quite content with the movie interpretation and it stayed quite faithful to the book.  Of course there were some omissions and differences but I didn't feel that it affected the story enough to bother me. Lil Miss J had some mixed feelings but I don't think she hated it.  (Lil Miss J, feel free to clarify).

Of the notable omissions was the sexual tension that had plagued Gomez and Clare after their dalliance in uni.  Actually it was more unrequited love from Gomez's end.  Admittedly I was quite glad that particular saga wasn't included because I thought it was somewhat unnecessary.

The other major omission was Mrs. Kim.  She doesn't exist in the movie!!  Where is my Azn Reprezentations?! [*side rant* Ugh, I hate that horrible, fake ghetto, azn pryde slang.  What's with putting a 'y' in to spell 'pride'?  Most of you guys live in affluent areas!]  But I guess when it comes down it to, Mrs. Kim wasn't essential to the central plot.

Of the differences between the movie and book, I felt that Clare's hair wasn't red enough - it was more a dark, rusty brown in the movie.  It's a personal opinion, but on a side matter I think Rachel McAdams looks better as a blonde while as a brunette looks washed out and anaemic.  Henry and Clare's daughter Alba is blonde when instead she should have Henry's pigmented features.  Where does the blonde come from?  I'll put it down to their recessive genes. 

How Alba was conceived changed from Clare having intercourse with a younger Henry while the 'current' Henry slept beside her to just plain 'doing it' in the car with a younger Henry.  I was waiting for that scene - Cool! Fornicating with your partner while another version of your partner lies next to you!  It's like a safe version of being slutty! - but it didn't turn out as the book described.  Not a terrible disappointment but I think it would've made for some light laughs.

Finally, the ending of the movie closes with Henry and Clare still fairly young and not with Clare as an aged woman who had waited for Henry since his passing in mid-life.  Lil Miss J had waited and waited for that ending (she "loved that Clare was an old lady") but I actually didn't quite mind how the movie played it out.  It was kinda bittersweet. 

I could watch this again, (not over and over again, just 'again') but only because I did quite like reading the book. In a way, I'm glad I don't LOVE the book or else my fixed ideals would have ruined my enjoyment of the movie.  For anyone who hasn't read the book, they might think the movie dragged a bit.  Despite the not so rave reviews from the movie critics, I thought it to be a good effort!

Race for Life & Sex and the City Movie

Well this is first of several runs I've signed up to as a way of forcing myself to get out and exercise. A group of 10 of us decided to run this year and I must say, it's not easy to get matching outfits for us. Every other person has the same idea and the whole of female London buy up all the pink merchandise out there! Well at least we managed five matching singlets and five matching tshirts.

All the chickies participating. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The start/finish line.

The boys and handbag carriers, Kahoons and Mona spot us in the crowd.

I spot them right back and say 'Hai!!!!'

Hang on, is that a pink power ranger running alongside us? Yes it is! There was actually a group of 5 or so. I dunno how they managed in run in all that gear. Sweaty as.

I was pretty happy with my finishing time, somewhere around 38 minutes. Give or take the delay at the start, probably less than this. Yay! The actual run in London city was kinda ick. I mean, starting/ending near the Smithfield Meat Market? And then bottle-necking us at times by making us run through smaller alleys. There are sooooooo many streets they could have picked from and this definitely wasn't the nicest track.

Keeping in with the women's day theme, off we went to the cinema to watch the much anticipated Sex and the City movie. I must admit, while I do like the TV show very much and have the box set within my grasp, I still have not watched the series in it's entirety. I didn't even know that the reason why Aidan and Carrie broke up was because she cheated on him with Big! Hahaha... worst fan ever.

Anyway, despite demonstrating poor fan-ship, waiting for this movie felt like I was waiting to see old friends again. Excitement! I couldn't help but grin when the movie started. :D There were reviews complaining that this just felt like four back to back episodes. That suited me just fine and to be honest, I just wanted to movie to keep on going.

Our adventure to the cinema began earlier in the week when we pre-booked our tickets. I would never usually do this in anywhere but London, but unfortunately that's how it goes here. Annoyingly, allocated seating does not exist, which meant that we had to unearth our asian ways and queue 45 minutes early to order to guarantee prime position. It was a pretty catty wait with the 99.9% female crowd evilling each other if anyone dared to queue jump. Once the barrier was removed there was a mad stampede into the cinema, akin to scenes of a designer handbag sale.

I sat next to Kt who admittedly cries every single time she sees the finale of series. This movie evoked no less of her. She began crying... oh I dunno but quite early in the film. Her crying was contagious, so it made it more acceptable that I became a blubbering mess. Wtf. I cried when Miranda yelled at Steve, when Carrie realised she got jilted, when Charlotte found out she was pregnant, when Charlotte yelled at Big, when Miranda and Steve got back together and maybe some other scenes. Who knows. It was getting a bit stupid with Kt and I sitting together crying. Oh I didn't cry at Carrie's moping in Mexico. Or at any of Samantha's scenes haha.

I think the clothes were a bit hit and miss. Carrie's huge wedding dress was just the pits and what on earth was she thinking putting that horrible bird in her hair? And I don't care what anyone else thinks, SJP is not pretty. Make-up does improve but ..... no, get over it, she is not pretty. Conspicuous attire aside, if she was not famous, I doubt that most people would give SJP a second glance. Just watch a few of her movies before SATC and you'll see what I mean - unremarkable. I did think that the hairstylists were pretty good at getting variation out of Miranda's short hairdo though.

I enjoyed the movie so much, I can't wait to watch it again! Next time without having to prebook tickets. The gripes that other reviews have about the movie bothers me none. It's a movie that would be best enjoyed by those who are familar with the series. Why would anyone who hasn't watched the series bother otherwise? Unless you're a guy wanting to impress your first date.

Meme's Post Hens Night

A subdued post-wedding Hens Night was held for Meme at yours truly's house and in the spirit of re-living my uni years, it was complete with sleeping parents in the next room. All the girlies, re-united in one city again after about 3 years!

27 Dresses was the movie of choice and fulfilled the criteria - chick flick, chick flick girl of the moment - Katherine Heigl, weddings, bridesmaids dresses, predictable storyline. I'm not about to write a movie critique (I'll leave that to Moo) but I dunno, are chick flicks getting more blah? Or is it just me? Don't get me wrong, I didn't HATE it as much as I detested the painful-wanna-punch-my-eyes-out-cringe-fest that was P.S I love you - never read the book, but I'm convinced it would've been better - but it was just..... blah.

I'm definitely not a chick-flick hater; I liked Ghost, The Notebook, Notting Hill, Love Actually and I can't wait for the Sex and the City movie *glee* but there was nothing notable in this film. Not even the display of dresses managed to elicit anything beyond mild interest *shock horror!*

Nevertheless, it was cosy way to spend the night with the girlies, celebrating our transition into Grandma Gossip Club - chit-chat included of course!

The Sound of Music

Leesh, Kt and I watched The Sound of Music stage musical tonight. I'm not a huge fan of the movie, unlike Kt who declared it her 'favourite movie of all time' (big call) but it was definitely one of the musicals I wanted to see. I'm not sure why I really wanted to watch it, probably because the movie is enjoyable enough and the songs are easy on the ears. Don't worry, I do realise that the movie IS based on the original stage musical and not vice versa, but clearly the movie has influenced the current version of the musical.

There were a few differences between the stage and movie versions, but I'm not going to delve as anyone can find them on wikipedia.

I've always thought that the movie fell flat after Maria and the captain realise they're in love and I didn't even know that they got married until I watched it for the third or fourth time! I think I was 9 or 10 when I finally found out.

A few things I will comment on:

• Maria had really big feet
• Captain Von Trapp was too short and stocky (he was played by Simon Burke of Playschool fame!).
  
• The kiss between Maria and the Captain was far too long
• The Baroness was too skinny
• An extra song about the Nazi enforcement, glossed over the severity of the regime and the 'happy tune' was really quite inappropriate. I can understand why it was excluded in the film.
• I really liked Uncle Max. Looked like Clive James.
• The stage sets were cool
• The singing goat souvenir was very tempting
  

Next, I really want to see Jersey Boys!

Happy New Year!

Well, I've been the slobbiest of slobs for the past few days since getting back from Berlin. All that jetlag finally caught up with me and I was so glad to get back into my own bed. I slept for about 17 hours straight, waking up at 6pm the day after returning from Berlin. Even I surprised myself at how sloth-like I was!

Of course that ruined me. I didn't sleep until 6am but still manage to get up by 10.45am to watched 'Enchanted' (excellent for fairy-tale Disney movie-lovers) and 'I am Legend' with Kt. You would've thought that my sleep pattern would return to normal but no.... For the three following days I woke up at either 3 or 5pm. Mmmm lazy. There was one episode of late night vacuuming.

Anyway, this is the HAPPY NEW YEAR post!

I had dinner with a few others in Covent Garden where the dinner began at 7.30pm and ended at 11pm. Service was far too slow.

That kinda ruined our plans a bit to return to Old Kent Road Party House to view the fireworks from the rooftop. An hour would normally suffice but this was NYE.

We managed to finally get onto a tube and then force ourselves onto an overcrowded bus at 11.55pm, while the boys opted to run back.

You can predict what happened next. The clock struck 12 and the first firework exploded while J, SuBoo, J's friend and I were on the bus. Yay-frigging-yay. People wished each happy new year on the bus half heartedly.

Luckily our stop was next, so we ran across the road and all the way up the stairwell to see the last 5 minutes of the fireworks bonanza.

It is now that I suspect someone tried to pickpocket me on either the tube or the bus and stole my Napoleon skin primer. A little disappointing for the thief but very annoying for me! I can't find it anywhere and I do distinctly remember seeing it at dinner. Grrrrrr

At 2am, Munabuna decided that it was time to light some fireworks that he bought from the local supermarket. I totally understand why these are illegal to purchase in Australia. Fireworks + stupid people = bad things.

The offending objects.

Fireworks are meant to be planted into the ground. Since there is no 'ground' on a rooftop, the boys use an upside down outdoor table. Smart.

Our own fireworks display was very pretty though. One of other strangers on the rooftop demonstrated the supreme act of stupidity by holding one of the fireworks as it ignited. I was waiting for a spare arm to fly off.

I would like to say that there were some consequences from the stupidity, but then if there were I probably wouldn't be posting it up on a blog because it would probably involve a terrible injury. That would be just bad taste. Stupid people are also lucky people too.

Crab vs. Lobster

After our lobster adventure, Smee had the audacity to circulate my photo to other female members of the Circle. It's a crap photo, my skin looks like shite, my face all puffy from lack of sleep but whatever.

Anyway, J kept referring to Lobbie as Sebastian. Me, being on the same wavelength, totally understood her reference the 'The Little Mermaid'. Last night, on the way to BT's birthday celebrations, Sebastian the Lobster came up into conversation and it went something like this. Also, try to picture all of us on a London double decker red bus on the lower floor, sitting at the backseat.

Kt: Sebastian? He's a crab.

J and I: WHAT?! Nooooooo, he's a lobster!!!! What makes you think he's a crab?

Kt: I wikied it and it says he's a crab.

Me: Whatever. Anyone can write anything on Wikipedia. Look at Sebastian's head, he has a long head! He's a lobster.

J: Yeah, he's a lobster! He looks nothing like a crab!

Kt: Yeah but wikipedia says he's a crab!

J: How did you google it? Why did you google it?

Kt: I just typed 'sebastian, little mermaid, crab' and that's what Wikipedia showed.

J & Me: No way!!! he's a lobster! Look at him!

Mona (pipes up from the seat in front of us after checking the web from his mobile): He's a crab. It says so on wikipedia.

Me: Yeah but anyone can write anything on wikipedia!! Tell me what it says on the Disney site.

(You can see this argument never ending)

J: What!?!? No, he's a lobster!!!

Kt: Have you guys watched The Little Mermaid? I swear they say he's a crab in the movie. It's on the DVD too.

J and Me (indignantly): Nah, no way they say that. Yeah of course we've watched it!

J: Have a look at his head. He has a long head. He looks NOTHING like a crab.

Baoey: (sits in silence and pretends to not know the rest of us)

Parts of the conversation are slightly fabricated, but you get the idea. We must've sounded so silly to the other passengers sitting on the bus. Full grown adults arguing in the back seat about the shellfish status of the Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. We weren't exactly quiet either.

Look at the picture above? Does that not look like one of the lobsters I ate?

Anyway, I can't remember how the conversation changed topic - maybe the bus stopped and we had to get off, but I still was convinced that Sebastian was a lobster.

Today, I had to settle it once and for all. I had to get to the bottom of this Sebastian Lobster/Crab debate. And I concede - HE'S A FRIGGING CRAB!!!

Damn Disney. Can't draw for peanuts! All these years, I believed him to be a lobster. I feel cheated of my late childhood.

Come to think of it, I don't think I have watched The Little Mermaid in it's entirety.

UPDATE: A few days later, I had to ask Mooey about Sebastian - Queen of Stupid Trivia that she is - and she came back with "Lobster". A-ha! Damn Disney.

She was in disbelief, just as I was. As she says, "It was like I believed the sky was green."

Book Review: The Devil Wears Prada

I once was an avid reader. Well, that was way back in the days of the Baby-Sitters Club, The Gymnasts, Pen Pals, Judy Blume and other pre-teen/teenage crap. Terrible isn't it? I can't recall the last book I read. I think it was either 'My Legendary Girlfriend' (which Smee found in an airport lounge), 'Fight Club' or 'Japanese Women Don't Get Fat or Old'. Up until leaving for London, the most regular reading I had done back home was the monthly Instyle magazine. That's if you can call looking at clothes 'reading'. My subscription, I do sorely miss.

Inbetween work, chores, surfing the net (blogging!) and TV, I find I don't have much time for books. Given that the general consensus is that I'm getting dumber and my vocabulary is waning - "When did Pooey get so dumb?!?"- I've decided to utilise my work travel time as 'reading time'.

Reading time is rather limited given that I only spend about 20 minutes on public transport per trip and approximately 10 minutes of that trip is devoted to the pages of free newspapers in the style of Mx. My routine is as such:

• AM: Metro. I don't read City AM because it's full of commerce talk.
• PM: The London Paper (preferred) or London Lite, depending on who won the 'shove a newspaper into my face' competition.

Until I find another valid reason, this will suffice as to why there will be long intervals between book reviews. Hehe

I couldn't resist a 3 for 2 special at Books Etc which included the best selling novel 'The Devil Wears Prada'.

What is the big deal about this book? There is nothing wrong with chick-lit but I have never been a huge fan. I'll read it if it's recommended - it's innocuous enough but I certainly don't go out of my way. Funnily, what "inspired" me to read this book was the movie and I wanted to see how the book compared. The movie was enjoyable - Anne Hathaway strutting in her designer wear and perfect make up - a bit of lightweight girly entertainment. Nothing deep and meaningful.

My my, how the book differs! It's common knowledge that Hollywood rarely stays true to the books that movies and so I'll highlight a few differences in the case of the TDWP:

• Andy's boyfriend is called Alex.

- In the movie, he's called Nate. Huh!?! Why?

• In the book, the boyfriend is a teacher

- He's a chef in the movie

• Andy lives with her best friend who features heavily in the book.

- Movie: lives with boyfriend. Best friend is almost non existent. I can't even remember the best friend in the movie

• Miranda Priestly (the Devil herself) has a nice husband.

- She has marriage problems, which I guess is a Hollywood attempt at humanising her

• Andy only ever flirts with Christian the writer.

- She does the slutty thing and sleep with him after a drunken episode

• Andy goes to Paris because her colleague has Mononucleosis.

- She goes to Paris at Miranda's preference

• Andy quits because her best friend is comatose after a car accident

- She quits because she doesn't want to be one of 'those people'.

• Andy finds a new job on her own

- Movie: She lands a job at Miranda's recommendation.

I should remain faithful to the purpose of this blog entry and review the book, rather than trundle on about the movie/novel differences. I do feel a bit stupid about wanting to read books to assist mental development but instead, I just read some fluff. The protagonist and her best friend verges on annoying and Miranda Priestly's character is exaggerated. Only the boyfriend was remotely likable. I kept on reading because the words weren't hard (hahahahaha) and I wanted to know how it all concluded.

This sounds bizarre but I actually preferred the MOVIE over the book! If the movie remained faithful to the book, it would have flopped. The plot would have been too drawn out. Movies of such content need visuals to keep one interested and yes, the clothes, make up and pretty women kept me interested indeed. Do I sound vacuous or what??? Hehehe.

Would I recommend others to read this book? No. Well, yes if you want some holiday-sitting-by-the-pool-reading that requires little concentration. I don't quite understand how other people claim to 'love' this book. It's not lovable. Maybe I haven't read enough chick lit, but I'll give it credit as being one of better ones of it's genre? I once read a Maggie Alderson book (HATED it!) and I wondered how it managed to be published.

Should I rate this book? It's hard to establish a rating scale without reading more books, so I'll leave it as a Yes/No rating for the time being. So...

NO.

(man, I surely wrote a lot eh?)

Girly Sunday

As a protest to Bao's apartment being invaded by soccer (sorry - football) watching men, us chickie babes went out for a bit of a girly day. Well, more like a girly afternoon with Baoey, Lil Miss J and Leesh.

First was yum cha, where it always helps to speak Cantonese. Who had the best Cantonese? Errrr me! This only helped when we arrived and they asked in Canto "how many seats?" and I proudly held up four fingers. This also was handy when we had to order the Hom Sui Kok and we didn't know what English description to tick on the order form. Apart from that, we were pretty pathetic. The hom sui kok never arrived anyway.

Lil Miss J fattening up Bao Bao.

Bao's mango pudding - a far too realistic goldfish.

Afterwards, we went and watched Little Red Flowers, a mainlander film about a little boy who spends his days at a boarding school kindergarten, post WWII. Yes, I admit that I did walk out of the cinema and say "I hate kids" but maybe I should clarify.

Just because I am a woman of procreating age it should not be expected that I will goo-goo ga-ga at every child on the street. A bratty child crying is especially NOT cute. Children that have prominent ears are NOT cute. Alright only a handful are but I'm sorry, but they're just going to want otoplasty as adults and they will curse their unfortunate gene pool.

I'm not going to be biased either. Yes some of my baby cousins are cute, others are not so. And even the cute ones can become icky children. Being one of the eldest cousins, I am quick to discipline them with an evil stare and a stern warning. I'm not saying "Death to all Children" - I was one once! Nor am I the evil Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Nor will I ever tell a child "YOU'RE UGLY". Imagine the effect on their mental health!!! But I'll give credit where it's due. I like holding babies!!! Especially the cute ones!!! And I love the smell of babies!!! And how smooth their skin is! My baby cousin E was an especially cute baby, but he's in that 'terrible twos' stage now - ergh, his poor mother is going crazy.

Anyhow, this movie had plenty of scenes where the main protagonist was crying or sooking. *bleah* That surely does not make me turn on any maternal instincts whatsoever. Kids running around, talking rudely, screaming, defecating and urinating (all in the movie) - there is nothing appealing in that.

Oh, by the way, I DID enjoy the movie. But it just re-iterated that I don't really like kids. I would be shite school teacher.

Dinner at Horoki and The Devil Wears Prada

As already mentioned on Moo's and Bao's blog, we went and watched The Devil Wears Prada last night. While you can read about the movie at Mooely's blog and also read Bao's errrr contribution (here and here), I'm going to focus on the important stuff - dinner!

Dinner included Jade, as well as SW (aka Dr. Wong's lovely sidekick) and Lil, whom I've never met before but is lovely too :D. I was well behaved and tried not too have too much of a potty mouth. Hehehe. Anyhow dinner was at Horoki Casual Dining Bar, which I have never been before but was a nice surprise given that I am always on the prowl for good Japanese cuisine (read: not made by honkies) in Melbourne. I would definitely go there again for the cosy ambience, slightly fusion but not too try-hard food. We had the degustation menu for a mere sum of $35 (7 courses) and while it filled us bird-like eating females, I would recommend having something extra if any person of the testosterone variety decided to join dinner.

The interesting stuff - photos.

All of our teapots having a tea party.

Moo and J in her Target top - it's noice!

Bao and I not being stupid for once.

Course 1: Tuna carpaccio with shaved cheese - yummy!

Course 2: Me getting very excited about a sashimi salad.

Course 3: The obligatory sushi and nigiri.

Course 4: Gyoza filling stuffed into chicken wings.

Course 5: Garlic butter with octopus or squid, I can't remember.

Bao maintaining her asian identity and insisting on tearing up her bread with chopsticks only.

Course 6: Battered prawns. SW wasn't being sick, she just didn't want to be in the photo.

Course 7: Some kinda of beefy meatball. The photo is blurry because Moo doesn't know how to use my camera properly.

Dessert was a bit of pannacotta with a strawberry topping. Yummo!

After dinner, J, Lil and SW had to split and so Bao, Moo and I went to watch The Devil Wears Prada. I didn't bother to take any photos of us in the cinema because that would've been just too sad of me. I quite enjoyed the movie, possibly because I haven't read the book and I didn't check the time of my watch thoughout the movie at all! For all clothes loving girls, seeing the main character prance around in her designer clothes and perfect make-up is enough incentive to go and watch this movie. For all guys, unless they are gay, I would give it a miss.