Dakota - Then & Now

Then: At the tender age of eight, precocious child actress Dakota Fanning was already bestowed with a prestigious Screen Actors Guild nomination for her role in I AM SAM. That accolade would pave the way for bigger and better things to come.

Now: By 14, Fanning has blossomed into a young Jodie Foster (and even shares the latter's talent and company of dignitaries). Among the great auteurs and thespians she's worked with thus far are Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Sean Penn, Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise – all Hollywood heavyweights!

The Meadows Money Changer

In Las Vegas, you can be anyone and do anything. For a dollar and a dime, you can get married to your dog in a dingy chapel, witnessed by Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. It's the Entertainment Capital of the World. It's Sin City!

Places We Don't Wish to...

...see/smell/lick (eww!). All that hair. And scurf. And skin. And grime. And more hair. And, sometimes, if you're 'lucky', insectal antennae \ / greeting you from those strawholes!

THE ICE STORM

5Bed partners: Sigourney Weaver, bored with her own husband, sleeps around with their neighbor Kevin Kline. Debauchery!

I'm amazed not as many have seen Ang Lee's 1997 mood piece THE ICE STORM, a film he made before his universal success CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, as it rightfully deserves. (In fact, the picture was released in the same year as TITANIC and subsequently overlooked at the 70th Academy Awards.)
Set during Thanksgiving '73, the well-observed character study tells the story of "two dysfunctional suburban Connecticut families who are trying to deal with tumultuous political and social changes of the early 1970s, and their escapism through alcohol, adultery, and sexual experimentation".
As a non sequitur, there are references to Nixon and the Watergate scandal, but it was Christina Ricci's fashion faux pas and the swinger's key party that left me the most indelible impressions.

Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill

One of the world's only five Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill restaurants is found right here in Singapore - at Tanglin Road. They serve Cioppino and Louisiana Crab Cakes; say, wasn't Xiao Kel suggesting a colleagial seafood dinner getogether coming week after work?

Pua Kang Hio

a (parasite) holes-ridden frond that'll hardly prove useful on a rainy day...

To Break, or Not to Break

October is normally a month I suspend my weblog to spend time with Junsheng, Jaime, Xiaohan, Jiayan, Juebin, Maya and Naya. Doesn't matter if you don't know who they are, but I've known them for six years now.
Come next week, I'm still contemplating if I should recess or resume. Can The Bard advise me?

Bins

Absolute-ly ATAS garbage bins (from Urban Homme, I think??) guaran-teed to spark a wave of sampah buang-ing. Either that, or we won't even bear to use them!

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY

When this dweeb was of elementary school age, notably in the early eighties, he would tune in to Jim Boyd doing Crank and Morgan Freeman doing the Easy Reader. And, of course, who could forget Spider-Man as himself?

Everybody now - "We're gonna turn it on. We're gonna bring you the power..."

Global Residence

<< This reminds me of a scene in JACKIE BROWN where Jackie (Pam Grier) pays Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson) a visit at his Compton residence and Melanie (Bridget Fonda) answers the door. Digression = Detriment.

Tiong Bahru Children Clinic

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine devoted to the care of infants, toddlers and adolescents. It also deals with the treatment of their diseases, such as measles, pneumonia and HFMD. Raising a child these days is no mean feat and costs a bomb. The injections, the vaccinations...it's kinda like taking Mandy to the vet :-X

Singapore Grand Prix

Alonso, Hamilton and Massa are all in town for the world’s first night race! Yesterday was the warm-ups. Today’s the qualifiers. Tomorrow will be the finals. Thrilling! Time to put the pedal to the metal and burn some serious rubber, as they (not Tay Ping Hui) say. VROOM!

P/S: Wachowski Brothers, eat your hearts out!

Two to Tango

fernando botero's nudist and corpulent approach to colombian tango

Nasi Briyani

Official Memorandum to All Lunch Compeers: Due to a recent rash of vermin invasion/infestation at Chopstix (ref: 'AA Article'), we will be permanently relocating our Thursday meal venue to Thano with immediate effect. Their special for this day is nasi briyani, which is typically 'bloatatious' and, more importantly, thoroughly hygenic. Go, Albert!

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Proud Mary (ROCK Version)

"Big turbine keep on turnin', Proud Mary keep on burnin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river..."
– Stanley Goodspeed (feat. John Patrick Mason)

got milk?

In light of the rampant milk scare that sees many of China's reportedly melamine-contaminated dairy products here being taken off the shelves, what alternative forms of calcium and saturated fats can we now turn to? Heng my 'sealish' Hogan doesn't drink it.

Kua Poh Chua (PG)

Checking out if that busty soft-porn actress has finally gotten her cherry popped by that disreputed politician.

Cheaters

Beo Crescent may be known for its 24-hour Teochew porridge (just ask any cognizant cab driver), but believe you me, it's way overrated. Worse, these bilks are out to cheat your money. How else is it that you can be quoted based on empty (i.e. finished) plates? And a different bill each time for the same set of dishes ordered? Gimme a Kit Kat! This is round-the-clock robbery. (I realize there are too many italicized words here.) Sandra Davie ought to do an exposé on them. Or should we notify Mr. Yeo Guat Kwang?

Super Dave

Dunno which's funnier - accident-prone Dave Osborne (or rather, his dummies) crashing into 'wafer walls' or comedienne Carol Burnett crashing his show.

PLAY!

Welcome to Play-Station εpsilon. In this stage, you will be assailed by many a hoofed smiley (called 'Stick-men') and your mission is to exterminate every single one of them by decapitation or eye-gouging. Each kill earns you 500 life points. 10,000 life points later you transform into a Stickman yourself. Ready to lock and load?

More of the Same

Talk about thinking out of the box and breaking out of the mold, this is like the first time(?) I've uploaded a food-affiliated foto in medium size. Woah! What's the big deal?? Nothing. Just needed to fill up site space since teppanyaki chicken has been somewhat blogged about before. (*Cheeky grin*)

The 'Beauties' of Wrestling

Before the likes of Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler or even Trish Stratus, WWE/F divas and valets with the looks of Sunny or Miss Elizabeth were far and few between.

Here, we present to you Titan Sports' Hall of 'Beauties':

Former bodybuilder - you don't say - Chyna (real name: Joanie Laurer) holds the dubious honor of being the first and only woman to win the Intercontinental Championship. Er, congrats?

All I can remember of Luna Vachon were her hoarse hollers for her grappler to "GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!" How about "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"?

She was to be 'Sensational' Sherri, but Bret Hart dubbed her 'Scary' Sherri, instead. Are we surprised at all? R.I.P., Ms. Martel.

Watch Zone (M18)

OK, here's how it works:

• I watch your home, you watch my wife
• As you watch my wife, I bed yours
• If you bed my wife, I'll tell the neighbors
• Together, we'll have a foursome and everyone in the neighborhood will be invited to watch

The House of 72 Tenants

Fun Trivia Quiz: This old but idyllic Seng Poh courtyard was, at one time, shortlisted as a locale for late Hong Kong director Chor Yuen's reworking of his own 1963 Shaw Brothers Studio classic. True or False?

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A pop art sculpture along busy Orchard Road (in front of Liat Towers) by LOVE's Robert Indiana (born 1928). Hope they'll leave it there for good, for existentialism is life and life is an enigma - don't y'all agree?

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Belfast's Muck Monster

This shit, I admit, is right up my dark slippery alley. An enthusiast of cryptozoology from the time I heard of Big Foot and Nessie, I'd been ultra-fascinated by these unexplained/ unclassified/undiscovered creatures.

Belfast's Muck Monster is one purported cryptid I'd never come across, well, until I chanced upon this blog site (which I've now favorited). It writes of "a monster residing in Kirby Lake, also known as The Muck, in Belfast, located on the corner of Miller Street and Lincolnville Avenue" and that "while it's possible the rumors (of a 'mystery beast') are the result of people wanting to make up their own local folklore, he (cryptozoologist Loren Coleman) has also heard that the creature is a giant eel". Cool!

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Active Manpower Resources

Gone is the ambiguous TMC bithness and now in moves Active Manpower Resources, another nebulous - if more legit (see MOM license lumber) - outfit occupying #01-711. Apparently, these peeps deal with employment of un/skilled foreign workers (from Malaysia, etc.) and the application of their passes. Doable, you think? Only time will tell!

uCrown

If you're feeling like Vin Diesel who's stressed up about BABYLON A.D. bombing, then try on OSIM's brand new uCrown Head Massager and you'll start feeling like Brendan Fraser who's happy with his twin hits THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. (Retail price: SGD 268.00)

My Beautiful Adek

She scored an 'A' for her Principles of Management essay assignment at Kaplan. Am so proud of her :-D

Crashin' Through

Tonight, when the clock strikes 12 (UTC+8), Shaw House's glass plafond will implode and give way to international cracksmen itching for a good steal. They've heard, through their reliable intel sources, about an 80% clearance sale at Isetan and feel it's an impetus enough to spearhead Operation Petty Pants.

Here's Jerry Again!

Lest anyone accuses me of showing favoritism toward pondan Hogan (four of my last six JHM posts were about him), I shall dedicate this entry to yandao Jerry. Say, doesn't Uncle Smelliva (read: smelly saliva) resemble a drained Panthera leo after a day of prey-hunting?

THE FOG (1980)

5Title card of the 1980 film co-written, directed and scored by John Carpenter.

Like how a leftwinger would readily protest against pro-abortion laws, this fogey right here possesses repugnancy toward remaking old classics. In most cases, he feels, these so-called replicas are far paler comparisons to the originals.
John Carpenter's relatively minor horror piece THE FOG, starring then-reigning Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, was a success in its own right. In fact, when I first saw that freaky Blake character as a child, it nearly scared the bejeebers out of me. So why was there a need for a subpar 2005 update?

This or That?

Pregnancy or Fradulence?

In Full Bloom 2

Speckles of red punctuating a sea of green. Getting poetic, are we? Entirely purposeless post prefigured while I was passing by the open car park between blocks 22 and 29. (Sleepwalking in the day?) Eco-friendly uploads unceasingly felicitous.

Le Se

Sound the alarm! Call the Food Police! We have a culinary crisis on our hands - and it's called 'Blendemic'! First, Isle's chicken rice became blender. Then, Thano's claypot rice also became blender. And now, Chopstix's laksa - you guessed it - uncannily becomes more or less le se (rubbish). Wat up wit dat?? Is Fei Por cutting back on her herbs and spices so that she can buy more hideous blue eyeliner? This is so un-Peranakan, I tell you! (*Continues bitching...*)

TMNT

One of this blogspotter’s favorite boyhood teletoons was none other than TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, which used to run on weekday afternoons before gran prepared dinner.
I wasn’t such a great fan of the half-shelled heroes – namely Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello – as much as I adulated villainous ninjutsu master and leader of the Foot Clan, Shredder. Loved his talons!

Chick-a-dee!

A fluffy and lifelike toy of a chick - complete with eggshell and hay nest - sold at Carrefour's Toys "Я" Us. Cute, innit? Wait 'til it grows up and becomes Red Rooster the formidable fowl!

Private Dining Area (PDA)

This is where Bruce used to bring Rachel for dinner. (Yes, you can join them tables 'cause he blardy owns the place.) But ever since Wayne Enterprises vacated the building, Batty's once bustling restaurant has been converted into a training facility for SHATEC interns.

The Third Eye

I must've been mistaken because up until this point I always thought the 'third eye' was what some of us Chinese believers refer to as the 'yin yang' eye, which allows the beholder to descry spirits. (One of our ex-colleagues Iris How claimed she had it and mentioned seeing 'wet dead people' almost all the time.)

Wiki-ing further, I learn that the third eye (also known as the 'inner eye'), is actually "a mystical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna (brow) chakra in certain Eastern and Western spiritual traditions". (I don’t quite follow this?)

"It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness". (Looks like we're getting somewhere…)

"In New Age spirituality", it adds, "the third eye may alternately symbolize a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply personal, spiritual or psychological significance". (Ah, okay.)

And finally, "the third eye is often associated with visions, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences, and people who have allegedly developed the capacity to use their third eyes are sometimes known as 'seers'". (Thanks!)

# Grilled #

This oblongish grillwork on our veranda can't prevent Daredevil Hogan from catwalking along the parapet (we used to have a more intricate network of fencing back in Tanjong Pagar), but at least his two other 'siblings' will be discouraged from following suit. Tio boh?

Transylvania 2008

neither guo liang nor bernard tan, but count dooku; let the bloodletting begin!

CityLink

Singaporeans should know this place awfully well - particularly the end adjacent to the high-traffic City Hall MRT Station concourse. It's where we ritually stand around and wait for people - friends, associates, even blind dates - to show up. Years gone by and the mise en scène remains unchanged. (How come there are no beggars and buskers in these parts?)

Fly Her to the Moon

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, Chang-er the silly rabbit will float off to the Luna with a plate of lotus seed paste mooncakes (with double yolks) in search of her aeronautical hero Neil Armstrong.
Snap out of it, already!

Stick a Fork in It

Some shiny flatware observably not from Madame Marie's Gourmet Cutlery Set. Not that we despise the Isle Café chief, who's put a few Inlanders under his payroll, but managing an F&B chain means reducing operating costs to the minimum. For all we know (and I do know for a fact), the food quality's also been compromised.

Maharashtra Matrimony

'Thanks' to the ceaseless fusillade of hullabaloo from Judy's thoroughly incomprehensible henchman, I had no choice but to step away from the ST701 marketplace.

This mural outside the Baby Fair instantly captured my attention while I was having my strollabout.

Jin Choo & Her Teman Lelaki

Diyana Ismail with her main squeeze before the VAIO. Coping fine with DPE-L so far?