Must Buy

Take it from this Last-Minute Buddha's Leg Hugger, it's never too late to start (planning) early. Confucius-sounding? That's the shift. Parents looking to give their children a head start over peers in/on examination preparation can begin stocking up on Casco and Marshall Cavendish tutorials. If you buy them, at least they have a fighting chance. If you don't, they're doomed to failure. Your kid, your call.

WM XVI Came & Went

Fantasia Barrino belted out 'America the Beautiful', Yoshi Tatsu won a 26-man battle royal, Jack Swagger is Mr. MITB, Bret and the entire Hart family screwed Vince, Undertaker went 18-0 and ended Shawn Michaels' career, and 72,219 fans broke the attendance record for the University of Phoenix Stadium.

Let's Spar!

You can bring on a myriad of martial arts/sparring techniques from your repertoire, but - trust us - you won't be able to beat silat's kuntao asli on your best day.

The 'Egg Promoter'

Meet Samantha Tan (@ appie) whom I got to know while impersonating as Isabelle Loreto Lee (@ Kexin^_^). She's 'promoting' some "egg balancing game" (AKA Eggs Away!) on iPhone. I think this is the kinda amusement that makes people kooky?

Pay Up!

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A MISTRESS SCORNED.

Beef Teppanyaki

Food cooked on iron griddles and dished out on sizzling hot plates are getting progressively crowd-pleasing here in fad-frenzy Singapore - maybe even more so than in native Japan or Korea. Are we not at all concerned about Muni's purported 'cancer-causing agents' found in those parched particles? Or are we simply content with meals we have a part in 'cooking'?

James Bond - Over the Years

(Clockwise from top left): Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton.

Who's your favorite 007? Mine's Brosnan :-)

Laceless

After prolonged periods of walking (from office to home), sprinting (when it starts to pour and I don't have an umbrella), squatting (when I'm exhausted from sprinting) and stomping (when I forget keys to my house), my old pair of shoes are - once again - officially history. Say hello, for the very first time, to laceless loafers!

Eco-Flower

in support of earth hour, our efflorescence has been brought to you by plastic juicers and kettles

Care Bears

A complete Berenstain Bears collection for anyone who can name half of these American Greetings characters.

Cut & Comb

What do a wide-tooth comb and pair of scissors have in common? They're a hairstylist's most trusted tools to make the unglamorous ungrotesque. Addy and David swear by them, and so should you. As a Chinese saying goes: "There are no ugly women in the world, only lazy ones". Agree?

Running Out of Space

Dear Larry and Sergey (founders of Google), yours truly has been a diligent blogger for most of Photo Finish's history. I seldom take MC or time-off from my work here, so why can't Picasa give me more storage space for images? As it is, I'm already at 66% of my 1024MB allotment quota. Please help!

Welcome to HELLL

5Step into Haw Par Villa's Ten Courts of Hell, enclosed in a dark 60-meter dragon tunnel. Guarded by Niutou and Mamian (Cowhead and Horseface), King Yama's Diyu depicts horrific tortures not limiting to dismemberment and disembowelment. (*Gulp*)

5One of these two skinny dioramas sorta resembles the director of THE FOREST SPIRITS. Damn, it's hot!

Let's Get Moving!

FROM ERICK MORILLO TO MADAGASCAR.

Public Caning

Now banned in all MOE schools, public caning was the order of the day during my time when Seet Hua Soon was the 'wielder' and bored students preferred to watch 'live demos' than stone in geometry classes. Rated PG.

Have Sum (More) Dim Sum

The Honkies have discerning taste when it comes to their choice dim sum. Shrimp bonnets served in a steamer basket and rice noodle rolls soaked in sweet soy sauce. How irresistible's that?

Don't Forget the Lyrics!

From next Monday onward, THE MILLION STAR ( 百 万 大 歌 星 ) will be upsized (read: lengthened) to 1½ hours! Well done, U 频 道 ! And host Harlem Yu really rox!

Art, Three-peated

Music-making by The Rotunds.

Chef Gusteau's Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Handle with care.

Ye Ye

So what if the brand ambassador of this specific blend of coffee is InGen CEO John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) from JURASSIC PARK? As long as they didn't mess with nature or evolution in the process of roasting and brewing, we don't see a problem at all ;-)

Hanista = Hasnita

hash = harshim = ray-ban = bausch & lomb

Famous Video

Heard of that Kevin Smith rom-com ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO? Here's the real-life version - uncut and unedited. At Famous Video, directors will help you shoot hours of hot footage and submit to Jack Horner Productions for screening. This is your quick ticket to stardom in a different realm of movies!

Kiasuism

Nowhere else on this polluted planet - 'cept here in Sinkapour - will you find the 'fear of losing' more prevalent. I mean, it's so ingrained into our culture and system that we essentially eat, drink and sleep to win. What do others think of us??

Silver Horse

Consolation for candidates deemed unworthy of 金 馬 獎 ?

Tiara

Welcome to the elite upper-class of our society, where men don tights and women wear tiaras. If you don't have at least a circlet in your heirloom, then - very sorry - you're not even fit to breathe the same air as these bluebloods.

Mei Xin

Tonight, on the final episode of Channel U's THE ILLUSIONIST (10 p.m.), will be my last chance to see sweet-faced singer Mei Xin in her role of the infallible idealist Ming ("Miracles do exist!"). Gonna miss her and the show.

The Gym

Is your aspiration to become a well-sculpted bodybuilder? Start working out today like there's no tomorrow! Adopt the routine of a gym rat and reap the fruits of your labor! :-D

Dinner @ City Square Mall

Selected Hong Kong Stir-Fried Seafood - or something to that effect - at Singapore's First Eco-Mall above Farrer Park MRT Station. Footed $7.90 for a prawn omelette-and-Chinese broccoli set that comes with rice and soup. Déclassé against restaurant standards, but this is, after all, Kopitiam we're talking about.

How Much Is Your Blog Worth?

Aiight, so PF's worth only a paltry $86 and change (according to this website value calculator), which ain't even enough to get me into RWS. By comparison, Xia Xue's same-name blog easily fetches $226,149 (she's rich!) and Fauzi Rassull's The Male Bitch ("voted Singapore's most popular blog for four consecutive weeks in 2009") manages only a pathetic $103. Shocking!

Hill's Science Diet

"Hill's Pet Nutrition recognizes that a high level of palatability is essential if pets are to receive optimum nutrition". Yeah, I know...can't help it if JHM are so keng chiak -_-

NXT

While we understand the need for sports entertainment to reinvent itself from time to time, must WWE replace a well-recognized brand like ECW with the experimental NXT? Will Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel pull in more advertising dollars for SyFy than The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer?

Do Think Twice!

We know what y'all CKPs are thinking: (1) That thigh looks titillating, and (2) if Jack Neo can do it, why not me? Well, every action has a consequence. Best to keep your temptations in check!

(Tall) MIB

Angus Junior trotting up Paterson Road in response to a call on alien sightings. Where are Agents J and K when we need back-up?

The Trysts

Above, from left: Wendy Chong, Foyce Le Xuan and Maelle Meurzec. Presenting the mistresses of disgraced filmmaker Jack Neo's dalliances. Infidel he definitely is, but one can't deny he's got pretty good taste in women :-P

Labyrinth: Level 1

designed not by daedalus of greek mytho but madam white peony of golden dragon chinese restaurant

What's Their Secret?

Authored by Thomas Fernandez and Sant Qiu and published by Maneuver Marketing, Niche Dominators: Success Secrets Exposed is a mini-biography-slash-insider's look into the closely guarded success secrets of Singapore's top entrepreneurs like Merry Riana (who?) and Angelo Augustus (double who??). To find out more, go grab a copy! (Available at some bookstores.)

Sang Meen 2

Whilst Magdalene/Magdelene Tan was happily digging into her 8-meatball soup at yesterlunch, Eddie's wife and myself were impatiently awaiting the arrival of our zhi char orders. The sang meen was priced at an unreasonable $5.00, which didn't quite justify the average quality of food or slow service.

Mangosteens

If you think durians, the king of fruits, are unique (in terms of their smell and taste, that is), then mango-steens, the queen of fruits, are equally exotic - albeit considerably less repugnant. (PF Trivia: This is the first fruit related post in over a year!)

I Finally Got It!

Following months of procrastination, this UNO buff finally went out and got himself a set. Draw 2! Draw 4! Who's game?? :-D

Wazowski with Brylcreem

whoever thought monsters could look so stylo?

Expected Upset

As the oddsmakers had already foretold, THE HURT LOCKER and its skipper Kathryn Bigelow prevailed against popular consensus by pipping blue-hot favorite AVATAR to the post. The few-seen Iraqi war drama outscored history's top global grosser 6-3 at the 82nd Academy Awards, including major hauls for picture and director.

So, did you win the office pool?

SHC

For the life of me (incorrect idiom usage?), I had no inkling that the Singapore Handicraft Centre - where you can find artifacts, furnitures and seal cravings - is directly conjoined with Chinatown Point. Okay, so?

Happy Juice

Pamela Shee's preferred beverage. The Ascott Group should stock this up for their celebrity Business Development Executive.

Eat Grainy

"In a 2002 study, consumption of whole grains was found to be associated with lower fasting insulin concentrations when compared to those associated with the consumption of refined grains". What does this mean? Reduced risk of diabetes. Are you listening, Manslaughterer Ionescu?

Rigged

where harry stamper and his drill team worked before they were mobilized to save humankind

Christoph Waltz

Come Oscar night on Sunday, 53-year-old Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who's swept every major (and minor) award since his Prix d'interprétation masculine at Cannes, will almost certainly take home the coveted golden statuette for his supporting role of a "cruel, ruthless, polyglot and diabolically intelligent" Austro-German SS officer named Colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's history-bashing INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Man, that was a long sentence!