I found time to watch this 3rd installment of the Narnia series after my crowning procedure. So with half of my jaw numbed by the after-effects of the anesthetics, I embarked on this adventurous voyage with Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and their cousin Eustace Scrubbs.

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains some spoilers, so if you’ve not watched the movie or read the book, you may want to give this post a pass until you’ve done at least one of two.

Narnia3 is extremely rich in Christian undertones. The main mission of the Dawn Treader crew is to break the evil spell from the dark powers residing on the Dark Island. However, to accomplish this, they will need to follow a mysterious blue star to get to the island of Ramandu, during which they will be tempted by their darkest secrets and their inner demons.

“I tried to do it myself, but I wasn’t strong enough.. then He came closer.. it was painful, but it was a good pain”

That was what Eustace said about how Aslan helped him change back to his human form after being transformed to a dragon, his punishment for coveting the enchanted treasures of the evil ones. This also aptly describes our relationship with God. Although we try our bests to be good, we’re often not strong enough to do it by ourselves. Only with the help of God can we overcome the temptations from the world and from our inner selves. Though the process will cause us pain, but it is a good pain that will bring us to our ultimate destination, Heaven, God’s country.

Towards the end, there’s also mention of Aslan’s country, where the brave and valiant are always welcome. Reepicheep receives his well-deserved reward as he’s welcomed into Aslan’s country. Aslan also tells Lucy that although he cannot be with them physically, he’ll always be within them in spirit. He also says “you must learn to know me by another name in another world“. Much like how we must learn to recognize God in our world.

I must say, C.S. Lewis is a genius! He beautifully injects his Christian beliefs into his literature. Through his literature, we’re able to see Lewis deep love of God and Christianity. The Chronicles of Narnia series have really prompted me to explore more of Lewis’ works.

For those who’ve not watched the movie, here’s the trailer to whet your appetite.

Tags: movies, Narnia, Reviews

Our favorite pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow of course! Yeah!!!

Tags: movies, Personal, videos, youtube

Greetings all! It’s been a while since I last posted anything here. With more projects coming up and less people to share the effort, work had taken up most of my time and energy. Everyone in my team are now juggling with multiple roles and projects. It’s been a while since work proved to be this challenging, and I must admit that I’m enjoying all this busyness. Back at home, my mom has taken over my laptop to be her dedicated entertainment hub. That also means I get to spend less time with my own computer. I’m seriously considering getting a tablet so I don’t have to fight over the laptop with my mom. Until then, I may have to get used to drafting put posts on my X10 Mini as I’m doing now.

Update: I had some issues connecting to my blog via the Android app, so I’m editing this draft once again on the desktop. That also explains the delay. Apologies!

2 weeks ago on Thursday, I took a day off from work to do a medical examination for insurance purposes, as well as to catch the 1st part of the final installment of the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or HP7 as it is affectionately known. HP7 opened on Singapore’s big screens on 17th November, Wednesday, which was 2 days (3, if you take in the time difference) earlier than USA. That came as a rather pleasant surprise to me, considering that the fact we normally only get to see most movies months after they’re initially screened in the States.

Being the finale of the 7-part adventure, HP7 promised many mini climaxes as Harry and friends hide from The-One-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, while trying to figure out how to destroy the remaining pieces of Voldemort’s soul hidden in the missing Horcruxes. All that without any user manuals or instructions. Not to mention the gloom that follows the murder of their beloved mentor Dumbledore. If you’ve not caught yourself up on the previous 6 installments, you will quite lost with all the fast-paced action that’s going on in this one. The protagonists themselves are also trying to figure out how they’ve landed into such a predicament. Frustrations and teenage angst abound. I don’t want to spoil too much for those who have not watched this yet, so let’s just say there’s lots of problem solving, confusion, running, hiding, more confusion, more running, fighting, and even more confusion.. you get what I mean.

Overall, I think this was a well-made production. Although the ending of this movie left us thirsty for part 2, it was cut-off at a rather logical and strategic point in the book. I’m anticipating more exciting adventures in 2nd half of the finale already!

Meanwhile, here’s the official trailer for your viewing pleasure. For a more in-depth review, please read what Steven Greydanus has to say over at DecentFilms.com.

Tags: Harry Potter, movies, Reviews

After much anticipation, I finally got to watch the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, last Tuesday. Many say this is the darkest movie of the series so far, and I can’t help but agree. Gone are the days of child-like innocence. No more childish “play-magic”, which is now replaced by dark spells and potions (such as those named “living death” ).

On a slightly lighter note, the kids have all grown up to beautiful young men and women. So naturally, amidst add that teenage angst, is romantic feelings beginning to sprout. It is obvious in this movie that love is in the air. The youngsters begin to pair up, and I’m are still left wondering why Harry and Hermione are not an item. Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way. Steven Greydanus of DecentFilms.com shares my sentiments too.

Heck, I’m not sure I buy Harry not taking a pass at Hermione (or at least thinking about it) while their respective romantic interests are both snogging others, with her vulnerable and them both available.

Voldemort does not appear as Voldemort per se in this movie. Instead, we get a peek into his younger days as Tom Riddle. And we see hints leading to the next book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

One particular theme of this movie that struck me deeply was Dumbledore telling Harry that “he’s older and less important“. That had me squirming in my seat. The ending in particular, hinted at euthanasia or mercy killing. I didn’t like it.

Overall, this is more of a linker between the previous Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the next book. I personally preferred Order of the Phoenix. This one is a little too dark for my liking. particularly the ending. Looking forward to the first of the 2-part Deathly Hallows movie that’s tentatively coming next year.

Meanwhile, I’ll like to point you to a very well-written article I read on CatholicExchange.com, titled Harry Potter and the Terrifying Order to Obey.

Tags: Harry Potter, movies, Reviews

I took the day off from work yesterday to catch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and also to roam around Orchard Road and explore some of the new malls that sprang up over the past few months. It’s probably my last chance to rest and relax a little before things start getting crazy at work.

The day started early with a trip to the dentist. Not the best way to celebrate a belated birthday. Indeed. I ended up with 5 fillings and a total bill of S$360.55. Ouch!   At least the dentist was pretty. Luckily, the company is co-paying S$100, but I’ll still have to fork up the remaining amount myself.

I quickly made my way to the nearest cinema, ended up at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. Remember I mentioned in my last post that I could get movie tickets for just S$6.50 on Tuesdays? That was for another cinema. Over here, I can get movie tickets for just S$6.00 on weekdays when I pay with my UOB credit card. After redeem the rebate points I had on my card, the ticket only cost me S$4.83. Sweet!

As I patiently wait for the Harry Potter movie to begin, while seated comfortably in my row of seats (I had the row all to myself as there was no one else seated on my row), I watched a couple of movie trailers:

• 
  Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
  
• 
  The Final Destination
• 
  2012

2012 looks interesting. Apparently it’s produced by the same people who produced Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, so it’s probably worth watching.

I personnally quite enjoyed the Harry Potter movie, which I watched in digital format. But somehow I think I preferred Order of the Phoenix. Perhaps it’s because I’ve already read the final book, so by now I already can tie much of the loose ends together with regards to each character’s actions and motives. But still, I think it’s still worth a watch for all Harry Potter fans. I’m looking forward to the upcoming 2-part finale.

After the movie, I went sightseeing. More accurately, I went “mall-seeing”. First stop, Singapore’s first “Vertical Mall”, Orchard Central. Orchard Central is 12-storeys high, easily making it the “tallest” shopping mall along Orchard Road, in terms of the number of retail levels. The shops are grouped into clusters, which is a totally new concept to shopping in Singapore. I think I only made it up to the open-air veranda on level 7. There was just so much to see, and I had so little time. Not all the shops were opened either. So I’m quite sure I’ll be back again to see Orchard Central in its full splendor.

One special feature of Orchard Central is the abundance of escalators within and outside the mall, coolest of which had to be the one that took you from ground floor to level 4, and the corresponding one which went from level 4 to the afore-mentioned veranda on level 7. I checked out the latter, and it was quite a breath-taking experience, especially for someone with a fear of heights like me. Here’s a panoramic view of Orchard Road from L7, if you’ll excuse my lousy “stitching”. The sun was burning bright, and my knees were wobbling.

Next, I made my way to my next destination. ION Orchard. It was opening day yesterday, so the mall was bustling with visitors. As in the case of Orchard Central, the mall has not been completely leased out, and many of the shops weren’t open yet. It was a pretty intimidating experience to step into the main halls of ION, since almost all the occupants I spotted were of major international designer labels such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Christian Dior, etc. Not quite my retail cup of tea, but it was a good place to window-shop and people-watch.

This one particular shop caught my eye. It sells various assortments of wooden-crafts, presumably from Germany. I couldn’t stop snapping pictures with my camera phone, until the pretty store assistant told me that photographing is not allowed. Oops!

An interesting feature of ION Orchard is the interactive shop directories. They’re operated by touching the screens, and you can search through shop listings by category, level, and name. There’s always a friendly member of staff around to assist you should you need any help.

Although much of ION Orchard is occupied by expensive brands, the basement portion of the mall were filled with more “approachable” brands. There are a handful of food outlets there too. One fine day, I’m gonna come back and check them out. Maybe I’ll try to come back for a visit at night, when the building literally lights up. Same goes for Orchard Central.

Finally, I left Orchard Road and ended up at Vivocity. Happened to pass by the National Geographic store and noticed that they finally updated the main display window. Cool!

Didn’t stay here for too long, since my main purpose in coming was to get a new pair of earphones from one of the gadget stores there. After a few quick rounds, I made my move to get dinner and headed home. Whew! What a busy day indeed!

Tags: life, movies, musings, Personal, shopping, videos, youtube