As you’ve probably noticed, it’s been a while since I last updated. Life has kept me busy, especially with the recent title change that I had at work. Nonetheless, I managed to steal some time off my crazy work life last week to enjoy some quality time with myself.

I’ve been meaning to watch Puss in Boots when it started its run 2 weeks ago, but I noticed The Muppets was coming up too. So rather than taking 2 days to watch 2 movies, I decided to have a mini movie marathon.

Naturally, before the movies started, we were served some trailers for upcoming movies:

We Bought A Zoo

The trailer claims that the movie is based on a true story. I’ve not done any research on this yet, but the trailer does make it look like quite a touching story about love. Love of your family, love between man and woman and love of animals. This sure looks like a movie I might want to catch next year. Storyline and animals aside, I just want to say “What happened to Matt Damon????”. I mean.. he looks so.. matured!! On the hand, it sure is refreshing watching Scarlett Johansson fully dressed for once.

The Amazing Spider-man

Yup, I said Amazing Spider-man and not Spider-man 4. Why we need so many Spider-man movies, I’ll never know. The effects look good though and I already know a handful of my friends who’ll want to watch this. As for me, I’m not much of a Spider-man fan, as you can probably tell, so I might just skip this one.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Alvin, the troublemaker, and rest of the Chipmunk gang are back. This time they go on cruise but somehow the 6 furry friends get stranded on a lone island. I nearly laughed my head off when I saw them singing and dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. I may not watch this one in the cinema, but I’ll mostly like catch it on DVD.

After the movies, I popped over to the nearby H&M that opened in Singapore recently to see what’s the fuss. Sure, the apparel is fashionable and all, but most of the items were a little above my budget. I did pick up a knitted beret at a reasonable price though. No exactly my “go to” place to shop for clothes, but I’ll definitely be back to look at accessories.

I went on to make a brief stop at Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream. I’ve heard lots of good things about the ice cream here, but somehow I was a little disappointed. I had the Cheesecake Fantasy, but the strawberries and blueberries tasted nowhere near sweet and had a distinct “frozen” aftertaste. Maybe next time I’ll just have the ice cream and only mix in extras that I like.

It felt good to relax and recharge for a day, even though I’ve no one to enjoy it with. The last time I did something like this was  on my birthday, which is almost half a year ago! I really should do this more often.

Meanwhile, watch out for my movie reviews coming up in the next couple of days.

Tags: life, movies, musings, Personal, rant

Whoa! Time sure flies when you’re busy. A third of a century of  my life just flew by like that, before I even realized. So here I am, 33 years old. Single, but definitely not lonely. Poor in the pockets, but rich with the love of family and friends around me. As it is, I’m already into the 3rd day of the 2nd third of a century of my life. So far so good. With a bit of luck (and possibly some hard work), things could get better.

The big day started without any bangs. Just a frantic search for stockings since I accidentally ran a hole in the pair I was wearing. Thankfully that got fixed easily. I wish my program bugs could be fixed as effortlessly.

Next, I headed to fill my hungry little tummy before rushing to purchase tickets for the earliest screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at my favorite cinema (which as coincidences go, happen to share the same birthday as me, only that they’re 43 years older than I am). The movie was great! However, I found it very fast-paced, which was understandable since there was lots to be packed in this grand finale. I’m just glad that I’d read the book before watching the movie, so I more or less knew what to expect. Watch out for my review of the movie coming up soon!

Here are a couple of trailers I watched while waiting for the movie to begin:

Cowboys & Aliens are 2 things that I’d never think of putting together in a movie. A rather interesting mix of genres involving sci-fi, western & suspense. Not something that will draw me spend my time and money to watch in the cinemas though.

Captain America isn’t something I’ve grown up with on my side of the world either, although I’ve heard some of my online friends mention the popular set of comics. Not particularly a comic fan myself, so probably will give this one a miss too.

The remainder of the day was themed “shop-till-you-drop“. Hey, if you’re a shopaholic like me, whose birthday happens to coincide with the annual Great Singapore Sale, you’ll most likely do the same. Finally at around 3pm, I decided to sit down to rest my tired legs and to get some late lunch. Japanese ramen followed by light cheese cake for dessert. Yummy!

So there, my 33rd birthday well spent; tired legs, empty pocket and all. Nothing extravagant or grand, just a simple itinerary to satisfy my simple needs.

Tags: Harry Potter, movies, musings, Personal, youtube

The season of Lent is here again. With Ash Wednesday coming up tomorrow, it’s time again to think about abstinence and cleansing of one’s soul in preparation for the glorification of Lord through His death and resurrection. It truly is a humbling time of the year, when we recall how Jesus suffered His passion to redeem us from evil. We look back on our lives so far, and examine what we tend to cling blindly to and learn to give up unnecessary material wants, and replace these “things of the world” by stocking up on our spiritual needs.

What are you giving up for Lent this year?

Many tend to think of Lent as a period of giving up something. Most times, these may be things that may not mean much in terms of our spirituality and faith, such as chocolates and candy. The idea of giving and abstinence during Lent, is actually a form of cleansing and disciplining ourselves, by learning to conditioning our urges and desires in a way that leads us to greater union with God. It is by no means a form of oppression or suppression, but rather a way to free ourselves from unwanted and unhealthy desires and attachments. It is only when we let go of these unnecessary burdens can we rise higher in our spiritual life. Such acts of self-discipline should not be restricted to just the period of Lent, but throughout our faith journey. However, it is especially highlighted during this period because we want to love Jesus as He has loved us, through sacrificing.

I’ve learned through the years that giving up simple things like coffee and chocolate during Lent does not essentially make me a better person. Lent should not be a treated as a season to adjust to a healthy diet. Instead, I try to assess what material things I’ve been overly attached to and learn to give these up. Such things can be either food, games, a bad habit, etc. Also, I try to devote more time to do something good, like saying extra rosaries, reading a good religious book, learning a new devotional prayer.

This year I’ll be continuing my fight with the morning alarm. I’m going to try to wake up without hitting the snooze on my alarm clock. Discipline in terms of  time management is something I seriously need to work on. And let’s not forget my continuous battle with my quick temper. Haven’t figured out how I can work on the latter, but it’s definitely something I desperately need to get rid of.

For more information on the season of Lent, as well as fasting and abstinence during this season, visit ETWN’s mini-site.

Meanwhile, here’s a good commentary on Lent by Father Barron.

Tags: Catholic, Inspirational, musings, Personal

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

Tags: movies, Personal, videos, youtube

I came across this meme on an online friend’s blog post. Since I haven’t done one in quite a while, I thought this might be a good one to “break the silence”.

100  Truths:
1. last beverage: Black coffee
2. last phone call: My dentist, to make an appointment for next week
3. last text message: My insurance agent asking for clarification on something
4. last song you listened to: CU Episode 146: The 2010 Christmas Special
5. last time you cried: Can’t remember exactly when, but I think it was some time last month, while watching a TV drama

HAVE YOU EVER:
6. dated someone twice: Yes
7. been cheated on: Yes
8. kissed someone & regretted it: Yes *headdesk*
9. lost someone special: Yes  - Dad, April 19, 1997
10. been depressed: Not clinically, and hardly ever in general
11. been drunk and threw up: No

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Maroon
13. Pink
14. Turquoise

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: (2010)
15. Made a new friend?: Yes
16. Fallen out of love?: No
17. Laughed until you cried?: Yes, all the time
18. Met someone who changed you?: No
19. Found out who your true friends were? No, I found that out quite a while ago
20. Found out someone was talking about you?: Yes
21. Kissed anyone on your FB friend’s list: No

GENERAL:
22. How many people on your FB friends list do you know in real life: A third of them, I think
24. Do you have any pets: Not anymore. I used to keep terrapins
26. What did you do for your last birthday:  Nothing eventful
27. What time did you wake up today: 6:00AM
28. What were you doing at midnight last night?:  Watching Korean drama with Mom
29. Name something you CANNOT wait for:  Christmas
30. Last time you saw your Mother: This morning before I left the house
31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: My bad temper
32. What are you listening to right now:  Geek Loves Nerd/Explicit Answers Show 13 – Justin Bieber & Weddings
33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom:  Not that I know of
34. What’s getting on your nerves right now:   My financial situation.. or perhaps the lack of it
35. Most visited webpage: Google Reader
37. Nicknames:  Jas, neko, nekogal, girl-girl (Mom’s pet name for me)
38. Relationship Status:  Single and available
39. Zodiac Sign: Cancer
40. He or She?: I’m a she looking for a he, thank you
41. Elementary?  We call it Primary over here. A small all-girls Catholic school
42. Middle School?   A larger all-girls Catholic school
43. High School?  Not really. I went to a Polytechnic, since I decided to pursue my interest in IT
44. Hair Color?  Dark brown, it’s always been that way
45. Long or short? Short
46. Height? 1.68m so that’ll be about 5 foot 6 inches
47. Do you have a crush on someone?   Not at the moment
48: What do you like about yourself? My eyes
49. Piercings? Ears
50. Tattoos?  Nope
51. Righty or lefty? Righty
52. First surgery?  Left kidney
53. First piercing:  I had my ears pierced when I was 16
54. First best friend:  A girl who studied with me throughout Primary school. We went to the same Secondary school too, but she decided I was too nerdy for her and went to find cooler friends. We’ve lost touch since
55. First sport you joined: Squash

RIGHT NOW:
59. Eating: No
60. Drinking: Still sipping on my black coffee. Mystic Monk Christmas Blend 2010, for those interested
61. I’m about to: Get back to work
62. Listening to – Podcasts
63. Waiting for – 6PM, so I can knock-off and go home
64. Want kids? Not now, since I’m not married
65. Get Married?  God willing
66. Career?  Yeah.. sort of. I’m happy with what I’m doing so I guess that’s what counts

WHICH IS BETTER :
67. Lips or eyes?:  Eyes
68. Hugs or kisses?:   Hugs, followed by kisses
69. Shorter or taller?:  Taller
70. Older or Younger?:   Older
71. Romantic or spontaneous?:  Spontaneously romantic
72. Nice stomach or nice arms?:  Arms
73. Sensitive or loud?:  Sensitive to my needs but not the touchy-feely type of sensitive
74. Hook-up or relationship?:   Relationship, definitely
75. Trouble maker or hesitant?:  How about rational and considerate

HAVE YOU EVER :
76. Kissed a stranger?:  No
77. Drank hard liquor?: No
78. Lost glasses/contacts?:  No, thankfully
79. Sex on first date?:  No way!
80. Broken someone’s heart?:  Yes
81. Had your own heart broken?: Yes
83. Turned someone down?: Yes
84. Cried when someone died?:  Yes
85. Fallen for a friend?:  Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
86. Yourself:  Self confidence, yes. Self-worship/narcissism, no
87. Miracles:  Yes!
88. Love at first sight: Not anymore. I’m too old for such fairytales now
89. Heaven:  Yes!
90. Santa Claus:  see #88
91. Kiss on the first date: No
92. Angels: Yes!

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
93. Had more than one bf/gf?  Not at the same time
94. Is there one person you want to be with right now?  No
95. Did you sing today?  Yes
96. Ever cheated on somebody? No
97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go, and why? Back to when my Dad was still alive. I will let him know how much I love him
98. If you could pick a day from last year and relive it, what would it be?  12th March, the day I fell from the stairs and badly sprained my ankle. Only this time I’ll make sure to be more careful and not hurt myself again
99. Are you afraid of falling in love?  No
100. Posting this as 100 truths? Why not?

Tags: musings, Personal, rant