Omy.sg review: Tower Heist

For the curious and lost ones out there:
 

heist .hahyst] noun  : a robbery or holdup

So yes, it is a comedy about robbing a tower. And what do you get when you throw in the essence of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy as well? A Serious, yet seriously funny robbery ! 

On 1 Nov, when I felt that I was robbed of something myself professionally (yea..another story for another time), I went for some relaxation time with my dearie at the movie preview of Tower Heist , thanks to the usual kind and generous invitation by omy.sg.






We found ourselves a comfortable two-seater , which did not allow more intimate time with the existence of the arm rest in between us unfortunately :P(GV, please note...hahaha)






but still found ourselves a rolling laughing good time for the rest of the 90 minutes!

Here's a synopsis of the movie with compliments from the GV website:

Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in Tower Heist, a comedy caper about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them. Queens native Josh Kovacs (Stiller) has managed one of the most luxurious and well-secured residences in New York City for more than a decade. Under his watchful eye, nothing goes undetected. In the swankiest unit atop Josh's building, Wall Street titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is under house arrest after being caught stealing two billion from his investors. The hardest hit among those he defrauded? The tower staffers whose pensions he was entrusted to manage. With only days before Arthur gets away with the perfect crime, Josh's crew turns to petty crook Slide (Murphy) to plan the nearly impossible...to steal what they are sure is hidden in Arthur's guarded condo. Though amateurs, these rookie thieves know the building better than anyone. Turns out they've been casing the place for years, they just didn't know it.

The synopsis sure makes it sound like Ocean's Eleven-serious huh? But trust me when I say this is more like Ocean's Eleven meets Cirque Du Soleil - putting the totally mismatched team together to perform the most unlikely task - a petty thief, a righteous and usually-go-by-the-book facility manager, a SACKED facility executive, a clueless and less-than-intelligent lift attendance, a bankrupt ex-wall-street achiever, a near-to-retirement door man and a Jamaican Maid...Need I say more? lol


The story plot was pretty well developed , having portrayed each individual character and the built-up of their master-plan very intelligently and amply despite the short 90-minute time-span. And the combination of the vast range of the personality traits of the team is just simply refreshing and amusing, making me doubt the success of the master-plan on a few occasions but hey! They Heist It!

If you are looking for a comedy which combines elements the intelligence of Ocean's Eleven and the surprisingly existing suaveness of Mission Impossible with the humour of Ben Stiller and non-stop hilarious yakking of Eddie Murphy, then this is definitely the show to go for.
 

What I find was a bit lacking was the ending...it could have been a better ending...but well, I was amused and entertained and never felt my time was heisted...that's more important ;)

Want a Change-Up Ever?

I had a generally beautiful Deepavali..though gym was tiring and the cider tasted like vomit according to my dear, I got to meet a friend whom I have not met for a long time but I have honestly always kept close to my heart, as well as was rescued by my dear knight in shiny armor who didn't want his girlfriend to be lurking around in town alone :)

It was a simple time we have but sometimes simplicity is beauty and with my dear, it is always beauty. We strolled down to MBS where he showed me this amazing ice-less rink which operates on blades! And of course thanks to Doctor Felix who explained to my post on Facebook, it is Teflon! That certainly did save me lots of time goggling for it!

"Yes Teflon, everyone!"

OHOHOH By the way believe it or not, there is a GC 贡茶there, with no price hike despite of its location at MBS! So who says everything in MBS is expensive hehheh

After that, we strolled slowly back to the MRT station, taking in the breath-taking view along the way:

"Melissa said I was smiling from my heart...is there a reason not to? :) "

Dinner was super carbo-loaded! We had Rosti with Salmon and SUPER creamy Ravioli. The Rosti was great, the salmon better but the Ravioli was so "gelat"!Nice to be back in Marche after so long...last time was with my ex-fitness buddy Joscelyn whom I have sadly not heard from for a long time...sighs..memories..

"our sinful dinner!!"

Then movie " The CHange-up" - simple typical movie about two guys who wished they had each other's lives..got it through arrangement of Fate and realised they had the lives they wanted aftetall..typical story plot, extremely predictable but hey, with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman as main leads, two of my charming guys from Hollywood, and my dear as the movie company, the movie seemed just perfectly wondrous! :P

" yummmyummmm"

THe movie made me think for a bit as I walked down orchard and I asked my dear if he has ever wished he had someone else's life. He said no, which is really good because that meant he has had a fulfilling life and is contented with what he had and has.

For myself, I remembered the period when Dad and my relationship went pretty sour and I came back from Turkey all hurt and wounded and I kept praying for God to give me a different life...to let me sleep and wake up as someone else...

Of course that never happened.

How about you? Do you have moments like this?

After these years of being jaded and dragged into this constant whirlpool within my family, I realised that Jan is not desiring to be someone else again. I have a beautiful great grandma whom I am lucky to have (still remember those days when I would go down to the police station to sweep the floor with her when I was very young); friends whom I still believe will be here for me when I need them; A selfless Mum whom I am angry with sometimes but I understand her pressure and difficulty; four fully functional limbs and five perfectly working senses; had lived a beautiful childhood which I missed terribly...especially the strong family ties then and sadly long lost; and of course recently, a sweet and endearing boyfriend (thank you God, for finally answering my prayers...at least till now, I think you are).

So for those of you out there thinking of the 'If Only's and 'What If's..trust me when I say that it is beautiful to dream but more beautiful to appreciate and accept. My life has had rough patches here and there and very 'dramatic', as described by some of my friends but at least now I am trying to and have found a reason to come to terms with it.

Have you? :)

Movie Review: Johnny English Reborn

Life has not been the easiest for me, for the past weeks. Bad news after bad news, stressing and increasing stress. When omy.sg gave me that pair of free tickets to watch Johnny English Reborn, I was hesitant but I know I need a break..at least a mental break to relieve myself.

Jalea my colleague went with me and thank goodness I wasn't late despite the ridiculous 45-minute long ride from Tampines to Dhoby Ghaut. Sounds reason but look at the MRT map and do your math, you would realise ridiculous is probably the best word to describe my painful experience. Apologies to my expat friends but this is the moment when I have to blame the government for bringing in too many expats and foreign labourers.

This instalment of Johnny English is surprisingly refreshing. It is definitely not slapstick humour and in contrast, Johnny English is portrayed as a really suave and cool agent this time....well..not entirely..still has his moments of stupidity but I guess that's what makes Johnny English Johnny English.

It's a rather typical story of an agent who made a mistake in one mission and was abandoned and abolished, who was then given a chance to atone for it with a new save-the-world kind of mission, due to, as usual, no other suitable agents with enough knowledge on the subject-matter.However what's atypical is that it is Johnny English..reborn!


Let's throw the comical face and frail, fair, frosty-the-stickman body aside, Johnny English is still not anyone's idea of a super-agent. His previous displaced arrogance, seemingly lacking maturity and constant trance of being clueless are well...quite replaced by a reborn him who has a ton-load of luck and surpisingly good composure toall kinds of situation. Perhaps the training in an isolated 'asian region' did help him to acheive inner peace after all!

There are twists in the plot but pretty much predictable but hey, it is Rowan Atkinson...any predictable twist can be easily converted into additional humour to the film!

The whole film was full of surprises and OH-NOs, leaving no moment of boredom at all...and I, having being known to be no fan of slapstick humour, actually recommend my friends to catch this to let their hair down.

So what are you waiting for? Go catch it now :)

Want A Challenge? Take up the NEA Eco Music Challenge!

On 25th May, I received an email invitation from omy.sg on NEA's Music Challenge at Timbre. Timbre is sure no foreign place to me but NEA Music Challenge??

 

The curiosity threads in me took over my limbs instantaneously like a puppeteer and my fingers clicked on the left button of my mouse before I knew it (for dramatic effects hahah). 

What I read spurred my curiosity further and then led me to Timbre on 01 June with my green partner for the night - Joscelyn!

When I sat in, honestly, apart from Timbre's famous thin-crusted pizza and the glasses of chilean wine with whom I gained acquaintanceship (and then subsequently devoured *MUAhAhAHhhA*) with thanks to omy.sg and NEA, I had absolutely no idea what else I would be expecting.

 

Hosted by celebrity Desmond Koh, the event turned out to be a rather inspiring one.

For those who do not know me well, I used to be from the environmental line, an ideal industry for me to strive in because I've always been environmental conscious:

• Splitting 3-ply tissues into 3 for use (I mean....unless I have lips the size of a whale shark's, I don't see why I need so much tissue to wipe my lips...)
  
• Refusing disposable cutlery from food establishments unless it's necessary
• Recycling those plastic take-away boxes (in fact, I just brought back a charles-&-Keith-shopping-bagful of them last evening. I have been using them to bring self-cooked meals to the office..so days become weeks and weeks become months :P)

Hence, seeing a stageful of singers cooning about saving our environment is something which I can not only relate to, but still applaud for.

Yes, I think his name is really Slash

It is amazing and extremely comforting to the hear eco-creations churned out of mainly teenagers' innovation brains ( with the youngest being 10-year-old Justin Teo..you charming young lad, you ; P ) and also touching to see how green consciousness break racial boundaries and bring people from various ethnic groups together in their mission to campaign eco-awareness.

Be Proud, Justin!

Through their songs, they educate the listeners on the methods to save the environment and appeal to their awakening to start conserving energy. Job well done, considering how global warming has affected the climate globally...so much so that we are even starting to see water gushing into Tanglin Mall and onto orchard road (sorry everyone, no floating branded bags this time  :P)!

My favourite! I still think that frog-green one can probably hop its way away

 

One comment from me though: I realised most and in fact all of them seems to be on how people can save the environment. In my opinion, people react more to negativity than positivity because it hits them harder. It will be interesting to see a composition on the angst felt by the earth and its wrath as witnessed by the world - tsunami in Japan, earthquake in Christchurch etc. Perhaps such a song will leave a deeper impression on people? Angry white boy Eminen has proven this reverse psychology well!

Agree with me? Well, I can't write a song for nuts...if you've got what it takes, then go on! Compose a song and submit it proud and loud at The NEA Music Challenge Website! Best thing about this challenge?Noone is competing on X-Factors, entertainment value or on how well you can strut in Leopard Pwints or Khaki Green pants (Thanks Ris Low for your 'inventions').Just reach out and BOOMZZZ us with your love for Mother Earth!

All I can say is I look forward to the coming Eco Music Challenge so I can give my continual support and have as much fun with people dear to me as I did on 01 June!

The Kiss & The Tongue

The TOngue & THe Red-Face

The Red-Face, THe SMirk & THe SMile

THe SMile, THe Grin & THe THumb

The Thumb, THe Mist on THe Glasses & THe Joyfuls

The Joyfuls, THe Nostrils & THe Drunk

The Drunk, The诺诺's 阳光男孩 & The Teeth

The Teeth, THe Glassea & THe Binoculars

Singapore Blog Awards 2011 is here!!

Audi Fashion Show 2011: Francis Cheong Couture

Gownful of colours, captivated audience, long steady strides to a fushion of oriental and opera-like music, flowy dresses and long slender silhoutters - that's the impression the Audi Fashion Show 2011 - Francis Cheong Couture on 17 May left on me.

Having to whizz thorugh the townful of shoppers, movie-goers and clusters of young people in Dhoby Ghaut since afternoon in my long black gown and getting stares from a lot of curious people, my expectation of the show grew by the minutes, though I can understamd why they stared..I mean...who wears a gown to watch movie and drink coffee? hahaha

Ohhhh Johnnyyy, my darling Johnny!!

The night started to settle down on the skyline of Singapore and as I approached the Rosemount Entrance of the Audi Fashion Tentage, I could already sight a couple of celebrities like Dick Lee and Xiang Yun, amidst the crowd of cocktail dresses, fashionable style, blazers and suits. When I helped Janet to distribute the invitation cards to the omy.sg bloggers, I could see the excitement in their gleaming eyes!

                                                    Photos with Courtesy from omy.sg

10.15pm: the much-anticipated moment finally came - it's time for the Francis Cheong Couture 2011 Fashion Show! Striding down the runway, the models were clothed in long flowy brightly coloured dresses designed to oriental theme with quail feathers, chinese tassels and intricate embroidery sewn onto them. It was a good mixture of brightly coloured dresses for the cheerful individuals who are not afraid to stand out in the crowd, soft fabric in feminine tones for the dainty ones and mysterious black, copper gowns to bring out the class and sophistication in the affluents.

Even though I am known to be someone who is always drawn to the unknown forces of the dark, I  find it hard to keep my eyes off the coloured range, finding myself muttering 'WOW!' to some pieces whom my friends would NEVER expect me to be impressed by, like :

Photo with coutesy from omy.sg

In support for the fashionable and exciting night, Irene Ang, Pamelyn Chee and Celest Chung stole the limelight off the tall delicate-looking models and took to the stage, strutting down the runway in Francis Cheong's pieces, whilst immersing in cheers and pools of flashes:

                                                  Christy Chung is soo elegant and gorgeous!!

                                                   Pamelyn Chee

Irene Ang has lost soooo much weight! Photo with Courtesy from omy.sg

                                     


Before I knew it, the fashion show has ended :( . Though it was short-lived, it was far from being a disappointment. The night ended with glasses of wonderful champagne and tasty canapes!

Francis Cheong!

My verdict for Francis Cheong Couture?

NAYY!!JUst kidding!! hahaha

My take on Francis Cheong Fashion Couture - Bold and Mysterious, Fashionable yet Simple, Feminine and Sexy - He has a piece for everyone out there, but my personal favourites of the night would be:

 

                                                   Floral and yet elegant!

                                                   Simply classy!

                                         The one in white...it's just...breath-taking~
Cheers, Audi for bringing us to this amazing world of fashion and thanks to OMY.SG for the invitation. I had an incredible night :)