Hantu Gangster: polished but artificial

I may be very bias with Namewee's movie. I actually like Nasi Lemak 2.0. I followed his songs before Negarakuku. I emphatise with him when he go and give Tenaga Nasional staff a headache. And naturally, people would make comparison between Nasi Lemak 2.0 with Hantu Gangster....

The story? Namewee had gone patriotic. The Malay, Chinese and Indian gangs used to be good friends.Their respective leaders were suppose to be "brothers". That was before one of the Malay gangster, Ewan plotted and murder all the 3 leaders. The 2nd generation began to fight among themselves, thus upsetting the unity among races. Namewee is a street thief, and while he stole a ring belong to the Malay leader, manage to see the ghosts of the 3 leaders. So, naturally the ghosts forced him to help uncover Ewan's plot and restore the unity among the 3 gangs.

Despite sounding okay on paper, the story really come across forced. It sounded like a Merdeka film (which coincide with August anyway). The unity among the 3 races sounded cheesy, but work on certain extent (what happen to "lain-lain" on the ethnicity list?). And they keep reminding us that this gangs started to look after the welfare of the people and only now, people lost their meaning and become monsters. Even the end credit song remind us that gangster is suppose to be good. Come on, gone is the era of Young and Dangerous. In a movie to remind us to be nice to each other of different skin colour, and yet it glorify gangster(despite reminding us of true meaning of Geehin and Haisan era); I just do not buy it. And the way unity message is preached across? It was even worse the a Jack Neo movie. There were moral message of unity every corner especially when the 3 ghosts appeared together. Spending 1 half hour preaching the same message is too much.


The jokes? Probably most people entering the cinema expecting to laugh their butts off like Nasi Lemak. But, alas, the jokes are not as funny. Even some of the jokes are repeated from Nasi Lemak. It may meant to be a Namewee trademark (ie the broken Chinese English subs which sounded still funny, but the head shaking chap is not), but most do not come in as funny the second round. However, the opening sequence is good enough to tickle anyone. The songs are okay, and boy, do I miss the songs from Nasi Lemak. Those songs are enough to tickle me. The songs here are well produced, but lack the funny moments.Having said that, the end credit rap song is really well done.

So, am I saying it is a bad movie? Not really. Namewee did improved a LOT in film-making. This movie is more refined; better directed; and well produced. Only some minor editing issue (which I suspect was censor problem instead) sort of caused some disjointed flow of the story. Good job! The main saving grace is the acting. Some really solid work from everyone, especially Farid Kamil as Ewan. Mind you, Namewee is NOT the only main star in the show; seems everyone get a fair airtime. It is still great to see so many big names collaborating. The best part is, their guest appearance do not appeared forced. Even Amber Chia's role sort of suit the story (unlike in some movie, the role is sort of created for the star to make guest appearance).



Overall? If I did not ever watch Nasi Lemak, Hantu Gangster would be more enjoyable. However, since I did watch it before, this film come across still lacking and bit forced no matter how refine it is comparatively.

ratings: 2 half poink!
comments: Namewee lost his rebel identity, and worse, appeared to lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. Despite that, I would still pay to watch his next film. Happy merdeka!

The Dark Knight Rises: deserved end to the trilogy

Good things don't come in pairs. They come in 3. Matrix. Lord of the Ring. And now, of course, Christopher Nolan's Batman. And now, the ending of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, rises and live up to the hype and expectations. 



The story, picks up 8 years after the 2nd movie, The Dark Knight. Harvey Dent aka Two Face is dead. However, Gotham City did not know the truth and basically Dent died a hero, presumed killed by Batman. It does not matter, as the whole city is now at peace. Comes along Bane. He basically has his own army of mercenaries, kidnapped an atomic bomb from Wayne's company; single handedly isolated the police force and threw Gotham city into chaos. People riots, the rich was executed and prisoners freed. Batman, who was defeated before this, (as the title of the film suggested) rises again to save the city. The end.

Sound simple? The story may sound corny, but under Nolan's hand, is actually good. Different take on Batman from the highly acclaimed Dark Knight which deals more with inner struggle, identity, and therefore Joker did make a really suited villain. This deals more with hope and despair on a bigger level, on the society level, and Bane did make a decent villain. At first, I was bit skeptical whether would Bane be a good choice, but now, I am just thankful that it was not Riddler as the choice. And of course, there is always a Nolan twist to the story, so am not spoiling it here.

Acting is good. Expect nothing less from Bale. Action is awesome, then again, this is not a usual action movie, so do not expect Transformer kind of action here. This is more of a psychological thriller. But, the plan/ copter is nice; and the bat cycle is really cool, especially how it turns. Which I have a bike like that. Anne Hataway as Catwoman? Well, lets just say she did a way better job than Halle Berry. Then of course, there is always some hole in the story here and there, but again, Nolan manage to distract us from the hole, and keep our eyes on the bat.

Overall, as a stand along movie, this is definitely THE summer blockbuster to catch. But if anyone compares to The Dark Knight... now, I still like the Joker better.

ratings: 4 poink!
comments: bit too long. Otherwise, it is a fitted ending to the Batman trilogy. However, do not compare with the second movie, it will make anyone enjoy this movie less.

Kuching: warmth and cozy weekend

Land of the Hornbill

It had been real long had not updated on any travel blog. Recently, thanks to Colleen's dental conference in Kuching in May 2012, I had the chance to visit Kuching, which had not visited since medical school. I had good memories here the last time I visited, except for the "lui-cha" which was exceptionally bitter. So, I was really looking forward to step foot again on Kenyalang's land.

Kolok mee, the better ones

However, since the main reason to come here is for conference, so there is limited time to move around. On the other hand, I am a firm believer that with adequate planning, one can make use of the little time we have and still have an enjoyable trip at the end of the day. And that is exactly what we had. This is our itinerary:

Semenggoh

Semenggoh

day 1: on arrival to Kuching airport, we obtained our rented car, a simple Kancil for RM60/day. On careful planning, the car was waiting for us on arrival, so everything was smooth. Check-into our hotel, Abell Hotel, which is within walking distance to waterfront, which basically is the location of all tourist spots. Took some rest in the hotel, and with the help of GPS and Malfreemaps, our first destination is Semenggoh Wildlife Rehab Centre. Buy a ticket for local and drive up all the way to the orang utan centre. One would come here for only one activity, the feeding time. It is not orang utan in cages, but really within the jungle. Walk along the path into small forest, and one by one, the orang utan will come down for a fruit feast. Worth the drive definitely.
End the day by coming back to Kuching town, after resting, we intended to go around for some good Kuching food. However, it was raining, so we ended up eating in Tun Jugah Shopping Complex, which surprisingly, have one of the better tasting food court around. The laksa sarawak is also rather nice, less "lemak" but more on the sour side. Love it!

Laksa Sarawak

Post office

Dewan Undangan Negeri

day 2: half of the day was in my room, since Colleen is in conference. Thought of moving around, but once on the bed, I grew root. The afternoon was sunny, so we walk around town for local food, and found a small  kolok mee stall. Just behind the hotel, the kolok mee was simple but the wonder lies on its simplicity.
The afternoon was rather ambitious, the initial intention is to drive to Fairy Caves, and if time permit, to go to Wind Caves as well. After near 1 hour plus of driving, on arrival on Fairy Caves entrance, it suddenly rains cats and dogs. !@#$*...Cant do much, but to head back to Kuching. It was still raining at night, so Tun Jugah food court naturally becomes our choice. At least, we manage to meet up with Soon Hock for a quick Secret Recipe supper.

St Thomas church

day 3: simple walk along waterfront while Colleen is in conference. Lots of photos opportunities. And shopping for kek lapis. There is a walking guide online, but generally, this is how it goes. Walk along the waterfront, watch DUN and Astana from across, there is an option to go across via boat (which I did not, since need to fetch wife later). Chinese museum is just there. A well kept museum though small. Walk across the road to some old shops, then Indian Street and to Carpenter Street. Some temples in the middle but being Malaysian, it is nothing special

Cultural Centre Show

Spend the whole afternoon in Cultural Centre. Although the entrance fees is sky high, if there is a festival in the weekend, do plan to spend half a day here and the ticket is worth it. Although this is not the first time, I am still impress at how the houses are kept, and the daily shows. The food in front of the cultural centre, was really a letdown though. Had a simple dinner at Carpenter street, took the local mee tomato, but it did not impress me though. End the day with supper at the stalls along waterfront. For a weekend, waterfront is rather quiet and not so happening.

Cultural Centre show

day 4: the last morning breakfast is kolok mee (again!) in Carpenter Street, but this time, it was rather disappointing. Too oily for my liking. Before saying goodbye, we still manage to visit Cat museum in the city hall. Small entrance fees, but surprisingly, the museum is so well kept, and the items, are rather diverse, and impressive. Worth the visit.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: food not to be miss: kolok mee and laksa sarawak. Mee tomato was not so impressive to me though. Do not miss Semenggoh for the orang utan, and if time permits, spend at least half a day in Cutural Cenre.

Singberry: strawberry delight

It is the usual Friday long lunch break, and as usual, we are all spoil by choices. It was a surprise when Foo suggested to visit this new dessert joint. Dessert for lunch? Am skeptical as well at first.

nice strawberry blended ice

Singberry is a new dessert shop in Ipoh Garden South, the complex of shops behind Pantai Puteri Hospital. Look for Beegaik Nyonya restaurant and there is a small road leading to a row of relatively new shoplots. Singberry is somewhere in the middle.

During lunch, there are not many people so we really enjoyed the spacious seating. The owner was friendly and service, rather personal. So far so good. The deco in the shop itself would give away the menu. Strawberry.

Yup, it is all strawberry. At least for drinks. Juice, Blended ice, you get the idea. Expect to pay more than RM6 for drinks each one. The strawberries are fresh, as you can always watch them blend your order. I personally ordered the strawberry and passion fruit. The taste is definitely strawberry, and quite heavy taste too. The passion fruit is rather light in comparison, and more prominent in the aroma rather the taste bud. It is OK since the main spotlight is on strawberry. The dessert list is the usual pies and cakes. At the end of the lunch, we did pampered ourselves with some cakes. The blackforest is fair, though I prefer it to be more rich in flavour. The cheesecake is good, though nothing beats Secret Recipe so far. The walnut cake is rather surprisingly good.

Lunch? Do not worry. There is menu from the nearby chinese shop for you to order other main dish. Expect the normal price of > RM5 for each noodel/ rice dish. Apparently there are least 2 shops which you can order, so order the nearest one if you are hungry. We sort of picked the not so good one, and my Tomyam fried meehoon ended up so late that I nearly starve to death. And the tomyam taste is lacking that it tasted more like a regular fried beehoon instead. Anyway, it is not Singberry's fault and will not affect its review.


Overall, nice place for dessert and to hang out. Especially if you are a strawberry fan.

Ratings: 3 poink!
 comments: not a fan of strawberry though I do not mind eating them fresh. Remind me of Strawberry Moment, though the varieties is less.

Citrus Wine & Dine: affordable fine dining

This will be a short post. It was a spontaneous decision to come to Citrus for lunch, and I was writing this post weeks after that. So, most of these ramblings is by memories. Of course, the photo shots won't do the dishes much justice either. (I really need to change my phone, can't be carrying my Canon everywhere)

Not sure where is Citrus Wine and Dine? Gosh....this place is rather famous locally for good western cuisine, nearest to a fine dining for a Chinaman. Located in between Ipoh Garden and Bandar Baru Tambun (assuming one come from town), just look for the main road in between Aeon (JJ) and Tesco and just go straight. The joint should be on your right before hitting Tambun. Just look for the orange Citrus sign.

Deco is minimalist, comfortable. Service is nice and prompt. It did not change throughout the years. I still recalled the first time I came to this place was 6 years ago and it still remain as clean. Open for lunch and dinner, the place usually is occupied though finding a seat is usually not a problem.

Food...just expect the usual western dishes and you will get the idea. Expect to fork out RM20+ for a main dish and you would get the idea. How is the taste? Good. Portion enough to satisfy me now (probably not when I was younger when I could gobble down a chicken in a meal). You would not disappoint but probably you would have tasted better somewhere else. For our set lunch (RM 19.50+), we had a choice of pasta and dori fish. Usual good taste. The dessert is rather nice though, a good ending to the meal.

Ratings: 3 half poink! (minus poink for the fact that I am still a stingy Chinaman; I would prefer Hot Jack over this)
comments: nearest you can get to fine dining and good western (with some local twist) with a decent price

Citrus Wine & Dine
No 38-46, Laluan Ipoh Perdana
Ipoh, Perak
05-5451010

TAKEYAMA: affordable, yet do not disappoint

menu

Seriously, I do not know how to differentiate a delicious Japanese dish. I just know that whether I find them good or not. However, I do know that most of them burn a hole in my pocket and that include the fast food style sushi-king. Then again, once in a while, we do like to indulge and keep ourselves happy.


Takeyama Japanese Cuisine is located behind Tesco next to Jusco/ Aeon Ipoh Garden. There is so many restaurant, just look for a row of typical chinese stalls, and this is on the opposite row. Open both for lunch, and my guess dinner. The place is not crowded for lunch, and the way the tables are set, it is still comfortable even full house. Service is rather friendly, since colleague of mine frequent this joint a lot.

nice lunch!

chicken + beef in same bento

The food, the food. How good it is. The menu is all Japanese, more on bentos, sushi and sashimi. There is also the usual udon, rice dish and even japanese curry. Not much of teppanyanki stuff though. Price range is broad, but definitely affordable. Bento set start below RM10 and range to RM20+ depending on what one order. Can't comment much on others, but I ordered the friend chicken and beef set. It tasted quite good, though not out of this world. Did not make me crave for more, but enough to let me say that it was a good lunch. Took a bite from friend's sashimi and it is fresh enough. The tempura looks good too.

nice tempura

nice sashimi

Overall, it is rather good dining experience. Good food. Not crowded, my kind of place. Worth a try.

Ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: add poink for the price!

PROMETHEUS: great Alien thrill, different taste though

Another great space thriller from Ridley Scott. Now, this is what we know so far. This chap is the one who brought us the Alien franchise. And for weeks, we have nightmare alien babies bursting out from our abdomen after watching THAT iconic scene. No wonder people have high hopes for Prometheus. No wonder it did not disappoint.




Prometheus is sort of like a prequel to Aliens franchise, but it is way more than that. Aliens was more of a no brainer but all of scare and thrill. Prometheus, for one, is more cerebral, need more attention while trying to maintain the similar adrenaline rush.

The story is simple. Noomi Rapace stars as Shaw, a paleontologist (my guess) who with her boyfriend or husband discovered some proof that humans are actually created by aliens species. So, they get a big corporation (no spoiler ahead that big evil corp has hidden agenda) to start an expedition to seek the maker. Well, obviously they succeeded but they got more than they bargain for. Without spoiling too much, bodies started dropping like flies, and aliens species renegade started. There is a maker or "engineer" as they call it, but what was its agenda?


The big issue is, the story is suppose to be cerebral, but it raises too many question, too much for my liking without providing any answers. They should provide more hint, so that one would thirst more, and guarantee a sequel. Now, with all the questions, I would just remember this movie as the one that confuses me. The gross and scary scenes are still there, up to par with Aliens. The self C section would set the new standard for gross. Alien attacks are far apart, but the build-up was good. One may sit on the edge of the chair, waiting for what is coming round the bend. Pace of the movie is alright, though I prefer things to be faster. Chemistry and acting is passable, though I still find Shaw's character not likable at all in the beginning, unlike Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. Blame it all on the presence of Charlize Theron... come on, fly her home as the sole survivor please~!


It did not define the genre like Aliens. Probably he would not be able to outdo himself, but Prometheus still will haunt you for days. And that is worth the ticket price.

Ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: plus poink for all the gross scene, but too many tentacle in the mouth reminds me of something else. minus poink for not letting Charlize Theron survive (come on, everyone know the heroine will survive and Theron is NOT the heroine)