Movie 2009.02.21 - He's Just Not that into You

A chick flick, if there ever was one. Strangely enough, I'm glad I watched this movie. My sister wanted to watch this movie, so my brother decided to accompany her. Since my brother is going, I decided to go along, too. That means WHQ is going also. And so is my younger sister.

In the tradition of Love Actually and other romantic comedies that uses intertwining plots and way too many actors, we have:

• Gigi - In the market for Mr. Right, but tends to read too much into "the signs" and assumes that guys like her even if they never call her.
• Janine - Obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness, finds a pack of cigarettes in their house and divorces her husband Ben. (Partially because Ben is sleeping with someone else.)
• Beth - Can't get Neil to marry her after 7 years of living happily together, so she throws him out.
• Anna - An aspiring singer/yoga teacher who goes after and seduces the married Ben because she believes everyone has a right to a happiness.
• Connor - A real estate agent who had a date with Gigi once, but really after Anna. Offered Anna a long-lasting relationship with a house to boot, but Anna's having none of it.
• Alex - Connor's bar manager friend, who advises Gigi on how a man's mind really work. As to be expected, the two later became a couple.
• Mary - Anna's friend, who searches for her Mr. Right the online way - dating sites, email, IM, SMS, etc. She gets tired of it all, and one days calls up Connor, who is her client.

As this is a feel-good movie, everyone gets a happy ending. Even for the people who broke up or got divorced. Better to be happily single, rather than stuck in a meaningless marriage.

Movie 2009.02.15 - Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks)

I'm sure a lot of the jokes and humour got lost in translation, but this French movie is still very very funny. I heard it's the highest-grossing French movie of all time. The plot is pretty simple: Philippe is caught lying in order to get a plum transfer to the Riviera office. As punishment, he was banished to Bergues, a town in the northernmost region of France, for two years. Once he got to know the friendly locals, it wasn't too bad at all. Even cried when he had to leave his post.

Lots of funny moments in the movie. The time when Philippe was pretending to be crippled and stuck to a wheelcar. Upon knowing that he passed the audit and about to get the transfer to Riviera, he stood up and shook the auditor's hand. Then there's the long skit when Philippe and his crew was trying to convince his wife how filthy and backward Burgues is, and how vulgar and boorish the locals are. What's touching is that the wife loved Philippe so much, she still decided to stay, which forced him to a confession.

Valentine's Day 2009

Valentine's Day 2009 turned out to be an ordinary day just like the rest. Think of it this way, if you do it right, every day can be Valentine's Day.

Woke up early in the morning, and my brother and I started moving the dinner table set and washing machine to the Frederick unit. Easier said than done. Just hauling the front loader to the car took us half an hour already. After that, we went to West Ryde to do some cleaning up. WHQ dropped by to help out. It started to rain, so we didn't get to do much. Off to Bing Lee at Rhodes Shopping Centre to check out some appliances. Didn't know that the rest of the family was at Ikea to buy some curtains.

Had Valentine's dinner at Rhodes Phoenix for three hours. Not that we ordered a lot. Good conversation beats good food any day. We originally planned to attend the Love Music concert by Sydney Symphony at the Olympic Park Overflow, but didn't go anymore because of the rain. Movies is another option, but were a bit tired from all that talking.

Medicare Claim

My first time to claim from Medicare. Working from home today, so had the chance to go to Westfield Burwood in the morning. Got a good-sized crowd when I got there at 10am. From the $330 that I paid to my doctor, I got back $211. In cash. Without filling up any forms. Not bad at all.

Australian National Wedding Exhibition

Went to see the Australian National Wedding Expo at the Olympic Park Sports Centre. Not much stuff to see. I would say 80% of the exhibitors are photographers. The rest are jewelers, make-up studios, car hire, cakes, formalwear hire, 1 caterer, etc. No wonder entry is free.

Lunch at Dooley's. The cool airconditioning inside is welcome relief from the extreme heat outside. We noticed most of the patrons are getting some bread and cake with their orders. Must be free to members or something. Signed up to be a member for 4 years. Costs only $11 compared to annual membership of $5.

Went to the unit afterwards to do a bit of cleaning up. Switch the lighbulbs to energy-saving CFLs, changed one of the locketsets (darn difficult), sealed some gaps in the corner floorboards, etc.

Fil-Chi Buffet and Twilight Parade

Had lunch buffet at Auburn RSL with a group of Fil-Chi friends. After a few introductions and some chitchat, everyone seems to know everyone else through some common friend. Talk about six degrees of separation.

We (WHQ, her mom and sister and I) went to Chinatown late in the afternoon to watch the Chinese New Year Twilight Parade in Chinatown. The parade starts at Town Hall and makes its way to Chinatown, followed by fireworks at Cockle Bay at Darling Harbour. We got to Chinatown about an hour early, and the crowds are already taking up their places along the streets. With every passing minute, WHQ's sister is get more and more antsy. Doesn't help that the crowd is getting bigger, and they're slipping into any free space that they can find. After about an hour and a half of waiting, the parade started trickling in - the illuminated animal floats, the lion and dragon dances, the hundreds of martial artists, musicians, and dancers from Hunan province, etc.

The parade eventually finished around 9:30pm. By then, we all just want to go home and give our legs a rest. The fireworks at Cockle Bay can wait till the next Chinese New Year.

Dawn Chorus at Bondi Beach

Part of this year's Sydney Festival, Dawn Chorus is a series of concerts played at sunrise on some of Sydney's iconic beaches. Having missed the concerts at Balmoral Beach, Nielsen Park and Clifton Gardens, I don't want to miss out the last one at Bondi Beach. Concert starts at 5:30am, so that meant that I had to wake up around 4:30am, pick up WHQ at 5am, and got to site at 5:30am. At least that's the plan. By the time we turned to Bondi Road, the whole street is bumper-to-bumper. At Bondi Beach, not a single parking spot left. We had to drive like a few kilometers aways before we found a spot on the street. By the time we got to Bondi Beach, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is on its last few songs. Still it's good exercise and the beach sunrise is just wonderful.

Movie 2009.01.29 - Revolutionary Road

I was afraid this is going to be another romantic movie between Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet, just like Titanic. Actually, it's the reverse. Most of the time, the couple are arguing and screaming at each other. You see, the couple met in a party and it was love at first sight. Later on, reality sets in. April realizes she's not going to be the actress that she wants to be. Frank works for the same company his dad worked for, doing the same boring job his dad did. When the couple moved to Revolutionary Road, they thought they could be different, that they could rise above the banality of it all. Day by day, they're finding out that they're just like the rest.

One day, April suddenly got this crazy idea that Frank could quit his numbing job, they'll sell the house, skip town and move to Paris. Frank won't even have to work (for six months). April will take on a high-paying secretarial job at one of the government offices, while Frank can contemplate what he wants to do with his life. Just when preparations are going well, comes the bad news. Frank's big boss is offering him a big fat promotion, which Frank keeps a secret from April. April is 8 weeks pregnant, which puts their Paris trip seriously in doubt. The couple argue and fight some more. I guess April got tired of it all so one day, after preparing a very nice breakfast for Frank, she goes up to the bathroom and aborts the baby. The operation didn't go down well, and she dies at the hospital. As for Frank, he loses the plot and never came back to Revolutionary Road.

It's kinda sad because in the end, no one is at fault for all the tragedies that happened. That's just life. You just need to learn to deal with the hand that life gives you.

Australia Day 2009

Isn't that something. Today also happened to be Chinese New Year. Not only did my parents give me red packets with good luck money, WHQ's mom also gave me one. Not that I'm expecting one when I greeted her "Gong xi."

WHQ and I went to the city to join in the celebration. Passed through Martin Place on our way to Hyde Park. I was ready to start taking her pictures, but she declined my offer. We had a quick tour of the food stalls around Hyde Park and the vintage cars on display at the NRMA Motorfest, then walked down Macquarie Street. Entrance to Hyde Park Barracks used to be free on past Australia Days. Now, they're going half-price. Checked out The Mint, but nothing much to be seen. No wonder it's free entrance. Didn't join the Sydney Hospital tours anymore. Slipped into the Parliament House just in time. They close at 4pm, and the guys standing in line behind us were not allowed entry any more. Thought of going to St. Stephen's Uniting Church and catching one of the music performances, but they're also closed for the day.

Around 4:30pm we decided to head for Darling Harbour. Bought a couple of cupcakes from The Cupcake Bakery along the way. Started drizzling, so we got wet a bit. Took cover under the Pyrmont Bridge. A few brave souls at the Cockle Bay steps decided to sit out the rain. Spent the time by talking about some serious stuff. By 7pm, the SES boats and some government boats started coming in through the open bridge. That's our cue to go for dinner if we are to catch the fireworks on time.

Long queue at Pancake on the Rocks. I reckon the patrons inside are just sitting pretty and waiting for the rain to stop. Anyway, we got our seats about half an hour later. We were just finishing our chicken Caesar salad and Aussie breakfast (with extra sausages!) when we saw lights flashing and hear loud noises going off. Man, the fireworks spectacular has started without us. By the time we finished our dinner and paid our bill and ran out of the restaurant into the rains, the fireworks is finished. Caught about 10 seconds worth of the finale. Turns out the fireworks display is supposed to start around 8:50pm instead of 9pm as I originally thought. Ah, next year.