Movie Buff

17 Jul

It is only a Friday and a public holiday but feels like a Saturday. So we will be doing the weekend routine but with a twist.

We are going to the mall for a back-to-back movie outing! I find that this year I am watching a lot more movies than ever. I am never the movie buff like my sibling and Dad. Maybe this will change this year.

Dad was a movie buff. I remember when I was young, he would bring my sibling and I to the movies to watch the latest releases of Chinese Kung Fu movies. And we would do this frequently. Dad was into this genre and an occasional thriller/adventure but not soppy romances and horrors. Back in the dinosaur days, western entertainment offerings were rather limited and only mostly from Hong Kong as it was very costly to bring in a Hollywood movie.

I never understood all these fighting and its plots; I merely read the sub-titles but I enjoyed myself with the cold air-con, my usual choice of melon seeds and messing up the floor with the shells. Dad was into garbanzo beans. Less messy.

Cinema halls back then are also so different from theaters of today. For a mere a dollar more, Dad would always, always buy tickets for the upstairs gallery as the tiered seating offered better viewing than the ground floor, where seats are not tiered.

Theaters today offer so much more comfort, ease and choice. We pre-selected our seats and show time online to plan the day ahead. It’s a good bonding time with M2, doing something with her that she enjoys.

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I Love Pez!

16 Jul

I love to collect things, from the typical to the quirky and unusual. Besides the usual knick knacks and paintings from my travels, I enjoy growing my animal figurine collection especially the owls, pigs and elephants. One of my more quirky collection however, is not an animal but the candy dispenser, Pez. I guess when one already have 16 dispensers on display, it can qualify as a collection.

I don’t know why but I simply love Pez. I was at the grocery store the other day and came across these two new ones and I had to get them. Gary now completes my Spongebob collection, while Dave is the first of the Despicable Me family.

My all time favorite though, has to be the miniature sized bunny that I bought from Hong Kong many years ago. Apparently it’s a collector’s piece due to its condition. But I didn’t know much about its history then and never bothered to find out; I bought it because it was cute and it appealed to me.

But as I am writing this, I am also suddenly curious. So thanks to the internet, yesterday I managed to find out more with some tedious googling. It’s a character for Play Station games. You can see the complete collection, #009 Dokodemo Issyo 1 mini Pez at http://pingu.minipez.net/page/5/. It’s adorable, no?  

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We Wait Again

14 Jul

My book, Genghis Khan, is pretty intense to read. I am constantly seeing vast lands of Mongolia as my imagination goes into overdrive. So I jump back to my games to reset or clear my thoughts.

Luckily, the latest chapter of Candy Crush on the iPad, Luscious Lagoon, was pretty easy. Made short work of it within a week and now I have to wait for Mellow Marshmallow to appear for the iPad. I must confess, I played it in Facebook on the laptop and now sitting at Level 1043.

However, my other two games are not so friendly. Stuck at Level 415 of Candy Crush Soda and Level 770 of Farm Heroes for sometime now. Sigh.

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Saturday Nights

13 Jul

We try to make it a routine to have dinner with Mom every Saturday evening. But whenever we play golf, dinner would be scheduled later because tee off time is usually after lunchtime. 

So far our dinner outings have been very varied. From local fare to Korean and Western, Mom follows our adventurous food trails happily.

I find these occasions great to catch up with her as I hardly see her during the weekdays. And it is always nice to have a good meal together, like a reward for surviving each week with its stresses, challenges and sometimes boredom.

   
   

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Summer Days

10 Jul

M1’s first summer is going on well, with classes keeping her busy. Weather-wise it can be hot and sometimes still cold.

Comparing her experience with mine, I came home for my first summer after a year away. Unlike M1, starting as a freshman, I started as a Sophomore, transferring a year’s liberal studies from the local community college. Anyway, Mom and Dad thought I should come home and I did for a whole 16 weeks. Sure I enjoyed the food, friends and family but I felt it was too long. Towards the end of my summer, I was agitated, bored to death and couldn’t wait to get back to college.

So by the time my second summer came around, I decided to continue working at the bookstore and took a summer class. Painting. It was very laid back and fun. Needless to say, I aced it.

And prior to my third summer, I engineered an internship opportunity in New York City. That summer came and I interned with WBMG, Inc. under the watchful eyes of Walter Bernard and Milton Glaser. The exposure and experience were priceless and the best time of my life!

Ahh… Those were the days.

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It Must Be the Attire

9 Jul

Golfers are a funny breed of people. The one thing we fear or dislike is rain. Whenever it gets dark and cloudy with a thunderstorm brewing and headed our way, the outing at the golf course becomes rushed as if to beat the rain. Thus, spoiling the mood and pace of the game.

And when it rains coupled with the intensity of lightning charge in the air, players may hole out first then head for shelter or forget the hole and run for safety quickly, regardless of where they are. After all, it is dangerous and I have heard of people being zapped on the golf course. But then again, if the siren does not go off to alert ‘abandon game’, the game is continued in the rain; there has been situations like this.

However, when not on a golf course, a little rain descending upon us becomes an issue. It’s funny considering it is acceptable to be rained on at the golf course but not so in other situations.

Perhaps it’s the attire we wear in that particular situation. When attired for golf, it is okay to get down and dirty and wet but not acceptable when wearing normal clothes. This must be the reason. It is the attire, not the well-being.

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It Gets Tougher

7 Jul

It was a good thing I bought two new books to read. Level 1001 of Candy Crush is by far the toughest. Reading’s a good reprieve but I could not let the challenge go.
In the end, I used my precious gold bars, nine pieces mind you, to get that extra five moves and thank goodness, succeeded in passing the level. I have moved on to Tasty Treasury, the latest chapter on the iPad.

As for Candy Crush Soda, I’ve decided to take a break from it because I simply cannot go pass Level 415.

So back to reading.

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I Should Read

6 Jul

Over the weekend, hubby complained that I have been on my iPad too much. Too much games, that is. Well, when one has four games to manage – to save farm animals, match candies, be a zookeeper and rescue gingerbread men, that’s a whole lot of responsibility to juggle! I am on my iPad in between work at the office and at home, before bedtime. And when I wake up, have my coffee in the morning, after dinner… okay, maybe I AM a little obsessed with it.

So I decided to break the pattern and go back to reading. But the third Jennifer Probst paperback that I am waiting for has not reached our shores and I don’t feel like reading Nora (Roberts). I seriously want to read again, so I picked up not one but two unusual titles from the bookstore. Not my typical fare but I think it will be interesting.

I shall be reading these for the next few days.

  

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A New Game

3 Jul

I thought I could get into the numbers game, 2048 but just can’t. It takes up too much of my time to finish one round. But I contradict myself here saying this when my other three games take up far more of my time! Well, I can’t just get into 2048.

Then I don’t know why I unsuspectingly tried my hands at a new game, Monster Busters Hexa Blast. Maybe because I was stuck at my usual games and I could not progress further, I needed a distraction to quell my energy. Well, not quite as addictive as my other games, Hexa Blast is quite challenging and definitely more fun than 2048.

I am at Level 138 now.

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It Took Forever!

2 Jul

I was very busy last week. Considering the week before, I was super free having gone to play golf practically everyday. But last week, the dam broke and all the projects that were pending were approved simultaneously with tight deadlines to meet.

With time not on my side, I hardly had time for my virtual games. For the first time in many weeks, my iPad and my games were totally ignored. Amazing.

When I came home and had a breather last Friday night, I finally crossed Level 395 of Candy Crush Soda. It took forever but am glad that I’ve moved. Yay. But now, I can only play the game on the laptop because the iPad has yet to be updated, with the chapter after Level 405, and I have gone on to Level 414.

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