youtube, pasta zanmai & 2012 movie

Finally have the time to start on my diy projects for this hols. Can you believe I only 2 weeks left of my hols? So so short....I want more hols!!!

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This holidays, it has all been about youtube for me. How I wished my internet line is a lot faster so I can watch the shows I want faster.

Besides watching practically almost all 2PM-related variety shows (except those without subs), I also watched another Korean movie called "Antique", which is adapted from a Japanese manga of similar name (Antique Bakery). It is a live-action movie, meaning it preserves some of the humor we get from manga, just like Nodame Cantabile.

I always wanted to watch it after hearing about it a few times on "Idol Army", especially the episode when 2AM came.

The story is simple but the plot is really interesting. It is a "yaoi" movie, btw, but the love story does not play a major role in this movie although some scenes I do find a little funny.

The main actor is actually the guy from "Goong/Princess Hours" (Joo Ji Hoon) but he looks very scruffy in this movie. Not sure it is a good look for him.

As I watched further, I realized that the boy playing the chef's protégé/ex-boxer looks familiar. When I google-ed him online, I found out he was from the K-drama, "He Who Can't Marry", one of my favourite dramas that used to run on KBS. That boy is really cute ;)

The story, in short, is about young rich guy, Jin Hyeok (Jung Ji Hoon) who wants to open a bakery and hires a great chef, Seon Woo. He later found out that Seon Woo used to be the guy who confessed his love for Jin Hyeok back in high school but was rejected cruelly by Jin Hyeok.

Because Seon Woo has a fear of girls, Jin Hyeok could only hire male employees. One of them is Yang Ki Beom, Seon Woo's apprentice, who loves sweet things and used to be a renowned boxer. The other is Nam Soo Yeong, the very clumsy waiter, send by Jin Hyeok's family to protect him.

As the story continues, Seon Woo's ex-boyfriend came to lure him to follow him back to France. And then we learn the reason Jin Hyeok wanted to open the bakery despite his hatred for sweet things and his troubled past that lead him to change his name.

The bakery and all the pastries are so pretty, just like those one will see in Japanese manga. And all those French names. Oh my~~!!!

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My bday this year is simple compared to my 21st bday bash last year. Less fuss definitely means less stress. Lol. I had my bday lunch at Pasta Zanmai with my mother at Mid Valley. It serves fusion of Japanese and Italian.

The baby octopus appetizers were really great, mom's unagi dish was also good but sadly my salmon pasta was only so-so. It was way too plain-tasting for me. But this place is not bad, they have a variety of choices. I would go back there again, only I will choose my dishes wiser this time around.

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After coming back from my holiday trip, my Mom took a few days off to do the laundry. So we had time to catch a movie at Mid Valley. I wanted to watch "2012" after hearing about how interesting it was from everyone watching it. Previously, the tickets for this movie were always sold out so I wanted to wait until the excitement of this movie dies down. Now would be a good time to watch this movie, actually, because right now, tickets for Twilight: New Moon are selling like hot cakes.

I must say, everyone was right about this movie. It is really really awesome. Probably because of all the effects. Many near-death experiences here and yet, the main characters die in the most unexpected circumstances (not natural catastrophe-related).

The synopsis, in short, is about how the world will end in 2012 but basically people have nowhere to run, except for some wealthy people who bought tickets onto a "metal Noah's ark". The main characters, John Cusack and his family are not rich enough to buy the tickets but they never give up in trying to survive. Many many nail-biting scenes here. Really really "dae bak"!!!

anime hanabi festival = want to watch cosplay ;)

Small thought: What do dreams mean?

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On a Saturday, four people decided to go Times Sq to check out the Anime Hanabi Festival, organized by Taylor's College. Two are anime virgins, One only know a fraction, and another One is a super fan. LOL.

Myself, as well as roommate Suz M, housemate Mei Chen and coursemate Yong Xin wanted to take a look at the anime festival after our exams. I am just really curious because I have never been to one, and mostly what I really wanted to see was the cosplay. I always read about it in Sunday Star but have always wanted to see one for myself.

As we arrived, we realized that there was a Cosplay competition going on at the concourse level of BTS. There were 7 finalists dressed up as their favourite anime characters and they had to do a performance each.

I like the ghost in the pic above. No, he was not an anime character, he was just an accompanying act to one of the finalists. I think he is more funny than scary.

When we arrived at 6th floor, we were greeted by this amazingly and scarily loud Japanese rock band. Although I am all for rock bands, but when you don't understand the lyrics or don't know the song, it is hard to enjoy it. Sorry :( But kudos to them anyway. I thought my ears were ringing long afterwards.

She was one of the finalists from the competition. When we saw her came in, we just could not resist asking her to take photo with us. If you don't recognize her, she is Cardcaptor Sakura. I really like watching that anime when I was younger. Only that time, it was subbed in really bad Malay language.

The maids at Manga Cafe. I think their maid costumes are really cute, no? This photo was not really special until I discovered that Nuffnang's Blogger of the Month (Nov 2009) actually knows one of the maids. Hehe. I checked out her blog and saw the same girl there.

She was also one of the finalists. Sexy no her costume? I am not sure what manga it was, I think it was something about Chinese Kingdom. Anyways, she was really sweet when we asked to take photos with her. She was like, "Of course you can!"

These two girls were from "Sudden Attack", an online game. Too bad I don't play video games much. I pretty much suck in them. Every time I played with my cousin, she always win. By a wide margin. Up to a point where I don't expect to win when I play with her, only try to survive as long as possible :(

Another one of the finalists. This one I am sure many will know. He is Naruto. Although I did recognize him, but I don't really read or watch the anime.

The other finalists were Super Mario, Hellboy, Rinku (?) from Final Fantasy and another one that I did not recognize. Sorry...

I think this girl is super pretty no? I really like her costume. Like pretty purple lolita no? Her contact lens were purple too ;)

This was taken outside the exhibition hall on the 6th floor where the festival was held.

Overall, the festival is not very large. There were not many manga sold too. I think there was only one booth that sold manga. In fact, there were not many booths at all and about half were actually online games. But I did have fun taking photos of the cosplayers. I think they are really creative and really brave to parade in their costumes. It is okay to do so in the festival itself, but when they walked through the shopping mall, I am sure there were some curious stares all around.

For more photos, please go to my FACEBOOK. Since I uploaded all the photos there, I am too lazy to duplicate them here.

Lastly, a random photo of me with the balloons meant for Sweet Chat, the cafe. My face looks super perverted lar. But I really like all the colourful balloons. LOL.