Movie Review 29: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Title: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Director: David Yates

Running time: 2 hours 33 minutes

Genre: Fantasy

Despite being more than two and half hours long, the movie doesn't seem to contain a lot of content... but then again, it might be the result of having read the book two years ago. The thing is, the title of the book/movie is pretty misleading as the 'half blood prince' is more of a side story than the main story and the movie sort of mentioned this name in passing only.

Anyway, this time the movie explores the reason of Voldemort's seemingly immortality... yup, that's it... the whole plot of the story... that's why I said it's pretty thin... of course, there are some side quests here and there and also a shocking finale (for those who hasn't read the book) and since I have have read the whole series, I'm proud to say that I have identified the 'one who is not as evil as he looks' right from the beginning of the story :P. You'll not know what I'm saying unless you've read the Deathly Hallows (final book).

Anyway, one thing that I think is pretty unreasonable is the lack of protection spells these wizards/witches have. I mean, if you are a wizard and there's a Dark Lord running around in rampage with his lackeys, surely you would at least place some protective spells around your shop/house. In the beginning of the movie, you'll see Voldemort's lackeys crashing into a wand shop without meeting any resistance whatsoever... it's like someone breaking into a gun selling shop which has no security whatsoever! That doesn't make any sense... the same thing happened at the Wesley's house too.

Also, I think that this movie placed too little emphasis on other characters such as Hermione and Ron... they did not contribute to the main story at all. The movie, although has dark undertones, is laced with jokes here and there while some are successfully given, some are not so nice... most notably, those delivered by Albus Dumbledore. I have to say that I preferred the first Albus in the movie than the 'new' Albus (the original actor died after the first movie)... this one is too... energetic... too childish I would say.

Also, since the students have all grown up, it's inevitable that there'll be love scenes... and I think they are just yucky... especially the kissing scenes... I supposed it's because I watch them grow up and I just feel uncomfortable seeing them kissing one another... yuck!

Well, despite my rather scathing remarks, I still think that it is a good movie. The final big scene of the movie did manage to squeeze a few of my priceless tears out. Of course, if you don't like the previous instalments of the movie, you'll not be liking this one too... me? well, as I've said again and again, the director/writer/actors/actresses would have to be idiots to make me dislike a fantasy movie.

Observation: Why did Voldemort's lackeys destroy Hagrid's shed instead of the teacher's quarters?

Bottomline: Only for fans

Bamboo Ranking: 3.2 / 5.0

WF's Wedding

Last Saturday, I had another wedding dinner... yup... I supposed we're at a somewhat marriage age kua since everyone nowadays is talking about getting married. Anyway, with no disrespect intended to the wedded couple, this is by far the worst wedding dinner that I ever had... and this actually is worse than the time I had my wedding dinner in a basketball court!

The place that I had the wedding dinner is at Trader's Hotel... and talk to anyone in Penang and they'll tell you it's one of the more expensive hotels in Penang. So, I was expecting really good services and food there. Well, the food is okay (detailed explanation later) but the services were just terrible. I had to wait three meals before my glass of orange juice was refilled and the glass of red wine came only in the third dish! Of course, poor services alone is not enough to set me off. This is also the first time that I am unable to sit at my allocated place. I'm unsure if the couple miscalculated or their guests brought in 'extra' people, but from name list that were pasted in front of the ballroom, my table is supposed to have eight people only... and to my horror, when I went into the ballroom, all ten places were filled! And the other 5 people ( 5 others are my friends, the other 5 are strangers) just sat there as like nothing happened. So, in the end, I had to sit at another table while one of my friends volunteered to accompany me.

I dare not even drink the water until the dinner officially started since I'm technically sitting at other people's place. And to make things worse, another person came along with 3 children making the total people at the table to be at eleven! It was really cramped. And those three little devils really can eat! They ate even more than me!

Whew! Now that I have got it all out of my chest, let us continue to talk about the dinner. First thing that I noticed is that this is also the brightest ballroom I've ever eaten in. All other wedding dinners that I attended in other hotels have dimmed lights and I had to use flash to take photos. This hotel however, the ballroom is bright enough that I can take good pictures without flash! And the first thing I noticed is that this hotel served cupcakes for starters! It's chocolate cupcake with strawberry flavoured cream on top! Very nice!

Chocolate cupcake

Setting of the table...

The wedding started half an hour later than the time mentioned on the invitation card (typical!) but the bridesmaid had the nerve to say that they started on time! Anyway, the wedded couple entered the ballroom being led by two really cute children playing violins! They played quite well but the keys sort of went off the mark towards the end :P. Then, on the stage, another person performed his clarinet (I think) blowing skills.

Clarinet (I think) player...

My three drinks!

Five Dish Combination comprising of fish acar with ginger flower, fresh prawn salad and fruit cocktail, kung po style yellow eel with dried chilies, deep fried pandan chicken and pa fa roll with siew chap. Whew, that's a long description, but the prawn salad and yellow eel are the only two delicious dish in this dish :P. Others can be forgotten especially the siew chap.

Shark's Fin Soup with dried scallop, bamboo pith and crab meat. This is also quite nice, but then again, you'll have to be one crappy chef to make a terrible shark's fin soup. However, the texture of this soup is diff rent from the normal ones... it's more gel like... most likely a result of the bamboo pith.

Close up on the soup... the waitress serving us gave us only have a bowl each!

Steamed Herbal Chicken Wrapped in Glass Paper... so so only... the chicken felt dry and rough... the steamed duck I had the week before is much better.

Braised Mexican Abalone with Black Mushroom and Broccoli... I supposed I shouldn't comment on this dish since I don't really like abalones... for me, the broccoli actually tasted better :P

Wok Bakes Prawns with Cheddar Cheese... by far, the star dish of the day! I don't really like eating prawns (with shells on :P) and I actually ate three that day! A must try.

As usual, it's now time for the bride and groom to make their speech on the stage... but it's strange that only the grooms speaks...

Just to show how bright the ballroom is... no flash used...

The usual champagne drinking/cheering... also another strange thing... there's no wedding cake! And the groom did not pour the champagne!

My other friends... strange... now I noticed that we all wear specs!

Deep Fried Grouper with Sweet and Sour Sauce... my mum said that the only time that a restaurant would tell you to deep fry a fish is when they had a not so fresh fish to unload :P... anyway, although it doesn't look nice, the sweet and sour sauce is nicely made.

Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaves... as usual, the 7th meal is something that will make sure you'll feel full... nothing worth mentioning... except that I'm still not full after the 7th dish! Those three children are like piranhas!

Double Boiled Yellow Pear and Snow Fungus with Red Dates... just when I said last week that it was my first time having a hot 8th dish at wedding dinners, here it is again... maybe it's a common dish in Penang here? Anyway, this one is much, much better than the one I had at Evergreen. It's sweeter! Though my friends said it's too sweet...

Close up...

Some random pics...

Same as above...

Pic taken with groom... one thing I noticed in this dinner is that everyone left really early!It was around 10.30pm and it's Saturday! The wedding dinner I attended last week stopped at around 11pm and it was a Sunday night and there were still tonnes of people left! This time, I can actually take picture with the groom without interruptions! Most table were already empty before the 8th dish came!

Pic with bride and groom... I know, it's not clear... don't blame me... blame the photographer!

Anyway, I'm really dissatisfied that night... since I did not have the chance to catch up with my friends who some of them traveled from Johor! Anyway, it's not the wedded couples fault (I think :P) and I wish you both have a wondrous and exciting journey ahead!

Movie Review 28: Ice Age 3

Title: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Director: Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier

Running time:1 hour 34 minutes

Genre: Animation, Comedy

Once again the creatures from Ice Age grace the silver screen. This time, Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano) is going to be a father with Ellie (Queen Latifah) and his devotion to Ellie has alienated his friends, Diego the Sabre tooth (Denis Leary) and Sid (Leguizamo). Sid accidentally found three eggs and decided to take them and be their mother/father. As it turns out, they belong to a very angry Tyrannosaurus. The real mother came rampaging into Sid's world and took all three of her children and Sid too. Thus, began the adventure of Manny, Ellie and Diego in their attempt to save Sid from the fearsome creature.

I must say, that the plot for Ice Age is getting thinner and thinner. The main plot of the movie felt like a subplot. However, this is definitely a very hilarious movie... although the mushy part of it is just too mushy... suitable only for children. The acts of Crash and Eddie and Scrat and Scratte (newcomer) will have you laughing non-stop. Although I must complain that the previews on Scrat and Scratte which I watched before the movie sort of dialed down their comedic actions. I mean, I already know what is going to happen with Scrat and Scratte so it is kind of hard to laugh at their actions when you already know their next step.

The voice cast are superb and Buck (Simon Pegg - another newcomer) is just amazing. In between Buck, Crash and Eddie, they have all the best lines. The animation is again, of course amazing... in sort of an unreal real kind of way, though they seemed to be of the same technology as of the first two movies.

Well, there isn't much that I can comment on without giving out some spoilers. In conclusion, this is one of the few must see this year!

Observation: Just in case you were wondering, Rudy, which is bigger than the Tyrannosaurus in the movie, is called a Suchomimus (taken from Wikipedia).

Bottomline: It will sqeeze the laughs out of you

Bamboo Ranking: 4.0 / 5.0

King's Wedding

On 28th July 2009, I attended a colleague's wedding. He is one of the few who frequently have lunches with me. I reached the Green Laurel Hotel at around 7.30pm... which is half an hour later than the time mentioned on the invitation card... but as usual, the dinner officially started only around 1 hour later than that mentioned in the card... and in this case, it was 75 minutes later.

Here are the pictures of the setting of the ballroom.

My table... number 10

The wedding cake!

The place where the champagne goes...

The main table...

Love is on the glass...

Not really a candlelight dinner :P

Ice sculpture of a swan... I think

My other colleagues at the same table...

Same as the above...

Same as the above... :P

And oh, it's the first time I attended a wedding with a real live band! Did not manage to get the photo of the pianist though... and all of the three singers have very powerful voices...

Some of the pictures shown on the projector again and again...

Same as the above...

The triple drinks I had that night...

Now, on to the more important matters... the food!

Laurel Exclusive Delights Combination... basically means four type of dishes combined into one ler... it's quite nice... but then again, it might be because we were hungry... the plate was cleaned in just less than 5 minutes and there were only 8 people in our table.

Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat & Dried Scallops... what not to like? Although some XO would have been perfect together with it... and there were quite a lot of crab shells that I had to filter through...

Close up look of the Shark's Fin Soup.

Braised Golden Duck with Quail Eggs... the duck is nice enough... it isn't rough at all... but not too soft... just nice... a little bland for my taste though... and I think it's the first time I had quail eggs!

Braised Sea Cucumber 'Hung Siew' Style... alas, I did not manage to get the sea cucumbers... I think there were still some left but I think it's quite rude to search through the plate for the sea cucumbers... so I just scoop everything with a spoon... and there were only mushrooms :(

Halfway through, as usual, is the champagne pouring ceremony... the groom had some problem in popping the first bottle...

Pouring...

And drinking...

Toasting ceremony... this picture was taken on a mirror since everyone is blocking my camera view especially the 'official' cameramen... nice huh? :P

Next, is the Sauteed King Prawns with Vegetables & Cashew Nuts in Yam Ring... and it is one of the best dish that day... the prawns are super big, super fresh and super nice! And I haven't had any yam ring in years! And the cashew nuts were nice and crunchy too!

Close up of the yam and the prawn..

Steamed Pomfret with Supreme Soy Sauce... I think this was a little overdone... the meat was starting to feel dry and rough...

Crispy Raw Noodles with Seafood & Vegetables... the prawns are the same size as the earlier dish, but is of different quality... it was soft and is nothing like the earlier prawns... but other than that, the noodles were quite nice... crispy and soft at the same time!

Final dish... Double Boiled Sweetened Palm Fruit with Snow Fungus... this is the first time I had snow fungus in a wedding dinner... and also the first time I had a hot dish as the final dish... usually we I had was iced longan, ice cream... it's usually a cold dish...

Don't know what it is, but it's nice!

Snow Fungus close up... too tasteless for me :P

And the group photo with the bride and groom... ignore the alien at the bottom right...

Anyway, I have my many firsts in this wedding dinner just when I thought I have been to enough wedding dinners to make me an expert. First band, first ice sculpture, first hot final dish, etc. and also the first time to finish a wedding dinner after 11pm! I reached home only by midnight! Luckily, I took a leave on the next day... I slept until 9am!

The bride and groom looks good together and the groom is basically radiating in happiness that night... really... you can't see any other expression other than happiness on his face... I guess that's what it looks like when you're drowning in love :P

Anyways, happy wedding and I hope that your marriage will bring you nothing but joy and happiness! To King Yu and Cassey Loh!... now known as Mr. and Mrs. Liew!