Guess who's next???

Click here (self-explanatory)

About time these two good friends of mine tied the knot. Looking forward to making a trip to Kuching this November. Gives me all the reason to go there.

My heartiest congratulations to the both of you, Francis and Asther.

Rolled Out

Well, my verdict's in. Transformers Movie...This silver screen rendition of our childhood robotic heroes carries at least 7 out of 10. CGI was superb. Action choreography was definitely well thought off. Plus, I think Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox did a good job playing Sam Witwicky and Mikhaela Banes; a nervous-wreck teenage adolescent male and an automobile- savvy, fatherless brunette beauty who stumbled right between the battle between the insidious Decepticons, in search of the all -powerful 'Allspark', a mysterious object which power is only surpassed by its mysterious origin and the Autobots, the good guys who have come to opposed the plot to exterminate all life on earth...

Peter Cullen, the original cartoon series talent was brought back for Optimus Prime's unmistakable voice.

Jon Voight was a nice touch to the movie, playing Secretary of Defence, John Keller who, for some reason, seem to have more executive power than the President himself in time of crisis. Bernie Mac, as usual, was a good comic relief, although, I thought he should have been given airtime in the movie. He's antiques never fail to spurn a good laugh.
And no disaster movie is ever complete without the special forces, here, Tyrese Gibson as USAF Tech Sargeant Epps and Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas' Danny McCoy) as Captain Lennox. Despite the portrayal of the grit of the US armed forces, these characters and their sidekicks seem to know only how to shoot blanks rather than doing any serious damage, with the exception of Captain Lennox doing a slide under Brawl with his grenade launcher. Supporting roles may look good, not very effective sometimes...

I don't think it was very difficult for Michael Bay to pick Megan Fox over the 1500 candidates waiting in line. I mean, she's Megan Fox! I hope to see her reprisal in the next instalment of this movie franchise.

Pity Rachel Taylor who played Maggie Madsen, the young computer hacker recruited by the Pentagon to decipher the Transformers' communication signals could not have played a more crucial role in the movie. For that matter, Anthony Anderson (Hackers), who played Glenn Whitman, Maggie's 'consultant' too did not have a more prominent role in the movie. He's hillarious.

My opinion? Entertainment value good but disjointed character development. Cool CGI, but loose ends not tied. I guess too many characters involved may not be ideal, unless Bay is planning for a sequel or sequels...if so, Megatron should return from the dead.. still I LOVE IT!!!! The Transformers will always be part of my growing up years...

The other things missing were Stan Bush's "You've Got the Touch", which I thought would have made a good song for this movie, better dialogue, more Megan Fox's mid-drift and Soundwave (fellow fans know what I'm talking about) *grin*

Family Reunion

July 2, 3 & 4

It's yet another family reunion. 2 years in a row now... Last year, my dad's cousin, Uncle Chee Tuck (click here for previous post) organized one. And this year, my dad's other cousins returned to Malaysia for another visit. Uncle Sek Kin, Janet and Suzie, all siblings and children of my late uncle, Leong Wing Foo decided to have a small reunion-cum-holiday. The routine for these intrepid lot is eat and shop, eat and shop like there's no tomorrow.


From left, clockwise: Ah Yin, Helen, Eddy and Sek Kin

With Janet (whom we call Ah Yin) and husband Eddy Wu (from Taiwan and a shipping tycoon!), the nite was sure to be only a big 'yum seng' session. My cousins (their children), Terry, John and Jeeno Wu, whom I haven't seen for years now tagged along. Jeeno will be getting married next year, giving me a reason to go to Taiwan. Better get a few mandarin phrases brushed up...it may just come in handy instead of parroting "wo pu hweh chiang hwa yi" all the time...

Darryl and Jane

Uncle Sek Kin and wife Aunty Helen returned with Darryl (my cousin) and wife, Jane (picture in the middle) and their new born baby girl. Darryl is heading on to be one of Australia's most well known cardiologist...and he's only 29.

Left: Seen with Suzie and Janet are my 7th and 8th aunts (seated). 8th aunt's been in Ipoh most of her life, despite our implores to move to KL. 7th aunt on the other hand is has been around almost all her life.

Our dinners are always anything but mediocre. The first nite, in my absence was a dinner hosted by Eddy and Janet at the Overseas Restaurant, Jln Imbi, KL...followed by northern indian delights at the Bombay Palace, Jln Ampang and finally, a sumptous chinese sit-down donner at the resplendent Li Yen at the Ritz-Carlton. It's always a treat to have so many nice dinners in a row, but I reckon I should start breaking out the weighing scale soon.

Oh well, till next year or so...

July 1st, 2007.

Congratulations Mee Queen and Edward! Just barely 3 weeks after receiving a call from MQ, I found myself at yet another wedding dinner. My 4th one so far in a span of 6 months. This time, at the Ritz-Carlton, KL. This was also a mini Sunway College "reunion" for some of us who went to college with MQ.

MQ was my A-level schoolmate at Sunway College back in '94. She was known as the shortcake girl who lived in Klang whose father owned a printing press. We used to trail down all the way to Klang to meet up for bak-kut-teh and to visit another Klangite, Raymond Soosai, another Sunway groupie. Needless to say, this meet-up wedding dinner was another path down 'Nostalgia Street'.

Especially with Rabinder Singh, now Datuk Rabinder Singh and lovely, but quite pregnant wife, Simren, Simon Hong (my god-brother), Alison Anthony, Yin Kit, Edmund Marc De-Run, James Teh and missus. All of us were once terrorizing our Econs lecturer back at Sunway College. Now, surely and steady, one by one are getting married.

From left: Takashi (not sure who he is) , MQ's dad, MQ's mum, Nigel Walker (Edward's brother), Rabinder, Simren, MQ, Simon, James, Missus James and a Takashi's girl

Yin Kit and Alison

Rabin and Simren

Now, rewind a little, Rabin was my one of my best buds in college. We remember his antiques back then, until he met the lights of Simren Kaur Sachdev. Yes, the "love at first sight" cliche applies here as well. Pretty soon, Rabin was despatching Alison to pass love cards to the then, not-so-pregnant bai girl. After about 2 years of courtship, they got married in '04 and look at these loving couple now...one in the oven some more.

We were really quite a fun bunch, always making it just in time for class after a good hour or two of Outrunners (an old arcade racing game), which we indulged at Sunway Parade. We drove our lecturers up the wall. We had our run-ins with each other and we wasted a lot of time, but, we were living life doings the things we did.

Good luck Mee Queen. Have it great in London!!!