Knock Knock Review

Knock knock....who's there? 

Knock Knock Review - …and just when I thought Keanu got his acts together in John Wick…he decides to ‘knock’ my trust away. Tsk tsk…why dey?

Could you help us kind Sir? 

Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves) is a former DJ turned architect who is happily married. Evan unfortunately had to celebrate father’s day on his own as his wife and two kids had to go away to get some work done. Home alone on the rainy night, he tries to help to two lost girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Belly (Ana de Armas) to find their way to a party. Little did he knew that the girls had a twisted plan that his life turned upside down. Even his worst nightmare would not match with what the girls are to do to him. Can Evan escape this cruel game?

Let's play a 'game' shall we? 

I got no words to describe how I felt watching Neo from The Matrix series getting his arse kicked by two chicks. I…I…haih…Keanu…what the hell dey? Like really! What the hell! It doesn’t help when he suddenly goes on ranting about being deceived by the ‘poor helpless’ girls! Like seriously?! From the time the door goes knock knock, I felt like knocking over all those involved in making this movie.

I mean like real serious shite game! 

For heaven sake, Keanu, get your acts together and come up with better films please. Or at least stop acting in crap like this. Period!  

P/s - Thank you The Malay Mail for the season pass. 

Goosebumps Review

Beware of the monsters! 

Goosebumps Review – What would you do if the monsters you read in a book comes to live?

Wait....wherttttttttttttt......!!!

Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his newly widowed Mom moves to a small town and Zach gets acquainted friend with his next door neighbour Hannah (a very Mila Kunis looking Odeya Rush). Hannah lives with her eccentric Dad who turns out to be ‘Goosebumps’ series author, R.L. Stine (Jack Black). One night while trying to ‘save’ Hannah from being ‘abused’ by her Dad, Zach accidently sets free the monsters and ghosts such as the Snowman, Werewolf, a giant Mantis and the diabolic ‘dummy’ Slappy. All hell breaks loose as Slappy release more gory creatures from the books that starts to wreck the town. It’s up Zach, Hannah and Mr. Stine to figure out a way to ‘lock’ them up to save the town and lock up monsters for good.

Do not call him 'Dummy'! 

The best part of the movie are the monsters. From the Snowman to the Werewolf, one wonders where did the real R.L. Stine gets his inspiration to create such beast. It’s amazing to watch his imagination coming to live in the big screen. The adult part of me enjoyed the story while the kid part were spooked as the humans tried to get away from freaks. It was an awesome ride with an interesting ‘twist’ on one of the character. Jeng jeng jeng…

Well....do you dare? 

Bring you family or friends and enjoy this film over and over again. I know I will. 

The Walk Review

Dare to walk? 

The Walk Review – True story based on ‘Wire Walker’ Philippe Petit.

Philippe and his posse!

Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) have been fascinated by tightrope-walker performing in circus. His obsession leads him to self-teach himself to walk on tight ropes. In order to perfect his walk, Philippe seeks help from Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) who later chucks him away for being arrogant. Philippe then travels to Paris to earn a living as a street performer where he comes across Annie (Charlotte Le Bon). Later on he stumbles upon the news of New York's Twin Towers aka World Trade Centre being build. One look and Phillipe finds his purpose to wire walk across the Towers and conquer Big Apple’s skyline. Together with Annie he journeys to America and starts gathering his accomplices to help achieve his mission. Papa Rudy decides to help him by giving pointers and advice. Soon Phillipe hatch his daring plan by scouting, monitoring, preparing and setting up for his coup.  He picks the date and goes ahead with his bid to make a name for himself. Unfortunately despite his careful preparation, anything and everything that could wrong starts to make his attempt to turn south. With time and tide against him, will this Petit-pun intended wire walker reach for the heavens or stumbles into shambles? 

Can he make it across? 

If you have fear of height you are better off just watching the trailer than sit thru this dizzying flick. Even I who had no problem jumping of an airplane for skydiving was on the edge of my seat as Petit made his way to the wire! That was how good the cinematography for this movie. The Director, Robert Zemeckis managed to capture every single angle as The Walk took place. Another thing I absolutely loved was the Alan Silvestri’s superb score, inserting a famous classic composition to the jazzy top hat beats. It was simply brilliant mood setter for the film. However The Walk it did have its flaw. Even though Joseph fit the physical part as Phillipe, his French accent was annoying the heck outta me at one point. He should have just let his action speak instead of explaining his moves. Thankfully the rest of the cast also had their dialogue to dim down Phillipe’s terrible French-English accent. Other than that, it was not a walk in the park but really was The Walk!  

Just Petit, wire, sky and his dream! 

Overall it was a satisfying watch and made even awesome by the 3D effects. A dangerous but amazing determination by an ordinary man with an extra ordinary vision. It also felt like an homage to the towers which reminds us of its grim departure 10 years ago. Watch this if you need some inspiration not to walk on wire but to go after your dream. 

P/s - Thank you Klips for the preview tickets 

*Special Philippe's actual pictures walking across the Towers! 

#Allianz Foodie Hunt 2015 - The Three Makanteers

Allianz Foodie Hunt 2015

7th September 2015 

Incoming message on WA from Ivan: -

*link for Allianz Foodie Hunt

Ivan   : Nak alliance utk ni tak?

Me     : Jom!

Ivan   : Jom! Let’s win some new TV!

Me     : Weehooo. Siapa lagi surang? Mau jadi one Mesia 
            tanya Adam tak?

Ivan   : Boleh jak!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me     : Boleh tak beruk tu dah register! *insert 
            expletives  

Ivan   : Ahahahaha * insert expletives agn.

Me     : Takpe aku ada ganti yang lagi sado!

Ivan   : Ok pass me the info. Let’s destroy the traitor!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

21^st September 2015

Ivan  : Registation full oredi lar.

Me    : Lorrrrrrrrrrr *insert expletives

Ivan  : Sudahlah Sayang kita cuba nex time.

Me    : Baiklah. Kita rehda sahaja kali ni.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5^th October 2015

Incoming call from Milo

Milo : Mani, can you replace me for the foodie hunt?

Me   : Aiks…bole ke? Aku ok jew.

Milo : Bole, nanti I inform Adam u replacing me.

Me   : Vokay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5^th October 2015

Adam : Maniiiiii jom food hunt! U bole substitute Milo?

Me     : Eleh…member kantoi baru ajak aku. Milo ask me 
            dy. Aku ok je. Nanti I pass u my details.

Adam  : Tqqqqqqqq

Me      : Podah!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9^th October 2015

Allianz Foodie Hunt WA group was formed with instruction for pre-race assignment coming in.

- to post a tweet with picture of food & get minimum 10 
   ‘fav’.

- to achieve 100 ‘views’ for blogpost (post done earlier 
   but to promo and get 100 views)

Adam's foodie blog post

- to post a picture of food on Instagram & get minimum 
   of 10 ‘likes’ (task completed)

Lau's Instagram post

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10^th October 2015 / 2am

I posted this tweet and requested my friends to ‘fav’ it to earn bonus point. 

Tweet

Fully focused on my food indeed! 

Deadline for the assignment was 10^th October 2015, 10am. After tweeting I blacked out till 11am until Adam messaged the group and informed that all tasks was completed and we managed to achieve the target! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Next it was the hunt day….jeng jeng jeng

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

17th October 2015 

D-Day

I got lost a bit inside KL Sentral trying to find Plaza Sentral (tsk tsk tsk)  but fret not #TheThreeMakanteers managed to group ourselves and was ready to take down the other 32 teams!

#TheThreeMakanteers 

Upon registration (Hi J! Ehem, I’m not putting the full name coz am shy…hehehe…but yeah, you looked cute J!) we were given t shirt, face mask (the haze was quite bad) and a bottle of water.

The boys and I were hungry and ready to gooooooooo!!! 

Afters there was a short intro by the Race Master from Time Out Solution and welcoming words by Mr Rangam Bir, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad. 

 Mr Rangam Bir, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad

Gigih mendengar. Can you spot me? 

We also got to sweat with a short Zumba session. Phew….just 15 minutes but I already feel like a punctured tyre.

Aye Caremba....mari kita berzumbaaaaaaaa

All the hunters then posed for group picture and were handed the clipboard containing our task. 

One for the camera y'll! 

Altogether we had to go to eight (8) check points with one of the check point being just a picture clue. The organiser also prepared ten (10) bonus questions in a form of anagrammed clues to guess names of food or drink in English or Bahasa Malaysia as the picture attached below.

Try to take a guess and see if you get the right answers!

Unlike the ‘other’ food I joined previously where cab was allowed, this hunt only let the hunters to use public transportation such as lrt and/or monorail. Well, as a loyal ‘rider’ I had the map to all the stations ‘printed’ in my head which came as a huge advantage. I also knew the exact location of two (2) pit stops so we started to strategize as we made our way to KL Sentral lrt station.

#TheThreeMakanteers teamleader, Lau taking a peek at the task. 

Our first stop was Jai Hind Indian Sweet Shop near Masjid Jamek area so we got off at Masjid Jamek lrt station and dashed our way to the shop. I used to drop by this shop to buy their delicacies so it’s only natural I kick off the eating challenge. Since I didn’t have any breakfast I walap the sweets in no time but there was a surprise task of naming the sweets that went into my tummy. I wrote down the answers but the marshal wanted the proper answers. Damn! Luckily the shopkeeper helped us and on we went to the next check point. Another Indian shop, Mansion Tea Stall around Masjid India area. Within few minutes Lau managed to walap his ‘Roti Canai Banjir with Telur Separuh Masak Dua Biji’. Perghhhh power siot Ah Pek ni.

Tu diaaaaa.....Kampung Baru Nasi Kampung special! 

Next up was Kampung Baru for some Malay food. The shops were quite far from lrt station. Thank Goodness my leg didn’t cramp from all the walking. I was lagging behind while Lau was far ahead looking for the shop and Adam was cheering me to walk faster. After about 15 minutes’ walk, we reached our 3^rd check point. It was Adam’s turn to consume ‘Masakan kampung dengan ulam-ulaman (petai and ikan goreng). Poor fella was struggling to finish the dish while sweating in buckets. 

Adam in action! 

We managed to encourage him to complete his task and moved on to get a taste of ‘Nasi Padang’. Lau once again amazed us with his ‘food devouring’ skills! Mission at Kampung Baru was done and dusted.

Our Champ chomping the delish dish! 

Another long walk way back to Kampung Baru lrt station to KLCC station pulak to serang Nasi Kandar Pelita. Lau was our hero slurping ‘em Mee Goreng Mamak before the fella next to him could even take his seat! Heck, both Adam and I didn’t even have enough time to catch our breath from all the running. No time to waste as we made our way back to KLCC station again.

Meal number 3 for Lau! 

We had to switch from Kelana Jaya lrt line to Ampang lrt line to make our way to Pudu station for some tasty ice cold Cendol. It was also another short run from the lrt station to the stall. Adoi semput aku lari camni woi! Fortunately we managed to catch some breath while waiting for the train to arrive and also getting to Pudu. 

#TheThreeMakanteers sempat wefie while waiting for lrt

It was my turn gulp down the Cendol. With the hot weather it was just what I needed. Dah ler bebudak ni dapat makan nasi ngan mee. Aku makan candy je kot. However when I slurped too fast….ding ding ding….brain freeze!!! ARGHHH…tahan jelar! Within few minutes the bowl was empty and we made our way back to the lrt station.

Nasib ler bowl kecik jer! 

Aku yang makan, depa yang overrrrrrrrrrrr

With all our navigation and tasks going smoothly it was only a matter of a small mistake to cause all that advantage goes to waste. Once we were at Masjid Jamek lrt again, I was at a cross line to pick a route to reach Masjid Negara in the fastest way. No matter which way we take it’s still quite a long distance to reach the ‘Nasi Lemak Tanglin’ check point. Finally we took the way by the Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad and I wanted to ‘cross’ Dataran Merdeka but Adam suggested we follow the google map and pass by Bank Rakyat instead…I was like…."Nooooo Adam…that is the long route wey!!!" but both the boys had made up their mind so I just followed them. Soon after frustration start to set in when my ‘brain map’ showed me how far we are from the pit stop. My leg started to ache so I started to mumble and scold Adam for taking us the not wrong but the long way. Haih…nak je aku cekik budak ni. The boys wanted to patah balik but that would cost us more time so we just redah je. My veins were screaming and I could not walk any faster, I was already walking show as it is. This just added insult to the injury. The boys were far ahead of me while I was cursing and yelling my way up the blardy Taman Botani Hill. We wasted like 20 minutes to reach the stupid check point and Lau had finished eating his Nasi Lemak by the time I arrived at the check point so we moved to the final pit stop.

Thank God the lrt didn’t have any hiccups and in no time we reached Bangsar and made our way to the mystery check point at Fierce Curry House. It was Adam’s turn the ‘sapede’ a huge portion of Briyani Rice. 

Ada berani makan Nasi Briyani kat Fierce Curry House? 

#TheThreeMakanteers multitasking. 

I got to catch my breath and was updating our social medias. All tasks were finished and we head to Restoran Rebung with 15 minutes to spare before penalty time deduction. We were the 10^th team to arrive. Hurmm….not bad!

Awwwwyissssss....finally arrived at Restoran Rebung!!!

We collected our Certificate of Participation and saw there was a complimentary massage offered! Awwwwwyissssssss!!! 

Yeay!!! We did it!!!

Hooooyeahhhhh!!! Massage me likeyyyyy!!!

The boys were famished so they rested while I got my back ‘lenyeked’ kao kao. Fuh…..syiok woah!!! I also helped myself to some food served. 

More food! Sila sila....

Dah makan Candy and Cendol je kot. Pastu lari nak mampos so lapor lor. One after another team started to arrive and we were discussing which prize we didn’t want to win. I didn’t fancy the Instax Camera as I’d already won one before. While Lau didn’t want the TV. Adam…belasah tak kisah mana-mana, janji win something. Cewah…bole tak confident je konon nak win lar kan? Hehehe

Mana taknyer….cuba tengok the list of prizes!

1st Prize: GoPro Hero4 x 3

2nd Prize: Samsung Galaxy A7 Smartphone x 3
3rd Prize: Samsung 32" LED TV x 3
4th Prize: HuaWei Talk Band B2 Smartwatch x 3
5th Prize: Fujifilm Instax Camera Mini90 x 3
6th Prize: H&M Gift Card worth RM 400.00 x 3
7th Prize: H&M Gift Card worth RM300.00 x 3
8th Prize: 2 Majestic Hotel Dining Vouchers x 3
9th Prize: AEON Shopping Vouchers worth RM200.00 x 3
10th Prize: KFC Vouchers worth RM 100.00 x 3

Mana satu idaman hati? Mana satu kita menang nanti? Hehehe

The awesome people of Allianz were kind enough to supply each winner their own prize instead of sharing one between three (3) people. Try imagine how you gonna share the TV if you win? Like one week you take the TV then me then the other one. Doesn’t make sense kan?

Sharp 2 pm, it was revealing answer time to the Bonus Challenge. So….did you manage to guess the right answers?

Here goes…

Teh Tarik

Apom Balik 

Chicken Rice Ball 

Roti Bom

Ayam Pongteh

Rendang

Bahulu 

Pisang Goreng 

Pasembur

Otak Otak 

We had a good laugh going thru some of the answers given by the hunters. 

Tired but happy faces! 

Alololo...Adam femes. Banyak kuar gamba dia jer! #iJeles

Ada Sup tulang lar, Sup Gear Box lar, Roti pokok lar (go figure!). Our team managed to answers all question correctly except for…..Roti Bom…we spelled it was Roti Boom…small matter right….well not quite…haih….

*I didn’t even get to see the questions because the Boys solved it themselves. Terrer kan depa ni!

We were also shown some video slides of the pictures taken during the hunt. Kelakar giler tengok gelagat orang melantak makanan. Nasib tade yang muntah! Soon after it was the prize presentation ceremony. Time Out has their unique supplementary prizes for the hunters. Among it was the first team to register, last team to arrive, heck…even award for best Zumba dancer! Haaaaa! Syiok kan?

Shortly it was the moment everybody’s been waiting for…from 10^th position. Two (2) of my friends team won the 9^th and 8^th placing respectively. One of them arrived before us and the other was behind us.  Hurm….how liddet…got chance ah?

5^th place was announced…yes…not our name team name…no Instax but but but…if 5^th place oso no get so no win at all ke? Tsk tsk tsk….4^th place for the smart watch also no luck….okay….takpe it was a good try…until…3^rd place…The Three Makanteers…say whertttttttttttt…are you for real??? Yahooooooooooo!!! Menang TV!!! Woot! Woot! Nak je aku berguling-guling masa amek hadiah tapi control macho lar…paling best hadiah ketiga adalah yang paling besar…in size lar I mean! 

Yippie Ka Yeayyyyyyyy!!! Way to to #TheThreeMakanteers! 

Here is the crunch…we scored 99 points while the first and second placed teams received 100 points…that damn Roti Bom spelling cause us a better position. ARGHH…butttttttt…it’s ok. All is good…I mean…last minute replacement…RM30 registration and go home with 32” Samsung LED TV…that is worth all the effort kan???

Dah tu first time pulak menang besau camni! Keje makan candy and cendol…tu je! Kalau tak grateful memang beruk lar jawapnyer kan. Plus it was another good memory to add to 2015. Allianz Foodie Hunt was my 3^rd food hunt and we were team number 3 to register and we won 3^rd place. Siapa nak amek nombo ekor cepat cuba tgk…mana tau tetiba win RM3,333,333.33 (plus minus GST)…hehehe gitew.

#TheThreeMakanteers Foodies Foot! 

Anyways, thank you very much to my team mates Adam and Lau for putting up with my tantrums and sewelness during the race. Sorry if I had cross the line, no hard feelings ok. God willing next round we team up again ok. Kalau sudi lar yer. All hail The Three Makanteers! 

Many thanks to Allianz Malaysia for organizing the Foodie Hunt and bravo to Timeout Solutions for another amazing hunt! 

Momentum Review

The hunter and the hunted. 

Momentum Review - Never underestimate a women’s power!

Don't let her petite size fool you. 

Alex (Olga Kurylenko) is caught in a cat and mouse game when all her criminal partners are killed after a bank heist. Little did she knew that the diamonds along with a ‘drive’ containing a very valuable information is about of cost her life. With time running out and she finally getting captured by her chaser, can Alex make one last getaway to find out the truth about the drive?

She will do whatever it takes! 

The Momentum-pun intended of this movie goes on full action mode from the word get-go! The way Alex tries of stay one step ahead of the baddies who are after her is interesting to watch. Add the ‘conversation’ parts between Alex and Mr. Washington, it was both entertaining and annoying. Meanwhile Olga who was in Quantum of Solace before looked like she could really kick James Bond arse in this flick as well.

Will there be a sequel? 

The ending suggested a sequel, I just hope it will improve and progress from of the flaws on this film.

Crimson Peak Review

Wanna move into Crimson Peak? 

Crimson Peak Review - Careful who you marry!

The players and the preys. 

Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is an aspiring author who falls in love and marries the charismatic yet shadowy inventor called Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). After the death of her father, Edith moves to Thomas hometown called Crimson Peak and both of them live together with Thomas sister, Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain) in a run-down manor. Years before Edith meets Thomas, her dead mother warns her about Crimson Peak and soon after warning comes from different ‘entities roaming’ around the mansion. Edith starts to dig deeper until she uncovers a horrible truth surrounding the Sharpe siblings and the estate of Crimson Peak. Will she make it out alive and fall prey to a cruel manipulation? 

Heed the warning or pay the price. 

All the main cast consisting of Tom, Mia and especially Jessica was top notch in this gothic kind of flick which was good distraction from a weak storyline. I managed to ‘see’ the twist way before it was revealed. Another diversion was in the form of beautiful costume and set designs. The wardrobe was elegant while the set was creepy enough to send chill down one’s spine. I would not dare to explore the mansion even in broad daylight let alone in dark! I also didn’t like the cheap thrills of CGI capturing the entities, it was scary but didn’t leave much impression after it was gone.   

Would you dare to seek the truth behind the wall? 

Overall it was kinda of a let-down for me. I was hoping to have nightmares after watching it yet all I got was…how do I say it…my supposed to be WOW but instead it turned into a mere MEH. 

P/s - Thank you HypeMY for the preview tickets.

Mr. Holmes Review

Still a dapper looking Detective 

Mr. Holmes Review - Will the once famous detective still be active or fade into obscurity? 

Holmes Logic...

Everyone knows the story of detective Sherlock Homes when he was younger but what happened to him towards his twilight year? Well into his 90’s he has trouble remembering names let alone cases that he once investigated. With a help of his housekeeper brilliant son, Roger, Holmes slowly jog his memory on his last investigation while taking care of his bee hives on a small sleepy town.

Let me take a closer look. 

After playing the memorable roles of Gandalf and Magneto in The Lord of the Rings and X-Men series respectively, there is no stopping Sir Ian McKellen from adding another prolific role to his resume. He embodies the character well and it’s interesting to watch him play a very excellent and eccentric character. Special mention goes to Milo Parker who plays Roger, he is just a charming young fella who will definitely grow into an incredible talent. The storyline is an old English style so one have to bare before the interesting portion of the movie rolls out but when it does, it is a well worth.

Watch out for the boy! 

I’ve always liked movie from across the pond such as Love Actually, Bridgett Jones (sequel coming up soon!) Love, Rosie (you get the flow) because it’s quite different from their Hollywood counter-part. Perhaps it’s the posh part that are missing but Hail Britannia for covering the story portion of a movie instead of just focusing on the special effects. Mr. Holmes is one definitely such gem.