Kolumpo Review

3-in-1 

Kolumpo Review – Kay Hell, Kola Lampor, KL dowh! These are some of the nicknames for our beloved ‘concrete jungle’ of Malaysia and now add another one, Kolumpo. I was born and bred in KL and it was nice to see my ‘city’ portrayed under a different light in this ‘en-lighting’ 3-in-1 movie combo. What sadden me was the cinema hall was close to empty because most movie-goers were flocking to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster release or local movies that seem to have no other storyline besides ‘hantu’ and ‘gangsters’. Pffffffffffffftttttt…owh how I miss Yasmin Ahmad but thank God for the three wonderful Directors Sheikh Munasar, Rozi Izma and Bront Palarae for restoring some faith and ‘life’ into local movie making.   

Sure grass is greener on the other side? 

As I mentioned, it’s a ‘tiga-dalam-satu wayang’ which starts off with the arrival of Rahul from India having a dream of landing a job in the city. He gets conned the moment he lands at the airport by having to pay RM250 for the ‘kereta sapu’ service from the LCCT to Masjid Jamek. Sounds familiar? Sigh…what a ‘good impression’ for the upcoming Visit Malaysia year 2014 ey? Rahul makes his way to the agency only to be told that the company have gone kaput. A ‘kind-hearted’ man takes him in and offers Rahul job, place to stay, food and work permit. The ‘kind man’ however takes away Rahul’s passport thus making Rahul part of thousands illegal immigrant workers who gets cheated by crooks taking advantage of the poor souls trying to make an honest living. Rahul goes on with his life until his ‘luck’ runs out and he gets caught by the Immigration Department but then, there is a silver lining after all…

Nama siapa? Keje apa? Tinggal mana? Bapak ada lagi? Dah kawin belum?
Oooooooo.....I miss my Pati now :( 

Moving on to the second story…I hate to admit it but I actually felt guilty watching Gienna (Nell Ng) avoiding calls from the mother. I’ve done it before and huhuhu…still do it. You’d be lying if you said you have never done it kan? Jangan nak tipu ok! We all have that….ughhhhh….’Why you calling me?’ ‘What you wantttttttttttttt?’ question mark in our head when we see ‘that’ incoming call. You can even ‘have’ a conversation on how the call is going to be like before you answer the phone rite? While avoiding her Mom’s call, Gienna gets ‘stuck’ trying to send home a lost nenek called ‘Nek Wok’ (played brilliantly by veteran Ruminah Sidek)! Both of them go on a mini road trip from Ampang to Setapak and finally arrive at the destination only for Gienna to realize her ‘mistake’ towards her own mother at which point I myself realize my own mistakes as well….sigh….

Change while you still can....

Meanwhile…the third story comes with few questions being thrown at the audience…’aku bukan lelaki ke kalau tak merokok? tak layan lagu rock? tade awek? Well…by all means, of coz not. That’s the dilemma faced by Hafid who is a ‘good boy’ yang tade awek. He bumps into Hayy (played by cutie pie Sharifah Amani) by chance because they missed the last train. After getting a bit of street steamboat, helping a drunken girl get into a cab to her home at Kota Damansara and meeting a 'wig seller'. They go on a walk about while talking, laughing and getting to know each other better. Hayy strike a chord with Hafid making him to re-think his perception on finding an ‘awek’. Next thing you know, fate presents him with an opportunity. Will he take his chance this time?

Kolumpo under the a different light....

Now about the cast, each of them was made for their role. Who needs big names when you have real raw talent without any help from silly special effects? Your expression is all you need if you are naturally gifted. It was fun and heart-warming watching them go thru their life in the big city. Surviving each day as it goes. We seldom get to ‘see’ a place we thought we knew unless we explore and experience it from a different point of view. This movie provoked few thoughts in me about re-evaluating my own perception about life. We rarely witness a special gem like this on our screen so by all means, ditch the typical big budget flicks and sit and enjoy this ‘permata’ instead. Trust me, you won’t regret it. 

#TSDayOut Slackline Edition

#TSDayOut Slackline Edition

Amacam? Ada berani mau joing? 

“Deyyy…Y U so ‘slack’ one weyyyyyyyy?” I bet you have said these words to your friends when they mess things up or also ‘Haiya….Y today so ‘slack’ one ah?’ when you had a bad day. It’s an expression that is usually associated when you are ‘bengang’ about something but add another ‘line’-pun intended to the word making it ‘Slackline’ then voila….you get a whole new meaning out of it. According to ‘Mani-pedia’ after experiencing it thru another awesome #TSDayOut organized by Tourism Selangor (TS) …I hereby certify that it is a fun way to pass your time with your crazy friends/family….heck even with strangers.

Slack or go home! 

As usual, I was browsing the world wide weird web made even weirder by the social network site called Facebook and stumble (konon lar) upon TS’s page for their latest and final day out for year 2013…awwwww…but wait….it’s only the last one for this year….next year one I hope will be gempak’er!  Weeeehoooo….ok ok…sabar Mani…ni kena blog pasal Slackline…so sila jangan get offline (hehehe another lame pun joke…I know! Sue me!)

As usual, I submitted my name but wait…aculi no need oso rupanya because I won the blog post contest for the previous #TSDayOut Banting Edition (Yippieeeeee!!!) (*Disclaimer – I don’t…I repeat I don’t have inside information nor do I work for Tourism Selangor….because more than once people ask me how does it feel to work for them….like whertttttttttt??? Bila masa pula oi??? Kalau my current Boss hears this abis aku kena tanam anggur tau tak?) so I’m automatically got selected for this event. Next thing to do was to wait if any of my friends got selected as well. The list came out…jeng jeng jeng…yeeeeeeeeehaaaa…Amirul, Emily, Anis, Eugene….waaaaa….so many geng bas sekolah!!! I loike!!! Some names looked familiar but muka tak ingat, takpe lar….nanti boleh re-kenal balik kan?

Lucky 30 'slackers'! 

The day arrived and Milo picked me up from home and we were running a bit late but nasib baik jalan clear. We pit stop kejap at Batu Caves KTM station to pick up Emily and her friend, Aaron. Waaa….belum start oredi got new friend! Good! Good! We continued our way to the meeting point at Gua Damai, Batu Caves. Hmm…I must say…I’ve been to Batu Caves so many times over the years but never knew this place existed but then that’s the purpose of the whole #TSDayOut – to introduce us to all this wonderful places around Selangor while participating in their unique activities while making friends while being naughty (the last part only applies to me! Hehehe!)

Sudah sampai! Terrer Milo tak sesat tuh!!! 

We were one of the first few to arrive…ramai got lost trying to find the way but eventually one by one begin to arrive. While waiting, I helped myself to play at the playground. Got buaian and some exercise thingy so transfer back to zaman kanak-kakak kejap. Once TS staff arrived, they distributed the T shirt for this edition together with our roti and air kotak for those of us who tak sempat nak sarapan pagi. Good! Since I only had a glass of Milo (the drink ok!) before leaving home. This time kaler T shirt adalah….jeng jeng jeng….baby Blueeeeeee!!! 

U like? U like? 

As of now I oredi got kaler Hijau (from #TSDayOut DEMC Edition), kaler Orange (from Banting edition) and Dark Blue (from #TSDayOut Amazing Race Edition) hmm…banyak juga #TSDayOut aku dah joing rupanyer…no wonder people get confused that I work for them. 

Kanak-kanak sekalian, meh amek roti ngan air kotak! 

Anyways, since the toilet was not open yet, Emily and I went to change our T shirt inside Milo’s car. Don’t worry, we didn’t flash at each other or others. More participants begin to arrive. Loads of familiar faces. Like mini-gathering pulak dah. After semua orang dah tukar T shirt and walap their brekpas. Helena from Slackline KL began her briefing on the ‘safety’ procedure. Haaaa….takut tak? Siap kena isi form tau. Actually it’s nothing lar. It’s just standard procedure if in case you fall and break your skull…ermm….ehehehe….just kiddinggggggggggg!!! But but but…of kos safety comes first kan? 

I hereby....bla bla bla...

Listen to me if u wanna live! Gulp!!! 

Her team have already ‘set up’ few slackline, nicely and neatly tying it onto one tree across the other ones. It had few levels of heights. One sampai tahap lutut, another sampai pinggang…fuh quite tinggi jugak tuh kan? But then again, I’m a Hobbit so I felt it was high while some others said… ‘Aiseh…sap sap sui one lar!’….iyo ler tuh…sap sap sui ko. Silap haribulan jatuh cium tanah baru tau.  

Sure ketat ke tak tuh weh? 

After the briefing, Helena, demonstrated how to ‘walk on the line’. 

Gaya, mutu ke'slacker'an!!! 

Eh eh…macam senang jer, macam senang jer…maybe it looked easy to me because I used to main ‘getah’ time sekolah dulu. Not to brag tapi I was quite terrer oso lar. 

Don't scared! I got you!!!

Lepas demo, we were divided into smaller group. One by one mula step onto the line. Some did make it look simple while a few struggled to not ‘shake’ too much. 

Pegang Atuk yer Cu....jangan kasi jatuh. 

Memang kelakar tengok lemak-lemak kat badan tuh bergocang. Terus keluar statement-statement berikut…‘Damn, must lose weight!’, ‘Aku ok lar, kaki aku lemah sikit’….pfffffffftttttt…..cover line!

Caution! Watching this might cause you to laugh like Hyena! 

I'm sorry Milo, but this is too good to not post. 

After laughing at others, it was my turn and guess what…I was like a ballerina up there yo! ‘Shwinging’ from one end to the other effortlessly. Cewah….poyo tak? Ok foineeee….I did stumble here and there but that is the fun part. Falling down and getting back up again. Just like life…we fall, we stumble but we rise again then fall again….then rise again…then…well…you get the drift kan? After manage to balance my ‘walk’ in lower lines… I moved on to the slightly higher level. 

Ehem! Ehem! Ehem! *gambar disonglap dari Khai & Azuan! 

Tried to do the duduk bersila pose. Pastu….Gedebuk!!!….Adoiiiiiiiiiiii….Amma….my buntut….sakit siottttttttt!!!...eh tapi best….tadi almost berjaya so jom try again….Aummmm…..one….two….threee….crash boom bang…ok lar tu kan? 3 full seconds yo! Baru first few times tuh…if selalu practice sure can duduk macam-macam style.

Go Hobbit go...eh I mean Anis!!! Ehehehe

* Sorry video terbalik because I'm vertically challenged!

Helena’s team was on stand by helping us and giving tips on how to balance ourselves on the lines. Some of them did pretty nifty tricks on the line…loncat loncat macam tade tulang buntut jer…geram tengok. Nak try gak buat but end up being a laughing stock…Chet! Nanti korang aku gi prektis lagi. Pastu lompat sampai langit and back! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!! The walking, falling, lompating session went on till most of us managed to walk without our ‘escort’. It was all fun till the pain attacked later that evening. 

Errr....mende ko buat tuh Adam? o.O

After the new experience, we were sweaty, tired and hungry so apa lagi…..makannnnnnnn!!! 

Final one for year 2013!!! Senyum semua!!! ^_^

Drove to a shop close by and was served with their signature dish. Since I was recovering from flu…one look at the food, I started to cry. Mak datuk hang! Pedasnya cili. Jatuh hidung aku kalau makan ni but lapar punya pasal I walap jelar . Sedap memang sedap but it was spicy. Huhuhu. Sambil makan tu, it was time to submit our five (5) best photos. I submit my not so terrer photo so no surprise that I didn’t win but no matter sebab I went home with RM250 for my blog post. Woot! Woot! Just in time sebab dah pokai.

Sapedeeeeeeeeeee sapedeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Makan jangan tak makan Boss! 

Sambil makan tuh, TS resident ‘Guru Besar’, Renuga gave her speech and let the cat out of the bag. Encik Fazly is leaving TS and so is Dian. Awww….sedihnya. These two people are simply awesome sporting giler babi kinda people I’ve ever met in my life. 

Thank you Boss. I is will mish yew!!! hewhewhew 

Somehow, despite my over nakal’ness they can still layan me. Perhaps maybe sebab tu they are leaving kot? Kenot tahan me anymore oredi izzit? Aiseh… I is very the sorry. Anyhow, good luck for your future and bravo on job well done during the past two years. Working hard to make sure that we have the time of our lives during #TSDayOut.

Wacko women I'm proud to call my friend! 

After walaping the food and collecting my ‘ang pow’, us four, Milo, Emily, Aaron and I had to chow. Another awesome day out as usual and we were smiling and laughing our way home talking about the new experience. Good to know that #TSDayOut will continue to take us around Selangor next year. I look forward to explore this great Negeri.

Setiap kali sure dapat dapat kawan baru!!! 

Sempat nak pose tuh!!! 

Now, here comes my usual ucapan terima kasih, beribu-ribu terima kasih to the wonderful #TSDayOut team. You guys did and are doing a splendid job and I’m honoured to have joined so many of your activities. Best part of this is making new friends. My life has changed quite a lot since I joined my first #TSDayOut to Kuala Langat. My sincere thanks and best wishes to you guys. Keep doing watcha doing and you will have my support in every possible way.

I've come a long way!!!
#TSDayOut Kuala Langat

Krezi Krabi Trip! 

Krezi Krabi geng! 

Amazing Race #TSDayOut'ers!!! 

#TSDayOut Sky Trex Edition  

#TSDayOut DEMC Green Gang!!! 

#TSDayOut Banting survivors! 

If you have yet to join any of their outings, you have no idea what you are missing. Trust me, I know! Speaking of which…*drum roll please…they just announced that the next #TSDayOut will explore Taiwan….say whertttttttttttttt??? Taiwan!!! Damnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!! I want!!!...now, excuse me while I go search for my passport. 

Watchu waiting for? Cepat sign up!!! 

The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Review

The journey continues....

The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Review – First thing I took notice of the movie was the running time of 2 hours and 41 minutes. Gulp! Larat ke aku nak dok inside an air-conditioned cinema hall for that long? Well, I managed to and actually went longer than that because due to technical problem, the preview which was supposed to start 9 pm only begins at almost 10pm. Bengong betul. Nasib baik my partner in crime sanggup layan my nutness while waiting for the movie to begin. Can you guess what time the movie ended? Zzzzzzzzz…. *well, that’s one of the risk of watching preview’s on weekdays, have to be strong to turn up to work the next day. Just for the record, I did make it to work walaupun slept at 2am. Ok enough whining. Let’s begin the preview….eh review I mean. 

If got theme park camni syiok kan? 

If you have had read my earlier review on The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey, you would know that I was looking forward to witness the dwarfs continue their journey to Erebor. The ending was so intriguing when they showed the greedy Dragon, Smaug ‘hugging’ its gold coins and what not. Nampak ganas giler kan? Pfffffffffttttt…..think again! Ganas tu memang ganas lar but man I tell you, I would rather Smaug kill me with its fiery breath rather having to listen to it ‘talk…talk…talk…and…yup…talk some more! At one point, I wanted to go…. ‘Oi dah ler tuh….DIAMMMMMMMM…just spur your fire can or notttttttttt??? Bluek! 

Go home Smaug....you talk too much! :P

Don’t get me started about Bilbo’s journey before meeting the Dragon. Sigh…so many unwanted sub-plots. From taking refuge at ‘kejap Beruang kejap manusia guy’s house’ to getting rolled into ‘cotton bud’ by big arse spiders to being captured by Elf’s. Que Lelogas and Tauriel (thank God finally for pretty creatures to look at after having my eyes hurt at the sight of ‘fugly’ Hobbits [except Bilbo & Kili ehem] and the Orcs….yuck! Siap got scene tangkap cintan between a slightly taller Hobbit and a female Elf. If an Indian Director were to direct this, I bet they would have sing and danced their way to Erebor weh! Why so many sub-plot Mr. Peter? Pening kepala otak aku nak keep track tau tak?

Some eye candy! yummy! 

Now about the cast…tengok ni ek…. Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Benedict Cumberbatch,Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom…these are just ‘some’ of the cast members….if I were put in all…abis larek review aku ni kang…this what happens if there’s too many sub-plots. I wonder how they will share the profit for this franchise. However, each of them played their role well especially Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Ok enough said. I don’t want my review also got sub-plots. Hehehe 

Mana aku nak cari batu bodoh ni? 

As a person who initially didn’t want to be part of The Hobbit but then fell into the trap accidently, all I can say…this continuation was kinda so so only for me. The first one was way better. If the first one was anything like this flick, I would not have continued my journey with the Hobbits. Now I gotta wait till end of next year to find out what gonna happen. Bluergh….my only wish…Smaug will talk less. Sekian. 

Thank you Churp Churp for the preview tickets...at least one awesome thing was, I bumped into so many of my friends! Wiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Enough Said Review

Odd couple!!! 

Enough Said Review – With the recent flooding of blockbuster flicks for the end of the year, Enough Said is just the kind of light hearted movie I was looking for to unwind. Perhaps reaching mid 30’s, I could relate to the film better. It doesn’t boost any special effects, complex story line but just plain simple view about life after divorce for a middle aged man and woman whom are so unlikely to fall in love. 

Go out so you can mingle....never know what kinda people you might click with! 

It’s a story about Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfield fame) as single divorced mom working as a masseuse and is about to ‘let’ her daugther go away from her to further her studies. By day Eva have to listen to her clients whine, risk seeing some ‘boners’ and what not while at night sometimes, she follow her best friend, Sarah (Toni Collette) to party. Speaking of which, at one of the parties, she bumps into Marianne (Catherine Keener), a real poet whom have actually published her poems on book and also a flabby guy by the name of Albert (the late James Gandolfini of The Sopranos fame). Marianne start using Eva’s massage service for her bad shoulder while going on and on about her ex-husband every time they meet. In the meantime, the chemistry between Eva and Albert light a spark so they start to date. Remember the saying, it’s a small world after all? Well, turns out in this film, Eva’s world is indeed small and it actually collide during an awkward moment. What’s will happen? 

White or red....wine.....

I remember growing up watching Julia as Elaine in Seinfield and it was nice seeing her again after a long time. She could do no wrong playing Eva. A mother, masseuse, girlfriend...while James...well...he was just like a huge teddy bear. So soft spoken with a good sense of humour, I might just fall for a guy like him in real life despite his ‘fat bits’ and Bear beard! Hey, you know what they say...looks may go away but personality stay ey? The rest of the cast, Catherine...God...she some point got me going like...walauwey...Y you complain so much about your Ex one ah? You don’t even have friends wey. Meaning she played her part well. Toni was also a delight to watch. Good ensemble of actors for this simple movie. 

Love can be blind...

If you think there is no hope for finding love if you get divorved during your middle age, well think again. Love is out there somewhere and you never know whom you might fall in love with again. What is a wrong pairing for one couple might be the right pairing for you. Catch this flick with your buddy who have doubt about finding the right one and you both might walk out with a renewed faith about love. I think I’ve said enough about Enough Said! Now you go watch and have your say!   

Thank you ChurpChurp for the tickets!!! 

Ender’s Game Review

Are you ready to play the game? 

Ender’s Game Review – Another movie adopted from a book written almost 30 years ago about humans fighting to survive against alien bug race. Is it any good you ask? If you remember ‘Starship Troopers’ which came out in the 90’s and have watched it and then watch Ender’s Game, you will breath in relief at how much better this Ender’s Game is. I know I did. It was way better than I expected. You don’t need stupid nude scenes and ‘alien-bug-that-looks-like-a-vagina’ to make a movie. Simply hire good actors and add proper CGI and voila, almost a master piece is on the big screen. 

Launchie ready to command! 

The movie kicks off with Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), an odd boy who kicks arse at so called ‘video game’ and gets bullied, but once you get on his wrong side, get ready to get whacked, I mean like whacked kao kao. He does that to avoid getting picked on in the future. This odd defence mechanism catches the attention of Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) who promotes Ender to the Battle School to command his own armada against the ‘Formics’. The ‘Launchies’ are trained every way possible to face the enemy who once almost cause human race to go into extinction. A heroic action by International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) was the only way humans survived the invasion. Ever since then, the human have been vary of the formics and preparing the wipe the species of the Universe. Will they succeed under the command of Ender? Jeng jeng jeng....

Look out for this talented boy!!! 

Now the cast...this boy Asa Butterfiled literally carried the movie on his shoulder wey. His expression were priceless! Muka memang fuh! Plus his voice had some special umph when he threatens his opponent and to think he was on the screen with legends such as Harrison and Kingsley. The world should watch out for this boy. I see great things from him. As for the rest of the cast, they played their roles well when it was their turn but Asa really blew the rest of the cast away. The alien however looked weak so it was kinda lame to think that ‘they’ almost killed every human beings earlier. Maybe after they got their arse (if they had any) whooped, they sorta mellowed, I don’t know...I’m just speculating. 

Don't mess with Ender!!!

Overall, it was an entertaining watch. With futuristic battles with ala ‘Minority Report’ kinda moving screen. You can see how much the film industry have developed in the special effects area. The cast was well picked to match the characters. The music was well suited. If you are looking for light entertainment while wanting to feel like you are in the battlefield on space. Go get your tickets now and get ready to play the Ender’s Game!