Movies I love...

Been watching foreign stuff lately - would like to humbly recommend a German film, Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei (btw in Australia it was titled The Edukators).



I love the film cause it has an uber cool, super down-played ending, above a great plot and the many clever debates. But of course the actor Stipe Erceg (the guy left-most), who looked more like a couldn't-care-less-about-the-world rock star rather than a young man with world-changing idealism, with his oh-so-macho looks, helps!

I also saw a French love story - Jeux d'enfants (English title Love Me If You Dare but according to a guy born in Avignon it translates closer to "games children play" if his English's good enough) - which Bob was telling me about during one of our rare teh-tarik bump in CM, but I never expected to have the chance to watch for "free".



Tis hard not to fall in love with this movie, cause the love tale between Sophie and Julien spanned throughout their lifetime. And the games they play... Inspiring, horrifying... Let me just say if you and your significant other are both the competitive type, maybe you should not watch this film - it'll give you strange ideas! Anyway the movie definately thought me a thing or two about jodoh... iye... jodoh...

Have any of you watched good movies? Recommendations?

p/s: Photos and review links goes to www.german-cinema.de and www.paramountclassics.com - thanks for lendin!

Why can't girls have four BFs each?

Who says girls can't have four guys to call her own? Of course a girl can. The only problem is, in the end when a girl wants to go on her honeymoon, she can only bring one.

In this world where Faizal Hussein, Johnny Depp, Takeshi Sorimachi and BC are breathing the same air and looking at the same moon as I am, how can a girl choose?

As Malcolm in the Middle would argue, life is unfair..

An island in the tropical heat

Eversince a colleague was sent to Bali for a product launching assignment I've been eyeing for a island-trip-tropical-beach-all-exotic assignment too... and finally one landed on my lap today.

When you think of it as an assignment, a product launch in fact, it may not seem so exciting. However, place the event on an island, a tropical island, an island well known for good food - hey why not?

Penang, here I come!

It does not always rain when a pig squeals

Yesterday my boss was enjoying a bunch of what is being called the new-age, modern Malay proverbs, involving classic sayings like "Kerbau dipegang pada talinya, manusia dipegang pada janjinya" was turned into "Lembu dipegang pada tali, manusia dipegang pada tangan."

And he goes, "Wargh wargh wargh, that's so funny!" - I winced inwardly. At times I could just let it pass as harmless fun, but at this point in life, when you finally understand certain things like legacy, identity and patriotism, I feel the pain of my dwindling heritage! Sorry, can't appreciate such jokes anymore.

I mean, I love it when people say, "Kecil tapak tangan, nyiru saya tadahkan" - the easiest way to show sincerity and willingness to take you in.

And I rather anyone drop hints like "Terima kasih daun keladi..." than hearing something as direct as, "Esok aku nak kau tolong aku lagi tau."

And to me "Pinggan tak retak, nasi tak dingin" is probably the most pedas yet subtle brush off. Though so, I can't help but note how close the Malay proverb is to the Malay lifestyle and daily routine, to nature and the nature of things.

If you check today's NST/Life & Times, you'll find a piece of American proverb on the cartoons page that goes, "It does not always rain when a pig squeals."

Ugh, how can that beat our very own "Dengar guruh di langit, air di tempayan dicurahkan" or even Ella and Deddy Dores' "Mendung tak bererti hujan..."

Buying handphone? Don't deal with any Ah Beng resellers in Pertama Complex!

So many stories lately being told to me by friends who advised against going to Pertama Complex to buy handphones - "Don't go to Pertama, no matter how desperate you are," so they would say. The Ah Beng sellers there will sweet talk you, and you'll be cheated, tricked, swindled, deceived, conned, scammed, framed, shammed, shucked, and hustled mercilessly.

One friend said she bought a phone - didn't sign any form but left them her name on the warranty card, after all she already have a post-paid line - and suddenly about three weeks later she was notified by her telco that she had already agreed to sign up for a twelve months contract for a new corporate post-paid line. She had to go back to the same Ah Beng in Pertama, and when she could not find him, go to the telco's office to cancel her line, which costed her about RM150...

Another friend said he bought a handphone that was supposed to be new, but after a couple of days the set went bonkers - the speakers failed. He sent it for a check up and warranty claim, and found out that the warranty has expired for that particular set - yep, it was a second hand set that he bought - they just changed the housing, in fact he even found some messages in the Sent Items folder (stolen set!). Of course he tried to relocate the same Ah Beng and the same store from which he bought the phone, but both man and shop were gone...

A colleague also traded in his handphone and bought a set from an Ah Beng in Pertama. He went around all the shops, and found this one store selling the model he wanted for just RM20 lower than the rest of the store. The catch was, the charger was not included. And the charger costs about RM70...

But I had no choice but to go there recently - due to some dealings made by some people in my office with a certain phones distributor who has several shops there - and purchase one unit for the office.

And true enough - there were lots of conniving Ah Bengs there! One tried to sell me a second hand unit and I only found out after I checked the Sent Item folder (thank God I had heard my friend's story), and he also tried to sell me a unit sans the charger as well.

Another Ah Beng (at the same store, haiya, if only I could go to some respectable stores elsewhere and forget about the deal with the distributor!), when asked for a little discount simply wave me away called me crazy (lei kong meh ah, chi sin ah? pat chi so wai - hello, no use going to school in Ipoh and not learn how to cuss in Cantonese!). As if I don't know their competitors in Sg Wang sells it a bit cheaper (wish I could go there instead!)...

I gave up - called the guys at the office and said if they want the phone, just wait for the distributor to send one to us, no need to rush lah. If the review miss the mag's deadline, then so be it. And if due to that the distributor wishes to cancel advertising with us, take it as fated!

So to all reading my post - stay away from the Ah Beng phone resellers in Pertama! After all, pricing is similar if not cheaper in Sg Wang, and I bet the resellers there are more polite too.