AFTERIMAGES (鬼影) - Singapore Horror Film

After a tiring outdoor event (Families For Life Celebration 2014) at the Singapore Sports Hub, Bro his friends (ZW and RH) and I decided to end the day with a horror flick - Afterimages.   

4 tickets to the movie and complimentary 1 graphic novel

Afterimages is a Singaporean horror film anthology of five short horror stories with an international cast starring Robert Warnock (Richard Wylie), Melissa Faith Yeo (Amy Tan), Adeline Pang (Yasmin), Vincent Tee (Hok Leng) and more. 

It all started when this group of students burn paper offerings for the wondering spirits during the ghost month, one of the items in the paper offerings includes a camera and the next day, they receive photographs. So they try to burn video cameras and in return they receive films which the students watched. 

Ghost Pool Leg (鬼拉脚)

The first story, Ghost Pool Leg revolves around the Chinese superstition in which ghosts are believed to pull swimmers legs to make them drown. A cocky expat ignored the warning of a security guard and begin his late night swimming excursions and have some strange encounters. I love the underwater shooting of this story. It was beautifully filmed. 

Xiao Bao Bao (小宝宝)

The second story, Xiao Bao Bao is about a young woman (Melissa Faith Yeo) who used her handphone to take photos of the corpse of another woman who fell to death from the 29th storey of her block. This put her through nightmares and trauma with the ghost haunting her. But actually, the ghost needs a favour from her and she was left in peace after she done the favour for the ghost. There was a few scary scenes here, the ghost appearing in her house and the suspense of her taking the lift to the 29th storey. However, the story ended in a light note with the ghost thanking her for so called doing the last favour for her. We then concluded that she fell because she wanted to get her baby's favourite towel and not because of suicide. 

Skin Deep

The third story, Skin Deep talks about a group of unrelated shoppers getting stuck in a mall elevator with this beautiful and mysterious woman called Yasmin (Adeline Pang). She holds a deep and dark secret. At first, everyone was fine and started making friends with one another to pass time. Chaos started when two of the passengers inside the elevator, including this mysterious woman had an asthma attack. Yasmin then reveal the truth of her lasting beauty. She actually had bomoh needles under the skin on her face, and it is the needles that kept her young and beautiful. Her real age is actually that of an old lady (revealed when she dropped her bag and her passport falls out). However, she had a price to pay, that is she has to remove all the needles if she were to die if not she will burnt in hell forever. So, she thinking that she will die in the elevator with her asthma attack, cut open her own face and removed all the golden needles. As she was removing the last needle and feeling glad, the lift door opened, everybody went out and she just lie on the ground and turning old. This story is not scary at all but it kept audience anticipating what is her secret. 

Picture Source: http://paranormal-around.blogspot.sg/2013/01/needles-inserted-into-body-by-bomoh-to.html

Ok, I'm really curious about this golden needle story so I went online to search. So the actual term is called Susuk. The link for the newspaper articles provides a lot of other interesting reads on the paranormal stories. Not that I want to have any encounters with the supernatural but this cannot be explained happenings really gets me very curious and want to read up more.   

Rekindling 

The forth story features a heart-broken hawker acted by Veteran actor Vincent Tee, a missing China bride, a mysterious ring, and a popular dish called "lady's fingers" that make up for this gruesome tale. There's some light-hearted scenes here. 

Burnt Offering

The last story, Burnt Offering is the whole wrap-around story that completes the movie as we follow this group of friends who have been receiving free films in return of their paper video camera offerings. Well, receiving something from the other side definitely does not bring them any good fortune, for this last film is something personal. They see how they died in this last film and as they were seeing, the reality happened. 

Picture Source/Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/aihorror

Overall, I think this movie has quite an interesting plot. The stories are all very local and something we can relate to. There's not too much of a scary factor, I didn't try to cover my eyes although I did try to cover my ears for the loud sound effect. On the bus home, we met with a strange man who talks loudly to everybody and keep asking the other passenger to help him check something. That's when I think, what could be more scary than reality? Horror movies, it's all about the make-up and the loud sound effect. 

Picture Source/Official Website : http://aihorror.com/afterimages/

For those who would have missed this movie, you may wish to download their graphic novel on the App Store for FREE. Go download and read all the stories. After that come back to read my blog ya? Hehe, thanks for reading! 

Gala Premiere : Saving General Yang 忠烈楊家將 at Festive Grand Theatre

The Gala Premiere for Saving General Yang 忠烈楊家將 was successfully held at the Festive Grand Theatre, Resorts World Sentosa and I felt so lucky I'm there to watch it before it was officially release on the 4th April 2013. Not only that, the appearance of Ekin Cheng, Wu Chun, Vic Chou and Director Ronny Yu during the red carpet held before the movie was a big bonus!  

Was already looking forward to this Gala Premiere since yesterday when bro told me he won a pair of tickets from the PIONEER Magazine contest and he can bring me if I can make it. He choose to ask me before his friends as you can see, the casts are all tall and handsome guys so must ask someone who can appreciate better. Woohoo. Hahaha.  

  Look at the huge crowds consisting of fans, media, photographer and public that has been there since around 7.30pm for the red carpet!!! We were there around that time too in order to get a good standing spot for good view later on. 

It's only until around 8.30pm before the host, Jiahui and Kun Hua from Y.E.S. 93.3FM came to the stage. I was sweating and fidgeting like mad by then. 

And finally... The special appearance!!! OMG! Everybody just went crazy snapping photos. But why Wu Chun looked so sad in this photo and Ekin face was being blocked and Vic Zai Zai's face was cut off. Only Director Ronny Yu's has a great smile but his eyes was closed! Alamak. 

Much nicer photos taken later. Thanks bro for helping me to take these photos. Being taller has got him much better view than me. The photos I took ALL are photos of other cameras only! Sad face.   

Another chance for us to take photos of the idols. 

   How can my post don't have a single photo of me??? Lolol!!! Ok, so before I continue with the movie review, here's the only photo I took of myself inside the theatre.

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All photos below are credited to : Google Search

Saving General Yang is a Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu and the storyline is based on the legendary Generals of the Yang Family. Knowing that this type of historical movie might not interest the youngsters that much, the director decided to make it into an idol- like drama show. Thus, he is very selective of the casts. The height of the guys must be above 1.80m and the weapons are much taller. Basically, this movie would like to bring out the message of loyalty to the country as well as filial piety of the seven sons to their father during this wartime in the Song Dynasty.    

Adam Cheng as General Yang and his seven son - Ekin Cheng as Yang Dalang, Yu Bo as Yang Erlang, Vic Chou as Yang Sanlang, Li Chen as Yang Silang, Raymond Lam as Yang Wulang, Wu Chun as Yang Liulang and Fu Xinbo as Yang Qilang.  

Do not be late for the movie cause the opening scene shows Wu Chun and Fu Xinbo topless!!! WOWOWOW!!! Cannot miss okay? So handsome~~ This first scene is actually a punishment scene. Want to know why? Go watch the movie tomorrow. I shall not be a spoiler here. Hehe. 

According to the director, Ekin Cheng was chosen to take up the role of the eldest son as he has the 大哥的风范。In my opinion, I think it's cause he's the oldest there. :X 

Vic Chou only have like 5 lines in the movie. His role is mainly focused on his emotions and his facial expression which he has indeed handled really well. Director said that he and Zai Zai meet up for a chat before the production and Zai Zai only speak three lines to him, "Hello!" "How you want me to act?" "Thank you!" There is one act of him with a baby and you can really feel his love through his eyes. Zai Zai is also happy with this 沉默寡言 role. 他模拟狼的眼神就是他为这部电影做的功课。And I totally liked this scene as in the above photo. He and the enemy was trying to hunt each other down and the arrows just keep shooting through the tall field. The ending for him was a bit shocking and unexpected. 

     

The director spent a lot of time with every actor to get to know them better. Wu Chun was touched when the director told him about this story and after some research, he was even more fond of this storyline as it touches the family matters. There is a horse riding scene whereby he have to carry his father on his back and everything is real. He's not sitting on a fake horse. So the effect is truly impressive. 

The seven brothers with their different weapons and armors. This is a very thrilling and action-packed movie. During filming, nobody would feel scare, all they hoped is that they won't have to repeat the scene again. 

保证看完这部电影后一定会感动与震撼，不会失望。

Remember to watch it when it's out in the cinema! 

Thanks for reading! :)

Taiwan Trip Day 1 : Departure - Hui Lien : Taroko National Park - Stone House Minsu

Hello everyone, with a blink of an eye, I'm back in Singapore again. Lots of photos taken but they were all scattered around in my camera, iPhone, iPad and some with my father's camera. So it would really take me some time to sort through them and upload them. As I browsed through those photos, I'm beginning to miss Taiwan already. It's the best experience I had out of all my Free and Easy Trips so far. The sceneries there are beautiful, food is nice, people are warm and friendly and there's so much to shop! Oh, and most importantly I didn't get scammed. 4 days 3 nights is definitely not enough. How I wished I'm living there. You know, when you feel bored over the weekend and there's nothing to do, you can just take a train and go explore.  

Here's a photo of the people who are travelling on this trip while waiting for our departure at Changi Airport Terminal 1. What can you see? Seriously, all our habits and emotions are displayed in this photo, like it or not. Haha. There's my parents who are the first time flyers looking sleepy yet excited. There's me, the lazy one sleeping away like a sleeping beauty. *Ahem* There's my brother, who's constantly connected when there's wi-fi available and there's bf who's always on the look-out for food.

I made this booking as early as last year's December when Jetstar is having the 1-for-1 promotions. Got to know about this great deal through my friend, Cindy. Total cost to and fro is about S$1,400+ for the five of us. Reasonable. Early, this year, Jetstar emailed me that there's some changes to my flight itinerary which ends up to be in my favour. Cause instead of arriving at Taiwan at 11am, now we arrived at Taiwan at 6am. Save more time. 

We arrived at Taoyuan International Airport at 6am. Dragging our luggages around, we try to hunt for breakfast while finding a way to contact Auntie Liu, the owner of Stone House Minsu (石頭的家). My homestay in Hualien. I must say, throughout this trip we met with a lot of warm and friendly Taiwanese people around. First, is the lady who was stationed at the passport chopping counter. When she realised that it's my father's birthday today, she took the initiative to wish him Happy Birthday. After we cleared the airport customs, we met with another young guy who coincidentally is from Hualien too and he taught us how to travel to Hualien from the airport. He also told us a NT10 coin is enough for me to call Auntie Liu. Taiwan Country Code is 886 by the way and minus the 0 if I should called from my handphone. There was nothing much to eat as the Airport was under major renovation. Managed to grab some quick bites at the Hi-Life convenience store. Spotted a very interesting bento set which is packaged like a manga.

      
So how to go to Hualien from Taoyuan International Airport? I have did checked through some travel websites and even "asked" Google Map but I remember nothing when I'm there cause there were so many bus and train system there. So, we depends on the directions given. 

Bought the bus ticket from the counter. There's like 6 or 7 different bus operator there but only two bus Company goes to Taipei Main Station. That is Da You or Guo Guang.

Some of the stuff which I felt are rather interesting. Can't be found in Singapore.

At Taipei Main Station, it takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach Hualien from Taipei. Due to the fact that we bought the train ticket so last minute, we all only managed to get No Seat tickets. Sob.

Ostomate toilet for those with special needs. 

Remember our tickets with that states No Seat? We were taught that we could just find any empty seats and sit down first before we get chased off because sometime, that person who bought the tickets might not be boarding the train. So the five of us found seats and sat down. Bro and my parents got chased off after a few station. Only us still remained seated throughout the whole journey. How lucky. We even bought bento set to eat on the train. The no eating and drinking rules on Singapore MRT doesn't apply here, Thank goodness.

2 and 1/2 hour on train is really bored so I took out my iPad and start snapping the sceneries through the train window. Created this beautiful collage with most of the snapshots. Nice?



TO BE CONTINUED

Circle Line Discovery - Buona Vista -> Botanic Gardens -> Haw Par Villa

Went for the Circle Line Discovery with mum, Tecky and bf. Today is the one and only day that the public got to explore the 12 new stations (Caldecott, Botanic Gardens, Farrer Road, Holland Village, Buona Vista, One-North, Kent Ridge, Haw Par Villa, Pasir Panjang, Labrador Park, Telok Blangah and HarbourFront) for FREE! 

Stop 1 - Buona Vista (Interchange)

The hilarious circle line musical consisting of music, dance and comedy starring Irene Ang, Alaric Tay and Chua Enlai was held at 10am at the Buona Vista station so this is our first stop. It's also the stop nearest to us anyway. We arrived abit late so we did not get the chance to sit below the main stage, instead we were ushered to the side there to watch the musical from the big screens. 

Below are three videos which I've taken of the musical. 

First video featuring Mr Yam Ah Mee - The superstar from all the channels!! Introducing Caldecott station. So funny, cheers me up everytime I watched it! HAHAHA. Must watch the video till the end as we can see Yam Ah Mee and the rest of the cast joining in the Bhangra dance.

Second Video introducing Haw Par Villa station and a Chinese Opera at the end. 

The third video introducing Holland Village station and a Jazz song.

Stop 2 - Botanic Garden

The activity at the Botanic Garden station is for us to make our own origami flowers to bring home. 

Materials are all provided free of charge. Coloured papers, scissors, glitters, stick for the stem, etc. 

Step-by-step instruction was pasted on the table for us to follow but this lily is extremely hard to master. I can only do up till step 5. Even the friendly volunteers present there decided to teach us to fold hearts instead. LOL.

If you know how to fold it, it's actually very nice.

Bro ended up folding hearts. I give up hope trying but don't want to fold the heart. Bf is still trying to fold that Lily.

This uncle is even more PRO. He's folding a plane, no, it's a bird. Fly birdie fly~

Since I'm not interested in folding the heart and couldn't fold the Lily, and couldn't master the bird, I went to the other table and it's another set of instructions for another type of flower! 

The blossoms! 

All the kids (including me) learnt how to fold the blossom from this young lady in black. She's super helpful and friendly. Luckily, it's quite easy to fold this blossom.

Happy with my simple masterpiece. Haha.

Pei Fen from Radio station Yes 93.3 Fm. 

Exited from the station as we are going to have our lunch here.

While walking, bf is still trying to fold that Lily. Really very good spirit. 

Arrived at Adam Food Centre. It was opened since 1974 and Nasi Singapore have been there since Day One! An unlucky incident happened to me here. One bird is so good with it's timing and aiming, it dropped it's poo poo right on my leg!!! I was feeling something warm then and I thought it's the lady beside me who just came back with her food spill something onto me. After I saw that it's the bird's poo poo, I just scream and I think I frighten the two ladies sitting beside us. Zzz. Them and us immediately changed seat. 

With that my mood went down but wait a minute, bf manged to fold out the origami lily for me! Yay! So I was happy again. Hahaha. 

OMG!! Competing Nasi Lemak stalls operating side by side. Both stalls have the same equal long queue! In the end before the two queue diverge out, I picked on Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak. Tried to brainwash them to eat nasi lemak (so that I can ask them to queue for me. xP) but was unsuccessful. In the end, everyone had finished their lunch and I'm still queuing okay. Dotz. 

So, this is it! After queuing so long. My $5.50 nasi lemak. Well, it wasn't as fantastic as I've imagined it to be. Lesson learnt, don't joined in the queue when you have no idea what you are queuing for. Sometime, long queue doesn't always mean that thing is nice. It might be due to the stall assistant took very long to cook and prepare. 

Nice art works at Botanic Garden station. 

Farrer Road station

Just alight here to check out this astract art by Erzan Adam. The abstract lines symbolizes unity in art and the community.  

Stop 3 - Haw Par Villa

Here we spend the rest of the afternoon at the Haw Par Villa, which was formerly called Tiger Balm Gardens and immerse ourselves by walking through the statues that represented the rich Chinese legends and folklore. It's a truly educational tour since the last time I visited was when I was really really young and my memory left of here was that there used to be two water slides which is so fun to play with. Now, I make it a point to read the introduction at the signboard in front of each statue. I try my best, but the weather is so hot, so I have to take photos of them and read them at my leisure time like now as I blogged. 

We have the Living Buddha Ji Gong. He's very famous since there's always some TV show on him.

He's the Opium War Hero - Lin Zhe Xu

Goddess of Mercy

Cool.

Scary leh.

Very meaningful sentence which I agree totally. Translated to be "Virtue has it's rewards, evil its retributation. The payback is just a matter of time."

With that, we stepped into what Haw Par Villa is famour for, their 10 courts of hell! Basically, inside we see the depiction of where the souls are taken after death and the different punishments given to atone for the sins committed when alive.

First court of Hell : Yama : King Qinguang

Second Court of Hell : Yama : King Chujiang

Punishment includes being thrown into volcanic pit, frozen into blocks of ice or thrown into a pool of blood and drowned.

Third court of hell : Yama : King Songdi

The souls got their heart cut-out or tied to red hot copper pillar and grilled.

Fourth court of hell : Yama : King Wuguan

Souls are pounded by stone mallet or grounded by a large stone.

Fifth Court of hell : Yama : King Yanluo

Souls are thrown onto a hill of knives.

Sixth court of hell : Yama : King Piencheng

Souls are being thrown onto a tree of knives.

Seventh court of hell : Yama : King Taishan

Tongue being pull out or thrown into wok of boiling oil. 

Eighth court of hell : Yama : King Dushi

Intestines and organs are pulled our and body dismembered.

Ninth court of hell : Yama : King Pingdeng

Head and arms chopped off.

Tenth court of hell : Yama : King Zhuanlun

Here there is the "Wheel of Reincarnation" and the "Pavillion of Forgetfulness". After drinking the cup of magic tea from Men Po which on drinking, makes the souls forget their past lives. They then go through the "Wheel of Reincarnation" to be reborn either as human or animals.  

"Animals Farm"

Thanks to the Circle Line opening, I got a chance to go to places which used to be inaccessible. Circle Line connects us together.  

SMRT Circle Line Quick Facts (Adopted from the brochure)

* Route Length : 33 Km

* Total number of stations in operations : 28 (although the last station is CC29 at HarbourFront but there's no CC 18 which is rather strange)

* The SMRT Circle Line (CCL) is the first fully underground orbital line that links all Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines running into the city, offering inter-suburban connectivity.

* Each train has three cars, 148 seats and can take up to 931 passengers. The trains travel at speeds of up to 80km/hr.


SMRT Circle Line challenge (Adopted from the Circle Line Times)


1. Caisson piles dug by hand at Dhoby Ghaut station
To ensure the public's safety, 60 heroes worked deep underground to install Caisson piles by hand. It took them nine months to build seven Caisson piles.


SMRT Circle Line Tidbits (Adopted from the Circle Line Times)


"Dakota was given this name because on 29 June 1946, a Dakota aircraft belonging to the Royal Air Force Police with 20 non-commissioned officers on board, crashed near Old Airport Road (then Kallang Road) in a storm with no survivors. Dakota Crescent was named in commemoration of this disaster."


"During WWII, kent ridge was the site of the Battle of Pasir Panjang, one of the last and fiercest battles fought by the Malay Regiment against the invading Japanese army. Forts and tunnels still in existence at Labrador Park were used by the British Army."


"The name Pasir Panjang appeared as "Passir Panjang" in 1851. The Malay words literally mean "long sand" referring to the long, sandy beach that used to stretch along the coast all the way to Jurong River."


"Telok Blangah in Malay means "cooking pot bay", which describes the cooking pot shape of the bay."


"Holland Village was named after a person, not the country. His name is Hugh Holland, an architect who was among the early resident in the area."


"Botanic Gardens is the only botanic garden in the world that opens from 5am to 12 midnight every day of the year and does not charge an admission fee."