Film Marathon

I was so surprised when I got back home yesterday, the Internet connection was out. I was rather pissed since there was so much to do and I could do nothing with no Internet connection. So, I slept. It was not a nap. It was intentional sleeping that I reckoned I could use some sleep. I got up early as I wanted to say BYE to Lou who was leaving yesterday.

When I woke up at 10 PM, I realised, there was no way in the world I would be able to sleep again. So I flicked through the collection of CDs I have. I downloaded some good movies before. I could do that at a flick of a finger since the broadband provided by this college is super-fast. So I decided to watch two; an Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet and a British movie called AKA.

I have been wanting to watch Wedding Banquet for a long long time. I have been looking for the DVD since 3 years ago. The movie is about this Asian American guy (Wai Tung) who wanted to help his friend, Wei Wei who is an illegal in America to get a green card to stay in the States. His boyfriend, Simon, then suggested that he married Wei Wei and this would grant Wei Wei a green card and more importantly, this will put to stop the pressure of his conservative parents in Taiwan to get him to get married and blessed with children. The whole plan turned into a fiasco when the his relationship with Simon was going astray and Wei Wei carried his baby, accidently. They were all drunk on the wedding night. So, it led to a few fights so much so he had to come out to his mother and not to his father. Being an observant, the father has long known about his relationship with Simon and the story took a twist when Wei Wei decided to keep the baby and to be raised by three of them (I guess the marriage was annulled at some point).

The second was AKA (Also Known As). With the background late 70s in England, this film is about an 18-year old boy's, Dean Page's frustration with life in general - being in working-class family and growing-up pains he need to deal with. He was sick of being tormented by the father (step father) and was kicked out from his house. He was on the look out for Lady Gryffoyn - a famous aristrocrat in London. From an initial stayover at an old homosexual within the posh neighbourhood where Lady Gryffoyn lived, he came to learn; there is more to life than plain old slump where he used to live in. He finally got a job at Lady Gryffoyn's gallery and then introduced to the life of aristocrats, when he can't even afford to live like one. So, this movie followed the ups and downs of his journey living live he never imagined having and having a name that did not belong to him. It was great film, something to run away from all these over-capitalised-commercialised Hollywood pieces.

Now, I am watching Lola. About lives of Muslim Turks with the background of living in Germany (migrants?), being homosexual and transvestites etc. Some of these put on shows to get by and this lifestyles have led them to be called names and being harrassed on the streets. I have yet to finish that. But the story plot and the background enticed me greatly over the course of the first hour. Let's see what turns it would take in the second hour.

Finally, sorry, I have yet to update more of the stories. Wanted to, but I am plain lazy at doing stuff these days. I will try to capture some photos to go with this entry too. In the meantime, I want to get my shower and off to town for dinner (today is late-night shopping day; Thursday).

Sunshine in London

08/06 (Thu) – I went down to London (to spend a few days there). It was not a good plan to go down in the middle of the week, but I must meet Nat before she went off to Houston. She spends 2 weeks in London and 2 weeks in Houston. What a job! Anyway, the big surprise was; Nat is seeing Ko now, another close friend of mine when I was in Uni. It was rather strange to see ‘close friends’ holding hands and ‘touching’ each other. They took me to Oriental City not so far from Edgware where I ate Laksa and Nasi Goreng. I wanted to have Roti Canai, but the stall was already closed by 6pm.


09/06 (Fri) – The next day, I was supposed to go to Anne and Al’s house in Rayner’s Lane. These are 2 specialists working in London till October 2006. They can’t stand the working condition here. NHS is way too much. I was supposed to be at their house by 5pm. Before that I spent some time in National Portrait Gallery. It was great. I had been wanting to check it out ever since I got to UK.



And then, I walked from Westmister Abbey, along The Thames to go to The Tate Modern. I guess I like Tate more than the portrait gallery. I spent good 3 hours there. I was late to catch the opening ceremony of World Cup 2006.

10/06 (Sat) – Al said, I should check out the Car Boot Sale at a place called Denham. Yes, it was a big car boot sale really. There were some nice antiques, of course and they were all cheap. I spent some money on books, they were all old books on evolution of English costumes, punting and London 1937 guide. Then we headed home. It was just in time for England vs. Paraguay match on teley. On the way back, the pubs were all full and suddenly, all I could see was red and white. England won, it was not a fantastic game to me (it could have been an embarrassment if the free kick by Beckham was not 'deflected' by that idiot from Paraguay to score its own goal!).

I left Al’s place at about 6pm to go and meet Ben in Shoreditch. Had a drink with him in the park – chatting away. At 8.30pm, he walked me to the station he gave me a quick touristy guide of the area before we came to Liverpool St. I met Ghaz at London Metropole at 9pm. I used to work with him, so it was good to catch up really. I was done by 11pm and got back to College by 1.30am. Uh it was a long tiring day.

11/06 (Sun) – I just watched Poseidon with Luke at 9pm. It was an OK movie. I had lots of questions. But Luke was so into the movie. But I managed to make fun of the movie. I think, that is another Titanic with some desperate people in it. Tomorrow I will watch a movie called “Time to Leave” (88 mins), a French movie. I will catch that at Cambridge PictureHouse. It will be screened at 3.00pm tomorrow.

What a day!

It has been rather a while since my last post in here. Yeah I was down with the thesis I was working on and then I had crisis in printing that out, like the night before it was due. Anyway, that is a long story and I intend not to get into that. Let's talk about today instead.

I started the day early. How could I not? I got a call at 4.00 am, thanks to a friend up north who was giving me that call at unearthly hour. I slept late, so, thanks. That would only magnify my sleeping problem. Then a friend, Nat called from London, about our plan to meet up today (yes, I will be there, you do not have to call me at 8.00 am). So I was up early. I only had about 3 hours of sleep.

Went to the dentist – that was really an experience (let’s call it, a scary experience). There’s major thing to be done. She gave me 3 jabs. And when she was doing the drilling part, I complained that it was still painful. She gave me 2 more jabs and asked “Are you still in pain?”. I said, “Yes”. And she shook her head and said “Uh we have a problem”. In the end with 5 jabs, she got it all done. My head is half numbed now. I can feel the feeling of one when stroke hits. It is to even smile and I am slurry.

OK now, then went to meet David to return his book that I used for thesis. He was not that. I called Luke to join me for lunch. He just got up. I took the chance to get a haircut at Lui’s. Lui is a good looking Italian stylist who likes to pour all his miseries when I came for haircut. It is always the case, “I have to shut the other shop since the new girl called in sick today. The other is recovering from hangover”. That is the kind of line I get all the time.



On the way back to college, I passed Fitzwilliam Museum. I have been passing the museum for the past 8 months. The last visit was 13 years ago. I decided to go in when it said “Sir Isaac Newton’s Notebook” on display. I was intrigue to check it out. Upon finding the case, I lifted the thick covering cloth, there it was next to Virginia Woolf’s 1929 A Room of One’s View (the feminist classic). I was more interested in Newton’s 1665-1668 notebook; since he spent his lifetime in Cambridge and he is the father of modern science. He recorded in utmost details - his daily expenditure. E.g. Two pair of gloves – 0.1.6. OK, I asked the assistant what the figures mean? To my surprise, she replied, “I don’t know!” in a very unfriendly way. I went on to read the two notebooks and deep down, I ought to do something about this woman!

I went downstairs and greeted again by the receptionist and she asked “Did you find it?”. “Yes. By the way, what do the figures on the right most of the page mean? It looks like price, but how come, it has 2 or 3 decimal points”. “Uh, did you ask the assistant who sits close to the exhibit?”. “I did BUT she was so unfriendly”. That was the plan and I executed it well. Even better than what I thought. After getting the answer from someone there, I left the place. It was indeed the money that he spent (or received) on a particular item. And I sure have put someone’s job at stake for the complaint!

Right now I am in my room. I must check when the train leaves the station. I am meeting Nat at 6:30 pm, at Waterloo Station. She has a project with Shell down there. We will then go off to have dinner and stay overnight at her place tonight. I am meeting Anna tomorrow. Looks like I will be in London till Sunday or so.



Before I dash off, I was browsing the Net (as usual). I found this Golden Girls classic; episode in which Dorothy and Blench appeared on a TV show upon Rose’s persuasion but least that they knew; they would appear as a ‘lesbian couple’. Hilarious! Enjoy!