July 2009 – Page 2 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” Review

July 18, 2009 Bradley Farless9 Comments

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was definitely the worst film out of the series so far. In fact, it’s the worst movie I’ve seen since that ridiculous thing they called a film and labeled “The X-Files: I Want To Believe”.

My first problem with this movie is that it felt entirely disjointed. This was especially true of the first half of the movie, where the scenes bounced back and forth, and a lot of things were presented with no explanation. Also, there were scenes that felt entirely unnecessary to further the plot. Also, I’m not sure even the directors knew what they wanted the plot to be. What I mean is that the trailers indicated that this would be a movie with a lot of action and a lot of important events, when in reality, nearly every action sequence in the movie was in the trailers. The rest was dry. It was like watching a high school love drama, complete with mushy kissing scenes, teenage angst, and jealousy.

Also, Harry Potter has always been about magic. Where was the magic in this movie? Again, the most astonishing thing you’ll see in the film was already shown in the trailers: Dumbledore summong fire. The rest is weak. Little balls of light flying from wands, and some steam coming from potions. The previous films were special effects masterpieces that thrilled the imagination. This, by comparison, was boring to the point of not even caring. No magical creatures, very few magical devices. Nothing imaginative in the least, which has been a staple of Harry Potter films. There is nothing in this film that compares with the giant spiders, the flying car, the magic train station… none of it. This was so sad by comparison. I just can’t emphasize enough how… dry it was. The whole thing lacked energy and seemed to deviate from what the story was really about.

Based on what we saw in the trailers, we were expecting some incredible event. The trailers hinted that there would be some sort of magic spillover into the real world. There was, for all of about 4 minutes. And… what was the point of the whole bridge collapse anyway? Just to have something exciting happen to keep the audience awake? Just to use in the trailer? I fought boredom for the duration of the film, constantly in anticipation of the action sequences that never came.

The last thing I’d like to know is where is the character development? Harry Potter is supposed to be The Chosen One, but his abilities are, in most cases, less than extraordinary. Shouldn’t he have learned something new by now, or at the least become powerful enough to defend himself? Sure, he’s still in school, but… come on. He’s The Chosen One right? He’s supposed to defeat Voldemort, but he still has a hard time beating someone who’s supposed to be less than his equal, like Malfoy.

In the end, the film ended abruptly, leaving me entirely disappointed and in disbelief that a Harry Potter movie had been so bad, so dry, so … worthless. This movie really sucked the life out of the series for me. I’m not looking forward to the next Harry Potter movie anymore, and I even wonder if there would be any point to reading the books at this point. Books are always better than the movies, but in this case, if the series gets this bad towards the end, I’m not sure I want to bother.

Typical Movie Experience in Singapore

July 16, 2009 Bradley Farless13 Comments

Going to the movies in Singapore can be an ugly experience if you’re not prepared for it. I’ve often been told by Singaporeans that this is a small island and there isn’t much to do. I’m not sure I can agree with that, since there seems to be quite a lot to do here. There’s definitely more to do than in most places I’ve lived, but I suppose it’s a matter of perspective. Regardless, I think that mentality is partially why going to the movies has become so popular here. More so than what I’ve come to expect anyway. Every movie is packed, even the bad ones.

The first thing you should know about going to the movies in Singapore is that you HAVE to book your seats in advance. That’s not something I was used to, coming from the US. There, it’s possible to book your seats in advance through the internet if you want to, but it’s often not necessary. In some cases, there is no internet booking and you just have to show up early enough to get a ticket before the movie you want to see is sold out. In Singapore, even days after a movie has been out, if you wait til the last minute and try to get your tickets at the theater you’re likely to be disappointed. Movie theaters here fill up fast, often leaving only the front two or three rows open to latecomers. I’ve sat through a movie in the 3rd row before, and it was a very unpleasant experience that left me with a stiff neck.

So, booking online is a must. All of the major theater chains here offer the service and to get really good seats, you should try to book at least a day and a half or two days in advance. Ya, crazy right? That’s especially true if you want to book a ticket for a Friday or Saturday night. For example, about six hours ago (Thursday night at about 8pm) I booked tickets for tomorrow afternoon for a 4:40 showing. Half of the seats were already taken. Ah, and if you haven’t guessed, tickets are booked on a selected seat basis, whereas in the US it’s a first-come first-served when it comes to getting the best seats, regardless of when you bought your ticket.

An example of the seat selection screen for Cathay. Notice the timer. If you don’t finish in time the seats become available for someone else to book. Also, keep in mind that this screen cap was taken 18.5 hours before the movie starts. The blue Xs are occupied seats.

An example of the Cathay booking confirmation screen.

A friend of mine in Italy asked me what sorts of things you can expect to find at the refreshment stands in a Singapore movie theater, and in this regard things are basically the same as you would find in the US. You’ve got popcorn (sweet and salted), nachos, soda and other drinks and candies. I think there are hotdogs too. This is a bit off-topic, but I was amused to find out from Rowena that in theaters in Italy you can usually find beer at the refreshment stands. That’s an interesting example of cultural influence.

Once you get your refreshments and present your tickets you can head to the theater hall and find your seats. You would think that at this point everything would go about the same right? Well, sure, for the most part it does. You sit down and get to see some previews, the admonition to turn off your cell phone ringers, and the warning that video recording is illegal. But, interspersed with those previews and warnings are many, many commercials. Half the time they’re local commercials for small businesses and they’re really not that great. Also, there are a LOT of them. I mentioned that right? If your ticket says your movie starts at 4:30 PM, you can expect the actual film to not start until roughly 4:50 PM or a few minutes later. I can understand sitting through a few previews and maybe a Coke or Sprite ad, but not 20+ minutes of the stuff. So, when we go to the movies we tend to walk in a few minutes late, or we mess with our cell phones while waiting for the actual film to start.

After that it’s smooth sailing.

Just some other, dry info: Tickets are usually 8.50 to 10 SGD apiece and refreshments are high as well, though that’s not anything new for most people. For two people going to the movies and getting refreshments you can expect to spend 35 to 40 bucks.

Spinach Bacon OmuRice From Manpuku

July 14, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Lunch on Sunday was Spinach Bacon OmuRice from the Manpuku restaurant in Tampines 1. I didn’t remember seeing the stall before and the dishes looked interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. I was later told by a friend that it was added recently.

As you can see from the picture, this dish is a big tasty omelet covered in a white cream sauce with bacon and spinach. I was actually disappointed with how little spinach there was on the dish. I was hoping for more. There was a nice amount of bacon, but it wound up not being enough either.

You see, I had sort of expected there to be a more interesting filling in this omelet, but instead it was filled with just plain fried rice and a very small amount of mushrooms. I think I sifted through the rice and only found 5 tiny pieces of mushroom total.

It was tasty, but as soon as the sauce, bacon and spinach were gone, the rest of it became rather bland. A good dish introduces a lot of variety, to keep your mouth and tastebuds happy. This one just didn’t do the trick for me and I don’t think I’ll order it again.

Strangely enough, we wound up meeting friends later in the evening at this same restaurant and one of them ordered the exact same dish. She didn’t finish it either and commented on how it wasn’t very good after the toppings were gone.

Cosplayers in Pasir Ris, Singapore

July 14, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were on our way to the Pasir Ris MRT station when we saw this couple strolling down the sidewalk. I was surprised and my wife told me we should run and get pictures with them, so of course we did.

Their outfits are really cool, but I have no idea what anime or game this is supposed to be from. Maybe someone can help me out here?

Banana Caramel Crème Crêpes

July 13, 2009 Bradley Farless4 Comments

Not much to say here. I just wanted to share the photos and make you drool!

On Saturday night (yes, that was a busy day for us!) our last stop before heading home was Plaza Singapura (another mall). On the bottom floor there was a small Japanese Food Fair set up. Well, that’s what the signs called it, but in reality it was just two stalls. One was selling sushi and one was selling crêpes.

After eating the sushi (which came with free green tea by the way) I had an urge for something sweet and we tried out one of the Banana Caramel Crème Crêpes. I took some photos while it was being prepared:

What’s missing from these photos is that the batter was first poored onto a flat black metal pan. I call it a pan but it had no sides. Perhaps a reader can give a name for it? After the ingredients were added it was rolled up into a paper and handed to me like an ice cream cone.

The flavor wasn’t overpowering. I mean, the crème wasn’t exceptionally sweet. The flavors all augmented each other well and the final product was delicious! I could’ve eaten another one by myself after the one we shared!

Orchard Central Mall in Singapore

July 13, 2009 Bradley Farless7 Comments

Saturday evening my wife and I were wandering down Orchard Road. We didn’t have any real goal in mind. We just wanted to be out of the house for a while and take in the sights. Orchard Road is usually pretty interesting. I’ve seen everything from centurions to acrobats to musicians there.

While walking down the road we saw a building that we didn’t recognize. It looked like a recently renovated, recently opened shopping center. We decided to check it out. Sure enough, it was a new mall called Orchard Central. As we passed through the doors we were handed a brochure. We were also handed a fairly basic looking map that proved to be rather useless later.

Rather than make our way upstairs inside the building, we used the long escalators that were mounted to the front face of the building. It was a really neat experience. Two of the escalators we went up traversed at least four floors nonstop. Also, there was a plexi-glass shield beside the escalator that came about as high as my head and not much else so we got a great view as we went up. Adding to the atmosphere there are several observation decks outside the building. The escalator leading to the roof area was closed. I suppose it’s not finished yet but I’m interested to go back when it is, if just for the view.

Here are two shots I took from the highest observation deck I could get to:

A view of Orchard Road from a deck at Orchard Central Mall

After reaching the top and taking in the view for a while we moved inside. The interior of the mall is not at all what I expected. First off, most of it is still closed and under construction. I would even say that there are more closed than open stores there. That’s not a bad thing, I suppose, but it just seems odd. The second thing that was weird about the mall is that the interior didn’t look like a mall. My wife was the first to point it out and after she mentioned it, it was pretty obvious to me too. It looks like the building used to be an office building and the interior was renovated to turn it into mall space. The hallways were just too oddly placed for it to have been intentional.

The other thing we discovered about the mall is that it’s incredibly hard to get around in. That’s why I mentioned that the map we got at the front door on the 1st floor was practically useless. If you start from the top down it’s like trying to work your way through a maze full of dead ends and trick passages. There are places were it feels like there should be a way through and there’s just a blank wall. There are other spots where you would think there’s a way to the stairwell, but in front of you is a huge open area that looks 3 floors down. Oh, or a fake rock climbing wall that spans four stories and causes you to have to backtrack. We could have taken the elevators all the way down to the first floor, but that wouldn’t have been much fun. Instead, we went around, by trial and error, until we got tired. Then we found an elevator and took them to another floor that had escalators, which we then took down to the first floor. Sounds complicated right?

Besides its crazy interior, there wasn’t much interesting about the mall. It had a pretty standard selection of stores when we went through it. There were a few names I didn’t recognize, but they were on all of the shuttered, still under construction stores. When we go back to get a look off the roof, hopefully they’ll be open too.

A final thought: I wish there were a First Person Shooter with a stage modeled after this mall’s floorplan. I mean, look at it. It even looks like something from an FPS:

Acrobatic Street Performers on Orchard Road

July 12, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Asian Acrobats on Orchard Road in Singapore

In January I happened to be walking down Orchard Road and I saw a crowd gathering. There were two girls doing an acrobatics performance for tips. They were really good, so I pulled out my camera and tried to record some of it. The lighting was pretty bad since it was late, but this is what I got:

This past Saturday I saw them again, doing another performance on Orchard Road. I was a bit surprised, but their act is good, so I suppose there’s no reason for them to stop. This time, it was still early evening so I got out my camera and managed to get some better video this time, as well as the nice photo at the top of this post.

At the end of the second video, you’ll see a man walk up and lean forward. He was dropping money into a basket. We decided to chip in too, since the performance was really good and when we dropped our money in we saw that they were doing really well for themselves. That’s good. Real Talent should be rewarded.

I hope you enjoy the videos! Let me know what you think of this pair and their act!

A Twitter Anniversary Card

July 9, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless9 Comments

My wife and I recently had an anniversary and we got a card in the mail from my dad. When I pulled it out of the envelope, the first thing I thought of was Twitter. Maybe I’m using Twitter too much, but this card looks oddly similar to the Twitter bird, and to one of the default background designs you can choose for your Twitter home page.

If you’re curious, the card is made by Hallmark, but I wasn’t able to find the design on the Hallmark website.

“Knowing” Review

July 9, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

We finally got around to watching “Knowing”, with Nicolas Cage. Nic has done some bad movies recently, which is unfortunate since he’s such a good actor, so I wasn’t expecting a lot. It turned out to be a lot more engaging and entertaining than I thought it would be, though.

The movie focuses around a sheet of numbers that a little girl puts into a time capsule as part of a class project. 50 years later the time capsule is dug up and the envelope with the string of numbers is handed out to Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury). When he opens it he’s intrigued, thinking it might be a puzzle. He mentions this to his dad, John (Nicolas Cage) and later that night John discovers that there is indeed a hidden meaning to the numbers.

The movie has some light religious undertones and some strong scientific themes and invite the viewer to consider some pretty deep questions about life. The movie also deals with a lot of personal issues between John and his son. Instead of detracting from the movie it adds to it. Another thing I like about it is that the plot twists aren’t typical and it’s not going to end the way you might think. It keeps you guessing the whole way through, right up to the end. There’s also a lot more action that I thought there would be, and the imagery is very vivid.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but the movie does a great job of building suspense and mystery concerning the numbers, what they mean, and who the “whispering people” are. The acting is really good and so are the special effects. The special effects are really good in fact!

The end of the movie left me with a lot of questions, but one more than others. Why rabbits?

Worth watching!

Craving Food From Home

July 8, 2009 Bradley Farless9 Comments

Lately I’ve had the weirdest craving. I really want a can of pork ‘n’ beans. Ya, weird right? Sometimes I crave NYC pizza (‘cuz no other pizza comes close), sometimes I crave my grandmother’s homemade biscuits and gravy (yup, made from scratch). Lately though, it’s just plain old canned pork ‘n’ beans.

I suppose it’s just a symptom of my having been outside the US for such a long amount of time. A couple of other expat bloggers I’m familiar with have also been expressing similar sentiments recently. Sometimes, no matter where you are, and no matter how good the food is, you just want to eat something that reminds you of home.

Luckily, Singapore is fairly well modernized and most grocery chains like Cold Storage, Fairprice, and especially Giants carry a fair amount of imported products. They do come with a higher price tag, but occasionally I feel the need to indulge myself and get that bottle of Aunt Jemima’s pancake syrup, that box of Bisquick buttermilk pancakes, that bottle of Season All, or a can of Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

Imagine my surprise though, when I found this:

I haven’t seen this for sale in a grocery store in a long time. I haven’t exactly looked for it actively, but the last time I made it was 8 years ago and I remember it being very good! This Hurst’s HamBeens Brand “15 Bean Soup” comes with 1 pound of beans and a seasoning packet. You’re encouraged to add pork or smoked sausage to it, and the last time I made it I tossed in some jalapeños which really added to the flavor. When it’s ready to eat, it’s a very thick soup that can be eaten by itself and is very filling. Though, after living in Asia for so long, I have this weird craving to eat it over rice.

Sometimes, small things like that make all the difference.