The twenty-fifth day of December today. Happy Christmas to one and all! To be very honest I have absolutely no idea if anyone still reads all this crap that I'm writing once a week but I still do it anyway so bottoms up to all my faithful people of the world!

And in a completely non-Christmas related post, I caught two local movies recently. Being a huge movie buff (you can vouch for this if you know me personally!) I have no qualms about catching any movie any day but films that really get my interest are usually not the big blockbusters but rather, foreign or indie films. For those who travel frequently, the good part about flying the full service airlines is not the unlimited food and drinks that you get on board but the wide range of movie selections on your personal entertainment set. Singapore Airlines is one of the carriers that have a healthy stock of foreign films and granted, I don't fly SQ often but if you do, take some time and catch one of the rare Japanese, Korean, Russian, German or Australian films. Chances are, you won't get the opportunity at our local cinema and you'll never know, you might chance upon a gem.

SANDCASTLE



This movie was not slated to be released as a huge blockbuster. The stars of this show were relatively unknown first-timers but the producer, Boo Junfeng, will probably ring a bell as he's one of our more well-known local movie makers. Sandcastle talks about an 18-year old boy who's about to enlist into the army but struggles with the recent road blocks in his life like the death of his grandfather and his father's turbulent past.

I don't think this is the best local movie I've caught. A huge portion of this is rather slow-moving and the script is hardly engaging at all. Lead actor Joshua Tan was probably the most disappointing of all; it's his first ever movie and his inexperience portrays throughout with very stiff acting. The story is fresh and something we can all look back upon but all in all, nothing much to crow about.

sandcastles-in-the-air-o-meter: 3/5

ALREADY FAMOUS



Already Famous is written and produced by Michelle Chia, who made a name for herself in The Noose. Her team spared no efforts is mass marketing this movie across all platforms; there was even an open tweet to invite the public to star as extras in one of her scenes. Sadly, a whole stellar cast which included all her fellow Noose members was not enough to lift this poor show. This was extremely distasteful from start to finish, a ridiculous story that was truly laughable. Credit to Michelle though; she sold her apartment and spent almost $80,000 to make this and now this movie has already surpassed the $1 million mark so for that it was a move that has paid off!

famous-amos-o-meter: 0/5

Wishing everyone a glorious new year :)

More adventures of Beijing! Three consecutive trips for me, I'm becoming a China PRC!

Peking Duck of course!





Apparently one of the more well-known Peking Duck restaurants, this one certainly doesn't disappoint. Only drawback is the price; I'd say it was a pretty expensive meal including some seafood we ordered but largely satisfying and well worth every cent so no complaints! And not to mention the awesome company which really matters too.







Taxis are almost a rarity in Beijing, and can't really blame them because Beijing is really damn huge! Maybe the city itself is as big as Singapore! So transportation is a bit painful. Trains run regularly but the network is somewhat like the New York subway which is connected by a million lines and it's extremely confusing even as a Chinese.

What's my next option? A bicycle!



Advantages - Easily available, able to weave through traffic jams, able to experience an open air ride through the (polluted) city

Disadvantages - More expensive than a metered taxi, gets extremely cold riding this in winter and the wind is blowing straight at you, definitely more unsafe than a car

FRIED SCORPIONS!




Candy floss that's even bigger than a human head.





Steamboat dinner! Quite standard with every Beijing trip really.





And no, those 2 photos are not the same. Look carefully! One table has food and one table is empty!

There's something very enjoyable about having a good afternoon tea on a midweek working day. More than likely, you're not fighting with throngs of office workers dressed in smart casual wear and either having a rushed lunch break or having a hushed discussion with their client. The setting is much more tranquil and time is a luxury. I'm very fortunate that in this line of work, I get weekdays off to enjoy such luxuries and this is something I try to make time for so I'm always on the look out for high tea recommendations!

I've had the pleasure to have afternoon cuppa in Melbourne this week at Brunetti, which has an outlet in Tanglin Mall as well.

Outside the shop, a whole selection of delectable cakes scream straight at you as you walk into bliss haven.



Then, you are immediately drawn to their signature macaron shelf, lined neatly with rows of colourful circular desserts!



There was also a wide selection of pastries available and after a few minutes of endless browsing, I settled with this creamy rum sugary puff.



An exquisite gem, to say the least. The rum blends well with the light pastry, oozing with a sweet cream and sugary top, all dolled up in one yummy puff.

And now on to the macarons! My picks were the rose flavoured macaron and the pistachio macaron.



Both macarons were extremely well crafted and no surprises there, it's one of the best I've tasted. The red rose was just right, not too sweet and the pistachio one had a hint of pandan and kaya in the flavouring which I obviously didn't mind.

No hot tea for me as the weather was warm enough so an iced chocolate as my beverage for the day!



Iced chocolate drinks are synonymous for being sugary overload drinks with chocolate and sweet milk which equates to nothing but just a bad after taste. This one was definitely not in that category; not too heavy and complements well with my entire selection that afternoon.

My wonderful afternoon tea!



All the other stuff from my dining companions!






2011 has been a fantastic year of travelling for me. First trip to Europe in May when I visited London for a week, then first trip to Taipei in August which turned out to be anything but happily memorable, first trip to Manila last month which was an amazing cultural experience and finally first time to China this week!

Radisson Blu hotel, Beijing







Woke up in the morning and what do you know, it's snowing!







Starbucks in this type of weather is OOOOOOH.



Flight mates for the day!









MAD COLD I TELL YA!





Taking the train out; it's a very confusing train system! Very similar to the New York subway, the lines are extremely interconnected and there are many interchanges so you need to plan the route well!



TEMPLE OF HEAVEN











Not sure what this attraction really is; the whole place is just a vast area of temples which led to more temples and many photo-taking opportunities which we gladly obliged!







Yes, snowball fight was underway and it wasn't too pleasant for some of the ladies!

































This is SAN ZHA on a stick!









In China, everything is fake. So if Japan has shabu shabu, in China they have xiabu xiabu.



Fake or not, it was a dirt cheap $8 steamboat xiabu xiabu lunch so no complaints there!



Look at that amount of beef. How many cows were sacrificed man?



Look at that amount of vegetables. Even a vegetarian would freak out.



A very big thank you to all the wonderful crew on this Beijing flight. Definitely one of my best trips ever! Though it was only 3 days with you guys but it felt so much longer and we couldn't bear to say goodbye when we land!