the late-st movie i've ever watched! and it still ROCKS!

when i was supposed to be sleeping, i was watching this

and i think it's the truly right decision i've ever made in movie-watching scene. (believe me, i practically have neither taste nor interest in watching movie, so most times i'm watching the "ew, shuck!" ones)

and after watching it in the big cinema, of course i want one for my own keeping. (i love you, torrent sites and the uploaders) 

but i believe, if i ever see its DVD in the rack, i'm gonna buy it.

that's how much  love this story.

great actors, great storyline (obediently following the novel's), ah~ there's nothing to hate about it.

definitely the movie of this year!

before you go by james preller

okay, i'm one of those people who do judge the book by its cover. hands down. :P and i reallyyyyy like the cover of this book, but the story inside is kinda disappointing.

all i can remember is it's about a dude, working around a beach. let's see, he has a dead sister, weird parents, normal friends, and a girl who eventually becomes his lover. 

oh, ya, it's coming back to me now. suddenly his best friend dies!

and guess? he was so depressed that he shuts everything down. oh, and he also crashed, physically, a new Mac that his father bought him to bring him back to life. mental note, never give your mentally depressed child expensive gifts, save it for better days, like graduation day or something.

but in the end, or so i think, he recovered. i really dont remember much. why? uh.. maybe it's just not my type of story. but judging from the things i manage to recall from my one-off reading, the author's good :)

and still, great book cover!!!!!

love the one you're with by emily giffin

it is no secret that i'm a big fan of emily giffin, but i'm not the kind that like to give people shoutout about everything that goes on with my life, so... yeah, i'm a big fan of hers. 

and as usual, this novel also deals with adult matters. 

it's about a woman, happily married, but one day she came across an old flame. and he's hot. and she was, quickly brought to the times when they were together. i guess the version of cover of the novel i put above really says it all, eh? 

still, i'm not gonna spoil the end, read it if you wanna know.

one last thing i'd like to take from this novel, is it's truthful interpretation of love. it's none of the touchy feely stuff you see plastered o your news feed everytime you open your facebook page. so, here goes...

"Love,not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way"

(Lovethe One You're With, pp.290)

but what we see today, love is something that too often associated with lust. it has become so frail, so changeable, "loving someone is no longer a plague that haunts for years, it has become merely a light flu." 

heart-shaped box by joe hill

this is one hell of a scary book.

it's about a guy who was previously a popular metal singer. well, according to the book he had all these uncle stuff like beard and all, but coz beard is such a turn off, let's just say he didn't any gross-looking facial hair. better yet, maybe he can look like pat monahan, and then i'm gonna let the metal band part dissolve somewhere along the story. lol.

well, one day, he was alerted about a suit. not just one ordinary suit, but a haunted suit. being an avid collector of those freaky things, he decided to buy it for like, a thousand bucks. and it's really haunted. worth the money, right? i thought it's nearing the end of the novel already, BUT it turned out that the ghost that came along with the suit is meant to haunt him. and even worse, the ghost very determined to bring him to the afterlife. and the people close to him.

eek.

the story is great. brilliant, even. and i want to share here, in case my memory failed me in the future, about a secondary ghost story i found in the book. it's a bit sad. i loved it.

picture this. a girl playing with flowers and singing to herself. but in the middle, she was interrupted. she looked at the fence nearby, and slowly she went towards it. but something went wrong, because all that can be seen was her feet dangling, as if she's being snatched away by someone from the side over the fence. then she totally disappeared.

this is the ghost of a girl who was kidnapped when she was playing in her own lawn. like a DVD played over and over again, the ghost would appear to certain people, each time with similar story, but the person watching would have their mouth zipped shut, even if they really don't want her to go.

but remember our hero, the ex-metal singer? he managed to scream at her to not go there, and the ghost did hesitate. but reality stays the same, and the ghost would disappear at the end of the day.

i' like to read another joe hill's book...

    

Eve and Adam

the first thing that enticed me into reading this book is the cover. it's just so beautiful! and the tagline "and girl created boy" seriously, who doesn't want to read a book with such tagline?

this book is about a girl, Eve, whose mother owned a biopharm. and this biopharm has this one software that let her to create a  human being, in anyway one desired. so Eve created Adam. but that's not the end of the story...

this can be a very complicated story, but i'm glad that it's simple, fast-paced, and goes straight to the end. i'd even praised it's lack of depth. well, maybe i'm just a lazy reader.. hehehe. but really, more depth would make it a better novel. 

Paris, My Sweet

"if you want to fall (helplessly) in love with 

Paris, read this book"  

how should i put this? i had some of the most magical moments reading this book. sometimes i can just connect my self with Amy in her search for her true self along the days of decadent viennoiseries and tres delicieux chocolats.

sure thing,  the protagonist, Amy is a successful woman; writing for Louis Vuitton while living in Paris. Yet so alone. Being alone in the city of love? That's ironic, isn't it? 

BUT 

what makes me fall for paris after years and years worshipping US, is the food. not the notion of it being the city of love... meh. sure, US is full of to-die-for steak, hot wings, and mesmerizing grandes cupcakes. but there's something about france and its wide range of sweet food; gateaux, viennoiseries, chocolats with divine quality (as described in the book) that captured me. maybe it has something with me being a little bit of a sweet tooth. hehehe. 

and i just know from the book that there's no French toast in France. it goes by the name pain perdu. and according to Amy, it waaaay more heavenly than those she had in America, let alone the ones we have in Malaysia. meh.

i hope someday, i can go to Paris and try all these sublime foodies. no matter how old i am when that time comes. and no matter if i'm torn between buying flight ticket to LAX or Charles de Gaulle, i'm going to go to the streets of Paris on the Velibs, munching on my Nutelle crepes, rather than walking along Miami beach on summer staring at all the hot American boys. oops :P 

now i got my eyes on : kettlebell

i've long accepted the fact that i'm not the cardio-maniac type. i despise jogging and running. brisk walking and cycling is okay, but considering the environment i'm living in currently... i'd rather be safe THAN sorry, rather than not safe THEN sorry.

so i've been thinking about doing weight training instead. and maybe some dumbbells or maybe kettlebells. so here i'm gonna paste some info i found :

1. For multiple-joint exercises, such as bent-over rows, chest presses or shoulder presses, you will need a slightly larger bell. Lie on your back on a bench or table, elbows bent at 90 degrees, upper arms parallel to the floor. Hold the bell in the hand of the weakest arm and straighten the elbow as you slowly push the bell upward toward the ceiling, as in a chest press. In a slow and controlled fashion, return to your start position. Repeat, counting repetitions until you can no longer proceed with control. If you can do more than 10 repetitions, move to a larger bell. If you can only do five or six or less, choose a lighter bell.

2. For single-joint exercises such as lateral raises, triceps extension and biceps curls, select a smaller kettlebell. To determine your best weight, hold the kettlebell in the hand of your weakest arm and slowly lift your arm to the side until your hand is at shoulder height. Slowly and with control, lower the arm to your beginning position. Repeat without resting. If you can do more than 10 but fewer than 15 repetitions, go to the next higher weight. If you can only do five or six repetitions, choose the next lower weight. 

3. Kettlebell prices :

Fitness Concept  (online price)

2lbs / 4kg = rm 23

4lbs / 6kg = rm46

6lbs / 8 kg = rm69

8lbs / 10kg = rm92

10lbs / 12kg = rm114

14lbs / 16kg =  rm160

18lbs / 20kg = rm206