Monday, June 28, 2010

Karate, Kung Fu, whatever

The Karate Kid (2010)
Genre: Action, Drama
Release: June 11, 2010
Cast: Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, Jaden Smith as Dre Parker

Sequels are never better than the original, what more a remake? I think that's why they're called "The Original".

Likewise with music, most of us do not like our good ol' classics to be remade, altered, let alone touched. I remember cocking an eyebrow when I heard about the remake, thinking, "It better do the original justice", but I've come to see remakes as vessels that pass on age-old stories and values to younger generations - even though the new 12-year-old "Karate" Kid is actually learning instead Kung Fu. Well, as Taraji P. Henson said, "Karate, Kung Fu, whatever!"
 

Synopsis: Young Dre Parker moves from Detroit to Beijing. Within a week he facies a girl, gets into a run in with a couple of kids who just so happened to know Kung Fu, gets his backside whooped a couple of times and discovers that the handiman, is not just a handiman. He and Mr. Han then visit the Kung Fu School to make peace with his perpetrators but earns a ticket to the upcoming Kung Fu Tournament instead. He then trains in the art of Kung Fu to learn how to defend himself and earn respect from those who humiliated him.

The 1984 original was known for its "wax on, wax off" tactic, only to be replaced by "jacket on, jacket off, put in on the ground, pick it up and hang it up". Daniel LaRusso waxed cars, sanded a wooden floor, painted a fence, and refinished Mr. Miyagi's house. While Dre Parker simply worked with his jacket. I guess Mr. Miyagi's the crazier teacher, Mr. Han. Even more so, I had imagined Mr. Han to be a much wiser looking man. To put it straight, I watched Jackie Chan practise Kung Fu last night, not Jackie Chan playing a character who's a master at Kung Fu. 
[I think I've watched too many Jackie Chan movies.]
Clearly he has reached an age where performing stunts he did two decades ago isn't as easy anymore, but who better to play a Kung Fu guru than Jackie Chan? He, nonetheless, breathed life to the movie as Qi is believe to for all things living. I saw more of Mr. Han than Jackie Chan towards the end of the movie when he told a wounded Dre Parker, "I --". Oh, watch the movie you!
Jaden Smith, on the other hand, can act, but there's a lot of room for improvement. Certain parts of comic relief weren't delivered well enough.
[Can I get a "Ba-Dum-Tchh"]
But he's young, there's plenty of time to mold him in to a better actor. On another note, I found his character to be a little too young to have such raging hormones, i.e. to be completely smitten. 14 or 15 would have been a slightly more appropriate age. We wouldn't want our 11 or 12-year-old siblings or kids to be snogging around when you're not looking, would we?
As far as cinematography and direction goes, it was nothing to spectacular. I personally thought it could have done better to add more essence and vibe to the action scenes. The pan shots of iconic landmarks of China, however, were astounding. Furthermore, their decision to bring The Karate Kid to China, differentiating Dre Parker from Danial LaRusso, who merely moved to Los Angeles, makes his desire to prove himself that much more believable seeing as he is quite the fish out of water.
[Boy, do I know how that feels]
All in all, the movie carries it's own gravity and flows in it's pace. Had the title been different or had the 1984 original Karate Kid not existed, The Karate Kid (2010) proves to be a mind blowing movie all on its own whilst teaching the values of respect, honor and perseverence.

You are advised not to watch the original before you watch the remake.
Story: B-
Acting: B
Direction: C+
Visuals: B-
Average: B- 

- Messer Girl

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Here's to a rainy weekend...

I absolutely hate it when it rains in Hong Kong, especially during the weekend. I don't particularly like staying home on Sundays and neither does my brother, so we've made it a mission every weekend to go out to venture of to places of the undecided, i.e. to wherever our feet take us. And today, we ended up taking refuge in Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po. And like most malls in Hong Kong, it has the same stores, selling the same stock, at the same prices - items which I can find for 10% less elsewhere. Although, where Dragon Centre is concerned, two things come to mind, a roller coaster INSIDE the mall, and escalator land. There're three times more escalators than floors in that building.

We did, in fact, stumble upon a very peculiar store. Peculiar in the sense that it stuck out like a sore thumb. Whilst the rest were of shoes, clothes and whatnot, this one had a bit of everything. From clothes to bags to belts, stickers, toys - including little $5 puzzle boxes my brother and I couldn't resist buying - pranks, mangas, books, stationery, you name it. Chances are they'll have it. They got plush toys too, of Mario, the little mushroom guys in the Mario game - I always forget what they're called. We even found Barney.



Unfortunately, he wasn't the highlight of my day. This was:



"What're those"? you may ask. Well, those, my friend, are rows of A1 sized POSTERS! They had Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Sid Vicious, Sex Pistols, The Clash - I'm killing myself here. They had GREEN-FUCKING-DAY!

However, I am one of those people who are ever so unfortunate to have lost a little bit of their love for music, ever since I accidentally wrote over my entire playlist. I do hope it comes back, I miss it so. The blaring music echoing from my room, me trying to learn every single one on the guitar. Hmmm, maybe it'll come back this summer. If I find time to rebuild my playlist that is. Oh that's one very long playlist.

Meanwhile...
  1. No new recipe today. We still have Cake Pops from last week so I guess I'll be putting up that Brownie recipe next week.
  2. I haven't reviewed a movie lately. Damn you Hong Kong for releasing Toy Story 3 so late! I've watched it already, but I still wanna see it on the big screen. I'll be doing one in a while though, tonight maybe. Still looking for a template for them, so that my opinions aren't all over the place.
  3. I just heard the sound of breaking china. That'll be me cleaning that up...
  4. Off too rebuild my playlist!
  5. Here's to a rainy weekend Hong Kong, #^$% *@^!!
- Messer Girl

P.S Kudos to RamORawr for getting a review offer.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Cake Pop - One bite of heaven you'll be wanting more

Cake POP! Ok I'm lame but they are absolutely delightful and CUTE! The first time I came across a cake pop during my daily routes about the Internet I knew I just had to make them. I picked a devil's food cake recipe for the cake and picked up some non-temper chocolate at my local baking store plus a few candy sprinkles and went to work.

I would've taken a billion photos if my workstation wasn't in such a terrible clatter of pans, bowls, spatulas and whatnot. Besides, HAD I taken pictures, my camera would have ended up cake-ier than my cake pops, frosted and covered in chocolate.




Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients

165g All-Purpose flour
85g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
250g sugar
250mL buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125g unsalted butter, softened
  1. Preheat the oven to 180oC(350oF)
  2. Sift your dry ingredients into a large bowl.
  3. Combine your liquid ingredients in another.
  4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  5. Beat at low speed for about 3 minutes.
  6. Increase to high speed and beat until the mixture is lump-free
Spoon into a greased tin of your choice (8-inch round is best for this recipe) and smooth surface. Bake for 35 - 45 mins, or until a cake skewer comes out clean. Leave in cake tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

See the recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting here

As I was sifting tmy flour mixture, my mind ventured on the various cake mixing methods I've learnt, then right before I poured my liquid ingredients into the dry ones, it bore a striking resemblance to the instructions of that behind the box of a ready-made cake mix. The diffirence is this recipe gives a thick batter with the aroma that'll remind you of Rocky Road Ice Cream, while a cake-in-a-box just doesn't. It feels nice to know that the batter is made up of your own concoction so why buy a mix which costs more than plain ingredients put together.

This was the first time I've worked with chocolate and mind you, it took a huge amount of effort not to lick any of the chocolate that got onto my fingers nor the spoon. Not to mention I had to work quickly since the chocolate would start to harden within 30 mins. The finished ones that stood on my polystyrene board hardened within 15 because the living room was air-conditioned plus I had to be careful not to drop the balls. I had 5 pieces that failed to stick onto the popsicle stick. It was nonetheless fun, yet EXHAUSTING to make. I was up on my feet for 8 hours. It beat 3 hours of athletic training I had every saturday 2 years ago. I was so tired I had to get my brother to buy my dinner for me, i.e. McDonald's, take note of the french fry carton behind the pops. XD

- Messer Girl

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Rainbow Cupcakes

I know I promised Cream Cheese Pound Cake, but I was in the mood to make cupcakes the minute I stumbled upon a picture of a Rainbow Cupcake last night. So I guess we'll be pushing the pound cake to next time.
And the thing about them is they're super easy to make. It's a simple white cake recipe which uses the creaming method, just go crazy with the colours. It just took me longer than supposed to getting the batter into the pan because I wanted the Red over the Yellow on top of the Green with Blue taking the bottom because I was trying to level them properly while my grandmother watching over my shoulder. She's quite the chef herself but she likes to stick to what she knows best. She makes the best Ube and Biko (two of many Filipino delicacies) in my opinion.


Then after about 18 minutes. Tada!


Isn't it adorable? I was afraid it'll turn out with lopsided layers, plus I felt I filled the pan too much. On another note, I've gotta get a different brand of RED food colouring, not one that give you PINK!

I'd show you the last cupcake made out of what was left of the batter that wasn't enough to make layers if my brother hadn't eaten eat before I could take a picture.

Meanwhile, this is the cakey-est recipe I've used so far and it's quite delightful actually. Cakey in the sense that it's moist and spongy. I'm thinking of making it my default recipe so I can practise on my decorating skills. So without further ado.

Rainbow Cake

Ingredients

300g All-purpose flour
6 tbs Cornstarch
2 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
150g unsalted butter
350g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups milk
  1. Preheat oven: 180oC (350oF) andgrease your muffin pan or line with parchment paper.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
  3. Add the eggs one by one, beating thoroughly after each addition.
  4. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

    Set aside.

  5. Sift the flour together with the baking powder,salt and cornstarch. 
  6. Fold the flour mixture alternately with the milk into the batter.
  7. Separate the batter into 4 bowls and tint with colours of your choice
Spoon into tin in the order of your choice, smoothing the surface before adding the next layer. It help to have a bowl of water on the side to prevent the batter from sticking to your fingertips. Bake for 18 - 20 mins, or until a cake skewer comes out clean. Leave on a wire rack to cool. Or if you like that burning sensation on your tongue, be my guest and dig in. =D
 I'm thinking of buying plastic squeeze bottles if I make this next time, it'll be much less hassle trying to get levelled layers.

- Messer Girl

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Movie Junkie - The Runaways

I finally got myself to watch The Runaways although it did take me 5 hours to watch all 109 minutes of it. Why? You may ask. Well, simply because Kristen Stewart has that effect on me. With the exception of Zathura, I have yet to sit all the way through a movie in which she stars in. Plus, I am very open about my hate for the girl.

When news that she was to play Joan Jett reached my ears, I was flabbergasted. FLABBERGASTED I tell you. I have so much respect for Joan Jett ever since I heard "I Love Rock & Roll" then discovered "Bad Reputation" and I wasn't ready for Kristen Stewart to be associated to her.

It took a hard mental kick and a whole day's worth of insatiable boredom to get me to watch it and now here I am to rip it to shreds.


Synopsis: The story of the groundbreaking '70s female rock group the Runaways is recounted in this River Road Entertainment production focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and lead vocalist Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record label woes under the malevolent eye of abusive manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) during their teen years. 

I can't attack the plotline because it's a recount of peoples' lives. What I can say is, the story flowed smoothly enough, covering how the group formed and eventually disbanded and the somewhat stereotyped yet, imaginable truth backstage when you're in a band of hormonal girls in the 70s with a very irritating producer: Sex and Drugs.
Lovely wouldn't be the right word, nevertheless it was lovely to see Ms. Fanning play a more daring and crazy - should I say, grown-up role? The difficult thing about child actors is sometimes you don't want them to grow up, which made seeing Dakota on stage stripped down to her underwear very intriguing. She's quite the singer too.
Kristen Stewert on the other hand, almost gained my respect. Almost. I think she's been listening to me harangue her inability to act because she molded herself into her character and channelled Joan Jett well. I even forgot she was that irritating Bella girl but in the last 2 minutes, she reminded me why I hate her so. Take note the lost glance, awkward breathing and chronic blinking.
Otherwise, you have a so-so-directed movie. Floria Sigismondi captures the atmosphere of being on stage into a bottle then smashes it in your face however it was emotionally crippled. The movie tells the tale of people who are both victims and heroes but neither side tugged at the heartstrings enough to spark awe nor sympathy.
Story: C
Acting: B-
Directing: C
Visuals: C
Average: C

- Messer Girl

Sunday, June 13, 2010

We're not the type to throw parties

My brother turned 11 yesterday and instead of throwing a party, he attended someone else's birthday party. He hasn't thrown a party since his 1st birthday. I myself haven't throw a birthday party since my 7th. The family just had dinner, a truffle cake and 2 tubs of Dreyers icecream along with some close family friends so I decided to take him out today. Swimming in the morning then off to the Science Museum in the afternoon - yes, we're geeky that way.
I missed swimming, I don't even remember the last time I went swimming, be it at the beach or at the pool so I think it'll be a part of my summer weight loss regime. I've got to re-lose the 4lbs I had initally lost in January. Meanwhile, I had to teach my brother how to swim all over again. He not afraid to float all right, but he'll be floating in one place all day if I didn't remind him how.
As for the Science Musuem, I have nary a clue how we ended up there, but he had a marvelous time. We passed by most of the exhibitions but lingered at the puzzle challenges. We're both puzzle freaks.
 The Hall of Mirrors was also hilarious. We both burst into laughter when we came across the convex mirrors with me laughing even harder when Glenn said, "Hey, my ankles disappeared!"
He also experienced the difficult life of a lab rat, I mean hamster XD.

 All in all he and I had quite a blast.

- Messer Girl

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Prom Schmom

A year ago, a bunch of 2nd years were asking me if I could talk the Students' Association committee into convincing the higher authority to allow students to have a prom. Pfft, not in a lifetime will that happen.

When you're a graduate at a local secondary school in Hong Kong, you don't go to prom. You go to a Graduation Dinner instead, where you sit, eat, be merry, take pictures, post 'em on the web where they'll start to collect virtual dust and consequently you get your very own virtual dustbunny collection. Too bland for my taste really, but I can never turn down the opportunity to get all fancy. So typical me immeditely rummaged through my closet for something to wear. I didn't wanna go in black. WOAH! Breaking news people, Vhie Fabilla didn't want to wear black. So all I had choice between red or white. I picked the white.

I was also thinking of going in a white and green ensemble cause not many people would think of that combination. Unfortunately I couldn't find the "right" green. I searched high and low yet all I could find was either apple green or olive green or seaweed green. Not the vibrant green with a tinge of elegance that I wanted, so I had to settle for navy blue while mother found a clutch in the back of her closet which matched my black and silver peep toes. And, *drumroll*

 

 Thank you Kuya Ricky for my hair and makeup.



The buffet dinner was exquisite. I especially liked the Italian station where you pick a pasta and other ingredients and a sauce and condiments of your choice and the chef will whip it up in 5 minutes for you. It was very entertaining to watch. And Disneyland Hotel has the nicest staff I've met. One waiter was even sweet enough to hold my chair for me after almost crashing into one another amidst the traffic of hungry people.

And being the obsessive compulsive pastry chef that I am, of course I won't forget the dessert bar where I went back for a luscious 2nd helping of their Apple Pie with Whipped Cream.



The sweet taste of apples with pine nut streusel topping topped with whipped cream. Boy was that one delicious slice of heaven. I haven't gone round to making pies yet. Right now I'm on cakes =D. Cream Cheese Pound Cake coming up next week, since it's my brother's birthday tomorrow I've got to wrap tons of stuff plus my student is coming over to learn Edelweiss, leaving me with ZERO time to bake.

Now, off to wash all this gel off my hair.

- Messer Girl

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Movie Junkie - Killers

2nd dose!

First things first, I absolutely love Katherine Heigl.When she plays a role, her acting reels me right into that scenario. I can watch 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth over and over and over again and I won't get sick of it. She is one of the very few actresses that I actually favor. "Very few" actually comprises of Katherine Heigl, Scarlet Johannson, Amy Adams and Isla Fisher.

The way Ms. Heigl delivers her lines with obvious effort of about 150% plus the appropriate emotions, I get hooked. The minute I saw her on the Killers poster, I knew I had to watch it.


I'll try to be extremely light on the spoilers.

Synopsis: Trying to recover from a sudden break-up, Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) believes she’ll never fall in love again. But when she reluctantly joins her parents on a trip to the French Riviera, Jen happens to meet the man of her dreams, the dashing, handsome Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher). Three years later, her seemingly impossible wish has come true: she and Spencer are newlyweds living the ideal suburban life – that is, until the morning after Spencer’s 30th birthday when bullets start flying. Literally.

It turns out Spencer never bothered to tell Jen he’s also an international super-spy, and now Jen's perfect world has been turned upside down. Faced with the fact that her husband is a hit man, Jen is determined to discover what other secrets Spencer might be keeping – all the while trying to dodge bullets, keep up neighborly appearances, manage the in-laws…and work out some major trust issues.

I'm not a fan of Ashton Kutcher - blame 4 years of Punk'd - but he's one hell of an actor. My eyes popped just 10 minutes into the movie - I never noticed how hot he actually is - but forget the eye-popping, my jaw dropped when he put on a serious face and jumped right into action. I've always associated Ashton with comedies - that was before I 'wikipedia-ed' him - turns out he played an airman in The Guardian. How was I to know? Ashton's a good comedian but producers, do not be afraid to send some action-drama scripts his way. You never know, you might just produce one hell of a blockbuster.
I wasn't too enthusiastic about the plotline though. What can you expect from a movie that's merely 1 hour and 40 mins long? And that's including credits. And whadya know, I was right: The plotline was a killer. Boy's a hired assassin, meets girl, falls in love, quits job then gets pulled back into it and girl gets dragged along. I don't like plots that are too fast-paced - not as much as I hate the ones that drag on too long though. The plot's good, but the rundown was faster than a ride on the Abyss. I figured it out halfway through, or maybe it's just me. It lacked mystery. The momentum was lost a couple of times along the way, leaving the climax rather flat.
A couple of action scenes got my votes, I'll give you that. They weren't top-notch, but not too shabby, not too shabby at all. I favor close combat over shootouts; they're so much more thrilling and have a knack of sending you over to the edge of your seat. Plus after what TPTB did for the CSI: New York finale might just make me dislike guns.
But let's not forget that this is still a comedy. With Ms. Heigl's and Mr. Kutcher's acting and the witty script, you won't be ending this movie with a frown.

Story: C
Acting: B-
Direction: B-
Visuals: B-
Average: B-

- Messer Girl

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Movie Junkie - Shrek Forever After

 
Here comes the first dose of movie reviews this week. I actually watched this a week ago but I was preoccupied to post it so technically, this is overdue. Sorry. To add, I was kind of reluctant to review this because it's one part of a series. And with series, the latest installment is always compared to the previous ones. And let's face it, never before has any sequels topped the original. Likewise for Shrek IV so I really hope this will be the last installment otherwise it'll start annoying me like the Spiderman Trilogy.

A major thumbs up if you're going with the family and you have toddlers or pre-pre-pubescent kids or if you're an avid Shrek fan - I have yet to meet one. However, Shrek going through a midlife crisis and exchanges everything he has for a day of careless freedom in the shadow of his former self - come on, you couldn't get any more cliche than that.

A few things did come of notable interest.

Rumplestiltskin - the renowned characted by the Brothers Grimm - is by far the best Shrek antagonist ever. The Tooth Fairy and Prince Charming just irritated the bullocks out of me. I love how cunningly annoying he is - a little corny at some points but maniacal enough. I heard of him as a child but I never read the tale. I clung close to my Hans Christian Andersen tales.
Their Bounty Hunter is the Piper, who literally plays his pipe sending his targets dancing their way into oblivion. I think he's the most entertaining addition to the Shrek casts in all four movies put together.
Puss PAMPERED-AND-NOT-IN-BOOTS! For one, I hate cats. For two I love Antonio Banderas. So for three, number two prevails. It's usually Donkey who makes up most of the comic relief in Shrek movies but Puss in Boots was remarkably adorable, so it was Donkey's turn to be in the bleachers for a while.
To conclude, put this movie under "Family Flicks" with explanations ready for the inquisitive little ones.

Story:  C+
Acting: C
Direction: B
Visual: B
Average: B-

- Messer Girl

Monday, June 7, 2010

How come the bike still moves even when I'm not pedalling?

It is frustrating to look for something as small as a card reader. It is even more frustrating when you're trying to look for it in the middle of the night with your phone as a flashlight, hoping you won't wake up the entire house while you're dying to just turn the place upsidedown.

So we'll be going pictureless today. I figured I can just edit this later.

I gave up on trying to find that card reader and just bought another one for merely $30. It's got a Micro SD slot too. Double benefit. My brother and don't have to bicker at each other about who used the Micro SD adapter last since he uses it for his NDS while I use it for Quinn.

Finally went cycling with the family today. Hong Kong's weather agreed with us for once - the sun was up with a mild breeze, perfect for cycling. When you live in Hong Kong, it's hard to find things to do. Period. So when my dad and I thought of going cycling, we just had to do it. We've never done it before as a family, plus we could all kick off a few calories along the way.


My brother and I got singles while my parents got a tandem because my mother doesn't know how to ride a bicycle and the thought of renting a single with training wheels, "Ano ako? Bata!" (What am I? A Kid!") she retorted. I personally thought it was really sweet. I myself didn't know how to ride a bike until 4 years ago. One of my bestfriends had to teach me. Even then, I was such a chicken when it came to turning. It was only when I studied AL Physics I understood I had to tilt with the bike. Oy!

We also stopped for a while so my dad could change my gears because he noticed I was pedalling so much yet I was moving too slow. And there I was, gawking with so much interest when he was shifting it - not that I had the slightest idea about bicycle gears to begin with.
Moving on. Although cycling on a sunday was not the best idea - too much traffic on the lanes - we found a lane which was rather deserted where speeding up was neither too suicidal nor homicidal.
Speaking of speeding up, my brother asked one of the most adorable questions he's ever asked me after catching up to me, "How come the bike still moves even when I'm not pedalling?". It made me smile. I never dealt with curiosity the way he does. I was more of the "find out on your own" kinda kid - still am actually.
I think I might fall in love with cycling. Will probably scout for bikes now. Anybody know anyplace good and affordable? I wonder how much the foldable ones are...
 Oh there was also this mini fountain walkway that I simply couldn't resist taking a photo of.

- Messer Girl

Sunday, June 6, 2010

For lack of a better post title


This was supposed to be a stolen shot of how my friends just can't put their phones down for one minute, but the first snapshot failed so they were ready for this one.

My dad came home for my graduation. I am officially outta high school. Unfortunately, I've been better so I'm afraid this post would be...lifeless would be a perfect word.

With that said, I won't drone on forever. Coming up would hopefully be a recipe, a movie review - 2 if I happen to be chirpier next week - plus a book review if I manage to finish one. It's been very difficult for me to start reading a new novel recently, let alone finish one. The last book I read was Breaking Dawn - oh! Well what'dya know, there's your culprit.

- Messer Girl