Friday, September 28, 2007

If Remy Can Cook, So Can You!

Who is Remy? Can he represent the entire universal population?

Well, going by the fact that he’s a rat and he can cook superbly well, then we can safely conclude if Remy can cook, so can you!

Hey hey, that’s right. You probably have guessed by now the content of this post. That is, if you’ve watched Ratatouille!

That’s the name of the latest animation by Walt Disney Pictures, and that’s also the name of a dish - a vegetable stew of Provence, typically consisting of eggplant, zucchini, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic, served hot or cold.

I’m on a movie marathon this week, as I desperately do a last minute rush to the cinema so that I can use up my discount voucher before they expire by the end of this week. Watching movies at $5 per ticket seems to be a luxury of yore…

So, Ratatouille was the second one I’ve caught so far. Besides the high entertaining value this movie has, it also whets one’s appetite and strangely, the nachos tasted more delicious too! Hmm…

Every movie tells a story. Sometimes more than one story. And every story gives us a peek into our real lives.

I guess this rat embodies many virtues in him. Passion, trust, confidence, faith. Most evident and strongly felt of all is passion. His passion and faith in cooking - not just ordinary food but gourmet food really touches me.

No doubt he has an extraordinary gift of acute smell, but to make use of this talent to good use? Not everyone can do this.

Have you found out what your talent is? If you haven’t, is it because you have been busy pursuing the unattainable and been blind to those subtle clues exhibited in the course of doing so?

Or maybe they haven’t got the chance to surface yet. If this is the case, be patient.

Or perhaps your gift has come out in the past. Why not do some recalling now?

Do you believe in yourself? Firmly? Strongly? Unwavering, even in the face of going against your entire clan?

This little blue rat had such a strong belief that he has this gift and he can cook. That human beings aren’t as bad as he was taught. That you are what you eat, and stealing from the garbage isn’t befitting enough to be fed on.

Do you believe in yourself that you can do it? What is stopping you?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Evan Almighty – Are You The Chosen One?

Just came back from watching this movie. Very entertaining, and very enriching.

If you haven’t seen this yet, I don’t think you’ve got a chance to since you can only catch it during weekends and this movie is ending it’s screening soon.

But well, there’s always the option of renting DVDs!

Evan Almighty is about the story of Evan Baxter who was the chosen one - chosen by God to do a seemingly impossible task of building an ark. Yes, he became the modern day Noah of the Ark.

When God calls you, there is no way you can say no to him. I’ve witnessed how he eventually bowed to God’s power and started building the ark. But I’ve also seen the change in him as he laboured through, from knowing nothing to eventually accomplishing the feat.

Yeah, he got help from above, and around, literally.

We’re always asking for help and we’re always complaining. Have we stopped and think for a moment to turn things around?

To see how we can help others and do an act of random kindness instead of mulling around waiting for help.

To appreciate what we already have instead of complaining of what we don’t have.

You may be stuck in the army camp for another 2 years. But that doesn’t mean you can’t perform a random act of kindness for someone else.

You may have ambitious goals to change the world, to be a multi-millionaire. But how do you reach there being a happy successful person?

I guess being kind to others bring a indescribable kind of joy to oneself too. Test that out, and see if it works.

We’re all the chosen ones to do something special in this world for someone else. Believe it or not. 

Sunday, September 09, 2007

About Breaking Ups

Every action carries a consequence. And it is not by default that the person bearing it is the creator of the issue. Many times, it can spill over to this person’s family and friends, even colleagues. Don’t be surprised that anyone who used to be related can be dragged into the spiral, without knowing it and being prepared for.

I’m sure you have come across news of celebrities who got themselves into some kind of trouble or created a very news-worthy issue. Not long after, the paparazzi will start writing about their ex-partners in a bid to increase the heat so as to profit from the hike in readership, and these exes will soon be hunted down to get quotes and comments on the news.

So unknowingly, the exes got themselves into the limelight, most of them unwilling to comment anything for fear of having a piece of the negative impact. That’s the way celebrities handle such cases. How about for people like you and me?

When you have broken up with your partner, how do you handle the change in the relationship? What if your ex-partner ran into some kind of trouble years later?

Why am I saying this? Because I’ve realized that when you thought that everything is over, don’t be too shocked that the past may play some catching up, usually in the not so pleasant way. So, how you break up may then be an under-estimated event.

Too many times people only focus and spent all their energy in the beginning of a relationship. The butterflies in your tummy, going all the way to impress the other party, that kind of “have yet not totally sure yet” feeling about each other etc. 

All care is being put into to ensure that your chances of success won’t be sabotaged.

And when it comes to the breaking up, well, I’m not even sure if anyone will use 10% of that much care and effort into it.

After all, it must be due to some grave mis-matches and/or mistakes that are too serious to be reconciled which leads to the ultimate goodbye. So why bother to think about what is the best way to end it without causing grievous hurt to each other. At least, even if the friendship has to be terminated as well, both parties walk away feeling this is the best solution and feeling peaceful. 

If you are so careful not to step on the wrong mine in case it explodes in the beginning of a relationship, shouldn’t you be more careful at the end? Or do you think that ending it means ending it, and it’ll no longer be your responsibility anymore whether the other party is happy or not?

Well, my advice is, you never know when you will meet again.

How about broadening the idea of a relationship? You might have experienced some fall outs with your team mates in school while doing projects, or maybe your camp mate as you are serving your NS.

When the relationship has turned too sour to amend, and the best way is to split and go separate ways, think of the times when your partner has been a great help to you and part based on that gratitude.

I’m sure the other party will appreciate your good intentions and it will be an amicable split!

So my friend, can you make a goodbye? 

Saturday, September 01, 2007

About An Unreasonable Girl

Prior to this post, I’ve written some general pointers about a girl. I’m thinking maybe we can go deeper into each category.

Remember the Korean movie “My Sassy Girl”? Well, you may hit at the girl and curse the guy for being such a sissy, but in reality, you can’t help being attracted to the girl too, am I right?

So, how about digging into an unreasonable girl’s heart and mind? Wouldn’t you want to know how to handle one, if you ever met and fallen in love with her?

But, in the first place, you will question your mate and start suspecting if he’s blind to choose such a girl to enter a relationship into. Well, do not doubt your friend’s taste, for a girl of such character has some very attractive qualities that some guys are just finding hard to resist.

The very first quality that’s already so hard to resist is this – her looks. A girl who can be unreasonable is usually pretty. I’m not talking about just normally pretty, but much better than being average-looking. She usually is the type that belongs to the “universal beauty” category, where 9 out of 10 people will praise her for her external looks.

When she’s not being unreasonable, she can be very endearing. Perhaps due to her bubbly personality, or her intelligence, or her wit that makes her more outstanding than her peers. She can be the leader in her own group, and that position itself already speaks of some authority and status.

Therefore, she poses as a good challenge to be won over by a guy. Now, don’t guys just love challenges like these?

Are these girls really so detestable? Not really, as what I’ve said above. On top of that, there could be some hidden truth behind their superficial qualities that are displayed openly.

Because of her extra-ordinary good looks, she will be seen as proud and arrogant. Maybe she is used to being pampered, or she just like to be coaxed. Her exterior can be her only life-saving grace or her worst bane. Why?

Deep inside a girl who likes to throw tantrum is usually a girl who lacks security. She needs constant attention to assure her presence, to make her feel she is important.

She could be genuinely innocent. We can’t blame a person for not knowing what she doesn’t know. If she hasn’t been taught the proper ways to interact with people, we really can’t point the finger to her head for being so disrespectful and oblivious to another human being’s ego.

So she needs a teacher in life. She is looking for a guy who can tame her. He has to be a man, and not a boy.

On the other hand, she may be just a girl who is a control freak. It’s either she always has an upper hand in her family, in which case we have a better term for her – spoilt brat, or she has been severely undermined at home and the only outlet for her to show she can be the boss is with this poor guy who chooses to let her wear the pants.

If you found such a “gem”, then be prepared to be burnt until the day when she learnt her lesson through life experiences. She may never will, or she might due to the power of love.

It’s a gamble.

Then again, doesn’t that make this relationship more exciting than the rest? That’s what some guys told me.

I see why now. 

About A Girl

While figuring out what is going on in a guy’s head, I suddenly had this thought that they could be figuring out what is going on in a gal’s head too.

So I decided to do you a favour – spilling some contents from my head into this tiny space, hoping it will in some way help you to know the opposite sex better. Does this sound good? 

Thus – about a girl.

What is a girl? A girl is, by my definition, a female who has not yet stepped into full swing adulthood. That is to say, she’s either studying full time or she has just stepped into the working circle but not totally immersed and changed yet.

A girl is usually pretty confused. Rather than using this word, I’d prefer to say she is uncontented. She wants all the good attractive traits in a boy, without knowing whether she really needs such a person or is good to have. In short, she’s looking for a perfect guy in an imperfect world.

A girl has many fantasies. About almost everything, probably except her studies where fierce teachers are breathing down her necks reminding her of the realities.

A girl thinks she is a princess. I guess this could be the only fantasy that she will never out-grow, even when she is going to be a bride or when she’s married.

A girl is looking for a prince - riding on a white horse waiting to sweep her off her feet galloping away.

A girl loves to giggle. Sometimes, gossip too.

A girl loves to belong to a popular group. In fact, deep inside she wish to be the most popular girl in class and school.

A girl likes to receive gifts, especially on special occasions like birthday, Christmas etc. Oh, definitely Valentine’s Day.

A girl needs lots of attention from her boyfriend.

A girl will try to dress up to add a few more ages to her age. She will do the reverse when she has more than caught up with her actual age.

A girl can easily be influenced by others.

A girl usually likes flowers. She is a die-hard romance fan.

If you like a girl, emulate what a perfect gentleman is like and chances are she will like you. Either that, or score straight As and you will impress her to death.