This post is because I feel the need to add more posts to the "Arty Farty" tag (it looks lonely with only one post categorized under it).

Anyways, I've been wanting to go for the Harry Potter exhibition at the Art Science Museum and since there was an Andy Warhol exhibition going on, might as well go see see look look. $24 to visit two exhibits is not too bad.

Unfortunately they were pretty strict on photo taking so all I managed was a photo at the entrance:

There was a looping video showing how silkscreen printing was used to create those colourful pop art paintings that Andy Warhol was famous for and I thought that was quite cool. And yes there were also a lot of Campbell Soup cans. I wish I can say that I can appreciate the nuances of art a lot better but I guess art isn't really not my thing. Music, maybe.

Then it was down to Basement 1 for HARRY POTTER!!!!

The flying car in Chamber of Secrets

 

Yay! Harry Potter fangirl

Unfortunately again they were very strict on photo taking sooooooooo although I dearly wanted to take some snapshots, I didn't :( I rented an audio guide for $6 but I didn't find it very useful, but I did manage to shoot some Quidditich hoops (I suck at all ball games, magical or not) and sit on the chair that Hagrid sat in. Was expecting the exhibition to be much bigger and grander though. And the merchandise were so expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $6 for a Chocolate Frog (contemplated whether to buy but decided $6 for a piece of chocolate was not worth it) and $6 for the Every Flavour Jelly Beans (the box stated several disgusting sounding flavours which interested me but not enough for me to buy it).

OK almost time to knock off! Spent most of Friday afternoon at the Long Service Award ceremony because I wanted to eat free food and the reception did not disappoint!!! The laksa was yummy slurps~

But really, 人生有几个四十年？So many of my fellow colleagues have spent decades of their lives here, this place is like a second home to them. Like our CEO said, how do we measure the 525,600 minutes of our lives each year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee?

Haha yah that is from a song that the CEO played at the ceremony. But like I always like to tell people, 我把我的青春献给这个公司了! 

If by some misfortune I'm still hanging around here next year, it will be my turn to go shake hands with some MD and get a certificate for 5 years of service! Eeeks. Really 佩服 those who have worked here tirelessly for 30 or 40 years.

Aloha mates! It's mid-week and it's a lovely day also known as a Public Holiday!

I caught the penultimate installment of Harry Potter last night and the plot stayed very much true to the book! Which is good! In fact I was planning to re-read Deathly Hallows today but I woke up late on this nice and rainy afternoon and proceeded to nua most of the afternoon away. Before I knew it, it was already 6pm. Bleah. :(

However I think that [SPOILERS] Harry should not be dancing with Hermoine so intimately in the show! Ron where are you! Go and grab Hermoine and give her a big hug and kiss now! Other than that, I have no other major quibbles... the effects were good and the pace was good, got a bit draggy when they were plodding aimlessly around in the wilderness but in the book, that was also the most draggy part anyway.

Today is also my parents' 26th anniversary and I faxed in to 972 to ask the DJs to prank call them. Haha. Well actually it was my mother's idea to prank call my Dad but she was too lazy to fax in, so I hastily wrote some stuff and faxed it over before I knocked off from work yesterday. I ended up sabo-ing her instead. Haha.

So it looks like today will be another day where I don't accomplish anything much... I wanted to
1) read Deathly Hallows
2) watching The Amazing Race
3) do my Korean homework
4) apply for jobs
5) surf Gmarket

but ended up doing none of the above.

Oh well, another typical lazy day in the life of Si Yi...

I always find it a little regrettable that I haven't been keeping up my habit of reading. Books, I mean, not newspapers or 8 Days. The reason why I hardly read is because there are so many distractions these days! That is, as compared to 10 years ago, when I was quite a voracious reader.

I am trying to re-read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince but I find myself getting distracted by Restaurant City, by Facebook, by uploading photos, editing photos, watching 2PM and their general hotness, watching So Nyeo Shi Dae and their legginess, watching 2NE1 singing "I don't care-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh", thinking whether to watch 2D1N or Family Outing, reading allkpop, etc etc... 很忙 leh!

No wonder I have no time to read now. All these evil distractions keep thwarting my plans to settle down with Potter!

A rather belated Wonder Girls wave swept across the office today. I kept hearing strains of Nobody in the afternoon and couldn't resist but bop my head to it. Haha. "It's very catchy!" exclaimed someone. At least that perked up my sleepy afternoon.

Watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince tomorrow! RonxHermione! <3

Today I was reading 我报 for my usual dose of 日韩娱乐新闻 (which is rather pathetic on most days I must say) when I saw this right at the bottom of the page:

J.K. Rowling 自暴 Dumbledore 是"同志"

Wah! Haha I must say I really didn't expect that. Since I'm in the midst of reading the entire series of Harry Potter books, naturally the image of Dumbledore is rather fresh in my mind. I don't think I ever pondered about his sexual orientation while reading the books though. I guess I didn't see Dumbledore as someone who would have emotional yearnings? Hahaha. Although, come to think of it, I think being gay kind of suits him. The article said that the object of Dumbledore's affection was Grindelwald. Fascinating! Since I'm halfway through Deathly Hallows now I shall keep my eyes peeled for any tell-tale signs of this romance. :)

And I really need to start studying for my Vokabeltest!

From the rather limited number of comments I read on mugglenet.com (like 10 comments out of 6000), it looks like I'm not the only one who is dissatisfied with the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. A darker, more dramatic ending would have been better. Anyhow, there was supposed to be a character who only manages to do magic later in life, but there wasn't any mention of such a character in the book?!

I'm itching to march to the nearest bookstore to get a copy of books 1, 2 and 4 once my pay cheque comes!

I have been having very satisfying lunches for the past two days - Soup Spoon yesterday and some Hokkaido ice cream (green tea and milk tea ice cream anyone?) + a huuuuge serving of Hokkien Mee from Central today. I think Soup Spoon is going to be my newest food obsession. $9.80 for lunch alone might be a tad expensive, but it's really value-for-money! It came with half a sandwich, a tiny tub of salad which was surprisingly refreshing coz I could taste lemon juice in it, a cup of ice-tea (I found it a tad too sweet though), a small choc wafer bar and the soup! They're very generous with the ingredients in the soup I must say... yum!

READ THIS, SAINT! When you stop wandering around Greece and get an internet connection. From JK Rowling herself (and my sentiments exactly):

"I loathe people who say, 'I always read the ending of the book first.' That really irritates me," she said. "It's like someone coming to dinner, just opening the fridge and eating pudding, while you're standing there still working on the starter. It's not on."
(article from here)

7 more work days!

Had a Potter-filled weekend. Watched The Order of the Phoenix on Friday evening and I spent almost the whole weekend with my eyes glued to the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I just finished reading it.

I remember 2 years ago when I was reading Half Blood Prince, and the frustration of having to wait a few more years to find out how it would all end, who R.A.B. is (R.A.B. is who many expected him to be...), whether or not Snape is evil... haha 2 years sure pass by quickly.

After reading it I think I am more confused. I think it's because I didn't refresh my memory on what happened in the previous few books. Didn't have time to re-read them, but I'm planning to do so soon. But still, some parts puzzle me... did Dolores Umbridge escape from the Centaurs in book 5? I cannot remember. JK Rowling did her best to tie up the loose ends, but it does feel like she's addressing all these loose ends on purpose sometimes so as to round up the series nicely.

Like a long, drawn-out battle, it has finally ended... got kind of boring mid-book, and the ending... (spoiler, highlight to read) is a bit too cheesy and happy for me! The last chapter was one of those "19 years later..." things. I honestly expected Harry to die... even though I wasn't quite ready for him to die even when I was at page 500+... in the end his "death" was kind of like... chey. It is so predictable that good will triumph over evil! But JK Rowling was really merciless this time round, I can't even keep track of the number of side characters she killed in this book.

I don't get Harry's obsession for Ginny, and he was pining for her many times in the book... but I am all for Ron and Hermoine... they are just too cute together. And we find out that Snape is not evil after all, and Dumbledore is not all that saintly. Lupin and Tonks die - that was a bit of a shocker to me. There are too many things happening, too many clues from the previous installments, but that's what I like about the Harry Potter series. It has continuity, each one draws material from past events, it builds on them, and the characters are not one-dimensional.

Yes, I really need to re-read OotP, HBP and slowly linger and comprehend the text that is Deathly Hallows... I figure I will understand more from the second read.

Better still, I need to re-read all 7 books but I don't have the complete set. Yet. :( :( :(

And this sudden spout of furious reading reminded me of how long I haven't been reading! (I guess newspapers don't count.) Ahhh this good habit I had when I was a kid... disappeared with the pursuit of other less-intellectual obsessions...

Anyway the OotP movie was not bad, but it could have been better, and they really cut out a lot of stuff... But I have come to expect a great reduction in the sub-plots and not raise my expectations too much. The gist is still there i.e. Ministry of Magic taking over Hogwarts... and I've been wanting to see the visual image of Sirius falling through the archway coz visualizing someone falling through an archway was kind of abstract for me. I also imagined Dolores Umbridge to look more toad-like. Like fat and stumpy! And Luna Lovegood to be more looney! Haha.

And so goes another week - 3rd August is looking really near now, it's within reach! Thing is, there are still 2 weeks... groan...

On a rather unrelated note, I think this thing about Garfield being jealous about Liz is so cute! Garfield looks cute when jealous hahahahaha.

ARGH, a few of my K-pop songs just mysteriously vanished from my computer.
And I didn't even realize that they disappeared into the depths of the 110001111010101s for like 2 whole months!!!

Shit man, this sucks!
All the songs from the S singers - SeeYa, SHINHWA (luckily only a few random - but hard to find - songs were lost), Shin Hye Sung, and a few of my Turbo songs are missing too... :( :( *cries a puddle*

I am very upset!!! It took me so long to find all these songs and build up my collection... :(

And I rather belatedly realized that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is to be released THIS SATURDAY. It only struck me when I was striking the days off my calendar at work. In my mind there are still many Saturdays left till the release of the book.
I am slow.
Then I realized that I have no time to read book 5 and 6 before book 7 comes. Damn.
And then I realized again that I won't be at home this Saturday! Shucks. So I can't hole myself up at home and read the book. This means I cannot have any contact with the outside world until I finish the book on like maybe Sunday or something lest I happen to see any spoilers.

BUMMER. I was looking forward all week to Saturday - mainly for the sleeping in late part, just like the good ol' times - then I am suddenly asked to work tomorrow. Morning. At 830am!!! ARGGGHHH.

That's two consecutive Saturdays where I don't get to wake up late!!! *angry*

The Harry Potter movie is out, and I haven't watched it! *stomps foot*

Speaking of foot stomping, there was this kid on the train 2 evenings ago who kept stamping his foot and throwing tantrums. I think it was because there weren't any seats for him. Finally, a pregnant lady alighted at Dhoby Ghaut but the brat still continued to stomp his foot and screaming. I wonder if the pregnant lady had second thoughts about having children after witnessing that episode.

Needless to say, I was pissed at the brat because I was standing there trying to sleep and looking like an idiot while at it, and then there's this empty seat right next to me but I can't sit down because there's this kid who is standing right in front of the seat - not sitting down, but not letting others sit too!
I really feel sorry for his mom.

Reason 39482347621 why I hate kids.

Tomorrow! I will be laying my hands on a copy of Dongwan's album. YAY! Then I will drool and look all dreamy and happy and start spazzing, and you can expect not to hear from me for a few more days because I am busy drooling and staring at his pictures. Hahaha.

Have I mentioned that I lovelovelove his album? :)
<3

Oh yah today is Friday the 13th.

I just pre-ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from SingPost today... since they sent an email and a mailer to me... and since I got Half Blood Prince from them last time and there's free delivery... yeah so now all I have to do is to wait for 21st July to roll by!! :)

I am so broke... ahh $47.15!!! But luckily it's reading week next week then it's the exams... so I can just stay at home and not spend any money... hurhurhur.

Okay this semester has also gone to I-don't-know-where, time just flies by too quickly and I think I am done with all my assignments/projects/etc.
Oh. We still have the online newspaper. :( And I am not optimistic about Bio Psych at all. :(

Exams be gone! RAWR!

JULY!

Get ready for Potter-mania to descend upon the world!!!

July 13th - OotP movie
July 21st - Deathly Hallows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark those dates down!!!

I finally went to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Tuesday. I thought I wouldn't like it very much because I didn't like them slashing off so many important bits of the 3rd movie, what more the 4th.

I really didn't like the first bit of the movie, like oei Quidditch World Cup barely shown and everything so rushed and Barty Crouch Jr appeared in the dream which is WRONG!
And a too drawn-out scene of Harry battling the dragon!

But after that it was okay, they seemed to follow the plot largely, and once I put aside my misgivings I quite enjoyed it! I'll give it an E for Exceeds Expectations! Why was Hermione so over-emotional though? And wahaha Neville Longbottom is taller than Harry! I dunno, but I kind of imagined him to be short.

If you like reading and imagining characters though, the book has so much more to offer. Read the book! Get sucked into the world of Hogwarts and magic! Ooh la la! I think I'll go and read now. Hahaha.

A new Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire trailer here!

I dreamt that I got retrenched from my part-time job because of "rising oil prices". Like Huh???

I went to Mediacorp to collect the tickets yesterday. The man held out the tickets face-down and I picked a pair of $58 tickets! And my mom agreed to work for me today. Was so worried that I couldn't attend the concert because nobody could cover for me.

Okie dokes! I've got a driving lesson soon. Tata.

There was a lot of mahjong and bridge during the chalet. A lot of rowdiness, a lot of balloons, and a cockroach. And the chalet is big! Go and book the Aranda Country Club chalets next time. Ten times bigger than measly, tiny Downtown East chalets.

I finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince after trying to drag out my reading pleasure. Even though I was dying to finish it before I left for the chalet I decided not to bring it there. It would have interfered with the mahjong and bridge, haha. And OMG OMG OMG (spoiler alert) how can she kill off _________?!?! But I loved the Ron/Hermione thing, I always adored Ron coz he's so funny and quirky. I thought it was painfully obvious that they would end up together. Yay for Ron and Hermione!!! The other couple was a bit of a surprise though. As for the _____ thing, it's very hard to give an opinion even though I always thought he wasn't that... you know, what he became. It came as a bit of a shock though. Haha that wasn't really much of a spoiler, was it? :D

What I like about the Harry Potter books is that the plots are all intertwined throughout all 6 books. If you haven't read OotP, I would advise you to read it before you read HBP. But generally a brilliant book, and I can't wait for the last installment of the series! Hurry up already!

And my computer is fixed! *beams happily* I didn't lose my precious files, photos, and Ian Thorpe stuff that I've amassed. Thank you spirits and heavens above! I shall now start to back up my files... I think that'll take about 20 CDs and a lot of patience.

16th July! The day Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is out.
Save for a few hours while I'm out tuitioning, I shall stay at home and wait for the delivery of my book!

I'm gonna be damn upset if I lose all my stuff in the computer. Please, heavens and spirits above, let the data in the computer come out of the ordeal unharmed!!! This standby computer has a squeaky mouse, a not-very-nice-to-type-on keyboard, and none of my favourite emoticons on MSN Messenger. Boo.
It's only redeeming feature is that it has better speakers and isn't as sluggish as the one that crashed.