2 Days, 2 Movies Again

I last caught 2 movies in consecutive days in August last year, and I did it again! Both are sponsored by Radio 91.3. Hehe.



For this movie, it wasn't just a normal preview. It's an exclusive preview at Shaw @ NEX. Initially, I was wondering what the "exclusive" meant. As soon I collected the shiny tickets (it's different from the normal ones we buy from the ticketing counter), one of the staff ushered us to our seats. It's an adjustable seat which you can almost incline it at 180 degrees! And there's a leg rest too. On top of that, there's a blanket and we were served truffle fries during the movie on the mini-table in front of the two seats. That should be my most comfortable movie experience so far! (By the way, it's the first 'exclusive preview' done by Radio 91.3, and I heard they are going to do this every single month, just like 'Must Drink Friday'.)


Here's a picture of how it looks like.

Back to the movie, for 80% of the time, the male lead (Sam Worthington) is literally on the ledge of the building. He is an ex-cop which got into trouble with the law but he wants to prove that he is innocent. While trying to prove his innocence, he got his family involved and then he started realizing that some of this best pals weren't whom he thought they were. That's as much as I can divulge, otherwise, it will spoil the suspense for the viewers.

I must say that movies of such kind are quite interesting and refreshing to watch, but it is not without flaws of course. Amidst the adrenaline pumping action and a little dosage of humour, there seems to be something lacking in the movie. Everything, from the storyline to the acting, seems good but not exceptional. Still, it's a decent movie and I kinda like the ending.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars



What a contrast in terms of the comfort level for this movie! The seats were the usual ones. Boohoo. Hahaha.

'Act of Valor' is a movie about a team of Navy SEALs, who embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent. With minor mishaps, they successfully completed the mission but obvious, the movie doesn't stop there. Their commander realized that they have uncovered something even more major, and they need to stop the "bad guys" from succeeding in their "plans". Replace "bad guys" by terrorists and "plans" by suicide bombing. You get the picture.

Unless you are a fan of the army, you probably won't enjoy the movie so much. Still, it's commendable to see how the team displays teamwork and sacrifice for one another. Especially one scene - those who watch will definitely know which scene I'm referring to. Really touched that the leader of the pack was so noble. In operations like these, I think it's really important that everyone is brave and executes his part to perfection. Okay, random remark.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Honours Thesis Done

After months of late nights and hard work, I have finally completed my Honours Thesis! 5 days before the deadline of 27 February. It's always better or safer to finish earlier, just in case some emergencies crop up in the final few days.

80 pages, 12932 words in total. The main thesis was actually done yesterday, but I was too tired to blog about it. Printed 3 copies, two to be handed up, and one for my personal reference cum souvenir. Haha. The requirement was to print single-sided so that means I have consumed a total of 240 pieces of A4 paper. (And I will need to print another 240 pages come March/April for the final submission.) Pity the trees.

Transferred the codes to the CD (also to be handed up) and did the binding today. So that means I'm done with the first 50% of my Honours Project. The remaining 50% will be in the form of the presentation (25%), interview (20%) and final submission (5%).

If someone told me I would end up with 80 pages a month ago, I would think he was kidding. I didn't inflate the page count artificially at all. I just merely put in what I've done, and the main thesis came up to 64 pages, with the remaining 16 pages dedicated to 'Appendix' and 'References'. Okay lah, maybe some of the tables and histograms were a little big. Hehe.

Been locking myself up in my room for the most of February working on my thesis, and another reason is because of my cough (I'm still coughing...), so it's really a huge burden off my mind when I completed the editing last night. Never felt so happy for a long, long time.

For the remaining half of the recess week, it's time to work on my two core modules and also to study for my mid-term test next week. Got to wait till March to reward and pamper myself for my efforts! Hehe! :)

Still Sick II

Yes, I'm still coughing. It's the 15th day of CNY today, which means I have been coughing for close to 20 days.

I just went to see the doctor (again), and she was a little surprised that my cough hasn't recovered because I looked very well. Unlike some people who have fever/flu accompanying the cough, I'm able to carry out my daily activities as per normal except for the occasional coughing that loves me too much to go away. Lol. Anyway, she said my nose was probably allergic, either due to stress (oops), dust or some viruses. So I was given a nasal spray, which is a device that sprays liquid into your nostrils, and it's my first time in my life playing with this device. Haha. Oh, it's not cheap!

To end off, she said she would have to send me for a X-ray if the coughing doesn't stop, but she added that it would be highly unlikely for her to do so.

To be honest, my CNY this year has been pretty boring. For the past two to three weeks, I had to avoid the CNY goodies because of my throat, as well as the cold drinks because of my coughing, so basically I'm just drinking plain water and grounding myself at home.

Being grounded at home isn't that bad either. Including naps, I have been clocking almost 10 hours of sleep everyday which is something that I never thought or dreamt was possible. Hehe. I have been also made AMAZING progress on my thesis and I must say I'm very pleased with my effort.

But I hope I'm not neglecting my core modules too much, because I'm quite lost in the lectures. I don't understand what the lecturers are talking about, and the TAs are even worse. I hope I don't fail (to do well for) my core modules this semester.

Anyway, I really hope to get well soon. Simply because I'm missing all the cold drinks and desserts!! Haha.

Still Sick

Sigh, I'm still coughing.

I have already lost count of the number of days I've been coughing. It's probably more than 10 days. I have seen (finally) seen the doctor on Monday, but it's not getting better or worse. I'm still able to carry on with my daily activities as normal, except that the occasional coughing can be very irritating. This is especially so when I'm in the lecture theatre, or trying to concentrate on doing something.

As a result, I'm feeling irritated and agitated most of the time. Irritated because the cough just doesn't get well. This could easily rank as the 3rd worst cough in terms of discomfort I've had in my entire life. (The worst happened when I was in China in 2010, second was the 'Tekong cough' in 2006.) Agitated because on one hand, I needed to get sufficient for my illness to recover, but on the other hand, time is running out for my FYP and I can't afford to waste time taking naps and sleeping 10 hours a day. I know I probably sound like a workaholic or FYP-aholic, it's already down the final 4 weeks and I want to give it my best shot.

Fortunately I have only 3 days of school a week and my tuition classes this year have been cut down drastically, which means I have the luxury of time (to a certain extent) to visit doctors, or get a little rest while I work on my FYP. And fortunately, my job is only conditional on a 2nd Upper Honours, so that eases the pressure of getting a good grade for my FYP. In other words, you can say that I'm working hard on my own accord, for the passion I have for Statistics, for the personal achievement I seek in my undergraduate life, etc. I know it might sound stubborn to others sometimes, who probably would tell me, I'm sick and ought to rest, and not take it so seriously since it's not as important as my health. Oh well.

Anyway, I still have lots to accomplish for my FYP because I don't wish to cut corners (however tempting it might be, e.g. faking simulation results) and the time is ticking away. I know that I'm taking a huge gamble in trying to include as many things as I wanted into my thesis (to also show that I have done a lot), but with this illness impeding my progress as well as other tutorials and assignments from my core modules, it seems that I might have to burn midnight oil all the way to the end of the month to finish it.

Alright, enough of whining. January is over. Time to put an end to those mood swings.