July 2013 ~ Merlion Wayfarer's Walking Singapore

That Girl In Pinafore - Bringing Laughter And Tears

10:31 AM Entertainment, Events, Harbourfront, Invites, Movies, South

Golden Village VivoCity
South, Singapore
30 July 2013

Merlion Wayfarer attended the Gala Premiere of That Girl In Pinafore (我的朋友, 我的同学, 我爱过的一切) last night at Golden Village VivoCity. (Thank you, StarHub!)

That Girl in Pinafore is a coming-of-age tale set in 1993, Singapore, about dreams, friendships, and first loves. The story follows four teenagers' efforts to bring business back to a struggling folk music pub, and the blossoming love between Jiaming and May, both fans of Singaporean folk music.

"Xinyao is the perfect embodiment of the Singaporean’s dream..."

- Chai Yee Wei, Director -

Why That Girl In Pinafore (我的朋友, 我的同学, 我爱过的一切) brings tears and laughter to all:

Studying overnight at Changi Airport because it is the only aircon place you know that stays open overnight...

Listening to a Walkman wherever you go with a $300 Discman being one-up on its predecessor...

When Red Bull still came in glass bottles and you drink lots of them with chicken essence to mug for exams...

Calling the radio station late at night with your story to dedicate songs...

Buying the latest cassette tapes from your favourite Chinatown store and freaking out when the tape unwinds in your player and spoilt your favourite cassette...

Being entertained by Liang PoPo and Liang XiMei on primetime TV...

Boys from one school liking girls from another school...

Swooning at guys with long bouncy fringes...

Listening to xinyao in a "pub"...

Teenage girls putting Kurt Corbain's posters on their bedroom walls and teenage boys with Amy Yip...

Cycling, BBQs, guitars and falling in love at East Coast...

(Source : hotciderfilms' YouTube)

Passing messages through folded paper aeroplanes...

Being hip means going to a tea dance at Fire...

Messaging numerical messages on pager with codes : # 07734 **...

When chewing gum was still allowed in Singapore...

Your parents telling you that "Music has no future in Singapore!" and to "study in the US" for a brighter future...

Speaking lots of dialect to your friends instead of English and Mandarin and playing guitar to sing together after school...

Wearing handmade friendship bands made by your best friends...

青春在多少岁月里悄悄流逝... Over time, as the youths grew up, relationships ended, the group broke up as they built their own careers and families. Each had their own lives and "no time" for music and their secondary school friendships...

(Source : hotciderfilms' YouTube)

That Girl In Pinafore touches with its sheer simplicity, accurate depiction of nostalgic memories, innocence of youthful aspirations, and the pureness of teenage love. Never has any movie charted the growing up path of those born in the 1970s and 1980s so well and touched the heart so deeply. 少年时候, 谁没有梦想?

"Xinyao represented the spirit of Singapore’s youth and their willingness
to chase after their dreams and make it happen..."

- Chai Yee Wei, Director -

Thank you for reliving our schoolday memories...

Sources

"Did Julie Tan gave her first on-screen kiss to Daren Tan instead?" (05 March 2013). xinmsn, Celebrity Buzz. Retrieved from http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/did-julie-tan-gave-her-first-on-screen-kiss-to-daren-tan-instead (31 July 2013).
"Salute to Singapore: Director Chai Yee Wei’s homegrown gem" by Genevieve Sarah LOH (31 July 2013). Today Online. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/movies/salute-singapore-director-chai-yee-weis-homegrown-gem (31 July 2013).
"That Girl in Pinafore" by Derek ELLEY (15 July 2013). Film Business Asia. Retrieved from http://www.filmbiz.asia/reviews/that-girl-in-pinafore (31 July 2013).
"That Girl in Pinafore". Golden Village. Retrieved from http://www.gv.com.sg/moviedetails/gv_moviedetails_3142.jsp (31 July 2013).

(For photo sources, refer to the individual photos on
Merlion Wayfarer's "Events - Entertainment" album on Picasa)

Retired, Extremely Dangerous Goes To Paris, London, Moscow

2:29 AM Central, Entertainment, Events, Invites, Movies, Orchard

Shaw Lido, Orchard
Central, Singapore

29 July 2013

This evening, Merlion Wayfarer was at a movie preview held at Shaw Lido for RED 2.

RED is a 2010 American action-comedy film inspired by the limited comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage. In the film version, the title is derived from the designation of the status of agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), meaning "Retired, Extremely Dangerous".

In RED 2, the high-octane action-comedy sequel to the worldwide sleeper hit, retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. To succeed, they’ll need to survive an army of relentless assassins, ruthless terrorists and power-crazed government officials, all eager to get their hands on the next-generation weapon. The mission takes Frank and his motley crew to Paris, London and Moscow. Outgunned and outmanned, they have only their cunning wits, their old-school skills, and each other to rely on as they try to save the world - and stay alive in the process.

What Merlion Wayfarer finds fascinating about Red 2...

Lee Byung-hun's very well-developed half-body view when going through a security clearance... (*Breathe!*)

A chemistry lesson that Hg (Ooops, mercury!) comes in red colour and can be an explosive WOMD!

Curled toes when sniping can be sexy to Russians...

Bruce Willis articulating more than a sentence as he talks about his "feelings"...

Forget the taser - A glass fridge door is much faster when attacked by an entire squad of armed shooting policemen...

Kissing can be a good espionage tool...

A senile Anthony Hopkins is a sinister Anthony Hopkins...

Catherine Zeta Jones speaks Russian with a V-shaped collar on everything she wears...

And most importantly, why learning to kiss a Frog can be so important...

Really entertaining for a DC Comics movie : Merlion Wayfarer enjoyed the explosive action (Lots of guns and fighting!), high-speed moves (Porsche Carrera zipping along the banks of River Seine!), the seduction (The Korean, the American, and the Russian!), the unexpected storyline twists (Shit, pizza and frogs!), and the ever-present humour (With a straight face!)...

Thanks, Shaw and OMY!

Science For The Young And Young-At-Heart

3:18 AM Events, Invites, West

Science Centre Singapore

Jurong East, Singapore

June 2013

This blog is replicated from Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's archives

Merlion Wayfarer was recently visited the Singapore Science Centre for Megabugs Returns! ("Facing The Super-Sized" and "Marvel At The Small Things In Life"). What thrilled her was that, to this day, as an adult, the Science Centre still enthralls. Here's why...

InsectMania!, one of the side events from Megabugs Returns! is a talk with hands-on experience about exciting and fascinating bugs like stick insects and the giant hissing cockroaches...

Life stages of the silk worm...

These are not hissing because they are well-fed and relaxed...

Fragile stick insects where their perfect twig-like camouflage...

Bigger than a palm!

Creepy crawlies that are edible or useful...

The aquarium with its fascinating displays of saltwater fishes...

Watch out for the moray eel!

Oh hello, Dory!

Geological exhibits showing meteorites from space, rocks from different parts of Singapore, even benches made from stone...

Try lifting them!

A recipe for a typhoon...

Rocks from all over Singapore...

Merlion Wayfarer's favourite - The Tesla Coil demonstration, a highly dramatic and electrifying live demonstration of high voltage electricity with a 3.5 million volt coil in action, and generating electrical arcs of up to three metres!

Cover your ears!

iZ Hero is a digital exhibition with both panels and games to inform and entertain the young on good cyber habits...

Perennial favourites like the electric chair, the T-Rex skeleton at the entrance, and the Muppet Show's Statler and Waldorf lookalikes...

Candy Unwrapped uncovers the surprising biology, chemistry, physiology and psychology behind the world of candy...

In this display of scores of different types of candies, see how candy companies continue out-gross, out- gore, out-shock and out-sour each other to find the ultimate extreme candy...