Carole Matthews- Chocolate Lovers' Club

Ooh... Even the name of this book ounds delicious, what say the book?
This book is about four girls who are totally addicted to chocolate. Sounds boring? Totally NOT!

The main character is Lucy Lombard a thirty something (or was it twenty something?) single lady who has a boyfriend that just can't stay loyal. She is the founding member of the Chocolate Lovers' Club, a club which meets up at a neatly tucked-away outlet called Chocolate Heaven, every time any of them have problems. Lucy's problem : Handling Marcus, her super-unloyal boyfriend, jacob, a cute guy with a dark secret and Aiden Holby, her super-cute boss who hits on her.

There's also Autumn, a creative art teacher at a drug rehab centre which runs programs for youngsters who want to kick their addiction to drugs. Autumn comes from a rich family and has a younger brother who sells recreational drugs. As the older sibling in a family whose parents are too busy working, Autumn's main problem is keeping her brother out of trouble. In this book, she goes to great lengths to ensure that her brother is well protected.

Next, is Nadia, a married Asian woman with a young child. Her husband, Toby, is addicted to online gambling and the family is in jeopardy as he gambles nearly everything away. Nadia has been 'disowned' by her family members as they dissaprove of her choice of a husband. Thus, she has nobody to confide in with the exception of the four members of the Chocolate Lovers' Club.

Last but most interesting, is Chantal, the only American in the 'gang'. Chantal is a journalist for a magazine but is currently based in the UK. Her marriage is breaking down although she still loves her husband desperately. Nevertheless, she has a few flings and they get her into serious trouble.

Combined together with Clive and Tristan, the gay owners of Choclate Heaven, this gang of Chocolate addicts never fail to dissapoint, giving readers their fair share of excitement, love and laughs.

Frankly, Carole Matthews' books have always rocked, but this is by far her best book ever! Of course, there's also the sequel to this book, Chocolate Lovers' Diet, which rocks too, but I shall not write further for fear of boring you.. If and only if you want to know more, leave me a comment!

Toodles!

Holidays

When we were young, Holidays used to be happy times.

Oh, how the world has changed! Holidays are the times of the year where teachers pile extra homework, extra assignments and extra whatever they can pile on us. Yes, we get to sleep in and everything, but the work alone will kill us. I know we are sitting for SPM this year, but that does not mean that we are bots that do work automatically.
Everyday, we go to school from 7.20 til 2.30 (except Fridays). After that, we either have extra-curricular activities, extra classes, or tuition classes. When we finally manage to get home, its already 5.30 or sometimes even 6pm. We bathe, have dinner then do our homework. Usually, we have enough homework to last us til midnight. Then, of course, we sleep. We wake up 6 hours later and repeat the cycle. Every day, the whole week.

As for saturdays, sundays and holidays, we wake up at around 10. Then, start homework and assignments. What a life we have. I don't even have the time to read the papers anymore.

Wanna know more shocking stuff? Teachers go : "We pity you students nowadays.... So much work, so many activities and etc". Then, at the end of the lesson, they give extra homework.
Its really tiring to have to think about unfinished homework during the Chinese New Year.

I'm chronically depressed.

Yes Man

Before I begin, I have to admit, the only reason I even watched this movie at the cinema was because Bedtime Stories was fully booked.... And i didn't feel like watching Australia at the time...

At first, I wasn't really enthusiastic about Yes Man because it starred jim Carrey... Mention Jim Carrey and I think about that super wide and goofy smile that freaks me out, because it usually is sooo unreal... Also, he always used to make slapstick comedies that were BO-RING, like Ace Ventura..... but the keywords in that sentence are : USED TO...

Not anymore....

Even from the start, this movie was a barrel of laughs... And not the slapstick type, not really, unless you are a really serious person who thinks political debates are the only things that are funny...

For the first time, i've actually seen Jim Carrey smile like he actually was happy (not like someone was pointing a gun at him and saying "Smile or i shoot!").. The lines were pretty funny and Mr. Carrey did some spectacular scenes like when he practically swept the girl off her feet at the airport).

For those of you who have no idea what the movie is about, here's a brief summary...
This guy, who is always negative, decides to start saying Yes to EVERYTHING people ask of him after attending a seminar.

That's all. I know, the plot seems weak and unconvinving, but truth be told, it builds up pretty well.. There is enough time to introduce the characters and their personalities, see how they change and etc...

Also, you get to see Jim Carrey speak Korean, fly a plane, ride a scooter and a bike, and oh yeah... Serenade a guy who's about to commit suicide then pull him to safety, all while getting the people who are watching the scene to sing along (see picture)...

Okay, that sounded pretty cheesy, but trust me, it isn't as bad as it sounds.

So those of you looking for a nice way to celebrate the first few days of 2009, go watch the movie....
It gives you a chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy a few laughs....

Happy New Year!

Brisingr

I just finished reading Cristopher Paolini's latest novel, Brisingr. This book is the third book of the Inheritance CYCLE (note: its not a trilogy anymore, he has decided to write FOUR books, lets hope it ends with four). Yes, I know its a few months past the release date and some of you are probably gasping and wondering how I could take such a long time to finish the book.... Read on......

A continuation of the books Eragon and Eldest, Christopher Paolini continues to narrate the story of Eragon, an ex-farm boy who turns into a Dragon Rider when a dragon egg hatches for him. As Eragon grows, so does his beloved dragon, Saphira. They both mature in their thoughts as well as physical abilities with passing time. This book marks the greatest improvement in their maturity levels as they are faced with ever more hardship and sorrow, as well as a greater sense of responsibility towards friends, family and country.....

Okay, I'm not gonna spoil th book for all those of you who haven't read it, (but I'm sure most of you have) so I'm just gonna comment on the overall story and writing style, etc...

This book, safe to say is a pretty good book, as all of Christopher Paolini's books are. However, before you all run off to join his fan club, I have to say this (and I'm terribly sorry if I offend anyone): Chris, you're a bit too long winded when it comes to describing things.

You see, at every start of the chapter or at every interval, adjectives are used so often that the reader loses the actual point of the sentence. Even where it begins to get interesting, such as the action parts or the parts where he's supposed to discover some huge secret, the author manages to squeeze in a dozen adjectives. I mean, readers want to just get to the point, you know...What happens????!!!! Not what the surroundings looked like at that point in time.... This is why i took so long to finish the book....It was like...adjective, adjective, adjective....YAWN....Also, sometimes, the book gets a little too dry...From time to time, he should add in a few jokes(they were pretty scarce in the previous books) just to keep readers from falling asleep or putting the book down....

Nevertheless, the lack of humour or the over-usage of adjectives was made up for by the portrayal of great emotion, all of which he managed to carry very well. As a reader, I could just imagine how the character felt under certain circumstances, which gave me more insight to the character himself/herself....Also, the language used was quite rich....

All in all, this book was pretty good, but i didn't really welcome the idea of a fourth book as his books are sold for quite a high price over here....I don't think I can afford another book...

And P.S. I'd like to see the development of the relationship between Eragon and Arya....XD

Rating : Three and a half stars

Shark

My next topic of discussion is a TV show....

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I present to you, Shark!

This movie is one of the best law TV shows I've ever seen, the next being Boston Legal.

This movie revolves around Sebastian Stark(played by James Woods), a criminal defense lawyer who completely turns his life around when he decides to take up a job with the D.A's office prosecuting High Profile Crime Cases. As a great lawyer, naturally, Sebastian's methods when handling cases isn't exactly very ethical, thus earning him the nickname Shark( this also adds to the fun and thrill of watching)....

Sebastian has a few lawyers working under him who are young, eager to learn, and quite respectful, although sometimes they are shocked at how he breaks the law like a twig. His boss, the D.A, is a superb trial attorney who despises him at first but still cuts him a lot of slack..

Although most of what I've said about him wasn't entirely good, the truth is that Sebastian is a good man, trying to do the best by the people he defends. His daughter, Julie, a smart girl who mixes with the wrong crowd, add to his list if problems but her character helps to show the audience that he isn't entirely a bad man...(he does his very best for his daughter, always).

The episodes are always interesting, with intriguing plots....

All in all, this show is a nice show with a great cast. Definitely watchable.

Rating : Four stars

Tropic Thunder

To : The producers, the cast and crew, and everyone else involved in making this movie,

I'm seriously, seriously sorry..... I have picked this movie to review, seeing as this was the only movie I watched this week(I know, amazing right???!!!). And I have to apologise again....

The first ten minutues of the show.....Kinda funny and cute... All in all, it was looking to be a hilarious comedy, just as promised.

Then, everything went downhill.... It was sooooooooo boring....Even the introduction of that Matthew fella and Tom Cruise(I didn't even recognize him) didn't manage to do anything good for the show. From then on, it was a slapstick till the very end.

I must say, in the movie, Ben Stiller played a character whose career was going down the drain....I think, after this movie, in reality, Ben Stiller's career really will go down the drain. I mean, the poor guy produced, directed and starred in this shtick. What, he couldn't get John Woo to direct the movie?

And the emotional parts, which were supposed to touch the fans and bring tears to their eyes, etc etc.....Let's just say the cast didn't really pull it off..

The old actors, who were all expected to give a stellar performance, really let me down. Robert Downey Junior, Ben Stiller, Jack Black.....NAH..... And as I mentioned before, the addition of stars Matthew Mcconaughey and Tom Cruise were supposed to boost movie ratings, but their performances were barely even commendable.

The only actor who really did well, in my opinion, was Brandon Soo Hoo(see top for pic), the newcomer who plays the kid gang leader, Tran. Although he was probabaly the youngest actor there(with the exception of the little baby Ben Stiller threw down the river) Brandon portrayed his character very well, much to my surprise. He could exploit his facial expression to portray a viscious gang leader and still look kinda cute. And I have to say, great acting. Kudos to the guy.

Rating : Two stars

Special rating(for Brandon's acting) : Four stars

Starting Off

I have no idea why i just created this blog... It isn't like anyone is gonna read it...I think...... But oh well, I've done it, so there.....

My first post, and I already have nothing to say.... This blog page is going to rot soon.....
XDXPXDXPXDXP Whatever....