Rather Quiet

First day of school holidays today. As usual, the traffic going into work was predictably lighter than normal. That was great. Rather than spending almost 45 minutes in my journey into UMMC, it was only 25 minutes today. It would have been faster if it was not for AZRB still messing about with the fly-over on Jalan Duta leading into the new Istana Negara. It was supposed to be ready before the end of 2010. It was now close to June. It looked like it would take at least another couple of months before everything sorted out. But I digress.

The main Suria KLCC foyerMy boys running around the hallway at Alpha Angle. As I said, it was rather empty.Heading back home in the afternoon, I stopped at KLCC to deposit some cheques. I was expecting the crowd to be bigger there, but instead, it was surprisingly quiet. Later, when I went out to do the groceries, Jaya Jusco at Alpha Angle, it was quiet there as well. Maybe everybody took the opportunity to head back to kampung. This must be what KL was like back in the 80s. Traffic was much lighter, and the pace of life would have been much more manageable.

Stargate Universe Done

 I was finally done with Stargate Universe. I watch the series finale a couple of nights back. Yes, I do mean the series finale. The series was cancelled after a couple of seasons which was a mini tragedy for a sci-fi such as yours truly. I must say that at the beginning of the second season, the momentum was clearly lacking after a promising start.

Stargate Universe revolve around a group of military personnel and scientists marooned on a spaceship traveling in uncharted universe. Allegedly, it was persuing another ancient ship which was in front seeding Stargates along its path across the universe. The Scientise was led by a character played by Robert Carlyle, in Scottish accent and the military were led by a Colonel Young.

How do they get onto the ship? The Stargate Command was trying to dial an address on the ninth chevron on the Stargate, but it will quire a vast amount of energy, that is only available on a few planets. They found one but was not able to crack the code to dial the last chevron. Hence they came up with a brilliant idea of producing a puzzle computer game and a young gamer, an MIT drop-out managed to crack it. Cue Robert Carlyle and Colonel Young at the front door of the boy - called Eli Wallace - to tell him that he has cracked a code that no one else in the world had done so and he was shocked on a secret mission, traveling at light speed to the new planet to dial the co he has just cracked.

But nobody knows where the gate will open to in the other end. When the gate was opened, the planet was attacked by another foreign clan wanting the same thing. The planet was being destroyed and everyone at the facility had no choice but to jump into the unknown. The gate on the other end opened onboard the spaceship they were eventually marooned in. This was the beginning of the long journey back home. Unfortunately, the systems on the ship were written in an alien technology, needing further prodding, as well hit and misses.

Obviously, there were plenty of adventure along the way, as well as drama between the crew members. There were certainly a lot of promising subplots on offer, but unfortunately after a while the character arch became rather boring. By the time the series cancellation was announced, the story started to pick up again, which I was sure had plenty to do with using up the original idea they had in mind at the conception of the series.

As for the finale, it certainly created more question than it answered. The plot also allowed for the story to be further extended should the writer wished to do so. So far however, the series appeared to be already at an end ...... Sufficed to say, that everyone was still alive and they have not reached Earth yet.

Let's Kung Fu Panda

The first installment of Kung Fu Panda proved a hit in our household. Certainly we were looking forward for the follow-up and it was not a surprise when the boys asked me to take them out to watch it on the first weekend the movie came out. After the frantic search to get tickets for the early morning show, we finally settled for the seats a TGV at Capsquare. Armed with soda and popcorn - everyone was hyper at this point, we had ver high expectations for the movie.

The start was actually quite funny, setting up the plot for the movie. A bit of action and punchline here and there. But by midway, it because e obvious that the writers were telling a story of something deeper. It was an origin story, on where Po came from. He must have been half expecting that he was adopted and his father Ping was a bird. The actions came fast and furious, but it was laced with some sappy moments. Puan Anita broke down a couple of times believe it or not. But then again, she was Puan Anita ......

The pace built up again towards the end, which was needed as my boys were getting bored with the heavy dialogues. This time, the pace became relentless, and jokes flowed nicely. There were plenty of nice touches and the ending was although predictable, was well-conceived. There was also a bit in the end which hinted toward another sequel ....

All in all, it was a good day out for the family. Certainly highly recommended for the kids and the kids amongst us. However, if you were planning to watch it with a date, just make sure you go for an evening show as the theaters would be full of noisy children in the morning and afternoon showings.

TGV at Capsquare

As mentioned in my previous post, the only available ticket for Kung Fu Panda II that Saturday morning was at Capsquare. Even though we have been to the place a couple of times, this was the first time we actually fought a movie there. The cinema was nothing fancy. It was your typical TGV venture. None of those Gold Class you see at other joints.

I would write more on the movie. The cinema we watched the movie in was small and cosy. The air conditioning was not too cold and the seats were very comfortable. We settled ourselves at the back row where they offer a twin seat. The sound system was not too loud. Just nice. And even though we were right at the back, the distance to the screen was not too far at all. No complains there. The leg-space were also quite big, and getting in and out of the seats just in case you would need to answer the Nature's call mid movie was also not a problem.

We had the usual popcorns and drinks. The price we paid for the seats we actually very cheap. The twin seats were actually the most expensive and it did not offer discounts for children. However, since we watch the show before noon, we got the early bird discounts. It was only RM10 per seat. Toilets were also quite near and most importantly, you get a full bar of 3G signals from inside the theaters, just in case you were airing for the call from hospital or SMSs and emails.

Parking and traffic going in and out of the place were also not a problem. Definitely we would come here again, if we couldn't get a ticket at our usual place at Pavilion ........

Outplayed. Outclassed.

No doubt about it. The better team won. Barca passed better. They retained the ball as if it was their birthday present. And United scored with their only shot on target. Even Giggsy went irate towards the end of the game. To be honest, we shouldn't complain really. Barca had 67% possession and we did not even get ourselves a corner all evening.

Maybe this was justice. We did not really play well all season. To be honest, we got lucky with winning the Premier League. With a few of our key players retiring, we had no choice but to invest on personnel. I foresee at least three new signings including a new goalkeeper. And with that, we would be going through another transition next season. As for this one, we got what we deserved and a bit more.

I was really amazed at how skillful Iniesta and Xavi at dictating the pace of the game. ManYoo have plenty to learn in that department I'm afraid what we look at the very top level. We were thoroughly well beaten. Outplayed. Outclassed. Even Sir Alex knows that.