LifeOfACh0coholiC

Lust, Caution: A review two years late

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:43:14 GMT

Let's have a disclaimer out shall we? Okay first. I'm totally, completely, and utterly in love with traditional outfits. Especially the Chinese cheongsam. With the button up collar and alluring side slip up to the upper thigh. Throw in a beautifully made up face with them well defined brows and blood red lips; complete with a dangerous pair of heels and an oversized clutch bag... God! Wish I could dress like that every.single.day. Secondly. Any movie or show set during the 1940s - 1950s can do no wrong. Everything from the dialogues to the hairstyles to the automobiles totally rule. Social issues such as women rights and slavery notwithstanding of course.

I decided to watch Lust, Caution after strong discouragement by my supervisor at work ("The whole movie's about nothing but sex!" while clucking tongue in disapproval) Hey, the more I had to watch it right? Plus Ang Lee happens to be the director to the movie, which is roughly equivalent to "sure win" in movie-speak.

Chronologically the movie is a tad confusing. It started out during post war Shanghai, then it went back four years in time, then it fast forwarded to three years in advance, which actually meant t-1 year from the beginning of the movie and then it advanced through the rest of the movie to approach t and beyond.

The plot of the movie is pretty much exactly as depicted in the trailer - a group of university freshmen plots to assassinate an important Japanese-supported official by sending their lead actress to seduce the said antagonist. Throughout the Ang Lee-signature slow pace of plot development, I was pleasantly surprised to find the ending not a happy one. The lead actress Tang Wei is a fresh face in the Chinese/HK movie industry, but her acting was certainly up to par and she totally nailed the 1940s poster girl look. Totally contrasting her character is Tony Leung, the old and frumpy antagonist with a terrible orgasm face.

Now, the sex (approach with caution, kids!). I never thought I'd say this, but methinks the movie has a little too much sex. I think the main problem with those scenes are that they were not depicted in a omg-that's-so-hot-all-the-

blood-in-my-body-is-rushing-down-there way, but more of a slow awkward TMI sort of way. I mean, I do get that the whole idea is to avoid itself from being conveyed as straight-up porn, hence being shot in an artistic manner, an exploration of each others bodies and physical limits and all the possible positions in the kamasutra and whatnot; but in all honesty I sure did not enjoy seeing Tony Leung's balls bouncing up and down upclose. And instead of rapture or whatever ecstatic expression people usually display during intercourse, the two characters exhibited strange labored and tortured expressions, almost like they were IN labor (it was later explained by the protagonist that they were both borderline sadomasochistic, so I guess that made sense).

As mentioned earlier, the ending was a pleasantly surprising one. Not your conventional happily ever after, which I loved. The movie leaves you with a heavy heart, a I-did-enjoy-the-movie-but-I-don't-think-I-would-watch-it-again-anytime-soon feeling. I also enjoyed the fact that it was actually shot in a few different dialects (Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese) and even in English and Japanese. So yeah, if you haven't watched it yet, go watch it. It will totally be worth the two and a half hours of your life.

My daily dose of laughter

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:10:05 GMT

Because rude chickens just taste SO much better.

Yeah.. that's why I love em so much.

I'm confused. Am I supposed to hit the brakes, or are you telling me that people can walk through walls now?

No, I really don't think you'd wanna see that.

Suicide bombers might just get the wrong idea..

And my favoritest of all:

I WILL CALL POLICE CATCH YOU!!!

For more shits and giggles: http://www.engrish.com/

Happy halloweeeeen!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:17:18 GMT

I had an awesome dream last night. I was at a Halloween party and everyone was dressed up. I had this amazing mask on, the fancy mardi gras kinda mask, super elaborate with feathers and sequins and whatnot. My hair was swept up into this fantastic Victorian-style do, and I had a totally fabulous gown on me and I felt like a million bucks.

And then of course my alarm had to go off at 6:05 am and I am back to the cruel sad reality where I DON'T have a freaking costume. All I have is a pair of devil ears and a red cape. Boringggg.

Well anyway I came across this website with some interesting Halloween costume ideas. Kinda dorky, and borderline lame even, but interesting nonetheless. These are some of my favorites:

Carry a quarter and a hammer. What are you? A Quarter-pounder.

Wrap yourself in wrapping paper with a tag: "From: God, To: Women". What are you? God's gift to women.

Attach suger-cubes (or candy) all over yourself. What are you? Sugar-Daddy or Sugar-Momma.

Put a pot on your head. What are you? A pot head.

Wear all white. Attach (or paint) yellow circle to your stomach. You are an egg. Add horns and a pitchfork and you are a deviled egg.

Get an old box. Cut a hole for your head. Attach book, tissue box, and lamp. What are you? A "One Night Stand!"

Dress nicely with a fake noose around your neck. What are you? Well hung.

Put a sign that says "Go Ceilings!!!!" on your shirt. What are you? A Ceiling Fan! Cheer to help the effect.

Wear all white. Attach old cups, milk cartons etc to you. What are you? White trash.

For those times you don't want to go: the invisible man.

Check out THIS page for more ideas =)

A lot of words. Beware.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:59:22 GMT

Friday night. The clock barely struck midnight. I am in my jammies, in my full-on nerd mode and spending quality time with my laptop. I made a decision to stay in tonight, skipping a Halloween party somewhere and another karaoke outing somewhere else and locking myself in the room not even bothering with a conversation with the roomies. 黄昏 is playing on iTunes currently with a bunch of other Chinese songs in the playlist. Tonight I just want to stay home and be boring, I told Andrew.

I thought of blogging about a serious emo post, about life love and all that crap. And then I realized I really don't have much to talk about. The highlight of the day was that I had my first ever California Burrito. Carne asada + cheese + potatoes + sour cream + guacamole wrapped in tortilla. IMHO you can never go wrong with guacamole and sour cream. Me loves me fake Mexican food =)

Today my coworker Jason asked if I'm the type of person who'd publish details of my love life on the web. "Like would you announce all over facebook if you broke up with your bf or had a fight or something?" Hell no I said. I am quite a private person I guess. One of my principles in life is that thou shalt never share your miseries with the public, because a) nobody actually cares, b) you are only making yourself appear vulnerable and weak, c) too many cooks spoil the broth. Honestly do you REALLY trust other people's opinions about important things in your life? d) there is an inherent trait in all human beings i.e. the tendency to gossip and spread rumors. So keep your shit to yourself - there is a good reason for best friends and diaries and vibrators hahaha.

I had a fucking brilliant idea for Halloween. I bought this red riding hood costume on eBay about a month ago. It was a gothic version of the conventional red riding hood (all the white elements being replaced by black and the costume comes with faux leather gloves (read: hawt!)) and it was such a great deal too. So my fucking brilliant idea was this: LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD!!!! I would paint my face to a deathly pale white, contrasting with black lips and super goth looking eye makeup. I would still tie my hair into two ponytails, but I'll use some hair gel or whatever to tousle it up, maybe stick a twig or two in it. Then I would slash up my red hood at the bottom and maybe have some fake blood on my clothes. Ha no happy ending for you red riding hood! It would have been A. W. E. S. O. M. E. But guess what had to happen?? It's been one freaking month and I still haven't received it. Probably got lost in the mail? And it's just my luck that the eBay seller (costumeworld09 fucking jackass jerk prick loser%*$%^!@%) refuses to take responsibility for this. What a fucking jerk. I tried going to Halloween stores trying to find that gothic red riding hood costume but I haven't seen any! I suppose I could get a boring ol red riding hood and just dress it up a little, but I'd look at the price tag and take a deep breath and walk away... =( So anyways as illustrated by the sad face, I am actually pretty sad. Halloween is in a week's time and I don't have a costume! No I don't want to be a cat or a policewoman or a French maid or a witch or a pirate. Ideas anyone??

Anyways. It's already tomorrow. Guess I should go to bed? I think I'm actually going to be productive tomorrow. Get a haircut, do laundry, start writing my personal statement, then maybe go to the bookstore and get a good new book. Oh and I would like to finish watching The Future of Food on Hulu. Okay good night world.

It's a beautiful world

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:50:40 GMT

Oreo Heaven =)))

Other strange sightings in the grocery store:

Pandan Ice Cream! (Actually pandan + dark chocolate, which sounds sooooooo goooooood). Maybe someday I'll actually fork out that $5.69 to try it.

And also: Naga, which apparently means Sweet indian curry with fresh young coconut flavor. So it's pretty much like frozen curry? Weird.

Also available in form of chocolate is Naga (sweet indian curry powder + coconut flakes + deep milk chocolate) and Black Pearl bar (Wasabi + Ginger + Black sesame seeds + dark chocolate). Like, ewwww?!

Matcha Bar (Japanese Matcha green tea + deep milk chocolate)
Goji Bar (Tibetan Goji berries + pink Himalayan salt + deep milk chocolate)

Oaxaca Bar (Oaxacan guajillo y pasilla chillies + Tazmanian bittersweet chocolate)
Mo's Bacon Bar (Applewood smoked bacon + Alderwood smoked salt + Deep milk chocolate). Actually this might just be the most disturbing combination yet. Seriously bacon with chocolate?! This is far too radical even for this chocoholic. What's next I wonder? Smoked salmon??

One of the more serious decisions of my life

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:17:31 GMT

Like a bad relationship I think it's about time we ended it before you cause me any more pain and suffering.

I've told myself, so many times over, that I should stay strong, that if I would hang on a little more, things will take a turn for the better.

Everytime I see you, I get this terrible internal conflict within me -the devil and the angel bickering constantly. One complaining about how stupid you are and and the other about how I should be patient and continue to stand by you.

I tried, I honestly have. But you just never cease to disappoint me. I keep wanting to give you another chance, but sadly all that hope just stands to be dashed cruelly by you.

I pray to myself, everytime before I see you, that it is going to be a pleasant experience this time. But you are unpredictable as always, I can never know what's on your mind.

I am sick and tired of your ficklemindedness and your tendency to drift away and digress into something completely unrelated. I hate how you never seem to follow through with what you started, always leaving me confused and frustrated.

It is true that we have been through so many ups and downs together. I will always remember the happy times that we had. All things that go up must go down eventually, perhaps this is just the right time to end it before it gets any worse.

I am not saying this is entirely your fault, of course. You still have all the qualities that I liked about you, and there is definitely no doubt that all the other people still love you. I hope it's not too cliche to say "it's not you, it's me" because it is actually true.

I am going to miss you, I definitely will. Forgive me for deciding to stop seeing you. Please know that I will always love you and I wish you all the best in your future, Heroes...

(Why is Nikki/Tracy standing in the middle?)

Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking...?

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:03:03 GMT

The car plate says "TOP JNTR".

This smart car serves as an inspiration to all (aspiring) janitors out there that cleaning toilets is the way to go. Gambateh!!

(Unless someone has a better interpretation of JNTR. Hmmm)

This thingamajiggie is a...?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:23:53 GMT

Unidentified stationary object spotted at Bed Bath & Beyond.
I'll give you three guesses.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Guess what! It's a frickin' head massager! For $3.99! Made in China! Available in 3 colors!

Yeah this happens to be one of those completely pointless post. Sorry you wasted your time. Ha.

The ultimate book review

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:21:51 GMT

A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey

Food for the soul... quite literally

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:06:19 GMT

I'm just gonna post some dessert pictures. Because it makes me happy. And hopefully it will make you jealous at the same time. Ha.

Firstly: Extraordinary Desserts, both Hillcrest and Little Italy

Devonshire Napoleon

Warm chocolate bread pudding with chocolate chip ice cream

The Viennese
White Chocolate Cheesecake hidden between two walnut cake and moistened with Tahitian vanilla. This classic Austrian torte is topped with seasonal berries and edged with roasted nuts.

The Viking
Chocolate cr�me br�l�e and milk chocolate whipped cream are hidden between chocolate cake layers and smothered with fresh caramel. Crushed chocolate almond pralines surround this dark and dense torte.

While you are there, be sure to try out their "Birthday Tea". Black tea with a warm out of the oven cookie taste with strong caramel and vanilla notes. Absolutely delicious.

Second: Heaven Sent Desserts, North Park

Love love love! Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting

Some fancy-name fruit tart that I don't remember. Yummy, nonetheless.

Next stops:
Eclipse Chocolat
Michele Coulon Dessertier
The French Gourmet
Hans and Harry's
European Cake Gallery
Incredible Cheesecakes Co.
D Z Akins
Opera Patisserie
Babycakes
Heavenly Cupcake
Flour Power Cakery

Who wants to join me in my dessert-hunting adventure?? =)

You know what. I'm surprised I don't weigh like 200 lbs yet. Haha.