Movies and other favourite things

Transformers the Movie was surprisingly good -- and very entertaining.

Transformers - Autobots in disguise
Such a pleasant surprise. The script was witty, had the audience chuckling throughout; the lead actor Shia LeBouef had screen presence and did an ace job; the supporting cast carried out their roles very capably -- save for Megan Fox, the mandatory love interest, who cannot act to save her life but was very nice eye candy ... for the boys :) -- and the CGI of the autobots and the decepticons were just fabulous, very realistic. On the whole, a charming experience. It was GOOD.

Word of mouth never fails. Before catching the movie yesterday, at least four friends told me that it was highly enjoyable. I was sceptical, since there hasn't been much quality from Hollywood this year -- I didn't even watch Spiderman 3 or Pirates of the Caribbean 3, so Transformers was a nice surprise. And time well-spent in the cinemas.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer wasn't too bad, but it was shallow and paper thin in plot, compared to Transformers.

Can't wait to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which sneaks on Wednesday. It would be nice to see Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson once again. They've grown up before our eyes, through movies 1 to 4, and now Movie 5 unfolds. They've signed up for the last two movies, thank goodness, so there'll be good closure. The actors in all the 7 movies, the movies will just not be the same, if they weren't in them.

But what I'm REALLY looking forward to is the last book in the Harry Potter series. Book 7 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Already placed an order for the book at Borders, the closest bookstore near my home. So the kiasu plan, is to get there at 7am, get the book and aim to complete reading the book by 11.59pm on Saturday itself hehe

That's my practice for the last few books. Always complete reading on the Sunday, 1 day after I purchase the book. And then it's a long discussion with my friend in Pottership, Ms Pong-a-long. Traditions :)

Books, glorious books
Books. Have read quite a few good books recently. Khaled Hosseini's new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was nothing but splendid, a thousand times over. Have given away two of them already, a great book deserves to be shared :) 3 more books are waiting to be given away. Read it in one sitting, kind of like a Harry Potter book. A Thousand Splendid Suns deserves its own blog entry.

Also completed As You Think by James Allen, on the power of the mind, that the keys to success are within our own minds, and that the mind can unlock our greatest fulfilment and that we are the masters of our destinies. Not rocket science, some fairly common sensical stuff, but good reminders, written in simple English and with great clarity. The type of book I need now :)

Next up, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Lots of good reviews for this book as well, the self-empowerment type. But critics have come up in arms against this book as well.

Roger Federer, World #1 is playing against World #2, Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon finals now. Raring for the Federer Express to win. Nadal just doesn't have the charisma to be a champ hehe Not that charisma is a mandatory quality for a winner. Federer is just wonderful to watch, as he's just incredibly sharp with his strokes and his placement of the balls is mega-accurate. Like watching a master at his craft. A Swiss master! Hope he wins!

Blast from the past. Prior to the start of the game, the legends of tennis whom I watched as a child, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and the mercurial John McEnroe were interviewed. These people haven't aged that much. Where was my favourite legend, Ivan Lendl? He ought to be there too!

Fed's up 3 games to love in the first set. Go Fed, go!

A class of their own
There are teachers and there are Teachers. I went for a class on Understanding the Quran at the Muslim Converts Association, to deepen my knowledge of the religion. And the teacher is this 8o+ year old man, full of gravitas, and what's striking about him was the aura of calm. This man embodied peace. It was as if he had achieved Nirvana. He was a very good teacher, with a good sense of humour - always helpful when one is doing didactic work - had a great grasp of English, very clear ... and what made him a winner to me, was his balanced and convincing explanation of Syariah Law.

Some people are just very blessed with intelligence, and in this teacher's case, with inspiration to teach. Am very blessed to be in his class, if only I went earlier.

I also found another great teacher, in one of the business leaders I work closely with. I have worked with frighteningly bright people, but she's super-frightening hehe. These are the people who have, according to the Civil Service folks, "helicopter vision." This teacher had short-range vision, long-range vision, night vision, could see the forests, could see the trees, could see even the weeds and the roots. Well, that's why she's where she is now. Am very proud she's Singaporean.

Intelligence
This supreme intelligent being and I had a chat on where I was going in my career. She was a good coach, not prescriptive, but gave examples of her own case. Also gave good tips on how I could be a better leader. She had some nice commendations for me, timely.

I was mostly amazed at her and how incredibly intelligent people could get. I kept thinking to myself, God, how did she ever get this smart? Plus she's nice to look at too!

Pretty blessed to be working aside such a bright person and a strong leader, learning tremendously. But of course, plenty of stress too. The best leaders have visions, and it's hard to achieve these visions and at times, excruciating. But the right visions and the right strategies. We don't get where we want through rose-strewn paths. Sometimes we have to hack the roads up mountains themselves.

Reminds me of the Steps of Repentance which priests actually hacked out of Gebel Musa (Moses Mountain) at Mount Sinai, in Egypt, the fabled site where Prophet Moses was to have received the Ten Commandments. We walked down Gebel Musa from the Steps of Repentance route, and boy, were we repenting every step of the way hehe Can only imagine how hard it must be to ascend the Steps!

Although it's Monday tomorrow, I am looking forward to it. To my Tuesday class, to the Brand and Values Workshop, to the opening of the new Harry Potter movie, to Friday night, where I hang out with my dear, dear friends. We're always laughing :) To a Saturday day out with my lovely little niece, we're going for Chocolate Fondue at Max Brenner's and then for Dim Sum Dollies, A Singapore History afterwards.

Mum, Gramps and our helper Maria, love and dote on the cats. Like they are babies. Wonderful.

Thunder abounds, which means rain. Yippeee! Rainy weather is great weather to sleep in :D More importanly, rain is water, rain is life.

10pm - way past my bedtime. Hehe.