ATM (2012) Thai film review.

From the producers of BTS(Bangkok Traffic Love story) and Hello Stranger, here comes another great thai comedy from them.



ATM



Movie screening courtesy of Golden Village Singapore and Omy.sg



In a fictional Japanese banking company, it is a mandatory rule that no one inside can date, or be more than friends, if anyone is caught, either of the party will be required to resign or be fired at random.

Chantavit Dhanasevi, plays the role of Sua, who is secretly dating his manager, Jib. One day, Jib had to fire her staff after finding out that a pair of them had been seeing each other, after this incident, Jib could no longer stand hiding her relationship with Sua, Sua proposes to Jib and planned a marriage, however, who will resign?

ATM was full of surprises, fill with hilarious and fun I've not seen in films, the producers definitely did a great job, especially with one of their previous film Bangkok Traffic Love Story, which still urges me to try taking their trains one day.


Although ATM is a love comedy, it seems like it's not working between Ivy and I, HA, I think too much.....




The movie starts screening from today(29th march 2012) in Singapore, do have a watch and a good laugh.

Nandos : Pricey.....Small servings.....The Nandos Cataplana

I've received an invitation by Nandos Singapore to try out their new Cataplana with another friend for free, instead, I called in a few friends, to just order and share the cost for everything else we'll be ordering.

I decided to call some buddies down together, because the first time I was at Nandos, I was very pleased with the food, but this time......I am disappoint.

Here we are, seated at the Bugis outlet.



Of course, the invitation conveyed to me was to review the new Cataplana.....the sample picture sent to me on the left, the actual thing on the right. I am not pleased, it wasn't just me that's disappointed, my friends were as well.




I don't know if it's just me, the "extra hot" chicken I ordered, wasn't as spicy the first time I tried it, I even had to top up with some chili sauce to satisfy my spiciness-cravings.



When the bill came.....What? $91...Look, I don't even want to say anymore in this review, the food served wasn't up to standard, and yet it was so costly. At the end, I was still very hungry and went elsewhere to top-up my tummy, I'm not going to Nandos again if this standard goes on.

How to change Acoustic guitar strings.

Just a few days ago, one of my guitar strings broke off, after some Google searches, I noted that there are very rare good guitar string-changing tutorials.







So here, I'm gonna teach you guys, how to change guitar strings, step by step.

You'll need

Plier
New pack of guitar strings
Polishing cloth
Tuner


First, if your string snapped off, take off the excess strings out carefully.


Unwind the rest of the strings, doesn't matter how much, just make sure it can be lifted at least 2CM off the fret boards.



2CM off the frets, this way, just in case any more strings were to snap off by itself, you won't get hurt, and you won't damage the guitar.


Use a plier and carefully pull out the pins, you wouldn't want to cause any damage to the wood.



Once you're done, it should look like this, remember to do it slowly, you wouldn't want to break the pins inside.



Take out all the strings


Tie them in a knot, just for easy disposal.



A tip for all aspiring guitarists in the world, always ALWAYS, get new sets of strings, do not buy single strings, it's just from my own experiences, reasons are very simple,

The tone
it's more costly
You wouldn't know when the rest of the strings will snap, ruining your show


For years I've been using Elixir guitar strings, there are one of the most expensive ones, costing 3 to 4 times the price of any other guitar strings, but, you do get what you pay for, quality.

They last me for up to 2years before any one of the strings finally snaps, they don't seem to rust throughout my usage.



My guitar and fingers are pretty seasoned with gauge 11, do take note of the numbers when buying new sets of strings.



Upon unboxing, you would see 6 smaller packs of new single strings.



I always start off with the thickest low-E string, because it's easier.


Insert the bottom of the string(the ring) together with the pin into the bridge, and push gently with your thumb.




Next, insert the other end of the low-E string to the first tuning head, I usually use my index finger as shown, to measure how much is needed to tighten it.



At the other end, I would "lock" it in by twisting, pulling back the string a little to make sure it's tight, and start turning the tuning head anti-clockwise.


You should get a spiral like this.



After it's tightened and tuned, you should get a super neat spiral


Many other guitarists likes to do this, using a plier to cut off the excess of the strings, I don't do that, because no matter how you do it, it will still stick out, causing accidental pains if you ever need to hold or rest your guitar by the guitar neck towards you.



Instead, I have a better method, I twist the cables till they snap, right at the tiny corners where no pliers can reach.


This way, it is even neater, and allows you to slide your hand across the tuning heads if you want to, without hurting yourself.



Do this for the rest of the strings, and remember to use a tuner.



New strings, oh yes, I did all this while wearing only my underwear.



Optional: guitar string polish, some kinda fancy oils.



Slide against as much surfaces of the strings, smoothens and protects your strings from particles in the air.



Acoustic guitar strings typically require a day or two to get seasoned and accurately tuned, once you're done, you can start playing!

Click here to listen to my new demo, "Alright"

Come donate blood! Do your part!

As of the past week or so, blood stocks in Singapore are almost depleting.

(Screenshot of article posted on DonorWeb




Even though I've been donating for a little over 2years already, I still hate needles, nonetheless, think about those who need the blood to survive or fight for their lives.





Why we need more donors.

Your blood donation could help save the life of an accident victim, a patient with severe anaemia, a person undergoing major surgery or even a newborn baby.
The platelets found in blood are used to treat leukaemia patients. A single patient often needs platelets from 10 or more donors, all within a short period of time. Add to that the short 5-day lifespan of donated platelets, and you can understand why there is a constant need for platelet donors.
Source: HSA

so, pick up the courage, and join me as a blood donor, just head down to either of these locations, or check DonorWeb for any BloodMobiles stations deployed around Singapore.

Bloodbank@HSA is Located at:
Blood Services Group
Health Sciences Authority (opposite Outram Park MRT Station)
11 Outram Road
Singapore 169078


Bloodbank@Woodlands is Located at:
900 SOUTH WOODLANDS DRIVE
#05-07 WOODLANDS CIVIC CENTRE (opposite Causeway Point)
Singapore 730900

Do check opening hours of the bloodbanks at HSA's site before heading down!


And oh, do you know that there are health benefits if you're a donor?

SILOSO BEACH PARTY COUNTDOWN TO 2012

This is way way overdue, but hey, at least this post stands out from everything else for now! Considering that nobody else but me is blogging about any countdowns at this time of the year.


but anyways, really great thanks for the consequent 2nd invite from Sentosa comms. I've really enjoyed myself.

Do read my previous post a year ago for 2011's countdown HERE


First, party-goers must start off with alcoholics, we grabbed our beers and went around.



Sentosa Comms were very generous this year, I have not much idea of what to do with it, so why not let's just share it with our international friends?


I used a few hundred dollars worth of vouchers.....and PURCHASED ALL THE SATAYS!




I was the one who purchased all the chicken satays, just in case you're one of the party-goers wondering why there was no more chicken satays for the rest of the night....



FIRST GROUP APPROACHED! This fellow wanted to buy some satays and try it for himself, I managed to stop him and gave him some of our delicious local satay!



His friends later joined the fun, if I remembered, these guys are swedish traveling around South East Asia!


These babes rejected my satays, but nonetheless, they didn't reject any photos with me.



Of course, the bunch of us, being "good Samaritans", we walked through the crowds and gave away most of our satays.


Until we made it to the VIP lounge with barely a tray left for ourselves.


Just in time! It was exactly midnight by the time we finished off all the satays! We had the perfect view for the fireworks!


Just like the previous countdown, I went around hugging strangers.....and when it comes to hugging pretty girls...they avoided me...


Getting to the stage area to dance!


Now, for another round of beers! It's the new year!


We saw a carnival ride, the Spinning wheel!


We got super excited! What's it like to ride while high and drunk? Of course, at that moment we were pretty judgmentally impaired.



And there were other drunkards waiting for the ride as well.



Finally, we got spinned round and round, it was fun, but not thrilling enough for me to vomit.



Ivy was like....


But Daryl on the other hand......passed out soon after.....as a first aider as well, I had to take care of him, made sure he was breathing, made sure he was responding to slaps....you know, just to know if he's still alive.


Just another typical drunk friend....



Until he stood up and tried to pee in public.....I had to stop him.




We all sat around, talked nonsense for hours while Daryl sobers up.




Late supper/early breakfast time!


Like I've mentioned, there are many drunkards around, and people like us like to have fun.



Smile! Hope you don't get drunk anymore!


By then, it was already 5am, and we were very tired out, we had fun, we drank what we could, it's time we head home for a good new year rest.


And good thing there was shuttle buses to send us back to Harbourfront to take trains and other transport back home!


And here's a photo of how Caldron sleeps.



BONUS: YONGWEI'S LESSON ON RESPONSIBLE DRINKING....IN 3D!



1)Drink what you can, it's not a competition.
2)If you know you can't drink much, take sips instead, pretend that you are drinking.
3)Don't show off, don't become a burden to your friends
4)Drink more water before drinking alcohol, and drink more water after alcohol.
5)Don't pass out and get left one side.

But anyways, www.drinkiq.com provides  some good information on responsible drinking as well, do check it out.

Meanwhile, do mark down 31st december 2012 and come down to Siloso Beach Party in Singapore for the countdown and have a SUPER AWESOME TIME! I'll see you guys there!
http://www.silosobeachparty.com/



And, Ivy is also my favorite god-sister!