The Inkheart Movie

My jaw dropped when I saw how long the line was at the cinema ticket counter yesterday. It was a Wednesday and the tickets are cheaper on Wednesdays.

My mom tried to get another lady to buy for us but she said that only single seats were left and that they were far away from one another. Nah, I still stood in line and waited for my turn. My turn only came about 30 minutes later! One ticket for the Inkheart movie cost RM6 or USD1.67. And I managed to get good seats.

Anyway, how did you find the movie? I haven't read the book yet but I bought it a few days ago. I believe in watching the movie first before reading the book. Had bad experience with Harry Potter, that's why.

The cast was kind of star-studded. Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Paul Bettany, Sienna Guillory, and Jennifer Connelly is Roxane? Who's Roxane?? Meggie was played by Eliza Bennett from Nanny McPhee.

I don't know if the story stayed true to the book but it was exciting nevertheless. The story starts with Meggie and Mo in the midst of buying books when Dustfinger approaches them. Dustfinger is desperate to return to the book where he came from: Inkheart written by Fenoglio.

Mo is a Silvertongue. He has the ability to read characters in and out of books! Therefore, it seems that he's the only one who can help Dustfinger. But, yes of course there's a but, Mo has stopped reading aloud ever since his wife mysteriously disappeared many years ago. He's afraid of what'll happen if he reads aloud again.

Dustfinger appears to be selfish because of the way the author created him. Mo wants to get his wife back. Meggie doesn't know anything about it until now.

There's also a Farid from 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves' who came out of the book when Mo read aloud. The audience in the cinema seemed to like him best, I think. They laughed whenever he uttered his lines. Well, he did get the witty lines. Is he just as witty in the book?

Exciting, magical, adventure-filled and bookish: that's what Inkheart the movie is.

Meme With Weird Questions

Just like any other meme. It wouldn't be a meme if it didn't contain mindless questions. By the way, I got this from Cahaya's blog.

1. Have you ever been on TV?
Yes, on a family video cam!

2. Have you ever sung in public?
Alone or in a group? If group, yes. I was in the school choir when I was 13! Singing alone? Wahahahaahha!

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond?
No. It'll turn my mom's hair white.

4. Have you ever eaten frogs' legs?
I believe I ate frogs before. The meat was white and looked like fish but it had bones bigger than a fish's. Well, my uncle told me it's frog but I can't say it's true or not.

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated?
Hmmmmmm....yeah, I think so. I have presents that I didn't like but not to the extent of hating it.

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post?
I've walked into many things before.

7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people?
No. My father wouldn't even let me cook his instant noodle last time.

8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others?
Did that a couple of weeks ago. One of my coursemates laughed non-stop. *angry face*

9. Have you ever done volunteer work?
Would like to.

10. Who's next?
Anyone reading this!

Do let me know if you have any memes with weirder questions than this.

Eating At Nasi Kandar Restaurants

Since it's Chinese New Year Day 2, some Chinese food and vegetable stalls still haven't resumed their business. At the market, at restaurants, and so on. So we either cook at home or visit the 24-hour nasi kandar restaurant!

I'm not really a fan of nasi kandar (pic below) but I do like capati, roti telur and murtabak!



Nasi kandar (nasi = rice, kandar = ??)


Roti telur (roti = bread, telur = egg)


Capati


Murtabak lembu (lembu = cow, daging lembu = beef, murtabak = ??)

It's not that expensive to eat at nasi kandar outlets. A roti telur can cost around RM1.20 and you can enjoy a glass of sweet, hot teh tarik too. If translated literally, teh tarik would be called 'pulling tea' or 'pulled tea'. It's because they sort of 'pull' the drink while making it.



Teh tarik pic taken from here


This is the teh tarik man at work. See the guy 'pulling' the tea? There are even competitions where the participants do all kinds of tricks while making teh tarik.


Pic from here

The service at nasi kandar restaurants are quite efficient. The moment you're seated, the waiter comes and takes your order. But if it's really busy, then you'll need to get the waiter's attention. While you're waiting for your food to come or even while you're eating, you can also watch TV. Not bad, eh?

The food's cheap, the service laudable and yet I've once heard some customers criticizing the waiters. One waiter took their order and went off to get their food. These customers quietly muttered among themselves, not trusting that their waiter would remember what they ordered since they made quite a long, fussy list about how they wanted their food.

I don't know what happened in the end, if the waiter got them the right food or not because my family and I were done eating and left. Hopefully the poor waiter got everything right. If not, they'll surely complain more about him! There were lots of customers that time and you know, it's busy, busy, busy!

Stephenie Meyer Books Sold Out At MPH

Mom and I went to MPH at Gurney Plaza recently. Since I don't go there often, I might as well use up the gift voucher my sis gave me for Christmas! My aim is to buy Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer but as luck would have it, that title and Eclipse are not available at MPH. They only had Twilight and New Moon.

Since I can't get BD for myself, I got these two books instead:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

This is the way to pronounce 'despereaux' => des-per-row. I just Googled it up.

It was quite frustrating when I couldn't find the Stephenie Meyer books in MPH. Since they're young adult books and also in the fantasy genre, they should be at either the Teen's or the Fantasy section. Nah. Not there.

Finally, I asked the Information section and the girl showed me where they put the books. At the Kids' section! But they did put a Bestseller word at the top of the shelf. Still, I wouldn't have thought of looking there.

And it looks like Breaking Dawn will have to wait.

Anyway, Daphne Lee of Tots To Teens in Starmag reviewed this book: Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. It sounds like a really good book and it's definitely going to be in my To-buy list!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Sunday Salon: The Sweet Far Thing

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Uh yeah, I'm still reading this book. It's been taking me forever to get through it! But I have a week's holiday (Chinese New Year holidays) ahead of me so I'm hoping to set aside time for this book. I'm now at Chapter 34. I managed to read around two chapters last night after watching a movie on TV.

How many chapters are there in this book? Is it 75? Oh yeah, it is, I just checked. At the rate I'm going, I won't be surprised if I don't finish it when the holidays are over! I still have to do my assignments and catch up on my reading for classes.

Anyway, about the book. Have you read it? Have you read the previous two books: A Great and Terribly Beauty and Rebel Angels? I was hooked on them and that's why I had to get this book. This book is the final one in the Gemma Doyle trilogy.

So Gemma holds all the magic now and she's quite unwilling to share it around. She is willing to give some to her closest friends, Felicity and Ann even though she doesn't seem to see them as true friends.

I find Felicity a selfish girl who's only using Gemma to get what she wants. As for Ann, well, she has dreams of becoming a performer. I don't know why Gemma can't confide much in Ann. Probably because Ann is already drowned in her own problems to care much for anyone else.

And Kartik! He and Gemma are obviously attracted to each other but as fate would have it, they can't be together. He's being chased by his old brotherhood called the Rakshana because he betrayed them. Was it not? He was supposed to kill Gemma but he couldn't do it. Just like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, huh? He didn't have the heart to murder the one he loves.

Alright, I guess that's all for this SS post. I had better continue my reading. Enjoy your Sunday and Happy Reading!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Safe journey to those travelling back to their hometowns or just visiting relatives. Remember, don't drink and drive! Don't speed. Have a good rest before hitting the road. Don't drive if you're sleepy or drunk. Again, do not speed!

Erm, what else? Drink lots of water, eat lots of fruits and vegetables after pigging out on those love letters and mandarin oranges.

Okay, sounds like I'm spoiling all the fun here. I swear, it's for your own good (and mine too!).

Take care of your kids. Don't lose them in shopping malls.

Okay, okay, I'll stop now! Happy Holidays! :D

I Feel Like A Criminal

In my own university. I'm not allowed to drive in there because I don't have the precious car sticker on my window!

The security guards' job is to make my life miserable by slapping fines on me if they caught me. The price of the fine has increased too. In my first year of study, it was RM20. Now in my second year, they've increased it to RM30. Even illegal motorcycles seen riding in campus are forced to pay RM30.

Why are they doing this? It's obvious that they do not want students driving and parking in campus. If they let more students in, then the lecturers wouldn't have spots for their own vehicles. Ugh, but I don't even park at the lecturers' carparks. I'm not even in the campus for the whole day.

These security people are kind of cunning. They purposely hold roadblocks at any random spot at any random hour. This way, the poor unsuspecting students will need to be extra careful so as not to run into them. If they do, then it's all the best to them to try and convince the guard why he or she shouldn't be fined.

What irks me the most is that they allow visitors to come in! If you say that you're a visitor and your purpose for being there, then they'll let you in. But if you say that you're a student, they fine you. Where's the justice in that? Silly, silly, silly.

Get Inspired To Read!

Booking Through Thursday question of the week:

Since “Inspiration” is (or should) the theme this week … what is your reading inspired by?

My answer:

Now how do I answer this? I know that reading inspires me absolutely but what's my reading inspired by or what inspires my reading, to put it simply.

I guess it's inspired by a lot of factors like by other book bloggers who review great books that I think I shouldn't give a miss.

It's inspired by my pursuing to be someone of great knowledge and intelligence. (ahem!)

My reading is also inspired by what I'm learning at the moment. When we were covering the topics about freedom and technology, my lecturer mentioned 1984 by George Orwell and I went to the library and borrowed it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered reading it. It's an informative book, by the way. Rather disturbing too!

Besides that, it's inspired by the fact that people don't read as much now. Thanks to the television, the Internet, and a huge amount of homework, young people especially, don't have much time to put aside just for reading.

It's happening to me too. Last year, I spent more time online than with my books! It's preposterous! :D When I think about it, I cannot accept it but what's happened has already happened and it's no use crying over spilt milk.

This year, I'm going to make up for lost reading time. My resolution of reading more books this year will be my main inspiration for reading.

Read In December 2008

Okay, so I should have written this post earlier in the month but never mind.

I managed to read three books last month and here they are:

1. Famous Five: Five On A Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
2. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
3. The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty

The Famous Five was kind of boring and I wish I had read the books when I was younger. During my obsession with buying Enid Blyton books last month, I got hold of some books in the Famous Five series. I wonder when I'll ever read them.

Eclipse was refreshing and I was really absorbed in the story. As usual, a lot of exciting events took place in the book between the good and evil vampires, the unexpected alliance between the vampires and the werewolves, and so on. I would love to buy Breaking Dawn now but I've signed up for the Ban On Spending Challenge which is being hosted by Drey. If you need a challenge to help refrain you from buying anymore books before reading what you have at home, do consider joining the challenge.

As for The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie (TMOBM), well, I didn't expect for a murder plot to even occur. It seemed like a normal school story about a high-achiever who seems to be a little socially-challenged.

I wished the book had been thinner but I'm not really complaining. It was a fun read for me although it was draggy for other people. I came across various reviews on the book and enjoyed reading them all. Some didn't like the concept of using diary entries and e-mails as it was confusing. Some didn't like Bindy at all. But I liked reading Bindy's musings and her e-mails, letters, etc. Through them, an image of a robotic Bindy formed in my mind. She does seem so formal and everything!

Moriarty has other books which I want to look out for. I've read that The Year of Secret Assignments is better than TMOBM, so that book is definitely on my to-buy list or something. :) I don't actually have a physical to-buy list. I keep the list in my mind. Perhaps I should sit myself down and write it out.

Oh, I was supposed to take my lunch, right? :D Well, guess I forgot about it. Okay then, I'm off now. Bye!

In My Mailbox, Reading Progress & Chess Stuff

Yesterday, I received the two books which Em from Em's Bookshelf had sent to me. I won them in her Chicken Soup giveaway. The books are Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Growing Up and The Adoration of Jenna Fox! Yay! Two new books to add to my TBR list. :)

My reading progress is quite sad lately. I'm still reading The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray and I forgot which chapter I'm at now. I've been quite busy getting into my new semester and sorting my classes out. Thankfully it's all done and I'm ready to concentrate fully on my studies. And reading. It's already Week 4 of the whole semester.

I don't think I'll be joining any clubs this time. As for the Chess Club which I tried last semester, well, I think I'll skip it this time. I got to know this girl who's also interested in playing chess and she suggested that we should get together some time when we are free and have a game or two of chess!

Also thanks to my thoughtful older sibling who gave me a magnetic chess set for Christmas, at least I can put it to use. Perhaps later I might persuade my mom to play with me but I have to teach her how to move the pieces first.

Alright, my stomach's grumbling now. Better unstick myself from the chair and have some lunch! Bye!

BTT: Best Books of 2008

The Question:

It’s a week or two later than you’d expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but … what were your favorite books from 2008?

(It’s an oldie but a goodie question for a reason, after all … because, who can’t use good book suggestions from time to time?)

My best books of 2008:

1. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
3. Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern

Won and Hope to Win

On Sunday morning, I got a very pleasant surprise when I checked my blog comments. Em from Em's Bookshelf informed me that I've won a Chicken Soup book and another book in her book giveaway! That's so incredible. Yay! What a lovely New Year surprise.

Em will be sending me a Chicken Soup book and also The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. What makes it even better is that The Adoration of Jenna Fox is on my wishlist! I'm not even sure if it's available in local bookstores but now, I needn't worry anymore about finding it. :)

Anyway, if you want to try your luck in winning a free book, hop on over to Stone Soup to enter the latest book giveaway held there. It's opened worldwide and you get to choose which book you want to win.

Wow, Katrina of Stone Soup sure is one generous lady! She has given away so many books. She holds book giveaways almost every week! Check out her blog for more details.

Don't Mess With Kids!

I like it when people send me jokes, riddles and stuff like that to my email. So here are a few jokes about kids that I think you might enjoy. I received some kiddy jokes recently but I guess I deleted them accidentally! Yikes! I'm going to rummage through my inbox to try and find them. Anyway, enjoy the ones below!

Joke 1

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah."

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."

Joke 2

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

Joke 3

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

Joke 4

One day, a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"

Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?

Joke 5

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'"

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

Joke 6

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note and posted it on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples.

A Sentimental Book Meme

I saw this at Out of the Blue and decided to do it too! Eva from A Striped Armchair was the creator of this meme.

The Rules

1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.

The book that’s been on your shelves the longest:
I guess my first book was those Ladybird Peter & Jane books. My first chapter book would be the Billy-Bob Tales by Enid Blyton. The others were my fairy tale books also by Ladybird. I had a lot of Ladybirds when I was a kid! That's as much as I can remember so I can't really say which book has stayed the longest on my shelf.




A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):
Each book has a different story, a different memory. For example, the Twilight book by Stephenie Meyer would remind me that I was in KL (Kuala Lumpur) with my mom in 2007 to visit my grandmother who became ill. I had brought along that book to read when I was alone. When I finished the book, I typed out the review on my aunt's computer!



Another book, Back To St. Clare's by Enid Blyton would remind me of what my father said to me last time. He said that yeah, I can read thick books but I should set aside time for studying or something... It is thick because it's a compilation of three books in the St. Clare's series. I think I just nodded to show my agreement and continued reading!

A book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):
I won The Gift by Cecelia Ahern in a contest! Had to write a slogan for it too and like I said before, I suck at slogan-writing.



A book that’s been with you to the most places:
I bring different books when I go out so none would qualify as the book that's travelled the most.

The most recent addition to your shelves:
The Gift by Cecelia Ahern.

A bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions:
The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge. Reading that book would always motivate me to spend more time reading and studying. Lilli was under the care of Miss Dalgleish who guided and nurtured her from a rude, grubby girl to become an intelligent and cultured young lady. Inspiration? Sort of. :D

Now who to tag?

1. KittyCat
2. Trisha
3. Beth F

Reading Challenges for 2009

***New Challenges Added! Updated Jan 6, 2009

It's that time of the year again where book-crazy people will sign up for next year's reading challenges. For the year 2008, I've bravely joined SEVEN challenges and I've only completed three. :( Oh well, the year still hasn't come to an end so I still have around 18 days to read as much as I can.

Anyway, for now, I've picked five 13 challenges for 2009. If I come across anymore interesting ones, I'll add them in. Here would be my 2009 reading challenges:

1. 2009 Read and Review
   
   
   
   
2. 2009 Young Adult Book Challenge
   
   
   
   
3. 20 Books in 2009
   
   
   
   
4. New Author Challenge 2009
   
   
   
   
5. Read Your Name Challenge: 2009
   
   
   
   
6. 9 Books For 2009
   
   
   
   
7. TBR (To Be Read) Challenge
   
   
   
   
8. The 2009 ARC Reading Challenge
   
   
   
   
9. Read A Book A Month Challenge
   
   
   
   
10. 2009 Ban On Spending Challenge
    
    
    
    
11. Buy One Book And Read It Challenge 2009
    
    
    
    (Can only join this after the Ban On Spending Challenge)
    
    
12. The "I Suck At Challenges" Challenge
    
    
    
    
13. Chunkster Challenge 2009
    
    
    
    

What challenges have you joined?

P.S. I'll be part of nine 17 challenges next year as four challenges from 2008 will be brought over to 2009. They are:

1. The Complete Booker - No time limit
   
   
2. YA Romance Challenge - End date: Feb 28, 2009
   
   
3. Raved-About Reads Challenge - No time limit
   
   
4. Georgette Heyer Challenge - No time limit
   

I'll be keeping track of my challenges on my Challenges page in my other blog. :)

Happy New Year 2009!

In Spanish, it is Feliz Año Nuevo!



This was the best graphic I could find online so please excuse the note/message from Trevor on the picture. He must have created this graphic to display on his blog too.

2008 must have been a tumultuous year with all your ups and downs, tears of joy and sadness, surprises that are both shocking and wonderful, etc. But here's to a whole new year, the year 2009! May your new year be as fruitful and productive as possible! Take care and don't get too drunk... :D