Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Streets of Kuching (Mystery Shots)

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Here are a couple more random shots that I took on my last visit to Kuching.

Let's see how many of you recognise where these places are ...


Photo (1)
Top of a distinctive building?


Photo (2)
Where is this dragon-protected palace?


Photo (3)
At least a couple of persons should recognise this place :-)


Photo (4)
Looks very familiar, doesn't it?


Photo (5)
Fancy some Bak Pau & Sio Bee?


Photo (6)
Where's this place for makanan & minuman?


Photo (7)
Game for some pot?


Photo (8)
Who and where is Mr D?

Anyone think they've got 8 correct out of 8 ?

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Streets of Kuching

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There's an old song by Ralph McTell that I like called "Streets of London". Part of the lyrics goes something like "Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London, I'll show you something to make you change your mind ...". Well, today's posting focuses not on London, but rather our beloved home, Puss Town in this case.

It's been a while since I put in a collection of random shots of  Kuching. I've been told such postings are especially appreciated by those homesick chaps living far away from Sarawak, and also I'm sure the boys actually in Kuching would find some of the pictures of interest too. Some of the locations are quite obvious, others may require a bit closer examination.

Anyway let me know what if anything you see will "change your mind about anything", as the song goes ...


Photo (1)

Photo (2)

Photo (3)

Photo (4)

Photo (5)

Photo (6)
Anyone can tell where this lion is from?

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Allure of the Wonder Girls

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Pardon this slight digression into my personal enchantment with this musical group and its catchy hit song "NOBODY". Even if you've never heard of the Wonder Girls, a girl group from South Korea, I would suspect that many of you would have heard strains of this tune being played on TV, radio, music stores or even someone's mobile ringtone.

This is not usually the kind of musical group that grabs my attention, but I must admit their hit is extremely catchy and their performance style quite entertaining (I also find it amusing to imagine someone surnamed Chew or Chiu or Choo in the audience who must feel very flattered by their vocal rendition!).

The five person Wonder Girls, are managed by singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young of JYP Entertainment (who formerly managed that other Korean sensation, Rain ... tho' I must say I'm not as impressed by him!). This is an artifically constructed group with each of the five original members selected through auditions (kinda like the UK's Spice Girls a generation before). The Wonder Girls debuted in early 2007 and became popular later that year with the song "Tell Me." They have scored three consecutive #1 hit singles: "Tell Me", "So Hot", and "Nobody". In 2008, they won two Daesangs ("Artist of the Year" Awards).
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Even more impresssive was the fact that the group entered into the American market in 2009, with the lead single "Nobody" - which also became the first song by a Korean artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100.

Enough from me ... Turn up your speaker volume to the max and enjoy the music video ...




Like it? Share your views on this and other music groups you like.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Your All Time Favourite Movies

Someone recently asked me what my all time favourite movies were. I've watched a whole lot of movies in my fifty years so I had to think about this for a bit.

To qualify as an all-time favourite for me, the movie has to be special from several different perspectives - have a very good story and characters, excellent cinematography and effects, be highly entertaining and have an overall message that touches the heart. I also find myself drawn to storylines that are somewhat historic or have some historical leaning.

Based on these criteria. I reckon my top 3 English-language movies (not necessarily in order) are:

*  Gandhi

*  The Shawshank Redemption, and

*  The Last Samurai

I must say that a close fourth for me is Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor". And if I could squeeze in a fifth, it might be either "The Day of the Jackal" or "Spartacus" that might just make it.

Well, at least at this point in time, I think these are my favourites. If I think of some other great movie tomorrow, I might still revise my list ;-)  

What about you? Share YOUR all-time favourite movies.