skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Title: Simple Unforgettable
Author: Mary Balogh
No. of Pages: 422 pages
Publisher: Bantam Dell
Simple Unforgettable is the author's first novel of the enthralling story of four remarkable women-friends and teachers at Miss Martin's School for girls.
Frances Allard, music teacher of the Miss Martin's School for Girls met Lucius Marshall, Viscount Sinclair in a ferocious snowstorm. From the moment they met, they didn't see eye-to-eye. But when they were forced to get stranded together in an almost deserted country inn, another kind of storm took over - passion! Hehe!
Frances, who was always sensible, being a teacher and all, abandoned all sensibilities when she and Lucius shared a night of glorious, unforgettable passion, knowing that they would never see each other again - Frances going to Bath while Lucius going to London. Lucius asked Frances to come with him to London but when Lucius didn't offer her marriage, Frances won't settle for being a man's mistress.
But fate brought them together again, 3 months after that. Lucius accompanied his grandfather to recuperate his ailing health in Bath and met again with Frances in a function. And before Lucius left Bath for London, where he was expected to socialize and take a bride before the season is over, he asked Frances to marry him. Frances rejected him, of course. It would make the story short. Hehe! Let's just say that Frances had a dark secret that she thought that she is unworthy of any men especially to future earl.
Fate once again played a part in their lives when Lucius learnt that Frances's great aunts were in London for the season and of good friends of his grandfather. Lucius took the liberty of persuading Frances' great aunts to summon Frances back to London.
Back in London, Lucius learnt a part of Frances's past when the people she wanted to avoid, came and most of the secrets were told to the eager gossip-mongers. Frances left for Bath soon after that and Lucius caught up with her, demanding an explaination why she won't marry him eventhough she admitted to love him as he did.
Well, eventually, they had a happy ending - as always. I enjoyed reading it and truth to be told, as I typed this entry, I had a patch on my neck coz for the last few hours, I had a very stiff neck!! No amount of massaging by both my brothers had any effects to lessen the stiffness. I don't know how I would get up and work tomorrow! Haha!
Anyway, that makes it 2 books down, another 2 to go before my next visit to the library! =)
Cheerz peeps and hope you all had a great weekend!
Title: Sentuhan Kasih
Author: Halina Kamarudin
No. of Pages: 537 pages
Publisher: iBook
The first book I read from iBook publishing and this would be the author's first novel.
Sentuhan Kasih has a very nice story line but somehow, I think the author and the editor don't know how to make the book more 'alive'. It's too much straight forward; one paragraph was talking about something and next thing you knew, the next paragraph was talking about another thing. There is no separation between events.
Butas I said, it has a nice story line and apart from the editorial mistakes and some editing here and there, I would be falling in love with this book. But, no worries, I managed to finish this book within a day - mainly because I got 3 more books to read and less time to read it. One of the disadvantages borrowing books from public library. Time is my worst enemy! Hehe!
Okay, back to the book - story of Syahirah and Razif. Their marriage was arranged by family and they only met for the firt time on their wedding day. Razif got a girlfriend at that time and he insisted in marrying her also no matter what until one day, he realized that he had been fooled. Came home in anger and out of concious, he said something to Syahirah that made her run away.
Syahirah met an ederly couple who took her in as their adopted daughter, moved to UK. Syahirah continued her studies there and gave birth to a pair of twins not long after that. Razif, brokenhearted and regreted of what he did, continued his studies also in the UK.
5 years after, Syahirah came back with her son and daughter, got a job, didn't realizing that the company was owned by his father-in-law. So, when Razif finished his studies and took over his dad's administration, he found his wife again.
Razif tried to gain Syahirah's trust and love again but he got confused when he met his wife with 2 children, thinking that his wife got re-married again. But that's not possible when he himself didn't divorced his wife. From that moment on, he tried to find the truth about their marriage.
M sorry if the way I tell it is so straight forward but that's the book for you. It's so straight forward. But as I said, with careful editing and checking, it would be a nice book.
1 down, 3 more to go....
*My head is throbbing*
For whole day yesterday and half of the day today, I had been sitting infront of the laptop. Yesterday, from noon till night, I was reading e-novel via my laptop and today, I was catching up with some pending paperworks (my leave about to be over soon!).
For the remaining of the day today, I was having lunch with my parents and 2 brothers, then in the afternoon, I had to go to the banks to settle some stuffs and gosh, the weather was so hot!! It had been like that for days now - too demmed hot during the day and by 6 - 6.30pm, it's raining heavily! Every night without a miss! After the banks, I went to the bookstores, looking for some reference books and eventhough my car air-conditioning was to the max, shades all over, I was still sweating inside! *hmmm..maybe my car is black hence more heat absorbed*
So now, it was still drizzling outside and m already planning to hit the bed early. I need to rest my head!
I was surfing the net yesterday and I bumped across a fellow reader's site, Jennifer. She is an avid reader (judging from all the list of the books she had read and to be read). And as a reader, she was considering to buy an e-book, just like what I planned to do...hopefully by the end of this year.
But she made few good points of e-book - the pro and the con! And I have to say I quiet agree with her. For Jennifer's opinion, please click here. For a reader, I love to see all the books piling up. Kindda like a collection. The disadvantage - I have no space to keep the books and it's kindda wasting papers, right? (trying to go green here) I love to smell the musty smell of a recycle paper. With e-book, I can't smell any musty smell.
Yesterday, I was reading the e-version of one historical romance book via my laptop and gosh, it's so difficult to move around. With a hard copy, I can bring the book everywhere, even to the loo..haha! Well, I know I shouldn't compare laptop with a book coz e-book would be a lot more convenient compared to a laptop.
From her site, Jennifer more concerned about the format of an e-book. Well, as I said, m not that good with these stuffs but I know my bff does. She can convert something into something hence let's just say that m not worried about compatibility. Haha! Even if she doesn't know, she loved the challenge to do it. I always have faith in her ;)
For my personal opinion, I would definitly get the e-book, as soon as I can get hold of whoever selling it. I haven't find one in Brunei so m looking in the neighbouring countries *can't wait*. From yesterday's experience, I noticed that reading an e-book took me less time to read compared reading a hard copy. If m reading a book, it would take me at least 24 hours to finish one but with e-book, I managed to finish it within 13 hours (of course with toilet breaks and all). I don't know whether they edited the e-book versions to make it shorter but I hope not.
As I said, as I read a book, it's kindda hard for me to stop. And my latest craze have to be the historical romance novels. But with so many bookstores loitering around town, it's so demmed hard to find the novels that I want. So I ended up searching it online.
Managed to find 2 novels (e-book versions) online but somehow, m not quiet familiar with the format. M not a pc genius hence I seeked my bff's assistance. She is so demmed good at these stuffs. I think she knows that m sucks at these downloading thingy, so she offered to download almost all the e-book versions of the historical romance... bless her heart =) and she even converted it all to PDF formats. I haven't manage to get it from her yet so I just read the 2 e-book novels for the time being. Besides I have 4 new books from the library.
My bff had downloaded me so much e-book versions that I really must get an e-book to store all the files. So far, I got all the e-book from Lucy Maud Montogomery and Sophie Kinsella and I can't wait for the new collections =) Oh! and not to forget the e-book version of almost Miranda Lee's romance novels that I managed to get online.
TAR = The Amazing Race
Although m not a big fan of Maria and Tiffany, I was a bit disappointed to see them go by quitting their last task.
The only all-girl team for this season, I have to say they started with a good start. Flirtatious (to Dan and Sam), deceptive (about what they do), these professional poker players sure know how get advantages from the other teams. From the first episode, they allied with the brothers and last night, with their budding friendships, Tiffany skipped the task (counting the bells in Amsterdam) when she got the answer from one of the brothers (I still can't remember which is Dan and which is Sam). I was frustrated with one of the brothers and so did Meghan, who teamed up with Dan/Sam to count the bells.
For their last task, either golf or dance, honestly, I think if the girls stick with playing the golf and not switching tasks 3 times, I believed they can eventually made it. But I have to salute them. They repeated the tasks over and over again and with the weather condition (in your undies and a windy weather), it really took them great efforts and with very heavy hearts to quit the race. To be honest, I consider them as one of the strongest teams in this race and eventhough some part of me want them out, I really cannot denied the fact that these 2 girls are sooooo "demmed" (a polite way of saying damned..haha) good!!!
Now, with 5 teams to go, let's just say that I already listed the 3 teams (IN MY OPINION) that have the chance in winning the one-freaking-million dollars...fewwwhhhh!
(Not in order)
Dan and Sam
Meghan and Cheyne
Flight Time and Big Easy
At first, Brian and Ericka also made it in my list but now, m not sure. And it was true what either Flight Time or Big Easy was saying, if they can't remember the others' name, they would surely would never forgot Brian's name. Coz Ericka kept on constantly shouting, "BRIAN! BRIAN! BRIAN". I might be a nagging person but I think Ericka is the worst (compared to me, that is)! Haha! And oh yea, m saluting Brian also here! Gary and Matt, m not sure how they would come out but so far, they managed to come in the middle..we'll see..
Can't hardly wait for the end of this race...anything could happen!
Title: Something About EmmalineAuthor: Elizabeth BoyleNo. of Pages: 374 pagesPublisher: Avon BooksAaahhh...another novel I managed to read and eventually finished in my remaining days of freedom! By next week, I would be back to work and as expected (as always), I would be burden with all the paperworks once m back to work. So m trying to enjoy my last few days of leave by doing absolutely nothing apart from eating, reading, sleeping, watching tv...well, you get my point.And with doing nothing apart from above, I managed to read this book in less than 24 hours...haha! Speak of being free.I have to say, this book is quiet entertaining. I guess that's one of the reasons for the quick finish and no, I didn't cheat reading this book. I never cheat!! Haha. And m proud to say that this is one of the books that I didn't flip the last page and read the happy ending first before reading the whole book. Bravo to me!! Yeay!Baron Sedgwick, Alexander Denford was annoyed when his grandmother, Genevieve Denford kept on pushing him to get married and produce an heir - as expected from all the aristocracy. To stop his grandmother and ladies of the ton to matchmaking him with all the eligible young women, Sedgwick, with the help of his friend, Lord John Tremont 'invent' an invisible wife for Sedgwick, Emmaline. With reasons such as Emmaline was ill, sick and all kind of excuses made her, Emmaline unable to attend any social call and do.Until one day, Lady Emmaline Denford, Lady Sedgwick came to his London house and made the necessary renovations. Shocked, Sedgwick rushed from his country home (where he spent most of his times) to London to get rid of the imposter. The presence of his cousin, Hubert, the second in line for the title ad his wife, prevented Sedgwick to throw out 'Emmaline' from the house, afraid that HIS own story would be known.One thing led to another and before anyone knows it, Emmaline is the talk of the ton. Everyone wants to get to know Lady Sedgwick and Alex couldn't keep her hidden anymore. But he is not leaving until he finds out who is Emmaline. And as the title, Something about Emmaline, that's quiet tell it all coz there are some things about this mysterious Emmaline.I just couldn't stop reading to know who is this Emmaline, how does she knows that there is no real Emmaline, who hired her, where does she comes from and so many other questions. The suspense were killing me but I have to say, this would be one of the most entertaining books I had ever read. And I know this sounds creepy, but I love Emmaline - the character that is. There is something about Emmaline that made you to fall in love with her...haha! Told you it sounds creepy! I salute the author for making the characters look real..Read it and may you love it as I did!My next read on my list would be the story of Alex's friend, Lord John where in this book, this flamboyant playboy was caught in a very compromising position with Hubert's brother-in-law's fiance. Can't wait for see how's that turn out...
Title: The Bachelor TrapAuthor: Elizabeth ThorntonNo. of Pages: 386 pagesPublisher: Bantam DellI didn't realised how easy it is for me to read an english novel once m hooked into it. And before I knew it, m starting to read the first chapter of another novel.The Bachelor Trap, a novel by Elizabeth Thornton. I couldn't remember whether I had read any novels from her before but I think I had..haha! But m not really sure. Until recently, I never gave any notice to the authors of historical romance novels apart from Judith McNaught, Candance Camp and Barbara Dawson Smith.Anyway, Lady Marion Dane had been taking care of her sisters, Emily and Phoebe since the death of her parents. And when her aunt, Edwina passed away, Yew Cottage, Edwina's home was given to the sisters.Just before her death, Edwina wrote a letter to Brand Hamilton, a baseborn son of a duke to investigate the disapperance (or rather the death) of her sister, Hannah and told him that Marion, who was just a child back then might witness what had happened twenty years ago. Feeling obliged to grant a friend's request, Brand looked after the 3 sisters.After a series of accidents befallen unto Marion, Brand became suspicios that someone wanted Marion dead. Together, they investigated what really happened years ago with the help of Brand's best friend, Ash Denison. It's a nice story. A mixture of romance and mystery here and there. But 1 thing that made this novel different from the rest is that there is no involvement of the Bow Street Runner..haha! I think most of the historical romance novels, at least there is one chapter or more involved the BSR (as I like to called it).
Last Wednesday night, I brought my bff to watch the Okinawa Traditional Dance Performance which was held in International Convention Center (ICC) in Berakas. It was open to the public and admission was free. I was quiet surprise to see a lot of people. Last time I went for the Chinese Cultural Show, only few people showed up. Interested in others' culture make me attend any cultural show that I can.Anyhow, we managed to get the 4th seat from the front but somehow, the couple infront of us, well, the man infront of us kindda irritated me and my bff. It was a cultural show and we were commenting on the dances and all when this guy infront of us asked us to be quiet. Okay, f we were THAT loud, we admit, we were wrong BUT we were whispering and he gave us 'the look'. The funny things, other people, from his right, left and front sides, he didn't say anything...what an a$$hole! haha! Back to the performance. The Okinawa Traditional Performance was held in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brunei Darussalam and it was organized by the Embassy of Japan here in Brunei. The Okinawa Culture Association was established in 1989 to introduce various forms of Okinawa's unique cultural heritage, such as music, dance and martial arts to the world.The Okinawa Traditional Dance came into existance when prayers in the form of dances and songs of appreciation dedicated to God during religious ceremonies eventually evolved into a sophisticated form of stage art. That night, as much as 12 performances were performed.1. Instrumental Ensemble (Classical Music)2. Kagiyadefu (Court Dance)3. Nuch I Bana (Zo-Odori)4. Menuhama (Classical Dance)5. Nufabushi (Court Dance)6. Takadeira Manzai (Court Dance)7. Munjyuro (Zo-Odori)8. Hatoma Bushi (Zo-Ordori)9. Umi No Chinbora ( Zo-Ordori)10. Kanayo Amakawa ( A popular Zo-Ordori)11. Folk Songs12. Kachashi (Dance of Friendship)For the no. 1 till 7, the performances were really really slow, the dance motions were graceful. From the 8 onwards, it's started to get more beats to the dance and particularly, I like the Kanaya Amakawa. I gave it a new name, a flirting dance..haha! The closing dance, Kachashi, audiences were invited to come up to the stage and joined the dancers. Glad to see some sporting Bruneians and others dare to go up and joined them. M not one of them. Overall, I like the performance. I don't mind watching it again should the chances arises...Note: All pictures and videos were taken by my bff. To see more of the picture, feel free to go to my bff's photoblog. Due to the slow connection, the video took ages to upload and I'll try to upload it soon...
Title: ...dan Mimpi pun BersatuAuthor: Izza AripinNo. of Pages: 585 pagesPublisher: Kaki NovelThis would be the first novel I read from this author although from what I know, this novel is her fourth. Well, I guess I missed the first 3.After reading the previous novel, this novel (in my opinion only) is a lot more better than the other one. It's a story of a royal family of Dhiyapura. I don't know whether there are any other monarchies exist in Malaysia but couples of days ago, I watched this TV series about a princess from other royal family apart from the one in the mainland Malaysia. Anyway, so in other words, I don't know whether Dhiyapura really exists or the author alters the name or it's just a fantasy.I don't know how to explain the royal family coz m confused about it myself. But luckily,the royal family tree was attached at the back of the book, hence I can catch up with the storyline...you have no idea how many times I flipped to the last page to read and understand that family tree.Well, let's just say that in Dhiyapura, there are 2 royal families - the al-Mansur dynasty and the al-Muttaqi dynasty. Dhiyapura was reign by the al-Mansur until there is no male heir to become the sultan hence the country was then reign by the al-Muttaqi dynasty. Tengku Iskandar (from al-Muttaqi dynasty), the crown prince of Dhiyapura fell in love at first sight with Anne Zulaikha during a camping trip at 17 years old. Being a crown prince, all his whereabouts are being restricted and being watched upon hence Iskandar only met Anne in secrets. Until 1 day, Iskandar told Anne that he's leaving KL (where he was studying) to go to UK. 8 years later, Iskandar tracked down Anne and within 24 hours, they were on their way to US, to meet up with Anne's brother, Hakim to wed them. After their simple wedding with Anne's brother, Hakim and Iskandar's cousin, Tengku Farid in attendance, the newly wed couple went back to Dhiyapura to tell the King and the Queen. The king got no objection but the Queen, Iskandar's step mother (from the al-Mansur dynasy) was furious. There are some secrets behind all those.After a month, Iskandar had to go back to UK and Anne to finish her studies in KL. 2 months after that, Anne heard rumors that Iskandar is to wed his own cousin and fiance since childhood, Tengku Syazreen (from the al-Mansur dynasty). Anne felt being cheated and used so she confronted Iskandar. Iskandar explained that he can't undo what had been done years ago - his engagement. The reason he married Anne was because he loved her and he knew that if Anne found out that he's engaged to be married, Anne won't accept him. So, he lied to Anne about his engagement.While preparations were being made for the royal wedding, Iskandar asked Anne, who was 4-month pregnant at that time to stay at Istana Perdana - the al-Muttaqi family residance, for her own safety. And Iskandar asked Farid to accompany Anne. Rumors started between Anne and Farid until one day, Iskandar no longer believe both of them. Farid helped Anne escaped before she was caught for 'betraying' the crown prince. Unfortunately, when Anne's boat arrived at the Malaysian's jetty, an explosion occured killing 3 of her bodyguards, Anne's mum and brother. Iskandar was devasted when he thought that Anne had died. 1 year he mourned his beloved death when infact Anne was rescued and saved by a couple. Anne gave birth to her baby girl, Ayrin Zatasha.16 years later, it's become Ayrin' story. She and her mum had lived all over the country, constantly moving around and she never understand why. Her mum, Anne, is a control freak of her when 1 day she started to get rebellious. It would be a long story if I typed it all here but to make it short, Ayrin's rebellious attempt landed her in Dhyipura when she went for jet-skiing and lost at sea. The guards were surprise to see Ayrin's face coz it's the resemblance of the crown prince, Tengku Mohad who was recently deceased at 13 years old. It was then alerted to the king, Sultan Iskandar and from there Iskandar knew that Anne is still alive and Ayrin is his daughter, the crown princess of Dhyipura.With the guidance of Anne's grandfather journal, the story then lead to undiscover the conspirancies on the death of Iskandar's mother and 2 older brothers; the traitors within the royal families and all the political debates. This book is about the story of 2 generations and honestly, I can't type it all here. The best way to understand this book is to read it. I hope you would enjoy it as I did.
Title : Hanya DikauAuthor: Ebriza AminnudinNo. of Pages: 628 pagesPublisher: Buku PrimaThe first book I read from this author and the second book I read and borrowed from the public library.To be honest here, luckily I borrowed this book and not bought it coz it was wayy too disappointing. Story between Ira Fasuha and Erze Zullis and trust me, it's totally the story of them both! Of course there are few characters here and there - the parents, the cousins and the friends but this book totally concentrating on the main characters and truth to be told, it's quiet boring when it's the same story being told over and over again.Ira Fasuha and Erze Zullis first time met in an airport, where Ira stepped on Erze's foot without apologizing. And let's just say that from there, they were enemies. Whenever and whereever they meet, they were always fighting and that's how the story goes up till the last few pages of this 628-page book - fight, fight and more fights.I don't know what the author was trying to say in this book. But for me, Ira's characters are unacceptable. I mean, in this book, Ira is a 33 years old woman, well-educated, got a job as an assistant manager then manager but somehow, the character the author 'gave' Ira is so childish, unmature person which honestly bores me. No offence intended here but this is how I feel about this book. I managed to finish it though but it took a great effort on my side to finish it instead of stopping in the middle of the novel and not to read it again...Oh well...other readers/writers might find m too blunt but that's the way I read it..
Being human, most of the times, we are not satisfied with what we have, may it be material stuffs or the emotional stuffs. Material stuffs are the common stuffs. We always wanted more money, wanted all the nicest cars, house, dresses, bags, shoes...all those. While emotional stuffs, we always wanted more power, more love, more tougher etc. M not gonna go into details all those.
This morning, I received a text from a male friend - a good male friend I have to say. And his text bothered me. We had been a good friend for over a decade now and all of sudden, he wants to change the status 'friendship' to 'relationship'. I was like, "WHAT?" What happened? I mean, we had no problems being friends but why now he wants to change it? For me, I valued friendship more than relationship. In other way, if you ask me to choose between a good friend and a boyfriend, I won't hesitate to choose a good friend. Coz a good friend is a friend to last you a lifetime. A boyfriend, well, if he is the one for me, he will be getting alone just fine with my friend.
I don't like to change friendship to relationship. If I want to be in a relationship, I would treat the guy differently. I did that once - converting a childhood friendship into a relationship and trust m, it didn't got that well. Me and him, we always said that if our relationship didn't work out, we can stay friends, like we used to be but when the relationship ends, so does the friendship. True, we do keep on touch with one another but somehow, it's no longer the same.
In today's case, I don't want history to repeat itself. He is a good friend of mine and I valued his friendship so much that I don't want to hurt him. If anyone of you outthere asking me why I can't accept him more than friend, let's just say that my feeling for him is pure friendship. Why don't I give him a chance? Maybe this time it would be different? Maybe he is the one for me? Coz I don't want to 'experiment' with my feelings and I don't want to hurt his feeling.
The matter of the hearts or feelings are quiet complicated. I know most of my friends and my colleagues told me that m a very choosy person and now, at 28 years old, everyone kept on reminding me that my options (of men) are slowly thinning out. In other words, don't be so choosy or you would end up being an old spinster - that would be the harsh truth but of course no one ever dares to say that to my face. Honestly, I don't know who m waiting for. There is no one in particular m waiting for. If you ask me whether m ready for a commitment, I would say that I am. But the thing is, I don't want to commit with just any man. I want to commit with someone m really really sure of. It's not a time for experiment-ing feelings (as my ex bf used to say). My time is over for that.
For the last 2 years, I lost count on how many men I broke their hearts and I vowed to myself not to that again but somehow, it just tooo damned difficult. I don't go out and look for them, they look for me! They said opposite attracts and there are some proofs to that. But when I meet men who are the opposite attracts from me, I don't feel the attractions, the connections, the 'sparks', the chemistry and what-ever-else-you-want-to-call-it. This good friend, he is the opposite attracts from me but I had known him for a long time that I get used to his 'quietness'. Well, I guess now he is no longer quiet of his feelings for me.... URRGGGhhhh...why life has to be so complicated? Oh...let me correct that, why feelings have to get in a way of friendship???
I don't know what to do. I haven't reply his text and I HATE confrontation. I know eventually I have to come face-to-face with him but at the moment, I really have no idea what to do or say to him.....
Few days back, I chatted online with my Singaporean friend, Yan Lin ;) It's been 5 years since I left Singapore and somehow, I just miss my friends over there. So, we were chatting and just catching up with each other when she asked me the $50K question - when m getting married? Told her, that no one proposed me so far hence not anytime soon..haha! I asked her the same question (considering that our birthdays are just few days difference) and she answered me by, "Singaporean men don't want me" Hahaha! So, I was saying (jokingly of course) that she should come here to Brunei and maybe she will find the one and I would go there and do the same. In other words, we exchange places..haha! I know it's silly but I know these stuffs did happen somewhere around this globe. So, Yan Lin recommended me to watch this movie, The Holiday. Ever watch or read Perfect Stranger? Not the thriller movie but the romantic movie. I never watched the movie though but I read the book.Anyway, The Holiday - Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black. The story of 2 heartbroken women, Diaz from LA and Winslet from London. Both of them agreed to do home exchange for 2 weeks - Winslet goes to LA and Diaz goes to Surrey, London.
Honestly, it's a very nice movie. I love it. Everything is there. Humor, friendship, family, strangers, love....mainly about love. It somehow tells you how to get up from your heartbroken state and start living your life. There are many unfortunate people outthere who suffered more than you do but life goes on....and you would never know what to expect. As I said, it's a very nice movie. Watch it and maybe if you have a soft heart like I do, maybe you will know what I meant ;)
Being an avid reader of historical romance, actually I had never read the book version of this movie. As most of you know, this movie is adapted from a book with the same title by Phillipa-something. Soooryyy, I really couldn't remember the name. Eventhough this movie came out last year, I only watched it this morning at HBO..haha! Trust me, sometimes I just got so many free times by splurging myself with movies.The movie, starring 2 beautiful actress - Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson and uuuhhh...another macho man (by my standard), Eric Bana. If any of you don't know Eric Bana, he's the one playing Hector in Troy. I know, compared with Brad Pitt (in Troy), Bana kindda fall to the shadow but neverthless, he's soooo YUMMY!!! *slurp*slurp* hahaha! M not a freak but I like to appreciate God's creation on fellow human...hehe!Set in the 14th century, it's the story (true story as I read from the history) of the Boleyn sisters - Anne (Portman) and Mary (Johansson) and King Henry VIII (Bana). In this sto
ry, Anne is the older sister to Mary but as the historians believe, Mary was older than Anne. I really couldn't imagine how's life for the royals in the 14th century but from this story, being the king's mistress who can give him a male heir is considered an honor for the mistress.Anne, the beautiful of the 2 Boleyn girls, always had a big ambition for herself and she had always wanted to be the queen of England. While Mary, was always the 'shadow' of her sister. Until one day, the king had an accident while riding and Mary tend to him. The king took a liking of Mary and made her his mistress. When Mary eventually got pregnant with the king's baby, she was isolated (for the baby's sake). Hence Anne was asked to 'replace' Mary's shoe to 'entertain' the king until the baby's born. But Anne had a mind of her own.Anne would not sleep with the king until he divorced his queen, Catherine of the Aragone(?) - did I spelt that right? Anyway, it's noted in history of England that during the reign of King Henry VIII, England was separated from the Church of Rome which allowed him to divorce his queen and remarry. He did and married Anne soon after.
Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth and when she failed to give King Henry a male heir, Anne determined to sleep with any man - her own brother (in this story) coz the king won't lay with her anymore. They didn't do it but when the king found out, both of them were to be beheaded. Mary (being banished to the country after the birth of her son, Henry) did come back to the palace and begged King Henry to spare Anne's life. The king somehow gave Mary hopes that Anne's life would be spared but in the end, it didn't.From the history, King Henry VIII had 6 wives and Anne was the second. And also from the history goes, 2 of his wives were beheaded. Hmmm....I guess, the Tower of London won't be in my list of places to visit if I ever go to London. The idea of people being beheaded....urrghhh...I have a wild imagination. I don't want to dwell into it..
My bff once told me it's a movie for me to watch considering that m a hiking-freak person and only yesterday, I managed to watch it. My opinion, well, it is okay, I guess. Haha! The scenery, I have no comment on that. It's puurrfffeecttt! If I eventually get married and spend my honeymoon jungle trekking the jungle of Hawaii with my beloved, hey, I don't mind. Especially if the end of the trails lay the white, wonderful sandy beach. Set up a camp, bonfire and just listen to the sounds of the waves, that's romantic...haha!Ok! That's the scenery. The casts...hmmm..I prefer Timothy Olyphant (who plays the character Nick) with no hair; from the movie Hitman. Geezz! I love that movie. Being bald, Olyphant looks so damned sexy and mysterious..just the perfect guy...yummy! Haha! The movie - it's a bit confusing at first. Lots of twist and turn. Newly wed Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Mila Jovovich) went to Hawaii for their honeymoon by jungle trekking through the trails where they meet with Nick (Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez). On their way to the beach, they come acroos with 3 girls who got information that there is a couple killer roaming around killing couples. Cliff and Cydney have their doubts with the couple Nick and Gina. So let's just say that their are getting suspicios of each other.I didn't expect of the ending though. Coz the way I see it, it doesn't make sense. Oh well, I don't know but that's just me.Anyway, for those who had watched it, maybe you guys know what I meant but for those who haven't watch it, well, you can try to watch it...haha!
This is the uttermost beautiful ring I have ever seen and definitly the one that I will NOT have. Geeezzz, this ring must cost a bomb man! But fewwwhhh....beauuutttiiiffuuullll....
...to Brunei's first and youngest woman to ski to the South Pole, Dk Najibah Eradah. She is one of the women from 8 different countries to go to Antartic for the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antartic Expedition.Being an adventerous person, truth laid out her, m soooo drop dead jealous of her. BUT at the same time m proud of her. Besides if m given the choice to join, I think I would decline. Reasons: 1) m easily get sinusitis, 2) I cannot stand cold weather (and Antartic, definitly not a place I want to 'mess' around with), 3) I don't have much fats to insulate me from the cold. Well, that's the only reason I can come up with at the moment.So to Era, the very best of luck to you. May you depart and arrive safely. When eventually if you can't make it the "900km in 40 days" journey, don't be disappointed. Just remember, by being there, you are making me proud...you are making Bruneians proud. If others can do it, so can we....YEAH!!!
For more information about the expedition, feel free to click here
Really couldn't believe it that it happened 10 years ago. Truthfully, I totally forgot about this incident until I read today's paper. I should remember this coz it happened during my birthday. It caused commotion in our department and all our classes for the rest of the day were cancelled. Haha...My college years, trust me man, so many stuffs happened. If I ever write a book, it would be a thick one *wink*wink*
