The Interview : A Social Commentary | Opinion

2014 is a year that just keeps on giving. But sometimes, not necessarily the best things. As I sit in front of the computer screen being a 'keyboard warrior', I feel like there's a need for a comment to be made after watching this movie, and that this is one of the worst movies made in history, and I'm not talking about cinematography or shots, but the plot and the underlying messages - the themes, what it affects, and of course the consequences it has set off, even though it cannot be more clear in he beginning.

I alike so many people(or like to think so), saw the trailer or even read the plot on wikipedia or wherever, and found it incredibly funny or at the least entertaining and plan to catch this comedy piece during the holiday season for a good laugh - especially since Seth Rogen directed, produced and acted in it.

Initially I really didn't understand the social impact or why North Korea had such violent objection and hostility to it, but upon watching it, I absolutely understand why.

The movie opens with a young North- Korean girl singing ill wills about Americans to a crowd of North Koreans, which puts and encourages hostility among the East & the West, with hopes of American women getting raped and having their own family members see their own suffer. This was never something that was proven and was all plotted for even heavier stereotyping of the isolated country.

In the trailer, we only see how funny and James Franco & Kim Jong-Un got along, and viewers are given the idea that this is going to be a show with a happy ending, and that they are not going to assassinate the latter. However, in the film itself, they portrayed Kim as a almost bi-polar person living in the shadows of his father and decides to bomb America when the interview turns the direction he didn't want.

With comedy that isn't at all funny, and also gore and blood which served absolutely no purpose, which only adds how irrelevant this film is. The film ends off with Seth & James shooting the Helicopter Kim was on with a tank.

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What's disturbing with the film is not just what we see, but also what it is trying to say. The smarter side of the population will understand that this is a film and just a bad scrip by Seth and his team. But unfortunately, not all people are necessary that smart, and surely there are going to be so many people who thinks that this is real. 

For those who still don't see why this film is so dangerous, imagine a film written EXPLICITLY KILLING YOUR COUNTRY'S LEADER, Obama, Lee Hsien Loong for instance. Wouldn't you be enraged and you really think your country's government is going to keep mum and just pretend this is all for entertainment so it is ok? 

Clearly, even though things like that are passed on as films, the theme of it is enough to start conflicts and full-on nuclear exchange. As a viewer, it scares me what is going on in the mind of the team that decided to go forth with this project, more specifically Seth Rogen. 

It somehow didn't go through his mind the consequences that this would inflict and people would just simply look past the current situation with North Korea and laugh at the comedy points that just simply didn't translate, at all. 

Not that I stand with North Korea or its method of ruling, but just the way Kim was portrayed in the film, is enough to anger those who stand by the lines of DPRK. Like I've said, they made him look like a bi-polar person who can't seem to effectively rule and control his emotions. Not that those claims are false, but it's just not right, not even in the name of comedy(which clearly failed)

In short, I am happy that this film is pulled off the cinemas and I hope people are not well-versed enough to get access of it on the web. But hey, who am I kidding, even a tech idiot like me managed to find it. 

Rain

'I know that they say that all i want is to have fun, 

and get away from rainy days'

There's something about rainy seasons that I just can't seem to get over. Like today, it almost rained all day. There's really nothing more I'd like to do but go to some coffee place and find a window seat and just stare outside and look as the rain falls. The gloominess of it has always seemed extremely calming and it helps with the sombre and slouchiness of the day, almost as if god placed a blanket over and gets everyone sleeping. Heavy rains, I just get so addicted. 

Maybe it's the pure laziness the rain gives me the high. I know, how mad right. 

Earlier on I was watching a some random Youtube video I somehow stumbled on. A talk show called 'The Talk', how direct huh. A knock-off of The View. Well, I have to be honest, I knew what that show was and just wanted to watch and criticise how bad it was. But then the issue of happiness came up. 

 'You have to take responsibility of your own happiness'

Well yes, on somedays, most days even, we would all love to agree and think that what we do is what makes us, and what makes us, makes us happy. 

I think a great portion of the time, yeah, that is true. And when you read quotes and books, you start to wonder and question why everything is so complicated, and we're so incredibly fortunate to have what we have. 

Until you snap out of it and realise, life happens. Life gives you a ton of shit that we're never going to be fully ready or can do prior preparation. Accidents, relationships, friends, situations, work, social. Everything comes in when you least expect it. 

While it may be selfish to bear the responsibility or attribute it otherwise, but really it's the people you love especially that makes what you feel, think and do what you do. People get sick, stress comes. Yes we can be as positive and happy but things happen. 

But it is true to bring ourselves back up again, but happiness is never really a one man duty. But we then start to wonder, what does true happiness mean and how long can it last?

Holy Cow, It's Sunday Folks, Time To Grub!

Finally got over my December comatose and came back to life and I'm here with a post. Actually it's because the term break is finally upon us, and I now have more time to write and also go out and do whatever.

So from the blog title, I think you would already know what this is gon' be about. So 2 weeks ago, me and my Pukes gang wanted, or thought we were going to meet up since the 'A' levels were over and XY is now a free soul to till next year at least. Then we realised Jane is all the way in Taiwan enjoying the cool breeze while we're stuck in the tiny oven called Singapore. But still, in the spirit of I'm done with school and all the assignments, I suggested the 3 of us to just go somewhere to just at least catch up on things, because we didn't meet for AGES, with XY prepping for 'A's and submissions that are due.

So we did. We're supposed to meet at 1:30pm, but obviously we all know that ain't gonna happen. But eventually, we met, at exactly 2:20pm.

If you guys read the post on my meet up with Mun & Nad and her free iPhone incident which you can read here, we were supposed to go to Sunday Folks, but the crowd was really bad and the weather was super humid so we didn't bother to wait. But then, much to everyone's irony, we, or I decided to go try it out and hope for a no crowd scenario... on a Sunday.

Despite being at Holland Village, and pretty near to the station, and definitely walkable, you do need to know how to turn in if not you'll probably not find it. Nestled in the long alleyway opposite Lorong Mambong, which is the street that houses D'good, CBTL, EWF and etc. 

Even though the way up took some time, and at some point you may feel like you're on the wrong path, because you'll walk past so many restaurants and cafés, one may just settle of any  before actually reaching Sunday Folks. But when you do get there, it's all good. Minus the crowd

So obviously, this goes without saying, the queue outside was loooong, as illustrated by the photo on top, and it was really really hot as well, like we were sweating buckets, but this time I was lucky or smart enough to not wear a sweatshirt out. But since we had no place else to go, we reckon we just waited till we got a table. But one cool thing about Sunday Folks is that they have a cool queueing system, where you key in how many people you have and your phone number and after that they'll send you a message that your table is ready.

For Sunday folks, I think it's a good choice to come in small groups of no more than 4, because as you can see in the screen, there's like different icons depending on the number of people, and basically also the varying waiting time. 

That day when we were there the waiting time was >60minutes. 

So with so much time to spare, we walked around the area, more specifically into this shop which sells all things related to baking, not that we wanted to buy anything, but it was just too hot to even go anywhere, #SGissues. 

It got a lot more cloudier so we thought it was a sign for us to look for some places to take photos, and within 10 minutes,

IT WAS POURING RAINING

And the funniest thing was we didn't really know which part of the area we were when it started to rain so we had to run and pray we were at the right track, especially since we had our cameras exposed! We managed to get back to Sunday Folks and also some seats along the bench. Good cause I'm not about to just stand there and wait. Neon Drew needs to sit. 

I think the rain turned some of the people queueing off so I guess they just left, so by the 45 minute mark we manage to get a seat! The relief of getting back into an air-conditioned environment is unreal hunny. 

The interior is like kind of cute, and even though this is quite irrelevant, their water dispenser's design is super cute lah, but at the same time I think it's just water from the actual tap just that they changed the pipe and knob to make it look whimsical. But hey, you can't have it all right. Besides, I'm sure all cafés use tap water. But I suppose the cutest part is the wall of ice cream dispensers popping out from the walls

So they are known for their waffles and ice cream, so we reckoned why not get it. So they have 2 types of servings, ice cream with one waffle, or for those with a bigger appetite like me, 2 stacked waffles with a generous topping of soft serve. If I remembered correctly, they have like 6 flavours, which includes Strawberry, Vanilla, Earl Grey Lavender, Chocolate and 2 more I can't recall. 

So now, here's the array of tantalising photo which hopefully makes you hungry. 

 Single Waffle with Earl Grey Lavender Ice Cream ($8.80)

Vernice got the Earl Grey Lavender, which was raved by people who went there, wanted to get that initially, but the earl grey lavender experience I had at Holy Cow Creamery deterred me from it, a.k.a the biggest mistake ever. The Earl Grey Lavender at Sunday Folks is worth every dime that it is worth because it is so incredibly yummy! The flowery-ness is mild, not overpowering and the sweetness is just right. The creaminess is spot on and the lavender helps it off set it. There's always something with mixing floral or citrus in ice creams that tastes odd for me, but this combination is probably the best I've ever had for EGL. Definitely a must-try if you go there!

 Single Waffle with Chocolate Ice Cream ($8.80)

Xi Yun got the chocolate flavour and as you scroll down you can see how as we take photos and wait for the rest of our orders to arrive, the ice cream started to melt off. As for the taste, the waffles tasted alright, it was sort of crisp on the outside and fluffy enough on the inside, pretty good actually. As for the taste for the ice cream, if you like chocolate, you will really really fall in love with the chocolate ice cream over at Sunday Folks. Opposed to the usual super sweet and artificial-ness, the chocolate actually has a kick and I they used dark chocolate as well, which makes the taste of the ice cream so exquisite.

 Double Waffle with Vanilla Ice Cream ($11.80)

If you see specks on your screen, no it's not your screen turning dusty, its the Vanilla beans in the vanilla flavour that I had. Somehow whenever I go to any ice cream parlours, I always turn back to the classics, or most of the time vanilla, and it really is hard to find good vanilla ice creams around. And sadly, the vanilla ice cream at Sunday Folks isn't really worth much of a mention. Not that it's bad, but I could have done better getting the EGL. But the vanilla beans in the ice cream makes it comforting and worthwhile, at least for the aesthetics part. But overall, with the waffles, not bad.

Looking at the photo on top you can guess roughly which order came first, second and last right? Got the chamomile tea as well, and I still never got to why some cafés don't serve tea by the pot, it is so much more convenient and the flavour wouldn't be so overwhelming in such a small cup. And I made the mistake of adding a little bit too much sugar. 

The issue with going to cafés that is immensely popular is that the atmosphere is destroyed by the competing music and people talking. So I guess that part wasn't that great. The fact that there were so many people (full house at any point) and also the place that we sat made it very difficult to enjoy since we chose, yes chose to sit at the junction of the café where people are just walking back and forth. 

OVERALL EXPERIENCE : Sunday Folks

Food                        8/10

Service                    7/10

Price                        7/10

Ambience                6/10

___________________________________

Final Score: 7

Honestly, Sunday Folks is one café that I would go back again for the quality of the ice cream, and the idea of waffles and ice cream in Singapore has been around since forever, but the idea using soft serve is kind of novel, and the taste is really not a half assed job, so I'd say Sunday folks is a go and go again! 

Food coma clearly set in at even after finishing our food, we couldn't get ourselves up and going. And also, the rain was still there. So #WWND? Take photos when bored. It's really good catching up on how Xi Yun did for the A levels, and also Vernice's internship next year. Looking at my performance this semester, it is a blessing that I can still go into a university.

Once it was awkward not having anything on our table and still chatting, we reckon it was time for us to move on to somewhere else. And frankly, at that point, we didn't plan where to go so we just roamed around Holland V and just walked to every place we can while thinking where to go. So next time, plan before heading out! But on the bright side, I manage to get Snyder's pretzels, couldn't find it at the supermarket over at my area, so was really excited!

And we wound up again at the MRT station going in circles not knowing where to go. We contemplated Bugis, Tanjong Pagar, Kovan, and everywhere else that is super far. So after super long like 30 minutes at least, we finally settled on Grub, which they actually suggested but got some dog gone reason we just overlooked that.

Thank goodness for these 2, if not I wouldn't know how to even go there. It's at Bishan Park, but you have to go there through AMK. I mean you could go there by Bishan, but that'll be the longer and more confusing route. When we got there, it almost looked like a oasis, mirage, pit stop in a desert, with lush and greenery around it(we are at a park after all), and the rain just made Grub stand out even more, with it lighting up and being active. I think it'll look even more dreamy if you go over at night, it lighting up from inside.

Not feeling super hungry, I opted for the churros that some people have been talking about, while XY and Vernice got burgers, and on a side note, I should've gotten it too because it looked goood. But anyway, while waiting for the food to come, I just did what I do best. 

The churros! Didn't bother taking the other photos, but it looks good, but I'm sure you can picture how a burger looks like. For the churros, wasn't as good as what I expected. But then again, how high was my expectation? Hmm, it seems like Singapore doesn't really have a good churros place. The outside was crisp and had a nice crunch, but the inside was pretty much lacklustre. 

For me, a good churros should be crispy on the outside and doughy and chewy on the inside. But this one felt pretty empty, sooooo yeah. The chocolate sauce was ordinary, and the white colour one tasted kinda sweet, kinda sour, but I still can't figure out what it was, but overall it was really just meh. 

For a Sunday night, it was peculiar to me how it was not crowded at all, but that goes into the atmosphere as well, not having to compete with other people in terms of voice. Speaking of which the lady next to us I was afraid would start acting up and go crazy because she had like 4 beers.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE : Grub

Food                        6/10

Service                    6/10

Price                        6/10

Ambience                7/10

___________________________________

Final Score: 6.25

We stayed there for quite some time as well, deciding what we're going to do the next week when Jane comes back from her amazing Taiwan trip, because we know first hand exactly how it feels to be stranded and planning on the spot, see how that ended! And with our food coma regaining consciousness, we embarked on place #3

Holy Cow Creamery. It is almost quite interesting how many time's I've actually been there, and even more interesting is that every single time I go, the staff completely changes, maybe I should go work there. But anyway, as usual and expected, crowded and almost full house. But for all the right reasons, with it's interesting flavours, it is no wonder that Holy Cow Creamery is a crowd favourite despite it being in the center of a neighbourhood in Yishun.

From flavours like Thai Milk Tea, Miss Saigon(Coffee), Durian, and something with potato chips(!), Holy Cow Creamery is an ice cream parlour that satisfies the crave and tantalise your taste buds. One more perk of Holy Cow I did realise is that the prices there are so so much lower that other places like for instance Sunday Folks or even Creamier. I suppose the location of it makes the rent cheaper?

I got the Thai Milk Tea flavour, it's costs $4.50 if I remember correctly, but that's probably my favourite flavour out of all at HCC. A tea lover, when you first put it in your mouth, you can taste the sweetness and creaminess of the ice cream, and as it melts the breath of tea takes over, and has a slight bitterness which just complete the dream of any avid fan of drinking tea. I love how the creaminess is not overwhelming and nauseating, just keeps you going for more!

Meanwhile, Vernice got the waffles with pink sorbet, still wondering if it's made with soursop or guava. Or are they the same thing? I don't know, but anyway, at $6.50, it's really quite a deal. I've said already how much I love the waffles here, except maybe for the egg undertone, the texture of it is really one of the best I had in a while. 

With food out of the way, we were super full, with 3 cafés down in a day, quite a lot to handle honestly. And I was exhausted after the entire day, with little sleep before that. And also I was worn down with the thought that I had school the next day, but good thing is that we're down to the last week! 

Summed up my pretty amazing day with my absolute favourite people and I'll see them next week! 

Alcohol Makes Everything Better

If you've came across my blog or know me since circa 2012, you would have realised that my hair has gone through the shades of colours under the sun, from the good ones to the 'oh-lord-what-was-he-thinking' moments, I've braved through it all and looked amazing, at least the hair colour did.

If you ever bleached your hair, the question that people always, ALWAYS, I MEAN ALWAYS ask is

'DOESN'T YOUR HAIR GET DRY?'

And the truth is, YES, IT DOES. There is no way for bleached hair to not get frazzled and fried after constant rounds of bleaching and dyeing. And sometimes, even daily rounds of hour long conditioning may not necessarily help. 

Until I read this formula on Buzzfeed and several websites, being desperate and willing to try anything cheap to salvage what's already probably dead hair. 

BEER

I know this sounds so stupid, but it actually works! So apparently, how and why this works is because of the natural barley, hops and malt, which is rich in protein, which is what our hair is made of. And this helps revitalise your hair and giving it shine, lustre and overall softness. 

I took it upon myself and realising that there's like leftover beer from CNY, some still fresh, some expired already, but that isn't the point, since you ain't drinking it anyway. So here's Neon's step-by-step on how to use beer on yo hurrrrrrr, and get the va-va-voom blowout sexiness you never wanted.

STEP 1

  Get the beer. Use lager beer, like the yellow kinds, no hard liquor, or wine or those ABC black beer, even though I've heard that champagne works as well. If you live the high life, go ahead with champagne. 

STEP 2 

 Shampoo your hurr, condition it reallllll good, like leave it in for like 30 minutes if your hair is like beyond help. 

Step 3 

 Let the beer flow. Try to do it with a bucket underneath, so you can catch all the beer that dripped, so you can use it to rinse through your hair. Live it in for how short and how long you want, depending on how damaged your hair is. 

TIP : KEEP YOUR EYES AND MOUTH SHUT THE ENTIRE TIME, shit burned my eyes and it tasted bad. 

TIP : And if you have coloured hair, prepare yourself for a colour disaster. Last time I did it with blue hair, shit turned GREEN. THe beer turned green. wtf.

Before you judge, at least give it a try. I mean CNY is coming go snag a few free cans from your relative or neighbours. And don't take my words for it, celebrities like Catherine Zeta-Jones swear by this ok. I know most of you probably don't know who she is, but google her. 

And if you done all that right you gon' have gorgeous hair.