Gunpla Expo 2016

Yesterday was my fourth time visiting the Gunpla Expo at Takashimaya. With the exclusives still not sold out, it seems that my Bear-san is a failed investment T_T Surprisingly there were not so many people although I reached at about 11am after I finished my Japanese homework at Ion Starbucks. Thus, I took some photos. I have to admit that I did not find it as exciting as Gundam Docks last year when I took photos right from the first time I went. Lol. I can't wait to have the next Gundam Docks and I hope they will bring the same Gundam Wing Zero Customs displayed in Hong Kong last year. Anyway, enjoy the pictures from my half-assed effort to take them.

Glad to see it with a pose instead of just standing stationary

The crowd arrived by the time I took the back view

SG50 Gundam at MBS diorama

Merlion Gundam is here as well

Gundam Barbatos

Gundam Bear-III Double Happiness version

I bought grilled squid ($5) and fried squid ($8) from Takashimaya food fair. I wanted to buy since a week ago but I decided to just get a fried squid ($5) from Taimei at Bishan which was a mistake. The quality of Japanese product is simply unrivaled by its neighbouring countries: the squid was thick and yet it was not tough to chew. I could bite it in small pieces. The one I bought from Taimei was so tough that I had to use my finger to pull the pieces apart. Bleah... The one I bought in Takashimaya also had a more superior flour which surprisingly did not fall apart to crumbs as I was biting pieces by pieces. It was a well spent $13. Lol.

I was tempted to visit LaTendo for one last time as Funan is closing at the end of this month but I decided not to if there was no sale. I checked the facebook page again last night and I realised that they are having their closing sale just for the weekend! I did not scroll down when I checked the phone so I thought their latest post was about the moving. It was actually a pinned post. So I went there this evening and I snagged Saint Seiya 10th Anniversary DX Display Stage. Not one but two for $40 each. I still felt the bitterness when I missed it during HLJ sale for 1500 JPY a few months ago. It is sold out now so there is no way I can ever find such a price anymore. I actually don't collect Saint Seiya Myth Cloth figures but the display looks quite cool and I am going to use it for my other figures. I am not a frequent visitor and in fact, I find it quite inconvenient to travel to Funan. But now I feel kinda sad that Funan is going to close. My most memorable memory is getting a Christmas figure of myself there a few years ago. Sigh.. The booth closed not long after that and I kinda regret that I never buy more of this.

I am in need of a new laptop but sadly there was no exciting closing sale for the laptops. Oh well, I think I have overspent lately so I have to put a rein on my wallet. JPY is almost 20% compared to when I went to Japan in September last year so buying things directly from Japan is getting more expensive. Haiz.. So sad I so quickly changed my leftover JPY last year. I am holding to AUD and USD in hope of making a profit but thanks to Brexit, these 2 are dropping. Sian..

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans (Season 1)

Gundam 00 left quite a bad impression for me and I have not watched any Gundam series from then on. Thanks to the currently ongoing Gunpla Expo at Takashimaya, I decided to give Iron Blooded Orphans a try. There seems to be more non-Gunpla related merchandises released for this series so I guess this is pretty popular and I decided to give it a try.

Gundam series are usually dealing with the conflict between colonies and earth. Iron Blooded Orphans takes the conflict one step further to Mars. Earth has managed to make Mars habitable but Martians suffer as most of the wealth are sucked by the businesses and governments from earth. Earth itself is divided into 4 factions and the 4 factions do not go to war thanks to an organisation called Gjallarhorn which helps to end the Calamity War 300 years ago and to maintain peace up to today. Kudelia Anna Bernstein is the poster girl of Mars independence movement and her goal is to go to earth for a diplomatic mission for Mars' sake.

Gundam series usually run for about 50 episodes so I kinda expect this 25-episode run is only the first season. With the 2nd season already announced, it is still too premature to judge the series. But from the 25 episodes, I have to sadly say that this is worse and less memorable than Gundam 00. Sigh. The story is patheticly 'thin' and it takes maybe 20 episodes for the journey from Mars to Earth and another 5 episodes to go from their landing point to the city of Edmonton.

The conflict presented does not make sense and has little believability. How can be an organisation as big as Gjallarhorn which maintains peace of earth and space for the past 300+ years unable to defeat Tekkadan which is just a group of mercenaries? Yes they have the arayashiki system and they have Gundam Barbatos but it is an 'outdated' machine and I am pretty sure Gjallarhorn is able to have more advance machines. 

Surprisingly, Gundam does not take a center stage in this series as Gundam is considered a relic of the war 300 years ago. That explains the absence of exciting or memorable fights. We only have 1 significant Gundam Barbatos vs other lousy mobile suits controlled by mostly nameless soldiers whose death or survival does not really matter anyway. It is pretty sad for a Gundam series not to have memorable Gundams and Gundam fights. It is mentioned a few times that there are 72 Gundams so I am not sure if somehow they will all make an appearance in the second season.

There are too many characters (I cannot even remember what names goes to which face) but too little character development. Tekkadan is a group of orphans coming together as a family but there is little shown about their bond as a family. They keep saying that they are doing this together because it is a job and it is for money. That basically kills all the emotional aspect which can possibly utilised. With all the talk about "job" and "money", I can't help but feel that Tekkadan is essentially a business and simply wants to complete its job to escorting Kudelia to earth. And that is not exactly a protagonist that we are rooting for. Not to mention the last few episodes make it worse for them to be blinded by rage and revenge. Of course if we are looking from their point of view, I can understand their desperation and fight for survival. If they don't give their all and complete their mission, they will simply perish on earth. However, from audience point of view, they are not exactly heroes that I want to root for.

I think it is quite sad that Tekkadan does not realise that they are simply a pawn being played by bigger parties with their own business or political interests. That is an apt reflection of what is happening in the world today: there are people, especially in conflict regions, who are doing their best to survive and thinking that they are fighting for the good without realising that they are just being used by other people to enrich themselves.

So yeah.. another disappointing Gundam series and I think that this is worse than Gundam 00 which I already dislike. Well at least I am able to remember the name of the 4 pilots from Gundam 00. Lol. It will be interesting to see how season 2 goes but honestly, I doubt it will be good.

Dream on~~

Dream high... Aim for the stars.. Those are what people say. But the higher I dream, the more painful reality becomes. My friend informed me about $7m toto on Monday and despite knowing the impossibility of striking it, I told him to help me buy $10. After all, the possibility is only zero when you don't try at all. To console myself from the harsh reality, I was already dreaming of getting a condo, giving $500k to my friend who helped me buy, donating $1m to Daughters of Sts Paul who is searching for a new compound as announced during mass on Sunday, quitting my job and enjoying life simply from the bank interest from the remaining money. Obviously none of this happens.

I broke my promise by getting a limited Wing Gundam Zero Custom with pearl coating at the currently ongoing Gunpla expo at Takashimaya. My friend wanted 2 Beargguy III ver Double Happiness and I decided to buy 2 as well in the hope of selling it for higher price in the future. As the total exceeded $200, I got one chance of lucky draw. I had to spin this tin container until one ball dropped out and I would win something if I got a golden ball. I had 3 balls dropped but the golden ball was the second and hence I did not win. Aaargh.. It was soooo damn close.. I did not ask what the lucky draw prize was to prevent myself from disappointment and I am glad I did not.

I wanted to buy AAA concert ticket. According to the email I received, the sale would begin on 8 June at 1000. I logged in at 1008 and it was already sold out. What sorcery is this!! This is supposed only for their global fanclub members. I don't believe that there are that many to sell out all the tickets in less than 10 minutes!! I was still hopeful that perhaps the system was up but it was not the time to book yet. So I checked again in the evening and after reading the announcement carefully, the timing is actually 1000 CST. Google says that it will be 9 June 0000 GMT+8 and I waited past midnight to still get the same message that quota has been exceeded. Sigh.. I sent an email and I received a reply that the ticket is already sold out indeed. I did not even bother to ask how can the ticket be sold out at 1008 GMT+8 when the announcement said that sale began at 1000 CST.

My online shopping this week has been terrible too. I was so happy last week when I won an auction for all 38 chess pieces of Clamp no Kiseki for 2700 JPY. When the final invoice, I was shocked to see a domestic shipping charge of 1500 JPY. How can domestic shipping be as much as the international shipping from Japan to Singapore? Haiz.. In total, I spent 7000 over JPY for that only to realise an auction that ended at 7000 JPY for all 38 chess pieces + 12 books + box to place all the books + chess mat + and the display box of the 38 chess pieces. Damn damn damn!! It has domestic shipping and if I get this, I suppose I will pay 10000 JPY at the very most. That is only 3000 JPY more for all the additional things T_T I also realised Eijun Sawamura figurine that I bought during 40% off is not on 50% off.

Seriously.. what's wrong with me this week :'(

Young & Fabulous

With all the hype and promotional activities for this movie, I am pretty excited and looking forward to the movie. The trailer and the teasers look promising and potentially be a huge coming-of-age hit like Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid" and "I Not Stupid Too". Since this is a Singapore movie, the Singaporean words I will use to describe this movie is: a messed up rojak. The movie tries to incorporate too many things/issues/aspects which eventually become too messy and hastily wrapped up to fit into less than 2 hours of screen time.

Firstly we have the issue of bad parenting. Mrs Chio is an example of how parents with high expectations can drive their kids nuts and how parents should not demoralise their kids by calling them 'dumb', 'stupid', 'idiot' etc. The intention is good and everyone agrees with the points. But in the movie, when Mrs Chio repeatedly calls Jordan 'dumb', I thought it is done in a playful and joking manner instead of in a scolding or demeaning manner. Violet has a different issue with parents who have all the money in the world but not time for her and this gap is miraculously settled without any explanation with the time jump to 8 years later.

Then we have the issue of how social media affects our daily lives which I think is very relevant. We have teenagers' obsession with getting 'likes' on their social media by constantly sharing (sometimes inappropriate) things and even how parents wants to stalk their children's social media life. These issues are presented for comedy purpose and that's it.

Various types of teenage angst-issues are also presented: the nerdy boy (Royston), the pretty girl (Violet), the 'troublemaker' (Hao Ren), the bitchy classmates, etc. Sadly, the development from being 3 classmates to 1 clique is just too forced. They bond over cosplay (which I will talk about below) and suddenly everyone changes for the better: Royston is no longer socially awkward, Violet becomes less princess-y, and Hao Ren suddenly becomes a responsible young man. But their bitchy classmates remain bitchy. All does not make sense at all!!

Now comes the biggest issue with whole movie: cosplay. Despite being promoted as the first movie related to cosplay, it seems that the producer has no idea about cosplay to begin with. I am into manga, anime, and J-Pop but I am not into cosplay. What I am trying to say is cosplay is actually a niche subculture on its own. You need dedication to make your costumes and props and you need to have the confidence to 'be' the character that you are cosplaying as. It is not a HOBBY (like manga, anime, or J-pop music) that you can do as and when you are free or you feel like doing. With this is mind, it is impossible for someone to suddenly be into cosplay just to get more 'likes' on Instagram. Cosplay subculture is niche and has even less fans than the typical manga and anime fans (in fact, some anime and manga fans may actually hate cosplay) so cosplay is definitely not something you think of if you want to boost your popularity. There is hardly any scene showing the 3 main characters making their costumes which is the essence of cosplaying to begin with. The focus seems to be more on the acting part for cosplay competitions. Please visit an anime convention or something and you can tell how many people are into cosplay competitions vs people who are simply happy cosplaying. Lastly, if you really need the $1000, there are a lot of quicker ways than trying to win a cosplay competition. Seriously...

Despite all the negativities I mention above, the movie is still very funny, thanks to Henry Thia who plays Hao Lian (Hao Ren's father). Everything that he says is damn funny and although a lot of the jokes come from Singlish, Henry Thia is seriously funny and he does not need to overact to make audience laugh. Other attempts of being funny from other actors feel forced and unnatural.

Overall, I still think that the movie is quite rubbish. It feels so lazily made with no originality. They simply throw in elements which are proven effective from other movies such as currently relevant life issues and sure-funny jokes revolving around Singlish, cross-dressing, and sexual innuendos. I have to admit that the joke about the sausages and eggs is hilarious though.

Concerts

I used my off day yesterday to watch X-men Apocalypse again at the Platinum Suites with my last free ticket and half a day was gone just like that. It makes me feel old that I treasure time over money now. Sigh.. With that, I hope no one will give me free Cathay Platinum Movie tickets anymore. My first experience there 2 weeks ago was not very stellar and yesterday was such a turn off: the combo which is marked as 'must have' was not available (and I was watching the first show of the day!) and there were ticket stubs on the floor next to my seat (so much for the housekeeping and maintenance!). Two thumbs down!!

The first time I came across AAA was last year and it was a few months after their concert in Singapore. I thought it was such a waste that I only knew them after their concert. Otherwise I would watch their concert. Guess what: this September they are coming back!! And now it is my turn to be in a dilemma whether to watch. I have never been to any music concert before and the thought of having to jostle and jump around with the sweaty crowd is such a turn off. I am also very self-conscious as I am not very young anymore and I will be going alone T_T

The concert will be at SCAPE which means it is going to be a standing concert. Haiz.. I prefer a less rowdy and a sitting down concert to enjoy. The tickets are not cheap at $130 or $100. In comparison, I watched Wicked at MBS for only $58 (although the seat location was bad) and I watched Naruto Live Spectacle for $138 at RWS. Both were sitting down and at a more 'atas' location. The other thing which is bothering me is their Member Limited Fan Club Event which will cost $80. Is this a concert with a member-only ticket price? Or is it a completely different event altogether? Maybe I will end up YOLO-in and buying both..

Earlier I came across an advertisement for Tommy Page's concert in Jakarta when I was reading some Indonesian news website. It will be held next week at one hotel which is just near my home!! I can even walk to reach there. The price is also very cheap! The gold ticket is about $55 and that is already the seating one. VIP ticket is about $150. Compare about the pricing for the concerts here in Singapore, that kind of pricing will only get me a lousy category. So sad that I only know about this this late. I am not a big fan of him but I have his Greatest Hits album in a cassette. As a 90's pop singer, his songs sound quite similar to one another so some people may think they are boring. I think otherwise as his songs are typical easy listening 90's songs so the fact that the songs sound similar means that she songs sound similarly good.

The first song that introduced me to Tommy Page

I just spent $189 2 weeks ago for Kingdom Hearts Orchestra - World Tour at Esplanade. The concert will be next year May. Lol. Yes that's is very early. The sale started at 12pm and I bought it in the evening and surprisingly, quite a lot of seats were already sold. I bought a category 2 seat and the one I got was about 5 rows behind the last row of the category 1 section. I guess it was not too bad as compared to paying $255 for the category 1 section. A lot of the middle seats were already taken and my seat was like the 12th from the centre but it was still quite far from the aisle too. I am not too into Kingdom Hearts actually. I don't even know any of their song. Lol. Since I cannot get any Final Fantasy, because there is no Final Fantasy concert planned here, Kingdom Hearts is a replacement to experience a game-themed orchestra.

------

Now I understand how people can just snap and become crazy. I am feeling okay physically but drained mentally. It is very miserable to feel like this day in and day out. So many repressed negativities and I am not sure I am going mad because of my attempt to repress them or I am already at my limit and all hell will break loose soon.

I never say I like my job. It is bearable and the reason I survive this long is because of the people. But people come and go.. and when the good ones have left, I am left with nothing to keep me going. I have no positive reinforcements to keep me going and everyday I keep repeating the same negative reinforcements: work is unfair, I am overworked but under appreciated, why is it me who get arrowed again, etc. I am so sick of everything! I can't multitask and I can't stand having outstanding jobs so I try to clear as soon as possible. People think I am free and I am very efficient and continuously giving me more things to do / vet / review. What's the point??

If I do not believe in God, perhaps I already end my life right now. I really wonder what His purpose is for me in this world. I see no place for me in this world and I see nothing I can contribute to this world as a human. I am pretty happy and satisfied with my life experience so far and I am okay to die now. I mean I am not looking forward to a lot of money to go around the world, I am not looking forward to find a wife and start a family, I am not looking forward to growing old and dealing with health problems. Sigh.. am I mad? Perhaps the other way to look at it is that God has been very kind to me to give me everything that makes me able to feel that I have accomplished enough with my earthly life.

It looks like that on top of patience and humility and strength to go through everyday, I have to start praying for a purpose in life :(

Matsuri fail

Super Japan Matsuri is going on this weekend at the Esplanade. I saw the advertisement for a few weeks on facebook and the event is actually generating a lot of hype. It made my Friday before public holiday much more exciting because I could not stop thinking of authentic Japanese food (especially Takoyaki!) that I might enjoy. I went there immediately after work and reached there at about 6pm. I spent less than 10 minutes before deciding to go home. Yup, this is the shittiest event ever and it is generating a lot of disappointment.

There is no festival atmosphere at all! The area is so small and there are only about 10+ stalls in total. People are queueing although we are not even able to see what they are queueing for. There is no label on the stall. With Singapore hot and humid weather, with that many people coming in, pretty sure there are a lot of disappointed and angry people.

As I was walking back, I saw my aunt!! Haha.. Her whole family was also coming for this. I told them I just returned because it was so bullshit. She asked me to follow them look see and in less than 5 minutes she said "Let's go to Liang Court!". Haha.. So yeah we got our Japanese food there instead.

We went to Meidi-Ya only after dinner and there were a few stall selling traditional Japanese food!! I was too full to buy some more. Haha.. I will go back tomorrow... Seeing rice-stuffed squid reminds me of my last meal in Japan when I was already so full but decided to force myself to eat those unique Japanese food. I see a lot of interesting Kettle's potato chips as well! 

X-men: Apocalypse

I was hyped for this (although not as hyped as for Civil War) but I expected to be disappointed with the mixed reviews that I read this morning. The reviews are quite divided with some people find it very good while others find it very bad. I am not suprised now because after watching, there are certain things which are very good and some things which are rubbish.

As usual, lets start with the negative first so that we can end in a positive note. The story is rubbish crap shit. The movie started a few years BC when Apocalypse was sabotaged by a few of his followers who managed to bury him during his soul shifting ceremony. From here we get an idea that Apocalypse's power and immortality come from shifting his soul to a younger body and in the process gain the power possessed by the younger body.

Then we move on to the 'present' which is the 1980s for the movie to catch up with the X-men after the Days of Future Past event as well as the new younger X-men that we love -in the comics and earlier X-men trilogy but not for in this movie. Except for Magneto, there is nothing new and exciting about the rest. We see Apocalypse's revival and despite calling whatever honorifics he awards to himself, this so called 'god' is awakened by 'accident' when Moira MacTaggert forces her way in to Apocalypse's collapsed pyramid and causes sunlight to shine on the pyramid. That's really dumb! Apocalypse then recruits his 4 horsemen who, except for Magneto, absolutely has no reason to follow him to destroy this world. Anyway if Apocalypse is so powerful that he can make other mutants reach their potential and become stronger, why can't he do that to himself? Hmm...

Professor X uses Cerebro to find Magneto's whereabouts and that's how Apocalypse decides he wants Professor X's body to gain his ability to mind control everyone on earth at the same time. Apocalypse kidnaps Professor X and Havok is killed at this point. I think Havok is killed needlessly just to make Cyclops has a reason to fight as an X-men eventually. Not to mention that having 2 beam shooting guys can be quite boring in the final fight. The X-men fights to rescue Professor X. Seeing Mystique is defeated and almost killed, Magneto changes his mind to go against Apocalypse. Storm also betrays Apocalypse although it is not clear why. However, it is Jean Grey who unleashes her Phoenix power who is eventually able to destroy Apocalypse. So much for showing the power of everyone else when in the end they just use Phoenix to tie things up.

If I overlook the story aspect, the movie is quite enjoyable with all the fights and CGI effects. The mind fight when Apocalypse tries to take over Professor X's brain is depicted with a fist fight between the two. That is a creative approach and much better than closing up on their face and see them groan and scream in agony. Lol. But overall the fights are quite brainless because the story is so poor. I have no idea what Magneto is actually doing when he flies and all the CGI with black things around start to swirl around him. But with the lack of physical fights, all the CGI effects get boring for a 2.5-hours movie. Many parts look so unreal and fake as well especially when Psylocke fights with her purple sword and whip. In addition, all the good parts have actually been shown in the trailer so there is nothing exciting new things to discover here. 

The conversation between the characters are quite hilarious as well (which somehow reminds me of the first Avengers movie). Quicksilver is used as comic relief again but when the same strategy is used twice in this movie, I think they just run out of things. Well, I still laugh at those slow-mo scenes though. But he is not just for comic relief purpose as he tells Mystique that he is Magneto's son (but he does not dare to tell papa!).

Surprisingly, the 'bad' guys i.e Magneto and Mystique are the ones who carry heavier roles here. Magneto tries to repent and be a good guy after the Days of Future Past. When this goes unappreciated by his neighbour and his family gets murdered accidentally, he has enough and decides that no matter what he does, humans will never accept mutants. Mystique is considered a hero and role model by many of the younger mutants after what she did in the Days of Future Past but that does not change her. She still sees mutants being hated and the only reason for her to go against Apocalypse is simply to save her friend Magneto. Unfortunately Mystique does not get a lot of fighting and she only TALKS to Magneto to convince him that he is not alone. Bleah.. 

There is a Wolverine cameo at the Weapon X facility and I was excited "Let it be Wolverine.. let it be Wolverine" when Jean says she detects something (not sure an animal or human) locked in the research facility. And yeah it's the Wolverine!! During Wolverine's screen out, Jean tries to telepathically reminds me of whatever memory he has as a human and while doing this, I was like "Is he going to stab him like X-men 3?". Nope he isn't :p

So as what Jean Grey says after the young X-men are debating after they watch the Star Wars Return of the Jedi, "At least we can all agree the third one is always the worst". Not sure if she is only poking fun at X-men 3: The Last Stand or also at this current movie which is also the 3rd and worst after the X-men reboot.

Final Fantasy Coca Cola (+ Prince of Tennis and Sora Kingdom Hearts) collection

It has been a long time since the last post on my vintage toys collection and suddenly this morning I remembered that I had taken pictures of Final Fantasy Coca Cola collection last year but I have yet to put it here. That is the reason for this post now. Haha.. Although I took the pictures last year, I actually bought the item sometime in end 2013. Lol. Yes it was *that* long ago.

These figures were released circa 1999-2001 exclusively in Japan when you bought Coca Cola back then. Given the circumstances, I do not expect much from the quality. I bought these as a complete set at Yahoo! Action Japan and the total damage was just shy of $150 including proxy and shipping fee. Not exactly cheap but the value comes more from nostalgia and sentimental feelings. The figures were released as 3 volumes and the details are nicely documented here. I decided to skip the 'red crystal' version because it is quite difficult to make out the features in this version. There is also special box version (only containing FF VII-IX figures) that comes with display stand, VHS, and T-shirts. The base of the figures is yellow as compared to red for the version obtained from buying the Coca Cola.

First time I am very happy with display boxes and find them helpful

Pardon the poor focusing, especially for the back row

Intruders at the last row from Prince of Tennis and Sora of Kingdom Hearts

In the last picture, there is a blue crystal Squall. I have no idea where it comes from but definitely it does not belong to this Coca Cola collection. That's why it also does not come with the red base. It was included in the whole lot, together with Sora, so that is how it ends up here. Haha.. The 5 Prince of Tennis figurines are also part of collaboration with Coca Cola. The information on them is almost non-existent and I am not sure if only these 5 were ever produced.

Individually, the figures look pretty awful. But when displayed as a set in a nice display box, the look pretty impressive for a collection right? Haha... And just to think that these are almost 20 years old... wow...

Platinum Movie Suites (Captain America: Civil War)

The jealousy bug hits me again this week for no reason. I am jealous with my friends who are already married. I am jealous with my friends who seem to be travelling very frequently. I am jealous with my friends who recently moved in to their newly bought condo, not to mention that the location is pretty good which means the price should be quite fantastic too.

At work, I have been holding grudges in the sense that I always kena the things that involved me doing more shit but I never kena the good or rewarding things. A few years back when I was still very innocent and enthusiastic, I could not wait to be a preceptor. Now I have been arrowed but I don't feel as joyful as I expected. Firstly, I already feel like quitting. I have already checked and got the answer that my service period is 1 year from the date mentioned in the certificate. Yep I am looking forward to 2 August. If I really can find something else, I can throw letter on the 3rd and I am free from 3rd September onwards. Yiipppeee!!! Secondly, why do I kena while the others who got this award and that award (including best junior preceptor award last year) never get? They are better than me after all right? Jeez..

Today is my cousin's church wedding and I was excited since a few days ago. I don't know why I am so excited even though it is not my wedding. I had to skip the lunch reception after the holy matrimony as I wanted to rush to use my free Cathay Platinum Movie Suites ticket to watch Captain America: Civil War. It is my first time watching at Cathay Platinum Movie Suites and I have been looking forward to it. Sadly, it does not meet my expectation which has been set by GV's Gold Class. The promised 'luxurious cinematic destination' falls short because the food options are the usual movie junk snacks!! Who in the right mind will serve popcorns, nachos, hot dogs, etc for such an 'atas' movie experience. They do have some wines and I bet it is a nice mix with the food I mentioned. Gold Class serves food at a restaurant level, both in price and quality, and I don't mind coming back to have a nice meal together with a movie. Platinum Movie Suites does not have that pulling factor from the food perspective and I will never ever pay that much for a movie just to enjoy a more private or quieter movie watching experience.

Ironically, Platinum Movie Suites has bigger table to put more food despite their rubbish food offering. I am not so fussy with the comfort of the seats so I am ambivalent between GV's sofa vs Cathay's leather seats. One aspect which I think Platinum Movie Suites does better than Gold Class is in terms of the privacy. The slope of the hall is nice enough to allow each pair of seats to have a 'wall' surrounding them. Basically we cannot see what the people above and below us are doing. Gold Class has a more 'open' concept. In case you are wondering, I always watch movie alone so I don't need privacy for some hanky panky purpose. Lol. I just don't want others see how greedy I am with my food and I don't want others to feel disturbed should I decide to turn on the table light. Anyway, I still have another free ticket which I will use for X-men Apocalypse. Perhaps one good thing is that Cathay is not so anal about the free tickets. Unlike GV, there is no restriction to wait for 2-3 weeks later to use when the movie no longer has the 'no fee ticket' status.

On the way home, I decided to try my luck at Antoinette and this time luck was at my side and I was able to get the salted egg yolk croissant. I also bought matcha croissant and cheese tarts. The cheese tarts were great although the crust is a bit too thick. It is not cheesy enough for me and I find the taste being overpowered by the crust. However I like the consistency: it is fluid enough for me to lick the cheese part but it is not runny (when I bite, everything remains intact). The croissants are the reverse: the filling is too runny while the croissant is too soft and too thin to contain the filling. The taste? Heavenly!! I don't like sweet stuff so I like the taste of the matcha filling which is very close to drinking one. The salted egg yolk filling is the first one that reminds me of salted egg yolk instead of a custard. This version is worth being the originator of the salted egg fad in Singapore and all the hype surrounding it. Haha.. I better nurse my face and prepare for a break out tonight. Lol.