Singapore

ahh.. i'm back, the familiar sounds of singlish floating in the air. hehehe. did some housework in the morning, visited a friend for lunch, fell asleep 3:30pm. lol. i'd been working to sleep earlier before i flew over and it kinda shows -- 3:30pm = 12:30am in LA. i woke up 10pm+ to the sounds of MSN since i didn't turn my computer off before i zonked out.

anyway it's good to be back even if it's just for a few months. the plane trip was alright, watched only 2 movies this time, Chariots of Fire which i thought was great (winner of 4 oscars including best picture), but then i'm a bit biased since i hold Eric Liddell as a role model. the other was Stormriders which was disappointing.. and long. very long. as i'd guessed while watching, (i just checked) it's based on a comic and while yes, remaining faithful to the source is important, the plot meandered. yes. meandered. when the introductory scenes take up a significant chunk (felt like 15 or more min), i had a bad feeling. they should have either split it into two or more films or throw out some of the subplots. i think the only part i really liked was the opening scene with the swords all over the place, it has a very dark / punk feel. very cool. reminds of FFX though this movie is much older.

oh wait. there was a third. and that was irritating too. Beowolf. bah! turns out it's CG although very photo-realistic. that's not the low point though. it meanders as well. like it can't quite decide whether it's a drama or an action monster-killing flick. and i'm slightly irritated that Angelina Jolie gets protrayed as the seductive demon. her image in that respect is rather over-used in my opinion.

the TV shows i watched were cool though, the coolest being "Dragons Den" which is a panel of 5 top British venture capitalists and people go to them, making a pitch to raise funds for their company in exchange for equity. i find it really fascinating and educational. a must-see. :D

well, if you like that stuff. haha. the other was "Ad Factors: The Creatives", on the advertising process when working with an external firm. i knew advertising was important but until the numbers show up.. ack. can't find a source to confirm my fuzzy memory but if memory serves, the successful campaign for a middling soda manufacturer brought its sales from around 1m to 100m+. or was it 10m+? argh! whatever the case, big numbers. hehe. =D

and the last show was about Cadbury breaking into Wrigley's grip on the gum market in Britain. the interesting part was the approach, Cadbury going for the "new" experience which is to be expected, while Wrigley's went for more of the old stuff which also is to be expected but which i also feel to not be a very smart ploy. i think they should have gone for a double-pronged counter-attack, i.e. more of the old to retain the existing base, and new stuff to grab more of the expanding market or at the very least, muddle up Cadbury's advertising blitz. but ah well. i'm no expert. at the latest, Cadbury's been busy carving out market share from Wrigley's but there're plenty of factors at work, not least the fact that Cadbury has deep enough pockets to keep up a sustained campaign.

it was a long post so i'll condense it: plane trip long, watched a few things, Chariots of Fire good, Storm Riders bad, Dragon's Den must be watched. =D