Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's New Dinosaur

The story is about how Nobita tried to send his pet dinosaur back to the time where he belonged.

Liked how hard the dinosaur trained to learn how to fly! An exciting adventure!

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Dinosaur

The story is about how a dinosaur raised by lemurs trekked to a sanctuary after a meteorite shower destroyed his home.

Liked the realistic action sequences! Not really sure why the rest of the dinosaurs had to listen to the head dinosaur who just wanted to charge ahead.

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Shoplifters

The story is about a group of outcasts staying together as a family. Some of them shoplift to survive.

Liked the interrogation scene towards the end where we slowly figured out the relationship among the "family members"! I think they act more like a family than real families do!

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Our Little Sister

The story is based on a Japanese manga series called Umimachi Diary. It describes how a young girl came to live with her three older step sisters after her father passed away.

Liked the nice idyllic life at the countryside near the beach! My favorite part would be when the big sister and the little sister climbed up a hill and took turns to shout something towards the sea. I was surprised by what the little sister shouted but it made sense in retrospect.

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Home Alone

The story is about what happened when a little boy was accidentally left at home around Christmas while his family went on a holiday to Paris.

Liked the part where Kevin went to church and realized that his old neighbour was much friendlier than he thought! The rest of the plot was a little bit too unbelievable in my opinion. It will be an advanced challenge for a ten year old kid in an "Old Enough" episode.

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Kung Fu Panda 3

The story is about how a panda called Po helped to save the world from a supernatural villian together with his village of pandas and his kungfu buddies.

Liked the lesson that Po gave on drawing on each person's strengths! I could see how well they all worked together in the group battle scene!

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Winnie the Pooh

The story is about Winnie the Pooh and his friends helping to find Eeyore's tail.

Liked how the director incorporated pages of the book into the film! Very innovative! The message at the end is very uplifting too!

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Pinocchio

The story is about the adventures of a wooden puppet called Pinocchio.

Liked this film much better than the live action feature directed by Robert Zemeckis! Very well adapted to explain Gepetto's relationship with his son before he made Pinocchio and Pinocchio's friendship with his good friend Candlewick. The animation is amazing too!

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Beau Travail

The story is about a seargent in the French Legionnaire looking back at his military life overseas.

Liked the interesting exercises that the soldiers did, they looked like a blend of yoga and ballet poses! Not really sure what the sergeant was unhappy about though.

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Enola Holmes 2

The story is about the sister of Sherlock Holmes called Enola Holmes solving a case of a missing person.

Liked the exciting chase sequences and how observant Enola was in noticing the clues! Not quite convinced about the romance bit though as it seemed too abrupt.

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Turning Red

The story is about a young girl who turns into a red panda when she feels emotional.

Liked the nice family story! Didn't really like the parts relating to the boy band though.

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Pinocchio

The story is based on a children's book and it is about the adventures of a wooden puppet.

Liked the interesting adventures and was inspired to read the original book after that! Preferred the book as it had a lot more twists and turns! The blue fairy also had a much bigger role there.

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Ratatouille

The story is about a rat who loves to cook and helps an aspiring chef to cook delicious dishes in a restaurant.

Liked the friendship between the rat and the aspiring chef! Was also amazed at how well the whole rat clan worked together towards the end!

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Isle Of Dogs

The story is about how an island came to be filled with unwanted dogs.

Liked the nice quirky animation of the boy and the dogs! Also liked the interesting use of multiple languages!

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Soul

The story is about the adventures of a jazz musician when he travelled to the underworld to be reborn again.

Not really a fan of jazz, so couldn't quite appreciate the music. Liked the parts where the little brat was trying to find his niche in life and experiencing what life is all about!

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Inside Out

The story is about the emotions felt by a young girl called Riley after she moved to a new place with her family. We see what is happening around her and inside her head.

Liked the interesting world inside Riley's head and the adventures by Joy and Sadness! Learned that it is good to have a mix of joy and sadness!

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Drifting Home

The story is about a group of school children trapped in a magical "haunted" building that drifts around in the ocean.

Liked how the children worked together to survive! The back story of the mysterious boy and the two main protagonist was a bit hard for me to follow though.

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The Classroom of Youth

The story is about a group of young Korean students during the early sixties.

Liked the contrast between the family dynamics of the couple's family. Was a little bit shocked towards the end by the revelation of the secrets and was really puzzled by the ending but overall I still liked the film.

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Pom Poko

The story is about how a group of Japanese raccoon dogs fought over human to keep their land from being developed into a residential area.

Liked the interesting transformation skills of the Japanese raccoon dogs! Was quite surprised by the twist towards the end with the foxes!

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Belle

This is a modern remake of the Beauty and the Beast story set in the metaverse.

Liked the nice songs in the film! I preferred the real life part than the metaverse part of the story.

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CSC Online Scrabble Competition 2022

The CSC Online Scrabble Competition is an annual event for organisations in the civil service to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held online on 21st May 2022 from 9.30am to 5.00pm. A total of 20 people from 6 organisations took part including one from MINDEF.

Here's my match report.

Game 1: Sharon Chia (HDB)

I had SLEIGHED (63) while she had ATEBRIN (75). Spotted FELTERS but missed finding the place to put it. Scored well with the big scoring tiles such as JIB (28), XU (27) and LUZ (48) to win. Bingos missed on examination: LARIATED, ENCALMED, CARINATE, HOLEYEST, DATURAS, FELTERS, ONDATRAS, ANTBIRDS, RHINITIS, OUTSTRIP and BRIQUETS. BRIQUETS might have turned the game around if she had played it as it would have scored 137 points.

Won 434-324. 1-0 spread +110
Link to game

Game 2: Noormah (PA)

I had BlOTTED (100) while she had pISCINAl (66+5). I challenged HERMA, pISCINAl and AMIRATE unsuccessfully, giving my opponent 15 points but high scores with XI (37) and EQUIp (42) helped me to win. Bingos missed on examination: MARINATE and DURATION.

Won 446-275. 2-0 spread +281
Link to game

Game 3: Toh Wei Bin (HDB)

After winning two games, I had the chance to meet the top seeded player from HDB. I had SITTErS (68) while he had VEINING (78) and FATUITY (80). Challenged his VERD, MUGFUL, WAWE/ABUNA, VEINING and OPEPE unsuccessfully and played phonies such as VERDS* and CORALESS* that were challenged off. Realised that I could have played OARLESS somewhere else instead. I could also have played SOLERAS down the TWS lane when FATUITY was put down but missed it. Bingos missed on examination: LESSORS, OARLESS, SOLERAS, CESTODES and COTTISES.

Lost 259-568. 2-1 spread -28
Link to game

Game 4: Joseph Tan (HDB)

Met another player from HDB. Didn't play too well at the start where I phonied with REGATING*, WADE/JE* and WAIF/FLINK*. Was trailing by about 50 points when I decided to open up the board with GUE hoping to back hook it with some letter. He played SWAN opening up the rightmost TWS lane. I had AAEINER? and thought for a long time to decide if ARANEId or ARANIdE* was valid as I had phonied too many times. I managed to put the correct bingo down and was just able to pip my opponent by 10 points as he went overtime. Bingos missed on examination: PREBOARD, RAZORING, INERTIAE and INTWISTS.

Won 373-363. 3-1 spread -18
Link to game

Game 5: Abdillah (HDB)

Met yet another player from HDB as they sent a total of 9 players. Almost half the field were from HDB! None of us had any bingo for this game and I managed to win by scoring consistently with words like TZAR (42), FY (32), SCENT (40) and NAVE (44). Bingos missed on examination: TZARIST, GILLETS, CENTESIS and TEUCHTER.

Won 409-268. 4-1 spread +123
Link to game

Game 6: Marlon (LTA)

Was lucky to have two bingos early in the game, INDORSE (75) and RATIONS (69) while his ALLEGGRO* was challenged off. Played two phoneys though, HELI* and OWS* which made the score closer than necessary. Was deciding between WOS and OWS* that would play down the TWS lane but decided that OWS* looked more correct. I also chickened out of GUB/BOK as I forgot if GUB was valid and played GUT/TIK instead. Ended up with a small win as Marlon went over time. Bingos missed on examination: FRENUMS, TEAPOYS, ESTRIOL, HELICOID, TOILINET, DEVOTION and KILOBITS.

Won 372-338. 5-1 spread +157
Link to game

Game 7: Toh Wei Bin (HDB)

First KOTH round and I am playing the top seeded player again! I had LENSiNGS (77+5) and he had CENTONEL (62+5), RECOALED (84+5) and TREADER (76). I had two phoneys, BOLLET* and ORADS*/SWIPE and finished with a slightly better losing spread than before. Bingos missed on examination: LOBELETS, REFLUENT and ENNOBLERS.

Lost 324-558. 5-2 spread -77
Link to game

Game 8: Choo Kay Wei (HDB)

Last KOTH round and I must win to get into top 4. Had a pretty easy game as I had two bingos, REFUSEd (84) and UNROOFS (83) while my opponent had none. Thought for a long time to decide between UNROOFS and SUNROOF, but realised much later that both were valid. Bingos missed on examination: FEVEROUS, ELIXIRS, STRIGIL/GIRLIEST, STARLIT, UNSHORN and RELIGHTS.

Won 435-362. 6-2 spread -4
Link to game

I played with players from HDB, LTA and PA and was placed 3rd eventually. This was much better than I had expected and would definitely need to make fewer mistakes if I were to try to improve on this placing next year.

Keep on Walking: The Man and his Higher Course

This is a documentary about a famous Taiwanese director Li Hsing who directed many genres of movies.

Didn't know that the director was also involved in organising the Golden Horse Awards besides directing films! Learned a bit more about the director's personal life and a few more of his classic works through this documentary.

Mama

The story is based on the childhood memories of the director when her mother was about to give birth to another child.

Liked the nice countryside scenery and different sets of people ate together everytime! Not much of a plot but I learned a little bit of how people lived in the countryside then.

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Chinese Shortcuts: Online Shorts

The online shorts consist of three films: "The Poem of Pakistan" is about a Pakistani rediscovering his roots while living in Hong Kong, 念念烟城 is about a teenager going back to his late father's hometown and "賴桑の黑色喜劇" is about an experienced actor showing the newbies how things are done.

Liked the nice poems in "The Poem of Pakistan", the farm full of tomatoes in "念念烟城" and the enthusiasm of the experienced actor in "賴桑の黑色喜劇".

Angela's Christmas Wish

The story is about how Angela tried to get her father home from Australia back to Ireland for Christmas.

Liked how the film placed fathers as the central characters! A nice heartwarming short story to watch with your kids!

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Boyhood

The story is about a boy growing up from a child to a young adult who is just about to enter college.

Quite amazed by how the director spent 12 years making this movie to capture the protagonist growing up! Wonder if he'll make a companion piece called "Girlhood" in the future?

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Hi, Mom

The story is about a girl travelling back in time to meet her mum before she was born and her mum was still single.

Liked the warm mother daughter relationship! Think most parents would want their kids to be healthy and happy like what the mum said! Was pretty impressed by the twist at the end!

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Asakusa Kid

The story is about Japanese director, Takeshi Kitano's relationship with his teacher who taught him how to be a comedian.

Liked how hardworking and talented Kitano is! Was impressed by how he incorporated comedy in his daily life like what his master preached!

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The House

The movie consists of three short segments about the same house but with different characters.

The first segment was the strangest! Can't quite understand what was going on with the house but the baby was really good at climbing up and down! The second segment was the most disgusting with all the bugs! The third segment taught me that sometimes we should learn to let go and start afresh.

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Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

The story is about how a boy who loves making haiku poems became friends with a girl who is a social influencer.

Liked the cosy atmosphere at the day care center! The haiku poems were quite nicely crafted!

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The Farewell

This is based on a real story where a grandma's family who were living overseas came back to China to visit her as she had terminal illness. The grandma didn't know about it and they used a grandson's wedding as an excuse to gather.

Was really surprised that it was based on a real story as I thought it was quite unbelievable! Great acting by the lead actress!

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