Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 4)

Round 30 vs Adele Tan(Malaysia)
Had a rematch with Adele and lost as she bingoed with NONAGES(71) while I had no bingos.

Round 31 vs Marcus Loke(Malaysia)
Had a rematch with Marcus and lost as he bingoed with GRUNTER(74) and CENTRIES(85) while I had no bingos.

Round 32 vs Sunny Wright(Australia)
Won easily against this elderly lady from Australia as I had TOADIES(67) and FINERIES(62) against her SPOILER(62).

Round 33 vs Caroline Scowcroft(Australia)
Won easily against this lady from Australia as I had OUTSIDE(72) and FITNESS(77) while she had no bingos.

Round 34 vs Moses Oguwa(Nigeria)
Had a rematch with Moses and won with my SIERRAN(71) and RELINED(77). Would not have been able to play RELINED if he did not open up with RECT* for me to front hook with an E.

Round 35 vs Nicky Huitson(UK)
Lost to this lady from UK as she scored with DOATING(80) and MARINAS(66) against my STEERER(70) and RAVINES(84). Thought I could out with AULE* but it was challenged off.

Round 36 vs Carolyn Watt(Australia)
Won this lady from Australia as I scored with MILEAGE(72) against her ROSETTE(73). I think she gave the game away as she tried to bingo three times with phoneys, PANICED*, CONEISH* and COCHINE* and they were challenged off.

Round 37 vs Steven Surya(Indonesia)
Lost to this young man from Indonesia as he scored with BETTING(75) and MUTINGS*(76) against my RETINAE(69). Should have challenged both MUTINGS* and DES* when he played the bingo back hooking the S to an existing DE. I challenged off his FUADS* and KOURAN* though.

Round 38 vs Rex D'Souza(India)
Lost to this middle aged man from India as he had OARIEST(63) and ENTRIES(68) against my SNORTIER(67) and LEGATORS(60). Missed a turn when my TREASION* was challenged off as I thought that it was good.

Round 39 vs Martin Waterworth(Australia)
Had a rematch with Martin and won as I scored with DIALERS(66) against his POUNCES(67).

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 3)

Round 20 vs Nidhi Singhvi(India)
Won this young lady from India with my SHAFTED(91), NAILERS(79) and SOAPIER(69) against her ERASIONS(64) and ENTERED(62).

Round 21 vs Betty Eriksen(New Zealand)
Won this lady from New Zealand with my DETOURS(69) and BANDITS(68). Saw the bingo with a AEGILOS rack towards the end but I thought it was unplayable as I kept thinking there was only the A front-hook to an existing REW on the board.

Round 22 vs Colleen Walker(Australia)
Won this lady from Australia with my ETAERIOS(74) and ERINITE(73) against her SCOUTER(87) and SLANTED(72).

Round 23 vs Pasit Teeka(Thailand)
Lost to this small boy from Thailand as he scored well with DILATES(72) and QUITE(78) while I had nothing.

Round 24 vs Marcus Loke(Malaysia)
This must be my worst game ever in this competition. Lost to this intensely competitive teenager from Malaysia as he scored with CORNEAL(75), COMPRISE(92) and METTLED(76). I had a EENOSTV rack towards the end and tried LOVENEST* with a floating L on the board but unfortunately it was challenged off.

Round 25 vs Maureen See(Australia)
Lost to this lady from Australia as she scored with SPIRULA(77), ANODISE(73) and CARTAGE(91) against my STAINED(73). I could have opened with a bingo if I have played REFLUENT instead of FLUENTER* which was challenged off.

Round 26 vs Zeenath Ariff(Malaysia)
Won this lady from Malaysia as I scored with TEDIEST(93) and REGARDED(72) against her SINUATE(68). I also scored well with DIFF(40) and challenged off her BINED*.

Round 27 vs Jean Noonan(Australia)
Had a bye for this game to win 175 to 100.

Round 28 vs Adele Tan(Malaysia)
Lost to the president of the Malaysian Scrabble Association as she scored with LINAGES(66) against my PROBERS(78). My REGATED* was also challenged off.

Round 29 vs Jessie Lim(Singapore)
I was trailing behind this Singaporean Masters player until I finally found a bingo with SINUATES(66) and scored well with XI(52) using her UNCI on the board to win.

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 2)

Round 10 vs Asad Raza Merchant(Pakistan)
Managed to win this young boy from Pakistan by scoring consistently against his two bingos ATEBrIN(72) and STRIVEN(73).

Round 11 vs Hanne Marks(Australia)
Lost to this elderly lady from Australia who played TREAGUES(73) against my VECTORED(83). Each of us phonied once. I played TEP* while she played ARGUTES*.

Round 12 vs Hema Abeyasinghe(Malaysia)
My luckiest game in this tournament was against this young lady from Malaysia. I had five bingos INEARTH(77), REALISE(79), ATONERS(78), LEOTArD(90) and WHEELED(81) while she had GLOSSIER(82). I missed her PAG* phoney while she challenged off my AlLOTED*.

Round 13 vs Anocha Sirithongchai(Thailand)
Played against this pretty Thai girl last year and I remembered we had a really close match. It was a really close match this time round too. I had RAINIEST(77) while she had DoUBTER(94) and TENSION(67). Eked out a win because I managed to out first and because she phonied twice with ReDEBUT* and TONNIES*.

Round 14 vs Sunny Wright(Australia)
Won this elderly lady from Australia with my PAsTRIES(80). I also got away with PRUNY*(20).

Round 15 vs Jenny Coetzee(Australia)
Won this elderly lady from Australia with my ANISOLE(76) and RELATES(68) against her DISHIER(84).

Round 16 vs Hamza Sheik(Pakistan)
Won this young boy from Pakistan with my INBOXES*(106) and JUTE(43) against his RAILERS(72). His URA* phoney was also challenged off.

Round 17 vs Lim Sha Lyn(Malaysia)
Lost to this young lady from Malaysia as she bingoed twice with EARLOBE(72) and SEATING(75). Her RUDY* was challenged off though.

Round 18 vs Moses Oguwa(Nigeria)
Played with Moses the second time and lost as he scored consistently while I bingoed twice with CAJOLED(73) and REMAINED(62). My UVE* phoney was also challenged off.

Round 19 vs Syed Taha ul Huda(Pakistan)
Won this young boy from Pakistan with my DUELERS(70), ENTASIA(68) and TRIBALS(101) against his INQUeRE(93). He should probably have played ENQUIRy instead of INQUeRE as INQUeRE was just next to the TWS lane which enabled me to score well with TRIBALS back hooking the S.

Causeway Cup 2011 (Day 1)

This is the tenth and last Causeway Cup. The Open section had the same number of players like last year but the format has changed to king of the hill with no repeats.

Round 1 vs Aubrey Millet(India)
My first opponent was a middle aged man who was a professor from India. Missed a chance to move ahead when my SENATERS* played with a AEENRTS rack and a floating S in the bottom center to hit the TWS cell was challenged off. Later, he scored well with MAVINS for 50 points and we had one bingo each. He had REAPING(78) and I had ORIENTS(73). Lost by more than 100 points in the end.

Round 2 vs Tashwindran(Malaysia)
Tashwindran was a small boy who was a beginner. Won easily as I challenged off two of my opponent's phoneys and played two bingos, NEGATION(71) and ATRESIA(68).

Round 3 vs Moses Owugah(Nigeria)
My third opponent was an young man from Nigeria. Lost by slightly more than 50 points as I had REGAINED(59) while he had STONING(67) and SLENDER(70).

Round 4 vs Martin Waterworth(Australia)
Martin was a bespectacled man with a beard whom I played a few months ago at a Scrabble event in Singapore. I had ETESIAN(71) and LATRINES(59) while he had UPFOLDS(85) and AdVIsED(74). Got away with UNCAN* and scored well with ZEA(32) but he also scored with EXIT(33) and JEAT(38) to lose by about 100 points.

Round 5 vs Gary Pollard(Australia)
Gary was a casually dressed Australian and had a beard similar to the one from Nigel. Lost by over 100 points as my opponent had KEEPERS(72), OVERAGE(92) and MEANIES(65) while I only had VANTAGE(82).

Round 6 vs Mary Morgan(Ireland)
My first female opponent was an elderly lady from Ireland. I had RULIEST(72) and scored well with QUINS(66) to take the game.

Round 7 vs Umair Khalidi(Pakistan)
Umair was a young boy from Pakistan. Won easily with my ENDEARS(71) and ENGRAVED(67) against his RELISTS(66).

Round 8 vs Tsholofelo Modise(South Africa)
My second female opponent was a girl from South Africa. Had SEERING(81) and ATELIeR(74) to win pretty easily. Should probably have played IRATELy instead of ATELIeR as she was able to score well with SHE(30) subsequently with the H on the triple letter cell.

Round 9 vs Maureen See(Australia)
My third female opponent was a woman from Australia whom I played before at last year's Causeway Challenge. Lost as I did not have any bingos while she had DANCIER(76).

You are the Apple of My Eye

The story is based on a autobiographical novel written by Taiwanese author, Giddens Ko, about his youthful days spent with a group of friends and a pretty girl in class.

Liked the interesting plot and the actress who played Shen Jiayi! Not sure if the male nudity scenes were really necessary and felt the film dragged a little bit towards the end though.

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Best of Stuggart Animation Festival - International

Liked "The Cow Who Wanted To Be a Hamburger", "Changeling" and "Monstre Sacre" the best for their interesting storyline!

"Tatamp" was a nice musical animation experiment. "The Lost Thing", "Nullarbor", "The Boy Who Wanted To Be a Lion", "The Box" and "Preferably Blue" were also not bad. Didn't really like "The External World" as it was too pessimistic.

Best of Stuttgart Animation Festival - Baden Watenburgh

Liked the "Princess' Painting", "Tom & Die Ameisen" and "The Visit" the best as they were pretty straightforward and easy to understand.

"On the Way Back Home" was imaginative and "Loom" was beautifully drawn! The rest of the films "Sunday 2", "Ravenboy", "Es Geht Um Alles", "Halbschatten", "Orpheus' Pony", "Kopfsache" and "Meinungsmeer" were too abstract in my opinion.

Among the trailers, I liked the last one with the tatoo characters the best!

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

The story is about how Professor Layton solved a mystery that stemmed from an ancient legend together with his assistants.

Liked the interesting puzzles that the team had to solve! Great action sequences too!

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The Straits of Love and Hate

The story is an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel, "Resurrection". A girl's life is ruined by a rich guy but he only realised his mistake years later and wanted to make amends.

Liked how the director managed to distil the essence of the long novel by discarding the legal, political and religious aspects! The scene where the guy first begged for forgiveness in his room was particularly well crafted in my opinion!

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Amour Legende

The story is about a couple from Taiwan travelling around a foreign island with Spanish speaking inhabitants. The guy has forgotten about the past and relies on his partner to guide him along.

Liked the interesting flashbacks but was confused about many other parts of the film!

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Bedevilled

The story is about the reunion of two childhood friends when one of them took a long break from work and returned back from Seoul to her home town on an island.

Watched "Io Island" by Kim Ki Young prior to this, so I was prepared for the strange behaviour of the people living on the island! Liked how the director let the audience slowly piece together what happened in the past themselves.

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Hahaha

The story is about two friends chatting about their encounters in the city.

Liked the interesting plot and how everything came together so nicely! The various girlfriends looked quite pretty too!

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My Perestroika

This is a documentary about a handful of middle-aged Russians explaining the impact of Perestroika on their lives.

Liked the old black and white footages of the children! Thought the girls looked quite cute with the gigantic ribbons on their head! The songs were nice too!

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Images of Singapore from French Television 1964-1973

This consisted of several French short documentaries on Singapore shortly after becoming part of Malaysia.

Liked the footages of old Chinatown and depiction of what people liked to do during that era such as watching Chinese Opera in the streets! Didn't know even small children were interested in it back then!

Fear and Trembling

The story is about the working life of a Belgian woman in a Japanese company.

Liked how humor was used to introduce us to Japan's working culture that is highly hierarchical! The reference to "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" was interesting too!

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The Red Lantern

The story is about how a Eurasian girl who was born out of wedlock in China decided to take part in the Boxer Revolution to fight against the foreigners.

Liked the interesting plot and the dramatic acting!

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Impressions of Asia from Early French Cinema 1897-1933

This consisted of several short films about Asia.

Liked the first segment of films with special effects especially the one with the Japanese Acrobats! The street scenes of Singapore in the early 20s was interesting to watch too!

Tatsumi

This is a story based on the life and works of Yoshihiro Tatsumi who is a famous Japanese comic writer.

Liked the interesting study into human psychology in the short stories! Also liked how the film showed the comic writer in person at work towards the end!

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The Silence Before Bach

This is a tribute to the music of Bach where we learn about Bach's life and how modern people play and appreciate his music.

Liked the nice music and the interesting anecdotes! I thought the cello, piano and vocal ensembles were grand and impressive!

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Breakfast Lunch Dinner

This is an omnibus of three stories, each happening during a meal in the day as described in the title.

Liked "Lunch" the best as it had a cute Thai school girl who was funny and smart at the same time! "Breakfast" was not bad too for its simple plot. "Dinner" had many threads going on at the same time which made it hard to understand.

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