Marriage Blue

The story is about four pairs of couples in Korea. Some are newly married while others have known each other for a long time but they each encounter a road block in their way that they have to overcome.

Liked the pretty actresses in the film! Nice scenery at Jeju Island too!

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I Will Buy You

This is the second film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". The story is about how several businesses competed to get a young rising baseball star to sign a contract with them.

Not much baseball action and don't really understand the logic of the politics behind the competition as I thought a closed bid system would solve everything at once.

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The Flower Girl

The story is about how a young girl had to sell flowers to support her family as North Korea was not liberated by the communists yet.

Liked the nice songs and the great acting by the actress!

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Ilo Ilo

The story is about how a family went through the Asian Financial crisis in the late 1990s together with their maid.

Liked how the family remained united despite going through all sorts of difficulties! Great acting by the actors!

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The Thick-Walled Room

This is the first film of the "Masaki Kobayashi Against the System series". The story is about life in a prison camp for Japanese war criminals shortly after the second world war.

Liked the interesting stories of each of the prisoners! The former interpreter, Yokota, reminds me a little of the protagonist in the director's "Human Condition" trilogy.

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Summer with Monika

The story is about how a young couple resigned from their low paying jobs and escaped to an island for a while before returning back to face reality.

Great acting by the actress who played Monika! I also liked the nice black and white cinematography!

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Pieta

The story is about how a mother sought revenge in her own unique way from a loan shark!

Liked how everything tied together nicely in the end!

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Mandala

The story is about how two monks searched for the meaning of life in the countryside and in the city.

Nice cinematography! The film reminds me of the director's 1993 film Sopyonje.

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Preparation for the Festival

The story is about life in a rural countryside with many eccentric characters, focusing on a young man who intends to leave his hometown and go to Tokyo.

Liked the interesting plot and the pretty actresses in the film: the demure choir girl, the submissive gangster's wife and the nymphet who has lost her memory!

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Sisters of Nishijin

The story is about the decline of the kimono making industry in Japan during the early 1950s.

Liked how the family tried hard to keep their dreams alive despite the obstacles in their way!

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Disguise

The story is about Japan's geisha industry in the early 1950s.

Liked the detailed portrayal of the lives of geishas! Reminded me of "Streets of Shame" by Mizoguchi Kenji and "The Geisha House" by Fukasaku Kinji.

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The Ball at the Anjo House

I thought there will be a long queue for the free tickets but was surprised that not many people turned up. As I was early, I had a quick scan of the "Princely Treasures from the House of Liechtenstein" exhibition at the National Museum before the show.

The story is about a rich family becoming poor after the war and had to sell away the house.

Liked how the film portrayed the change in people's behavior when their social status change! Great acting by the ex-chauffeur and the maid!

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Rent a Cat

The story is about how a cat loving person started renting her cats to lonely people around her city.

Liked the nice leisurely pace of the film! The salesgirl at the car renting company looked quite cute with her hair clip!

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Gate of Hell

The story is about how a samurai tried to get the lady of his dreams even though she is married and wrecked the lives of many people in the process.

Liked the interesting plot and the colorful costumes! Great acting by Kyo Machiko!

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PSTAR Scrabble Games 2013

The PSTAR Scrabble games is an annual event for organisations in the civil service to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held at the Civil Service Club (Bukit Batok) on 18th May 2013 from 10am to 5pm. A total of 31 teams took part. MINDEF had one team taking part this year.

Here's my match report.

Game 1: Singapore Sports Council
My first opponent was against Zaid Ismail from SSC. Had quite an easy game as I bingoed twice with MARrIED(82) and SAUNTER(71) while he made phoneys with SKIE* and GA*. Learnt a new word "SCONE" from the table next to me. Thought it could be a phoney until my friend explained to me that it was a common word for a type of cake.

Won 473-182. Our team lost 1-2.

Game 2: Singapore Powers
My second opponent was against Oi Leng from Singapore Powers. She was a pleasant old lady who kept her cool even though she was trailing. Had quite an easy game too as I had three bingos: ROISTED(73), SERAFIN(78) and DERIDEd(75). Learnt a new word "BURR" from her.

Won 503-289. Our team won 2-1.

Game 3: Singapore Sports Council
My third opponent was against Azmi from SSC. SSC had two guys and two girls in their team including a reserve, so I was a bit disappointed that I only got to play the guys in their team. This turned out to be an exciting close game as our scores were neck-in-neck until the final few turns. I was fishing a little bit at first before bingoing with ISATINE(71) but he scored big with ZA(44), SUQ(44) and BENCH(50). I think the turning point came when he tried to score big by hooking the Y of OY to an existing FEET on a triple letter score cell. Luckily FEETY* was a phoney and I challenged it off!

Won 387-364. Our team lost 1-2.

Game 4: Ministry of Social and Family Development
My last opponent was against Goh from MSF. Had a EEILMRT rack on my second turn and I tried MELTIER(70) which turned out to be valid when challenged! My RECURLED* a few turns later got challenged off though! I should have played RECULED or ULCERED instead! Learnt a new word "SKIM" from him.

Won 393-255. Our team won 2-1.

LTA, MOE, HDB and SSC were the top 4 teams. MHA received two consolation prizes for coming in first in both the second and third tier. The MINDEF teams did not win any prizes but we had a really fun time! Hope we could do better next year!

One Tree Three Lives

This is a documentary about a famous writer who has stayed in three different countries in her life: China, Taiwan and the Untied States.

Liked the screening of the old news clips and how the director pieced a fuller picture of the writer's life through interviews of her acquaintances! Thought she was a charismatic old lady!

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Pina

This a documentary about Pina Bausch who was a famous dance choreographer based in Germany. She died recently and this film is a tribute to her by her students.

Liked the full length dance pieces such as "Rite of Spring", "Cafe Muller" and "Kontakthof" as well as the impromptu pieces by the students! All of them show much creativity!

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Street Angel

The story is about a girl who was thrown into prison for trying to steal and solicit in the streets to pay for her mother's expenses. She escaped to work in a circus where she fell in love with an artist but was caught again just after he proposed to her. They reunited again after she had served her term.

Liked the nice music and the interesting storyline! Great acting by the beautiful leading actress!

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Patisserie Coin de rue

The story is about how a young girl accidentally became a professional baker and helped a small bakery survive through a crisis together with a group of friends.

I was expecting something similar to "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", so I was a bit disappointed as the film did not show much of the cooking process as well as the end product. Liked the carmaderie shown by the team though!

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Amour

The story is about how an old man took care of his wife at home with the help of a nurse after she had a stroke.

Liked how the film captured the little details of the couple's lives and the dream sequences!

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