Sunday, August 7, 2011

Did you hear about.......... - [El Orfanato]

I thought this would be one of those angry ghost  horror films, but while there is a little bit of horror, there is a touch of sweet sadness at the end.

The story is about a woman Laura who took over the house which used to be the orphanage she lived in as a child. Her adopted young son Simon is HIV positive and has a habit of making imaginary friends and starts to make new imaginary friends in this house. Through a series of item hunting game which his imaginery friends taught him, he realises that he is adopted.
During a party at their new house, Simon argues with Laura and he goes missing. Everyone believed Simon to be dead, but Laura insisted that he is still in the house.

The story ends when Laura discovers, through a medium, that a boy was bullied and accidentally killed by some children of the orphanage. The mother of the bullied boy had killed the children and stored their bones and ashes in sacks hidden inside the coal storage outside the house.

Laura's husband leaves the house and Laura promises him that she will be done in two days. Laura recreates the original orphanage layout and attempts to contact the ghost children, who leads her to Simon. She tells Simon to close his eyes and pretend to go to sleep, so that when he opens his eyes again, they will be back to normal, like when they have just moved in. Simon obediently closes his eyes and the ghost children vanished. Laura then realises that there is nothing in the blanket. She then sees Simon's body at the bottom of the stairs. This scene is so sad and is the highlight of the show, because you really thought it was all the act of the ghosts and Simon is not dead, though you feel like something is not right but you just can't put your finger to it. Then as you follow the show, you understand and can feel Laura when she realises that Simon is dead.

Laura starts to recall that on the day of the party, she had accidentally blocked the hidden door to the basement where he was playing, trapping him inside, and that the unexplained noises she had heard were Simón trying to get out. At one point she had heard a loud crash which had been Simon falling through the stair railing, and onto the ground below, breaking his neck.  Laura then realizes that she had inadvertently caused Simón's death.

Heart broken, she carries Simon's body up to the bedroom where the orphans had slept in long ago. She started to take mouthfuls of pills which resulted in her losing consiousness (and then death). When she opened her eyes next, Simon is alive and opened his eyes as well. Simon then tells Laura that his wish was for her to stay and take care of all the orphans. All the other orphans start appearing infront of Laura. While this was haunting when the children started appearing, it gets abit sad, when you realise that they do not look ghostly, but really innocent young orphans who yearn for a mother, and Laura, out of her love for Simon, agrees to stay in this ghostly world to take care of all of them.

The movie then ends with Carlos walking alone over to the memorial for Laura, Simón, and the orphans which stand outside the house. Carlos returns to the orphans' old bedroom and finds a medallion, that he had given to Laura previously. He hears the door opening; as he looks up he slowly smiles.

How I remember to take my vitamins and not foget to apply my eye cream

tI always forget to apply my eye cream or take my vitamins, no matter how much I remind myself! So this is a method which I've tried and now, I never fail to do both!



I stack my vitamins and eye cream all on top of my moisturizer, because I never ever forget to put on my moisturizer as my skin feels tight after washing my face. This way, I have to take my vitamins first, then apply my eye cream next before I can reach my moisturizer. Genius, isn't it? Hahahaha.......

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Office Tea Break Recipe – Steamed Sweet Potato


We spend most of our time each day at work, and work can be so hectic at time, it's hardly surprising that we have time to slow down for lunch. However, we need to consume food healthily so that we have more energy to concentrate on taking care of the family.

When you rush through your lunch during work, do you find that you have to load up on coffee or tea when you get a little hungry by mid afternoon? I make this quick snack which I can nibble at my work desk.

Sweet potatoes are rich in Vitamin A (betacarotene) and Vitamin C which are powerful antioxidants that work in the body to remove free radicals. These free radicals are chemicals that damage cells in our body Free radicals come from smoking, pollution, poisons, fried foods, and as a by-product of normal metabolism. Free radical damage is associated with an increased risk of many chronic diseases..

How you do it? - Steam on high heat for 30 minutes.

Time saving tip - steam while you're in the shower before going to work. Leave it on the table to cool while you're changing and putting on your makeup. Throw into a ziploc bag and into your bag on the way out. 

Ryan's present for his dad

Looks charred, but they are really very juicy banana pancakes. Ryan made them for his dad's birthday. Really good effort, he woke up at 6.30am in the morning to get fresh bananas. The kitchen looks like an after-war zone after that but think Daddy likes the pancakes!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

New Vanity Toy – Coffee Oil Nail Balm

This is from my favourite brand. Supposedly, coffee oil regenerates skin cells and enhances collagen production. I like the texture and the way my cuticles felt after applying. It's very easy to apply and spread over the cuticles, fingers don't feel sticky too. No coffee aroma though, maybe a subtle chocolatey scent. How hilarious if my fingers smelled of Capppucino and perk me up during work .....

“Pamper Me Day”

Cut my hair today, really short. The weather has been too hot for me to handle my long hair. Really hard to maintain my cool during work with a not-so-cool office environment and also look really messy when I meet up with potential clients. My short hair will make me look more professional at work, compared to how I look trying to sweep my long hair away from my neck during discussions.

So short hair needs to be updated with a new color, to look sharp and trendy, so this leads to a new brighter color, which also leads to a hair treatment or the color works will make my hair dry.

Which leads me to set an appointment for a facial tomorrow afternoon as my skin has really been stressed out by the hot blistering weather as well as my busy work schedule.

Which then made me think about setting this date every month in the future as a “Pamper Me Day”.  After all, all working mums with kids will readily understand that we do work really hard on maintaining a work-life balance, ensuring the family has dinner ready before I leave for work in the morning. Then when I get on the bus in the morning, I just snooze all the way to work and need a really strong cup of tea to stay awake when I reach the office. And then the rest of the day is just a hectic 9 hours rush, most of the times even rushing through an unhealthily packed lunch. So this “Pamper Me Day” is really a rewarding R&R day for me. Hmmm…… I wonder if a body massage should be arranged as well…..