Following last year’s tradition when I did a 2007 round-up with an “Alvinology Award”; here’s my list for 2008. I always love to compile boliao summary listings – how can I miss out the chance to do so once a year?
TOP FIVE MOVIES
Muallaf
This show about forgiving made me feel small. Malaysian director, Yasmin Ahmad is good at dealing with heavy topics like race and religion in a light-hearted manner that reaches out to touch the audiences.
Cape No.7 (海角七號)
One of the best Taiwanese film I have watched to date. First-time director, Wei Te-Sheng managed to strike a fine balance between art-house and commercial films. The songs in the movies are great too.
Red Cliff (赤壁)
I know the film receive a lot of criticism for it’s historical inaccuracy, but I am a sucker for the Three Kingdom (三国演义) storyline.
The Warlords (投名状)
I watched this while I was in camp doing my reservist. It is a big budget epic Chinese movie with a good storyline about loyalty and brotherhood – the right kind of stuff to watch while donning the military uniform.
PERSEPOLIS
An animation that follows the life of Marjane Satrapi, a strong-headed lady who grew up in a progressive Iranian family. What I really like was the clean, black and white drawings together with the matter-of-fact, straightforward narrative. There’s no excessive dramatisation of the war and neither did Satrapi seek to portray herself as a vulnerable victim like most war autobiographies tend to lean towards.
TOP 5 BOOKS
Gomorrah: Italy’s Other Mafia – Roberto Saviano
Powerful non-fiction book written by vigilante journalist, Roberto Saviano exposing the criminal activities of the Camorra in Italy, spanning their ugly tentacles into all layers of society from the ghettos to the government.
Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
The author is one of the co-editor of one of the most read blog on the Internet, BoingBoing.net. Little Brother tells the chilling story of a future whereby surveillance technology is abused by the government to spy on citizens and how a bunch of tech-savvy kids managed to foil the system. Must-read for Internet and tech buffs.
The Game – Neil Strauss
Real life account of how a New York Times journalist penetrated the social circle of professional pick-up artists and became one of them. Picking up girls aside, the tips mentioned in the book are great for improving social skills.
ZOO – Otsuichi (乙一)
Otsuichi is very good at writing weird, chilling short stories with twisted endings. Imagine Roald Dahl with a twisted mind. I am addicted to his short stories after reading ZOO and went on to buy all three others of his short stories collection at one go.
Planet Google – Randall Stross
An analytical look at how Google shapes the world with it’s mission to archive ALL the world’s information.
TOP 5 TURN-OFFS
Steven Lim pulls a Name Wee
Distasteful and disgusting rip-off music video, but nonetheless entertaining. How much lower can Steven Lim stoop?
The Singapore Flyer: A Capsule of Memories for a Lifetime
Spectacular epic phail to end the year 2008. The embarassing breakdown puts Singapore to shame in the international media.
ACJC girl gets tied up and tortured
In the name of fun. Ragging gone crazy in an elite Singapore JC.
Lee Bee Wah and the Singapore table tennis team
The president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association single-handedly destroyed a once in 48 years PR opportunity for the Singapore government to get its citizens to embrace foreign talents, forget about the current economics hardship and unite as one nation behind a glorious Olympics medal win.
Dawn Yang and plagarism
Famous blogger, Dawn Yang gets exposed for plagarising contents on her blog after she threatened to sue Singapore’s reigning blog queen, Xiaxue. Don’t mess with Xiaxue and her gazillion fans.
TOP 5 WOWS
Sun Tan – Singapore Exhibitionist
The girl who enjoys posing nude and having sex with her boyfriend in public. It would be okay if she just kept the photos and videos for her own private enjoyment, but her generous boyfriend decided to share them online.
The first Singapore Blog Awards 2008
An event I was involved in for omy.sg. A first in the local blogosphere and hopefully, it will get bigger and better each year.
Singapore teacher takes part in micro-bikini contest
This Singapore teacher loves to flaunt her body and we love her back for it in return.
Edison Chen’s sex photos scandal
Thanks to Edison Chen, the world gets to enjoy some free porn of celebrities like Gillian Chung and Cecilia Cheung.
Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008
The first time such an event is being held in Singapore. Very interesting for an otaku like me who loves comics and toys.
TOP 5 FOOD DISCOVERIES
Tao’s Restaurant
One of my all-time favourites; this modern fusion restaurant has great service, good ambient and delicious food.
Mad Jack Cafe
I like their economical pricing, and the fact that they have halal and vegetarian options, making it a great place for gatherings.
Koh Grill & Sushi Bar
Japanese food at great value within Orchard Road!
Inle Myanmar Restaurant
I have never been to Myanmar before, but the food here is great.
The Seafood Paradise (天庭海鲜)
Great seafood at great prices! The butter crab is really… “explodes in your mouth”!
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