TRAVEL TO MOVIES: LOVE LIKE THE FALLING PETALS

Director: Yoshihiro Fukagawa

Cast: Kento Nakajima , Honoka Matsumoto , Kento Nagayama , Yuki Sakurai , Takashi જ⁀➴, Shuntaro Yanagi , Yumi Wakatsuki , Jun Kaname , Mitsuhiro Oikanawa , Andrew Russell-Voice

Plot: Haruto, an aspiring photographer, falls head over heels for his hair stylist Misaki. When he finally finds the courage to ask Misaki out, it seems to be happily ever after for the young couple... until Misaki develops a rare disease under which she rapidly ages before their eyes.✦

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_like_the_falling_petals

My Movie Review: The movie is awesome when it wants to be and devastating when it needs to be truly a touching beautiful sightful but sad love story and guaranteed to tug at heartstrings! Love Like The Falling Petals is the flower it will grow and bloom but when the time comes it will slowly deteriorate and becomes gloomy until it lost its life sad but its the cycle that comes to it:( What initially starts out as an incredibly endearing romantic comedy will leave you wallowing in utter despair and absolute grief, I was so touched by this film that I cried like a baby at the end! Such a powerful emotional film that I would suggest to anyone to watch it because I thought it would be just a cute little film but more depth as it unfolds, the colors and cinematography were beautiful and the film is so good and the actors are quite good if not excellent, really mad love:) No doubt, this movie deserve five stars, this is a poignant story and the lead couple certainly have some good moments together that help carry along those reality they have to overcome! Despite movie being little slow it will connect to your soul each and every scene feels relaxing and calmness though the movie look like romantic at first instance however it'll end up as a heart broken love not only for the lead but the brother who took care ill sister I can feel his pain! Their happy romance comes to a halt, as Misaki falls ill, leading to a doctor's visit where she is diagnosed with progeroid syndromes: a disease that ages her extremely fast, deteriorating her body at an alarming rate. Misaki's case is extreme, leaving her with less than a year to endure the debilitating symptoms during slower segments you can see unconditional love overflowing:)

Critics Reviews: While this romantic tragedy involving two young creative professionals has some original ideas and an attractive setting, the genre has been done before in much more authentic and engaging ways. Love Like the Falling Petals is buoyant, and then it’s blehh. Even the accidental comedy can’t make up for the bad taste it leaves in your mouth. While there are some clear emotional moments in Love Like the Falling Petals, the dull nature of its commentary and the stunting of Misaki make it hard to view as a successful love story. I didn't feel inspired or hopeful, but rather bored and alone. This film doesnt celebrate love and life but really pushes against it. Muddled and frustrating almost from the outset, Yoshihiro Fukagawas achingly sentimental weepie Love Like the Falling Petals struggles to tell its story with coherent clarity. Netflix J-romance Love Like the Falling Petals wants you to cry. Cry and then cry some more. It’s a Tokyo-set smoochy/sad saga starring Kento Nakajima and Honoko Matsumoto as totes-adorbs 20-somethings gone gaga over each other, until fate saddles them with a debilitating setback. This is a tale of two movies: The first hour of Falling Petals is a charming and disarming, lightly comedic, tonally on-point romance between two semi-timid souls, and the second hour is a draggy, mega-melodramatic wallow in snot, grief and confusion. The brevity of cherry blooms in the cycle of life, how photographers capture fleeting moments for posterity, etc. It’s all right there for you to chew and swallow, a shallow buffet of obviousness likely assembled to please teen audiences while the rest of us yawn and thumb through magazines. The second half of the movie made me despair for all the wrong reasons – not for the fate of its characters, but how it managed to transform from cheery delight to dreary slog ˚♡

Source:https://decider.com/2022/03/28/love-like-the-falling-petals-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-it/

TRAVEL TO PLACES: SINGAPORE-- DOWNTOWN EAST

My Personal Experience: I went to Downtown East in Singapore, last August 2022, I rarely go this mall even it's near because opposite direction to other attractions so when you come here you chose to go against the crowd and sometime its what you need to escape the bustling city! I went to highest floor restroom and take selfies inside close doors, honest fun/ had a moment:)

Downtown East

NTUC Downtown East is an entertainment hub located in Pasir Ris, Singapore. It is 147,000 square metres in area and was officially opened on 5 November 2000. It is run by NTUC club. It provides leisure and entertainment for families and youths. It competes with the two Integrated Resorts, especially Resorts World Sentosa.Various types of entertainment features are being provided in NTUC Downtown East. Such features are shopping, arcades and others. The attractions include: A five-storey leisure and entertainment hub, named E!hub, was opened in early 2008. E!hub's main features include: eXplorerkid, the largest indoor family park in Singapore and nEbO City, a combination of Cathay Cineplex, gaming and cafe. Wild Wild Wet!!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTUC_Downtown_East

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE

Director: Bruno Ascenzo

Cast: Stephanie Cayo , Maxi Iglesias , Anai Padilla , Amiel Cayo , Mayella Lloclla , Vicente Vergara , Renata Flores , Wendy Ramos , Muki Sabogal , Nicolás Galindo , Rodrigo Palacios

Plot: The opposite lives of a workaholic architect and a fiery artist are upended when their chance encounter in breathtaking Peru shifts their views on life.

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/without_saying_goodbye

My Movie Review: The movie is a nice little treat let you explore the wonderful destinations and enjoy the journey along the way, the night cap festivities' and the people give in camp vibe! Without Saying Goodbye is a romance about self-discovery through love filmed in spectacular sites around Peru making it a escapist but in such a good way, highly recommend this feature:) Having said that this film mainly suffers from poor writing, superficial at times based its strength on actor's charisma and nothing much happen insightful- not memorable I've forgot how it end! The story moves forward very quickly, failing to properly establish the characters even though the actors do a decent job, the plot is so predictable and the dialogue seems stiff and forced! This takes away from the realism in the film, making the characters seem somewhat dumb at times I don't understand why a man would chase after a woman that says she doesn't believe in marriage or romance, compares it like to being chained to a bridge and every time a problem comes her way she runs: she's not worth it say she's 34 but looks more mature like 44 sheesh! The lead actors are attractive and relaxed together as they dive into a pool, go backpack together and argue through the mountains if you take it lightly you enjoy it just don't dwell on it, some light comedy never gets too broad or irritating; the romance doesn't become a pointlessly steam mashfest; the drama keenly avoid being too deep instead rehash make things go away:) The nice takeaway is like you experience all they showed in the movie, it was so satisfying specially the culture shown in it, personally I am unexposed in those parts of the world but watching that made me realize what I want to do travel, discover cultures, different languages, come across people and know their lives, part shown in most natural way they ace so worth it:)

Movie News: ‘Without Saying Goodbye’ on Netflix, a Romantic Drama Set Against the Luscious Backdrop of Peru! Netflix movie Without Saying Goodbye is a romantic drama with comedic tendencies and scads upon scads of handsome scenery. So get ready to get lost in countless drone shots of Peruvian mountaintops and Cuzco cityscapes, and maybe find yourself lost in a romance between an architect and an artist. You know, opposites attract and all that, but they sure seem to be more heavily magnetized when the backdrop is this beautiful! The Gist: Salvador Campodonico (Maxi Iglesias) wakes up at zero-dark, his to-do list exploding on his phone. He hits the gym and takes a shower so we can understand how he maintains the ripped physique which we’ll get several opportunities to ogle throughout the movie. Then he heads to work – he’s an architect for his father’s hotel conglomerate, the biggest in Spain. Salvador remodels hotels into gleaming high-class urban monstrosities or beauties, depending on your point of view. He works so much, he makes your average workaholic look like Brad Pitt in True Romance. Cayo is magnetic as an unapologetic bohemian whose joie de vivre is cut with the melancholy of her tragic past. She finds nuance in her character, most importantly, transcends cliches. Thank the deity of your choice the Peruvian tourism board seems to have directed this movie, because its biggest draw is Peru itself. The mountains, the valleys, the lovely rugged terrain, the clouds kissing the peaks, the burbling brooks, the peaceful wooded expanses. Cuzco bustles with charm, delicious-looking food, lively people, rich cultural textures. Book your vacation now and imagine what a hotel full of $400/night rooms would look like among the stone churches and other loving preserve historical architectural delights, right:)

Source: https://decider.com/2022/03/21/without-saying-goodbye-netflix-review/

TRAVEL TO PLACES: SINGAPORE-- LIHO TEA- NO. 1 BUBBLE TEA

My Personal Experience: I went to Downtown East in Singapore, one of the nearest mall in our area and found Liho Tea on the mall entrance and considered the No. 1 Bubble Tea Chain!! I went there around August 2022 and it's my first time visiting Downtown East alone and it's relaxing to see this place with lesser people just a chill afternoon drinking my Wintermelon Tea!

LiHO Tea- No. 1 Bubble Tea

LiHO Tea- No.1 Bubble Tea Chain in Singapore 2025, it is a famous Bubble Tea in Singapore, known for its creative Tea variety, Cheese Tea. The first outlet of this chain was established in 2017 by Royal T Group. We were the first major Tea chain in Singapore to introduce Cheese Tea on a commercial level. The word “LiHO” means “How are you” in Hokkien Language. It became very popular and gained a loyal following for its creative tea flavors. Started in 2017, the chain is currently running 85 outlets in Singapore. Its famous drinks: Cheese Tea, Avocado Smoothie, Da Hong Pao Milk Tea, and Earl Grey Milk Tea. Soon it expanded across Singapore!

Source: https://lihoteasg.org/

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: WINDFALL

Director: Charlie McDowell

Cast: Lily Collins , Jesse Plemons , Jason Segel , Omar Leyva

Plot: A Hitchcockian thriller following a wealthy couple who arrive at their vacation home only to find it's being robbed. A man breaks into a tech billionaire's empty vacation home, but things go sideways when the arrogant mogul and his wife arrive for a last-minute getaway. The plot unfolds as the couple initially tries to deal with the intruder, but events spiral out of control leading to a series of unfortunate, and ultimately deadly, outcomes. The film explores themes of greed, wealth, and the dangers of opportunism.

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/windfall_2022

My Movie Review: The movie is aesthetically pleasing supposed to be deliciously dark but one leave some unwanted aftertaste but what matter is the journey while chewing it quite tasty! Windfall is a solid enough chamber piece and a showcase for its three leads' talents, but on a story level it struggles to establish the themes it brings up uncertainty and unbalance trajectory! Coolly efficient noir traps Lily Collins into this victim-aggressor dynamics aren't all they initially seem in this lean silent, mean domestic hostage story from Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker! It starts off with kind of a wacky, Coen Brothers energy and then turns into a much darker thriller, it's an intriguing premise and I liked the cast they balance each other plus a random gardener hired by the wealthy couple, accidentally falls through glass door, result in fatal injury! There's a crackle missing from the dialogue, the script outdone by McDowell's crisp, bright visuals- a hell of a house and sun kissed dry plantation of oranges want you slurge on the zest! The film's overall minimalist approach reminded me more than once of Steven Soderbergh's work. Bottom line: this movie is nothing earth-shattering but still worthy checking out on casual! This is what happened the wife successfully escapes the robber's grasp she walks up and down the long driveway, something changes in her face and she makes a decision as Nobody is about to leave, she smashes him on the head, kills him but instead of untying her husband and setting him free, she shoots him dead and plants the gun in Nobody's hand, what a twist!?!

Critics Consensus: Windfall is hardly a bounty of cinematic riches, but a killer cast keeps this minimalistic thriller from going creatively bankrupt. Short, sharp and mostly satisfying, this is a thriller that sticks to the stripped-back fundamentals of the genre — no more, no less. There's at least one great performance in here, and the whole venture clocks in at a blissfully brief 90 minutes. It should be commended, however for making its flawless setting as claustrophobic for us as it is for the three characters. Although Windfall efforts to not be “more of the same” is what makes it entertaining, the fact that the movie ends with a forced climax that's typical of the genre that it tried so hard to undermine is even more frustrating. Windfall embodies a classic noir suspense story, fraught with some incredible character performances from Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins, and Jason Segel. Terrible, talky three-hander...A good idea squandered, waste of a top cast. Chalk it up as a dud. From the retro font and music of the opening titles, Windfall announces itself as a throwback, Hitchcock-esque thriller, and proceeds, in its tidy runtime, to deliver. What could’ve been an unequivocal thrill transgresses into a languid chamber piece loaded with dramatic tedium and rote acting...The performances are good as Segel, Collins, and Plemons make the most of what they’re given. But the commentary is uninspired and barely explored. And the vague hints of tension aren’t enough to make this throwback thriller as good as it could have been. A modest, intriguing little crime drama that lets Jesse Plemons kind of take over for stretches and do his thing which I always approve off:)

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/windfall_2022/reviews

TRAVEL TO PLACES: SINGAPORE-- BIRDS OF PARADISE

My Peronal Experience: I went to Birds Of Paradise in Katong their first and most successful branch of their ice cream company last December 20, 2022, night time together with my sister:) Birds Of Paradise is always pact of customers and patrions make sure you come prepare to hustle with the crowd while picking flavors and this visit come surprise to me never know going!

Birds Of Paradise

Birds of Paradise Gelato Boutique creates botanical gelato that is flavoured using real, natural ingredients: fruits, flowers, pods, herbs and spices. Within two years of opening, gelato boutique Birds of Paradise made it into the Michelin Guide; today, another six years later, its founding Katong outlet still attracts long queues. The local brand is now Singapore's only Michelin-featured ice-cream parlour, with a spot on the “selected establishments” list. Pricing is reasonable too, with a double scoop costing around $9. Our favourite flavour is lychee raspberry, followed by white chrysanthemum - cocoa nibs. The mango sorbet is also wonderful!

Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=singapore+birds+of+paradise+ice+cream&

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: BLACK CRAB

Director: Adam Berg

Cast: Noomi Rapace , Jakob Oftebro , Dar Salim , Erik Enge , Ardalan Esmaili , David Dencik , Aliette Opheim , Martin Hendrikse , Cecilia Säverman , Joakim Sällquist , Nora Rios , Ilir Latifi..

Plot: Black Crab is a Swedish action thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world torn apart by war! During a long, harsh winter, six soldiers embark on covert mission across a frozen archipelago, risking their lives to transport a mysterious package that could end the war. As they enter hostile enemy territory, they have no idea what dangers lie ahead or who--if anyone--they can trust. But for speed skater turned soldier Caroline Edh, the mission is about something else entirely. Starring Noomi Rapace in film directed by Adam Berg, Black Crab follows six soldiers on a desperate mission to bring an end to the war which has destroyed their lives.

My Movie Review: The movie is a very well made deep freeze action thriller unfortunately hampered by idiotic character motivations, a bit of a different twist on the post apocalyptic war:) Black Crab was entertaining but flawed yet still enjoyable, great opening scene that grabs your attention then falls off a bit overall a very good film and an unusual take on the unknown future! The lack of context, which others have downvoted it for and it lacks a lot of being anything memorable or exciting, thank its particular strength is the lead Noomi Rapace who is quite a great actress and phenominal in her role as a speed skater forced to take part in a civil war in an often tense yet mostly forgettable action film, this Swedish apocalyptic thriller has a lot of big violence ,some obscenity in language and people as injured or killed in a variety of manner! The film is about a story of an ordinary person with her hope, wishes and traumas- I like the fact that it depicts wars from different perspective, war wages on in a post-apocalyptic Sweden! Volunteer soldier Caroline (Noomi Rapace) teams up with five others to embark on a death-defying icy backdrop, it's explained there's an ice-covered archipelago where the team must cross and deliver two packages to a research facility at the other end of the archipelago, which lead to victory operation black crab, they win, they can leave the army and do what they want! So much so while the story, based on Jerker Virdborg's novel of the same name, is fictional, Sweden does have a specialized unit that trains to conduct covert operations in the harshest conditions, like what is shown in Black Crab. Though its core concept is executed well, Black Crab's dour tone, shallow writing and derivative plot-beats make for a movie experience that leaves you as cold as the ice its characters forced to skate on you'll still want to see it through:)

Critics Consensus: Black Crab can be exciting in the moment, but its bleak and derivative story add up to a fairly forgettable viewing experience. For those who could use a break from real explosions on the news, the fake ones in “Black Crab” are well-crafted, exciting and mostly harmless. Though its core concept is executed well, Black Crab’s dour tone, shallow writing and derivative plot-beats make for a movie experience that leaves you as cold as the ice its characters are forced to skate on. Black Crab is more than sufficiently gripping to make you want to see it through. There may never be an answer to all the unanswered questions in Black Crab, but one thing is for certain, the movie lacks certain elements of crucial storytelling! While the world-building leaves too much to the imagination and some of the characters lack much needed depth, “Black Grab” still manages to get its hooks in you. It is not exemplary of genre that exploits dystopian habitats, but it mobilizes enough facets to warrant satisfactory result. The action is often bloody but unfailingly tense and gripping. For "Black Crab" to succeed, Berg needs its central mission to be riveting and atmospheric an original take on a familiar concept. For the most part, he does just that, with the films middle hour a dark and icy quest that's a welcome reprieve. This Swedish thriller is example of an action film that would have benefitted from more story, could leave viewers as cold as icy Nordic atmosphere. Bergs film rarely inspires anything beyond a distanced recognition of his shallow pastiche. Rapace makes a experience comprising not much other than misery and suffering, it's worth tolerating:)

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_crab/reviews