Movie: Ad Astra
Duration: 2h 3min (Give me back my time!!!)

What it's about: Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) goes on a journey to locate his 'missing' daddy, Clifford McBride, who commandeered a mission of deep space exploration to look for intelligent life on Jupiter, Neptune and beyond. But the more Roy progresses, all he finds is a can full of worms.

My thoughts:

Pace of the movie is absolutely plodding, even frustrating at times. Brad Pitt is mostly sullen throughout the movie, but when the drama unfolds I feel nothing for his character. Mood of the entire movie is mostly depressing.

Towards the end, your own curiosity (alongside the money you paid for the ticket) is what carries you through till the end of the movie. The mystery is not as complex as expected, and I just feel like the hype is not real. The action is usually shortlived and does not pack a punch. Drama is all set out but doesn't come to fruition. People just conveniently die to push the plot ahead.

Also, in my opinion the movie has a terrible payoff ending. Maybe it's supposed to be metaphorical or something...

Someone in the theatre said aloud as the ending was revealed:

"That's it?!"

Lol.

Overall I felt Ad Astra is a rather weak space story. Yeah yeah, it brings us to another planet and maybe raises one or two interesting ideas, but that's about it. On its own, there is nothing much I want to applaud it for. It has neither the wit and humour of The Martian, nor the tension in Interstellar, though I'm not saying that every space movie has to embody these. Just mentioning this in case you, like me, thought this would be a cool space treat like the above mentioned movies.

Nope. So reset your expectations.  I'll give this a 4/10. 4 for beautiful visuals and grunt work. Did not enjoy this poorly developed story.

I thought the movie would be OK because of Brad Pitt... oh my was I wrong. Let me just go rewatch Fight Club.

I hope to catch a better film soon!

Watch the trailer here below, if you're interested:




And if you decide to watch the movie, let me know what you think! Did you enjoy it? What irked you or what were its redeeming qualities?

Cheers,
Skye

1.  Thai Crispy Pancakes
   I fell in love with this on a previous family trip where we bought like 10 from a lady from a street pushcart. Bought some from a food court this time!! The white cream is like marshmallow, while the orange stuff is coconut, or strips of egg yolk.
   
   

   Pic from Travelvui

2. Daorueang Restaurant (Pratu Nam)
   We had local food here! Loved it. Ordered the crispy pork and charsiew rice, normal mifen soup and also a tomyum noodle soup, which had a noodle that was closer to those used for Phad Thai. Flavour wise the tom yum was more on the sweet and sour side, rather than the spicy end. However, you can easily add more chilli from the condiments provided on the table.
   
    YUM + cheap too! Locals and tourists alike come here to eat. One plate/bowl is only about 40-60 baht!!
   
3. Coconut Ice Cream at Chatuchak
   Strangely I have never had this despite visiting Chatuchak twice on other visits...damn I really have been missing out! Really enjoyed this. You can put as many toppings as you want, and the choices range from jellies, to burnt peanuts. I enjoyed the chia seeds topping the most!
   
   

   Super happy.

4. Mango Sticky Rice (duh)
   We tried this super raved about one from Klook, called Yenly Yours, but was super disappointed with it?! We had much better mango sticky rice from our massage place lol. You can easily find mango sticky rice on the streets, food courts, convenience stores, supermarkets, and various F&B shops.
   
   

   Only looks pretty... pudding and ice cream was not very flavourful. Simple is best!

5. Mango Star
   This one is pricey at 99baht (~$5 SGD) HAHA but I enjoyed the coconut smoothie with sago so, so much. They also serve mango smoothies of course. Really up my alley! There's one at the Phaya Thai MRT (Airport Rail) and another at the airport basement!
   
   
   
6. Audrey Cafe
   The Audrey Thai Milk Tea Crepe cake has been on my wishlist for years and I finally fulfilled this foodie wish! We went to the Thonglor branch which was way quieter and what more, had a 1-for-1 promo for cakes! Haha! Score! So we had another New York Cheese Cake too.
7. 7-11 Food
   We had hot grilled sandwiches, and tried some instant rice meals too! Surprisingly the instant rice meals really packed a crazy spicy punch. I also bought Thai flavoured Lays (Crab Curry) and other 'special' flavours to try.
8. Flavorful Thai Restaurant (On Nut)
   We had a super yummy dinner at this local tzechar at On Nut! The Tom Yum shrimp fried rice is not for the faint hearted.
   
    

Macchiato was pleasant, milky and not too sweet.

Miso Beef: Big portion of rice, brilliant creamy egg omelette, and juicy beef cubes!

I can eat this every day! Hope to replicate this at home.

Now let's watch some egg porn.

Spot some yummy croissants!

The cafe is not only patronised by tourists, or expats, but also locals.

Cute boardgames and colouring tools, great for kiddos or the doodler. They also offer vegan food on their menu, and wheat straws.

Hey guys!

I've been so excited about 2019's Terrace House in Tokyo, how about you?! The show is finally available to international audiences!

I actually watched 3-4 episodes when I was in Japan in May. Maybe there was some VPN thing? Well imagine my horror when I returned to Singapore and found out that there were NO episodes available.

Here are the six new house mates and my first impressions of them. Here we go!



Kaori 
We are introduced to Kaori first. She enters the house, a little self conscious, and being all awkwardly shy. She seems pretty illustrious, previously holding a job in a big company and having also studied in Paris. She also seems like a really steady and reliable character, as well as a warm friend to have. I can imagine her with a warm cup of tea, illustrating, and maybe playing with a cat. A very typical artist feel. She's pretty cool.

This camera sequence really captured the first day awkwardness really well. Kaori at work

@foxco_kaori
EXTRA: Kaori held an art exhibition, and someone on Reddit visited and posted about it. Click to check it out.


Haruka 
Haruka is a pretty model with some 'guy'ish hobbies. She likes golf, and also race cars! She hangs out with older uncles with the same passion. A pretty cool but tough as nails character, probably used to getting what she wants. She seems kind of in her own world, a little stand-offish sometimes, but fierce in her career and goals.



I'm interested to see how she will interact with the other female characters. Would it be another case of Maya feeling disconnected with her female roomies?

@harukaoffi


Risako
Risako is a very cheerful girl, reminiscent of Aya from the previous season, but even younger. She brings a lot of energy onto the show. She also has a cute husky voice. Though young, she seems quite mature and I wonder if she can put up with youngboi antics from Ruka.

This is really funny. LOL. Ruka thought 'plain' was an ingredient LOL.

Risako got it real bad. Ruka is checking her piercing here.

Makes for great TV.

@risako_tanabe

Hey guys!

It's been a long time since I've baked something. I think the last time was some oat and apple muffins in May?

Well anyway, I've been wanting to use up some Milo powder, so I searched for a recipe for Milo Cookies! Found one from Delishar! The recipe seemed relatively simple, and I had all the ingredients at home too.

Ingredients, assemble.

She used all purpose flour but I used plain flour. Same same I hope?!

I sieved my flour, and also melted down my brown sugar which had hardened into blocks.

Mixed the ingredients together and rolled out some cookie dough balls.

I had no baking paper so I used aluminum foil, which also makes the baking tray less oily I think.

They remind me of mooncake lianrong fillings!

Pop it in the oven~

And... it's ready!

Overall:

• The cookies taste pretty good! Though my cookies came out cracked, unlike her smooth ones, they still taste good and milo chocolatey. Maybe I should chill the dough first to avoid cracking.
  
• Texture wise, when it's first baked you get a cripsy exterior and a soft, brownie like interior. After a few days it's more of a brownie like texture. I also microwaved the cookies for 10 seconds and topped them with some vanilla ice cream! My sister paired them with black coffee.

• I would probably use less butter than indicated in her recipe, the cookie dough was a tad too oily for me.

• The sugar level was just right! If it's not sweet enough for me, it means it's just right for everyone else. XD  Also, breaking news, my mum and dad finally approved of something I baked. They usually don't support or like anything I cook or bake. LOL.

MMMM! A closeup of the texture. I thought it would be brownie like but it wasn't!

I definitely had fun making these! It was pretty fuss free. I used the 12-15min baking time to wash up.

I think most of us have daydreamed about what it is like to live in a caravan once or twice in our lives at least? Most of the time the images of caravans in my head are very European styled, so it's cool to see an Asian take on this!

Jacinda and Martin are 31, and quit their respective emcee and corporate jobs. Jacinda's family travelled on camper vans before, and used to take family trips in rented cars, unlike most people of the time then, who would usually join a tour. So I guess that made them less resistant to Jacinda setting off on this adventure of a lifetime.

As for Martin's family, his parents were concerned about him quitting his job etc. "Siao!" "How long are you going to do this for?"

Their van, called Bruce, cost about 30k ringgit (which is about 9.9k SGD), and used to be a security van. They outfitted this 11 seater van and put in some rattan storage boxes, mattresses, even a mini fridge. They carry about 10l water, a portable sink, and also installed solar panels on top of the van to power their stuff too. It's a very cosy and a nice little space for two.

They were featured in this YouTube video by 24 Hour Travellers, and here are some screengrabs! Watch the video to get a feel of how their van life is like!

Haha, shower pump from Decathlon! No toilet facilities though. When necessary, they pee in the bushes sometimes and try to find actual toilets to poop. For showering in the wild, they use like a sarong thing with a bikini, if they're in secluded areas like a quiet beach. If not, most of the time they use regular toilets just like us :)

Jacinda is big on sustainaibility, so items and furnishings in the van are made of bamboo, rattan, coconut, and wood. Environmentally friendly, and light too!

A small gas stove, and coconut bowls that do not break while travelling on bumpy roads.

They also lined the inside of their van with coconut fibre. The air pockets in between help cool the van down, and hopefully help trap heat when they travel in the colder regions of Europe. They also have USB powered fans for hot days.

After watching the YouTube video and their IG stories, I found that there's a lot of problem solving involved when you travel like this. They had to figure out how to outfit their van, iron out logistics, finance, hygiene, cooking, etc.

People often say that travel is the ultimate relationship test, and I'm guessing they do not mean a super chill trip, but more like a trip like this where you really find out if you make a good team or not. I mean, there are 101 things to get angry or upset about on a trip like this, especially when unexpected things crop up or when things go wrong.

Mega props to J&M!





I've been following them on their Instagram (@mjroadtrippin), and though they post pictures occasionally, their daily Instastories are what I look forward to!

They document their experiences with locals, show us beautiful scenery, and basically give us a taste of what life is like off the beaten path. It's wonderful.

For example:

• Once they made friends with other travellers (from Tasmania) who invited them to stay in their Airbnb, had a night swim, and chatted over drinks. They also meet other camper van travellers and trade tips on camper van life.
• They ate traditional Thai food and snacks from a market which is simply called 'Market Under The Trees' on Google.
  
   
  
• They sometimes bathe and wash up in hotels toilets. Haha. Other times kind souls invite them for some food and a shower in their houses. Many locals also offer fruits like durians etc!
  
• They get in touch with nature. This is the part I love most!
  
   
  
• They cook on the road and use ingredients found in the wild.
  
   
  
  Maybe all this is so cool to me because we as humans have gradually grown distant from living with nature and our surroundings. It's really nice to just enjoy the nature.
  
• They sometimes have car troubles. Once, their van got stuck in the sand, but a lot of people came to help push the van without hesitation. Quite touching to watch :') Most of the time when I travel nowadays, I'm just so wary of strangers and pickpockets.
  
  

Photos are screenshots of their Instastory! Follow them to join them on their adventure.

Since most of us have neither the guts, conviction nor means to make such a life happen, it's really nice to live vicariously through them! Or maybe we can all be inspired and live life the way we really want it.