Movie Review - Everest (2015)

As an avid fan of hiking and mountain of sorts, this is the movie that I'm not going to miss. I will never get to climb Mount Everest, unless I won millions in lottery and employ many porters to help me up. Even then, I will just probably climb other more accessible mountains rather than risking my life on climbing the granddaddy of all mountains. Or probably just chilling out with mojito drink by the sandy beach on a lazy summer.

It's Jake Gyllenhaal, and he make the movie cooler.

So I got to watch the exclusive screening of the movie in 3D. Not much nice 3D effects, so probably not worth the extra fee for 3D. The movie is based on true story and accounts about the 1996 disastrous Everest climb. The movie focuses on two expedition groups, mainly Adventure Consultants headed by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and Mountain Madness headed by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal). We can see a contrast between the two guides, with Rob being a more serious dude while Scott is more of a hippy guy.

Rob Hall trying to call his wife via Viber.. ermm I mean satellite phone.

We have a great ensemble of clients joining the expedition, most notably on Rob's team. We have Beck who at first impression puts in as a probable antagonist, but he misses his family back in Texas. Doug Hansen is a postman whose reason to climb the Everest is to motivate the children he met at school. We have Yusuko Namba, a 47-year old veteran that is completing her 'Seven Summit' grand slam at Everest. At the base camp, we have Helen (Emily Watson) who acts as the mother for all the climbers. Rob's wife, Jan (Keira Knightley) didn't really have many screen time but she's just in there to complete the story.

Hey why don't they just build cable car here.

The cinematography is what you can expect in real-life, a gorgeous hilly Himalayan grandeur, from the city of Kathmandu, the airport of Lukla, the village of Namche Bazaar, and of course the surreal scenery along the climb up to Everest. There is one part where they show 2 illogically long hanging bridge and there seems to be too many people crossing at one time! That part just doesn't make sense. The camps at each stop seems to be very welcoming, will many tents dotted the campsites. It just seems like a proper settlement to me. Well I will need to climb myself to find out.

It's a preview of what heaven looks like, minus all the suffering.

After the Everest Base Camp (5364m), that's where things start to get interesting. There are campsites that I've never heard before, there's the deadly Khumbu icefall, and we seen occassional snow storms in the movie along the way to the top. But of course as in the real story, the worst snow storms would befall the teams when they were in the Dead Zone, which is 8000m and above where the oxygen is very thin or almost no oxygen at all. Watching the movie, you can feel the chill that were experienced by the climbers, and you also almost need to grasp a breath watching them trying to get to as many supplies of oxygen as possible.

You know you're screwed when you see a snow tsunami.

Overall, for me it's actually not a very entertaining movie but on knowledge wise about Everest, I do get to know and learn a lot about the treacherous route. It is definitely a very suffering journey that one must undertake even though they pay a small fortune in order to climb the Everest. May I remind this movie is one strenuous and depressing movie, so don't expect any 'happily ever after' type. Watching all the gorgeous sceneries from the comfort of a seat, I do feel grateful I didn't have to do the ultimate climb myself.

Rating: 7/10
Director: Baltasar Kormákur

Gunung Chabang (15-16 Aug 2015)

Height: 1711 metres (5613 feet)
Difficulty: Consistently steep, 3 minor river crossings
Duration: Average 5.5 hours up, 4 hours down (overnight backpack)
Entrance Point: Kg. Pos Slim @ 4.570582, 101.279076

I was supposed to go to camping at Gunung Chabang last year for Geminids meteor show in 2014, but it didn't realize. However I managed to camp atop Bukit Kutu and managed to witness the meteors albeit with limited view. Fast forward to this year, I organized a camping trip to Gunung Chabang in preparation for the big Gunung Tahan hike in September.

We in a group of five depart from KL at about 5.30am and I took roughly about 2 hours 15 minutes to reach the parking place at Kg. Pos Slim. There were already few cars there and we were charged RM20 for the parking at the aborigine's place. We managed to prepared earlier and thus depart before the other groups.

Initially, we need to cross a stream and few minutes later we arrived at a small settlement with wooden traditional houses. We were lost here a bit since some children here showed us a different way compared to what we have in GPS. Anyway we followed the children's instruction and we saw some markers, so it must be correct. Eventually the trail merged back to the original trail in GPS.

Gunung Chabang is infamous for its steep trail and we were already tested early into the hike. It was kind of a consistent steepness with not much root and many leaves. So if rain comes, it will be a slide fest. Anyway we are very fortunate to have a pretty great weather on the whole trip. At the third river which is about slightly less than an hours away, there is a small waterfall. From then on, the trail becomes more unforgiving and even more steep.

With our heavy backpacks, it was really a torturous road up. It's been a while since I had done camping, dating back to Dec 2014 at Korbu Gayong. Our group also has two newbies in camping, so we just took it slow and steady. Few fallen trees along the way but we managed to find ways around. After about roughly 4 hours, we reached at Last Water Point where we had lunch and also refill our water. The water source is not big and the water is a bit light brownish, but it looks safe for drinking.

After we have revitalized, we continued for another half and hour before we reached the first false peak. There was a wide viewpoint, but seems the cloud is a bit thick that day. We can see another small peak in front so me and Vincent continued ahead. Just a few minutes into the trail going up, Vincent suddenly shouted 'Wasps! Run!'.

We ran but then unfortunately the trail in front is pretty steep, and that time the only thing I can remember is the picture that I sent to them before about wasp. I remember the advise 'stand the f**k still' and I literally did that, well actually I squatted still. Vincent tried to be calm but the wasps kept stinging, so he had to literally jumped on the super steep trail and ran off from the wasps. I was still hesitating for a while there before I picked up courage and also get up the steep place. Incredibly I didn't get any stings.

Vincent got 7 stings in total and he was in great pain. So he took the medication quickly and I was to warn the other three coming about the wasps. Eventually they arrived and they waited down there will Vincent resting and waiting for any allergy signs. After quite some time, he felt the pain but that was it. Janine was the one that came up and she also got one stung in the rear. Next is Meei Yunn which fortunately didn't get any stung. Edmund was the last and he got stung on the hands twice.

It was quite a moment for us, as we are not sure whether any of us are allergic or not. Luckily all seems to be doing fine, apart from just the feeling of pain. Sighing of relief, we continued onwards to the second false peak aka Puncak Botak in about half and hour. Upon reaching, we scouted around and found some nice shelter places for our two tents. After the tents are up, we prepared for a quick dayhike to the summit of Gunung Chabang which is supposedly one hour away.

We were quite fast as we reach the summit in just about half hour. The peak has a trig point/beirut and no view. We just took a rest here for a while before making ways back to our campsite. We cleaned ourselves and already preparing to cook for early dinner. When we started our dinner, the other groups already reached to Puncak Botak too and they camp at Puncak Botak and some vacant sheltered places. That night we played cards and also did some story telling and lame jokes. It was a fun night, and plus there were not many sandflies that night.

I couldn't sleep very well actually that night, and it gets quite cold in the middle of the night. I had a stomach ache too and need to went off in the darkness for some relieve. When I stepped out from the tent I heard something rushing away; must be rats. Basically the night is quite long and I'm not sure whether I slept. So turns and turns I did, forcing myself to sleep.

Next morning, we woke up about 7am and prepared breakfast. We have nothing to do on the morning so we took our sweet time. We went to look for view and we were in for a treat. First near our campsite, we can see a glorious view of Mount Korbu Gayong albeit a bit covered by small trees. Then we went off to Puncak Botak which has really spectacular view towards ranges and ranges of mountains. The other groups were lucky to have camped there although the ground are not so flat. After enjoying the view, we packed everything up and depart by 8.45am.

Going down will be a knee-breaking experience what not with the steepness. After we reached the wasp place, we are in for another adrenaline escape. First I went first, and I really jumped and practically feels like parkouring down the steep slopes. Luckily I didn't got any stings again. Vincent came next and he didn't get any too. However, Meei Yunn got one stung on the hand coming down. She were also stung on the hand, twice during Korbu Gayong expedition. And by past account, her hand did swell after a while. The other two, Janine and Edmund had to wait for the wasps nest to clear. Eventually the other group also has come down, and they brought them through an alternative path.

We met back at the Last Water Point and they mentioned the alternative path has some ribbon markings, but we didn't see it on our way down. Anyway we continued down a long and steep path, barely stopping until we reached the waterfall area. A quick meal and refreshment at the waterfall and pushed on out till we are back to the starting point at the settlement. We washed up near the multi-purpose hall, and continued to petrol station to refill on some liquid goodness. We didn't stopped anywhere for late lunch though and drove straight back to KL.

Gunung Panti and Gunung Pulai (09 Aug 2015)

Johor is not so much a hilly state, but there are some nice mountains there to climb. Of course the most famous one is Gunung Ledang, which I did in 2013. Then there's also Gunung Lambak in Kluang we I did in 2014. This year, I'm back to Johor, specifically Johor Bahru to climb two mountains nearby, which are Gunung Panti and Gunung Pulai.

Gunung Panti
Height: 513 metres (1683 feet)
Difficulty: Moderate gradual steepness
Duration: Average 2 hours up
Entrance Point: 1.807624, 103.845533

Gunung Pulai
Height: 654 metres (2146 feet)
Difficulty: Very steep tar road
Duration: Average 1 hour 15 minutes up
Entrance Point: 1.590288, 103.518094

Gunung Panti

On Sunday morning, two of us went to Gunung Panti which is nearby Kota Tinggi and is about 1 hour's drive from Johor Bahru. The entrance to Gunung Panti is situated about 100 metres away from Kota Rainforest Resort. It is a small untarred road and because we're driving normal car, we can only go in about halfway into the road. We walk the other half which is about 400 metres into the real entrance.

We looked around for the entrance as the trail is not really clear. Fortunately there is this one dog that we met at the car park which seems eager to guide us to the trail. There is a small river crossing and the trail afterwards is more obvious. Along the way the dog (which eventually we named her as 'Panti') was really active, running around through the forest. We just continue to follow the markings and sometimes the dog if there's no obvious trails.

 

Generally the forest along the way can be described as quite pleasant. At some places, the trail is quite wide and some places are narrow. One thing though is there are spider webs literally everywhere. No leeches to be found though although we saw only one at the peak and the leech is running away from us. Talk about the best leech in the world. The path is ascending moderately for most of the parts and the trail is not that muddy. Panti was eager to show her agileness, and tried running up the slopes. Eventually she was so tired and need to rest down. She was panting so heavily, which I swear sounds like wild boar. So we made a container from leaves and gave her some water.

When nearing the peak, there is a rock climbing section where all the funs are. Basically it's steep rocks all the way the the peak and with ropes for support. Generally it's not too hard to climb up but the risks are there. Since Panti the dog can't climb up the rocks, we gave her some biscuits and water as rewards for guiding us till this stage. Then we continued on to the top.

The peak has a nice little garden, with moss growing on trunks and roots. There are several big flat areas which are suitable for campsites. There are views here but just slightly blocked by some trees. Upon checking my GPS, I found out that there might be another trail going up from the other side of the mountain. Could be interesting but not enough time for today. So we just took a rest for a while before going down.

Descending is even more scarier than ascending at the rocky faces, so we stepped carefully. Surprisingly Panti is still waiting for us there. Incredibly loyal dog she is, hehe. Going downhill should be easier for us and the dog. At some point, Panti saw something on the trees, but we cannot figure out what she saw. Anyway this time Panti didn't really ran off a lot, literally guiding us the whole time.

When reaching the starting point, we got lost for a while, and predictably Panti is back to save the day. Quite a surprise that there's only two of us hiking up Gunung Panti that day. We met back with the others somewhere along the road, cleaned up, gave the dog some more foods before we depart back to Johor Bahru for lunch.

Gunung Pulai

Gunung Pulai is roughly about 30-40 minutes drive from Johor Bahru. This particular mountain located at Hutan Lipur Gunung Pulai is actually quite popular with visitors. Basically the trail is tarred all the way till the restricted telecommunication towers area. There is an alternative jungle trail but it is not frequented by hikers, so we didn't bother to hike through it.

Once at the car park, it's just a short distance away to the entrance which is blocked by a gate to prevent public cars from going in. The trail or tar road can be summed up in a word. Steep. I swear it could be steeper than Bukit Sapu Tangan at Taman Botani Shah Alam at some parts. However we still saw quite a number of people attempting to walk up. Going up on tar road is seriously more difficult than going up the jungle trail. We saw some lovely polka-dotted butterflies and squirrel also.

There's marking on the floor for every 500 metres to show how far we've walked. Total distance is 5km from the entrance to the peak, so it's not really that short also. Imagine Gunung Nuang with tarred road and consistently steep all the way. Wearing Kampung Adidas didn't help the situation too. Anyway walking on steep tar road is really super good for our muscle training especially on the hip areas. There is a viewpoint about 4km into the trail, but it was a bit cloudy that time. Eventually we managed to reach peak in about 1 hour 15minutes.

Descending down was equally torturous, what not trying to brake with the front toes, ouch! It is still faster then going up though. Everyone are just going down as the sky is growing dark. Along the way down, we encountered a scorpion and it was the first time I saw scorpion. I just quickly took some pictures and continue on until the gate. Another mountain accomplished, another great weekend hiking. Eventually that night I just realized I've minor torn skins due to the harsh descending. No pain no gain.

Sam Smith - Lay Me Down Best Covers

Recently I was hooked with the song by Sam Smith called Lay Me Down. It was when I heard Charice (Pempengco) sang it at Asia's Got Talent Grand Final result that I knew this song. Most people will know Sam Smith's Stay With Me, but for me I think Lay Me Down is the better song.
Without further due here I list some of the best covers in my opinion, without specific rankings.

This is the cover that introduced me to the song. It was perhaps one of the most passionate cover that I've heard from Charice. Maybe because the song was sang by Sam Smith, who have - how should I put it - the same alignment as Charice. But nevertheless, it was actually quite good that Charice didn't overdo the song with her over-the-top killer voice.

Our next cover is by Kurt Hugo featuring Diamond White, who finished fifth in The X Factor. At first I didn't know it's her until I saw the comments. Her cover in my opinion has the most powerful voice among others. Good audio setup, some clever play with notes, perfect singing and of course all the high notes were hit spotlessly.

Next one is actually my favourite, coming from Sorah Yang. I've never heard of her until this Lay Me Down cover. Set up at 1906 Studios in Los Angeles, this cover is simple with just guitar but the voice of Sorah Yang is the main focus here. The black and white video just adds to the alluring pull of the cover. Oh if you see Sorah Yang's other videos, she's a super good dancer too!

The next cover is not really 'cover' per se, because Sam Smith was in it, but it also features John Legend, and the video is so touching. This was the official single of Red Nose Day, a charity day that is held every two years for the purpose to help raise awareness and funds for Comic Relief, a British-based charity organization. Should I say, this is the 'charity' cover of Lay Me Down.

Edit 07-Sep-2015
There's quite a lot of 'overdone it' cover, thus this next entry from the Philippines draws me. The duo are quite sincere in their voice, deserving a list in my best covers. Good synchronization and a bit of that unique Philippines vibe :) Just that the camera maybe make someone dizzy as it keeps spinning and spinning LOL.

More videos will be added to the list once I manage to find out more good covers of Lay Me Down. If you have suggestion do leave a comment and maybe I'll add that into to this list.

Movie Review - Furious Seven (2015)

Ahh, it's been a while I'm writing a new blog and been a while I've been writing anything. So a few months after the highly-anticipated movie, Furious Seven, I got to watch it yesterday. All the hype on this movie is of course due to Paul Walker's unfortunate demise. And caused by a car; what an irony.

Anyway the movie didn't started with a bang as I would have expected (stil

Motorola Moto X Play - Specification and Impression

Motorola just announced its new lineup on 28 July 2015, and the phones are Moto X Style (aka Moto X 3rd gen), Moto X Play and Moto G 2015. Among these three, I'm quite intrigued with Moto X Play. It's essentiall a mid-range phone and the specs really ticked off many of the checklists of my dream phone. Let's see the specifications in a glance:

• Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 (Quad 1.7GHz + Quad 1.0Ghz, 64-bit)
• 2GB RAM
• 16/32GB extendable with microSD
• 5.5" 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 148 x 75 x 10.9 mm, 169g
• 21MP back camera + 5MP front camera
• 3630mAh battery
• Optional Dual SIM
• Water repellant nano-coating (IP52 certified)

Simple, elegant design. The back design is quite unique.

Snapdragon 615 might not be top of the line unlike Snapdragon 810 (infamous for overheating issue), but a 64-bit and octa-core chipset will be a great update from my current LG Optimus G Pro. Moto X Style comes with Snapdragon 808, but honestly I don't need over-powerful chipset as basically Snapdragon 615 is sufficient enough to run any current graphically-intense games. With rooting, use of optimization apps (Greenify, Clean Master, SD Maid, fstrim, etc) and almost-vanilla Android, it will be a smooth sailing for Moto X Play.

MicroSD. Just few days or hours ago before Motorola's annoucement, OnePlus announced the supposedly '2016 flagship' killer in the form of OnePlus Two. And bummer it doesn't have a microSD slot. It's a personal preference but let me tell you this, microSD makes flashing custom ROM easier. I don't have to re-copy all files everytime I flash my phone. So for Nexus phones which is built with flashing ROM in mind, it's a bit weird not to have microSD slot.

5.5 inch display is all rage these days. I think it's the most optimal screen size for a phone without going into the phablet territory. The resolution meanwhile is playing the game here. Flagships keep going for higher resolutions to become more outstanding. Honestly I also think that 1080p is the most optimal resolution for a 5.5 inch. 2K? 4K? Sorry but I don't have magnifying glass around to peek into those pixels everytime I use the phone. Heck I might even be satisfied with 720p.

A quantum leap in resolution technology. Yea right.

Talking about screen size and resolution, it will always link to one major thing, the power consumption. So when Moto X Play was announced with a huge 3630mAh battery, it was a godsend. I mean Moto X Style with 5.7" and 2K display (2016p) but with 3000mAh battery? I think the designers might have accidentally put the wrong battery onto the wrong model. But it's a damn good mistake. I don't think Moto X Style will be within my budget anyway.

What else I haven't talk about? Ah the camera. 21MP is actually a bit overkill for me. Heck I'm still using 6MP on my 10MP Panasonic LX7. There's not much information about the camera. But DxOMark ranks Moto X Style camera just behind Samsung Galaxy S6 and level with Samsung Galaxy Note 4 says something about the new camera on Motorola. Hopefully nothing much is sacrificed from the camera on Moto X Play.

Shut up and take my money!

Moto X Play's dimension is 148 x 75 x 10.9 mm, and it's actually quite small for a 5.5 inch phone. In comparison, LG G3 (the smallest 5.5 inch phone until now is measured at 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm). The width and height difference is minimal. However Moto X Play is a bit on the thick side, probably due to the huge battery. The back is curved anyway, so it's not entirely 10.9mm.

And last but not least, it is IPX certified! I've been looking at water resistant phones for the longest time, and before the announcement of Moto X Play, I was looking at either Samsung Galaxy S5 or Sony Xperia Z2. Why water resistant you say? Just check the below video out.

Isn't it cool to be able to use your phone in the rain? Moto X Play is certified as IP52, and according to IP Code table,
5 - Dust protected and
2 - Dripping water when tilted up to 15°.
I believe it will be able to sustain rain, but I don't think it will be able to survive a dunk into a pool of water.

Motorola haven't announced the price of Moto X Play yet, but definitely it will be cheaper than any of the flagships phones. Even if it is priced slightly higher than OnePlus Two (16GB cost around USD329), I will still go for Moto X Play. Can't wait for it to come out and see some good reviews hopefully!

Movie Review - Jurassic World (2015)

The moment when a Brachiosaurus was first shown in Jurassic Park was a movie magic moment. It was definitely a breakthrough in CGI visual effects. Yes before that there was Terminator 2, and even way before that is Star Wars. But in Jurassic Park, it's the magic of bringing back the extinct animals that exist in REAL world that really makes it believable and magical. I can't imagine cyborgs or ewoks roaming the earth, but with dinosaurs you can imagine that.

Ah, all the nostalgia by just looking at this gate. (c) SlashFilms

Fast forward 22 years later after 2 substandard sequels, they finally bring back another sequel to the Jurassic series. Jurassic World is set in Isla Nublar where there is a theme park for viewing and experiencing with dinosaurs. The story starts with the adventure of 2 brothers, Gray and Zach who are on a vacation to the theme park who were coincidentally managed by their aunt, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard).

Notice that Steven Spielberg's creation (dinosaur) is eating another of his creation (jaws). (c) SlashFilms

So basically the starting of the movie shows the grandiosity of the theme parks, showing most of the dinosaurs that were at the park. The most impressive one is probably the Mosasaurus, an underwater dinosaur. All were in display except one species called Indominus Rex, which was genetically engineered to be bigger and badder than the so-called king of all dinosaurs, T-Rex. We saw how Claire does her management routine at the park, and also we saw the billionaire CEO, Masrani showing some concerns over the enclosure that hosts the lone Indominus Rex.

You know you're in trouble when you are inside a sphere of glass, no matter how strong the glass is. (c) SlashFilms.

In comes Owen, acted by the man-of-the-moment in Hollywood, the lovable hunk Chris Pratt. In the introduction of the character, we got to see Owen doing his trademark 'dinosaur whisperer' thing on a few velociraptors, albeit from an elevated platform. Without spoiling anything, after that scene, there's a tense moment that happens that sets the tone for the whole movie. Basically you can expect a lot of tense, heart-stopping moments and I was actually concerned for the children that were watching in the cinema that time. Anyway if you're an action junkie, you won't regret it. It's an action-packed movie all way through.

Don't run away, I'm feeling alone in the cage and I just want a hug. (c) SlashFilms

Eventually, we have Owen and Claire teaming up and good gosh they really have a very good chemistry in my opinion. Owen is really a cool guy who cares about his velociraptors, and Claire surprisingly didn't really scream a lot in the movie. Boths have memorable scenes on their own. Owen is shown riding a motorbike along with running velociraptors (it's shown in trailers, so not a spoiler). I mean how cool is that, even though it's a bit illogical on why the velociraptors didn't bite him. As for Claire, well when we were introduced to her, she seems like a busy, serious manager but slowly throughout the movie, she make a progress and becoming more, should I say, badass.

Chris Pratt is so cool that even velociprators don't bother to eat him. (c) SlashFilms

Gray and Zach also have substantial screen time, as you know, kids had to have some mischievous moments. The part when they were in a gyroscope and going off the beaten part, and Indominus Rex is roaming around, it was also really really tense. I can say it's a homage to one of the scenes in the original Jurassic Park. Oh and Jimmy Fallon also appears somewhere during that scene also. Next we have Vivian and Lowery who's mostly confined inside the control center, although they get to have the funniest scene in the movie. Masrani and Dr Wu mostly talking about business and lab stuffs (Dr Wu is the only returning cast from Jurassic Park). And what a movie without a human villain, Hoskins from InGen. Hoskins was not really a strong character in my opinion, as you know the badass villain in this movie is the Indominus Rex.

Stay away from her, you b*tch! (Aliens reference) (c) SlashFilms

So what do I think about the movie? Well as someone who never watch the previous 3 Jurassic movies in cinema before, I really have an adrenaline rush watching Jurassic World in the cinema, I mean seeing dinosaurs on big screen is really an experience. I really like the chemistry between Owen and Claire, and also there's a few homages to the Jurassic Park. What I don't really like are the sometimes illogical moments in the movie (like I mentioned Owen riding besides velociraptors). All in all, I really like this this movie. It brings out the childhood in me, it really tested the heart with all that gripping moments and I can't wait already for a sequel, if any.

Rating: 9/10
Director: Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed)