QB-Best Friends

Christmas decorations everywhere!

QB outing again, this time with my two best friends.

Funnily enough the only connections they have are a tuition class and me. And Facebook, the social network that could make and break ties.

Anyway today JM and I sat a bus to QB and met JJ there. It was kinda unfortunate in the morning because I had a problem with my contacts and ended up like a mess, so we were late for an hour. LOL.

When we arrived we did a bit of shopping first. I got myself a nail buffer at The Face Shop, and we tried on some of the nail polish.

Then it was a little late for the movie (JJ got us tickets for Life of Pi) so we went to GSC to get popcorn and wait for JJ to come find us. There were a LOT of kids there (on some kind of summer camp) waiting to watch movies.

Life of Pi was a great movie, albeit slightly unreal (and illogical). Directed by award-winning Ang Lee, starring Suraj Sharma as Pi, and adapted from Yann Martel's adventure-fantasy novel of the same name. The novel was noted as "un-filmable" by critics but Ang Lee proved them wrong and made a star of an adaptation.

 In a nutshell, it was a story told from Pi to an author searching for a story. It was about a boy Piscine Patel (nickname:Pi, after he got fed up of people calling him "pissing") whose father ran a zoo and whose family had to leave India with the zoo animals to start a new life after the land of the zoo was taken back by the government. At that time, Pi was also in search of his identity in religions.

On a Japanese ship leaving for Canada, the family met a catastrophe where the ship was met with a huge storm with fierce currents. The ship sank and it was believed that everyone except Pi drowned. Pi was pushed onto a lifeboat in time because he was outside when it happened. And here the fun starts, where we see why this movie has been receiving all the critical praise and hype.

The movie goes on to show that Pi's lifeboat also saved many animals, including a zebra, an orang utan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger. All died except Pi and the tiger, Richard Parker. Pi had to struggle to live with the tiger to stay alive. In this part, we also see survival tactics demonstrated by Pi. The tiger and Pi came to tolerate each other after months at sea and also came upon an island made from carnivorous algae and full of meerkats. After spending some time there, Pi continued his journey, came to a shore and was saved by people there, while the tiger went into the jungle and left.

At the end, Pi ended up in a hospital and was questioned by two Japanese officials. They did not believe Pi's story about the animals, so he told them another story about human cruelty and brutality, where Pi was on the lifeboat with his mother, the ship's cook and a sailor with a broken leg. The cook killed the sailor and Pi's mother to use as food and bait.

The author then believes that the orang utan is the mother, the zebra is the sailor, the hyena is the cook and the tiger is Pi himself. Pi asked him which story he chooses, and he says: "The story with the animals." Pi then thanked him and the movie ended. The movie is a beautiful visual piece of art. The visuals and imagery of this film were breathtaking and even the zoo animals seemed so surreal and involving. The strength of Life of Pi lies in its visuals but I also love the storytelling and Suraj Sharma's warm, resilient performance. It is an inspiring and interesting story of courage, survival and faith. Life of Pi isn't just a tale or an adventure, it is a story for a lifetime.

Note: While searching for the plot and also movie posters for this post, I came across a lot of information on the web about this book. It seems that there is a deeper meaning for the story and in fact the second story, the one WITHOUT the animals, is the true story. Many book discussions and literature reviews have used the Life of Pi BOOK, which was published in 2001 and won a lot of book prizes.

Maybe one day I'll review it. When I get the book.

After the cinema, we headed to Dave's Deli for lunch. It was a little expensive, but very, very yummy. I am in love with the mashed potato (favourite)! And the gravy was awesome, along with the chicken. YUM. <3

My quarter chicken with mashed potato and salad

My drink, ice coffee

Both of them TRYING to stay serious knowing I'm taking their photo...LOL

After eating (and lots of talking), we shopped around, went to Daiso to pick up some stuff, went to Jusco to get some grocery for parents, and went to J.Co Donuts to get (not donuts) yogurt-yummy-ice-cream. =)
Also took many photos with the Christmas decorations in QB. Unfortunately I'm not on one of my best days. I look like shit. Oh well, what to do?

Then we waited for JJ's mom to come and then JM and I went back by bus. We stood almost all the way because the bus was very full. Almost couldn't breathe due to lack of oxygen. We talked a lot to keep out boredom.

Overall a lovely day. Especially love the lunch. Haha...and of course in the company of my best friends.