Review: The Secret Life of Pets (2016) While pets are not an uncommon theme to Hollywood, Chris Renaud's the Secret Life of Pets lends a refreshing touch to animated movies. Fast-paced, light-hearted and painted in a vibrant autumn palette, it indeed provides moviegoers a welcome cure for blockbuster blues. Viewers may find themselves quickly pulled into a storyline about a terrier named Max in New York. After his owner brings home Duke, a large, shabby dog, a scuffle breaks out between the two, which ends up with both of them confronting Snowball in the sewers. It turns out that Snowball leads "the Flushed Pets", a gang of abandoned pets that harbour a deep hatred for humans and domesticated animals. Finding out that Max and Duke are adopted, Snowball is incensed and vows to have them killed. Here, the narrative branches into two subplots. One follows the chase of Snowball about the New York metropolitan area; the other focuses on Gidget, a white Pomeranian infatuated with Max. On discovering Max is missing, Gidget leads a rescue squad to seek him. The story then reconvenes and culminates in a final showdown between both factions at the Brooklyn Bridge. Featuring from Instagram-filtered, sun-washed hazy dawns to skyscrapers with dazzling neon signboards at dusk, the Secret Life of Pets is a sumptuous treat to the eyes that none would regret overindulging in. New York's cityscape is exquisitely captured through the bold, vigorous and generous application of autumn colours. The city is a dithering blaze of red-brick neighborhoods, mottled by chocolate and maroon foliage that bestrews its quaint alleys. Besides the visual feast, the conversations in the movie are full of quips and witticism, albeit at times hysterical. Snowball may be seen as a megalomaniac version of Bugs Bunny, whereas Gidget a damsel-in-distress of Mexican soap operas. Though the voice acting is superb, character development is somewhat lacking. Gidget's venture out of her comfort zone is praiseworthy, but the main characters fall flat and feel underdeveloped. In the end, Max remains an egoistic, self-righteous dog, while Duke's remorse on his visit to his previous owner may easily drift off to oblivion. The Secret Life of Pets is quite short, lasting exactly 90 minutes. Yet, its cheerfulness and hilariously crafted conversations together with a mesmerising setting of New York will definitely appeal to moviegoers of all ages and leave them wanting more. It is premiered on 25 August 2016 in Singapore.

#sg51 August 9th marks Singapore's 51st birthday, and we've just had a sumptuous dinner to celebrate it! Tonight dinner features curry duck served with rice vermicelli and assorted herbs specially prepared by my housemate. At first glance, the curry bowl looks like a microcosm of autumn: vibrant hues of yellow in the background interspersed by the greens of chopped coriander and Thai basil. The broth gives off a refreshing concoction of lemongrass, coconut milk, spices from the curry powder, and fresh herbs. It tastes, however, quite sweet--apart from sweet potatoes, I believe she added generous heaps of sugar to the broth, I'd rather it were on a saltier side. Other than that, the duck is nicely done; the drumsticks neither fall off the bones (which signals they have been left simmering for too long), nor are they stuck in between the teeth (a sign of undercooked poultry). To top it off, there are chicken hearts fried in chilli salt (the maroon-brownish parts on the right side of the bowl) which everyone enjoyed immensely. Mind you, the bowl is packed with calories (mainly from the excessive coconut milk), and it fills up the stomach quite fast. I was half-full when there was more than three quarters of what the bowl was able to hold. I also had extra herbs added to my bowl; not only did they garnish the dish, but they also combatted the richness of the broth. In the end, I devoured one and half a bowl of this goodness, and we are still left with an extra pot. I couldn't help it; gluttony is my biggest sin. >:)

Practice #2 Every morning I can’t help noticing the similarities between the cup of coffee I am drinking and G: dark, strong, and earthy. He always fails to appear dandy and foppish; most of the time he is ill-covered, poorly upholstered, yet his sturdy build and handsome complexion make clothes unnecessary for him. Back then, he was about to file for bankruptcy because of his extravagant spending habit. Luckily, one of his courtesans, in a moment of aberration, bailed him out of his debt, and the rest is history. ​

My IELTS result... ...surprised me by quite a fair bit when I received it yesterday. For a virgin to IETLS, the scores are way beyond my expectations; I got 9.0/8.5/8.5/8.0 for Listening/Reading/Writing and Speaking, respectively. Overall I am awarded band 8.5, not too shabby for the first attempt, right? Having said that, I should not gloat over it. After all, this is just one small step towards a bigger goal. My self-imposed end result is to obtain the CPE with a B or above. I reckon that is not an easy ride, but let's see how I fare in this journey. -LP