The balloons hit during the “Adventure of a Lifetime” song

Amazing lighting and atmosphere. Thank you, Coldplay

My oh my… It has been a while since I attended a concert. My last was Pitbull gig in Singapore. Yea that was fun and he was a great entertainer during his 2013 Global Warming Tour and merely a 5,000 crowd attendance. I heard that he will be back again in Singapore of Climate Change tour this coming May.

Fast forward to 2017, Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams tour was my next concert. Yea, I missed out Guns N’ Roses gig in Singapore last February but i heard mixed reviews due to the logistics, the venue as well as the sound system.

It was totally opposite for Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams tour held at the enormous Singapore National Stadium last weekend. I was worried if there was no shelter but I didn’t know that stadium has a retractable roof and it worked to great effect.

Jolene Law and I were fortunate enough to attend the first ever gig by Coldplay for the year 2017 and of course, the few familiar faces from Brunei who made it for Coldplay. The attraction was just tremendous. Coldplay first gig was back in Singapore, 2006 at the Indoor Stadium for a 10,000 audience. Then back in 2009 with Coldplay’s Viva La Vida Tour with 12,000 fans and now (in 2017), it’s a different story with 100,000 fans altogether for two shows. What a huge jump and I can tell you why.

People queueing in as early as 6pm

The merchandise was selling like hotcakes. Each t-shirt costs around $50

Hello Sue, I hope you were awed with Coldplay.

One of the guys who were selling spare tickets and also merchandise. Apparently he sold them t-shirts for $20 each

The tickets are barcoded. Well, you just have to print them and enter. But once you go in, you can’t go out.

Jaymee was also one of those who flew from Brunei 😀

Hello Jolene and I hope you enjoyed your belated birthday gift. See you next time in Singapore.

We were totally impressed with the Coldplay experience

The strong 50,000 crowd after the concert ended.

Now there are a few reasons why Coldplay is the most electrifying concert that I’ve attended so far. It’s more than just a concert. It’s the whole wham bam experience.

1. Chris Martin is a great connector. The lead vocalist and the main person behind Coldplay was able to engage the audience with his movement on the stage and also during transitions between songs. Of course, the crowd was quite responsive and some were even in tears. He even joked about the humidity in Singapore as you can see his sweat dripping when he was passionately hitting the notes on the keyboard (Yea, we saw it on the gigantic screen lol). Chris was so uplifting from start to finish and the star of the show.

2. The LED wrist band. One thing was fans and not-so-big fans looking forward to Coldplay is the technicolour experience that you will enjoy from a Coldplay concert. The theme “A Head Full of Dreams” was fitting enough for fans to enjoy a euphoric feeling as we became awed with the random bright luminous colours from the electronically controlled wristband. The colours of the light will be in tuned with the songs and my favourite one would be the yellow/green moment.

3. The props and stage design. Yea, we might be seated at a restricted view as highlighted on the tickets. But we didn’t feel restricted at all. Ironically I loved the view as I was able to see the overall experience such as the confetti, the balloons and the laser light effects. The only setback would be the angle of the gigantic screen due to our seating position. But I ain’t complaining since it didn’t really bother me as much. The pyros, the confetti and the colourful balloons created a whole new experience as a concert goer. Those who paid more were privileged to experience the shower of confetti.

4. The sound. This has always been a big issue in other gigs such as Madonna and Guns N Roses. The acoustic was at its best (and I probably believed that there was a lot of planning in this). Speakers were not just on the main stage area but also around the arena. I missed the first song but I could hear it clearly with the vocal and music outside the arena. So imagine being one of concert goers inside the arena. Every single note from the musicians was noticeable among the 50,000 strong crowd and once you reach that almost perfect acoustic and sound, it will bring more energy to the crowd.

5. The crowd participation. Of course, with the help of the electronically coloured wrist band, it will make the audience waved their hands with the flow of the music. The fans can really make a difference to a concert experience and that night, it was one of the best I’ve been too. They were singing even though they don’t remember the whole lyrics (like me). Some were even so emotional because it felt so surreal. I had my moments of screaming because I felt quite high in energy. Coldplay + the crowd were a win-win situation and that made it ever more rewarding and fulfilling.

Overall, it was the best concert experience to date and it’s no surprise if tickets were sold out in other cities. The best moment for me was “A Sky Full of Stars” and “Up & Up”. I’m hoping to get another gig of theirs in the future. Even replaying the videos I shot still gives me the goosebumps. For now, I can say my dream has been fulfilled. Thank, Coldplay and Singapore. Verdict: 10/10

Check out the grilled meat

The Star Lodge Roast & Ribs Mezza Buffet Dinner started last weekend and continues this every weekend (Friday & Saturday evening). If you’re a meat lover, then look no further. Drop by Star Lodge and check out their sumptuous dishes.

I had the chance to dine and the choices were quite decent and with variety as they served not just meat but other savouries as well. My favourite would always be the lamb.. Yes, I’m a sucker for lamb but I can’t have too much of it or my body gets kinda heaty or even I might get dizzy *lol* But man, the lamb is a good inclusion in the Roast & Ribs weekend buffet. Make sure you eat with the skin too 😀

So do expect dishes such as slow roast smoked coffee ribs, glazed beef briskets, roasted chicken and other selected dishes along the buffet line.

I’m sure it will be a big hit this weekend because of school holidays and it’s also pay day time.

If you have any comments, you can drop an email to grazestars@gmail.com and you can also follow their IG @starz.lounge @starlodgebrunei

Roast & Ribs
Mezza Buffet Dinner
Every Friday & Saturday
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Adult $26 | Child $13
Call 2611618 | 8613329

My dinner dates last weekend.

Baked fish with Puttanesca Sauce

Balinese Bebek Betutu

The chef behind the menu of Roast & Ribs Mezza Buffet Dinner

Roast chicken. I didn’t get to try this but will do on my next visit.

Caramelized herbed roots vegetables

The ribs is quite tasty

My favourite dish of the lot… Skin and meat.. Yummy

A good mixture of veges to compliment the meat

More beef 😀

Choices of soup!!!

Sandwich perhaps?

Fillings for the sandwich

At the appetiser area and plenty more to choose from

The dessert corner

Ok, the final shot of the lamb… Love it..

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman Bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Of Finance II exchanging documents with Mr Qiu Jian Lin, Chairman of Hengyi Company

Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd (Hengyi) yesterday reached another milestone in its progress to develop an Integrated Oil Refinery and Aromatics plant at Pulau Muara Besar with the signing of the Implementation Agreement for this project between the Energy and Industry Department, Prime Minister’s Office (EIDPMO) as regulator, Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) as facilitator and Hengyi as project proponent respectively.

The Hengyi company Chairman, Mr Qiu Jian Lin also announced the Final Investment Decision (“FID”) for Phase 1 of this project value at USD 3.445 billion. Present as the Guest of Honour was Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman Bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Of Finance II, senior government officials and industry partners. The Implementation Agreement outlines amongst others, the execution requirements of the project including Hengyi’s obligations in terms of employment and business opportunities to the country and its people.

During the peak construction phase, 10,000 workforce is required in which no less than 5,000 job opportunities will be opened to locals. During the operation phase, Hengyi will employ 971 permanent workforce and over 75% locals during its operation. This is part of Hengyi’s commitment to support local jobs, local content and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. Further, the Implementation Agreement highlights Hengyi’s obligation on health, safety and environment (HSE) requirements for the protection of Hengyi’s employees, contractors and the community.

The Hengyi plant will process annually approximately 8 million tonnes (175,000 barrels per day) of crude and condensate and produce approximately 1.5 million tonnes of paraxylene, 500,000 tonnes of benzene as well as refined products such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. The plant will ensure Brunei Darussalam’s self-sufficiency in refined products and boost spinoffs for further high value-added downstream industries.

My thoughts: It’s good to see more Foreign Direct Investment coming in to Brunei. It’s a good sign for the country that we can have more source of revenue than relying merely on oil and gas. I believe this project has been pending for quite some time as it’s never easy to deal with multi billion project. Many talks and agreements will need to go through between the shareholders and relevant agencies to make sure it’s a win-win situation.

So this is a big milestone for Hengyi Industries in Brunei Darussalam after a long delay. I do hope all the sub contracting companies involved in this project will open doors for more employment in Brunei Darussalam. Do also watch out for Hengyi Industries website for career opportunities.

Baiduri Bank as usual carried out its initiative for this year’s ‘Earth Hour 2017 Under the Stars’ at the Royal Wharf (Waterfront) last weekend.

Baiduri Bank had a market vendor concept and also a place to dine outdoor (under the stars) starting from 4pm onwards. I was glad that the rain came earlier and the event went smoothly for the organisers and also the public who came to support the event.

The lights went off, right on the dot at 8:30pm for an hour and relied on candles that spelt ‘60+’ to signify the Earth Hour initiative.

Speaking on the importance of Earth Hour and the bank’s contribution to the global movement, Pierre Imhof, CEO of Baiduri Bank said, “As in previous years, we will yet again do what we can to contribute to this global cause. As part of our CSR initiatives, Earth Hour is one of the ways we can participate.

“Aimed at further developing our local economy, the ‘Under the Stars’ event has brought together many local Bruneian vendors under one roof.

“The event acted as a platform to engage the local community in a social environment. We hope that the initiatives we take in supporting the cause will encourage others to do the same,” he added.

Baiduri Bank has been participating in the Earth Hour campaign for the past seven years. Keep up the commitment and initiative.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam delivering the titah during Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (TAIB) 25th Anniversary celebration earlier this morning

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam attended Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (TAIB) 25th Anniversary celebration held at International Convention Centre (ICC) earlier this morning.

Also in attendance were His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Jefri Bolkiah, His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik and His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel.

The royal entourage were greeted by Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports cum Chairman of Perbadanan TAIB, Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Hj Othman and Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Paduka Seri Utama Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Hj Awang Salim bin Hj Besar, Chairman of TAIB Syariah Advisory Committee.

His Majesty the Sultan delivered a titah, lauding the achievements of TAIB for the past 25 years.

The event also saw a corporate video to mark TAIB Silver Jubilee milestone. His Majesty the Sultan then consented to present awards to long service recipients of TAIB, 17 of them, who have worked for 25 years. His Majesty the Sultan also presented awards to the top 10 finalists of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme where the top three received cash prizes – BND 5,000, BND 3,000 and BND 2,000 respectively.

His Majesty the Sultan then consented to visit TAIB Exhibition and also launched Darussalam Holdings Sdn Bhd Loyalty Programme, As-Salam. It was also a grateful moment when all the Top 10 finalists of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme shared their ideas of their business to His Majesty the Sultan.

The Royal Family in attendance

His Majesty the Sultan handing an award to Haji Osman, the Managing Director of Insurans Islam TAIB for his long service

Another recipient of long service award under TAIB

The winner of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme

The runner up of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme

The attendance in today’s milestone event

Representatives from TAIB and its subsidiaries

His Majesty the Sultan visited and toured the TAIB exhibition

His Majesty the Sultan with His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel with associates from Darussalam Holdings

His Majesty the Sultan at Insurans Islam TAIB booth

One of the recipients of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme

His Majesty the Sultan with the participants of the TAIB Entrepreneurship Programme

Representatives from TAIB

Text by Aziz Idris of Borneo Bulletin. Come one, come all to the first Bruneian-ised musical dubbed ‘After All’, featuring a double bill of two, one-hour plays: ‘Emily’ and ‘Untitled’, which will be performing by a talented local cast from Sutera Memento (@suteramemento) on Tuesday, March 28 at 2pm, at the Main Conference Hall, International Convention Centre (ICC), Berakas.

Sutera Memento is a start-up theatre company founded as part of a business incubation programme in Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

The ‘After All’ musical is also supported by local incubation student entrepreneurs and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) students, making it the first and largest local performing arts production involving local talents and UBD students.

The two original plays – collaborations between Sutera Memento and UBD AM-3402/AL-3305 Theatre Production – will be staged outside UBD for the first time to cater to the growing interest in performing arts within the sultanate.

“Sutera Memento has always been a supporter and creator of performing arts in and around UBD and with the outstanding collaboration it fulfils the dream of bringing fresh local talents to the forefront and hopefully, on a larger scale, the international arena,” chimed CEO and founder of Sutera Memento, Hajah Kartini Dewi binti Abdullah during a press conference recently.

She said that she believes that drama and theatre studies will be key in producing upcoming talents who can be scouted and polished by Sutera Memento; elevating the local performing arts scene onto the world stage.

The crew and the cast of After All with the local media during the press conference last Wednesday

Some of the casts for the upcoming play

Some of the casts for the upcoming play

‘Emily’ entails the story – with an original Bruneian twist – of an iron-willed, kebaya-clad woman of Peranakan (Babu Nyonya) descent, who will captivate audiences with her tales of joy, heartbreaks, struggles, and triumphs.

Meanwhile, ‘Untitled’ depicts multiple storylines of struggling performers living their passions “underground”, with no initial connection to one another but eventually crossing paths as their respective stories unfolded.

Low Kok Wai, a lecturer from the Drama and Theatre Studies, FASS, commented during the press conference that there are lo

t of creative talents in Brunei, especially youths who are excited and passionate about self-expression in a performative way.
“Bruneians can act and their talents are raw. They have a natural affinity towards the performing arts,” he said, adding that the performing arts field needs to have in place a dedicated space, and these hidden talents should be given proper guidance to bring the performing arts of Brunei onto the world stage.

Some 30 local talents have been involved in the production of ‘After All’, which comprises script and music lyric writing, song composition, costume designing, and stage decoration.

Good luck to all those involved in the play.

The seating arrangement at ICC

Behind the scenes for the After All

Behind the scenes for the After All

Sutera Memento presents to you: *AFTER ALL* ! 💐

A grand theatre show consists of a double bill play; Emily, a woman empowerment play and Untitled, a musical play showcasing the journey of struggling artists by students of UBD Theatre and Drama Studies and Sutera Memento!!

E-tickets are now available online or you can grab them on our open counters (Mondays to Thursdays from 11 am to 6 pm) go to:

▶️ afterall.yapsody.com
▶️ The Core Residential College, UBD
▶️ Central Lecture Theatre, UBD

*Note: THERE ARE PROMOTIONS FOR THE TICKETS TOO!*

Date: 28th March 2017
Time: 1.30PM
Location : Main Conference Hall ICC, Berakas

Please look at the Poster for more details and how to book your tickets at +673 873 8236 (Jasmine) & +673 820 1954( Danyal)

Follow @suterememento on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram for updates!

Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, Minister of Communications viewing the newly launched book titled Nubivagant which means “Wandering through clouds” and being accompanied by Muhamad Husaini Bin Aji, Acting Director of Meteorology as chairperson of the World Meteorological Day in Brunei. The launch took place yesterday at Brunei International Airport.

Nubivagant contains a compilation of photos of clouds and such in Brunei Darussalam. The book is not available just yet but it will be soon be sold at local bookstores. The estimated price is BND 38.

The Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department (BDMD), Ministry of Communications, as a member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), joins members of the specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) around the world and the meteorological communities in celebrating World Meteorological Day yesterday.

The Day is observed annually on the 23rd of March to commemorate the establishment of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on 23rd March 1950, as well as to remember the substantial contribution to the safety and well-being of society made by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services around the world, under the leadership of the WMO.

Each year, the celebration focuses on a theme of topical interest. This year’s theme, “Understanding Clouds”, highlights the vital role of clouds in regulating the Earth’s energy balance, water cycle, weather and the entire climate system. Understanding clouds is necessary in weather forecasting, modelling the impacts of future climate change, as well as predicting the availability of water resources.

To commemorate this year’s World Meteorological Day, the BDMD held a ceremony at the Arrival Hall of the Brunei International Airport. The guest of honour was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, Minister of Communications. Also present were the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Communications, Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad, Directors, Head of Departments, Deputy Head of Departments, Senior Officers from the Ministry of Communications, as well as specially invited guests.

The ceremony commenced with a welcoming speech by Yang Mulia Awang Muhamad Husaini Bin Aji, Acting Director of Meteorology as chairperson of the event. In commemorating the occasion, the Minister of Communications officiated the launching of the first coffee-table book produced by the BDMD. Titled Nubivagant which means “Wandering through clouds”, the book offers readers a unique experience in exploring and learning about the different kinds of clouds that float above the beautiful Brunei sky, and at the same time enjoying the wonderful sceneries of the Abode of Peace. Members of the public who are interested to get hold of the book may contact the BDMD for more details.

The guest of honour and invited guests later toured the World Meteorological Day 2017 exhibition that showcased educational information focussing on clouds. A collection of meteorological instruments and BDMD’s services information booth were also part of the exhibition.

Earlier in the morning, a recital of the Surah Yassin and Tahlil Ceremony was also held at the Ministry of Communications to mark World Meteorological Day 2017. Present was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, Minister of Communications, the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Communications, Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad, Directors, Head of Departments, Deputy Head of Departments as well as officers and staff of the BDMD and the Ministry of Communications.

Muhamad Husaini Bin Aji, Acting Director of Meteorology delivering his welcoming remarks

Also in attendance was Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad, the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Communications (left)

I can’t wait to get hold of the book. Pretty amazing shots by our local photographers. You will be thinking if the shots were taken in Brunei.

Abdul Malik Hj Abdul Razak, Yee Kian How and Syukri Zulkipli are some of the contributors with their cloud photos in Nubivagant

Learning more about clouds. Interesting facts about clouds. Reminds me of my days in geography class.

Yesterday Concepts Technologies organised a Distributor Bootcamp for the resellers in Brunei, with the theme to empower the partners to be more efficient in dealing with cloud. I’ve learnt something new along the way and it’s Microsoft Azure – which can be a “Platform as a Service” (Paas) or even “Infrastructure as a Service” (IaaS). The bootcamp also introduced new licensing updates on Windows Server 2016 and System Centre 2016.

The event took place at the Brilliance Hall at Concepts Computer and Afif Mohamed Ali, Country Manager of Microsoft Brunei gave his welcoming remarks to the audience to kick start the event. He took over Haniza Zakariya since August 2016 as the Country Manager of Microsoft Brunei.

Concepts Technologies emphasized that Microsoft Azure is a growing collection of integrated cloud services where developers and IT professionals build, deploy and manage applications through our global network of data centres.

Now it’s a different story. With Microsoft Azure, you can be anywhere you want., using the tools, applications, and even frameworks of your choice. It’s more like an open source technology. It’s also an ideal place for hosting and website creation. So for those who are creating websites for the end users, Microsoft Azure would be a good choice.

As a Microsoft distributor in Brunei, Concepts Technologies is paving way on the challenging their partners and resellers to invest in the open source technology, data or apps and extend it to the cloud. You will enjoy seamless hybrid cloud capabilities in Azure span infrastructure, data, user identity, apps and management.

The event is in collaboration with Microsoft Brunei and they aim to keep the momentum of conducting events like this and nurture the growth of technology in Brunei.

Representative from Concepts Technologies conducting the workshop on Microsoft Azure and licensing

The partners and resellers during the Distributor Bootcamp at Brilliance Hall, Concepts Computer

It’s contest season once again for the Brunei toastmasters and I’m excited because of the line up itself. To me, this is the real deal.. The Wrestlemania of speech contest for Brunei.

There are four participating clubs are Brunei Speakers’ Club (the mother club), OTTERS Club (Seria), Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club and UBD Toastmasters Club (UBD). Recently the three clubs held their respective club contests to determine the top two winners to represent their respective clubs.

The sole winner of Area K6 contest will then represent Brunei in the next round which will be held in Kota Kinabalu, sometime in April 2017.

Last year, the champions were Pranika Lama for International Speech and Julius Hong for Tables Topic Contest. This year, Pranika, chose not to compete while Julius is still in the running to retain the Area K6 title.

UBD contestants were dominant in last year’s contest. So let’s see we will have another representative from UBD or will we have new faces in this upcoming contest.

The Area K6 Contest will take place this Sunday, 26th April at 1:30pm at iCentre. All the best to all the contestants. I missed the cut again this time round but there’s always be a next time.

You can follow @ubd_toastmastersclub @bruneispeakersclub @otterstmc on their IG for updates.

The top 3 winners of the International Speech at UBD Toastmasters Contest. Nabil Abdul Kadir, the champion and Theressa Chong, the runner up, advanced to the Area K6 contest this Sunday.

This was the contest at the Brunei Speakers’ Club. Congratulations to all the winners and the top two will proceed to Area K6 contest

Let’s not forget the winners of OTTERS contest a few weeks ago. All of them will be contesting and vie for the champion of Area K6.

Theressa Chong. Kind and caring, Theressa is a nursing student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A spicy food aficionado and a deft badminton player, she is always full of energy. She will be directing that energy in her first Area contest with her speech entitled “Insecurities”.

Allen Ang. The cute and charismatic Allen is the reigning Toastmasters District 87 Humorous Speech Champion. His speech “Take That Shot” for the Area contest is a detour from (or a means to achieve) his true mission – the Father/Husband of the Year award. Will this be his shot for the title? We shall see.

Nabil Abdul Kadir. The golden voice Nabil surprised many with his inspirational speech. He’s currently a a student of Health Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A keen learner, he has been learning basic Mandarin on his own. We wonder if he’ll use his newfound knowledge in his speech entitled “Look At The Bright Side”.

Amran Jamaluddin. He’s been known as the Superman of Brunei toastmasters and he currently works at Butra Heidelberg Cement. He shows that an expert crane operator when seated in front of a computer can create wonders with words, with his speech entitled “The Making Of…”

Beauty and The Beast stealing the show as thousands flocked in the catch the over-hyped film. Yes, it came to that stage for a certain reason

It has been a while since I actually do a review on my blog on my movie updates and reviews. I’m still over the moon with La La Land, a movie I caught four times (3 in the cinema, 1 in Royal Brunei in-flight entertainment). This would be technically my first movie review of the year in my blog and god knows why it has to Beauty and The Beast.

Perhaps, the reason being that Beauty and The Beast has been gaining many tractions in Brunei and our neighbouring country Malaysia. Now we know how it felt when Deadpool was banned and not in Malaysia. Speaking of Deadpool, I still don’t get it why it was banned in the first place when John Wick movie (shown in February) had more extreme violent content as compared to the R-rated superhero movie.

Anyway, back to Beauty and The Beast, I quite enjoy the live-action remake to an extent. I had my expectations slightly lower because it’s never easy to pull off an already impressive animation of Beauty and The Beast.

Here are the pluses: Emma Watson shines in patches of the 2 hour film. She can pull off the looks of Belle and she’s already an icon in the Hollywood scene. The musical were impressive from start to finish. It does relive the moments of when I was a teenager. This is the perhaps the strength of the latest Disney movie.

The producer also gave much respect to the original story with some additional plot which are unnecessary. Having said that, they did, however, include elements that fill in the gaps which explained certain scenes in the original Beauty and The Beast animation. That was a nice touch and gives more closure to the audience.

The visuals were stunning, a forte expected from Disney. I love how the other supporting casts made it more memorable and not relying too much on the main characters. I was touched by the final act and it was more of a saviour than anything else. A great effort by Bill Condon the director.

We all had fun catching Beauty and The Beast yesterday. An average verdict of 7.5 from all of us. Angela loved it that she danced after the show.

What I thought was lacking: Don’t get me wrong. I’m still impressed with the Beast character but I couldn’t feel the chemistry between Belle and her boyfriend *eseeh* I just feel that something’s amiss but I don’t know what it is. Maybe Emma didn’t use to her great potential or maybe she’s not right for the role. Either one but man, she’s still a hottie (biased).

They were some pacing issues but not a big deal. I did nap for a bit in the middle. Yes, I was tired and didn’t have enough sleep. Then again, it was an after lunch movie.

Luke Evans as Gaston was good but not as great as the one in the animation. Again, I can’t help it but compare because I really love the classic animation. Oh yeah, Emma Watson is an okay singer and I wish Bill Condon would have casted a more eloquent singer with commendable acting skills. There are a few from the defunct Glee TV series that you can refer to. Okay, I wasn’t being serious but yea, Emma may have the looks but lacks in the vocal department.

Overall, I still adore the live action remake. It’s entertaining from start to finish. The casts could have done more justice but the musical scenes were the saviour to my liking. Yes, the original had a more emotional impact and I believe a few of my friends shared the same sentiments.

Verdict: 7.5/10

The scores on Rotten Tomatoes weren’t that high as compared to Cinderella (83%). The original animation of Beauty and The Beast scored a high 93%.

Amazing opening weekend for Beauty and the Beast. It even beat Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opening weekend. This movie is bound to make a few hundred millions and even break the billion mark worldwide.