ask every single couple in the street what they do over a weekend in Singapore, and you'll expect to get the same few tired answers. clubbing, eating, drinking, hotel 81 if someone gets lucky, shopping, theatre performances or movies. movies being a relatively cheap option where you can eat, drink and do a hotel 81 in the cinema itself if somebody decides to get frisky. and that's what the boyfriend and i have been doing for the past few weekends (not the hotel 81, pervs). some subway for dinner, a little bit of walking around aimlessly, a caffeine craving satiated at starbucks and then settling for the movie of the night. it's all loving, albeit boring at times. but that's love actually, in Singapore.

we're not like them ang moh countries, blessed with the four seasons and a myriad of seasonal activities. we're not romantic like Paris and all their art (our art museums close at 6pm most days) and quaint little backstreets (got prostitutes and a lot of rubbish dumps) and charming architecture (see Esplanade). we're just.... well.... Singapore lor (focuses to panoramic view of the Merlion at Sentosa). uniquely singapore. uniquely boring.

but back to movies. i think for the past 2 months, we have been to the movies on a weekly basis. almost every saturday, we find ourselves, without fail, at the ticket concessions of the Grand Cathay, pondering upon the many choices of movies to watch. and somehow or other, we tend to pick the wrong film (as evidenced by the boyfriend falling asleep halfway through several different movies). i'm quite the big sucker for arty films. those slow-moving ones that take 15 minutes to show a boy tying his shoelaces (plus you're supposed to figure out the hidden metaphor of the boy tying his shoes laces in relation to the entire movie). whereas the boyfriend doesn't mind them arty flicks but prefers hilarious, fast-paced ones. he stayed awake through the whole of Epic Movie and Borat. it feels nice though, to have someone fall asleep on your shoulder. someone you know by the way, and not some random stranger in the MRT.

it's quite a coincidence really, but out of the last 10 movies that i've watched, 8 of them were arty flicks (not in chronological order):
- Epic Movie
- Borat
- Requiem
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Notes on a Scandal
- The History Boys
- The Fountain
- Paris Je T'aime
- Half Nelson
- Fur

there are no Chinese-lanaguage or Hongkie films within the list apparently. and i have my reasons. every single cheena-piang person i know has heaps of praises for the Hong Kong mafia movie, Protege. all the relatives over the chinese new year commented about how funny Jack Neo's Just Follow Law is. but you know, all these movies are the type that are simply waiting for the DVD or VCD launch. just wait for 2-3 months and you can go to the SAME cheena-piang people who told you about these movies and just borrow it from them. in fact, they should just skip the process of screening it at the cinemas and focus on the potential of a DVD launch party. they could tie in with Poh Kim and TS and perhaps Video EZY and have a cheena-piang themed party at Dragonfly in St. James. and this should be happening for every single asian blockbuster that ever hits Singapore.

that way, perhaps Singapore would be a much more entertaining place. at least not that uniquely boring.

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