Friday, November 24, 2017

Movie Review: Disney Coco


I was lucky to win premiere tickets to Disney Coco courtesy of MyFM on 22th November 2017, so I got to watch it one day earlier than everyone else.

Steeped in Mexican culture, Disney Coco is a story which happened on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  

Aside from the main character Miguel, who is a budding/talented musician, Disney Coco has many interesting and unique characters, like Miguel's abuelita, who "runs the house like Mama Imelda" strictly without music (Miguel's deceased great-great-grandmother), Mama Coco (Miguel's great grandmother) who probably has dementia, Ernesto de la Cruz (a prominent musician/actor whose fame lasts even after death), and Hector (the forgotten soul in the Land of the Dead).

The vibrant Land of the Dead is a lively place full of colours and music. The skeletons there are unique and each have their own special characteristics. The art and music were simply fantastic, my favourite song being the one Coco's dad sang to her before he left - RecuĂ©rdame (Remember Me). 

I guess one thing Miguel realized was that his family was the one who cared about him the most, as they tried their best to save him and return him to the Land of the Living before time runs out. Sometimes we pursue certain things only to find that reality is not what we imagined it to be, but even when we are crushed, our family will still be there to support us.  

Disney Coco pulled at my not-so-Latina heartstrings and made me laugh and cry. Aside from Finding Nemo and Pokemon, no other animation movie has reduced me to a sniffling ball of hold-back tears.

Disney Coco deserves 5 stars for its wonderful storytelling, amazing visual effects and its lovely rendition of music and Mexican traditions.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Single's Day Shopping

Boy, such temptations! It seems all the sellers went crazy trying to outdo each other. I bought lots of stuff on 11.11, but surprisingly most are from local websites and only a few are from Taobao (I got the free 1kg shipping voucher, so of course I'd use it. Hehe.)

Let's see what I got:

PETRONAS Gift Card (Reloadable)
Got a RM100 gift card for RM79.21 (Lazada)
Kinda regret not getting more of this, it's so cheap! With petrol price on the rise (like every week), this is a really valuable asset. Even right now you can get it RM95 on Lazada. I told my parents I wanna buy this (for RM85 earlier), my dad initially said he didn't want it cos he's a staunch (and obstinate) supporter of Shell. And I'm like, why you don't want?!! It's saving your money! And Petronas station is like just 3km away from your house dey. So I went ahead and bought 1 RM100 for him and 2 RM50 worth of gift cards. My sister later bought another 2 RM50 gift cards. So we have RM300 worth of petrol credits for less.

8kg for RM86.77 (Lazada)
When I bought this I was so excited because it's so much cheaper than in stores. But after that (in the morning of 11.11, I saw some random aunty posted that she got it cheaper for RM9.75 per kg on Shopee) and I was mentally roasting myself when I read her post - like emotionally dead for a little while when someone tops your game score.

RM57.60 (Lazada)
At this point, my soul is a 40-year-old aunty. Please don't laugh at me.

5 box/25 pieces = RM46.50 (Lazada)
OK I was actually contemplating whether or not to buy this one, but the urge was so great. If you've used this before, you'll know it's so so so relaxing to put it on when you're sleeping. It's heaven.

Nestle had 30% off on Shopee so I bought groceries.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

2 pairs of Fipper (RM11.02 each), which is not bad at all! 
OK Ah Lan Gu, you get to pick one ok? Present for you.
There are other stuff I bought, but these are the more notable ones with huge savings. For Single's Day, I spent only RM855.36, of which only RM240.75 are spent on stuff which belongs to me. See Agnes, I'm so damn jimat. Don't say I'm shopping queen anymore ok?

And disappointingly, Taobao hasn't got much great deals cos many sellers hike up their prices and mark it as discount to make it look as if it's on sale. I can get better deals on normal days. Just that the free 1kg shipping is tempting to me, so I bought 15 pairs of socks for my dad.
___


If you like to buy stuff online, remember to sign up for cashback programs to get some money back. These are two platforms I use:

ShopbackIf you use my link to sign up, you'll get RM5 upon signing up, and another RM5 upon making your first purchase of RM25. I'll get RM5 when you make that first purchase.

MilkadealYou don't get any perks if you sign up with my link, but I'll get 5% of your purchase.


Generally, Shopback offers better incentive, but Milkadeal has a shorter payment term. The merchants are almost the same.