Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Big Hero 6

Just saw Big Hero 6, and cried my heart out.



Surrounded by a few eight year old kids cramped in a tiny movie theater, at first the only thing I could hear was the silly chitchats whispered out from the side of my ears. Smell of popcorn and the crunch sounds of white fluff into pieces aids my way through many of trailers geared towards kids. It felt a bit weird watching trailers of movies that I have no interest in watching, since I felt the movie product will be a waste of money.

The movie set the stage in San Fransokyo, a smash between San Francisco and Tokyo, probably to accommodate the majority Japanese and American audience. It started out slow, describing an incomplete family with two genius boys. The older brother served as a role model for the younger, frustrated child prodigy. It focused on one of the things that we all fear: loss. The loss of someone whom matters the most in our lives is the most painful, and yet everyone will eventually face it one day.  The loss of a role model, and someone whom you are so endeared to for pretty much a whole life, is something quite significant. I believe the development of protagonist walking out of his loss should be elaborated to make it seem more realistic. Towards the end of the movie, the protagonist lost for the second time. This time, he was better, because he has been through losses before.

I liked the idea of having the main protagonist experience multiple traumatic events. It ballpark outlines human's psychological immune system and how strong they can be once you are exposed to an injury. Hopefully one day we expose ourselves to so many of those distressing events, that nothing will disturb our emotional states anymore.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Deco Blue Restaurant & Bar in Miami, FL

Hotel restaurants can be good, but most of the time they are not the best. I was in Miami the other day and stayed at the Marriot in South Beach. This hotel has a killing view of the ocean front, located right next to the walkable ocean lane, and steps away from some of the nicest restaurants available. Deco Blue restaurant & bar has not been highly advertised as a restaurant, rather, more of a convenient place for guests in the Marriot to stop by and dine. It is tucked away inside the hotel, and does not have an alternate entrance other than through the hotel lobby and three other sets of doors to lead.

I was lazy and wanted to try room service. I went for the churrasco steak just because I was curious about the pronunciation of the word chimichurri. After laughing and joking around with the waiter on the phone line, I was anxiously waiting for my exotic meal.



The Churrasco Steak with chimichurri (a spice) and yucca hash on their menu was absolutely delicious. It has got a mouth-watering scent to it, and definitely goes very well on any kind of meat dish. The yucca hash was good, but introduced a lot of carbs. The dish could be better if replaced with seasonal vegetables.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

New Workout Routine

I have a number of workout routines worked out on a weekly basis. I have tried hard to maintain that intense workout schedule. But weekly workouts are just too much for my brain to handle on an emotional level. I have established my new goal as losing fat while gaining minimal amount of muscle, that means a lot of cardio and very little strength. Hence my new workout routine:

- 20 minute treadmill
- 20 minute spin bike
- 4 sets 10 reps of:
     - dumbbell curls
     - reverse push downs
     - back extensions
     - squats
- 100 situps
- 20 minute swimming