World's tallest tower opens in Tokyo

The World's tallest tower ,the Tokyo Skytree openend to the public yesterday with tens of thousand of visitors flocking on the city's newest attraction .

Despite rainy weather,residents and tourist gathered around the same day.

It is the world's second tallest man-made structure ,topped only by the 828 metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Japan's hard-hit tourism sector is hoping the tower will boost the number of visitor from abroad after figures plummeted in the wake of Japan's quake-tsunami disaster last year.

The disaster ,which sparked the worst nuclear crisis in  a generation .saw nthe number of visitors of Japan fall 27.8% from the previous year to 6.22 million.-AFP

Usain Bolt test drives Ferraris on F1 team's track

FIORANO, Italy (AP): The fastest man in the world has taken a break from training to test drive some of the world's fastest cars.
Usain Bolt took a few spins behind the wheel of two different Ferraris - a 458 Italia and a 599 GTB Fiorano - at the Formula One team's private track Monday.
The event was arranged by Puma, Bolt's top sponsor and one of Ferrari's suppliers. Bolt says "I thought I was fast, but these incredible cars give the word 'fast' a new meaning."
Bolt is back training after missing the end of the outdoor season in Europe with back problems. He is hoping to defend his 100- and 200-meter titles at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.
Bolt won three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in world-record times.

Shanghai apartment block fire kills 42 -- Xinhua

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - At least 42 people died and more than 50 were injured when fire swept through a central Shanghai apartment block on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The blaze broke out in a 28-storey building in the Jing'an district that was being renovated and spread quickly to the upper floors, Xinhua said.

Firemen search for survivors at a burning building in Shanghai, November 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

Firefighters trying to tackle the flames had to set up hoses on top of a nearby building to get near the blaze and brought it under control after about four hours.
More than 50 people injured by the fire were taken to a nearby hospital, and firefighters were searching the building for bodies and survivors, Xinhua quoted the municipal authorities as saying.
At the height of the blaze, helicopters tried to rescue people trapped on the roof of the building, many of whose residents were teachers at nearby schools and pensioners.
Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu was on his way to Shanghai to direct the rescue work.
The cause of the fire was unknown, but a witness said he saw construction materials burning before the fire climbed up the scaffolding and quickly spread, Xinhua reported.
(Editing by Tim Pearce in London)
Copyright © 2010 Reuters

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Reviews

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Clemence Poesy, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton, Bill Nighy, Jason Isaacs, Bonnie Wright, John Hurt, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Ciaran Hinds

Finally Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows is here and if this Part 1 is anything to go by, Part 2 is going to be superb. The only drawback is that we'll have to wait almost a year to catch the end to the Harry Potter saga.
The movie begins with the warning, “These are dark times” and that basically describes the entire movie. Gone are the sometimes funny one-liners or the simple trips to the Leaky Cauldron for a pint of Butterbeer.
In this part one of the seventh book, Harry, Ron and Hermione are no longer under the protective arms of Hogwarts and its wizards, in fact, they are left to fend for their own as they scour the country for the horcruxes that will presumably spell the end of Lord Voldemort and his gang of merry men, who are now in charge of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts.
As Lord Voldemort nears the height of his power, Harry is left to wonder if his safety is worth the lives of his friends. “It's bigger than you, Harry,” Ron tells him assuring Harry that what the rest are fighting for is the safety of all human and wizard kind.

Woman Power: Fear not, I am here!

As with all the other Harry Potter movies, Deathly Hallows is full of magic, action and special effects, but unlike the other movies, this one focuses on the characters – in fact this movie has more dialogue and character build-up than the last six put together.
Kudos goes to the main actors but especially to Emma Watson whose character, Hermione, has a much bigger role. In Deathly Hallows we see the power she wields not only with her wand but the power she has on Ron, who although he loves her, is too afraid to say anything.
Unfortunately a draw back with the movie is that there are certain parts that were not properly explained. And if you're not a fan or if you've not picked up the books, you'll be left scratching your head as to why in the beginning of the movie, Hermione erases herself from her parent's memory or why on earth in the middle of the movie we see an entire neighbourhood obliterated.
This movie is understandably long but if you're a fan, which I certainly am, it will go by with a blink of an eye and at the end of the movie, you're left going “WHAT?! No. No. No. You can't end it there!”
Oh well, another 242 days to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 ...

Valentine's Day Reviews

Cast: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts
Running Time: 125 minutes
Reviewer: Tracie Yeo

Valentines Day was, I suppose, the American version of 'Love Actually' – but it lacked the lovable charm their British counterpart had. I felt no connection to any of the characters, and wasn't even concerned about what would happen to them in the end. In fact, if not reminded, I may have even forgotten some of the characters in the show. The show wasn't unpleasant per say, but it wasn't memorable in any way. The main thing that kept me watching - was the group of really, really pretty people on screen.

The show revolved around the lives of the many, many interconnected characters on Valentines day. The main story follows florist Reed Bennet,(Ashton Kutcher) as he runs around being exceedingly enthusiastic about romance on the most romantic day of the year. Then there was his fiance Jessica Alba, his best friends Jennifer Garner and Mario Lopez. And then, there was Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Julia Roberts, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway and Bradley Cooper. The Taylors (Lautner and Swift) were there, but for what reason I do not know. Oh, Mc Steamy and Mc Dreamy of Greys Anatomy were present too. It was hard to keep track who was who, and what was going on where, when there are too many stories to follow.

There were several funny parts and laugh-out-loud scenes. I especially enjoyed watching Anne Hathaway's character, who moonlights as phone sex operator. However, I did feel it was incredibly odd that they made the show to be about Valentines day, seeing most parts of the show was about heartbroken people and people breaking up. In fact, I didn’t find a single part of the show to be romantic.

Anyway, I think the show is worth a watch if just for the cute people.

Sex and the City 2 Reviews

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall Running Time: 146 minutes Reviewer: Gayathri Nair

First of all, writing a review for any type of movie may not be as easy as some people think. There are movies that get bad reviews, and then there are those that get good reviews.

Writing a good or bad review for a movie however, is a whole lot easier to do compared to writing a review for a movie that is so bad, it stinks from beginning to end. Try as you may to look at it from as many different angles and perspective as you can, I'm afraid this one has fail written all over it.

Even if a reviewer tries to look for the tiniest glimmer of hope, skimming through the entire flick to find just a small loop to shine some positivity into the show, but alas, Sex and the City 2, brings absolutely no hope to its mind numbingly ridiculous plot, story line, direction, script...yada yada yada... and is just simply hopeless and disgraceful from beginning to end. And let me tell you, I'm still being kind here.

The sequel follows the four girls coming together for a trip to the middle east on a budget from one of Samantha's (Kim Cattrall) prospective clients. So they pack their suitcaseS and hop onto a first class flight to their destination.

The movie flows exactly like how the TV series does, there's no beginning, middle or end. There's no plot, no angle, no story line … wait, tell me again what the reason for making a sequel was? The first movie I get, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) got married to her on-and-off lover, Big (Chris North). But seriously, what decided the sequel? Maybe Stanford (Willie Garson) and Anthony's (Mario Cantone) wedding was somewhat of a reason? Oh, come on that wasn't a spoiler...it was in the opening of the movie itself!

The good thing about the movie is that Carrie Bradshaw walked out of the set of Sex and the City the series, onto Sex and the City the movie, the bad news is that Carrie Bradshaw walked out of the set of Sex and the City the series and onto Sex and the City the movie! She's not changed one bit. She's still the self-centered, longing to be younger than her real age, mid-life crisis, childish, whiny pot she's always been.

And her friends, oh god her friends! Samantha's still a sl*t with absolutely no shame or self respect, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is still trying to be the perfect wife and homemaker, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) still has complete control in their marriage yet she whines about men and woman not having equal rights and double standards and what not.

Never mind that instead of single ladies they're now all married and dealing with struggles of being 'plus ones' to their other halves...(except Samantha of course), bottom line is they still haven't changed all that much since their 'Sex and the City series' days.

Why not just glue a couple of episodes from the TV series together and then add some predictable sequences from your imagination and make a movie of your own instead of waiting for it to hit the big screen?

Sex and the City 2 was an insult to all it's die hard fans since its TV series days. Fans who waited adoringly for each episode weekly and for the beginning of a new season each time, I'm sure have turned their heads the other way shamelessly with sighs of disappointment after the release of this movie.

If I hear rumors about a third installment, I'm pretty sure the directors are just out there to get me or to taunt me on this review. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope they stop and not release another Sex and the City movie. And even if they did make a 3rd movie, I'm afraid no amount of make-up can cover up that much wrinkles on all the women. Oh yes, I said it.

Heavy rain causes havoc in KL

PETALING JAYA: Heavy rain caused some flooding and massive congestion on most major roads in Kuala Lumpur from 4pm yesterday.
According to Twitter updates from RapidKL (twitter.com/MyRapidKL), there was a service disruption at the Kelana Jaya line.
The latest update at press time was: “Trains still moving on manual mode, delays expected. Full recovery in progress.”
Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) Group Communications general manager Ebi Azly Abdullah said the service disruption was caused by a 4.30pm technical problem.
“The trains are being run manually and we are looking into the cause of the problem.”
Roads that experienced heavy traffic included Jalan Kuching, Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Duta and parts of the Federal Highway including the stretch between Angkasapuri and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) and from Petaling Jaya to the city centre.
Water levels remained at a safe level in the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) and vehicles were allowed to use it at 5.30pm.
An accident involving a stalled bus along Jalan Kuching slowed down traffic from 4pm to about 5.30pm.The Twitter community was also abuzz with reports of flooding at the old Subang airport road and the LDP, causing a near standstill as only one lane was passable on both roads.