Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Based on a book by JK Rowling
Stars : Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

I watched this movie on Sunday 26th July 2009 at the Golden Village, Plaza Singapura (2pm slot). I've read all the books and watched all the movies so far. And my verdict for this movie is... the movie's just ok but if you've only watched the movie without reading the book, you would have missed a lot of important details in the story.It's no secret that Dumbledore will die in this episode but don't worry folks, his character will still be around. That's because you'll still get to see him as his ghost and some flashbacks from his past life in the final installment of the series According to the entertainment news, the final book, "The Deathly Hallows" will be shown as two movies. Oh no...it is ever going to end?

For those of you who remembered, the young Tom Riddle a.k.a Voldemort from episode two was played by some red headed guy. In the Half Blood Prince, the young Tom Riddle has a totally different face and black hair. Check him out and those side partings. He looks a bit like Justin Long. (Ha! Ha!)

You will not get to see the Dursleys and Dobby in this movie although they are definitely mentioned in the book. I can't remember if Madeyed Moody was there at all. And even Dumbledore's funeral was omitted from the movie. Yeah, yeah...but nevertheless, the whole movie was still very long. It lasted for nearly three hours or thereabouts. Perhaps they couldn't put too many details in this movie because the book is too thick for that.

If you've already watched the first five movies, you might as well watch the rest of it. Don't forget to read the books as well! My overall rating for this movie is 3 out of 5 stars.

The day the Liverpool FC players came to Novena Square.

It was shortly after 2pm when I noticed that the office seemed somewhat deserted. Lots of people were not at their desks and it was already 30mins past lunch hour. Ah, I suspected it was because the Liverpool FC players were in town and they were right here at The Velocity, which was just below our tower. Then I heard a couple of girls giggling excitedly as they headed toward the lift. I knew where they were heading. Without thinking, I followed them into the lift. As they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

In the lift, we met somebody from the HR department. "Hem-em, where are you going?" she asked cheekily.
"Where are YOU going ? " Chirped my colleague in a playful way.
"To the ATM machine."
"Yeah, right. And we're crossing over to Tower A. Haha."
The lift stopped on the 15th floor and in walked in another staff armed with a camera. More joined us as the lift headed down. Ok, so we know that half the company could be out there looking for their football idols right now.

The crowd at Velocity was huge. So many Liverpool fans were out there wearing their jerseys and caps. Students, mostly from the nearby St Michael's School, were distributing foolscap papers among their classmates as they prepared to get autographs. It was all pretty exciting. I've never been a football fan and I know nothing about the game except that we see many guys chasing a small ball around a field. Heh heh!

"Torres!" yelled a fan who was sitting on his friend's shoulder to get a view. Lucky him. He was probably getting the best view up there. I could see nothing from where I was except for the many heads and bodies surrounding us and none of them belonged to the Liverpool players at all. I tried standing on tip toe and peering from behind shoulders but it was no use. Me and my colleague tried to worm our way through the crowd but it was difficult. There were so many fans out there and the stage was completely blocked by the throngs of people surrounding the area . The angle of the building and the limited standing space made it difficult to see anything at all. Sigh. I was never going to get a glimpse of them.

I glanced at my watch and decided to give up. Oh well, there was work to do. However, I did learn a name of one of the Liverpool players though.. My colleagues have been raving over how handsome Fernando Torres is. He's the guy with the blond hair and I've yet to take a good look at him. I'd probably have to pay more attention to the news tonight and look up his picture on the net. Haha! Well, the upcoming football match between Singapore and Liverpool will be a most watched event. Will Singaporeans support Liverpool or our home team? Now that's a tough one. Hahaha! As for me, nah…I don't understand football. I'd rather be catching up with my 'zzz's. (snore….)

Sorry folks. I have no photos to share of this event.