OISHI Green Tea Launch

Some pretty and dainty dark cherry red blossoms I saw in Botanic Gardens

Finally have some time to sit down and edit the photos I took of the OISHI Green Tea Launch on 12th March.

In a way, you could say it's a pretty last minute decision on my part to take up the task of featuring this tea launch because I was debating internally whether I should take leave from my day job or not. In the end, this opportunity to be at an official product launch as a media identity won because well one, I needed the experience because truth to be told, I had never been in a position of a media identity before, at least those with proper RSVP media invites that is. And two, hey, you know I can never say no to tea.

Botanic Gardens eh, how long since I've been there? 2004 or something like that? Or did I visit here again for a friend's wedding in 2008 or 2009? Memories are pretty fuzzy but you get the drift, it's been years since I've been to Botanic Gardens.

And hence, my first time alighting at Botanic Gardens station (CC19). Which, turned out to be a very wrong move because my face almost turned blue when I realised that I am all the way at the other end of the stated venue - Botany Centre (Tanglin entrance) for the shuttle to Villa Halia. 1.2km walk to Botany Centre and I almost got lost at the Jacob Ballas Visitor Centre (it's like the mid-point of Botanic Gardens). I must really thank the counter staff at Jacob Ballas Visitor Centre for pointing out the right direction to a geographically challenged person like myself.

Thank the stars I wasn't too late for the shuttle (5 minutes late actually, but thank goodness the shuttle was 10 minutes late too) and it was only until the shuttle dropped us off at Villa Halia which I realised how awfully blur I was.

In my state of panic then, I did not notice that Halia Restaurant/Villa Halia was right in front of me when I took the left fork of the road to Botany Centre. Which meant that, I could have jolly well reached the venue without having to rush my life for the shuttle.

But well, there's always a first for everything. At least now I know which are the landmarks to take note off in Botanic Gardens should there be other media launches or events held here in the future.

Received my media tag from the very helpful staffs at the reception!

Distinguished guests and media all gathered at the dining area

The calligraphy booth at the corner of the dining area

Sample choices of colours and three Japanese basic forms

Upon being ushered into the main event area, I was given an official media tag, whose customized lanyard I like very much because of how aptly designed it was to the event theme.

Being encouraged to explore by the very friendly staffs at the reception booth, the first thing I was looking for was the calligraphy booth, as it was one of the two featured fringe items for this event.

Both calligraphers were very pretty and friendly Japanese ladies. I particularly like the lady dressed in lavender as her sharp tapered outfit decked out with trad Japanese flowers reminds me of that worn by ninjas, which is pretty cool.

Visitors get to choose to have their names written in Hiiragana, Katakana or Kanji. I wrote mine down in Katakana and the lady in lavender was pretty surprised, as most of the visitors she attended to had to have their names translated into the Japanese language. Mine was already given to me by Kubo Sensei a long time ago while I was still back in our Japanese Cultural group in poly hehe. It was only until when I met Hibi Sensei that my Hiiragana translated name was translated into Katakana (because my name is considered as a "foreign name" and anything "foreign" is traditionally translated into Katakana in the Japanese language).

We had myriad colours to choose from for our names to be written in. Wanted to pick purple but red seems more striking for calligraphy (like the 朱砂 in traditional Chinese calligraphy and watercolours). Her other colleague who wrote my name in calligraphy style did it really skilfully and she was very happy when I complimented her for it. Although it came in a dainty red envelope to match, but I felt that keeping it in seems like a pity since it was written so well. Now, it's a permanent fixture in my room as a result hehe.

Graced by many acclaimed media!

An energetic and vibrant Taiko performance!

The emcee for the day!

Speech by GOH

An trad opening ceremony with sake barrel breaking!

All media and attendees were treated to a splendidly energetic Taiko performance next - as mentioned, the 2nd fringe event highlight for the day. Personally, I like the Taiko performance very much, or maybe that's the Japanophile in me speaking haha!

The opening ceremony after was the breaking of a sake barrel with trad wooden mallets for good luck and success. It was an interesting experience for me because this is my first time seeing a sake barrel being broken open in this way and the symbolism of doing so.

The spread outside the dining area!

Dainty spoonfuls of deviled eggs with salsa mix and dressing

Mussels in tart crust

Goma rice cakes, assorted sushi and maki rolls and salmon sashimi

Chawanmushi in salsa mix and dressing

My pick of the mains!

The dessert section in the dining area

Matcha Opera

Milk Pudding with Azuki Beans

Handmade Dark Choco dusted with Cocoa Powder

Lemon Meringue Tarts

The featured drinks of the day!

I believe everyone is pretty curious of the buffet spread prepared for the guests, so let's have a look shall we?

The mains are mostly laid outside - dainty spoonfuls of deviled eggs in salsa mix and dressing, which are pretty delish. The mussels in tart crust is something pretty new for me and I like it because well, mussels lover here hehe! The crispy Goma Ricecakes goes down surprisingly well with one of the two featured drinks - the Genmaicha version of the Jasmine Green Tea. Probably because of the Genmaicha that's why, that brown rice and rice combination.

For the chawanmushi, the presentation was interesting but I think could use more salt to bring out the taste better.

Being a person with a sweet tooth, the desserts were a delight. Amongst everything listed above, my personal faves includes the Matcha Opera, Milk Pudding with Azuki Beans (seriously can't get enough of those haha!) and the Lemon Meringue Tart (anything with lemon or yuzu, that sourish tang is addictive haha!).

The handmade dark choco has an interesting texture with the cocoa powder sprinkled on it and that slight bitterness offset with the light-tasting Jasmine Green Tea perfectly hehe!

Like her outfit!

The ladies attending to us for this event was decked out in matching emerald and forest green yukatas with subtle green tea leaves print. I found this lady here particularly striking and photogenic, which was why I requested for a photo of her (I was quite embarassed myself actually because I was wondering if my photo request would sound weird or something).

Thank you so much for being so sporting!

Goodie bags lined by the door!

Guess what's in this customized wooden box???

Which I cracked the side lid by accident, oh dear

Yummy tea and a ceramic fortune kitty!!! SO CUTE!!!

And a pop-up card too hehe

Free chopsticks set anyone???

The goodie bag I brought away from the event was a surprisingly heavy customized wooden box (probably of MDF wood make). Which, I had the misfortune of splitting the side lid because it flopped off the chair of my usual bread fix shop, where I went to for some tea and warm bread after the event.

Asked Hubs if it can be fix (because honestly I was quite sad of the box's predicament). He took a close look at it and told me that it should be as good as new once we patch it up with some white glue, and well, probably a good idea too to give it a wood colour makeover with some lacquer.

And thank goodness the cute ceramic Maneki Neko (aka "Fortune Cat or Fortune Kitty") didn't get smashed into smithreens because the outer layer of the box absorbed most of the impact (hence the split side lid ugh).

There's two bottles of the featured drinks inside the box! Good things must share so I'll probably drop them off in our office fridge hehe.

To add on to the box of goodies, there's a box of customized chopsticks too with the trad Japanese symbols the sakura, the crane, the iris (?), the dragonfly and the flounder imprinted on them.

I remembered seeing cups of neatly and delicately folded cranes on each table in the dining area. And of course, they are for the guests to bring away for good luck. I took one too and I look forward to the next launch haha!

Gold Kili Matcha Latte

Boring title, but at least I got my main topic across.

But before that, I've been sun and wind drying mandarin oranges all week and I've friends asking, albeit with curiousity, why do I make dried mandarin orange peels.

And of all times of the year, now.

Let's see, the sweltering sun and the consistent sea and land breezes now make the perfect weather condition for making dried mandarin orange peels. Like I've mentioned, sun and wind drying, where the fragrance of the mandarin orange gets locked in effectively and yes, my my, they smell really lovely now with their own zesty scent immersed fully with the essence of the sun.

Orange or Mandarin Orange peels are a common sight at trad medicinal halls because they're believed to contain really useful and effective medicinal qualities ("橙皮" anyone?). Not only do they add a tangy dash of flavour to trad Chinese desserts like the red bean soup, they make a tasty snack on their own as well.

Before I left my house yesterday early afternoon, I had put out two more Mandarin Orange skin to dry (it's somewhat my own family's trait of peeling them into the shape of, ahem, "Patrick the Starfish" ha) and as you can see here, just merely one day had passed and they're dried almost to perfection. I feel a sense of accomplishment here, thanks to the weather conditions which we don't love as much, but is an absolute god-send to sun-dried natural ingredients.

We speak of fruits and that, makes me think of Miyazaki (宮崎県), famous for their signature tropical mangoes. At least that's what I heard from the representative of Miyazaki prefecture yesterday during our お喋り会 (to make a loose translation, "conversation/cultural exchange session"). I'm never exactly a hardcore fan of this juicy orangey fruit because it makes me feel really "heaty" even after having some of it, although admittedly, its goopy sweet goodness is very addictive.

I really appreciate this opportunity my school extended to me and my fellows, where so far we've had sessions with representatives from Sakai (Osaka City), Kagoshima Prefecture and Tokyo. If not for our school's first time partnership with CLAIR (The Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, Singapore), we wouldn't have been able to have such an enjoyable session with Usa-san - representative of Miyazaki Prefecture and Nori-san - representative of Niigata Prefecture (新潟県). I believe those two are somewhat good friends as Nori-san kept like jabbing Usa-san, in a way where he kept emphasizing that her name's U.S.A (stands for "United States of America" too, if you get my drift).

I really like the both of them, as they were not only very friendly and open, they showed genuine interest and inquisitiveness when the 9 of us were trying our best to relate our experiences in Japan and our hobbies and ourselves as a whole in as much as our Japanese language knowledge and training could allow. They were very patient to guide us and tried their best to satisfy our curiousity about the prefectures they represent. while at the same time trying to make sense of our English (because most of us ended up lapsing back into using English to converse as we weren't exactly very sure yet of expressions in the Japanese language).

I like the part where Nori-san was explaining to us the phenomenon of snow monkeys immersing themselves into the onsens in Niigata prefecture. The way he expressed the snow monkeys seeking the comfort of heat in the onsens due to the icy cold conditions was really animated and funny.

Nori-san and Usa-san are going back to their prefectures soon, as CLAIR is somewhat like, as Nori-san had tried his utmost best to explain to us, an extension of the Japan Tourism Board of sorts in Singapore, where representatives from all prefectures were sent by their respective governors to Singapore to promote their prefectures and their term in Singapore is quite a substantial long period before they have to go back to switch with another representative. It's kinda like shift work, if you ask me.

It's a pity that I didn't get to hear more from the representatives about themselves and the prefectures they are promoting (what we got to know from them was actually quite surface, in my opinion), mainly because I guess there's 9 of us this time and this 2 hour session is like not exactly enough, in a sense whereby everyone of us are very eager to share and express our thoughts and experiences, which kinda resulted in the representatives not having enough time to share and impart more.

Nori-san, Usa-san, please take care and have a safe journey home as we all really enjoyed your company! Usa-san, congratulations on your son and we hope to see him soon! ざひまたシンガポールへ来てください！

Jade Sis had to get some home essentials at Suntec Giant after that, where while I was just wandering around waiting for her, I happened to chance upon this suspicious-looking pack of Matcha Latte by Gold Kili.

"Suspicious" because it's instant. And all instant stuffs have the very high tendency of tasting horrible.

I have had the Matcha Latte at MOS Burgers once out of curiousity and to me, it tasted weird. Which eventually I concluded that it didn't suit my tastebuds.

Now, Gold Kili's Jasmine Green Tea was nothing to be sneezed at. My good friend Sam gave me a pack and up till now I'm still inhaling on it. So yes, it's good stuff, as I've mentioned above. And due to this good impression, I was a little hesitant on whether I should give this instant Matcha Latte a shot. I mean, this is not a tea bag after all but a kinda three-in-one mix like Milo.

And it's $6.50 for 15 long sachets, which somehow turned out to be $5.95. Giant is sure a supermarket of discount surprises ha.

To be honest, I got a little worried when I stared at the seemingly harmless green powder at the bottom of my Nescafe red ceramic cup this morning because I didn't smell any fragrance at all. I mean, there should be at least a bit of fragrance for tea ya as it's their signature trait?

I was prepared for the worst when lo and behold, the fragrance which assailed my nostrils was like a resounding, "Hello, I'm here!" greeting when I poured in hot water to the powder. 3 parts hot water and 1 part warm water later, I was ready to taste this light olivine green brew, whose colour looked pretty soothing and pleasant.

The first sip, the distinct taste of matcha danced along my tastebuds and soon after, permeated my entire being. The milk, which I had feared would be an over-powering factor, didn't turn out as scary as I've thought. It's creamy, no doubt about that, but turns out to be quite balanced and not cloying. There was no unpleasant after-taste or whatsoever afterwards, as the brew is as light as the matcha implied.

The only downside though, is it does make you feel abit dry after you finish it to the last drop. Might need to get a cup of preferably, warm water to wash it down afterwards.

I would say that this Gold Kili Matcha Latte suits individuals with the taste range of light to medium. And as Matcha could be quite an acquired taste to some, it can be quite adventurous to try this out I should say.

Speaking of adventurous, earlier in the week, I spotted a pack of instant Bundung in our office pantry stash. Had been contemplating to try it, if not for the fact that I'm not exactly a fan of that rose syrup and condensed milk concoction.

Teas and Cakes

Or at least these are the top two essentials on my personal list of "Favourites".

I had not heard of "Swee Heng" until I saw one of my friends from my FB list post up photos of their delectable looking rainbow cake (rainbow cake fan here so). That, and she first chanced upon the rainbow cake being featured on this article which basically lists out the cheap food in Singapore which you can get with just S$2.

Honestly, rainbow cake for just S$2? Are you kidding me? The one above which I got from Dean & DeLuca (Orchard Central and also through a friend's recommendation too) is about S$6 - S$7? Nicely layered and each layer have their own unique taste (the ocean blue layer was bleh though). The cake could do with less cream though, because I ended up scraping off all of the top layer (the table next to me, comprising of three very chic-looking girls, all followed suit to their order of rainbow cake, scraping off the scarily thick top layer of cream like I did with the butter knife we were all provided with).

And I think NOM cafe (also via ANOTHER friend's recommendation, yes, I know, I have quite a number of food connoisseurs on my list ha) also offers rainbow cake in chocolate and sea salt caramel coatings as well? I noticed that it's a common sight that most of their customers who post up on Instagram the rainbow cake variants with these two coatings, could hardly finish them in the end.

Personally, when I was there, I noticed they had another variant which was just plain rainbow cake with a chocolate sponge cake layer, asides from the other two formidable looking ones (the size of the plain variant was like, Goliath verses the Giants sorta comparison). I didn't order the plain one when I was there because I wanted to try out their main dishes on my first visit. Will give it a shot when I'm there the next time, but that what I should so affectionately term as, the "original flavoured" rainbow cake also cost around S$5 or so per slice?

According to Swee Heng's official site, they don't have any branches in Central yet, but I managed to sift out two areas (most of their branches are like situated in the West) which are relatively easier for me in terms of transportation - Boon Keng and Potong Pasir.

Amongst the two, I picked Boon Keng because I figured I might not get too lost for this location (considering the advised directions indicate that it's pretty near to Boon Keng MRT station). Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm speaking from the point of view of a person who is consistently geographically challenged (in other words, don't trust me with a map, if you get my drift).

I don't often go around exploring Boon Keng (although the other cafe which I want to try out - Bloomsbury Bakers is just around the area), however, as I remembered quite clearly that this Boon Keng branch is "along Bendemeer Road", I decided to just take a leap of faith and allowed my feet to lead me to the Bendemeer Road exit (Exit B).

Lo and behold, the first thing I caught sight of was the bakery. Hubs was like, "You didn't get lost did you?" when I called him afterwards.

Nope, I didn't. It was by pure luck that I got the direction right the first time (now I know how to get there, YAY!!!).

It's along a stretch of neighbourhood stalls, mini foodcourts (there's a stall selling handmade Nonya sweetmeats made on-the-spot) and I think there's a UOB branch there too?

Another thing I noted was that the shops here have all put on their Chinese New Year best. Whoever wanna get angbaos ("red packets" which are traditionally given by elders to the young ones for good luck in the new year) and decorations with the new sheep designs, you can pop over to pick them up when you're free. S$2 for 3 packets of angbaos and 80 cents for 1 packet anyone???

The first thing in the bakery which caught my attention was their cake display. Amongst the Tiramisu and what nots, they only had two small blocks of rainbow cake left. Like, really? It was only 1pm plus and there's only TWO left???

Apparently, the article wasn't kidding when they stated that the rainbow cake could be purchased at around S$2. Well, it was S$3, at least that's the price displayed when I saw it.

I had to be quick to grab one of the remaining two, in case anyone else comes along to snap both up. That and I snuck an equally quick shot of the bakery afterwards (was a bit "paiseh" aka "embarassed" when the three lady assistants were like looking suspiciously at my direction), so that whoever else here wanna grab some good cakes and breads, you know where to find the place.

The rainbow cake didn't come in anything remotely fancy, even Swee Heng's plastic bag looked rather humble and traditionally designed.

Open the unassuming plastic cover and one can't help but take a closer look at the even layers in the colours of a pastel rainbow, with thin layers of plain white cream sandwiched between each colour (the purple layer right at the bottom is the thinnest). Even the topmost chocolate layer imprinted with the subtle waves was comfortably thin as well.

Taste-wise? Let's just say I felt like running into the sunset with tears streaming out from my eyes...

I'm kidding.

However, that description might just be very close to how I felt about the taste.

It.is.AWESOME.

Traditional cake lovers, you will die for the taste of this seemingly big portion (the square ain't very small in the first place) of a rainbow cake. The sponge layers are soft and fluffy, buttery with the right amount, though each layer tastes the same. The thin layer of bittersweet chocolate balances out the whole cake, along with the white cream layers which are just mildly sweetened.

It tastes just like the trad cakes I like to buy from my old neighbourhood whenever I pop by there to "visit" my doctor (my family doc's clinic's just right next to it). I thought I would never find such taste anywhere again, until well, Swee Heng just nails it.

I think I might just pick one up for my friend (the one who recommended me NOM cafe) when I visit her at the airport (her workplace heh) the next time.

So while I was happily nomming on Swee Heng's deliciously awesome rainbow cake, I just had to make myself a cup of the new tea I had acquired just recently.

Remember I mentioned in one of my previous posts to guess the next tea I would be featuring?

Ta-da! Unveiling the "Azteca d-Oro" from Gryphon! I got to know of it through the small tiny brochure introducing their selected range of Rooibos which came with my first box of Gryphon tea - "Pearl of the Orient".

Speaking of which, I was never a lover of Gryphon's range of teas until a friend introduced me to her personal favourite - the delightfully sweet "Pearl of the Orient" (Jasmine Pearl Green Tea with Moroccan Rose Oil). Subsequently, I bought another Gryphon blend - the rather strange but pleasant tasting "Nymph of the Nile" (Organic White Peony Tea with Persian Rose and Egyptian Basil). My friend, on the other hand, didn't like this blend and calls it more to be an "acquired taste".

While both the "Pearl of the Orient" and "Nymph of the Nile" could be found at Cold Storage and selected Fairprice Finest branches, this "Azteca d-Oro" could only be found at Kovan's Fairprice Finest (just when I was tempted to get my friend to order it straight from Gryphon's official site).

"Azteca d-Oro" -  a mixture of Rooibos with Madagascan Cacao and Caramel, where this honey-gold elixir of a tea tastes just like the light but delicious Halpea brand of tea one of my friends gave to me (apparently, his colleague brought it back from his India trip and had it put in the office without anyone touching it for a long time after that), but with a strong and earthy spiced chocolate and caramel hint to it.

And if you're wondering about the cup, yes, I got it from my neighbourhood's Japan Home for S$5.90. There were two patterns for this tall off-white ceramic cup - sketched dark navy blue strips emblazoned with a ship's helm in the same colour and sketched salmon pink strips with the romanticism of Paris.

Needless to say, I picked the less gaudy dark navy blue one. That, and I like pirates. Arr-matey! HA!

I bought a new cup because the ceramic mugs at home are either dark navy blue or bright mandarin orange on their insides, which makes it difficult for me to illustrate properly the colours of the teas I'm reviewing.

This new tall ceramic cup is not only off-white on the inside (easier to see the tea colours), but also comes along with a dainty spoon and a wooden cup cover.

Aight, I guess I'll stop here for tonight. Event tomorrow! Need to rise and shine early!

Ciao peeps! Good night and next time! HA!

Scents and the "Seventh Son"

We never have had the habit of putting scents in our car, except for once, where we bought some lavender scented one for its curiously designed bottle (designers by training, so).

So it kinda came as a pleasant surprise for me when one of our close friends bought a Yankee Candle's Car Jar - Balsam and Cedar for us. Although, we joked at first on whether it was because she found our car needed something to smell nice, since it is a fact that we are rather, ahem, tardy on the interior maintenance of our car.

To be honest, I am never a fan of scents and perfumes. Although yes, I did put on Davidoff's Cool Water for a time (because that's the only one from duty-free shops which doesn't smell like, literally, a walking toilet), until my skin got a little bit too sensitive for it. Hubs ain't a fan of typical cologne either because, yes, "walking toilet". And that malodorous odour of cologne mixed with sweat? Ugh, just ugh.

But, close friends being close friends and being one of those who know me well, she knows I'm not into strong scents. Not to mention, she uses this Balsam and Cedar scent mix in her own car as well. The woody smell is calming and pleasing to the olfactory. Unlike the usual scents I come across in scented candles and oils, which have the tendency of stinging and burning at first whiff, this unpretentious emerald mixture gives one the feeling of walking through a tranquil forest at the break of dawn, where the dew hangs heavy in the morning air intertwined with the humble scent of fresh earth.

And according to her, she bought this Yankee Candle Car Jar from a pop-up booth at NEX's Isetan during Christmas, so you know, I thought after Christmas, we can't really find them elsewhere anymore. Just like those pop-up tea booths at Takashimaya B2 during Christmas the year before.

But, how wrong I was and much to my delight when I discovered the small and cosy Yankee Candle shop at Novena Square. Our Balsam and Cedar was shrinking significantly and I thought, maybe it's about time we get a new car jar.

Alas, they didn't have Balsam and Cedar in the car jar version anymore (what I saw was the cardboard and the other round version emblazoned with a bright siam red bird). The very nice shop assistant, sensing my dilemma, took out testers from the two other scents - Vanilla Cupcake and Sun and Sand and asked if I would like to try out either of these two instead.

Initially, I wasn't very keen on the other scents because my friend had told me they were "too sweet" for her. However, after taking a whiff of the Vanilla Cupcake scent, I was agreeable with it because it smells like a well-balanced mixture of my two faves - Butterscotch and Vanilla Ceylon. The jolly shop assistant was quite amused when I told her what it smelt like to me.

Sun and Sand was not really up my alley because it reminds me of those superbly sterilized and tropical scented hotel toilets (and even so, I don't want my car to smell like a toilet so no).

This Vanilla Cupcake car jar is priced at S$9,90 and according to their website, their car jars have a "fragrance life of up to 4 weeks". They have other scents in other equally unique and exquisite forms as well and I have to say it's quite an experience at their store because their variety is awesome and the scents are all so nice.

Perhaps I'll invest in a scented oil burner next because their Midsummer's Night scent has such a nice name but doesn't come in a car jar form, at least not in our local store here.

                            Credits to Collider.com

And, who has been to the movies recently? It's been a long time since we last watched a movie (I think the last one was "Interstellar"?) and well, since our Buddy wants to catch the latest "Seventh Son" movie, we were thinking, "Why not?"

However, you can see us coming out of the theatre afterwards in heated discussion and curses on the excessively weak plot and numerous glaring plot holes. B-grade movie, that's our verdict.

You see, Game of Thrones fans, the first person which comes on screen, I think most of us will recognize him as our favourite "Jon Snow". Cast ain't weak that's for sure (the ones who acted as the witch queen and the witch who protected the city sure are famous faces), but why in the world would they kill him off so early in the movie? I don't think his screen time was that short in "Pompeii" that's for sure.

And the dude who came afterwards, yes, "Seventh son of the seventh son", who is supposedly some special son who has super powers and super human strength.

Or so we thought because the only thing he did was to light up the staff and burn everything. Like, that. Like, ok...

If he the seventh son is like "The Special" because his mum is a witch, then what does that make the rest of his siblings? I mean, they are also imbued with half-witch half-human father genes too right?

And his mum. GOD, you are the witch who stole the Umbra stone from the witch queen ya? Means, you're supposedly quite strong and powerful yes? Why did you just frizzle and die off within a one-hit kill by the witch queen?

Don't, don't even get me started on the witch queen's supposedly epic henchmens. That necro dude just died within one hit? "Elite" assassins who fall like leaves? And that poor dire bear dude who has to be swapped back into human form just to get him to burn properly (this is no WoW where dire bear form gives you more armor...)?

And their head honcho - that supposedly fearful witch queen with seducing abilities (quite like Lorelei with her voice which leads men astray) imbue on her eyes and who can switch to a formidable winged dragon form as and when she pleases? She dies off so easily. WHY.

Underwhelming. And so full of epic fail.

The only character who had so remotely amused me was the spook's ugly servant - Tusk was he? He was the only sorta comic relief throughout the whole movie and his "You just don't die easily do you?" signature stunt was what made me a tad bit tickled at least.

The romance portion was just bleh. Typical witch-turn-turncoat with spook's apprentice love story. Enough with these cliches please.

Otherwise, landscape and background setting is kinda ya, ok. Slightly more impressive than everything else add up together, to say the least.

Would I recommend this movie?

God forbid. No.