Chillax Massage Cafe

Welcome to the first of my eatery reviews, the aptly named Chillax Massage Cafe. Coffee, the staple of many a diet, when paired with good food and a comfortable environment, is everything one could ask for on a slow afternoon. One of those afternoons when you just want to catch up on the news alone. In my quest to see what works and what does not, I will definitely be visiting quite a few Cafes.

Chillax definitely fulfils 3 out of 3 of those requirements. It is a Cafe paired with a Massage service (no, not the type you are thinking of) located at Serangoon Garden Way, which conveniently, is within walking distance from where I live. I've yet to try the massage but in the F&B department, they serve up your usual range of coffees and teas, a surprisingly decent range of food, desserts and quite a large selection of beers.

As I'm not a beer drinker, I went for the standard Latte and tried out the Flat Pizza, which uses a tortilla base topped with seafood and onions. Whilst both are not something that I would put on a list of 100 things to eat before you die, the pizza was solid. Perfect for a late lunch, being a proper meal but still light with relatively fresh seafood and a thin base. The latte wasn't out of this world, a little light for my tastes and a little too much froth, but I enjoyed it. It isn't the cheapest place around, coming in at $28 total, but in terms of bang for buck I felt it was alright.

Like I stated above though, it's not only all about what I put into my mouth that determines if I like a place or not. The third factor is environment and this is where I feel Chillax excels. True to it's name it's a comfortable place to relax. Soft indie music, barren walls and lots of wood (albeit cheap by the looks of it), is usually a safe bet when it comes to cafes and it works here as well. Not to mention the availability of free wi-fi.

All in all, I'll definitely be paying Chillax more visits in the future. It's just a nice place to chill, and the service is pretty good with friendly attentive staff. Can't ask for much for when looking for a nice neighbourhood cafe. That's where it is a paradox for me though. I love going to cafes where you don't have to fight for your place and you can take your time without a queue forming giving you dirty looks for not vacating your table quick enough. But, inevitably when a good place becomes known, people will start to frequent it. Just take a look at any of the trendier cafes at Orchard or any Starbucks for a rough idea. Which is what makes discovering these places out of the city hotspots vital to me. Not sure if "quiet" will be such a good description to the owner though. That all said, the Serangoon area is quite a sleepy little neighbourhood so all should be well.

Rycommendation: If you're in the area drop by the place, it's a cool little place worth checking out. I'll hopefully try out their massages soon and see if that adds to the experience.

Chillax Cafe

28 Maju Ave, Singapore 556698

Phone: +65 6244 5529
https://www.facebook.com/chillaxsg

Like Crazy (2011)

Hello and welcome to my first "real" post on the blog. Today I will be reviewing Like Crazy, a film released in 2011 starring Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. I actually watched this some time ago and immediately wanted to do a review on it but just never got around to it, as you do.

In it's essence, Like Crazy is a look into modern relationships and the trials and tribulations that we go through in the 21st century when in one. It starts off with the 2 main characters getting together in college, with Anna (Felicity Jones) being a British student in America and Jacob (Anton Yelchin) being American. Like most relationships, it starts off with a bang (excuse the pun) and they appear to fall in love almost immediately. The drama starts when Anna decides to overstay her visa so she can spend the summer with Jacob. This leads to complications when she goes back to Britain and tries to return to the US later on. Without wanting to spoil anything, it basically starts off with a long distance relationship and then progresses to eventually trying to move on.

The nature of the film sits somewhere between 500 Days of Summer and Blue Valentine, both of which I adore. It's not as cute as 500 but nowhere near as emotionally draining as Blue Valentine. However, this film does pose some of the same questions. As someone who has been in a situation similar to the characters, I definitely related to quite a few of the scenarios that popped up here. All too often in films we get everlasting fairytale love, or if not, then one character is usually portrayed as the "bad guy", but with Like Crazy, it's a refreshing look at 2 characters who both have their flaws, as we all do, but neither of which are really shown to be the antagonist, if you will. As in life, sometimes things just happen not through the fault of either party.

The 2 main characters not being superstars actually helped the film as the plot became the focus somewhat. That's not to say they don't have the acting chops because they both painted very real characters that I feel most of us will be able to feel and emphatize with. Jennifer Lawrence appears as well in a smaller role, but I feel her character was somewhat underdeveloped.

The few main questions the film posed to me was, "How far can the idea of love be taken?", "How much of it is actually worth it?", and "How do you know whether it's truly love, or just being in love with the idea of love and being afraid to let go?"

All 3 themes are explored within the film but most importantly I think, it is up to the viewer to answer them and gives you something to take away from watching this. One quote from the movie really stuck with me and perhaps it was during a period of my life where it rang true.

"I just... It doesn't feel like this, this thing is gonna go away, it's always there. I can't... I can't get on with my life."

Without wanting to drag this out too long, another noteworthy point is the soundtrack, which really added a lot to most scenes. So go download this or something, watch it and let me know what you think. As always, thanks for reading and I will talk to you guys and girls again hopefully soon!

Rycommended: Definitely worth watching on a quiet night in.

Well then, who the hell are you?

Note (25 Aug 2015): This was written in August 2013 and whilst most of it still holds true, I no longer live in Singapore.

I'm sure the question has crossed your minds, well perhaps in a slightly less rude way but nevertheless. Or maybe it has not, but I do feel it's imperative for a reviewer to let his audience know his specifics so they know the perspective from which they're reading. I doubt a middle-aged Chinese female reviewer who enjoys mainly Chinese art would have the same view as say.. a young Indian guy on food or art etc. I'm not saying this is how it is for everyone, but you get the idea.

Who am I then? Judging from the first post, you may have gathered my name is Ryan. I'm turning 24 this year, so am probably entering that quarter-life period. I'm Malaysian Chinese, though that will probably not really matter as culturally I'm about as Chinese as Barack Obama. I've just recently moved to the Lion City, or Single-pore as I prefer to call it, for work. It's a lot busier and the pace of life here is much quicker than back home. This also means most of my reviews and views will be based in this lovely city. Did I just say lovely? Perhaps not the most accurate adjective but I'll let that one go. The being Chinese but not really part though, will probably help all the other bananas like me out there. Especially when you're looking for a hair stylist, go into a random shop and are ambushed with only mandarin-speaking staff. Trapped.

So, yeah I love over-thinking movies, of which the majority are English speaking. Music is also a big big inspiration in my life and I can't imagine how boring life would be without good music. This is starting to sound like the about me section of OKcupid now... not that I've seen it or anything. To close it off, I'm in the hospitality and tourism industry and this will perhaps mean I understand service breakdowns more in any service-based... service. So I tend to cut them more slack because I can empathize, but then again I'll be able to point out more clearly when I feel things aren't working right. This will definitely feature in my restaurant and service reviews.

Well, that wraps it up for this post. Please feel free to ask me if you'd like to know anything else about me like my number for the females out there. Just joking, but seriously, do feel free to pry into my private life. Till then, take care and enjoy the week.

A Brief Introduction to The Ryview

Hello and Welcome to the Ryview! If you do not already know me, I am Ryan and this is my blog for transferring my views and reviews of the world from my head, onto your screens. By now, you may or may not have figured out that the blog title is a combination of Ryan's view and Ryan's reviews. That is exactly what this will be.

It will not be focused on any particular types or genres of reviews, just whatever comes up that I feel like telling the world about. This could be restaurant reviews, movies, new or old music, technology I'm using or *gasp* last but not least, my views of the world. I've put this blog together rather shodilly and in a short time so expect to see it morph and transform in terms of how it looks and functions over time. The fact that blogger doesn't seem to be cooperating with me on how I want it to look doesn't help either.

I do welcome any suggestions or requests on things or places to "ryview" so if you do have any do leave them in the comments and I'll try my best to accommodate each and every one. Of course, just saying hi will be greatly appreciated as well as I would love to know who takes the time out of their busy day to read my thoughts. As of now, I will try my best to post as least once a week but even I know all too well, work may catch up to me and this may not be possible. Probably not the best thing to put in an opening post that... making excuses already!

I'll introduce myself in brief detail in my next post as I believe knowing a reviewers' details is pretty vital when reading his/her views. Until then, do take care and I hope to see you here again soon!