:: Sixtwentyseven ::

Just realised I haven't been posting much about my personal stuff. Mostly what you see in here are just some reviews for some shows that I've watched. Not that I do not like to post things about myself but sometimes I wonder is there a need to post something about myself. After all, ever since I changed the blog skin from the old one to this current skin, I've removed the personal info section as well and first timers who come to my blog will just assume it's just some review blog.

I do have close friends coming in every now and then to check out what I've been up to and probably I thought I owe them a post since if your friend checks out your blog most likely they would like to know what you've been up to and how are you etc. So here goes a slight update!

I've been taking a part time course since last August and I'm already 3/4 done with it. Just a few assignments, projects and one final paper and I'm done with the course. I'd say this course has been really enjoyable because it's something which I really enjoyed studying and for the first time I'm probably studying for something I have a major interest in. Sadly to say sometimes it takes a lifetime to know what you like and what you don't. But at least I'm fortunate enough to know I pretty much enjoy what I'm studying right now. Hope to do well for the remaining semester and pass with a nice diploma.

Because of the night classes for this course, I had to give up my weekly session of tennis with my dad and his friends. Interestingly, I really missed the tennis sessions. I didn't know I would enjoy playing tennis that much and frankly speaking, I'm poor in it as well. But having a few good rallies will really perk your feelings up. Besides, it's a good activity that I share with my dad. There's this saying that girls will stick to their fathers more while guys would always be the mommy's boy. Well, I view it as an important activity that I bond with my dad.

"Under the silence of the night, where I fell in love with silence and learned to embrace its beauty"

I don't have a thing for Taiwanese dramas. Seriously. I can assure the amount of Taiwanese drama that I have completed is less than the amount of fingers I have. One of the pet peeve regarding Taiwanese dramas is that it is usually too cheesy, too exaggerated and just simply, dumb. I can still remember one particular drama that make my heart boil. The starting was good, the middle was okay and the ending I felt was so bad that I want sumo wrestle the male lead and throw an asteroid the director for ending that drama in that manner.

What made me started this show was from a local free-to-distribute local newspaper. During this period there were 3 dramas that featured some of the hottest male leads in the Taiwan industry and they were comparing the viewership for these dramas. 下一站,幸福 managed to garner 7.63%, which was pretty decent given the competitiveness of the golden time slot for dramas. All I can say is that once I started the show, I just want to finish the whole drama at one go.

Interesting to note, the drama is still airing in Taiwan right now. Why do I say it's interesting is because I seldom blog about any dramas when it's still airing. The last episode was delayed due to Chinese New Year weekend (DARN!), so the last episode is this coming weekend. I got to say this drama has surprised me quite a bit. The script was very well written, no cheesy acting, or in fact I should say very convincing acting by everyone (esp. 小小彬), and a great soundtrack to boot. In fact, the soundtrack is the main draw as the songs complements the drama like a glove to a hand. It touches the heart at the right moments.

For once, here are the soundtrack songs:

品冠 - 我以为


丁噹 - 我愛他


丁噹 - 你為什麼說謊


丁噹 - 親人

I still remember the last show that really got me thinking was "Thank you for Smoking" and that show was way back in 2005. What I love about "Thank you for Smoking" was the witty dialogue and the true meaning of life and explanations about choices. These facts are also apparent in this new movie by George Clooney in "Up in the Air".

"Up in the Air" is about George Clooney acting as a Retrenchment expert where companies are too timid to fire their own workers and will hire professionals like him to help them fire their workers. Due to the current US economic situation, more companies are hiring firms with experts like him to carry out their retrenchment activities. For this job, he has to frequently flying around the country to do his work. However, just when he thought is the chance for himself to settle down, thing don't go as what he thinks.

I think the reason I liked this show a lot basically is the same reason I like "Thank you for Smoking". The dialogue's witty, the characters intriguing, but mostly of all, an ability to allow me to think about the issues that were mentioned in the show. I guess somehow or another, we may be able to relate to George's character in the show as well; how we disengage ourselves from the world, how we missed out on family and finally, how we realised how lonely we actually are.

Give it a try, catch it in the movies. I bet it'll worth your movie ticket.

Taiwanese films are getting more and more interesting. The ability of Taiwanese directors to express simple emotions in a movie is somewhat different from the rest of the region. They did it with 海角七号 (Cape No.7) and now with this movie out not long ago, 听说 (Hear Me).

听说 (Hear Me) is about a boy who helps to do delivery for his family take away business meets a girl who has a sister who aspires to go to the deaflympics through swimming. Due to the fact that she is always caring her sister and uses the sign language to communicate, the boy mistaken her as a person with hearing limitations. The girl also mistaken the boy as a person with hearing limitation as he uses the sign language well and never utter a sound out while communicating with other people with hearing disability. By using the sign language, will the two able to connect with each other?

While the storyline seems common and you'd probably know the ending even before the show ends, the movie does have the ability to show the sincerity of the director. The direction of the movie is very similar to Cape No.7 but of course lower in budget. Furthermore, the movie manages to bring the taiwanese element, something that I feel sometimes is taken for granted. Maybe it's about the rough edges present in the movie. But sometimes, it is these rough edges that brings out the flavor of the movie.

A simple and nice romantic movie to watch. Do give it a take.

Just in case I missed the golden timing. Hope all of you had a great 2009 and have a wonderful 2010!~

This is what four of my good friends who will be viewing this live in taipei!~ Argh I so wanna join them!

credits: vincentloy.wordpress.com

I got to admit this. I watched this movie purely because Abe Hiroshi and Yuko Takeuchi was in the lineup. And it was a medical movie that's all. What I didn't know is that this movie is actually the sequel to a previous movie "The Glorious Team Batista" and it sort of continue from the previous movie. Especially when at the last part of the movie where there were cameo appearance of a couple of actors that I recognised, then i realised that I missed something out earlier.

Nonetheless, just based on this movie alone, it's pretty entertaining as Takeuchi stars as the Chairman of a Ethics Board in a Hospital with close to zero knowledge. Her character is genuinely adorable as she's like a totally blur queen. Abe Hiroshi comes in as a lawyer that helped her solve a case in the first movie but continues to help her in this second installation.

If you're looking for some serious medical movie thingy, I suggest you give this movie a miss. Because, this movie is frankly speaking, quite light in terms of the depth of the plot. There's no twisting or turning, or betrayal sort of scenes in the movie. What the movie does is actually entertaining its audience through its humor and a simpler plot. And probably that's why I feel it saved the movie somewhat. Go deeper, and the movie may sink; but any shallower the movie will can.

An enjoyable movie to watch, but not for the serious please.

Was expecting Lee Sheng Jie's album to be out soon, but here I am listening to his album already! I got to commend that based on the first 3 songs that I'm listening, at least 2 songs will be on my KTV list! If the quality of the songs is held consistent, this album will be as good as his <痴心绝对手放开> album. I can still remember after that album, he struggled a bit for consistency, which is his k-able songs.

What I didn't expect was Harlem Yu to come out with another album as well! Although it's a compilation + 3 new songs, I don't think it will disappoint much. From the songs he chose for the compilation, the song genre is pretty good. I haven't heard the 3 new songs yet, but I hope it won't disappoint as some of his songs recently is really bad... And this coming from a long fan who has 13 of his albums and counting.

In the meantime, I'm happily listening to Lee Sheng Jie's new album!

I have told my friend once that there is always this drama that I wouldn't attempt to watch it again. Afterall, he had first time witness how i managed to sob throughout the show. But for some compelling reason and by fate, as what the main lead emphatise, I re-watched an old drama. Although I didn't tear like the last time where i literally brawled, I still managed to leave 2 lines of stain beneath my eyes.

Not one litre of tears, but not little as well.

I always realised that certain solitude is essential, especially for thought. Of course, if you're feeling screwed up, then it's more of wild thoughts. But sometimes, just stepping out of the shell and experiencing solitude, especially in a crowded place, brings on a different perception.

I met up with a buddy this afternoon and to be frank it's a welcome break for me. Although i got to admit my break is long enough, this "break" is essential in breaking the monotone in my life. We met up at a new mall in Orchard road just to check out the shops there. As we met, chat and ate, I realised after all these years, nothing much have changed about it. The usual banter is there, some common likes and of course some common differences. Then at the corner of my mind, suddenly it may not be the case. We have grown older by the second and things still remain the same?

We parted at Borders around 7pm. He was rushing back home due to his insanely heavy laptop while i was trying to finish the latest edition of a computer magazine. Just as I finished reading it, a de javu feeling began to surface: Solitude. Walking along the crowded streets, yet it feels like I'm walking the street alone. I remember a quote from my lecturer that city people are more lonely than you think. In spite of all the communication tools such as msn, facebook and ever connectivity, we may in fact be more lonely than we would expect. All the numbers in the phone may not reflect anything; in the end it's just a number.

2 incidents triggered my post actually. The first was seeing a friend hurriedly exited a shop and to another location in my opposite direction. The second incident was seeing a university senior and her almost 2 years old kid. In both incidents, I didn't call out to them. Instead, I merely stopped my footsteps a little and looked at them. At both instance I let out a tiny smile; merely knowing they're alive and well is enough.

Solitude allows me to view some incidents objectively. But then again, is it objective?

I seldom do two posts in a day but I realised after I posted Shonen Merikensack I decided it's time to do a major revamp on my blog. Afterall, the old blog skin was suitable only for web1.0 and it's like the css templates era now. After consultation with my ever dependent webmaster (haha!), here's the new layout.


As how i like it, nice and simple.

Well it a break from my usual routine of giving my thoughts on Jap drama as this is actually a movie. I managed to get hold of this wacky comedy was just out this year and featuring the irresistibly cute Miyazaki Aoi as the lead.

The show's is about Kanna (Miyazaki Aoi), who on her last day of her contract, saw a clip posted on the web about a punk band and her manager instantly liked them. What's more, the clip the manager posted on their record label website managed to garner 100,000 hits! What's more, the label managed to sell out their tour of Japan! Hence, Kanna has track the band down. However, the big problem was that the clip was actually 25 years ago and the band has been a bunch of old geezers in their 40s and 50s!

It's quite refreshing to see Koichi Sato (if you're wondering who he is, he's the manager in the drama series "Pride") as an old geezer trying to act rock. But the then, isn't this whole show about a bunch of has-been geezers trying to make a comeback based on their 25 year ago clip?

What draws me to the show in the first place is of course the super duper cute Aoi-chan. Looking at one of the scene below, definitely she's a draw.

Another thing about Japanese comedies is that you can be assured of the quality in slapstick humor. Somehow, it's somewhat different from the western or Stephen Chow
slapstick but it's kinna make sense. Oh well, this movie definitely has been rolling.

Give it a try!

At last I've completed this series!

Oh the series isn't too bad, but due to the fact that the subbers had delays in the subs that's why it wasn't completed until recently. Nonetheless, I thank the subbers for their hard work to complete the project!

It was an interesting choice for me to choose this serial to watch as it greatly differs from the genre of serial that I'd choose normally. The story talks about an executive who was demoted from the main office to a local call center to handle customer complaints. The story revolves around the happenings around the call center.

I guess it deserves the overall 6.1% kanto rating as it takes a bit of patience to finish this serial. Again, I must emphasize that the serial isn't too bad, but the pace and the storyline is so typical jap style. After watching some much jap dramas over the years, you can deduce a kind of "pattern". Furthermore, with no famous cast in the drama, it lacks the star power to pull viewers in as well. Nonetheless, the storyline is refreshing as dramas seldom focus industries like this.

Not highly recommended, but I wouldn't condemn it as well.

Yuriko-Chan so pretty~~~~~~~

Oh She's in Fall'09 Tokyo Dogs!!! Do catch it! =)

Ok I got to admit I was a bit lazy with this post. After all, I have completed this drama since early October. But here goes the review.

Sometimes you would think, if there's Kitagawa Keiko, Yamapi, Aibu Saki and Mizobata Junpei in a show, (1)It's a pure idol show (2)the show wouldn't be too bad. Frankly speaking, I was kinna disappointed with the show. Sure, Keiko's acting was pretty good, Seeing Aibu Saki acting as a bad ass lady is pretty refreshing, but Yamapi is totally disappointing in this show. I mean, his acting was alright in Proposal Daisakusen, but in this show he looks absolutely stoned.

Furthermore, although this show has a basketball theme, there's only like one serious basketball game scene in the whole series. Urgh!!! Can't they just insert a few more games? I know the relationships in the show is important, but they looked kinna draggy in a way.

Nice show to follow, but disappoints me in general.

I would call this show a story of 2 halves. Seriously, if I didn't watch this show till the end, I'd have panned this serial a long time ago. Okay, I got to admit I started to watch this show due to the fact that Kitagawa Keiko is inside this show and I can't wait for each episode of Buzzer Beat on Monday. I thought this show would be a nice substitute. In the end, she's acting like a bimbo teacher. -_-''' So much for Keiko-chan.

Anyway, the story starts with a high school by a seaside town. As usual, japan's high school is a bit screwed up with emphasis on exams and little of anything else. However, the principal decided to hire a mysterious teacher who thinks differently and whose principles would slowly get into the student's heart and influence them. Sounds like any other high school drama? You're not far off actually.

The reason I said this drama is a story of halves is because the first 5 episodes is TOTALLY different from the last 5 episodes.The first 5 episodes is almost like GTO, with Oda Yuji as the caring teacher doing things that Onizuka-sensei would be proud of: tearing down a signboard, saving a student in distress etc. I mean, if I'd want something like this, I'd rather watch GTO seriously. Then suddenly in episode 5, the story becomes darker, with a student having suicidal thoughts and relationships become testing. You could just sense that somewhere along the way, the production team realizes that the story isn't enticing anyone anymore and they decided to sack the scriptwriter. Because, the last 5 episodes is superb and I felt that it saved the show from being GT0 2.

Surprisingly in this serial, the emphasis on the young cast is pretty strong. Besides, Oda Yuji and Kitagawa Keiko, other familiar faces in the high-school dramas include:
- Okada Masaki(Hana Kimi) as Negishi Hiroki
- Hamada Gaku(Proposal Daisakusen, Taiyou No Uta)
- Yoshitaka Yuriko(Love Shuffle, Ashita no Kita Yoshio)[No-panda @@]
- Tanimura Mitsuki(Mei-chan No Shitsuji, 14 Sai no Haha)
- Yamamoto Yusuke(Hana Kimi)
- Kurose Manami(Hana Kimi)
- Oomasa Aya(Mei-chan No Shitsuji)
- Kutsuna Shiori(Mei-chan No Shitsuji)[No matter how small your role is, you're still visible]

So, looking at the artists i could identify, you could say that high-school dramas are a pretty good way to introduce young actors and actresses into the drama scene, although I kinna sympathizes Hamada Gaku for acting having to act out the loser roles. But hey, at least he got the girl in Proposal Daisakusen(Eikura Nana) and in this serial(Yoshitaka Yuriko, DAMN IT).

And as this drama is a story of 2 halves, I shall give 2 ratings.

1st 5 episodes, 5.1/10
last 5 episodes, 8.5/10 (10 for Yuriko and Gaku!!!)

It's interesting actually.

Usually I'd give political dramas a miss, because they're usually kind of serious. Not to mention Japan politics is a bit foreign to me. Another interesting thing is that this serial was actually recommended by my sister! For a person who prefer American serial to Japanese ones, now that's really new.

The story basically starts with a politician and his son dying over the skies at Vietnam, and a by-election has to be held in a prefecture in Fukuoka. However, with no suitable candidate to run for the seat, Seiyu party, the main political party, decides to ask the dead politician's second son, Asakura Keita, to run for the seat. With no political experience and zero knowledge, he manages to win the seat by a razor-thin margin. With party secretary Kanbayashi thinking that Asakura is a perfect puppet for him, he pushes him to run for party chairman candidacy when the Prime Minister resigned. However, with his raw experience, Asakura proves his mettle as Prime Minister and Kanbayashi is forced to used other means to force him to resign as prime minister so that he can snatch the top post.

The reason that kept me riveted to the show isn't Takuya Kimura this time, but the storyline itself. For a political drama, this series is surprising refreshing, possibly due to comedy moments peppered into the show. However, what I feel that under this show is the underlying message regarding the current Japan political scenes. Issues like health care, declining childbirth, education reforms etc are all mentioned in the show. If you've watched enough Jap dramas, you'll understand these problems quite well enough. Also, they also highlighted the very problems of the current Japanese bureaucrats and parliamentarians.

Normally I wouldn't comment much of Takuya Kimura as I've always felt he's an accomplished actor, almost guaranteeing viewership success. However, the pairing of Takuya Kimura and Fukatsu Eri is one of my favourite pairngs, since Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi.

An excellent drama all around, with a very strong cast and excellent acting all around. 8.5/10 for me.

I quote this from Eugene Loh from Singapore Radio Station Class 95.0FM. This is one belief that I strongly believe in:

Choice.

Looking at the dates, I'm rather surprised I haven't been writing anything in here. Ok, some little updates:

1) Just tried my first time in prawning and for the first time in my life I've touched a live prawn, and twitching off its pincers with my bare fingers. Not a very nice thought and not a nice feeling either.

2) Supposed to run AHM, in the end ended up sick for the past 2 weeks. Just some nigging running nose + cough derived from the nasty sore throat I got just before the race.

3)Been back in school studying a part time diploma, which is very enjoyable but tiring as well.

4)Continue to watch Jap Dramas!

Speaking of which, you may be surprised that the reviews I'm giving is a tad too slow, given that the shows I'm watching is like the last season's shows. However, I believe in watching the full series before introducing to any of my friends.

One of the highlights for last season's show besides "Mr. Brain" should be "Boss". An interesting thing to take note is that for last season, there are AT LEAST 3 detective-themed shows on offer. The three I chose was "Boss", "Mr Brain" and "Hacho". Interestingly, "Hacho" was the longest serial with 15 episodes, which in the prime time drama hour, is quite rare.

Boss has a very strong cast with Amami Yuki as Osawa Eriko, the "Boss" of the team, with Takenouchi Yutaka as Nodate Shinjiro as her superior and a strong supporting cast consisting Toda Erika, Mizobata Junpei and Tamayama Tetsuji. Basically, Osawa was called back from America to set up a special operation branch withing the MPD. The members of this new branch were at first a bunch of misfits with some history behind them, but under the guidance of Osawa, begin to work together as a great team.

As usual, if the story plot is boring and serious, I wouldn't even attempt to start the series because my current taste is something light and easy to absorb. So happens this show fits the bill perfectly. Knowing Amami Yuki from "Topcaster", it would suggest this show will be a good one and I'm not surprised with the production.

If compared to "Love Shuffle", a totally different genre of show, I may say that "Love Shuffle" surprised me with the quality of the storyline. "Boss", on the other hand surprised me with an excellent soundtrack. The starting song and ending song are both sang by the same singer, Superfly. "Alright!!" is a very catchy song while "My Best of my Life" is a slow number. What I liked about Superfly is the power in her voice, which was carried very well in both songs.

Overall rating for the show: 9.5/10.

I couldn't give a rating higher than "Love Shuffle" =/

Went to play Mahjong with my secondary school buddies just now. Around 2 rounds of fierce fighting, only one winner and one loser. Well, for me, I've just wasted the whole afternoon. HAHA!!!

Anyway this update will be short as well. I do know that quite a number of my friends do watch Jap drama through various online streaming sources. I urge all those to do so not to support sites that upload other fan-subbers' works onto their websites as firstly it steals their efforts in subbing the drama/mv/tv shows for all to enjoy. Secondly, putting these videos online may result in complications for each fansub group. Haven't you notice youtube isn't hosting any japanese mv etc? There got to have a reason for this.

Hence, please do not support these sites! Thanks a lot!

Another short post... Just realised it's really hard for me to change my blog skin... It's like I have no idea what the scripts are about.... ><