How old are you mentally?

Are you an emotional person?

GOOD NEWS!

--Tuan--
Tuan was rejected by NUS and NTU earlier on, though her results were good. I gotta say it's because of the dragon batch again...from the polys. Tough competition.
Left with the overseas unis...Fudan Uni in Shanghai & UQ in Aus.
Well, just saw her code on the list of foreign students getting into FUDAN UNI!!!! So happy for her!
She wld be doing museum studies and wld be away for 4 years. Err...that's quite long.
Anyway, I am really happy for her. And the best thing is she wld be studying something she likes.
Congrats lo Tuan!

Exams

5th paper down...and one last paper to go...
--Tuan--
E.W & Mr Chean attended her graduation ceremony @ NP today. It's a pity I couldn't go...haiz...
Anyway, shall share a pic with u guys...
Congrats lo Tuan!

TV Drama Review #134 - On Air

How long? 21 epis
When & which tv stn? 2008/SBS
Who's in?
Lee Bum Soo ~ Jang Ki Joon
Kim Ha Neul ~ Oh Seung Ah
Park Yong Ha ~ Lee Kyung Min
Song Yun Ah ~ Seo Young Eun
Ricky Lee Neely ~ Aidan Lee
Han Ye Won ~ Cherry
Cameos: (Total 28...some names not included here)
Kim Sung Min -Epi 20 Kim Jung Eun - Epi 16 Kim Jae Dong - Epi 15
Shin Dong Wook - Epi 14 Song Chang Ui - Epi 11 Lee Seo Jin - Epi 9
Uhm Ji Won - Epi 5 Kang Hye Jung - Epi 5,12 Kim Min Joon - Epi 4
Lee Chun Hee - Epi 3 Jun Hye Bin - Epi 3 Park Si Yeon - Epi 3
Jeon Do Yeon - Epi 2 Lee Hyo Ri - Epi 1 Lee Jae Jin - Epi 1
Others: F.T Island, Hines Ward....
What's it abt? (edited from Soompi)
Top actress Oh Seung Ah refuses to accept the Daesang award at an awards ceremony after finding out that she has to share the award with another artist. In the process, she makes a fool out of Seo Young Eun, who was there to hand out the award. Seo Young-eun is an extremely popular writer who has written dramas that have gained top ratings. But now she feels that there's a need to change. She wants to write a drama series with depth. So she chooses to write about a drama that centres around a woman who only has a mentality of a 7 yr old. To get ideas for her script, she visits a mental institution only to run into Lee Kyung Min, who's a young director. Things didn't go smoothly for Young Eun and Kyung Min as they faced problems with the drama proposal and casting problems, especially when Young Eun knows that Oh Seung Ah would play the main lead in her drama.
Seung Ah feels that she's unable to grow as a serious actress because the CEO of her management company is corrupt and too greedy. She decided to sign a new company and seeks out Jang Ki Joon, who happens to know Seung Ah years ago. Things started to come up with Cherry vying for the main lead position, and who's going to be the male lead. Finally, "Ticket to the Moon" started its overseas filming in Taiwan...
Love & Hates:
Plot-On Air is not really your typical Kdrama. The problems faced during the pre-production of a drama can be quite dry in content, and there's quite alot of quarrellings b/w Young Eun & Seung Ah from the start...plus Cherry. It can be quite tiring to see more problems coming out in the production team. Romnace didn't play a big part during the front part of the drama...gotta wait till the drama is moving to its end...many ppl are wondering who will end up with who? Since there's "ai mei" relationship b/w the 4 of them. Haha...There will be sweet and touching scenes for the romance part, so don't worry. Another thing to note is we get to see another drama in On Air, and that's "Ticket to the Moon"...it's quite interesting to see 戏中戏. I like the story too, it's very touching..(shall not spill too much spoilers here...)
Cast-It's rare to see 4 big names in a drama...and with 28 superstar cameos. They really give face to On Air sia. It's great to see Park Yong Ha again, after the long 6 yrs. Still as boyish looking as ever, and he's acting is great. Initially, I don't think he match with Song Yun Ah (she's older looking..), but luckily their chemistry was pretty good as the drama progressed. May be some of you wld think he shld match with Kim Ha Neul. Not bad too, but then it's very obvious that Kim Ha Neul with end up with our Lee Bum Soo lo. I am totally impressed with Kim Ha Neul. She's so different from her usual character. Seung Ah is one arrogant fella, but you will know why she's like this. She has the "superstar" look, and KHN did very well in portraying this character, plus the role she's acting in "Ticket to the Moon". That one is a challenge, to speak like a kid, expressions and emotions are harder to express. Well, nice performance from her.
Lee Bum Soo is a super nice guy here, kinda missed his character in "Surgeon Bong" now. I like his scenes with Young Eun....they have known each other for so long...know each other so well, the feeling b/w them was very warm. His scenes with Seung Ah is more on a rollercoaster...there are happy and sad times...especially during the ending part. Anyway, he's our happy fella here, cheering and entertaining the production team from time to time.
Many ppl wld buay tahan the way Young Eun speaks throughout the drama. It made Song Yun Ah seemed weird and uncomfortable (with her exaggerating way of speaking..). Well, Young Eun didn't really speak like that throughout la. She has her own story to tell, a divorcee and mum of a kid. She has her unhappy times too...lots of frustrations going on as she wrote her script. We just need sometime to adjust to her acting.
Other cast such as Han Ye Won (from ex girlband Sugar) and another US-kr hunk Ricky did well too. I find Cherry annoying, but without her, who wld spice up the show right? Ricky's scenes were not alot...but then it's still a nice try for a newcomer.
OST-Nice themesong from F.T.Island...and the OST is pretty good. Like the electro violin instrumental "Q".
Worth Watching?
I wld recommend to you guys out there. We can get insights of how a drama is produced, and the hardwork the team puts. And of coz, we get to see great performance from the all star cast & cameos.

PF's belated birthday celebration

--White Dog Cafe @ Vivocity--
Met up with the girls and had our lunch at W.D.C la. It's my first visit there...initially thought their food was western styled (may be it is with the main dishes...), butta my set lunch was a mix of asian and western ba.
The decos...
ML's potato wedges...yummy!
Set lunch soup of the day: Chicken consume plus garlic bread
My main dish...braised beef steak with blackpepper sauce...very soft and tender...nice. Butta, if they can have something else instead of the salad, it wld be better. Also, i think their serving abit small, haha..is it becoz' of the price?
Set lunch costs $10.80++, and they have 22 main dishes to choose from.
Anyway, had a little lame surprise for PF...haha! Hope u like the present la. Ann went to sch while we walked ard since GSS has started...hmm..nothing caught my eye yet. It's always weird that I hardly see anything during GSS. Haha! Must wait after sales huh?
So, holiday mood is here, but I can't relax yet. Doomsdays coming again....haiz...

Ah Ching after 3rd June...

Ah Ching has plans to catch movies after exams end. Ya....Hopefully "Accuracy of Death" wld still be in cinemas.
Ah Ching wanna go visit the Southern ridges....
Ah Ching cannot go to the June IT show...that means I have to postpone my plan to buy a new cam. Nvm...think my Nikon can survive my upcoming trip...with new chargable batts now. Haha!
Ah Ching wanna go borrow books! Suddenly deprive of reading novels and travel guides. Haha!
Ah Ching got lots of dramas to catch....
Ah Ching gotta prepare for JLPT again....alamak. Actually I've been thinking of going to those Japanese lang schs...but they got exams leh. So stress up right? Also, it's much more ex la...and my standard is really lousy, that means i gotta start from rookie stage ah...very sianz...Haiz see how ba.
Well, that's what I have on my mind now....

Exams

2 more down....& 2 more to go..

Vesak Day Special #3 - A Reason Why We are unhappy

All the suffering in the world arises out of wanting happiness for self.
All happiness in the world arises out of wanting happiness for others. - Shantideva

A reason why we are unhappy is that we are not true to ourselves. Paradoxically, we are also untrue to ourselves when we are untrue to others, as true sincerity to yourself naturally overflows to those around you. How (un)happily we relate to others is related to our happiness, since much of our lives involves relating to others. When we speak of being true to ourselves, it is usually mistaken that we should simply do whatever we fancy for ourselves. Obviously, this doesn't really bring happiness. If it does, we would be perfectly happy already. This means we are doing the wrong things to be happy. Being true means being aligned with the truth, qualities of which include the realisation of generosity, loving-kindness and wisdom. Often, happiness is seeked through their opposites - attachment (to personal happiness), aversion (to those who "threaten" our happiness) and delusion (about what is happiness). Attachment and aversion arise from this delusion, which keeps True Happiness out of reach.

A common symptom of unhappiness is the complaint that we want happiness, but others make us unhappy. The truth is, no one other than ourselves can make us unhappy. We are unhappy about others only when we choose to relate to them in an unhappy manner. Flip this around and it is equally true - those who "make" you unhappy should realise that the cause of unhappiness is not you, but in how they choose to relate to you. If our happiness is always determined by how others treat us, how can we be truly happy? What if someone deluded thinks that making you unhappy brings happiness for oneself? Be generous, loving and wise to that person. Respond with sincerity. Seek to understand and bring happiness to that person. Focus on dissolving the person's unhappiness instead of being unhappy with how that person is affecting you. This also dissolves your unhappiness about that person. It's a win-win situation. Retaliating with aversion would only perpetuate unhappiness on both sides.

What if those unhappy with us do not appreciate our sincerity? This is still no cause for you to be unhappy. True sincerity expects no reciprocation. It simply does what is right - that aligned to happiness. There is happiness in knowing we are blameless, when we do our best to bring others happiness. The only ones who hold our happiness ransom is us. For instance, if someone is unhappy with me for saying the Earth is round, why should I be unhappy about that? The truth is that the Earth is not flat. Others' unhappiness with the truth has no power to make us unhappy if we are at peace with the truth. Likewise, others' unhappiness with the trueness of our sincerity has no power to make us unhappy. The options are obvious - If we do not choose to relate to those unhappy with us happily, we choose choose to relate to them unhappily. Our happiness first comes from how kindly and wisely we relate to the universe; not how it treats us. Yet the kinder and wiser we are, the kinder and wiser the universe is to us - for we are our most immediate "parts" of the universe! - Shen Shi'an

To be unhappy, have expectations that others make you happy.
To be happy, make others happy without expectations. - Stonepeace

From: TheDailyEnlightenment.comWeekly 11.05.07

卫塞节

--明天--
啊！明天虽然应该是个值得欢庆的日子，阿清却不能庆祝啊！真要多谢礼拜二的那两张试卷。气死了！咳~
还有啊, 今天见到了阿芳那么久，却忘记祝她生日快乐。后来跟璇聊啊聊才记起来。。（还好补了个简讯。。哈！）不好意思啊女人！现在我脑子里除了vesak day，就是考试日期啦。哈哈！
Anyway, 来临的星期六我们一起去庆祝一番哦！
在此，祝全天下的佛教徒们，卫塞节快乐！诸事吉祥！

TV Drama Review #133 - The Slicing of the Demon 凶城计中计

How long? 20 epis
When & which tv stn? 2007 (overseas)/TVB
Who's in?
Sunny Chan ~ Tu Si Hai
Bernice Liu ~ Huo Qian Yao
Michael Tse ~ Shui Ru Chen
Angela Tong ~ Pan Ji Yue
What's it abt?
During Ming dynasty, executor Tu Si Hai met Sui Ru Chen, who helped him to conquer his fears of executing people. They became sworn brothers and went to Chang Long Town, a town which is full of superstitions. Unknown to them, the town has a hidden secret. Both of them met a wealthy & powerful man Huo Tian Ming & his daughter Qian Yao. Chen was in love with her at the first sight. Unknown to Hai, Chen has ulterior motive to come to this town. Weird accidents started to occur after Hai chopped off a figure's head, which turned out to be another executor. Hai started to find the clues and found Chen & himself involved. To plot his revenge, Chen gave up on Yao and later Hai & Yao got married. Just as Chen finally thought he has revenged for his dad, the real truth behind the 2 men's secret revealed....
Love & Hates:
Plot-This drama tries to be mysterious with a mix of superstitions. Sadly, the storyline didn't quite meet my expectations. It wasn't very mysterious to begin with, and it started to drag somehow. There's more focus on the relationships b/w the cast, and of coz' the evil-doings by the baddies. The twists were kept to the back, just as we sort of think that we knew what's gg on, the final twist changed everything. That's a nice one, but not enough to keep me interested throughout the show. And of coz, we all know that those superstitions, and what devil are all made up by men...not much kick la.
Cast-Though Sunny Chan is the main lead here, Michael Tse totally outshined him. Sunny's always stuck with a super nice guy role, and he's really too nice here. How i wish he wld stop sacrificing himself. Btw, he won't be looking that weird (see pic) throughout the show, it's only when he needed to execute ppl. Chemistry with Bernice was lacking, but I wld say it's becoz' of Bernice's weaking acting.
I think this might be the 1st drama I've seen with Bernice leading as female lead. I watched the canto version, and she's too modern in her expressions and way of speaking (maybe it's becoz i watched the canto version...the conversations weren't 白话 enough). Her acting was slightly better after Yao got married, but I cldn't see any sparks b/w her & Sunny. Perhaps, she's better with modern roles...Also, Angela Tong definitely did a better job here...It has been quite sometime since i last commented on how weak the main leads were...
Michael Tse is well-known for his evil roles, and he has been gaining recognition during recent yrs. I gotta say Chen is someone full of development, he's not someone u can easily read through, and I think Michael did pretty well in portraying Chen. His chemistry with Angela was great...though he loved her, he still gotta sacrificed her. You can see his agony, but wanna humptump him for his evil deeds. He's the guy who's controlling the storyline from epi 1 till the end. (Thus, making Sunny like a supporting role..)
Same goes for Angela...she's really great. I like how she portrayed Yue, a contradicting character...she fell for someone she shouldn't love, but her love didn't make her blind...she's always ready to sacrifice herself for Chen. The scenes when Yue was suffering from internal poison were nicely done too.
The other characters were alright...nothing too spectacular.
Themesong sang by Bernice...not very nice to me.
Worth watching?
It's not a must-watch, and it's not abt those crime solving case, since there's only 1 big case here.

--Overseas Trip--

Some info for my upcoming Yunnan Trip
Date: 12/6/2008-20/6/2008
Flight info: Morning (midnight) flight to Kunming & night flight back to SIN via China Eastern Airlines
Type of tour: Group
Agency: 5 Stars

So actually, I was planning to go Korea initially, but changed destination since the packages they offered are not satisfactory. Basically, my 1st day for the trip wld be like last yr...won't be sleeping much....and China Eastern's planes are small...alamak. Haiz...just pray hard that nothing happens ah. Choy!

Exams

2 down...4 more to go...
Broke my slping record la...only slept for 4 hours...ha! Think tmr can't get up? Hehe!

Vesak Day Special #2- A Simple Way to be not Angry

A spur of anger can burn away a forest of merits. - Avatamsaka Sutra

A way to not be angry is to look at the intentions of those who had "enraged" us. If a child breaks a glass, you are not likely to scold him or her - because you know it is usually accidental - out of innocent ignorance. Most children are less mindful than grown-ups anyway. In short, you will not be angry when you are aware that the one involved had no intention to incur your wrath. If you observe carefully, such accidental cases happen rather often!

The above is true regardless of whether the ones involved are immature children or grown-ups - because even grown-ups can be immature in terms of mindfulness. Some might think carelessly, thus leading to possibly offensive speech and actions - with little ill will. Some might even have intentions to help us, though their "help" backfires, making things worse. When we focus on their good intentions or lack of ill intentions, we have no ground for anger.

Like children growing up at different speeds, some adults are not grown-up yet! The immature spur others' anger or become angry at others. It is spiritually immature to be angry at the spiritually immature - oneself included! The immature squabble among themselves, blaming each other without bettering mutual-understanding at all. Remember this - when enraged at the guilty, you are guilty too, as your anger harms both others and yourself! - Shen Shi'an

When reason ends, then anger begins. Therefore, anger is a sign of weakness. - HHDL

From: TheDailyEnlightenment.com Weekly 17.04.08

TV Drama Review #132 - The Last Scandal of My Life 我人生最后的绯闻

How long? 16 epis
When & which tv stn? 2008/MBC
Who's in?
Choi Jin Shil ~ Hong Sun Hee
Jung Joon Ho ~ Jang Dong Chul/Song Jae Bin
Jung Woong In ~ Jang Dong Hwa
Byun Jung Soo ~ Lee Na Yoon
What's it abt? (edited from Dramawiki)
Hong Sun Hee is a strong, happy-go-lucky housewife who accidentally meets her first love, Jang Dong Chul, again. But now, he's Song Jae Bin, a famous actor. Dong Chul didn't recognise Sun Hee initially as Sun Hee's image is very "auntie" now, with super curly hair, and speaks roughly, which is totally different from the 19 yrs old high sch girl he knew.
Sun Hee is already married to a man who always lands their family in debts, later he decided to divorce Sun Hee and left with another woman. Sun Hee later became the housekeeper for the Jang family, and she's once again closer to both Dong Chul and Dong Hwa.
On the other hand, Dong Chul's ex Lee Na Yoon returned from abroad, and both the Jang brothers are unhappy to see her. She holds the secret abt who's Hoon (Dong Hwa's son) real father...
Love & Hates:
Plot-The storyline is actually rather typical, kinda fairy-tale liked (u can see from the 1st scene la..) However, what makes this drama so addictive is the cast. I think most of you wld know what wld happen as the drama progresses, but the plot makes me excited, esp. scenes b/w Dong Chul & Sun Hee. They are really a hot pair. I like how the drama handles the funny, heartbreaking, happy & touching scenes. The pace is nice too, no draggy stuffs here. I gotta mention the scenes b/w the 2 brothers...i hardly find dramas talking alot on brotherhood...(it's not abt rivalry, but the sacrifice they made without letting the other party know.) Initially, this drama shld have an extension of 4 epis, but they called it off..so it seemed abit rush towards the ending...kinda spoilt the pace somehow, but it's ok. I like how they handled the ending..so touching!
Cast-alright...generally the average age of the cast is older than the others, but that's not a prob at all. Instead, we get solid performances from them. Choi Jin Shil's comeback drama...she has sacrificed her pretty image again for an auntie image...I didn't like her curly hair, but that's ok. Her chemistry with Jung Joon Ho was superb. I really loved all their scenes man! Her acting is natural...and expressive. She's like a big child when she plays with the rest, cried her heart out when she knew abt her husband's affair, hesitated when she gotta go for a date & leaving Dong Chul alone. I hope that she wld find a glamourous role next time, enough of auntie roles liao.
Jung Joon Ho! Watched him in "Princess Lulu"...ok la..but not impressive enough. He's so much better here...a 39 yrs old big kid! He definitely looked so much better & younger here...haha! (superstar mah...) Oh my....he's the new auntie killer now. He's really gd in portraying the cheeky Dong Chul...and how he decided to face the media, telling them his real name & age, and the person he has always loved. (Great charisma!)
Jung Woong In, I really gotta say..i am totally impressed with him...he's such a gd guy here. I had watched him in "Outrageous women"...and i really can't take it...his role was really kns. But here, he's such a caring bro...I am glad i finally can get a better image of him, though i still missed his crazy acting in "O.W". Hahaha! Byun Jung Soo was previously in "What's up fox" & "Bad Couple". Nice performance from her, though I didn't like her character...
Gotta mention the two teens acting as Sun Hee's daughter & Dong Hwa's son...(shall not spill spoilers here...) Haha. They were nt bad...
OST-hmm...how i wish they have nicer songs for the drama...didn't find any catchy songs here though.
Worth watching?
Must-watch! That's all i gotta say....it's really a nice kdrama!

Vesak Day Special #1 - The Karma of Buying Wine & Smokes

Realisation: The Karma of Buying Wine & Smokes?

The Dharma is medicine that sobers all intoxicated by addictions to Samsara. - stonepeace

When asked to buy wine and smokes for friends, would there be bad karma in helping? Well, the sale and "consumption of intoxicants" (which breaks the fifth precept) is discouraged, so as to prevent loss of mindfulness, through which breaking of the other four precepts - of not killing, not stealing, not having sexual misconduct and not having unwholesome speech might result. Negative karma is created when we have unwholesome intentions which create unwholesome speech and actions - based upon greed, hatred and delusion.

While greed and hatred seldom spurs buying of intoxicants for friends, what about delusion? Kind of... because the worst-case scenario from consumption of intoxicants would be conditioned by your "helping". Even if nothing unfortunate happens, your "helping" feeds a habit that might become harmful in time. Thus, it is kinder and wiser to play safe - to protect the lives and happiness of everyone involved, both your friends and yourself - by not supporting the purchase or use of intoxicants in any way.

In the Sigalovada Sutta, the Buddha taught that indulgence in intoxicants causes "infatutation and heedlessness", while wasting wealth. Six negative consequences that result from indulging in intoxicants include the "loss of wealth, increase of quarrels, susceptibility to disease, earning an evil reputation, shameless exposure of body and weakening of intellect." Is it possible to take intoxicants responsibly? When it harms health and wealth, to do so is irresponsiblity to one's body and mind, if not affecting others indirectly too. - Shen Shi'an

In the moment one loses mindfulness, one 'loses' one's mind. - stonepeace

From: TheDailyEnlightenment.com Weekly 30.04.08

TV Drama Review #131 - They Kissed Again 恶作剧2吻

How Long? 20 epis
When & which tv stn? 2007-2008/CTV & GTV
Who's in?
Ariel Lin ~ Yuan Xiang Qin
Joe Cheng ~ Jiang Zhi Shu
Jiro Wang ~ Jin Yuan Feng
Rui Sha ~ Christine Roberts
Aaron Yan ~ Ah Bu
Tang Yu Zhe ~ Ouyang Gan
Figaro Ceng ~ Yang Qi Tai
Wu Xiong ~ Luo Zhi Yi
Zhang Bo Han & Cong Yang (teenage) ~ Jiang Yu Shu
Meng Geng Ru ~ Lin Hao Mei
What's it abt? (edited from Dramawiki)
The sequel starts with Xiang Qin & Zhi Shu's honeymoon trip in Guam. Even after marriage, they experience problems and interferences in their marriage such as mistaken pregnancy, misunderstandings, and a run-in with a girl from Zhi Shu's past. Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu switch to medical school to become nurse and doctor. During that time, Zhi Shu meets new rivals who wish to outdo him and Xiang Qin makes four new friends, and one of them likes her and wishes to replace Zhi Shu. On the other hand, Ah Jin finally meets the girl of his life-Christine, while Yu Shu finally dates Hao Mei.
Love & Hates:
Plot-I think many ppl can't bear to see the end of TKA. It's a good sequel, and one of the nice TW idol dramas I have ever watched. The storyline faithfully sticked to the manga, with a "hot" starting and a "warm" ending. I was never bored watching this entire series, except for epi 19 which focused on Ah Jin & Christine. The storyline might not have new sparks to offer, and it seems rather "plain" & homely somehow, but i really like how it flows...the cast is good, their acting were natural, u can feel their bonding...We can see how the couple grew up and how they started to step into the society...and even Yu Shu & Ah Jin grew up alot too. After watching the last epi, i really feel that the couple has "graduated"-as in, now, they can finally walk towards the path of happiness, after "falling down" on several occasions. The drama stopped at where the manga stopped. We all know that there's no exact ending of this manga, since mangaka Tada Kaoru passed away before finishing it. And i think there won't be a 3rd instalment also.
Cast-Looking back at the review i wrote for ISWAK, I think Joe Cheng has improved alot from the ISWAK to TKA. Of coz, many wld mentioned how expressionless he was, how coldblooded he was in the beginning, but I think Zhi Shu learnt to be more expressive of his emotions as the drama progressed. And I think Joe did a good job la...I really liked to see him in short hair, looked refreshing, especially the hairdo when he went for army. His chemistry with Ariel is bloody good, too natural liao! haha! ok...they shared too many kissing scenes until i lost count...butta, since they are a married couple here, if there's too little kissing scenes, also abit weird right? Hahah! Ariel's acting was equally good too, she's really expressive, and full of emotions. Still rmbed the scenes when she doubted Zhi Shu's love for her, she left home...and during the last epi, she left home again..becoz she's worried her illness wld pass on to their child.(Oops..spoilers!)
I mentioned that I didnt like the guy who act as Yu Shu...and i still didnt like him here..haha! They changed the actor as Yu Shu became a teen la...i think he's slightly better la, though i wonder why can't they find a more handsome guy? Haha! Btw, that new actor looked good with the actress who acted as Hao Mei...cute lil' couple wor!
Gotta give thumbs up for the other cast, esp. the Jiang household. I rmbed how Xiang Qin's dad (Tang Cong Sheng) slapped Zhi Shu on the face...that's quite a heartbreaking scene.
It's quite a pity Jiro didn't have lots of screen time here, as this sequel focused alot more on the couple. I think he's acting is alright, but nothing new from him. His pair up with Rui Sha was kinda funny...ok la...they are an interesting pair...butta, since Chrisine is a british, why find someone who's mother tongue is not english? (Rui Sha is from Ukraine i think...)
The new fellas added in as Xiang Qin's nursing classmates did a good job too, though somehow they disappeared after they graduated...quite a pity..
Cameo of Ah Nuo by Wang Zi..err...not much comments about him, didn't like his "very sianz" look though. (And how dare he tackled hao mei!!)
OST-didn't like the themesong by Fan Xiao Xuan...luckily Ariel's ending theme "You" was nice. Hmm..i find the other songs average la..Joe's song was ok...though I didn't quite like it somehow. The song sang by Zhao Yong Hua (Zhi Shu's mum) was nice too. I still like ISWAK's themesong man!
Worth watching?
Those who have watched ISWAK, must watch! Those who haven't, suggest you to watch ISWAK first. I think this is a above average idol drama, so wld strongly recommend to you guys.

Dance of the Dragon

--Dance of the Dragon--
Went to The Cathay to catch this film with Tuan. Before that, saw some reviews about it..and it didn't look good. (But still, I decided to go ahead, as I wanna catch Fann & Jang Hyuk.) So, what went wrong with this film? The script. There were some unrealistic parts...like Tae San, who worked in the factory for 10 yrs...suddenly one fine day, he received news abt this dance audition in SG. Next, we saw a super modern SG, with our "landmark Raffles Place"...and we saw the taxi driving Tae San to Chinatown, but it's really the Chinatown in the 60s or 70s. (Hey...what happened to our Chinatown???) The music academy was located at one of the shophouses..and everything looked old...the school, the wooden lockers, the deco, even the restaurant and the car repair shop which Tae San worked at....all had the 70s look. It's really weird when we kept seeing a modern SG, but with such an old Chinatown...Can u imagine Tae San washing a super posh Merc SUV with a 70s background? Weird right? The movie focused quite alot on individual scenes, dialouges weren't alot...and i think there's a lack of interaction b/w the cast. Though we knew Emi and Cheng were lovers, somehow, the feeling seemed lacking...I can only feel some kind of resentment Emi had as Cheng "controlled" her life. Emi and Tae San's scenes were not bad, I can feel the chemistry they had when the danced, but that's not enough. I didn't even see them practising for the competition...and the last scene, we saw them dancing in the competition...there's shld be at least some scenes to show that they prac and bonded...that's really lacking here. I only saw Emi correcting Tae San's postures and movements...nothing liao. As for Cheng, nothing much about him, though we knew what he did to earn some bucks...though he's the champion for Nan Quan (one type of martial arts), he was beaten up by 3 gangsters...what i cld explain was..firstly, he has injuries..and 2ndly, he has lost the will to fight...only can fight those who's weaker than him. Jason Scott Lee did well in the scene, but I really don't like him in other scenes, esp. with Fann...they really don't matched. Jang Hyuk is definitely the soul of this film, the first part of the movie was abt him in Korea...his expressions were vivid, but i laughed when he practised his dance. (Expression & posture kinda unnatural..) His english pronounciation was great too, very little korean accent...good job guy! I gotta agree that this movie was beautifully filmed, especially with the strong music background. They used one of the main theme from "Windstruck", during the scene when Emi was dancing by herself...it's nice, but I wld rather they don't use instrumentals from other movies. The last scene was the best i think...fann looked super stunning when she started to dance, and she's really pretty. How i wished she cld dance more with Jang Hyuk la..
If this film is directed by an asian, I think the flow of this movie wld be much better. Asian directors tend to be more delicate than ang moh ones..(Well, pardon me for my bias..) Honestly, I don't think this movie will get Jang Hyuk far into Hollywood, neither wld Fann be more famous.
I wld only recommend to those who wanna watch Fann & Jang Hyuk. If you are those who watch for the story...I suggest you to catch other movies.
--Aftermath--
Met up with E.W & Aunt Jo to buy stuffs at OG, before proceeding to my dinner @ Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao La Mian Dian. Their Cong You Bing was different from last time le, not nice at all. Dessert was alright, the ginger soup was kinda 辣...but luckily the 汤丸 is still nice.
--Happy Birthday--
3/5-XH
5/5-QY
18/5-CPF
24/5-OPF
--Exams--
To SIM folks, jia you ah...HM..last paper on the 5th...jia you ok?! Super envy u now..haha!