Final Entry of the Year

--Work--
My horrible company only let us go at 4pm! Why can't we have half day?! Damn sad.
--Countdown Activities & thoughts--
As usual, my family is going to countdown with my husband. Haha! I got dramas to clear, Taipei countdown concert to catch, KBS drama awards, and SG's live fireworks. Lolz! Busy schedule right?
So now I am trying my best to blog everything before I camp in front of my husband.
2010 has been an eventful year for me. Besides work, I've completed 4 yrs of my adult Dharma class and I had accomplished my goal of visiting 3 South East Asia countries (Cambodia in 2009, Java & Vietnam in 2010).
I thought I had a rather smooth year for my working life, though there were "troubles" in between. Perhaps I had done things which many rookies have not done during their first job. I was given a chance to lead a team and to make decisions with management level and others. With my little experience, I thought I was totally not in a position to lead a team. I knew where my weaknesses are now, and I need to work on it. I hope I've left a good impression for others....haha!
--2011--
Going forward, I am looking to challenge myself again. It's time to leave my comfort zone and try to learn new things. So, pray hard that I cld find a better job, with a better pay. Lolz!
I've been planning my Silk Road trip for quite sometime, but I am a little lazy to work out the details now. Hopefully we cld travel this coming spring.
Last but not least, Tuan is coming back in 2 weeks time, and my favourite CNY is coming too (though the festival itself is getting less eventful for me).
Hope that 2011 will be another good year for my family, friends and me!
--2010 Top 20 Must-watch Dramas--
This is based on my drama reviews from Jan to Dec 10. As usual, the drama itself may not be a 2010 production. Ranking is not in order.
1. Nagareboshi (Fuji TV JP)
2. Dr.Champ (SBS KR)
3. Hotaru no Hikari 2 (NTV JP)
4. Cain & Abel (SBS KR)
5. Brilliant Legacy (SBS KR)
6. Personal Taste (MBC KR)
7. Prosecutor Princess (SBS KR)
8. Oh! My Lady (SBS KR)
9. The Gem of Life (TVB HK)
10. Pasta (MBC KR)
11. Autumn's Concerto (Settv & TTV TW)
12. JIN (TBS JP)
13. Proong Nee Gor Ruk Tur (Ch 5 TH)
14. You're Hired (TVB HK)
15. Beyond the Realm of Conscience (TVB HK)
16. My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox (SBS KR)
17. Guilty: Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna (Fuji TV & KTV JP)
18. The Fujitive: Plan B (KBS KR)
19. Will It Snow At Christmas? (SBS KR)
20. E.U (TVB HK)

Lunch

--Skinny Pizza @ Raffles City--
Went to have lunch with CY & J. My first visit to Skinny Pizza.
We were quite lucky. It was nearly 1pm but the restaurant was still relatively empty. Many ppl worked half day today, so the queue was longer at 1pm plus.
Our side dishes, Harissa Prawns, Truffle Fries & Sweet Potatoes. I thought the sweet potatoes tasted better than the fries. The prawns reminded me of my dinner at Strictly Pancakes.
Our main course is Truffle Mushroom Pizza. I loved the mushrooms!!! Super tasty! The crust was super thin, but too thin for my liking. Haha! Anyway, the pizza portion is quite big, so it's better to share with a few people.
I felt a bit bloated after finishing my meal, and we did not finish everything!

TV Drama Review #272 - Guilty: Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna 和恶魔契约的女人

No.of Eps: 11
Yr/TV Stn: 2010/Fuji TV & KTV
Cast:
Kanno Miho ~ Nogami Meiko
Tamaki Hiroshi ~ Mashima Takuro
Kichise Michiko ~ Enomoto Mari
Karasawa Toshiaki ~ Dojima Kiichi
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
A pet groomer at a salon in Shirogane, Nogami Meiko has a lot of celebrity dog-lovers as customers. She cheerfully serves customers with care, and her skills are tried and tested. The salon's owner, Kotomi, has a strong faith in her, and she is admired by her colleagues. Meiko leads a quiet and fulfilling life… but there is another side to her. She has a plan for revenge that she must accomplish. When she was 19, she was imprisoned for murder but she was framed. Just as she's about to execute her plan, she meets a man named Mashima Takuro. She acts mysteriously around him and for some reason, he makes her feel better. Is he the only miscalculation to her? Or a reckoning?
Slacker's review:
Guilty took me by surprise. I thought it's another dark-themed drama, but actually romance was a big factor in it, and Guilty has the best ending of the year ok? Until now I cld still feel a tinch of sorrow whenever I recall the last scene. The storyline is actually predictable. We got a female lead who "covered" herself as a pet groomer, and she's planning to take revenge on all those who had caused her to be jailed. But what's different from other revenge plot was how Mashima came into the female lead's life. Though he cld nt change the situation, he changed himself and protected the woman he loved. His love for her was so powerful that he's willing to give up his life as well. Somehow, I thought this is a romance story packaged in another way. I am truly impressed with the scriptwriter...haha!
Kanno has been acting in dramas focusing on women, and Guilty is no exception. Luckily, Meiko is not some weirdo with some odd personality. Meiko is just a simply woman who was framed and nobody believed her. The drama's storyline is already pretty interesting, and Meiko had lots of developments. Kanno gave a solid and convincing performance, and I did not expect that she hit off with Tamaki so well. (Weird sizzling chemistry~)
Tamaki's image was a big change for him. I think he's gg for manly roles in the future. Kanno had portrayed in many different characters before, so I nv doubt her acting. Tamaki, on the other hand, was rather "new" in dark-themed dramas and characters. As much as I loved my Chiaki senpai, I did not expect him to perform too well in Guilty. So, I was quite impressed with Tamaki's performance, and he got a good role. Mashima's character developments were equally eventful. Lots of ups & downs for him. He tried to get close to Meiko for his work, but soon he cld not separate what's work and what's personal. In the end, he gave up on his beliefs and did all he can to protect Meiko. You cld feel that Mashima loved Meiko a lot more than we expected, and his love was like a bonus to Meiko.
I really heart this couple.
Karasawa returned as a "small" role here. I don't know why he accepted this support role, but Dojima was an impt character in this drama. He was one of the culprits whom Meiko shld have killed, but he helped Meiko with all the info she needed. He's doing this to redeem himself. Meiko must be a fortunate woman, coz' there are 2 guys who sacrificed themselves in order to protect her.
Theme song is "Kono Yoru wo Tomete yo" by JUJU. This song really suits the drama...the lyrics described the love b/w Mashima & Meiko really well. Sorrowful & emotional...
Whenever I listen to this song, I wld recall the very last scene of the drama.
May they continue their love in another world....

又是一个人的下午

--TCC @ POMO--
最近很想吃意大利面，可是迟迟没有行动。今天决定慰劳在感冒中的自己，所以去了TCC吃顿好的！
他们家的Cafe Latte有点苦哦，不过还是挺香浓的。
Fried Oyster & Shiitake Mushroom 意大利面是他们新的“创作”，感觉很日式。炸蚝没有腥味，而且还很多汁呢！
报告完毕！

ML's Advanced Birthday Celebration

--Sushi Tei @ NEX--
My first visit to Sushi Tei, and I wondered what's the hype about the restaurant. To be honest, I think they are pretty average, except for sushi....
Anyway, met up with ML & PF for dinner. Have not seen both of them for quite sometime.
Assorted sushi.
PF's Yasai Miso Soup.
Meat Gyoza. Quite tasty.
My Tenzaru soba..which was ordinary.
Their Ika Okonomiyaki was a far cry from Boteijyu. It tasted more like pancakes...too dry!
Their chicken karaage was nt too bad. Very crispy!
ML's chocolate wafer.

TV Drama Review #271 - Nagareboshi 流星

No.of Eps: 10
Yr/TV Stn: 2010/Fuji TV
Cast:
Takenouchi Yutaka ~ Okada Kengo
Ueto Aya ~ Makihara Risa
Matsuda Shota ~ Kamiya Ryo
Kitano Kii ~ Okada Maria
Inagaki Goro ~ Makihara Shuichi
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
Kengo is an aquarium employee, who seems ordinary at first glance but actually possesses a secret that he would sacrifice everything in order to protect. Meanwhile, Risa, who works in the sex trade to pay off her brother's debt, tried to commit suicide. Both Kengo and Risa are full of despair. They meet each other and end up entering a contract marriage. As they overcome various troubles, their relationship begins to turn into true love.
Slacker's review:
This season has 2 great dramas for me, and one of them is Nagareboshi. I missed the 90s Japanese romance drama, and after a long wait, this drama appeared before my eyes. The plot might seem to be a little cliche and boring, but the development b/w Kengo and Risa just made me want to see them more. I really loved their chemistry!!
Takenouchi might seem to age quite a bit here, but I guess it's because he didn't apply make up. Kengo shld not be someone who looks very glam. He's a down-to-earth guy. Takenouchi's acting was just nice to the dot.
But the person who steal the show is Ueto. I bet those ppl who watched her acting as Risa wld change their opinion about her. No kawaii posture, no exaggerating or act cute actions. Ueto gave a solid performance for portraying Risa, who is very different from normal Japanese lead roles. Loved her chemistry with Takenouchi, though the age gap b/w them was a little big. I liked how Kengo sacrificed himself for the sake of protecting Risa, who was always "haunted" by her cmi brother; I liked how both of them influenced each other through small little things; I liked how they struggled with their feelings and finally decided to follow their heart.
There's another guy who steal the limelight in a different way. SMAP's Inagaki always had this super gd guy image, but he was so gd in his new role as Shuichi. Man, this guy was like a pervert. I bet everybody hoped he was dead for good, who knows he actually survived and still faked an injury...lol! Inagaki's expressions and the way he spoke as Shuichi really made me feel like hitting him a thousand times. How cld Shuichi made Risa suffered, and still wanted to hold on to her??!!
Matsuda Shota's performance was not too bad. No "neither gd nor bad" role for him this time, as Dr. Kamiya was one nice guy.
Hardly watch Kitano's drama, but I thought her acting was great as well.
Theme song is "Ryusei" by Kobukuro, and it's a super touching song.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

--Sungei Buloh @ Kranji--
Initial plan was to visit Sungei Buloh with KH, but E.W decided to join us last min. Ha! So, E.W drove us to the park instead of us taking MRT & bus. (Anyway, there's only 1 bus to the park, and the whole place was damn ulu!) We drove passed Kranji Dam & reservoir as well. A nice little park with views of JB across Straits of Johor.
This is my first visit to the park, and I did not expect much except mangroves. (Actually the park consists of not just mangroves, but mudflats, ponds & secondary forest). The whole trip reminded us of the Flooding forest in Siem Reap. I guessed all of us missed that place a lot huh?
There are 3 routes and I thought we cld only cover 1 of them. In the end, we covered all three within 3 hours. Lolz! I guessed we came a little late and missed out most of the animal activities early in the morning.
Surprisingly, my cam was able to snap super nice & clear pics! I thought the whole park looked nicer through my pictures. Lolz~~
Enjoy the pics!
Walking into the park.
Lots of little fishes.
This is where the river water comes in from Straits of Johor.


View from Observation Screen 1.1.
View of Johor Bahru from Platform 1.
View of Johor Bahru from Platform 1.
Our first encounter with this big monitor lizard.

Enlarge the pic! This is one of my fav. photos! 2nd encounter with monitor lizard.
and this was the 3rd one.
Mangroves~
Quite happy to snap a pic of this fish.
Mudskipper!
Tower Hide 2C on Route 2. This tower looked old...
One of the attractions on Route 2 was Prawn pond, but we cld not see any prawns, plus the pond was pretty ordinary. We actually walked one round along some islands but there's nothing much to see, except for the rubbish on the shores...(must be from across the strait).
Freshwater pond was the main attraction on Route 3.
Another freshwater pond.

We returned to Route 2 and walked the longest boardwalk through the Mangrove Arboretum.
Crab!
I've never seen a crab climbing tree trunk. I thought it was a spider...faints.
More crabs...
and a Mudskipper.
We had lunch at the shelter. E.W bought our lunch and sound of birds accompanied us.
Ho! I loved this picture! Can u find the crab?
KH was damn pro at spotting the crabs and mudskippers etc. Haha! Where's the crab?
Another Mudskipper.
Oh I loved this one too...looked at the crab! (enlarge the pic!)
View from Observation screen.
First and only encounter with a Squirrel.
A little regret for not going up the Aerie to have a top-down view of the mangrove trees.
Another big monitor lizard.
There's another boardwalk beside the visitor centre. Saw these bamboos and they formed a huge but weird tree.

It's really like the Flooding forest in Siem Reap.
Crabs and seashells on the tree trunk. Probably hiding from high tide.
This is the first time I knew that crabs can hang on the tree for so long.

Super pretty flower. Did not know the name though.
--Punggol New Town/NEX--
E.W wanted to visit Punggol End, but we cld not find the road. In the end we had a "tour" ard the town. Lolz! Decided to visit NEX last min. The mall was super crowded and there were just too many shops. Lolz! Agree that the building design was not great but there are many many restaurants. Great! We spent at least 2 hrs there, and we did not really covered the whole mall. Interested in the library though...shall wait for it to open next yr.