Final Entry of the Year

--2011--
This year marks 1/4 of my life.
Working my first job for 2 year plus.
I guessed I've accomplished quite a lot in my work. It has been a tough year, working with a brand new team, brand new boss, new initiatives, enlarged job scope, more troubles, more difficulties. I felt tired at different junctures throughout this year.
I wanted to find a new job, but has not found one. Thus, I was disappointed that I cld not learn new things and change a new working environment this year.
Luckily, on the happier note, I travelled thrice this year! I finally visited my grandparents' birthplace, and I went to the long anticipated Silk road, and ended the year with the unexpected India trip.
On personal level, nothing much was achieved this year, which was quite disappointing as well. Maybe I was really tired of work, so I did not want to stress myself with more learning....

--2012--
As usual, new year resolutions is never on my mind.
I shall continue to work hard, while hunting for a new job. To leave the current job wld still be my priority next yr. Hahaha!
Personal level, I really need to work on my Japanese studies. I have not decided if I should attend proper lessons, but I must at least try to do some self-study. I am thinking to study something else to add on to my lousy degree. Haha! However, that might come in later when I am more assured of my career path. Wanna study something that wld be useful and related to my job.
Family level. Tuan is graduating next June! Finally, my sis will be returning home for good next summer. Can't wait to attend her convocation in Shanghai~
And I must mention about my upcoming travel plans. Travelling is like part of my life now, especially when I worked hard everyday. Need motivations to work hard ya? So, China is on my travelling list again next summer, and I am bringing forward my Japan trip. Not sure if I can visit next Autumn, or else I need to change the destination. 
Oh ya, I need to stay healthy. Getting older and my body is getting weaker. My goodness~!
Last but not least, I wish that 2012 wld be a better year, even though many speculations or forecasts are not very good. Wld the world ends next yr? Pls don't even bother to think about it. The world is still spinning....lol!

--2011 Top 20 Must-watch Dramas--
This is based on my drama reviews from Jan to Dec 11. As usual, the drama itself may not be a 2011 production. Ranking is not in order.
1. Secret Garden (SBS KR)
2. The Mysteries of Love (TVB HK)
3. The Birth of the Rich (KBS KR)
4. Kha Khong Khon (CH7 TH)
5. Royal Family (SBS KR)
6. Nankyoku Tairiku (TBS JP)
7. 49 Days (SBS KR)
8. The Greatest Love (MBC KR)
9. Temptation of An Angel (SBS KR)
10. JIN 2 (TBS JP)
11. D.I.E Again (TVB HK)
12. I Need Romance (TVN KR)
13. Gun Metal Gray (TVB HK)
14. Love You (TTV/SETTV TW)
15. Myung Wol the Spy (KBS KR)
16. Queen of Reversals (MBC KR)
17. Scent of A Woman (SBS KR)
18. Protect the Boss (SBS KR)
19. The Princess' Man (KBS KR)
20. The Threshold of a Persona (TVB HK)

TV Drama Review #324 - Nankyoku Tairiku ~Kami no Ryouiki ni Idomunda Otoko to Inu no Monogatari~ 南极大陆

No.of Eps: 10
Year/TV Stn: 2011/TBS
Cast:
Kimura Takuya ~ Kuramochi Takeshi
Ayase Haruka ~ Takaoka Miyuki
Sakai Masato ~ Himuro Haruhiko
Yamamoto Yusuke ~ Inuzuka Natsuo
Synopsis: (from Jdrama weblog)
11 men were sent to the South Pole for the first time in February 1957 in a national project to explore Antartica. They were accompanied by a dogsled of 19 Sakhalin dogs. When they left for Japan a year later, they were forced to leave the dogs behind due to the bad weather. In January 1959, Kuramochi Takeshi and some others joined a third expedition to ascertain the fate of the dogs Taro and Jiro. Slacker's review:
"Nankyoku" is not your average Japanese drama. It's also not a drama about romance, so even if Kimura is leading, ratings wld be affected because of the nature of the plot. Nonetheless, this drama is really above the average. It's a touching, genuine story about a group of men and dogs who went to Antarctica for a expedition. It might be boring at first, but the storyline wld touch many hearts later on. I guessed the dogs made the drama alive. It's sad to see the dogs dying one by one as they tried to survive the harsh climate conditions. It's also touching to see Kuramochi trying all means to return to Antarctica to save his dogs.
Kimura obviously has aged quite a bit, but acting is still his usual quality. It's good that he challenged himself with characters like Kuramochi. While Kuramochi had a great relationship with his dogs, his romance with Ayase's Takaoka was less focused...very low profile. I wished that they cld give the couple more screen time together.
Sorry to say, Ayase hardly appeared in the drama, even though she's the female lead here. She's not leading the drama in fact. This is a guys' drama, so sorry la...even A lister also becomes flower vase.
The rest of the cast was great, especially actors like Sakai, Kagawa and Yamamoto. It's good to see younger actors acting in more serious productions rather than those exaggerating idol dramas.

Good bye Wilkie, back to Raffles

Today marked my last day working at Wilkie Edge.
Will return to SLT office tmr to unpack my stuff.
Did not like my new office.
The room is hot and stuffy after 6, and the tables are pathetically small.
Was disappointed to know that we're not in a enclosed room too.
Haiz...emo liao.
What a "good" piece of news to end my year.

Last day of work for the year

It will be a long friday, though I expect that we wld be able to knock off by 4pm later.
Gotta prepare to move my things to new office at 7pm.
Hopefully I won't be too busy.
Wanna go home and have a good rest.
What a way to send off 2011.

Travelling plans 2012

June-July 2012: Shanghai & Nanjing
Already done up with the 1st draft itinerary. Will need to look for hotels and re-look at my canal town day trip later next year. I realised I spent a lot of time looking for hotels. Haha! It's good to invest for a better experience ya?

Thinking about visiting Japan next autumn, and thought of going on a short trip to somewhere nearby.
Maybe I shld just focus on the Japan trip, since I am planning to do f&e.

It's time to pick up my Japanese again.

TV Drama Review #323 - Sengyoshufu Tantei ~ Watashi wa Shadow 全职主妇侦探

No.of Eps: 9
Yr/TV Stn: 2011/NTV
Cast:
Fukada Kyoko ~ Asagi Serina
Kiritani Kenta ~ Jinnai Haruki
Fujiki Naohito ~ Asagi Takefumi
Synopsis: (from Dramawiki)
Asagi Serina is a housewife who loves her husband, Takefumi, to the extent that she would not mind being his shadow. However, his response to her excessive devotion is to attempt to avoid her “burdensome”, “gross” expression of love. With a wife’s naivety, she refuses to suspect her husband of infidelity, and initially gets frustrated. One day, with the help of her good friend, Motoko, Serina goes out for a meal with the men at the publishing company where Motoko works. The moment a man in the group makes a move on her, it is captured on film by the sleuth, Jinnai Haruki. Not wanting her husband to see the photograph, Serina starts working at Jinnai’s detective agency as an assistant. This ordinary, bumbling housewife grows stronger and improves her self-confidence through the skills she hones. Serina wants to support and help her husband instead of flaunting her new self to him because he is having a hard time. Aware of the problem that happened to her husband because of her over positivity, she sets about trying to solve it.
Slacker's review:
Fukada+Fujiki combi is something new to me. "Sengyoshufu" has this interesting storyline that even a housewife can become a detective! I was kinda skeptical about the drama, but the plot turned out better than I expected. Actually the main focus of the plot was how Serina found out what her husband Takefumi really did at work. He got this big secret plot hidden away from Serina. Ending was not a surprise, but I was glad Takefumi really loved Serina and realised his silly mistake.
Fukada's acting is still her usual kawaii style, but I enjoyed her performance this time round. Many ppl wld find Serina to be too naive and pitiful. I agreed she was taken for granted, and that's why it felt so great when she became strong and even managed to help Takefumi out. The whole drama was like a growing lesson for Serina.
Chemistry with Fujiki was alright, but that's because Takefumi was such a reserved person. I felt that Fujiki's acting was restricted. He was stiff in his role. Sorry Fujiki, you shld stop picking such roles la.
Kiritani's Jinnai was funny, and I enjoyed his scenes with Serina more. Too bad Serina only loves Takefumi, or else I wld really support Jinnai-kun!!
Theme song is "Spice" by Perfume.

No more shopping...

I was supposed to accompany E.W to buy clothes today, but ended up I was the one who bought the most things. ANOTHER pair of shoes from Aldo, and two tops.
E.W is always luring me to buy shoes!!!
Ok...I must tell myself...no more shopping till Great Sg Sales comes....lolz!
Seems like a difficult promise to keep :p

UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Ver 3.0)

(as of 25/12/11)

1. Australian Convict Sites (2010): Fremantle Prison - Fremantle, Perth
2. Angkor (1992) - Siem Reap, Cambodia
3. The Great Wall (1987) - Beijing
4. Forbidden City (1987) - Beijing
5. Mountain Resort & outlaying temples (1994) - Chengde, Hebei
6. Old Town of Lijiang (1997) - Lijiang, Yunnan
7. Summer Palace (1998) - Beijing
8. Temple of Heaven (1998) - Beijing
9. Mount Wuyi (1999) - Nanping, Fujian
10. Ming Dynasty Tombs (2000) - Beijing
11. Historic Centre of Macau (2005) - Macau
12. South China Karst (2007): Shilin Karst - Kunming, Yunnan
13. Borobudur Temple Compounds (1991) - Magelang, Central Java
14. Prambanan Temple Compounds (1991) - Yogyakarta, Central Java
15. Jeju Volcanic Island & Lava Tubes (2007) - Jeju Island
16. Historic City of Ayutthaya (1991) - Ayutthaya
17. Complex of Hue Monuments (1993) - Hue, Thua Thien-Hue
18. Hoi An Ancient Town (1999) - Hoi An, Quang Nam
19. My Son Sanctuary (1999) - Duy Xuyen, Quang Nam
20. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (2003) - Bo Trach, Quang Binh
21. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (1987) - Xi'an, Shaanxi
22. Mogao Caves (1987) - Dunhuang, Gansu
23. Agra Fort (1983) - Agra, Uttar Pradesh
24. Qutub Minar (1993) - Delhi
25. Red Fort (2007) - Delhi
26. Taj Mahal (1983) - Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Final week of the year

6 more days to 2012.
It's going to be a busy week ahead.
Gotta pack and move office on Friday & Saturday.
January seems to be full of crappy stuff as well.
Totally not looking forward to it.
Haiz~~~

CC Gang Christmas Gathering

Had our gathering at HM's newly renovated house.
Ate nice food and we played "Guitar Hero" all day long. It's really difficult.
We had gift exchange as well, and I got my Baggu bag from SC.
Thanks gal.

TV Drama Review #322 - Vampire Prosecutor 吸血鬼检察官

No.of Eps: 12
Yr/TV Stn: 2011/OCN
Cast:
Yun Jung Hoon ~ Min Tae Yeon
Lee Young Ah ~ Yoo Jung In
Lee Won Jong ~ Hwang Soon Bum
Synopsis:
Prosecutor Min Tae Yeon is bitten by somebody and becomes a Vampire. Tae Yeon rejects the life of a vampire and he survives by drinking the blood of dead people and lives as a righteous prosecutor . Tae Yeon also uses his new found abilities as a Vampire to prosecute powerful people normally thought above the law. A mysterious case then occurs and the evidence points to a Vampire as the perpetrator. Tae Yeon now knows that he is not the only Vampire. He also ponders why he became a Vampire and what truths may lie behind their motives.
Slacker's review:
"VP" is an interesting drama of a vampire, who's got a proper job - prosecutor. The drama has 2 main plots, one is to crack mysterious cases, and the other is to find out what happened to Tae Yeon's missing sister, who was also bitten by a vampire. I liked how these 2 plots sort of linked together.
Yun Jung Hoon has not impressed me with his previous works, but he outshines in this drama. Good acting and full of charisma!
Lee Young Ah also looked somewhat different from the past. I liked the tinge of romance b/w Jung In and Tae Yeon. Actually there is no romance per se, but you can feel that their relationship as just being co-workers have moved on to another stage...being supportive and protecting each other.
I believe I might get to see Season 2 soon.

Sick

Took MC for the 1st time in 2 years.
Slept for half a day, and finally I've a bit of energy to surf the net.
I wondered how long wld I take to recover.
Haiz...

Back to reality

After 8 days of sunny and cold weather, I was welcomed by the rain just now as the plane touched down at Changi.
1 week without international news and wifi access.
Many things happened.
And I have to work tmr!
Super no mood :(

TV Drama Review #321 - The Threshold of a Persona ID 精英

No.of Eps: 30
Yr/TV Stn: 2009/TVB
Cast: 
Roger Kwok ~ Fang Jun Jie
Yoyo Mung ~ Ye An Qi
Raymond Cho ~ Zheng Bo Yu
Patrick Tang ~ Ou Shun Feng
John Chiang ~ Mai Qi Ming
Natalie Tong ~ Ye An Er
Toby Leung ~ Zhong Zhi Xin
Power Chan ~ Liang Zhi Lun
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
Fang Jun Jie becomes friends with two other candidates Zheng Bo Yu, Liang Zhi Lun and Ye An Qi while applying for a post in the Immigration Department. Yu is an aggressive person. He later moves to the Police Force and is promoted to Senior Inspector of Regional Crime Unit. While investigating a murder case, he realizes that the new gang leader, Chen has killed somebody because of Jie's wife. It totally turns Jie's life upside down. As a good friend, Qi helps Jie take care of his son after a failed relationship with Yu. Meanwhile, Ou Shun Feng appreciates Jie’s ability very much and recommends him to Mai Qi Ming, Head of Investigation Section. Jie gains approval and he is determined to start anew. While carrying out an investigation on a fraud syndicate, he comes upon his missing wife and she has become Chen's woman...
Slacker's review: 
"TTOAP" is the first drama about HK's immigration unit. Basically it's just a change of department. The investigation style and cases are similar to other detective cases. So overall, nothing surprising. However, there are a good mixture of family, romance and friendship issues. The pace of thee drama was not too bad, and the lead characters had enough developments.
Fang Jun Jie is Roger's typical role, and he's good. I still think his performance is better when he acts as a baddie. Relationship b/w Jie and Qi was kept subtle. Their friendship was more than friends, but not yet lovers. It's good that they kept their future open-ended. (I do believe they wld end up together).
Yoyo's performance was not bad too. I liked how she handled the scenes when Qi was dumped by Yu for the 2nd time. 
Raymond Cho and Patrick Tang's performances were impressive. I thought their scenes were more interesting than Roger! Raymond was really bad to core, and his acting was convincing. Patrick finally got a meatier role and he got the chance to showcase his emotional skills.
John Chiang's performance was equally outstanding, though woody at times.
As for Nat Tong and Toby, they did well with their supporting roles.
Theme song "Yan Shi" by Roger Kwok & Patrick Tang.

3rd long break of the year

Catching my flight later.
I hope it would be a good one.
Shall update again~

TV Drama #320 - Yes Sir, Sorry Sir 点解阿Sir系阿Sir

No.of Eps: 30
Yr/TV Stn: 2011/TVB
Cast:
Moses Chan ~ Luo Yao Hua
Tavia Yeung ~ He Miao Xue
Linda Chung ~ Gu Jia Lan
Ron Ng ~ Cheng Wen Li
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
Despite the fact that he comes from a long line of disciplined workers, Luo Yao Hua is a teacher of a Band 3 school. One day, he was urged to resign after being vilified by his students as a peeping Tom. At present, the triads have expanded their drug network at local schools. Hua, who has turned a cop, is told to go undercover at the school where he used to teach. At school, he is impressed by the enthusiasm of a new teacher He Miao Xue. He also realize that he was too strict with his students in the past. With a determination to boost students’ confidence, Xue invites bowling expert Gu Jia Lan to teach bowling at the school. When Hua learns about Lan's triad background, he decides to go after her hoping to get close to her brother-in-law. Hua also finds himself in a contest of wits with Inspector Cheng Wen Li, who has been assigned to work as a liaison officer at the school. On one hand, Li is attracted to Xue but on the other, she only loves Hua. All of a sudden, Hua, Xue, Lan and Li find themselves involved in a complicated love polygon.

Slacker's review:

"Yes Sir"  is a police-triad drama with the school as the background. Plot was standard, but the concept of putting a spy in school was out of the box. The drama's pace was not bad, though I felt that 30 episodes were pretty long.
Moses' performance in the drama was not bad, but I was only impressed when he handled the scenes whereby Hua revealed the truth to Lan. The guiltiness Hua felt was shown well via Moses' acting. Moses might seemed a little exaggerating in other scenes, but it was more to provide comic relief.
Tavia's acting is getting better, and she's good at handling emotional scenes. We did not have a straightforward happy ending for Hua & Xue, but I like it this way. It wld be unacceptable for Hua to date Xue immediately after hurting Lan.
As compared to Tavia, Linda's performance seemed to be weaker. I liked Linda's "Ms Cool", but being cool is not easy. Finally we saw her smiling and behaving normal when Lan dated Hua, but the girl was hurt badly when her sis and Hua betrayed her trust. The character had development, but Linda's performance did not seem to make it somehow. I just felt she cld do better.
Ron's Wen Li was the usual rash cops who was biased against the band 3 kiddos. I did not feel much for Li as this character is just a typical support role. I hope TVB gives Ron more chances to prove his acting. He's not well-known for being a good actor, but he can perform better than this.
Theme song is "Chun Feng Hua Yu" by Ron Ng & Moses Chan.

Retail Therapy

Something happened this morning and I was in bad mood.
Luckily, there was no impact for others and I forgot all the suay things after retail therapy. lolz!

Met up with E.W and we went shopping!
First stop was Rock Star @ Cineleisure.
I bought my 1st pair of TOMS! Really comfortable shoes.
Actually I eyed on another pair of Pointer shoes, but the shoes did not looked nice with my size.

Next up, I need to complete my 2nd mission, but before that, we saw the Timberland sales and both of us bought a pair of flats each. Err....I really bought too many shoes this year.
This is my 2nd pair of Timberland within 6 mths? Ooops!

We went to Robinsons to check out Basic House & Mind Bridge. Really loved these Korean clothing sia! Mind Bridge's designs were super nice & chic, but the price range was kinda steep.
Today I was in luck! I bought 2 pieces of clothing from Mind Bridge! Wahaha! Quite pleased with my purchase.

Finally, we walked to Plaza Sing and "hunted" for my 2nd mission. To my dismay, I cld not find what I wanted. Looks like I have to stick to Plan B now. Haiz....