Sunset

Sunset @ 6.50p.m, in sunset mode.
Sunset @ 7.01p.m, 6M normal mode. The pic looks better if view in original size.

Sunsets

24/07/09 @ 7.23pm.
28/07/09 @ 7.13pm.

p.s: Just added a sunset label in my blog, do check out my collection of sunset pics.

TV Drama Review #199 - The Cityhall 市政厅

No.of Epis: 20
Year/TV Station: 2009/SBS
Cast:
Cha Seung Won ~ Jo Guk
Kim Sun Ah ~ Shin Mi Rae
Choo Sang Mi ~ Min Joo Hwa
Lee Hyung Chul ~ Lee Jung Do
Yoon Se Ah ~ Go Go Hae
Lee Joon Hyuk ~ Ha Soo In
Synopsis: (edited from Soompi)
Shin Mi Rae is a naive and warm-hearted civil servant who unwittingly becomes the Mayor of Inju City. She is thrust into the spotlight by Jo Guk, a young and brilliant politician, who is using her for his own presidential ambitions. Their personalities and beliefs can't be more different. Mi Rae believes in giving service as a politician, while Jo Guk believes in stepping on others and back-stabbing, if needed, to get ahead. Love starts to blossom b/w the two, but Go Hae, Jo Guk's fiancee comes into the picture and Mi Rae soon learns about Jo Guk's real motive.
Slacker's review:
To be honest, I was skeptical about dramas dealing with politics. I was not sure if I would enjoy Cha Seung Won's performance (as he's not the original person for the role). I did not have the motivation to watch it immediately, coz' "The Accidental Couple" was way more interesting than I thought (and it's during exam period...lolz!) Well, I was totally wrong. The plot was alright, very straightforward and there's no big twists. What made this drama interesting was the cast. The interactions b/w the characters made the drama very entertaining, but serious when they were back to business. I gotta say kudos to the screenwriter who made this "all-so-boring" political drama into such a funny & touching one. I could not find fault with this drama, as the execution of the drama was great, and there were so many memorable moments b/w the 2 leads. As usual, there was this "love & hate" stuff going on, but I liked how the characters became strong despite all the obstacles b/w them.
The biggest draw for me to watch "Cityhall" was Kim Sun Ah. She was still very "Sam Soon" when she's in "WIAN", but finally I could install a new image of her with her new role Mi Rae. Ok, I still hate the fact that she looked very "auntie" here, but at least, Mi Rae was very different from her previous roles. Mi Rae might be a simple & naive girl, but she's far from being dumb. I thought she's pretty strong despite facing hardships. The character had so many developments and it's a good chance to see KSA's flawless acting. She was damn funny when Mi Rae took part in a pageant; she was damn pathetic when Mi Rae was "attacked" by eggs & tomatoes; she was so sweet when she's in love with her Gukkie; she was decisive when she worked as a mayor etc. KSA's chemistry with CSW was terrific!!! Loved all their scenes together...hoho!!
I have to say a big sorry for doubting Mr Cha. Haha! I knew he's a good movie actor, but his last tv drama did not impress me la. CSW seemed to be very serious, but that's really on surface. Haha! He's super duper lame in the drama, but that's before Jo Guk fell hard for Mi Rae (& he's kinda romantic as well). Jo Guk was quite a serious guy actually, but he's quite cheeky as well. It's really funny to watch this super tall guy acting funny with a straight face. Anyway, Jo Guk is a character with depth too. He seemed to know his priorities, but the guy struggled when obstacles surfaced. He tend to run away from his problems, but I'm glad he's back on the right track in the end. From using Mi Rae, to falling in love with her, and to prevent her from getting hurt, Jo Guk's love to the lady was expressed in different layers. I liked to see Jo Guk & his father's scenes, though most of the time the situations were filled with anger, betrayal and sadness. We got to see the guy who yearned to be recognised by his father, who did not shower him with care & love since young.
The main side story was b/w the married couple Joo Hwa (CSM) & Jung Do (LHC). There were lots of bickering & misunderstanding b/w the couple, but there were some bittersweet moments b/w them too. Joo Hwa was Mi Rae's enemy from the start, and I did not like her. Ha! But well, it's nice to see Chu Sang Mi after a long time.
Yoon Se Ah's Go Hae was really practical and realistic, and I disliked her so much. I am a little disappointed tt YSA was still acting as a support role till now. I guessed she really need a good role.
OST was alright, only one of the ballads left me a deep impression.

Family Gathering

First of all, gotta thank ML for telling me how to solve blogger's problem. I've been cursing blogger for days! Lolz!
--Olive Tree @ InterContinental--
It's rare for me to have a meal at hotel la. Hehe! Went to have my high-tea "lunch" with my family & Aunt Jo. The buffet consisted of various Asian food, though there's raw oysters la. Choices were kinda limited, but the food was not too bad. The desserts were nice too, consisting of fruits, ice cream/sorbet, kuehs, cakes etc. Just took some pics of what I ate there...
The oysters were really great. I was surprised that they were not stinky at all. The chili crab was alright, it's flower crab la, so not much meat. I liked the "indian" curry chicken too (forgot the exact name). Oh ya..and I loved the bah kut teh!!! (and I drank two bowls of the soup~)
This was my 2nd plate. Not much choices for sushi, but they were delicious. The siew mais were great too. I tried the thai olive rice and the mini asian pizza. Of coz, must eat more oysters to make the meal worthwhile right? Hahaha!
There's free flow of coffee & tea la. (Have to pay extra for juices~) This was my dessert plate. The peaches were so delicious. I only dipped marshmallow in the fondue la, did not like to eat fruits with chocolate. Haha! I only ate tiramisu among the cakes available, and it's NICE!
E.W's special ordered sandwich.
--Illuma--
Walked over to check out the new mall, but the shops were kinda disappointing? So we did not spent much time there and we went to...
--ION Orchard--
Ho! The mrt area changed quite abit! The mall was flooded with people, especially the basement floors. Basically, there were many new shops, but we went into those familiar ones. Lolz~ Bumped into Seb at the food court area...hoho! Saw some nice bags at Everbest, but the prices were kinda steep for non-leather bags. I saw a very nice leather sling bag at Fossil!!! Haiz...need to earn money to buy myself one next time.
The branded shops were located above ground level, and the crowd was at the usual shops la...Burberry, Longchamp etc. Ha! Ah Ching too poor to buy stuffs there.
Before heading home, how can I missed out Dunkin' Donuts!!! I bought my bavarian filled!! The queue was a little long, but it's because there's only one cashier. Many ppl in the forums said the donuts craze has died out, but it's not really the case yeah? I bought half a dozen at 7 bucks. Going to enjoy my donuts for supper later! Yippee~

CC Gang Gathering: HM's Birthday Celebration

--Billy Bomber @ The Cathay--
Met up with the gals to celebrate HM's bdae in advance. It's a pity that PY could not join us...again. Hope everything is fine for her. I haven't step into Billy Bomber for ages, and their set lunches looked great. $14++ including main dish, a drink and a dessert ice cream.
CH & HM's fried chicken set lunch with Cheese & tomato. I think it's too cheesy for the girls ya?
We have more takers for the Grilled Dory fillet with creamy mushroom sauce. It's simply delicious!!!
--Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince--
Watched the digital version at the Grand Cathay. I was not impressed with "Order of the Phoenix", but I decided to give the 6th sequel a try. I think many ppl would find "Half-blood prince" boring, coz' there were lots of talking & little action. Also, there's a lack of climax in the plot la. For a 154 mins long movie, I guessed we do need some more actions to keep us "awake". Nevertheless, I enjoyed the romance scenes between the characters. It's just too funny, thanks to Ron who kena the love spell. Haha! Could not stand that Lavender too, and I kept cursing her when she's on screen. Lolz! The rest of the cast was alright, and it's nice to see Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) again. Ending was sad, as Dumbledore was killed and it turned out that Snape was the half-blood prince. Hoho! Well, I think this movie was alright, and I preferred it much more than "Order of the Phoenix". Though I'm not a Harry Potter fan, I think I will be watching the last sequel la. Hehe! Must put a nice full stop to the movie.
Also, had a great time with the girls. I think we'll be meeting soon ya? Hehe!

CB Gang Gathering @ 23/07/09

--Bishamon Sapporo Ramen @ Raffles City--
My Nabe ramen with salomon. The soup was rich & delicious, and the noodles tasted very different from Ajisen's ramen. The food was good, but the service from their crew could be better. Anyway, the restaurant was really noisy and crampy la. I would prefer to eat at somewhere with better comfort.
--Rooftop @ Esplanade--
My first visit to Esplanade's rooftop! Sua gu right. The gang decided to find somewhere to sit down & chat, and the best thing was...no need to spend a cent. Haha! Anyway, the view from the rooftop was excellent! Got to see some ppl rehearsing for NDP at the floating stage. The night view of our CBD area was nice too, but too bad my cam batt could not last me for long. Just got a few pics to share...
CBD area.
The hotels at Marina area.
The three towers of the Marina Sands Casino.
Nice catching up with the gang. QY, YW are gg to be in their final yr, same for XH who did not turn up. Seb gg to uni soon, YT doing fine, while Vic is gg back to Aus for her 2nd sem.
We had lots of fun chatting about culture differences of various countries, and of coz, must mention that we met a few insects too. (The rooftop not very clean ah~) Hehe!

Fort Canning Park

--Saizeriya @ Liang Court--
Wanna intro this restaurant to SC, but I am not sure if this restaurant is really worth recommending now. Lolz~
My seafood spaghetti. Honestly, it’s not nice. The tomato sauce was really blend, though the seafood was great.
SC’s grilled chicken hotplate. I think their burger set looked more delicious?
--Fort Canning Park--
I have not visit the park for years. I think the “hike” did not last for an hour as there were only a few spots for us to cover.
Up we go~
Some more steps to go, before I realised that we did not have to climb so high up~ Lolz!
View of the CBD area from FCP.
Raffles’ house.
Fort Canning Lighthouse.
One of the 9-pound cannons found in the park.
Keramat Iskandar Syah.
One of the two Gothic Gates.
The last few tombstones at Fort Canning Green. I was quite disappointed that I could not find saga seeds at FCG anymore. E.W actually asked me to pick a few more to fill up the bottle. Well, came too late la.
The other tombstones which were removed were set into the walls at FCG.

The Cupolas.
Fort Canning Centre.
The back view of the Gate of Fort Canning. I shld have taken the front view!
What's this little hole?
It leads to the stairs...
We were on top of the gate.
That's the stairways from the narrow hole.
Entrance of Battle Box. We did not go into the Battle Box as we need to purchase tickets and I think someone would bring us in. Kinda troublesome~
We walked over to the “Asean Sculpture Garden” beside FCG. Honestly, the sculptures were far from impressive. The above was called “Concentration” (Thailand).
“Together” (Brunei).
Did not check out which country it’s from.
“Augury” (Malaysia).
I did not take photos of some attractions, like the Spice Garden & James Brooke Napier Memorial at FCG. We had missed out two attractions too, like the Sally Port & the Archaeological Excavation Site.
--PS--
We walked over to PS to meet E.W, Tuan & Aunt Jo. The first thing Tuan asked SC was when she’s free to play mahjong. Faints~ Anyway, Shelie came later on to meet up with SC. That girl is still the same ah~ Hehe!

Btw, I've found other places where they are saga seeds. Hoho! (Problem is...when will I go & pick them up. Lolz~)