TV Drama Review #206 - Soul 魂

No.of Epis: 10
Year/TV Station: 2009/MBC
Cast:
Lee Seo Jin ~ Shin Ryu
Im Joo Eun ~ Yoon Ha Na
Lee Jin ~ Lee Hye Won
Park Ji Yeon ~ Yoon Doo Na
Park Gun Il ~ Jung Shi Woo
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
Ha Na and Doo Na are sisters who are very close to each other until Doo Na died a terrible death. One day, the usually bright and energetic Ha Na finds herself changing. She has superhuman strength and can do things that nobody can. Ha Na realises that Doo Na's spirit has possessed her body. Shin Ryu, a criminal psychologist, slowly immersed in evil as he uses Ha Na's powers to kill people that cannot be punished by the law.
Slacker's review:
"Soul" easily stood out from the crowd, because it's a thriller genre drama, with a mix of Korean horror. Hehe! The plot was interesting, though the final two episodes were kinda far from expectations. This is not a drama talking about spirit possession, but a drama which focused on people's heart & mind. The storyline caught hold of my interest, as I was curious how Shin Ryu would turn evil & how he would make use of Ha Na to commit crimes. Towards the end, the plot was skewed towards the battle b/w Shin Ryu & Baek Do Shik (Kim Gab Soo). Ending was...crap. I never expected Ha Na to survive, but she did...and she's the only one. The last 2 epis lacked the punch and I was rather disappointed. The only part which I liked in the last 2 epis was how Shin Ryu struggled with himself, as his evil "twin" seemed to control him without his knowledge. Well, the drama is not scary, but there were lots of gruesome scenes, kinda bloody.
Lee Seo Jin finally returned with a very interesting character. I thought he handled his role well, though his performance got better when Shin Ryu was against Baek Do Shik & the baddies. There's someone who stole the limelight, and that is....
Im Joo Eun. Haha! This is Ms. Im's 3rd drama, and I thought her performance was great, for a newbie. She's expressive, and she portrayed Ha Na very well. I liked how she showed Ha Na's fear & guilt towards the kids & Doo Na, who were burnt to death; I liked how she became a gruesome killer who murdered her victims without blinking her eyes; I liked how she forgot her past & led her short-lived peaceful life with a smile. IJE's chemistry with LSJ was great. Though there's a big age gap b/w them, I did not feel any awkwardness watching them acting together.
This is my 2nd time watching Lee Jin, and it's a pity that her role was a supporting one. I think every character here has to struggle with their beliefs, and it's the same for Hye Won. Hye Won seemed to be an idealist, but her mindset changed after meeting Baek Do Shik.
Park Ji Yeon from "T-ara" is quite a rookie actress too, but her performance was not too bad la. Her role Doo Na was not a very demanding character, though she had to do lots of horror scenes. (It's not scary to me though..haha!)
As for Park Gun Il, I thought he's alright, kinda expressionless. Nonetheless, I liked his scenes where he argued with Shin Ryu during lecture.
T-ara's "Lies (ballad.ver)" was featured in Soul OST.

当未来还是个疑问句

最近阿清有点垂头丧气.
在人生旅途翻开新篇章之前,
得经历无限期的等待.
第一次讨厌这悠长的假期.
人生还是有其他的选择.
我决定给自己多一点时间,
相信未来的路就在不远处.

亲爱的朋友们,谢谢你们的支持!
我会加油的!

Excercise

--Punggol Park--
Ah Ching initially planned to cycle 10 laps today, but I met a stalker in the midst of cycling. So, only managed to cycle 7-8 laps. Haiz~
Anyway, that stalker was a young Malay boy. Dunno what the heck he's following me for? I thought that boy wanna overtake me or what, so I bo chap him, but he actually cycled beside me! WTH?! Felt kinda irritated as he followed me for another lap...and I thought I finally shook him off as he cycled towards the leafy shelters. After another lap, I found him "cycling & waiting near the car park" when I was approaching. So I decided to cycle out of the park, but I found him u-turning towards the other direction as well! Good sia...I u-turned back and cycled back to the park. Ha!
There goes my day in the park~

Condolences

Received a sudden news that a friend's father had passed away last night.
Went to pay my last respect with E.W in the afternoon, and the girl was all teary when she saw us.
Chanted sutra with May Leng & Xiao Lan teacher from Dharma class too.
I am relieved that auntie & my friend are pretty strong during this difficult time. I know they will overcome this misfortune. Our faith will keep us strong.
My deepest condolences to you & your family, my dear friend.

TV Drama Review #205 - Buang Ruk Kamathep 丘比特的圈套

No.of Episodes: 28
Year/TV Station: 2009/Ch 5
Cast:
Nawat Kulrattanarak (Pong) ~ Phubodee
Namthip Jongrachatawiboon (Bee) ~ Ornicha
Pakorn Namo (Tui) ~ Tawee
Ornjira Larmwilai (Pang) ~ Giftgay
Chayatorn Setjinda (Ton) ~ Pawat
Sinitha Boonyasak ~ Oranee
Synopsis: (edited from Wiki Sarnworld)
Phubodee is summoned back home from America by his mum Sumon as his younger brother Pawat has fallen in love with a older woman, Oranee, who's a divorcee & works as a seamstress. Phubodee tried to seperate Pawat & Oranee with money, but to no avail. Phubodee then lies to Pawat that he wld be able to marry Oranee if he works in America for a year. To assure Oranee that he is not abandoning her, the couple secretly wed and Pawat’s friend Tawee acts as their witness. Oranee's father suffers from a stroke and his family had no money to pay for his hospital bills. Phubodee takes the opportunity & offers Oranee some money, with a condition that she must break up with Pawat. With no other choices, Oranee takes the money to pay for her father’s hospital bill and surgery. Gleefully, Phubodee lies to Pawat that Oranee has taken his money & she is just another woman who's after money. Pawat does not believe him and wants to return to Thailand to question Oranee. Unfortuanately, Pawat is killed in an accident. Sadden by her husband's death, Oranee attempts suicide, but is saved by Ornicha. Later, Oranee learns that she is 2 mths pregnant with Pawat's child. Phubodee learns from Tawee that Pawat & Oranee are legally married & Oranee has rights to Pawat's inheritance. Phubodee searches for Oranee to handle the inheritance issue, but to no avail. Tawee could not find the sisters too, and finally Giftgay revealed that the family has moved to Maehongsorn to avoid Phubodee & his mum. Oranee later gives birth to Tonklah, but dies from excessive blood lost.
After 5 years, Phubodee learns that Oranee has passed away and he has a nephew Tonklah. Phubodee wants to find him but missed his chances. After her father passes away, Ornicha & Tonklah return to Bangkok with Giftgay & Tawee and Ornicha continues her nursing career. Phubodee finally finds Ornicha & Tonklah, but Ornicha is not willing to give up Tonklah. Since the law is not on his side, Phubodee must find other ways to win his nephew's custody.
Slacker's review:
"Buang Ruk" is my 1st complete Thai drama, but this is not my 1st time watching Thai Lakorn (drama). Pong & Bee are the first two Thai actor/actress I knew many years ago, after watching their 1st collaboration in "Lerd Hong" on a Malaysian channel. Happened to see Pong's drama again when I was in Thailand in 2006. So, he has left me a deep impression ah~ Hehe! Anyway, China has started airing Thai dramas, and I finally chanced upon "Buang Ruk" & this is Pong & Bee's 4th collaboration! Anyway, Thai lakorns are pretty standard in terms of plot & characters. So, their dramas seemed pretty "old school" to me. Haha! I have to say this drama is pretty dramatic, just like any other lakorns. There's constant arguments among the leads, and there are the usual evil daughter/mum stuff going on. "Thai-style bickering" seems to drag longer than normal. There's lots of "physical movements" b/w the leads, and the guys liked to pull the women closed to them & insult them. Ha! (A bit buay tahan la~) I guessed my biggest disappointment with Lakorns is that most of their kisses were fake! (That means they borrowed angles to "take cover" la.) I'm sure there are real kisses in some other dramas, but none for Mr. Pong...sobbzz~
Pong Nawat looks like Chinese, as compared to other Thai actors. Anyway, this is where he stands out from the crowd. After watching "Buang Ruk", Pong is no longer the super nice guy I knew in "Lerd Hong". He has transformed into a bad guy image. (that's what happened to him in his other dramas too...) Well, I thought his transformation is quite acceptable, though Phubodee was quite kns most of the time, as he kept insulting Oranicha & her sis. I'm not too sure if I like Phubodee, but he's quite a contradicted guy la. I loved his scenes with Bee towards the end...Phubodee has finally changed his attitude towards Ornicha, and he spoke so softly to the girl. Haha!
Bee Namthip is a very tall girl!! Luckily Pong is tall enough to match her. Ho! Seriously, I loved Bee's performance, except all her screaming scenes. (Thai actresses loved to scream their heads off~omg!) I did not like the young Ornicha, coz' she's really quite abrasive la. The matured Ornicha was so much better. Chemistry with Pong was great too, can't fault them sia~
I'm glad that Tawee & Giftgay were together in the end, though it seemed kinda sudden that Tawee changed his feelings immediately after he let go of Ornicha.
Ton & Tui are "Exact" (production co.) newbies. Basically, their acting were alright, though Tui seemed kinda stiff (he's too tall la...). Sinitha's Oranee was great too. Plengtai Niyomtai, who acted as Tonklah was a very cute boy! Loved his scenes with Pong & Bee.

Sunset

Sunset @ 6.59p.m.

午餐

--AMK Hub--
超好吃的海南牛肉粉!
--Koi Cafe--
在AMK中心逛的时候，经过这家泡泡茶店。刚好就是HL介绍的那一家。Koi Cafe卖的饮料都比一般的来得贵，而且它的small cup， 还真够小的。哈！我点了奶茶，味道还挺不错的。不过，珍珠就太软了，没嚼劲。


P.S: CH, my IP add was banned from ur tagboard. Can't tag lo!