Notice the last date i made a post. Now this definitely means i've been busy. Not just busy with work but also having a little R&R.

Watched quite a good movie, called Gegege no Kitaro. A funny, quirky live-action movie adapted from the classic manga by Shigeru Mizuki. It's about a one-eyed half-demon boy who fights to keep peace between yokai (demons and 'creatures of the night') and humans. Loved the CGI and the tongue-in-cheek characters, but i'm not sure if it's originally as such in the manga. (The lead is played by Eiji Wentz, one half of pop duo WaT - jpop fans will know that stands for 'Wentz and Teppei'. He looked quite cute, it didn't need any acting anyways.)

Currently, i'm thoroughly immersed in one of those TVB serials, forgot the 'English' title. It's a bit like CSI. i was fired up by colleague's comments that most of the Asian dramas (like Jdrama, Korean or Taiwanese, don't even go near the China ones) you don't really need to watch the entire thing. Just a bit in the front and then some at the end. However for TVB dramas, you must watch it in its entirety. Well, i don't really agree - yet.

Bookwise, i'm not managed to finish reading anything. Typical Arian trait!

Nevertheless, i've still left part of my heart and brain reserved for Colfer's Airman, which has turned to be quite extraodinary in the middle. Our cool guy, Conner is now planning an escape for the Saltees prison mines. Exciting! On the month assignments, i'm much taken with 'Ways to Live Forever' by Sally Nicholls. The novel was the winner of some competition. It is about a boy with leukimia and this is his project given by a tutor who wanted him to write more. Think what you may but it's suprisingly a not too sentimental book. Still touching but not off-putting, only sensible and matter-of-fact, you can imagine the parents crying in the background and putting up a brave front. Worth a look, if for that only.

Well, my life is now piecemeal here, a bit on the side there. i have not mentioned being inundated with work and having no idea where to start. BUT, that is obvious, of course. i think i need to work like i 'enjoy' - a little by little, a bit by bit.

SONG FOR A MOOD
Come closer/Kao-qin - Harlem Yu. My CD rack has a few prominent singers, Harlem is one of them. He's a singer/songwriter who has a unique sound and voice. Love him!!! This is from my all-time favourite album. The CD got scratched, so i felt very sad. Nowadays i play it less so that it'll last longer. He said in an interview how the death of a colleague made him feel the need to spend more time with loved ones, be closer with them while he could. And this is the acoustic version, with the guitar by a sifu, forgot his name but check it out.

We got lost!

If last Sunday wasn't enough to prove to me that Ren & I am both horribly bad at getting on the right road, then tonight is enough. We took a wrong turning and nearly went all the way to the airport. Hmmmm, i am dying to go to Korea but not so soon le.

Anyway, i am really glad though that there are really nice people who helped us find our way out of the freakingly frightening plus confusing and practically deserted maze that is called Puchong.

We were near to going bonkers ... driving in the moonlight. Ren - thanks for being patient despite no dinner. :-)

SONG FOR A MOOD
In the Moonlight/Yue-kuang xia - Ming. A nice tune, okay lyrics and surprisingly good vocals, the only flaw is the amateurish arrangement which my hubby cringes at every time. But he loves this song. If you're addicted to local TV dramas, you might recognise it.

Que Sera Sera. That's the new drama that Eric was the lead in, recently. He plays a really nasty, playboy type which makes you want to slap him as much as Kang-Ho in Super Rookie, albeit for different reasons.

This only goes to show that Eric's forte is acting. Looks like a gorilla (in fact to many he's probably the hamsomest gorilla existing), but good acting.

The VCD is just out, go buy it. Lend me so that i can review it. (Moi? i await the dvd)

The answer is a definite NO!

I've just been busy. It'e the beginning of the year AND month. Imagine all the reshelving and realignment of strategies, plus reports and write-ups i have to finish. Also, i've been watching videos and writing tiny blurbs which pay peanuts, but i'm not complaining ...

Recently watched Sweet Relationship Pt.1. It's a remake of manga, Oiishi Kankei which was made into a Jdrama around 10 years back. (starring the wonderful Toshiaki Karasawa and a little bit insipid but pretty Miho Nakayama)

It's about this girl who loves to eat and has been trained to truly appreciate food, but has also created a monster who is very fussy about eating. Her father dies leaving her penniless so she has to look for a job, unfortunately she is totally hopeless and klutzy. One day, having failed in another interview, she leaves the building to be greeted by a heavy downpour. She stops a taxi but get pushed on the road and loses the cab to some very disgustingly rude but well-dressed people. (her words ... hahaha) So unhappy, ya? She stumbles unto a quaint restaurant called Little Bear, and starts to stuff her face. At the end, she asks for the chef's recommendation which turns out to be a clear beef consomme. Touched by it's flavour, and the fact that it tastes like a consomme her father made for her, she starts to cry. And decides she wants to work there. Except then the chef starts scolding and says he won't have a woman in his kitchen.

The new version is the made in Taiwan one which stars Vic Zhou (Zai2), Patty Hou (most known as being Jay Chou's ex), Alan Kuo (who appears to have gained weight) and other people. It's cool. Very modern and beautifully shot, i hope the story doesn't die half way. 'Cos the main problem of Taiwan drama is either they become too melodramatic, too meandering or too slapdash. Only a few directors have managed to sustain a good lengthy drama - i dun remember their names but the good shows are like Meteor Garden 1, Yamada Taro Monogatari, Devil Beside You, Come to my Place, Toast boy's Kiss, It started with a Kiss, The Rose. Well, there are some more but they lack a certain sustainability about them. Either leads are crap or story too thin. Why-why love - the latest one on TV was quite ok except Mike He wasn't that great an actor. It didn't show with Devil Beside You, being his first drama and all - but his acting in Why2 love looked like an extension of character A-Meng.

So about Sweet Relationship .. here are a few tidbits. Heard this on the radio when both Vic and Alan were here doing interviews. Both of them went through training to learn to cook for real just so they could perform better. Alan, ever the diplomat, said that Vic was the better cook. And he himself enjoyed eating the food in the drama, which was freshly cooked for each scene.

Vic who recently acted in a film, explained to the radio dj about the difference of acting film and drama. He says that it is much more difficult to sustain a character in the long run, and make miniscule changes to it, perhaps changing only very little in each episode. While in film, being shorter, the character may have changed a lot in the next scene. The way he spoke made me see this pretty face in a new light. He is a thinking actor, not the types who have mush for brains and nothing to say at all. He has matured from the days of Hanazawa Rui and deserves some credit for his acting inspite of his wild popularity.

Then again, this director - i look forward to his next drama with great anticipation.

SONG FOR A MOOD
Close to You/Tien tien - David Tao. If there is one song, i must choose of David's, it is this song. Simple tune, simple lyrics, they evoke a simple feeling of love, loving someone and being loved. (there is a song called simple love also) Anyway, i love this song and listening to it cheers me up, puts me in a good mood. Plus, i've been wanting to listen to it again lately. I hope everybody falls in love with this song, too. Please do. It is these songs which make me think that Wang Lee-hom is over-rated. (Sorry)

'some say love, it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
some say love, it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed
some say love, it is a hunger
an endless aching need
i say love, it is a flower
and you its only seed'

There's this song called The Rose, and i'm listening to Ken Hirai's version of it (album: Ken's Bar). There are other versions, but i like this one. One of the other versions is part of the soundtrack of a Taiwanese drama series - called the Rose (what else). Not a new one, but i've watched it on and off, finally managing to see the whole thing from the beginning to the end. Now how do i say this? If i had kept watching till the end, a couple of years ago - perhaps my reaction would be different. i dunno.

What i do know now is - it's a very interesting story that was actually daring to make, and could have probably courted controversy when published originally. Adapted from the manga 'Bara no Tameni' (the love song of the rose) by Akemi Yoshimura, the story had connotations of incest and homosexuality. About Yuri who, on the same day she is dumped by her boyfriend, arrives home to discover her grandmother dead. Left penniless, she relieved to find she still has family - a mother whom she never knew - a beautiful and famous actress (whose name i don't know in Japanese, can someone please enlighten).

Anyway, she packs up all her stuff and goes to seek refuge with her longlost parent. But she arrives to discover that her siblings (all beautiful, beautiful people) are mean and her mother hates her. She ends up acting as a servant and a drudge.

And then there's the mystery of her birth. Okay, up to this point, it might seem a tad too melodrama to you. Hold your horses, cos it's funny also. The siblings are so nasty, you love them. Yuri - sometimes want to slap her but lovable also.

I'm only still at volume four of the manga, even though i've watched the DVD twice. We all know how those people would take liberties with the original stories. So far, i can understand why this manga had its fans. Am i one? Yeah, i suppose. If you look beyond those connotations (like when the younger brother slips into the older half brother's room to steal a kiss), you'll discover that in the end, everything becomes okay. Plus, it made the careers of co-stars, Joe Cheng and Ella (S.H.E.).

or you could like William Blake - choose to see it as oh rose, thou art sick!

i choose not to, yet. At least, i loved the TV Drama. Now i shall withold my verdict until i read all the volumes of the manga. For like the Rose, it has thorns - those 'difficult to swallow' ideas. Strip them away and you have a beautiful flower.