Ycrox

小虎队 in 2010

2012-02-14T17:46:00.004+08:00

This is so nice.

And I'm still so proud of being an Alec Su fan. I've always known that Nicky Wu is damn overrated. Haha.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T00:42:00.002+08:00

My love life is at an all-time awkward, but it doesn't really matter because I'm going to celebrate LOVE anyway.

So Valentine's Day is strictly for romance and couples in a romantic relationship. And for singletons to share stupid crap on Facebook screaming "forever alone" and calling it "single awareness day". I don't know why it matters so much to some people that they are single, but I can tell you that some of these people are better off single than with those terrible dudes they used to date. For people who don't give a shit about romance, like my mom, it is Tuesday; just Tuesday.

I don't really fall into any of the above categories. I am neither in love nor upset that I am single. I am also not ambivalent to the fact that it is Valentine's Day. I don't have a date today and the only thing I am looking forward to is a "belated" $231 one on 19th Feb at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

But I was still looking forward to this day. I anticipated putting No Other on loop and finally having a freaking excuse to share it on Facebook without seeming like too much of a fangirl. FYI, No Other is the best possible Valentine's Day kpop song. NOT Gee or Oh! or the other Girls Generation songs.

Both the song and the music video. Extremely suitable for Valentine's Day. Don't you think?

Not that it matters what you think.

Happy Valentine's Day my friends - those that I'm on awkward terms with especially. Happy Valentine's Day to my boys too. See you guys Sunday!!!

PS: It's definitely way better to be single than to be stuck with someone who doesn't respect you, someone who makes you do all the dishes by yourself, and someone who doesn't think it's important to celebrate valentine's day with you.

缺宅男女 L'escargot

2012-02-13T21:55:00.002+08:00

The worst show in recent TVB history finally ended its run last night. I was so glad, you have no idea.

L'escargot started out with great potential. I think there were meaningful intentions behind the script, and it was certainly a drama that gave the cast a lot of room for exploration - with the sole exception of Michael Tse, Michael Miu and Sonija Kwok, everyone else took roles that were very different from what they usually played on screen.

For the good acting that the cast boasted of, it was a shame that the series wasn't able to keep people interested. The storyline was sickeningly depressing, overly predictable and generally quite unexciting. From the first episode alone you'd be able to tell that this was a show about how the average working-class family has no money to own their own property and the problems that this brings about. The underlying morals are blatant: treat your family well; be thankful for what you've got; rich or poor it doesn't matter as long as everyone is together and united. Flat, however, because the whole show becomes nothing more than an extended Aesop Fable.

While the story as a whole traced out working-class lives that resonates with the average layperson, there were some extremities, like the sweet hard-working girl suddenly willingly sleeping with that rich boss out of gratitude (HUH?) and the protagonist's wife suddenly leaving him and getting together with her boss-cum-ex-boyfriend (HUH?). It made the show a very unrealistic one. Of course, all dramas are unrealistic. But it is one thing to have unrealistic stuff like time travel, and quite another to make your characters forgo their moral values midway.

The only good thing about this series was the acting. Kudos to Mandy Wong, whose role as the annoying 関二嫂 made her a household name, and Joyce Tang, who is hopefully on her way to scoring a Best Supporting Actress nomination like her on-screen character. It was also nice seeing Yoyo Chen with such a meaty role.

All in all, I'm glad it's all over. The new show stars Tavia Yeung, but hey there's Kenneth Ma. I miss Kenneth Ma so much, I'll just bear with Tavia Yeung.

Everywhere these days

2012-02-13T19:35:00.001+08:00

Mr ideal, I mean. It's mind-blowing.

This is so random but...

2012-02-13T02:39:00.000+08:00

Someone on allkpop said whoever gets to marry Siwon next time is damn lucky.

And I've just got to say I COMPLETELY AGREE. Siwon is super gentlemanly and appears to be that one celebrity with all his values in the right place. He fights and speaks up for what he thinks is right, and he's really respectful and hard working as well. Maybe he's not the PhD holder or big successful businessman sort but I think he'll make a reliable life partner. PLUS he's super hot. It shouldn't be a key criteria but trophy husband anyone?

The other person in Super Junior that is totally worth marrying is Eunhyuk. He takes all relationships very seriously and is highly self-reflexive. He has also maintained on several occasions that he'll let his wife decide on certain things such as... how many children to have. He's sensitive, but also confident enough to take people saying negative stuff about him in his stride, and won't get haughty just 'cos he's a little famous. That on top of the fact that he's one of the most respectful and humble people in the industry. He also doesn't drink and doesn't smoke. PERFECT - except he goes for looks. Hahaha.

I'm not saying that everyone in SuJu is worth marrying okay, so don't get me wrong. I love all of them but I won't say they are all worth marrying. Like I just can't see what kind of girl would want to marry Leeteuk because he really seems like ultimate flirt. He also doesn't seem to respect females very much. Ryeowook seems like the cute, harmless guy but word has it that he can get quite fierce and I'm not sure girls want a fierce husband. Also he doesn't speak up when he needs to. Sungmin acts like a little boy so a girl who marries him has to be prepared to act like a mother/older sister towards him, rather than rely on him to take care of her. Also Donghae smokes and sorry but health is most important. Won't want to live in an environment full of cigarette smoke, also won't want my kids to be exposed to second-hand smoke all the time.

I think Yesung is the kind that would treat his wife very well but I'm not sure, just a guess. I'm kind of neutral towards Kyuhyun and Heechul on this matter. Kyuhyun can be kid-like sometimes and he has a rather impractical approach towards love. But on the other hand he has been through a lot so it wouldn't be fair to call him immature. He's also the only one in the group with a degree, if that suggests anything about intellectual capability/genes. Heechul seems like the kind that is always surrounded by a lot of women cos he's metrosexual. He also seems like the commitment-phobic sort. But he's got his values in the right place and a strong mind of his own that will never allow himself or the people he likes to be bullied.

Yes this is so in time for V'day. If any girls get v'day invites from these boys please just go out with them just for the boasting rights of being able to say you've dated Super Junior before. For sure I would definitely go out with them just to get to know them. But if my reading of the boys are right I'd like to get to know Eunhyuk and Siwon better. Hahahaha.

Happy Valentine's Day in advance, and stop complaining that you're forever alone. There is nothing wrong with being single and it's really not attractive to be complaining that you are single. You've got to love yourself before people can love you. Also, there's a lot more to life than love and relationships.

so SEVERELY brilliant

2012-02-12T18:51:00.004+08:00

Their second best performance after that Music Bank comeback stage. I actually like very much the fact that Minhwan is now in front. Also I keep wondering if Seunghyun feels kinda weird without Jaejin next to him.

Also check out their LIVE performances on Sketchbook - Severely, I Hope and I Confess. I love Sketchbook. It's the only music show in Korea that allows bands like FT Island to perform live.

Please, just shut up

2012-02-11T14:40:00.002+08:00

Whether it is at home or in school everyone just keeps talking about employment prospects (which goes back to grades) and having a boyfriend/getting married.

I get that some people think they are moral authority and take it upon themselves to remind me that I must get attached and graduate with good grades. It is as if I cannot survive being single and I cannot gain employment at all with the grades I currently have.

Really? I know quite a few people who graduated without honours even and they are all employed.

Maybe we won't start with your awesome S$3000/month but its not like we're going to earn S$300/month either.

And the more important part is, even if I earn S$300/month next time it really isn't any of your bloody business so it would be really nice if you could shut up and stop meddling with my affairs. Why, are you so worried that I would need to borrow money from you to pay the bills next time?

My grades stare at me in the face, I don't need you to remind me of them. Also I am not dumb and ignorant. I know that good grades get you better jobs. You saying it isn't going to suddenly spur me on to ditch YouTube and make sure I get cap 5 this sem.

The boyfriend issue is even older and apparently I am still not worrying that I am single. Leave it up to me to worry, you just go concentrate on planning your still non-existent wedding.

MBC's kpop channel

2012-02-11T11:30:00.000+08:00

I want to buy MBLAQ's new album 100% Ver. I also want to buy FT Island's Grown Up album. But both albums only work out to US$28 on Yesasia and I need to hit at least US$38 for free shipping. So for the time being I'm stuck with listening to the albums in my playlists on YouTube. And then after a while I will grow sick of it and forget about buying it. -_-

Anyway the world of kpop is totally crazy right now because the most unexpected people keep winning. The cheapest acts sell the best these days, its a sad time to like kpop. Hongki's vocals can move you to tears but Severely is only #3 to the stupid, uninteresting, flat song that Lovey Dovey is.

In other news I recently discovered MBC's kpop channel. It's the best thing that ever happened in 2012 so far. For the time being MBC's got loads of sense. They've uploaded Music Core performances since 2009, not only in 1080p but watch these vids in 'original' - it's the closest you'll ever get to kissing your idols.

HELLO JOON! THUNDER! SEUNGHO! MIR! G.O.! MBLAQ's my second favourite act after Super Junior. I have no idea how they did it but they sure rose through the ranks of my bias list real quick. I just can't understand why people don't like them and why they fail to sell as well as people who don't even sing live. Like Super Junior, MBLAQ has a really embarrassing past: songs I will never listen to, choreography I cannot appreciate, looks I unworthy of attention. But they have grown, matured and are generally really awesome now. I love Thunder (1:23) by the way.

I DIGRESS. Anyway, the best part about MBC's kpop channel is that it's available internationally. Unlike SBS which has this retarded belief that only people in Korea, Europe and US deserve to watch their videos on YouTube.

I've been enjoying super old performances from bands that kind of don't exist anymore:

If only they didn't disband, yeah? But the disproportionate popularities of the members just didn't justify staying as a band. Who'd want to be in the same band as Kim Hyun Joong? Especially if you're much better a performer, singer and dancer than he is, like Kim Hyung Jun.

I have a lot of readings to complete this weekend. In case you missed it on Twitter/Plurk/Facebook (I am so extreme right?!) MY PRESENTATION IS OVER. Feeling like a free bird.

PS: Today's Ben's birthday. Thank goodness I've wished him on Ycrox before because if not I'd have no way of confirming that today's his birthday (its not on facebook -_-). My birthday sms to him read: may you be smarter than 四爺, shuaier than 八爺, sweeter than 十四爺, nicer than 十爺, and like all of them age 20 years but look the same. Yup, this is the kind of thing you get if you're my friend and if you recently introduced an epic drama to me.

步步惊心 Scarlet Heart

2012-02-08T22:45:00.002+08:00

For quite a while now I've been wondering whether to watch 步步惊心. I'm not really into period dramas these days because I always feel that the depiction of life in the past is often unrealistic and quite impossible. But what do I know; its not like I got into a car accident and travelled back in time to Qing Dynasty China. Whatever I "know" of life in imperial China is limited to whatever was depicted in the original Huan Zhu Ge Ge series, so I get kind of annoyed when the newer shows have concubines refer to themselves as "奴才" (TVB's 万凰之王 made this grave mistake), or if the emperor says things like "起來吧" (as in this show) instead of "免禮".

I also avoid watching mainland dramas because Taiwanese and Hong Kong actors have their voices dubbed, and I hate dubbing. I will never watch a Korean drama in anything other than Korean, and you will never catch me willingly watching the Mandarin version of a TVB drama either.

But last Saturday I went for blood donation and Ben told me he watched the whole of 步步惊心 during CNY not once but twice. I've known Ben for 5+ years now and he's the kind that pokes fun at my craziness over cpop, kpop and tennis. So I thought, if even people like Ben enjoy it, it must be really good. It also helped that the series is available in blue ray quality on YouTube. Blue ray sucks because you can see their pores and pimples super clearly (and apparently their make-up sucks), but as far as video quality goes, higher is always better.

The series starts off with Zhang Xiao (Liu Shishi), the main character, quarrelling with her boyfriend in modern-day Shanghai. She is involved in a car accident during the squabble, and somehow gets thrown back into 18th century China under Kangxi's reign. She wakes up as Maertai Ruoxi, the second daughter of a general, living in the residence of her sister (Annie Liu), who is the second wife of Kangxi's 8th son (Kevin Cheng). A series of coincidences results in her befriending a couple of other princes, including the future Yongzheng emperor, Kangxi's 4th son (Nicky Wu), 10th prince (Ye Zuxin), 13th prince (Yuan Hong) and 14th prince (Lin Gengxin). As with all girls in that era she is sent to the palace as a potential addition to Kangxi's royal harem, but the 4th and 8th prince prevented that from happening. She is made a palace maid, but her intelligence and sensitivity towards the aged Kangxi (Damian Lau) reminded him of his daughter and she is made 禦前侍奉. Through her years as Kangxi's trusted aide, she becomes increasingly involved in the princes' competition for the throne and power. Rather than as a pawn, she is portrayed more as a symbol of freedom.

Either I've never watched a period drama in which the guys are the ones fighting (usually its within the harem) or I just can't remember but there was something grossly unfamiliar about the theme. It was exciting, and there were some scenes that just make you freak out, like some official getting pulled apart by horses (五馬分屍) and Ruoxi's best friend Yutan (Guo Zhenni) getting steamed alive. Both scenes were epic gross, and right now I just cannot think of a steamer or the word steamed without feeling nauseous. 步步惊心 literally made feel uptight with every step.

I have to admit the acting was amazing. Those tear-filled-eyes scenes were the best part of the entire series. From sobbing because he was set up by his brothers, to bawling because his beloved woman died. I found myself tearing up with the characters at some points. Nicky Wu deserves an award for his acting here, and Liu Shishi deserves to be big - real big, like Vicki Zhao kind of big. Everyone else did really well too, I hope I'll get to see more of Lin Gengxin cos he seems like one of those promising young actors. I liked very much Annie Liu's character, but I think it's about time she stops taking on such passive roles. And although he's an experienced actor, Kevin Cheng ended up being the worst of the lot - a shame since he was the special addition to the cast.

I have watched better dramas. For all that hype, the plot running through 步步惊心 is quite flat. You don't actually see princes plotting against each other - it just happens, and then you watch the consequences unfold. You don't see people falling in love, because either they are already together, or if it involves Ruoxi it always appears as if she has an ulterior motive (and you have no idea what the hell her motive is). I also didn't appreciate how it was so depressive. But if you think about it, 步步惊心 was a show about the lack of autonomy and freedom ~~in imperial China~~ - with everyone fighting for the throne to the empire, while getting distracted by the taste of 21st century freedom on the side. I would call it a literal 步步惊心 experience, with meaningful lessons to be learnt about contemporary life.

China has been churning out period dramas as if they have finally found their niche. All these shows were filmed at the same location (Hengdian World Studios), and as a matter of fact, the remake of Huan Zhu Ge Ge was also filmed there, so you actually see the same lotus pond apart from the same palace grounds (although to be fair the palace grounds are supposed to look like that). While I didn't think 步步惊心 is deserving of the rave reviews it received, and I don't think I'll be watching it again, it was certainly better than the remake of HZGG and 美人心計. Still I don't know how come Ben likes this show so much! Maybe its because he doesn't really watch that many dramas so his standards are lower. Haha.

PS: Thank goodness this is only 35 eps. Most of these Chinese-made dramas are 40+, some even 60 episodes. CRAZY!

Huh?

2012-02-07T20:55:00.001+08:00

So much work to do that I really shouldn't be here typing this.

But I just wanted to ask if I am really the only person around who doesn't start talking about relationships in every conversation.

Is there no other conversation topic in the world that holds people together?

2 weeks

2012-02-05T14:16:00.003+08:00

to our big date.

It would probably make all this shit worth going through. Presentation on Friday. Its really not the presentation nor the topic nor the module I'm dreading.

Secrets you don't know about

2012-02-04T23:03:00.000+08:00

Nowadays blogging personal stuff is sorta like writing an informal personal statement. I get freaked out writing about my views and my experiences because I don't want to be judged for them. Also cos entries on TVB get more page views, and nothing - I repeat, NOTHING - is easier than blogging about kpop. But today I feel kinda sad (?) and everything has just been testing my patience and EQ over the last 48 hours. I can't help but want to blog something really personal tonight.

As with all my emo nemo entries this one will probably disappear sometime, so if you happen to be interested in the secrets of my life - I mean the parts that I don't really talk about - then tonight is the night to read this blog.

Ever since I realized that my EQ was low I've been trying to up it by training myself to be a more socially adept person. Ok socially adept is the wrong phrase to use, but I hope you get my drift. I just hope to be the kind of person that can still laugh and smile even though I'm pissed inside. I want to be the conversational sort that doesn't feel randomly awkward everytime I'm with people I don't know well. But I swear you have to train a kid from young to have high EQ because if I'm pissed with you there and then I find it quite a struggle to either freak out on you or walk away clearly pissed.

So anyway I am still trying. And I still don't really know how to react when a so-called good friend scolds you in the middle of central library for being irresponsible and unappreciative of her stay-up-all-night efforts to do something for the presentation because you "don't care". For the record, I'm not sure how skipping welfare made me irresponsible. Because this week's topic is related to next week's and we're presenting next week? But isn't it my responsibility to ensure I understand every topic? Attending class doesn't automatically mean you will understand the content very well. Also if you stayed up all night to do a flow chart that I could've done in 30min then do I really have to kowtow and thank you for your hard work? You're also being graded for this presentation and you have a part to play so I don't see why I have to be appreciative, honest!

I also don't know how to react when right after you get scolded you walk away (after saying a cordial goodbye) and end up in the printing room with mr ideal standing there with his new girlfriend.

Was that the worst hour ever or what?

Since he's finally squeezed his way into a blog entry I might as well introduce him. Mr ideal happened to fit my theoretical criteria a long time ago when we first met. We were kind of friends for a while but I stopped seeing him around after that. It might have been a result of him fitting my theoretical ideal back then but when we were friends certain things went severely wrong. As a result of what went wrong when we were friends, mr ideal was reduced to mr theoretical ideal. (And if you plough through my archives you might find an entry explaining why ideal is not really ideal because it is an ideal.) For convenience's sake he's mr ideal in this entry, although on Plurk I actually use his real surname.

Mr ideal is still pretty much mr ideal, though you definitely have to bear in mind that there is one big difference between him and my real ideal. My real ideal likes/loves me. This guy doesn't. In some twin earth somewhere he does, but probably not in this one.

You also have to keep in mind that we haven't talked for a freaking long time so I was kind of surprised when I walked into him and his girlfriend yesterday. Though stunned is probably a better word.

Also for the longest time I refused to refer to mr ideal as the guy I like because of what happened in cj. Apparently I will never get over what happened in cj. Despite me clearly recognizing that mr _ was not worth liking at all, and the friendships that were ruined as a result of it weren't worth my tears. Maybe next time I will look back and think mr ideal was a lousy ideal, though it's probably a good thing that we aren't talking because like that, he can remain my ideal for an entire lifetime even after I've moved on. Not that I intend to really not talk to him for the rest of my life because I see him every week now and the awkwardness that pervades is stupid as hell and detrimental to my goals of having higher EQ. No guts! I don't say hi because I have this unexplained fear that I may make things very obvious. Also because he hasn't said hi to me either. Not that he hasn't tried to at least get my attention - due credit must be given. Mr ideal has awfully high EQ, and its something I really respect him for.

I'm going to abruptly end off this introduction by saying that I may have been wrong in assuming that the girl yesterday was his girlfriend. It wouldn't matter anyhow! I'm not the kind that can smile and say I wish him the best (EQ not so high - yet); but it would probably be problematic if my ideal didn't have a miss ideal.

Satisfying blog entry huh!

Was going to go on somemore about emotional stuff but I think it sounds too bitter. Also I just got distracted by talking to B about his ~~girlfriend~~ it's complicated partner. I hope I've spilled enough beans in this entry to update you on the personal parts of my life, beyond kpop and TVB dramas.

BLEAH

2012-02-03T23:43:00.004+08:00

So I typed out an entire entry about Super Junior thinking it would destress me but instead I ended up getting more and more annoyed with the detail. Ditching it.

Check out MBLAQ's awesome performance today. All their performances are awesome but since yesterday Joon has started to change his getting-shot part.

And FT Island's brilliant performance:

Seriously think this song is awesome. Forget what I said yesterday.

Also the latest episode of Big Bang Theory is kinda good. Please may they celebrate Leonard's Day soon!

PS: In addition to people settling old project work scores 2 years later, and bumping into a boy and who-I-thought-was his girlfriend right after, Teen Top won Music Bank. In which universe should Teen Top sell better than MBLAQ? In terms of music, singing, choreography, dancing, and looks, MBLAQ beats Teen Top hands down. Teen Top is worse than U-Kiss. Still a bad day.

Severely

2012-02-02T21:52:00.003+08:00

Just watch the second performance from about 4:12. The first performance was interesting in the sense that you finally get to hear all five voices - like I literally went, "Oh so this is how Jonghun sounds like!" - finally dispelling all rumours that he can't sing. I suppose they can, it's just that with Lee Hongki in the same band, you kind of should just leave all the singing to him. The second performance is the highlight.

Severely is a song that is way too emotional for my liking. I love FT Island but I can't say I'm crazy over the song. It's a good song (I think) but I think the music video overshadowed the song.

It's really difficult to appreciate the song with a) such a pretty girl and b) such great acting in the music video. It's a great music video, but there is no point in making stunning MVs if its going to overshadow the song. The song should be the main thing. Also it's quite retarded that Hongki got himself killed for nothing.

Watching FT Island perform it live for the first time though, changed my impression of it. Honestly you don't even need English subs to understand the song if Hongki's the one singing it. As a true-blue performer, Hongki tells the story in a way that no lyric will ever be able to.

Just watch the performance and judge for yourself. I genuinely don't think anyone else in kpop performs the way he does. And that's what makes him so freaking awesome.

I hope FT Island wins big with this comeback. Triple chart please, no more losing to unworthy girlgroup comebacks! (Although MBLAQ is still promoting and I also want them to win on the other chart shows since they've already clinched 2 M! Countdown trophies.)

PS: Check out the rest of the album here. The unfortunate news is that I will not be buying this album. I really don't like it enough to buy it. I'm assuming Grown Up connotes a more mature musical direction, but if mature means emo and sad then I don't really want them to grow up. Bring back the days of Cross and Change because I'm not going to be buying albums purely because the lead vocalist can really sing. It matters a lot to me that the songs are memorable and better still - catchy.

And Djokovic won again

2012-01-30T01:39:00.000+08:00

(OH GOD I TYPED OUT AN ENTIRE PAGE ABOUT THE MATCH AND IT GOT DELETED COS CHROME CRASHED ON ME WTF!!!)

So I've been feeling so emo the whole night cos I've got so much to do but I haven't done them yet and it's already Monday morning.

The fact that I watched that 5+ hours epic long Australian Open final between Djokovic and Nadal - which was really good tennis to be honest - only to have Djokovic win at the end of it doesn't really help much. Although it was brilliant tennis, with so many long rallies and Nadal serving better than I have ever seen him serve (I THINK), can't help but feel like I wasted my evening because the match didn't turn out the way I would've liked it to.

Yes tennis isn't about who wins or loses at the end of it but I can't deny it matters to me because it affects my mood a lot. That's probably kind of why I stopped watching for a while. It's emotionally draining and time consuming. Kinda annoying!

Anyhow I think it was just about the best Australian Open match I've ever watched. Nadal clearly had his chances and at some parts he gave away too many chances. But hey not many players would've managed to fight all the way to the end. At the end of the third set it really seemed like Djokovic was going to take it - and I was about to turn off the tv and give up - but he fought back real hard for every single point like a real winner should. He managed to push it to an exciting five sets and indeed gave Djokovic a run for his money.

It made Djokovic's win seem more legitimate; and that's probably what true tennis fans want to see. Real, hardcore, awesome tennis. For quite sometime now nobody's looking at Nadal and nobody's thinking he's going to continue winning but the truth is - he is still very relevant. As the world number 2 he's still making it to every grand slam final and clearly for AO '12 he showed he is still pretty much the one to beat.

Losing to Djokovic 7 times in a row must feel like SHIT. But hey Rafa, you will always be the better athlete. The very fact that Djokovic blatantly plagiarized your thank you speech says that he will never be as respectable as you are, and he will never be known for sportsmanship the way you are.

I'm not sure if people pick their favourite tennis players according to who is playing the best at the moment but it clearly seems so since suddenly it appears as if Djokovic has more fans than Federer (the horror)! But honestly think about it, the sport is already about the tennis so if you are going to choose your favourite player according to who's good at a particular point in time, then firstly your favourites are going to change along with the rankings, and secondly you'll never pick a side to support until each match is in progress - that doesn't sound very fun at all. When I choose a favourite it's about the whole package - the clapping for his opponent when he loses/wins, respecting every decision made by the umpire, and the fighting and going for every point as if his life depends on it. For those reasons I will never go crazy over someone who retired from Wimbledon '07 due to a blister, nor someone who made use of medical time-outs to give himself more rest.

Still glad I'm part of Rafael Nadal's tennis era. Nothing has made my heart beat the way crazy tennis does!

Anyway I've got so much to do I really shouldn't be blogging this but I did - because blogging after an epic match is something I've been doing since 2007.

On another note altogether Wish and Switch ended its run today with a two-hour special.

And I have to say it was a really good drama even if it started out slow and was based on a very stupid concept. The moral of the story is simple, and that is to appreciate what you have and not keep wishing for more. Because more may not be better.

The brilliant acting made this show worth watching. Everyone knows Myolie Wu's acting is fantastic but I'm not quite sure we thought the same of people like Selena Li and Vincent Wong. I was terribly impressed with the second couple and I literally watched every episode for Vincent Wong because he's not only super good-looking but has also improved a lot in terms of acting. I hope Vincent Wong's career takes off from here because I don't wanna see him as side characters anymore! His acting is better than Ron Ng's and I think he should be given roles as big as Ron Ng's from now on.

The next show is 4-in-Love. I cannot believe TVB really decided to produce that horrible show. I will not be watching it because I have better things to do in life. Shall wait for On Call 36 Hours!

PS: It's terribly difficult to watch dramas online now with Megavideo closed and every other video-hosting company closing their services because they're afraid of ending up the same way. It's very annoying but I really hope all these awesome sites like Natnatvip.org and azdrama.org continue uploading these shows on YouTube despite the risk of getting caught for copyright infringement. YouTube is the only one site that works well, and at least we know YouTube won't be shut down randomly because Google is one of the biggest companies in the world. Just make sure to unlist the videos and hopefully TVB will never find out. (I know it'll be hard too because TVB is the greatest copyright nazi on YouTube. But we must PERSIST in our dream to allow everyone to enjoy the awesomeness that TVB dramas are.)

WEEK FOUR IS UPON US. Fighting!!!

PPS: Nuffnang is a bitch because I still haven't received that cheque and also they don't pay me when they run their own ads on my blog. The amount in my current account hasn't increased in at least a month, but I still keep getting ads!

BUSY ME.

2012-01-29T02:48:00.002+08:00

Because I always start off my weekends by slacking first. I'm disgusting like that.

Sunday = Australian Open 2012 mens singles final between Nadal and Djokovic, double-episode finale of 換樂無窮, new episode of 華麗的挑戰 and CNY lunch with relatives followed by other relatives coming over to visit.

How to study you tell me? I still have my personal statement to finish up, and a whole pile of sociology of organizations readings UNTOUCHED.

Also I better remember to keep away all my stuffed toys from Ado cos if not, the kids might want to take it home. Apparently when I was away in Beijing they came for Christmas dinner and conveniently - worst still, legitimately - took my sister's Dora The Explorer storybook, which her friends bought for her 'cos they thought she resembled the character. That's the thing about being older, you start using kids stuff as collectibles, and then kids (and their parents and yours too) think you don't need them so its legitimate for them to take it.

Anyhow I wanted to share that I'm crazy over Barry Kripke's appearance in the latest episode of TBBT:

I just find it so hilarious. "Hey Siwi, could you wecommend a westawant?" I'm not sure if Kwipke's my favourite side character, or the Zack that loves Milk Duds.

Self

2012-01-27T22:51:00.002+08:00

Djokovic's match against Murray was so painful to watch for the Murray fan-and-Djokovic hater in me. I knew he was going to win, but still I thought Murray put on a good fight. Murray was too inconsistent for his own good, but I still love him. And Djokovic's still as annoying as ever, his team still the most irritating around - I hate his girlfriend.

Anyway this is the last weekend before my applications are due. I will still have some time to make changes to some of the applications but most are due Feb 1. Yes I do wish I started earlier and yes I hate myself for indulging in so much self-doubt. And it really really really doesn't help that people keep saying I should think of other options. Now why would I think of other options? "Other options" are for people who give themselves the option to fail. I'm not saying I'm definitely going to succeed. With grades like that I may not. But I really don't need any more doubt in my life.

Also I bet you didn't know that when you go through life with no confidence in yourself, you project this lack of confidence onto other people, and it affects every single relationship you are part of. You thrust your doubts into the open and impose it on others. Essentially you're faulting yourself, but you imposed it on me, and then it becomes my fault.

The best thing anyone can do for this world, is to accept themselves as who they are. People who wallow in self-doubt don't contribute to this world. Self-doubt blurs your vision, numbs your ability to understand things from different perspectives, and worse of all, makes you really self-centred. I know I'm not in the position to say something as strong as this, but everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has things that affect them a lot. But spending - and I mean wasting - time feeling sorry about yourself isn't going to make your life any better. So snap out of it; and stop thinking that just because your childhood was really unfortunate, people have to give in to your whims and wants.

At the end of the day however, all I ask of you, or so I think, is that if you want to be a bitch - or more specifically if you are a bitch - just freaking embrace the fact that you are one, instead of saying "sorry" while being a bitch. A hypocritical bitch is much worse than a bitch.

By the way Malinowski's book was so thick I just couldn't get past the first chapter. It's good game for me.

Nadal in the finals for the 15th time.

2012-01-27T01:50:00.003+08:00

Photo from Roland Garros' AO'12 Semi-Final album

First match I watched properly in a really long time. Perhaps since Wimbledon last year. I haven't really been paying attention because I don't like seeing Djokovic at the top.

But last night it was the 2012 Australian Open semifinal between Rafa and Roger. No tennis fan should ever miss an NF match, so I watched it. I didn't think the match was that great - not as nerve-wrecking as before - but it was still quite a good match!

Anyhow, Rafa prevailed - obviously; and I was just thinking perhaps someone should put together photos of his arm since he first won RG until now. He has lost so much muscle mass, I think a meme should be made about it.

I love you Rafa. Even if I have no time/patience to watch tennis so much nowadays. I will try my best to get to Wimbledon this year and watch you make your magic on grass.

Also, Murray meets Djokovic later today. Love top four semifinals, but its glaringly obvious that Djokovic is going to win. And the thing is I don't think Rafa is mentally strong enough to beat Djokovic at this point (just don't ask me if I think he will ever beat Djokovic). But you have no idea how much I don't want Djokovic to win this title.

Now you know why I haven't been paying much attention. It's painful to watch and see the player you hate the most rule all the tournaments.

And suddenly we are 12 again.

2012-01-25T15:08:00.003+08:00

My pop music life started with this...

And now I wonder how I went from this to the likes of F4 and 5566?!?!?!

As the quality of music from the 'angmoh' world went down, I switched to chinese pop, which I stuck with for most of my life, until a "warm summer's night" in 2009 (no not ancient Greece hahaha) when I discovered Super Junior.

My favourite part of the song is at 3:23. This is my favourite song from them, but it wasn't the first song of their's that I heard. I first heard Larger than Life. But for some reason I cannot find that MV on YouTube. My favourite member of BSB used to be Nick, then I changed to Brian. But I never understood why Howie and AJ made it into the band. This is my favourite music video of all time.

We used to insist that BSB was better than N'Sync - and I swear I maintain that stance. How many awesome songs did N'Sync release? One? And it was a stupid song titled Bye Bye Bye.

Five amazing vocals. Pity their music went down after Shape of my Heart. I heard they are still touring! But the number of followers they have on Twitter is quite pathetic. Especially compared to the likes of Choi Siwon (not even Lady Gaga).

I also liked S Club 7 and Westlife. But I can't really recall S Club 7's songs now, other than Never Had a Dream Come Through. I do remember their TV show though - that was quite addictive. Used to stream them on Windows Media Player when that was all people could use to embed videos in the past.

And them, the band I never knew much about but was so madly in love with their songs. I was kinda upset when they announced they were splitting up though. Remember this?

Hello, dragon!

2012-01-23T22:34:00.004+08:00

CNY starts with reunion dinner at my uncle's place. We're probably one of the few families that have to 'report' for reunion dinner before 5pm and everything is washed up and we leave by 7pm. Then we make a quick stop at a Buddhist temple near my uncle's place. (Technically, my uncle's place is a temple too - it's a Taoist temple and I have no possible way of explaining why we eat reunion dinner in a temple. But anyway, we do. It is also semi-outdoors.)

Then we come home and usually around midnight we leave for Evergreen Florist along Cluny Road to buy flowers. But this year we went earlier - cos it was raining on and off and yours truly had a personal statement to complete. We went around 9pm and we were quite surprised to see that place filled with pots and pots of kamquat. I mean as a florist, that's not surprising, but usually by the time CNY eve comes they would've sold most of their stock. Apparently this year the boss ordered an extra batch thinking there would be demand but there wasn't. Very sad. But anyhow I'm quite fed-up by the service there actually cos the ladies selling flowers are always quite unfriendly. Also cos this time we bought a bouquet of roses and they all had rotting petals WTH.

CNY decorations done by yours truly. If you browse through my album on facebook there's a photo of the front door and the stencil-like 對聯! Cheryl and I visited Chinatown last week and ploughed through throngs and throngs of that cheapo-looking pop-up and glittery CNY decorations before we found these. Pretty and not overbearing/glaring.

Morning of 初一 starts with my mom's brother (my uncle)'s family coming over to hang out for a while, take photos. Then we went to the temple. Usually we hang out there for longer but today we had to rush back to settle lunch - and we had so much trouble just getting the car out from the temple.

LUNCH was a mix of homecooked food & delicacies from Peach Garden. Then my half-relatives came over and hung out for a while/Skyped with my sis.

And then we left to visit my dad's side of the family where we had loads of snacks and really awesome food for dinner. Discovered the joys of Monopoly Deal.

Angpows received so far. Prettiest angpows this year...

Especially the one on the left, so freaking cute.

I've no plans for tomorrow but typically I have this particular family of relatives who may suddenly spring a surprise visit (usually at night LOL). Next week there's CNY lunch with my mum's cousins. But other than that, I'm fretting over my apps and undone readings. Also cos I need to start reading for my presentation in week 5 - if not Connie will kill me.

PS: at the temple we visit, on the first day of CNY there will be trays with pink tiny 'angpows' bearing four words of wisdom and you're supposed to randomly pick one. It's just probability right, but all these years I've never gotten anything remotely related to career - since I've never had to think about my career path. This year however, I got four words which connoted that I would do well in my career. How apt, haha!

龙年，我们展翅高飞!

2012-01-23T00:07:00.000+08:00

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!

(Purposely using "lunar" so it applies to my favourite boys in Korea, as well as people in Japan and Vietnam.)

CNY is my favourite time of the year and I'm always excited about it but this year I'm spending CNY eve fretting over my personal statement. It's going to be done soon anyway, so don't worry too much.

I didn't get round to doing new year resolutions when 2012 came, so I'll try to list some for the dragon year ahead of us.

Be less of a bitch - I'm completely aware of the fact that I am one, especially online, but somehow that hasn't deterred me from persisting in being one of the greatest trolls I know online.
Be more open to making new friends - I've already made quite a few friends this year, and I hope to continue it!
Stay strong, no matter what happens and especially in the face of rejection letters and stress from school and the people around me.

I think its a bit ambiguous but it'll do! The usual stuff like spending more time with those who matter are still of utmost importance. I heard that zodiac-wise, it's supposed to be a good year for the snakes. Hopefully it will be, with quite a lot of snake girls graduating from uni this year. Good luck to all of us.

渴望愛的桃花朵朵開；那些在兔年結了婚的早生貴子；莘莘学子學業進步；還有那些正拼事業的步步高升！新的一年會帶來新希望，把所有的煩惱和不開心都抛開，期待新的開始！身體健康笑口常開，才可以心想事成！還有不要忘了多陪家人，多做善事。

新年快樂！

Yet another daesang

2012-01-20T00:05:00.000+08:00

The boys attended the Seoul Music Awards earlier and nobody was expecting them to win anything. But they went home with the biggest prize of the night - the highly coveted Daesang. Now nobody can say they didn't deserve their wins at GDA and MAMA. Album sales & their worldwide popularity speak for their success.

Daesang!!! They also won Bonsang (alongside SNSD, miss A, FT Island, etc).

and the individual photo shoot:

Yesung's hair is so awesome here.

Videos!

Also, GDA videos are up!

CNY to-do list, updated.

2012-01-18T22:35:00.005+08:00

Check it out here.

Hate shopping so naturally I left the new clothes bit to the last.

Also please may I remember to make an appointment for my hair before its too late.

Stupid email from Nuffnang

2012-01-17T21:47:00.006+08:00

This email sounds stupid for a couple of reasons...

Shouldn't the fact that it has been marked as "sent" in their system be secondary to the fact that the cheque has been sent out?
Who gives a shit that Nuffnang outsourced it to HSBC? It doesn't matter if they outsourced it or not, it's still their responsibility to pay me on time.
I don't give a shit that unclaimed cheques will be sent to Bank Negara. I'm not supposed to claim the cheque, THEY are supposed to send the damned cheque to me.
That sentence on claiming cheques from Bank Negara and it potentially incurring administrative costs sounds like it's my fault if I don't receive the cheque. Oh really? I've waited two months, and it's still my fault if I don't receive it?

I wonder if the 'enter' key wasn't working when they typed this email. Since this is a computer-generated email, couldn't they have made it more professional? After all, they were only going to type it ONCE. Too lazy to even do a proper email ONCE? In addition, the first letter of Blogger should have been capitalized. (I'm not even demanding they put my name down - which is what any self-respecting organization should do. But of course, if they even take 2 months to process a damned cheque that you have to pay $1 for, why should you expect that they act in self-respecting ways?)

But of course I should just be grateful they sent the cheque to me. Just like how all bloggers are expected to be so damn grateful that Nuffnang provides us with a money-making platform.

The way Nuffnang acts sometimes (or rather most of the time), you'd think they revolutionized blogging or something. Who are they to act like that???

OMG CNY IS NEXT WEEK!!

2012-01-16T01:23:00.001+08:00

The horror.

I have so many things to do for CNY:

Buy new clothes/shoes
Cut hair
~~Buy contact lenses~~
~~Buy CNY decorations~~
~~Alter new jeans for length~~
~~Manicure/Pedicure~~

All this in addition to begging people for LORs and finally getting my resumes and personal statement done. AND on top of doing readings (good god its already week two) and assignments on time.

I'm honestly proud of myself cuz I finished the first Organizations Notebook assignment on time. He's only going to check it in week 7 but sitting on my work is a bad idea. Especially when it is an interesting assignment - picking an organization and mapping its structure, properties, activities, etc to one of the definitions of organizations given during lecture. Eh, its interesting cos I get to pick an organization. And of course I chose SM Entertainment. I had a bit of trouble at the start, because SM's damned website only has lots and lots of information about Super Junior and SNSD, and I almost chose CCF instead, but obviously I stuck with SM in the end.

Its only one paragraph and the whole notebook assignment is worth 15% (like 7 entries I'm guessing, if he's asking for it to be handed up in week 7) so don't need to freak out cos even if I spent it praising Super Junior to the skies - which I didn't - this isn't going to make me get B- in this class. What may result in a B-, though, is me not doing my readings on time. It's so annoying. Was supposed to do organizations readings this weekend but it just flew past like that. Now gotta wake up early tomorrow to try and make a dent in them, if not finish them.

I have six days (less, considering the eve of CNY is out) to finish all the above. Going to alter jeans, buy CNY decorations and do nails on Tues; and new clothes on Thurs. Cutting hair has to be on Sat - hopefully can get appointment - and buying contact lenses has to be squeezed in somehow, maybe on Wed evening. Hate that I agreed to go for a play on Friday, but I really haven't had much time to hang out with Alex over the past year.

I love CNY but at times like this, I wish CNY wasn't so troublesome. Whoever thought of that CNY-must-have-new-clothes shit was an idiot. Imagine all the poor families and their lack of extra cash to buy new clothes. In the past grandmothers and mothers would busy themselves preparing food for the extended family. Now we just order from hotels or dine at restaurants. In the past grandmothers and mothers would busy themselves cleaning the house. Now we just try to clean the fridge and change bedsheets. Our traditions have been influenced by and are now aligned to the demands of our modern capitalist regime. Still I can't quite believe I allowed myself to come this close to CNY without new clothes and shoes though. Especially when I am in need of new clothes and shoes.

OKAY GOODNIGHT.

換樂無窮 Wish and Switch

2012-01-14T13:09:00.000+08:00

TVB's 2012 started with two new dramas, both of which failed to impress me at the start. I started on both - after watching neither 我的如意狼君 nor 天與地 in december. L'Escargot or 缺宅男女 boasts of a very matured cast - Sonija Kwok, Michael Miu, Linda Chung, Ron Ng, Mandy Wong and Oscar Leung. Honestly when you watch that show, you kind of forget that Ron Ng's part of the cast 'cos he's quite irrelevant. You'd never forget Mandy Wong though. Her role as an annoying, aggressive housewife will make you hate her thoroughly.

I'm sick of L'Escargot though! While I can't deny that it's a meaningful drama which reflects how difficult it is to make a living in a place like Hong Kong, I don't really enjoy watching such painfully realistic dramas. The thing about the real world is that there's no perfect ending, there's no happy ever after. So if you're going to make your drama an accurate reflection of life, what's your last episode going to be like? I might watch it out of curiosity, but I don't think people in Hong Kong need TVB to tell them how hard it is to make a living.

On the other hand, Wish and Switch or 換樂無窮 is an unrealistic show where the characters all have superpowers.

Just kidding. Short of superpowers, Myolie Wu's aunty-housewife character stumbles upon a computer in the public library with access to a website that grants all her wishes at the expense of certain things such as her favourite orange gummy candies and her 24-inch waist. One evening she gets drunk with her best friend Hailey (this name is so catchy in the context of a TVB drama) played by Selena Li, and the two decide to have their lives switched with each other.

That's when it all starts.

The best thing about this show, in addition to Selena Li's improved acting, is Vincent Wong. I have always maintained that Vincent Wong is awesome eye candy; his acting is not too bad either.

Wish and Switch started on a really slow note, and there are parts of the show I can't stand watching - like Angela Tong's character - Myolie's sister-in-law almost as annoying as Mandy Wong in L'Escargot. It's also terribly unrealistic, but I think there are greater lessons about life that one can learn from this show as compared to from L'Escargot. I stopped for a week and caught up on the 5 episodes earlier today. Very awesome I'd say! I'm gonna guess the ending will be a good one, cuz the shots at the start and end suggest so. Vincent Wong and Selena Li!!!

No more philosophy

2012-01-13T22:22:00.000+08:00

I'm rushing my applications and my internet isn't working as well as it should be, but I just thought I'd announce officially that as of today, I am no longer a philosophy minor.

Although I ditched my minor out of practical considerations (I did way too many non-philosophy UE modules, so if I want to complete my minor I have to overload this sem), I have no regrets doing so. Philo pulled my overall grade down and made me doubt how capable I was of logical thought; but I've got to admit, I made a couple of good friends in philo too, and I'm thankful for that.

I'm not speaking for everybody but I am going to graduate with a couple of regrets and I-should-haves here and there, and I'm certainly not going to be the only one with such thoughts. Everyone goes through their lives with that I-should-have-done-this-instead-of-that at the back of their minds. What is crucial, however, is living a better life from here on, instead of letting the past hold you back. The past will always haunt you, but how many of us are straight-As and a perfect track record anyway?

Now that I'm doing my applications I wish I had some tale to tell. Some story about how I came from a disadvantaged background and had to work afternoon and nights through university in order to pay off my tuition fees. Or something. Just some story to justify why my grades aren't straight As. So straight As don't mean you'll succeed in life, but at least I would be facing my applications with a lot more confidence if my cap was 5. Then again maybe its just me, because I'm sure somewhere out there, there are people with grades worse than mine - with no good excuse too - applying for Harvard JD.

Though to be honest the key issue right now is getting letters of recommendations and ensuring these get to LSAC on time. I am so freaked out-worried that I'll email my profs and they'll reject me. (Once again, because I am not a straight-As student.) The worst thing is that for all the modules I got A/A+ for, the profs have either left the school or have no idea that I even exist. So for now, lets just hope that part goes well..

PS: I've also decided on ethnographies instead of interpretive. No doubt, the interpretive reading list excites me more, and ethnographies involves quite a bit of anthropology which I am not all that interested in. But hey, good students have gotten Fs for interpretive, and when asked why, the prof actually said he was looking for "brilliance". I am so not taking that risk. That the class is also flooded with year 3s makes me feel like a retainee too, so all these kids can just go indulge in their excitement at taking an honours class for the first time, while I stick with the familiar and graduate on time.

Yup

2012-01-11T21:54:00.000+08:00

26th Golden Disk Awards - for 2011.

Super Junior:

MSN Japan Award
Popularity Award
Disk Bonsang
and the most important award of the night, DISK DAESANG.

Honestly because GDA's so rigged and with most of the big names in the industry not even turning up for the event, it doesn't seem like that big a deal that they won the daesang. But after what happened last year, the ELFs were really uptight about album sales this year and my dear Eunhyuk even set us a goal - 500 000 copies. In the end, we sold 479,329 copies. We fell a little short of 500 000, but we still came up on top of the charts for album sales.

So yup, WE DID IT. I didn't buy 2 copies of 5jib for nothing. Siwon didn't go almost-naked for nothing. The boys didn't train like crazy for nothing. Although I wasn't very happy with 5jib, I'm still glad they won. To me, this award was for BONAMANA as well.

2012 will be a very very very challenging year for these boys. But lets hope we get through it safely.

Can't wait for the rest of the boys to tweet.

Twitter's already going crazy, with Milli's tweets being the only sane ones:

VIDEOS!

Where you are

2012-01-10T19:40:00.003+08:00

Today started on a really weird note... I started wallowing in self-pity without even realizing it. But I think I snapped out of it soon enough. I don't even have to convince myself that this means nothing to me because firstly, I haven't made any effort whatsoever, and secondly, I wasn't expecting anything. I guess the only surprise is that it made bigger news than I thought it would. 3.5 years and it ended with a weird story - that I don't know, thankfully - and awkwardness in almost all my classes. Anyway, its all over now. Please don't tell me the story, 'cos I don't want to know. It'd be like telling me someone else's success story in the face of my failure.

I've come to realize that Ycrox receives the most hits when I blog about TVB dramas. And in every effort to hit $50 on Nuffnang for the second time, I'm going to need to blog more about things that get me more hits. I'm sick and tired of waiting for that cheque. I don't know why it takes them more than 2 months to write and send out that damned cheque. I more than deserve the money I took 4 years to earn. I should never have allowed greed to get the better of me. Should've removed the ads the last time I hit $50.

CNBLUE released yet another Japanese single yesterday (?) and it's even more impressive than In My Head, which I liked a lot. In case you haven't been following, CNBLUE's latest songs all sound like they are in English peppered with Korean/Japanese words. Check out their performance of the Korean version of In My Head at SBS' Gayodaejun last year. I really do think CNBLUE should debut in the States instead of SNSD and Wonder Girls. Anyhow, Where You Are is amazing and I really like it. It's on loop right now. Need these boys to make a Korean comeback soon, though. Their number 2 position in my list of favourite bands has already been usurped by MBLAQ. Haha.

Fail in the small things in life, and succeed in the bigger ones.

MBLAQ at 100%

2012-01-10T01:00:00.002+08:00

Brilliant release from the best 5-member boyband around. MBLAQ has come a long way from their early days. I've been paying attention ever since they released Stay and Again early last year, and I was glad to hear they were going to make a comeback early 2012.

MBLAQ's one of those bands - no make that THE only band - that hasn't won anything despite more than deserving at least a triple crown on those music chart shows. This is awesome stuff compared to whatever trash that gets to the top of the charts, like IU and TroubleMaker.

It's War is even better than Mona Lisa. The beginning part of the MV reminded me of SS501's Love Ya (cuz of the violins). Then the sniper part reminded me of TVXQ!'s Before U Go. The dancing part reminded me of U-Kiss - cuz of the lousy outfits I guess - and the girl being injured reminded me of SM The Ballad's Miss You. But I have to say this is definitely their best MV to date. Although I think they went too far with all the guns (it's so going to get banned in Korea), and this girl is such a bitch for getting together with Cheondoong despite being Lee Joon's girlfriend, haha. I'm also not too happy with Seungho looking so haggard and ugly in this MV. He's got really sexy lips and even though he's the leader he's not that much older than the rest. On the other hand Lee Joon looks awesome. He's starting to resemble the lead actor in Cheonmanbeon Saranghae!

Can't wait for ComeBLAQ stage. It's going to be awesome. Let's just hope their mics work.

*

Check out the whole album here.

Run is amazing. It's catchy without being annoying and cheap. I really love It's War, and I'm so glad they're promoting it. I kinda get the feeling its not going to be as memorable as Stay/Again/Mona Lisa, but its quite a powerful track otherwise. In comparison Scribble is a relatively boring song. But the album takes a more upbeat turn with To Be Translated. It's a cheerful happy song that sounds less retarded than I Don't Know (off their Mona Lisa EP released last year). To Be Translated also starts off with a funny phone conversation starring Mir - who also had a funny line in I Don't Know. Hello My Ex is my favourite song (surprisingly)! I'm not sure if the lyrics are supposed to be emo but the music's catchy and it's the kind of song you can sing along with.

All in all, I'm in love with this album. It's SO MUCH BETTER than Mona Lisa. Truly a 100% album. If only they added more tracks.

Please may this be MBLAQ's crowning glory.

First Day, Last Sem

2012-01-09T12:18:00.000+08:00

Woke up to Connie shrieking over sms that our last sem has finally started. I can't quite believe we're in our last semester.

Anyway its study time. I'm gonna need loads of self-discipline this semester.

FengSales back in action

2012-01-08T03:17:00.000+08:00

I first started FengSales when I was bored with online life in 2008 shortly after A'Levels ended. I was working at SGH's HR department then and life was anomic, to say the least. I had great grand dreams of making FengSales the biggest blogshop around but I was too lazy to make it work. Also the mere fact that the principles of economics were working against me made things difficult for the lazy me.

Anyhow I've decided to start again. I'm not going to do anything crazy and I have no time to go round advertising so hopefully I get lucky. I just need to clear stuff from my shelves - and hopefully earn some money from them.

I'm selling NOTEBOOKS this time, not those crappy handmade shit that I used to sell. Please support me by passing word around! Or help me out by buying. I'm giving generous discounts to people I know personally, and meet-ups are also available for friends.

http://fengsales.blogspot.com/2012/01/notebooks.html

Go!!!

ZihWye Awards 2011 (I)

2012-01-05T22:34:00.002+08:00

I was deliberating over whether I should get this entry done or not, then I remembered how much I was looking forward to doing it during exams (then again, you always look forward to doing things apart from studying during exams) so I decided to just get it done. I think the lame thing is that this is only part 1. Part 2 will be about cpop, so that's going to be refreshing (I think)!

First! KPOP!

Comebacks of the Year:

Super Junior Comeback of the Year:

Super Junior- M's Too Perfect mini album was the best thing that happened to Super Junior in 2011. In fact, it almost became the only good thing SuJu released in 2011. (Until Snow White & Santa U Are The One were released.)

SM Comeback of the Year:

Please believe me when I say this is a difficult question to answer. Clearly CSJH and TRAX are irrelevant. For me it definitely wasn't SNSD's The Boys because I have seen the girls do much better. It also obviously wasn't Super Junior's Mr Simple because that comeback was ruined by way too many interruptions that definitely could've waited (like Heechul's enlistment).

Probably the only good kpop main release that came from SM Entertainment this year. (Sure it was a disappointing year for SM.) I was so proud of TVXQ! for doing this song. I think it may have fared even better on the charts if it was the first release instead of a follow-up. It was a very emotional comeback cos it was HoMin's first after the split, but for sure it was a successful one.

For the record, their first release (Why?) wasn't too bad either. It just isn't the kind of song I can put on loop, thats all.

Boyband Comeback of the Year:

It usually takes more than one awesome song to make me a fan, but I think Fiction was more than enough to make a B2UTY out of me. B2ST is clearly one of the bands to look out for. They're big and they're definitely going to get even bigger if they continue doing great songs like this one. It was a fantastic comeback - brilliant song coupled with a nice & memorable choreography and great live vocals. This song is just like Sorry Sorry and Mirotic. You just can't get enough of it.

It was nice to see some of the other boybands up their game. MBLAQ never impressed me (their older songs really weren't that memorable) but I became a fan after they came back with Stay & Again in the first half of the year, followed by Mona Lisa in the second. When they say underrated, they mean MBLAQ. I hope 2012 will be MBLAQ's year because the boys really deserve some recognition. Hard work, vocals, dancing and good songs - you name it, they have it.

Another band that improved tremendously was U-Kiss. We all know I hate U-Kiss, but we've gotta give credit where it is due. 0330 was probably the best slow song from a band in 2011, and Neverland was much much better than their earlier songs. These boys have come a long way, and there's still room for improvement, but they're definitely deserving of more attention and better sales.

Girlband Comeback of The Year

I wasn't a fan until they did this song. I liked the energy present in this comeback, the smiles (from the usually stiff Ahn Sohee) and most of the outfits. Perhaps the vocals weren't perfect but it was enough to outrank all the other girl groups.

Have to add that SISTAR's So Cool and Ma Boy showed the kpop world that sex sells only when it comes along with talent, Secret redefined cute with Shy Boy, T-ara's Cry Cry is at the top of my Most Played, while 4MINUTE also impressed with Mirror Mirror and Heart to Heart. It was a great year for the girl groups - competition only makes the standard go up.

I wouldn't have said this earlier but looking back, f(x)'s comeback was pretty good!

Uh-huh so the style's kinda weird but you've got to admit they've got character. And their live singing never fails to impress me. Hot Summer was much better than Danger, which on hindsight wasn't that bad either. Isn't this better than SNSD?! At least its not all about the legs and the slim waists. Now if only Krystal would stop looking like everyone owes her money...

Comeback Stage of the Year:

Honestly there were so many memorable comeback stages but the one I had on loop for a long time was this one. The awesomeness of the performance speaks for itself. CNBLUE has two lead vocalists. Enough said!

Music Video of the Year

TVXQ! - Before U Go (please see above) was indeed very impressive. The 16-minute version is also pretty awesome. Cannot get that scene of Yunho pressing delete out of my head. I also think Go Ara and Yunho make a cute couple. Not all movie-style MVs are awesome though, T-ara had one for Cry Cry and it was just insanely draggy.

I had way too much of Hyuna in 2011 but I have to say, this MV is a gem. Apart from the prettiest boy in kpop (CNBLUE's bassist Jungshin), the MV features a cute storyline and the catchy song adds to its awesomeness.

Choreography of the Year:

Without a doubt. I am in love particularly with Kikwang's part from 1:55.

Performance Outfits of the Year:

Generally T-ara's outfits for their Cry Cry comeback were enough to make me watch their performances every week. The amazing song of course played a part but no other artiste had such brilliant outfits. I definitely also like how the choreography involved removing a jacket, so it looks like they have two outfits every performance. Very impressive. The above was my favourite of the lot, but I like all.

Album of the Year:

CNBLUE's First Step was probably the most impressive album from the guys this year. Can't name a single weak song off that album; and I definitely like how a style that is distinctly CNBLUE's runs through every track.

And this shocks, because I didn't even list them under best girlgroup comeback. Thing is, The Boys was a lousy song (compared to their past hits). But you've got to admit their third album was pretty good as a whole. I didn't like every track to be honest, but all in all this was definitely album of the year.

Subunit/Solo Debut of the Year:

I could seriously just put Eunhyuk & Donghae's Oppa Has Arrived but I wouldn't be able to convince anyone - not even myself - that that was anywhere close to Best Subunit Debut.

SISTAR19 was very impressive, but I have to give it to Song Jieun of Secret. Apart from successfully shedding her cutesy image for her solo debut, her fantastic on-stage chemistry with rapper junior Bang Yong Guk made every performance worth watching. The song isn't something you can listen to for too long, but I love it and her voice is probably one of the best among all the girlbands.

SS501 Solo Debut of the Year:

It's been more than a year since the boys of SS501 left their original company to go solo and certainly it was a good year for most of them, particularly Kim Hyun Joong, the most overrated member and the only one who scored a win for his comeback.

We all know where my allegiance lies, but please trust me when I say I'm being objective about it.

This is perfect in every sense, I would put it as Comeback Stage of the Year if I didn't have this category. Better-than-decent singing, amazing stage presence, pretty good choreography and songs that grow on you. Kim Hyung Jun's solo debut was obviously the best out of the 5.

Japanese Release By a Kpop Artiste

2011 was the year almost every kpop artiste (particularly the bands) made a - usually half-hearted - Japanese debut. Not all made it, and some are still trying, like SHINee. But some were awesome because their companies were experienced enough to know what sells in Japan and what doesn't.

And of course I meant SM Entertainment. Releasing Japanese versions of Korean songs was the game plan for 99.9% of all Japanese debuts, but apart from doing the same SM produced an original song in Japanese. They knew it was the way to go because they did it for BoA and it worked like magic, ten years ago. Some things don't change, like the importance and size of the Japanese market, and SM's brilliance in targeting and succeeding at the right things. Mr Taxi is not only the best Japanese release by a kpop artiste, its also the best song SNSD has ever released.

waste of breath

2012-01-04T23:10:00.003+08:00

i came back after a really fun but tiring day out at USS only to have someone say something totally retarded to me on youtube. honestly, things like that happen all the time because only i am stupid enough to bother replying to comments and trying to change people's minds on youtube and allkpop. i have actually stopped? but just that day i got pissed off seeing the top-rated comment lash out on SM for "treating Super Junior badly" on F.I.X's new music video.

fyi, i have no idea who F.I.X are. and i really don't care. i only know Eunhyuk guest starred in their music video and as far as i am concerned thats all that matters. F.I.X aren't even from SM so theres really NO reason to bash SM on F.I.X's video. of course these delusional fangirls think they are doing their oppas a favour by lashing out on SM, saying that even "other companies see the talent in Eunhyuk". sorry but without SM, Eunhyuk wouldn't even be Eunhyuk.

i dont know why there are so many ignorant people around but it really annoys the hell out of me when i'm on youtube, innocently trying to enjoy a music video/variety show clip and all the comments are either hopelessly irrelevant or terribly negative. sometimes on SuJu vids you get completely redundant comments like how SM spends all their money on SNSD. seriously, there are times when i don't like SNSD, but saying shit like how SM spends "ALL" their money on SNSD leaving none for SuJu is just plain dumb. i don't even have to explain why. (and of course similarly retarded people also started screaming out for SHINee when the EXO teasers were released, claiming that with this new band, SM will stop spending on SHINee.)

i don't think you need to be highly educated to speak objectively and fairly regarding such mundane issues because these people saying such shit online aren't all secondary school xiaomeimeis. unfortunately for this world, we have stupid people at all levels; people who will never understand the basic principles of capitalism and money-making.

and because i'm the kind that gets involved because it ruffles my feathers when people say stupid things, i speak up, and then i get bashed for being naive. these people also say things like how "any ELF with eyes and a brain can see that SuJu is being treated very poorly". other than "OMG" i dont really know how to respond so i don't. but for that few mins after i read those comments i get really really annoyed inside. sometimes youtube comments are fun to read and people online are fun to spazz with but most of the time, especially these days, there is just way too much negativity surrounding anything that is remotely Super Junior related. it takes the fun out of being crazy over kpop.

of course when we get to the bottom of it all we realize that i'm the one allowing all this crap to annoy me. fundamentally it shouldn't matter to me whether there are stupid people around or not, as long as i strive to improve myself and my life and not allow myself to be as ignorant and stupid as they are. in other words, by getting involved, i'm worse than them and stupider than they are.

going back to the music video however, i'm so pleased with the fact that Eunhyuk filmed it when he was still blonde. honestly Eunhyuk going blonde was the best thing that happened to Super Junior in 2011 (or maybe SJ-M's awesome comeback... can't decide). and when he dyed it back to a brownish colour i was kind of disappointed.

the sad thing is that apart from Eunhyuk being in the mv there's nothing much to rave about for the song or the storyline of the music video. the song lacks character; its like your average korean drama ost. i wish he guest-starred in an mv for a more popular song. (so perhaps at least the youtube comments wouldn't all scream "Eunhyuk oppa! i will never let go of your hand!")

ps: all the BBDC posts are finally up on my BBDC Review Service.

end of the year. again.

2011-12-31T02:58:00.005+08:00

I did so much this year that I can't quite claim that "time flew" and that we're "suddenly" at the end of the year again.

The year started off with me coming back after 4 months away from home. I didn't suffer from reverse homesickness or whatever NUS claims their students suffer from, but there was a short adjustment period after slacking for so long. The first six months of the year went by rather quickly. In terms of kpop, the year started with TVXQ!'s long awaited comeback, followed by CNBLUE's triumphant release of their first full-length album. Then f(x), FT Island plus rejuvenated and improved acts like B2ST, MBLAQ and even U-Kiss, peppered with noteworthy comebacks from the girls of SECRET and 4Minute.

Then in July I flew off again, this time to the US, a country that is so damn different from China. I think I was more productive in those 6 weeks in Berkeley than I was for four months in Beijing. Along the way I finally set foot in Seoul, learnt that I could actually survive with a communal toilet and a roommate, and realized that not everything Super Junior is great.

Honours year started before I even came back, so it was a rush to get back into the swing of things. Thank goodness for Connie, really, because I felt so lost for most of my first sem as an honours student and being friend-less in class definitely didn't help. Got a job, pissed off the employer, almost got sacked, now my time is worth $10/hour. Made new friends along the way, got closer to some, ditched others, and then a death happened. Things changed and I stopped wallowing in self-pity that I was so behind in all my readings. Tried to become a better person... and I'm still working on it.

Girlband competition was crazy towards the end of this year with miss A failing to even secure a triple crown, and even the Wonder Girls not winning anything on Music Bank because the 'nation's girl group' SNSD came back with a stunning album, albeit a lackluster title song. KARA reminded us that they exist, and T-ara finally released a decent song but they are still unable to sing live.

Learnt that I may like a boy and I still wouldn't say hi to him because I'm afraid things would get too obvious. I'm stupid like that, and there's worse. Grades were like shit this sem, but I know if I didn't hold on tight enough during the last month it would've been straight B-s.

Learnt that I have changed. Friendships used to define me and I would live for them. But apparently I now have no qualms ditching friends who do not respect me when I say not to probe and get too close; and I no longer reply smses (although this is usually 'cos I'm too lazy or playing Angry Birds Seasons/Rio) immediately or at all. I make a conscious effort to be nicer to the ones who stood by me over the years; while trying not to care - and succeeding - when others take me for granted. Getting rid of unhealthy relationships is an integral step in being happy; pity the ones without much confidence always let fear get the better of them - like me.

Learnt that the sexy doesn't always mean trashy. SISTAR is an act I want to look out for and support. They had a great year and I hope they'll only get better. G.NA too, and I'm not saying this just 'cos she's Eunhyuk's ex. Boyfriend is overrated crap, however, just like INFINITE. I often wonder why bands like these exist. Also apparently you can still succeed as a singer even if you don't boast of good looks and are from SM Entertainment, because now the charts are all about digital sales. Great year it was for K. Will, Davichi and Huh Gak, 實力派 singers who are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

I was very productive this 2011, but there are still things I've yet to do on my to-do list. May I be more on the ball in 2012, graduate with decent grades, and be where I want to be when I do this next year.

Happy New Year everyone :) Thanks, sincerely, for being part of my 2011!

我們熟悉的周杰倫，回來了

2011-12-28T19:18:00.000+08:00

這是2011年最有看頭的MV，是最動人的畫面，最讓人心痠的音樂。這是個非常直接的MV，是個把整個‘活著’的理念表達出來的MV。音樂或許不是周杰倫的代表作，可是MV絕對稱得上是他最棒的作品之一。

不知道是應該可惜這不是主打歌，還是慶幸我們熟悉的周杰倫仍然是那位很有才華很有墨水的周杰倫？

這首MV拍得比整個專輯的音樂錄製來得好。由此可見這位不是音樂人，因爲他不只會用音樂表達他想要說的。他的第11張專輯，我忽然又覺得該買了！

A different marina

2011-12-28T01:32:00.002+08:00

Don't know if I'll ever get round to blogging about the details of this trip, so I thought I'd share wherever, whenever. In any case this trip is ending real soon and I'm kinda not looking forward to going home and worrying about bidding (for the last time) and having to start studying.

We're here to just hang out, but yesterday we decided to check out tours at Portman Ritz Carlton's concierge desk, & subsequently booked a half-day tour to Zhou Zhuang through Grayline.

Zhou Zhuang is a 1.5h drive out of central Shanghai. Shanghai's surrounded by quite a few of these water villages in the surrounding Jiangsu/Zhejiang provinces, and this one is apparently the most famous. When I first came to Shanghai 7 years ago, and when I came here again in 2006 with cj, I was brought to another water village called Zhujiajiao. I still think Zhujiajiao is nicer than Zhou Zhuang, but it is possibly also safe to say both offer breathtaking views (if you like water and water features like canals and bridges, like me) and glimpses into the area's ancient past.

It's a nice place, but artificial, just like 99% of tourist attractions in China/all over the world. Unlike Shanghai's famous Yu Yuan (the garden in which appears to be completely constructed and fake to me) and most attractions in Beijing, however, this place is considerably more authentic. If you ignore the shops and shopkeepers hawking their wares, you'd probably enjoy this place better. (This is something that doesn't apply everywhere, however. Bear in mind in most tourist attractions in this part of the world, you can't really ignore the people tugging at your sleeve to browse in their shops. Especially if you look like a tourist.)

In any case Zhou Zhuang looks pretty just from the photo above, right? Go only for this view, 'cos there's really nothing else to see/do.

It's a different kind of marina compared to what I saw in Berkeley!

Merry Kpop Christmas!

2011-12-24T22:07:00.001+08:00

CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN SO LONG! Not quite sure what happened over the past week too, but anyway if you haven't realized I'm in Shanghai and enjoying the cold weather. It's not as cold as Beijing was last year, so it's a comfortable sort of cold.

I should so totally get ZihWye Awards done soon but the list is at home!

So I'm just going to wish everyone a Merry Christmas by sharing some of my favourite Christmas songs from kpop this year:

Merry Christmas, ear after ear! Keep replaying 0:42 for kisses!

Honestly, though, this is only SuJu's second best (they released essentially three Christmas-related songs) this year! Love Snow White so much more, pity there's no music video for it:

And of course, White Christmas, which was released late summer as part of 5jib, a track I always skip.

Sharing also, my boys' special stages on Music Bank & Core:

If you're sick of SuJu, however, at the top of my picks for a kpop Christmas playlist is Be My Baby by Wonder Girls!

Honestly I'm not crazy over Christmas 'cos it always means school is reopening soon, but in recent years its been pretty alright. 2 years ago we had a really nice & cozy homecooked dinner in Sedona, while last year I spent a -22 deg Christmas eve attempting to translate my Sociology of Law term paper.

Have a really beautiful Christmas you all!

Sending love from a place that keeps changing! Shanghai is really different now.

PS: Earned more money through blogging this year compared to each of the last three years. Thanks again! May I earn even more in 2012.

Skip Beat & TVB's 2012 line-up

2011-12-20T01:54:00.001+08:00

(trying out the new blogger interface. it really looks very different from the old blogger. it's like google docs, basically, and the font is so small. also i feel like i'm typing a document and not a blog entry so i kind of feel i should start with a proper introduction, and make an argument in this paper. i mean entry.) however that there is now a new blogger interface doesn't mean i blog different stuff - although i swear it feels a lot more official than before; a glaring reminder that i should be blogging more important/significant stuff.

the good thing is that the photos go where they should go (like wordpress) and i no longer have to copy and paste the html code. finally, it took blogger a long time to finally work this out!

anyway! so 華麗的挑戰 started its run last night and i was quite excited at first when i thought they didn't dub Donghae's voice. i was wrong. they dubbed both Donghae's and Siwon's voices (as expected), but they were smart enough to get famous people to do the dubbing. Donghae's voice is now Darren's (The Drifters) while you hear Kunda (of Energy fame) if you close your eyes while Siwon's scene is playing on Skip-Beat! but still i'm not happy about it.

whats worse, however, is that Donghae and Siwon barely appeared in the first episode. it was like 75% of Ivy Chen (whom i don't like) and 25% Donghae and Siwon and everyone else. both Donghae and Siwon are jerks - for now - in the series, which makes the whole show seem damn ridiculous.

Ivy Chen got ditched by Donghae (her boyfriend from young, whom she lives for), who became a famous idol after moving to Taipei. she then decides to take revenge on him by becoming a celebrity. she succeeds in doing this by collaborating with Siwon, another idol whom Donghae sees as his biggest rival. Siwon helps Ivy Chen achieve her goal of becoming a big star. (honestly i'm not too sure about the details, i think this is what the show's about.)

i still think Ariel Lin & Jerry Yan would've been nicer to watch. sorry. just cos Super Junior's in it doesn't mean its going to be awesome, i'm not that kind of fan. also, its a pain watching Ivy Chen act cute with tear-filled doe eyes. i also think it Extravagant Challenge was a pretty decent english title. but i will probably continue watching this show, except fast-forward the way i did in the first ep (which i watched in under 20min cos i only watched the Donghae/Siwon parts).

in other news, i finally got down to watching TVB's sales presentation for shows they intend to broadcast in 2012 (to sell ad space).

the variety shows/documentaries part actually seemed quite interesting, so i may check a couple out when they air next year. like that documentary on different cultures' perception and dealing with death - i will definitely watch it if it airs.

but of course the exciting part was the dramas that should be/will be broadcast in 2012! most of these are still tentative (like the scripts are in and TVB wants to produce them but they haven't decided on who will be part of it). what usually happens is that TVB gets a few actors and actresses to film the trailer for the sales presentation, but these people may or may not be part of the finalized cast. some of these shows may not even be produced, while some may be filmed and then warehoused. those which titles are in bold have already been filmed, while those that have been underlined means TVB is really keen on producing them and will probably do so due to all the hype.

(i can now insert a table into my blog entries! how freaking awesome. love google, love blogger!)

Title	Cast	Genre	Comments
造王者	Wayne Lai, Kent Cheng, Chris Lai, Pierre Ngo, Florence Kwok, Kingdom Yuen, Eric Li, Elaine Yiu, Natalie Tong	political/period	I’m really not into political period dramas (like Relic of an Emissary was good but cannot appreciate) so I may not even watch this. The acting looks really good though. Wayne Lai actually looks good in here.
飛虎 (movie)	Joe Ma, Benjamin Yuen	police/contemporary	Random addition. So random, I wonder if TVB hates Joe Ma or something.
當旺爸爸	Evergreen Mak, Ha Yu, Linda Chung, Nancy Wu, Steven Ma, Cilla Kung, Edwin Siu	family/contemporary	Definitely looking forward to this! Love happy/funny/fun family dramas. I have not seen Steven Ma in such a long time, and hey he’s being paired up with Linda Chung again!
酉陽雜俎	Bosco Wong, Aimee Chan, Ruco Chan, Natalie Tong	supernatural/period	We all know I love Bosco & Aimee, but this show just looks super stupid. I hope they ditch it. Somehow TVB has lost their touch with supernatural dramas in recent years. Waste of a promising cast.
名媛望族	Tavia Yeung, Damian Lau, Kenneth Ma, Ron Ng	family, women/1960s	Looks bitchy, like The Charm Beneath (2005), and I generally don’t like shows set in this era, but its Kenneth Ma!!! And Ron Ng. And Tavia actually looks pretty awesome in here. I’ll definitely watch it.
雷霆掃毒	Michael Miu, Roger Kwok, Kate Tsui, Kevin Cheng, DrLam, Joyce Tang	police, drugs/contemporary	Definitely not happy with Roger Kwok being second fiddle. And Kevin Cheng being the ultimate hero again? Bored. Hope they ditch this/change the cast (but keep Michael Miu. Nobody plays a better gangster chief than Michael Miu.)
4-in-love	Moses Chan, Charmaine Sheh, Rachel Kam, Kam Kong, Tracy Yip	supernatural, comedy/contemporary	The title’s ridiculous. The story seems just as ridiculous. I couldn’t even guess the storyline from the preview. Hope they ditch it.
耀舞長安	Myolie Wu, Linda Chung, Bobby Au-yeung, Evergreen Mak, Sire Ma	dancing,revenge/period	I like seeing Myolie, Linda and Bobby in period dramas. But if they keep this line-up, this is something to look forward to for sure because Linda’s gonna be evil!
On-call 36 小時	Kenneth Ma, Tavia Yeung, Mandy Wong, Ben Wong, Him Law, Jessie Shum	medical/contemporary	This show has been filmed and set in stone, and apparently Him Law and Tavia Yeung met on set and started dating then. It’s been a long time since TVB did medical dramas, but this cast seems kinda weak compared to the Healing Hands series. Nice to see Kenneth Ma, Him Law & Jessie Shum, but what the hell, Tavia again?!
金枝慾孽II	Astrid Chan, Moses Chan, Sheren Tang, Elaine Yiu, Ada Choi	Harem, women, lesbian/period	The show TVB wants us to look out for in 2012. The cast is not fixed yet but I’m looking forward to seeing Ada Choi again (really miss all the actresses who got married/pregnant and left TVB). That lesbian scene made my jaw drop. This is going to be exciting for sure.
神探高倫布	Wayne Lai, Evergreen Mak, Tavia Yeung	crime-solving, comedy/1960s	Please TVB, please ditch this. Wayne Lai sounds like he’s reprising his role as Pro-sir but as a 1960 policeman. The whole concept sounds silly & I have really had enough of Tavia Yeung.
衝上雲霄II	Raymond Lam, Fala Chan, Ron Ng, Chilam Cheung, Kate Tsui, Myolie Wu, Bosco Wong, Nancy Wu, Au-yeung Jin, (Francis Ng).	flying/contemporary	WOOHOO!!! THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!! We’ve waited 10 years and we’re finally going to get the sequel to Triumph in the Skies, which shot Ron Ng/Bosco Wong/Kenneth Ma/Myolie Wu to instant stardom 10 years ago. This line-up looks brilliant, and I hope Francis Ng returns, because his original character was a classic. Definitely looking forward to this, let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint!
大太監*	Wayne Lai, Raymond Cho, Raymond Wong, Edwin Siu, Nancy Wu, Aimee Chan	? /period	It sounds weird? Like it’s going to be all about eunuchs or something, but anyhow, will watch it for Edwin & Raymond! Edwin needs his big break! (*This was in 2011’s sales presentation. Production was pushed back due to changes in cast and logistical difficulties.)
女警愛作戰*	Queenie Chu, Niki Chow, Vincent Wong, Mandy Wong, Michael Tse, Matthew Ko, Grace Wong, Koni Lui, Otto Chan.	Police/Contemporary	Sounds like Armed Reaction (it being mainly about policewomen). I love police dramas, & I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Queenie Chu in a leading role. (*This wasn’t in the sales presentation.)

if the line-up stays this way we are going to see loads of Tavia Yeung again next year (oh no!) and Bosco Wong is still not going to get best actor because that drama in which he is the lead sucks and he's not going to be the lead in Triumph in the Skies II. i really do hope i get to see enough of Kenneth Ma next year because i basically saw him for 5min in one episode this year (Yes Sir Sorry Sir). i also really want to see more of Steven Ma.

on average TVB broadcasts about 25 dramas a year, so this is definitely not going to be just it. there will be others, so hopefully i will get to watch who i want to watch. maybe even Forensic Heroes 4.

in any case, looking forward to good dramas in 2012. may 2012 be a better year for TVB than 2011 was. no more losing actors/actresses to mainland china, no more sacking good actors like Wong Hei, and no more disappointing year-end anniversary awards.

i like believing that a new year brings a brand new start with lots of hope for a brighter future.

멸치오빠!

2011-12-16T19:22:00.003+08:00

i swear i heaved a sigh of relief when i saw that they didn't go on stage with afro hair.

this is nice and colourful and hey - EUNHYUK LOOKS TOTALLY HOT WITH HIS NEW HAIR!

so much better than the darned mv.

now if only they'd get to number one. with a song like that, i dont know how (and it wouldnt really pain me if they don't) but i really wish they would.

also i have never liked calling them (or anyone for that matter) "oppa". i always found it kind of disgusting and if i ever use that word its always to tease other fangirls. but i swear if i do get to watch SS4 i will scream out loud "MYEOLCHI OPPA!" with all my might. that is after all, the world's best anchovy.

Oppa has arrived!

2011-12-16T15:08:00.007+08:00

thrilled cos its Eunhyuk, excited cos its Eunhyuk, and amazed because Eunhae is now officially a Super Junior sub-unit.

the first track off this digital single is Donghae's solo titled First Love. he wrote and composed the song.

uhh. ill just say i prefer it when he does songs like Beautiful. leave the slow songs to KRY ok?

Oppa Has Arrived is a new song performed by the two boys just for Super Show 4. i have no idea why they are promoting this on the charts - its not the first time they are releasing a song for their concert but its the first time they are actually promoting it. i actually think they should've promoted I Wanna Love You from SS3 instead.

yup i really don't like it. it may grow on me after comeback stage later because its EUNHYUK after all, but its not really a nice song.

the mv is so ridiculous too. less than 24 hours SM trolled on us by giving us concert footage for an "MV" for Mr Taxi, and now we get this complete trash for Eunhae's subunit debut. WTF?!

support them and give them lots of love anyway, because its EUNHAE, a couple we've been shipping for as long as Super Junior has been around.

definitely weird seeing Eunhyuk doing all the talking like the leader of the band.

Leeteuk, Ryeowook & Siwon attended their music bank recording as ELFs; while Kyuhyun tweeted in support of them despite not liking the song. brotherly love ftw.

Now I feel the excitement

2011-12-15T17:24:00.002+08:00

honestly i really don't like ivy chen. and when i don't like someone in a taiwan drama i will simply not watch the show, because taiwan dramas are never worth having to endure watching an actress i don't like.

plus its not just her in the show, but also bianca bai, whom i've not liked since 恶作剧之吻 (2005).

and it doesnt really help that although i started liking Super Junior because of Donghae, and Siwon is slowly but surely climbing the bias ladder, i don't really like these two members enough for me to feel excited about Skip Beat.

if only Ariel Lin stayed on in the cast, you know? Ariel + Donghae & Siwon = 天經地義 because of that music video in which they guest-starred.

BUT...

with all nine boys promoting the show in this clip, its a bit hard for me to continue being uninterested. so i will probably watch and see how it goes in the first episode. i'm praying hard it'll be good! cos its their first time acting in a chinese serial. i hope they don't dub it! cos dubbing it would defeat the purpose.

the theme song sounds good anyway! and hopefully there are other actors/actresses in the show i don't mind watching.

SKIP BEAT! Dec 18, PTV and GTV, but for us its myentertainmenthall.net! hahah.

天后

2011-12-14T21:01:00.002+08:00

i am really so behind in my cpop updates, i had no idea xiaogui released his secon album already. very fail. don't even know the title, can't even check out the songs.

but this is jeno liu's newest release and i fell instantly in love with it.

honestly the biggest problem is that i can't listen to the song as a whole without the narrations breaking it up. (can't stand mvs like that... dumb but true.) and she looks a bit like ao quan in here (the hair is a joke!) but all that aside i really really really like the song!

there are a lot of (cpop) songs that start off nicely and then disappoint because you just don't get a kick out of listening to the chorus. usually because theres a missing climax, or because the chorus is just made up of some epic high note that doesnt really gel very well with the song. whatever the case this song isn't one of these songs.

i absolutely love two lines from the chorus, 我嫉妒你的愛氣勢如虹像個人氣高居不下的天后 and 我陷入盲目狂戀的寬容成全了你萬眾寵愛的天后. what beautiful lyrics!

gotta admit i dont understand how the mv goes with the song though! personally i always think lowly of such mvs that seem 'cheem' and deep but actually have no real meaning. mvs that HIM loves to produce.

now im desperately trying to find xiaogui's mv. i can't believe i don't even know the title! this is disgusting. doesn't rock music have an official youtube channel?!

Santa U Are The One

2011-12-13T22:17:00.002+08:00

i swear i stopped breathing when Eunhyuk first appeared at 0:43.

HOT STUFF!

Eunhyuk, who just redefined what it means to be #1, is awesomely perfect in here, and new #4 Siwon is hot as usual. Ryeowook my second bias is totally disappearing, and Sungmin my #3 is so very cute. #5s Kyuhyun (check out 2:14), Donghae & Yesung are so freaking adorable, and i'm so proud of Leeteuk for looking so glam all the time. im also so glad to see Shindong, Henry and Zhoumi each having a part to sing as well. i think its amazing that every member of Super Junior, even Henry and Zhoumi (specifically affiliates, not quite members) were part of this; except those in army/MIA.

so the song isnt fantastic but honestly the english is pretty okay for korean standard. BESIDES i can actually make out what they are saying most of the time (although "year" isnt actually pronounced as "ear").

i dont really care so much that the MV also features SNSD and the other artistes in SM Town. after all, it is an SM Town album, and i'm not gonna expect SM to produce an MV for every track and every artiste. just so grateful that they chose Santa U Are the One for the title track. as an ELF, i am very thrilled!

now i feel like buying the album! but i better go check out the other songs first. i heard f(x)'s not bad!

Snow White is still at the top of my picks this Christmas, however:

family dinner

2011-12-12T22:32:00.002+08:00

surprisingly this is quite nice. maybe changing record company really does impact your work.

what the hell is 'never leam' anyway? how on earth do people make mistakes like this?!

ANYWAY.

we just had a really epic dinner.

what happened was we went down to Shangri-la's Summer Palace chinese restaurant for dinner, but the waitresses said they didn't have a table for 12 in the main area, and could only offer a private room for 12, which came with a 300RMB/pax minimum order. thats S$60 per person, which is A LOT of money! so my uncle argued.

while we left and went down to the korean restaurant which gave us better service. but we were just about ordering our food when the manager came down with my uncle to apologize and invite us back upstairs to dine in the private room.

and so we went, and it turned out to be the best dinner on this trip so far.

as we all know by now i'm on an extended family trip and actually, with the exception of my parents and my sister i am not really close to anybody else on this trip. we only talk during CNY or whenever we meet which is usually no more than 3 times a year. but as i have just learnt over dinner apparently it really means a lot to my relatives that most made it for this trip.

i guess it never crossed my mind how this trip might mean a lot to the older generation (i really mean my dad's generation, the parents are no longer around). although i am super close to my cousin on my mum's side i usually don't talk to my cousin on this side of the family so i think this trip was a good opportunity for us to mix.

so apparently even though fuzhou is boring as hell and i only came cuz i had nothing better to do, there was some meaning to it in the end. at least it meant something to some people. then at least it was all worth it.

check out roselinchina for more information on my time in fuzhou, by the way! that blog's coming alive this december cuz i'm back in china!

BackinChina

2011-12-11T01:56:00.002+08:00

http://roselinchina.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/roselisbackinchina/

xiamen airlines was a joke i tell you. it was actually kinda scary considering how turbulent the entire flight was. although i cannot completely blame them cos i know at this time of the year the winds and all make turbulence rather unavoidable. the service was ok (but they freaked out on me when they saw my phone on. wtf flight mode was invented for a reason.) and the food was kinda weird. also cos check-in was so messy - generally T1 was a mess. i will never take xiamen airlines again.

and ctc is a joke also because the bus they got us is freaking old, cui and reeks of cigarette smoke! i am not looking forward to spending three more days in that bus.

on a lighter note we are staying in shangri-la! first luxury hotel in fuzhou. everyone knows i love shangri-la (and that the only time it is affordable is in china during lull period like december).

by the way i am using freegate 7.21. last year this time the newest edition was 7.08! oh wow how dynaweb keeps improving their software. the problem is you really have to download this before you arrive in china if not, even the dynaweb website is blocked. i had to use my sis' VPN to gain access to that site.

off to Fuzhou

2011-12-10T04:01:00.004+08:00

in exactly 12 hours.

not cold like Beijing but cold enough.

may or may not be able to blog/facebook/tweet/plurk from there because i downloaded freegate earlier but it didn't seem to work. *fingers crossed* if i do manage to blog i might spring a surprise on roselinchina!

if i don't, its only for four days anyway.

and you can always follow me on weibo, which i love so much more than twitter because there are emoticons, and you can retweet & view photos more easily. although the chinese way of using emoticons is a little different from everyone else's, like :D doesnt mean a grinning face, you have to type [呵呵] instead. -_-

im looking forward to being on holiday (its been a long time since i last officially went on one). hope xiamen airlines surprises me, and i hope CTC didn't/won't screw up our first ever holiday as an extended family.

check out our itinerary here (literal translation courtesy of yours truly because CTC cannot be bothered to give us an english one despite my uncle saying nobody in the family reads chinese; definitely first and last time i'll be on a CTC tour). the 'free & easy' day is for us to visit our relatives who are still in fuzhou - and my family has no idea who they are. we also don't do conducted tours cos we hate being restricted and having to wake up early, so this is a first for us. the good thing is there won't be anyone else on the trip. i do think our travel styles are very different from my relatives' though, and since its my first time traveling with my family in more than a year, i have to say i think my travel style has changed too. good luck to all of us.

Super Show 4 - Seoul

2011-12-09T18:47:00.003+08:00

LOOK!!!

and their waiting room looks so high class!

looks heaps and loads better than SS3. i hope i get to go.

Feel one year younger watching this

2011-12-09T01:04:00.002+08:00

and also, reminded that BONAMANA is so much better than that Mr Simple & A-Cha crap we got this year.

first time the boys performed this song on M! Countdown. first time Eunhyuk's performing it with his new hairstyle (which i'm not used to, because i was in love with his platinum blonde hair). also first time (?) i'm watching a BONAMANA performance with Leeteuk taking over Heechul's lines.

Wow, third entry for the day

2011-12-07T21:48:00.003+08:00

I'm so freaking bored.

actually I have RA work to do but I'm so lazy to open up all the files and pick out the research instruments used in each.

and I was thinking about all the post-exam plans i had. i haven't made 陽春麵 yet, nor have i attempted to make 鹹柑桔. don't even know where I can buy kamquats from (except from any nursery during cny).

I borrowed two books from central lib on monday - when i found out that the sociology of religion RBR book wasn't returned correctly and I had chalked up $11 in fines, which I obviously didn't pay for - and now one of them is open in front of me. but I'm just watching and feeling restless, not really reading. (shows how I'm determined to start my last sem on a really good note.)

I should probably go blog on roselinchina.wordpress.com as well as on roselinamerica.wordpress.com! theres so much I haven't said about my experiences in both places.

oh and of course, admissions.

watching Ghetto Justice again

2011-12-07T20:07:00.004+08:00

and the only thing that i am very sure of is that DrLam should've won Most Improved Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the recently concluded 2011 萬千星輝頒獎典禮.

i swear, this is AWESOME acting compared to Spicy Ginger's. and also compared to Au-yeung Jin's.

will never know what TVB is thinking.

ps: i also think Kevin Cheng has an annoying face cos i am starting to doubt my pick for Best Actor now. starting to think that perhaps, Ruco Chan should've won. or maybe if Laughing-gor wasn't Laughing-gor (as in if that role wasn't a repeat of the same character), Michael Tse would've had a better chance.

how freaking awesome

2011-12-07T01:57:00.001+08:00

i've been so behind in my Super Junior news. thank goodness i saw this one. what a freaking awesome track. my christmas is now complete.

ps: japanese debut please.

萬千星輝頒獎典禮2011

2011-12-06T01:44:00.009+08:00

okay now im gonna try clear up my vomit.

i thought the red carpet cut was a tad too short! i barely caught a glimpse of who came out with who and who was wearing what. im wondering if it was actually broadcast on the pre-show. gotta go check out the pre-show later.

as i mentioned last year the opening, where they all come out and say a few words, is always - and i repeat always - awkward. this year was not as awkward as last year's, but it was still freaking awkward. i can't believe they allowed Moses Chan & Aimee Chan to come out together.

Raymond Lam is MISSING! i think this is a big deal. honestly, i still fail to see why those photos were a blemish to his career. so both of them were on the same bed but both were fully clothed and they weren't even touching each other in the photo. compared to Edison Chen's scandal, Raymond Lam's was NOTHING!

i figure they shuffled the awards a bit because they started with the Most Improved Actor/Actress awards. i was super excited watching this part, because as i said its my favourite award. but i was very very disappointed with the outcome.

Jin Au-Yeung and Sire Ma. i explained here that i really don't like Sire Ma. she has such a long way more to go, i just don't see why she could've won this when Cilla Kung did an amazing job as 天眼少女. no honestly (i don't really like Cilla Kung either but) CILLA KUNG IS FREAKING AMAZING. how on earth could she have not won this award?!

the biggest problem with Jin Au-yeung winning this is that... he may have participated in quite a few shows this year, but most of these roles barely allowed him to show off any sort of acting (except for his role in 潛行聚集).

Jin Au-yeung's thank you speech was also so freaking awkward. a close-up on Bosco Wong sitting in the first row even showed him feeling awkward. -_-

the tvb.com weibo Popularity Award went to Kevin Cheng. ok my vote went to Nancy Wu, because shes awesome on weibo and because i think this year was her big break. but this is a popularity award after all so i can't really say anything about it.

the hosts for the evening were Carol Cheng (who hosts the event every year) and newly-wedded Vincent Wong. i love their in-between interviews with the nominees, but its always the guys who are more fun to listen to. the girls always make it awkward. and Vincent Wong is awesome eye candy!

Best Supporting Actor went to Ben Wong. this was so freaking expected, but i think i am happy enough that DrLam made it to Top 5 with his role in Ghetto Justice. like Michael "Laughing" Tse, Ben Wong struggled for years before meeting 辣姜-gor, and i cannot deny hes a really good actor.

真相 scored three freaking Top 5 nominations for Best Supporting Actress. so freaking ridiculous! Aimee Chan really shouldn't have been in that list. her role was freaking small, and her acting was terrible in there! but i am generally pissed off with this award because it went to Sharon Chan for Ghetto Justice in the end. yes yes yes, everyone loves the prostitute with a story and a dream. BUT ACTING-WISE, i really fail to see it! my poor Eva Chow (FH3). Nancy Wu really did awesomely well this year, its a shame she went home empty-handed. not just a shame. its a complete waste.

why does Gordon Lam keep going back to give out awards but not go back to acting? kinda miss this dude.

for some reason Myolie Wu decided she'd screw up and waste her thank you speech for My Favourite Character. not sure if she was hoping that she'd get another chance to say more, but this was very ridiculous, and she shouldn't have done it cos it seemed like she wasn't respecting the event/award.

more shipping of Bosco & Myolie with Carol Cheng making things official and finally giving Bosco a chance to speak. dear Bosco had simply too few shows this year. i need to see more of him, and i really wish he'd get his big break soon. BEST ACTOR PLEASE COME KNOCKING!!! love Bosco & Myolie!!!

oh wow Marianne Chan came back to give out the My Favourite Character award to the guys. OMG MARIANNE CHAN! i just watched 命轉情真 and i really really liked her in there. Kevin Cheng for Law Lik-ah, as expected. as i wanted too. really my favourite of 2011. and my goodness this guy is so smooth when it comes to doing thank you speeches!

Best Drama's a freaking joke because they gave it to 潛行狙擊 or Lives of Omission. its a freaking joke because i fail to see how it was better than Ghetto Justice and Forensic Heroes III. and The Rippling Blossom. and 真相! while it wasn't the worst drama of the year, i dont feel like watching 潛行狙擊 again. i suppose the biggest joke however, is that Yes Sir Sorry Sir made it to top 5. "ridiculous" is an understatement.

there was some voting going on for a popularity award and Bosco Wong & Myolie Wu both won the cash prize of HK$100 000. Carol Cheng said "with $200 000 you guys can 'treat a lot of people to dinner'", insinuating that they should get married. everyone else agrees. YES PLEASE GET MARRIED.

now for the highlight of the entire event.

honestly i hate tvb.com for spoiling it for me. i was avoiding weibo the whole night cos i didn't want to know the results before watching the show. but then i went on facebook and a photo of the biggest winners of the night appeared on my newsfeed.

gotta say the top 5 for Best Actress surprised me cos Kate Tsui didn't even make it. its such a shame that people like Kate and Nancy go back thinking they had a lousy year even though they did so freaking well this 2011. anyway, as expected, it was Myolie Wu for Best Actress. yes she freaking deserved it. and though she screwed up her thank you speech, OMFG SHE FREAKING THANKED BOSCO WONG!!! OMG OMG OMG. SHE THANKED BOSCO WONG. i could replay that part over and over again.

and that made Kevin Cheng's Best Actor thank you speech pale in comparison. poor Kevin. but i really must say, its been more than 10 years since i first knew of him in 天地傳説之魚美人 and i am terribly happy that he has finally received the recognition he deserves. i have never liked him (right from the very beginning, because his character in that show - 張云飛 - was very evil) but Law Lik-ah won me over, and it is definitely safe to say he has come a long way as an actor.

but because his thank you speech was so boring i kinda feel THEY SHOULD'VE GIVEN IT TO BOSCO THEN AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, BOSCO AND MYOLIE!!!

i would like to add that it was stupid that Pro-Sir made it to top 5 for so many awards (my favourite and best actor) because that might just have been Wayne Lai's lousiest role to date. i hate Pro-sir.

i wonder how come they did away with the "giving a trophy to all of top 5" this year though. or maybe it was a 2010 special, don't know. either way, i kinda felt like this year's show was a lot shorter than last year's (actually the video was 10 min shorter, thank goodness i took a screenshot of last year's, that facilitated the comparison). i also felt like it was less bitchy on the girls' side this year. that there was no Charmaine Sheh around, and that Tavia Yeung wasn't even top 5 for anything, made everything a lot less exciting, actually. i remember being so sure last year that there were a lot of people who were stifled by Charmaine and Tavia, who were in turn stifled by Sheren Tang and the older actresses. but 風水輪流轉 as they say. Myolie was stuck at the 'nobody' level for a couple of years after her big break, and last year this time nobody would've thought she would be the Queen of 2011.

i really am so happy for Myolie. definitely even happier that things are finally in the open (she & Bosco) - although for the whole of this year they haven't really been denying it. midway through my exams dear Myolie also trolled on me by publishing a photo of herself and her beau during Malaysia's Astro TV Awards on weibo at 3am in the morning.

next year will be very different from this one. i am guessing i might be complaining about Bosco's lack of a big break here and next year he might just become 視帝! (i sure hope he does. it would be such a good reason to propose to Myolie in public.) or maybe Ron Ng/Kenneth Ma will finally stop sitting in front for the sole sake of adding to the glam factor. whatever it is, i hope 2012 will be a better year for TVB because i wasn't totally impressed by the shows this year. there was a lot of hype, but few lived up to expectations. i also hope Kate & Nancy don't go back to being irrelevant after being left out of this year's awards anyhow. i think the ratings (& popularity) speak louder than awards. KATE AND NANCY!

the winners again:

Curse of the Royal Harem 萬凰之王

2011-12-05T03:56:00.003+08:00

i don't really have much to say about the ending of 萬凰之王, except that i am so glad it is finally over.

honestly it wasn't completely a bad show. if it was that bad, i would've simply gave up midway. but i was SO CLOSE to giving up on this right from the very beginning.

the acting was very awesome. i think everyone did a really good job (even though i am so sick of sunny chan and i will not be watching any show with him in the near future). i felt that myolie wu took sometime to get into the role, but she did a great job all in all. impressive acting also came from macy chan (love her character), jessie shum, charmaine li and particularly nancy wu. in fact i actually think myolie & nancy outshone jessica in this show, cuz i wasn't that amazed by jessica's "turning evil". i absolutely loved ben wong in this show - i was so glad he didn't ever turn evil! and joel chan also did a pretty good job.

its a show i wouldnt want to watch again, because its so slow and quite meaningless (in my opinion). i just can't get over how they always portray the emperor to be at the mercy of the women around him. and maybe it'd have been better if it was more exciting, but literally the only parts that i felt remotely excited was when myolie had her kid.

ok i suppose it is a bit unfair to call it meaningless! from a literary perspective it was perhaps meaningful how the emperor is supposed to be the one 'in power' but behind the scenes he lacked autonomy at handling even his own affairs. it was perhaps obvious from the start that jessica's character was going to be the 萬凰之王, because she was the smart, calm & rational one, as compared to myolie wu, who was basically a rather ordinary (in terms of being easily swayed by emotions) forced into becoming the empress by her parents.

i knew i'd hate this show from the very first episode. at that time when i watched it i was feeling kinda sick of myolie wu (and sunny chan -_-) and i wasn't really interested in seeing jessica hsuan in a period drama. when i saw it was 30 eps i pondered whether i should continue cos 30 eps is very tiring if its not Forensic Heroes. im a bit surprised i managed to complete it, but lets keep in mind that it wasn't really that big a temptation during the 2 weeks i barred myself from using the laptop. and right after my papers i took like 5h+ to watch all 11 eps i missed. it definitely isn't a very memorable show, the best part was really the acting and not the story (and for me the story matters a lot).

check out the ending theme. i really like it. it was the only thing i liked from the beginning to the end of the series -_-

ps: i hate how they painted their lips in such a weird way. it was arguably the worst thing about the show (even worse than sunny chan). it was bloody distracting and unnecessary.

pps: wondering what the next show is. 天與地 replaced FH3 but i haven't started on it (cuz despite the 'amazing' cast - charmaine sheh, bowie lam, etc) it doesn't sound like something i want to watch. also they filmed it in 2009 but warehoused it until this year. i don't know why.

hanging on The Line

2011-12-04T23:56:00.004+08:00

i thought i reconciled things with myself, but apparently i didnt. all it took was a few minutes on facebook and im back to feeling all emo about it.

SOME things, in life, you just have to give up.

others are exceptionally worth living for:

oops forgot to resize the pics.

honestly there was so much food... The Line is truly Singapore's best buffet spread. its also probably one of the most expensive. we only go there for really really special occasions. and today, we were there to celebrate the end of my cousin's A'levels and my exams. i had a really good time - it was great having everyone together again.

sometimes only family members (and a few select close friends) make good company.

or maybe i am just extremely sick of seeing some people.

i liked the food. it was a little inconsistent (like the caesar salad was to die for, the prawn mee only okay, and the marble slab ice cream crap) but the selection was very exciting. service was swift and good too. have to admit i hate their reservation portal - like you can't actually call to book a table, cos if you call you just hear "please visit our website at..." which is ridiculous.

gotta be in school at 2pm. going to map modules before that, and hopefully grab a book or two from the library for my trip.

i have the best cousins in the world.

ps: i hate it when people back out on me but it looks like i might be doing it to someone this time.

TVB 45th Anniversary Awards (2011)

2011-12-03T16:36:00.013+08:00

today's the last day to vote for TVB's 45th Anniversary Awards but i am still not late in blogging about it (since the event is on monday)! the biggest event of TVB's calendar because of all the politicking behind the scenes happens on monday! i can't wait.

i was a bit disappointed with the nominee line-up. some people should've been nominated for other characters, while others probably didn't deserve their nomination at all.

BEST ACTOR

i get pissed off seeing Sunny Chan in this list! the least they could've done was to nominate him for his character in 團圓, but they chose his most annoying role to date to nominate him for. very good. i also get pissed off seeing Bobby Au-yeung nominated for his role in one of the worst dramas ever produced by TVB (不速之約). and i feel so freaking thrilled that Wayne Lai definitely isn't going to win this award this year. i'm so sick of seeing him win it.

anyway as previously mentioned on this blog my top three for the year are:

1 羅力亞- KEVIN CHENG

2 翁以進- ROGER KWOK

3 魚至贏- CHILAM CHEUNG

honestly i have to give it to Kevin Cheng. i really reaaaaaaalllly like Roger Kwok (and i think that character's so underrated) but i have to admit Kevin Cheng really won me over with his role in Ghetto Justice. it was definitely a character that nobody can possibly hate, but i have seen Kevin Cheng screw up characters that people cannot hate before.

also im not really sure if Chilam deserves my #3 spot now cos i rewatched a few eps of 真相 and i realized that Ruco Chan did really well in there.

WHY WASN'T JOE MA NOMINATED FOR THE RELIC OF AN EMISSARY THOUGH?!?!?!

BEST ACTRESS:

took quite a long time deciding on them, but my top three are:

1 沅宛 - MYOLIE WU

2 姚可可 Paris - KATE TSUI

3 花麗珠 - CHARMAINE SHEH

honestly Linda Chung could have been my #3. if only she didn't screw up her role as Miss Koo towards the end of Yes Sir Sorry Sir (which was the second worst drama this year). nobody else i know liked Charmaine Sheh in 花花世界花家姐 but i did. the show felt kinda wrong but her acting was amazing. one of the best ive seen of Charmaine Sheh.

it was clearly Myolie and Kate's year though. i saw so much of them this year but i am not complaining. i went from ewww-its-Kate to OMG-ITS-KATE!!! within a few months. i thought she did pretty well in portraying two different characters in 洪武三十二, but she impressed me even more in her role as Paris in 潛行狙擊. Madam Ling in Forensic Heroes 3 on the other hand wasn't particularly memorable (because Madams do not typically keep their hair down while at work) but still it was a very likable character. the only reason why Kate isn't getting my vote this year is cos her roles haven't been meaty enough. i think she has lots of potential and she needs the right role to show it off.

my vote goes to Myolie Wu in her role as the empress in 萬凰之王, even though i really really hate this show. at the start i thought she wasn't doing a good job but all those crying-and-completely-崩潰 scenes changed my mind. i liked particularly that scene when she finally "turned good" when she gave birth to her son and he was suffering from some serious illness that almost killed him. also that scene when she thought her son died and she was crying and praying to the child deity. both scenes were very emotional and she handled them very well.

i am not totally convinced she should get it, however, cuz i still think her acting isn't quite *there* yet (and typically i think, TVB's best actor and actress awards go to people who have been acting for quite long and clearly can play just about any role). but i do think shes the best out of those that were nominated - i think this says a lot about TVB this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

now this is exciting!

everyone is expecting Ben Wong to finally achieve that big break in his career. everyone seems to love his role in 潛行狙擊 - as the undercover cop who turned bad. 辣姜-gor is almost as well-liked as Laughing-gor is right now. all because they both died in their shows. i don't get it really!!!

but there isn't a single person among the nominees that didn't deserve their nominations. most of these guys have been struggling, working really hard and acting really well for the past 10 years or so. i wish Derek Kwok was nominated for his role in 真相 instead though.

wish the nominated Edwin Siu's Ken Ho. i think he really deserves it. no? all the crying in ep 30? no??

my vote goes to DrLam 林子善, who seriously impressed me with his role as 米佐治 in Ghetto Justice. who knew that small boy who was previously Ron Ng's gangster sidekick in EU would be able to do such awesome crying scenes?!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

this is exciting too!

we all know its kinda between Nancy Wu (Eva Chow in FH3) and Sharon Chan (貞貞 in Ghetto Justice), although some people also think Natalie Tong (大C in 真相) is a contender.

i agree that this was Sharon Chan's most affable and memorable character to date. her story was highly emotional and everyone hated the way she was ruthlessly killed in the end. EVERYONE wanted her to end up with 丁家富 in the end, but she died. this character also required her to run around the streets in nothing but a towel. but. there is a difference between an awesome character an awesome acting. and i definitely don't think she deserves the acting award in this case.

Nancy Wu's Eva Chow on the other hand was a character that almost everyone hated. she was an unscrupulous lawyer who ditched her family for her career (something that i fail to reconcile). i shared this clip a few weeks ago, and it is still my favourite scene from Nancy Wu. i didn't like this character (she was hopelessly confused) but i definitely loved the way Nancy Wu portrayed it. the only problem is that she did even better in her role as a bitchy palace maid-turned-concubine in 萬凰之王! why didn't they nominate her for that role instead?

i am a bit surprised that Aimee Chan was nominated (and for her role in 真相!) - i think she screwed up big time this year. yes i liked her character in FH3 but her acting was so substandard. people were talking about her mostly because shes now Moses Chan's new squeeze rather than she as an actress. its quite disappointing.

MOST IMPROVED ACTOR

my favourite award every year.

obviously my vote goes to DrLam. in fact, im gonna be really disappointed if he doesn't win because he did exceptionally well as 米佐治 AND as 花偉聰 in 花花世界花家姐! hes a brilliant actor with lots of potential, and honestly none of the rest were particularly memorable.

MOST IMPROVED ACTRESS

despite seeing her in so many shows this year i still don't like Sire Ma. i can never tell if shes good or evil, and i think that says a lot about her acting. the first time i saw Mandy Wong (in 居家兵團) i thought she was really good, but after that i kinda decided she wasn't all that impressive (in 潛行狙擊). my vote goes to Cilla Kung, whom i've never heard of before Yes Sir Sorry Sir. for a 28(?)-year-old she plays a really convincing 16-year-old in Yes Sir Sorry Sir and also in 真相. but her biggest breakthrough was definitely as that mentally retarded 16-year-old in FH3. 天眼少女!!!

BEST DRAMA

top three!!!

1 Ghetto Justice 怒火街頭

2 Forensic Heroes III 法證先鋒3

and wow i cannot decide on no.3

魚躍在花見 (The Rippling Blossom)? 真相 (The Other Truth)? 洪武三十二 (The Relic of an Emissary)? 潛行狙擊???

really cannot decide. i really really liked TRB, but that was only cos i skipped 50% of the show (hate Tavia Yeung and Michael Tse). TOT ended on a very stupid note, and TRE was kinda tiring after a while. i think i'll stick with TRB.

either way, Ghetto Justice ftw.

MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER

just wanted to say first that if anyone dares to vote for Pro-Sir i would like to give that person a virtual slap. Pro-Sir was easily the most annoying character in FH3. he was supposed to be a copy of Tim-Sir, i think, but it was a very pathetic copy. i was not at all impressed.

my vote actually goes to Roger Kwok's character as 翁以進! not nominated (WHY?!) but i love him. i really do. i think it was the most realistic character i've seen on tv in a while. my second favourite is Ken Ho (Edwin Siu) in FH3! but why wasn't he nominated either?! i also liked 丁家富 (Sam Lee) in Ghetto Justice!

in terms of those who are nominated, my top three are:

1 羅力亞- KEVIN CHENG

2 Keith Lau - RUCO CHAN

3 跛Co - BOSCO WONG

(now this reminds me that i didn't see enough of Bosco Wong this year.) so its a bit strange that i chose him as one of my favourite characters this year, since he was essentially the evil one in 潛行狙擊. but i liked him simply cos he was so dedicated to Kate Tsui in the show. and i am not going to repeat it because its all here, but Bosco Wong is one of the best actors in TVB currently.

Keith Lau is probably Ruco Chan's breakthrough role. it was the first time he wasn't acting evil (sad okay? when you see Ruco's face you automatically assume he's the bad guy. i remember when 真相 first started its run everyone guessed that Keith was gonna turn evil just cos he was played by Ruco!) it was nice seeing him as the good guy for once.

but my ultimate favourite is Law Lik-ah. loved how he was so righteous and just. loved how he had a 'story to tell'. loved how he got together with Myolie Wu('s character) so quickly. loved how he was such a loyal friend.

sorry but if Aimee Chan is nominated here then WHY ISN'T EDWIN SIU NOMINATED?!?!?!? (i swear TVB is crazy! her role in FH3 was much smaller than Edwin Siu's. at least Edwin Siu had all that crying after she died.)

my top 3:

1 何利貞 - SHARON CHAN

2 大滿貫 - TOBY LEUNG

3 Madam Jo - FALA CHAN / Miss Koo - LINDA CHUNG

characters, you see. not acting.

i already explained Sharon Chan's character earlier on. its really hard for a prostitute-with-big-dreams-of-owning-her-own-restaurant to not tug at your heartstrings while watching Ghetto Justice.

Toby Leung's 大滿貫 (團圓) was easily the best character she has ever played in her many years of acting. apart from how the character was very genuine, and generally very likable, the best part was how she aided Roger Kwok's character in getting his family back together at the end. and of course, i love that get-together scene between her and 黎柏熙 (Him Law) in the last episode!

similarly, Madam Jo was the best i've seen from Fala Chan (although i also really liked her as the mute daughter in Moonlight Resonance). unfortunately the way the character ended up (dead) didn't gel very well with the character as a whole. yes obviously everyone dies at the end but she died because she was too hasty in trying to solve some case, which didn't really make sense cos for the whole series she was this cool-headed rational character.

on the other hand Miss Koo was probably Linda Chung's worst effort to date. i have seen her do so much better and Miss Koo was terribly disappointing in terms of acting. but i thought it was a breakthrough in the sense that she was originally this black-faced 'cool' bowling coach at the start of the series. first time seeing Linda Chung play someone unfriendly! unfortunately she suddenly turned 'normal' after getting together with Moses Chan's character, and that just put me off. i would've liked to see her 'cool' for the entire series. if not the character doesn't make sense, you know?

epic long entry! it has made me want to watch Ghetto Justice again (haha) and i can't wait to do ZihWye Awards 2011!

i also want to thank all those people who googled "法證先鋒3" because even though i didn't blog for more than a week i still managed to get 30+ unique hits per day (thats not a lot for a professional blogger, but i am not, and i used to get less than 10 unique hits a day) all thanks to those who googled Forensic Heroes 3.

HELLO!!!

2011-12-03T01:02:00.002+08:00

i have so much to say i dont know where to start. this is what more than 1 week of not coming online does to you. i actually feel slightly weird that i am not deeply engrossed with some sort of reading this evening, with my awesome highlighters. its a bad thing really, cos actually i do have plans to read foucault this holiday, and i did go straight to the library after my religion (last) paper ended but i was just so ecstatic that i was done with exams that i couldn't really concentrate on the list of results that linc+ brought up. im going back on monday anyhow, since i have a meeting with the prof to get more RA work.

i'm gonna start by saying something totally and completely random and that is, the best food at the deck is carbonara de mare from that italian cafe. not only do they cook it fresh when you order it, they actually add real butter in it. sinful and completely worth $8.90. (thats like pastamania pricing but way better than pastamania.)

i also want to say some relatively pseudo-reflective crap.

so this sem was a really difficult one for me. im not gonna find excuses for myself. i was hopelessly distracted, like i usually am every sem, but the difference was that there was so many readings for every module this sem that allowing it to pile up meant that i was going to have a LOT of trouble catching up at the end of sem. i learned the hard way, because apparently in year 4 you cannot just go for class and hope that even if you dont read, you will be okay, because you won't. at some points during this sem i was very, very stressed out. certain things happened to the people around me that made me snap out of it for a while but i would really like to thank those people who voiced their support for me during that period. it was very sweet of you all!

during exams there were times when i almost lapsed into questioning my own abilities - something that i have never done before despite getting average grades for all my academic life. BUT the good thing is that something pulled me back before i could even dwell in that for too long, and that was the passion with which my forefathers (Marx, Weber, Durkheim) and other major theorists (Foucault, Habermas) lived their lives. i felt like if i didnt try my best to understand WTH they were writing about, i would seriously be letting them down. so at least i tried. i can say i tried. and i know that out of fear and other concerns i will definitely be pushing myself to work harder next sem.

very glad its all over. definitely the most stressful exam period i have ever had in my life. also very proud of the fact that i didnt go online during that two weeks. there was still the phone, but at least, the major distractions were under control.

today i found out a secret. it was a secret that would usually be good news but the context of this secret made it seem like a not-so-good thing after all. wasn't sure if i was supposed to be happy or not, but all in all, i am happy for my friend. i just wish some things would go easier for these people.

finding out also made me realize that... i can be quite a crappy friend at times, but i can also be a truly awesome friend. i learnt that you can't generalize - yourself even - because we all act and react differently among different people.

then i decided that perhaps it isnt too big of a problem that someone who is nice to me isnt nice to another friend of mine. i believe in affinities and chemistry between individuals. some people you just love, and others you just hate.

i also believe in making an effort to make relationships (friends, families, bgr etc) work because if you don't do anything to show that you care, people are never going to know. and if you don't even say hi, people are just gonna assume that you've got issues and it would obviously never cross their mind that you're avoiding them cos you think you might make certain things too obvious if you didn't.

im not sure if i regret it. i know that if i could turn back time to every time we met this sem, i still would've reacted in the same way. but hey, i do recognize the consequences of my actions.

im sorry this was such an 'emotional' entry. i have actually so much to watch - 萬凰之王, as well as 6 Wonder Girls performances (so pissed that SNSD keeps winning, especially when The Boys is like shit compared to Be My Baby). i have to do my admission stuff, my Berkeley report, and arrange to get my wisdom teeth removed. fruitful december, it shall be.

ending off with Jay Chou's latest mv, his most distasteful one to date.

i just can't watch it.

he looks so freaking good in white (the swimming pool scenes) though.

woah!

2011-11-24T16:26:00.005+08:00

i never expected myself to be able to live without a laptop for so many days. but i did, in every effort to be more productive while studying (and also cos the acer is now really not working for real). the smart phone, it appears, is more than enough for me. weibo, facebook, twitter and plurk - more than enough to distract me from studying! although i still need a laptop to watch all my dramas after exams (so HP, please dont die on me too)!

online on the HP to copy all the songs from my new purchases (Lee Seunggi's 5jib, Tonight; Super Show 3 Live & TVXQ's Tone) and charge my ipod at the same time.

have been going to school to study (except today because i was lazy, and because TVB's Classic channel was showing 命轉情真 earlier and i havent watched that show in literally ten or more years) although i am still slow & unproductive. i feel like i am so far away from the end of exams, but im not totally dreading it because... i feel more guilt than dread.

havent watched anything since the FH3 finale on sunday - everyone is raving about it, and the ratings shot literally through the roof; its gonna be the highest rated this year but i wasnt all THAT impressed. plus Angel died, which was freaking unnecessary, but i suppose that was an excuse for Edwin Siu to get more screen time. i wish i saw more of Ada & Wind though. and i wish the case wasn't so random (like they barely built up the climax at all). either way, i really miss having FH3 to chase and watch. it was a great 6 weeks.

i might start on 天與地 on dec 2, depending on my mood. i will have almost 10 eps of 萬風之王 to watch by then! but 天與地 boasts of an awesome cast including long-time-no-see-and-may-not-see-them-again-in-the-near-future Charmaine Sheh & Bowie Lam, so it is probably worth watching.

anyway ill just share Jay's latest mv:

and leave a few words about it....

THE SONG SUCKS!!! but the mv's still okay, its like a funny, Jay Chou version of inception. and Jay looks so good in here! but woah the song sucks!!

more excited about my new music. although im a bit sick of having to manually change the artistes' name manually cos gracenote doesn't know how i want it. no time to do it now either, i shall put on my to-do list, tidy up my itunes library and standardize all the names.

my to-do list includes doing that berkeley report (so i can collect my transcript and transfer credits), visiting the dentist to deal with the annoying wisdom teeth, and of course do all my applications. i also wanna try making 陽春麵 and han gam gaat! on top of, of course, watching all my shows, including FH3 again.

back to religion! Happy Thanksgiving! the Americans are thankful that they have "36 varieties of toothpaste to choose from" when they go to the supermarket (quote courtesy of my biz law prof in Berkeley).

ps: i may not blog everyday, but im not ditching this for tumblr okay? im not poseurish, and i believe in original content. AND i am not ditching blogging at all.

FH3 ending trailer

2011-11-19T15:47:00.003+08:00

started tearing the moment i watched this. and everytime i watch it i tear up again.

i knew it was kinda unbelievable for her to die like that, so i replayed the last part slowly and i realized she died saving Ken.

that is so sweet please but i still hate tvb for doing this to me.

WHY, KILL MANDY INSTEAD!!!

poor Ken

2011-11-19T01:36:00.009+08:00

FH3 ends its run with a 2-episode finale special on sunday. it is currently the show with the highest ratings of the year, and it also broke some record on tvb.com's MyTV service.

i might review it after exams (depending on how i like the ending?) but i kind of know whats going to happen already. yes Edwin Siu was the one who spoiled it for me cos he retweeted the producer's tweet on weibo.

basically Angel (Aimee Chan) is going to get shot and shes going to die. i have no idea why the producers/scriptwriters felt it was necessary to kill her off, considering shes really not one of the main characters and its already the last episode, but they did, and you have no idea how upset i am with their decision to do so.

i feel so bad for Ken cos they only just got together:

plus Edwin Siu is LOVE (for being so freaking cute and for replying me on weibo hahaha). why would i want his part of the story screwed up?

they should've killed Mandy instead - although maybe TVB is trolling on us and Mandy is actually the one who killed her parents and Eva. (oh i also didn't think they would kill Eva. but it makes so much sense to kill her off since sending her to America didn't work!) this would be so epic really, and i would be so damn freaked out, i wouldn't be able to watch this series again.

whatever the case, killing one of the main cast is enough. no need to kill both Eva and Angel. freaking unnecessary! hate TVB for doing so.

poor Edwin Siu :(

and im going to feel so anomic after it ends. they should've made it 60 eps or something.

it doesn't matter if i can't find love as long as Sheldon Cooper can

2011-11-18T21:59:00.000+08:00

i assure you i started screaming.

Cry Cry

2011-11-18T21:29:00.004+08:00

this is getting annoying because everytime they perform it i can only see that long-haired girl (1:34) and the short-haired girl at the start. forget everybody else, even eunjung, the only T-ara member i know.

but i still think this is the second best girl group comeback of the year. idol music should be like that.

T-ara Cry Cry

2011-11-18T02:12:00.002+08:00

i've never given T-ara a second look, now i have their comeback track on loop:

the mv is way too long for me to appreciate, but i think this is the best i've seen of them. thank goodness they bade goodbye to that cutesy stuff, cos i didnt like it. eunjung is so pretty! (shes the only one i know cos of WGM.)

people have issues with their live singing (or rather the lack thereof), but i think it was pretty good here, at least for the ballad version.

not sure if i like this better or WG's Be My Baby now.

heavy hearted

2011-11-17T22:39:00.004+08:00

i think im thinking too much.

way too much about that good catch, way too much about everything that doesnt matter.

mad

2011-11-16T19:09:00.002+08:00

nuffnang is freaking ridiculous la. can i not have voting ads on my blog please?!

incredible things happen when you least expect them to.

2011-11-16T02:55:00.002+08:00

hes not my 'biggest bias', but as long as he keeps acting and keeps taking on awesome roles like Ken Ho in FH3, hes SO ON THE LIST of people to watch out for.

ps: good for you if you couldn't understand what i typed. it was cantonese. :)

TONE

2011-11-14T14:43:00.004+08:00

apparently people weren't kidding when they said TONE was the best TVXQ album they own.

(the video got removed, wth!)

also i believe album sales speak for itself. this album shot to number 1 in Japan within moments of its release and i think... an album was sold every 2 or 3 seconds or something.

very very awesome. i think ill add a copy of TONE to my yesasia cart.

anyway in the end i did add it to my purchases:

the joke.

2011-11-13T16:48:00.004+08:00

in addition to what i (already) said about SHA, check out the full list of winners here. as much as i love stefanie sun's last album, look at the awards she won yesterday. don't they all kind of sound like they were created for her to win?

the real joke is this one though:

sad, sick joke.

the lyrics are so freaking ridiculous.

and the music is so freaking annoying.

i cannot believe this is the Jay Chou we have waited so long for.

Leeteuk & Kang Sora on the plane

2011-11-13T01:22:00.009+08:00

in the latest ep of WGM Kang Sora wrapped up filming for her drama in Seoul and had to take an internal flight to attend some film festival in Busan. her on-screen husband Leeteuk sent her to the airport and they had this pseudo-emotional goodbye at the gates.

then Leeteuk appeared on the plane. Kang Sora's reaction was just priceless:

so freaking priceless! you actually can tell she didnt know about it beforehand.

then of course, the stuck-in-a-train/plane cabin scene every WGM couple must go through:

it was actually quite an enjoyable ep! especially since there was mention of Eunhyuk (haha) and Sungmin starred daggers at his hyung cuz he was late for their fansign event since he went to Busan.

what happened at Busan airport was rather unfortunate though. stupid fans pulling on Kang Sora's jacket (which is actually Leeteuk's SuJu jacket). that was really mean and uncalled for. i sense she knows whatever she does will be scrutinized by the annoying fans so she has to keep a distance from Leeteuk. which makes this couple less fun to watch.

but anyway, even though they really lack chemistry and it really seems like Leeteuk is faking this all, im starting to like Kang Sora. i want to watch that new drama of hers'!

credit: photos from @sjissj.

btw, SS4 concert merchandise! and more! the concert's in less than a week! i want all of these!

oh and goodness!

apparently derrick hoh won 最佳造型 and 最受歡迎男歌手 at the recently-concluded SHA. sorry but in which universe would derrick hoh's popularity be greater than Show Lo's? also yoga lin won best album.

i think i said it best on weibo: 新加坡金曲獎就是不一樣，誰來，誰就拿獎. and SJM won best group because none of the nominees turned up so they gave it to a kpop group in the hope that... SM will be happy and make yes 933 the official radio station for SS4? and they wonder why nobody gives a shit about SHA.

I'm very sure...

2011-11-13T00:09:00.002+08:00

...i've not had a song on loop for as long as this.

ive been using youtube repeat, so i have no idea what my playcount is for this song. i didnt rush to (illegally) download it because i thought i'd fall out of love with it within one day, but surprisingly i didnt. now im wondering if i should either 1, add this to my shopping cart on yesasia, or 2, buy a soribada pass to download this. not that i know if SM is making this available on soribada's international site or not, because SNSD's 3rd album wasn't.

am i just crazy, or is there something really really awesome about this song?

the charts are great again!

2011-11-11T20:12:00.004+08:00

so in the latest ep (22) of FH3, mandy and pro-sir discovered their love for each other. it was damn awkward watching their get-together scene because they've been friends for many many years and i just cant imagine how it could happen. my sis, who was watching it with me on skype, said it was very nice though. in any case i just think it'd be super awkward suddenly going from best friends to boyfriend-girlfriend.

in other news, IS entertainment released an mv starring dalmatian's daniel & B2ST's yoseob.

not bad at all! i dont like how people start celebrating christmas so early, but i like the song. melody, singing and all. besides, i really want dalmatian to come back soon!

Wonder Girls made their comeback on music bank and it was truly the best girl group comeback of 2011:

this song alone deserves a triple-crown triple-chart. hope SNSD doesnt rob them of any because this song is truly deserving. i love their improved vocals (sohee in particular).

Beige made her comeback with you can't talk sense to him and i was so happy to see my favourite female soloist back. she really reminds me of ryeowook!

nice melody. really awesome singing. i want to buy this song!

Lee Seunggi's also back with tonight & like a friend! i hope he promotes for a long time cuz i really like seeing him around. its not often we get to see Seunggi the singer!

apart from the fact that hes the head of an octopus here, this performance was almost flawless. i really like the energy he has on stage. for a host, then an actor, then a singer, his stage presence is pretty damn good.

although i'd admit he looks strangely high in this performance.

such a great time for the charts... and obviously i no longer care about the boys.

exam timetable

2011-11-10T15:26:00.003+08:00

cos i am so kind, and im trying to avoid work while waiting for my burger.

(have officially lost my ability to churn out 3000-word essays in one night.)

meanwhile please check out TRAX's new album, Blind. so far the song is okay. im not in love with it. im in love with Like a Dream though, thats such a beautifully awesome song. i think it kinda overshadows the rest of the album, which i find lacklustre. anyway, even though i really appreciate Jay after his acting stint, i think we're taking things a bit too far by saying they are better than FT Island & CNBLUE, ok? they are not, and we have to be objective and rational about it. they aren't even a freaking complete band.

OKAY THE MV IS OUT!

KYUHYUN!!

i suppose at least this mv is slightly more meaningful than Oh My Goddess', in which Seohyun was just prancing around acting pretty. and i realize SM spends more money on stars who haven't really quite made it. so its really untrue that SM doesn't care about TRAX. if i were SM, i'd ditch them immediately.

but anyway im going back to Like a Dream. they should've promoted that song instead!

full of shit.

2011-11-09T22:04:00.001+08:00

me: i think im gonna have to stay up all night to do my paper.

sis: don't watch FH for the next two days.

me: if you have a lot of work due and exams soon, but you need to shit, will you go shit?

sis: YES DUH WTH?

me: then how can you ask me to not watch FH. FH is as integral to my life as shitting is.

ROAR!

2011-11-09T18:37:00.004+08:00

the following explains why i thought of Everything with Fries' Char Siew Roulade right after i got back my terrible term paper yesterday.

[cr: facebook]

yesterday i was in a really foul mood, i decided to come back and sleep after class instead of my usual lunch & study session with huimin. but then i realized that the bloody piling noise from leedon heights (which is being redeveloped, and the developers are clearly trying to save money by using age-old technology that causes a lot of noise) made me feel even more stressed out than i previously did.

so i decided to complain to NEA.

http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_noise.aspx

i hate websites that tell you such technicalities because - yeah right, we all have sound level meters at home that can tell you how loud is loud. instead what we have are actually in-built sensory systems that tell us when we're being annoyed (i really mean ears).

so too bad for NEA because i cant tell how 75dBA sounds like, and i lodged a complaint anyway. i kinda assumed they wouldnt do anything so i was prepared to write a letter to the press too (but a bit lazy, i have so many letters i wanna write) because the last time i complained to NEA about pets being allowed to run free around my estate, they didnt do anything about it.

(which is super annoying by the way. all these dog owners/maids look at me like im retarded when i scold them for letting their dogs run unleashed, saying their dogs dont bite. i dont give a shit whether you dog bites or not. there are people in this community who cannot come into contact with dogs, and others who just dont like dogs. sorry but not everyone loves your furry friends the way you do.)

but today at about 1pm someone from NEA called to confirm the exact location of the noise. i explained, and he said he was in the vicinity and couldnt hear the piling noise.

i was like, DUH. because its lunch time. and he said he'll "wait for another 15min to monitor" and briefly mentioned that this developer was previously fined for making too much noise.

i dont know if he found out anything in the end, but the piling resumed as soon as i hung up. but it persisted after i came home from school so im gonna guess nothing was done about it.

okay lets put this in perspective. the whole country is in this state of build and rebuild, so there are construction sites everywhere. in my area we've been surrounded by construction sites since i was in secondary school, with the latest being circle line stations farrer road market and holland village. but none has made as much noise as leedon heights is currently making. every morning (mon to sun) i am woken up by that piercing piling noise that persists all the way until noon, stops for an hour plus, then continues all the way until 7pm unless it starts raining heavily. it also doesnt help that my balcony & bedroom window directly face the construction site, and im guessing all the nearby buildings amplify the sound by the time it reaches me.

crossing my fingers and hoping NEA will manage to do something about it. if the technology exists for people to construct (and tear down) buildings with minimal noise, developers should be forced to use it. because noise is bad for health!

Be My Baby

2011-11-07T01:17:00.002+08:00

from f(x) to Wonder Girls, 2011 was a year filled with highly-anticipated girl band comebacks.

ive always been highly ambivalent regarding the girl groups because... most of them are just about the legs. (ok except SNSD, cos theres always this underlying childish ELF-style worry that they will outsell Super Junior hahahaha.) but i think i've just found my favourite girl group comeback of the year.

i wasn't all that impressed with f(x)'s Danger, KARA's Step, SISTAR's So Cool, miss A's Goodbye Baby, SECRET's Love is Move and SNSD's The Boys. yeah some of these songs made it to my playlist and were on repeat for a while, but still none of them really struck a chord with me.

who would've thought that the band i was least looking forward to would be my favourite girlgroup comeback of the year.

most of their fans sound rather disappointed with the track. but apart from the monochrome mv (i hate monochrome. first A-Cha, now this) i dont have anything negative to say about it.

the choreography apparently reminds people of Beyonce. i dont know, can't judge. but i heard the choreographer is the same so i wouldn't be too surprised. some people are complaining that this is still the same ol' retro thing they've been doing, but i dont see it. if that's their style, of course they should stick with it. others are complaining that it has a very SECRET feel to it. agreed, except thankfully the mv isn't sugar-coated sweet, so its still not that similar. in any case, we barely expect JYP to come up with anything totally original.

well done girls. half the battle won. now lets see how it does on the charts. i cant wait for comeback stage!

Mine Mine

2011-11-06T21:09:00.004+08:00

1080p 就是不一樣，看得好爽哦!

unfortunately i dont like the song. the lyrics sound like they were forced into the melody - and whats with half the song being in hokkien? does this mean yes 933 can only play half the song now?

and you know... all these years, jay has only had ONE song with an english word in it (the word "baby" appears in 龍捲風), so it is very surprising that this song even has an english title and cheap pop lyrics like "cuz baby you are mine mine, mine mine mine mine".

in case you were wondering, that piano's from Yuhao (NQMM)'s piano shop called Secret, inspired by Jay's 2007 movie.

but all that aside i am in love with the choreography. i think Xuegao (Jay's good friend and long-time choreographer) did a really good job here. i love the part from 1:47 particularly. the whole choreography just makes it look like Jay can really dance or something.

6 Years of Super Junior

2011-11-05T23:36:00.006+08:00

time flies, because just last year i was celebrating 5, and today, its Super Junior's 6th anniversary!!!

귀하의 5 주년을 축하합니다!

we all know that i am a very critical fan, i have an opinion about everything they do and it is not always a good one. i see a problem even with the slightest things, like Leeteuk being on too many variety shows (then again... this isn't a small thing) and Ryeowook showing too much aegyo.

but i am very grateful that Super Junior exists because they are definitely the best band i have ever liked. (so much better than 5566 who seriously just milked their fans and basically maintained their image by going on and on about how hard they work; and also better than Energy who never ever performed live.)

not many people will realize how far they have come as a band. they were only supposed to last one year - and it is not difficult to see why - but here they are, six years on. three (coming to four) successful world tours, one (soon two, hopefully) daesangs, and many many chart wins to their name.

and fans all around the world, most of which are immature, naive kids stuck in their pathetic and protected little world where their oppas descended from heaven and should never ever have to feel tired or upset. also one where a rainbow greets them every morning, where unicorns fly and butterflies are all pastel-coloured friendly things. where the world's biggest evil is SM Entertainment, which ironically is the 'heaven' from which their oppas descended.

but if these mad people didnt exist, this craziness would make too much sense, because my boys...

... are as they say, 太完美!

(my favourite songs from my favourite boys)

eunhyuk, ryeowook, sungmin, kyuhyun, yesung, siwon, donghae, leeteuk, heechul, shindong, kibum, kangin, hangeng.... 사랑하다!

LOVE!

2011-11-05T03:38:00.001+08:00

RON AND KATE.

from 20:59!

endured 17 eps just for this. now theres little to look forward to in the show. hahaha.

karma

2011-11-04T20:31:00.003+08:00

maybe this is karma cos during dinner i was happily trolling on someone on weibo. (i mean that person was being quite retarded. ken zhu, the F4 member, published "a good will may take you places" or something like that, and this netizen replied with "will 跟 may 放在一起。。。這樣也可以?!" and ken zhu replied her with a O_O and explained the issue.

so i retweeted it, cos i found it hopelessly hilarious, and i said that person probably feels super embarrassed now. that person replied me and said "whats there to be embarrassed about? don't know then must ask." (in chinese) and i decided to be really mean by saying that this is damn basic.

then she replied me again by saying it may be easy to me but its not to her.

to me its like, serves you right for replying, so i replied her for the final time with "對呀，所以不知道不是應該感到很羞恥？上課都在干嘛？"

well ten minutes later i tried to turn on my acer laptop and i could only get the "starting up" screen, but after that a blank screen greets me and i cant load the operating system. KARMA.

thank goodness my HP is working but i dont trust that it will work for long. (the acer is only 3 months old though, so its even worse than HP.) im gonna have to rush both term papers on the HP. just as well the HP keyboard is nicer. the screen is a lot smaller though, and its slower cos its only intel 2 and windows vista.

managed to get my laptop back to work.

i emailed acer's support service late friday night, and by sat morning i received a reply with an attached file telling me what to do to get my com working again.

basically just attempt system restore by pressing F8 repeatedly, and when you get the list of repair options, select system restore, which restores your laptop to a date when it was last working.

now of course the logical thing to do is to back-up all your data but knowing me, im sitting on it.

common law is the law for common man.

2011-11-03T20:49:00.003+08:00

one of the more memorable parts of the show so far:

which is ironic considering this is a show about how science solves crime and not how.. err.. how the law should not be misused.

ron & kate

2011-11-02T11:51:00.004+08:00

i really love ron & kate, but everytime i see a scene with both of them together the last episode of 團圓 comes to mind and i am reminded of how ron ng('s character) met kate tsui('s) at some police station - when they caught derek kwok - and he greeted her with "how have you been, have you had an ultrasound scan yet?" its so random, but so freaking funny.

i like to think things are finally moving on in FH3. eva has finally left, and pro-sir's family problems seem to be settling down a bit. now if only we'd find the killer in the nerdy-boy-gets-murdered case soon (because a lot of unnecessary things have been happening, like the twins falling out with each other, and the awesome eye candy brian chu coming clean that he really doesnt like to do medicine).

yesterday was tvb's sales show (where they preview the line-up for 2012) and everyone was all dolled up for the event. jessie shum went round snapping photos with cute boys, while linda chung and crystal tin wore the same dress (WTF). im kinda curious to know who im gonna be seeing a lot of next year, but first, everyone is complaining they saw too much of kate this year, but i dont know what they were watching cos i defintely saw more of myolie wu. if i dont remember wrongly, she had three shows as the lead. kate also had three shows (i think) but she was barely the lead in 團圓, and nobody was watching her in 潛行狙擊 and i totally forgot she was even in 洪武三十二. (im gonna disregard 仁心解碼 cos that was a 2009 show, and also if you were bored enough to watch it then i really pity you hahahaha.)

on the guys side i am currently damn freaking sick of sunny chan. its like i didnt see him for a few years and now BAM! hes in every other show on tv. actually he was in 4 shows, but because his role was big in all of them, i think twice now when i see a new show with him in it. please sunny chan, i dont wana see you anymore! AND OMG I JUST REALIZED WHY ITS SO WEIRD SEEING SUNNY CHAN AND JESSICA HSUAN IN 萬凰之王!!! (老婆大人 omg)

im so glad to see ron ng back on tv anyway! i cant wait to see even more of him in the reprise of 衝上雲霄.

trolling

2011-11-01T21:05:00.003+08:00

today we tried to troll our smartest prof. hes new to the department, so he was asking what we usually do for the review session at the end of sem.

someone said "usually the profs give us the exam questions!" and another said "yeah and usually the nicer profs will give six questions choose 2." he replied the first one with "i'm better, i'll give you the answers!" and the second with "i think i'll give you a compulsory question, and then a second section with a few options."

hes truly the smartest prof that has ever taught me, and i am so glad to be in his class. yes, even if he goes round in circles every class.

over pontian and starbucks we started talking about life in general. at this age, life in general = bgr talk (as always). i came back feeling more convinced than ever that i am in deep trouble because no guy likes me, im not dating/attached, and im not gonna get married. im gonna die a lonely soul.

but certain things cannot be forced. even if i really wanna get married, to that awesome ideal boy, its not going to happen because i dont live in a movie. and im not going to go out with weird, stalker-like guys who refuse to give you space, and insist on knowing everything about you.

ok that person isn't so extreme, but he is really irritating cuz he refuses to stop contacting me. and i am so sick and tired of it.

i havent actually been like that, so im hoping its just a passing phase. im not into looking for my soulmate, my life partner, because thats not what i want out of my life. (although of course, it'll be really nice if i could at least go back to talking with that ideal boy.) after all, there are loads - LOADS! - of things i need to do, and getting married really isn't on the top of that list.

i need to sleep. i only slept for 4h last night - went to bed a 12+, but woke up naturally before 5. really weird. somehow, i think i cant take caffeine anymore. gonna stay awake till 11, then ill go crash, and tomorrow & thursday will be damn productive.

tomorrow

2011-11-01T07:23:00.002+08:00

so before yesterday i had no idea who Tablo was.

but all that doesnt matter anymore because he performed "Tomorrow" (ie the track above) with Taeyang for comeback stage yesterday and it was epic awesome. it was one of those performances that you don't expect to like, but end up putting on loop soon after.

we all know i don't like YG but i've got to admit that amidst 2NE1, all the arrogance, the drunk-driving and the drugs, some of their artistes are actually quite talented.

it obviously also helps that now the charts are like trash and theres nothing really worth looking forward to. okay yes, if you are an SNSD fan you might be going real crazy over their performances right now, but im not really into the song and the choreography isnt worth paying attention to. so its not for me. on the other hand, there is also FT Island, but i dont know why, i just cant put "Like Birds" on loop. i literally only like the opening verse.

but if Jewels (ie Eunhyuk fans like yours truly) feel a certain affinity with Tablo it must be cos he really resembles our beloved Lee Hyukjae. the whole rapper aura too! im inclined to thinking Eunhyuk would be able to come up with a better choreography though!

i am really, really close to buying a soribada pass so i can buy this song.

in other news, lets all congratulate Selina on her marriage. it feels like half the entertainment industry got married this year (and the other half got divorced) but Selina's will be the most memorable because of her severe injury on set late last year. i remember feeling freaked out at the news, cos i thought she was going to die.

the past 377 days were filled with rumours - lots and lots of rumours - but also lots of care and concern for one of the taiwanese entertainment industry's most favoured artistes. even the most ambivalent would've heard about this, and might have shared a tear or two hearing her story. some of us grew to not like richard chang. like me. i could never understand why the hell he was giving so many interviews regarding his fiancee's injury, and why he even had to release a book about it. but no matter what, this is a cause for celebration.

ever since the beginning of the month, when a relative passed away, ive tried my best to live my life without regrets. at the back of my head is a constant reminder that if i dont do this, or if i dont say this, i might regret it later. its a bit hard because sometimes you just want to be selfish, lazy, or sometimes you're just too tired to be courteous. but while im also not sure how long this will last, i can safely say i have become a better person ever since.

of course, since i am only human, and i dont claim to be a nice one, ive still been a bitch to some people. that one who makes me listen to her problems day in and day out and even mocked my blood donation party but didnt bother wishing me a happy birthday. and also that idiot who didnt understand all my tweets about leaving me alone sent me another message today. i feel like slapping all these people.

everytime i come close to cashing out my nuffnang earnings...

2011-10-31T00:17:00.002+08:00

either

1 i find a new ad,

2 i find an increase in earnings.

i cant possibly say no to money, so i am indirectly forced to keep nuffnang on my blog. i could of course just cash out first and then cash out the new earnings another time, but as we all know it took me 3 years + to even hit $50, which is the minimum for cash out.

and of course nuffnang still wants to take another $1 out of whatever i cash out. $1 means nothing to people who actually make a living out of blogging, but $1 is a lot out of that $63 i have earned so far.

damn ridiculous.

HATE NUFFNANG.

생일 축하합니다!

2011-10-28T22:53:00.010+08:00

여러분!

it was a really boring and disappointing birthday but i have had worse so i am really not complaining.

everything in photos:

my 'bloody' birthday party was reduced to just me alone donating blood because the only person who agreed to come (Sam) was rejected cuz he had small veins on one arm and soft veins on the other. but he waited for me so that was really sweet. he also got me a very epic birthday present from korea:

i cannot thank him enough for it. it was truly unexpected (and im guessing very expensive) - photobook & fancam-compilation from WannaBe, aka Eunhyuk's official Korean fanclub. the package also came with a pair of socks, and im guessing that dog is supposed to be Choco! i haven't watched the CD yet, but the pictorial is truly amazing. you've photos of him from aged 0 - 24! very awesome. 정말 감사합니다!

two days ago Jo passed me my birthday present (dont know why she never listens to my 'no gift' instructions) and in fact it was a couple of birthday presents in a gift:

the tumbler's actually a SuJu - Mr Simple one but i really dont have the guts to carry a Mr Simple tumbler around, so i turned it over and put her photocard as the design instead. thanks so much Jo. i love the trinkets. and i was really close to buying a tumbler!

Ethel also baked me some cookies...yummy stuff from The Cake Stand!

anyway, i went to school for my horrible contemporary social theory class and for the first time i actually understood it! birthday luck! after which Connie & i had lunch at the indonesian cafe at upper deck.
cannot believe it was my first time trying this place, but the food was awesome! a little expensive for school food, but i'd eat it again since its good quality & tasty.

although i was quite disappointed/pissed off that someone decided to pon school on my birthday, Connie made going to school on my birthday worth it, so thank you girl! i really really appreciate your company during long dreadful school days. and i will miss you loads when we graduate. congratulations on your sports award!

i was tasked to buy my own birthday cake cuz my dad had an event at night. my birthday dinner was also postponed as a result. but i really didnt want to lug a birthday cake back (so 狼狽!) and i had plans for blood donation so i was very close to giving up the idea. but then on the way to school i suddenly remembered that Bakerzin offers same-day cake delivery!

but as if it wasnt bad enough i had to buy my own cake, paypal decided not to accept my supplementary credit card and so i had to pay for it using my allowance -_-

also when we cut the cake i was the one lighting the candles and taking photos -_-

i love my family! its just that some roles stick even when you're the main character hahaha.

now for the thank you speech.

to be really honest i was quite put off by the fact that my 'party' had such poor attendance - actually, poor attendance nevermind, people didn't even bother RSVP-ing or at least telling me that they werent coming; thats quite rude in my opinion! coupled with two people who actually mocked my blood donation event, and FH3's entire week of Pro Sir & Eva episodes, i really felt like crap this week.

but it is when things like that happen that i start to appreciate the ones that matter more. on the dot at 12 midnight there were a few people who texted me. then there were some really random people who wished me on facebook, and it kinda made my day too cuz like, i havent even talked to some of these people before, but they bothered typing those two or three words for me. thats nice enough, and i really appreciate it!

i woke up to a couple of other smses, but the most memorable one came from Ben, who sent me an essay of an sms. Ben and i have been good friends for 5 years and honestly we havent always been close, like we only talk sometimes. BUT nothing feels better than knowing no matter how distant we are we will always be able to catch up and talk like old friends when we meet. its really nice knowing that im appreciated as a friend too.

thanks again to Connie and Sam for spending my birthday with me. and my mom, who dragged me to join her office halloween barbecue after my blood donation. the chicken wing was extremely awesome.

thanks also to those random netizens on allkpop who wished. i really love my fellow jewel, cumisyalalaa and all those SONES who wished me.

thanks for all the gifts, they are in good hands, and i am very appreciative.

thanks for being my friends 여러분! even if you completely forgot to wish me, i will try not to bear a grudge against you. LOL.

twentytwo

2011-10-28T00:01:00.002+08:00

judging by my dwindling social circle i dont have high hopes for an epic birthday celebration today (in fact its just gonna be one person at my blood donation birthday party!) - i honestly just hope i dont get rejected at the blood donation centre.

i only have two wishes:

1 that everyone in my family stays happy and healthy

2 that i manage to pull up my cap.

pathetic but true. there is nothing else i need/want more than these two.

of course i also hope that ill be able to attend SS4, that Eunhyuk will have a very awesome musical run, that my boys will be happy, safe & stay as a band always. and to you, ZYC, i need to see more of you on tv!

the last one year was filled with a LOT of 胡思亂想 and i think it'll be really good if i could finally grow out of that. i need to be less emotional and take things less seriously.

may i go through the next one year, which will be filled with a lot of changes, with loads of confidence and courage. FIGHTING!

Jay Chou's 11th

2011-10-27T19:22:00.003+08:00

don't really know what you're trying to do cos...

1 this song sounds like songs you've done before - it also sounds like the Pandamen theme

2 you dont even appear in the freaking mv

yup, keep dating.

so i was reading this blog post

2011-10-27T17:51:00.004+08:00

http://irethsingollo.livejournal.com/24394.html

i couldnt even survive the whole thing cos i was already spazzing on her behalf midway. some people are damn lucky. i do think im super lucky too. born in a good family, had a good education, no need to worry about anything. but im talking about something else here.

and i was just thinking what i'd do if i ever bumped into eunhyuk.

because i cant speak korean, even saying hi will be near impossible. much less what, getting invited to dinner and having a conversation with him and having him pay for dinner. but if language wasnt ever a problem ill first ask:

1 what the hell happened with the hangeng and SM issue; and

2 if SM really as bad as people make it out to be.

i will tell him that i will keep all information in confidence of course.

i will also ask him:

3 who are the best and worst members in super junior (LOL)

and of course:

4 which members are dating (and who are they dating)?

if i have the guts i may also ask about Super Generation. i will definitely make it clear to him that Super Junior is my biggest bias and nobody else comes close.

mental note to self to learn korean just in case i one day bump into lee hyukjae.

and ok i just finished reading the entry properly. ~~shes damn freaking lucky, she dined with the whole family! omg.~~ and after reading i realized that my questions are too journalistic and he will get so pissed off with me if i do ask these questions. i guess ill just stick with smiling - and ogling - because thats what i do best in an awkward situation. actually in fact, i dont even care about dining together and getting mentioned on sukira. even if i just bump into him randomly along the streets, im pretty sure i wont be able to do anything for days after.

SO DAMN ENVIOUS. boohoo.

Lee Seunggi - Tonight

2011-10-27T01:49:00.006+08:00

Lee Seunggi's fifth album was released today and i surprised myself by listening to the entire album. i generally dont really like his songs, because they are largely ballads and i dont really love ballads.

the first release off this album is "we are friends":

yet while this track was decent enough for me to check the rest of the album out, i think it is rather forgettable compared to title track "tonight":

i fell in love with this track the moment i heard it. it definitely beats big bang's song by the same name hands down!

but generally, the rest of the album is worth listening to. check out the rest of the songs in this playlist (with the exception of track 4 cuz that was blocked by the annoying loen entertainment) and two other versions of the first song which make up the last two tracks of the album. have to admit i dont really like "slave" though!

法證先鋒III

2011-10-26T03:21:00.002+08:00

in the humblest of my opinions for the hype surrounding the production of 法證先鋒III, the show got off to a very slow start.

i could pick a million things that went wrong with the opening episode, starting from how they inserted powerpoint-like slides when every major character appeared to introduce their name and role in the show. c'mon, NO NORMAL TVB DRAMA DOES THAT. the story speaks for itself. you dont need slides to introduce each character!

the first case was also very unrealistic. for those who have already watched it, did you really believe the father would think of taking the gun to kill the son-in-law at the wedding just because he saw that the son-in-law was more interested in protecting his gay partner and not his wife? no, because under that sort of circumstances with bullets flying all over the room, the father would've been preoccupied with keeping his daughter safe, not thinking of killing her husband.

we just finished the fourth case however and things have been picking up really well. i am absolutely impressed with the cast. we know i stopped liking wayne lai after he suddenly became super popular, but i really, really like pro-sir here. this is in addition to being thankful that maggie cheung is back with tvb, and kate tsui is finally taking a likable role. nancy wu impresses with her flawless acting in this series (the fourth case makes you hate her to the core) and im really grateful that ruco chan isnt evil in here. edwin siu and aimee chan are the biggest distractions in the show cuz they dont really contribute to any crime-solving (yeah they're part of the 法證 team but they really just bicker with each other all day) but they are awesome eye candy.

apart from the fact that the show tends to dwell in the non-science non-crime-solving part of the story - like in the 4th case they spent three entire episodes on the legal proceedings just to show that eva has no values - im actually looking forward to every episode.

nevertheless things are a bit messy on the relationship side. wayne lai is married to nancy wu, an evil and unscrupulous lawyer. this marriage later deteriorates when wayne lai finds out that her values are not really aligned with his'. nancy wu leaves wayne lai for a rich man (which is super stupid in my opinion because she is a very capable lawyer and her career can buy her whatever that rich man can) and wayne lai subsequently gets together with his good friend and work partner of 20 years, maggie cheung. i knew right from the start that this was going to happen but while divorces are commonplace in today's society, i think its rather unnecessary for tvb to break up a couple in a drama just to form another pair. having married main couples somehow just doesnt seem to work for tvb, wonder why!

anyway, i strongly believe that 法證先鋒III or FH3 as i like to refer to it, does not live up to its predecessors' success. FH was seriously one of the best shows tvb has ever produced, and FH2 was not that far off even though i wasnt a fan of the change in cast. it also doesnt really help that i dont hear much of the sciency part of the crime-solving in here. nor do i really see much of the police team. im not sure who im seeing too much of, but its probably just in the wrong context.

i think FH3 has it lucky cuz a lot of people are watching just cuz FH and FH2 were good, and there was so much hype over FH3. so good ratings doesnt naturally mean it was a good show. i currently just hope pro-sir, even though i like him very much, doesn't steal 翁以進 (roger kwok) or law lik-ah (kevin cheng)'s best actor award!

we're halfway through the show so im excited to see how the next half is going to turn out. im looking at developments in kate tsui's love life (ron ng!!!) as well as edwin siu and aimee chan perhaps.

please let there be more exciting cases too.

fighting!

2011-10-25T01:52:00.001+08:00

presentation tomorrow.

i hate presentations. thank goodness this time the topic isn't too difficult.

essay due tomorrow - same time.

im so scared i cannot hit 2000 words by 5am.

its finally out!

2011-10-24T16:03:00.002+08:00

from

YAY! ive waited such a long time for this beautiful track hahaha. EUNHAE ftw!

Fuzhou 2011

2011-10-24T02:21:00.004+08:00

last week i blogged that we had some disagreements regarding which hotel to stay in fuzhou. in the end it was announced that we had won the 'battle' and we will be staying at shangri-la!

i really do wonder what the trip is going to be like.

its going to be a conducted tour, which my family hates.

the extended family is also kind of known for their conflicts and quarrels.

interesting, i think. i keep telling myself, "FOUR NIGHTS ONLY!" and if i survived bhutan, im pretty sure i can survive this one. besides, its shangri-la! i wont miss it for the world.

me & eu(nhyuk): couple phones!

2011-10-23T02:25:00.003+08:00

i wonder why he went back to using this phone though (or is this the S2?) he and the rest betrayed ryeowook for the iphone! hahaha. now the Super Junior android-user count is at 3 - though it may be 4 if sungmin's using it too, i dont know cuz he doesnt have twitter!

had to find this photo by typing in korean on a completely korean news site. proud of myself!

btw, check out ep 3 of leeteuk on WGM. its very, very romantic and funny.

they used to work a lot harder in the past

2011-10-23T01:34:00.002+08:00

in those days when album sales weren't taken for granted cos they weren't exactly the most popular band around.

then things changed. its not difficult to see. they definitely don't sing 100% live nowadays.

but of course, to the fans, these oppas (that descended from heaven) are perfect and can do no wrong. its all SM's fault!

this is what we call flawless.

ZihWye Awards 2011 - PREVIEW!

2011-10-22T23:11:00.002+08:00

ohhh how time flies! the end of 2011 is drawing near! and im so excited, i drew up a list for ZihWye Awards 2011.

ill be having the following categories (of awards) this year. i think its slightly different from what i've had in the past - check out ZihWye Awards 2010 here.

Non-Super Junior Comeback of the Year
MV of the Year - Cpop, Kpop
Songs of the Year - Cpop, Kpop
Album of the Year - Cpop, Kpop
Dance of the Year
Japanese Release (by a Kpop artiste) of the Year
OST of the Year
Drama of the Year - Taiwan, Hong Kong
Most Overrated & Underrated of the Year
ZYC Achievement of the Year

and for this year only:

SS501 Solo Debut of The Year

i think i've kind of decided who's gonna win what, but im still waiting for other comebacks/new releases by people like Dalmatian, Jay Chou, Da Mouth, SHINee in Japan, etc.

definitely looking forward to doing my year-end wrap up!

Today

2011-10-21T20:05:00.004+08:00

#1 SNSD's comeback stage

it doesnt take a hater to see that it wasn't as flawless as some netizens and fans are claiming. it was pretty good, and of course since they performed a very terrible rendition of Mr Taxi, The Boys sounded even better.

i am damn envious that they managed to hit 7mil views in 2 days. and that all their songs are topping the charts. if only my boys could manage a feat like that.

is it just me or am i not seeing enough of Yuri? Seohyun is so not Seohyun-y here. Sooyoung is disappearing and Taeyeon's hair is so much nicer here than in the mv. Jessica's super doll-like and i love Sunny. im gonna guess Hyoyeon fans are happy now that you see so much more of her (as compared to during Hoot). hello to the rest - Yoona & Tiffany.

seriously i love the song. this is so terrible; i am contributing to their success while my boys dwell in the pains of having a failed repackaged comeback. I LOVE SUPER JUNIOR, i really do. i love them more than any other kpop artiste i will ever love. PROMISE!

#2 the first FH3 episode that didn't freak me out - ep 9

instead i felt a bit disturbed that Pro Sir (Wayne Lai) knows Dr Chung (Maggie Cheung) so well. of course, he later divorces his wife (Nancy Wu) and gets together with her, but its not right. it'd have made a lot more sense if the wife died or something - like in FH1.

#3 great friday, now if i could only clear all my work.

RA work due by tonight. its only half done and the other half requires twice the amount of time cuz i'm doing research from scratch. also, the script for the presentation on tuesday. this weekend, i also have to finish my governmentality term paper.

it was a really great friday though. state and society was such an ego-booster. i really hope i do well for this class cuz i like it so much. i also hope i do well for religion.

BUT SIGH. need to work so hard.

#4 bad stitch-like stomach ache the whole freaking day.

#5 i tried to NOT dao someone today at the foodcourt but that person didnt really acknowledge my presence. not my fault anymore, you know.

blood donation birthday!

2011-10-20T14:06:00.002+08:00

im really grateful to everyone who has agreed to come for dinner next week. its been a long time since i last met all of you together.

i am also planning a blood donation event (where we basically just meet at blood bank and donate blood) on my birthday. its a private event on facebook because i dont want weird people to turn up, but if we know each other and you wanna come please let me know!

this also means you don't have to get me birthday presents :) just give me the shuangness of having mobilized you for something meaningful!

all this must end

2011-10-19T00:42:00.004+08:00

for the past eight weeks - maybe the past two years plus - ive had lots of unnecessary conversations and thoughts, and today i realized that if i dont stop talking and thinking about it, im never going to move on. yes that person may fit my ideal but it is all over now. and honestly even if i dont intend to get married next time its rather unwise to keep living in the past.

its all over now.

in other news, as all of you probably know by now because i'm sure your facebook newsfeed was flooded over the last one hour with the same 9 girls:

have to admit i thought this was complete trash when i first heard it. it sounds like teddy riley decided to write three songs and put them together. it lacks continuity, and while i think the dance parts are really hot (and the girls really pretty and the mv very expensive), the best audio part of the mv was the use of DBSK's KYHD at the start. :/

basically SM has screwed an entire year's worth of comebacks, from f(x) to Super Junior and now SNSD. the good thing is, f(x)'s album wasn't completely trash. neither was Super Junior's (DUH!) and SNSD's third album doesn't disappoint one bit. check out the rest of the songs - put nicely in a playlist - here. my favourites are Telepathy and OSCAR, though Lazy Girl, Vitamin and obviously the Korean version of Mr Taxi are awesome too. (i thought there was going to be a Korean version of Let it Rain?)

also check out the English version of The Boys, cuz its SNSD's American debut.

even though i am not a SONE, i ship Super Generation to some extent. and since Ryeowook threw in his support for the girls, i shall be a nice ELF this time round. i might buy the repackaged. depends on whether i go back to being an anti over the next few weeks.

is it just me or does this sound pretty awesome?

2011-10-18T18:28:00.004+08:00

the chorus is lacking a climax. some drums or something? (but im guessing they wanted the emphasis to be on her voice, which i totally understand.)

i first discovered this girl when zhen lin shared her performance on one million star. that performance really impressed a lot of people, but as it always happens i thought she'd just fade into oblivion because record companies are so into producing lousy songs these days. i guess i have a bit more faith in warner music right now.

有些傷痕像場大火

把心燒焦難以復活

不碰了好像忘了

恐懼卻在腦海住著

重復卡在一刻重要的時刻

不自覺也會退縮

連幸福都克制著

i truthfully think its just as well i found this song today. its such an appropriate song to put on loop considering how i feel totally convinced that there is no hope because i keep screwing up.

ps: 法證先鋒 III is testing my patience. it has done nothing to impress me - i only feel completely freaked out every episode. i must say the filmography has improved and the acting is obviously awesome but i am not happy that the story is so flat. the cases dont intrigue me, and i know next to nothing about their individual lives. i need more ron, for example. hes supposed to be the second male lead but we literally dont know anything about his background! it'll be really nice if i could fast forward and see ron & kate getting together straightaway. heh.