random posts of music, tv dramas, movies. from uk, us, japan, hongkong, korea, taiwan & singapore, mobile tech, tech stuff with a pinch of sister-talk about world, life and men.
*Draft written in 2008 August. Updated in March 2009
Pushing Daisies Overview: Starring Lee Pace as Ned, Ann Friel as Chuck and Chi Mcbride as Emerson Cod. there's love, murders and evil plots, funny times, and always recalling ned's unusual and somehow sad childhood after he lost his mom and got sent by his dad to .... and his childhood love interest chuck and his gift of bring life into dead on one touch, death on the next touch.
Although sometimes the story moves very slowly due to the flashbacks which were narrated by Jim Dale, patience brings the good parts. Good comedy and Romance. BUT the way it is done - film style similar to 'Amelie' & 'Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d'enfants)' where emphasis on colors, narrated and small gestures speaking for themselves makes it a very lovely tv-film if i might say.
Its been more than half a year since it shown on Channel 5 and Season 2 is still not here. Season 2 aired in Oct-Dec 2008 in the US!
Recently I've just completed Fated to Love You 命中注定我愛你 and currently am watching My Queen 敗犬女王.
Both Taiwanese Dramas are comedic and give a good tease at love. Both starring Ethan Ruan. He may not have chiseled, exotic, mixed-blood features but his adorable eyes, lips, caterpillar eyebrows adding to that a tall frame, good built body...oh did i mention the pouty lips and cute little eyes are in perfect combo which just charms the socks out of me? i fall head over heels for guys whom make stupid faces (act cute) and just look so lovable doing it.
< Some people look good at first impression but some just look better and better everytime you see them.
Overview: Aired March 2008, 24 episodes. Ethan stars as Jin Cun Xi whom comes from a rich family of Household products and a family bonding soap called 'Inheritance' and Chen Qiao En stars as Chen Xin Yi, whom is a simple minded girl nicknamed 'Sticky Note Girl' as she's always trying to do everything for everyone else but herself. By pure coincidence, on a love boat trip Chen Xin Yi walks into the wrong room in her dizzy stubor after taking some flu medication. While Jin Cun Xi gets drugged by accident and dizzyly gets into bed with Chen Xin Yi without realizing it wasn't his girlfriend, Anna. Well, things happened - she got pregnant and he's got to marry her. What happens then? Watch: Veoh.com - this link leads to all episodes from 1 to 24. if its not working, you can do a search, there are so many sharers! MySoju - all 24 episodes online.
Overview: Aired Jan 2009, 20 episodes. Chery Yang is Shan Wu Shuang, a leading female reporter, successful and independent at the 'marriageable' age of 33 years and six months. She works harder than any man in her office and works double hard to make sure she portrays the strong woman that she isn't. After getting hurt from her previous relationship - her boyfriend proposed but disappeared before their wedding day. - she sworn never to get emotional again. Well, that is until she meets Lucas, played by Ethan Ruan as a young 25 year old sporty guy whom runs a website, taking in assignments from dressing up as santa to queuing up for tickets for anyone at a small fee. They met when Shan Wu Shuang rushes to the office in a bid to win cover page for her minster scandal news report. She grabs his bicycle. Lucas notices and chases after her and that's how the story starts. Accidents happen whenever she's at work and he's always there to save her. Slowly, Lucas sees throughs Shan Wu Shuang's cold exterior but warm heart and finds himself drawn to her kind nature. And Shan Wu Shuang finds herself falling for this little boy whom takes care of her everytime and seems to be the only one whom sees through her tough exterior. Through him, she learns being weak and admitting it isn't wrong at all. Will they get past the 8 years age barrier? Would they have a happy ending? Or will Lucas fall for the innocent Han Jia Jia?
--- Being a crab, i find myself kindred towards Shan Wu Shuang. I understand dating a younger guy and i understand how she feels about having to act strong all the time. I've never seen Chery Yang as a lead actress before. She's really elegant and pretty too.
Its no denial the success & popularity of Best Selling Secrets / 同事三分親! it has a total of 364 Episodes!! rumours were going around late 2008 that a new series 同事三分親 2 would be out and soon photos of the cast in costume roles were appearing on the net and it was a 'YES!' the filming was already going on around in mid 2008.
Me myself was wondering how the storyline and characters were gonna be. Would they continue it? Would they revamp everyone's role? Especially when Esther Kwan's role as Wong Kanam wouldn't be coming back. It kept everyone guessing!
It launched & aired in Oct 2008 renamed as Off Pedder / 畢打自己人, a total of 260 episodes (perhaps more) Storyline: An Entertainment Lifestyle, Tech, Magazine & Publishing department. as per before, there would be 2 women challenging to outwit each other and a team of support staff whom are torn between these two women played by Teresa Mo & Elaine Jin., and everything that could possibly happen in a normal office environment, best sales awards, gossips, scandals, politics...
Characters: some familiar characters..whose roles have changed: (before / after) Elaine Jin: Ester Kwan's Mother-in-Law Ng Han / main lead role now as Susan Ka, Corporate OL of another team. Elvina Kong: Lead role as Diana, fierce demanding corporate boss / sub-lead role as secretary Gam Yiu Kin Tsui Wing: Kao Jun, Diana's assistant & bf / Bao Guo Yin, an ex gangster, truck driver, good guy. Wong Cho Lam: the IT guy, Lau Wah / Bobby, magazine reporter, still geeky. Jim Tang: Gary, Marketing guy / Gary, magazine reporter keen in fashion and in-charge of fashion section. the character is more outgoing now. Raymond Chao: Marco, Marketing guy / Marco, sales guy - whom always naps in office & meetings but similar to previous character. Aimee Chan: appeared nearing the final few episodes as 'Alien' girl / Paula, spunky witty magazine reporter Stephen Au: / Yim Yue Dai, son of the director, free-spirited man.
New Characters: Joyce Cheng: daughter of the late Lydia Shum, she plays a newbie, kinda blur office girl called Joyce. Teresa Mo: Smart & well-liked manager, her ex-husband is the son of the publishing firm. Florence Kwok: stars as an intelligent & shrew business woman, Tina. deputy director, illegimate daughter of CEO Yim Hei. Chan Hung Lit: CEO of company, Yim Hei different from his role as a evil revengeful CEO Sung Sai Man in The Gem of Life, he's a business oriented but family man, friendly and caring towards grooming his son. which really surprises me as i had stereotyped him as Sung Sai Man.
and many more including a larger cast there are 6 OL secretaries (office ladies) - too many to name, you'll find them familiar in many other dramas, all pretty and gorgeous.
Watch online! d-addicts (expires in 1 March 09) popularasians (links to files vids itself.)
The Brand New HK Drama The Gem of Life 珠光寶氣 finally airs in late Oct 2008 till Feb 2009, a total of 82 episodes. A fully star studded cast with Gigi Lai, Maggie Siu, Ada Choi as the 3 sisters whose lives get torn apart from each other. From 3 loving sisters to making use of each other, lying to one another and later on betrayal and distortion of truths. With these, the broken marriages and broken families.
The latest drama is named 'Gem of Life' but its not about the diamond industry. Yes, the 3 Hong sisters' dad works as a master jeweler and later on opens his own diamond shop and Gigi Lai's character is a jewelry designer; but the story is really about the corporate world being a cruel 'Dog Eat Dog'. How is this then related to the 3 sisters? Well, the men they fall in love with -Moses Chan, Bowie Lam and Elliot Yue are dominant industry players, buying over companies, banking in Oil drilling, Building & Properties, '4G' telecom networks (currently its a 3G network that we have) and more. Its a war of business, on whom being the dominant winner in the corporate world. Sometimes the drama gets very messy if you aren't into business news and stocks & shares as they have many scenes of the men talking about their acquisition plans, 'evil' plots to snub each one and another...It tends to be draggy whenever that happens if you don't like such stuff. Otherwise, you do learn a thing or two about 'there are no friendships, no enemies in the business world; just smart people and good money'
Comedy, of course there is! There's even a parody of 'The Apprentice', with Bosco Wong & Linda Chung eyeing for a 200k annual salary job in a big company run by Melissa (Rebecca Chan!
Other than that, the drama is about kinship, family, love and selfless love You get alot of scenes with couples falling in love, short stints away to Paris, soul-finding trips to Tibet...La Romantique!
One of my favourite actor, Eddie Kwan stars as a dedicated but rash man in love with Constance (Gigi Lai). We see him starting out as a loser, selling newspapers, placing bets on horses and relying on his girlfriend to pay his debts and catering to his every wimp. But after meeting Constance, he tries to change for her, kicking his laziness and finally turning good...alas...good people die earlier on tv. (haha) You also meet Dad (John Chiang) whom stays by his wife's(Louise Lee) side even when she has amnesia and couldn't remember him. he doesn't give up on his wife and begs his children to come home everyday and even when they hated each other, to put up a show, pretending to be happy in front of their mom)
You might tend to hate Mom (Louise Lee) in the 1st to 40th episodes as she puts her husband & the 3 sisters on a tight string; controlling their lives, obeying her demands and even to creating incidents for her daughters to meet rich men. but you might side with her after the 40th episodes as you realise her good intentions and foresight. Afterall, whose parents don't want the best for their children?
SUMMARY Evil Guy (Sung Sai Man) being beaten by Fake Good Guy (Ho Fung) and the younger generation trying to take revenge - Evil Guy's grand-daughter Elise (Linda Chung) and there's Lucky Apprentice Will (Bosco Wong) whom meets Rich Corporate Woman Mellisa whom dies leaving him the company and large fortune. There's also Good Guy Die Early - Ah Fat (Eddie Kwan) & Bad Guy Turns Good -Sung Sai Man. There's the Stupid Men in Love- Kai Fat (Eddie kwan) & Ho Tai Wor (Wong Hei), and the Men Whom Loved but Lost -Hoh Zit Nam & Ko Cheung Sing (Moses & Bowie). There's the Indecisive Stupid Women -Constance & Catherine (Gigi Lai & Florence Kwok)
-image from dramawiki
Damn, its a good drama with all the fuss of maybe 5 draggy episodes. but that's fine by me!
Forum Discussion: catch it @ d-addicts.com - links to videos and downloads will be removed on March 30th 2009 as d-addicts clears up and closes the sharing forever. Quick go and watch / dwld before it ends! read a detailed storyline @ Gem Of Life wikipedia read more info @ The Gem of Life (Wiki)
Watch Online: links provided are from forums by users whom take the time & effort to share.
It's currently showing on OKto! and was first aired on Oct 2008 in Japan, then Taiwan. Every Friday, 11-11.30pm
the synopsis: Kyoko, a happy and cheerful 16-year-old girl, spends much of her time at the inn run by her childhood friend Shotaro, learning about housekeeping and hospitality. Shotaro, finding his family's business boring and lusting for excitement, decides to pursue a career in music. Shotaro coaxes Kyoko to leave her life behind and join him in his adventure. Arriving in Tokyo, Kyoko devotes her life to Shotaro, spending no money on herself and offering him whatever she can. Just as Shotaro starts climbing the ladder, however, Kyoko overhears him courting a starlet.
Yes, he has taken advantage of her blind love and simply used her as a free housekeeper from the very beginning. Cruelly betrayed, something inside Kyoko snaps and she vows revenge in a unique way: she will become an idol singer as well. By becoming a big star herself, she hopes to kick him out of the entertainment world, a complex world filled of variety, slander and jealousy. Despite innumerable competitors ready to thwart her at every opportunity, Kyoko gradually finds joy in overcoming hardships, kicking aside all who stand in her way with one word in her mind: REVENGE!
It's totally hilarious. especially in the early episodes - where she tried to gain opportunities to shine and thus wore a yellow chicken suit to gain some tv time. she grabs all opportunities. Of course she meets Shotaro and she tries to embarassed him on Live tv during the show by asking questions and mentioning his 'embarassing' background to the crowd. later on, wearing the chicken suit; she dares him to a game of badminton. unexpectedly, his skills had improved and he won.
The anime was very nicely drawn, the music is great!, each character had their sense of style, the details put into background scenes, sky and places make it rather dreamy and beautiful. During comical situations the characters are drawn like a smiley face and it added extra laughter.
I loved how true it is. when Kyoko mentioned about not giving up her dream to Kana-chan her first best friend. and how friendship was forged despite them sharing no similarities but one thing - to break into the entertainment scene. even though Kyoko had wanted revenge, she slowly started to love being an actress and desired a chance. Especially when the both of them dressed in pink jumpsuits so brand managers would take notice of them during the interview for a drink commercial.
I'll say its a must watch. Wiki has a write up on the anime Catch it on Veoh
like...wow. those tiny panties and bras are really translucent. they really make it look so easy. but i've to say, the black & leather & silver segment left everything to imagine. *whip* oh yes, i spotted a pair of fake boobs on this 'ya ya papaya' short haired lady. she seems to forget she's, well, fake.
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