DWTS Season 7

Omg. So I was watching the latest episode of dancing with the stars (otherwise known as DWTS), a show I've been addicted to since my friend G introduced it to me at Columbia, and came across an amazing group dance by the pros. How on earth did I miss it???



I forget how much better the pros are when they're dancing with each other than when they're trying to choreograph and dance around their celebrity's weaknesses.

OST Smiling Pasta

I'm in a "Smiling Pasta" phase! In a couple of days, I'll do my traditional t-drama wrap-up, but I just wanted to post some videos from its OST first - I love love love this soundtrack (and series)!!!



This first video is "小乌龟", or literally, "Little Turtle". It's sung by the main lead, Nicholas Teo. In the drama, he writes it for his fiancee, played by Cyndi Wang, and is pretty much his confession of love for her. Ahhh, I'm getting goosebumps thinking of the series again :)

Okay, I'm a little ashamed of myself for posting this...but here goes! I love this song that Cyndi Wang sings in the soundtrack called "I Do" but I can't find the movie for it on youtube, so to put it up I had to post part of a concert vid. go to the 3:01 in the video and you'll see it!




Haha okay, this is -beyond- pop-py.

Eleven Roses

My new favourite romantic fact (from my new fav drama, "Smiling Pasta", which has kicked Meteor Garden off my top drama list :P):

When a guy gives a girl 11 roses, it means that he will only love 1 person in this 1 lifetime.

Mushy, but I hope that when I get engaged, my loved one will give me 11 roses :P

Two Left Feet!

So one of my goals when I moved home was to start dancing. I did a measly year of ballroom at Columbia, but it never got anywhere; I had no time to practice, what with the crazy BME workload and my club commitments, so I dropped ballroom after my freshman year. I kind of regret it a little, but luckily it's one of those regrets that don't have to stay regrets :) Fortunately, my best friend N also loves dancing, and so we signed up for an intro salsa course for the month of October.

The studio that we signed up at is an exclusively salsa school (with special workshops on other street latin dances, yay!). Classes are pretty awesome - a course is four weeks, two hours a week, which is just enough time to actually get into the dance and but not long enough that you get bored - though I always find myself wishing class would go on longer each week :) Three weeks ago, we had our first class, which was excruciatingly painful - we spent the first hour just learning to count the salsa beat, and the second hour getting used to the closed hold. Most people seemed really uncomfortable at first - which I understand, because closed hold is a lot more intimate than the regular salsa hold (basically just holding each other's hands). After that first class, N and I were a little...flabbergasted, I suppose is the word - we expected something completely different...

Our second lesson was so much better! Everyone had secretly practiced, I think, and so it was a lot easier to dance - the guys led better, the girls followed better, and everyone had the step we learned last class down. The next move we learned was the cross body lead, where the guys lead the girls across them (using a Push) to get to the other side. Our teachers were trying to teach us how important it was to properly lead and follow, and so they split us up by gender. Us girls were told about the importance of the Push - no Push should equate to no forward movement, regardless of all else. I wasn't paying that much attention - I was too busy watching the boys, who had gotten into this football like huddle around the guy teacher. After, we got back into our circle, and started practicing the cross body lead again. I was teasing my partner about the huddle, and he got really uncomfortable and changed the subject. I didn't think more of it, and started the steps again. But then! right in the middle of the lead, my partner didn't give the Push, and I was so confused...ha! it turns out that the boys had planned a test for us, to see whether we were moving on autopilot or actually following. Can you believe? I want to have a test for the boys next time - but I guess that pretty much every move is a test for the boys :)

Anyway, after class was the bi-weekly social night at our school - N and I were the only people from our class to go, and we were really nervous at first, since we knew all of three moves, two of which we learned that day. Can you say newbies? Everyone there was at least a couple of levels ahead of us, so the two of us sat meekly on a bench, oohing and ahhing at how awesome everyone was. Whenever we were asked to dance, we would give this little warning - um, sure, but we should warn you that we're only in 1a :). It was so much fun though! And dancing with boys who can lead? Heavenly! After a few hours, N and I decided to head home, and went to find our teacher to say bye...she told us of a street chacha workshop that was starting the next day, and we signed up on the spot...but that's a story for another time.

Meteor Garden

I finally got around to watching the idol drama classic - Meteor Garden. This was a huuuuuuge hit when it came out seven years ago - within about three months, it propelled F4, Barbie Xu, and the whole idol drama trend to popularity. I was a little reluctant to watch it at first, but I was hooked after the first few episodes (though they were a little hole-y plot wise) and ended up pulling one of my infamous all nighters for it :) It's made it onto my top dramas list.
Based on a famous Japanese manga (Hana Yori), Meteor Garden stars the members of F4, namely Jerry Yan (playing Daoming Si), Vic Zhou (Huozhe Lei), Ken Zhu (Xi Men), and Vanness Zhou (Mei Zhou) as the powerful gang in the richest college in Taiwan. Friends since childhood, the four of them have more money than they know what to do with, and rule the school with an iron fist. If someone gets on their bad side, they deliver a red warning slip - and usually the student quits college, because they know that they'll be ganged up on by everyone else in the chool if they stay. One day, Shan Cai, one of two poor students at the school, accidentally irritates Daoming, and he immediately places a warning slip in her locker. Unlike the other students however, ShanCai refuses to leave college, and endures some pretty horrific things in order to stay at the school. The other kids beat her up, accuse her of cheating, break her motorbike to pieces...but she grits her teeth and bares it in order to stay at the school. During this time, she makes friends with the quietest member of F4, Huozhe Lei. He rescues her from some of the dastardly tricks their classmates play, and she starts to fall for him.

His support (along with the support from her friends Xiao You - very well acted by a young Rainie yang - and QingHe), gets her through the worst of the pranks. Daoming is attracted by her strong-willed character, and asks her to be his girlfriend, offering her all the material goods she could want in the world. She refuses, and begins to pursue Lei. Lei, meanwhile, is heads-over-heels for his childhood friend and mentor Jing, who has just returned from a stint in Paris. Jing was the person who supported Lei when he was growing up. He was somewhat autistic and lonely back then, and she helped him grow past that. Jing, in her own way, loves Lei, but perhaps not in the way that he hopes for. The pursuing begins...Daoming chases Shancai, who tries her best to make Lei happy, who just wants Jing to agree to be his girlfriend. Ultimately, for Lei's happiness, Shancai begs Jing to go out with Lei (and not to return to Paris). Lei is touched by Shancai's act, and after some encouragement by Shancai, follows Jing to Paris.

Without Lei in the picture, Daoming is able to more successfully woo Shancai, with the help of his playboy friends Ximen and Mei Zhuo. The two begin to spend a lot of time together...and share this really passionate kiss. Shancai slowly becomes attracted to Daoming's softer side - but then Lei returns, having decided that Jing and him are not compatible. Lei is heartbroken, and Shancai comforts him...and in the course of this, they kiss in front of Daoming. Daoming is furious, and tries his best to expell Shancai, but can't bring himself to do it in the end. Shancai begins to miss Daoming - he's a warmer human being than Lei, but refuses to admit it - Lei is the boy she chose, and she wants to stick to it. Lei thinks of himself as Shancai's guardian angel, and when he realizes that Shancai likes Daoming, he does his best to get the two together...he sort of succeeds...when disaster strikes again, this time in the form of Daoming's overbearing mother.

As a member of F4, Daoming is from one of the richest families in Taiwan. His mom therefore strongly believes that it is his duty to marry well, and has his fiancee picked out for him. Xiaozi, the girl in question, is a confident and loveable heiress. While at first she is against the marriage, she falls for Daoming at their first meeting, and decides to pursue him. She also meets Shancai, and makes Shancai her "love confidant," to Shancai's dismay. Daoming tries to get along with Xiaozi after being spurned by Shancai, but after a little while, realizes that the only girl he can love is Shancai. In turn, Lei encourages Shancai to come to terms with the fact that she likes Daoming.

After a very exciting trip to Xiaozi's villa, Xiaozi, who genuinely likes Shancai, decides to break it off with Daoming so that the two can be together. Shancai and Daoming get along for a while, but then Daoming's mother forces Shancai to break up with her son using some pretty underhanded methods. Lots of drama happens, and Lei falls for Shancai. But he does the best that he can to get Shancai and Daoming back together...and succeeds!

Having failed to break up the pair, Daoming's really evil mother pays someone to seduce Shancai...the method almost succeeds, until the fake escort falls for Shancai as well (the girl is just racking them up!). This actually ends up having the opposite effect from what Daoming's mother intended - Shancai finally admits to someone (though it's the fake escort) that she likes Daoming, and the two start secretly dating and are happy together, except that Shancai has not yet told Daoming that she likes him. Anyway, evil mother tells Daoming that his engagement to Xiaozi is back on (to Xiaozi's dismay actually - she's good friends with Shancai at this point). Daoming goes into one of his patented furies, and refuses to eat until the engagement is lifted and he can go out with Shancai. Xiaozi begs Shancai for help, and after talking to Daoming, Shancai decides to join Daoming on his fast. Daoming's mother finally gives in, after Daoming almost dies, and Shancai and Daoming are reunited. The story ends with Shancai finally telling Daoming that she loves him.

Meteor Garden is truly a classic - I could see little parallels between it and most of the other popular dramas in Taiwan today. For example - the whole rich successor struggles with family over poor lover plot? It's from Meteor Garden. Angry character becomes gentle with the influence of his loved one? Check. Even little things are lifted off of this story - like in "Why Why Love," one of Rainie Yang's newest t-dramas, there is an adorable scene where the impatient lover boy sets up a date with his girlfriend, only to have a little kid tag along. The lover unwillingly demonstrates his love for the girl by putting up with the kid the whole day...Seriously, the exact scene was in Meteor Garden. And the scene was more well-done in Meteor Garden than in Why Why Love. Actually - in general - things in Meteor Garden are much better. The acting really complemented the story. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but the series just has a much sweeter feeling than in other dramas. I also love that this story doesn't force everyone to couple up - while the main two leads end up together, the secondary leads (of which there are quite a few) don't end up together. There's also something about Jerry Yan that I really like - he manages to portray this amazing vulnerability while being an arrogant and hot-tempered almost-bully. And he and Barbie Xu clicked. And you know how I love dramas in which the leads click :)

I'm about to go to bed, but before I do - the story also has some other sub-plots involving the other two F4 characters which are quite interesting. Though I don't mention Ximen and Mei Zhuo in the story, they play vital roles and add a gentle comedy to the drama. They are a large part in why I was so addicted to the series I think. All in all, a great drama!

Wang Zi Bian Qing Wa (Prince turned to frog)

So one of the most highly rated taiwanese idol drama series ever is MingEn's "Wang Zi Bian Qing Wa" (WZBQW), or literally, the prince who turned into a frog. It's a really interesting concept - the standard is that the frog becomes a prince...but it's rare that it's the other way around. no? Though in the end the frog becomes a prince again...sooo....haha. I guess in the end all girls want their prince right?

Anyway, it was in this series that MingEn rose to fame as a "golden couple." And justifiably so!
So Ming Dao plays Shan Jun Hao, a cynical and arrogant chairman of a famous and well-known hotel, founded by his dad and two friends. He works closely with Xu Zi Qian (played by Sam Wang) and Fan Yun Xi (Joyce Zhao), who he has grown up with. YunXi was taken in by JunHao's family when she was little, and since then, she has loved JunHao. In her memory, he was the first person in the house to welcome her into the family. However, she freely acknowledges that ZiQian is the person who knows her best. What she doesn't recall is that in actuality, it was ZiQian who extended his friendship to her first - but ZiQian remembers, and for his part, has loved YunXi since they were babes. There's a rivalry between ZiQian and JunHao, but they always try and put that aside for the sake of the business and their family. YunXi and JunHao finally decide to get formally engaged, and before the ceremony, JunHao buys a special ring - the maker of the ring tells him that when true love appears, the ring will fit tightly and not come off.

One day, Junhao runs into Ye Tian Yu (CQE), who does everything in his power (including lying and cheating) to get money from him. TianYu comes from a poor family - they scrimp daily to make things meet, and so feel no qualms in extorting money from rich people. Because of this, TianYu's biggest ambition is to marry rich, so that she can help her family. Anyway, JunHao recognizes TianYu as a cheat, and the two have some really heated arguments. In one encounter, TianYu tricks YunXi and Junhao onto a hot air balloon. Junhao tries to put the ring on YunXi's finger, but the balloon kind of collapses, and Junhao accidentally lets go of the ring. TianYu finds the ring, and puts it on. Anyway, the two keep accidentally bumping into each other and JunHao ends up saving TianYu when she falls into the ocean. He performs CPR on her, and she freaks out - she's really proper when it comes to this kind of thing, and thinks its almost as intimate as kissing! Anyway, while saving her, he realises that she has his ring. Later, she goes to his house to return it, but it refuses to come off her finger. They have another argument where he yells at her for being stingy, and she attacks his character by saying that he shouldn't have kissed her (when all he really did was CPR). Junhao gets really upset, and then actually kisses her, saying "now, that was a kiss." That was her first kiss btw, and so TianYu gets even more upset. But during this whole time, TianYu doesn't know who JunHao is really - all she knows is that he's some rich dude.

Anyway, drama happens, and we finally get to the point where this prince will turn into a frog. Junhao is run over by a car, and loses his memory - he remembers most things, but knows nothing about his life, or who he is. TianYu and family find him - in fact, TianYu thinks she ran over him! - and tell him that he is a Chinese immigrant named Dong-ou. Dong-ou only recognizes TianYu, and the two become really close. This is one of the sweetest parts of the movie - JunHao loses his arrogance and coldness but retains the rest of himself, which is actually smart and tender. No one usually sees this side of him. In turn, Dong-ou sees TianYu's inner self, which is determined and loyal. She'll do anything for her loved ones - including lying and cheating. It is so adorable - after the two fall in love, someone asks Dong-ou - aren't you afraid to trust TianYu? He replies - No, not at all, because when she's lying to an outsider, she does it really well. But she can't lie well to anyone she loves - and because I know when she's faking it, I trust her. SO SWEET. Sparks just leaping off the screen at this point!!!

Around this time, TianYu also meets ZiQian - remember him? Childhood friend of JunHao and lover of YunXi? They hit it off and become pretty good friends. ZiQian's been spending his time since JunHao's accident comforting YunXi - and she starts to soften towards him, since she thinks JunHao will never return. But as TianYu and ZiQian become friends, he meets Dong-ou, and realises that JunHao is still alive. ZiQian persuades TianYu that the best thing to do for Junhao is to return him to his family and fiancee, and so, with TianYu's help, ZiQian returns JunHao to YunXi...JunHao freaks out and runs after TianYu, who saves him from this guy who's trying to murder him (part of this drama to do with the hotel, which I don't really care that much about). ANYWAY, JunHao loses his memory again - he forgets that he was ever Dong-ou, but remembers himself from before. He finds out about all the things that happen when he was Dong-ou, but choose to ignore them and return to YunXi. ZiQian and TianYu are crushed. Kind of devastated really. The two both love someone who won't love them back, and so come to an agreement - if they don't find their true loves in 3 months, they'll date each other, and see what happens.

As JunHao settles back into his world, YunXi becomes extremely jealous of his time with TianYu (Dong-ou refused to return to YunXi because of TianYu...long story) and pulls away from ZiQian, who defends TianYu. ZiQian, who at this point genuinely cares for TianYu as a person (well, as a friend), asks TianYu to start dating him...she eventually agrees. ZiQian also gets TianYu a job at the Shan hotel. Of course, this engenders a bunch of meetings between JunHao and TianYu...and JunHao begins to fall in love with TianYu again. Well, more accurately, JunHao gets really jealous when he constantly sees ZiQian and TianYu together, and realises that though his memory from that time is gone, he still loves TianYu. He tries to win her back, but TianYu refuses, and so he gets married (and divorced) to YunXi on the same day. Lots more drama occurs, but eventually JunHao and TianYu find their way back together. YunXi realizes that ZiQian was the first person to help her when she was a child, and that couple comes together too! And so everyone lives happily ever after. There were a bunch of other sub-plots...but we all know I only care about the romance.

WZBQW has the standard love-rectangle stuff and standard t-drama plot twists, but it stands out as a drama because of the amazing chemistry and acting of the four leads. There were real connections between the four of them, and it showed on screen. In "real life", Joyce and CQE are part of the same singing group, 7 flowers, and do a lot of duets with 183 Club, the group the Ming Dao and Sam Wang belong to. And I dunno. Ming Dao is a lot like Ariel Lin in that he can generate chemistry with whoever he works with. CQE is the same way - so you put the two together, and boom! Major heat! Though please never put MingDao and Ariel together in a drama - I think that would not work.

It's interesting though - before this, I watched Magicians of Love (where MingDao acts with Joanne Zeng), and I thought the chemistry between the two of them was pretty decent...but now, after watching this? All MingDao + XYZ interactions have seemed pretty pale. I guess that's the downside about being really amazing when you're acting with someone - it shows when you don't reach that high with someone else...

Ying Ye 3 + 1

So I'm really behind on my drama posts (on all my posts actually). I started work a few weeks ago, and totally underestimated how tired I'd be after work every day...I'm enjoying what I'm doing, but I have to admit that I miss the freedom and flexibility of being in college...of being able to skip a class whenever I wanted, or to sleep in (oh I miss that a LOT).

And of course I have less time to watch my beloved t-dramas! Though I do still make it a point to watch an episode of something every day haha. A drama I've watched recently features one of the most loved couples in the t-drama scene, MingEn, made of Ming Dao, and Chen Qiao En. They've acted in quite a few dramas together, from "Prince turned to frog" to their newest drama together "Ying Ye 3 Jia 1". I saw CQE in "Fated to Love You," and she was really adorable in that. and of course, I loved Ming Dao in "Magicians of Love." I also -just- finished Prince turned to frog...but I saw Ying Ye 3 Jia 1 first, so I'll blog about it first :)

Ying Ye 3 Jia 1 (YYSJY) is about 4 childhood friends who have to use their martial arts skills in order to solve a mystery involving one of the members' father. Literally, Ying Ye 3 refers to the three boys in the group, Yang Jia Jiang (Ming Dao), Bulu (Jason Hsu), and Fang Wei (Huang Zhi Wei), while the +1 refers to the sole girl, Xia Tian (CQE). The three of them have been best friends since childhood, and have grown up doing martial arts with each other (Bulu's dad owns a martial arts school).
Jia Jiang is the leader of the group, and is an upright and loyal guy, who would rather be blamed for any mishaps, than to see his friends punished. When he was young, he covered for Fang Wei and Bulu when they did something wrong, and got severely beat up for it...Since then, Fang Wei and Bulu have been his loyal friends. Jia Jiang and Xia Tian are also best friends - as well as mortal enemies, pretty much. They pick on each other all the time, but stand up for each other against any sort of harm. Their friends joke around that Jia Jiang and Xia Tian secretly like each other, but are both too proud to admit it...which of course both parties heatedly deny.

One day, one of Xia Tian's female friends gets in trouble with the school bully (who is the son of a powerful senator), and Xia Tian rushes to save her. The three boys, in turn, come to rescue Xia Tian. Afterwards, the senator puts pressure on their school to expel the three boys. Xia Tian's father comes to the school to speak up for his daughter's friends - he's a police officer, so his word is pretty respected in the Ying Ye area. That day, there's a bit of a hullabaloo at the school, and his gun goes missing! This is a pretty dangerous thing for a cop...and so the three boys, chastened, agree to spend the next few months until graduation figuring out what happened to Officer Xia's gun.

While solving the mystery of Officer Xia's gun, the four stumble onto a hidden crime scene and various awesomely cool martial arts hyjinks ensue. I have to admit that I never pegged Ming Dao or CQE as the martial arts type - I was pretty impressed! During this time, Xia Tian falls for Jia Jiang, but refuses to admit it. At the same time, Fang Wei confesses to Jia Jiang that he (FW) has liked Xia Tian for a long time. Fang Wei's pretty rich, and usually goes for the sweet and stereotypically feminine type, so Jia Jiang is really surprised at first. And then really jealous. Fang Wei goes to great lengths to confess his love to Xia Tian, but when he finally does, he realises that Xia Tian likes Jia Jiang...and pretends that the whole thing was a joke. Xia Tian and Jia Jiang spend a drunken night together - well she was drunk :) - and Xia Tian tells Jiang that she thinks she might like him. He agrees to pretend to be her boyfriend for the evening...and of course, realises that he's always loved her and can't imagine being without her. He decides to confess his feelings the next day (this scene is really cute), but is involved in an accident and falls into a coma the very next day.

Xia Tian falls apart, and scrambles around Taiwan looking for a firefly to symbolise their love together. On the way, she is helped by DK Hsu (Viter Fan), an undercover cop who she actually knew in childhood. He was the only person that could pull her away from the YY gang when they were little - she even wore a dress for him! DK is a close family friend, and he and Xia Tian renew their friendship. Jia Jiang awakes and finally asks Xia Tian out...they go out all of a week together before they break up - JJ is jealous of DK blah blah. The gun is found (remember that plot line?) and things go back to normal...

...until DK suggests that Xia Tian return to America with him to train as an undercover FBI agent. Xia Tian wants to stay with JJ, but JJ pushes her away for reasons of his own (he's going blind), and so she decides to leave with DK. Right at the end, she decides to stay, and the two reunite. The show ends on the cutest note - the entire gang become secret service agents, and we get to witness one of their missions.

This blog entry is kind of uncoherent (sorry!), but I think that's because I wasn't the biggest fan of this drama. I did like it, and I enjoyed the sparks between Ming Dao and CQE, but I didn't understand the hype! In the Taiwanese drama world, there are a few "golden couples", and I couldn't for the life of me understand how MingEn became one of them (though I did after watching one of their old dramas, which I will try and blog about this weekend). There were a few really touching moments between them - for example, during that drunken night that I mentioned earlier, Xia Tian ends up staying over at JJ's house, and the two of them end up falling asleep together side by side. In the morning, JJ wakes up slightly before Xia Tian, and as he watches her sleep, it dawns on him that he loves her. He plays with her hair (it's usually up), and comments on her features, and reveals a tender side of JJ that we hadn't seen before...now the chemistry in that scene was off the screen! But in general, the bond between the two actors wasn't as strong as I expected it to be - and for me, one of the biggest draws in a drama is watching the relationship unfold...

Plot wise though, this was pretty decent. I loved the stunts in it, and I actually thought that the story line was quite innovative. I actually didn't expect a lot of the plot twists that occurred...but this definitely did not compare to MingEn's first drama :)

Things I have learned (the hard way) at work

1. Deadlines are really deadlines. There are few extensions outside of college.
2. DO NOT BE CARELESS.
3. There are always changes to make. Ergo, you will never be done. Ever.
4. Excel has more functions than you think. So does Word, surprisingly.
5. Formatting is a pain but makes all the difference.
6. Time management is key.