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.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I'm so glad there's a Singaporean holiday tomorrow.
We need more of these random mid-week holidays. I love having them on a Wednesday - they break up the week so nicely, and just make life so much better. Whatever tomorrow is, it should be celebrated everywhere!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Goong
I decided to take a break from the t-dramas to watch a korean drama starring Yoon Eun Hye (YEH) and Joo Ji Hoon (JJH). YEH is my favourite korean actress - really, the only one that I remember the name of! - because of her amazing performance in "The Coffee Prince". Prior to that, she starred in another popular k-drama, entitled "Goong" (Palace) in korean, and "Princess Hours" in english.
This was really an addictive drama, and all the main leads were all pretty (though YEH's photo above isn't that nice). YEH was definitely a young young actress at the time - her performance is not nearly as strong as that in the "Coffee Prince", but she still held her own. Now, JJH - he was a new actor too, then, but he manages to portray nuances really well - you can see him struggling between his feelings for chae-kyung with just the tilt of his head (in an early episode at his birthday party when yul and chae-kyung share a plate together). And he's the master of "the look". The drama was also really enhanced by some of the more tender scenes between the two, though I was a little put off by the "cinderella" scene at the party...that was kinda obvious no? but all in all, a very good drama!! Especially for new actors. On my fav drama list, for sure.
"Goong" is set in a fictional 2006, when Korea is ruled by a constitutional monarchy. Everything else seems to be the same. The monarchy is starting to lose popularity, and so its members struggle to thing of a way to regain the people's trust and interest. The King, Queen, and Great Queen (dowager queen) remember a promise that the old King made to his old commoner friend - that the Crown Prince would be betrothed to the commoner's granddaughter. They seize upon this method to regain their popularity.
Now it just so happens (of course) that both the Crown Prince and his wife-to-be go to the same arts high school in Seoul. The Crown Prince Lee Shin (JJH) is a cold, proud creature, very reserved. Unbeknownst to his parents, he has a girlfriend, a dedicated ballet dancer, Min Hyo-rin (Song Ji Hyo), whom he has proposed to. However, she rejects him in order to pursue her dreams of being a top ballerina. The whole scene is overheard by Chae-kyung, the granddaughter of that commoner mentioned above.
Now Chae-kyung (YEH) is a silly but warm teenager in the arts department (Shin
is a film student). She's loved by all, especially her three best girl friends. After receiving the proposal from the royals, she reluctantly agrees, as her family is on hard times. You'd think that everyone would want to be Crown Princess - but that's not the case, because the royal family have to spend their life in the royal palace...they only leave for special functions and trips. Within the palace they have to follow the traditional ways of doing everything, such as wearing the han-bok (traditional costume) and putting their hair up in extravagant detail.
After being rejected, Shin agrees to marry Chae-kyung, and the two begin their life together. It's painful - she tries so hard to fit in and learn everything she needs to, while he mocks her at almost every opportunity. Every now and then he'll do something nice for her (something meaningful), revealing his kind spirit, but within seconds of being revealed, Shin will switch back to his reserved self. At this juncture, Lee Yul returns to the royal family after spending his childhood abroad. Yul was originally the Crown Prince (his father was the current King's older brother), but after his dad died, he and his mother were chased out of the palace. He has returned at the family's behest. Yul and Chae-kyung are in the same class, and quickly strike up a friendship, being the two "newbies" in the palace. Yul falls in love with Chae-kyung and decides to fight to reclaim his Crown Prince title so he can marry her (remember? Chae-kyung is supposed to marry the Crown Prince, whoever he is). Chae-kyung confides all her loneliness and her struggles of living in the palace to Yul, and he eventually tells her that he can't stand to see her like this, that it would be better for her to leave and be free than to stay and be the Crown Princess.
Meanwhile, for the sake of his marriage, Shin begins to break it off with Hyo-rin...though he slips a couple of times to be by her side. Unfortunately, in almost every instance, the two are caught by photographers. Some of these pictures make the local papers - the more dangerous ones fall into the hands of Yul's mother, who will do anything to see her child as Crown Prince. Chae-kyung, who rapidly became attached to Shin since they were spending every free moment together as part of their duties as the Crown couple, and Hyo-rin face off a couple of times, but Chae-kyung eventually lets go of Shin, knowing that he proposed to Hyo-rin first.
But eventually, Shin is captivated by Chae-kyung's warm nature (and is utterly jealous of Chae-kyung's close friendship with Yul), and breaks it off permanently with Hyo-rin. Hyo-rin attempts suicide, and after being rescued, realizes that it is her turn to let go of the Prince.
Yul feels no such thing, and reveals his love to Chae-kyung. She tells him that if she had met Yul first, she could have liked him, but that her heart belongs to Shin now. Shin, still jealous of Yul, crushes that little heart with his icy demeanor - well, actually, he sends very mixed signals. He's really tender to her at some moments, especially when she falls asleep beside him (usually they have separate bedrooms), but at other times...he's a complete bastard...and royal politics makes another foray into the drama. Yul's mother does some pretty heinous things, from blackmail to arson (and then blaming that arson on Shin), in order to get at that throne. Shin's older sister returns to the Palace after a trip to Africa and lends some sense to the crazy situation. In short, lots of bad stuff happens, and the royal situation is even worse than before Chae-kyung married Shin...
...and so the royal family decides to send Chae-kyung abroad to weather the storm. She agrees in order to save Shin's reputation. The most touching scene in the entire drama comes right about now...Chae-kyung declares her love for Shin and tells him that all he has to do is ask her to stay. She's shown that she loves him before, but never as explicitly as this. He freezes, and she begins to walk away, tears forming in the corners of her eyes...but he forces the words out of his lips..."stay with me. don't leave me alone." FINALLY the two kiss, and all is right with the world once more.
Chae-kyung goes to Macau, and has a great life out of the palace. After much debate, Yul and Shin both relinquish the heir position, and it is given to Shin's older sister instead (a better decision was never made - that girl is smart, sensible, modern, and filial. if anyone could turn around the royal mess, it'd be her). Shin goes to Macau and sees Chae-kyung truly happy for the first time...and begins to fear that she will say no when he asks her to really marry him and return to the palace. But after asking for an extension of time to think about it, she agrees, and the two are married in a gorgeous little ceremony.This was really an addictive drama, and all the main leads were all pretty (though YEH's photo above isn't that nice). YEH was definitely a young young actress at the time - her performance is not nearly as strong as that in the "Coffee Prince", but she still held her own. Now, JJH - he was a new actor too, then, but he manages to portray nuances really well - you can see him struggling between his feelings for chae-kyung with just the tilt of his head (in an early episode at his birthday party when yul and chae-kyung share a plate together). And he's the master of "the look". The drama was also really enhanced by some of the more tender scenes between the two, though I was a little put off by the "cinderella" scene at the party...that was kinda obvious no? but all in all, a very good drama!! Especially for new actors. On my fav drama list, for sure.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Hidden Treasures
I was in the middle of this very sweet chick lit book the other day, when I came across the cutest message handwritten onto the page. It was right after a potentially crazy chapter signaling that obstacles were about to befall the heroine of the novel. I took a picture of it -
Mwahaha ** Yea shes doomed! Don't stop reading now! Ur 1/2 way there :DI'm usually the kind of girl that hates it when people write in their books or crease the spines, and I'm not fond of the abbreviation "Ur", but I have to admit that I loved this little message - it was so adorable! A welcome surprise :) And it definitely made me want to continue on reading - perhaps even more than the plot of the book itself. You can tell it's written by a girl - the handwriting is round and pretty, and spaced evenly enough that it looks girly. And even without the handwriting - the smilie face tells it all.
To whoever who wrote this - I'll never know who you are, but I love that you cared enough about this book and its future readers to encourage them to keep on with the book. Thanks - your message definitely helped.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Magicians of Love
I'm exhausted, so this is a quickie post about my latest drama, Magicians of Love.
"Magicians of Love" is the cutest drama! It stars Ming Dao, Sam Wang, and Jacky Zhu of the 183 Club (some boyband - though it feels weird calling them a boy band since they're all in their late 20's/early 30's :P) and Joanne Zeng. Bei Ruo Yi (Joanne Zeng) is a fledgling hairstylist with great talent but no technique, and is rudely criticized by Du Ya Si (Ming Dao) and his fellow hairstylists Lin Er Qi (Sam Wang) and Fernando (Jacky Zhu) one day at a competition. The trio of male hairstylists are the top hairdressers in Taiwan, and are called 'magicians of love', for their abilities to transform a woman's appearance and image. Fast friends, the trio opened their own hair salon, Neo-Image, which runs almost as a family. Ruo Yi and Ya Si run into each other again at an old folk's home (Ruo Yi visits there for fun and Ya Si is visiting his grandmother), and he realizes that Ruo Yi has a lot of talent. He brings her into his salon (after lots of drama of course), and she makes friends with the trio, especially Er Qi. One day, after Ya Si and Ruo Yi have a huge argument, she runs out into the street, and is almost knocked over by a car - a man wearing a certain brown jacket saves her. After Ruo Yi's recovery, she sees Er Qi put on the jacket, and begins to fall for him.
Now, Er Qi has his own really really really confusing past, involving Hong Kong gangsters, the mob, violence, etc. He is actually escaping from his godfather, the leader of the HK gang, and expects to die at any time. But as Ruo Yi and Er Qi get closer, he realizes that he wants to have "tomorrow", if only to spend it with Ruo Yi. They go through some pretty harrowing episodes actually, some life-and-death stuff. As feelings deepen, Ruo Yi confesses her feelings for Er Qi to Ya Si, who becomes a little jealous (and confused). Ya Si and Ruo Yi are also spending lots of time together visiting Ya Si's grandmother, who thinks that they are a couple.
Ruo Yi finally gets up the courage to tell Er Qi of her feelings that stem from the day of the accident. He, in turn, tells her that he cares for her too, but that she should know that Ya Si is the one who saved her - Er Qi was only borrowing the jacket. Er Qi tells Ruo Yi that he will stand by whatever decision she makes - she can choose Ya Si or Er Qi, and he will be okay with it. Right then, Ya Si walks in. Dum da da!!!! But Ruo Yi chooses Er Qi (due to their crazy experiences together), and Ya Si walks away broken hearted...but no! more drama ensues! Er Qi faces his godfather for Ruo Yi, and wins the right to walk away from the HK gang. The two get engaged...right at the time that Ya Si decides to tell Ruo Yi about his feelings. Ya Si misses his chance, unfortunately, and decides to shoulder bravely on. His ex-girlfriend returns, and he tries to make a pairing of it. Also at this time, Er Qi finds out that he has a son by his first ever girlfriend, who just died of illness. Ruo Yi's dad freaks out, and breaks the engagement. Ruo Yi and Er Qi decide to stay together anyway, but Er Qi's son disapproves - he wants his father to marry this other lady (who loves Er Qi and his son btw). The whole thing breaks Ruo Yi's heart, and Er Qi decides that for Ruo Yi's sake, he has to break up with her. Fortunately, the lady that his son favors used to be the girl that Er Qi liked before he met Xiao Bei (Ruo Yi's nickname)...so that little family works out well.
Ya Si is about to leave for England with his ex-gf (lot of drama here as well), but at the last minute, he misses the flight to run to his grandmother's bedside - she's really ill. He overhears Ruo Yi telling his grandmother about the broken engagement...and about the fact that she's upset, but also a little relieved, because she has realized that she actually loves Ya Si...eventually, the two of them get together as well. They are the cutest couple - Ming Dao has this great way of acting a little childish when he's with her, and it's very very sweet.
More drama ensues - the ex-gf joins a rival hair salon company in order to get revenge, but Ruo Yi's sweetness of character ultimately triumphs, loose ends regarding Ruo Yi's family history are all neatly sorted, as are the knots regarding Ya Si's family drama. All in all, a really catchy show! A little dramatic, but once you watch the first episode, you can't help but want to watch the rest of it :P
"Magicians of Love" is the cutest drama! It stars Ming Dao, Sam Wang, and Jacky Zhu of the 183 Club (some boyband - though it feels weird calling them a boy band since they're all in their late 20's/early 30's :P) and Joanne Zeng. Bei Ruo Yi (Joanne Zeng) is a fledgling hairstylist with great talent but no technique, and is rudely criticized by Du Ya Si (Ming Dao) and his fellow hairstylists Lin Er Qi (Sam Wang) and Fernando (Jacky Zhu) one day at a competition. The trio of male hairstylists are the top hairdressers in Taiwan, and are called 'magicians of love', for their abilities to transform a woman's appearance and image. Fast friends, the trio opened their own hair salon, Neo-Image, which runs almost as a family. Ruo Yi and Ya Si run into each other again at an old folk's home (Ruo Yi visits there for fun and Ya Si is visiting his grandmother), and he realizes that Ruo Yi has a lot of talent. He brings her into his salon (after lots of drama of course), and she makes friends with the trio, especially Er Qi. One day, after Ya Si and Ruo Yi have a huge argument, she runs out into the street, and is almost knocked over by a car - a man wearing a certain brown jacket saves her. After Ruo Yi's recovery, she sees Er Qi put on the jacket, and begins to fall for him.Now, Er Qi has his own really really really confusing past, involving Hong Kong gangsters, the mob, violence, etc. He is actually escaping from his godfather, the leader of the HK gang, and expects to die at any time. But as Ruo Yi and Er Qi get closer, he realizes that he wants to have "tomorrow", if only to spend it with Ruo Yi. They go through some pretty harrowing episodes actually, some life-and-death stuff. As feelings deepen, Ruo Yi confesses her feelings for Er Qi to Ya Si, who becomes a little jealous (and confused). Ya Si and Ruo Yi are also spending lots of time together visiting Ya Si's grandmother, who thinks that they are a couple.
Ruo Yi finally gets up the courage to tell Er Qi of her feelings that stem from the day of the accident. He, in turn, tells her that he cares for her too, but that she should know that Ya Si is the one who saved her - Er Qi was only borrowing the jacket. Er Qi tells Ruo Yi that he will stand by whatever decision she makes - she can choose Ya Si or Er Qi, and he will be okay with it. Right then, Ya Si walks in. Dum da da!!!! But Ruo Yi chooses Er Qi (due to their crazy experiences together), and Ya Si walks away broken hearted...but no! more drama ensues! Er Qi faces his godfather for Ruo Yi, and wins the right to walk away from the HK gang. The two get engaged...right at the time that Ya Si decides to tell Ruo Yi about his feelings. Ya Si misses his chance, unfortunately, and decides to shoulder bravely on. His ex-girlfriend returns, and he tries to make a pairing of it. Also at this time, Er Qi finds out that he has a son by his first ever girlfriend, who just died of illness. Ruo Yi's dad freaks out, and breaks the engagement. Ruo Yi and Er Qi decide to stay together anyway, but Er Qi's son disapproves - he wants his father to marry this other lady (who loves Er Qi and his son btw). The whole thing breaks Ruo Yi's heart, and Er Qi decides that for Ruo Yi's sake, he has to break up with her. Fortunately, the lady that his son favors used to be the girl that Er Qi liked before he met Xiao Bei (Ruo Yi's nickname)...so that little family works out well.
Ya Si is about to leave for England with his ex-gf (lot of drama here as well), but at the last minute, he misses the flight to run to his grandmother's bedside - she's really ill. He overhears Ruo Yi telling his grandmother about the broken engagement...and about the fact that she's upset, but also a little relieved, because she has realized that she actually loves Ya Si...eventually, the two of them get together as well. They are the cutest couple - Ming Dao has this great way of acting a little childish when he's with her, and it's very very sweet.
More drama ensues - the ex-gf joins a rival hair salon company in order to get revenge, but Ruo Yi's sweetness of character ultimately triumphs, loose ends regarding Ruo Yi's family history are all neatly sorted, as are the knots regarding Ya Si's family drama. All in all, a really catchy show! A little dramatic, but once you watch the first episode, you can't help but want to watch the rest of it :P
Monday, September 15, 2008
Bull Fighting
So over the weekend I decided I wanted to watch a newer drama (since I'll probably be catching up on some of the older dramas in the next few weeks thanks to my aunt), and picked up "Bull Fighting", the new drama starring Mike He (Love Contract, Devil Beside You, Why Why Love), Hebe Tian (of my favourite female T-pop group S.H.E.!), and Lee Wei (whom I'd not known before but love now).
Hebe plays Yi ShengXue, a fierce, physically weak, but determined heiress to the Yi family. Since young, she has been protected by Jin ZiCong (Lee Wei), who was adopted into their family after the death of his father. ZiCong pretty much is her everything - he's her bodyguard, her best friend, her family - and he in turn treasures their relationship (and her) above everything else in the world. He'll carry her places, fight for her - he even takes her punishments for her when her dad is upset. As ShengXue's adorable stepmom (played by Ariel's mom in ISWAK!) says, "whenever he finds something good, he shares it with [her], when he sees [her] cry, he'll do anything to stop it. if he knows something will hurt [her], he'll bear the pain." Example - when they were little, she was playing with this sharp flip knife. ZiCong told her to stop, but ShengXue, being the stubborn idiot she is, kept throwing the knife up and down until she accidentally drops the knife. The knife looks like it'll cut her foot, so ZiCong grabs the knife with his bare hands, cutting himself deeply in the process, just to save her.
Aside from ZiCong and her family, ShengXue is also passionate about 13th Street, which is a strip of valuable land that her family owns and maintains for the sake of a community there. Her second home, let's say. On this land is a basketball court, that two rival school teams battle on annually - whoever wins that year gets to use the court until the next "bull fighting" match. Shen RuoHe (Mike He) is the star player on the team that ShengXue favors. After an accidental confrontation between ShengXue (plus henchmen) and RuoHe the day of the match, he ends up costing his team the match. ShengXue is infuriated and switches to his college in order to get the court back. RuoHe and ShengXue butt heads as they fight to regain the court, and RuoHe begins to appreciate her honest and determined nature; she in turn falls for his sweet but proud tendencies. Things come to a head when RuoHe's father asks him to get the 13th Street land from ShengXue as part of a deal they need. RuoHe ultimately refuses (after he practically kidnaps ShengXue and harms her), costing his father the company. While this is all happening, ZiCong struggles with his feelings for ShengXue and protects her from evil - oh man, he's the epitome of loyalty and sacrifice. After the first episode, ZiCong became the reason that I watched this drama - he is an amazing combination of devotion - but in a really really tough and manly (hot) way. When ZiCong realizes that ShengXue is in love with RuoHe, ZiCong swallows his love for her and asks RuoHe to take ShengXue seriously...RuoHe realizes what this costs ZiCong, and agrees initially...
But RuoHe is told that he has a chance to save his father's company - if he dates and marries the child of his father's banker, QianNa. Despite his feelings for ShengXue, he agrees, and proceeds to hurt everyone in the process - except for QianNa, who makes him promise that if either of them fall in true love before they actually get married, the other party will agree to relinquish the marriage. Now, I was all ready to hate QianNa at this point - the second female lead is usually not that likable! - but I couldn't do it. QianNa is poised, intelligent, spunky, proud, feminine, and determined. You can't help but like her. And she's agreeing to the engagement for all the right reasons - and wants RuoHe to do the same.
ZiCong moves out of the Yi Family (due to family history drama), and slowly, he and ShengXue learn not to be so dependent on each other - she learns to do things without him (though secretly he's still there smoothing the way), and he takes the time to change his feelings for her from that of a lover to that of an older brother. ShengXue and RuoHe have this whole convoluted plot - but ultimately get together. Meanwhile, QianNa sees ZiCong's strength of character, and falls for him, breaking off her engagement to RuoHe (go QianNa for being strong enough to do the right thing!). Everyone's happy, 13th Street (and RuoHe's father's company) is saved, and ZiCong begins to realize that QianNa is more suited to him than ShengXue is.
I really liked this drama - I think it strayed away from the traditional T-drama stereotypes, which is a welcome change from the "silly naive innocent girl falls for stubborn cold intelligent popular boy" or "strong manly guy falls for the bratty but unique girl". Few of the main leads fit the stereotypical mold - the girls are strong independent characters with minds of their own without being annoying or overbearing to their male counterparts. To be completely honest, ShengXue does lean a little towards the overbearing side, but Hebe manages to portray a sweetness of character that indicates that that's really from being pampered rather than being an inbred character trait. QianNa - now she's a model for what a girl should be! The male characters are still a little on the traditional side, but Mike He and Lee Wei are good enough actors to add a depth and a freshness to their characters. Especially Lee Wei - I definitely am going to look up some of his old dramas. This was also one of the few times that I was more interested in the "secondary couple" instead of the "lead couple" in a series. While Hebe and Mike were adorable together, and would have captured my attention in any other serial, the acting from Lee Wei and QianNa overshadowed them. And it wasn't just in couple format as well - I was sometimes more moved by scenes between Lee Wei and Hebe, and between QianNa and Mike, than in scenes with the two leads.
I really hope to see more shows like this in the future!
Hebe plays Yi ShengXue, a fierce, physically weak, but determined heiress to the Yi family. Since young, she has been protected by Jin ZiCong (Lee Wei), who was adopted into their family after the death of his father. ZiCong pretty much is her everything - he's her bodyguard, her best friend, her family - and he in turn treasures their relationship (and her) above everything else in the world. He'll carry her places, fight for her - he even takes her punishments for her when her dad is upset. As ShengXue's adorable stepmom (played by Ariel's mom in ISWAK!) says, "whenever he finds something good, he shares it with [her], when he sees [her] cry, he'll do anything to stop it. if he knows something will hurt [her], he'll bear the pain." Example - when they were little, she was playing with this sharp flip knife. ZiCong told her to stop, but ShengXue, being the stubborn idiot she is, kept throwing the knife up and down until she accidentally drops the knife. The knife looks like it'll cut her foot, so ZiCong grabs the knife with his bare hands, cutting himself deeply in the process, just to save her.Aside from ZiCong and her family, ShengXue is also passionate about 13th Street, which is a strip of valuable land that her family owns and maintains for the sake of a community there. Her second home, let's say. On this land is a basketball court, that two rival school teams battle on annually - whoever wins that year gets to use the court until the next "bull fighting" match. Shen RuoHe (Mike He) is the star player on the team that ShengXue favors. After an accidental confrontation between ShengXue (plus henchmen) and RuoHe the day of the match, he ends up costing his team the match. ShengXue is infuriated and switches to his college in order to get the court back. RuoHe and ShengXue butt heads as they fight to regain the court, and RuoHe begins to appreciate her honest and determined nature; she in turn falls for his sweet but proud tendencies. Things come to a head when RuoHe's father asks him to get the 13th Street land from ShengXue as part of a deal they need. RuoHe ultimately refuses (after he practically kidnaps ShengXue and harms her), costing his father the company. While this is all happening, ZiCong struggles with his feelings for ShengXue and protects her from evil - oh man, he's the epitome of loyalty and sacrifice. After the first episode, ZiCong became the reason that I watched this drama - he is an amazing combination of devotion - but in a really really tough and manly (hot) way. When ZiCong realizes that ShengXue is in love with RuoHe, ZiCong swallows his love for her and asks RuoHe to take ShengXue seriously...RuoHe realizes what this costs ZiCong, and agrees initially...
But RuoHe is told that he has a chance to save his father's company - if he dates and marries the child of his father's banker, QianNa. Despite his feelings for ShengXue, he agrees, and proceeds to hurt everyone in the process - except for QianNa, who makes him promise that if either of them fall in true love before they actually get married, the other party will agree to relinquish the marriage. Now, I was all ready to hate QianNa at this point - the second female lead is usually not that likable! - but I couldn't do it. QianNa is poised, intelligent, spunky, proud, feminine, and determined. You can't help but like her. And she's agreeing to the engagement for all the right reasons - and wants RuoHe to do the same.
ZiCong moves out of the Yi Family (due to family history drama), and slowly, he and ShengXue learn not to be so dependent on each other - she learns to do things without him (though secretly he's still there smoothing the way), and he takes the time to change his feelings for her from that of a lover to that of an older brother. ShengXue and RuoHe have this whole convoluted plot - but ultimately get together. Meanwhile, QianNa sees ZiCong's strength of character, and falls for him, breaking off her engagement to RuoHe (go QianNa for being strong enough to do the right thing!). Everyone's happy, 13th Street (and RuoHe's father's company) is saved, and ZiCong begins to realize that QianNa is more suited to him than ShengXue is.
I really liked this drama - I think it strayed away from the traditional T-drama stereotypes, which is a welcome change from the "silly naive innocent girl falls for stubborn cold intelligent popular boy" or "strong manly guy falls for the bratty but unique girl". Few of the main leads fit the stereotypical mold - the girls are strong independent characters with minds of their own without being annoying or overbearing to their male counterparts. To be completely honest, ShengXue does lean a little towards the overbearing side, but Hebe manages to portray a sweetness of character that indicates that that's really from being pampered rather than being an inbred character trait. QianNa - now she's a model for what a girl should be! The male characters are still a little on the traditional side, but Mike He and Lee Wei are good enough actors to add a depth and a freshness to their characters. Especially Lee Wei - I definitely am going to look up some of his old dramas. This was also one of the few times that I was more interested in the "secondary couple" instead of the "lead couple" in a series. While Hebe and Mike were adorable together, and would have captured my attention in any other serial, the acting from Lee Wei and QianNa overshadowed them. And it wasn't just in couple format as well - I was sometimes more moved by scenes between Lee Wei and Hebe, and between QianNa and Mike, than in scenes with the two leads.
I really hope to see more shows like this in the future!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Salad Song
Okay - this is going to sound really strange, but I really like this song! It's not even really a song - it's an ad for this Korean supermarket? I'm not exactly sure, but I think it has something to do with fresh fruit. It's sung by Yoon Eun Hye, who was wonderful in the korean drama "Coffee Prince", and I hear, really good in "Goong" as well, and Lee Dong-gun, who I know nothing about but is really cute in this song.
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