Jang Geun Suk's Playlist

Can't find JGS songs? I tried to find the MP3 to no avail and that's when Imeem comes into the picture. Luckily there's a fan site that loads all his songs from the movies and CM and there it is. Thanks to Jang Geun Suk's Group (I swear I won't complain on the name with the extensive list of songs hahaa)

Jang Geun Suk Songs

Arashi ~ 5x10

5x10 - Arashi

A fitted song to commemorate Arashi's 10 years anniversary. With this touching lyrics, this song will surely touch the fans' hearts, including me.

出逢って数年　あれは偶然
deatte suunen are wa guuzen
A few years after we met, it seemed like it had been chance
泣きもするね　気づけば10年
naki mo suru ne kiduke ba juunen
And before we knew it it's been ten years
空に舞い上がっていく風船
sora ni maiagatte iku fuusen
A balloon flies up into the sky

華奢な五人で乗り込む
kyasha na go nin de norikomu
And together as a delicate five we boarded a rocking boat

揺れる船 ただ笑っとこう きっと夢がかなうとこ
yureru fune tada waratto kou kitto yume ga kanau toko
"Just laugh, surely dreams will come true"　
そう　言い聞かせてた頃の 過去も　今胸にまとう
sou iikikase te ta koro no ako mo kon mune ni matou
We were told this at a time in our past and now we hold it in our hearts

走り不安　行きどおりばっかな かかんでいた日々もあったな
hashiri fuan iki doori bakka na kakan de ita hibi mo attana
There were days we felt only things like impatience and uncertainty and resentment

でもあなたが居てくれたから その笑顔あったかかったから
demo anata ga ite kureta kara sono egao attakakatta kara

But because you were there for us and your smiles were so warm
歩いてこれたんだね　横に並びつかんだ手
aruite koretan dane yoko ni narabi tsukan date
We managed to walk our way here, with hands lined up to hold along the way

この少しの時間さえ　ってなんかね
kono sukoshi no jikan saettena n kane
Even with this time we've spent together, somehow

今はまだだた照れるね
ima wa mada da ta tereru ne

Even now we still are just humbled

体中に　風を集めた僕ら
karadaju ni kaze o atsumeta bokura
We who collected the wind within ourselvees
支えきれない　悲しみもあなた
sasae kirenai kanashimi mo anata
And the sadness we couldn't shoulder
長い宝　笑顔にできた
nagai takara egao ni deki ta

Because you were there, we could turn it into smiles

無邪気に奏でた不協和音は
mujaki ni kanade ta fukyouwaon wa
There was a dissonance innocently played

いろんな世界をみてきたんだ
ironna sekai o mitekitan da

That got to visit many worlds

気がつけばいつのまにかそれが 僕らになってた
kigatsuke ba itsunoma ni ka sore ga bokura ni natteta
And before we knew it, suddenly that had become us

（本気で泣いて）すごした時間は沢山の愛の
( honki de naite ) sugoshi ta jikan wa takusan no ai no
We honestly cried (These many words of love from us)
（本気で笑って）言葉しかもう本当になんにもないの
( honki de waratte ) kotoba shika mou hontou ni nanni mo nai no
And honestly laughed (Are absolutely all we have)
（本気で悩んで） 向かい起こせと再度
( honki de nayande ) mukai okose to saido
And honestly worried (To raise up for the second time)

（本気で生きて） 重ねた分のでっかい愛を
( honki de ikite ) kasaneta bun no dekkai ai o
And honestly lived (And the great love that piled over itself)
今がある　胸をはれる
ima ga aru mune o hareru

And we're proud of where we are now.

（本気で泣いて） すごした時間は沢山の愛の
( honki de naite ) sugoshi ta jikan wa takusan no ai no
We honestly cried (These many words of love from us)

（本気で笑って） 言葉しかもう本当になんにもないの
( honki de waratte ) kotoba shika mou hontou ni nanni mo nai no
And honestly laughed (Are absolutely all we have)

（本気で悩んで） 向かい起こせと再度
( honki de nayande ) mukai okose to saido
And honestly worried (To raise up for the second time)
（本気で生きて） 重ねた分のでっかい愛を
( honki de ikite ) kasaneta bun no dekkai ai o

And honestly lived (And the great love that piled over itself)
今がある　胸をはれる
ima ga aru mune o hareru

And we're proud of where we are now.

一歩一歩　近い道がないなら
ippo ippo chikai michi ga nai nara
If there's no path nearby that you can take step by step
信じる道をいくしかないから
shinjiru michi o iku shikanai kara
Then your only choice is to walk the path you believe in
もしもあなたが泣いたら ここでまたあおうよ
moshimo anata ga nai tara koko de mata aou yo
And if by some chance you cry then let's meet here again
この愛かわるさ　奴らからただ愛を送る（Yeah）
kono ai kawaru sa yatsura kara tada ai o okuru ( Yeah )
These unchangeable rascals that will simply send you their love

共に望む未来　for you（Yeah）
tomoni nozomu mirai for you ( Yeah )
Together we'll wish for a future for you
先が山は風でこえる　とめる
saki ga yama wa kaze de koeru tomeru
Use the wind to cross the mountain ahead, you can fly
僕らの色であたり染める
bokura no iro de atari someru

And we will paint the vicinity with our colors


一人ぼっちでのぞいた空を
hitori bocchi de nozoi ta sora o
By ourselves we glanced up at this sky

あなたもみているのかな
anata mo miteiru no ka na　

And perhaps you're seeing it too
ただ歌うよ　空に向かって
tada utau yo sora ni mukatte

If you are then face the sky and sing
そう力の限り
sou chikara no kagiri

Yes, with everything you have.


（本気で泣いて） すごした時間は沢山の愛の
( honki de naite ) sugoshi ta jikan wa takusan no ai no
We honestly cried (These many words of love from us)
（本気で笑って） 言葉しかもう本当になんにもないの
( honki de waratte ) kotoba shika mou hontou ni nanni mo nai no
And honestly laughed (Are absolutely all we have)
（本気で悩んで） 向かい起こせと再度
( honki de nayande ) mukai okose to saido
And honestly worried (To raise up for the second time)
（本気で生きて） 重ねた分のでっかい愛を
( honki de ikite ) kasaneta bun no dekkai ai o
And honestly lived (And the great love that piled over itself)
今がある　胸をはれる
ima ga aru mune o hareru

And we're proud of where we are now.

僕ら　交わした声が　消えないのならば
bokura kawashita koe ga kienai no naraba
If these voices we've shared don't disappear

誓えるよこの愛を　100年先も
chikaieru yo kono ai o hyakunen saki mo

Then we swear this love forever onwards
笑顔が咲いていますように
egao ga saite imasu you ni
And we hope that it makes smiles blossom

ずっとずっと心にあるんだ
zutto zutto kokoro ni aru n da　

It's always always in our hearts
だからこそ伝えてみたいんだ
dakara koso tsutaete mitainda
And that's why we want to try to tell you
ありがとう　これからも ありがとう
arigatou kore kara mo arigatou
Thank you And from now on, thank you

ここにたってる　僕たちが今
koko ni tatteru bokutachi ga ima
The reason we stand here now shining
輝けるのは　君がいるから
kagayakeru no wa kimi ga iru kara
Is because you're there

五人でいる　　ずっといる
go nin de iru zutto iru　
We'll be five, forever here
今までを力に変えて　変わらぬ愛で　包み込んだら
ima made o chikara ni kaete kawaranu ai de tsutsumikon dara
We'll turn everything up till now into our strength And if it's wrapped in our unchanging love
永遠が　ほら　永遠が
eien ga hora eien ga
Eternity, you see, eternity
僕と君だけに　生まれたんだ
boku to kimi dake ni umaretanda

Was born just for you and I

La La La La
La La La La
La La La La
La La La La
Love
Love for you

Lyrics and translation are taken from http://malinnasatoshi.vox.com/library/post/arashi---5x10.html

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

Don't ask me why I'm still typing at this wee hours. It's the cause and effect from my OT and the frustrated feeling brewing inside because I just lost the file that I've worked on for the freaking 4 hours and have to reconstruct it within 1 hour. Another side effect is Arashi songs wake me up, instead of snoozing me, so most probably I'll wake up tomorrow with a hangover from Arashi. Enough of the ranting and back to the topic.

Yesterday was the opening for Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince in Singapore. One of the most anticipated movie of the year after 2 years of wait from the last installment, at least for me. So with much effort, I've booked the ticket 1 week in advance (and realized that the company is launching the movie night for this too, ouch!) and rather anxious on what should I expect to see from this movie (or rather whether I actually can make it on time to watch it). I did get into my seat just when the opening song starts playing with the 'Harry Potter' embossed on the wide screen. But how the movie totally fare to my expectation?

**WARNING: Spoiler allert, unless you've read the book**

Well, as part of the anticipation process, I've even re-read the book so that I don't get disconnected on the storyline. Mind you, as the book getting thicker, Harry Potter movie installment has the tendency to chop the story here and there to fit into the 2.5 hours screen time.

Let's start with the good part.

Off course as one of the most anticipated movie in 2009, we're all very excited to see Harry back in his Hogwarts uniform and wand. All the familiar characters are there. And they've all grown up. Neville Longbottom, though not having any dialogs in this installment, but made appearances in several scenes and definitely noticeable since he's so HUGE. Draco Malfoy, is as lanky as ever! He's more handsome on the earlier installments, or may be it's just this time his character is very stress and drained. Professor Snape as arrogant as ever, and we all hate him for it. I love the way he scoffed around when he sees Harry. But the best character of all is Luna Lovegood! Her fluffy voice and not in this earth tone really made her presence and she's actually very cool, even with her weird party dress (but hey, the only wearing the normal party dress is Hermione, doo she's a muggle Lol...). Moving on to the main characters. Well, they're all grow up. Hermione is not the cute little girl anymore, she's a hottie now. And Ron, has become a giant (to me), and buffed himself up too so he can fit his tight t-shirt nicely. Harry, well still Harry, but a much cooler and hotter Harry. But got to admit, as annoying as McLaggen is, he's quite handsome too Lol...

The CG, well, not as bombastic as Transformer, but it met Harry Potter's standard, though it's not much, means that no new tricks other than shown before on the previous installments. But this may be due to the after effect of watching Transformer not wearing off yet. The highlights is the lake of inferis. They're really scarry and even lots of audience actually screamed (I jumped and my friend screamed, what a duo) when one of the inferi's hands suddenly grab Harry's. And off course Dumbledore's sea of fire is superb. I've never seen Dumbledore that cool until the scene.

OK I think that's about the good points, not much, literally that I really don't have much good things to say, because now I want to start with my rantings:

First, I'd expect to see love is in the air. As our teenage wizard and his friends entering the age of raging hormones, one should expect to see lots of snogging on the movie, which is overly (in my view) advertised in the reviews. Why? Because you can count by finger (from 1 hand, not 2) the kissing scenes, and it's not even like the passionate kissing scenes as teenage flicks usually have (totally understandable, it's rated PG, but still? Fangirls would like to see more). I didn't even see the kissing scene of Hermione and Ron, which kept been repeating in every newspaper interview report. Off course one would argue that short kissing may mean deeper meaning if conveyed with lots of emotion too. With Harry and Ginny kissing scene, okay, I can sense that argument. But the scene itself is totally wrong! This is my major ranting! What I'd like to see in live action movie from reading the book is the scene where Harry kissing Ginny after the Quidditch match that the Griffindor won and that marks the start of them being a couple in front of the whole House, and it was cut and change to kissing inside the requirement room where nobody see is around! Major disappointment.

Second, lots of unnecessary scenes. You've already know one from previous paragraph (it's so obvious). The longest unnecessary scene detected is Harry's Christmas holiday and the Weasley's house is on fire because the manic Bellatrix is running havoc. And in conjunction with that scene, Harry and Ginny running into the wheat field. My friend kept saying 'I don't remember reading this part.' Yep, you won't remember because it doesn't exist in the first place! It's better to have the scene of having Snape set Harry on detention during the important Quidditch match and the party after that (yes, I'll keep mentioning this). Or, more memories of Tom Riddle pasts is much even better than having Harry flirting in the cafe with some waitress. And better still, having Fleur inside the Weasley's house will be nice, because they supposed to start the next movie with Fleur and George wedding, or (in horror), they'll cut it totally? Another major disappointment on the end of the movie, where's Dumbledore's funeral? Harry will be best putting his act together in this scene. I'd love to see what's Daniel Radcliffe expression in this scene, but nooo, we're not having that. Instead, we just have to settle with Harry and his pals stands at the tower starring at Fawks flying.

My intake from this installment is that, seems that the producer really try to cut the cost to the minimum as having the least possible amount of characters, optimize the use of the main cast (of course it's OK but don't cut the important scenes that definitely fans are dying to see). Those who never read the book may OK this movie, but me? No, I'd say I just watch this for the sake of watching, definitely not worth the weekend price. I'd just better go back and re-read the book, it's much more engaging than the movie.

Arashi ~ Everything

Everything (Original).mp3 -

This song makes me happy the first time I hear it, and it keeps me happy every time I listen to it. Thanks to Koala :).

通り雨が近づく　町のニオイは切なくて
Tooriame ga chikazuku Machi no nioi wa setsunakute
アスファルトに残した影は　いつもと違って見えた
Asufaruto ni nokoshi ta kage wa Itsumo to chigatte mieta
A brief shower is approaching The street smell sad

変わり続ける空は　揺れる心映すように
Kawari tsuzukeru sora wa Yureru kokoro utsusu you ni
The shadow left on the asphalt looks different than usual The sky keep changing, it reflects my heart trembling
足早に世界は回り続けてる
Ashibaya ni sekai wa mawari tsuzuketeru
The world is continue to rotate at a fast pace

赤から青に変わるシグナル
Aka kara ao ni kawaru shigunaru
The signal that changes from red to green
戻ることのできない旅の途中で
Modoru koto no deki nai tabi no tochuu de
During the journey that can't come back
明日を信じて進みたい
Ashita o shinjite susumitai
Just believe in the tomorrow and move forward

この夕立の中で一人
Kono yuudachi no naka de hitori
Standing alone in the rain
振り返り立ち止まることもあるけど
Furikaeri tachidomaru koto mo aru kedo
Even there will be times I'm looking back and stop
何も恐れはしない
Nani mo osore wa shinai
I'm afraid of nothing

雨上がりの窓から見える　夕暮れのヒマワリ
Ameagari no mado kara mieru Yuugure no himawari
After the rain the sunflower that I saw at dusk from the window
夕焼けに染められて　朝日を待ち続けているんだ　
Yuuyake ni somerarete Asahi o machi tsuzukete iru n da
Was dyed by the sunset and waiting for the morning sun

何が大切なのか　時に見失いそうだけど
Nani ga taisetsu na no ka Tokini miushinai sou dakedo 　
I seem to lose sight of what is important
譲れない想いを抱え
Yuzurenai omoi o kakae
With the feeling that can't be taken away
歩いていく
Arui te yuku
Keep on walking

鮮やかな青に染められた　未来は果てしない夢を描いたら　
Azayaka na ao ni somerareta Mirai wa hateshinai yume o egaitara
The future has been dyed with brilliant blue
Draws a never ending dream
乾いた心潤して
Kawaita kokoro uruoshite
Moistering the dried heart
限られたこの時の中で
Kagirareta kono toki no naka de
In this limited time I strongly carve this feeling in this heart
強く胸に想いを刻み込んだら　日はまた上ってゆく
Tsuyoku mune ni omoi o kizamikon dara Hi wa mata nobotte yuku
The sun will rise again

この長い坂を越える時　その先に何が見えたとしても
Kono nagai saka o koeru toki Sono saki ni nani ga mieta toshite mo
Over this long hill whatever I see there
後悔はしたくない　光ともし続け明日を照らして
Koukai wa shitaku nai Hikari tomoshi tsuzuke asu o terashite
I won't regret and continue on lights up tomorrow

赤から青に変わるシグナル
Aka kara ao ni kawaru shigunaru
The signal that changes from red to green
戻ることのできない旅の途中で
Modoru koto no deki nai tabi no tochuu de
During the journey that can't come back
明日を信じて進みたい
Ashita o shinjite susumitai
Just believe in the tomorrow and move forward

走れ走れ　夢に手を伸ばすのさ
Hashire hashire yume ni te o nobasu no sa
Run, run! Stretch out your hands towards your dream
叫べ叫べ　声の続く限り
Sakebe sakebe koe no tsuzuku kagiri
Shout, shout! Until the top of your voice
心の感じるままに
Kokoro no kanjiru mama ni
Just like the feeling in your heart

Translation and Lyrics are taken from http://malinnasatoshi.vox.com

Romance Zero (Haja Squad Zero)

Just finished watching the drama yesterday and this is the first Korean drama that I think it's just too short, so it's sort of bittersweet feeling that it finally ends at Epi 16. From the title, it looks totally corny and it's a lesson to never judge a drama based on the title. I only know the main male cast, Lee Tae Sung from this drama and he's the horribly bad guy against Lee Jun Ki in Time of Dog and Wolf (this will be another review). So it's a bit of 180 degrees change to see him here as the good guy (well, not so true in the first few episodes).

** WARNING: Spoiler ahead**

Now, what I like about this drama (I don't have any rants on this drama, though initially I don't like Ho Tae but in the end I also support him Lol). The story is about the matchmaking agents and their clients. The agents try their best to find the most suitable soul mates for their clients, but the agents themselves also has their own issues (aka their own drama).

Epi 1 comes out with the bang. It starts of with the runaway groom with his mate and left the mouth hanging clueless Woo Jin, the top (until that moment) matchmaking agent. His clueless and shocked face is priceless. I keep laughing every time I remember the scene.

To keep the momentum high, Woo Jin's next client is a father who's looking for a husband for his dead daughter. Here, the issue came up as it goes beyond the term 'Till death do us part.' Nothing weird for Asian culture as I once saw a documentary that they really practice this in reality, though it's definitely one of the rare occasions. But it's the drama that somehow make it looks like awwww oh so romantic Lol...

And more weird clients lining up to be set up by the team Zero Lol. They have clients ranging from a obsessive compulsive super editor, a total jerk rich guy with kinky taste (and tamed by a girl that he wouldn't even imagine exists), a guy who judges girls by points (he's even more annoying than the rich guy until he meets his equal and realizes his worth), a suicidal Korean version of Paris Hilton, a cross dressing guy (this is one of the highlight moments, both Woo Jin and Ho Tae end up in dresses, making me laugh the whole night), and the list still go on.

My fave episode is Epi 15, no doubt. The couple's romance entangles in a bit cheesy way, but the characters are good so it ends up being a romantic cinderella story, and off course with the battle of the agents which cracked the hell out of me in the middle of the night Lol...

Lesson learned from this drama is that love comes in a very weird way, when you least expect it and even more, with the person that you initally never even thinking of being paired up with, but it suits you just find. Isn't it sweet? The logical thinking of matching the couple up sometimes amazed me (off course this is drama, but we do get the point, right?). And the message from the final episode 'Love while you still can' is definitely hit the point of this drama. When you find the right person, don't let him/her go, love him/her instead while you still can. Awww so sweet...

Noah's Ark Cake

Been a long time since my last blogging. Nothing much going on, but at least today I successfully built a Noah's Ark cake with Marzipan and Fondant. Which animal do you like the best?



Before this, I also did some modeling and also a Sacher cake (to fill up my photo album haha)

High Tea Cakes to please the crowd

These 2 weeks are all about high tea and what can we serve to please the crowd with their tea cups and saucers.

Let's start with bite size items that we can conjure off from the kitchen for the sake of our guests :). We have, macaroons, petite fours, and ooh, we even can cut the Chinese New Year necessity, the glorious Kue Lapis, into bite size and make it look cute too.



Then, we can graduate to the slightly bigger cakes that are definitely feasts to the eyes. All you need to have is cream and fruits and voila, you got yourself a revamped roulades and layered cakes.

Tiramisu Vs Kue Lapis, Fight!

Yesterday baking class was definitely not one of my best classes to date. It went so horrible that I ended up with coffee addicts' Tiramisu and Kue Lapis that can make people unconscious if I throw the cake at them. There's nothing to say to express my disappointment. And what I can do now? Besides sighing, I've been more vigilant in deciphering my mom's recipe heirloom (Yeah, other people have lockets, brooches, etc for their heirloom, I get 4 books full of recipes from my late mom, it's her beloved bible and I greatly respect it though I still can't make it out of how she could end up with fabulous Kue Lapis that filled my childhood stomach). Anyhoo, here's the pics.

Choco Black Cherries Cake

Initially I planned to make a black forest cake because I have 1 can of black cherries. But alas, the white butter cream may refrain my colleagues from eating them because of 1 simple reason, butter = fat. So, I tried to make it lighter, with filling of chocolate custard smoldered with rum and 1 layer of black cherries sandwiched between the custard. The cover is just a simple chocolate whipped cream with nothing but whipped cream. And the result, look pretty, right? Haha...

Rec

Just finished watching this wonderful short anime. Each episode lasts about 12 minutes which I find it very nice.

The story is about an average salary man, Matsumaru. His lived his mundane average life, until he met Aka, an aspiring seiyuu. At the night Matsumaru met Aka, Aka's house was burnt down, living her with nothing, and Matsumaru decided to take her in. Then the drama started.

There are several things that I like about this anime:
1. The story. It's cute and the plot is fast, considering the 12 min run per episode. There are tons of touching moments and the chemistry between Matsumaru and Aka is there. Their relationship is building up and getting stronger through each episode. Matsumaru cheering for Aka when she's down and vice versa, is making the anime looks real as it touched the harsh reality of life.
2. Nekoki. The funny character that connected Matsumaru and Aka, other than them living together. Though it looks weird in the beginning, I mean, who would have thought a cat head attached to a tree is cute (?), but you get to grow in it and by the rd episode, you'll get hook into it.
3. The anime main focus doesn't waiver from Matsumaru and Aka. Again, I think this is one of the advantage of having a short episodes runs which doesn't give you allowance to put junks as filler (sounds like Bleach? Yeah, it's Bleach).
4. This anime is more into dorama rather than anime. I'd like to see it turn into a live action Lol...

From Cheesecake to Meringue

In today's class I made 2 completely different things.

First off is the baked cheesecake. Bake cheesecake turned out to be not that easy, lots of tricks involved in producing that fluffy golden yellow cake.

Next is play time! Colorful meringue for the eye candy indulgence. And they taste sweet too. Surely they'll satisfy your sweet tooth craving to the verge of diabetic fufufufu...

Another thing not done in class is the improptu ginger pudding with Green tea base. The base is actually crushed green tea sponge cake layered on the bottom of the glass. Next time I'll damp them with rum so that the crumbs didn't floating up to the surface.

Atashinchi No Danshi ~ アタシんちの男子

Mysoju link to the Ep4 of Atashinchi no Danshi is hanging on me, so there goes my dorama dose for today. If one can't get to watch, one can always write about it, right? As of now, Atashinchi no Danshi is airing in Japan till Ep 4. For dorama fansub, to be producing the fansub within 1 week from air time, the dorama must be pretty good. Well, it is.

This year is another productive year for Horikita Maki. This time she plays as Chisato, a homeless girl who owed the loan shark 100M Yen because of her dad made her guarantee without her consent. Then she met Shinzo, a dying millionaire whose simple request is for Chisato to company him in his last month of living as his wife to pay off her debt. End of story? Come on, this is just the 1/3 of the first episode. By the end of the first episode, Chisato end up as a 'mom' to Shinzo's 6 (not 1, but 6!) adopted sons.

The story itself is enough to make you curious. How Chisato deals with 6 opposing sons, each with different attitudes and personalities, let alone different dark pasts, will tickle your finger to click on the streaming link. Definitely there're tons of comedy factors with Chisato running around to fix the problem and re-unite the family. The dose of dorama come from the dark pasts hidden and recover from all the 6 sons, and let alone Chisato growing affection as their mother.

Good dorama (according to me), will always have the ikemen factor. In here there're 3 Kamen Rider (Seto Koji, Yamamoto Yusuke, and Kaname Jun). 3 Kamen Rider is not enough for eye candy, there're also Musai Osamu from Mei chan no Shitsuji and Takahashi Mitsuomi from Bokenger. Lol.. it's like seeing the compilation crossover between Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

Well, most definitely it's on my weekly wait list among Tenchijin and 07-Ghost

Wobbly Cooling Snack

Who could resist the wobbly cute Jell-O snack? It's cooling, swimming through your throat and most definitely it satisfies your sweet tooth, in non overwhelming mode. So care to join me?

Star Trek

Did watch the Star Trek last Friday. Jolly ordered the ticket on the Internet, got my favorite spot but alas, there's 1 freaking tall guy in front of me and he kept sitting straight. Doh! But anyway how was the movie?

Well, it's Star Trek. There's tons of one liner, but I've been waiting for the 'Space the final frontier...' monologue, which is marked of the beginning of every Star Trek series. It was not in the opening, but fret not, you'll hear it in the end, complete with the background music, so Trekkies couldn't whine as much.

Although, I'd whine still, why was Spock snogging Uhura? Since when they're an item? Definitely bizarre, let alone surreal, even Kirk rolled his eyes when he saw them kissing. Lol on that...

Another thing to whine. There's not enough scenes of 'Harold in Space.' Part of the reason of me sitting between the geeks watching Star Trek is because John Cho from 'Harold and Kumar' was there. Definitely Sulu is only supporting and should be grateful enough that he has more than 2 scenes focusing on him. But still, never have enough of Harold in space phenomenon Lol... again...

Ooo almost forget! Another thing to whine. Why Star fleet uniforms are all loose? One of the iconic items from Startrek is their spandex uniform. There, we can kiss goodbye to Seven of Nine uniform. Though Uhura is showing enough skin with her super mini skirts.

Well, other than my geeky whines, overall, it's a good movie because it's not too geeky though there's enough 1 liner to keep Trekkies' mouths shut. There's enough touch of drama with Spock dilemma whether he should be act as a full fledged Vulcan, discarding his human side. Not to mention, Kirk struggling to having his life purpose straightened up. The humor parts come from McCoy and Scotty which are all hilariously entertaining. McCoy mercilessly jabbing Kirk and Scotty swimming in the water tank after accidentally beamed to the inside of it, are the main highlights of the comedy.

So, with the line up of movies premiering last weekend, it's no wonder that Star Trek definitely hit the box office.

Happy Mother's Day

For those mothers out there, Happy Mother's day! I just happened to be able to assemble this green tea cake today. The cake divider made from simple whip cream and azuki beans.



And from the side:

Sacher Torte

I only take the pics for 1 cake this week. This Sacher Torte is an Austrian cake with the very long history and it has its own website! Click here for viewing. It's a very nice website too, and they do it in traditional way, which is, no marzipan. A for me, if this cake makes its way to my exam list, I'll demand marzipan to cheat. There's no way I'll be that lucky to get the very glossy finish the second time. And, the more important thing, I must start practicing my pipping.

ヒミツの花園 ~ Himitsu No Hanazono

I came across this 2007 dorama when browsing the cast who are in Atashinchi No Danshi. The new dorama is still at 2nd episode so I need some filler until the next episode is subbed. And since then, I can't stop watching it. I almost finish the series by today.

Himitsu No Hanazono starts with Tsukiyama Kayo, a fashion magazine editor who decided that she had enough of being enslaved to her work. But just when she wanted to tender, her magazine got terminated and she's transferred to the shoujo manga division and was put in charged on Hanazono Yukari sensei. And since then her life changed completely.

The best thing about Himitsu No Hanazono is it's a very light dorama with lots of comedy and not so much of sad stories. The touching part only come in episode 9 and I did cry. The story line is not too slow as each episode presents a different topic while progressing to answer hidden question posed in the first episode.

Besides the unique story imposed, the eye candy characters are also entertaining. This dorama makes me a fan of Jun Kaname (I just can't resist on ikemen, sigh). Here, he plays the role of Kataoka Satoshi, the 3rd brother. Though outside he looks like a player, but he really cares about his brothers and also even look after Tsukiyama. I do hope Satoshi and Tsukiyama get together in the end, but the thought though intriguing but very slim in chance.

The OST is by Namie Amuro with titled 'Baby Don't Cry.' Below is the Imeem playlist. The song is so light that it really suits to open the drama.

Anyway, I'll start to continue watch the final 2 episodes of this cute dorama. Cheers!

Baby Dont Cry - Namie Amuro

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Yeah! Finally I'm free from CPA! It won't last long as new semester will be coming soon, but I'll get to enjoy it while it lasts! So to celebrate my freedom, I'm heading to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which tickets are booked in advance, as always! Let me tell you, it's so hard to find the good seats and I did the booking last night. Most of the studios in town were packed before the day even come. I just got lucky that I got to get a good one in Bugis, but the seats are too low so you can automatically see a little mountain (the head) blocking your full view. Gee I wonder why the seats were available yesterday and now I know why. Too bad Cathay doesn't air Wolverine.

So how about the movie? We all know what it's all about. You don't need to be a regular movie goer to know this because the promotion, trailer is all over the place. Newspapers showered the movie with bad reviews yesterday. So I'm curious, is it that bad? Let's see how it fares.

It's a no brainer that the story is one of the X-Men franchises except that this is the prequel from all the previous X-Men movie and the main focus is Wolverine and Wolverine only. Well, X-Men without Wolverine is no X-Men but at least Wolverine here doesn't wear any spandex. Here we see the beginning of Wolverine. How he become Wolverine and where the name Wolverine comes from. We all cringed as we saw they injected the metal into Wolverine's body. The scene lasted for couple minutes so we all braced ourselves narrowing our eyes as we saw Wolverine twinged in agony under the water.

There're lots of surprises for me in Wolverine. But the biggest surprise is Daniel Henney! Me and my movie kaki almost squealed together when we saw his name on the opening. Both of us really acted like fangirls at that precise moment. Then it hit us, is it really him? Yes, it's really Daniel Henney from our beloved K-drama! Well, he's there as one of the villain, Zero, but we don't really care, don't we? So, there we were catching our squeals and breathes every time we saw him at the scene. For those moments, we just forget about the reason why we're sitting there in the first place, sorry Hugh, though you're really buff, macho and all that, but Daniel is our priority now. And we went back to focus on Hugh after Zero died, Lol... Off course before that, we're fixed in the butt-naked Hugh too Lol...

The next surprise is Gambit! Yey! Finally I get to see Gambit in action. Always love this character from the comic books in the old days. But this is where the major disappointment in the movie comes. Why they have to make Gambit look more like Kung Fu master? The first action scene with the cards was totally cool, but after that, no more card, but he ends up using stick? Why would Gambit want to use stick and act like a Shao Lin on the loose if he can use the cards? It's totally illogical and irrelevant!

Other than Gambit, the other X-Men characters are not fascinating and they just pass by as the movie goes. Quite a disappointment for me because I want to see the more familiar characters that were straight out from the comic books. Will love to see Mystic again, or may be the make up is too tedious that they decided to take it out? With this pool of not so exciting characters, the fighting looks more like the regular action movie scenes, and with those Kung Fu movement, I kept feeling the strong de javu of those Hong Kong movie moves reinvented.

The CG? Fabulous and current. I feel that it's not overdone as what the newspapers keep repeating because it's X-Men movie, not some Oscar nominated drama. Do you want to see X-Men movie with Wolverine keep thinking and phasing with his own mind and not clashing his iron (I will say iron because the metal name is just too... complicated) claws? Not me... To me, X-Men movie is about CG CG and CG. The more the better! I want to get entertained, not to think during the movie. By the way, the mountain scenes are fantastic too, the scenes look just straight out from the postcards.

So is the movie good and worth the money? I'd say yes. CG won't be that nice if you watch it with your 22" home TV, off course unless you have the home theater, but the effect won't be the same. I had my own disappointment with the movie, but with what's currently out there now, I'd pick X-Men without a second thought.

Butter Cream Cakes to satisfy your sugar craving...

Today was one of those times when I felt so challanged and frustrated in baking. My creamery skill is just sucks, it's so obvious that I had to keep redoing my Zuger Kirsch because my layering is too thin. And with me being left handed, it's a bit difficult to translate the technique showed by the teacher to suit me, so I almost broke down after 4 times of layering.

But, I'm quite happy with the second cake because it's just pure pipping! Pipping basket is not that bad *smile*... making rose marzipan is fun, though 1 hour spent just to make 7 roses and it's not enough to cover the whole cake... Luckily there's still enough butter cream left over to do some fixes.

The latest addition to my Agnes B stash

Ya, I'm a sucker for a bag, especially the red color ones! And with the inducement from 2 kutus from MSN, the red Agnes B bag is sitting in my home now... sigh...

Anyway, this is the red bag in question:



I just like solid color bags like this... it's not so big as A4 paper cannot go in it, but it'll be just nice if you want to go out, pair it with any kind of top or shirts with a pair of jeans and some heels or flats and you're good to go. It won't go wrong for office wear too, with some nude or black color suit and with some red or black heels...

Think in the back of my mind, I just want to get something to go with my fave red rabbit fur top :p... and the bag is more expensive than the top (the Benetton top was 50% when I bought it years ago)...

Ristorante Paradiso

Another new anime in 2009 worth to be followed! My list seems to get longer and longer. Ristorante Paradiso is based on manga by Natsume Ono with the same title. What I like so far from the first 2 episode are:
1. The background art. They show the background of Rome, most of the time in water coloring style. It looks like Antique Bakery style but since only a few anime use this style, any newcomer is warmly welcomed.
2. The story is different. Here are the restaurant with (no ikemen, but it's gentlemen this time) a crew of gentlemen wearing glasses. Their customer base is the same as Antique Bakery, all ladies, off course. But the main character is about a girl named Nicholette. She flew to Rome to tell her mom's husband that she's her daughter. But off course the story changes after she met Claudio and the rest of the crew.

An interesting anime... Looking forward to the next episode, what will become of Nicholette and Claudio? Fufufu...

Swiss Rolls rolling down the street...

Today's baking is not as exciting as last week. I mean, come on, we just learned the basic sponge cake and Swiss Rolls and they're not even decorated. Just plain old cakes. Anyhow, below are the Spring Rolls, both plain Choco cream Swiss Roll and Raspberry Swiss Roll.

17 Again

It's the splurge out of moment that my legs turned right to Cathay cinema, not straight to DG MRT. I guess my irk towards CPA has taken its toll by reflex. Or, my whole day of laptop breakdown made me impulsive to suddenly watch movie. How horrifying. Put that aside, as I was queuing, my cinema watching habit started to kick in. I was prepared to walk away if the cinema didn't have the seat that I wanted, but they did have so with the numb mind I sat there in between screaming fan girls. Ugh, what a way to watch a movie.

Okay, let's start to talk about the movie now. I'm not a Western chick flick girl, I'm more into dorama girl, J-dorama to be exact with the must factor, ikemen. So, with the ikemen factor checked on 17 Again, the show begins with skepticism in mind.

The trailer did fulfill its purpose. It made you curious and it made you laugh. The laugh factor was definitely there as I laughed 80% out of the time. The plot was rather compact which makes the movie flow and stop just nice that you don't feel so anti-climax in the end. Efron does lots of fan service enough to make the fan girls keep screaming all out throughout the movie while drooling over him... throughout the movie too.

What I like the about this movie, well, aside from the ikemen factor (there, it's all out! I'm just a sucker for ikemen :p) are:

1. Perry and Efron did a good job in acting as one person for the grown up and the teen version. Throughout the whole movie, I didn't feel a bit that Mark (Efron) and Mike (Perry) are actually acted by 2 different people. Efron got me on the acting side, though. I'm a sucker for ikemen but I'm very seldom impressed by their acting skill, which is why I was skeptical about the movie in the first place. But Efron did make an effort in this movie. I wouldn't say his stares are as heart wrenching as Kimutaku but, yeah, he's good. There are moments that he would put the face full of Mike's regret towards the past that definitely has the tears fall down already in doramas, but the tears didn't fall down and that makes the scenes even sadder. And to look convincingly in love with an older woman as if they're the same age, that's a very good effort need of some praising. Off course this is a chick flick, not an Oscar nominee movie, but I'm not into movies that require lots of deep thoughts, so it's just right for me. Lol...
   
2. The movie is not just focusing on the main lead. The characters around Mike (his best friend, kids, and soon to be ex-wife) starting to develop in between the movie and in the end standing by themselves as individuals which making the movie quite heartwarming in some sense, and off course, it means a happy end. If you compare the heartwarming rating against what I've seen in J-dorama, it's way below the dorama level. But for Hollywood standard, it's quite good.
3. Definitely the laugh factor. This is one of the very few western chick flicks that can crack me up again and again till the end of it. The dialogues were funny and rather smart, especially between Ned and Mark or Ned with the principal. There were tons of hilarious moments both geeky and cool way, depends on how you see it.
4. The story? Not really original that you'll feel like seeing 13 Going on 30 in reverse mode. Also, we've seen other movies with similar themes when the main character turns back to past, transform to his/her younger self to make things right. But what makes this one different? It feels current, that's for sure. It throws current parenting issues like dealing with the kids' insecurities, sex education, and even basketball coaching. It shows the gap that parents face with their teenage kids, which takes communication to close it. Definitely a movie that parents should also see (mothers definitely are happy to watch as they can gawk on Efron with their daughters -- having some mother daughter bonding sessions Lol)..
   

Do I want to spend 10$ to watch this? If it's not for the splurge out of moment thing I had just now, I'd probably pass this movie and watch the DVD instead. But, you won't regret it if you do spend the money on it. It's not the movie that will still crack your laugh lines on your face again and again, but if you're the fan girl you'll go to see the movie again and again.

So, what's your decision?

Anime List 2009 2nd season

First 2009 season is over with the blast of Kuroshitsuji and Skip Beat! And now the second season has started to make its mark. But how is it fare compare to the first season? Well, after clicking whatever have been subbed for the past 2 weeks, I finally have my own must watch list for this 2nd season.

Amnesia seems to be the main theme of this season. At least 3 of the animes on my list starts with 'Who am I?' or a dream 'Where am I?' This season is filled with the fantasy adventure, mecha, assassins theme, and many more which give us as the audience lots of things to choose and on the bad side, it means must watch everything :p.

The first of my list is 07-Ghost. After watching the first episode, I started searching for the manga and I've been hooked since then. Only in anime, clergymen can look so kakkoii. And after you throw in the amnesia to Teito (the main character) and lots of killing and soul saving, you got yourself a fantastic anime.

Next is Hanasakeru Seishounen. Off course, the main reason why this is on my list is because of the overdose of bishounen thrown in it. But, nevertheless, the first episode left quite a bit of impression and definitely not boring, so yup, this goes to my list.

My third series to be followed is Fullmetal Alchemist (2009). Yep, this is the new installment of the Fullmetal Alchemist that we all know and love. Still the same, Ed and Al are immersed into another new quest to return Al's body (yep Al is still in the armor).

Then came Asura Cyrin'. Normally, I'm not really into the mecha theme anime, except for Gundam00, but Asura gets me interested. May be part of it because they throw the 'the end of the world,' 'destruction' words in it.

Another semi dark anime is Pandora Hearts. The first episode already made it rather creepy with the psychotic sound dolls and all of them can move, too. 2nd episode was already aired and subbed and it's even more heart wrenching. Who wouldn't want to watch the next episode when they throw in the phrase 'Your only fault is your existence'?

The next 2 animes on the list has 2 things in common for their main character. Both of them have amnesia (go figures) and they are both assassins. Higashi No Eden's Akira (he only knows his name by picking which passport he wants to use) has his memory erased by the organization he's in, while Phantom Requim's Zwei has his memory involuntary deleted so that he can be trained to be an assassin. I'd expect both of these anime will turn to dark episodes soon. I'm sure on Phantom, but not on Higashi No Eden though.

Other animes that are released in this season (so far) but don't make it to my list are Tears of Tiara (so so, not really catchy on the first episode), Basquash!, Guin Saga, Hatsukoi Limited (not really into highschool life theme anime), Hayate No Gotoku 2nd season, K-ON!! (lots of people think its good, but not my cup of tea), Queen's Blade (if you're into semi soft porn), Saki (mahjong theme anime with lots of ecchi), Sengoku Basara (a weird samurai theme anime, samurai with leather jacket and speaking broken English but driving a horse in literally samurai era? I'll pass), Senjou no Valkyria (almost make it to my list, but I'll decide after 3rd episodes), Slap up party: Arad Senki, Tayutaya: Kiss on my Deity (quite interesting, but not a must watch for me).

Yep, I think I don't miss anything so far hahaha... Just take your pick because I think this season really have a wide spread of category to choose :d...

Tired of the boring choco milk Kit Kat Flavor?

Try this one, only Japanese is allowed to have something different. Tsk tsk. Very fortunate to get some rations of these cheesecake flavors Kit Kats haha... Gimme a break, gimme a break...

Circle of Strawberries

When you're feeling down, a touch of redness will definitely cheer you up!



It's softness and sweetness will melt your stress away and if one is not enough, you can have another and another until you're satisfied!

Lol....

Another yet Round of Pastry Family

Not my best day at my baking school today, but at least the pics is still put my heart at ease :D.
Today we had a project assessment on pastry section. Basically we just need to do what we've learnt so far. For this time we have to make 4 products: Eclairs, Swans, St Honore and Apple Strudel.

My first Quiche

To think that I literally spent my own money to do the filling, but to get no annoyed and uncivilized roller coaster emotion in me today, I'd say it's worth it!

The Quiche family below have 2 kinds of fillings, though they all look the same (silly me for forgetting to put different topping to differentiate which one is which). But anyway, the fillings are either chicken sausage sauteed with mushroom and onion with the hint of sun-dried tomatoes and basil, or vegetarian style, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts topped with chopped basil leave. And not to forget the expensive stuff, I used Gruyere cheese! Yes, off course it's yummy (it's still sinful) and it's definitely not salty.

It's The Tart Week

Sweet and cute tarts to please your eyes and tastebuds...

Cream Puffs and The Gank!

Another week of puffing the pastry :).

Voice

We all know what CSI TV series is all about, a team of CSI division solving "fancy" (well you can call it fancy or extravagant considering the amount of brutality thrown in the murder scenes especially in the later seasons) murder cases with their hi-tech gadgets and scientific methods. Well, Voice is definitely inspired by CSI as this dorama is too (you'll see a CSI tribute in one of the student's room), about revealing the last moments of the dead, which they call it the 'voice' of the dead, and bringing closure to those who are left behind.

There are differences between CSI and Voice. I'm a fan of CSI series. But Voice certainly makes me see CSI genre from a different angle.

Like CSI, most of Voice's cases start with the case of unsolved death. The victim died in the quiet manner, often with not even a blood splatter, unlike what we often see in CSI. And it's not about drug dealer or some serial killer running rampant. The deceased are often ordinary people like us, with family who wonder why they die that way and the team of the university forensic medicine try to solve the mystery and give them understanding to what had happened that led to the tragic ends. You are unlikely to find murder cases in Voice and definitely no serial killer or anything fancy in CSI genre manner.

While CSI shows us all the technology available to extract DNA etc, Voice does not show anything hi-tech or eye-popping gadgets in it. At most, they will show the starting of an autopsy and no blood, inner parts pulled apart at all. What they found out is all discussed in their conversation with very little of charts and DNA test results graphic that we are used to see in CSI.

But what will pull us to watch Voice and keep watching it, is the story. In CSI, we are often too fascinated with the capability of the CSI team to reveal the crime that we forget about the victim. In Voice, the team focus themselves towards the victim, what's the story behind their deaths. Daiki explores the mystery by talking to the victim's loved ones, searching the surroundings and finally putting together all the puzzle and coming up with the story of the last moments of the decease.

A reminder, this is J-Dorama. If you like to see any actions involved, go back to watching CSI and CSI-Miami. Voice will definitely jerk your tears away. I started crying every time I watch the episode especially after episode 3. You'll be touched with all those heart warming stories ranging from the love of a husband, the sacrifice of a mother or the loyalty of a friend that unfortunately leads the unwanted ends.

For Dorama fans, this dorama is definitely a must watch! And off course, because this is a J-dorama, you'll find the faces all look familiar. That's right! Daiki is Mine from Nodame Cantabille; and Ryousuke is Nakatsu from Hanakimi. You'll also see Teppei in Nodame and Hanei in Kamen Rider. This is the world of J-dorama, yeah!

FYI, the OST is by GReeeeN. It's very uplifting to hear this song after each of episode closure. A very smart compact dorama, especially in this moment of economy downturn!

Another Round of Puff Pastry...

Another week of puff pastry. This time we did it in the French way. Easier than the Brit method, but alas, we had to do it with butter, which was another different story. From top to the bottom are: Cream Horne or Canolli, Fruit Slice and Napoleon:

American Idol Season 8 - Finally...

Yes, finally, a season with stiffer and tougher competition. This season is much better than previous seasons.. I mean last season was OK, well, only because I like David Archuleta... not really fond of the winner, David Cook though he's also good.
But this season, finally, so many good contestants with good vocals and good performance. Off course I have my own favorites like Allison, Adam, Scott and Danny. Lil is very good, too. As you can see, the list is so long! A bit disappointed with Jorge, though he put out a good show last week. This time, the bar is raised higher so they all need to be at their very best every single show, which is far better entertainment for all of us, which is what I'm looking for. Worth to follow... and look forward to next week's show :D.

Scrapped Princess

I just finished watching this oldies anime (2003), Scrapped Princess, yesterday. It's been in my watching list for quite few years. It gets published again on the online streaming sites probably because the license just expired. But, I'm more than happy to watch it.

This is why I love anime. Scrapped Princess is an adventure journey of the Scrapped Princess, Pacifica Cassul, and her foster siblings, Shannon and Raquel. Like any other fantasy anime, the journey involves mythical creatures such as dragons, magic chants, time space continuum, and off course, knights and swordsmans. However, like any other anime, it's not just a shallow story of adventure for kids. I find that this anime actually arguing lots of deep rooted questions about faith, religion, and humanity.

In Scrapped Princess, the majority religion is Mausser faith. The Mausser faith believes in its Gods. But what happen if the Gods that they have their faith in are not actually Gods? In the anime, the humans later are thorn into several groups; those who follow the faith blindly including the Scrapped Princess false prophesy, those who are starting questioning the faith itself, and those who are not believing in the Mausser from the beginning. The anime lays out points of argument to the point that no body has the right answers. We are only humans. In the end we need something to keep hoping. For example, though Raquel doesn't believe in Mausser, in the end, she screams to God for help to save Pacifica.

Set aside the bigger picture, let's take a look at Pacifica Callus character. Though she's pictured as a girl who practically can't do anything right without her oniichan and oneechan, Pacifica is a very strong character considering the burden that she carries as the Scrapped Princess. Questions like why people try to kill her when she does nothing wrong, why people has to die because of her (lots of people, literally), why there are people who are willing to die protecting her, is her fate already been set or can she lead her own fate are being argued again and again throughout the anime. In reality, this is similar to questions that we often face when we are dealing with our lives. Why he/she hurt me, why people are so cruel, what did I do to deserve this? Sounds familiar?

And like in Scrapped Princess, it depicts that human can't live alone. The way Pacifica relies and works together with her siblings and people she meets throughout her journey, is the same way as we need support from our families and friends. Without them, we won't be able to be who we are now. Often helping hands from stranger could encourage and give us strength to go on in our journey of life.

Humanity is also another topic that been conveyed in this anime. If humans are so despicable, should God pour down the punishment and wipe out the entire humanity? There're always good and bad people in this world. Greed is one of human traits. But so is love. Which one should prevail?

Puff Pastry

My first practical training in the baking school. Today we made puff pastry. The good thing about puff pastry is that we can make lots of kinds of variation out of the same piece of dough. Even the scrap dough is very useful to make yummy snacks. Though the prospect of me getting slimmer at this stage is greatly diminishing, one just got to try what one makes, correct?

So without further ado, here are the result of today's labor of love:

In order by row from left to right (Fruit purse, Apple Turnover, Tuna Pastry, Palmier)

Double Choco Chip Muffin

March 09 is started with the sweet aroma of double choco muffin coming out from my oven. Baked to perfection, the muffins are so round and fluffy! I literally cannot hide my joy when these cute muffins come out smoking from the oven.

Fairly easy to make. Basically you just substitute 20gr out of your total flour with coco powder and instead of 1 cup of dry fruits, add on 1 cup of choco chips and fold all together... If only baking hotel cakes is this easy...

Skip Beat

Love the manga and anime version of it! Unlike Nodame, I've been following the manga since... 2006 (the manga officially started from 2002 and is still on going). In truth, my heart did skip when they made it into anime in 2008.

The manga revolves around the life of Mogami Kyoko, who was dump by her long time boyfriend Shotaro Fuwa, a famous idol, after being treated like a maid and eventually she found out that he's been playing around too. This turning point sets Kyoko into another new journey to avenge her demise against Shotaro. The first step of her revenge is to enter the showbiz world by auditioning at Shotaro's company rival, LME. There, Kyoko met Tsuraga Ren, whom Shotaro despised, and their adventure begins.

What I love about Skip Beat:

1. The graphics!!! I'm a sucker for bishounen's manga (any kind, except those yaoi, though they're beautifully drawn, but I can't bear the story Lol!).
2. The character. Each character has their own traits, antics and their own past. Kyoko is an above and beyond in her perseverance mode, which is often the cause of why she eventually succeeds. Ren, with his mysterious past (this is just because his past never been revealed 100%), but with the soft point when people are sincere in their work. And, off course the obnoxious Shou, though he's been pictured as a total jerk, he actually has some difficulties in expressing his feelings thus in the end torturing Kyoko, instead.
3. As for the anime, love the OST! Especially the new ending theme 'Eien' by Yuusaku Kiyama. I have yet to find the PV or any clip for this. Sobs!
4. A good thing about the anime is that it follows 90% of the manga storyline, which is fantastic. It's like the manga being brought alive!

With the popularity of Skip Beat, it's a no wonder that Taiwan want to make it into a live action as what they had done with Hana Yori Dango and Hana Kimi. I'm not a Taiwan drama fan, so I may be biased. But Hana Yori Dango and Hana Kimi proved to be... dragged and often boring, so I'm not looking forward to the Taiwan version of Skip Beat. Plus, with leads like Jerry Yan? Jerry Yan as Ren? Come on, Ren shouldn't be pictured as a guy without a vertebrae. It's just wrong (again, I may be biased). Though I'm not really thrilled with the Taiwan version, but I'll look forward if they decide to make the J-dorama version of Skip Beat. :)