Small Token of Amusement

Jang Geun Suk's Playlist

2009-09-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-18T04:29:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-07-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-25T04:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

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:

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...
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.
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.
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

2009-04-13T06:21:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-04-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

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

Cream Puffs and The Gank!

2009-03-22T04:22:00.001-07:00

Another week of puffing the pastry :).

Voice

2009-03-21T20:40:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-03-14T03:49:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-03-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-07T05:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-03-01T03:31:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

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:

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!).
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.
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!
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. :)

I'm Sorry ~ TIM

2009-02-18T06:51:00.000-08:00

Im Sorry - Tim

Thus far, my favorite song from TIM, not the song that made me a fan, but still think this is one of his best. Can't get enough of it. It's a sad song, an OST from the movie '...Ing.

I'm sorry 니 안에 살던 날
I’m sorry ni an ee sal don nal
I’m sorry I who lived in you

I'm sorry 참 행복했던 날
I’m sorry cam hengbok he don nal
I’m sorry I who was so happy

널 내 품에서 울게만 해서
Nol ne pume so url geman he so
For making you cry on my chest

잘 못해줘서 지치게 해서
Jal mod he juo so jichi ge heso
I was wrong, I made you exhausted

힘들게 해서 떠나게 해서
Himdul ge he so ddo na ke he so
I made it hard for you, I made you leave

그런 부족한 나라서
Gu ron bu jok han nara so
Because I was the one lacking

미칠 것 같아 bye bye bye bye bye
Mi jil god katha bye bye bye bye bye
I feel like I’m going to go crazy bye bye bye bye bye

거짓말 같아 bye bye bye bye bye
Ko jid mal katha bye bye bye bye
I feel like a lie bye bye bye bye bye

니 모습 사라질 때까지 다 사라져도
Ni mosurl sarajirl ddekkaji da sarajyodu
Until your appearance disappears, even if it all disappears

난 돌아설 수 없잖니 후회가 많아
Nan durlasorl su objanni huhuoka mana
I can’t stand with my back turned, I have many regrets

I'm sorry 널 보고 싶은 밤
I’m sorry norl bogo shipun man
I’m sorry The night I want to see you

I'm sorry 잠들 수 없는 밤 (I'm so sorry baby)
I’m sorry jamdurl su obnun man (I’m so sorry baby)
I’m sorry The night I can’t fall asleep (I’m so sorry baby)

이별 뒤에서 눈물 알아서
I byol duieso nunmurl araso
After this separation I realized tears

너무 늦어서 그리워 해서
Nomu nudaso guriwo heso
Because it was too late, I yearned

니 맘 떠나서 사랑 알아서
Ni mam ddonaso sarang araso
Because your heart left, I understood love

그런 미안한 나라서
Kurom mianhan naraso
Because I was the sorry one

어떻게 보내 why why why why why
Ottohke bune why why why why why
How can I send you why why why why why

어떻게 잊어 why why why why why
Ottohke ije why why why why why
How can I forget you why why why why why

니 걸음보다 내 눈물이 더 앞서 흘러
Ni Korlum buga ne nunmurli go apso hurlro
Instead of your footsteps, my tears flow ahead

널 막을 수만 있다면
Norl magurl suman idddamyon
If I could just block you out

난 말할 텐데 난 다 줄 텐데
Nan harlhan tende nan go jurl tende
I will probably talk, I will probably give you everything

또 니 앞에서 내 무릎을 꿇고서
Du ni apeso ne murupurl kkurlgoso
Again, I kneel in front of you

난 빌 텐데 사랑한다고
Nan hirl tende saranghan dago
I will probably kneel, that I love you

너 없이 난 아무것도 할 수 없는 바보라고
No obsi nan amugodo harl su opnun paborago
I’m a fool that can’t do anything without you

어떻게 보내 why why why why why
Ottohke bune why why why why why
How can I send you why why why why why

어떻게 잊어 why why why why why
Ottohke ije why why why why why
How can I forget why why why why why

니 걸음보다 내 눈물이 더 앞서 흘러
Ni Korlum buga ne nunmurli go apso hurlro
Instead of your footsteps, my tears flow ahead

널 막을 수만 있다면
Norl magurl suman idddamyon
If I could just block you out

미칠 것 같아 bye bye bye bye bye
Mi jil god katha bye bye bye bye bye
I feel like I’m going to go crazy bye bye bye bye bye

거짓말 같아 bye bye bye bye bye
Ko jid mal katha bye bye bye bye
I feel like a lie bye bye bye bye bye

니 모습 사라질 때까지 다 사라져도
Ni mosurl sarajirl ddekkaji da sarajyodu
Until your appearance disappears, even if it all disappears

난 돌아설 수 없잖니 가슴이 아파
Nan durlasorl su objanni kasumi apa
I can’t stand with my back turned, my heart hurts

Lyrics and translation from http://aheeyah.com

ラブシャッフル ~ Love Shuffle

2009-02-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

Finally, an interesting dorama to follow in 2009! With the intriguing plot of 4 couples shuffling their partners, we would wonder who end up with who. Each main character has his/her opinion about this, so how about you?

One pull of why I quickly click on the link to watch it is off course, Tamaki Hiroshi. But, the rest of the male leads also are not to be underestimated eye candy with their own charm and wits (or may be not Lol??!!) And, to balance out the eye candy factors, the dorama also throws in quite strong female leads. So it's a win win situation for all audience :d Lol...

The OST is very unusual, I wonder why they don't let one of the leads to sing the OST eg. Tamaki or DAIGO.

Anyhow, this dorama definitely goes to my must watch list!

Fantasy - eart wind and fire

황영민 ~ Tim

2009-02-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

Another singer goes to my K-pop book. This time is Tim (the stage name for Hwang Young Min). His debut began in 2002, but being a not so avid K-pop follower anymore, I just need to settle to encounter his songs in IMEEM. And it only took 1 song to make me officially a fan, Serendipity.

Most of his songs are ballads which are very fitting to his vocal. In terms of music style, Tim's is very much similar to K. However, there's still a different in there. In some ways, Tim's are more subtle and tend to be softer. His vocal delivery is not as aggressive as to K, which in his case, it works wonder to the songs. The mellow tones for the ballads, it's like a lullaby to easy listening before bed time.

Below is the playlist that I discovered in IMEEM, full of Tim's ballads. To be honest, I'm quite surprised with his songs. All of them are so easy in the ears and they're all nice songs. Not the type of songs that will make you boring after listening to them more than 2 times. Definitely I have my own favorites, like Serendipity, I Love You, and Wish List.

In conclusion, I'll be looking forward for his next music, for sure.

Tim ~ Hwang Young Min

자유롭게 날 수 있도록 ~ H.O.T

2009-02-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

Free To Fly - H.O.T

Yes, it's one of the fossil songs coming from 15 years or so ago. It brings out the nostalgic where the likes of Youtube and Itunes were unthinkable, so we have to buy the CD to get the songs (or at least that's what I did during that era). Koala introduced me to H.O.T thus brought me to the world of K-pop. And this song was the trigger to my K-pop mania, and still a K-pop fan until now...
The lyrics was not that fantastic if you compare to the current mainstreams, kind of lame if you think back. But, hey, it's the Backstreet Boys songs era... so these types of lyrics were the IT lyrics.

모두 잊고 살 수 있게 너를 버려야만 했던
끝을 향한 내 이 마음을 너는 이해할 수 있니
어떤것도 내게 힘을 주진 못했기에
더이상은 짐이 되긴 싫었어
아직 맘속에 내가 살아있다면....
너는 행복할 수 없을테니까
지워야해.....

너와 함께 할 수 있는건.....
너무 어렸던 날들의 작은 꿈이었어....
자유롭게 날 수 있도록
나의 곁에서 너를 날려 보내줘야해......
나를 잊어줘 안녕...

의미없던 시간들일 뿐이라고 말했어도,
사실 내게 있어 가장 소중했던 순간들을
영원토록 묻어 둘 수 밖에 없다는게,
나에게 아픔만을 남겨주지만

너와 함께 할 수 있는건.....
너무 어렸던 날들의 작은 꿈이었어....
자유롭게 날 수 있도록
나의 곁에서 너를 날려 보내줘야해......
하지만 너를 사랑해
이것만은 알아주길 바랬어
너는 잊겠지만 나는 못 잊겠어
언제까지나 이대로..

너와 함께 할 수 있는건.....
너무 어렸던 날들의 작은 꿈이었어....
자유롭게 날 수 있도록
나의 곁에서 너를 날려 보내줘야해......
나를 잊어줘.......
영....원.....히........

Just so I could forget everthing and live on,
I had to throw you away
Do you understand that of my heart towards the end?
Nothing could give you strength,
So I didn't want to be a burden anymore.
If I am still alive in your heart,
You wouldn't be happy,
So you have to erase me.

To be with you...
was a small dream in the days I was too young.
Just so you can be Free to Fly,
I have to fly you away.
Forget me... goodbye~

Even though I say those were meaningless times,
Those were really the times that were most precious to me.
The fact that I have to bury them eternally only leave me pain.

(Forget me) But I love you.
Oh! I just wanted you to know that.
You will forget, but I can't forget.
Till whenever, I'll just be...like this...

Lyrics & translation are from http://aheeyah.com

Olivia ~ Tears & Rainbow

2009-02-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

Can't get enough of this sad yet heart lifting song... A reason for being a fan of her...

Tears & Rainbow - Olivia Lufkin

物憂げな君 瞳に映る星

Monouge na kimi, hitomi ni utsuru hoshi
You're to tired; stars reflected in your eyes


瞬き遥か遠い 幾光年の涙

Matataki haruka tooi, iku kounen no namida
The twinking far, far away; so many tears of lightyears

Come be as one
Come be as one
And fall in love
In love, in love, in love

Touch it touch it now
Touch the tears & the rainbow

過去に手に入れたものさしはもう捨てて
Kako ni te ni haireta monosashi wa mou sutete
I've already thrown away the ruler I got from the past


Touch it touch it now
Touch the tears & the rainbow
ありのまま感じて

Ai no mama kanjite
Feeling like it's love

雨の囁き 耳を傾けて
Ame no sasayaki, mimi wo katamukete
I my ear to hear whispers of the rain


そこに隠された 七色の秘密

Soko ni kakusareta, nanairo no himitsu
I a seven-coloured secret at the very bottom

Come be as one
Come be as one
And fall in love
In love, in love, in love

Touch it touch it now
Touch the tears & the rainbow


虹の中雨が太陽に口づける
Niji no naka ame ga taiyou ni kuchidzukeru
In a rainbow, rain is kissing the sky

Touch it touch it now
Touch the tears & the rainbow
Just the way you are

Breaking Dawn

2009-02-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Breaking Dawn is the last installment of Twilight saga. Finally it's coming to an end. It's also the thickest out of the whole saga and contains the longest plot and chain of events. After reading the whole series, I find that the first and the last book are the best, the 2nd and 3rd books are the seasonings to make you appreciate the last book. Another bravo for Meyer.

Again, picking up what was left in Eclipse, Breaking Dawn starts with a happy, merry chain of events for Bella and Edward (ugh, it's so hard not to give out too much spoiler), but off course after around 150 pages, things suddenly turn bleak (where got the fun of reading the book if it's all about happy events, right?).

What's unique about this book is that half of the book is told from Jacob's point of view. Partly maybe because it's too intense if it's told from Bella's point of view. But this way, readers can understand Jacob better and can't deem him to be too annoying anymore.

As for Edward, well, he wins our hearts again and again. Amazingly selfless and clearly devoted to one girl, it's any girls' dream comes true, in books, no reality. Lol... But in here, his sacrifices at least were equalized by Bella's, which won't make us think that Bella is one damn lucky girl. Again, it's part of a good plotting.

Less action than Eclipse, but enough suspense and rush thanks to Volturi evasion attempt. Surprisingly the chapters for this are very long, considering what previous books have, where action parts are relatively short. This time it takes about more than 1/3 of the book to plot the stress and demise that Volturi caused the Cullens.

So, overall, absolutely adore this saga because:
1. light reading (I can't take heavy readings, except for compulsory accounting textbooks)
2. good balance of comedy, drama, romance, and action, which is very entertaining
3. love the characters
4. it's a good bed time story, period.

Eclipse

2009-02-03T04:29:00.000-08:00

Eclipse is the 3rd installment of Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. Unlike Harry Potter series that you can read in not necessarily in order, you'll miss a lot of meaning reading Eclipse without reading the New Moon first. For starter, it picks up what was left in New Moon, literally a continuation.

Overall, I would give this book a PG-13 rating. All the dreads felt from reading New Moon (may be partly because of my impatience) eventually are answered in here:
1. Vampire on Vampire action, tons of them, though mostly are toward the end of the book. At least more details written about the fight, so it's very easy to imagine.

2. More twisted love triangle. Definitely entertaining to read 2 sworn enemies by legend, neck to neck competing to get the girl. It's a good thing that Bella never budged from who she loved the most, so we don't see the manga heroines' dilemma, which most often are annoying.

3. Totally agree with Koala, Edward's character is Korean drama's character with the American face. Lol in here. If you set aside cultures, countries and origins, girls will always be girls. We all love the cheesiness and corniness, which blatantly displayed in Twilight series, however big our denials are. So just suck it up and dream about it. There won't be any reality like that. Yes, we know that, that's why we all like to wish and dream.

4. The romance level is up along with the cheesiness off course. That's why it's PG-13 in the first place. But the good thing is, Meyer did a quite good job in having which part should have more details elaboration and not. So, it left us free to wonder and imagine. Again, it's all about imagination Lol...

5. Bella's hormone starts to kick in in this book which is totally hilarious. Absolutely love the twist and turn dialogs of compromising, which make it very fun to read and make the relationship feels real.

6. Alice's part is getting bigger, and adding more laugh factors in this book. As much as we love Bella, we definitely love Alice too.

Off course, as Twilight saga is designed for teenage girls, you may feel that some parts was just too high-schoolish, which is why the book is so light and easy to read, despite the overwhelming thickness... wondering how long will it take for Koala to finish it...

Angela Aki ~ This Love

2009-01-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

This Love - Angela Aki

「愛があれば平和だ」と

"Ai ga areba heiwa da" to

When there's love, there's peace

誰かが口にしていた

Dareka ga kuchi ni shiteita

Someone used to say that


頷く人もいれば

Unazuku hito mo ireba

There are those nodding to it


疑う人もいる

Utagau hito mo iru

And there are those doubting it

苦しみがあるからこそ

Kurushimi ga arukara koso

Whenever I was in pain


あなたを抱きしめる時

Anata o dakishimeru toki

you’d hold me closely


その腕の優しさを

Sono ude no yawashisa o

And it was in the warmth of those arms


平和と感じるのでしょう

Heiwa to kanjiru no de shiyou

that I felt peace

ある時から無口になり

Aru toki kara mukuchi ni nari

But then I stopped talking to you


心を締め切り

Kokoro o shimekiri

and closed off my heart


この恋が引き裂かれそうになった

Kono koi ga hikisakaresou ninatta

this love was torn apart

重ねたこの手を

Kasaneta kono te o

This time I don’t


今度は離さない

Kondo wa hanasanai

let go off my heart


信じる力が

Shinjiru chikara ga

Because the power of belief


愛を自由にする

Ai to Jiyuu ni suru

will set love free

友情に救われたり

Yuujou ni sukuwaretari

When you helped me as a friend


未来を想像したり

Mirai o souzoushitari

I imagined our future together


幸せは見えるけど

Shiawase wa mierukedo

And though I saw happiness in store for us

自分を見る事はない

Jibun o miru koto wa nai

I didn’t see my own issues

約束と言う私達のコンパスだけでは

Yakusoku o iu watashitachi no conpasu dakedewa

Though we said our promises would be our compass

この恋は方角を見失うの

Kono koi wa hougaku o miushinau no

we lost sight of the direction this love was going in

奇跡を待つより

Kiseki o matsuyori

Instead of waiting for a miracle

この手をつなぎたい

Kono te o tsunagitai

I want you to hold onto my hand


信じる力が

Shinjiru chikara ga

Because the power of belief


私を自由にする

Watashi o jiyuu ni suru

will set me free

この恋を恐れずに

Kono koi o osorezuni


You don’t have to fear this love

You don't have to fear this love,this love

重ねたこの手を

Kasaneta kono te o

This time I don’t let go off my heart

今度は離さない

Kondo wa hanasanai


信じる力が

Shinjiru chikara ga

Because the power of belief


愛を自由にする

Ai to Jiyuu ni suru

will set love free

奇跡を待つより

Kiseki o matsuyori

Instead of waiting for a miracle

この手をつなぎたい

Kono te o tsunagitai

I want you to hold onto my hand


信じる力が

Shinjiru chikara ga

Because the power of belief


私を自由にする

Watashi o jiyuu ni suru

will set me free

Happy Moo Year

2009-01-25T17:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, Happy Moo Year in deed! It's the beginning of the Year of Ox, another new year. I'm stranded in Jakarta and finally get to connect to the virtual world again. The feeling of anxious on not been able to connect to the Internet for the past couple of days had gotten to my nerves. I guess this is the result of continuous daily online brooding in both office and home. I'm not surprised now if you can call connecting to Internet is and equal addiction to Heroin.

Still in CNY mood, I touched down to Soekarno-Hatta airport and picked up by my dad on Saturday. When I saw our CRV parked at the airport parking lot, part of me wishing that it's our CNY new CRV was the one parked there. But alas, the damn dealer not finished with the registration (why so slow, I wonder why, but then again, this ain't Singapore). So there goes my blissfull rides in the new car for this week.

So there're another 2 days left for my trip but luckilly beyong believe, I found the Twilight book 3 and 4. And where did I find the book? Just smack down in the bookstore below my apartment, not Kinokuniya, not Borders folks!

Miyavi ~ Tsurezure Naru Hibi Naredo

2009-01-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

Like the lyrics... Nice song...

Tsurezure naru hibi naredo - Miyavi

Why are we living? Why are we going to die?
Like grass and flowers and also animals, everything, I still don't understand
And yet we're just living desperately with all our might
Repeating days every day going around in circles
We are not living just in order to die
still we're dying in order to live
Everybody though I'm searching for a sense in that

Though life isn't only painful
it's neither only enjoyable
When there are mountains there are also valleys
Sea, sky and me are also here
Though I think there are nights I want to escape from
there are no nights that do not dawn
therefore we are dreaming about tomorrow
I keep on walking keep on walking
The memories of that summer are fading away along with the landscape
Don't disappear don't disappear I'm even trying to beg
Memories keep popping like bubbles

Everybody, when you close your eyes it's there
When you prick your ears there is laughter
When you reach out your hand it's as if you can feel it
(but) when you open your eyes, you're just alone
Even though there is a longing or loneliness sometimes that tightens your chest
Though we are dreaming we keep on walking
walking along with that landscape
also the memories of that summer keep fading away
"Don't disappear! Don't disappear!" I'm even trying to beg
because Memories keep popping like bubbles
Here I'll keep on singing forever so that I won't forget, can you hear it?

And somewhen when this song reached you
At that time I'll try, can we still laugh together?
When it hasn't changed from that time when we played
You can maybe tell me a stupid joke?

Because memories immediately have to pop like bubbles
I'll sing so I won't forget so I won't forget

My VINCCI stash

2009-01-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

K, so here is my bounty from the sandal hunting in KL. The glory of temporary addiction from VINCCI. Not too fancy but now I think I have the sandal for every occasions:

Something casual?

Something girlie?

Or something chic for a change?

I'm so not going to buy anything slip in for the next few months...

KL Day 3-5

2009-01-19T07:15:00.001-08:00

A very late posting indeed, considering how many days passed by. Well, by the time I reached SG on Saturday night, I was exhausted and having a chronic headache didn't help much. So, here is the recap.

Day 3 started bright and shiny with another streaming of lectures and activities. And I did a wrong time management to start the day and end up late for class. Well, actually not late, the class just started early because if we finished earlier, it meant more time can be spent shopping at KLCC. During the training, we also had role plays during the day to practice what we have learnt. By the end of the day, apparently the faculty were keeping tabs on who never presented before, so the last role play of the day went to yours truly. Luckily, it's not a tough one, but enough to give you a bit of cold sweat :). So the day ended with us venturing to KLCC. But roaming through KLCC to me meant take picture of any angle of KLCC and to hunt for more sandals at VINCCI (do I spell it right?). So basically we spent the whole 1.5hour duration after dinner taking pictures and... shoes shopping. We didn't even bother to look further than VINCCI.

Taking picture using my colleague camera seemed to be a challenge for me. We wanted to take the singing fountain picture. She took me with the fountain perfectly. Then, it came to my turn taking her pic. I kept shaking the camera so that the pic resulted in blur. By the time, I managed to take it correctly, the fountain stopped LoL, and I got a scoffed from her. We got into the bus quickly and didn't even bother to sit on the back. The front seat was perfect for us to hide our stash of shoe boxes and avoid the stares because we just kept shopping at the same shop.

Day 4 was time to check out. That's why we got into the training room rather early. The class ran rather quickly and off course, we wouldn't want to miss our chance of taking group pics. Tons of them. It seemed like we never ran out of poses, regardless. Off course, after converted to a temporary sandal junkie by VINCCI, I quickly noticed the new sandal that one of the faculty was wearing, and my colleague kept remind me that she already told me so many times that I should get that sandals. Then, after the training was over, me and my colleague moved to CititelMidvalley to stay for one more day.

Cititel Midvalley was no Mariott, definitely, with the bathroom 1/3 sized of the one that we had in Mariott. But at least the mattress was more suitable for me. My friend was right. Midvalley mall was fantastic. It has all, from Carefour, department stores to restaurants, and off course, another VINCCI store. So to satisfy my addiction, I added another 2 pairs of sandals to my collection. The shopping center was very much crowded with people shopping for their Chinese New Year stashes.

So finally, our last day in KL. We ventured back to KLCC, because we wanted to take the pic exactly like one of my other colleagues had. But alas, day view and night view were a totally different thing. So with disappointment, we abort our mission and started to venture down to Bintang Walk. Bintang Walk was quite a long road to walk on, and not to mention, the pavement ain't flat. By halfway through, we were hot and sticky (both of us wear black because black means a slimmer you in pics, a lesson very much learnt from Day 2). So, we were ecstatic and relief when we came accross Pavillion, the latest mall in KL.

Pavilion stayed through its name. It's very clean, new, and spacious, and not so many people go there yet. No more VINCCI store this time. So we started to really walk through store by store. I found some brands that even SG doesn't carry them, and I found it to be amusing. And now it's time for my colleague to shop. All along she's been shopping for her friends and families, so it's a sign of liberation for her to start shopping for her own stuff. But poor girl, she couldn't get the shoes that she wanted because they didn't carry smaller sizes. So, with that we're ready to go back to the airport, while praying that our luggage were not overweight. Mine was still fine with 17.8kg, while my colleague's were slightly overweight with 24kg. Luckily, they let her go as it was not a full flight.

Since my short flight didn't provide dinner, we went to Burger King to have our last dinner in KL. Turned out that behind my queue, stand a totally gorgeous steward. His bag blocked my way and I was going to rant until I look up and saw his face. A split of second of gawking, I moved my way reminding myself to tell my colleague. But before I did, she also noticed. Who wouldn't notice if there's only one guy to gawk at out of the sea of uncles. And definitely we're not the only ones as we noted lots of aunties and ladies also gawked at him. Well, sometimes beauty must be appreciated, by gawking Lol.... So with that, we said goodbye to KL.

KL Day 2

2009-01-15T02:02:00.001-08:00

After all the drama roller coaster on my day 0, my KL training moved on to Day 2. Day 2 started with my poor back was still not adjusting to Mariott’s ‘heavenly’ bed. To me, it’s not that heavenly though I have loved Mariott’s thick and fluffy and most importantly, warm, bed cover since my Deloitte’s days. It’s just too soft for me. Who am I kidding for since I have my Slumberland royalty super hard and sturdy mattress at home. So, for the past 2 days I had been twisting and turning with all my might to find the comfortable (not too soft) spot of the king sized bed for me to snooze on. Due to this mishap, I started my days with sleep deprived face in desperate need for coffee. From Day 1, we learned that our training center is exactly in the same hotel building, which means, we don’t even need to wake up that early, in translation, more snoozing time. But that extra snoozing time was easily offset by my back. So it’s a no brainer that I planned to sleep off the wake up call if it’s not so annoying with 10 minutes interval. By the time my brain set off on the reality, I was so late that I had to quickly do my morning routines, have a speedy breakfast and off to the class to check emails before the class started.

Today’s training touched on the tougher subject yet emphasized the same importance to my work though so far I haven’t have the need to do the process but sooner or later I’ll be required to do so. As a result, regardless how my eyelids tempted to close down, I still had to stay alert and awake, and off course having the faculty chirping behind our team’s back to give more indirect stress every now and then helped me to stay focus. Time flew so fast that it’s lunch time already and this time it’s another different restaurant in the hotel. The hotel has total of 4 restaurants, so we were wondering whether when we’re going to have lunch in the 4th restaurant since it looked like a rotation.

I realized that working in a team during training develop more inputs and ideas to solve questions and exercise given. Also, more importantly, since we’re not that familiar to each other, I find that the way we converse our opinion or objection was slightly different compare to when we do the same thing with our colleagues in the office. And it’s amusing at the same time as forcing yourself to adjust faster than you previously thought so. With that thought, the Day 2 lesson ended.

For a compulsory event, they arranged us a dinner cruise, much to our delight and excitement. We ventured off to Putrajaya man-made lake for our cruise. We did take tons of pictures since the building and settings were fantastic for sight seeing. Then another reality hit me, I really need to lose weight! The sight of me in the pics was so huge and with my heavy top and light colored sweater that I wore today, the impact was even worse. So, the lesson learned was to always wear black top whenever there’re any chances of picture taking, never think twice. After a couple of poses and pictures taken, I did manage to lesser the impact which was dully noted by my colleagues. Dinner was nice with romantic setting. The cruise was set for couples in the first place, so when they started to play 80’s love songs like those by Michael Learns To Rock, it just felt weird. But by that time, nobody even bothered to complain because we were all too engross with our food and conversation and off course to go to the top to take more pics.

So, Day 2 ended nicely with our bus returned back to the hotel with passengers’ stomach satisfied by the dinner and cameras filled with pics of happy smiley faces with Putrajaya government office background.

Kuala Lumpur ~ Day 1

2009-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

I’m currently in Kuala Lumpur. My first travel done in 2009 is for my company’s training. Sure, the idea of training means a week of crunching your brain to absorb anything new that you need to know for your work and managing expectation that you still know what you have learnt on the weeks to come. But that’s not the issue here because actually we had some fun and learnt new useful tips today.

My day 0 to KL started just nice. I got off from the office on time to catch the MRT to Changi airport. Why I’d rather take MRT? Because it’s more predictable. Definitely taxi is more comfortable, but will it take you to the airport in exactly 30 min from Citihall? Not necessary. So I’d rather to stand for a few minutes, and definitely someone will stand up from their sit to get off along the way, after all, Changi is on the end of the line there. Everything went just nice and smoothly. I didn’t even need to queue to check in my luggage. How cool is that? And on top of that, I managed to bag a Vera Wang’s perfume for my DFS splurge. So what’s the drama, you might ask?

When you start to think that everything goes well and just nice, that’s when things started to crumble, and that’s exactly what happened. I reached to my gate for boarding rather early and started flipping the magazine that I snagged from the bookstore at the DFS. Normally I never manage to finish flipping 1 magazine until I board because I’ll also browsing on the Internet. But I realized that after doing all my usual boarding habits, and I even finished flipping, no boarding announcement was aired. Concerns started to crawl onto my face. By that time, my colleague that I was supposed to meet at KL airport sent me sms that she was already there, and waiting for me. That increases the tension as I hate to make people waiting, and the clock did ticking. Just when I got up from my chair to ask the airline people, the announcement started, delay for 30 minutes due to change tire. That ticked me off because they wait until last minute to announce making people wonder. Then, another 30 minutes passed, still nothing happened. By this time, migraine was soon to visit my brain.

I was so relieved when they finally started to do boarding and finally take off. But, during the short flight, I couldn’t even close my eyes to rest (even with the easing my mind with my fave Jpop numbers) because exactly behind my seat was a bunch of annoying brats thinking that they flied by private jet. They shrieked, yelled, brawled all the way to KL with no intent at all to lower their voice, and worse, their conversations were all non sense. So annoyance was added to my already stress injected brain. And off course the annoyance doesn’t stop there. The queue on the immigration was even more annoying than those brats. I felt like such a bitch to complain about custom queue. But who wouldn’t whine if the other queue run MUCH faster and you’re stuck with immovable queue for another 20 minutes.

I still got the feeling that what happened next was the result of all my whining. On my baggage claim rail, I chipped almost half of my nail when I picked up my red luggage. Sure, I didn’t feel the tingling feeling (thought that it’s caused from lifting the heavy luggage), but I was dead wrong. The blood was not so obviously seen with my finger lingered around my red luggage (and with the addition of my bit blur mind) until it dropped. By the time it dropped, it already clotted my finger. So I came up to meet my colleague (so proud of her for waiting on me all that time) with 1 bloody finger. What amazed me about KL airport was you can’t really get through the airport people until you start to speak Malay. Yes, they understand English, but it seems to me that they respond the way you want them to when you converse to them in Malay. So here I was in the clinic asking for ALCOHOL or any available disinfectant. I don’t know what’s going on in those nurses mind when they see injuries. Normal nurses will clean the wound with ALCOHOL based disinfectant. But apparently not in KL airport. They just gave me water (yes folks, water) for me to dip my wound in there and wrap it with some plaster. I was in horror of the thought that I might get infection. So, to prevent on my day to get worse, I quickly asked for first aid kit as soon as we reached hotel. I’d rather attend to my wound myself after that horrific clinic experience.

So, with my currently disable left index finger, training day 1 passed by. We did lots of exercise and more pressure added because of the time crunches. There was a glitch of lunch and dinner reservation today which was solved beautifully to my boss’ relief. So with that we ended up eating in difference place for lunch and dinner. I loved the cod fish dish dinner. It’s sweet and soft, so you don’t need energy to chew. Then we ended our day by having a short mall trip to the mall nearby. For me, the top priority was definitely buy a supply of band aid to tend to my wound. I can’t imagine staring at my half exposed nail versus flesh all they long with the worry that some germs or whatever making it worse.

On final note, turned out that there’s no such thing as free Wifi in this building. We’re deluding ourselves in reading the sign ‘Wifi on public area’ as ‘Free Wifi.’

Luffa with Mi Soa

2009-01-03T00:31:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:

100 gr Luffa (It's Oyong), peeled and sliced evenly - it's about 1 or 2 piece
5 gr Ebi, washed and chopped to small pieces
200 gr Mi Soa (or Somen), boiled and strained - about 2 packet
5 cloves garlic, chopped (I like more garlic, so usually I put more than 5)
Seasonings: Sugar, White pepper, Salt to your taste

In a wok, heat up oil with high fire, stir fry garlic and ebi until fragrant
Put in the sliced Luffa and stir fry until rather soft
Put in the strained Mi Soa and quickly season it with the seasonings
Keep stir frying until the seasoning is evenly distributed

For me personally, I like this dish to be as dry as possible. If I can make it happen, I want the Mi Soa a bit crispy too on the outside. But, you can make it like a soup too. Just add more water or chicken stock and definitely add more seasoning to balance the liquid.

My Book List

2009-01-02T04:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah! FYI, I do read books, though only happen once in a blue moon (or maybe if the moon turns green). Upon Jen's request, here is the list of books that I manage to finish (I did read more books than this, but alas... lost interest in the midway of the book and left it untouched thereafter. Ooops, my bad habit). So, without further a do, here are some books that I like, and I do collect some of them. There's no particular order on which are my favorites but I'll give them some stars when I burn some midnight oils to finish them:

The Hundred Secret Senses ~ Amy Tan
The Bonesetter's Daughter ~ Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club ~ Amy Tan - **
Catch Me If You Can ~ Frank W Abagnale - **
Harry Potter Serries 1-7 ~ J.K Rowling - ** (don't feel the need of spelling the title one by one, I mean, everybody knows right?)
Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon) ~ Stephenie Meyer - ** (I haven't get my hands on the rest of the series: Eclipse, Breaking Dawn. Singapore book store don't keep lots of stocks, I guess they don't really anticipate that lots of people going to buy the book)
Granny Dan ~ Danielle Steel - **
The Ranch ~ Danielle Steel
The Da Vinci Code ~ Dan Brown - **
Angels and Demons ~ Dan Brown - ** I found this one is more 'doki doki' feeling compare to Da Vinci Code
A Rather Lovely Inheritance ~ C A Belmond - **
The Alchemist ~ Paulo Coelho
The Zahir ~ Paulo Coelho
Who Moved My Cheese? ~ Spencer Johnson - The only simple book yet depressed me
The King of Torts ~ John Grisham
Totto-Chan: Little Girl at the Window ~ Tetsuko Kuronayagi - **
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Book 1&2 ~ Ann Brashares - ** I have yet to read the 3rd book. Seems to forget to continue reading the saga. But definitely the first book is the best.

It seems so little. I remember I read more than this haha... But the list will be 100x more if it's about manga haha...

New Moon ~ Novel

2008-12-31T23:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I just can't wait until I go to US to buy the box set so I settled with the paperback version from Kinokuniya yesterday, and off course finished the whole book at the same day. So much for my New Year's Eve.

New Moon as a sequel of Twilight in some ways answers most of my rantings on Twilight, which is to my delight.

It has more intense emotional roller coaster. Check!
It has more adventure and ala Da Vinci Code style chasing and adrenaline rush. Check!
The story plot runs faster with lots of emotional turbulence already on a spree from the beginning. Check!
Now the rating improve to 'PG'. With more violence lurking around as Bella went suicidal and thanks to those werewolves. But, I have yet to see Vampire on Vampire action, so, it stays as 'PG.' Reluctantly, but I'd still give it a Check!

The story begin with happy moments between Bella and Edward but was soon jeopardized by one tiny accident and led to another disaster, which left Bella ended up alone and in much despair for months (you'll be cursing Edward during reading these chapters). Then in the course to move on, Bella encountered another mythical creature in Forks, werewolves. And now Bella was thorn on which side should she be, Vampires or Werewolves?

The only part of the book that I don't really fancy is only the werewolves part. I'm a vampire story junkie, not a werewolves story junkie. It's a reason why I can read so fast because I just basically run through the middle section of the book like I run through accounting textbook. Only the difference, this one is more exciting than textbook. Another reason why I can move from one page to another faster than when I read Twilight is that I don't need to use so much manga/anime imagination for werewolves. I'm lacking references for werewolves. haha... To me, vampires, especially in this book, look much more kakkoii especially with their cars compare to the werewolves.

One more note to my anime/manga imagination. I really think Alice should be pictured wearing goth loli costumes, complete with the dark hair ringlets, during the entire book. It suits her perfectly. And after discussion with Koala, we agree that Kame will serve more justice as Edward. Haha... but that's just my imagination running wild.

Twilight ~ Novel

2008-12-30T03:34:00.001-08:00

Feel bizarre that I read books? Yes, even this yours truly also am in owe. First reason why I ended up buying the book is because I won't get to watch the movie, which currently screening in Singapore, but then again I also feel reluctant to watch because of the not so raving review. Definitely will see the DVD when it comes out. Second reason is this is a vampire story. Anything related to vampires, werewolves and wizards is a must watch/read for me (but off course after a careful selection and sorting). Third reason, the book is on sale, period.

The story, off course it's about the love story between a vampire and a human, in teenager context. The vampire starts to open his heart after decided not to avoid the attraction he felt for the girl any further. Then, the girl already dazzled by the vampire's beauty, accepted the feeling and were happy despite lots of questions and issues lingered. One fine day, a villain came, obsessing in hunting and kill the girl. Then the action and adrenaline rush started to kick in.

So, how's the book fares? Well, I spent 2 sleepless weekday nights and came to work like a zombie on the next day. The story telling is from the heroine's point of view but the style is quite different from the usual Western novels which I find it quite fascinating. I like the dialogs between Bella and Edward. They're very smart, quirky and entertaining to read. The setting is at Forks, Washington, reminds me of how green the area outside Seattle is. It somehow brought me some nostalgic feeling.

Enough about the good stuff, now here're some of my rantings:

The story flows very slow! The first 75% of the book is focusing on the emotional development between Bella and Edward. It makes me anxious when reading it and starting to demand some actions, which come in when last frew chapters of it and to my disappointment it only lasts about not even close to 20% of the book.
It's rated 'G'. 'PG13' not even up to par. And here I was having watch too much anime and shoujo manga demanding more actions, both in violence and romance department. And I was definitely wrong in applying shoujo manga standard while reading the book. I mean, come on, even Vampire Knight has more bloody scenes and more excruciating emotional turmoil than this. I haven't even come to Hellsing Ultimate. And now I wonder why Gundam series is for kids?
With that said, it takes me more time reading pages by pages because I tried to visualize what shoujo manga look like while I'm reading the book. When I said it's interesting on the top, it's because I keep, and I cannot stop, imagining each scenes as manga-like scenes. Especially Edward and Bella's expressions when they're having the arguments and interrogations. I definitely must add on those nose bleeding and Mabushii scenes from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge because it's so perfect and fitting in the story line. Can't help it, just can't help it.
The best thing about books is that it allows you to further your imagination. Without this factor, I don't think I'll be able to finish the book. There's no doubt that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are very right for Bella and Edward's casting. But being an anime and manga junkies, I just can't help imagining Yuuki and Zero instead, or even worse, I keep having dilemma in imagining Edward's character. Is it supposed to be Kaname Senpai or Zero? Or some other cool bishounen from La C'orda D'oro (hahaha... yes, got no correlation but I also don't know why that anime just bursted out in my brain when I was reading twilight)? Or worse, I even imagined Bella should look like Sunako and Edward should look like Kyouhei. I mean, the mabushii factor is already in, why not cast in the same characters. And the rest of the Cullens can be taken from Saionkoku Monogatari. O, having Ren from Skip Beat as Edward also is not a bad idea. Hmm... those fan fiction writers should get a hand on this book and recreate another set of story hahaha....

BOYS エステ

2008-12-28T04:07:00.001-08:00

Finally!!! Somebody is doing the fansub for this 2007 dorama. Ureshii naaa.... I've been wanting to watch this dorama because 1. The theme is interesting 2. It's ikemen paradise (fufufu) 3. Another entertainment for the heart (you can laugh and gawk at the same time).

The dorama is based on the manga with the same title by Souko Masaki. It's the story about a high-schooler with a God hand named Akagi Hibiki who do to his complex starts working part time as a trainee in Boys Este esthetic salon. With lots of clients hanging around at the salon, there's Koiwai Shizuka, a high school girl who starts going to the salon to get rid of her insecurity. What's the next step for this 2 teens? Interesting right?

The dorama tells enlightening stories of each of the este costumers, from their problems, their dreams, and how the bunch of ikemen help their customers to overcome their insecurities. I also like the part of Shizuka dellusions, complete with the pink hearts pouring out from her, which is hillarious and so manga like.

Again, you'll feel dejavu with the casting.

Kashu Toshiki is the Kamen Raider Agito. To imagine a kamen rider is an esthetician is very unlikely, until now...
The manager, Kanau, played by Ikeuchi Hiroyuki is seen alot in Bambino
Hibiki, played by Nakamura Aoi, will be the main cast for Q.E.D (will be released in 2009, another dorama to look forward to).

And last but not least, here is the dorama chart (I start to get addicted to look at the dorama charts haha):

Last Friend

2008-12-27T05:19:00.000-08:00

I watch the dorama because of the OST, unlike normal people who search for the OST after watching the dorama. The OST is by Utada Hikaru with title 'Prisoner of Love.' I embeded the youtube clip on my previous posting. Love the song, so must watch the dorama (what kind of logic is that? Saa....)

Here is the dorama synopsis from dramawiki. Am too lazy to retell the story. It's a pretty heavy dorama with lots of dilemma and current issues in society. Michiru, the main character is dealing with domestic violence in and out her household. Ruka, the other main character, also has a handful dilemma and mental suffering. The male lead, Takeru, has his own issues too. And Michiru's boyfriend, Sousuke? You'll be cursing him from the 1st episode. I did and I want to see him suffer for once (yet to see this, but hopefully I get what I want to see).

What I like about this dorama besides the story and the OST is the casting (which basically tallies to everything here). You'll see reminiscence of Nodame as Ruka (Ueno Juri) and Takeru (Eita) is in. But their character is definitely 360 degree different from the hillarious side of Nodame. Now I'm a fan of Ueno Juri (I like her since the Swing Girls and off course Nodame). She can do practically any roles! In here, she plays a tomboy Ruka who loves Michiru (not sure where it leads to, but the relationship reminds me of Nana, just that it's shown blatantly in here). You'll also see dejavu of Proposal Daisakusen. I have yet to watch this dorama but is now in my must watch list as it seems that there are always people from this dorama on the other doramas that I watched.

And off course, to attract more fan girl viewers, they have to throw in at least one Johnny's Jr ikemen *wink*. This time it's NewS' Nishikido Ryo. But must give a thumbs up to Ryo because of his villain character as Sousuke. His merciless glares when he's angry is enough to give me chills. He's also casted in '1 Liter Tears' (the ultimate tear jerker and it's based on real story).

So while I'm preparing some tissues now to continue watching this dorama, here is the dorama chart to look and ponder. Don't worry, this is not that complicated. Saw more complicated chart in those Samurai doramas, like Yoshitsune for example (you definitely have watched this 50 episode dorama if you're a Takki fan).

宇多田ヒカル ~ Prisoner of Love

2008-12-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Another 宇多田ヒカル song in 2008.

Prisoner Of Love -Quiet Version- - Utada Hikaru

I'm just a prisoner of love
Just a prisoner of love

平気な顔でうそをついて笑って
Heiki na kao de uso o tsuite waratte
Telling lies with a smiling straight face

嫌気がさして楽ばかりしようとしていた
Iyake ga sashite raku bakarishiyou toshiteita
I’m tired of this, I just try to be at ease

ないものねだりブルース皆やすらぎを求めている
Naimono ne dari buruusu mina yasuragi o motometeiru
Having blues for wanting too much, everyone is seeking peace

満ち足りてるのに奪い合う愛の影を追っている
Michitariteru noni ubai au ai no kage o otteiru
In contentment, they are struggling to chase love’s shadow

退屈な毎日が急に輝き出した
Taikutsu na mainichi ga kyuu ni kagayakidashita
Boring days stats to shine

あなたが現れたあの日から
Anata ga arawareta ano hi kara
Since the day you appeared

孤独でも辛くても平気だと思えた
Kodoku demo tsurakutemo heiki da to omoeta
It’s allright though it’s lonely and tough

I'm just a prisoner of love
Just a prisoner of love

やめる時もすこやかなる時も
Yameru toki mo sukoyakanaru toki mo
In sickness and health

嵐の日も晴れの日も共に歩もう
Arashi no hi mo hare no hi mo tomo ni ayumou
Let’s walk together in the bright day and stormy day

I'm gonna tell you the truth

人知れず辛い道を選ぶ
Hito Shire zurai michi o erabu
I’m choosing the hard way

私を応援してくれるあなただけを友と呼ぶ
Watashi o ouenshite kureru anata dake o tomo to yobu
You cheer me on, you’re the only one I call a friend

強がりや欲張りが無意味になりました
Tsuyogari ya yokubari ga muimi ni narimashita
The greed and fake strength become meaningless

あなたに愛されたあの日から
Anata ni aisareta ano hi kara
Since the day I was loved

自由でも余裕でも一人じゃ虚しいわ
Jiyuu demo yoyuu demo hitori ja munashii wa
Even freedom and having my own privacy, it becomes vain

I'm just a prisoner of love
Just a prisoner of love

Oh もう少しだよ
Oh Mou sukoshidayo
Oh Just a bit more

Don't you give up

Oh見捨てない絶対に
Oh misutanai zettaini
Oh I won’t eve leave you

残酷な現実が二人を切り裂けば
Zankoku na genjitsu ga futari o kirisaseba
If cruel reality set us apart

よりいっそう強くひかれ合う
Yori issou tsuyoku hikare au
We’ll pull back even stronger

いくらでもいくらでもがんばれる気がした
Ikura demo ikura demo ganbareru kigashita
No matter how much, we can stand firm

I'm just a prisoner of love
Just a prisoner of love

ありふれた日常が急に輝き出した
Arifureta nichijou ga kyuu ni kagayaki dashita
My everyday days starts to shine

心を奪われたあの日から
Kokoro o ubawareta ano hi kara
Since the day you take my heart away

孤独でも辛くても平気だと思えた
Kodoku demo tsurakutemo heiki dayo omoeta
It’s allright though it’s lonely and tough

I'm just a prisoner of love
Just a prisoner of love

Stay with me, stay with me
My baby say you love me
Stay with me, stay with me

一人にさせない
Hitori ni sasenai
I won’t leave you alone

宇多田ヒカル ~ Heart Station

2008-12-26T18:56:00.000-08:00

HEART STATION - Utada Hikaru

肌寒い雨の日
Hada samui ame no hi
A day of chilly rain

ワケありげな二人
Wake arige na futari
Seems we both had reasons

車の中はラジオが流れてた
Kuruma no naka wa rajio ga nagareteta
The radio was played inside the car

さよならなんて意味がない
Sayonara nante imi ga nai
The word ‘good bye’ means nothing

またいつか会えたら
Mata itsuka aetara
If we could meet again

素敵と思いませんか?
Suteki to omoimasenka?
Isn’t it wonderful?

私の声が聞こえてますか?
Watashi no koe ga kikoetemasuka?
Can you hear my voice?

深夜一時のHeart Station
Shinya ichiji no Heart Station
On the 1am Heart Station broadcast

チューニング不要のダイアル
Chuuningu fuyou no daiaru
No need to adjust the tuning

秘密のヘルツ
Himitsu no heretsu
It’s a secret frequency

心の電波　届いてますか?
Kokoro no denpa todoitemasuka?
Does my heart wavelength reach you?

罪びとたちのHeart Station
Tsumibito tachi no Heart Station
Heart Station of sinners

神様だけが知っている
Kamisama dake ga shitteiru
Only God knows

I miss you

忘れなきゃいけない
Wasurenakya ikenai
I need to forget you

そう思うほどに　どうして
Sou omou hodoni doushite
That’s what I think about, why

いい思い出たちばかりが残るの?
Ii omoidetachi bakari ga nokoru no?
I only have good memories of you?

離れていてもあなたはここにいる
Hanareteitemo anata wa koko ni iru
Even when we’re apart, you’re here

私のハートのまんなか
Watashi no haato no mannaka
In the center of my heart

あなたの声が聞こえた気がした
Anata no koe ga kikoeta kigashita
Thought I heard your voice

深夜一時のHeart Station
Shinya ichiji no Heart Station
On the 1am Heart Station broadcast

いつもどこかで鳴っている
Itsumo doko ka de natteiru
Always echoing

二つのパルス
Futatsu no parusu
Two pulses

心の電波　届いてますか?
Kokoro no denpa todoitemasuka?
Does my heart wavelength reach you?

恋人たちのHeart Station
Koibito tachi no Heart Station
Lovers’ Heart Station

今夜もリクエストきてます
Konya mo rikuesutokitekimasu
Another request for tonight

I Love You

私の声が聞こえてますか?
Watashi no koe ga kikoemasuka?
Can you hear my voice?

深夜一時のHeart Station
Shinya ichiji no Heart Station
On the 1am Heart Station broadcast

今もぼくらをつないでる
Ima mo bokura o tsunaideru
Even now it’s connecting us

秘密のヘルツ
Himitsu no heretsu
The secret frequency

心の電波　届いてますか?
Kokoro no denpa todoitemasuka?
Does my heart wavelength reach you?

罪びとたちのHeart Station
Tsumibitotachi no Heart Heart Station
Heart station of sinners

神様だけが知っている　秘密
Kamisama dake ga shitteiru himitsu
Only God knows the secret

Christmas and countdown to Year End 2008

2008-12-24T03:46:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and here I am, slouching on my dear sofa multitasking between my laptop screen and my beloved TV screen. Feeling the festive mood? Definitely not now. The festive mood was in deed very happening in the office with all the gift hunting and exchange modes and Christmas lunches. We keep having lunches that even I was scared if I see what my December's eating schedule looks like. Thank goodness they all were lunches, not dinner.

But as I spend and will spend this Christmas Eve in luxury of a couch potato with Jim Carey as the Grinch in the telly, I start to ponder about Christmas. Another year will soon pass. Lots of things happen this year. Lots of travelling, from HK to Bangalore. Lots of shopping, from Burberry bags to Agnes B bags (what's with me and bags, I wonder...). Lots of exams, from Masters to CPA to JLPT. Work wise? This year is yet another switch of company, but at least this time is for the betterness.

Seems hectic? Yes, in deed. With all the chaotic plans and schedules flying around, the busy bee here very seldom think and ponder about live until quiet moments arrive, like now. Should I look back to evaluate on how much I've achieved? Or, should I look forward to plan for the next year? I did make some plans and goals for 2009 that hopefully am able to check all them off by the end of 2009.

But as years come and pass, I seems to always neglected 1 part, the love life. I've been a single fighter for a number of years now, though I have lots of happy moments but I do also feel lonely sometimes especially when I come to realization that now most of people that I know are either married or having their ow family to spend time with. So that leaves this dear me here. Again, I also wonder, will I be happier than now should I have my own certain someone? May be, may be not. We all don't know what lays ahead. Am sure that those in the same situation will ponder upon the same thing. Still not sure on how to improve this part of my life, but one only can ask for God's mercy to look upon me.

With that, I'll continue to live merrily and enjoy what's left in 2008. Have a very merry Christmas every one, and don't forget to have a Turkey! *wink*

Arashi ~ アオゾラペダル

2008-12-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

Still trying to translate 'パレット' to no avail *sobs*. But to make consolation, here is 'アオゾラペダル', quite oldies from Arashi but still very light to the ear with deeper meaning plus a summer-theme PV with the storyline nicely describing the lyrics:

思い切りふんづけた
Omoi kiri funzuketa
ペダルはまるで
Pedaru wa marude
The pedal I stepped on spun forcefully
空を飛べそうなくらい
Sora o tobe sounakurai
as though it could take flight to the sky
勢いをつけてまわった
Ikioi o tsukete mawatta
うしろに乗せた君の
Ushiro ni noseta kimi no
まわした腕が
Mawashita ude ga
ぼくのこといつもより
Boku no koto itsumoyori
強く抱きしめた気がした
Tsuyoku dakishimeta kigashita
The arms that you wrapped around me from behind
seemed to tighten a little more than usual
あの日の風の色は
Ano hi no kaze no iro wa
the color of the wind from that day
思い出せるけれど
Omoi daseru keredo
I can remember
あの時のユメと日々は
Ano toki no yume to hibi wa
but the times, dreams and days
ずっとくすんだまま
Sutto kusundamama
I had bad then remain
明日を眩しいくらいに
Asu o mabushii kurai ni
うまく描こうとして
Umaku egako utoshite
We wanted to paint a tomorrow so bright and perfect
ぼくらはキレイな
bokura wa kirei na
色をぬりすぎたみたい…
Iro o nurisugita mitai
That we seemed to have used too many pretty colors
ちょっとカッコ悪いことも
chotto kakkowarui koto mo
using the colors of lameness
こわれたユメの色も
Kowareta yume no iro mo
and broken dreams
パレットに広げ
Paletto ni hiroge
on our palette
もう一度明日を描こう
Mou ichido asu o egakou
So let's paint tomorrow again,
川沿いずっと下って
Kawazoi sutto kudatte
Following the riverbend to its tip
立ち入り禁止の
Tachihiri kinshi no
柵を越え河川敷の
Saku o koe kasenjiki no
先までペダルをこいだ
Saki made pedaru o koida
I pedaled through the fence with the "no entrance" sign
自転車を投げ捨てて
Jitensha o nage suttee
Throwing down the bicycle
見上げた空
Miageta sora
I looked up at the sky
鮮やかなその色は
azayakana sono iro wa
the vivid color
心から消えないの
Kokoro kara kienai noni
will never leave my heart
あの時の君の笑顔
Ano toki no kimi no egao
How you smiled back then
思い出そうとしても
Omoi dasoutoshitemo
I try to remember that
なんかうまくいかなくて
Nanka umaku ikanakute
but without any luck,
いつも途切れてしまう
Itsumo togireteshimau
it's always breaks off
悲しいページなんて
Kanashii peeji nante
なかったことにしようとして
Nakatsu koto ni shiyou toshite
As if the sad pages never existed
ぼくらはいくつも
Bokura wa ikutsu mo
色をかさねてしまった…
Iro o kasaneteshimatta…
we painted many colors over them
きっとぬりすぎた色ってKitto nurisugita irotte
A page with so many colors
白に戻れないけど
Shiro ni modorenaikedo
will probably never be white again
それでいい
Sore de ii
but that's okay
新しい色で明日を描こう
Atarashii iro de asu o egakou
let's paint tomorrow with a brand-new color
明日を眩しいくらいに
Asu o mabushii kurai ni

うまく描こうとして
Umaku egakou toshite

We wanted to paint a tomorrow so bright and perfect
ぼくらはキレイな
Bokura wa kirei na
色をぬりすぎたみたい…
Iro o nurisugitamitai…
that we seemed to have used too many pretty colors
ちょっとカッコ悪いことも
Chotto kakkowarui koto mo
using the colors of lamesness
こわれたユメの色も
Kowareta yume no iro mo
パレットに広げ
Paretto ni hiroge
and broken dreams on our palette
もう一度明日を描こう
Mou ichido asu o egakou
so let's paint tomorrow again,
きっとぬりすぎた色って
Kitto nurisugita irotte
A page with so many colors
白に戻れないけど
Shiro I modorenaikedo
will probably never be white again
それでいい
Sore de ii
but that's okay
新しい色で明日を描こう
Atarashii irode asu o egakou
let's paint tomorrow with a brand-new color

Exile ~ Ti Amo

2008-12-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

There're 2 chapter of PV for this 'Ti Amo' number, don't miss them :). Love this ballad!
Lyrics:

日曜日の夜はベッドが広い
Nichiyoubi no yoru wa beddo ga hiroi
On Sunday night, the bed seems so wide

眠らない想い抱いたまま朝を待つ
Nemuranai omoi daita mama asa o matsu
I was sleepless waiting for morning

帰える場所がある
Kaeru bashou ga aru
You have a place to go back

あなたのこと好きになってはいけない
Anata no koto suki ni natte wa ikenai
I was not supposed to love you

わかってたはじめから
Wakatteta hajime kara
I knew that from the beginning

どれだけの想いならば愛と呼んでいいのでしょうか?
Dore dake no omoinaraba ai to yonde ii no deshouka?
How much to you I have to feel to call it love?

この胸を締め付けてる気持ちに名前をください　
Kono mune o shime tsuketeru kimochi ni namae o kudasai
Please name this tightening feelings in this heart

キスをするたびに目を閉じてるのは　
Kisu o suru tabini me o tojiteru no wa
Every time we kiss, I close my eyes

明日を見たくないから　
Ashita o mitakunaikara
Not wanting to see tomorrow

抱きしめられると　
Dakishimerareruto
Just by holding me

ときめく心はあなたをまだ信じてる　
Tokimeku kokoro wa anata o mada shinjiteru
My throbbing heart will be ale to believe you again

声に出さないまま愛してると叫ぶの　
Koe ni dasanai mama aishiteru to sakebu no
And I keep crying out ‘I love you’ in silence

お決まりの台詞なぞるだけの　
Okimari no seifu na zoru dake no
Like some old saying

遊びのような恋には向いてない昔から　
Asobi no youna koi ni wa mukai te nai mukashi kara
We’re yet to play the game of love from the old days

誰一人傷つけない恋を人は愛と呼ぶけれど　
Dare hitori kizutsukenai koi o hito wa ai to yobu keredo
People call it passion when no one is hurs

この罪を背負いながら生きてく覚悟はできてる
Kono tsumi o seoi nagara ikiteku kakugo wa dekiteru
While burdened with this sin, I was able to keep on living

部屋を出るときはさよならじゃなくて　
Heya o deru toki wa sayonara janakute
Everytime you leave the room, please don’t say ‘Good bye’

おやすみと言って欲しい　
Oyasumi to itte hoshii
I want you to say ‘Good night’ instead

終止符くらいは私に打たせて　
Shuushifu kurai wa watashi ni utasete
I was hit with the word ‘it’s over’

それが最後のわがまま　
Sore ga saigo no wagamama
That’s the last selfishness

一人きりではもうラブソングは歌えない
Hitori kiri dewa mou rabu songu wa utaenai
When I’m alone, I cannot sing any love song

もっと早く会えたらあなたと知り合えたら
Motto hayaku aetara anata to shiri aetara　
If we’ve met earlier, I’d know you more

二人の歩幅を合わせられたのに
Futari no hohaba o awaserareta noni
Though, we still have a long way to go

もっと長く会えたらあなたと向き合えたら　
Motto nagaku aetara anata to muki aetara
If I could see you longer, if I could face you

二人は心も重ねてた
Futari wa kokoro mo kasaneteta
Our hearts would be pilled up

キスをするたびに目を閉じてるのは　
Kisu o suru tabini me o tojiteru no wa
Every time we kiss, I close my eyes

明日を見たくないから　
Ashita o mitakunaikara
Not wanting to see tomorrow

抱きしめられると　
Dakishimerareruto
Just by holding me

ときめく心はあなたをまだ信じてる　
Tokimeku kokoro wa anata o mada shinjiteru
My throbbing heart will be ale to believe you again

声に出さないまま愛してる
Koe ni dasaai mama aishiteru
And I keep crying out ‘I love you’ in silence

僕は弱いねと自分から告げた
Boku wa yowai ne to jibun kara tsugeta
You told yourself that I’m weak

ズルイ人だわあなたは
Zurui hito dawa anata wa
But you’re the cunning one

時計をはずして微笑んでくれる　
Tokei o hazushite hohoendekureru
Smiling at me

優しいひとね　あなたは
Yasashii hito ne anata wa
You’re the kind person

笑顔を崩さないで嘘を見抜きたくない
Egao o kuzusanaide uso o minukitakunai
Please don’t take my smile, I don’t want to see through your lies

Ti Amo ~ chapter 1

Ti Amo ~ chapter 2

Mr. Children ~ エソラ

2008-12-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

~Latest Mr. Children's song, thank's to the Internet, I was able to get the lyrics, translation and convert the romaji all together.

Lyrics
二足歩行してる　からっぽの生き物
ni soku hokoushiteru karappo no ikimono
Full of lies, an empty living thing unconsciously

無意識にリズムを刻んでいる
muishiki ni rizumu o kizandeiru
finds rhythm cutting through it all

フルボリュームのLRにしぼんでた夢が膨らんでいく
furuboryuumu no LR nishibondeta yume ga fukurandeiku
sound coming at full volume from the left and right inflates those
withered dreams　

君が話してたのあそこのフレーズだろ？
kimi ga hanashiteta no asoko no fureezudaro?
was it that phrase you said now?

まるで僕らのための歌のようだ
marude bokura no tame no uta no youda
it seems like it's for our song

君はどんな顔をして聴いてたの？
kimi wa donna kaooshite kiitetano?
what kind of face did you have when you heard it?

甘く切なく胸を焦がす響き
amaku setsunaku mune o kogasu hibiki
Quietly and painfully yearning for those sounds

メロディーラインが放った
merodi rain ga hanatta
The melody lane lets out

カラフルな魔法のフレーズ
karafuru na mahou no fureezu
a colorful magical phrase

輝きを撒き散らしては僕らに夢を見せる
Kagayaki o maki chirashi tewa bokura ni yume o miseru
Radiant light scatters and we can see our dreams

明日へ羽ばたくために　過去から這い出すために
ashita e hane bataku tameni kakokara haidasutameni
to flap our wings towards tomorrow and crawl out of our pasts

Oh Rock Me Baby Tonight

ほらもっとボリュームを上げるんだ
hora motto boryuumu o agerunda
hey raise the volume some more

天気予報によれば　夕方からの降水確率は上がっている
tenkiyohou ni yoreba yuugata kara no kousui kakuritsu wa agatteiru
According to the weather forecast, the chance for raining is going up this evening

でも　雨に濡れぬ場所を探すより
demo ame ni nurenu bashou o sagasuyori
but instead of looking for some wet place,

星空を信じ出かけよう
hoshisora o shinjidakakeyou
let's believe we can find a starry sky

雨に降られたら　乾いてた町が
ame ni furaretara kawaiteta machiga
the rain fell on as they dry out

滲んでキレイな光を放つ
nijinde kirei na hikari o hanatsu
bright lights shine throughout the streets

心さえ渇いてなければ　どんな景色も宝石に変わる
kokorosae kawaitenakereba donna keshiki mo houseki ni kawaru
even your heart thirsts for more, as any scene turn into a jewel

やがて音楽は鳴り止むとわかってて
yagate ongaku wa nari yamutookattete
Soon enough you'll realize that the sound of music will stop

それでも僕らは今日を踊り続けてる
soredemo bokura wa kyou o odori tsuzuketeru
but even then we'll keep on dancing today

忘れないために　記憶から消すために
wasurenaitameni kioku kara kesutameni
to never forget and keep out memories from fading
Oh Rock Me Baby Tonight

また新しいステップを踏むんだ
mata atarashii suteppu o fumunda
we still have to take the next step

メロディーラインが描いた
Merodi rain ga egaita
oo the melody lane draws a colorful and hopeful phrase

カラフルな希望のフレーム
karafuru na kibouno furemmu
raidant light scatters

輝きを撒き散らしては僕らに夢を見せる
kagayaki o maki chirashite wa bokura ni yume o miseru
and we can see our dreams

めぐり合うたびに　さよなら告げるたびに
meguri aeutabini sayonara tsugerutabini
each time we come back together and each time we say good bye

Oh Rock Me Baby Tonight

さぁ踊ろうよ　ボリュームをもっと上げるんだ
saa odorouyo boryuumu o motto agerunda
so lets dance and raise the volume a little lot more

Kat-tun ~ White X'mas

2008-12-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

Kat-tun's latest single specially for this X'mas.

Lyrics:
銀色きらめく街雨が雪に変わった
Giniro kirameku machi ame ga yuki ni kawatta
The street glittered with silver as rain becomes snow

夢色眩しい未来見てたあの日のクリスマス
Yumeiro mabushii miraimiteta anohi no CHRISTMAS
I saw the dream colored future on that day of Christmas

あなたを見て笑った聖なる夜に
Anata o mitewaratta seinaruyoru ni
I smiled at you on that sacred night

涙が溢れたね永遠に好きなのに何故
Namida ga afuretane eien ni sukinanoni naze
The tears overflowed, though I will love you forever, why?

今雪が舞い散るこの空の遠い向こうには
Ima yuki ga maichiru konosora no tooimukou niwa
Now the snow dances as they fall, and at the sky far beyond here

新しい誰かが待つ消せぬ想い抱きながら
Atarashii dareka ga matsu kesenuomoi dakinagara
Someone new is waiting, holding on to a feeling that will never fade

あの頃笑い合った何も怖くなかった
Anokoro waraiatta nanimo kowakunakatta
We smiled at each other in those days, we were not afraid of anything

あなたの優しさを傷つけたあの日のクリスマス
Anata no yasashisa wo kizutsuketa ano hi no CHRISTMAS
But I hurt your kindness, on that day of Christmas

夢とか希望探して彷徨うだけ
Yumetoka kibousagashite samayoudake
I searched for dream and hope, and I found nothing but lost

見上げた空高すぎて掴めないよ届くのに　何故
Miageta sora takasugite tsukamenaiyo todokunoni naze
The sky I look up to is too high, I cannot hold on to it even if I can reach it, Why?

今雪が舞い散るあの頃の迷わぬ気持ちは
Ima yuki ga maichiru anokoro no mayowanu kimochiwa
Now the snow dances as they fall, the unhesitating feeling of those days

新しい明日へ続く二度と戻らないストーリ
Atarashii asuhe tsuzuku nido to modoranai STORY
Continues on to a new tomorrow, a story that will never return

歩き出せば戸惑うけど手で融けた雪の花びらは
Arukidaseba tomadoukedo tedetoketayuki no hanabirawa
Even though I will wonder as I start walking, but the snowflakes that melted in my hand

またいつか巡り合って心確かめるだろう
Mata itsuka meguriatte kokoro tashikameru darou
Will comeback again someday and reassure my heart

KAT-TUN White Xmas. - kat-tun

山おんな壁おんな

2008-12-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

I suddenly remembered of this 2007 dorama when I was riding the MRT back home. It was a very fun dorama to watch. The idea of 山おんな壁おんな ('Yama Onna Kabe Onna' or 'Mountain girl, Wall girl') may not be amusing for Western culture especially those who promotes feminism because it takes mountain and wall as another way to compare how big your boobs are. However, despite being offensive and blatantly sexual harassment at the workplace hazardous moments throughout the episodes, this dorama sends a wonderful message for ladies out there that what matters is to be confident and comfortable of who you are to be successful despite of your physical appearance.
The story resolves around Megumi's life as a top sales person in the handbag department of a department store. Though appears to be confident and always on top of the game at doing her job, she actually feels very self conscious and not confident at all when it comes to her merely A-cup sized chest. And to make things worse, one fine day, the department welcomes a new transfer girl named Marie (Kyouko Fukuda) who sells handbags effortlessly and has one more asset, a very voluptuous chest (described as a G-cup in the dorama). Definitely feeling the pressure and competition, Megumi, in her own way, tries to overcome all the challenges lying ahead of her and moreover, to overcome her consciousness over her chest.
As I mentioned, this dorama is full of what we would call in reality as sexual harassment at the workplace as the male coworkers literally gawking at Marie's chest and make obvious passes on her. On top of that the dorama very often shows the flying buttons out of Marie's uniform (how convenient). Put aside the feminism issues, this dorama definitely entertaining with added romance department.
Despite being flat-chested, many guys swooned over Megumi and they don't regard her being flat-chested as a hinder and they even praise Megumi's success in her carrier as a plus point.
So girls, the moral of the story is, you just have to be confident and certainly be yourself and good things will come eventually.

Another plus point, I just found out that Matsumoto Jun are in Episode 4! So, definitely not to be missed! And to make it even better, the OST is by one of my favorite boyband, Exile.

Toki no Kakera - EXILE

Nodame Cantabile ~ All version

2008-12-17T04:41:00.001-08:00

This is the only story thus far that keeps me laughing no matter how many time I watch the anime/dorama or read the manga. Yes, it comes in all forms, manga, anime and dorama. Based on manga with the same title by Ninomiya, Tomoko, Nodame features the journey of both classical music artists if not geniuss of Noda Megumi, Nodame's long form, and Chiaki Shinichi. This totally opposite characters and personalities make a very cute pair and off course a never ending comedy.
What I love from Nodame:

The laughing sessions resulting from watching each episodes and movies. You'll definitely love all the 'Gyaboo' and 'Mukyaaa' generated from Nodame's high pitch tone. Though it looks quite abusive in the dorama but I find it's perfectly fine, in fact amusing at the same time. All the supporting character from Mine, Kuroki-kun to Masumi-chan are totally hilarious, not to mention Nodame's French duo, Tanya and Frank.
The theme is all about classical music and how to appreciate the everlasting by centuries measured music. From Mozart, Brahms, Lizt and many more intriguing pieces, Nodame shows that classical music can be kakkoii, kawaii and express many kinds of emotions. Every time a new piece comes out, it's always accompanied with narrations of the background on how the music is all about, and the history behind it, making the audiences who are mostly classical music blind like me, can relate to it at ease. Off course, the next thing we know, we're watching Nodame's view towards the music which is usually totally not in sync and hilarious and how Nodame overcomes her wall to understand the pieces so that she can play it perfectly.
The romance. This part is always in the grey area as Nodame is always chasing Chiaki and saying that she's Chiaki's wife but at the same time never acts like she actually cares about him. On the other hand, Chiaki always acts pompously that he's not Nodame's boyfriend but ends up acting like one and even demands her attention. It's always not clear on who ends up chasing who. But definitely will keep you interested on how the love for music grows to love. As Chiaki always says, he loves Nodame's music, but he never says he loves Nodame. So, it makes sense when Stressman confronts him to straighten and separate the 2 issues out.
The anime's 2nd season and the movies all features Paris. Added to our enjoyment of watching Nodame and Chiaki, we're also spoilt by the Paris beautiful landscapes and architectures. You have to watch the series to appreciate this point.
The OST! A very unique OST for the anime's 1st season, which will keep ringin in your brain for quite some time until you get over with it. The 2nd season's OST, though are also nice but unfortunately not as catchy as the previous one.

Basically, Nodame is a must watch. Period. :)

Nodame Cantabile

Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries and Almond

2008-12-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

This is my Christmas project. The tin is wrapped tightly with the wrapping paper. All from Daisho. The cookies? It's an Oatmeal cookies with Cranberries and Almond. I received some good reviews from my colleagues so that means this recipe is not bad at all. Can be improved, yes, but it needs practice and a very good instinct during baking time.
Ingredients:
125gr unsalted butter
250gr brown sugar
3gr salt
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
20gr milk
188 cake flour
8gr baking powder
4gr baking soda
156gr Quaker oats
100gr dried cranberries, chopped
25gr almond, chopped

Cream butter, sugar and salt until smooth and creamy in low speed
Pour in egg and milk at one go, and cream until blend
Pour in shifted flour, baking powder and baking soda, and also pour in oats at one go, quickly cream until well blended
Using spatula, blend in cranberries and almond until well distributed. Don't over mix.
Make small balls using tea spoon onto the baking sheet. Don't forget to layer the baking sheet with baking paper.
Bake for 10-12 minutes on 190C

Yield: about 50 medium sized cookies

蛍の光 ~ ほたるのひかり

2008-12-14T08:44:00.000-08:00

ほたるのひかり or Glow of the Fireflies in English is yet another must watch dorama from Koala's list and I finally finished watching it in 1 day marathon. The drama is based on manga under the same title by Hiura Satoru. The story is about a 27 year old OL, Amemiya Hotaru, who works at an interior design company. But Hotaru in the office is totally different from Hotaru at home. At home, she'll be lazying around on the house porch reading manga or eating snacks while drinking beer. And this off course shocks her boss, Takano Seiichi, who is separated from his wife and currently has to stay in his dad's house that is occupied by Hotaru. Their living together sparks the drama and the journey continues.
What I like about this drama:

The comedy. It's so hilarious! Hotaru's himono habits and attitude at home versus Takano's neat and very rigid house rules. And off course Takano, the Buchou, eventually becomes speechless and cleaning up the whole house. Takano calls Hotaru 'Ahomiya' is totally hilarious and the words in front of Ahomiya also constantly changing throughout the episodes. And off course the tone that Hotaru use to call Buchou always manages to crack me up.
The moral of the story. Love is about accepting people as a whole package, the good and the bad, and work it out from there. Your heart will always go to Buchou for tolerating with Hotaru's outrageous himono behaviour. And the Buchou even supports Hotaru in her love journey, which is contradict to his own feeling.
Hotaru's OL wardrobe. Though Hotaru dress only in sweatshirts and jerseys at home, her office clothes are actually very cool and professional, totally 360degrees difference. Off course her other colleagues dresses are fantastic and very nice to look at. Since the setting is summer, the fashion is so appropriate for Singapore weather.

Just nice, IMEEM has the complete OST of Hotaru No Hikari:

Hotaru no Hikari OST

たったひとつの恋

2008-12-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

Another old dorama (released in 2006) from Koala's watch list. Finally just finish this dorama after a long dorama marathon.

たったひとつの恋 or 'Just One Love' is a young love story between Kanzaki Hiroto, a poor boy from a complicated background, and Tsukioka Nao, an ojou-chan (princess) of Star Jewelry. Coincidence or faith allowed them to meet and fall in love, and together they overcome the difficulties and complexity of their love.

You may find the first episode not really addictive because of Hiroto's attitude and the storyline leaving lots of gaps. But as you go along to episode 2 and 3, Hiroto starts to open his heart to Nao and you will find this cute couple is totally adorable. Nao being straight forward with her feelings to Hiroto, while Hiroto himself, once he's certain of his feeling, he really clings to it. No matter how long time has passed (there you go, a hint of spoiler). On top of that, they have friends that are always be there for each other through ups and downs.

What I like about this dorama:

Hiroto! Hiroto is played by Kame from boy band, Kat-tun. I saw lots of his dorama and I like his acting in this drama as one of his best. He portrayed lots of different emotions and expressions on Hiroto. Happy, despair, troubled all combined into 1 Hiroto. One of my favorite Kame's moments is when Hiroto was confronted by Nao's dad because of his mom. I almost grabbed some tissues watching his expression. Another sad moment is when Kame holding the crying Nao's hand on the boat. The anger, frustration, love and sadness are portrayed just nice to be a total tear-jerker moment.
Nao! Ayase Haruka plays Nao. In here, her role is totally different from Hotaru in Hotaru no Hikari (yet another great dorama that I haven't finished watching). Nao is portrayed as a naive and straight forward rich girl but she doesn't discriminate people based on material, though initially it looks like she did. Her character develops progressively to be a stronger and independent girl. I like Nao's character in the end. While the ojouchan attitude still appears sometimes, but that becomes her cute factor and her whole attitude matures too.
Yokohama! The settings, the scenery, you will want to go to Yokohama. Absolutely gorgeous. You'll wonder if Japanese Tourism Board has something to do with it. Even Hiroto's small factory can look so captivating amidst Yokohama scenery. Another wow factor.
Hiraoka Yuuta is in here too as Ayuta, Hiroto's best friend. His role in here is not as significant compare to Yuuki sensei in First Kiss. But, he do play an important role for Hiroto and Nao's relationship.
The fashion is all ultra cute and nice. I always like winter fashion the best and it's proven from this dorama. Nao and Yuka's boots, coats, bags are perfect! And amazingly, a perfect hair for all occassions. Whether Nao's in hospital, school, festival, beach, her hair is totally in perfect shape and style.
Storyline. Off course, good drama must have good storyline. I like how they play out lots of current issues in our society. First, Nao and Hiroto coming from totally different background and social class. Conflict of whether to cling on the love or face the harsh reality of life haunt Hiroto throughout the whole dorama. Then, family comes in the picture. Can you give up your family for anything? No matter how badly your family is, it's still your family, and Hiroto's decision of not giving it up is probably what most people will do. Another next issue is money. In here we see, how money can destroy people's relationship and how money can hurt you. Other issues like how youngsters plan their future, what are they dream and what are their attitudes toward their goal in life,

And off course, with 2 Kat-tun members in the dorama, it would be very fitting that the OST is also from Kat-tun. So here's the PV of 'Bokura no Machi de'

My First CPA Distinction

2008-12-12T06:07:00.000-08:00

Finally after a very long wait (seems like an eternity to me), I can login to view my CPA result. And, it's a DISINCTION! Yes, a Distinction and I only take 2 days leave on top of weekend forced studying. Does this mean I'm still studious? Or does it mean I'm just lucky? But, anyway, I'm just excited and happy about my results. It motivates me to take the next dry subject of CPA, Corporate Governance. It's still Accounting Framework, but with the addition of lots of cases.
I did read the evaluation report and apparantly I scored quite high on my case studies questions, which means my essays are not bad at all. Is this another side effect of blogging? If it is, you'll be seeing more and more lengthy but off course hopefully not boring postings. Moreover, I'll try to post more argumentative postings. But, what's to argue? It's not easy to find some topic that you can argue objectively while giving any insightful input at the same time. Usually, what it starts with arguement will soon turn into yet another bitching session. I have yet to mastered the art of sophisticated bitching, but hopefully I'm getting there.
So, tonight I will watch my Nodame with a very cheery heart. Cheers!

Salad 101

2008-12-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

Do you know that with the same batch of ingredients that you buy at the same from the supermarket, you can make 1001 salad menu? I do realize this now and am add a nodding agreement why restaurants can come out with 1001 different salad menu based on the same thing.
My main batch of items bought are:
1. Some greenies. You have a wide selection in this category:

Celery - they are very cheap, but it's an acquired taste to eat it raw and everyday, so you have to think about the consequences when you decide to pick this.
Lettuce - examples are iceberg lettuce (very easily rotten, and that's why it's the cheapest above all and only contain water with no fibre), butter head lettuce (second cheapest option with more visible darker green colour and more flavour), romaine lettuce (love this one, but surprisingly it's highly priced in Singapore).
Cabbage - you'll find this a nice change when you're doing Asian salad because Asian salad includes gado-gado (boiled) and kredok (raw) off course and off course the red color one is more suitable for Western style salad.
Arugula leave - you'll find this most often at the organic section (have no idea why this leave is so expensive), but do mindful if you want to make this as your main greenies as it tastes bitter with onion-y after taste. But it does go well with fruits and nuts.
Baby Spinach - I don't recommend cheap spinach because they have more iron taste. Unless you're in a vampire mode, you can opt for this.

2. Beans/nuts/sprouts - I don't like to suffer eating green salad, so my salad must have something from this category. And this category will make your salad bowl pretty and edible.

Tofu - the cheapest above all and meet the nutritious chart too. I like hyakko tofu as you can just pop it out of the box, wash, cut and throw to your bowl. For other type of tofu, you can vary it by bake it with sprinkle of sesame oil and cilantro.
Pine nuts - my favorite nuts. It has high fat content so do use it wisely.
Chick peas - they usually come in cans. It's filling and starchy and goes well for east or west style salad.
Alfalfa sprouts - although this is not in my top list due to the smell but i find it nice to eat especially if you use liquid dressing as it holds the dressing when you fork it out from the bowl.
Soy bean sprouts - I like this as a topping but you need to process it first. First, blanch it then wash it with cool water to stop it from cooking and strained (must be as dry as possible). Then, mix it with sesame oil, sugar and salt to your taste. And if you have some kimchi mix on hand, it won't hurt to throw that in too.

3. Fruits - This is my favorite because they add color to your plain salad bowl with no unnecessary taste (bell pepper is OK but can't use it too much and will end up go to the dust bin).

Oranges/Grapefruits - Full of vitamin C and fibre. They add flavour and juices to your salad. And they're good for packed lunches because they don't change color.
Apples/Pears - They're good for eating at home salad and must eat immediately. You wouldn't want to eat brownish color apple salad right? Pear is a nice combination with Arugula leaves.
Dried fruits (eg. Cranberries) - they're good substitutes for nuts but off course with different texture and taste

4. Meats - I'm a meat person so my salad will forever have this category.

Chicken - breast meat if you want to have it grilled or just simply minced chicken turned to patties
Fish - baked fish is a nice topping for your salad. I like to marinate them in orange juice and cayenne pepper
Ham - it's expensive but once in a while it's OK to splurge on what you eat right? Always been a honey baked ham girl, I rarely take any smoked ham.
Flanked steak/Roasted beef - Not recommended for your everyday salad as it's expensive and troublesome to make. But off course it's a nice combination to have.
Eggs - The cheapest meat substitute. It never fails in any salad style. Do try it in egg mayo, pouched egg, or just sliced hardboiled egg.

My ideal kind of salad must have 1 item out of the 4 categories, so when I do groceries there always be 1 greenies, 2 nuts/beans/sprouts, 2 fruits and 1 meat. And you can have at least 5 varieties of salad to play with for the rest of your weekday.

One example of my salad:

2 stalk celeries, thinly sliced

1/2 packed tofu, baked

2 oranges, peeled and cubed

2 small chicken patties, cubed

Dressing: tsuyu sauce (you can buy any soba/somen sauce, any Japanese tsuyu based salad dressing is a treat). They're low fat and no oil (at least it's not visible, if any).

So, salad anyone?

Tactics

2008-12-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Found this great anime on animeseason.com. It's an old anime released in 2005 (yeah pretty old in deed). Never seen thie before in any of the website so means that probably the license just wearing off (good news for us, yey!).
So what Tactics is all about that makes me rave about it. Off course it's yet another youkai-theme anime. I'm just a sucker for any youkai/vampire/demon (akuma) theme with lots of bishounen in it. Bishounen is a must factor. That's why I never watch those shounen anime though some of them are quite good (The Hellshing Ultimate may be an exception but that will be another different posting).
Second, the synopsis is rather interesting. Kantaro, the priest, was bullied when he was little because he could see youkais (demons) and befriended them. His demon friends told him that to be strong he could unsealed Tengu (the human eating youkai which is stronger than demon). So, since then he's determined to find Tengu, which he did on one of his exorcising mission. And then the journey starts.
Off course like any other Japanese animes. The story will not be that simple-minded. The main character must have some screw up past that will eventually haunt them back in later episodes. For example, in Epi 2, the plot starts to reveal that Kantaro will have chest pain every time a strong youkai is nearby (it was also hinted in Epi 1). But in Epi 2, it adds another clue that it was due to a scar. Now, I haven't watch Epi 3 yet, and that clue definitely will let the audience wonder, won't it? What kind of scar is that? When did he get it? What will happen because of that? And this is what's great about Japanese anime and what makes us be couch potato gawking at our home screen.
Definitely a good choice for past time for waiting the next episode of Kuroshitsuji and Gundam00, which should come out soon.

Arashi ~ One Love

2008-12-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

One Love - ARASHI

伝えたくて伝わらなくて
時には素直になれずに
泣いた季節を越えた僕らは
今とても輝いてるよ

それぞれ描く幸せの形は
重なり今大きな愛になる
すっと二人で生きてゆこう

100年先も愛を誓うよ
君は僕の全てさ
信じているただ信じてる
同じ時を刻む人へ

どんな君もどんな僕でも
ひとつひとつが愛しい
君がいれば何もいらない
きっと幸せにするから

雨の中で君を待ってた
優しさの意味さえ知らず
すれ違いに傷ついた夜
それでもここまで来たんだ

かけがえのない出会いは
奇跡をつないでく
思い出重なり合う
始まりの歌鳴り響いて

どんな時も支えてくれた
笑い泣いた仲間へ
心をこめてただひとつだけ
送る言葉は「ありがとう」

100年先の愛を誓うよ
君は僕の全てさ
愛しているただ愛してる
同じ明日約束しよう

世界中にただ１人だけ
僕は君を選んだ
君といればどんな未来も
ずっと輝いているから

TRANSLATION
There were times when we wanted to say something, but couldn’t
And times when we couldn’t be honest
We’ve overcome those tearful seasons
And now we’re shining so bright
The images of happiness we’ve each painted are overlapping
To become one great loveLet’s live together always
Even a hundred years from now, I’ll swear my love
You’re my everything
Believing in you, just believing in you
The one I’ll share the same times with
No matter what you are, no matter what I am
Every part of it is precious to me
As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else
I know we’ll be happy
I waited for you in the rain
Not even knowing the meaning of kindness
That night when a misunderstanding caused us pain
But still, we’ve made it this far
One invaluable encounter set off a chain of miracles, our memories build upon each other
And the song of a new beginning echoes
To the friends who laughed and cried
And supported us, no matter what happened
The one thing I can say to you now,
From the bottom of my heart, is "thank you"
Even a hundred years from now, I’ll swear my love
You’re my everything
Loving you, just loving you
Let’s make a promise in the tomorrow we’ll share
You’re the one and only person I chose
In this whole world
As long as I have you, any future I have
Will always be shining
La la la…
All Materials from: http://gollydays.wordpress.com

Hana Yori Dango Final ~ Movie

2008-12-04T07:57:00.001-08:00

Finally finish watching Hana Yori Dango Final movie from myshoju.com. Basically this movie is the sequel of Hana Yori Dango 2 where it ended with Tsukasa proposed to Makino in the school basketball court. And now the whole country was in uproar with the marriage news and Makino became an instant celebrity. 2 weeks before the wedding, Makino was entrusted with Doumyouji's family heirloom which was a tiara called 'The Smile of Venus'. But on the night at the hotel, the tiara was stolen by an unknown thief. Then Tsukasa and Makino's journey started to get back the tiara.
The movie itself? Overall it's a so so, but definitely an absolute Hana Yori Dango fan service. Especially for Jun Matsumoto's fans because the movie really only focuses on Tsukasa and Makino, the rest of the F4 appear for a filler only. The story line was excited in the beginning when Tsukasa and Makino travel to Las Vegas and then to Hong Kong, but after Hong Kong, it becomes pretty much predictable. But off course who wouldn't gawk at Makino's wedding dress (I told you it's predictable, so this is not considered to be a spoiler). And, Jun is handsome either in suit or in rag (I'm sure Koala will agree to this).
Some memorable moments: When TV publish the picture of Makino eating nooddle and when Makino confronted the reason with Tsukasa. His reply is totally hillarious and that's what we love from Tsukasa.

OST? Off course, it's done by Arashi like the previous installments. This time the title is 'One Love'. Below is the PV of One Love from Youtube. Off course, I like the song, just like the rest of Arashi's.

OLIVIA ~ Trinka Trika

2008-12-01T06:04:00.000-08:00

Music by Jeffry Lufkin

No one is around
Your making it all up
It's time to disarm yourself
Because when you are free
And act naturally
Something begins to happen

Slowly I see you
Wake out of a very serious snooz'in
Right eye, left eye
I feel like on the verge of a big surprise

I'm feeling trinka trinka
It's really happening
My heart is beating steady
But I want to scream!
Internal carousel cues an upright rainbow
Sending out a friendly glimmer

I'm feeling trinka trinka
It's really happening
My heart is beating steady
But I want to scream!
Calling out on a big shift
It knows we are laughing
Together we laugh

This space is open
You're creating in it
I know when you're doing it with joy
Because it has a shine
That no words can explain
It reaches out and touches me

In your rhythm
Some may not understand what you are doing
Oh! behave! now
All of a sudden anything seems possible

I'm feeling trinka trinka
It's really happening
My heart is beating steady
But I want to scream!
Possibilities inspiration galore
Inhale and exhale at the same time

I'm feeling trinka trinka
It's really happening
My heart is beating steady
But I want to scream!
Look what is found
So much to discover
It's never over

First Kiss

2008-11-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

It's an old drama (yes, 2007 release is considered old already), but I just finished watching it (finally). At first I didn't really into this drama after watching the first episode because I got too irritated with Mio (the main heroine) for her selfish brat act. But, one Melbourne deary was a fan of it, keep ranting about the drama on her daily emails especially on Yuuki sensei (yes, I have to admit it, he's very cute and adorable). So, there I was, getting addicted to this drama and finished it this weekend as part of my JLPT learning (yeah right, *smirk*).

First Kiss is about Fukunaga Mio who decides to spend her possibly last summer with her brother, Kazuki, before she undergoes a 50-50 chance of survival heart surgery. This came to surprise to Kazuki who hasn't seen Mio for about 10 years and finds how different she is from his imagination. The Mio now is so hateful with bitchy attitude (the reason why I stop watching the drama). But as the drama moving on, Mio finds love and happiness and change her whole attitude towards life and doesn't want to let go.

Overall, it's a touching drama after enduring the first 3 episodes of bitchy Mio. But, other than Mio, Yuuki sensei will be another reason why we ladies pass our endurance test of watching drama. He portrays a young doctor who is considered by his bosses to 'care too much for the patients' and in the end as a character who will fight for his feelings and doesn't want to let it go just because of his career **ooo so touching**.
FYI, the girl plays Mio is Inoue Mao from Hana Yori Dango and Yuuki sensei is Hiraoka Yuuta from Gokusen (no wonder looks familiar) and Proposal Daisakusen (another must watch drama).

Another point why this drama can be so touching is the OST. They play the OST from string to piano version during the tear jerker scenes and original version during the happy moments and it fits nicely. For me, the OST stucks in my head and now my brain keeps rerunning the tunes which is why I have it on the imeem (alas, I only can find the music box version) on the top and the youtube file below.

Chicken Patties and Orange Salad

2008-11-28T06:32:00.001-08:00

Still commemorating the salad week, now I start venturing other alternative for greenies because as our logic says, eating greenies for 1 straight week can be sickening if you're not a vegetarian. So, with that in mind, there I was, yesterday at Carefour's fresh produce section, pondering for almost 1 hour, practically memorizing all the price combination. FYI, now I can tell you how much is the minced chicken per kg compare to the filleted chicken breast (it's more expensive, btw). Or, how much is the towan fish compare to Cod fish, and start to calculate how much 1 bowl of salad will cost you after all the combination is calculated. Surprisingly you don't need excel spreadsheet to forecast how much you'll spend for 1 week salad combination. And even more amazing, I can memorize all these price tags with just one glance but can't even remember people's names that I just meet.

So during my venture with my brain keep working on combination and possibilities, one item hit me in the head, Orange! Why didn't I think of it before? It's CHEAP (cheaper than those greenies definitely), full of Vitamin C, and good for your skin, and it has flavor. So here is the next salad recipe.

2 small chicken patties, diced (recipe below)

2 oranges, peeled and diced

1/4 can chick peas (obviously what's left over from my previous salad experiment)

Dressing: Heinz Light Salad dressing (this time I'm too lazy to make my own dressing), max 2 tbsp

Alternative dressing: Honey mayo (mix mayo and honey with a dash of lemon pepper)

Assemble: Throw everything into a bowl and mix well

Recipe for chicken patties
500gr minced chicken

1 packet cilantro or Thai parley

zest of 2 oranges, thinly sliced and chopped

3 tbsp corn flour

Seasoning: lots of lemon pepper

1. Set oven to 200C

2. Mix all ingredients and seasoning well in a bowl. Make sure all the corn flour is well incorporated

3. Align baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease it with cooking spray. Using 2 spoons make huge chicken balls, lay it on the foil and flatten it. Repeat the step.

4. Spray the top of patties with the cooking spray and bake it for about 15 minutes or until it's well done.

Salad tips (yep, another one :p)

1. Do mix and match your greenies with fruit. It's fun. And it adds color to your bowl :). Try fruits like apple, pear, all kind of berries. melons (cantaloupes will be nice). Even the nasty watermelons are worth trying (I don't eat watermelons).

2. Never store fruits together with your greenies. While greenies can be prepared the night before, fruits will be the other way around. The best it to always cut them only when you want to eat them. But off course for busy bees that will be very tough, but you still want to eat fruits. So, the solution is buy an airtight container. Off course this container doesn't apply for fruits like apples, bananas, pears and the likes, which leads to point #3.

3. Soak cut apples/pears with salt water for about 1/2 hour and rinse them before storage. But this old school method won't last your fruits in their cheeky clean feeling color for that long too. Definitely not 24 hours. So fresh cut is still the best. Do allow 10 minutes of cutting fruits in your schedule when preparing salad for your lunches.

4. Add more protein to your bowl. Nuts and peas will be good. I initially want to use pine nuts instead of chick peas. But to my dismay, I can't find any pine nuts. I do find some sunflower seeds in the organic aisle. But why do I want kuaci on my salad? And pay a hefty price to buy it just because it's ORGANIC? So As usual, i try to find cheaper alternatives, and I remember Rachel Ray very often mentions to store chick peas can in your kitchen, it'll come in handy. Thanks Rachel.

5. Fresh fruits give you hassle because you have to cut it? You can have dried food instead. They sell from dried cranberries, blueberries, strawberries (surprised?), cherries, pineapples, apricots. mangoes, orange skins and even now durian is dried. But off course when fruit is dried, their sugar content is also higher than when they're fresh, so you might want to limit the usage.

Butterhead Lettuce Salad with Chick Peas and Balsamic Vinaigrette

2008-11-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

It turns out that living healthy in Singapore is not cheap, folks. It seems like anything green and related to 'ang moh' eg. lettuces and the gang are priced like a gold in here. With a 5SGD bill, guess what you get, just 2 cute bouquet of red and green crispy lettuces, or a very, very slim romaine lettuce. I have to carefully reading all the descriptions on the price tags hanging above those lettuces. And I don't even bothered to go beyond lettuce. If the main salad ingredients are priced like this, it'll be more horrifying to see what's the price for the topping. This makes me miss US, where lettuce are abundant and very much bigger and cheaper.

So with this in mind, I have to be smarter and more creative in what I should throw to my salad bowl, or I'll spend equally like if I buy any salad from a bistro.

After mix and match, here is a new recipe that at least still fits in my budget.

1 pack of butter head lettuce (consists of 2 cute bouquet, just nice for 4 portion), cut to bite size

2 red bell pepper, diced thinly

1 can chick peas, washed and strained

4 eggs, hard boiled, sliced

Vinaigrette: 100ml balsamic vinegar, 50ml olive oil, lemon pepper to your taste, marjoram to your taste, mixed

Assemble:

1. On the bottom place lettuce, then bell pepper, top it with the chick pea and eggs

2. Drizzle the Vinaigrette for finish, 3 tbsp is enough

Storage tips:

1. All ingredients MUST be dry before go into the fridge. With that said, it means that everything must be strained to the last drop of water. Lettuce is the most particular. You'll get a rotten lettuce if you store it wet inside a Tupperware. One way to avoid this is to put 1 layer of strainer inside your Tupperware. This way, at least the water stick to your lettuce will be slowly go down.

2. Separate all the leavies and greenies separate. Mixing them up will cause them to rotten faster. It's the same principle when you see pre-packed salad bowl in supermarkets. They separate your dressings, croutons and greenies, so that it lasts long.

3. Greenies should not be stored more than 3 days, unless you like to have your greenies with dry and red colored ends. I'm very particular about this and that's why I'm so fussy about storage.

4. Eggs should be stored in whole, not cut. Only cut when you want to eat it.

Salad Week

2008-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

I finally reach to my limit of MSG intake and declare a lost and 'enough with the freaking MSG.' That means, no more mee siam, no more freaking economical rice, and no more ANY hawker food. I just recently realize that even the freaking Japanese restaurant use MSG. They don't call it Ajinomoto for no reason, folks. But this declaration means another thing, I must be diligent to stay in the kitchen after work which can be quite dreading. The laziness always sink into your head when you got back from the gym or worse, work, at around 9pm plus and you still have to think of what to cook. That can't do anymore.
Starting today I'll start a healthy diet for my recently poor nourished body. Today I had my lunch with a bowl of green salad and a bagel, and turn out it's not that bad. The bagel surely help to keep me from starving, after all 1 bagel = 300 Cal. So tonight I whipped myself a tuna mayo salad w/ some greenies. And I still have 2 portion left for tomorrow.
What I can hope for is that this diet lasts more than 1 week, or another saying is that my will and determination lasts for more than 1 week. I think that's good enough for me. 1 week with no MSG should at least lift some of my discomfort. So some support is needed to get through the first week :). If you see me eating greenies stuff, don't assume that I have cross over to the vegetarian lala land, I'm just trying to eat something healthier for a change.

Sunday's blues?

2008-11-23T05:47:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, people can have a Sunday blues, but why, you might ask. Off course if you think tomorrow is Monday and you have to move your butt early in the morning to work, you'll have a Sunday blues. And this phenomenon is start sinking into my head now. I have 2 full-charged with electromagnetic vibes laptops in front of me. One for work and one for personal usage. Off course the thought of switching to my work laptop is very dreading. And the dilemma starts to kick in too. The train of thoughts of should I do it now, or should I do it tomorrow, flows in an alarming rate. Bubbles of plans for what priority items to do swarming, clouding the brain cells that was empty during the weekend. But to no avail, I still need to do something about work tonight or else, tomorrow will be another chaotic day. Sigh... I guess this is what it feels like having yourself in the working class.

Motherleaf

2008-11-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

I came across this Japanese blog (click here to check it out, it's pretty interesting, especially for fellow foodies like me) when I was browsing for pasta on Japanese Google. The blog features Motherleaf, one of the many Japanese cafe chains. Then, I proceed to Motherleaf's website, who would not be after looking at those tempting waffles and pasta glaring at you seduce you to eat them? So click here to symphatize with me. I'm still full with my Shokudo pasta, but after seeing these, my appetite revived and I do wonder why I'm getting rounder and rounder...
On the link above, you'll find that luscious waffle with topping that I've never seen in Singapore. It gives a new meaning to waffles. You'll want it for all yourself, no sharing is allowed! Got to give a hands up for Ruru, the blogger, her blog made my blog so plain and she knows where to go for good food. But then again, it's Japan, where tons of good food is up for grabs in front of your eyes, whereas in here you have to scrap and analyze the not so honest or rather exaggerating food reviews.

Shokudo Pasta

2008-11-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

Today was another extreme makan sessions for me. After a full set lunch of black curry rice from Sun Dining at Chimes, I still have another round of pasta at Shokudo. I came to know this pasta join after having lunch with my department on some blue moons ago. Singapore do have a very limited Japanese pasta, let alone a good one! Off course it still can't beat the small smokey joint of St George in Seattle (heard that the place got bigger and smoke-free now, what a big difference from my time). But then again, after my second experience of eating pasta there, I still say that Shokudo is still better than Waraku in terms of value and quality. It left me with the impression that only go to Waraku when it's ladies' night, meaning 50% off the menu.
I had their basil sauce last time, which was nice, and this time I was lured by the wobbly poached egg over the creamy asparagus and hottate pasta. Off course, we also have to order the thin crust pizza as my deary may not have this kind of foot once she steps on the land of koalas next week. For our pasta, we had the option to choose either spaghetti or penne, but we'd rather stick with the original. I was a bit disappointed when my pasta came because the poached egg was rather runny than sit still on top of my pasta, thus looked uglier than the cute picture on the menu. But that negative feeling was swept away when the pasta went to my mouth. I'm usually take a step back when I encounter a creamy based pasta because it's so sinful and fattening. But this time I was so curious that I stepped out of my comfort zone. And it turned out not a wrong decision. The cream was lighter than I expected and I managed to finish my pasta and didn't feel so lethargic thereafter. It turned out that asparagus with hottate can make a good combination of pasta, thus another new point of learning here, too.
And off course what farewell dinner that doesn't end up with dessert. And this is another reason why I dragged my friend to Shokudo. I know my friend is an ice cream lover, and Shokudo may be the 'it' place when it comes to ice cream. Ice cream normally was not my forte as my teeth normally can't sustain the icy cold sensation creeping from my teeth nerves. But, when it comes to Shokudo's strawberry ice cream, I'd say, to hell with my sensitive teeth. And true enough my friend's black sesame ice cream screamed the same thing to her.
So all in all, I was satisfied with my food in Shokudo, while feeling guilty now as the fat start to sink on my stomach as I'm sitting on the couch now. But, as a foodie always say, We live to eat, not eat to live. So might as well enjoy it!

The Listings Starts Again....

2008-11-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

Time sure flies too fast! By the time you realize it, Christmas chorus has started to chirp from every corners from malls to even my office's lobby. Then it hits you, year end is coming, and what have I done this year? I'm still busy in chaotic mode especially with the coming Quarter end and with all the forecasting, checklists and recons to be submitted in timely if not urgently manners. All of these will keep me as a buzzing busy bee until the end of the year. But, what's next? What's the plan for next year? Surely as we grow older and with all the recessions looming around, planning becomes more and more crucial for next year.
So, I start to carve my own to-do list for next year, and apparently my list is getting longer and longer, and it looks like I'm going to be a busy bee too next year. Some of my must-do items in 2009 are:

Housing related ~ Pay property tax, pay TV license (totally forget that Singapore also do have TV license) and the bills are already laying on my table screamin at you 'Please pay!' Also, I have to renew my house loan, which means I have to do another loan shopping, calling all those banks, asking what's the rate and package that they're offering. Hopefully I'll lock in a lower interest rate thus lowering my payout amount.
Immigration related ~ Renew my Singapore PR (yes! this is very important), renew my passport (though I rant and rant on it, I still have to do it), apply for US visa (another ranting but I still have to do it too, which much sighing)
Further education related ~ Still stuck with CPA, and 2009 is full with dry subjects, ugh... so it'll be another saga to study read those materials
Holiday related ~ in correlation to the immigration item, yep! I'm planning to go US in 2009. The will is firm that I must go US next year though, I still don't know what I'm going to do when I get there, but the point is, I have to get to US first, right? Have asked my boss for future off days and got an OK already, so I'm left with the visa.
Fun related ~ OK, for this section, let me see. Hmm... With my current job, although I'm busy and work can be very hectic and stressful, surprisingly, I have more time at night than I'd ever before! So I've always been thinking that may be it's time for me to do other things that I like. Everybody knows I like food. So baking school is a top option. I've been eyeing to go for the UK City Guild 1-year certification, but I got put off before because of my master. But now as I'm taking CPA, it's a self study at your own pace, so it actually allows me to have more time on the weekdays to do other things and leave the studying to weekend section (this is the beauty of being single, you don't need to squeeze anything on weekend, just leisurely let the time pass through and do what you deem to be fit for the moment). A second option is language. I've been studying foreign language forever, but never move beyond the beginner level. I've tried and learned Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and even try to pick up French (but this one is a total failure). So, may be 2009 is time for me to further my language skill? That will be left to see.

So with that being said, I do have lots of things going on for me next year. Now comes the punching line, will I end up doing it in 2009? Or I will end up caving in again. You can list lots of things, but when it come to the doing it part, you'll end up in the spot that screaming the cliche, do I actually got the time for this? Can I afford to do this with so little time? Or just simply the worst, I don't have time for this. So, if you see me struggling to pass through next year, please give me a pad on my back because believe it or not, this girl really need it from time to time.

Mr. Children

2008-11-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

Mr. Children is my first encounter with J-Rock, and I like J-Rock music since then. At that time, I didn't even know the term J-Rock, and even before I know J-Pop (I was one of the dorky kids whose house didn't have satellites). I just like the songs from this particular album that my brother bought in Singapore. That first song that made me a fan of Mr. Children is 'Dakishimetai.' The song is about loving someone by being there through adversity.
Included in the playlist also their latest single, 'Hanabi,' released on Sep 2008.

What I like about Mr Children is that their music is always different in terms of arrangement in each singles. Their theme and subject is also different from time to time. Something that rarely found in Johnny's Jr band. But the downside is that this irregularity results in not all Mr Children is easy on the ear. So, I end up skipping the songs that I don't really fond of when I play Mr Children's album. The good thing is that Mr Children compilation album is literally compilation, unlike V6, which tends to scatter their songs all over their singles and albums. Also, most of Mr Children's song was written by the lead vocal, Kazutoshi Sakurai. Though their music style differs from time to time, one thing that making it easy to recognize is Sakurai's vocal. I can easily tell Mr Children's song when it's aired on the radio, though I might not have heard it before or it's been long forgotten.

Dance with The Wind

2008-11-14T10:49:00.001-08:00

Another ballroom dance theme movie. And this time it's the Korean who made it. However, unlike its predecessors, Dance with The Wind tells a different storyline but with the same passion, the passion for dance.
In Korea, apparently ballroom dancing, unlike the Western counterparts, is identified as the dance that people do in bars which is involving naughty housewives and gigolos. So, it's a bit difficult for a man who really genuinely have the love to dance to express his passion, and he most of the time was being misunderstood as a gigolo, which he very much despised. The story ends with a heartwarming ending, and his search for

the dance that he's been wanting to have finally ended. This movie will leave you to ponder how far will you willing to go to pursue your passion, which in this case was done quite extreme.

Speaking of ballroom dancing theme movies, the hype was actually started by the Japanese with the title 'Shall We Dance?' which was released in 1996. The movie tells a story of how a man's life change after he discover the ballroom dancing. The boring life of salary man, which full of routine activities between work and family, makes him wonder of what's the meaning of his life. And he discover it with ballroom dancing. In Japan, where ballroom dancing is not really perceived as a man's sport, people are quite reluctant to admit to expressing themselves through this type of dancing. So the breakthrough that the main character have with ballroom dancing certainly emphasis the 'dare to be different' to obtain his own happiness. After all, everybody has the right to express their passions, as long as it doesn't hurt other people, off course.

So, with the success story of the Japanese counterpart, off course Hollywood would want to join the wagon. Thus, they make the remake (they're seems to be good at it now) in 2004 with the same movie title. Hollywood is not Hollywood if they don't throw in the big stars name in a remake movie. So they cast in Richard Gere as the salary man and Jennifer Lopez as the dance instructor. Although it's also a good movie, something is missing when you compare it with the Japanese version. My guess is because in Western culture, ballroom dancing is not a 'taboo'. People embrace dancing and the American salary man here doesn't have so much dilemma about his passion as what the Japanese salary man has.

In the end, it's all a good movies with the same message, pursuing your passion is liberating and give you the new meaning of life. What's better than enjoying life doing something you like?

Baby Products

2008-11-13T06:47:00.001-08:00

Yes, folks! Today is the first time I walk around the baby-care section in the department store. Not that I'm pregnant or whatever, but today I happened to be curious with my colleage's hype mode on baby bottles. What's so complicated about buying a baby bottle that you need to ponder and stressing about? Well, obviously I'm not a mother, yet.
So, there I was loitering around clueless at the baby section and my colleages all complaining why they end up with a son, not a daughter that they can do dress-up play on. Well, I can understand them after seeing how different between a boy and a girl baby clothing section. Baby boy's clothing only occupies about 15% (?) of the baby clothing section. And Goodness, the rest is all cheeky pink. What's up with the blue is for a boy and pink is for a girl? I never understand that until now.
Now, moving on to the baby products aisle. Basically, there are 3 main brands is there, Avent, Madella, and Pigeon. And we reached to the main topic, baby bottle. I was amazed with how many products launched just for baby bottle. It seems like the marketer never run out of ideas on how to market their products. With so many shapes, so many material, so many types, no wonder today's mother are so stressed over baby products. 20 years ago, maybe 1 brand only have 1 product and a mother just happily pick a brand that she likes. But, now? She has to read all the tiny description of the product. Is the plastic material contained particular chemical (I forget what it is)? How long should I use the bottle? Do I need to buy the little bottles too, for traveling? Which teats suitable for the baby? How soon should I change the teats for the sturdier one (FYI, they have different teat for each month, so you can count how much parents have to spend just for one baby, and this is only for the bottle!!!)? As my colleagues started to discuss these questions to no exact answer, I started nauseating. The thoughts are totally out of my league.
Now, they even have baby bottle sterilizer! OMG, apparently just using soap and water is not enough anymore! How clean do you want it to be? Well, again, this is the thought of me who obviously is scared of the thought of having a baby now! It's so intimidating!
Then, moving on to the other aisle, breast pump! For guys, you may be turned off by this. Now they have manual pumps, electric pumps, and even double pumps! Then, another set of totally different discussion begins. Which pump is better? Electric or manual? Which brand? Which is better? Which one is more comfortable for the mom? *FYI, pumping is not an easy job, it's painful and tiring (see, I began to sound like an expert haha)* What happen if I use the pump of a brand that doesn't sell the baby bottles for actual usage? Is transferring the breast milk to another bottle before storage inviting germs? Again my head started to spin. And these pumps are ain't cheap. Goodness, one electric pump costs you 300SGD?
After a long mother-to-mother talk (I was out of the picture already, obviously), my other colleague, who is a mother-to-be in counting now, asked my more experience colleague, who is a mother of a cute 2-year old, about the inflatable tub. As clueless as I get, I was amazed that they have a very cute inflatable tub that can even fit in your bath tub for your baby to play. It's cute, and also costly. The cash register rings at 50SGD for that plastic tub.
So, after 1/2 hour of baby crash course and all those new information (to me, at least), I was totally in awed with the manufacturers. Their marketing strategy is splendid! They know the worries of mothers, especially in this modern era where more information and innovation creates another worries for parents. And they optimize that aspect to the point of exploit it. And, my colleagues keep remind me, 'Wait until you become a mother, then you'll join us in the worries.' I honestly don't know. We'll see what I'll be become, given a chance. What kind of mother I will be. *wink*

An Orange Pocky?

2008-11-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

Feel like having an orange milk with a stick?

Baby and Me

2008-11-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

Another story about the life of single daddy. First, it's Rain in 'Sang Do Goes Back to School' and now here is 'Baby and Me'.

Joon Su's life changed when Woo Ram was left in his shopping cart when he did some grocery for the latter party in his house to celebrate his independence against his parents. Then, the life of a young single daddy started and it ain't easy.

What I like about this movie.

1. Off course it's the cuteness. The baby is cute, Geun-seok is cute. The pair make a good laugh itself. Geun Seok's role is very different from the one in 'Doremifasolasido.' In here, he portrays a irresponsible rich kid that suddenly must face the responsibility of being a dad. I like particular his acting towards the end of the movie. All the emotional roller-coaster and his dilemma of whether he should let go of Woo Ram or just follow his heart.

2. The storyline is not at all boring. It'll give you lots of laughs. Some funny moments are when Joon Su tried to hide Woo Ram inside the locker while he were in school. Or, when Joon Su left Woo Ram inside the train while he boarded off. But a drama is not a drama without touching moments too. Along the movie, Joon Su develop a bond with Woo Ram and it's hard to let go when the bond was that strong.

3. The message behind it. Teenage pregnancy is still not accepted in the society, but this is the reality and this movie reflect this issue behind the drama and comedy. It's hard having a kid to take care off while you're yourself still a kid. Going to school is tough. Looking for a job is even tougher. And, who will provide the food for the kid? The hardship that comes with is very challenging for a 19-year old kid. Especially if you're parents are not around, then you're on your own, Dude.

Overall, a cute and heart touching movie and definitely a must watch for Geun Seok's fans.

Corn Bread

2008-11-09T02:13:00.000-08:00

Finally, the corn bread that I've been craving on just popped out from my oven. Fresh and brightly yellow, this bread is just nice eaten alone or with any of your favourite soups. And the ext catch is, it's very easy to make. The recipe itself is a no-brainer.

100 gr Cake Flour, shifted

100 gr Cornmeal, shifted

30 gr Sugar

10 gr Baking powder

4 gr Salt

1 Egg

166 gr Water

10 gr Corn syrup

60 gr Butter, melted

1/2 small can of canned whole corn, strained (I use my favorite, Green Giant)

Mix all the dry ingredients in 1 bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients in different bowl.
Pour all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients' bowl. Stir gently with spatula. Be careful not to over-mixed.
Pour in the corn, and mix well
You can pour the mix into either: 1. baking pan, or 2. 12-pc muffin pan (I use muffin pan because it's easier to portion and you don't need to cut afterwards)
Bake in 218C for 15-20 minutes

Exile

2008-11-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

This week's feature is one of my favorite Jpop boybands, Exile. Though I don't know much about the group itself, but I like their songs. The group itself looks like consists of lots of members, but actually there're only 2 vocalists, Atsushi and Takahiro. Click here for more details. Exile music style ranging from balads, R&Bs and some dance songs, and is always presented in a rather subtle way, which is very easy on the ear.

The first track of the playlist above is from their single, The Birthday ~ Ti Amo, released in Sep 2008. Their latest single is the Christmas single, but I haven't found the songs on Imeem yet. Hopefully somebody nice will upload them so I can add them on my playlist :). There're still lost other Exile songs that I like, but the list will be too long and basically I'll be clicking on most of the Exile songs on Imeem *shy*.

Reaper

2008-11-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

Been wanting to write something about this rather new series on Chanel 5 called Reaper. It's been running for just 4th episode in here. The story itself is about Sam, just turned 21 when suddenly Satan visited him and told him that his soul was sold before he was even born and now Sam must work for Satan capturing the hell's fugitives and bring them back to hell. Off course, it's presented in American way with the company of Sam's retarded buddies, Sock and Ben, and the love of his life, Andi.
But, the idea of having to hunt the Hell's fugitives and send it back to where they're belonged? It sounds familiar, hmmm... let me think.... Does Shinigami (Death God) ring a bell? Here's the complete article on wikipedia.
The idea of Shinigami has been played out in so many ways, whether it's Anime, Dorama or movies. The Shinigami term becomes very popular because of the anime Bleach, which is still airing since 2004. The idea of Shinigami in Bleach is that their duties are to protect humans and hunting down Hollow and send them back to where they belong. How come it's so similar?
So here I am, every time I watch Reaper, I keep thinking why Shinigami needed all those weird vessels to catch the bad guys. The idea may be fun for 1st season, but the possibility of it becoming boring is there when it gets to 2nd season.
Sure it has some comedy part to it. But somehow, I cannot really relate to it. You can be annoyed with Sock's continuous retarded attitudes and way of thinking. Once in a while may look funny, but continuously? It's annoying! Another part is how Also the Andi's indecisiveness of whether she want to do part time or full time college is just silly. I think it's common sense that if you're short of cash, then do part time, but if you're loaded, then do full time, take some internships or whatever. How hard can it be. It's not like you need to decide on where you leave and whether you'll marry somebody or whether to abort your pregnancy. Moreover, she's not an international student, so college is cheap!!! You just save more money, get a loan, and you'll survive.
But apart for that, I'll just keep watching for now on because there's nothing else to watch at Sunday 10.30pm besides the news.

James Bond ~ Quantum of Solace

2008-11-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

In the middle of tight and hectic deadlines, demands and under absolute pressure, I still did get to see James Bond just because I bought the ticket in advance, thanks to the online booking, and the optimistic me for hallucinating that this week will NOT be so chaotic. So there I was, sitting for 1 hour 45 minutes in the cinema nearby my office (thank God, my office is at Cityhall). I'm not saying that the Bond movie this time is bad. It's definitely entertaining and worth your ticket money but there are couple of things that don't seem to be right and here they are:

1. It looks like this time Bond is going Bourne! I mean, from the first chasing scene, fighting scene, and even the setting and shooting technics, it's all so Bourne!!! I even feel so nostalgic seeing Bond jumping up and down buildings in Haiti. And there's this particular building with the stair case that looks almost exactly the same one in the Bourne movie. And it kept me thinking, 'OMG, Hollywood really lacks of creativity.' I must admit the first fighting scene is so captivating. It was so intense and nerve-wracking. But, after the Haiti fighting scene, the nostalgic feeling starts lurking around until it ends.

2. No gadgets, no fancy cars! What on earth is going on??!! It makes it look like this Bond movie is running on a very low budget. The only techie stuffs that they have are: 1.the table and computer screen where you just swish and swoosh the data by your hand. But this is so 'Minority Report.' We've see this before. We want more, especially this is James Bond we're talking about here. 2. Bond's phone. It got a GPS locating system, and some massive search engines. But it's not so totally new as lots of phones do have wi-fi and so on now. And I bet the current Blackberry can function the same too.

What about the cars, then? The Ashton Martin that seems like was borrowed from the previous movie just lasts for about 5 minutes (?) before it gets squashed. And after a series of old and run down cars, Bond is finally driving ... a Range Rover? There must be some other more flashy SUV in the market to show off the luxury side of the secret agent life.

3. Something wrong with Bond. He doesn't sleep with the Bond girl!!! Just a force kiss with not much passion in the end is kind of an anti-climax for me. This is definitely the first time in Bond movie history. To ensure the audiences of his sexuality, Bond did sleep with a girl, but she's not the Bond girl. And to compare previous Bond movies that have numerous bed scenes, it just feels wrong.

4. Bond seems to go from a dandy to a brute. With so many killings and whackings, the violence seems to be over-bearing. In this movie, Bond seems like to do the killings. He just practically kills every opponents he meets, even M is very concern over it. It suites more to a Bourne than to a Bond. To make it more assuring of Bond try being a Bourne, the expression shown when he whacks people looks so similar to Bourne. I just can't stop comparing throughout the movie because of this. To me, it looks like Hollywood tries to lower future Bond movies budget by roughing Bond's image. For all I know, James Bond has always been associated with luxury, until now, maybe.

My takings: You should watch it in the movie just because fighting scenes always look better in a bigger screen. But other than that? Just re-watch The Bourne Ultimatum DVD will suffice. Some says that Hollywood rushed this movie to the market to capitalize on the franchise, and I have to agree with them after seeing what I think was lacking for it to be a James Bond movie. Will it be a memorable James Bond movie? I don't think so. In my opinion, Hollywood didn't do their best in making this movie. It gives you the vibe of 'Just borrow something from somewhere and throw everything together, and the movie is up on the market.' A bit of disappointment is there but at least Hollywood didn't make it to the point of not even worth watching like their version of 'My Sassy Girl.'

There'll be definitely a sequel as they don't reveal a lot of things like what organization behind Vesper's murder. I'll be definitely expecting something more and definitely more flashy. After all, it's James Bond.

Just Plain Stingy?

2008-11-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Today yet another bad day for me. Deadlines are suddenly lurking around under my neck, and stress made me even hungrier then ever. Then came lunch time. I went to this one canteen stall selling economical rice because I wanted to check out the baking shop couple doors next to it. As usual with economical rice, you get to choose which veggies to accompany your precious rice. I patiently queued thinking of, what chocolate mold the shop would have. Then came my turn to choose which veggie I would like to eat. I was served by this auntie and I got bad vibes already from this auntie. As I chose the veggies, the auntie scooped it. But when I saw the way she scooped my share of veggie, I was enraged in a big way. Here were the auntie's procedure of scooping: 1. She flattened your piece of veggie until so flat you couldn't see it anymore from the spot you stand 2. She scooped half of whatever flattened veggie of your choice which only filled up half of the small ladle that she used 3. After she put it on your plate, she put it back some of them to the pan. I was in total anguish seeing her doing that for 3 of my veggies. I tried so hard at my best ability to hold my tongue not to scream 'PLEASE LAH AUNTIE, DON"T BE SO STINGY'. I did end up blurting the whole sentence but rattled off to silent at the last word. I was such a coward. Found that it's baseless and a sure loss to be in a screaming match against a 'CINA' auntie.
Then seeing me with the very dark deep blue and black face, the auntie said to me 'What happened to you today?' with a not so nice tone, off course (what did you expect?). I was ready to shout at her at that particular moment with 'YOU, YOU, YOU were the reason that make me feel so excruciating for paying 3.5$ for tiny bitty scoops of dear veggies and 1 sunny side up egg'.
This is why I don't like CINA mentality. They think by treating customer this way they'll earn more money. Wait until there's a competitor lurking around nearby, then you'll eat your hearts out. On top of that, you also only earn bloody salary and don't even share the glory of profit for your 'lau pan' from your stinginess.
And, to make my day worse. The chocolate mold is so expensive!!! 35SGD just for 1 20-pc chocolate mold is a totally over-priced to me. So, must come out with another method of making chocolate truffle professionally but cost effective. I'm not running a bakery, let alone not a chocolatier.
I was so distressed by the time I left the shop that I went to Ateng's Bakery at Raffles Place, bought one of that chocolate cake and gulped it with no remorse. The cake was a bit too sweet to my taste so by the time I finished it, I was sugar OD and back to my work.