Overview: Fated to Love You

Just started on this new Taiwanese drama that is currently still airing.

Mandarin title: 命中注定我愛你
English Title: Fated to Love You / Sticky Note Girl

Initially had thought that this could possibly be another those lousy slap stick crap but as far as the first 5 episode that has been airing, they have proven my guess wrong. The script is pretty funny although as usual, typical Taiwanese drama like to insert some anticlimax unnecessary portions which i typically fast forward. Still, this is one of the funnier ones I have seen to date.

Ethan Ruan (as Ji Cun Xi) is a better actor than in some of the previous dramas I had seen him in and his expressions are pretty comical. There was a scene in Ep 5 where he was jealous of a "supposedly" father (priest) that was encouraging his wife and he mumbled.. "加油嘞. 加什么油？哪里加？！" had me guffawing quite a bit...

Baron (as Dylan) is probably the better looking of the two. Think most girls are crazy over him and evreyone has been complaining that his airtime is too little. While Ethan has been pretty natural, Dylan comes across as still alittle stiff at certain times, though I have to admit his smile is rather captivating and his role as the "confidente" is rather likeable and mass appealing.

Taiwanese comedy drama has a a tendency to often kill a good script with overdramatic and over the top antics and lame jokes. I really am hoping this series wont be so. Will keep watching and make my judgement later.

Overview: New Heart

This is a relatively new Korean Drama which has finished airing in Korea.

Korean Title: 뉴하트
English Title: New Heart

Synopsis
This drama focuses on the growth and sufferings of the heart surgeons who work in the thoracic surgery department.

Lee Eun Sung graduated from a newly established medical school in the provinces. He applies for a job at the hospital and has high hopes of becoming a great doctor. Nam Hye Suk graduated at top of her medical school. She is an absolute fundamentalist but starts to show her humane side once she gets to know Eun Sung.

The problem is Choi Kang Gook just became the new head of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. He believes that only doctors can save people's lives and is a genius but he is also a stubborn surgeon who does not care for hospital policies. Only Eun Sung and Hye Suk apply to work in his department. "

My reviews

I had stumbled upon this medical doctor series accidentally. Yet I was completely glued from ep 1 to 12 at one go..I couldnt stop and when I finished ep 20, it left me with a good feeling.

As far, its a pretty tight series with all the hospital politics and the schemings by the different professors to gain an edge in their professional ladder climb. I found this definitely better than the new seasons of Grey anatomy which I have stopped following as it got more and more boring. G.A should just stop overdoing and focusing on all those inter-love romance thing.

New heart basically starts with Professor Choi as an outcast (as punishment) in a remote rural hospital as he had openly disagreed and went up against his senior/ colleagues about a patient's case back (when he was in the city major hospital). By chance while being treated for wounds due to a brawl, he saved a life threatening patient. The junior doctor (Eun Sung) who almost misdiagonised the critical case witnessed Choi's act and was immensely impressed with Choi's skills. Eun Sung found himself to be inadequate that he couldnt even read an Xray properly. From there, inspired to be a thoracic surgeon and to be the best, he decided to apply for a position in the famous city hosiptal despite his low chances of being accepted. His journey begins from there.

Due to political changes and influences, Choi was being asked to returned to be a new head by the new director whose only idea is to further enhance the brandname and rid itself of "non revenue making" departments such as the thoracic department. This clashed severly with Choi's single mindedness to only save lifes at all costs without care of his peers feelings nor respect for hospital regulations. Choi's actions quickly made him a perm target for hospital politics. The ep explained Choi's behaviour briefly in that Choi had an old "score" with the medical world, which was to avenge his falsely accused father through his "godly" skills. To do so, Choi took it upon himself to perform all the difficult and "impossible" operations, offending many along the way, and whom wished and plotted for his fall from grace.

Eun Sung made it to the same famous city hospital only to be severly ostracised due to his humble and non prestigious university background. The drama focuses on his perservances and how his caring heart affected his peers around him, especially the unfeeling female colleague, Hye Suk who also happened to be his only peer in the same batch.

Much of the story revolved around the struggles of the various doctors and how they overcome the difficult situation they are often placed in. Romance is not the main essence in this series. Rather than making love the main theme, instead relationships (friendship, family ties) are weaved in and out to give viewers a sense of appreciation to the predications and sacrifices of thoarcic doctors without coming off like a preach. Towards the last few episodes, we also see how the the friendship between Eun Sung and Hye Suk slowly blossoms into something possibly more.

I love Professor Choi character. He is often in dilema, complex emotional situations and I simply love the chemistry he had with his surborinates especially with Eun Sung, that often quite have me laughing loudly. I certainly would put him to be the rock of the whole drama and without fail, the actor had brought the charactor to life vividly with ease.

While this isnt one of those tear jerking love drama, I reckon it is still a series worth your time.

K-Music: Goong/ Princess Hours OST

One of the most addictive Korean drama series to date.... Goong (Princess Hours)! Not only do I love the drama, I absolutely adore the 2 disc CD soundtrack I have gotten in HMV today. Not sure if I got the English titles correct since I bought my cd in HK - hence the cover only indicate the Cantonese title.

There are alot of good songs in there but as usual, here are some of my favorites to boot!

1. Track 01-Perhaps Love (Download)




2. Track 02- 你....我都是傻瓜 (Download)




3. Track 11- 无法触及的心 (Acoustic) (Download)

Overview: My Name is Kim Sam Soon (K)

If there is ONE, just ONE korean romantic comedy drama that you simply cannot missed out, it will have to be "My name is KIM SAM SOON". I swear it is absolutely worth watching it! Especially if u like cute guys in comedy and not portrayed as sickly sweet. If u think Daniel Henney is hot, then u can drool all over him in here too. I only knew him from "Seducing Mr Perfect" as I had watched that movie first. He is hotter in Mr Perfect but what the hell.

From the minute i slid the DVD into my player, I was smitten, addicted, glued to it and couldnt stop even if it meant staying up throughout the night without sleep! The actors are so cute to boot, and it is sooo funny I was laughing and laughing. Even when I watched it for the 12th time, I could still laugh. (ok maybe that is just me but my gfs had the same feedback)

The story goes with the lead actress Kim Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) who is a patisserie trained in Paris. On Christmas Eve, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo (Lee Kyu Han), cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. On that same night, she accidentally went into the men's restroom and met Hyun Jin Hun (Hyun Bin), a somewhat haughty fellow who didnt stop to pity her crying smeared makeup face, and went on to mock her if she was "breastfeeding" when he saw her half unbutton attire.. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant's chief baker and the two fights like cat and dog.

Because of a money loan to keep her parents house from been seized by bank, Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun's girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun's ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back, but Sam soon had already fallen for her boss! The only part which i found was unnecessary was samsoon sister bits. But that is what fast fwd button is for:)

I love the chemistry of the cast, especially the Jin Hun and sam soon. I was laughing so hard when Jin Hun started halluncinating about Sam soon with her Pig doll at his place. Totally cracked me up! Of course, the fact that he is sooo cute had me droooling quite abit. I thought he was the cutest when he didnt gel his hair towards the last few episodes but that again, is just me. Everytime my gf and I talk about him, we just shamelessly drool... haa haa haaa.

I love the sound track too by the way. That is how I discovered Clazziquai korean trio. So if u are wondering if this DVD is worth your money, I would say go for it! It is worth your penny!

Rating: 9/10 for entertainment value!

C-Music: Corner with Love (轉角*遇到愛) OST

I didnt notice this song while I was watching Taiwanese Drama - Corner with Love (轉角*遇到愛). It was only after I fell in love with this song, did i realise belatedly the connection. No wonder I keep feeling I had heard the track somewhere before... Anycase, if u are in the mood of sappy chinese love song, here's a good one for you.

我可以 - 蔡旻佑 (download)

寄没有地址的信 这样的情绪有种距离
你放着谁的歌曲 是怎样的心情
能不能说给我听 雨下得好安静
是不是你 偷偷在哭泣
幸福真的不容易
在你的背景有我爱你
我可以陪你去看星星
不用再多说明 我就要和你在一起
我不想又再一次和你分离
我多么想每一次的美丽 是因为你

寄没有地址的信 这样的情绪有种距离
你放着谁的歌曲 是怎样的心情
能不能说给我听 雨下得好安静
是不是你 偷偷在哭泣
幸福它真的不容易
在你的背景有我爱你
我可以陪你去看星星
不用再多说明 我就要和你在一起
我不想又再一次和你分离
我多么想每一次的美丽 是因为你

我可以陪你去看星星
不用再多说明 我就要和你在一起
我不想又再一次和你分离
我多么想每一次的美丽 是因为你

Movie Review: 秒速5センチメートル

Byosoku 5 centimeter by Masayoshi Yamazaki, is a Japanese Anime DVD Movie which I had bought recently. It also goes by the title : [秒速5センチメートル(Jap title)/ 秒速五厘米 (Chinese title) ]

The anime artwork was so beautifully drawn, I would think it could be said to be breathe-takingly stunning. The director left no details uncovered from the cherry trees, to the snowstorm to the reflections along the streets. Accordingly, all the visual sceneries in the anime were drawn based real sites in Japan. The creater and team went to the train stations etc and took thousand of pictures and drew them as it was. The idea was to trigger an emotional attachment, a sense of familiarity with the Japanese audience who were already familiar with the places.

The anime is of 3 short interconnected stories linked into one theme. Its plot centers mostly around lost, unrequited love & how life goes on and people drift apart- never to see each other again yet retaining cherished & precious memories of the time they had spent together.
The director, during the interview, said that the movie is named "5 Centimeters Per Second" for the speed at which cherry blossom petals fall, petals being a metaphorical representation of humans, reminiscent of the slowness of life and how people often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways.

The ending left me alittle bit sad simply because it is so real, so in tune with our own lives that your heart will understand and render to the direction of it its impending inevitable ending.

As the story unfolds, you connect with it immediately as if it was your own. You understand that meetings and partings are evidently inescapably so in our life. The stories are a lesson in themselves, that we cannot stubbornly cling on to to our past or our life will be nothing but consumed by misery (*spoiler - as seen in the story). It is important to understand that everyone around you will eventually drift apart from each other, or even forget... It's near impossible to maintain constant contact & be as close as you once were with those people - and so in the end, what you’re left with to treasure, are wonderful memories of the times you once shared together. You just have to let go. Basically, just moving on with your path.

I absolutely love the ending theme song "One more time, one more chance". It was chosen so aptly that the whole song fitted the storyline so perfectly, which was so haunting mingled with a tinge of sadness and feeling of loss...

While the song was already terrific on its own, yet I think for those who had seen the anime movie, the song sounds incredibly more moving as scenes in the last chapter flashes passed on the screen as the lead character's life condenses before us.

So to those who have reach this far down, here's the sharing with the anime as the MV.