Hot Summer K-Drama: City Hunter!

Has anyone else started on City Hunter?!! Our tall cute dashing Lee Min Ho is back, and this time as the adorable city hunter!  I like!!!!!

I almost wanted to skip past episode one so that I can get going just to see Lee Min Ho! Haha. That was how impatient I was.

I wont say its a spectacular drama but it definitely is entertaining enough for the summer. I would say it is an average script to date, with average director execution but all that has nothing to do with Min Ho. If you are familiar with HK movie of City Hunter, then you should expect something different here. I didnt read the Japanese manga for this so I am unclear what was the original plot.

Synopsis (up to episode 6)
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This Korean drama version has shifted ground zero from tokyo to localised it to Seoul instead. The story begins with Lee Minho's character's dad being a govt president body guard. They were told to infiltrate North Korea to assassinate some of the high officials but they were being betrayed at the last minute by the Seoul officials and secretly being killed off. So Minho;s dad who was already injured and feeling he was gonna die anyway decided to shield his best fren and protect him from death by sacrificing himself, not before entrusting his wife and newly born son (minho) in his fren;s care.

However, his fren who would not take this betrayal laying down decide to take matter into his own hand. Instead of caring for his best fren's wife, he stole the baby and left a note asking the wife to move on with her life and she would be better without the baby burden. Thus comes the vengeance plot where the soldier trained Minho mercilessly and relentlessly with all the fighting skills, where one day he will assist to avenge his father's death.

Minho grew up to be a sweetie pie really and not some hard core cold blooded soldier despite his upbringing. However, upon witnessing the death of his nanny-carer being shot to death before his eyes, he sought revenge and in his haste he accidentally stepped on a landmine intended for the enemies. His stepfather saved him but in the process, lost his own leg. While the stepfather was in half daze, he finally revealed the truth about minho's birth and how he must exact revenge on the people who had ordered the death of the 21 soldiers without a valid cause, except in the name of corrupt politics. He asked Minho to extract the bullet embedded in his shoulder blade and told him that was the bullet that had pierced minho's dad's heart. However, the stepfather failed to reveal the truth that Minho wasnt abandoned by his biological mother. So minho still had the notion that he was unwanted by his mum in pursuit of a better life for herself.

Once his mind was set, Minho underwent all sort of training both academic and military skills. He was successful recruited by MIT and became the youngest IT PHD holder to graduate and returned to Seoul. His first mission was to be hired by the Seoul Govt IT dept (somewhat like pentagon in the States). Then he was to find out the 4 other people who ordered the assassination on his father and his peers.

During the time there, Minho got to know Kim Nana for real (whom he already been confiding to her picture back in his Thailand hidden village. he got her pix from a guy he had saved.)

Unknowingly, he had already started to fall for her and because of his mission, Nana was also being targeted by the politicians who are digging deeper into her relationship with Minho who by know is known as the "city hunter" after exposing the first corrupt seoul high official. In trying to protect her, he decided to make excuses to move in with her in the name of renting out the apartment rent free in exchange for housekeeping and cooking meals.

Through the guy he had saved (and now serving as their cook), he found out where his mum was. From a distance, he looked on at her filled with conflicting emotions. He couldnt understand why a woman who had abandon him isnt living as well as he had thought, but instead was slaving alone managing a small cooking stall. He didnt approach her. At the same time, his step father appeared. His step father told him he might as well "go see" his mum. Minho tried by pretending to be a customer but he couldnt sit through it and left without eating the noodles she cooked after she passed a comment that "Your parents must be very proud of you to graduat from MIT at such young age." Unknown to him, his mum actually still have not given up on him and still searching for him.

His step father meanwhile had returned to Seoul because he was furious at Minho defying his instructions to kill the scumbags who ordered the death of the 21 brave soldiers and perished out in the cold sea. Minho's intention was never to kill these people though he hated them for killing his biological father. Yet Minho had wanted to return to normal life after he was done with this revenge business so if he had killed them, he knew he can never return to being the same guy he was anymore. So he explained to his stepfather that the circle of vengence will never ceased through blood shed and so the best revenge is to destroy them publicly through the legal justice and public outcry. These people will be ruined for life. However Minho's step father on the surface agreed with Minho's method but in reality, he plotting to kill these officials once Minho tracked down the masterminds who gave the order to assassinate the 21 soldiers.

Kim Nana is a simple but filial daughter who had witness the death of her mother in a car accident and having her father in coma for the past 10years in hospitals. She had lived in poverty because she was raising money to give her dad operation in hope he will wake. By chance, Minho learnt of her situation and being the tender hearted guy he was, he paid for the operation without a second word and left. Kim Nana insisted on paying him back little by little, and unknowingly, got drawn into his life.  However, due to Minho's inability to communicate with girls (as well as male ego issue) , the both of them ended up squabbling more than anything else. Minho always ended up pissing her off and constantly have to devise ways to "appease" her but was always one move too late.

Another Govt Prosecutor who was zealous about capturing all these corrupted official obviously like Kim Nana too. However the secret was that his father seemed to have something to do with Kim Nana's parent's car accident and he seemed to be trying to make up for it by being a secret penpal to Kim nana in giving her encouragement via letters.

I have watched to episode 6 and so far has rather enjoyed the drama to date. It's light hearted and its amusing to see Minho's uncertainty and self muttering when it comes to dealing with his emotions with Kim nana. The fighting scenes are certainly nothing to crow about but then again, we are talking about idol star, not action movie star so I am not expecting alot of that so its ok.

Anyone else is watching this apart from me?
My frens have been asking me to watch 49days but I just kept putting it off. Maybe its the theme...I prefer something more lighthearted I supposed.

Quick Review on Midas, Dream and Hair show

Just finished watching the 2 main dramas since I had free time on hand... Midas and Dream.

Midas got better towards the end but with a rather predicatable ending. All's well ends well sort of concept. The evil ones got their retribution, and good triumphs the bad once again. It all boils down to one theme, do not be enslave by one's greed for money. Money is an object. You can be seduced by its alluring temptation and end up wayward, or you can remain noble and also do many good with it. Havent seen anything new that I do not already know. Still performance was credible and entertaining enough to keep me going on.

Dream on the other hand is more teeny boppy idol kind of drama. You watch solely because u want to see your fav idol or because you are bored. To be fair, it is not bad..just not gushing with creativity nor  brillance if you catch the drift. If you do not have high expectations and just want to focus your wandering restless mind on something to watch...it's about a bunch of kids that enrolled themselves in a sing and dance specialty school, overcoming the odds, facing their weakness and fears face on etc. The dance is average, the song is average. Nothing spectacular or retentive to me. Not terribly exciting or groovy.

Also caught another one "Hair Show" (up to ep 4. is there more? hope not). It's a rather forgettable one this one. It's suppose to be centered around hairstylist but my god, the so call "creative" hair designs are a shame..its god dam awful! Discounting all the bad hairdos and amateurish hair design drawings, its a barely passable series to watch. Another bland trying to make it sort of drama....

Midas - A quick take.

I have been up catching up on Midas - the korean drama featuring our Hottie Fox catcher No Min Woo from [My Gf s a Guminho] drama.

I didnt know what to watch so I caught this purely randomly by chance, and also for shallower intent of watching Min Woo again in here.

The drama plot is ok revolving around the in-and outs of a financial market and how some companies will bend the rules to play the game. Family dirty secrets, betrayal and revenge. I wont bother to talk about the plot since you can google this from dramawiki directly.

Starting off randomly with the nurse.

I kinda like the lead actress Lee Ming Jung starring as the gf nurse. It wasnt much later in the epsiodes that her concerns about her bf was more understandable. Initially, she came across as someone who seemed bent on in opposing her bf getting ahead, to the point that she was willing to break off her engagement to a man she loved. It was only later on that it became clearer that she had a bad premonition that things will be bad, and not because solely that she felt her bf had changed to another person or that he didnt have enough time for her. Later when Minwoo's character offered her a chance to take revenge on his sister through using him, she turned it down as it was pointless and I kinda like that because it felt more real, and consistent with her sweet down to earth nature.

MinWoo looked cuter here than in My gf is a Guminho. In fact he looked mostly damn good here. I suppose the slightly wavy hair and definitely LESSER eye makeup helps, so he doesnt come across as so sissy. The later episodes where he was sick, I thought he was even cuter there, esp when he smile...awww...such a smile to die for. I think his acting skills still need some major polishing up but he will get there. Hopefully they will put him in a meatier role soon. As for his character here, I dont really get how he wanted to use the nurse to "help" his sister change. Ok i get the idea that he didnt want his sister to carry on behaving as if she has the world under her feet and that everything must go her way. It's kinda strange thinking. Also, it was never quite explained the sister brother dynamics as to why he become the way he was as a rich playboy at the start, and why he and his sister wasnt on good terms. And suddenly, things just changed for the better after the visit to the mum's grave. Ok...a little too quick there.

Min Woo's character's sister In Hye...I am still trying to figure out if she was so cold hearted and ruthless because she was trying to take revenge on her siblings, her father or just to prove her competency? Maybe its everything. Did she ever like Kim Do Hyun or was it just purely business..?

As for Kim Do Hyun...I must first declare that he is at a very unconvincing age to portray himself as undergrad student with that mature look. Seriously, he looked too old to play the part of a uni student...he basically look older than everyone else on the show apart from In Hye, including Strephen who is suppose to be his senior. That aside, I think he played this role rather well, as an avenger of the betrayed. From the unexpected quick rise on the seemingly innocent path to richness, to the ruthless money minded lawyer working for In Hye, to the pitiful lost crying abandoned fugitive, to the released convicted man bent on revenge with his burning rage. The transformation was pretty good, and he blended the soft patch for his ex and his cold hard scheming pretty well!

I am waiting to see if his revenge succeed and if yes, at what cost. It isnt a drama which I would particularly say it's a must watch or that I will go crazy if I miss one episode. It's nice to watch minus the silly parts with Do Hyun's dad and gis silly frens. There are of course parts I dont understand. Like In Hye's brother found the ex-convict guy who was able to see through Do Hyun's game in the stock market, so i assume that ex-convict is also a financial genius. But instead of using that talent, In Hye's brother used him as a crook to hunt down Do Hyun to try to beat him up instead? Dont quite get it...

Also, Do hyun saw In Hye's assistant or secretary at one of the crime scene in the "murder" of the bank vice manager, and having worked with In Hye for 3 years, wont he know the importance and role of the assistant? And yet, Do Hyun seem completely unaware and unconcerned about the secretary existence to track him down? Alot of of inconsistency in this aspect but its minor if you just focus on the big players.  

Am going to hunt around to see if there are anymore worthy show to watch. Stay tight and have a great hols ahead. I am sooo heading to phuket

Just a little update after such a long while, alive and kicking!

I know I must have disappeared into thin air for ages! Sorry about that folks. Just been incredibly tied up to be watching much drama and getting online.

However today, I am proudly typing my first blog piece here with my new MacPro. Okie okie...I know Apple isnt known to be a serious reliable gadget maker but seriously what choices do I have? IBM has been taken over by China on the laptop side to become Lenova and I will NOT buy that. Sony is a little too you know.."unsharing" in terms of their technology and difficult to get external parties to service it due to their unique parts. What is left is HP. Do I really want to suffer under a major MNC in return for a boring piece of metal and screen? Nah, not really. If I am going to be upset, let it be with a beautiful slim slick piece of aluminium.

Everyone been telling me that I do not need Antivirus and Anti spyware for MAC because no one ever hack into one. I have to disagree on it. Just because you never get robbed at home or you are living in a safe neighbourhood doesnt mean you do not need to lock the doors... Or that you dont need to ever need a medical insurance because you aint sick. Seriously, its very very dangerous to leave your PC online and wide open to invasion...

I havent bought mine and still mulling over if I should buy Eset  or Norton for Mac. Anyone out there has any ideas?

Regardless, I just wanted to compliment Apple today too. I bought my MacPro online but the power plug came in the US adaptor format. Didnt quite get the rationale since the purchase was done over the HK website. So I called to politely enquire if there had been a mistake. I was first routed to the US Apple care hotline. I am telling you, it is like a breath of fresh air, to FINALLY have a true blue authentic US centric call center. To be honest, I have been so accustomed to getting lines routed to China like what Dell and others did, that it took me 30secs to recover from the pleasant surprise! Ha! Of course they had to route me back to hong Kong to check my order. Even better surprise. Apparently, they seem to only ship this out in 2pin plug and so in goodwill, they will send me a world travel kit. Talk about fantastic customer service! I was truly impressed and even happier that they resolved a simple question with an immediate solution rather than just tell me too bad.

The point here isnt that I am happy to get something free, but rather, I was elated over the prompt and consumer focused service. I havent had that for a while dealing with big companies, so it was kind of like dream like.

I felt like I just had to share my very positive experience with Apple. So now with this world traveler kit, I no longer have to deal with cumbersome third party plugs for all my i-gadgets. Iphone, Ipod, Inano, Mac Pro my next trip back home to Oz. I am just short of one ipad2...still thinking about it but probably not.

Sorry this is not related to Drama, just me catching up with myself online and for couple of dramamate here who might care to know what this little blogger is doing:)

Hope everyone else is fine apart from busy!
With this laptop, hopefully watching video and blogging will be more of a breeze from now on! Though I must say it will still take a while to get use to the key boards and navigation functions:P

Ramblings :)

Sorry have been quiet for so long. Havnt been watching much drama except for the crappy korean "My Princess" or something like that..Booooring...

I had a better time watching the Taiwanese drama "Love Buffet". Aaron is looking quite good there with the Jappy haircut and overall look! the story isnt too bad too though a litle speed wont kill :)

Celebrated my birthday yesterday! Nothing much exciting happened really....another year older!

Super Junior-M has released their track "Too Perfect" in dual languages! Big bang too! Korean groups are taking the world by storm!!!



Mandarin version.


Big Bang Single: Tonite

A brand new year

My dear fav readers,

Sorry I have taken such a long hiatus...:) This is a long overdue message but I still wanna wish everyone a Happy New Year and may the brand new year brings us more entertaining and memorable drama series! Lol!

In case anyone has been remotely curious what happened.. well nothing much really except a lot of personal stuff going on and I just run out of bandwidth. Just been travelling alot the last few months, really alot and I feel exhausted.

During Xmas till New Year festive hols, I went to India with my better half (- v-). It was a good but super tiring trip, esp when I had a super bad strained neck that limited my neck movement to about 45degrees. It didnt help that India's roads are full of potholes and it was hours and hours of bumpy rides one after another. We hit New Dehli, hired a car and went to Rajasthan, to Jaipur, to Argra etc... And mid way thru, I feel sick and had the worst vomitting session ever. I never expected to see my fish dinner meal to be so well preserved after 6 hours in the tummy. Solid chunks....sigh.

The Rajasthan deserty countryside was beautiful with lots of mustard seed field that just have that beautiful yellow cheering up your spirits. The sleepy rural towns had lots of bright eye children who loved waving "Ta-Ta" at us as we drove by. The braver ones will run after us and board on the spare seats at the back of our jeep and hitch a short ride. It was fun. The simplicity of life, the simplicity of hearts.

I had a certain set of idea about India before I went, and after arriving, it wasnt near to what I imagined. To be frank, while I enjoyed my trip, it didnt feel as exotic or "different" as everyone made it out to be. Maybe I was told too much stories about the sights and scenery that upon arrival, it didnt feel that vastly different from another non-cosmopolitan Asian city. Sure, the roads had its funny set of non existent road rules, and they had tons of stores by the road sides which makes one wonder about the hygience with all the road dust and exhaust spilling fumes all over it...still, its not an uncommon sight in a non-affluent city. India, minus the language, was just another city to me. I wasnt in awe, in shock or even surprised. I was surprised at how easily I accepted everything before me as natural. I had Malaysia cousins and I used to visit them alot when I was very very young until my very young aunt passed away in an unfortunate accident. So The India before me didnt seem any different from the Malaysia that I rem in the early 80s except Msia was cleaner and had more Chinese. So to me, it was more nostalgic and heart warming than anything else.

I finally saw Taj Maha. It was a misty day. In fact it even rained with lightning and that was very strange for India;s winter which was to be dry. It was misty for many days. truthfully, while it was nice, again, I didnt find it spectacular. I dunno what I was looking for, but I didnt feel OMG as I stare a it. A lot of tourists were there and out of the flock of thousands, I couldnt locate a decent person to know how to take a proper picture for us. How sad is that?

Even after being back for so long, I havent download the pictures. I didnt feel any motivation to. How lazy.

And of course, I finally fixed up my computer and not from Dell. And I officially boycott Dell from henceforth. They charged about US$150 to inspect and quoted a ridiculous amount to replace my video card. A card that is outdated, they wanted to charge even more than the latest graphics card model? I couldnt locate anyone to send back my PC until 2 weeks later. Email to the contact always bounce or they are away on holiday with no backup. Even after getting my PC, the Dell service staff did not have the professionalism to assemble my PC back in the same proper state. They simply dumped the racks and loose screw inside the PC and that's it! I was appalled!

In the end, I went to a local computer shop, who fixed up my PC with the latest graphics card, changed my power supply as they told me my original Dell configuration was under powered thus damaging my original graphics card which should have lasted at least 4 years instead of 1yr. Including OS reinstallation and patches update and Antivirus and delivery, I paid 1/3 of the Dell's quote. Dell is such a bloody fraud and became such an unethical company. Profit over service. I hope it will fold soon. They do not deserve to carry on doing business with any consumer with that sort of money only mindset.

So my new PC has been reborn, and happy.  From this, I too realised how hardworking HK people are just to make a decent living. The technician who fixed and delivered my PC even stuck around for 2 hours to reconfigure all my settings, loading software, ensuring the new graphics card was in order - without additional charge. Seriously, I cannot imagine getting such service anywhere else. It almost made me feel guilty for having a comfortable life...

Alot of things to think about this new year.
I hope it will be a good year ahead for me, as well as everyone who has befriended me through this blog, readers included. I sincerely thank your invisible friendship and support and hopefully I will work harder on this blog and stop being so lazy:)

Have a great year ahead and till the next good drama!