黑糖群侠传 is Surprising Not Bad

Initially didn't really wanted to watch the not-so-good acting of the 棒棒堂男孩 & 黑girl (previously known as 黑涩会美眉).

But at that time, didn't find any other good shows to watch, & had thought the sypnosis quite interesting, so gave the 1st episode a try.

Now I'm on to episode 5, and frankly speaking, I find the show slightly more engaging that the 篮球火!

Oh, the youngsters' acting have only improved slightly, but fortunately, the plot isn't all that complicated. You can't go too far wrong with all the usual love triangles and 欢喜冤家 kind of couples in the popular 偶像剧 format.

What's interesting is how the drama incorporates the 古代武侠 elements into the present day situation. Imagine all the gongfu in 金庸's stories actually existing in the modern society. There're schools (hidden in bamboo forests of some 八卦阵) to teach potential students the different types of gongfu.

Chemistry is actually the art of making poisons. Physics is the skill of 暗器. And the students all dread the exam of Modern Gungfu History, where they have to memorise the various fights & gongfu styles used by 黄飞鸿 & 霍元甲!

Of course, in the spirit of traditional 武侠小说, there will be some secret gongfu manual the 邪教 is trying to lay their hands on, which is kept in the school's 藏经阁 (ie. the library). So the good guys will have to train their young proteges in some formidable gongfu to defeat the bad guys. What a totally predicatable but always popular plot!

To add a further mockery to the gongfu setting, all the key characters have names & certain characteristics that resemble some popular 武侠小说 character: eg. 令狐聪 is the 1st disciple & has the best kungfu，郭敬 is slow to learn but very upright，小聋女 has poor hearing cos she trained in 狮子吼!

All in all, an entertaining show for someone looking for light-hearted brainless relaxing hour of fun. Just my type of drama right now!

林宇中's Latest Album

Got to hear this Malaysian singer's songs frequently nowadays, partly I think cos the Malaysian's really support their own artistes, so been hearing on the radio almost everyday when I go to fetch Sam from school.

林宇中's latest album, 干物世界. The 1st 主打歌，"干物女", was playing on FM101.3 two months before the release of the album!



Hadn't really liked 林宇中 from his past songs (watched the MVs on tv). Thought his voice a bit too 'sissy' to my taste, & the songs he penned himself were all that to my liking.

So was pleasantly surprised by his latest offering. Which was lucky for me, cos I was bombarded by it so frequently on radio!

His other 主打歌, "改嫁", is pretty good too.............unfortunately no MV made (yet?)...........

Osen 料理仙姬 Summary

Genre: drama (adapted from manga)

Episodes: 10

More details in DramaWiki.

Sypnosis: Story revolves around a traditional Jap restaurant which still does things the very traditional way, eg. water from well, no food processors or microwave. The owner is a 23 yr old woman, Osen, who's always in a kimono, loves to drink & takes her duties of proprietress very seriously.

A typical Tokyo city chef came to the restaurant in an attempt to find the 'true' ways of cooking, & had to adjust to the restaurant culture where waste of ingredients is frowned upon, & where the weather & health conditions of the patrons are taken into account when planning the menu.

Every episode highlights the making of a particular Japanese food, eg. making of miso by hand, cooking rice by straw fire etc. The drama also showcases certain Japanese culture (eg. pottery, temple celebrations) & fine Japanese dining. What's best is how the show contrasts the fading of the old ways against the fast new pace of life.

Loves: The showcase of Jap food & culture! Makes me hungry just watching the fine dining presentations...............

Hates: Why didn't any romance blossomed between the 2 leads??????????? Was so looking forward towards the love story, esp. since the female lead seems to look forward to a date with the male lead in episode 4.

Watched Osen (料理仙姬) in 3 Days

Realised I haven't been blogging about the shows I'm watching, partly cos I got so engrossed, I use all my free time to chase the good shows. Only after I've finished a drama serial do I remember to record & share it......

The craze this time is last season's Jap drama Osen. Took me some time to lay my hands on all 10 episodes, & I'm glad I did!

Though each episode is an individual story, it's very tempting to know what food would be featured in the next episode, & to know if the male & female lead would end up together.

So I end up feeling lack of sleep (again), & have a new love for the show's ending theme, 恋诗：

No More 太王四神记 To Watch!

So sad, the last episode of 太王四神记 was aired on Tuesday night on Astro 双星. Now hubby & I have no more shows to look forward to at night. :(

Yesterday night was back to the sit-in-front-of-computer kind of evening, with him playing his Three Kingdoms & me catching up on my tv shows. No more rushing to the tv at 10:30pm sharp, no more avid discussions during & after the show.........

I must salute the good production of 太王四神记: never in my memory has my hubby re-watched an episode eagerly <24 hrs after he has 1st watched it!

I myself would willingly re-watch it again............I can't remember seeing the evil 大长老 at the beginning of the serial, wouldn't mind catching up all the details again!!!

A must watch!!!!!!!!

Losing Interest in 鹿鼎记

Have missed the show too often: the screening times often clashes with Sam's bedtime. By the time he's asleep, I'm left with only the last 15 ~ 30 min of the episode.

Anyway, really not used to seeing 黄晓明 act as 韦小宝. I thought he looks lecherous most of the time...........ok, the character is very lecherous, but I still think it's a bit overdone.

Furthermore, don't find most of the wives pretty!!!! They're pretty average, only the 教主夫人 is good-looking to me. So even less encouragement to play catching up on the show.............

But one thing this drama version did pretty well: thought they detailed how mischevious & devious 韦小宝 is. Quite entertaining to see how all the 'smart' characters got cheated by him!