The Frog Prince

Thanx to Sister Choy's strong recommendation, I embarked on watching that supposedly phenonmenal Prince Turns Into A Frog (王子变青蛙) that took Taiwan by storm and won my Malay friend's heart by hynopsis (so I suspect) recently. As my friends would know, I'm pretty much anti-QJL, mainly because they have an (old) boy band that can't quite decide if they are a 4, 5 or 6 member group. And that's not all, the stars under the QJL stable are just not quite 'there'. I shan't go into elaboration on what I mean by that since the philosophy of karma keeps ringing in my head. Anyway, the biggest problem with QJL lies with their boss and his iron-fisted management combined with cock-eyed misjudgement.

Now, back to the Frog Prince. I really think that it's Taiwan's top rated drama by sheer stroke of luck. Storyline is cliched and said to have been uncannily similar to K-drama Save the Last Dance. Its saving grace is the generally good production, scripting and impressive supporting cast. The leads are just....well....lacking in overall image direction and plain dowdy in style though Qiao-en impresses with her natural acting. My 3 fave characters from the show turns out to be...

From left: Qiao-en (Tianyu), Tianyu's mama and Tianyu's didi

Tianyu's didi speaks with a farnie accent cos I think he's ABC but he's really quite cute and shows potential to blossom into a hottie! What disturbs me a little is the near-cock-eyeness of 2 actors from the drama:

1) Ming Dao (aka 动力火车's brudder) ~ ok, his is not so bad. But once the camera caught him in one of those 'intense gazes' scenes, I can't help noticing how close his 2 eyeballs move towards each other.

2) Whatever Qiao her name is lar (they seem to have many Qiaos in QJL) ~ Oh gosh! Either her eyeballs are damn big and that's why they always look like they are about to 'langa' each other, or she's got a lazy eye problem lor.

(Ignore Shaowei on the right please. He can't really act, not exactly good looking but is lucky to be above 180cm to merit him a place in 2 different (old) boy bands named after some numbers.)

By the way, the wardrobe of the cast sucks and I dun blame the actors. If the character played by Mike He in Why Why Love thinks Rainie Yang dresses like Ah-Soh, the wardrobe crew should really take some cues from QJL Production on how to look really 俗. Even the styling on Meteor Garden filmed 7 years back looks trendier than this Frog Prince drama done in 2005 lor.

Overall verdict: 3 stars - worth watching on Tudou but forget about buying the VCDs lar.

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p.s.: Intro to the Pipi Rating System

From now, I'll start rating shows according to this scale -

0 star: It's so bad, I feel ashamed for having watched a single second of it. (Example in this category: 炮制女朋友)

1 star: I only bother giving it 1 star to save myself the embarassment for having watched more than 5 seconds. (Example: 恋上你的床)

2 stars: Barely passed the grade. Watch it only if you have a soft spot for something or someone in the show.

3 stars: Watchable production but not worth your investment on the VCD / DVDs. I rather squint my eyes silly watching it on the small screen of YouTube.

4 stars: Eye-candies passed, production passed, entertainment value passed; what more can we ask from a near-perfect show?

5 stars: Oh-My-Freaking-Gawdly good show! So awesome you can watch and rewatch and rewatch...!

寻找五月天 . Finding Mayday

I present you the link to Mayday's designated designer...tadang!!! ~
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/no2good

More Mayday links!
http://www.miniworld.com.tw/user/imayday
http://www.my-mayday.com/ (Check out the article on '换换爱' - I confirm + guarantee wanna watch this new romance comedy featuring Mike He and Rainie Yang!)

And here's where you can catch Mayday in Jump 离开地球表面 concert:
7th July - Guangzhou, China
20th & 21st July - Taipei, Taiwan
7th Oct - Tokyo, Japan
20th Oct - Shanghai, China

Drop me a mesg if you are a fellow Mayday fan dropping by. Cheers!

What Time Is It?

Oh the God of Savings, please forgive me for spending unnecessarily on 2 (not 1!) Casio Poptone watches. I couldn't resist, especially when they are available so cheaply at Bencoolen. The official Casio shops tagged it at $49 each. 3D Trading @ #01-95 The Bencoolen lelong'd it at $28 each!!!





One desire leads to another. Another 2, no correction, should be 3 caught my eyes! First, a purple-gold Baby-G (selling @ $65 vs an incredulous $113 retail price):


Look at the goldish-purple digits on its face that is so reminiscent of the new Sony-Ericsson's Z610i clam-shell phone and its sexy OLED display!

And check out this pristine gold-white darling, priced at $80 (vs $159) if I'm not wrong:


Above 2 photos courtesy of casio's website.

What can I say? Every girl deserves a Casio. And there's a Casio for every occasion! It's the one watch you ever need to have.

Then there's this G-shock with a translucent plastic bronzy strap but I can't find its photo on the Casio website. Very stylo too! A SCDF guy was eying it while I bought my Poptones yesterday and I hope he got it!

As if the watches are not enough temptation, the music of McFly at a boutique performed some magic in my ears and sent the "must-buy" message up my brains. And this is Just My Luck for you:



Their brand new album "Motion in the Ocean" will hit the stores later this month. If what I heard on the web is anything to go by, I want to get it too!

Going out is a waste of money. I better stay home from now.

Songs of My Time

Songs define the moments of our lives. I attempt to put together a list of 10 that has moved, thrilled, soothed, mersmerised or irked me.

1. Tanya Chua’s 陌生人: it’s a song that I just feel for. Hmm…

2. Sometimes When We Touch: my 2 crushies’ fave song back then. What do they say about falling for the same type of guys? Eeee……yucks.

3. Richard Marx’s Right Here Waiting: my first song performance on stage. Lame tune, lame dance and I had to do it because one loser pulled out in fit of spite.

4. Candy Lo’s 垃圾: my must-sing number at KTV. No one does this song better than me…wahahaha.

5. Nearly all of Mayday’s Songs: I Love You 无望 is an awakening on how awesome Hokkien songs can be, 志明与春娇 is my classic all-time favourite, 时光机 brought tears when I first heard it on radio soon after I’ve lost my grandma, 别惹我is war declaration’s best theme, 我 is a reflection of my dissipating passion for pursuing life’s many dreams, “Gong-Lang” is a reminder that there’s still hope.

6. Forrest Gump Suite: introduced to me how music can be so stirring, even without lyrics.

7. Diana Ross’ If We Hold on Together: Our last performance on stage as a class back in secondary school. How are you gals doing?

8. MLTR’s Out of the Blue: 25 Minutes, Wild Women, etc are mostly bad grammar but Out of the Blue is one nice, romantic tune which deserves pardon on poor English.

9. 刘文正/童年: is so apt when it comes to reminiscing the fun childhood days.

10. 梁文福/细水长流: celebrates friendship and brings to memory how much I’ve grown since CGS’ days.

Project Superstar Derrick Hoh

Support for Derrick must not slacken. Especially now that we are down to the final 3. If you haven't heard how well he sing, just visit: www.hohweijian.info.

By the way, mediacorp hasn't responded at all to my tix requests (it's been over a month ok!) My self-addressed envelopes with stamps gone to waste... Maybe they're giving me tix to see Derrick @ the finals @ Indoor Stadium. Oh yea! Largi better!

By the way, Happy National Day!

Korean Cutie Kim Rae Won...

I'm done for again this time. It's all XY's fault, for lending me Attic Cat and had me hooked on Kim Rae Won! Argh....!!! And knowling me, I'll be at it for at least a few days - out-of-sorts, disoriented and as if out of love. Help!

I don't care, I'm going to get my own set of Attic Cat to keep and maybe 'My Love Patzzi' too. I think the general audience would prefer the latter though I swing towards the former. Attic Cat can be a little draggy but Kim Rae Won's acting is great and the cheeky smile's mesmerising. What's more, the very average-looking lead actress makes the serial more realistically convincing.

Now I really love the fact that I work in an attic. But where's the hunk?

Derrick and Harry

It has been a whirlwind week, entwined between 2 boys, Derrick and Harry!

Derrick first. If you haven't known Derrick Hoh (何维健)by now, you might be missing out on Singapore's next Superstar! He just rose from the ashes, having come through a tough REVIVAL ROUND in the competition after being temporarily left behind 2 weeks ago. Derrick caught my attention during the contestants introduction episode on Project Superstar. I like his chipmunky impersonation! Thereafter it was his sincerity and how he made me notice Vann Fan Yi Chen's songs once again. It's great Minty likes him as much, if not more! Oh yes, I forgot, call her Derrice now. And make reference to Derrick as if he's Derrice's *gulp*..... Now, who's crazier?

On Harry*.
DISCLAIMER - The following para contains spoiler which any smart Harry Potter reader would pick up easily. Read at your own risk.

2 years of anticipation, all consumed within 2 days. Damn it! I'm a fast reader. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is an intense read. It creates as many question marks as the mysteries it unravels. Now, I'm disoriented, and could only pray that the miraculous "rise of gandalf" replays in Harry Potter's final instalment.

Finally, I'm glad after all the excitement and buzz over the past week, I'm ending it with a fun JB trip with Minty also known as Derrice, XY and Shazzie. As for the coming week, I'm on my way to real big stuff @ work again!

Sing 'Top of the World' in Mandarin

Now and then, I would do a crass (if not hilarious) Chinese adaptation of English songs. Some of my prized works include Baa Baa Black Sheep, Do-Re-Mi, and now, "Top of the World". Sing to the tune of the song! The lines don't quite rhyme but hey, the meaning does correspond. Enjoy.

Top Of The World (世界高峰)

Such a feeling coming over me
有种感觉拥上我心头

There is wonder in most everything I see
我看到的事物都是奇迹

Not a cloud in the sky
天上没有云朵

Got the sun in my eyes
眼中充满阳光

And I won't be surprised if it's a dream
如果这是梦也不奇怪

I'm on the top of the world
我站在世界的高峰

Looking down on creations
看着地上的事物，

And the only explanation I can find
而我找到唯一的原因就是

It's the love that I've found
我得到的关爱

Eversince you've been around
自从你的出现

Your love puts me at the top of the world
你的爱让我站在最高峰