TVB 42nd Anniversary Awards Ceremony.
- My Favourite Female Character Award (for Yiu Kam Ling – Beyond the Realm of Conscience)
- Best Performance Award
Heh… Am happy that her hard work over the years have paid off and she is being recognised and rewarded. Granted I’m not a super die hard fan of hers, but I like her acting.
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Was just reading the latest cover story on Time Magazine – The Decade From Hell and why the next one will be better. Taking a retrospective look at the past decade, Andy Serwer made his arguments for why this had been the worst decade ever despite the absence of a world war. (think 911, Iraq & Afghan wars, global financial meltdown, Hurricane Katrina… ) While this comes from a very ‘American’ perspective and the focus is on priblems that afflicted the US, it did touch on other events that happened around the world.
Found this slideshow on the Time website which shows the 10 worst things about the worst decade ever. (http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1942749,00.html)
Looking back, seems that A LOT has happened over the last ten years. Or maybe the past ten years was when I was conscious of things happening. Interesting read nonetheless…
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So what have I been busy the past one and half months besides work? Heh… Was trying to keep up with this TVB productions, Beyond the Realm of Conscience or 宫心计. Basically, it is a palatial drama that talks about the power struggles that goes on in the ‘back’ palace. You have maids trying to move up the ranks, and concubines trying to win favours. This is show about good against evil and asks if there is a need to scheme and plot against one another in a bid to gain power.
The story talks about how two palace maids moved up the ranks in the palace with both of them eventually becoming concubines of the emperor. I especially like how the promotional materials contrasted the behaviours of two female lead characters, played by Tavia Yeung and Charmaine Sheh with the following lines:
后宫之中，难免用计 – In the back palace, it is inevitable to scheme.
后宫之中，何必用计 – In the back palace, there is no need to scheme.
Heh… Of course, I was attracted to the show cause one of my favoured TVB actress, Tavia Yeung has a lead role in it where she plays the scheming character. Had to see how she fared in an evil role… She has been on my radar for quite a few years and am glad she is being given more opportunities. I think she looks especially good in ancient dramas cause she has this ‘古典美’ aura, although I don’t really like her costumes and make up in this show. Towards the later part where she turns, evil, she was just too heavily made up, supposedly to show that she is evil, as compared to a lighter (purer?) make up for the good characters.
I enjoyed the first half of the show, where they introduced the characters and set the tone for the story. But towards the end, I felt that the series got dragged down by poor editing and bad pacing. There was very little character development for Tavia’s character, where there were very little explanation on what made her turn evil. She started out being just protective of herself and would only retaliate when she was bullied. Later, she started scheming a little, but it wasn’t spiteful or malicious. Towards the end, she just turned into this deranged concubine who went all out to kill everyone for very petty reasons.
Also, the script wasn’t fantastic. Besides the 180 degrees change of Tavia’s character in the show, a previously spiteful and spoilt concubine played by Selena Li (another new and ‘decent actress) also suddenly became demure and virtuous. The show also focussed quite a bit on Charmaine’s character who was the personification of goodness. While the scriptwriter tried to showcase how good she was, it got a bit irrational and ‘forced’. The show became too choppy towards the end where the producer tried to sew up all the subplots and storylines. It’s like the focus is on this character in one episode and then it shifts to another one in the next episode.
I think this series was overhyped and there was way too much publicity even before the show aired. Like how Tavia was touted to be the winner for the Best Actress award for this character. While I think this is a breakthrough role for her and have always thought her acting was solid, I think there were instances in the show where I felt that she was ‘acting evil’ instead of ‘being evil’. Or maybe she was just let down by bad editing. There were some scenes where I thought she was outstanding. But it fizzled out cause the scene was cut short or that there wasn’t any explanation as to why she had to do it. But anyway, I could empathise more with her ‘Ah Yuet’ character in Moonlight Resonance.
I loved the performance from the supporting cast though. All the veteran artistes were superb! Yeah… so I guess that’s it. decent show, but not fantastic. Just got to see another side of Tavia.
Heh… so here ends my thoughts on this series. Am suffering somewhat from withdrawal symptoms from the show since it just ended last night. Hahaha… (gosh… i think this is one of my longest post ever!…)
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Came across this website (http://thefuntheory.com/) from a video I was sent… I like the idea of making mundane, everyday stuff fun! It’s part psych, part marketing, part creativity! Maybe SMU students can find ideas for their CT projects from here…
Watch this video for an example:
Other than random online surfing everyday, I’m doing quite well I guess. Running two virtual restaurants on Facebook (Restaurant City & Cafe World), trying to squeeze in a good book occasionally (The Last Lecture, The Little Prince, My Sister’s Keeper), doing a myriad of other stuff after work.
Started tennis lessons about 2 months ago. Am quite liking the game. But I guess I need to build up more stamina. Can’t run for balls if my coach decides to hit at some extreme angle or into the corners…
My sister’s back for 3 months… so I gotta share my room again. Just when I’ve gotten used to having my own room and leaving my stuff all over the place, it’s like we have even more stuff around the place cause she’s back. It’s interesting how we just adapt to having one more person around. It’s as though she never left.
Just checking in. I’m running out of things to say…
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Nice remix of the songs. Especially like how they did it acapella style. =)
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Encountered a roadblock today. Not really able to think now. Maybe I’m numb. It’s like looking forward to something that did not materialise.
Should I still press on? or should I turn back?
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Went for a short getaway to Batam over the weekend (yeah.. wish I could have written Bali or Bintan), but oh well, Batam is nice in its own rustic way I guess.
Scenary wasn’t exactly picturesque. Maybe it was because we didn’t have the bright blue sky there. But the trip was relaxing, the company excellent. 
What else to expect from a group of 7 gals besides knowing how to pamper ourselves by starting off with a spa/massage immediately after we arrive. Then it was to A&W for dinner and shopping. After that, it was back to our rooms for noisy card games, photo-taking with weird and wacky ideas and the filming of a pringles commercial! *wink* Went for a city tour the next day where it was just going along with the flow. A frenzy shopping trip in a supermarket and then it was home.
A short two days which felt much longer. A wonderful weekend well spent which left me recharged and giving me that extra boost to tackle the work ahead.
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I started work one year ago on this date…
It’s been a thrilling ride so far. Been exposed to a lot of new things, picked up new skills, had many new experiences…
I guess I just wanted to post on my first year anniversary…
To many more wonderful memories to come….
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Can’t believe I suddenly had the impulse to blog today because I had a blah day today… Oh wells, it was just one of those lousy days whereby things didn’t go very smoothly. Bitched enough about it I guess. So I see no need to harp on it. Time to move on…
Been plain lazy the past few months I guess… see no need to blog about a boring life. It’s been mainly work. Trying to re-regulate my work-life balance. And trying to pursue other things in life. Played badminton with some colleagues yesterday during lunch. Not a bad idea to spend Monday lunch running round a court. A couple of weeks ago, I was looking at picking up deutsch again. But didn’t because the class I wanted to attend was full. Now, I’m unsure of the practicality of it. Maybe Korean or Japanese or perhaps even French would be more practical.
The most exciting that happened was me making my annual ‘pilgrimage’ to Hong Kong about one month ago. Shopped and ate a lot. Had a good break and didn’t feel like returning to work. Mwahahahaha…
This year’s been a pretty uneventful year so far. Caught a couple of theatre productions (Cats, Breakout, Sing Dollar). Read a couple of books… watched a couple of movies. And that’s about it.
Oh… and random info of the day – my laptop is back! bigger (memory space!) and faster!!! yay! Ok.. it came back about a month ago. But I’m glad its back!
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The symptoms were all there I suppose… It no longer ran as fast, was plagued with persistent problems, fainted a couple of times… Guess it’s about time…
My trusty ol’ laptop died… I don’t really know how it happened. It was still fine 2 days ago. Didn’t touch it yesterday cause I was too tired. But I think it was because I installed an update and when I tried to start it up this morning, I got the DEADLY BLUE SCREEN!!! Sigheth… and it’s a public holiday today… so can’t seem to get the computer repair men that I know.
I’ve spent many nights with my trusty ol’ laptop. Churning out papers, mugging for exams, watching and laughing at xman videos, chatting late into the night, completing many games and even spent 5 months with me in Switzerland, being my gateway back home… I’ve been trying to will it to work. But it’s still not responding. Sigh.. I’ll miss it.
Am just thinking if it would be worth it to repair or to just get a new computer. Another laptop? or a desktop? Given that a desktop is much more stable, but i’ll lose out on portability. But I don’t really need to move my computer around since I’m at work everyday and only need it. Plus, a desktop is cheaper as well. Decisions. Cause I guess even if the laptop can be repaired, I would probably want to replace a few things like the hard disk, the processor speed and stuff which makes getting a new one more practical. Sigh.. if only my laptop can awaken from its coma now… 
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I just came back from watching ‘Cats’ at the Esplanade Theatre a couple of hours ago. Thanks so much for the invitation! It’s a production with very nicely choreographed and coordinated dances, with fun and catchy songs. In my opinion, it’s a rather ‘light’ production compared to other heavyweight musicals like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. But I enjoyed the show very much and the songs are now echoing in my head. I’m actually rewatching some scenes on youtube. Hahaha… nice memories…
When I first heard that Cats was going to be staged in Singapore, I wasn’t super keen on catching it cause I didn’t feel like it. Maybe cause I didn’t really know the story (and I still don’t think there is a very strong one). But now that I’ve seen it, I would probably wanna catch it the next time it comes again. It’s a happy kinda show and I really liked the songs and the dancing. The performers were all so sleek and feline-liked. I especially liked the dance scene for ‘The Jellicle Ball’. They were all so coordinated and very very graceful.
As mentioned earlier, I didn’t feel like there is a strong storyline and I don’t see a protagonist in this production even though it is about the cat ‘Grizabella’. Instead, the parts were rather spread out among a few cast members who had their own solos and dance sequence. It just got a bit hard to differentiate the cats after a while cause they look rather alike.
Hmmm… wish another musical can be staged here soon. I wouldn’t mind if Lion King comes… or maybe Wicked the Musical. I heard they are pretty good productions, but I haven’t had the chance to catch them yet.
Posted in Chilling, iLike | Tagged Arty-Farty | 4 Comments »
I’m bored, i got this off facebook and decide to put it on my blog so less people can read about it…
1. Put your iTunes/Napster/Zune Player/WinAmp/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 or more friends who might enjoy doing this as well as the person you got it from.
——————————————————–
IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
孙悟空 – Mayday
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
怕 – Kary Ng
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Wake Me Up When September Ends – Greenday
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
사랑이 오지 않아요 – Junjin
*eh… i dunno what this means… translation please? I would love to know my life’s purpose…*
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
The Street – Shinhwa
*erm… nice motto? But this is a nice song…*
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
仰慕者 – Alan Tam & Hacken Lee
*Wahahahahs… ok
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
The Show – Lenka
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
All Out Of Love – Olivia
*Not that desperate lor…
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Lydia – F.I.R.
*Not very apt leh.. I dun have a friend called Lydia.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Hey Oh Tonight – Norwegian Recycling
*Tonight what?
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
你有心 – Jade Kwan
*Bleak huh?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
疼你的责任 – Pin Guan
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
榜样 – Kevin Wong
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
幸福 – Fang Hao Wen
*that’s nice to know…
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
I Wanna Love You Forever – Jessica Simpson
*That’s pretty sweet.. I’ll try to remember that
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
无条件为你 – Fish Leung
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
易爱难收 – Chris Wong
* So I fall in love easily?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Which Star You Want – Kim Jong Kook
WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
你要的不是我 – Lin Junjie
*That’s kinda true….
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
What I’ve Been Looking For – Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens (Yes… I have the soundtrack of High School Musical)
*looking for death?
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
光芒 – Jane Zhang
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
寂寞广场 – Vanness Wu
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
明天 – Lin Junjie
*true.. it’s Monday tomorrow…
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Mockingbird – Eminem
*what does this mean?
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Isle Of Inisfree – Orla Fallon
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
心愿便利贴 – From the soundtract of Fated to Love You
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Everyday I Love You – Boyzone
*Why would I want to change that?
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Breaking Free – From High School Musical…
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson
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Weekends are for slacking, for resting, for detoxing and for trying to forget the bad things that happened during the past week.. and i guess for looking forward to the next weekend…
The previous weekend, the gals came over for mahjong on Fri night… We finally managed to finish 1 round with all 4 winds… but I guess we are getting old.. or at least I feel that I am. I need much more ‘recovery time’ after staying up the whole night. Hahaha… and that kinda concluded that weekend.
As for the weekend that just went by, surprise surprise… I spent Valentine’s Day at home in the afternoon and went out for dinner with my parents at night… Just another Sat I guess… But Sunday was more happening… went to watch Breakout! which I thought was pretty cool albeit a little too short. It was only 1.5 hours and that was including the encore! But it had quite a cool story-line with bits of sexual innuendo, exhilarating dance moves and funny parts… A nice way to chill and forget the stress of the past week!
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In case your first instinct was to wonder if I’m gonna stop blogging (not as if I’m blogging a lot now, but…), no no no, have no intention of announcing a hiatus.
Sent my lil sis off at the airport last night. She left for Australia to pursue further studies… Though she’s 19, she’ll always be my lil sis… When someone has been an integral part of your life for a long long time, it’s hard to just not have her around all of a sudden. But this is just part of growing up and something that invariably comes with our choices and decisions.
It’s gonna be kinda weird with the house being quiet (she’s usually the noisiest one around) . Will definitely take some getting used to. I’ll miss her weird antics, chatting with her till late at night, our swimming sessions, the random meals and occasional shopping and just her I guess.
Guess on the bright side, I can look forward to traveling to Australia… =) and… I’ll probably appear online more often to keep in touch…
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A couple of weeks ago, I went to this Chinese physician to consult him on a nagging back problem I’ve been having on and off for the past few years… He recommended acupuncture… so, after poking many many needles into me, he told me to just rest there for half an hour or so… as I was lying there, I just felt like a pincushion with so many needles sticking out of me…
Anyway, Chinese New Year kinda came and is almost gone… Just loads of eating. and had relatives over on both the first and second day. So was kinda busy. It was nice catching up and just meeting relatives that I kinda only meet once a year, including my cousins. But… was also tired out by the ‘hosting’. Felt that the long weekend went by in a flash. Before I know it, it’s back to work with loads of activities being lined up the next couple of months…
Oh.. and I signed up for Yoga classes… Starts in end Feb… Hopefully will be something that I can pick up…
Posted in me | Tagged me | 2 Comments »
