NEVER DIES

I became so high when F4 performed once again. It was held last October 28 at the National Taiwan University as part of their role being the country's new tourism ambassador. Unfortunately I wasn’t there (sigh), just watched it over the net.

Based on reports, an estimated of 4,5000 tourists from Japan and 500 from Korea availed of the “Meteor Garden” tour and the culmination of which is to see F4 performs. Take note, local fans and other fans in the region not included here. If the government only opened the event to other fans, for sure, that would be very festive.

I just noticed that their fame hasn’t waned but rather becomes more thrilling since they are more gorgeous than ever. Even only watching the video, I was also being carried away when they sang “Can’t Lose You” and “Season of Fireworks.” Before I can’t really understand why their fans were going gaga over them. Only after watching the whole “Meteor Garden” drama months back that I have become fascinated with them. I must admit, I am a late bloomer as always. But it’s not yet late. I attribute to them why I am being fascinated with chinovelas and jdoromas now, leading me to discover a whole new entertainment experience.

Others think that F4 has already been disbanded but according to their management, there is really no F4 to begin with so how come they would split-up. Yeah right, because F4 is just a group of boys in the phenomenal series “Mateor Garden” which is based on Japanese manga “Hanyori Dango” or “Boys Over Flowers.” From thereon, they were considered as a boy group.

But whether they are a group or not, they will forever stay…if not physically, for sure in our hearts. F4 YONG YUAN BU MIE!!!

* photo credit to asianbite

A WHOLE NEW WORLD…OF WORDS

Having watched ten chinovelas, I am gradually learning some Mandarin words. But I also bought this Mandarin Languange pocketbook to supplement my knowledge. I already know how to count from 1 to 10, to say hello “ni hao, ” to say thank you “hsie-hsie,” to bid farewell “zai-jan,” and to sing even in Mandarin which I could not do before, heheh.

I remember, I watch Chinese action drama when I was in my teens and try to understand what they are talking about. Hahah, that’s actually weird. But now, I can understand very minimal words, and that’s an improvement.

In studying other language, it is important to have a good memory and interest. If you already know some words then sentence construction is much easier. Thanks to my Nihonggo class in college…it helped me in analyzing Mandarin language construction.

Actually, it’s only the beginning. I am like a kid now learning how to speak my native tongue. But I am very enthusiastic to learn Mandarin having gone to China, Singapore and Indonesia (where some parts speak Mandarin). I don’t want to grope again. I would love to understand the heart of Chinese people and converse with them like any other fellow. Who knows, I’ll be back again in China, maybe in Shanghai or Beijing this time or travel to Taiwan. Why not?! Hao le, jia you!

PHILIPPINE PARADISE

Waaaahhh!!!! I am looking forward to seeing Ken Zhu in a Philippine production to be shown early December of this year. It is entitled “Batanes…Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan, ” an independent movie under Ignite Films and directed by Adolf Calix.

From what I understand, he portrays here the role of a Taiwanese fisherman whose boat got a mechanical failure which led him to set foot on the so-called Philippine paradise, Batanes. There he will meet a beautiful young widow, played by Iza Calzado, and thus, a love story begins.

I wonder how these two lead characters would understand each other where one speaks in Mandarin and the other in Filipino. That’s what we have to find out. So if I were you, better not miss this one.

By the way, Ken is part of this Taiwanese phenomenal boy group “F4” who shot to meteoric fame after their series “Meteor Garden” became a hit in the region.

Being a Filipino, I am proud to hear that he fell in love with Batanes to think that he is already well-traveled. He didn’t know that there is a piece of paradise south of his country. I am sure he didn’t regret his decision to accept this offer in spite the absence of blessing from his management, Fu Long Entertainment.

Ken is used to being followed by paparazzis and fans everywhere he goes, but here he was totally surprised ’coz he became a normal person once again…he was able to do what he wants like driving a motorcycle without being hounded by reporters and fans.

Actually, Ken only had praises on the province, its people, his Filipino counterparts and the movie’s production team. That’s unimaginable from him because he is known for being snob and “mataray”. But here, he was humbled by the experience so he plans to do another production in the said place with the same team in the future.

Though I do not consider myself his big fan, I am very much excited for this movie. I obviously adore Taiwanese actors and seeing one in a local production is a whole new experience. I just hope it would be a resounding success so this would open-up for other Asian collaborations. Women ai ni, Xiao Tian!

* photo credit to pbase

“Ai Shang Qian Jin Mei Mei"

“In Love With A Rich Girl” is its English title but here in the Philippines, it was changed to “Senorita Mei Mei” when it was aired over GMA-7 years back. However, I didn’t watch it then, just only recently when it had its re-run at QTV-11.

This is a story of rich girl, Ai Bi/Albee (Joe Chen), who is pampered in all her life. But in a twist of fate, her mother was hospitalized while her father’s company went bankrupt and left them, leading her to strive on her own. To make the matter worse, her fiance, Huang Bo Cheng (Tian Jia Da) was snatched away from her by their common friend. Meantime, Wei Zhe (Jason Hsu), is a paparazzi who follows her everywhere she goes but soon will find himself in love with her. But his childhood friend, Justin (Huang Yu Rong), will stand in their way.

The story, though short, is neither heavy nor light. The plot only became complicated because the lives of Ai Bi’s housemates were played up to make it more exciting while Wei Zhe gives the comic relief from beginning ‘til the end.

I noticed that paparazzis/reporters are quite common in Taiwanese series. What I don’t understand here is why Ai Bi being followed by paparazzi, she’s not even a celebrity, only the daughter of a businessman, and her private life is being dug-up. Well, I guess this is a cultural thing.

The part where Ai Bi’s father left her to hide reminds me of “Yu Dao Ai.” From here, I guess it’s normal for Chinese businessmen to run away and hide after their company goes into bankruptcy, then resurface after they fix the problems.

What really caught my attention here is Ehlo Huang. It’s my first time to see him here, and I was mesmerized by him in the process. He’s really damn sexy. He has the bad boy look here that matches with his temperamental character. I swear, black attire suits him best. He also wore black in the latter part of “Ai Qing Mo Fa Shi” and indeed, he was overflowing with sex appeal.

As to Joe and Jason's tandem, I think they look good together and got a lot of chemistry.

So if I were you, try to look for this one. It is a cute series that can make you laugh and doesn't make you feel sad after watching.

* photo credit to AF

“Ai Qing Mo Fa Shi”

This is a romantic-comedy series starring another popular Taiwanese boy group, the 183 Club (composed of Ming Dao, Wang Shao Wei, Zhu Fan Gang and Huang Yu Rong) and Zheng Zhi Qiao of the Mandopop Duo “Sweety.” Aired in Taiwan in 2006, “Ai Qing Mo Fa Shi” (translated, “The Magicians of Love“) was a big hit that it extended to 22 episodes from the original 18.
It is an intricate love story revolving around hair stylists, Du Artz (Ming Dao), Lin Er Qi/Richie (Shao Wei), Fei Nan Du/Fernando (Fan Gang), Xiao Zhe Ming (Ehlo Huang), Bei Ruo Yi/Xiao Bei (Qiao Qiao), Lee Qing Kong (Adriene Lin) and models Ye Ke Lan (Sui Tang) and Emma (Sun Ai Hui). It also deals with competition between two salons--the traditional Zhong Nan and the modern Neo Image.

Though the story is nice, there are some parts that I find ridiculous. First, it was not established how Xiao Bei and Du Yasi’s grandmother met. They were very close but howcome their relationship attained that point? They should have met somewhere and bumped into each other. For example, Du Yasi is accompanying his grandma while pretending to be his twin brother, Du Yajun, who died in a car accident. Perhaps that looks more sensible. There is just a place called Kang Shou where Xiao Bei and Du Yasi go to visit her and I really cannot connect it. Second, Er Qi usually uses a motorcycle but half-way, he was seen driving a car. I think there were two scenes where he drives a car. And then suddenly, he goes back with motorcycle. It was not consistent. Third is the creepy one-eyed black creatures which appear every time Xiao Bei is locked up. The animation doesn’t look good, for me it’s disgusting…I even have goosebumps when I see it. Another, the brown jacket with number 23 in it. This jacket is earlier worn by Du Yasi when he saved Bei Ruo Yi from an impending accident. It is the only thing that she remembers before passing out Hence, it’s suppose to be Du Yasi’s but all of a sudden Er Qi used it without asking permission from the former. There should be a scene where he asked Yasi’s approval first before he left the salon to attend to an important matter. That’s unethical. Next is when Xiao Bei barged in to the salon to spread virus to Yasi’s laptop in order to get back at him. The door was not locked up and no one was looking after the place. It’s not logical. And lastly, the part where the people of Neo-Image have this informal meeting regarding Xiao Bei and then suddenly one turns on the TV and voila, the star tennis player is acknowledging Xiao Bei for her haircut and attributing her success to her. It will look more sensible if someone saw the news on TV and informed them about it. Lao Bei or Chou Mei should have done it. This is the same when the son of Er Qi, Xuan Feng, suddenly turned on the TV and the news about him (Xuan Feng) and Ke Lan was being shown again. That’s unbelievable.

I guess, the title of this one should be “The Magicians of Hair” and not “The Magicians of Love” because they are the virtouso of hair design, heheh…doesn’t sound good.

By the way, It was a revelation that hair/make-up artists in Taiwan are in general not homosexuals 'coz I'm just used to gay hairstylists in the country. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the third sex. Ergo, I find the theme of this story very novel.

I also noticed that it’s common there for celebrities playing good music with their hair designer, make-up artist or assistant. Like here in the story, famous hairstylist Du Yasi had a relationship with his assistant Qing Kong, another one is Fei Nan Du who got involved with two models. In real life, I heard Vic Zhou once had a make-up artist as his girlfriend, that was before Xu Wei Lun and Barbie Hsu; Raymond Lam who acted in “Ai Qing Xin Hu Xi” is currently dating his assistant; Jerry Yan was one time linked to his assistant, and two more celebrities whose names I cannot remember. If this is the case, I would also like to work there as assistant and be involved with any of those good-looking actors (in my dreams!)

On the other hand, I would like to comment on the leading lady, Qiao Qiao who played Bei Ruo Yi. Yeah, she acts well but I think she is misfit for the role. I know she’s very young, 17 to be exact when the series was shot and in the story, her character is also around that age. In my opinion, she doesn’t look good with either Du Artz or Er Qi. Her looks, being an artist, is very ordinary even if you put her tons and tons of make-up…no offense meant. It lessens the “kilig” factor. For me, it would be better if the leading lady in “Ai Qing Mo Jie,” Xia Yu Qiao (who I think is a little older than her) is the one casted here. She is pretty even without make-up and matches more with the two guys.

I was surprised to see Ehlo Huang here. I didn’t know he’s also a member of 183 Club. I first saw him in the romantic-comedy series “Ai Shang Qian Jin Mei Mei,” where he played a supporting role. There he plays Justin, a make-up artist, who fell in love with the leading character Ai Bi/Albee. I find him cute since then ‘coz he looks more Filipino than Chinese but wasn‘t expecting to see him again in this production. Though his character is almost the same as in “Ai Shang..,” this time he portrays the cute and funny hairstylist Zhe Ming. I just noticed his comedy style is like that of Show Luo. Well, I just hope to see him more…

Ambrose Zhu was also a pleasant surprise in this production. I’ve seen him played the lead role, like in “Lavander” and “Lao Shu Ai Da Mi” but here he portrays the antagonist, David Yao, also a hairstylist. Yet his character only emerged in the latter part. It’s good that he accepted the role for a change.

Actually, this is the first series of 183 Club that I was able to watch in full. I thought they were only a copycat of F4 so I tend to ignore them. I noticed that Ming Dao is hot in spite of his indigenous looks. A Taiwanese I met over Friendster told me that he has this aboriginal roots. Now I understand why he is being pitted against Wu Zun of Fahrenheit and Zhou Yu Min of F4, who are also active in doing TV series.

Meantime, Sam Wang’s character here is like King One in “Devil Beside You.” Though they are not that handsome, but man, you will also fall in love with them in the end, promise.

Apart from some absurd scenes, I can say that I have no regrets in watching this series. Now, I can say that 183 Club rocks!

* photo credit to sanlih e-television

“Boku Wa Imouto Ni Koi Wo Suru”

I have been trying to look for a copy of this movie and I was suppose to ask my cousin in Japan to buy a DVD copy for me. Luckily, I was able to download it in full recently. I encountered this movie after reading Jun Matsumoto’s profile ’coz got curious with him after watching “Hanayori Dango” in DVD (actually, my nephew convinced me to watch it). I became interested in the said movie because in English it means, “I Love My Younger Sister.”

“Boku Wa Imouto Ni Koi Wo Suru” is based on a Japanese manga with the same title. It is a Japanese production starring Jun Matsumoto of the popular boyband Arashi and Nana Eikura. Here, they play the fraternal twins who fell in love with each other. It is different from the usual stories of “brother-sister” falling in love with each other wherein later, they will find out they are not really akin biologically. In this movie, they grew up together, share the same room and study in the same school. Yori (matsujun) will then realize that she is attracted to her sister (Iku played by Nana to the point that he wants intimacy. Yori succeeded in his plans and soon, they became “lovers.” But another conflict comes in…their schoolmate Haruka Yano (Hiraoka Yuuta) has a big crush on Iku, while their other schoolmate Tomoka Kusonoki (Ayaka Komotsu) desires Yori. Hence, their love for each other will be tested.

I noticed that it is a “quiet” movie because I can’t remember if I heard any background music or noise, and the dialogues are less--more into facial expressions and body movements. But it goes well with the plot.

The scene that I like most here is when Yori reveals his true feelings to Iku by going to her bed one night and plans to kiss her. The lighting is like dark orange (sorry, I dunno how to describe it technically), no background music or noise, and the dialogues were delivered in whispered manner to the point that you cannot almost hear it. The director has skillfully translated Yori’s inner thoughts into action.

On the other hand, the part that I like least here is the last scene when they played rock, paper and scissors. I don’t understand what the director wants to tell the viewers.
Regarding the actors, I love matsujun but I just don’t like the way he walks because he’s like “strutting” his way on the ramp and it spoils the scene sometimes, heheh. How I wish the director also focused on this minute detail. As to Nana, she is beautiful and at times looks like Mao Inoue (Matsujun’s leading lady in HD) but I’m just bothered with her height, she is too tall for a Japanese and looks big for Jun Matsumoto who’s only around 5’7.

Nevertheless, the movie is basically a love story with unpopular plot. But for a change, not bad.

* photo credit to aibakaland/matsumotojun.net

"Lao Shu Ai Da Mi"

I’m still in the process of watching this romantic-comedy on TV. It stars Ambrose Zhu as Mi Yang / Rice and Tammy Chen as Qun Qun who were also the lead in “Lavander.” “Lao Shu Ai Da Mi,” literally translated as “Mice Loves Big Rice”, is a love story set on a resort.

Here, Ambrose plays Mi Yang, the handsome resort manager who has a cute and mischievous adopted daughter, Minnie. Tourist guide Qun Qun is his love interest who is also being wooed by the resort’s gigolo gym instructor/lifeguard Fei Yang (I dunno his real name but he was also in the series “Lavander”).

For commercial airing here in the Philippines, it is titled “Mouse Loves Rice.” So at first, I didn’t understand why the title. In early part, Minnie says that his foster father’s love for Qun Qun is like “mouse love for rice.” So I thought that’s the reason behind the title. But later, I discovered that the real title is “Mice Loves Big Rice,” with the word big before rice. In the beginning, I thought Minnie is not serious when she is saying that he wants to marry Mi Yang, his foster father. But when she starts to be seriously jealous with girls who show interest towards Mi Yang, that’s when I find out that Mi Yang and Minnie are the ones being referred to in the title. Minnie is sometimes called Minnie Mouse here and Mi Yang is called Rice Cake by another girl who got a crush on him. So there you go, got the connection. Very brilliant.

I also agree with other people who have watched this series that Minnie is kinda’ annoying. She feels that she is already grown-up, hahah! Actually, she can really pass as Ambrose’s daughter because they look alike.

Anyhow, hope to see more Ambrose and Tammy team-up.

* photo credit to TF

"Long Vacation"

This is the most “kilig-ever” (tickling) drama that I’ve seen in my entire life. And so far, my most favorite one. I tried to follow this story because when I saw its trailer over QTV-11, I was surprised to see Takuya Kimura here. I didn’t know he was that cute before. My first encounter with Kimutaku was when I watched a part of their TV program “SMAP X SMAP” over im.tv early this year. They spoofed “Meteor Garden,” but their set and uniform is like that of “Hanayori Dango,” and the F4 we all know (that is Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Zhu and Vaness Wu) appeared to bully the one playing Shan Cai after receiving the red notice. That was really hilarious.

By the way, Kimura is a member of an all-male group called SMAP, which is handled by Johnny and Associates, the agency also responsible for Arashi where Jun Matsumoto belongs. And just a trivia, Jerry Yan is said to sign-up recently for the said entertainment group to penetrate the Japanese market and to be the next Takuya Kimura.

Anyhow, “Long Vacation” was shown in 1996 in Japan but after more than a decade, it hasn’t lost its flavor. Its basically a May-December love story between a 24-year old introvert Piano teacher, Hidetoshi Senna (Kimura) and 31-year old independent and outgoing former model, Hayama Minami (Yamaguchi Tomoko) who live under one roof. In the beginning there was animosity between them but later on they start to fall for each other.

The part I like most here is when Senna asked permission to kiss her and she agreed without hesitations. That was really cute and it tickled me to the highest level…promise. I also love it’s opening theme “La La La Love Song” and the scoring “Deeper and Deeper” because they both sound hip and funky and lighten the mood of the story. Unlike the usual drama, when the scene is becoming heavy, the background music is also heavy. This one is different.

Meanwhile, what I don’t like here is when I see Kimura wearing tacked-in polo and high-waist slacks. I dunno if this is intended because of his character is kinda‘ geeky. Though he looks his best when he is just wearing white shirt and jeans. I also didn’t like how the ending was made because it finished hastily. I hope there was more “moments” between Senna and Minami before it came to a conclusion. So I was just like asking for more.

At any rate, it seems that “Long Vacation” is an all-time favorite based on many praises I’ve read about it. From the storyline to the music, from the characterization to the actors, I bet this jdorama is worth your time. So, if I were you, do watch it.

* photo credit to nt2099.com