CHALLENGE: DO SOMETHING NEW EACH MONTH

The January Edition;
CHALLENGE o4: Strawberry Picking
Together with Tuyen, we went strawberry picking! We originally wanted to go cherry picking but they weren't in season.

So on one of the hottest days of summer, we travelled to the strawberry farm just to pick some strawberries. The total travel time was around 2 hours, but we were only hunchbacked for about 30 minutes. Since it was towards the end of the strawberry season and we arrived in the afternoon, there wasn't much good looking ones left. But when we did find them, boy did I treasure them.

Despite my belief that I could eat as I picked, it was kind of hard to do. Strawberries are grown on soil, duh, so it was quite dusty and quite unhygienic. I also told Tuyen to bring her straw hat cause I was bringing mine. When she saw what I had for a straw hat, she swore she'll disown me as a friend if I wore it. What's wrong with my awesome Vietnamese straw hat?

Now for the little reflective piece at the end.

I wonder how farmers are able to do this for a living. It's a lot of hard work and despite it being a good work out, my back was aching quite a bit. I know that on the day, I complained about the weather and wanted to go another day, but farmers don't have that option. Their livelihood is reliant on Mother Nature's mood, and hell does she have one heck of a mood swing.

This got me thinking about my farmer friends back in Western Australia. I hope they're doing well.

Dramaland

I try so hard to be committed to my dramas, but there comes a time when

1. Nothing makes sense anymore or the same plot points are being used again and again. It feels like the drama is making me cry/sad/angst just for the sake of it.
2. Drama extensions that aren't needed. If you don't have enough material for a 16 episode drama, what makes you think adding 2 or 4 more episodes will help?
3. I can't relate to any of the characters. If I can't root for you, then there's seriously something wrong because that means I don't even care what happens to you. I probably won't be interested or emotionally invested in any of your conflicts. You could die for some unexplainable reason and I wouldn't shed a single tear.
4. I don't understand the characters presented to me. I don't necessarily have to sympathise with you (hello anti-hero!) but I need to be able to understand the choices that you make. Your choices should be explained through the circumstances of  your life, and when it doesn't, I'm out.
5. I end up hating the heroines/hero with a passion. Heroine, STOP BEING A FREAKING DOORMAT. Hero, STOP BEING A COMPLETE JERK IN THE ARSE.
6. Everyone is crazy. 
7. A character changes completely for no apparent reason. I understand that a character can change due to whatever circumstances they're put it. But when your change is not mediated because of anything, apart from suddenly wanting to be a jerk or crazy, then you're dead to me.
8. The change in directors/producers/writers messes with everything. The vibe, the pacing, the editing, the everything.
9. A drama is a remake of a manga or anime that I love and messes with it until it's unrecognisable. Case in point, Boys Over Flowers. Whatever it was, it was NOT my awesome Hana Yori Dango. Boys Over Flowers just happened to share shallow similarities such as having four handsome rich guys being childhood friends that bully kids in their school cause they can.  

I generally try to watch a drama till the end when I start it, especially if I'm more than half way through, but life is too short. Why bother with something that I don't even care about? Dramas are supposed to be for my entertainment or for deep thinking so when it becomes a chore, I'm definitely re-thinking its priority in my life.

Anywho, the point of this post was to really start many (hopefully) drama posts to come in the near future on anything I'm watching. I'm hoping I can think and explore a drama more thoroughly if I write about it. Since I'm not obligued to write essays on themes, characters, significant symbols etc anymore, I think my analysis of such have become quite basic and it's something I want to change.

Hopefully I'll actually be able to go through with this.

In another life

Recently watching The Notebook and Pride and Prejudice made me yearn for what they had. I wish that I lived in a time where we can dance as a source of enjoyment. Where we can dress up for a night in lovely dresses with ribbons or maybe some lace. Where we savour every conversation, every touch and every whisper. Where we can dream and become that much closer to our chosen partner.

The act of dancing seems so pure yet so exhilarating as you steal some precious time and converse secretly with your partner. I wonder if females were able to decline a man's request for a dance. If so, they must have a lot of courage, or confidence, to ask a woman to dance. For some reason, this reminds me of teenage movies where a dance is segregated into female or male sections.

It saddens me to think that the modern equivalent is clubbing.

First love

I know it's very unlikely, but I wish my first love will be my last.
I want it to last forever.

Train ride home

On the 16th of May, I caught the train home with my friend Tina Luu. We decided to skip Anatomy because we had more urgent matters to attend to. Plus, it's a subject that's more beneficial when you listen to the lecture at your own leisure since you have the opportunity to go over everything! Lecturers try to cram in everything as fast as possible, and as a consequence, you're bombarded with so much information that you tend to miss out on important details since you're so busy trying to keep up.

On this very day, we met a peculiar woman. After she got onto the train, she was banging on the windows, trying to get the attention of her friend, who happened to be on the next platform. I do not know if she managed to succeed in her plan, but she surely had the attention of every passenger on the carriage. She was apologetic when she realised what she had done. From this, she stuck up a conversation with us.

For the reminder of the trip, she was constantly admiring how "gorgeous" we were. After the initial praise and compliments, she started to share some details about her life. Like how she nearly died giving birth to her youngest daughter. How her son has a girlfriend that resembles me. How her father used to call her baby cheeks, which was what she was calling us. As my friend and I stood up to leave, she told us to stay together, to look after one another and know what's truly important.

From what I can remember, she carried alcohol (probably wine) in her bag. Her hair was a mess and her skin was dry and pale. I remember thinking that she looked as if life had dealt her a bad set of cards, but she's done everything to her abilities to deal with it. She's had a harsh life but her genuine love for her children, which seems to be the only thing that's keeping her alive, was palpable.

I hope that this lady has found peace in her life and is truly happy. I would also like to thank her for sharing a bit of herself to random strangers. There are many reasons why she struck a conversation with my friend and I. She may have been lonely and needed to talk to someone or she was just very open about herself. Either way, I admire her for sharing such intimite details about her life. It takes such courage to share something about yourself without worrying about other people's opinion.

A new hobby?

After my visit to a very neat little store* in the city, I've started going on an arts and crafts rampage. I've searched eBay for anything related to cute stamps, stickers, pens and what not. In the process, I found a little blog about penpals and I'm seriously considering finding one for myself.

I'm also seriously thinking of starting an acrylic stamp collection. Acrylic stamps defer from rubber stamps because you can see where you're putting them. This is because acrylic stamps have a clear mount, where you stick the clear stamp, put on some ink and voila! After you finish using them, just clean the stamp and put it away. It seems so easy to manage because  you can just put them in a folder. I'm guessing it will also save storage space.

Apparently, the clear acrylic mount can be used with unmounted rubber stamps, but it's such a hassle to buy and prepare the cushion and vinyl cling. Guess I'll just stick with the acrylic stamps if I ever decide to start my collection.

With my recent surge of interest for arts and crafts, I thought I'll finally get started on doing some scrapbooking. I bought all (if not most) of the material I needed to get started back in year 12, but I never felt motivated enough to do it. I had so many ideas but I didn't know where to start. After much contemplation, I now know where to begin. From primary school.

I was hesitant to start with primary school because I only have one photo from that period of time. A photo at camp with Karen. However, while I was cleaning my room, I found some beads, a t-shirt and other random items that serve as a reminder of some special moments in primary school. I can't wait to get started. Just gotta go to Big W to print off some pictures.

Anywho, apart from my scrapbook project, I'm also in the initiation phase of another project. I've just bought most of the items I need on eBay and can't wait to get started. This one, however, is a secret until it's completed. I will definitely post pictures as the projects progresses.


* For anyone interested, the store was in the Flinder's Station subway. Karen wouldn't go with me cause she says it's a place where people get raped :(

SM's remake of Hana Kimi.

WARNING!
A VERY LONG POST THAT GOES NOWHERE.
IT'S ABOUT A MANGA AND IT'S LIVE ADAPTIONS.
It'll probably confuse you.

For anyone unfamiliar with Hana Kimi, it's a manga about a girl cross-dressing as a boy to meet her idol and learns that he has stopped high jumping. All sorts of hijinks ensues since she's attending an all boys school and living in an all boys dormitory. Here's a better summary:

Japanese-American Mizuki has gotten herself into a high school in Japan... but not just any school! To be close to her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano, she's going to an all-guys' high school... and disguising herself as a boy! But as fate would have it, they're more than classmates... they're roommates! Now, Mizuki must keep her secret in the classroom, the locker room, and her own bedroom. And her classmates--and the school doctor--must cope with a new transfer student who may make them question their own orientation.

- Mangaupdates

This manga has been adapted as a drama 3 times. Once in 2006 by Taiwan, another in 2007 by Japan and remade in Japan again in 2011. I watched all three and my favourite by far is the Japanese version in 2007. I thought the 2011 remake was really unnecessary, but whatever, that drama introduced me to more awesome actors. Needless to say, I love this manga and the dramas its given birth to. Which is why when SM Entertainment announced they would be producing the Korean remake, I was a bit weary.

At first, I was weary of how many idols would be in it. Sure, Hana Kimi (2007 version) focused on pretty looking guys and Korean idols are definitely pretty, but most could act. From my experience of Koren idols, I would rather have them in supporting roles than main roles. Some are just so bad. I cringe when it's blatantly obvious that they're trying to act, and that's coming from someone who doesn't really set the acting bar that high. But in all honesty, I can live with bad acting, as long as the drama isn't full of it.

When the casting came out, I was alright with most of it. The deal breaker was who played Nakatsu, the guy who announces he is gay to the world after realising he has feelings for Mizuki. He embraces these feelings and watching him go through his conflict was satisfying. Since he's being played by an actor, the adorable Lee Hyunwoo, I was actually quite happy. However, I started dreading about the plot when character descriptions came out.

I was so stupid. The plot should've been my case for worry, not the casting. Another would be how the Korean adaption would change it to fit the Korean audience and how their drama story telling works.

[The portion below is a comment I posted on a site, just re-worded a bit]

I liked the Taiwanese adaptions because they tend to follow the original source as closely as possible. I like knowing what happens and the extra scenes they add in serve as a little surprise that I welcome. On the other hand, the Japanese adaption was a lot more comedic. It didn't always focus on our main trio, opting to show the bromance between the different dorms and how they were essentially at the whims of the principal as they competed for whatever the prize happened to be for that episode.

Despite any changes that these adaptions made, Hana Kimi was only changed to suit its target audience in its country. Taiwanese idol dramas are in abundance with overacting with exaggerated facial expressions, and that was the case for Hana Kimi. People who aren't accustomed to Taiwanese idol dramas will be turned off, but for those who are, it's just another manga adaption.

As for the Japanese adaption, it had the dorms competing for something in every episode because that's how Japanese dramas tend to be - episodic. Anyone remember Gokusen or G.T.O? One problem at a time. And well, the drama was pretty crazy which is characteristic with a lot of other Japanese dramas out there. Despite these changes, these dramas can still be recognised and considered as "Hana Kimi" because they are still true to the characters that make up the Hana Kimi world.

Overall, I understand that certain aspects need to be changed so that the source can suit the audience of its country, but only if it's still in the realms of the Hana Kimi world. This is clearly not the case for the Korean adaption, especially with the information we've been given.

Firstly, changing some important characteristics of Nakatsu, one of our leads, will without a doubt change the Hana Kimi story. The characteristics that belong to Nakatsu define him as well as the choices he makes and his reactions. If something so elementary is changed, then the Nakatsu presented to us in this Korean adaption is not the same. He will not be one of the first friends Mizuki makes who offers her his umbilical cord as a sign of friendship (Jiro), nor will he have nose-bleeding fantasies of her (Ikuta Toma).

Secondly, I'm guessing a lot of the homosexual relationships and elements will be removed for the benefit of the Korean audience[1]. This is an integral core of the manga. Removing it will lose a lot of what makes Hana Kimi what it is. Not only that but we can expect a lot of the sexual innuendos or pervy jokes to be scraped too. Also, the angst

By the looks of it, Hana Kimi will be changed to be any other rom-com out there in Korea. Like Boys Over Flowers, it will become a drama that will just happen to share some very shallow similarities to its original source.

The final verdict: I will watch it, but with very low expectations. I'm going to go into this and forget that it's even an adaption of a manga that I love.




The "semi-final" casting has been released (with teasers) and I would like to make some final comments.

• The character of Yamashina Rina plays a very minor role in the manga. If I remember correctly, she arouses the jealously of Mizuki but is never a threat to our OTP. Well, Korea has decided to upgrade her to second female lead. Typical of most Korean second female leads, she'll be the "crazy bitch" and come in between our OTP. This change is like a double edged sword. Second lead females are all "evil bitches" in dramaland in Korea, but it may actually play out well in this drama. Rina is a female who can easily be direct about her feelings for Sano, but Mizuki can't because she is cross-dressing. But Sano will spend more time with Mizuki because they're roomates and go to the same school...
• Can't believe they cast Kwanghee as Nakao. He's a homosexual that is short and effiminite looking. Kwanghee looks nothing like Nakao. Doubt he'll be gay. 
• DR. UMEDA WON'T BE GAY!
• Two additional characters have been added. Hm..
• Some very important side characters are no where to be seen. What happened to Kayashima (ghost guy)!?!?!? And Sekime!
• The teaser where I could see Nakatsu tells me he isn't acting like a jerk. YES YES YES YES YES YES!!! He really was the deal breaker for me.

____________

[1] South Korea don't believe in homosexuality. To them, it is non-existent. Possibly one of the reasons why you can see guys touching each other and no one cares.