We Got Married

I have a huge stack of movies and series that are piling up that I have yet to watch. It's hard when you have only so many hours but there are so many different shows in different languages to watch.

Ah! The joys of being Asian, you have shows in English, Mandarin, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan to choose from and it makes the amount that I want to watch so much more.

Needless to say, I am SO BEHIND! Anyhow, after some persistent coaxing from someone, I started watching a reality show from Korea known as "We Got Married". I have to say that I am HOOKED!

The show is about 4 celebrity couples who pretend to be married and the life of a newly wed couple. All 4 are vastly different and definitely give some highly entertaining moments. You get the awkward moments while they are getting used to each other and the fights and dramas!

You always have that slob of a guy who never wants to do anything. Then you have the cute couple and a seemingly materialistic and fashionable couple. The one that I was most taken with was this really romantic guy.

He is just so romantic that it almost seems unreal. If you can hear the music resonating from the background of my blog, it's a song in his album.

There was a point where I began to question whether could it be that he is just putting on a show. After all, celebrities are known to be really different in real life and when they are on camera. However, after watching for a while, I believe that he is really a sincere and genuine guy. I may be wrong, but I am happy to have this conclusion. If I can find someone half as romantic as him, I'll be happy! What can I say, I AM a romantic at heart!

Anyhow, if you're bored, definitely tune in to watch this reality show. You can find it in many places, including here.

21

Has anyone seen the new movie '21'? Fantastic movie, I definitely enjoyed it and wouldn't mind going back to watch it again. There is always something about gambling and cards that gets my blood ticking (although I swear that I don't have an addiction to gambling!).

Well, this week was the movie's premiere week and I decided to make good use of my free movie ticket and watch it. After all, my free movie ticket expires this month!

I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the cinema. As you know, I am not a frequent visitor of the cinemas. If not, my free ticket would have been used sooner.

Firstly, they now issue tickets with seat numbers. So you better just seat in your allocated seat or bargain with the ticket issuer to let you choose your seat when you buy it. Previously, it was "first come first serve" and "the early bird gets the worm" kinda thing.

They must also have done some renovations. Check out the seats.

All plush and ergonomic for your back. There is even a side table thing for the ladies to put their handbags. No more having to rest in on your lap. How cool is that!

Something else that impressed me were the side rest. Now those couples would be rejoicing. Low enough that you don't have to twist your hands at awkward angles to hold hands and a nice plushy cushion-ish arm rest so that it is comfortable for 2 hours!

Great seats (did I mention that I manage to curl my legs in my seat? It was just like watching a movie at home) and a good movie. The asian dude in the movie was really funny too...what's with him trying to always just get as much freebies as possible from hotel rooms and even at a night club! There are definitely people like that in the world. That's why hotels have calculated that into our room rates, towels, bathrobes, shampoos etc...

That was a good 2 hours spent!

Sammi Cheng's concert

It’s been a busy weekend for me. A wedding on Saturday and then attending Sammi Cheng’s concert last night.

I usually wouldn’t go to a concert on a Sunday with the next day being a workday. I do not have enough sleep as it is.

Since I’ve already bought the ticket, can’t say no and waste my money on the day itself, so off I went. Got there about half an hour early and the venue was still looking pretty empty. However, another 10 minutes past and suddenly, people were arriving in droves!

Got to our seats and we were all given complimentary "Pong Bong" sticks. We got great seats (thanks Michelle), near the centre and second row from the front at the first level.

I was wondering if the concert was going to start on time as concerts usually do not last for more than 2 hours and if she didn’t start at 8.15pm as stated, the concert might only be 90 minutes.

8.36pm and the lights in the hall dimmed and music started to boom from the speakers. I was getting excited. This was an artist that I grew up with in my teens and I haven’t attended a concert of hers before.

She was great, she sang a lot of her old songs that I definitely loved. The funniest thing was, I still remember the lyrics to some of them. Ha!

She really connected with the audience and talk a lot about what she went through and the experiences and lessons that she have learnt. She gave a lot of encouragement and support as well.

Mid concert and a fast song was finally introduced and the medley of fast songs lasted 20 minutes straight of crazy dancing that would have definitely taken a lot of energy. She is one crazy and funny lady.

Nearing the end, she came down from the stage and started shaking hands with the fans and taking pictures. What I like about her is that when she sees a camera on her, she will stop and pose so that the fan will have a nice picture. That is really sweet of her. When the song ended and she was only a third of the way through the aisle of fans, she turned back and asks her band to play another song. It was very impromptu and even she had to figure out what song her band was going to play for her to sing. Other artist would have just stopped and went back on stage at the end of the first song.

It’s no surprise that she is definitely one of the top artists. Her voice is really strong and has power when you hear her sing live. Compared to some of the younger generations now where it’s more falsetto and soft (makes you wonder if a lot of technology had gone into it).

I came out of the concert really happy and enjoyed it very much (even though there was no encore). It lasted till 11pm, 2 and a half hours! I haven’t been listening to her songs in years but now I think I will start to again (that is the power of a good artist).

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 13 & 14

As the weeks go by, I have to say kudos to the editing team. The vids shown are less and less boring and unnecessary fillers and are a lot more interesting compared to the first few weeks.

What's new this week?

Episode 13 started with the girls going for the breakfast show with Elaine Daly. It's a good experience to brush up on being articulate and showing your personality across on TV.

Next was going for a gym session. Now, I don't really know if I am THAT interested in watching 2 minutes of just them prancing around and moving their hands. Those 2 minutes could have easily been shorten to 15 seconds. After the gym, it was off to Sunway Lagoon for some thrilling rides. They sure keep the girls busy!




I would have been just as happy sleeping in a nice comfy bed!

After that, we see Kenny Sia made an appearance with a challenge for the girls. Later, he was a houseguest with a few other men which the girls had to prepare a dinner for. Seems they are swooning over a particular house guest more than the others!

I'm pretty sure that the house that the girls are in could possibly be in Taman Tun?

After that, you could not avoid eliminations. It's an elimination with a twist though! Watch it to see what I'm talking about.

Then, we move on to Episode 14 and as usual, we have some minutes of the girls talking about the eliminations.

Now, the part where all the girls have to step up as there is going to be more than 1 person being eliminated next! The photoshoot. This week is "Couture Batik" merged with art. You'll know what I mean when you see the pics.

After the photoshoot, the girls had another challenge where they had to act in an advertisement for Escada perfume. Adeline won the challenge but I personally thought that Jay and Cindy stood out the most in the adverts. They really capture you attention and you can see their faces clearly which is always a good thing. Ringo wasn't bad but you can never see her face clearly so she would lose out if it was the real commercial world where you want people to notice you.

Now, the actual photos:

Adeline

Amazing! The pose, her expression, the combination of the art and colours with the dress just works! I have to say that she really stepped up this week. After looking through everyone else's photos, she gets "winning photo of the week".

She commands your attention and I definitely looked at her photo for more than just a few seconds.

Ringo

To Ringo's dismay, she did mentioned that she wasn't too happy with the photo that was ultimately chosen and she was only just warming up when they said that she was done. The top half and her expression is good but the overall photo does not look proportionate. I think it's to do with the dress being longer than her height can carry and maybe that pose that she is using.

It just somehow emphasized her shortness, maybe if tried jumping in the air so that the whole dress is flowing, it will give the illusion that her body is a lot longer!

Cindy

I like this photo. I like the colour scheme, the pose and her expression works. She looks like a character from some manga comic book. There are so many interesting elements in the picture that you definitely stay a while to look at all of them.

Hanis

It's a good photo. Definitely better than others this week but somehow it just looks normal. Nothing spectacular. Her pose and expression doesn't complement the dress and the colour art.

Nadia

There just seems to be something that is not quite right with this photo. Nadia usually takes at least good photos of a certain standard, but this one just seems to be a flop to me. Nothing is complimenting each other, I personally think that this is a bad photo.

Jay

What happen?? I'm really surprised with Nadia and Jay this week. Both their photos just don't work. I don't even know what to say about Jay. It's not even a simple tweaking here and there that will make this work. Everything in this photo isn't working!

Based on this week's photos, some girls are able to thrive on the pressure while others seem to crumble. It's going to be an interesting elimination. Are the votes going to end up being popularity or merit based?

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 11 & 12

Time seems to pass really quickly and we are down to 6.

It is starting to get a lot more interesting due to the editing team. Kudos to them. With each week, the episodes have less fillers. We got to see snaps of the girls during MIFA which was great and also the elimination.

I am so disappointed! Why is it Fiqa?? She had one of the best photos last week but it didn't seem to have help. All the remaining girls are also making an effort to talk more and bring out their personalities more instead of hiding in the shadows. I guess that fact that it is a competition is starting to hit on them more now and each one is making an effort.

The week's photo shoot is for designs by Carven Ong with the location at Savanh Too Bar.
After the pep talk by Sazzy Falak at the last elimination, I am looking forward to better photos this week.

Adeline

Her pose really brings out the dress to its fullest and the lighting and background was the right pick too. However, her facial expression is just wrong and doesn't go with everything else.

Nadia

What can I say? It's a good photo but it doesn't stand out. I don't know what is she trying to express here with the dress that she is wearing.

Jay

Surprised to say but hands down Jay has the winning photo of the week.

Her posture and angle brings out the dress and her body shape really well. Most importantly, she connected with the camera and her expression and eyes grabs my attention.

Hanis

A very regal look which goes well with the dress but the make up is just a little too harsh. Especially the red lipstick, she ends up looking pretty bitchy in here.

Cindy

I've seen this expression before and it's one that doesn't work. She is now able to work on her face angles but she is not giving the right expression. This photo and the previous one just looks like she is trying to look sad?

Ringo

Ringo used the right pose to bring out the dress. It works but she needs to work on her facial expression for everything to be right. This photo shows her face looking puffy!

Overall, I still feel like a lot of work needs to be done as at the moment, there isn't anyone who is consistent and which I feel has the same standard to be consistent as a model. At this stage, any of this girls can go. The one to win will be the person who decides to step up.

青花瓷 Blue & White Porcelain

Talk about needing a break to start catching up on things that I have been meaning to. One of them was Jay Chou's latest album.

Late, I know! I'm currently stuck on the 3rd track. Simply love the melody and I have been playing it on repeat for hours on end. I think my house-mates are going to go crazy!

作詞：方文山　作曲：周杰倫

素胚勾勒出青花筆鋒濃轉淡　瓶身描繪的牡丹一如妳初妝
冉冉檀香透過窗心事我了然　宣紙上走筆至此擱一半

釉色渲染仕女圖韻味被私藏　而妳嫣然的一笑如含苞待放
妳的美一縷飄散　去到我去不了的地方

＃天青色等煙雨　而我在等妳　炊煙裊裊昇起　隔江千萬里
在瓶底書漢隸仿前朝的飄逸　就當我為遇見妳伏筆

＊天青色等煙雨　而我在等妳　月色被打撈起　暈開了結局
如傳世的青花瓷自顧自美麗　妳眼帶笑意

色白花青的錦鯉躍然於碗底　臨摹宋體落款時卻惦記著妳
妳隱藏在窯燒裡千年的秘密　極細膩猶如繡花針落地
簾外芭蕉惹驟雨門環惹銅綠　而我路過那江南小鎮惹了妳
在潑墨山水畫裡　妳從墨色深處被隱去

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 9 & 10

How quickly time passes and it's now another week onto Malaysian Dreamgirl and we have episode 9 & 10.

I was a little surprised with how many parts there was to episode 9 as there are usually only 3-4 parts whereas this week, it has double that! Woowee~

We see the girls going for an individualised hair spa treatment during the day. Honestly, it was dragging a bit as the viewers were given a few minutes take of each girl going through what their hair problem was, how they feel about the hair spa and saying their 'thank yous'. Having to listen to it 7 times is not funny.

What are your plans after getting your hair beautifully done? Clubbing of course it seems. I never like going clubbing the same day that my hairs gets beautifully done as you go from nice and clean smelling hair to yucky cigarette smoke hair in minutes.

The next day, the girls had a fashion challenge where they had to pick an outfit in their given category and come up with a new look. I seriously wonder whether anyone is usually able to find an outfit in 5 minutes? Just looking for your size takes up precious seconds, somehow the girls managed to do it. Kudos to them.

Later on, they were treated to a behind the scenes experience of an actual photo shoot. Why were all the models there international? I wanna see some locals!

Sadly, elimination came and one of my favourites EYNA is GONE!!!! *sob sob*
I guess her weak photo from the previous week didn't help her cause. It was just this 1 week that her photo wasn't FANTASTIC. Sigh~ she will go far if she continues in this industry. All the best to her.

From that we move onto Episode 10 where the remaining 6 talked about the elimination and their next photo shoot.

Honestly, stop trashing Cindy. All those extra minutes of spotlight on her has given her extra camera time, so guess what? She wasn't even in the bottom 3 this week. There is always 2 sides to every story and the cameras should have just shown us those incidents for the viewers to decide. Example, the shoe incident. Honey, if you're not holding onto the shoe, no one is going to know you chose it first so if someone else is holding it in the end, it's a fair go for her to choose that shoe. After all, it would seem that you didn't want/like that shoe if you put it back on the display stand in the first place!

Now on to the final photos. It's a close up pic and the girls have to show off their Wella hair styles to its fullest and bring the vibe of the hair and reflect it onto the picture.

Adeline

Don't think this is one of her best. The lighting and tone of the picture actually added years onto her and she looks old! Is she trying to portray a fierce look? Her expression came out looking like she is confused.

Cindy

Compared to the previous week, this is not as good. She seems to be showing sadness in the photo but is that suitable for a hair shoot? With the hair style that she got, she should be showing it as a high fashion shoot. In fact, this time if she shows a bit of attitude or arrogance would have been perfect!

Fiqa

She wins "winning photo of the week" hands down!

This picture looks amazing. Doesn't even look like her, it took me a few seconds to recognise her. She looks young and vibrant. Good skin tone and the angle is just perfect for showing off the straight side front and messy back hair style as well as the eyelashes and her facial features. The tone, lighting and everything in this photo is just right!

Hanis

Strong photo. She manages to bring out the wildness and fierceness of her hair style into her expression. Good photo but somehow doesn't manage to catch my attention too much which brings it down a few points. I noticed that she has been improving though.

Jay

It doesn't work. She looks too androgynous that it doesn't bring out the beauty and femininity of the hair. It's her lower facial area and the jaw that she needs to tone down and somehow try to make it look more feminine.

Nadia

It's still a good photo but not one of her best! She is showing off everything (the hair, her face angle) right but her eyes look a little vacant which stops it from becoming an engaging photo.

Ringo

What happen?? The hair, the makeup, the lighting and the choice of make up colour just didn't work and she looks so old in this photo and in fact, makes her skin look really blotchy.

That's my take, till next time.

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 8

Episode 8 is out and the girls have to do a photo shoot that shows them being fun and happy in the company of their friends.

Before that, they also had a catwalk in Genting for 3 different brands. From what I could see from their catwalk styles:

Adeline - she isn't centred enough. By moving and swaying her shoulders too much, her walk became a little sloppy!

Cindy - her walk in the sportswear is pretty laid back. I would think that it needs to be strong and vibrant for sportswear to bring out the life of the outfit. In the dress outfit, she tried to put on an air of sophistication but it just came out with her looking arrogant! Sigh~ she needs to figure out that holding her chin up all the time just makes her look stuck up!

Eyna - she always captures attention but her sportswear walk was looking a little too casual.

Hanis - Not a bad walk in the dress but could see her mind thinking and concentrating during the sportswear bit.

Jay - she needs to SMILE!

Nadia - love it! She exudes an aura.

Ringo - her personality shines through her catwalk and you can tell that she is friendly and a cutie!

(Disclaimer: As I could only see seconds of what was shown in the website, their walk could have been different in reality! Haha~ as we all know what editing can do!)

Now, on to the photo shoot.

Ringo

The first picture looks great and really cute. Second picture looks a little weird (the hair messed it up!). 3rd and 4th are ok! The photos are good overall but not special enough.

Nadia

Love the 1st and 4th picture. Overall, good but doesn't stand out.

Jay

She doesn't have the most feminine or cute face so she really needs to push this to make it work. Her photos this week isn't good. Especially the second one, her face looks like it's contorted to side. Her smile and eyes doesn't reflect happiness and enjoyment either!

Hanis

LOVE this! Fun, friendly, happy and young! She got the look and feel of it. Her second picture is the best, it is simply amazing and definitely makes people stop for more than 5 seconds! She nearly took "winning photo" of the week but her jagged teeth just spoiled it a little.

Fiqa

Love this girl but sadly, her photos came out looking just ordinary. She needs to show more personality.

Eyna

This is a tough photo shoot for her as she is naturally quiet and not the smiley outgoing type. For someone who takes FAB photos, this one doesn't work.

I still forgive her, one bad photo week is expected but as she has consistently been in the bottom 5, not sure if she can survive. Please VOTE people!

Cindy

What can I say! She takes "winning photo" of the week.

Amazing, amazing! Her second picture wins it for me. Great eye contact and smile. She did the whole slight turn to the side angle which worked brilliantly for her. Jay did the same thing but it ended up looking more like a smirk. Everything about it is just perfect, her smile, her make up! I can't help but keep staring at the picture.

Kudos to her!

Adeline

Cute but not special enough!

That's my take on Episode 8. Till next time.

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 7

Episode 7 was about the girls going for a day session on applying make up. Other than that, it seems to be a b*tching session on Cindy by almost all the girls.

Seriously, If you're on TV, you don't want to be bitching about someone else. Doesn't look good and it will come back to haunt you. I mean, after all the hoopla on what Ringo did, you gals are doing it again!

Oh well, this episode ended up being giving a MAJOR spotlight to Cindy AND people love interesting characters like that when it comes to reality shows. I think that Cindy might be in MDG for quite some time yet.

Funniest bit on this episode was when Cindy called home to talk to her dad. She didn't like how her dad kept going on about asking her not to cry soo much and just went, "I'm not talking now, I'll call you again tomorrow". Haha!

Another thing that annoyed me a little was when it was mentioned that Cindy puts on an accent when the cameras are around. Well, it annoys me too when someone is faking it, but there are also people out there who are overseas that do have to change their accent a little when they speak to say the angmohs! If not, there is no way that those angmohs can understand what we are saying.

I know that I do that too and my Malaysian accent becomes stronger when I am speaking to Malaysians. So, without really knowing Cindy too well, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on that (although the accent that she used for her video profile definitely sounds fake)!

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Episode 6

After the first elimination, reality seemed to have hit the girls a little more that this show is ultimately still based on viewers' votes. You can see that they are all making a concerted effort now to engage the camera.

From what I can tell, there seems to be 1 or 2 girls that are not well liked by the rest. It seems that they show a different personality when the camera is around or are being two-faced? This is expected in a reality show but it is always interesting to see who they are.

I could be entirely wrong here but from the bits and pieces of information given out by the girls, I think that they could be talking about Natasha and Cindy.

Natasha and Alison were eliminated in the last round. With Natasha, even though she takes good photos, I don't think she necessarily have the looks to be a successful one. From her post elimination chat, I get the impression that she isn't fully interested in becoming a model. It seems to be more of her aunt's idea than hers. I guess then that others who put their hearts into this should deserve a better chance.

With Alison, she didn't really stand out much at the times that the camera was on her, that could perhaps explain why she might not leave as much of an impression as the others. With reality shows like this, you really need to show your personality and stand out to be remembered. Most Malaysian girls tend to be really polite which doesn't reflect your personality on screen. You need to remember to show people who you are, being quiet and giving "lembut" answers isn't going to work and get people to vote for you.

Hence, even though I am not a huge fan of Cindy but she talks and she shows her presence on screen (whether you like it or not)!

With this week, the girls had to do a photo shoot that runs through the night. It is titled "precinct" and is meant to display a masculine look and feel. I am going to start something new and will choose a photo from each shoot that I think is the "Winning Photo" or "Photo of the week".

Adeline

Totally disappointed with this shot of Adeline. The pose that she chose does not flatter her at all and doesn't show off the clothes and what the shoot is trying to achieve. You can tell that her eyes are strong and it would have been better if she was looking straight at the camera. It would have made a better photo.

Cindy

This one isn't working either. The angle of her face just doesn't seem right. If she turned her face slightly more to face the camera and perhaps extend her pose more to the front than to the side, it would look more masculine. I ended up looking more at the background instead of her (which should have been the focus)!

Eyna

Totally love this photo. It just grabs your attention for more than 5 seconds when you look at it. She has a questioning look but it works for her. She also manages to place her face at an angle that flatters her and with a pose that accentuates her body line and figure. Her pose also brings out an understated sexiness to the masculine clothes that she's wearing. Thus, she manages to pull off the masculine look while showing a feminine sexiness at the same time. All attention is definitely on her instead of the background in the photo.

Was a close call to getting the "Winning Photo" for the week.

Fiqa

Good photo but it lacks something. Her expression and her eyes just needs to be a little stronger. At the moment, I can't tell what direction is she trying to go with: sultry? cool? confused?

Hanis

Good pose and look but it's not standing out. She needs to come out a little stronger in the photo. Assert a little more aggressiveness. Modeling requires a little acting and even though she has a softer, feminine personality, she needs to portray something different for this shot to work.

Jay

This works! The pose is good, she's displaying the clothes well. Even though there isn't a masculine feel to it but you can sense a feeling of angst coming from her which works too. It's probably coming from the after effects of the elimination where she just lost Alison.

Nadia

I like what she said about acting to bring out what the clothes and aim of the shoot is. She spoke well and is beginning to show her competitive side which is a good change to the crying that was shown of her in the previous episode.

This shoot displays her in a side profile but has a laid back feel to it which works for her. Even though it's a side profile and she has a hat which could have potentially covered her face, she angled her face in such a way that you can still see her whole face (very important as you want people to know who you are) and the photo and her personality still comes out strong but not too intimidating. Funny how it takes a photo which doesn't show her eyes to result in a photo that isn't too fierce.

Ringo

She takes the "Winning Photo" title this week.

Why? The entire focus of this photo is on her. She seems to have improved as well and is able to bring a different side to her into this shoot that is different from her own personality.

The photo comes out strong, she looks totally different and is totally selling the outfit and shoes. I immediately feel like buying whatever that she is wearing. Even though her clothes are more feminine that the other girls, she still manages to bring a masculine feel to it while keeping it sexy in a modern preppy way.

The fact that I couldn't recognise her straightaway shows that she is growing and improving and able to bring different looks. My surge to want to buy whatever she is wearing has just fulfilled the advertiser's dream, her photo wins it.

Valerie

Really disappointed with this shot. I love Valerie but this photo just doesn't work. Her leg is at a weird angle, she is slouching and she seems lost in thought or in another world. Where is your focus? If she straightens her back more and just shows off the clothes proudly, this pose would have worked for her.

Click here to watch Episode 6.

Till next time, adios.