Mail Order Rocks!

Lately it seems that all I've been doing is working and it didn't help that the first thing I see after I checked my email today is a thinly veiled personal attack on my apparent lack of taste because I had nothing good to say about a TVB series called "Steps" and because I dared to actually suggest that Chen Fala was NOT devoid of acting ability in said series. Strangely the person who left me that comment actually seemed to think that I would find it immature that they didn't leave a name other than "anonymous". Shouldn't my only logical reaction be to react to the immaturity of the content of the message and not the fact that someone left me a message signed with an unverified nickname or name?

I know I shouldn't be surprised that I might attract this kind of comments from time to time and I suppose I've been lucky that there haven't been more as I'm often not kind to series that I find terrible. I suppose the lack of such comments in spite of my trashing of several TVB series in my blog has lulled me into a false sense of security. Sigh... it must be one of those days... =(

Anyway, in order to chase the blues away, I thought I would just ramble a bit about my new obsessions, Matsushima Nanako, Japanese dramas and learning Japanese. =)



Now as you guys who know me well know, I'm simply terrible when I get obsessed. I was like that with Ada Choi for a while and now it's the same with Matsushima Nanako. And like it was with Lau Ching Wan, Moon Lee, Jade Leung and Ada Choi, I've set out to try and watch everything Nanako has ever been in. Now I failed with Lau Ching Wan simply because the man's filmography is like ridiculously long and a lot of it is quite un-watchable, so much so that even I the crazy completist cannot find the strength to continue the struggle, so I gave up. =) Thankfully, Nanako's filmography is only a fraction of Lau Ching Wan's and is mostly filled with quality work and so I have had little trouble watching most of it. The most difficult part right now isn't the watching, it's the getting.



After a great deal of effort, I've managed to acquire almost everything that Nanako has been in and today I added a very difficult to find title to my collection. =) The best part of today was to find in my mailbox, the dvd of 「加賀百万石 母と子の戦国サバイバル」 (kaga hyaku man seki ~ haha to ko no sengoku sabaibaru ~ ). =) Sadly, this made for tv title doesn't have any English subtitles but I'm happy to get it nonetheless. See... told you I'm a nutty completist. =)

I can't really figure out the exact dates this particular story is set in since it's in Japanese with no English subtitles and my knowledge of the Japanese language is quite sad at the moment. What I can figure out though is this, this telemovie is set in the Sengoku era in Japan's history and seems to concentrate on Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Matsu's twilight years. If you're a Jdorama fan, you would most likely have watched, or at the very least know of, this popular and highly rated series called Toshiie and Matsu (利家とまつ). This series which stars Nanako as Maeda Matsu also has in its cast some of her generation's most popular and talented stars.



There are a few points of interest if you're a Nanako or Toshiie and Matsu fan. It might amuse you to watch the young Nanako play the proud Lady Yodo in this telemovie. This telemovie was made in 1999 and Nanako played 淀殿 , also known as Cha Cha or Lady Yodo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's concubine and Lord Oda Nobugana's niece. Who would have known then that 3 years later, in 2002, she would go on to portray with greater success the wise Matsu of the powerful Maeda Clan. Lady Yodo doesn't feature much in either Toshiie and Matsu or "kaga hyaku man seki ~ haha to ko no sengoku sabaibaru ~ ". At the time she made this telemovie, I don't think anyone knew then that she would become one of the most famous and popular Japanese drama actress of her generation.

Another point of interest is that Takashima Masahiro who plays Maeda Toshinaga really looks like the same guy who played Tokugawa Ieyasu in Toshiie and Matsu. Now if only I understand Japanese, I'm currently 10 or so episodes away from finishing Toshiie and Matsu and it would be interesting to be able to compare how they each portray the events of that time.

Wow, it's already 2:40am... sigh... will need to sleep now. Too bad, maybe next time I'll have enough time to give a brief comment on the other Nanako series I've seen and also talk about Jdoramas on the whole and maybe even touch on this other TVB series I finished watching during Chinese New Year

Anyway, that's it for now... good night. =)

Happy New Year!

Hi guys. It's now the Year of the Rat. Not going to say much cuz it's late and i'm tired. Just wanted to wish all my friends Happy Chinese New Year. May the new year bring you happiness, good health, success and all the good things in life. :-)

8th Feb Fix:
Just realised the photo I sent via my cell phone needed to be rotated. Fixed it. =) That's a picture of my first lo-hei of the year. =)

cheers

Got a new phone.

Hi guys. Super busy month but managed to get some time away from work to rest and do some shopping today. Got myself a new phone today and thought i'll test it out. :-) that's about it really. Got other things i need to do and still need to try and get some sleep so till next time, take care. :)

Matsushima Nanako

First let me wish all you guys 新年おめでとうございます (Shinnen omedetou gozaimasu), Happy New Year to all of you and may the new year bring you much joy.

My interest in Anime and video games led me to this wonderful Japanese drama called Nodame Cantabile. A drama I went into somewhat rambling detail about how much I love it, love classical music and how much I love the cast in particular Ueno Juri (上野 樹里) and Tamaki Hiroshi (玉木 宏). As a result, I decided to sign up for a Japanese language class in the hopes that one day I might be proficient enough that I would be able to watch anime and jdorama without relying on English subtitles.

Then Poh Kim, one of Singapore's largest dvd/vcd distributors, began importing tons of Japanese dramas into Singapore and I decided to get a couple of them.

What I definitely didn't bargain for is my new current obsession. It has consumed all my free time and now all I do is watch Japanese dramas. =)

For the longest time, I had this impression that jdoramas were weepy affairs or highly exaggerated melodramatic dramas and hence, I had very little real interest in watching them. This is mostly due to the strong impressions that Oshin and old Yamaguchi Momoe (山口百恵) series left on me when I was a child.


Matsushima Nanako, Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun

As a result, I almost missed out on Matsushima Nanako (松嶋菜々子), Takenouchi Yutaka (竹野内豊), Inoue Mao (井上真央) and Matsumoto Jun (松本潤). But by far my most favourite Japanese actor of all time right now is Matsushima Nanako.


Matsushima Nanako

She ranks right up there with my Ada Choi Siu Fun obssession and like with Ada, I have tried tracking down as many of Nanako's series and films as possible. The likelihood of me ever getting my hands on all of them is very slim as some of Nanako's series are quite old but those that I've managed to get my hands on have only increased my regard for one of the best Asian actresses I've ever watched. Unlike Ada, who in my opinion didn't manage to attain the level of regard she should have as one of the best actresses of her generation in Hong Kong, Nanako is loved by many Japanese and scores of Asians and I am one of them.

While I would love to wax lyrical about Hana Yori Dango 1 & 2 (Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun were fantastic and Nanako looked lovely) and how divine Nanako was in Majo no Jouken, Bijo ka Yajiuu, Koori no Sekai, GTO, I really need to go as I would like to try and watch as much of Yamato Nadeshiko as possible before the avalanche of work hits when work begins tomorrow.

Someday, maybe I will go into greater detail on just how wonderful Nanako's acting is. Here's hoping that Nanako will continue to act even though she gave birth to her second daughter with husband Sorimachi Takeshi in Nov 2007. She's been working a lot less since her marriage to Sorimachi and I would be really sad if she decides not to work completely anymore. =( I read some where that there is suppose to be a Hana Yori Dango movie which will go into production in January of this year and Nanako will have a small part in it if she recovers in time. If she makes it into the cast for this movie, I would be in 7th Heaven. =)

Okie dokes... am off to watch more Nanako and I leave you with these youtube videos of a series of Nintendo DS =) commercials featuring the still stunning Nanako. =)





cheers =)

Bintan Indonesia Day 3.

Bintan Indonesia Day 3. It's our third day in Bintan and it's time to go back. Yesterday after pasar oleh oleh, we went to an outlet shop to do some shopping. I found quite a few things that i liked and bought them. Then we went back to the hotel where my friends went swimming and i stayed in the hotel to study my japanese cuz i caught a cold and couldn't swim. :-) ok, later. :-)

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.

Bintan indonesia day 2.

Bintan indonesia day 2. Today, after breakfast, we decided to do some sightseeing and shopping. Our first stop was pasar oleh oleh. It's a little compound made up of several little traditional wooden houses. The shopping here isn't great as it's really tourisy and not really that dirt cheap. We walked around for a bit and bought snacks for our respective colleagues then left the place to go to an outlet clothings place near the ferry terminal. Later. :-)

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.

Bintan day 1 part 2.

Bintan day 1 part 2. The weather was really very good today and after we checked into our rooms and freshened up we went swimming. The pool is kinda cool. It's by the beach and when one looks across towards the beach water from the pool looks as though it's flowing towards the sea. I'm back in the hotel now. It's after dinner and time for tv. I put a bunch of videos on my creative zen so time to watch them. :-) btw the photo above is a photo of the view from my room. Very nature nature right? :-)

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.