Story of Time - 光陰的故事

The most recent drama that I am watching is NOT a Taiwanese idol series, but more like those TCS drama about Chinatown…haha! This story talks of a village in Taiwan and about the families that live there..(more details). I started to watch bits and pieces of it when ever I manage to catch the repeat on cable 255 at night. It is really enjoyable! The acting was great – I think this is partly due to the great cast as there were many veteran actors in the series, and the younger actors have done some acting work, so none of them were ‘green’ like many in idol series.

The plot was nice, with a good balance of human drama, humour, family & neighbourly relations and of course romance. I think the biggest draw for me was to see a side of Taiwan that I didn’t see before in the other dramas – how real people live as this story is written about a real place where the producer of the series lived. It does add a touch of reality to the show. There are a couple of themes in the story arcs that are quite nice – like one of forgiving and moving on ( for one family with an abusive father), about letting go ( of a long held crush), believing that happiness is the ability to be contented with what you have, and life as a series of MCQs - we make the best choice we can at the moment. It may not be what you want, but once it is made, we try not to regret what has happened. I think it has a more robust plot then most shows on TV these days! ( I realised I am not very good at conveying how good this series really is….sigh…just go watch it!)

On top of that, it has a great soundtrack! :)

Here is a clip of the “ending song” which has a soft-rock edge to it.

Happy Viewing!!

New take on old favourites...

Recently, I heard some old songs given a new lease of life.

There is this Chinese albulm by Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) called Ladies' Night. All the songs are re-mix of singles by female artists ( hence "Ladies' Night"). It is interesting to near a new arrangements on familiar favourites. I particularly like 心动 by Lin Xiao Pei. It used to be one of Red Box's ladies favourite song. But since the MV for this song is not available , I am going to share another song - 遇见by Stephanie Sun (from the Movie "Turn Left, Turn right")



BTW, here is the original if you wanted a comparision.


Another song to share is Faye Wong's Red Bean (红豆）which has been newly arranged and sung by 方大同．　
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Here is the orignial

881 : The Getai Movie

Ok...so I finally went to watch the Royston Tan movie "881" last weekend. I must be one of the hundreds who have/are blogging on this movie! It was a pretty authentic experience as there were many aunties & uncles in the cinema as well. The movie about the local "getai" scence was really quite good. It showed the "human" side of an industry that only operates for one month in a year. I spent the first half laughing, and the second half crying. What I like best about the movie was actually the music. It was often ironic that the songs that were sung were usually sad - mostly about the hardships in life and sickness BUT the costumes and lighting is rather jovial in comparison. The singers were all very good as well....should I say..even better than some of those "idol -singers". I particularly like these 2 songs :





The movie also reminded me of those childhood days when my sisters and I would attend the 7th month dinner with my grand aunty and the excitement of the auction. If you are familiar with the 7th Month event, you would know that each set of "gifts" usually comes with a flag...which is usually a prized toy. Since there were 3 kids at home, we end up fighting for the "right" to own the flag. My grand aunty - being fair...usually got the organisers to give her 3 flags :) (we reckon the organisers obliged as my grand aunty had a pretty loud voice, and they probably gave it to her cos they were scared! :P)

Closet Mandarin Pop Fan

I listen to Manarin pop. In fact I only listen to the local Chinese radio station when I drive. Every morning, I must have my "dose" of "Wan Ren Mi" on Yes933 and have argued with hubby over which radio station we listen to in the morning. If I am driving, it has to be Yes933!

Well listening to the Chinese radio programme is not such a big deal in Singapore but to many people, I was told that I did not fit into the profile of a Chinese pop fan. First, I come from a English speaking family - my dad did not even study Chinese in school...he did Latin. I went to schools where the only time we spoke in Chinese was during Chinese class....at times even English were spoken during Chinese classes as some of my classmates just could not speak the language. One of my colleagues was really surprised when he took a lift from me one day and found that I listened to Chinese songs & could actually sing along with it. He said it just didn't fit my "image" or "profile" .....

I started to listen to Mandarin songs when I was at University...in Australia! I had many friends from Malaysia & Hong Kong who would have endless supply of the latest albums which I would borrow. It just grew from there. Since I came back to Singapore, I just continued the habit. I no longer have a clue about the latest English pop singers or the songs that are in the Billboard top 40, BUT I call tell you all about the Chinese pop music scene. I even attend Mandrain pop-concerts & go to karaoke to belt out the lastest hits :). I just find that the music & lyrics of the mandrain songs...just so much nicer (lyrics, music arrangements ...etc)

However, this love for mandarin songs have not been passed on to the next generation...my children much prefer their Hi-5 and Barney songs. But I am hopeful!! One day..they will understand :P