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Showing posts with label Things I watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things I watch. Show all posts

Assalamualaikum

I have a question,
"Is reading fiction better than watching a drama?" 

like any normal person with question living in this era, I googled it. I need to know. 

Why is this important to me? I am addicted to TV that is why lol. I consume my fiction from TV so I don't think I need it from books as well and when I have enough willpower to finally sit and read, it has to be a non-fiction.  To me, non-fiction bring new value to my life as opposed to fiction books.

So, is one really better than the other?


Not surprisingly, a lot of articles backed by scientific research concluded that reading is better. I won't argue. However, I would like to also bring light to the fact that with most scientific studies based on people's reaction and development,  the result almost never shows 100%, because humans are not a fixed variable, no one person is the same than the other. In fact, 2:55pm me writing this on 22 October 2020 is not the same me who publish this tomorrow at 12pm on 23 October 2020. So when studies shows that "Most do bla bla bla," "most people reacted xxxx," we have to be open to the fact that they are people out there that don't react like most people.

***

The articles said that watching tv is a passive activity whereas reading is an active one. One very important reason they point out is the fact that when you watch tv, you passively accept the digested information rather than process it yourself. Reading on the other hand, makes you imagine stuff and process the information on your own, therefore making your brain really active.

While I agree with what they say about reading fiction, I would like to argue that watching fiction is not as passive as it seems to be. For me at least, I don't take things on the surface level. I processed my dramas too, evidently from various drama reviews I've written on this platform.

And if I want to be petty and further argue the points in my favour, remember the time when people wanted to check out Parasite after they won so many awards, only for the majority of them (especially from english speaking countries) to be disappointed with the fact that they have to read (subtitles) too. So, technically, when I watch a drama, that is also me reading for hours :P I mean, a korean mini series is around 16 episodes, imagine that 16 episodes worth of subtitles, how many pages in a book that is?

So while I still agree that reading is generally still a better option, watching fiction is not the bad end of the stick either. Especially now when TV is not just about romance and makjang (soap opera) anymore. There is so much more we can learn from TVs as long as you pick the right thing to consume. For example, in this twitter post made by Dr Beni Rusani on Laryngoscope, if you see the comments, most already know this device from various TV series they watched!

I guess, in the end, the conclusion is this, you do you (overly used conclusion). I personally don't like to read fiction but it's not that I shut fiction completely off my life. I have multiple moments when I picked up a fiction books and love it but generally, if I were to choose one over another, I would prefer to just watch my dramas and as for reading, I leave it for my non-fiction.

In the end, I guess, this is just another episode of me trying to justify my choices in life. haha. Luckily I am not an influencer lol.

FICTION

Friday, October 23, 2020


Assalamualaikum

Interestingly, my YouTube consumption depends heavily on my mood. Funny videos for when I am lonely, funny videos and deep videos for when I am sad, doodle and cooking videos when I am bored, quiet videos when I am feeling overwhelmed and when I am happy, random videos would do.

Guess what I have been consuming this past few days;

Quiet videos.




The world is just too noisy nowadays don't you think? There is this thing called too much; and too much of anything can really make you sick. So if you're like me, and want something quiet and calming, I thought I'd share with you YouTube pages that I love in this category:

My ultimate favourite is haegreendal.


She's a stay at home mom with a part time job as an artist I think, because sometime she posted about her drawing deadline. On why she's my favourite, her editing, the aesthetic of it, it's so relaxing. The level of calmness I feel from just watching her video, if I can try to describe it in words, my brain go "aaahhh~~" as if it was being relieve from something.

The next one that I am really excited to introduce to you is Nyangsoop



She's a 25 years old living the best life she can in her own country home. I love love love love her house. Someone commented "these kind of videos make me feel that the world is still a safe place," it could not be more true. I feel good knowing that somewhere, someplace, someone is living this kind of life. Plus, I am bias because we're MBTI geng, INFJ :P

To add to that, I would also like to introduce you to Rhea Y.



I love her because she is more relatable and real compared to the ones above. She shares about real everyday stuff (She even share her salary if that is not the realest thing ever I don't know what is). I am not saying others are fake, don't twist it like that haha, I am just saying that I can relate more with a person who has a 9-5 job, live in the city and use a phone to record. haha. Why the last bit is important? It somehow inspire people, or at least me, to just do it. You don't have to wait for a fancy camera or equipment to create videos, everyone has a phone, just start.

Another person who shoots with a phone is Ella


This is the step by step of how she record and edit her video. To be honest, I am amazed by the level of quality videos she can produce from just a phone. You don't know how tough it is. The screen is small. the videos is small, the words are small and if you have jari gemuk, that's an even bigger problem. Normally, even if someone shoot with her phone, editing will always be done from a computer. This proves that you don't even need a computer to edit. So, alasan apa lagi nak bagi?

Honorary mention goes to Seuddu 


Her vlog is different than the rest in a sense the it's not brown or cream or wood, if I can give her videos a theme, it would be modern, the modern grey colour, the movie like tone. How can someone edit like that?

***

There is a lot more of similar content on YouTube, seriously if you have time to explore them, your eyes and mind is in for a treat. Most of them are made by korean and japanese, I am yet to find similar concept from another country. A really good attempt was made by a girl in her university I think she'll get here someday. Aida Azlin, the girl who needs no introduction, started to experiment with her video format as well this year and I love it I hope she continue with this format.

Happy binge watching guys, till later <3

DISCOVERY: THE QUIET LIFE

Thursday, April 2, 2020


Assalamualaikum

Being older has made me pickier in choosing the drama I want to watch. As we all know, I don't watch dramas just for entertainment. Dramas are like books for me to other people. It's where I learn to think, to be creative and to reflect on life....and to be honest, it's been a long time since any dramas inspire me in any way. What happen writers? What happen production crews?


There are several reasons why I brace myself to start this series. One, the poster. They made it obvious that the main characters are women and secondly, the storyline. It's about search companies like Google and Yahoo, I always wanted to know more about the industry and TBH, it's an eye opener. I don't know there's so much work being put on just for something as simple as trending list.

The first thing that I notice just minutes into the drama, damn the cinematography! The camera used, the colours, the shots, the editing work, they make the whole experience aesthetically pleasing. Every single shot was so well thought off and the editing was so superb. Is it weird that whenever something brilliantly edited came out on screen I squeal?

All the pictures below are screen captured from the actual drama. Tell me if it's not pretty.

Wehhh ni scene meeting je kot perlu ke shot cantik2 jugak <3

This screen capture don't even do justice to the actual editing work.

As for the characters, there was no one outstanding. There's no one with superhuman ability, no one super rich, no one super rude, no one super introvert, no one super extrovert, no one super weird. Everyone was written as realistically as possible. Take the female lead Bae Ta Mi for example. In normal dramas, she would have been written as someone selfish, someone serious, not friendly with other people but good on the job so everyone just has to put up with her being rude. Not this drama. She's still a loner sure, but she's not rude, in the first episode alone, she even invite a stranger to eat with her at the diner, she makes mistakes, she openly admit that she doesn't know it all, she has many flaws. So does other characters. They are all so relatable.

Parody of Goblin famous scene
***

As always with all my other favourite dramas, this drama makes me think, a lot.

A conversation between Tami and Brian

"When I was young, I thought I would be a perfect adult by the time I am 38. An adult that knows the answers to everything and that only makes good decisions. But do you know what I've realised when I turned 38? Even if my decision was right, the outcome may not be," Said Tami.
Brian responded with "Do you know what happens when you're 48? Spoiler alert. What's right and what's wrong? If something is right for me, is it right for others too? If it's wrong for me, is it wrong for others too? No matter how sure I am that I'm going the right way, just remember one thing, I could be a bastard to someone,"
Tami to Mogun on the subject of being old; (I should explain. Tami is the female lead and she's 10 years older than the male lead, Mo Gun)

"I am 38 years old. At 38, no one jumps into something knowing how it'll end. At 38, people know to much to ignore it. We know how things will turn out too well. That's why we give up before we begin. There's no damage in giving up. Passion is finite and love is no longer the master of passion. Survival is,"
"I must seem pathetic to you," said Mo Gun.
Ta Mi continued "No, I am jealous. Love is still the master of passion to you,"

Mogun to Tami about being young;

"I don't care what happens even if I 'm fired. Because I don't know what will happen. That's why I must do what I want to do. I never give up. This is what a 28 year old is like. There's unlimited passion and the master of my passion right now is me."
I am only 29 but how come I feel like I can relate more with Ta Mi than Mo Gun?

DRAMA REVIEW: SEARCH:WWW

Friday, September 13, 2019


Assalamualaikum

First and foremost, I really really really tried to be someone decent on Ramadan. I tried really hard to stop myself from blogging about weird stuff like this but then I got mind poisoning from keeping the thoughts to myself so, yeah, for the sake of my mental health, let's just resume my normal self. T_________T

gambar sekadar hiasan

If you like someone just freaking say itttttt.

Sorry emo sekejap....haha.

It has been a longggg time since I watched any love centered drama...unless if it's really light romantic comedy drama. I don't know man....age makes me really picky.....and serious too. Unless the drama could add value to my life, I'll pass. #acah

Farid, on the other hand, watches everyhhhthang and he has been bugging me to watch "Her Private Life" because it's funny and stupid (when I say stupid it's not in the "eeeee ape bodoh sangat ni tak boleh brain ah" tone, but more on "weh lawak bodoh apakah ini hahahahhahahaha"). 

So I watched it. I should not have. T-T. While it's really funny and stupid, I was reminded once again on why I stop this genre all together; similar center plot....boy likes girl, girl likes boy, boy doen't want to get hurt and vice versa, both complicate things because of fear of commitment, fear of losing each other as a friend/sister/colleagues/schoolmates. You know, same old same old.

So this is what happen in the scene that I watched today,
The female lead and the male lead are in a fake public relationship. The male lead, confess to another person that he's ending this fake relationship because he wants to start a real one with the female lead (awwwwwww so sweet). The female lead only know about the first part (his desire to break the fake relationship) and don't know about the second part. Now now, this is where things got complicated (it shouldn't be!). The female lead likes the guy but since she wants to save her own face, she broke up with the guy first before he broke up with her. *roll eyes*. and the guy kan tadi dah on the way to confess to the girl kan, he was ready with flowers and everything. and now he's bitter because he was rejected when his emotion was at it's highest. 

I mean, come onnnnnnnnn. Life is not that complicated weh. If you like someone, just say it. There is only two possible answer, yes or no. If you got rejected, it's okay. I honestly want to know why people fear rejection. Would you rather live with "what ifs?"; would you rather torture yourself and stay in a one sided love forever? Seriously? That's better than getting rejected and move on? (Moving on is another huge topic by itself, that's a story for another day)

For now let's focus on one sided love. For me, that's overrated too. We like to romanticize one sided love and be like "you don't know the painnnnnn,". Well babe, of course you're in pain, you're fantasizing! and fantasies deal with expectation and expecting something from another person always hurt. How to manage expectation? Confess daaaa. This stop the overthinking and fantasies. but but...."should I really say the word? I mean I've given so many hints already". Dear, people aren't mind reader. Not everyone think alike, not everyone can take hints. People are slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Just say it babeh. =P

***

p/s: If you feel like this is a dejavu, no it's not. I wrote a lot about the same topic (confession & rejection) throughout my blog. ='D (In my defense, the same thing keeps happening around me!)

***

On a side note, I am not belittling the pain of rejection. I know damn well that rejection hurts too. As said by a friend who's name has to remain anonymous if I want to still have friends (lol), she said that it hurts to be rejected because when you confess, in your mind and heart, you have all this huge emotions and dream centered towards that person and when he/she reject you, he/she put a stop in everything. There is no future together. This has to end. So out of a sudden, you have to let go of all these huge emotion and dreams, you need to throw them away, completely, it's frustrating, sad, and it hurts. I get it....but darling, at least you have an ending. Imagine living a life still centered towards that person, still with the same dreams, when in reality, to that person, you're nothing. Imagine that.

I hope you don't want to be stuck in time. I hope you choose you, always. <3

ONE SIDED LOVE

Wednesday, May 15, 2019


Assalamualaikum

Recently, I binged on Strongest Deliveryman, Quiz from God and Chief Kim. Something that I got out of all three dramas; People were not born evil. Psycho adults, weird upbringing, environment and circumstances could lead us to make poor choices in life.

and we, the righteous ones,  sometimes look down on these people. We put labels on them, we judge, we gossip, we push them away; admit it, it's not easy to be kind to unkind people. but that's the thing, these lost souls are the ones who need our kindness the most out of all people. They become bad in the first place because of how people treat them.

When you got treated like a beast all the time; you'll eventually believe that you're a beast
Those who glare at me and treat me like trash whenever they see me. I'll get them all. What did I do so wrong? Do you realise how my life got twisted because of you people? Do you realise how miserable I became? Do people like you realise how it feels to be treated like criminal every time? I paid enough. I was ruined enough. I was humiliated enough. Now, it's your turn. - Jin Kyu, Strongest Deliveryman
Back then, if only one adult sided with us, only one, our life might not have turn out twisted this way -  Hyun Sang Pil, Quiz from God: Reboot.
Just because they do not steal doesn't mean they're good people. A thief who never has the opportunity to steal, lives delusionally thinking they are righteous. - Club Boss, Chief Kim
Photo credit: HelloKpop

 I am not saying we should play the blame game here, I am not saying that we should blame others for everything that go wrong in our life, my point is, there's always a story behind everything, therefore, regardless of what happen in the past, regardless of who the person is, good or bad, treat everyone with kindness; who knows, you might just be exactly the person that person needed the most to change, who knows.


TREATED LIKE A BEAST, EVENTUALLY, YOU'LL BELIEVE YOU'RE A BEAST

Thursday, January 24, 2019


Assalamualaikum

The other day, I was watching Matrimonial Chaos on TV and Emak joined me. She was like, "cerita ape ni?". I replied "Cerita pasal couple tak gaduh pun, tapi tak bahagia so cerai,". The following day, I watched Go Back Couple, and there is this one scene where both Jin Joo and Ban Do stared sadly at each other when they passed each other on the street, both were jealous that the other person was under an umbrella with someone else. Emak was like, "kenapa die jealous? Die suka orang tu ke?" and I was like, "Tak lah, tu ex husband die. Baru bercerai,". The moment I said it, realisation came; I've watched too many stories about unhappy couple! Both dramas are about divorce and fixing relationship. I know right, why this kind of theme again after Familiar Wife? -___-" 

GO BACK COUPLE

This drama was released during my drama slump, 2017 so I missed it. I only realised this drama exist through comment section in Familiar Wife's article. A lot of people were bashing Familiar Wife for being too similar to Go Back couple. Curious me, Go Back Couple? cerita apa ni tak pernah dengar pun mesti tak best. Boy was I wrong! I love Go Back Couple more than Familiar Wife....which says a lot considering I love Ji Sung and Han Ji Min more as an actor/actress but I still choose Go Back Couple.


First thing first, Jang Nara keep apologising to the public for portraying a 20 year old college girl when she's actually 37 but how can Jang Nara be 37???? Her face hasn't change since Successful Story of a Bright Girl how is this possible? 

On to the story line, this drama explore deeper on why their relationship fail in the first place. Similar to Familiar Wife, both don't know how to express themselves. They hardly confront each other when things go wrong, they just argue bitterly, and as any normal couple would do, they took each other for granted. Things that they would appreciate in the beginning, like Ban Do buying medicine for Jin Joo, was brushed off as something obligatory/expected after 10 years of marriage, thus no more "thank you".

With Familiar Wife, I hate different people in different POV. I hate the wife when we're in the husband POV and I hate the husband when we're given the wife's POV. But for Go Back Couple, I don't hate any of them. They were both considerate people, but they hesitated, thus being too unhappy while together. If only they communicate more, they would not need to get a divorce in the first place.

"Let's get a divorce. We're too unhappy together. I am unimaginably unhappy,"

"At one point in life, We begin to take some things for granted...because we get comfortable and used to them. We live on considering the kindness of our love and the happiness that I have are something I deserve and took them for granted,"

"Back then, instead of ignoring and neglecting our problems, and relying on the saying time heals all wounds, we should have untangled our knotted heart one by one, before the huge tangled ball of yarn swallows us whole one day. "


MATRIMONIAL CHAOS

Memang chaos pun. This drama is about two couple.

The first couple divorce due to the same reason like Go Back Couple and Familiar Wife; don't know how to communicate. 

The second couple got a divorce because they were always on edge, trying to be the perfect husband/wife, always have a smile on their face, when really, they're dying inside. Both were afraid that they can't make the other person happy. I know right, what kind of mess is this?


One thing different about this drama is on Jo Seok Moo character, he's an introvert who prefers to be alone, he never thought he would marry, but somehow, he got married. Sounds like yours truly! His concern about marriage is exactly what I have too!

 "We can't choose our family,"
"So is a spouse a family member that we can choose?"

"I think, a husband and his wife hating each other is the scariest thing. They have the closest bond.They love each other the most. If they still hate each other, that's really intense. It's too extreme. So let's not do that. It's scary."
"I have a question. Back then, our marriage registration, why didn't you submit it? Were you scared?"
"You hated yourself and I hated myself. That means that we'd hate each other,"

"will you go?"
"Why? Should I not go?"
"I have no right to say. I am not your husband,"
"Ermmmm....even if you were, you'd still not have the right. It's strange. Marriage makes you misunderstand things. You might think you can say things to your spouse. You order them around using love as an excuse, but in reality, you're just doing what you want. Is that what a married couple does? They interfere in everything. They declare ownership over everything. They also have obligations. In the end, they walk on eggshells."



***

Having said all this, on all the dramas, my second lead syndrome was bad! Till the end, I still hope all the ladies choose different ending for themselves; choose the better guy!

***

So if you're embarking on this same journey of watching a divorce genre dramas, here is my preference:

Go Back Couple > Matrimonial Chaos > Familiar Wife

Bear in mind that my drama preference has always been about content over funny or actor.

DRAMA REVIEW: GO BACK COUPLE & MATRIMONIAL CHAOS

Wednesday, December 12, 2018


Assalamualaikum

First of all, can we all take a moment and appreciate the production team for their wise casting choice. It's Ji Sung and Han Ji Min! #momentofsilence

My rating: 8/10


Familiar wife is a story about a couple in an unhappy marriage, they were on the brick of breaking up, the husband was considering divorce. So one day, the husband, Joo Hyuk played by Ji Sung,  got the opportunity to travel back to the day they first met and his choice was to change the past. He walked away so they never met. So when he came back to 2018, everything has change. He is no longer married to his original wife, Woo Jin played by Han Ji Min, but he's now married to his first love Hye Won, presumably happier.

The drama is broken down into two parts; the first few episodes, in the original timeline, we see everything from Joo Hyuk's perspective, and the rest of the episode we are on the new timeline, where we get a glimpse of Woo Jin's perspective from the original timeline.

Joo Hyuk's perspective



He's a banker. He's so busy at work he was required to stay back late almost everyday....and Woo Jin, she didn't understand that. All she did was yell at him. Whenever he came home, she was always angry and, again, yell. There was even this one time where Joo Hyuk's got into an accident, he was even brought to the hospital, he could not pick up their kids from school so Woo Jin has to go. As soon as the call went through, Woo Jin yelled at Joo Hyuk for not picking up the kids. Joo Hyuk was trying to explain that he's in hospital but damn, that woman is not good at listening! The first few episodes, I sided with Joo Hyuk. Woo Jin was so unreasonable. Joo Hyuk was so understanding the whole time, he accepted all the yelling, he didn't even argue back. Woo Jin was just an ungrateful wife.
You run into many enemies in your life. The strongest and the most atrocious one is your wife. - Cha Joo Hyuk

Woo Jin's perspective


Then for the rest of the episode, still from Joo Hyuk's POV but with more details on what Woo Jin feels from the original timeline. Woo Jin in the new timeline is healthier and prettier. She is now this cool woman that everyone love to be around with. This does not sit well with Joo Hyuk because according to him, he knows the real Woo Jin, which is a monster.


In the new timeline, Joo Hyuk's learn a lot more about Woo Jin that he doesn't know when he was her husband. How her favourite dramas was never melodrama, she prefer comedy over melo. She only watch melodramas whenever she wanted to cry....In the original timeline, all she ever watched was melodrama. T-T In the new timeline, Joo Hyuk realises that Woo Jin didn't became a monster on her own, Joo Hyuk made her change. He was never there. He never helped with childcare and managing the house. To him, he has 1001 problem from work, he doesn't have time to care for the family. He thinks that Woo Jin's problem is not his problem so he let her take care of everything on her own. 

Tired and frustrated, we see how Woo Jin slowly change, from a bright young girl, to this grumpy monster.
I didn't make this babies alone - Woo Jin

New timeline


That is why in the new timeline, because she never met Joo Hyuk, she never deal with all the stress, she never change. She is still the person that she has always been. Pretty, bright, cool and caring. As for Joo Hyuk, he failed his marriage in this timeline too. In the end, he made even Hye Won unhappy.
Woo-jin is still smiling. Does she remember how she hated this road? She didn’t like that it was a one-way street… She likes roads and human relationships to be two-way. Saying we should never be one-way in our relationship, she smiled brightly, like now. - Cha Joo Hyuk

Understandable why he was so adamant to reject Woo Jin (Woo Jin falls for him again) in this new timeline. He knows that in the end, he will just make her unhappy. T-T Luckily we have Woo Jin. She's decisive. When she decides on something, she's going to go for it till eternity.



If I ever got married, I would force husband to watch this drama. Ayu would want her future husband to watch this too.There is so much we can learn from this drama to have a healthy marriage.

DRAMA REVIEW: FAMILIAR WIFE

Monday, October 22, 2018


Assalamualaikum


Over the long weekend, we have been spending time watching movies that we even memorised every commercial. By the time we watched the third movie, we had to stop by MCD on the way back because of their Ayam Goreng Spicy's commercial. #noselfcontrol #weak

What did we watch this week:

1. Hantu Kak Limah 

I am ok with lawak bodoh.....I mean, I die laughing over korean stupid variety show jokes....but one dangerous thing about silly jokes, when it's not funny, you don't laugh AND it kills your mood too. There were funny scenes, I laughed a lot too.....but most of the scene were just krik krik.

2. The Predators

I don't prefer serious stories with no funny scene so I never really watch the previous movies but since Farid and Faiz love them, they insisted we watched this one. I am okay with the movie but Farid hated it. He said it is not as violence as before and it has become a children movie. -_____- The weakhearted me think it is more than enough, I even close my eyes during some of the scene so I can only imagine how bad the previous movies were. Nasib baik tak tengok. Tengok Hantu Kak Limah pun tutup mata. -________-

3. One Two Jaga

May or may not influence Emak to influence everybody to watch this movie. All because of Bront. hahaha. and the review about this drama were good too so what's the harm. Post movie, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. speechless. To quote Dik Yah, "hmmm tak tau nak rasa apa sekarang ni,".  Three things I care in any dramas/movies, character development, writing and acting. This movie is lacking in all three. Well, it's a good start but Malaysian film still has a looooonnnngg way to go before we can compete internationally.


Familiar Wife is reaching it's final week next week. I finally got the courage to watch it. Have so many things to write about it can't wait to let you know what it got me thinking.

MOVIE WEEKEND

Tuesday, September 18, 2018


Assalamualaikum

The typical bad guys we have in dramas is the one who tried to steal all the good guys money and company and houses and cars basically everything. What I am most concern about is the company part.

I mean, yes you wanted that guy's company because it is where the money come from but do you even know how to run a company? Do you really think it's easy? Even if tak kantoi and you'll never go to jail for it, sooner or later, the company will eventually fail, both because of no blessing and your lack of management skill.

Why do you want to go through that hassle? Is short term wealth good enough to compensate long term unhappiness and miserableness?

I wonder.


P/S: Don't mind me posting unrelated picture in every post. Some has nothing to do with the content of the post but I needed it here for the preview of the post on the pain mage. :P

Rant on bad guys in drama

Wednesday, February 7, 2018



Assalamualaikum

Though I am in a drama slump right now, there's no way I am going to miss Age of Youth 2. It's a no brainer that I'll join this drama fever considering that the first season was my favourite from 2016. What I did not expect is, I am going to fall hard, harder than I did with the first season. #withdrawalsyndrome

Just like the Reply series, Age of Youth just keep getting better, with each season (see what I just did? I am praying for a third season! haha). 


What make this drama so special? The imperfect character with realistic problems and the open ended ending. I say realistic because well, what they went through, their struggle with friendship, relationship, family issues, it can happen to anyone...anywhere...not the typical birth secret, my mother is not my mother my mother is actually some rich lady who abandon me at birth but now wants me back crap; it is also not a story about how my father murder your family thing because what are the chances of you actually falling in love with the son of the person who ruin your family? I'd say less than 1% but no, in dramaland, it happens a lot; and don't get me started on the rich man meet poor girl, rich man fall in love with poor girl, happily ever -_______________-

What was I saying? oh....realistic story line...yes that...Jin Myung struggle with keeping distance from people at work, Ye Eun struggle to get back into society after an abusive relationship, Ji Won struggle with childhood trauma, Eun Jae struggle to get over her first love, and Eun struggle for affection and broken friendship....all these struggle, we sometime struggle for it too, hence, realistic. And about the open ended ending, I know some people hate it. Dramas are supposed to give you happy ending. Everything tie nicely in a pretty pink bow. Like somehow, this is it...starting from this point onwards, there is nothing but happiness in our character's future....but that's the thing. Life does not stop...until you die....If we're given happy ending, we didn't realise that that happy ending, is not really an ending...It is just a small tiny happy moment in a big box we call life. Life will go on....and Age of Youth teaches us that. With that open ending, the characters would either live happily ever after or will continue to make mistakes, fall and learn from it, again, that's life, we never know the future, we can hope, but we can't know for sure.


Although.....well......Ji Won and Sungmin is still not a couple, not even a tiny confession....seriously writer? would it kills you to at least slip in one tiny impromptu confession.....but that's just my immature self talking. The mature, more reasonable adult side of me would agree with where things are....for now.....and Sungmin words about "Is a lover better than a friend?" I keep wondering about the same too...things are perfect just the way they are...again, for now....if you tell me one year from now they're still in this friendzone hole, I might just fly to korea and practically stalk the writer till she make it happen!

Age of Youth 2

Sunday, October 15, 2017


Assalamualaikum

Drama: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

My rating: 2/10

The writing has a lot of plot hole. The writer jammed the drama with a lot of stories but did not develop them well. A lot of things were left unanswered for instance we never know why only the female in Bong Soon's family were gifted with strength, what happen to Min Hyuk's mother, why Kim Jang Hyun became a psychopath.....a lot of unfinished stories. But I am not here to dwell. This drama is so easy to move on thanks to it underdeveloped story line.

However, taking a step back from what I just said, this writer did one thing extremely well...One thing I've never seen in other dramas;

She gave proper closure to both Bong Soon and Gook Du's one sided love

Throughout my journey with K-drama, this is the first drama where the you-like-me-you-like-me-not storyline get proper closure. Though a little to late, both Bong Soon and Gook Du's get the opportunity to confess their feeling....both were given time to dwell on their own cowardly self for not confessing and for not realising each others feeling sooner....both got their own fair share on asking what if? and finally, both were given proper closure. That scene where both of them look at their old pictures together and finally accepted that they will only be friends forever, I cry.


Bong Ki: My sister make it clear that she liked you. You didn't know?
Gook Du: I didn't know. I liked Bong Soon too. That's why I didn't know. I couldn't see her feeling because I was overwhelmed with mine.
Bong Ki: If I told you, would it have been different?

***

Bong Soon: I think......there's an expiration date on crushes.

***

Gook Du: We are friends....who won't ever change, right?
Bong Soon: Right
Gook Du: Bong Soon ah, be happy.
Bong Soon: Okay...you too..be happy.

T_____T


Having said all that, I am not saying that I am shipping them. I am on Min Hyuk's side...hehe. There's no doubt in my mind that Bong Soon should be with Min Hyuk but I am a big believer in closure. I believe in proper closure. Proper heart-to-heart session, honest talk. I believe one needs closure......to move on, for real. =P

Another disclaimer: I am a fan of Ji Soo from his Bok Dong (Angry Mom) days but I don't think he has the skill yet to be among the leads in dramas. I think this role is too early for him. He has so much to learn before he can play lead character perfectly.


I think......there's an expiration date on crushes.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Assalamualaikum

Though this is a 2015 show, only recently I know this show existed...probably because I am not a fan of any actors/actresses of the show...Oh Ji Ho, though has been in the industry for a while now, still needs to fix a lot of areas. I mean, just look at his most reason work, Oh My Geumbi. I find it fascinating that the acting of the child actor playing Geumbi is more believable and touch my heart more than Oh Ji Ho, an adult.

Though I really value good acting, what drawn me into this drama is the story.. Sometime, even with good writing like Signal, I can't overlook Lee Jee Hoon poor performance. However, with this drama, actor and acting is the least of my concern...in fact, I don't even care. The main villain backstory is so good, it trumps everything else.

The main villain backstory is really commendable. He is a lawyer who, by day, makes a living by helping bad rich people escape punishment through loopholes in law. However, by night, he is a leader of a group called Saranghoe, who punishes people who escape mainstream law earlier. So in a nutshell, he helps his clients escape law, then he punishs them with his own law, which is always death penalty.

How Saranghoe works -> the lawyer, Han Gyu Hyeok will helps his client escape law. His people will then kidnap The Client. The Client will then be trial by Saranghoe law and Saranghoe law is pretty simple, if The Client's victim wants The Client dead, The Client will be sentence to death.

How Saranghoe court room looks like

The way they recruit their people is also quite unique. The people of Saranghoe are mostly Han Gyu Hyeok's previous client's victims. When law disappoint them, Han Gyu Hyeok helps them find justice, in their own way. He helps them get their revenge. He makes use of their rage and they or their families end up becoming accomplices. After that person has become an accomplice, they will then help to kidnap the next target. Since the kidnapper is practically unrelated to the target, there is no way police could trace the connection, thus making it the perfect crime. In addition, since Han Gyu Hyeok helps them when they hit rock bottom, these people are very loyal to him.

***

I.....understand his logic. Laws are made by human, therefore, it's only natural for laws to be flawed. In a world where laws can be bought, I understand why such extreme measures need to be taken....and it's not like they are killing someone good, they are killing bad guys here, the worst kind...people that the world would be better without....Giving his circumstances, I understand his choice. Which makes me wonder,

"If I were in his shoes, would I make similar choice?"

Discovery : Cheo Yong 2

Friday, February 17, 2017

Assalamualaikum


Compared to last year, a lot of things happen this year...especially in the second half (the first half I lived for Reply remember?)...so lets go through them shall we.

I gain a lot of new friends this year. From work, through mutual interest, friends of friends, reconnecting with old friends...I've been blessed, Alhamdulillah. I don't make friends easily and my personality is not that good so to have these people accept me as their friends....is really an honour.


Secondly, feelings, relationship and delulu-ness fall apart for me and my friends. I accepted reality. My friend had her heart broken for the first time. My other friend broke up with her long time boyfriend. My other friend woke up from long time one-sided love....things have not been well for a lot of us in 2016. However, I think it's a good thing, at least for me. For the first time in my life, I'm going to enter a new year, with clear mind and emotion.


Family wise, all of us found new hobbies. Well, more like me, Emak and Abah. Emak is into flowers and gardening these days (she wasn't before so who say this is natural for women?) and Abah reconnected with his old hobby with animals. He now has several hens and roosters, fishes and even bees. Me, I'm now into cactus and succulents! really really into it...more on this on another blog post. We can finally installed Streamyx (we can't before, our neighbourhood port was full boooo!) at home so Farid and Faiz have been reconnecting with their online games (if this counts as hobby) and as for Dik Yah, well, does she has a hobby asides from K-pop and dramas? I wonder. oh and Dik Yah started going to college and Farid graduated! when did they become so big!



I went to a concet for the first time! It was awesome! I traveled a lot both locally and internationally.

As for the best drama I watched this year, everyone knows it's Reply 1988 but aside from that, I really love Signal. It's a combination of everything I originally like in a drama/series. Crime fighting, mystery solving and korean writers (so much respect!).

and here is what didn't happen.

Firstly, I haven't quit my job. Lost the timing after my lead gave me good rating during performance evaluation. She told me this big story of how in order for me to get that rating she had to really fight for me when all the higher ups ask her to amend it....and me, being the lembik hearted me, fall for it and the history repeats itself. Work become more challenging than ever, and she resign. -_____________________- I was con right?

Secondly, I am still not a writer. I have always wanted to be one and I told Ayu that if I get a new laptop, I would start to write right away and she'll have the honour to read the first draft. I bought a new laptop this year....still, no complete draft. I have several chapters here and there but everything is so random that if I ever decided to put all the chapters together, nothing fit. Countless time I think to myself, is this not for me? So far, I haven't give up on this yet.

***
I survived 2016, so 2017, bring it on!

What happen in 2016?

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Assalamualaikum

I love dramas everyone knows that but I was thinking if I am going to keep watching them I might as well benefit from them rather than just swoon over handsome guys...hehe...so this is a new series I started for my blog...the "IN A NUTSHELL" series pointing out things I learn from allllll those dramas I had/am/will watch, anthropologically speaking (too much Bones).

#tryingtoputmeaningtomytimewastingactivity

At first, I wasn't going to start with Jealousy Incarnate since it concluded long time ago but then I remembered all those good conversations I had with my friends and we discussed some serious stuff too so it's a waste if I didn't put it to use.


1. In a battle between romantic and familiarity, a lot of women say they'll prefer romantic but too often, when it's time to make the real decision, almost all prefer familiarity. I mean did you not watch k-dramas? Why would almost all female leads went for the rude, bad boy male leads when second male leads were always so nice, as a person, in general? Familiarity. Believe it or not, a lot of people feels more comfortable with the typical K-dramas male lead type of person than the overly nice second lead. Being nice is good but it's also too much pressure for person on the receiving end. I guess this might have been what Allah meant to say with "Good women are for good men and vice versa" because generally, if you're as nice as the person you met, you won't be burdened by that person good deed because you'll be like "it's normal for people to be this nice". right?

2. In a relationship between two people, those two people must understand two things:
    i. Who you like or who you love is up to you. It's something that you're free to feel. 
    ii. However, accepting or rejecting your like/love is the other person's right.

The person who's being like/love by a person need to accept that he/she has a right to like/love you. The person who confesses their like/love towards another person has to accept that the other person has the right to accept/reject your love. The most humane thing to do is to acknowledge each other feeling and respect each other decision. 

My bias in the beginning was Jung Won. I even respected him a bit with the way he handled Na Ri's rejection at the beginning but then he gets desperate and clingy, I lose respect towards him since he did not respect Na Ri's decision. Luckily he comes around at the end.

3. I know that there's a code between men where your friend's crush/girlfriend/ex is out of reach but again, you feel what you want to feel. Discuss. I know men doesn't believe in talks, women do, try. Talk. Your friend might not be as cruel as how low you give them credit to. Your friend might understand.

4. On the main theme, Jealousy. I believe that. I believe people are really blinded by jealousy. I also believe that jealousy is a good way to measure whether you really like a person or not. A lot of people only realise that they like that other person when they see that other person with someone else but hey, by that time, it's too late already.

***

Who did I ship?
Hwa Shin

Not from the beginning though. I change ship in the middle of the drama. At first I shipped Jong Won but towards the end, you can't really see him anymore and when someone mentioned him you'll go "wait what? there's a character called Jong Won?" and to be honest, I only ship him with Na Ri because he's played by Jo Jung Suk. If he's played by some other unknown actor, I would never ship him, at all....but he's Jo Jung Suk. the brilliant, funny childish Jo Jung Suk. How can anyone resist that?

IN A NUTSHELL : JEALOUSY INCARNATE

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Assalamualaikum

Guys guys...are you reading this? seriously? why? :P Do you notice my new layout? Do you like it? cause I do! a lot! With this layout, I feel like one of those blogger who writes all those informative, carefully-planned fashion/beauty blog! only in my case, minus the informative, carefully-planned part. lol. #agirlcandream oh my gosh I am so happy guys! This gives me motivation to write, a lot! (okay this might not be a good news to you because I mostly ramble so poor you :P )

and oh are you reading this from your phone or laptop? Try reading this from your laptop then you'll understand why I am so happpyyy! Wonder why I didn't buy this template sooner.......everything about it is just so perfect...and it's cheap too. I love that now instead of a long lengthy post, my blog will only display grids of pictures from those posts and if you wish to read more, you'll click the read more button...though this becomes a problem for posts without picture but I am in the midst of putting pictures on each post so this problem will go away.

why am I talking too much now? ermmm. see what I told you, when I'm happy I ramble!

Since I am in the mood already, let's talk.

First, about Big Bang latest release. After I listened to Last Dance, it finally hit me, with the members military enlistment and them being on hiatus, I will not be seeing Big Bang as a whole for probably the next 6 to 8 years. I mean, the last time they were on hiatus, I couldn't see Daesung for around 4 years! sobs sobs. How am I supposed to live without them? #overdramatic but seriously how? The good news is, I might take a break from this K-pop fandom world (yeay to more useful activities) but the bad news is, how do you justify 34 year old woman probably with small kids going to a K-idol concert holding concert light stick?

Secondly, on recent Running Man issue. seriously PD? May I ask under what state of mind you're in when you made that decision? I am seriously asking as I want serious answer because anyhow I think, that seems to be the worst decision ever. Who thinks it's the best idea to break up a group of people whose been repeatedly call each other family and 7012 (7 forever) and insert Kang Ho Dong in the equation? haih.... honestly, I am partly glad that all the Running Man members decided to leave, this prove their loyalty and gives us assurance that all those family talks weren't bluff. This is Shinhwa all over again! However, I am partly sad too that this show, the show that I grew up with, is coming to an end. I'll write more about this later.

Thirdly, if I were as passionate as I am about TV shows and K-idols towards things that matter, good things, things that make the world a slightly better place to stay, I wouldn't be as ashamed as I am now towards people in Aleppo. While my biggest worry is the end of my K-idols and TV shows, someone, at the other side of the world, is fighting for life. While I consider myself not having a life since I am too busy with work, think about someone who's life revolves around surviving really tough situations. Makes your problems look like a microorganism right? Anyway, 


no matter how hopeless if feels, never give up making duá.

Rambles Part 2

Friday, December 16, 2016

Assalamualaikum

When Ain introduced this drama to us, she told us that we all would love the drama and could relate sooo much with this character called Song Ji Won. At first I wondered why but I got it the minute I was introduced to Ji Won. She's DESPERATE for love! WTH Ain. haha

I am nothing like her okay! or am I? =P Sometimes I feel like yes, we're similar but most of the time I don't. The forever alone part (puuhahahaha), clingy to friends, low maintenance as in easily amused, occasional deep thoughts and life surrounded by variety shows and dramas are sooo me but she, being an extrovert who talks a lot, funny, sociable, free spirited and ermmm lies a lot is a complete opposite of me.

 but I do have a girl crush on her. The traits that she has but I don't, I wish I have them too. I look at her like how Eun Bi look at her. 

Moshiso~~~

Ain is right, indeed, I like this show...but then, that's not hard to guess. I have always love stories about roommates, housemates, people from different background and characters whose fate brought together to live under the same roof, there's something nostalgic about watching them doing their best to fit in. I'd spent 9 years of my life living in that environment and truth be told, I miss that plus life with my girlfriends before everything gets real. T_______________T I mean, everyone would agree that life in uni is 100x better than now. sigh.

So young, so carefree.

Enough on that. Other than that oh oh ohhhh I have to mention about love life...we're talking about korean drama here. =P I was trying to pick my favourite between Jae Wan and Jong Yeol but I just can't! They're too different it would be unfair to compare them both.

I like Jae Wan for the mere reason that he likes Yoon sunbae. I am just so happy that she found love. lol. I am even thankful that he choose Yoon sunbae among other more gedik girls out there. Go go Jae Wan! I got exceptionally emotional when their scenes were playing because they are just sooooo sweeet. If you've seen the drama you might think "eleeeeh biasa2 je..mana ada sweet sangat," but that's the thing, Jae Wan never did any big gigantic romantic gestures or anything, but he does all the little things, with great care. awwwwwww.


As for Jong Yeol, well, if you wipe my snorts, I am sold!


Speaking of snorts, this scene from Jealousy Incarnate also caught my attention!


why the sudden interest in snorts Athirah??

AGE OF YOUTH

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Assalamualaikum

WHO UPDATED MY BLOG LAST NIGHT?! OMGOSH I WAS HACKED!!

-_________________-

okay it was me.. :P but not me, fully....I....kind of.....sleep blogging. -_- weird right? but it's a first for me too! Last night was blurry and vague....anyways, yesterday entry is not bad right considering my condition...I even sleep-google quote photo! The most productive sleep I ever had.

***

Do you watch Once Upon a Time? I love that show. I even dedicated a whole blog post on it when it started...but that was about the series in general. Today, it's about the characters.


My all time favourite is Regina of course. She gives me hope that everyone, even the evilest of them all, can change...and we have to accept...it takes time and the writers understand that very well. It took her around several seasons to finally, truly become white. That and also she's pretty! Lana Parilla is in fact, the prettiest of them all. You can't help but to fall in love! However, somehow, I have this lingering feeling that the writers still see her as villain and they're going to use her in future anddd after Robin Hood dies, it kind of confirm it. T-T


As for Mary Margaret, she was among my least favourite characters alongside Emma and David. Yeah, I don't like the whole family. I still don't like Emma for her poor judgement and David, well, let's just say his personality is not my type...but Snow, she climbed my favouritism ladder. After season 4, rather than seeing a person so nice, so perfect (borinng), we see that she was not perfect at all. She's not an angel. She made mistakes....but she reflected on it, accept the mistake and vows to be the best possible version of herself. LITERALLY. I mean yes, everyone chants it everyday but how often do you see people actually living by the rule? Are you optimistic at ALL time? Do you only see the good in everyone? Do you choose good at all time although the other path is waaayyy easier?

Then there's Rumplestilskin. Someone who shows us that sometimes, despite the chances they were given, if they're not willing to change, they will never change. NEVER. urghhh. I hate him so much! Poor Belle...wait...on a second note, shame on her. Come onnnn, optimist or not, you must be really really really dumb to trust the same man, over and over again, despite him breaking your heart...well, over and over again! I understand feelings are hard to control but damn woman, be strong!

HEROES DO WHAT IS RIGHT, NOT WHAT IS EASY

Friday, July 29, 2016

Assalamualaikum

I've been getting a lot of this lately

"Athirah, why do you look depressed? You look...unhappy?"

"Weh asal bawah mata ko gelap"

"Athirah chill. slow slow. Jangan penat-penat."

***

It's eye bag people eye bag!! dark circle! not bawah mata gelap and certainly not a sign of unhappiness. the thing is....now....I am back to my drama marathon phase. why la you drama writers are so good these days....I can't stop watching. 
-______________- yeah I am week like that.

Are you telling me something people? Is this a sign....a sign that I am too old for all this...dah tak remaja...late nights drain my energy...it turns me into a living zombie...

sigh.

Picture source: Google

Good night everyone. I need my beauty sleep.

LIVING AS A PANDA

Friday, July 15, 2016

Assalamualaikum

Service industry/line is no joke. No wonder 50% of them are so grumpy.

You know how UTC Sentul's imigration office opens till 10.00 pm right? but what most people don't know is that they stop taking customer at 8.30 ish. Reason being is they want to finish serving people at exactly 10.00 pm everyday. It wouldn't make sense to still allow people to take numbers at 10 when they still have existing customers queuing to be served. If that's the case, when will they finish their work? 12 am? Imagine telling that to countless of people coming in after 8.30 ish.

"Cik nombor habis ke? tapi kan bukak sampai pukul 10"

"Ya tapi lain kali, kalau nak datang malam, pukul 8 dah kena ada dekat sini ye. Ramai orang beratur ambil nombor."

"Tapi sekarang baru pukul 9. Saya sorang je, boleh la cik,"

"Encik, sila lihat sekeliling. Ada ramai lagi orang menunggu giliran. Kami perlukan masa untuk melayan semua pelangan,"

It ain't pretty. Some took it nicely (restore my faith in humanity). Most, took it pretty bad. Some keep bugging the officer for special treatment, some even argue with each other on who causes this problem, who terhegeh more in getting ready making them late. The struggle is real but I admire officers serving me that day. They kept their cool till the end..though I did hear them badmouthing some people that just wouldn't budge...in their defense, they don't know I can hear them..well, what can I say, I have awesome hearing and multitasking skills.. :) If I were them, I would have lost it at the fifth person. 

#tabik

***


Descendant is so popular lately...and I don't like overrated show/people/thing...and the show fits all three..overrated storyline/dialog, overrated cast ehem Jong Ki ehem and overrated Laneige BB compact (haha!). So I tried really hard to distance myself from the show. At first, I succeded in bringing Farid in on my plan since the airtime clashes with Six Flying Dragon. So we watched that and Please Come Back Ahjushi...but ever since the conclusion of SFD, Daebak coudn't compete!! so do Please Come Back Ahjushi.

So we watch it nowadays. I lose. T-T

P/S: Having said all that, turns out, it's a good show. #malusendiri but no, I still don't like Song Jong Ki...nothing personal, just because he wasn't funny in Running Man...kind of how I hate Park Hae Jin before...but looking how I kind of like Park Hae Jin now, maybe there's light for Jong Ki? #asiftheycare #theyhavethousandsotherfans

STAYING SANE

Saturday, April 9, 2016

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