Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Everybody Looks So Young...
I've had the VCD set of "Coincidentally" sitting around for a good few months but because the DVD player in my room doesn't like VCD's and insists on playing both soundtracks simultaneously, then I have kinda put off watching it. I finally got down to some viewing over the weekend because I managed to bag a spot in front of the main TV whilst my hubby was out and started reminding myself of what a good series this actually is.
There is a bit of a story about me and this series. I watched part of it whilst I was in Hong Kong about 10 years ago, when it first aired. I remember my sis and I really getting into it after watching from the middle but having to leave to come home before we got to see the end. Unfortunately, we didn't have an ATV rental place around here then, so we just had to go without, so when I found it available on VCD on a Malaysian website, I was really chuffed but I refused to pay something stupid like US$50 to have it shipped to the UK. So I waited a little while longer and when they finally scrapped the shipping charges, I placed my order. A week later, Yesasia started stocking it for half the price. D'oh!!
Anyway, finally getting round to watching the show from start to finish and it is as good as I remembered it to be. Lots of familiar faces there, obvious ones such as Frankie Lam, Annie Man, Kristy Yang and the not-so-obvious ones like Krystal Tin and Chapman To.... and everyone looks so young!! I'm about half way through and I am hooked, sometimes it's good to appreciate an excellent script, attention to detail on costumes and sets and some great performances from the then young cast. It's a shame that neither ATV nor TVB do anything of this quality any more.
I've had the VCD set of "Coincidentally" sitting around for a good few months but because the DVD player in my room doesn't like VCD's and insists on playing both soundtracks simultaneously, then I have kinda put off watching it. I finally got down to some viewing over the weekend because I managed to bag a spot in front of the main TV whilst my hubby was out and started reminding myself of what a good series this actually is.
There is a bit of a story about me and this series. I watched part of it whilst I was in Hong Kong about 10 years ago, when it first aired. I remember my sis and I really getting into it after watching from the middle but having to leave to come home before we got to see the end. Unfortunately, we didn't have an ATV rental place around here then, so we just had to go without, so when I found it available on VCD on a Malaysian website, I was really chuffed but I refused to pay something stupid like US$50 to have it shipped to the UK. So I waited a little while longer and when they finally scrapped the shipping charges, I placed my order. A week later, Yesasia started stocking it for half the price. D'oh!!
Anyway, finally getting round to watching the show from start to finish and it is as good as I remembered it to be. Lots of familiar faces there, obvious ones such as Frankie Lam, Annie Man, Kristy Yang and the not-so-obvious ones like Krystal Tin and Chapman To.... and everyone looks so young!! I'm about half way through and I am hooked, sometimes it's good to appreciate an excellent script, attention to detail on costumes and sets and some great performances from the then young cast. It's a shame that neither ATV nor TVB do anything of this quality any more.
Labels: hk celebs, hong kong, TVB
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Thanks Eddie!!
Mr Postman brought me two fab things in the post today. The first was my reference from my current company, which I will send onto my new employers tomorrow and hopefully, this will secure my start date for the new job.
The second was a small package from Japan that he had somehow managed to stuff through the letterbox. It was addressed to my husband, but he soon passed it in my direction saying: "It's for you, from Eddie." I opened it up and found some really neat Arale figures, so like a little kid in a toyshop I spent a happy half an hour assembling them and placing them with the rest of my Dr Slump figures on our display shelf, next to the Alton Towers ducks that reside in an expensive designer fruit bowl and our wedding pic.
So just wanted to say a big THANKS!!! to Eddie! You're so cool!
I'd send you some steak, chips and chippy curry in return, but I don't think it would survive the journey, so I'll just have to save it for the next time you're back in the country instead!
*Em is happy now!*
Mr Postman brought me two fab things in the post today. The first was my reference from my current company, which I will send onto my new employers tomorrow and hopefully, this will secure my start date for the new job.
The second was a small package from Japan that he had somehow managed to stuff through the letterbox. It was addressed to my husband, but he soon passed it in my direction saying: "It's for you, from Eddie." I opened it up and found some really neat Arale figures, so like a little kid in a toyshop I spent a happy half an hour assembling them and placing them with the rest of my Dr Slump figures on our display shelf, next to the Alton Towers ducks that reside in an expensive designer fruit bowl and our wedding pic.
So just wanted to say a big THANKS!!! to Eddie! You're so cool!
I'd send you some steak, chips and chippy curry in return, but I don't think it would survive the journey, so I'll just have to save it for the next time you're back in the country instead!
*Em is happy now!*
Labels: life
Friday, May 11, 2007
Movin' on...
Tony Blair quit his job this week, well he handed in his resignation. I beat him by a week! Yup, finally had enough of all this shit from my boss and thanks to a timely job offer by a company in a big shiny building in the centre of Manchester, I have found myself in the exciting/nerve-wracking position where I can visit i-resign.com and select one of their nicely scripted resignation letters to address to my boss. Actually, I had to address it to his boss, because he was on holiday.
So now I am in limbo.
Working out my notice period and waiting for notification as to when I can start my new job. I'm a little apprehensive, very excited and more than anything totally relieved to be finally out of this rut I have found myself in. The worrier in me is hoping that everything works out okay because this uncertainty is killing me a bit. The thing is my current work is still as hectic as ever and they are certainly getting their money's worth out of me in these last four weeks and I know I am not gonna get any thanks for it at the end. Sometimes I ask myself why I bother and why I don't just kick back and chill out for the rest of the month, but I am not that kind of person and I will still strive to give at least 100% even though I know I am going.
I'll just keep comforting myself that a couple of weeks worth of unpaid leave is still something to look forward to if things don't happen as quickly as I want them to!
In the meantime, I have been reviving my Sims and sending a few more of my teens through university. I also spent some of my Game voucher a couple of weeks ago on some 'retro' games (that aren't really THAT retro...) such as Sim City and Hotel Giant that I can actually play on my laptop without the system giving up and scaring me stupid when I think it has packed up. Sim City is like Theme Hospital in that there is a turning point when you stop losing money and start making money, then it all goes good.... life is a bit like that too, but the balance point comes at different points for different people I guess.
I've started watching "Best Selling Secrets" recently and it's quite enjoyable. Okay, some of the scripts are a bit strained, but I can live with that in a sitcom. It's good to see a nice mixture of familiar and new faces, Esther is her usual easy-to-watch self and Vin Choi's acting has improved by leaps and bounds since "Brink of Law". Watching Bo Wai Kit (aka Brian Burrell) is a breath of fresh air after so many years of Ho Kwok Wing (Gregory Rivers), who has a tendency to overact, as the resident TVB Caucasian. Another great character is the maid/IT technician/RPG Wizard/Best Friend character Lau Wah, played by Cholam Wong - he is fascinating, funny and just fab! I think he will become another phenomenon like Sai Gwai (Wong Yat San) was in the 90's. The story so far, although exaggerated - but this is a sitcom after all, is quite absorbing, all this conspiracy between Esther, Elaine and 'Vincent' is a refreshing twist and it keeps the suspense value up on what's going to happen to Vin when he finally finds out what's happening! Just proves that Catherine Tsang didn't get where she is for no reason.
Tony Blair quit his job this week, well he handed in his resignation. I beat him by a week! Yup, finally had enough of all this shit from my boss and thanks to a timely job offer by a company in a big shiny building in the centre of Manchester, I have found myself in the exciting/nerve-wracking position where I can visit i-resign.com and select one of their nicely scripted resignation letters to address to my boss. Actually, I had to address it to his boss, because he was on holiday.
So now I am in limbo.
Working out my notice period and waiting for notification as to when I can start my new job. I'm a little apprehensive, very excited and more than anything totally relieved to be finally out of this rut I have found myself in. The worrier in me is hoping that everything works out okay because this uncertainty is killing me a bit. The thing is my current work is still as hectic as ever and they are certainly getting their money's worth out of me in these last four weeks and I know I am not gonna get any thanks for it at the end. Sometimes I ask myself why I bother and why I don't just kick back and chill out for the rest of the month, but I am not that kind of person and I will still strive to give at least 100% even though I know I am going.
I'll just keep comforting myself that a couple of weeks worth of unpaid leave is still something to look forward to if things don't happen as quickly as I want them to!
In the meantime, I have been reviving my Sims and sending a few more of my teens through university. I also spent some of my Game voucher a couple of weeks ago on some 'retro' games (that aren't really THAT retro...) such as Sim City and Hotel Giant that I can actually play on my laptop without the system giving up and scaring me stupid when I think it has packed up. Sim City is like Theme Hospital in that there is a turning point when you stop losing money and start making money, then it all goes good.... life is a bit like that too, but the balance point comes at different points for different people I guess.
I've started watching "Best Selling Secrets" recently and it's quite enjoyable. Okay, some of the scripts are a bit strained, but I can live with that in a sitcom. It's good to see a nice mixture of familiar and new faces, Esther is her usual easy-to-watch self and Vin Choi's acting has improved by leaps and bounds since "Brink of Law". Watching Bo Wai Kit (aka Brian Burrell) is a breath of fresh air after so many years of Ho Kwok Wing (Gregory Rivers), who has a tendency to overact, as the resident TVB Caucasian. Another great character is the maid/IT technician/RPG Wizard/Best Friend character Lau Wah, played by Cholam Wong - he is fascinating, funny and just fab! I think he will become another phenomenon like Sai Gwai (Wong Yat San) was in the 90's. The story so far, although exaggerated - but this is a sitcom after all, is quite absorbing, all this conspiracy between Esther, Elaine and 'Vincent' is a refreshing twist and it keeps the suspense value up on what's going to happen to Vin when he finally finds out what's happening! Just proves that Catherine Tsang didn't get where she is for no reason.