Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
[NIV]
New phase. More changes.
What would the future bring?
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= P R O F I L E =
Joyz
03 February
Monday, December 29, 2008 Beethoven Virus
베토벤 바이러스 or Beethoven Virus is another K-drama which I enjoyed thoroughly for its music, storyline (though certain episodes baffled me), the characters and excellent acting from the cast. It portrays the passion a group of musicians (professionals and amateurs) has for classical music. An arrogant world-class orchestra conductor meets an unlikely motley crew (an undiscovered talented policeman, a soon-to-be-deaf civil servant with undying love for music, a poor rebellious teenager, an old grandpa suffering from mild dementia, a timid housewife who feels suppressed and unappreciated by her family, another civil servant who faces the pressure of feeding his family, a crude and impulsive cabaret trumpeter and a few others).
Even before watching the serial, I could already envision the explosive sparks between the proud perfectionist conductor and the musically-clumsy members in his orchestra. Many times, I felt as incredulous as the musicians themselves whenever the conductor disdainfully hurled insults at them. But, for some reason, I don't hate the character. I thought Kim Myeong Min really portrayed the role of the conductor very convincingly and with such incredible charisma. (Gosh, how is it that these Korean male actors have so much charisma?!) Even though this character is so cold and painfully direct with his comments, there were times when I had to laugh-out-loud at his words and the tone used. There was this scene where the talented policeman was suddenly very nice and polite to the conductor. The conductor eyed the policeman suspiciously and muttered in his usual aristocratic way, "What is this? You are being so nice that I do not know how to act." I was so tickled by his baffled honesty (his choice of words) which was delightfully mismatched with the aristocratic stiffness in his voice that I had to burst out laughing.
What I like most about the serial is its (albeit cliched) moral behind all the high-tension drama: the persevering pursuit of what is important and meaningful in one's life. Despite being constantly insulted by the razor-tongued and seemingly insensitive conductor, through much fiery friction, the motley crew quickly recognises and acknowledges his ability and charisma but takes a longer while to come to respect him as a person. Every time an individual faces an obstacle, it is the 'evil' conductor who, in his outwardly arrogant and uncaring ways, encourages the member to persevere. They gradually realise his bark is worse than his bite (which, in my opinion, is bad enough).
While the main characters seem to have more air time, I also love the fact that the supporting characters are not hastily developed and are given the time to properly grow throughout the serial as we watch them get torn by life's struggles and their passion for classical music.
The technical aspects of classical music are also dealt with in the drama. I don't profess to know much about classical music (it's been more than a decade since I last played a classical piece on my piano), so I'm not going to comment. If anything, I thought the use of classical music jargon in the dialogues made the drama very realistic. These technical terms roll out from Kim Myeong Min's tongue so quickly and as-a-matter-of-factly that at times I felt like I was back at lessons with my piano teacher.
The classical songs featured in the drama are mostly familiar favourites from Mozart, Beethoven, Faure, Tchaikovsky (his popular Piano Concerto No. 1 is my favourite!) and several other famous composers. I've been enjoying the soundtrack for its classical selection and a couple of the contemporary ballads. Hoho. It's really not too bad.
All in all, I feel this is one of the better K-dramas I've seen. :D
jOyZ blogged at 10:28 PM
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Saturday, December 27, 2008 Love Marriage
I really enjoyed watching 연애결혼 or Love Marriage. It's one of those crazy romantic comedies which makes one laugh and tear. There is no true villain, except for the one rival lawyer who didn't really appear much in the serial. It's a pretty fun drama which looks at how various factors are important for a marriage to work out in Korea - whether through match-making or otherwise for singles and divorcees. Interesting stuff, really. ;)
Best of all, I really enjoyed the soundtrack. A couple of the songs are really upbeat and one just can't help feeling cheerful upon listening to it. As usual, I can't understand the Korean lyrics, except catch a few common phrases. But as we all know, music transcends all languages; the mood/meaning of the music can be felt through the melody and rhythm.
Heh, I think I may just watch this drama a second time! xD
jOyZ blogged at 5:47 PM
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Thursday, December 25, 2008 Spontaneous Fun
I spent the last few hours of Christmas Eve and first few hours of Christmas Day with friends, skipping the dinner at Aunt B's place for once.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy our annual gathering there, but this year I had this greater desire to be with my friends. Maybe it was because Mel flew off on Christmas Eve and I feared 'losing' more of my friends.
Anyways, it was pretty spontaneous fun. We watched Bedtime Stories at AMK Hub (thanks to Joce for buying the tickets) and subsequently had seafood for late dinner. I had a great time stuffing my face (OK, I know I was supposed to start my bread-and-water diet, but hey it was Christmas Eve!), guffawing at the silly jokes and simply talking.
After dinner, 2 went home while 3 of us went over to Mag & Zhiwei's place to harass them and mess up their place. HAHA. We met Abi at the void deck and went up together. We ate again (Korean snacks from Mag and Zhiwei's trip to Korea) and had red wine. I only had a sip since I had the car with me. We watched Red Cliff (WOOTS! 2 movies on the same night!). I've always enjoyed watching epics. Well, whatever critics say about Red Cliff, it doesn't bother me. I await Red Cliff 2!
We didn't leave until around 3.30am. By the time I got home and slept, it was a little over an hour later. I truly miss such spontaneous fun gathering with friends. I wonder when we'll get to do this again...
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! =)
jOyZ blogged at 8:43 PM
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008 HK Trip II
JM's wedding was lovely. My only regret is that I didn't take any pictures of it with my camera!!! SIGH. How goondu of me. :/
Anyway, it was quite an experience. On one hand, I was stressed out, fearing that I'd somehow make a mistake and ruin my dear friend's wedding. On the other, I enjoyed being part of the wedding entourage, giving whatever help and support I could for her.
I burst my budget during this trip. Haha. Let's see... I bought 2 shawls because the ones I had didn't match my dresses for the wedding and were too thin to keep me warm. We went for manicure and/or pedicure too. There was also the 2-night stay at the hotel (supposedly a 5-star resort) and because I was so hungry during the 1st night, I ordered food via room service (more $$$) and even took a couple of snacks from the mini-bar! And 5 minutes just before I boarded the plane, I splurged on something that was on impulse and totally uncharacteristic of me. :P I think I've gone most mad. Must be the overdose of champagne I had at the wedding that was working overtime. Heh.
It was definitely a good thing that I didn't buy more things. For one, my luggage wouldn't have been able to take in everything. I'd brought along a lot more things for this second trip in view of the wedding.
Alright, this is a brief entry. I'm too exhausted to blog more...
jOyZ blogged at 11:46 PM
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Monday, December 15, 2008 Choir's Trip To HK
Another 18 hours or so and I'm flapping off to HK again. Heh. Don't I sound like an air-stewardess for once? I'd probably be the most unglamorous one ever! HAHA!
The trip with Choir wasn't too bad, except for certain issues. I could also tell the pupils felt that I was being too strict and all with them. I don't deny it - because it was for their own safety. They have no idea the kind of stress teachers experience when we bring them out on a trip overseas. Would it be safe enough for them? What about the younger ones, especially the Sec 1s? Could we trust the older ones to look out for the younger ones? And when my dad sent me a message via SMS about the outbreak of bird flu, my anxiety increased. Thank God for keeping everyone safe and sound really.
The performance at Disneyland started off a little shaky but they recovered well. The combined singing with GESS was great too. JM came to watch them sing and even took photos and recorded excerpts of their singing. On the whole, I think Ai Ming was rather pleased with their performance.
The school exchange was rather interesting. This was my first time seeing a choir exchange. I thought our choir sang very well - in fact a lot better than the performance at Disney! On second thoughts, it could be because the exchange was held indoors while at Disneyland, they were singing in the open which is a lot harder to sound good. Here are some pictures of what took place at the exchange. :)
Of course, other than work, we also had time for some fun. I enjoyed my time with the kids at Disneyland. Sitting on the carousel was really nostalgic while the rides (plural, because we went twice!) at Space Mountain was really thrilling. I realised that the trick to really enjoy such rides is to allow your body to relax. The more tensed up you are, the scarier it is. Haha. At the end of it all, Disneyland presented a fantastic finale of fireworks. I was furiously snapping my camera THE WHOLE TIME. HAHA. It probably would have been better if I'd recorded it instead. Anyway, here are the pictures. ;D
That's all, folks. :)
jOyZ blogged at 10:39 PM
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Saturday, December 06, 2008 Look To Jesus
Decisions to be made, answers to wait for... and anxiety develops - as if I haven't got enough anxiety to handle. :(
Lately, I am very bogged down by pressures and expectations of society, at work and even family. And it's one of those times when even after a long chat with a friend the gloom still looms. Sometimes, I think society has taught us to plan too much. When Plan A fails, there has to be a Plan B or even Plan C. How exhausting it is to try to anticipate what may happen all the time.
If our Plan A = God's Plan for us, He'd have thought of all the back-up for us, wouldn't He? (Of course, this doesn't mean that we just sit and wait for things to happen.) Then again, in our moment of weakness, doubt plays with our mind and it's so hard to hold on to His promises.
I was flipping my bible and Isaiah 40:28-31 caught my attention:
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
So, what's the point of worrying and wallowing eh? Since I have to wait for certain answers, I should just commit everything into my Lord Jesus' hands and worship Him as I am!
WITH ALL I AM Into Your hands I commit again With all I am, for You, Lord You hold my world In the palm of Your hand And I am Yours forever
Jesus I believe in You Jesus I belong to You You’re the reason that I live The reason that I sing With all I am
I’ll walk with You Wherever You go Through tears and joy I’ll trust in You And I will live In all of Your ways And Your promises, forever
Jesus I believe in You Jesus I belong to You You’re the reason that I live The reason that I sing Jesus I believe in You Jesus I belong to You You’re the reason that I live The reason that I sing With all I am
I will worship I will worship You
jOyZ blogged at 8:49 AM
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Monday, December 01, 2008 Double The Drama
Recently, I finished watching TVB serial, Moonlight Resonance (or 溏心風暴之家好月圓). I thought it was even better than Heart of Greed (溏心風暴). Haha, shall not spoil the fun for those who haven't seen both. ;p
As with the prequel, there were lots of moral values behind the story. For me, Moonlight Resonance was double of everything compared to Heart of Greed. At some points, it was ridiculously hilarious and at some others, so painfully tragic. One may think there's simply too much drama going on for one serial (after all it's 40 episodes). Then again, what's a drama serial without all the drama? Heh heh...
Hey... I just realised something. I didn't even get to eat a single piece of mooncake during Mid-Autumn Festival this year!
Anyways, it was pretty spontaneous fun. We watched Bedtime Stories at AMK Hub (thanks to Joce for buying the tickets) and subsequently had seafood for late dinner. I had a great time stuffing my face (OK, I know I was supposed to start my bread-and-water diet, but hey it was Christmas Eve!), guffawing at the silly jokes and simply talking.
