Song Solos

I've noticed lately that a lot of Youtube videos feature solos of famous songs. I really like how different the songs sound. Sometimes it's played on guitar, sometimes on piano. Either way reflects really different. I know some piano solos, but I definitely can't play as well as these people. ^_^ (see above)

If you're kinda sucky at music, but want to learn a simple music piece, I have the answer! I think basically everyone knows how to play the recorder, and if you don't then...I don't know. Forget about it, I guess.

愛轉角 (Corner With Love):

FEDCD AA
FEDBD FE
FGAAA CD
BFGG FDFFE

幾分 (How Many Points):

DEF DAE
DEF DD CD
DEF DDD EBA
AA FDDDAE

缺氧 (Breathless):

DDCBAAGG
EEEDCBBCBAAG
DDDEFFFG
DCCB
GGGABAG

These are the most simple and most basic notes. So dig out your old elementary school recorders and hit the stages!

Smiling Pasta/微笑PASTA

My first impression of Smiling Pasta was not very complimentary. Most Taiwan dramas portray girls that are really...dumb. Such as ISWAK. Ariel is really pretty and a good actress, but really, she is waaayyy too stupid. No offense to ISWAK lovers!

I think Smiling Pasta is really cute. It's trying for the happy, lighthearted drama. Not the very sad, romantic type. But it's romantic in it's own special way. One thing I loved about this drama is that it uses a lot of special effects. Which just adds to the drama's cuteness. ^_^

CHARACTER CHECK:

Cheng Xiao Shi/Cyndi Wang: I didn't like her that much...she's not that pretty and can get a little annoying in the first episode. But if you watch on, she's really lovable and cute.

He Qun/Nicholas Teo: I feel a little embarrassed to say this, but I thought that Nicholas looked like Calvin Chen from Fahrenheit. I mean, even his voice is similar! But now I think I was blind or deaf that day. It's funny now that I think of it.

Ah Zhe/Gino: I was like, ugh, who is this guy? But I really learned to like this cold and tough guy. Even though he looks really hard to cross, he has a very warm heart. ^_^

Rita/Xiao Qiao: She's supposedly the female antagonist, but I turned out to really like her personality in the end. Not too scheming, and not too evil. Love Rita!

Vincent: He Qun's manager...is awesome! Except maybe he's a little misunderstanding in the end. But all goes well. I just found out that he plays the manager/assistant to Ruo He's dad in Bullfighting. Seriously, that scares me.

Cheng Family: Everyone in Xiao Shi's family has different personalities, and I loved each of them. They were there for Xiao Shi from start to end. That point especially touched me.

There is no realy climax to this drama, just because it was meant to set a smile on your face. When He Qun and Xiao Shi argue, it always makes me laugh. When they have troubles, they cause me to shed tears. This drama really is awesome. No drama can be perfect, and a lot of people say the CK problem was solved too fast. But if you think logically, it makes sense. But no spoilers!

I read on the comments that in Ep. 16, if Xiao Shi could have had amnesia and totally forgotten who He Qun was, that was a way to extend the drama. I thought, woah, that is such a good idea! I mean, wow! A whole new story could spin from right there!

A lot of people say that SP might have a season 2, but I have a theory. One of the latest dramas that made a season 2 was ISWAK, which was a top box office drama. I'm not very sure if SP sold this well...

I've pretty much said I have to comment. Now I'm telling, if you want a very happy and relaxed drama to watch, then this one is BINGO!!! :)

The following is kudos to DramaWiki:

CAST:

• Cyndi Wang as Cheng Xiao Shi 成曉詩
• Nicholas Teo as He Qun 何群
• Gino as He Rui Zhe / Ah Zhe 阿哲
• Zhao Hong Qiao as Rita
• Jian Chang as Cheng Gang 成剛
• Zhao Shun as Cheng Jin 成金
• Wang Juan as Chen Lin Ma Li 成林瑪麗
• Hu Kang Xing (胡康星) as Cheng Ming 成銘
• Song Zhi Ai as Huang Qian Hui 黃千慧
• Wu Zhen Ya (吳震亞) as Lei Long 雷龍
• Shen Meng Sheng as He Meng Yuan 何孟元
• Bao Zheng Fang (鲍正芳) as Bi Li Ling 毕丽铃
• Di Zhi Jie as Vincent
• Wei Ru as Xiao Rou
• Darren as Wei Zai
• Vivienne Lee as Xing Ren Cha 杏仁茶
• Ivy Chen as Tian Xin 田欣 (ep 15)
• Leon Jay Williams as Xia Tian 夏天 (ep 15)
• Pan Yi Jun as Betty (ep 15)
• Fang Zi Xuan as Shi Jing Wen (ep 14)

SYNOPSIS:
Xiao Shi is a girl who has gone through many short relationships, 17 to be exact, not one lasting more than 3 months hence, she was cursed with a three-month curse. After being dumped by her 17th boyfriend, the world looks grimmer than ever. At that time, a famous idol, He Qun runs past, bumps into Xiao Shi, and they end up "kissing" on the street. Paparazzi swarmed by and to avoid a bad reputation, He Qun’s manager declared Xiao Shi as He Qun’s girlfriend of one year and fiancée. Thus, a love contract was made. This story is about how the couple learns to like each other after having disagreements in the beginning, as well as fighting the injustices the media throw at them. Will Xiao Shi finally break her 3 month curse?

LAST TIDBIT:

I have to say, it was so funny when I saw Leon Jay Williams in Ep. 15! I was like, hey it's Tian Jun from My Lucky Star! Haha!

I loved their soundtrack- every song rocked! See review for Tears From Polaris.

Did you know that Qian Hui is actually Ming Mei from My Lucky Star. Geez. Such a differrent character...

Agent J 特務J- Jolin Tsai 蔡依林

This is kinda old, but a couple days ago, my friend lent me her MP3, and it had Jolin's 桃花園/Ideal State, which is now one of my favorites in this album. A lot of people say this was Jolin's best album so far, but I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Jay Chou's album was awesome, Fahrenheit's hit the box office, and Aska Yang improved so much since he first appeared onstage in One Million Stage. There's nothing wrong with the album, but I really think Jolin changed since she first entered showbiz. Like in a weird way...
But I still support her! Jolin ROX!

One reason I love Jolin is: she went to my old elementary school. Which is pretty funny, right? This year's school anniversary, she's going to attend! As if anyone can get close for a signature.

The OST of this album is Agent J- I don't really like it. I don't usually like fast songs, and this one one not much of an exception. But I saw the MV, and the guy looks SO much like Nicholas Teo. But instead it's some korean guy.

Everyone knows that Jolin went out with Jay, and then Jay went out with Patty Hou, and NOW Jolin is saying that she was backstabbed. I mean, get with the program, Jolin, this happened years ago!

My favorite songs in this album is:

• 桃花園/Ideal State
• 日落後/Sun Will Never Set
• 節拍器/Metronome
  

Cough, cough. That's it...?
Well, you can't expect for the whole album to be awesome (in your personal opinions). Even superhuman Jay can't do that. That's why I fully support Japan when they release singles. You can be sure you don't waste money. But the point is, I still don't think it's worth it because I listen to one song for a couple weeks, then I get totally bored.

Well, I thought I had another "unbiased" opinion. I forgot, believe it or not. Geez. How pathetic can I get? Since this is so, I end it here!

SUGAR & SPICE: (credits to wikipedia)

The expenses for Jolin's album "Agent J" took 50,000,000 Taiwan dollars (1,513,179.80 USD), filming in Paris, England, and Thailand and taking dance lessons in Europe, Taiwan, and USA ^[1]. Jolin had learn pole dancing and aerial ribbon dancing for a music video for her album "Agent J". Jolin learnt the moves within 10 days of intense training, almost paralysing her right arm ^[2]. The deluxe version of the new album contains a three-part music movie featuring popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung and Carl Ng. Metronome was written by Jolin herself.

The track, "Sun Will Never Set" is a cover version of the original "Sunshine In The Rain" by Bodies without Organs

SONG LIST:

1. Agent J (特務J; Te wu J)
2. Bravo Lover (愛無赦; Ai wu she)
3. Alone (一個人; Yi ge ren)
4. Fear-Free (怕什麼; Pa shi mo)
5. Ideal State (桃花源; Tao hua yuan)
6. Prologue of Tacit Violence (冷.前言; Leng qian yan)
7. Tacit Violence (冷暴力; Leng bao li)
8. Priceless (非賣品; Fei mai pin)
9. Metronome (節拍器; Jie pai qi)
10. Golden Triangle (金三角; Jin san jiao)
11. Sun Will Never Set (日不落; Ri bu luo)
12. Let's Move It

(Note: All the track names have only three characters)

SALES:
Agent J is one of the best selling albums around Asia. In Taiwan, the order before the album release had reached 50,000. One week after the album was released, the total sales in Taiwan has reached 150,000. Critics are expecting this album can sell over 200,000 just in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, the album debuted in HMV best selling Asian album at its peak number 2. As the album was released one week later after Taiwan, the Agent J has sold over 10,000 copies in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the promotion is still continuing in December. Jolin is planning to go to Hong Kong for events and promotion in Christmas period as the album has now sold about 20,000 and is one of the best-selling Mandarin album in Hong Kong in 2007.

LAST COMMENT:
I didn't even know all the songs were only 3 words! Woah, what's that supposed to mean?
Maybe Jolin's album sold better than I thought. Okay, okay, I take it back.

Tears From Polaris- 北極星的眼泪

This is a song from the TW drama- Smiling Pasta! Which I'm still watching. I like it so far, but that's probably since I haven't seen Full House before.

Anyhow, this song is by Nicholas Teo, the guy inside Smiling Pasta. His voice isn't that good, but after I saw his character in SP, I thought he really rocked! It makes me feel like he pours his whole heart in while singing. In the song contest between him and his brother, he sang this song, and it made me cry. It had so much feeling!

白色風車

This is a old Jay Chou song, but I just noticed that Yoo Ha Na (劉荷娜/유하나) was inside it! Yoo Ha Na acts Xia Zhe Xing (夏之星) inside My Lucky Star. ^_^ Enjoy!

微笑PASTA —我在159號，讓世界看見你—

This, again, is a short commercial thing from SETTV. 我在159號，讓世界看見你, to be exact. Except last time, it was on My Lucky Star. This one is from Smiling Pasta. Which is the drama I'm watching right now, but I can't quite write a review because I've only watched half of it. But I can say that a lot of people think Smiling Pasta is so much like Full House. Well, duh, even the director said SP was a Taiwan remake of the Korean drama Full House. I thought SP was a pretty dumb drama at the start, but as you watch on, you'll grow attached to the drama! ^_^
Like I am now...

Coffee Prince/커피프린스 1호점 /咖啡王子一號店

Coffee prince 1-1
Uploaded by wsofia

I promised to write a review since a couple days ago. And WHA-LA! Here it is(my version):

Coffee Prince is a very relaxing drama. It's not I-Like-You-You-Like-Me, He-Likes-You-And-I'm-Jealous, vice versa. It's pretty much a drama without antagonists. Instead, it covers other people's story. For instance, the Coffee Prince: Ha Rim, Min Yeop, Sun Ki, and Manager Hong. It doesn't leave stories hanging and makes you absolutely LOVE the Coffee Prince no matter how much you/I hated Ha Rim in the first place. I mean, I really didn't like Ha Rim. He was such a...nevermind. But now, his personality seems really funny to me.

Character Check:

~Go Eun Chan~
A girl that works hard to pay off her family's debts. Ever since her dad passed away, she was always the head of the family. So when Han Kyul said he'd pay her for his "lover" job, she had no choice but to accept. (NOTE: Eun Chan is forced to give up her girl appearance because she works so hard and never has time to "look" like a girl. So Han Kyul thought she was a guy- BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!)

~Choi Han Kyul~
A guy that is the son of a huge food company. But instead of working at it, he runs to America and creates blog templates- I think. So his Grandma thinks it's inappropriate for such an important heir(he's the ONLY heir) and sends for his return. When he returns, his Grandma tells him to go on a bunch of blind dates. So that is when Eun Chan comes in. (NOTE: not exactly your typical snobby mob boss)

~Choi Han Sung~
Han Kyul's cousin and friend. He's a song producer, and WAS dating Han Yoo Joo, b4 she ran off with DK (her new boyfriend). He meets Eun Chan (he knows she's a girl) because she delivers milk there. An incredibly nice, friendly, and warm guy. ^_^ (NOTE: he finds himself more and more attracted to Eun Chan....)

~Han Yoo Joo~
Han Kyul's secret "habit". Han Kyul once liked her, but since she liked Han Seong, he gave up. But Yoo Joo once said that if Han Kyul really liked her, he would whisk her away without thought of his cousin. So..kinda confusing. Back to Yoo Joo's personality. Personally, she's pretty cheeky in the first part. She broke up with Han Seong, ran with DK, and had the guts to come back to Han Seong after...3 years? Not so sure. Will check on that. But she becomes sweeter in the end. :)

~Jin Ha Rim~
Read the first paragraph!

~No Sun Ki~
A japanese guy that came to Korea to find his old girlfriend. Searching for a long time already, he works in popular but illegal waffle stand. When Han Kyul is recruiting members for Coffee Prince, he sees Sun Ki and asks him to join. Sun Ki may seem cold and resentful at the front, but when you watch on, he's really a very wonderful person.

~Hwang Min Yeop~
Eun Chan's sister, Eun Sae's crush. Eun Sae once called for Eun Chan to help her out because a gangster was harassing her. Min Yeop mistook Eun Chan for a boy and thought she was Eun Sae's boyfriend. So they decided to have a contest to see who could the most noodles in the least time. The setting is coincidently in the old unremodeled Coffee Prince. Eun Chan wins, and Min Yeop sets off to see her to have another contest when she's working at Coffee Prince. Eun Chan tricks Min Yeop that when he helps her finish the work, then they'll fight. Mi Yeop agrees, and he becomes a hired member of the Coffee Prince when Han Kyul sees what a hard worker he is. A stupid, but soft hearted fellow, is sure to make you smile when you see him.

~Manager Hong~
Before Coffee Prince, Manager Hong always seemed so far away from the actual world. His Coffee Shop never had many customers, even though his coffee was delicious. Basically a disgusting person, but he has his points.

DRAMA WIKI SYPNOPSIS:
The life of Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) is not easy; she works many jobs to pay off debts and even gave up her feminine image. Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) is the heir of a big food company, but his grandmother wants him to settle down, so she arranged many dates for him. After Eun Chan bumped into Han Kyul and was mistaken for a boy, Han Kyul decided to hire Eun Chan to be his gay lover in order to avoid the arranged dates. Desperately in need of money, Eun Chan had no choice but to accept. Han Kyul's grandmother also made Han Kyul in charge of a filthy coffee shop in danger of being bankrupt. Eun Chan begged to work at the coffee shop, and not long after, feelings start to spark, except, how would Han Kyul accept his "homosexuality"?

CAST:

• Yoon Eun Hye as Go Eun Chan
• Gong Yoo as Choi Han Kyul
• Lee Sun Gyun as Choi Han Sung
• Chae Jung Ahn as Han Yoo Joo

Extended Cast

• Kim Ja Ok as Han Kyul's mom
• Choi Il Hwa as Han Kyul's dad
• Kim Young Ok as Han Kyul's grandmother
• Park Won Sook as Eun Chan's mom
• Kim Chang Wan as Mr. Hong (ex-Coffee Prince president)
• Kim Jae Wook as No Sun Ki
• Kim Dong Wook as Jin Ha Rim
• Lee Un as Hwang Min Yeop
• Lee Han Wie as Mr. Ku (the butcher that likes Eun Chan's mom)
• Han Yeh In as Go Eun Sae (Eun Chan's sister)
• Kim Jung Min as DK (Yoo Joo's ex-boyfriend)

I don't really understand the ratings for Korea, but here they are anyways:

Date	Episode	Nationwide	Seoul
2007-07-02	1	14.4 (7th)	15.5 (7th)
2007-07-03	2	15.3 (7th)	16.2 (7th)
2007-07-09	3	18.1 (6th)	18.6 (5th)
2007-07-10	4	19.0 (4th)	19.8 (4th)
2007-07-16	5	19.3 (3rd)	20.1 (2nd)
2007-07-17	6	23.2 (2nd)	23.9 (2nd)
2007-07-23	7	25.2 (2nd)	25.3 (2nd)
2007-07-24	8	26.8 (2nd)	28.1 (2nd)
2007-07-30	9	25.2 (2nd)	26.2 (2nd)
2007-07-31	10	25.9 (2nd)	27.3 (2nd)
2007-08-06	11	28.4 (2nd)	30.8 (1st)
2007-08-07	12	29.9 (2nd)	31.4 (2nd)
2007-08-13	13	29.3 (2nd)	32.1 (2nd)
2007-08-14	14	28.1 (2nd)	30.5 (2nd)
2007-08-20	15	27.1 (2nd)	29.0 (2nd)
2007-08-21	16	28.5 (2nd)	30.8 (1st)
2007-08-27	17	27.7 (2nd)	29.5 (2nd)
Average		24.2	25.6

Hee Hee. Enjoy watching!

Coffee Prince(English Subs)
Coffee Prince(original version)