Mars, 战神
Just finished re-watching a Taiwanese id drama called 战神, Mars which is based on the Japanese manga Mars written by Fuyumi Soryo and i just happened to have an urge to talk about it here.
The Plot
Mars, 带领大家冲破黑暗的悲剧英雄 which literally translates to Mars, a tragic hero who leads and helps people breakthrough their fear.
The drama starts with Ling（零）asking QiLuo（绮罗）for directions to a rehabilitation center. Reluctant to make any sort of communication with Ling who is notorious in their university campus for being a playboy, QiLuo drew a map to the location on the back of one of her sketches.
After discovering the drawing which happened to be about a mother and child, Ling was immediately drawn to it which led to his curiosity for QiLuo. However, the harder Ling tries to chat with QiLuo, the more withdrawn QiLuo gets. It was not for long before Ling’s best friend, DaYe（达也）realised Ling’s interest in QiLuo. Ling then learnt from DaYe, who went to the same high school as QiLuo, that QiLuo’s personality suddenly changed from high school years with a distaste for men.
It was when Ling saves QiLuo from being sexually harassed by their English teacher, then did QiLuo open up to Ling. Through their conversation, QiLuo promised to give the final painting of the Mother and Child to Ling and in exchange, Ling promised to protect her from now on. However, Ling’s special attention towards Qiluo stirred up jealousy on some of his ex-girlfriends which led to harsh bullying of QiLuo by those girls. One of them being QingMei（晴美）.
In the series, Vic Zhou plays two characters; twin brothers Ling and Sheng（圣） with intense opposing personalities. Ling is popular and somewhat of a player, who is reckless and brutal and enjoys racing motorcycles, whereas Sheng is quiet and reserved, hiding his emotions in his drawings. The brothers have had an interdependent relationship since the death of their mother. When a girl, ShaZhi（纱知）, arrives in their lives, they both develop feelings for her, which tests their relationship to a breaking point. It is said that Sheng, unable to accept the fact that ShaZhi loves Ling, commits suicide. Ling is destroyed by the guilt of Sheng’s death and undergoes therapy at a mental institution for two years.
It was after Ling leaves the mental institution when he met QiLuo (played by Barbie Hsu) a very anti-social and shy girl with a dark mysterious past. After QingMei’s confrontation, both Ling and QiLuo began to confess about their affections for each other and becomes romantically attached, believing that they can help each other walk out of the dark tragedies in their past and rebuild their lives which turns out to be true.
Trivia
Mars features an impressive production, with real motorcycle races that were shot on location in Japan. Mars won Favorite Drama of the Year at the 40th Annual 2005 Golden Bell Awards.
Why I enjoy watching this drama
This drama, Mars, explores rather dark and morbid issues as it discusses social taboos such as mental illness, harassment, suicide, and violence. This is rarely seen in drama, not to mention, idol dramas.
Also, after watching this drama, i began thinking a lot, like my life, my future, my ambitions, my family, my friends etc. I realise that life is really unpredictable and that we should always cherish the people and things around us.
As long as you believe that you can, you are able to overcome any problem or obstacle in your life. Just believe in yourself. Never say that it’s impossible to do or overcome something until you try, for you will realise that facing the problem is the one way to resolve it.
I would best recommend this to those who are facing a difficult period in their lives for example: adapting to a new environment or not sure of the goals in your life.
Splendid Weekend
Saturday, 31 May 2008
wahahahaha!!! 
super happy ~~~
when out with my parents and sister to Queensway…
and i finally bought a dream shoe of mine…
Heelys…
well, maybe some of you might not know what a Heelys is like…
so here are some pictures to help you:
well, i bought my pair of shoes for S$186…
which means to say i am broke for 5 months…
as i have to return my dad the money i borrow from him…
however, i won’t feel regret.. haha
currently learning how to heel…
it’s really difficult to balance on your heels without the shoes on..
so it’s worse when you put the shoes on…
anyways.. i can heel a little…
just a little, little… but still.. i’m happy!!!
Sunday, 1 June 2008
it was a family gathering day.. as it was also my father and uncle’s birthday celebration..
it also turned out to be my another uncle and aunt’s wedding anniversary…
almost everyone in my family turned up… and the “adults” went to sing their karaoke at a RC… and as for teenagers like me, we went to the nearby kbox!!! i went with my sister and cousin and guess what, we spent a total of S$47.70 at kbox.
however, on the overall, it’s was all fun and joy for all of us and i especially love the cake as it was my favourite, chocolate mint.
Another Weekend spent with WJ.
WanJing bought lots of files and stuff…
me only buy an umbrella…
then we went back to toa payoh central…
went to popular…
i bought a woodcraft thing…
WanJing bought stapler, pens and highlighter…
a few days ago…
i also bought some toys…
hahaha…
i got take picture…
together with my woodcraft thingy…
okay…
enough of me crapping…
hahaha…
enjoy me pictures ba…
ps: not very clear… please bear with it… thanks…
that’s all!!!
Projects due this week
argh!!! There are soo many projects due this week!!! 
Studio Production, Photography, Introduction to Film and Art & Design… they are killing me!!! I might have to go without sleep for the following two days… T_T However, by the end of this week, i would be free again and i should be spending my weekend catching up the sleep…
Anyways, lesson learnt from this incident: Never procrastinate the things you have to do or you will end up working yourself to death.
Earthquake in Sichuan, China
picture taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7400614.stm
Everything was happy and nice for China and things were getting smoother and better for the Olympic Torch Relay… BAM! Something just have to hit China, right at the face.
An EARTHQUAKE!
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 first hit Sichuan, China on Monday, 12 May 2008, at round 2.28pm. By Tuesday morning, the death toll neared 10,000. Heavy rainfall and wrecked roads made things even worse as they hamper the rescue work.By Tuesday, 13 May, 7.51pm, it is reported that the death toll in China’s earthquake climbed past 13,000. Even the Olympic Torch Relay have to be scaled down due to the earthquake. Lucky for China, the neighbouring countries in asia offered their help.
However, the full horror of the devastating China earthquake began to emerge on Wednesday, 14 May 2008, as rescuers discovered that most towns are wiped off, pushing the death toll well above 20,000. Besides the heavy rain and wrecked roads, the blocked rivers and damaged dams also pose as threats to the people in the quake zone. Two hydropower stations in Maoxian county, where 7,000 residents and tourists remain stranded near the epicentre, were “seriously damaged” and authorities warn that dams could burst anytime. Landslides also blocked the flow of two rivers in northern Qingchuan county, forming a huge lake in a region where 1,000 have already died and 700 are buried. However, by Thursday, May 15 2008, time was running out for both the rescuers and survivors as the most critical 72-hours slowly went by.
It took the rescuers aound four days after the quake hit to finally reached all the devastated towns at the epicentre, where thousands remain still buried.
Aftershocks also brought new havoc to the earthquake-stricken region of China. On Friday, one of the many aftershock, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, hit Lixian, to the west of the epicenter in Wenchuan, Sichuan, cutting newly repaired roads and telecommunications. This aftershock which causes landslides, hampers rescue work. On the same day, the first foreign rescue teams, from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore arrived at Sichuan province. By Saturday, 17 May 2008, the death toll for the quake in China rose to almost 29,000. In addition, besides the missing people, pandas are also reported missing although initial reports states that all pandas are safe.
China has announced three days of mourning for the tens of thousands of victims of Monday’s earthquake. It will begin with a three-minute silence at 1428 (0628 GMT), exactly a week after the quake struck the south-western Sichuan province. The Olympic torch relay will also be suspended for three days. The number of confirmed deaths has now risen to 32,477, but officials say the final toll may reach 50,000. More than 220,000 people have been injured. It’s also reported that 200 aid workers were buried by a mudslide.
Quake Statistics – taken from BBC News
Personally, i was shocked upon hearing the news. However, the first thing that came to my mind wasn’t “Are the people in China okay?” but it was actually “Gosh! So what’s going to happen to the Olympic that is supposed to be held in China? Is China still safe?” and i’m quite sure that there are people who have the same reaction as me.
However, it kinda hurt me when people starts discussing the earthquake as if it’s none of their business. Well, to a certain extent, it is indeed none of their business but on the whole, it still affects them isn’t it? So why should people say things like “I feel that China sort of deserve it, you know.” Hey! Put yourself in the victims’ shoes, how would you feel when you overheard these kind of discussion? The victims of the earthquake have already gone through enough. For example, losing their houses, cars and for some, family members or even their own lives. They don’t need people to “rub salt in their wounds.”
Here’s a link to a blog “owned” by a reporter from BBC. His latest entry is named “A town that no longer exists” and from his description, you can tell how bad the earthquake had hit China. I really hope that people would stop those “unnecessary” comments and put themselves into some better use to help the victims affected by natural disasters.
Lesson learnt from this disaster: life is precious and things CAN change within a second. Really, cherish the things and people around you for you might not have a second chance after you realise the importance of them. Never take things for granted.
~ life is actually both “weak” and “strong” ~
Life is “weak” in the sense that when natural disaster hits us, it’s almost nothing we can do. However, rescuers are still able to find survivors, even after the critical 72-hour, which makes life “strong” as well.
here’s a few link to the video on a disaster relief in Taiwan to help the people in Sichuan:
the disaster relief is called【把爱传出去】[台湾赈灾晚会]
It’s Life
I just saw this email. It’s named “FW: This is very inspirational. If you were thinking of deleting, just take a moment to read it..” For a minute, I was just about to delete it, thinking that it’s just another useless chain letter. However, a second thought struck me as the word “inspirational” struck me. I was thinking, what’s inspirational to many people.
Here’s what part of the email says:
” One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. ‘Really?’ she heard whispered. ‘I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!’ and, ‘I didn’t know others liked me so much,’ were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. ‘Were you Mark’s math teacher?’ he asked. She nodded: ‘yes.’ Then he said: ‘Mark talked about you a lot.’
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
We want to show you something,’ his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket ‘they found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.’
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.
Thank you so much for doing that,’ Mark’s mother said. ‘As you can see, Mark treasured it.’
All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, ‘I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.’
Chuck’s wife said, ‘Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.’
I have mine too,’ Marilyn said. ‘It’s in my diary.’
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. ‘I carry this with me at all times,’ Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: ‘I think we all saved our lists.’
That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late. “
Well, time really flies and there is no telling when one’s life might end. I had experience the losing of family members, not once but four times. Out of the four, I experienced three when I was still in primary school. All three died of cancer. My 2nd aunt, my grandfather and my grandmother.
Well, I lived with my grandparents since the day I was born, so I took them for granted. I thought that they would always be there, as long as I needed them. But I was so wrong. My grandfather died at home, on a Sunday morning when I was out playing with my cousins and siblings. Obviously, I didn’t make it to bid him goodbye. Then, a similar thing happened to my grandmother. She has been hospitalised for quite a period and I always go visit her during the weekends. She died on a Thursday night, in the hospital. Again, I didn’t bid her goodbye.
I always have this regret in me, as I really wanted to bid them goodbye – face to face. I know that I don’t have anymore chance but here’s a goodbye to you, my beloved grandfather. The same goes for my grandmother, goodbye to you.
So, really, always share your feelings and speak out your love to anyone before it’s too late. Don’t wait till you regret!!!
Oh, and also to all mothers in the world…
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!
Another Saturday
Another Saturday
It’s another Saturday that i spent with my friend, Wan Jing. I do seem to spent my weekends with her huh?!
Meet up with WanJing at Toa Payoh MRT station at 12.30pm AND she wasn’t late this time, haha!!! Went to Popular and after that, had lunch at KFC. We spent around an hour eating, chatting and watching videos on my notebook. When we decided to leave the KFC, it was about 2pm. Oh!! I bought a new earphone which cost me S$9.90 and a rubber thing to coil the wires of the earphone.
We reached the NLB at Toa Payoh at 3pm and i borrowed 3 Hardy Boys books. We surfed the net and continued to watch videos in the NLB as i could get wireless there. I also helped her solve a JC 1 Physics question!!! We stayed in the library until 6pm to leave for the band concert i promised to watch with her. It’s a concert put up by Yishun Junior College’s Symphonic band which was held at YJC so we took a train to Yishun and started to trek towards YJC. On the whole, I really enjoyed the concert and i am surprised that i actually enjoy it!!
here’s a video I took during the concert:
And oh, surprisingly, I saw my ex-school mate performing too!!! (:
When the concert ended, it was around 10.30pm. Wan Jing and I then took a bus [853] to AMK hub and that’s where she took 165 home and i had to wait alone. ): I took 132 home and by the time i reached home, it was already 11.30pm!!!
Happy Birthday, Zoe!!!
The T1B2s helped Zoe celebrate her birthday on 02 May ‘08. I took a video and here it is:
Weekend
Hectic Saturday
1. Slept at 5.00am and woke up at 7.40am
2. Showered
3. Rushed to the bus stop and took a bus to Ngee Ann
4. Attended the MacBook training
5. Training ended at around 12noon and left Ngee Ann for Toa Payoh
6. Agreed to meet my friend, Wan Jing, at 1.30pm at Toa Payoh MRT station
7. Waited for Wan Jing till 2.30pm when she finally arrived
8. Went for lunch at KFC
9. Shopped for Hui Hui’s present
10. Took a bus to AMK hub
11. Bought dinner for my sis
12. Reached home at around 8pm
13. Showered
14. Turn on my computer(desktop)
15. Used the computer till 6am Sunday morning
16. Went to bed
Well, wasn’t it a “hectic” Saturday?! Going to school, meeting up a friend, window-shopped. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open for that Saturday morning. Good thing i napped on my bus ride to NP, then to Toa Payoh, to Ang Mo Kio and back home. Oh yah, i also napped while waiting for my friend.. (: You could see that i could almost sleep everywhere – from sitting to standing – and i am PROUD of my skills.. (:
Arrival of MIO
My MIO box finally arrived this Sunday – 27/04/08… (:
which means to say that i can use my MacBook in my room without my parents’ notice. However, there is a con about having this MIO Box and that is that you will need to keep your MIO Box on 24/7. If you off the MIO Box, your fixed line = a dead line as you can’t make phone calls with it, neither can others reach you through it. ):
If not for that reason, MIO would be my BEST choice as the wireless connection is quite stable and FAST!!!
Friendship
Friendship
Well, friendship is a part of the wonderful things in my world. Or should i actually say, a lasting friendship is something wonderful?!
During my sec 3 and 4 years, i made myself 4 REALLY good friends, namely Wan Jing, Eng Peng, Hui Hui and Doritty. The five of us, including me, called ourselves zhus (chinese for pigs) for no real reasons… -_-!!!
We do almost everything together and by almost everything, i mean almost everything. We hang out, have our recess, celebrate birthdays, go shopping, do sports and even sleep in class together!!
For instance, just before our O Levels’ prelims, WJ and i spent our after school times together. The both of us hanged out at nearby NLBs and fast food outlets to revise for our prelims. As i was better at physics, i helped her understand the stuffs that she was unsure of and vice versa, as she was better at Chemistry, she helped me understand the different concepts of moles and formulas. And thanks to her, i got a B3 for my O Level Chemistry!!! (and i always fail my chemistry)
Another example would be the birthday gathering we had on 17th of April for Hui2. Although the five of us are now studying in different JCs or Polys, we still find time to celebrate each other’s birthday. This is already the third birthday gathering we had in this year!!
The Birthday Gathering
On the 17th of April, we met up at our former school, Deyi Secondary, at around 4.45pm. Collected our graduation certificate and walked to AMK central. On our walk there, we discussed about our recent happenings and what to have for dinner. After a “serious” discussion, we decided to have sushi. Reached AMK central at about 5.20pm (b/cos WJ and Doritty was late) and we headed for the sushi shop named Suki Sushi. We entered the shop at about 5.45pm and a waiter came to serve us. As the time passes, we eat as we chat and we chat as we eat. Little by little, the numbers of plates increased. Increasing from the original 5 plates to 10 plates, then to 15 plates, and then 20 – 30 plates, and finally we stopped at 43 plates!!! We continued our chats and even order some drinks to quench our thirst. Finally at around 8pm, we called for the bill and paid S$52.45 in total. We also took many, many photos!!!
here’s a video clip of the photos…
