in the Frazzled Cook Resto..with friends I've known for,like, forever...

well, ok, not forever, but certainly felt like it. Frencel I've known for about 19 years now, and Kuri for 17 years, give or take. Some of my old friends like Kuri works outside the country now so we can't usually get together but when we do, it always feels like we just met the other day. It always is fun to talk about people we've known in the past, all the drama and excitement and foolishness of our youth. Ahhh.. bittersweet. We might have changed physically but as Frencel have said: " nothing has changed, there's always this risk of getting thrown out of a restaurant for being so noisy, lol"


So the last time (01.17.11, i know late post. been bitten by the laziness bug again the past several weeks, so I'm back blogging hehe), we went to this restaurant The Frazzled Cook somewhere in Mandaluyong after a brief scuffle on whether to just eat inside the mall  (Kuri's preference) or look for this yet another quaint dining place ( Frencel's idea), in the end though, as usual, Frencel won without much argumentation. It was actually just a case of arguing for the sake of arguing cos all three of us knows Frencel is gonna have his way no matter what. But to his credit, the place is really, really nice. Good atmosphere, and thank God the place was nearly empty or we would really have been thrown out cos we were literally all over the place. It was such a rollicking moment. And the food's great too ( we found out the resto we've been to before and liked, Fat Michael's, had already closed down but that the chef moved on to become Chef and Co-owner of  Frazzled Cook ). 


I always liked restaurants that are not like typical restaurants. I prefer a homey atmosphere, lots of books in it, lots of wood and iron furnitures, preferably. And in Frazzled Cook, they've got the homey atmosphere down pat, albeit they're far from being shabby. Oh so far from it. What I liked about it the most is they have the  most amazing eclectic mix of chairs that would remind you of Victorian houses. I swear no two chairs are the same. Plenty of  interesting bric-a-bracs on the shelves, and old books too. As Frencel said, when he saw Wuthering Heights on a shelf, he took it as a good sign we were on the right place. Even the restroom have lots of magazines. I just loved it. Ok, so enough with the glowing words. Here are some pics:

me, Kuri, Frencel

I do not own any of the pictures here. copyrighted by Frencel, who also maintains a blog: http://frenzfries.blogspot.com  ^___^

♥♥♥J-Drama: Tatta Hitotsu No Koi たったひとつの恋 ♥♥♥

cr:Miharu9inWonderland 


link thru guereca1404, much thanks!: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gmjJ5JWcGs&feature=related




Synopsis via Mysoju.com:
If you feel you have lost the purity of your soul by watching stories about rich womanizers seducing impudent women, or by carrying out calculated maneuvers in your own love life, here is a story for you. A boy and a girl from opposite social backgrounds meet and fall in love, a straightforward love which is only possible for a 20-year-old couple. Their love, of course, faces a lot of obstacles. The setting is Yokohama, a modern port city known for its romantic atmosphere. Hiroto Kanzaki (Kazuya Kamenashi) works hard every day and night to fight for the survival of a small ship repair factory inherited from his father, and to support his mother and young brother, who has health problems. Living such an underprivileged life, Hiroto has forgotten how to smile. In contrast to him, Nao Tsukioka (Haruka Ayase) is the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner on a fashionable street in Yokohama. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, literally. Nao attends a prestigious women’s college and grew up cheerful, blessed with affluent love. From the moment Hiroto meets her, his closed mind gradually opens up to Nao, who is so innocent that she utters whatever is on her mind. Their three close friends, who are also 20 years of age, play an important role in their developing relationship.


My take: 


hmmm. what i can say. I sooo love this drama, short and sweet at only 10 episodes. *sigh* i could wish for this kind of love my whole life and never find it. maybe in the next life time? if so, somebody kill me now. lol.

K-Movie: Memories of Murder

complete movie clips here(thanks wait4ba!): 
http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=PjzjVVt6kxU

desc (from wait4ba's desc box in YT)
 Memories of Murder (??? ?? Sarinui Chueok) is a South Korean drama film directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, which took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The film's cinematography, as well as Song Kang-ho's performance, earned it wide praise.


The film was the second feature film directed by Bong Joon-ho, following his 2000 debut film Barking Dogs Never Bite and preceding Mother . The screenplay was adapted by Bong and Shim Sung-bo from Kim Kwang-rim's 1996 stage play about the same subject. Song Kang-ho and Kim Sang-kyung star as two of the detectives trying to solve the crimes.

My take:

this was a really frustrating movie, and a great one at the same time. more than the victims or the vic's families, i feel more for the detectives. Taking into consideration their situation at that time, lack of resources, manpower, technology, people's ignorance, even their fellow uniform's twisted ethics, solving the crime without the barest hint of doubt was an almost impossible feat, and indeed it was. Sooo frustrating!! And yet i really liked this movie. Here was a case that could have benefitted greatly from the use of forensics science. here was a great example of how thousands of cases like it remained unsolved to this day. And here's a film that behavioural analysis/forensics/detective/or just plain wannabes (i think i belong in the latter category lol) would love to see. What - could - you- have - done - differently?


And I wanna go full blast into my wannabe mode: what could I have done differently that could have helped reveal the killer's identity? Now, I'm not saying that the detectives on the case failed to do this. In fact, I think they did, it just wasn't shown in the movie. But since it's rare for films like this to come along, I'm gonna grab this chance to indulge in my wannabe mode and get into a what-could-you-have-done-if-you-were-part-of-the-case-game =)


1. I would have taken inventory of all the items found on the corpse. Next, interview relatives, esp the last person to see the vic alive, if they think something is missing, like a piece of jewelry or if something is off.


2. The first crime scene was a mess. So were the succeeding ones. After the first one, it's standard, dunno what happened, but I would have made sure all police officers, should they be the first one on the scene, strive to ensure the crime scene is untainted. First one to arrive with a camera, do a walk through (WT). first WT for general pics, 2nd WT for more specific pics.


3. i wanted to say "make a rape kit" even before forensics arrives but then i rmbr at that time, detectives in that small town don't even have an idea how important this is> swab the vagina for possible semen, clip a nail, swab for suspiscious fluids, swab, swab, swab.


4. After closing in on a suspect, I would have tried to get a search warrant. check for (based on #1s result) any missing items from the vics body. most of the time offenders like in this case take souvenirs.


5. I would have staked all crime scenes esp at night ( so sad that it was, more than likely, not feasible at that time due to manpower shortage. damn!) Most of the time too, Unsubs (unknown subjects or killer) go back to the crime scene to fantasize. In the movie, the unsub returned after being away for so many years ( my assumption), i am more than positive he did return to his crime scenes even while when he was active.


6.I assume it was a small town, everybody knows everyone. I would have knocked on every door try to figure out if they know of anyone who might have suffered from a major blow recently: fired from a job, lost someone etc. find what could have thrown the unsub to go into a violent rage.


7. I would have gotten a line up for both the retard guy witness and the rape victim the unsub let go free, for unknown reason. Even if she didn't see his face, she might be able to recognize a guy from the built or find any mark or feature that would help her to remember.


!!spoiler!!
*sigh* i dunno, despite what the evidence say, or lack thereof, my money's still on the "guy w/ the smooth hands" suspect. 

FiReWoRkS!!

12.18.10

I was in Manila to attend baby Jewel Merari's dedication and afterwards met up with my sister in her favorite coffee shop. We were at a mall and I knew they were gonna have a fireworks display at around 8 so I was surprised when at a little after 7, i noticed people scrambling outside all looking up so I knew it somehow started early. I grabbed my digicam since I haven't ever used it for fireworks and now's the best time to put it to the test so to say. Problem is, there were a bit of clustered small trees (we were in a sort of sky garden) and since I was late, all good spots had been taken. I had to balance myself on an outcropping of sort and started just snapping away, it was over almost immediately. Gaaahhh! my camera was lagging like crazy in between shots, 2-3 seconds really, probably because it was low on battery, and when you're trying to capture fireworks, up one second, gone the next, it made it as impossible as catching a falling star on cam, that is, if you even knew there would be one. So anyway, i tried to make do with what I have, I have only one decent shot really, so I had to use the most basic but often pleasantly surprising editing tool: cropping lol.

K-Movie: Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War.

video credit: zinnia112


Video Link (in HD!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7ygTVJ0h8&feature=related.
CREDIT:wait4ba http://www.youtube.com/user/wait4ba

Synopsis:
In 1950, in South Korea, shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee and his 18-year-old old student brother, Jin-seok Lee, form a poor but happy family with their mother, Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim, and her young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother are tough workers, who sacrifice themselves to send Jin-seok to the university. When North Korea invades the South, the family escapes to a relative's house in the country, but along their journey, Jin-seok is forced to join the army to fight in the front, and Jin-tae enlists too to protect his young brother. The commander promises Jin-tae that if he gets a medal he would release his brother, and Jin-tae becomes the braver soldier in the company. Along the bloody war between brothers, the relationship of Jin-seok with his older brother deteriorates leading to a dramatic and tragic end.


Credit: asiatorrents.com


My take:


ok, so i've been searching for this movie last year when a friend recommended it to me but I couldn't find a working video anywhere, so imagine my excitement when while searching for youtube clips of Mother (another Won Bin film), i found that someone uploaded the whole movie a few months ago, in HD glory! So i went ahead and loaded the clips and prepared myself to enjoy a really good movie.  Onset of the film, it was straightaway enthralling, so absorbed was i that i didn't realized i haven't turned on the cc cap yet and was watching the movie unsubbed til maybe about 4mins into it. A minute after, in fact even before the timer hits 5:00, I'm already crying..by half hour into the movie, am already letting out a stream of profanities..(which i sometimes do when the scene is too much too handle). Gosh! this is easily one of the best war movies ever made. In a nutshell, as posted in my FB:


"Platoon + Saving Private Ryan + 71:Into The Fire = Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War x 5. rating F: most number of F* uttered in a single movie. Best War Movie ever, and that's still an understatement (for me)"


On a side note, with what just happened lately between N. Korea and S. Korea, i think it's timely that both sides watch a film like this and be reminded that nobody ever wins in a war, NOBODY.


P.S.
After watching the film, i looked it up on wikipedia and discovered  it was directed by the same guy who did Shiri, a Korean movie i saw about a decade ago, when I was in college. It made such an impression on me that the one time I was on the same flight with some Koreans (who were here for religious purposes, this was when i was working already), I asked the one beside me what Shiri means, she then in turn asked her companions and that's how I found out it's a kind of fish. If you do spare the time to watch taegukgi, watch Shiri too, and then Mother. Oh, Won Bin, no wonder even celebs are crushing on you. such a great actor.^^

J-Movie: Nana (Live Action)

credit: XBanryuX


Synopsis:
Two girls, both named Nana and of the same age, coincidentally meet on a train trip to Tokyo. They soon find theirselves living with each other under the same roof because of an even bigger coincidence. Even though they share the same name and age, they differ in just about everything else. Even so, through hard experiences in love and life, a strong friendship is born between them, as both Nanas grow through their hardships and struggle to win the odds.
credit:  asianrice.tv


My take:  I was a bit apprehensive to watch this cos well, the synopsis doesn't really tell much, nothing intriguing there, but then it's got a fairly good rating of 3/5 stars so I said ok.  and it didn't disappoint, now i know not to ignore public ratings next time, lol. While the movie doesn't really have an intense high-and-low moment, or that feeling that every scene is building into a huge climax, it did have its really good, chills inducing moment. And my most fave scene ever, one I personally think is enough reason to watch the movie, is a live performance of the song above by the fictitious band Black Stones, you really have to watch the movie to appreciate how great the moment is. two words. goose bumps.

Tokyo Boy (東京少年, Tokyo Shounen)

TRAILER (sorry can't find an english subbed trailer)

credit: http://www.nipponcinema.com

FAN MV


video credit:  scrabbleface http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4GPB9D5wLI&feature=related

Synopsis:

Minato is a young girl who was traumatized at a young age by being orphaned and left with her grandmother. She frequently corresponds with a pen-pal named Night, a boy about the same age as her that she's never actually seen in person. Although Minato and Night are very different - Minato is upbeat while Night is brooding, they get along anyway and she regularly updates him on the happenings in her daily life. Minato is even willing to confide in Night that she's falling in love with a boy she's recently met named Sho.

One day she wakes up and finds Sho acting extremely distant and tentative around her. She suspects Night may have something to do with this so she arranges to meet him at the mail box. However, he never shows. As it turns out Night is actually Minato's overprotective split personality and has been trying to drive Sho away by bullying him whenever he had control of her body.

credit: http://eiga.wikia.com

My take: 

less than a minute into the movie and i loved it. i really, really love how the movie opened with a black and white sequence. although, as usually the case is with Japanese movies, it's not for everyone's taste. I'm familiar with the phenomenon/medical case Multiple Split Personality Disorder but i had a hard time accepting that a 2nd personality can fall in love with the host. But i guess, love comes in different forms. I loved how the movie ended though. and the closing song Love Song by Mariko Hamada. Funny, this is the only movie I can say where my most favorite scenes are the opening and the closing. If you're a fan of Horikita Maki ( Nobuta Wo Produce), this is a must see. 


VIDEO LINK: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuvOyZfNYEM&feature=related 
credit: oXoBeatOfAngeloXo thanks for uploading the entire movie ^^